Chesterton Tribune

 

 

County Council joins Commissioners against proposed railroad

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By JEFF SCHULTZ

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.

 

Posted 4/27/2016

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

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