Excerpts from Decision Notice:
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Docket Number: AB_1014_0
Case Title: DENVER & RIO GRANDE RAILWAY HISTORICAL FOUNDATION--ADVERSE ABANDONMENT--IN MINERAL COUNTY, CO
Decision Type: Decision
Deciding Body: Entire Board
Decision Notes:
DECISION GRANTED AN ADVERSE ABANDONMENT APPLICATION FILED BY THE CITY OF CREEDE, CO (THE CITY), SUBJECT TO CERTAIN EMPLOYEE AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIVE CONDITIONS, FOR A 1-MILE PORTION OF RAIL LINE WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS THAT IS OWNED BY THE DENVER & RIO GRANDE RAILWAY HISTORICAL FOUNDATION.
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Decided: May 21, 2008
The City of Creede, CO (the City), filed an application for adverse abandonment for a 1‑mile portion of rail line within the City limits that is owned and operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway Historical Foundation (D&RGHF). For the reasons set forth below, we grant the City’s application.
BACKGROUND
History of the Line. The Creede Branch is a 21.6-mile rail line, extending from milepost 299.3 near Derrick to the end of the line near milepost 320.9 at Creede, in Rio Grande and Mineral Counties, CO.[1] In its application, the City provides a history of the Creede Branch,[2] which is not disputed by D&RGHF. According to the City, the Creede Branch was built to serve the mining industry in and around Creede in the last half of the 1800s. However, as mining activity in the area declined, so did freight operations over the Creede Branch. Freight service into the City ceased in 1969 and on the remainder of the Creede Branch by the mid-1980s.
The City states that the 1-mile segment that it seeks to have abandoned is comprised of two rights-of-way (ROWs): the Section 25 ROW and the Section 36 ROW. According to the City, the Section 25 ROW was granted to the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Company (D&RGW) by the Federal Government, pursuant to the Right of Way Act of 1875, while the Section 36 ROW was granted to D&RGW by the Colorado State Land Board in a 1969 agreement.[3] The City states that the interest in the land under the Section 25 ROW was deeded to the City in 1901 and the land under the Section 36 ROW was deeded to the City in 1965, and that, in both instances, the deeds were subject to the pre-existing ROWs.[4]
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It is ordered:
1. D&RGHF’s motion to strike the letters filed in this proceeding, or, in the alternative, that these letters be given no weight, is denied.
2. D&RGHF’s February 14, 2008 request for the Board to take official notice of the St. Joseph County decision and the City’s request to reply are denied as moot.
3. D&RGHF’s February 25, February 29, and March 24 requests for the Board to take official notice will be treated as motions to supplement its protest. D&RGHF’s motions to supplement are granted.
4. SL&RG’s request to reopen the October 2007 Decision is denied.
5. The City’s adverse abandonment application is granted, subject to the employee protective conditions in Oregon Short Line R. Co.—Abandonment—Goshen, 360 I.C.C. 91 (1979), and subject to the conditions that the City shall: (1) retain its interest in and take no steps to alter the historic integrity of all sites, buildings, and structures within the project ROW that are eligible for listing or are listed in the National Register until the section 106 process of the NHPA has been completed; report back to SEA regarding any consultations with the SHPO and any other section 106 consulting parties; and refrain from all salvage activities related to abandonment (including removal of tracks and ties) until the section 106 process has been completed and the Board has removed this condition; and (2) give notice to the National Geodetic Survey at least 90 days prior to the commencement of salvage activities that would disturb or destroy any geodetic station markers.
6. This decision is effective on June 22, 2008.
By the Board, Chairman Nottingham, Vice Chairman Mulvey, and Commissioner Buttrey.
Anne K. Quinlan
Acting Secretary
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2008 03:27PM by Festus.
