HomeMy WebLinkAboutCharles McMillan - rail service Cindy Allen
From: charles mcmillan [cbmcmil @yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 10:52 AM
To: Cindy Allen
Subject: FW: Missoula_Resolution_7349.doc
Monday Sept. 13, 2010
Dear: Montana Mayors
Montana City Council Members
Montana County Commissioners
■
We in the rural areas of the western United States need to engage in a multi -state effort to craft and pass "Local
Resolutions" requesting that our Governor, Lt. Governor and our Congressional delegation in Washington,D.C.,
support and work towards the return of daily passenger rail service through our respective cities and towns that
would be served by the return of Amtrak's former North Coast Hiawatha from Chicago to Seattle/Portland.
If each of you will work to bring to reality this undertaking, we can show the President, Congress, our Governor
and our leadership in the National Association of Railroad Passengers (www.narprail.org) our total and
wholehearted support behind any and all efforts they may be engaged in related to the reinstatement of the
North Coast Hiawatha running through southern North Dakota, and Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington
state; the Pioneer from Seattle/Portland to Denver, Colorado; and the Desert Wind from Los Angeles to Salt
Lake City, Utah via Las Vegas. Restoring these trains would provide essential passenger rail service and more
travel options in the west as well as connecting more cities and towns to the overall Amtrak network..
Please review the attached Missoula, MT City Council Resolution as a model for your consideration. Upon
passage of a RESOLUTION OF SUPPORT in your community, please post your efforts to your local
newspapers; and we would be more than willing to assist in forwarding your documents to those parties
mentioned above. Should you opt to forward your own RESOLUTION, please include a copy for our files.
Thank you for all your work and help in this endeavor.
1
Now is the time for all of us in the western U.S. to make our voices heard in Washington. We can only
accomplish this with your collective effort in the form of RESOLUTIONS calling for the RESTORATION OF
PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE in and through our home towns.
Respectfully,
Chuck McMillan, NARP Member
2400 Sunlight Circle #3
Helena, Mt. 59601
(406) 788 -6512 (Cell)
cbmcmil@yahoo.com - (E -Mail)
Barry E. Green, NARP Rep. (Montana)- Glendive
Dave Strohmaier, NARP Member and City Council Member- Missoula
Kirk Thompson, NARP Member- Stevensville
Warren McGee, NARP Member- Livingston
RESOLUTION NUMBER 7349
A RESOLUTION OF THE MISSOULA CITY COUNCIL, MISSOULA COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS, MISSOULA AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, AND THE MONTANA ASSOCIATION OF
RAILROAD PASSENGERS, SUPPORTING THE PASSENGER RAIL INVESTMENT AND IMPROVEMENT ACT OF
2008 AND URGING FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR REESTABLISHING PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE THROUGH
SOUTHERN MONTANA.
WHEREAS, our airports and roadways are severely congested, we face a dwindling supply of oil, and trains are among
the most energy efficient way to move people; and
2
WHEREAS, commercial airline service to many counties and communities in Montana is inadequate and at risk of further
reductions and /or ending altogether; and
WHEREAS, as a result of dimate change we need to take every possible step towards reducing greenhouse gas
emissions into our endangered atmosphere; and
WHEREAS, Amtrak was created in 1971 from what remained of the private passenger railroads and has been starved of
investment and direction by Congress and several White House administrations; and
WHEREAS, the Empire Builder is the number one long distance passenger train in the United States, with over ninety
percent on -time performance, and is greatly needed for the citizens of Montana's Hi -Line who have limited public
transportation options; and
WHEREAS, the North Coast Hiawatha ceased operation through southern Montana in 1979, and transportation to and
from the major populations centers of southern Montana would be greatly enhanced by passenger rail service; and
WHEREAS, the Missoula City Council unanimously passed Resolution 7229 on May 7, 2007, urging the United States
Senate to pass S. 294, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2007; and
WHEREAS, on October 30, 2007, the United States Senate passed S. 294 (cosponsored by Montana Senators Jon
Tester and Max Baucus), and on June 11, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6003 (cosponsored by
Montana Representative Denny Rehberg) —bills that promote a balanced and environmentally sustainable transportation
system that includes intercity passenger rail;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Missoula City Council, Missoula County Board of County Commissioners,
Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Montana Association of Railroad Passengers hereby urge the U.S. House
of Representatives and the U.S. Senate to conference on S. 294 and H.R. 6003, bills that will provide common -sense
reform to Amtrak and provide operational improvements, authorize Amtrak for fiscal years 2009 to 2013, provide for
capital assistance to states as is done with federal highway assistance, provide for the development of state rail plans,
and encourage a more cooperative relationship between freight railroads and passenger operations; and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Missoula City Coundl, Missoula County Board of County
Commissioners, Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Montana Association of Railroad Passengers hereby
urges the House - Senate conference committee to retain in the final version of the Passenger Rail Investment and
Improvement Act of 2008 Senator Jon Tester's amendment ( #3472) to S. 294 that directs Amtrak to study the feasibility of
reestablishing a passenger rail route through southern Montana while retaining Empire Builder service along the Hi -Line;
and
3
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Missoula City Council, Missoula County Board of County
Commissioners, Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Montana Association of Railroad Passengers hereby
urges the President of the United States to sign into law the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008.
MISSOULA CITY COUNCIL
/s/ John Enaen
John Engen, Mayor
/s/ Martha L. Rehbein
Marty Rehbein, City Clerk
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MISSOULA COUNTY
/s/Jean Curtiss
Jean Curtiss, Chairman
/s/ Bill Caret/
Bill Carey, Commissioner
/s/ Larry Anderson
4
Lary Anderson, Commissioner
ATTEST:
/s/Vickie Zeier
Vickie Zeier, Clerk and Recorder
APPROVED AS TO FORM & CONTENT:
/s/Michael Sehestedt
Michael Sehestedt, Deputy County Attorney
/s/Michael Acklev
Michael Ackley, Montana Association of Railroad Passengers
/s/Kim Latrielle
Kim Latrielle, Missoula Chamber of Commerce
5