At Tuesday’s Common Council meeting, the City will consider a resolution to fund an additional $750,000 from the TID #7 long-term debt account to the Yellowstone Industrial Park Rail Account.
The City has worked with Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) in the relocation of the packaging facility from Colby to Marshfield, announced last August. As part of the project, a single railroad track would be developed to service the new facility at an originally estimated construction cost of $1.3 million. As the project developed, the single track expanded to include a parallel track to provide a way for trains to switch in and out of the site and develop the industrial park for other rail users, said Dan Knoeck, Director of Public Works.
The design firm came up with a solution of constructing about 800 feet of parallel track west of Galvin Avenue. Increased track construction and the acquisition of additional property increased the original project cost of $2,050,000.
The $750,000 cost was financed through long-term debt that will be paid back from property taxes generated by the PCA project.
“What this additional borrowing does is it extends the time for payback,” explained Knoeck. “We’re looking at about a 13-year payback…The concept is that we had an additional year or two of payback time on our tax collection in order to pay back this extra dollar amount.”
“Even though it’s a little bit longer payback, ultimately it’s gonna be a great thing for the citizens of Marshfield,” said Mayor Bob McManus.
With the potential of the rail system, more businesses could be attracted to the industrial park down the road. Train movement is anticipated to be low, at just one train per day.
