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County moves to evict Catskill Mountain Railroad
Here we go again.
With all the BS that the county has thrown at a money making company I wonder why it wants to drive it out of business. Makes me wonder just what the county is going to replace it with, that will draw the tourist dollars. A hiking trail? Even at the best of times there’s never many people on one. Anywhere, They, the county must have another reason to remove this company, from it’s property. Wonder what it is?
What would it cost for the CMR to catch up on their lease payments? What’s in it for Hein that would prevent him from serving the citizens of the community? What is the “speak” of the community? We certainly know what the railroad wants to do. Hein is the wildcard. What about the community, including the idiots who need a “walking trail” upon which they will spend, at the most, a half an hour, when they have sidewalks (I’m presuming) and parks (again, presumptions.)
What’s Hein’s and the County’s real agenda. They are not forthcoming with much information, have made accusations, and not clarified any of their statements or positions. In some of the reports it is a group of elite bicyclists and hikers who want their own way regardless of the economic sense of the tourist railroad for the community and the money which has been spent by the railroad. There really seems to be something underhanded in the way the Hein and the County are behaving.
The county has argued that the railroad… Yes; The county argues that the railroad… Yes: The county has argues that the railroad…NO! What is the Watershed Post doing besides printing press releases? Story angles: The effect of the three events listed on local merchants; A poll of local citizens on the subject; or, if there is a real reporter at the paper, Whose pocket has Ulster County Executive Mike Hein got his hand in?
Everyone interested sign the petition:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/ulster-county-executive?source=s.fwd&r_by=11993244
Both out of state prospect customers, and especially network to recruit registered NY voters to sign it.
See the excellent CMRR website:
http://catskillmtrailroad.com/about.php
And it’s sister DURR to the west:
Make no small plans, connect these two routes to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown!
The story says the lease runs to May 2016 so you have to wonder why the County is spending money on legal fees to evict the railroad now. Unless the railroad has a right to renewal, they’re gone next year anyway. What is the consequence of waiting a year to pull up the track and build a trail?
My bet is the property is ripe for real estate development and the county official’s palms are opened.
It’s a proven fact that a tourist railroad (especially a good one) generates a lot more local tax revenue than a hike/bike trail. The railrod pays property taxes, sales taxes on ticket sales and souvenirs to the local government, plus the tourists that come in to ride the railroad spend money on motels, food, etc., thus contributing even more tax dollars to the local economy.
This sounds like somebody in local government is getting their palms “greased”, and the local media needs to “follow the money” to find out the truth.
19 Jan. How appropriate. Mike Hein might paraphrase Mike King: “I have a dream…of Spandexed hikers and bicyclists leaving dirty diapers, plastic water bottles, and Labrador ‘land mines’ on the trail that was once a railroad.”.
Ulster County has to look no further north than the two counties that own the Saratoga & North Creek, and lease it to Iowa Pacific, who run a successful tourist train operation.
We have seen this in Peoria too. The bikers and hikers vocally advocate for a trail and convince a local government to go along. In the Peoria case, it was a freight hauling short line that got the boot. In this case, if the lease expires the railroad may not be able to stop this, even if they win in court. However, with the special events, they may have started a campaign to get the community support that will be necessary to get the county officials to take notice. Maybe the county is going to court now because they are afraid that the railroad may be able to generate a lot of public support by 2016. The other thing that the railroad could do is try to find some freight customers. Then they could argue against any abandonment application before the STB by saying that this is a viable fright line.
Like Jim Norton ( Frm Alabama) said there has to be a hidden reason for Mr. Donaldson’s intransigence in this matter… The most likely culprit is a ‘Real Estate DEAL’ (?)… or maybe some minerals(?).
A competent politician does not flush a potential possibility to bring in revenue to their constituency. As others have mentioned The Iowa Pacific venture, the Saratoga & North Creek RR, also the Adirondack Scenic RR would be shining examples of potential for tourist lines to generate revenue and maybe, bring potential freight service to that area…In my mind the Politician’s motives are very suspect.
If your at all aware of the kind of growth that ulster county has sustained you might understand Mr. Donaldson position. Ulstra county has become a growing and desirable place for folks from NYC to buy a second home. Kingston is about 90 miles from NYC and about 20 odd miles from the original site of wood stock. On here many would label these folks tree huggers and liberals but they are the tax payers that Mr. Donaldson has to represent. Playing devils advocate, the railroad up to llast year grossed or netted less than a hundred thousand in income, not a huge amount for a group that has been in business for 20 plus years.
With that said I not advocating the rail road be closed done hopefully a compromise can be worked out.
But I don’t think its up to the rail fan community to bash local politics. Let the locals work it out.
Mr. Prest- maybe a typo? It’s Hein who has been the intransigent mule in this saga. I grew up in Kingston, and the area certainly was very conservative and not at all forward thinking. Hein is part of that old guard. As Ulster County grows it attracts more open-minded and progressive people. The tax-payers are not very deep-pocketed. The railroad is absolutely correct in reaching out to the public to convince them they can operate without public money (but need public money to help with infrastructure, as would a trail). They also seem to be taking the high road in trying to talk to Hein. Also, the Woodstock Festival took place in Bethel, not really very near the namesake town or even Kingston. Rock & Roll and Railroads, gotta love it.
It doesn’t make any sense for the county to pay all that money to evict the railroad and build the trail. They will never get the return on the investment. Must be some kind of development deal with a payoff for the local politicians.
it doesn’t make any sense to build a rail trail an new one in Belfast Maine no one uses.
“The county has argues (sic) that the railroad has defaulted on its lease …” Hello-o-o-o-o … How about if an investigative reporter, from outside of Ulster County (NYC or Albany, perhaps) follow the paper trail to see if that is so … If not, then County Commissioner Hein needs to be publicly called out for such falsehood. If it is so, why won’t the county negotiate with the railroad to catch up on the payments? I’m sure that amount would be paltry compared with the $$$$ being spent on attorney and court costs. If Ulster County wins out, you can be sure that I won’t ever show up there with my tourist dollars … ever!