Concern about rail draws crowd Planning Council considers sending recommendations to federal railroad agency By Henry A. Stephens henry.stephens@scripps 772-978-2286 STUART — All Aboard Florida drew sparks Friday from regional planning officials as they considered asking federal regulators to ease the pain the planned passenger rail service is expected to cause the Treasure Coast. “You’re asking for our support, but the question I get asked is, what are you doing for our communities?,” Fort Pierce City Commissioner Thomas Perona told Jose Gonzalez, All Aboard Florida’s executive vice president for corporate development. Gonzalez said the Orlando and Miami areas, where All Aboard Florida would take passengers, are “donor communities” where economic benefits are spread to other areas. “We’ll grow the local economy when we start impacting the whole state economy,” he said. “But to build the whole system now (with Treasure Coast stations) would not be financially viable.” Gonzalez addressed the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council before a packed audience of about 80 people, as members considered relaying to the Federal Railroad Administration a series of recommendations that could offset the service’s effects. All Aboard Florida has proposed by early 2016 to start sending 16 trains round-trip each day between Orlando and Miami, with initial stops only in Fort Lauderdale See CONCERN, 15A Article Continued Below See CONCERN on Page A15 CONCERN from 1A and West Palm Beach. Among the recommendations, the council seeks to have All Aboard Floridas owner, Florida East Coast Industries, provide stops on the Treasure Coast, balance its new round-trip trains by diverting freight trains inland, and make sure the service doesnt keep the St. Lucie River railroad bridge in use so long that the trains block boaters from navigating. We have the responsibility to forward these comments to the appropriate folks, St. Lucie County Commissioner Paula Lewis said. Her comment followed Port St. Lucie Mayor JoAnn Faiella and Indian River County Commissioner Bob Solari dissenting, preferring to just oppose the service. This is going to hurt the quality of life in Fort Pierce, St. Lucie Village and Port St. Lucie, Faiella said. Solari said All Aboard Florida would seem to benefit only the high-population counties in the Orlando and Miami areas and cause noise and traffic problems on the Treasure Coast. The Federal Railroad Administration is compiling an environmental-impact statement, expected to be published as a draft this spring, to gauge how the service would affect the area. The study was done because of All Aboard Floridas application for a Railroad and Improvement Financing loan to improve the Florida East Coast corridor for new trains going up to 110 mph. To various financial questions from members, Gonzalez repeatedly noted his company is a private one and not required by law to disclose its financing. We applied for a loan, he said. Thats a loan, loan, loan. Not a grant. And its a confidential process, not free money. Solari objected to using the companys private status to keep the finances secret. Its a private company, but youre asking for a lot of government support, he said.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 08:24:43 +0000
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