LEDC Announces Rail Transit

By AARON LeCLAIR / lbedit7@laramieboomerang.com
Copyright © 2010 - LaramieBoomerang.com - Laramie, Wyoming

Published:
Jul 27,2010

 

The Laramie Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) plans to create a transit site with rail access for local businesses south of the city.

LEDC Chief Executive Officer Gaye Stockman and LEDC Vice-President John Dick have announced the beginning of the first phase of the South Laramie Rail Spur Project, which will be developed at an unused Union Pacific rail spur south of Laramie off Tie Plant Road.

The project will consist of a 5.65-acre trans-modal site off rail spur 107, where a business could pick up freight after it has been delivered by train.

"Basically, it's taking it off the rail and putting it on another form of transportation, which is semi truck," Stockman said.

LEDC will not own the site, but it will form a new corporation called LEDC LLC, and they will hire a third-party transit company to manage the site.

The project's first phase is to determine the demand for rail access in Laramie. So far, the LEDC has received interest from Allsop Inc.

"They've been asking me for two years to identify an opportunity for them to bring their rail cars here," Stockman said. "Right now, they have everything shipped to Denver, they put it on truck and they haul it up here."

LEDC has also met with Murdoch's Ranch and Home Supply Distribution Center about the value of rail access, she said.

The first phase does not include the erection of any buildings and will only create enough space for up to 10 rail cars, Stockman said.

"We're going to put road base out there and extend the rail," she said. "People can come in and on- and off-load their stuff."

The project has been in development since January, and is a potential solution to the problem of companies bypassing Laramie because it doesn't have rail access, Stockman said.

"LEDC has received 18 different leads from companies saying they would seriously consider looking at Laramie, but they need rail access," she said.

"Of those, 11 have died" because the companies would not have access to rail delivery, Stockman said.

LEDC produced a spreadsheet showing the businesses that withdrew interest in Laramie would have created up to 1,235 jobs.

Stockman said the project has the potential to attract businesses to Laramie, while at the same time create opportunities for existing companies.

"We see huge benefits to the community to diversify our industry base," she said.

Rail also is cleaner and cheaper than trucking, Stockman said.

LEDC chose the abandoned rail spur south of Laramie because an active spur in town will not be available once the Harney Street Viaduct is built.

"All three of (the viaduct alternatives) remove that active spur," she said.

A major challenge in developing the rail site is funding. LEDC has estimated it will cost $1.3 million to develop the site, with an unknown amount for maintenance of Blackfoot, Fort Saunders and Tie Plant roads.

"We want to make sure that we meet our obligations on impacts," Stockman said.

LEDC also is looking into what it will cost to install fire protection in the area, Stockman said.

LEDC will seek a $1 million Wyoming Business Council (WBC) Business Ready Community Grant through the city council and a $400,000 Industrial Roads Program Grant through the Albany County Commissioners.

Part of the $400,000 Industrial Roads Program Grant could be used as part of the match needed to acquire the WBC grant, Stockman said.

The deadline for the WBC grant application is Sept. 1.

"There's just a lot of balls in the air," Dick said. "There's multiple funding sources."

The grants will be used to lay the road base and purchase and the build the rail, but they cannot be used to buy the land, since it is a government land grant, Stockman said.

Once the grant money is obtained, it would take about 30-60 days to develop the site, which means it could be open next spring at the earliest, Stockman said.

LEDC will meet with the Albany County Commissioners and Laramie City Council at 6 p.m. tonight with a joint work session in city council chambers.

A public hearing on the Industrial Roads Program Grant will take place during the Aug. 3 commissioners' meeting, followed by an Albany County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on rezoning on Aug. 11, a rezoning request-for-approval in the commissioners meeting on Aug. 17 and a public hearing on the WBC grant in the city council meeting on Aug. 18.

If the first phase of the project generates enough demand from local businesses, Stockman said a second phase consisting of the development of a rail industrial park could follow.

"That's about another $600,000," she said.

For more information, contact LEDC at 742-2212.

 

Original Article Published Here: http://www.laramieboomerang.com/articles/2010/07/27/news/doc4c4e6cce40eb2697914655.txt

Copyright © 2010 - LaramieBoomerang.com - Laramie,Wyoming