CCPA OKs $16K to Survey 1.5 Miles of Rail
EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio -- The board of the Columbiana County Port Authority Monday authorized spending $16,000 to survey the roughly 1½ miles of the Youngstown & Southern Railroad between Signal and Rogers to resolve any remaining title issues.
The surveyor awarded the contract, Dallis Dawson & Associates, East Liverpool, is expected to survey 7,376 feet of the rail line within Elkrun Township to ensure the port authority has unquestioned clear title to the entire length of the short line before Mule Sidetracks, a subsidiary of energy giant MarkWest Energy Partners LP, Denver, takes possession in two months.
The segment of the rail line to be surveyed “is still in the name of three owners ago,” the CEO of the port authority, Tracy Drake, explained. Concerned about challenges to its ownership of the line that lies within Darlington Township in western Pennsylvania, the port authority had that stretch surveyed and found all was in order with the title (although there was a matter of unpaid back real estate taxes, since resolved).
A staff member in county engineer Bert Dawson’s office, however, discovered the unexpected discrepancy of who owned the 7,376-foot stretch in Elkrun Township and brought it to the attention of the port authority, necessitating the hiring of Dallis Dawson.
Once its work is complete, the port authority must present that work to the county court of common pleas so it can gain title, Drake said. He expects transfer of ownership “in a couple of months,” one month to conduct the survey, another month for the court to satisfy itself on ownership and the title.
It is the last piece of the puzzle so Mule Sidetracks can take title of the 36-mile short line that runs from Youngstown to Darlington, Pa. The Surface Transportation Board, which regulates railroads, has already given its approval.
Copyright 2013, The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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