I've read about 10% of the giant document.
scoostraw wrote:"If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull." - W.C. Fields
The county is setting up backup arguments in case they lose the STB declares the railroad non-abandoned. They are throwing in everything including the kitchen sink and seeing if it sticks to the wall. Very sleezy lawyer-like.
So, how do you lease an abandoned railroad for 25 years to a railroad?
The county allegedly bought an abandoned railroad.... from a railroad. For use as a railroad.
The NYDEP wouldn't possibly allow fill to be added to the ROW inside the reservoir property. Or allow work near a brook. But the railroad has a permanent easement, so of course they can work on their ROW. How wide is the ROW easement through the reservoir?
Towns objected to the original abandonment, which was abandoned due to "flaws". How were their objections resolved during the "second" abandonment process?
Was the CMRR regulated by the FRA or the state of NY? Did the county inform the CMRR that it was operating on a supposedly abandoned line? Were FRA inspectors ever onsite?
I read that the CMRR briefly provided some freight service in Kingston, connected to the national rail network. Does this constitute "unabandoning", and how does that work?