DRI Meeting #2

Wednesday, 10/24/07 at 9am was the second meeting for the CSX DRI application process. It was at the SE Complex in Winter Haven.
If you went to the first meeting in hopes of speaking and couldn't, you would find the same at this one. Public not allowed to speak.
This was a more indepth meeting about transportation and methodoligy. Basically, the transportation numbers for trains, trucks and cars and how everyone comes up with them. These numbers, once agreed upon will be the standard numbers used throughout the process to determine things like how crowded a road is and will be in the future.
At the table were people representing CSX, Evansville(who presently owns the rail site), FDOT, Central Fl. Regional Planning, and Polk County. If I left someone out, let me know.
I have to give Pat Steed of CFRPC credit. A couple times it was almost like the rail consultants weren't giving her the answers she had asked for and were side stepping the question. She kept them on the straight and narrow and in the end got what she asked for. You go Pat!
A few facts I found interesting. When CSX or the City of Winter Haven quote numbers, it's always like it's benefiting them. The number of employees started out all those months ago to be 8500 jobs to the area and went to 200. At the meeting they couldn't justify more than 150 on site tops! Then truck numbers which were at 300, then 700 a day were up to almost 900 a day at the meeting.
Maybe DRI process will flesh out the truth.
The consultants did say on a couple occassions that they would ask that questions come back to them within two weeks because this DRI was on a fast track. What exactly do you have to do to have your DRI put on the fast track? I don't know, but will try to find out!