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Monday, April 19, 2010
Board OKs $25M for passenger rail study
On 4-3 party-line votes, the state Controlling Board on Monday, April 19, gave the go-ahead to a $25 million planning study for a passenger rail system linking Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland.
The study is expected to take nine months, said Scott Varner, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Transportation. The money is to come from $400 million in federal funds awarded to Ohio to set up a passenger rail system.
All four Democrats voted “yes” while all three Republicans voted “no.”
“This is a great opportunity for Ohio, moving forward with jobs,” said Rep. Clayton Luckie, D-Dayton, one of the Democratic “yes” votes.
The 256-mile rail system calls for two Dayton-area stations, one downtown at Sixth and Ludlow streets and in Riverside, across from the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
There were 4-3 votes on two proposals - the first to release the money and the second to award two contracts.
The first contract was for $23 million to PB Americas Inc. and the second was to CH2M Hill Inc. for $2 million.
Republicans cried foul on the approval by simple majority votes. They said the state transportation budget stipulated that Controlling Board approval for rail projects would require a supermajority 5-2 vote.
Gov. Ted Strickland and his fellow Democrats on the board said, however, that the supermajority is required only for capital improvements, not for planning.
“I’d like them to reconsider and do the right thing,” Sen. David Goodman, R-New Albany, a Republican member of the board. Goodman said during the meeting that the vote could be subject to a legal challenge or even a probe by the Ohio Inspector General but after the meeting declined to say whether he would pursue either.
Republicans also said they don’t have the certainty they needed that Ohio would not have to reimburse the federal government for the $25 million if the state ultimately decides not to pursue the rail project.
The state won’t have to pay the money back “if we don’t proceed,” said Jennifer Farmer, a deputy director of the transportation department.
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