UPDATE: Burnet County quarry railway might still have steam
News that a proposed quarry railway through Burnet County had been stopped in its tracks might have been premature.
A DailyTrib.com story May 21 quoted county officials as saying the project had been halted after Texas Materials Group Inc. withdrew its federal permit application. However, the company responded to questions after deadline Wednesday and clarified its position, saying it made the decision to “pause development of the proposed shortline railroad between Burnet County and Lampasas to allow for additional assessment and evaluation.”
This “pause” was further backed up by an official comment filed Thursday with the Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Analysis, the governing body that would oversee the rail line. The comment is official correspondence between Texas Materials attorney Thomas Wilcox and OEA Environmental Protection Specialist Adam Assenza.
“This email follows up on the monthly Teams call this past Tuesday (May 20) between Broken Stone Railroad, LLC (the railroad entity created by Texas Materials) and OEA,” reads the May 22 email exchange. “On that call Broken Stone Railroad informed OEA that due to decisions being contemplated by the corporate parent affiliates of Texas Materials, the parent affiliates have decided to put the Broken Stone Railroad construction project on hold for the time being. This is the sole reason for the pause. As discussed, John Shogren and I will keep OEA apprised of future developments, and hopefully the resumption of the project and the accompanying environmental review by OEA.”
SOURCES: Read all comments filed on the project through the STB’s record search here. To find the proposed railway docket, select “Environmental Comments” in the search field, then “FD” for the docket number, and type in “36815” in the adjoining field before hitting “Search.”
Texas Materials, an aggregate company doing business in the Austin area as well as other major metro areas across the state, also clarified with DailyTrib.com that it had not withdrawn a “permit application” as was reported on Wednesday but rather a “proposal” filed with the STB’s Office of Environmental Analysis for a 26.9-mile railway to transport aggregate material across the county between the Austin Western Railroad near Burnet and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway near Lampasas.
Burnet County Judge Bryan Wilson, who personally received a call from Texas Materials Group President John Shogren on Wednesday notifying him of the project’s pause, told DailyTrib.com that nobody should assume anything beyond the immediate facts.
“(Burnet County residents) should know that (Texas Materials has) withdrawn the (proposal for the railway) at this time, and I wouldn’t assume anything else beyond that,” he said.
Wilson noted he was told there was roughly 130 years’ worth of granite to quarry in the area, according to Shogren, and that some level of growth in the industry was likely inevitable.
“My hope is that we can work with the industry that is already here in our county to allow them to move their product without violating everybody’s use of their own land,” the judge said.
Another major player in the railway saga is Bill Hinckley, a landowner whose 4,000-acre family ranch would have been punctured by the proposed rail line. He adamantly opposes the project and said he built a rapport with Shogren while trying to negotiate an alternative route for the rail. Hinckley said he also received a call from the Texas Materials president on Wednesday.
“(Shogren) gave me a very professional call yesterday, and he said, ‘It doesn’t make commercial sense right now,’” Hinckley told DailyTrib.com. “I think it was just flat out money.”
Hinckley said there were tears of elation from many landowners opposed to the railway after word of the project’s spread on Wednesday. The line would cut through dozens of family ranches along its path through rural Burnet County.
“It’s a victory for the little guy,” he said. “Goliath doesn’t always win.”
8 thoughts on “UPDATE: Burnet County quarry railway might still have steam”
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This will result in even more semi trucks on area roads.
I say let us vote on it, we’re the ones that live here and have to endure their pollution and noise while they just make money.
No.
What happened to the original story?We’re definitely questioning the editor’s decision to delete a published story rather than correct the published story.
Yet the Quarry is still going forward on the Burnet Ranch Investments LLC property.
It would have been nice if Judge Wilson had let the public know the reason why the permit was rescinded. I, for one, would like to know why that happened!
From the quote in the story it appears he told all that he knew at the time. Don’t you think? Probably more details will be known by Tuesday. Appears the RR is playing pretty close to the vest.
The original article had different quotes.