Winthrop Council member to lead Railroad Coalition
September 25th, 2008Working with local and regional community leaders and state and federal legislators to promote far-reaching economic growth opportunity and sustainability through the continued development and revitalization of the Minnesota Valley Regional Rail line.
That is the mission statement of the newly created Minnesota Valley Regional Rail Authority coalition. The coalition held its organizational meeting Sept. 17 at the Winthrop Vets Club.
Winthrop City Council member Rob Edwards was elected chairperson of the coalition. Tim Dolan, Sibley County Economic Development Director, will serve as vice-chairperson. Winthrop City Administrator and EDA Director Mark Erickson will serve as secretary/treasurer.
For a board of directors, communities in attendance decided that there should be one representative from each community located on the Minnesota Prairie Line. Gaylord’s representative will be City Administrator Kevin McCann. Arlington City Administrator Matt Jaunich will serve as Arlington’s representative. Jeff Nielsen of United Farmers Co-op will serve as Winthrop’s representative. Dick Gurska will serve as Gibbon’s representative. Gene Luettke of South Central Co-op will serve as Fairfax’s representative. Julie Rath of Redwood Area Development will serve as the Redwood Falls representative. Tom Simmons will represent Norwood Young America, while Chuck Steffl will represent Belview.
Representatives are still needed from Green Isle, Franklin, Morton, Echo, Wood Lake, and Hanley Falls.
In the coalition’s organization, three standing committees were established. These committees are marketing and education, lobbying, and finance and research.
Gaylord City Council member Pat Pinske will head the education and marketing committee. Representatives from the Minnesota Prairie Line and Redwood County Commissioner Gene Short will head the lobbying committee, while Scott Blumhoefer, vice president of Heartland Corn Products, will head the finance and research committee.
Sibley County and the City of Winthrop have already committed to the $1 per capita funding requests. Upon the suggestion of Bob Ness, Congressman Collin Peterson’s assistant, the coalition will check with the Highway 15 Coalition to see how that group has been funded.
The coalition’s offices and board of directors will work with Attorney Dave Schauer to establish legal authority and tax status.
The Regional Rail Coalition decided to hold its meetings the third Wednesday of each month, the same as the Regional Rail Authority. Rail Authority meetings alternate between Gaylord and Redwood Falls.
The next coalition meeting will be held Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 1 p.m. in the Belview City Hall.
