It is hard to believe the Indian River County Commission would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review its lawsuit against Virgin Trains, which just failed in dismal fashion in appellate court.
But St. Lucie’s neighboring county has already persisted longer and spent more on its legal battle to block high-speed passenger trains than any neighboring county, so who knows?
In any case, the County Commission will have to decide soon whether to continue its increasing quixotic crusade to stop the high-speed rail project, which commissioners fear will cost the county money, threaten public safety and reduce quality of life along the route. Commissioners have until March 19 to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari if they want to continue fighting to overturn federal financial and environmental approvals for Virgin Trains passenger rail project.
Indian River County Attorney Dylan Reingold and the county’s train counsel, Philip Karmel of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, will discuss the ramifications of the appellate court ruling and how to advise the commissioners, county spokesman Brian Sullivan said Friday. The commissioners’ first public discussion about the next step in the legal battle against Virgin Trains could come as soon as their Jan. 7 meeting, Sullivan said. But it has not yet been placed on the agenda.
In December 2018, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper threw out the county’s lawsuit challenging the train project, ruling that the environmental review complied with federal rules and that federally backed allocation of more than $1 billion in bonds complied with federal tax code requirements.
The Commission voted to spend $400,000 on an appeal but on Dec. 20 the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the district judge’s dismissal of the county’s complaint.
Reingold and the county commissioners could not be reached last week for comment on the appellate court dismissal and whether they’re considering a Supreme Court appeal.
The county has spent about $3.5 million on the legal battle against the passenger rail project since 2014, when it was known as All Aboard Florida. It’s since been rebranded Brightline and later as Virgin Trains USA.
Virgin Trains plans to spend $2.4 billion constructing new tracks from Orlando to Cocoa and upgrading the Florida East Coast Railway tracks from Cocoa through the Treasure Coast to West Palm Beach.
Meanwhile, Martin County commissioners, Indian River County’s former partner in the legal fight, expect to vote this month to endorse Virgin Trains’ plans for a new $100 million railroad lift bridge across the St. Lucie River.
The Martin and Indian River County commissions spent more than $7 million combined in legal costs fighting the passenger rail project.
But their paths diverged in November 2018 when the Martin County commissioners accepted a settlement agreement with Virgin Trains and the U.S. Department of Transportation, while the Indian River County commissioners continued the court fight.
Martin County Commissioner Ed Ciampi said he was not surprised Indian River County lost the appeal and remained confident settling the case was best for Martin County.
“I’m happy because it reinforces our decision being correct for Martin County, but I’m sad for my Indian River County commissioner colleagues,” Ciampi said. “The (appellate) decision is just another in a long line of decisions that did not go our way.”
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