Cole County reports emergency rail repairs at transload; officials plan on-call maintenance contract

County staff updated commissioners on an emergency procurement to repair rail infrastructure at the county transload facility and said work was completed by Capital Rail Contracting.

Staff said the contractor responded within two days, completed initial repairs, returned for follow-up work when Union Pacific flaggers were not available on schedule, and restored operations at the switch area. "They came in within 2 days, got there, started... they had to come back again because there was some issues getting Union Pacific's flaggers there on time," a county staff member said.

The county said it intends to negotiate an on-call or maintenance contract with a responsive contractor to handle future repairs without invoking emergency procurement procedures. Staff recommended a combined maintenance/on-call contract so staff can authorize routine repairs quickly and then bring the contract to the commission for ratification when costs are finalized.

Officials said they expect higher transload traffic than in past years and that the facility operator, Capital (identified as the transload operator), recently hired a business-development specialist to pursue new customers. CART will hold an open-house "coffee with CART" at the transload at 10 a.m. the following day, staff said.

Ending: Staff will return with contract documents for a standing maintenance/on-call arrangement and a final invoice for the emergency work for ratification; commissioners agreed not to place the issue back on the agenda until documents are ready.