City to address Quiet Zones; considers closure of "G" Street crossing

The City Council will vote Tuesday evening on whether or not to submit an application to the Federal Railroad Administration to establish "Quiet Zones" along the BNSF Railroad crossings in Wellington. As a part of the project which will allow Quiet Zones, raised medians must be constructed in the middle of the street at each of the crossings, medians which would prevent a motorist from driving around a railroad crossing gate. The cost of these medians is over $60,000, and the City wants to lessen the burden by closing the "G" Street railroad crossing. BNSF will pay $50,000 for each crossing closed which would be applied to the cost of the raised medians.

As always, I invite your comments on this issue.

Mayor/Council seats open

The Mayors seat, in additon to four Council seats are open for the April elections. The terms of Jim Valentine (Ward 1), Cindy Antonich (Ward 2), Larry Shimer (Ward 3), and Terry Nunemaker (Ward 4) expire. The deadline for filing for election is January 25th at noon. Forms are available on the City of Wellington website at http://cityofwellington.net/citycouncil.htmland are filed with the City Clerk. The filing fee is $10.00.
The Mayors term, in accordance with the recently changed form of City Government, will be for a four year term.