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BY SUSAN BROWN
sbrown@nwitimes.com
219.836.3780 | Friday, July 11, 2008 | 5 comment(s)
HAMMOND | The Lake County prosecutor's office and Norfolk Southern Railroad have reached a settlement on more than 1,500 tickets issued to the railroad for blocking Hammond streets.
The three-hour meeting Tuesday also produced informal operational agreements aimed at reducing blockages at several railroad crossings. In addition, prosecutors and the railroad agreed to meet every 60 days regarding any ticketing.
Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said the city technically is not party to the agreements reached Tuesday and the monetary fines will go to the county, not the city.
"We were there basically representing the Police Department," he said. "Hammond police officers are aggressive in writing those tickets. I appreciate the prosecutor's help in enforcing these tickets."
Geoffrey Blazi, an attorney representing Norfolk Southern, said the meeting was productive, but cautioned the operational agreements are informal.
"There was an informal agreement in the past to stop east of Grand Avenue, but there are practical operational difficulties in doing that," he said. "In spite of these, however, Norfolk Southern has agreed to try to accommodate the city's requests."
Until Tuesday, 1,551 tickets issued to Norfolk Southern since at least 2004 had remained unprosecuted by the Lake County prosecutor's office.
Through his representative at the meeting, Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter first signed off on an agreement reached several years ago that 42 trains receiving 427 tickets would be fined a total of $15,000 at an average of $357 per train.
In a new agreement reached Tuesday, another 758 tickets will be dismissed based on Carter's belief railroads cannot be ticketed for each 10-minute period they block an intersection, a decision with which Justin Murphy, Four City Consortium chief of staff, said he agreed.
The consortium, which includes East Chicago, Gary, Hammond and Whiting, was formed in the 1990s, in part to reconfigure the use of rail tracks crisscrossing the region to ease road congestion.
"That left 138 trains, or 366 tickets," Murphy said. "(The railroad) gave us a 28-page printout defending 48 of the 138 trains. They offered no defense for 90 trains."
The railroad agreed to pay a total of $35,000 for the 90 trains, which amounted to an average of $388 per train, Murphy said.
The railroad initially had faced more than $850,000 in penalties, but on Tuesday wrote one check for $50,000 to cover the two settlements, which are still subject to the court's approval.
Murphy, however, said the meeting began with lengthy discussions of operational issues that contributed to the ticketing.
"The city kept asking the railroad to hold the trains east of Grand Avenue as committed to in 2006," Murphy said.
Murphy said the trains were being held at Arizona Street, causing blockages at Parrish Avenue, 173rd Street and Grand Avenue, which involve three schools and a fire station.
The railroad ultimately agreed to hold the trains east of Grand Avenue and also relocate crew transfers taking place at Arizona, which contribute to slow starts at Arizona, 169th Street and Kennedy Avenue.
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rustcity wrote on Jul 11, 2008 11:14 AM:
Hank wrote on Jul 11, 2008 10:06 AM:
Jack wrote on Jul 11, 2008 8:25 AM:
Wet Hen wrote on Jul 11, 2008 5:46 AM:
Try getting your 3 parking tickets knocked down to one.
Fat chance "
rustcity wrote on Jul 11, 2008 12:24 AM:
From this settlement, it seems the railroads have no incentive to move their trains once ticketed because only the first 10 minute blockage counts.
Bernie, if ticketed, can I delay paying the fine for years and yet pay pennies on the dollar? "