Leaders in Casselton, N.D., are looking to voters for a clear signal next week on a plan to silence train whistles through the city.
The proposal calls for using 75 percent of the revenue from Casselton's 1 percent city sales tax to fund a majority of the $1.2 million railroad quiet zone.
City Council members have mixed feelings on the idea, prompting a 4-2 vote in March to put the issue on Tuesday's ballot as an advisory vote.
"The fairest thing was to put it in front of the taxpayers and see if it's something they really wanted," said Councilman Craig Tillisch, who described his own feelings toward the project as "about a 50-50."
The advisory vote is non-binding, but Tillisch said the council "absolutely" will honor the majority will of the voters.
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More than 50 trains per day roll through the center of Casselton with horns blaring on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks.
"It's just difficult to talk or even conduct business or anything," said Ron Mueller, who works about a block away as president of Bremer Bank and is chairman of the Concerned Citizens Group for a Whistle-Free Zone.
Mueller said the group supports the plan because it would require no new taxes and would improve safety and quality of life, and because a $225,000 cost-sharing grant is available from the state Department of Transportation.
About 220 residents answered a city auditor's survey last September, with 39 percent of respondents picking the quiet zone as their top priority from a list of 10 projects. In second place was "street improvements," chosen by 15.5 percent of respondents.
Among those who opposed the quiet zone, the top reason was that it's not a high priority, with cost coming in a close second.
The city's 2008 Capital Improvement Plan listed the quiet zone at fourth in order of importance over the next five to seven years, behind replacing the water reservoir roof, improving streets and relining the sanitary sewer.
Councilman Phil Spooner said he's not opposed to a whistle-free zone.
"I just think there's bigger priorities like the streets and the sewers, rather than keep raising specials or taxes when we have a funding mechanism to fund those," he said.
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Mayor Ed McConnell said he believes the city can tackle the quiet zone and other priorities at the same time by using existing revenue sources and reserves.
"We've never really dedicated it to anything," he said of the sales tax, which started in 1998. "It's always been our special projects fund."
City sales tax revenue totaled nearly $186,000 last year and has risen steadily since 2004, getting a big boost in 2008 from the Tharaldson Ethanol plant construction, City Auditor Brandy Pyle said.
City officials estimate it would take about seven years to pay for the quiet zone, though it could be longer or shorter depending on sales tax collections.
Quiet zone improvements would include a zigzagged "pedestrian maze" at three crossings that would force bicyclists to dismount and walk their bikes through. All vehicle crossings would keep their crossing arms, and the railroad tracks would be fenced except at crossings, Pyle said.
If a majority of voters approves the quiet zone and the council follows suit, the city will work with BNSF on a cost assessment and construction schedule, Pyle said. Work would likely begin next year, she said.
Mike Nowatzki is a reporter at The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.
