NORWICH – The fate of the New York Susquehanna & Western railroad tracks resting in the southern half of the county should be decided within the next two to three months, a local economic development leader said Monday.
The NYS&W’s stretch from Chenango Forks to Sherburne has been closed for over a year due to heavy flood damage suffered in June 2006.
The Cooperstown-based rail company began initial proceedings to abandon the line last November and is seeking $450,000 in public or private funding to repair the broken tracks.
County and municipal officials are meeting with representatives from Empire State Development Friday morning to learn how much state money the railroad has already received, Commerce Chenango President Maureen Carpenter said.
“In order for us to put together a plan for what we want to do, we have to get all the facts first,” said Carpenter.
Over the past few months, area business leaders and politicians have discussed several options for the currently defunct rail bed if it is abandoned, including securing funds to re-open the line, taking over ownership locally to create a scenic railroad, and transforming the tracks into a public trail system.
A railroad spokeswoman said the company has not moved forward with abandonment.
“There are no new developments on the application,” said NYS&W representative Melanie Boyer on Monday.
NYS&W President Walter Rich passed away Thursday, Aug. 9 after a nine-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Rich started in the railroad business in Otsego County over 30 years ago, while still an undergrad at Syracuse University. His company, the Delaware-Otsego Corp., purchased the tracks in Chenango County from Conrail in the early 1980s.
His passing should not impact any developments locally, both Boyer and Carpenter said separately.
“There will be no impact (in Chenango County),” said Boyer, who confirmed that Vice President Nathan Fenno will take over as president. “There will be a transition period, but a transition did occur during Walter’s illness. He had spent that time away to fight it.”
Rich had come under fire in recent years for holding what were believed to be questionable political fundraisers at his Cooperstown home and for inking a multi-million dollar deal with New York Regional Interconnect. The NYRI agreement gives the Canadian subsidiary the right to build a high-voltage power line along NYS&W tracks from Utica to Norwich.
Carpenter hopes to have a plan solidified in the coming months.
“We’re aiming to have a plan in place for how we want to move forward within the next two to three months, and however long it takes to complete it thereafter. Hopefully within a year.”
The NYS&W’s official “notice of abandonment” does not include the rails from Sherburne to Utica, which still serve a handful of customers, including Chenango Valley Pet Foods Inc. in Sherburne.
“All of our customers will continue to be served,” said Boyer. “That will not change.”
There were no customers south of Sherburne to Chenango Forks when the flood hit. However, a rail-dependent ethanol plant was slated to open in Norwich, area officials claim, until the flood. That prospect is no longer interested, according to reports from Carpenter.
Since 1982, the NYS&W has operated in this county – as it has in Broome, Madison and, until recently, Oneida – under a tax-free agreement with the local Industrial Development Agency. In Chenango County, the railroads reportedly save about $250K a year. The agreement expires in 2012.
According to the state Department of Transportation, the NYS&W has received $12 million in state funding since 2001. It has received $4 million to upgrade the tracks from Binghamton to Utica.