(The Associated Press distributed the following article on November 12.)
ROCHESTER, Minn. — The City Council has decided to ask the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to again look into the city’s arguments about proposed expansion of the Dakota Minnesota & Eastern railroad.
City Attorney Terry Adkins said he briefed the council about its options during a closed-door meeting Monday, when the council decide to proceed.
Part of the reason the council decided to file the request was because of action by the Surface Transportation Board, the federal authority that approved the expansion project. The STB has asked the court for an extension so it can file for a rehearing on its arguments, some of which the city rejects, Adkins said.
If Rochester didn’t also file a request, it would lose its right to seek a change in some parts of the STB report, he said. Some of those are differences over the amount of traffic that would be affected, the number of homes or businesses where noise would be a problem, whether to require the railroad to bypass Rochester and if the railroad should pay for any overpasses in Rochester.