Wayne to seek railroad hub rejected by Johnston
By Steve Herring
Published in News on January 24, 2016 1:45 AM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Wayne County wants the CSX container hub that has created a controversy in Johnston County, commission Chairman Joe Daughtery, center, said during Thursday's Wayne County Transportation Committee meeting. Durwood Stephenson, right, Highway 70 Commission director, said that Rocky Mount has already contacted CSX. At left is N.C. Transportation Board member Gus Tulloss.
Wayne County will tell CSX that its planned $272 million, 478-acre container hub and the hundreds of jobs it would create would be welcomed here, county commission Chairman Joe Daughtery said.
And the county will act quickly to contact CSX since Rocky Mount has already told the railroad company it also wants the hub, Daughtery said during Thursday's meeting of the Wayne County Transportation Committee at Lane Tree Golf Club.
The proposal has created a controversy in neighboring Johnston County where county commissioners have voted not to support the project following a public backlash against the use of eminent domain to acquire the property.
After the meeting Daughtery said the problem was how landowners had been approached about the project.
"We are very interested in talking to CSX because we think it would offer a unique opportunity for them to be in a community that wants them, one, and two, we are a railroad town," he said. "Our history is the railroad.
"We certainly don't want to come in and take anybody's property. I think that was bad planning on their part how they initiated the project over there. They should have already discussed it with those property owners before they announced it. When a man knocks on your door at 8:30 in the morning and says we are going to buy your land, and you say, 'I don't have my land for sale.' 'Well, we are just going to take it then.' That is just not the right way to go about it."
During the meeting Daughtery said the county may have an opportunity "to get into the mix."
"I have seen an announcement," he said. "I have politicians run to the forefront and say, 'This is great,' and I have seen them backstroke just real quickly within seven days. There are some issues over there that they may or may not overcome."
It appears that CSX is interested in this type of facility, whether it is located in Johnston, Wayne, Lenoir, or Duplin County, Daughtery said.
"We need to be talking about it being in our area," he said. "I really think that we need to put our heads together some way to at least reach out to CSX about locating this intermodal facility in our area. We have a unique opportunity here in Wayne County in that we have not only CSX. We also have Norfolk Southern here. It (Wayne County) is a crossroads. I just think it is something that we as a transportation committee need to be discussing."
Daughtery, who is also the Transportation Committee chairman, said he wanted to contact CSX as soon as possible and not wait for the commissioners meeting on Feb. 2.
CSX wants to build the terminal between Selma and Micro off Interstate 95 in Johnston County. The railroad company said the project could help create as many as 1,500 jobs statewide by 2035.
The nearly 500-acre "Carolina Connector" terminal will transfer shipping containers between trucks and trains including those serving the state's ports in Morehead City and Wilmington.
Mount Olive Town Manager Charles Brown said that the Eastern Carolina Rural Planning Organization, of which he is a member, has a rail subcommittee, but last met years ago.
"One of the things we emphasized was an inland freight terminal in the Wayne County area," Brown said. "Not that the one in Johnston County wouldn't be beneficial to Wayne County, and I am sure it will, but we discussed the fact that we have got connectivity to both major Interstates, north and south, east and west, and we have intersecting railroad systems.
"That has long been a hot topic with our RPO. You are right if it doesn't work there, certainly it would be worth the effort to try and get it in Wayne County."
Goldsboro Mayor Chuck Allen said he thought the committee should get local governor's representative Steve Keen and Highway 70 Commission Director Durwood Stephenson to get contact information.
"We at least need to let CSX know that Wayne County is interested in it, and Mr. Keen, for discussion purposes, I believe there is going to be vacant property out here called Cherry Hospital that is near, I think, some of those rail lines."
That could provide for a "unique repurpose" of the old Cherry Hospital property once the new Cherry Hospital opens, he said.
He urged members to contact people they know to lobby for bringing the project to Wayne County.
Commissioner Bill Pate said bringing the project here could run into problems similar to the ones being experienced in Johnston County. If that happens, then locating at the Global TransPark in Kinston could be a backup option, he said.
The issue, Daughtery said, is finding 478 acres.
The hub does not take that entire acreage, Stephenson said. The hub would be surrounded by truck terminals that would require a good portion of the land.
Also, the land has to be close to the CSX rail line, Daughtery said.
"Even if it stays in Johnston County that is in close enough proximity to us," Brown said. "There are ways we can benefit from that. I think we need to pursue that as well as the possibility of actually having here in Wayne County, too."
While the emphasis is on the terminal efforts need to continue to reconnect the rail lines all of the way to Castle Hayne.
That is needed to ensure passenger trains return to Wayne County, he said.
CSX, based in Jacksonville, Florida, cautioned the project is contingent on $100 million in transportation funds from North Carolina. Overall project spending is set for $272 million.
A formal request has already been made with the state Department of Transportation, and Gov. Pat McCrory has released a statement suggesting the project is a likely candidate for state funds.
He said the state's new transportation project scoring system emphasizes economic development and job creation.
CSX has constructed terminals similar to the one projected for Johnston County in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The 1,500 positions envisioned would originate at the terminal as well as through indirect positions generated through industrial growth and supporting business, CSX spokeswoman Kristin Seay wrote in an email.