Lawmakers Question CSX Deal

Lawmakers Question CSX Deal By LINDSAY PETERSON, The Tampa Tribune Published: December 14, 2007 TALLAHASSEE - Florida lawmakers got their first chance Thursday to publicly question the state's $491 million deal with CSX Transportation. The state Department of Transportation began negotiating with CSX more than two years ago and this month it signed an agreement with the railroad company to buy 61 miles of track in the Orlando area for commuter rail and help the company expand its freight operations to a massive hub in Polk County. But it's not a done deal, said state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, in a meeting of his Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee. So far the state has only set aside money for the commuter rail and freight expansion project, he said. "We haven't put anything out yet." Two senators at the meeting, Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, and Alex Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, sharply questioned the deal, saying the state should take a closer look before it spends half a billion dollars. Diaz de la Portilla asked how the commuter project would relieve truck traffic; how the DOT determined the number of people who would ride the commuter line; and what CSX is contributing to the cost of its rail improvements. "Before we make that kind of expenditure," he said, "we need to know all the details." Fasano said lawmakers will have a chance to debate the expenditure when the Legislature goes into session next spring. But state DOT Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos warned at the meeting that if the Legislature rejects the deal, the state would lose more than $250 million in federal money for construction of a commuter system that Orlando area leaders have been working to get for more than 20 years. "This was built from the bottom up," said a stern state Sen. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, clearly displeased by his colleagues' questions about the CSX deal. "I am a supporter of this project" because of the support it has from the residents and businesses of the Orlando area. Deal's Secrecy Is Issue But the deal wouldn't have become controversial if it hadn't been planned in secret, said Dockery, who isn't on Fasano's committee but was invited to sit in because of her interest in the project. "If this was such a great deal, why was it not done in the open?" she said, as Webster sat nearly with his back to her, looking at her over his shoulder. It's being called a "bottom-up" project, but only the people who would benefit, in the Orlando area, were consulted, she said. The plan essentially would take CSX's cargo trains off the rail line running through Orlando and dump them onto a single freight superhighway that would run through the heart of downtown Lakeland. "I'm upset the state is paying so more freight can come through our town and kill our way of life and we didn't even know it was happening," Dockery said. She and others from outside the Orlando area found out about the state's negotiations with CSX about a year and a half ago, but weren't given details of how many more trains would come through Lakeland. Frustrated by conflicting and evasive answers she said she got from DOT officials about how the deal came together, Dockery said she put in a public records request and received about 20 boxes of documents. She's still going through them, she said. Though Fasano did not come out against the project, he did question how the state would be sure it was getting its money's worth. "At what point do the taxpayers start making money" on the commuter rail system, he asked. Kopelousos didn't know. "Only time will tell," she said. On the $491 million expenditure, including the expansion of CSX's freight operations into the new Polk County hub, she said that for every dollar the state would spend, it would get back three in direct and indirect public benefits. The primary return will be in reduction of road congestion, she said, and the savings of not having to expand highways in Central Florida. But when Diaz de la Portilla asked about the potential drop in truck traffic, Kopelousos said truck traffic could get worse. "Depending on CSX and their vision, that will either help or hurt that," she said. Diaz de la Portilla said when people were trying to persuade South Florida to build its commuter system, Tri-Rail, two decades ago, they said the same thing the DOT is saying now, that it would reduce congestion and save highway construction money. "You hear these kinds of promises," he said, but "they're overblown. ... In 10 years you'll need to build the extra lanes anyway." Unanswered Money Questions Diaz de la Portilla also questioned why the state is giving money to a private rail company that is rich enough to spend $3 billion to buy back its own stock. In its deal with CSX, the state is giving the company nearly $300 million to expand its lines into Polk County and move freight and truck operations to the new Winter Haven hub. Kopelousos said CSX is paying for a portion of those improvements, but when Diaz de la Portilla asked how much, she couldn't answer. "Someone in the department must have an answer," he said. The company has paid $1 billion on improvements from Chicago into Florida, Kopelousos said. "We're not talking about that," Diaz de la Portilla said. "We're talking about our Florida system." Fasano pointed out that CSX lobbyists were in the meeting room. But they didn't offer an answer either. "I highly recommend you get those numbers," he said to Kopelousos. Also Thursday, state Rep. Rich Glorioso, head of the House Infrastructure Committee, questioned Kopelousos at his committee meeting. He said he was most concerned about increased train traffic through Plant City and Lakeland. State Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, criticized the CSX deal not only for its potential effect on his area, but as an example of poor planning. This may not be the best way to bring commuter rail to the state, he said. "We need a comprehensive plan." Also, Ross said Lakeland officials have identified an alternate site for CSX's new hub, in unreclaimed phosphate land southwest of Winter Haven, and alternate rail routes that would bypass Lakeland. Dockery also talked about the new location at Fasano's committee meeting. Afterward, CSX spokesman Gary Sease said the company would cooperate if the state wants to explore a rail relocation, but he said it would be "very difficult." After his meeting, Glorioso said there would be a lot more discussion on the CSX issue as lawmakers approach the 2008 session. Then he went into a meeting with CSX lobbyists who were waiting for him. Reporter Lindsay Peterson can be reached at (813) 259-7834, or lpeterson@tampatrib.com.