NORWICH – A power line waiting to slide down 200 miles of Upstate New York has not yet legally secured the first leg of its trail, officials said.
From Utica to Woods Corners, New York Regional Interconnect Inc.’s high voltage line would follow land easements the company claims have been acquired from the New York Susquehanna & Western Railroad. However, that land has been owned by local county Industrial Development Agencies since 1982, as part of a deal to keep the railroad operating in exchange for no taxes being levied upon the Susquehanna & Western.
When asked if the Susquehanna & Western would have to first ask the Chenango County Industrial Development Agency if it could sell NYRI the rights of way in this area, IDA attorney James Downey replied, “Yes.”
“The railroad hasn’t asked the IDA to do anything,” Downey said.
NYRI spokesperson Jonathan Pierce said he believes the agreement with the rail company is good and that it secures his company’s interests. “I really don’t know what the situation may be between the railroad and other entities – it covers what we need,” Pierce said. “We may have an issue we’re not aware of, but I don’t think so.”
According to Downey, based on a lease agreement the railroad company would first need to formally request the easement of the land from the IDA. In that request there would need to be documentation from a certified engineer specifying that the land is not prudent for railroad use.
Downey added that the railroad could just opt out of the agreement altogether, and buy back the land for $1, thus ending its tax free existence in Chenango County.
City of Utica Mayor Timothy Julian filed a lawsuit June 29 in New York State Supreme Court against the NYS&W and the Oneida County IDA, arguing that the railroad’s deal with NYRI should be voided. “We believe that neither the Commissioner of Transportation nor the Oneida County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA) approved the agreement before NYRI made its statements and application to the Public Service Commission,” Julian said in a recent press release. “The railroad does not even own the land in question.”
In a phone interview with The Evening Sun, Julian said he understands the OCIDA is upset they were named in the suit against the railroad company, but that he needs to protect the rights of citizens in the Utica against the power line. “They (NYRI) have a lot cracks, and we want to be able to expose those cracks,” he said. “I think we have them on the run.”
Downey could not say how the Chenango County IDA would react if and when a request for the rights of way came through.
Town of Lincklaen Supervisor Wayne C. Outwater, a member of the Chenango County IDA, says that allowing a power line to be built on rights of way supplied by the railroad is a complete contradiction to the agreement’s purpose. “Things will change when the contract is ended,” Outwater said, if the power line is constructed. “We won’t give them tax free property.”
According to New York State Public Service Commission spokesperson David Flanagan, the fact that the rights of way are not yet rightfully owned by NYRI does not currently affect the Article VII proceedings that will decide the power line’s fate. “They cannot commence any condemnation until they have the Environmental Management and Construction Permit,” Flanagan said, explaining that since the non-utility portion of the route is not secured yet anyway, that the company has until the project is officially approved to secure the entire route. “Through purchases they would have to acquire the condemnation, they cannot do that without commission approval or the EM & CP.”
The New York Susquehanna & Western Railroad currently has similar payment in lieu of taxes agreements with several county Industrial Development Agencies from Binghamton to Utica.