Pink Lady Rail Transit Commission

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Calendar Date:
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 - 10:00am

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Meeting Information

  • Agenda
  • Minutes
PDF icon 08/02/11 Agenda (85 KB)

(Note to Baraboo, Prairie du Sac & Reedsburg Administrators - Please post a copy of this notice & agenda on your meeting notice board.)

  1. Call to order. 10:00 AM - Alan Anderson
  2. Introductions of visitors and members
  3. Roll Call.   Establishment of quorum - Alan Anderson
  4. *Action item.  Public Meeting Notice Certification - Alan Anderson
  5. *Action item.  Approval of Agenda. Presented by Chair
  6. *Action item.  Approval of Draft Minutes - April 5, 2011
  7. *Action item.  Treasurers report - Dick Whitehurst
  8. Chairman Report.
  9. Wisconsin and Southern Railroad - Ken Lucht
  10. WisDOT update - Frank Huntington
    Status of negotiations for State ownership of Madison to Reedsburg line, the Barger Ordinance lease, State rail budget, etc.
  11. Old Business
    A.  Economic Development Rails & Trails Stack-holders update - Virgil Kasper
  12. New Business
    A. Concerns about status of the line from Madison to Reedsburg.
    (Seneca and others)
    B.  Status of two year terms of current members of the commission.
    (We all have our terms expire later this year.)
  13. Business and Rail usage reports
    A) Reedsburg - Doug Rocket
    B) Baraboo - Elmer Ellis, Dick Whitehurst
    C) Prairie du Sac - Raymond Bolton
    D) Rock Springs & greater Sauk County - John Geoghegan
    E) Sauk County Development - Gene Dalhoff
  14. Legislative Comments
  15. Public Comment
  16. Meeting dates 2011, December 6, West Square Building, Room 213
  17. Adjourn
PDF icon 08/02/11 Minutes (90 KB)

Attendance:
Commissioners Present: Chair Anderson, Treasurer Whitehurst, Secretary Rockett, John Geoghegan, Virgil Kasper, Ray Bolton.
Not present: Vice Chair Ellis

Others Present: Jenny Erickson - Sauk County UWEX, Dick Goddard - LSRHA, Frank Huntington - WisDot Rails, Sheri Walz – WisDot, Ken Lucht - WSOR, Tom Pinion - City of Baraboo, Andrea Lombard – S. County Dist 14 Supervisor, Gene Dalhoff – SCDC, Terry Dersham, Bob Hudack, Brian Christianson, Aaron Girard – Seneca Foods, Debra Bauer – Baraboo C of C, Peter Murray – S.County Dist 11, Ed Brooks – 50th Assembly Dist, Marty Krueger – S.County Board Chair, Tom Jackson – Office of Senator Dale Schultz.

Call to order:
The meeting was called to order at 10:02 am by Chair Anderson. Introductions of attendees.

Certification of open meeting law:
Meeting was certified as having met the requirements of the Wisconsin Open Meeting Law. Quorum present. Motion by Kasper, seconded by Geoghegan.

Approval of Agenda:
Motion by Rockett, seconded by Whitehurst to approve agenda as printed. Motion carried.

Approval of Draft Minutes April 5th, 2011:
Motion by Kasper, seconded by Whitehurst to approve minutes as printed. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s report:
Treasurer Whitehurst reported a balance of $1,306.37. Motion by Geoghegan, seconded by Rockett to approve the report. Motion carried.

Chairman’s report:

  • Discussion on setting up annual meetings with communities served by rail. Met with Baraboo Ed Geick and decided no meeting needed as communication is good.
  • Sent a letter to State Legislatures requesting support to restore $30mm in budget that was cut from the FRPP Grant program.
  • 13 canning plants are reliant on Seneca Foods in Baraboo.

WSOR report:
Reported by Ken Lucht.

  • Monthly maintenance work including track inspection, tie replacement, etc.

