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TURD NEWS FROM NEW YORK
Author: ed the turd
Date: 06-15-2020 - 11:22
TURD NEWS FROM NEW YORK
Ed the Turd here. The State of New York filed a letter at the Serf Board on June 11 regarding the SNC. While this may be boaring we just wanted to keep you alll informed.
STB Docket No. AB 1261
DEC= New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
SNCR= Saratoga and North Creek Railway
Board=Surface Transportation Board
September 10, 2018
DEC files with the board for authorization to abandon approximately thirty miles of the SNCR
July 12, 2019
DEC asked the Board to set a briefing schedule under which SNCR would have 30 days to file its opposition papers, if any.
August 29, 2019
the Board granted the DEC’s request and set a briefing schedule.
September 30, 2019
DEC filed a timely request for a certificate of interim trail use. SNCR failed to oppose the Department’s abandonment application by the September 30 deadline set forth in the Board’s scheduling order.
October 18, 2019
In a letter to the Board, SNCR agreed to proceed with the abandonment on a voluntary basis; “irrevocably represent[ed]” that it did not and would not oppose DEC’s abandonment application; and affirmatively stated that “the public convenience and necessity favor abandonment” of the SNCR Line
March 17, 2020
Bankruptcy trustee for the estate of SNCR’s parent company San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad, Inc. filed a voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on behalf of SNCR.
April 17, 2020
Trustee wrote to the Board conceding that the automatic stay “may not apply” to the DEC’s abandonment proceeding, but requesting that the proceeding nevertheless be held in abeyance so that he might “determine [whether] SNCR can be sold as an operating railway.”
May 19, 2020
The Board granted the trustee’s request and stayed the abandonment proceeding until further notice.
DEC’s Letter sez
While the Department did not oppose the trustee’s request, it does not believe—for the reasons set forth in its initial application—that SNCR can be sold as a viable freight railroad. The Department takes particular issue, however, with SNCR’s May 11, 2020 letter to the Board.
SNCR made no attempt to consult with DEC before filing the letter, and there is no truth to SNCR’s representation that its October 2019 filing was “predicated” on a “reasonable” and “timely” proposal from the Department regarding interim trail use.
In reality, because the Board has not yet issued a certificate of interim trail use, the time period in which DEC may attempt to negotiate a trail use agreement has not yet begun to run.
Regardless, SNCR has affirmatively and irrevocably represented to the Board that it does not oppose the Department’s application, and the Board should not countenance any attempt to rescind that representation. Nor should the Board credit SNCR’s unsubstantiated claim—made in violation of its irrevocable statement of non-opposition—that “freight railroad operations [on the Line] now appear[] viable.”
Ed the Turd here. The State of New York filed a letter at the Serf Board on June 11 regarding the SNC. While this may be boaring we just wanted to keep you alll informed.
STB Docket No. AB 1261
DEC= New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
SNCR= Saratoga and North Creek Railway
Board=Surface Transportation Board
September 10, 2018
DEC files with the board for authorization to abandon approximately thirty miles of the SNCR
July 12, 2019
DEC asked the Board to set a briefing schedule under which SNCR would have 30 days to file its opposition papers, if any.
August 29, 2019
the Board granted the DEC’s request and set a briefing schedule.
September 30, 2019
DEC filed a timely request for a certificate of interim trail use. SNCR failed to oppose the Department’s abandonment application by the September 30 deadline set forth in the Board’s scheduling order.
October 18, 2019
In a letter to the Board, SNCR agreed to proceed with the abandonment on a voluntary basis; “irrevocably represent[ed]” that it did not and would not oppose DEC’s abandonment application; and affirmatively stated that “the public convenience and necessity favor abandonment” of the SNCR Line
March 17, 2020
Bankruptcy trustee for the estate of SNCR’s parent company San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad, Inc. filed a voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on behalf of SNCR.
April 17, 2020
Trustee wrote to the Board conceding that the automatic stay “may not apply” to the DEC’s abandonment proceeding, but requesting that the proceeding nevertheless be held in abeyance so that he might “determine [whether] SNCR can be sold as an operating railway.”
May 19, 2020
The Board granted the trustee’s request and stayed the abandonment proceeding until further notice.
DEC’s Letter sez
While the Department did not oppose the trustee’s request, it does not believe—for the reasons set forth in its initial application—that SNCR can be sold as a viable freight railroad. The Department takes particular issue, however, with SNCR’s May 11, 2020 letter to the Board.
SNCR made no attempt to consult with DEC before filing the letter, and there is no truth to SNCR’s representation that its October 2019 filing was “predicated” on a “reasonable” and “timely” proposal from the Department regarding interim trail use.
In reality, because the Board has not yet issued a certificate of interim trail use, the time period in which DEC may attempt to negotiate a trail use agreement has not yet begun to run.
Regardless, SNCR has affirmatively and irrevocably represented to the Board that it does not oppose the Department’s application, and the Board should not countenance any attempt to rescind that representation. Nor should the Board credit SNCR’s unsubstantiated claim—made in violation of its irrevocable statement of non-opposition—that “freight railroad operations [on the Line] now appear[] viable.”
| Subject | Written By | Date/Time (PST) |
|---|---|---|
 TURD NEWS FROM NEW YORK |
ed the turd | 06-15-2020 - 11:22 |
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Re: TURD NEWS FROM NEW YORK
|
J.K. Trowling | 06-16-2020 - 08:49 |