Hays County Commissioner’s Court Ended Lone Star Rail District Membership

By Lesly De Leon

Hays County Commissioners decided not to renew the membership with Lone Star Rail District at the meeting Tuesday.

The membership, which costs $49,500 a year, will be terminated in 2017 and won’t be renewed in the foreseeable future.

“A lot of hard work has been done but unfortunately very little progress has been made,” said Precinct 3 Commissioner Will Conley. “We do not see a viable path forward at this point in time in regards to the ideas and the plans in which Lone Star has been developing over the last 20 years.”

Conley said the plan was to take the existing Union Pacific rail line and develop a hybrid system to transport commerce and passengers along the I-35 corridor.

Conley said officials have no plans on how to pay for the project or its maintenance and operation. Conley said without UP officials’ partnership, LSRD officials are unsure where the project will be located.

“We have not been able to develop the project into anything that is close to resembling a viable project moving into the future,” Conley said. “We have no realistic capital plan to pay for the millions of dollars that are estimated to pay for this project.”

At the meeting, Conley and the other commissioners voted to not renew the county’s LSRD membership because the project has not progressed and been successful.

Conley said he and the commissioners are committed to addressing the public safety, mobility and economic issues regarding the I-35 corridor.

“We are committed and open to meeting those needs and demands in a multi-modal way,” Conley said.

The dissolution of the membership will have a more immediate impact, Conley said.

“It sends a clear message from our perspective that we didn’t see a viable path forward,” Conley said. “We want to get with all our neighbors and planning organizations in the state of Texas to start developing a better path forward that will deliver some more tangible, realistic results for the people we represent.”

This article originally published by University Star