Burnet and Lampasas counties co-hosting town hall on railway
A proposed 26.9-mile rail line in Burnet and Lampasas counties is under review by the Surface Transportation Board. The project is receiving opposition from residents seeking to preserve property rights, value, and environmental interests. Photo source: Texas Materials Group Inc.
Burnet and Lampasas counties are joining forces for a town hall and workshop on a quarry-to-quarry railway proposed by aggregate company Texas Materials Group Inc. The public event is 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, at Hill Country Fellowship, 200 Houston Clinton Drive in Burnet.
Burnet County Precinct 2 Commissioner Damon Beierle, whose precinct includes much of the proposed route, said the town hall’s purpose is to get public input, provide updates on the project’s status, and help residents craft effective environmental-based comments before the April 14 deadline set by the federal Surface Transportation Board.
“We’re wanting to get input from the public and also relay information about where we’re at in the process, what we’ve learned, and what the future looks like,” Beierle told DailyTrib.com. “I also want to give (residents) tools to make public comments that include the kinds of details and information that’s pertinent.”
Texas Materials Group is seeking federal approval to build 14.4 miles of new track and reactivate 12.5 miles of abandoned rail in Burnet and Lampasas counties. The resulting 26.9-mile railway would transport construction materials from multiple quarries in Burnet County, a plan that has drawn sharp opposition from landowners and local officials.
Beierle, who is opposed to the project, said about 60-70 landowners could be directly impacted.
“My position remains the same: I still want to protect the landowners, the constituents, and voice their opinion as best I can,” he said.
County governments cannot directly block the project, making the town hall and an April site visit by Surface Transportation Board staff key opportunities to elevate local voices, Beierle said.
“I want to make sure that visit is the most impactful visit that it can be,” he said. “I want them to see what’s going to be affected and what’s at stake, not just read about it.”
The railway would cross county lines and impact rural areas in Lampasas County’s Precinct 4, which is represented by Commissioner Mark Rainwater.
Beierle said leaders from the two counties have been working closely to coordinate their responses.
“In some cases, those bigger ranches are in both counties,” he said. “So (Lampasas County) called me and said, ‘What are you guys gonna do?’… We as government entities are on the same page with what we want and what our constituents want.”
The Surface Transportation Board’s public comment period for the project closes April 14, but Beierle said more opportunities will follow. Submit a comment to the STB online.
2 thoughts on “Burnet and Lampasas counties co-hosting town hall on railway”
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I’m a fourth generation Texan who lives on a ranch in western Lampasas County. A train track runs right through our ranch, and the problems trains have caused are innumerable, but the worst are fires! In dry years a train can set many in a day!
Rural Texans who have contributed to the social fabric and the economic lifeblood of this state should not be put on the back burner in favor of the corporate greed of a foreign nation.
I could not be less in favor of allowing this quarry train to go forward.
People are just made because they aren’t the ones getting paid to have it on their land. If they had the money to start a rock quarry, or were being paid to host the train…they wouldn’t have a single problem with it.