Port looks to hold Rail Authority together

With its state funds spent, the Palouse River and Coulee City Rail Authority is considering what its course of action should be in the future or if it has a future at all. The authority was formed in March of 2008 to meet a state mandate for getting $8.7 million to upgrade the rail network.

The authority was formed and the funds have since been spent on a variety of railroad upgrades.

The Port of Whitman County is polling other member entities to gauge their interest in continuing the Palouse River and Coulee City Rail Authority.

“It always was my hope that one entity would rise to the surface,” Port of Whitman Commissioner Bob Gronholz said at the Oct. 8 meeting of port commissioners. “I think without us grabbing the lead on this, it will fall apart.”

Gronholz currently serves as president of the Rail Authority.

Now that the state money has been spent, the authority lacks a clear directive, said Gronholz.

Port officials are concerned that the other three counties on the rail authority board will lose interest with no pre-set funding at stake.

The port represents Whitman County’s interests on the four-county board. Along with the port, the governing board consists of representatives from Grant, Lincoln and Spokane counties.

Lincoln County played an active role in overseeing the repair dollars, said Joe Poire, port executive director. Poire credited Lincoln County Commissioner Ted Hopkins for coordinating the authority when he served as its president prior to this year. Hopkins, though, is not seeking re-election as commissioner this year.

Grant and Spokane counties have been “lukewarm” in trying to obtain funding to improve the state-owned shortlines, Poire said, and the Lincoln County focus could wane without Hopkins.

“They don’t have what we have at stake in this,” said Poire.

Poire and Bruce Ensley, port attorney, crafted changes to the rail authority’s charter. They are now contacting the other three counties to see if they are interested in making the system a viable shipping alternative in the future.

Poire said the problem has been having the Department of Transportation perform maintenance without an expressed directive from the authority as to where upgrades are most needed to meet shipping needs.

The rail authority, he added, needs to tell the state what it wants from the shortline system to coordinate repair efforts where they will have the most economic benefit.