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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08 WRRTC_Minutes_08-08-2025_ApprovedWRRTC August 08, 2025 MEETING MINUTES – APPROVED 1 Wisconsin River Rail Transit Commission Commission Meeting – Friday August 08, 2025 at 10:00 am 1. 10:00 AM Call to Order – Carl Orr, 1st Vice Chair 10:01 2. Roll Call. Establishment of Quorum – Admin Crawford Carl Orr, 1st Vice Chair X Jefferson Mary Roberts X Mark Gilberts X John Kannard, Vice Secretary X Tom Cornford Absent Jeff Smith X Dan Herbst, Alternate Absent Dane Kevin Potter X Rock Dave Homan, 2nd Vice Treasurer X Jeff Huttenburg, Treasurer X Tom Brien Absent Jim Bolitho X Kevin Stone X Grant David Wiederholt Absent Sauk Brian Peper X Mike Lieurance X Gaile Burchill X Robert Scallon, 2nd Vice Chair Excused Marty Krueger, Chair Excused Tim McCumber, Alternate Excused Green Harvey Kubly, 1st Vice Treasurer X Walworth Al Stanek Absent Larry Kranig Absent Richard Kuhnke, 2nd Vice Secretary Excused Mark Gundlach X Allan Polyock Excused Iowa Charles Anderson, Secretary X Waukesha Rick Beutler, 3rd Vice Treasurer Absent Kate Reimann X Karl Nilson Absent Craig Hardy Michael Gates Absent X Wayne Euclide X Commission met quorum. Others present for all or some of the meeting: • Scott Edmundson, WisDOT • Julia Potter, WRRTC Attorney • Troy Maggied, SWWRPC Ken Lucht, WSOR Alan Anderson, Pink Lady Don Vruwink, OCR 3. Action Item. Certification of Meeting’s Public Notice – Noticed by Admin. Motion to approve meeting’s public notice – Anderson/Reimann. Passed unanimously 4. Action Item. Approval of Agenda – Prepared by Admin. Motion to approve the agenda as posted – Smith/Reimann. Passed unanimously 5. Action Item. Approval of draft July 11, 2025 Meeting Minutes – Prepared by Admin. Motion to approve the July 11, 2025 meeting minutes – Lieurance/Reimann. Passed unanimously 6. Updates. Public Comment – Time for public comment may be limited by the Chair. Alan Anderson reported that weight restrictions are removed from the Merrimac bridge, and the impacts of this on local businesses. Wayne Euclide introduced himself as the new representative from Waukesha County. 7. Updates. Announcements by Commissioners None REPORTS & COMMISSION BUSINESS 8. WRRTC Financial Report – Treasurer Huttenburg presented the monthly financial statements for June 2025. There were no transactions. LGIP interest was reported. Project funds are available and presented for the Janesville bridge. One bill for $350.74 for a public meeting notice for the 2026 budget. Motion to approve the June 2025 Treasurer’s Report and payment of bill as presented. Anderson/Burchill. Passed unanimously. WRRTC August 08, 2025 MEETING MINUTES – APPROVED 2 9. Wisconsin & Southern Railroad’s Report on Operations – Lucht, WSOR Lucht reported on maintenance projects leading to Class II status on various subdivisions. Weed and brush control are completed for this year, and will resume in January. Track expansion in Darien has received all permit approvals. Traffic is down this year. Most grain is still at the elevators and not yet shipped. Sand is also down significantly, and traffic in Green Lake County is also down. Carload and revenue are projected to be down this year over last year. DOT has helped with encroachments on the railroad ROW. A new septic system was installed in the railroad ROW outside of Bridgeport, along with a portion of a new garage tied to a recreational property. A new private crossing application has been submitted to the Commission in Boscobel and will be presented to the Commission at the September meeting. Weight restrictions are removed from the Merrimac Bridge after 5 years. The system still needs improvements on the system to support businesses who need improved shipping productivity, with the main limitation being on the Janesville bridge. A federal grant was awarded for this project, but the project cannot begin due to conflicts with another railroad which is not providing access to the bridge for the work. Lucht and several commissioners urged individuals to engage legislators to help address this issue. The Commission requested an agenda item on the September meeting to address this. Lucht will send a visual aid for distribution along with the September agenda. 10. Discussion and possible action on offer to use agreement for Market Street encroachments, Oregon, WI – Chair Attorney Potter provided an update on the history of this agreement. It is a WRRTC issue since it is occurring in Illinois. The permitting and process reflect those performed by WisDOT. The term is for 2-years and $500 annual fee per other similar agreements. Huttenburg recommended adding a clause that shifts litigation fees away from the prevailing party, in the event that this permit goes to court. WSOR and WisDOT would also need to approve this clause. Huttenburg stated that this clause give incentive for parties to settle instead of engaging in litigation. The permit retains the Commission’s ability to terminate the agreement with 60 days’ notice and remove any encroachments in the ROW, recovering costs on these expenses. Lucht noted that three businesses are conducting business on the ROW, including loading operations, on a daily basis. He recommended that the fee be adjusted higher to reflect market use. Bolitho and Kannard stated that the property descriptions lack any tie to monuments or boundary lines that would enable future parties to identify the exact location of the use area. Potter stated that full legal descriptions are not required, however the Commission could require this. The agreement will be amended to state that the use is on the east side of the track, adjusting the exhibit to show “Johnson Street” fully labeled. Other recommended adjustments were recommended. Attorney Potter will make the necessary adjustments and update the use agreement. Edmundson will provide the Commission DOT standards for fees for future consideration. Motion to direct legal counsel revise the agreement with the comments noted and to include the “fee-shifting” clause recommended by Huttenburg - Reimann/Kannard. Passed unanimously. 11. WisDOT Report The Merrimac Bridge is wrapping up the punch list items. WisDOT is discussing a ribbon cutting with WSOR. 12. Permits / Licenses None. 13. Adjournment. Motion to Adjourn at 11:03 am. Gilberts/Anderson. Passed unanimously.