Just like the
Porter County Commissioners, the County Council does not support the
278-mile railroad proposed by Great Lakes Basin Transportation, Inc. that
would cut through property in the south part of the county. The Council
voted 7-0 in opposition on Tuesday.
In a resolution,
the Council censured many of the same things the Commissioners did in their
resolution earlier this month, saying the line would have a “significant
negative impact on property values” and create a “disruption in drainage
across South Porter County.”
The Council is
“greatly concerned with the impact of ‘at grade crossings’ and/or road
closures on response times for law enforcement and emergency service
providers” and “foresee no short term or long term positive economic impact
from this new proposed rail line,” the resolution stated.
The line that has
been proposed has its west end near Milton, Wis. It would cross Porter
County just north of Hebron and move through Boone, Porter, Morgan and
Washington townships, exiting near the Jackson Twp. border. The proposed
route’s east end is at the intermodal near Pinola in LaPorte County.
GLBT officials have
said the line would reduce the bottleneck of trains in Chicago and
construction would cost approximately $8 billion funded by private
investors.
County Attorney
Scott McClure said the County first heard about the line on March 21 after
receiving notice from the Surface Transportation Board, an agency of the
U.S. Department of Transportation, of an environmental impact statement that
would require public scoping meetings.
No meetings were
scheduled initially in Porter County despite there being more miles of
proposed track here than in neighboring Lake and LaPorte counties.
Eventually local officials were able to persuade the STB to hold a scoping
meeting at Aberdeen Manor in Valparaiso, held April 12.
Council President
Dan Whitten, D-at large, said he’s attended meetings on the rail line with
fellow members Sylvia Graham, D-at large, Mike Jessen, R-4th, and Jim Biggs,
R-1st, which have seen heated reactions from residents whose properties
would be essentially split by the tracks.
Many farmers will
experience difficulty having to maneuver around divided fields, Whitten
said.
Graham said she is
concerned that the trains, up to 110 per day potentially, would be traveling
less than a quarter mile from Morgan Twp. School. “It would be a great
disturbance to kids learning,” she said.
Biggs, who helped
compose the language of the resolution with Whitten, said what irks him the
most is the desire of private investors to use government eminent domain
processes for their own benefit. “I think that’s wrong,” he said.
Council member
Karen Conover, R-3rd, said she was open to the idea of having the railroad
here, thinking “it should be exciting,” but later decided to stand against
it because of potential public safety issues.
Residents can still
make their comments on the STB’s website. GLBT officials said they are
considering route alternatives based on the comments.
It is said that the
GLBT line would be the nation’s biggest rail project in over 100 years.