Green board the railroad project

A SMALL BUT VOCAL minority of area residents made their opposition to the reactivation of the Plymouth-Kohler railroad line heard loud and clear at several public meetings on the issue recently.

The first of the meetings hosted by Mayor Donald Pohlman, last Thursday in the fire department training room at City Hall, was at times raucous and contentious

Unfortunately, the mayor was not at his best handling the at-times emotional opponents who dominated the crowd of about 60 people. He was at times curt, defensive and condescending with those who oppose the plan. They had the right to air their concerns and to have their concerns addressed thoughtfully, which was not always the case.

That said, it remains clear with objective, rational analysis that moving forward with the restoration of the long-dormant 11-mile rail line is in the best interest of the majority of city, area and county residents.

Opponents raised concerns about emergency access to their neighborhoods adjacent to the rail line, speculating about 10 to 20 minute blockings of the only access to their homes. It turns out that most trains would take only three to five minutes or less to clear any crossing in the city. Further, the president of the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad, Bill Gardner, explained that the railroad cooperates with emergency response services in the other communities they operate in to ensure that no such long-term blockage occurs and that trains are stopped short of any crossing that needs to be open for an emergency response.

Concerns were also raised about the safety of children playing in parks along the rail line. Many of those same parks are located along busy streets and highways, and no one is talking of closing down those streets and highways due to concern that children playing in the parks might run out into traffic and get hurt or killed. The same should be true for the railroad, which will have less traffic than the average city street or highway. Even still, it would probably be an easy step for the city to install fences between parks and rail lines to help assuage those fears.

The issue of what the city will be spending for the rail line was another matter of contention. A figure of nearly $10 million was bandied about, but as Pohlman tried to explain, the vast majority of that is tax incremental district 4 projects related to the expansion of the County PP/Willow Road industrial park. That expansion may well be accelerated by reactivation of the rail line, but as the mayor stressed, just as in the past, none of that work would be done or paid for until there is justification for it in terms of an industrial user or users.

The only project solely related to the rail line on the list is $810,000 for safe crossing systems at the five rail-street intersections in the city, something anyone who expresses a concern for safety should support.

Also at issue was the $3 million local match for the $15 million cost of restoring the rail line to service. The city of Plymouth is proposing to front that the cost, to be repaid by a $10 per car tax on the railroad. Pohlman said the cost of borrowing the money will be 1 to 3 percent, while the money will be repaid by the railroad at a 5 percent rate of interest, meaning the city stands to make money on the deal in the long run.

Some argued that others benefiting from the rail line reactivation — such as the city of Sheboygan Falls and industries that will use the line — should share in that $3 million cost. Perhaps they should. But if the net result of the effort were to make money for the city of Plymouth, would those same people complain that the city lost a chance at extra revenue that could have reduced their future taxes? One has to wonder.

The arguments over costs and money led to a call for a referendum on the spending. The city has never put spending, whether through the vehicle of a TIF or otherwise, for industrial or commercial expansion to a referendum in the past, whether it was for one of the industrial parks, Masters Gallery Foods, Wal-mart, Great Lakes Cheese, Sartori or any of the others who have benefited in the past and boosted the city’s growth and development.

That said, why not put it on a referendum? But if it goes to referendum, then voters in the city of Sheboygan Falls should have a say as well, since the reactivation of the rail line hugely impacts their economic well-being and the future viability of several of their major industries. Voters in the towns of Sheboygan Falls and Plymouth should also be included, as the rail line goes through their municipalities and could affect their future as well.

Hold a referendum, and let the 10 percent of the area’s residents who are unemployed, who would welcome the chance to apply for the new jobs that are certain to be created by the reactivation of the rail line, have their say on whether the project is worthwhile — not to mention their families, friends and neighbors, as well as the many businesses they support and would boost with their increased spending power. And for that matter, let the people who already have jobs with industries that would be able to expand their operations thanks to the availability of rail transportation vote as well.

Let everyone vote on whether or not they think the rail line, a green alternative for transporting goods and material, that would save wear and tear on our highways from truck transportation and reduce the cost of maintenance and upkeep of those highways, is a good idea or not.

A referendum is not going to happen, and it shouldn’t. This is simply a small, vocal minority of self-serving opponents who can not see the greater good for the greater number of people — which is what government is intended to serve — in the rail line reactivation. They have been heard, but this project must, and will, go forward.

At issue: Something or other Bottom line: Do something about it