Huntingburg Council discusses railroad charge and other items

We’ve already written two other stories about Tuesday’s Huntingburg Council meeting, but we thought these other items should be noted as well.

The council approved paying $10,000 to Norfolk Southern to allow utilities to go over the railroad track in connection to the overpass project completed in 2016.

According to City Attorney Phil Schneider, though the city paid a $185,000 licensing fee at the time, there was an additional fee to be paid for the utility license right-of-way. The new licensing agreement covers electric distribution lines installed west of the overpass serving the industrial park.

Though the railroad company was aware of the lines being rerouted and helped facilitate their installation, they did not mention the additional licensing fees, according to Schneider.

Then, in October of last year, the city received a letter from Rail Pros, a company managing Norfolk Southern’s crossing encroachments, demanding the additional fee of $45,000 for the crossing license.

Since then, Schneider and Energy Superintendent John Reutepohler have been in talks with the company to negotiate that fee down. “We were able to reduce that fee down to $10,000,” Schneider said, adding that it was a legitimate licensing fee from the railroad company.

“We really are encroaching over their right of way,” the city attorney explained. “Based upon what I’ve been able to learn from another attorney that does this work, $10,000 is a pretty reasonable fee for this.”

Schneider told the council that the railroad was amiable to the reduction due to the city’s work on the railroad’s electric system over the past 30 years, which has largely been provided for free.

“When they have a tree that comes down over their distribution system, they’ll call us, and John and crew will go down and remove the tree and splice the line,” Scheider explained. “It may only happen two or three times a year, but there’s never been a charge.”

He noted this was because of difficulties getting the railroad to pay. However, Reutepohler mentioned that the most recent bill was paid after he jumped through many hoops to get it done.

The council unanimously approved the agreement and payment, noting that rerouting the lines would likely be more costly. The $10,000 is for a 20-year crossing agreement for the electrical lines.

In other business, the council approved continuing a rental agreement to pay the lease for the ALASI Resource Center. The agreement, which expired in December, will be extended through the end of the year at the same rate.

As the meeting neared its end last night, Energy Superintendent Reutepohler offered up a bit of good news regarding electric rates for 2025. “The electric rates for 2025 will go down 5 percent on the tracker,” he told the council.

Clerk-Treasurer Tom Dippel also reported that over the last year, the city’s investment in TrustINdiana had yielded $1,284,999.75 at a 5.2013 percent interest rate. Dippel explained that the city keeps all its funds in this account while they are not being used for operations.

Finally, the council commended the city on its handling of the recent snow and ice. “It’s been some rough weather last couple weeks, and they they’ve come through and flying colors,” Councilman Steve McPherron said. “There’s only so much you can do when you get ice and snow like that.”

He added that all the departments’ efforts helped with the response.

Councilwoman Pam Bolte noted that while she lived in Indianapolis, they went without electricity for four days but she was confident in Huntingburg’s dedication to responding to the adverse conditions and they came through.

Councilman Glen Kissling added that the ice made it very difficult to clear the streets.

Mayor Neil Elkins said that after the event, the city employees had called for a meeting to discuss better ways to respond in the future.

“We’re fortunate it doesn’t happen every year,” Councilman Tim Wehr said.