Southeast Arkansas Regional Intermodal Facilities Authority board members met Wednesday at Bradley County Economic Development Corp. and discussed continuing payments on a railroad crossing and efforts to gain highway improvements in the area.
Members present were Chairman John Lipton and board members Bettye Gragg of Monticello, Michael Efird of Drew County and Bob Smalling of Warren. Ex-officio members Warren Mayor Gregg Reep and Bradley County Judge Klay McKinney were also present, along with accountant Bob Milton. Reep said he had appointed former Mayor Bryan Martin to represent Warren.
Milton said two payments had been made to Arkansas Midland Railroad for a railroad crossing totaling $53,650. He said another one was pending for $52,017.92. Upon his recommendation, board members passed a motion to transfer $50,000 from a First State Bank account to a Warren Bank and Trust account to pay that and other monthly bills.
“At least you have a stream of revenue of $75,000 from the state,” Lipton said, referring to an annual payment made to all intermodals from Arkansas Department of Transportation.
Noting that the crossing project took over a decade to complete with the railroads going through several different owners, McKinney said, “It was a bunch of dominoes falling.”
“Of all the experiences I’ve had in life, I’ve never had one like Union Pacific,” Lipton said.
Smalling noted that Arkansas Midland Railroad was originally going to do the project for $11,000 but then that company was sold to Union Pacific Railroad, which delayed the project and inflated the cost.
Lipton said UPRR officials even met at the Intermodal site. “I thought we had it worked out,” he said.
McKinney said the north side of the railroad tracks has an area of about 120 acres that needs to be grubbed. He said the Arkansas Heavy Equipment Operators Training Academy housed at SEACBEC could be used. If a chipping crew were to come in to cut the brush and timber, he said that could cut down on the costs of preparing the land for economic development.
Lipton also mentioned that David Haak of Texarkana was the new highway commissioner representing Congressional District 4. He suggested that he should be invited to a future SEARIFA meeting to discuss highway expansion to Interstate 530.
“I-530 needs to be finished, not only for both counties (Bradley and Drew) but for everyone,” Efird said. He recommended that the board make the expansion its top priority.