Commissioners OK $10K Toward Passenger Rail Environmental Study
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Jordan Fouts-
Kosciusko County Commissioners this morning voted to contribute $10,000 toward preliminary work on a proposed high-speed rail project across northern Indiana. The money is part of $70,000 that Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer told commissioners he has been tasked with raising for a Tier 1 Environmental Impact Study, an early requirement for the line between Columbus, Ohio, and Chicago. Warsaw could be a stop on the line. “This study pretty much puts this project on (the Federal Railroad Administration’s) radar,” Thallemer said. “They require a little skin in the game to get this project started.” Locally, Thallemer said Warsaw, Grace College and the Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. have committed money, with other entities like Winona Lake considering pitching in. Neighboring cities that could be impacted by the line, including Fort Wayne, Plymouth and Gary, have also pledged funding toward Indiana’s half of the $2 million cost of the environmental study. The state of Ohio will pay the other half. Thallemer noted before the vote that he couldn’t promise a return on the county’s investment in a certain amount of time, but “if there’s no investment, there will be no return.” Commissioner Ron Truex moved to approve the county’s $10,000 check, which will go to Fort Wayne, remarking on the potential benefit for a small investment. “Well, we got some skin in the game, right?” Commissioner Bob Conley said after the vote. Also during the meeting, County Emergency Management Director Ed Rock said the current reported cleanup cost for the county from recent snowfall is $374,905.18. He said he expects the total to grow as more entities report in. He expressed confidence this morning that the county could qualify for federal disaster aid, having passed the $270,753 threshold based on population. Now it’s up to the rest of the state to finish reporting its costs, he said. He noted that 32 counties saw record or near-record snowfall, which should put the state pretty close to its own $9 million threshold. “If every one makes their reports, we should be close to a presidential declaration and getting (Federal Emergency Management Agency)” assistance.” Rock also said the recent snowfall set a new one-day record for the county of 14.3 inches, prompting Truex to observe that snow cleanup cost the county about $25,000 per inch. The old one-day record was 13.5 inches. And early in the meeting commissioners elected Brad Jackson as president for 2014, with Conley as vice president. Jackson’s father, Tom Jackson, was then recognized as the Veteran of the Month. The Syracuse resident served in the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1960, supervising and repairing machinery while serving tours in the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. He stood in readiness to defend the Suez Canal during the Suez Canal Crisis of 1956. “Life can change real quick,” Veteran Affairs Officer Rich Maron said of the crisis. “It could have changed, but it didn’t.”
