Cole County signs one‑year operating agreement with Capital Oil Terminals; approves multiple contracts and amendments

The Cole County Commission on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, approved a one‑year operating agreement with Capital Oil Terminals LLC that lets the company operate the county'owned railroad transload facility and perform marketing, offloading and business development work. The commission also signed a contract for exterior repairs to the health department, approved a court order for the Soil and Water Conservation District and signed an amendment to the county's Tyler Technologies contract to accept a $28,000 credit. The commission tabled a salary study to a future meeting.

The operating agreement is for one year, the commission said during the meeting in the Longfellow Classroom. Under the agreement the operator will handle marketing and outreach, customer communications, offloading and moving railcars on site and will provide quarterly reports on cars transloaded, fees collected, new customers and a revenue and expense statement. The operator has provided a trackmobile that county staff said arrived last week; county staff told commissioners they expect rail cars to arrive "sometime next week." County staff said routine maintenance of the tracks and ties remains the county's responsibility initially; the expectation is that revenues generated by the facility will eventually cover maintenance costs.

The commission voted to sign the agreement after discussion about starting with a one‑year term to evaluate operations and seasonality of shipments. County staff said the project traces to 2021, with major construction and grant work completed in late 2023 and 2024, and that oil tanks and related infrastructure were completed last year.

Votes at a glance

- Operating agreement: Motion to sign the operations agreement between Cole County and Capital Oil Terminals LLC. Motion made and seconded; voice vote recorded as "Aye." Outcome: approved. (Agreement term: 1 year; operator responsibilities: marketing, offloading, trackmobile, quarterly reports.)

- Health department exterior repairs: Motion to sign Contract 2025-03 with GBH Builders for exterior repairs to the Cole County Health Department in the amount of $140,949. Motion made and seconded; voice vote recorded as "Aye." Outcome: approved.

- Accounts payable: Motion to approve accounts payable (pending review). Motion made and seconded; voice vote recorded as "Aye." Outcome: approved.

- Soil & Water Conservation court order: Motion to sign agreement for services for the Cole County Soil and Water Conservation District in the amount of $9,000 (same as previous year). Motion made and seconded; voice vote recorded as "Aye." Outcome: approved.

- Tyler Technologies amendment: Motion to sign the Tyler Technologies amendment to authorize a $28,000 credit to the county (credit from prior contract items). Motion made and seconded; voice vote recorded as "Aye." Outcome: approved.

- Salary study: The commission tabled the county employee salary discussion and the salary study to a future meeting because the staff member (Debbie) was not present. Outcome: tabled.

The commission also approved a motion to stand in recess until 4:30 p.m.

Why it matters: The operating agreement shifts day‑to‑day operations to a private operator, which the county expects will generate activity at the transload facility and eventually help defray maintenance costs. The signed contracts and the Tyler credit have immediate budget implications: the health department repair contract was awarded at $140,949 and the county will record a $28,000 credit from the Tyler amendment. The Soil and Water Conservation agreement continues a recurring service payment at $9,000.

Details and context

County staff described the transload facility as having been planned since 2021, with bids and clearing completed in 2023 and final infrastructure finished in 2024. Staff said the county replaced about 300 ties in building the transload facility and that additional routine maintenance (resurfacing rail, adjusting gaps) will be needed over time. The commission agreed to a one‑year initial term to evaluate seasonal traffic patterns—county staff noted shipments such as asphalt oil are more seasonal.

Commissioners and staff discussed public events tied to the facility' including a possible ribbon cutting; a tentative April 1 date was mentioned but county staff said that may shift to later in the month to better match railcar scheduling.

The salary study was explicitly tabled because a key staff member was absent; the commission gave no new schedule for when the tabled item will return.

What the commission did not decide: The county did not commit to a multi‑year contract for the rail operator and did not finalize a long‑term maintenance funding plan beyond the first year of operations. Specific vote tallies by commissioner were not recorded in the meeting transcript; each motion was adopted by voice vote with "Aye" responses recorded.