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CLAYPOOL - The proposal is: if the town closes two railway crossings, lights and gates will be installed at Section Street
If three railway crossings are closed, the abandoned elevator will be removed and gates will be installed at Section Street.
If four railway crossings are closed, property will be deeded over to the town, the abandoned elevator will be removed, lights and gates will be installed at Section Street and another crossing, and the town gets $25,000 to defray costs or to use in any manner.
Town board members Don Miller, Nikki Lincoln and Duane Allen and several residents heard from Conrail's public affairs manager Mike Scime and Indiana Department of Transportation's Steve Hall of the utility-railroad section.
Scime said the proposal is safety related. He pointed out Indiana ranks in the top five states in number of vehicle-train accidents in the country.
Claypool, for a town its size, has an inordinate number of crossings. Five run east and west on the Norfolk Southern line, and four run north and south on the Conrail line.
Miller, president of the board, said Claypool petitioned INDOT four years ago requesting lights be installed at Section Street. At that time the town would have to have provided 20 percent of the cost, estimated at $150,000.
With last night's proposal the railroad would pick up 10 percent of the cost and INDOT would grant the other 90 percent through federal funds.
The state highway representative said only a certain amount of money is available each year, enough to install 50 to 60 lights and gates on the state's 6,500 crossings.
The state pays the railroad company, which engineers, designs and installs the safety devices, although, Hall said, it is a state highway department matter.
"None of the crossings are that bad in Claypool," Hall said. "None of the crossings here are high risk."
The last railroad crossing accident in Claypool was in 1994.
No written proposal was presented at last night's meeting and town board members, utility manager Gene Warner and residents differed over which crossings to close.
An average of 24 trains travel east and west through the town daily with an average of eight on the north-south rail. When Norfolk Southern acquires Conrail June 1, an average of four more trains will travel the Conrail line.
"That is our predicted increase now," Hall said. "It doesn't mean it cannot increase by 15 more trains a day if an industry moves in up north requiring more rail transportation."
The board decided to address the topic at other meetings.
In other business, the board signed a proclamation agreeing to enter into a partnership with the Census Bureau for the 2000 canvass.
Clerk Shelly Thomas said the Bureau is in need of workers to take the census.
A request to reimburse the town for 75 percent of snow emergency expenses was forwarded to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
A plot deed in the Claypool Cemetery requested by Jerry and Sherry Bradford was approved.
Telephone customers' vote tally regarding local service to Warsaw is expected to be made public March 1.
The clerk announced the Claypool Festival date as Aug. 21.
