(The following story by Joe Follick appeared on the Lakeland Ledger website on July 1, 2009.)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — SunRail supporters are heralding a $40 million promise from the federal government as an indication that the controversial Orlando commuter rail line will be built.
But opponents say the money is no guarantee future funding hopes will be met.
“I think this is just a way of trying to breathe life back into this,” said Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, who has led the opposition to the plan and successfully thwarted legislative approval the past two years.
In a letter sent Monday to U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, the administrator of the Federal Transit Administration said the agency “continues to be supportive of the project and has demonstrated that support by recommending it for $40 million in funding in the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget request.”
The administrator, Peter M. Rogoff, said the state Legislature’s failure to approve a legal liability agreement with freight giant CSX Transportation does not dim the agency’s “hope that the Florida (congressional) delegation, working with the state Legislature, can get this project back on track.”
CSX, which would sell a 61.5-mile line to the state for the proposed SunRail commuter system between DeLand and Poinciana, has demanded that it not be held liable for any accidents on the line involving commuter trains even if the company were at fault. Lawmakers have not supported that demand, saying the state should not be on the hook if CSX negligence kills people in an accident.
Fred Leonhardt, one of the chief lobbyists for the SunRail effort, said Wednesday that the $40 million is a “significant” sign that the federal government is behind the plan.
“This is going to get built,” he said. “We’re going to get this deal done.”
But Dockery has letters from the FTA earlier this year saying there was no guarantee that federal funding, estimated to be $300 million or more for the entire deal, would be appropriated. She said the competition for the so-called “New Starts” funding from the FTA is fierce among all of the states and that the SunRail project is down the list of priorities for the agency.
“I don’t think this letter is good news” for supporters, she said. “I think they asked (the agency) to put something in writing to make it look like there’s some money coming this way.”
Rogoff met with Mica, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and other SunRail supporters last week.
For each of the past two years, supporters of the commuter rail line have threatened that failure to pass the liability promise for CSX would result in a loss of federal funds. Those threats seem empty given the FTA letter and renewed optimism from supporters.
But the SunRail effort has clearly picked up momentum in recent days with CSX’s extending a deadline to negotiate the sale and promises of revisiting the details of the liability clause that has doomed the deal for two years.
Dockery said that until SunRail supporters sit down with those concerned about the hundreds of millions in taxpayer money for the project as well as increased freight traffic in Lakeland, Ocala and other cities, the plan will not be approved by the Legislature.
“I hope they make a good faith effort” to find support for a “win-win” deal, Dockery said. “If all they’re trying to do is use different words to push through the same project, I think it will meet the same fate.”