Sulphur Springs Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Roger Feagley announced that the Sulphur Springs Transload Facility is open. The facility is served by the North East Texas Connector via the Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific Kansas City rail networks.
“Cars are going in, a lot going out. There have been some hiccups with the scales, a software glitch, but the email I got just before this meeting said they’d been solved,” Feagley told the board at the monthly meeting Thursday, Oct. 5.
The grand opening luncheon for the Transload facility is set for 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, at Sulphur Springs Country Club. Mike Salek, managing principal for Freedom Railcar Solutions, LLC in Mustang, Oklahoma, will give a presentation. The luncheon will be followed by a tour of the Transload facility.
The first topic of discussion, introduced by Collin County Commissioner and Northeast Texas Rural Transportation District (NETEX) Board Chairman Cheryl Williams during the Oct. 5 meeting, was approving signs to be placed in NETEX-owned right-ofway areas in Collin County near locations where new housing developments are under construction.
“I personally think there’s value in doing it,” Williams said. “We’re getting a lot of activity, a lot of homes built, and nobody has let [the developers] know there’s a potential for rail to go back in there. It would be a real battle if all these homes get built up and, then, we want a rail back in there, especially if there hasn’t been anything indicating it. I’ve had at least two developers looking at buying property who were asking me, ‘Is there going to be rail here?’ I always tell them, ‘There always could be.’” Other board members voiced their opinions that posting signs could lead to lawsuits and other issues. Ultimately, the board took no action on the matter. Williams said she would have one of her staff members develop a policy draft for future review.
The NETEX Board also during the October meeting approved minutes from the Aug. 3 meeting, the treasurer’s report, the renewal of the NETEX director’s specific liability insurance and the 2023-2024 annual budget.