Mississippi county supervisors ready to fight for railroad

The  Adams County, Miss., Board of Supervisors wants the Miss-Lou, including Jefferson and Franklin counties, to exert as much effort as possible to save the rail line that comes from Brookhaven into the Natchez port, the Natchez Democrat reports. Board President Darryl Grennell said the supervisors will take the lead in setting up meetings with the area's federal congressional representatives to see what can be done on the federal level, and he wants representatives from the other local entities to participate.

"We
need to start with the top in face-to-face meetings, with unanimous support
from everyone in the Miss-Lou to try and save the short rail line," Grennell
said. "I would like to see not only Adams, Franklin and Jefferson counties
involved, but also Concordia Parish because what benefits us also benefits
everyone around us. We need to start tapping into our federal resources."

In
a recent article, Mayor Jake Middleton said the current owner of the rail line,
Salt Lake City-based Natchez Railway, LLC, would like to see more traffic than
the reported 10 cars a week on the 66-mile line.

Supervisors
Henry Watts and Mike Lazarus, both of whom recently attending a meeting with
local officials about Natchez Railway, said the rail company has been vague in
exactly how much traffic it would take to save the line.

"The
number of cars wanted to not scrap the line is a moving number," Lazarus said. "I
think the plan all along was to scrap it."

Grennell
said the Miss-Lou needs to move aggressively on this because the railway could
be closed within a year.

"We
need to sit down, face to face, with federal people," Grennell said. "If that
rail is pulled up, you close the door on future industrial growth for Southwest
Mississippi."

Supervisor
S.E. "Spanky" Felter had an idea that he said could help convince Natchez
Railway to keep the line open.

"A
good way to start is to exempt their taxes on that strip of land on the rail,"
Felter said.

The
railway, once owned by Canadian National, was sold to Natchez Railway and
Grenada Rail LLC last year. Legislators at the time opposed the sale of the
railroad if the companies could not guarantee the rail lines would stay open
long-term.

Mississippi
River Pulp and J.M. Jones Lumber Company of Natchez and American Railcar
Industries in Bude use the line.