Capitol Projects:

  • Installing welded rail on the Madison to Milton line in addition to other welded rail projects on WSOR trackage.
  • Handout of WSOR Quarterly Newsletter. Increasing manpower, 10 positions available. Training has started for recent positions filled.
  • State Budget cut as mentioned previously by 50%.
  • Reviewed the derailment over the river near Spring Green was attributed to the flexible track becoming misaligned with the rigid track on the bridge. Looking at the potential use of welded rail over bridges.
  • WSOR is continuing to work with the UP Railroad to extend its current lease for a short term.
  • Madison to Reedsburg rail is at 25mph. Areas on this section of track is operated slower.

WisDOT
Reported by Frank Huntington.

  • No updates on the UP Railroad extending its lease with WSOR. The potential WisDot purchase of the rail line from UP is moving forward.
  • Appraisal of the property and track has not been completed. Expected in August, 2011. There have been no matching funds presented yet, as the appraisal is still in progress.
  • The State is not ready to move on this purchase this fiscal year. There is currently about $30mm available for projects pending approval.
  • At some point the Merrimac Bridge will need repairs. Ok for now.
  • BAAP rail line is still awaiting a final decision to convert from track to a public trail. Possibly in the next couple months.
  • State budget for bridges and rails has been reduced as previously discussed. Numerous projects around the State are pending.
  • Meeting with the Northern section of the State to develop a rail commission to represent that area.

Business and Rail usage reports:
Old Business:

  • Rail to Trails update by Marty Krueger. All stakeholders’ involvement with the rail commission(s) has ended. Trail development will now use Sauk County agencies.
  • Budget planning for FY 2012 is $1,560. Praire Du Sac $200 for (1) commissioner. Reedsburg $400 for (2). Baraboo $400 for (2). Sauk County $600 for (3) commissioners. ($1,600 total) Motion by Bolton to send out invoices to the Municipalities and County. Seconded by Rockett.

New Business:

  • If the UP rail is acquired by the State, the local matching funds by Sauk County could be approx $600k.
  • The next meeting of this rail commission it is suggested to add discussion to request a 60mm biennium budget for rail infrastructure and purchases.
  • Suggestion to promote the importance of this budget and the purchase of the Madison to Reedsburg UP line is to have rail shippers share their concerns about continued rail and the need for an increased State budget in Company newsletters.
  • Commission members Bolton, Ellis and Rockett expire Oct 2011

Reedsburg Report:

  • Rockett reported Loeb – Lorman is very bust and looking at short term storage rental for scrap steel. Grede had slowed down in production from the Japan Earthquake ripple effect.
  • Will personally remind Don Lichte of the next mtg in December

Baraboo Report:

  • Whitehurst reported Seneca busy, Flambeau busy.
  • Flambeau received an inspection letter from the City for maint items on their rail siding.
  • No RR Donnelly report.

Prairie Du Sac Report:

  • Bolton reported not much activity in PDS area.

Sauk County Report:

  • Geoghegan reported that the wheat storage is being emptied out, in preparation for this year’s corn.
  • Looking at 3mm bushel of corn and 200k of wheat this year.

Sauk County Development:

  • Dahlhoff reported that the Development Board is working with the villages and cities to encourage the State to purchase the UP line.
  • Unemployment numbers unfortunately up.

Legislative Comments:

  • Tom Jackson reported for Senator Schultz that the report the SCDC and UWEX put together is very valuable as it shows where most of the Sauk County workforce lives
  • Representative Ed Brooks commented that he strongly supports rail and encourages everyone to stay in touch with their Legislatures as issues or questions arise.

Public Comments:
Comments on encouraging involvement by companies and employees in rail service. Suggestion was made to encourage companies to mention the importance of rail and jobs attributed to rail in newsletters. More discussion next meeting.

Next meeting date and location:
Dec 6th, 2011 at 10:00 am. Meeting location West Square Building Room 213.

Motion to adjourn meeting by Geoghegan, seconded by Kasper.

Adjourned at 11:32 am

Doug Rockett, recording