The legal battle over North Judson’s short line railroad has town officials considering the line’s future. Last July, the town council decided to lease the line to Michigan-based Lake State Railway, but the Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad still hasn’t vacated it.
During last week’s town council meeting, Clerk-Treasurer Alicia Collins said the ensuing legal battle has meant that no money may be spent out of the town’s railroad budget. That means the town’s had to find other ways to fund legal expenses, as well as maintenance costs. “All that money that is in the railroad fund is frozen,” Collins explained. “So you still have money in your railroad fund, but we can’t use it. We can’t do anything with it because that’s what this whole litigation is over. So it’s coming out of town funds, taxpayer funds.”
So far, the town’s spent nearly $300,000 out of its non-railroad funds, money town officials say they won’t be able to get back. That means the town may not be able to pave streets, fix water mains, or upgrade its wastewater infrastructure, according to council member John Rowe. “What’s more important? Is the railroad more important to us, or is the sewage more important? So that’s how we’re trying to weigh all this out,” Rowe said. “Not that I’m trying to personally lessen this. I’m just saying that it’s not a priority. That’s not the top priority is to have the trains run. I mean, we want to fix the problem, but we have other issues that are major issues.”
The subject was raised last week when officials with the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum wanted an update on the lease process. For the past year, Chesapeake and Indiana has blocked the museum from running excursion trains beyond English Lake and into LaCrosse. On top of that, the museum used to store railcars on its property, until a dispute with Chesapeake and Indiana in 2013 put an end to that business. Those two issues have cost the museum over $200,000 in lost revenue since then, according to museum officials.
Additionally, they say the lack of progress on the lease is jeopardizing nearly $32,000 in tourism grant funding the museum’s set to receive from the state. Town officials say they’re waiting for the Surface Transportation Board to take action, before they can finalize the lease.
Council President Wendy Hoppe said railroad issues have gotten much more complicated, since the town bought the line in 2004. “Well, it’s a horse of another ballgame from the time it took over to the time that you see it today. I mean, I can tell you that, “she said. “In 2004, it was starting to be developed. And until the grain and we got a short line operator, did the town even realize what was going to happen? And once the STB and the federal government stepped in because there was grain and stuff rolling on the track, then the ballgame all changed.”
Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum officials also asked why the town plans to spend up to $35,000 to have the railroad appraised, when an appraisal was just completed last year. Hoppe said last year’s appraisal was much more limited in scope. “That was for to have the RFP done, and that was an emergency thing done,” she explained. “As far as what we could use it for, it wasn’t for our use to see what the value of the railroad is really worth.” She added that it’s important that town officials know what the railroad’s worth, considering how much money they’re putting into it.
Meanwhile, the town continues to maintain the railroad. The town council voted last week to spend $980 to apply weed-killer to the property.
