Whitefish ready to annex railroad land

Annexation is the right step, regardless of its effect on the proposed trail.

Annexation is the right thing to do - and if it also garners Whitefish land for a bike path, that's even better, says the Whitefish City Council.

The council on Monday night discussed what to do about stalled negotiations with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad for an easement the city would use to construct a bike and pedestrian path.

The council and Mayor Andy Feury decided Monday to pursue annexation of railroad property the city has been eyeing for several years. The council intends to pass at the Nov. 1 meeting a resolution of intent to annex that property.

Talk of annexation came as a result of failed negotiations with Burlington Northern. But the council quickly switched from discussion of annexation related to the easement to whether or not annexation would be a legitimate action.

"The question is, is annexation the right thing to do?" councilman Doug Adams asked. "And if it is, is now the time to do it?"

Other council members and the mayor agreed the city needs to look at the issue as a whole rather than as a tactic to gain a bike path easement.

Adams, who along with Feury has been active in the bike-path project, said he thought annexation is the right step, regardless of its effect on the proposed trail.

"I think they've been getting off scot free," he said.

Whitefish requires properties to be inside city limits before they receive city water or sewer service. The city has been somewhat lax in enforcing that rule in years past but has been making an effort to bring people into compliance.

The railroad currently uses or is requesting city services for its properties, Feury noted in a letter to a railroad employee. But the holdings are not on the tax rolls and the railroad property lies in the middle of town and is surrounded by the city.

To be fair to other Whitefish residents, Adams and Feury said, the railroad property should be annexed.

The land the city wants for the bike path is the section of Burlington Northern property that runs along Edgewood Place from the viaduct to underneath the trestle.

Burlington Northern offered to sell the easement to the city for $293,500 about six months ago, Feury said. The city rejected the offer as too high and the railroad returned a counter-offer of half that price.

"Our contention has been, really, it's not worth that," Feury said in a phone interview Tuesday.

The piece of land is about 20 feet wide, so it's not prime for development, Feury said. The railroad can't go in there and build 20-foot-wide condominiums, he explained.

Burlington Northern made a third offer that the city declined: leasing the property for $5,000 a year in perpetuity.

In the last exchange, Feury offered the railroad an annexation deal. Cities can annex certain districts and charge them a fee or levy a tax for 10 years, after which the district is annexed unless otherwise specified.

Feury suggested the city pay the railroad $5,000 a year for 10 years for the easement and the railroad pay Whitefish $5,000 a year for 10 years as a fee for deferred annexation, creating a revenue-neutral situation.

Burlington Northern, Feury said, did not respond.

The city says the railroad's land is crucial because it would provide a safe connection between neighborhoods north and south of the tracks.

"It's clear that you can annex railroad property," City Attorney John Phelps told the council Monday.

Other cities in the state have successfully annexed railroad holdings, he said.

The council intends to pass a resolution to begin annexation in November, but will have to give Burlington Northern time to respond and to protest before completing the process.

Reporter Camden Easterling can be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at ceasterling@dailyinterlake.com