WATCO, the parent company of Blue Mountain Railroad, owners of the Palouse
River Railroad have signed an agreement to abondon the rail line from
Pullman to Moscow.
If the agreement is signed by the gang of six entities (Pullman, Moscow,
Whitmen County, U of I, WSU and the Pullman Civic Trust) then the railroad
will file with the STB for abandonment. Getting the railroads to this
point has been the big barrier to this project.
The agreement includes some cash to BMRR to cover the costs of the
abandonment. The agreement also has the entities kick in $7,000 per year
from each of them for maintenence costs.
The agreement has been signed by the Civic Trust and the City of Pullman.
WSU and U of I will be easy, they just need someone in authority to sign.
The agreement is on the agenda for the Moscow City Council this Monday; and
every indication is that they totally support the path.
That leaves the Whitman County Commissioners. (And the reason for this
message.) They will be deciding on the agreement this Monday, Aug. 19 at
9:00 AM in the Commission chambers in the courthouse in Colfax.
On commissioner, Les Wiggen, is publicly opposed to the path. The other
two seem to support it, but not necessarilly very strongly. Wigen might be
able to influence one of his collegues, and then the path is dead after
all.
It is important that we get residents of Whitman County in the audience
when this issue comes up. If you know any Whitman County residents, please
encourage them to attend the commissioners meeting this Monday.
Thanks, Fritz
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Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute
P O Box 8596; 112 West 4th St; Suite #1
Moscow ID 83843-1096
phone (208)882-1444 Fax (208)882-8029
e-mail pcei@moscow.com WWW http://www.moscow.com/Resources/PCEI
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