Reading and Northern Railroad is urging its “supporters, passengers, friends, and community members” to attend Tuesday’s Luzerne County Council meeting to “make their voice heard” regarding the county rail line, according to an online posting.
A council vote is scheduled Tuesday to either approve or veto the county Redevelopment Authority’s Sept. 15 decision to sell the rail line to another company — R.J. Corman Railroad Group — for $8.2 million.
R.J. Corman declined comment Monday on the authority’s selection of its company and the pending council vote because the sale decision is still in process. The company indicated its representatives will attend Tuesday’s council meeting.
The county has started receiving public comment emails supporting both rail companies, which it has been posting with Tuesday’s agenda at luzernecounty.org.
Reading and Northern offered a $10 million package — $7 million cash at closing plus $3 million for specific track-related rehabilitation services to be spent during the first three years — in addition to a commitment to make upgrades to provide tourism-related, passenger-train excursions from a depot in Wilkes-Barre.
In response to the authority’s Sept. 15 vote, Reading and Northern Chairman and CEO Andy M. Muller Jr. announced the county can keep the entire $10 million. However, county officials said the council cannot officially lock in the verbal revision because it came after the proposal deadline.
The council has power over which entity acquires the authority-owned line because of a litigation settlement agreement in which the authority owes the county $3.28 million. This agreement says the county can reject any bid “for any reason.”
If the council approves the authority’s selection of R.J. Corman, the matter is essentially closed, pending further review and approval of agreement terms and conditions.
It’s unclear what happens if the council chooses the other option to “object to” and “not approve any sale to R.J. Corman.”
The council cannot outright award the sale to any entity because the authority still owns the property.
However, the county would be in the driver’s seat and immediately take possession of all rail property if a sale doesn’t close by Oct. 9, the settlement agreement said.
In that scenario, both the authority and county would still be entitled to receive a share of excess sale proceeds when the property is sold if the authority and its affiliated Rail Corp. “are not the cause for the failure to close” on the sale by Oct. 9, it said.
Authority Board Chairman Scott Linde said Monday he has no idea if or how the authority board would respond to a Tuesday veto because the sale is being conducted under the umbrella of the litigation settlement.
The authority board is not scheduled to meet again until Oct. 20, which means a special meeting would be necessary if it wants to take any official action.
Linde said the R.J. Corman selection yielded the highest up-front cash offer.
“Based on the facts, I think we made the decision that is called for to sell a public asset,” Linde said. “Information provided by our legal counsel supported our decision.”
Korey Colyer, R.J. Corman’s chief strategy officer, said during public comment before the authority vote that his company was the high bidder and “put forth the highest value” with $8.2 million in cash.
However, a citizen committee had recommended selecting Reading & Northern, noting that it presented the “highest stated overall dollar commitment among the proposals” and would offer the passenger excursions.
Reading and Northern’s Facebook post asked people to share their story with the council if they have enjoyed riding the company’s trains, visiting its stations, attending its events, or “seeing the railroad bring visitors to our region.”
“This is an opportunity to speak about the Reading & Northern Railroad, share your experiences, and tell the council about the positive impact the railroad has on our communities, tourism, businesses, and the local economy,” it said.
Tuesday’s voting meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Instructions for the remote attendance option are posted in the council’s online meeting section at luzernecounty.org.