Texas State Railroad Operating Agency holds first meeting
Town hall meeting announced for Friday in Jacksonville
BY MARIE WHITEHEAD EDITOR

The 80th session of the Texas Legislature convened Jan. 9 at the sound of the gravel. The sound signaled numerous committees to action whose goal is to save state parks.

A three-hour session marked the first meeting of the new year for the Operating Agency for the Texas State Railroad Thursday morning in Rusk. Earlier plans were reviewed and fine tuned.

A new plan for a Town Hall meeting at 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26 at the Norman Activity Center in Jacksonville was proposed by State Senator Robert Nichols.

OA President Steve Presley noted that the purpose of this meeting is to allow for citizen input with all persons welcomed. "Sen. Nichols wants to give the public the opportunity to come, ask questions, gather information on behalf of the future operation of TSR," he said.

Representatives of the Operating Agency are meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24 with board members of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The meeting will be held in the TPWD offices in Austin.

Plans were discussed for the possibility of this becoming a two-day visit with the board, depending on the accomplishments of Wednesday's agenda, which was termed a work session.

Meetings slated with private operators

Another meeting with representatives from an interested private operator is tentatively scheduled Jan. 27.

"When we have accomplished these several meetings, we should be able to move closer to a final decision on our recommendation for an operator," said Mr. Presley.

Numerous reports were made by Mr. Presley regard- ing recent visits to Austin where he spoke with personnel from the Speaker's Office and the Lieutenant Governor's staff. He and Charles Hassell met last week with Sen. Nichols in Jacksonville to provide background work of this agency.

"He was very impressed with the depth of our inquiries and the information which we have compiled to date," said Mr. Presley. "We believe that we have worked hard, but it's good to hear it from our state senator."

The list of interested operators has now grown to three. The proposed "limited, publicprivate partnership" (LPPP) has been widely promoted by Stone Consultants via the Internet.

In January 2006, a committee was named as the result of a letter which stated, "find an alternate means of funding to operate the Texas State Railroad, or it will become a static display Dec. 31, 2006."

This letter, written by TPWD Executive Director Robert Cook, prompted the formation of the Texas State Railroad Preservation Task Force Committee.

The challenge was taken seriously and 12 months later, local, area and state citizens continue to seek solutions for the funding problem.

"We have looked at all the options," Mr. Presley stated. "We were asked to find a solution, make a recommendation. This is not easy when we look at the fact that 150 members of the Texas House and 31 Senate members will make the final decisions."

Others present for the meeting were Charles R. Hassell, Al Holmes, Dan Davis, Bob Goldsberry, Marie Whitehead and Dale Brown.