After an hour of public comment Tuesday, Luzerne County Council unanimously vetoed the county Redevelopment Authority’s Sept. 15 decision to sell the county rail line to R.J. Corman Railroad Group.
The lion’s share of public feedback expressed support for tourism-related, passenger-train excursions promised by Reading and Northern Railroad, which also submitted a purchase offer.
The council has power over which entity acquires the authority-owned line due to a litigation settlement agreement involving $3.28 million the authority owes the county. This agreement says the county can reject any bid “for any reason.”
It’s unclear what happens now that the council chose to “object to” and “not approve any sale to R.J. Corman.”
The council cannot outright award the sale to any entity because the authority still owns the property.
However, the county is set to immediately take possession of all rail property if a sale doesn’t close by Oct. 9, the settlement agreement said.
County Chief Solicitor Harry W. Skene said the redevelopment authority and its affiliated Rail Corp. have an opportunity to vote again and choose to sell the rail line to another entity before the Oct. 9 deadline. If that occurs, the council would then vote to accept or reject the new one, Skene said.
If no new entity is presented to the council, then “legally the matter goes into a different direction,” Skene said.
Redevelopment Authority Board Chairman Scott Linde attended Tuesday’s council meeting and said afterward the board will meet with its legal counsel to determine what, if any, additional action will be taken.
R.J. Corman, which currently operates the county line, submitted an $8.2 million purchase offer.
Reading and Northern offered a $10 million package — $7 million cash at closing plus $3 million for specific track-related rehabilitation services to be spent during the first three years — in addition to a commitment to make upgrades to provide passenger-train excursions from a depot in Wilkes-Barre.
In response to the authority’s Sept. 15 vote, Reading and Northern Chairman and CEO Andy M. Muller Jr. announced the county can keep the entire $10 million. However, county officials said the council cannot officially lock in the verbal revision because it came after the proposal deadline.
Representatives of both rail companies addressed the council Tuesday.
Korey Colyer, R.J. Corman’s chief strategy officer, said the redevelopment authority selected his company’s offer because it “delivers $1.2 million more value to the county than the competing bid.”
Colyer said R.J. Corman has invested $3 million in the county rail as its operator to improve its condition and the safety and reliability of the line while also “positioning it for long-term growth.” Traffic is up nearly 20% year-over-year, he said, noting additional business is in the works for 2027.
“That growth is not theoretical. It is happening right now,” Colyer said.
Colyer acknowledged “a lot of discussion and excitement” related to possible excursion operations in Wilkes-Barre and said a selection of R.J. Corman “does not preclude these opportunities in the future.”
“We remain open to productive discussions on what that can look like. But the freight growth, customer investment and economic activity before you today are not proposals. They are measurable results creating value for Luzerne County right now,” he said.
R.J. Corman President and CEO Justin Broyles told the council his company, which is headquartered in Kentucky, is family-owned and employs many in Pennsylvania.
The company is interested in providing passenger service, he said.
“We offered the highest bid, and I think it should be accepted,” Broyles said.
Jim Raffa, Reading and Northern’s executive vice president of marketing and sales, told the council he is intimately familiar with the county line and its customers and needs.
Raffa said he already spoke to three businesses about their interest in connecting to the line, and he emphasized Reading and Northern is based in Pennsylvania and already has a hub in Pittston.
“We’re engaged and local,” Raffa said.
Reading and Northern Executive Vice President of Operations Tyler Glass cited the company’s growth in freight and passengers.
“We’re already here. We just want to come into more communities,” Glass said. “We have a lot to offer.”
Glass announced a goal to “bring Santa Claus to downtown Wilkes-Barre” in a passenger excursion.
Muller has said he would introduce excursions connecting Wilkes-Barre to those his company already operates between Pittston and Jim Thorpe. Reading & Northern has purchased a downtown Wilkes-Barre lot that would hold a passenger platform station near the county’s historic train station, which houses the county tourism office, Muller has said.
The objectives, goals and considerations stated in the request for rail purchase offers included expansion for passenger service “where and when feasible.”
Some argued downtown Wilkes-Barre and the county overall would benefit from the tourist draw of train excursions.
Kingston resident Bob Borwick, who chairs the county’s Visit Luzerne County advisory board, said linking Wilkes-Barre to excursions both departing and entering the city would be an “amazing” opportunity to build tourism.
Michael O’Brien, who is in the process of moving to this county, said his experience growing up near Jim Thorpe has convinced him Reading and Northern excursions would “breathe new life into Wilkes-Barre.”
Several residents from Wyoming and Schuylkill counties described how the excursions have helped businesses.
Edwardsville resident Robert Kachurak urged the council to veto, saying he is in favor of Reading and Northern’s passenger excursions because he believes it would be “very positive for the area.”
Robert Wicht, of Dallas Township, said he was compelled to speak at a County Council meeting for the first time because he believes Reading and Northern’s excursions, which he has enjoyed, are a chance for the county to “turn the page on our area.”