CITY of RAPID CITY

Agenda Item Summary

 

Meeting Date: 9/11/2013

L&F Committee: 9/11/2013

Staff Contact: Wade Nyberg

City Council: 9/16/2013

Agenda Title:

Resolution No 2013-092 of the City of Rapid City, South Dakota, Supporting the State of South Dakota’s Petition to the Surface Transportation Board to Enforce Canadian Pacific Railway Company’s Investment Representations Made at the Time of its Acquisition of the DM&E Railroad  

Summary:

In 2008, Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CP) purchased the DM&E Railroad.  This included the line that ran east-west through South Dakota that serves Rapid City.  In order to gain approval for the purchase by the Surface Transportation Board, CP made certain representations about improvements it would make, including hundreds of millions of dollars of capital investments and $300 million in track upgrades to bring all DM&E track to Class 3 standards. It also touted the benefits of single system service and efficiency to DM&E shippers.  In December of 2012, CP announced that it planned to sell or otherwise dispose of the DM&E line west of Tracy, MN, which includes the entirety of DM&E’s lines in South Dakota.  Upon this announcement, Governor Daugaard became involved, and he requested information related to the representations made to secure purchase approval. CP asserted it made $318 million of capital investments, but did not provide details for its assertion.  Also, CP admitted much of the DM&E track was not upgraded to Class 3 standards, and it had no intention of making those improvements.  The Governor directed the Department of Transportation to file a petition with the Surface Transportation to enforce CP’s representations.  This resolution offers support of the State’s petition.

Funding Source & Fiscal Impact (if applicable):

N/A

Recommendation:

Action: Choose an item. Approve

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Attachments & Links:

Resolution No. 2013-092

Petition of the State of SD

Pennington County Resolution

Letter of Support Click here to enter text.

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