I see the Journal Star has yet another editorial about the Kellar Branch today. In today’s installment, they reveal that the city, as the owner of the line, can (are you ready for this?) charge the carrier on the line a fee for using the rail road. Wow, really? You mean they can actually make money on this asset they own? Well, I declare.
You gotta love the Journal Star Editorial Board. They’re nothing if not masters of the obvious. I especially like how they act like charging a fee is something punitive that will really teach those rascally rail carriers a lesson. Perhaps they’ve forgotten that a couple years ago, Pioneer offered to lease the line so they could service Carver Lumber plus potential shippers that would be coming online. I’m sure CIRY would welcome a contract that allows them to lease the line from the city, too.
So, I hope the city listens to the Journal Star this time. By all means, lease the line to the rail carrier for a fee. That’s kind of what the citizens expect the city to do with an asset: make some money off it; use it to attract good-paying jobs. The dumbest thing they could ever do is tear it out and give the land to the Park District for free.
For more excellent posts on the Kellar Branch, see Billy Dennis’s and PeoriaIllinoisan’s sites.
C.J., you neglected to add that CIRY refused to accept the agreement that called for them to pay a fee to the city. It’s likely they will refuse to pay for good. It’s also likely that the STB might very well tell the city that they CANNOT charge the fee.
Let’s not put the caboose before the locomotive here.
Left by prego man on November 1st, 2007