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Meeting was called to order by Peter Griffin at 7:00 PM at the Pembroke Academy room 2021.

Attendees:

*Current members

·            Effective today Steve Piper will take over as secretary of the NHRRA.

·            Ron Wood gave a brief update on the Wilton Scenic, which proposes to operate on the Milford & Bennington to Greenfield State Park .  Wilton Scenic had targeted May 3, 2003 as a startup date, but a washout on part of the track and a delay in the delivery of crossties has pushed that date back and it is unknown at this time when operations would commence.  Peter Griffin requested that Ron look into a admission price for NHRRA members for potentially holding a meeting on board.  The Wilton Scenic will be operating two Budd cars that they have just delivery of from British Columbia .

·            Steve Flanders reported on a train show he attended yesterday.  There were approximately 300 attendees and the show was quite a success.  Steve gave out NHRRA brochures.  There will be another train show on May 17 –18 hosted by the Concord Historical Society.  Cara and Almos attended last year’s and agreed that it would be a good opportunity for NHRRA to attend again, and potentially man a table at, this year.  It will be held at the Museum for New Hampshire History at Eagle Square .

·            Steve Piper proposed an idea to make the current draft brochures a little larger to include an application on one side that can be simply cut off and mailed with a new member’s dues.  This should help make joining accessible without having to log on to the website for the current application.  Steve Flanders has just renewed the NHRRA post office box in Weare and this should be the address used on the brochure.

·            Peter recommended that the organization compile a bulletin/questionnaire to be mailed to all members.  This could give those who are not regularly attending information updates on what is happening in NH and will also ask their opinion on what NHRRA should be focusing its attention on.  It was agreed that sample questions should be submitted to Cara through her e-mail address (as shown above). 

·            Ron suggested that the NHRRA web site be updated sooner.  Tonight’s meeting does not even show up as it is still displaying the date for the March meeting.  It was agreed that Steve Piper would transmit completed (draft) minutes to Peter for review and comment as well as sending them directly to Gary (for distribution by mail) and Kenyon (for posting on the web site).

·            Ron also suggested that we offer meetings around the state over the summer months as this Pembroke Academy classroom will not be available.  This might make it easier for other members to attend.  There also exists the possibility of holding meetings on an excursion train (i.e. Hobo, Conway Scenic, joint excursion with Maine ’s MRG rail group).

·            Peter informed that per Carol Murray (NHDOT Commissioner), there is about to be started a 2-year joint rail & transit study with the state of Massachusetts to explore corridor potentials.

·            George gave a brief overview of a meeting that he, Peter and Steve held with legislators from the town of Derry .  Those present responded positively to the ideas of reinstating passenger rail.  NHDOT should be taking the lead to fund the reconstruction of the Manchester & Lawrence corridor for passenger rail, but they are not very enthusiastic about it.  Peter suggested that these legislators need to get endorsements from town councils, etc. to ask what specifically they want for transportation.  George also had an opportunity to talk to a legislator from Salem and he said that there is no way the M&L will be revitalized for rail.  John recommended that we need to keep plugging rail as the only option for that corridor.

·            Regarding the Manchester end of the M&L, Cara asked how rail could fit into servicing the minor league baseball stadium there and Gus responded that there are plans to include a station stop in one of the towers.  John mentioned several other areas that could be well suited to rail service including the Verizon Center , Canobie Lake Park and the Mall of NH.  George mentioned that there exists an Economic Development building right next to the M&L.  The state has turned down efforts to reopen the M&L line.  Gus stated that a senator from Methuen , MA had talked about reopening the line, but the state of NH did nothing and now the rail is gone.  George suggested that NHRRA get in touch with Mono Sharma, the Southern NH Regional Planning Commission Director.

·            Peter stated that all existing proposals being considered for rail in the state have a direct service to Boston with the exception of the light rail option on the I93 median.  Proponents for this option would have the light rail terminate at Anderson Station in Woburn , where riders would transfer to MBTA or the Downeaster.  Mitt Romney has suspended funding of key rail projects in Massachusetts due to lack of funds.

·            George read an interesting article regarding the way California addresses transportation.  In that state, transportation money is spent by regional MPOs, who are most knowledgeable of the needs at a local level.  Cara asked who makes the final decisions in NH and Peter responded that it is the NHDOT with input from the communities

·            George stated that the M&L Task Force has drafted a charter.  Also, the federal government is really pushing the idea of High Speed Rail Corridors, the Northern being the HSR corridor in NH.  Currently, the lawsuit filed by the Motor Carriers has created a “roadblock” to all rail funding in this state for the time being.  The NHDOT typically has access to about $200 million to be allocated towards approximately 100 construction projects each year.  This group needs more legislators on our side to go to NHDOT in support of rail.  Also, the federal TEA-21 earmarked about $316,000 to investigate the potentials of the M&L corridor, but to date no one knows where that money has gone.

·            Steve Piper asked if anyone would like to have NHRRA business cards made up for events and meetings.  Steve Flanders brought forth a current NHRRA business card he had made up a few years ago.  The logo as shown will be scanned and modified for future cards for anyone interested.

·            George suggested that a letter from NHRRA be drafted to solicit fund raising from large companies who could potentially benefit from rail freight service (i.e. Irving Oil, cement companies, other freight generators adjacent to defunct rail corridors).  Steve Flanders has a list of companies we could look at.  We would promote our status as a 501 C3 Federal Non-Profit organization.

Meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM .

The next meeting will be held one week earlier due to Memorial Day.