INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — All five County Commissioners voted to reject an agreement proposed by an All Aboard Florida attorney regarding rail crossing improvements.
“Not just no, but hell no,” said Commissioner Bob Solari in his motion to reject the vague proposal that would allow All Aboard Florida to become a third party beneficiary of crossing agreements between the County and Florida East Coast Railway, LLC.
According to County Attorney Dylan Reingold, he received an email on Dec. 26, 2013 containing a draft agreement in which All Aboard Florida “was agreeing to pay for the initial development costs of any crossing improvements required by applicable laws for safety.”
The agreement excluded costs for other improvements including those related to installing quiet zones.
In return, the County would “agree to allow (All Aboard Florida) to become a third party beneficiary of the various crossing agreements between Indian River County and Florida East Coast Railway,” according to official documentation.
Further, the All Aboard Florida legal representation assured Reingold and public works director Chris Mora, that “annual signal maintenance fees would not exceed $800 per year per crossing,” and “no other fees would be increased.”
Currently, the County has 21 crossing agreements with Florida East Coast Railway according to information provided by Reingold.
The documents, Reingold said, “are written very favorably to the railroad and not to local governments.”
Reingold said he returned the email with a revised agreement that “memorialized the promises concerning the maintenance and license fees,” “provided for cooperation and coordination between (All Aboard Florida), East Coast Railway, LLC and Indian River County with respect to additional right-of-way improvements at the crossings,” and “eliminated the third party beneficiary status.”
The revised agreement was sent on Jan. 21, Reingold said. In return, Reingold said, “We heard silence.”
On July 2, another version almost identical to the original agreement was sent to the County by an attorney with Becker & Poliakoff, a firm representing All Aboard Florida.
Reingold said the agreement still allowed All Aboard Florida third party beneficiary rights and did not address concerns around the costs the County would incur in regards to the crossings. He added, some estimates he has received leads him to believe the improvements may cost the County upwards of $280,000 per year in maintenance and rehabilitation improvements.
Reingold’s recommendation to the Board was to reject the proposal as presented. “We don’t want to agree to something…where we absolutely have no idea what the cost implications are.”
Solari quickly motioned to heed Reingold’s advice and reject the proposal, Commissioner Joe Flescher seconded the motion and the final vote was unanimous.