08-10-2017AB 6 (Sub -No. 495X)
IMA
Ms. Cynthia Brown, Chief ENTERED July 20, 2017
Section of Administration
Office of Proceedings Office of Proceedings
Surface Transportation Board August 10, 2017
395 E Street, SW Part of
Washington, DC 20423-0001 Public Record
Re: BNSF Abandonment of Rail Line in the City of Kalispell
Dear Ms. Brown
P.O. Box 579
150 1st Avenue WN
Kalispell, MT
59903
406-755-7400
Fax 406-755-7478
I want to give you an update regarding CHS Inc.'s letter of conditional support dated April 20, 2017 in
response to BNSF's Petition for Exemption to abandon the line of railroad extending from Milepost
1225.19 on the north end of the City of Kalispell, Montana, to Milepost 1227.58 on the south and
Milepost 1227.10 to the west (the "Track").
In our April 20, 2017 letter, we stated that we expected to have agreements in place by June 30, 2017
when our final construction costs would be known so that we could relocate our existing downtown
Kalispell facility and operations to a new rail industrial park, located outside of downtown Kalispell
("New Rail Park"). Once these agreements were in place, we would be able to provide an unconditional
statement of support for the abandonment of the Track.
Unfortunately, on June 30, 2017, we received updated bids from contractors showing construction costs
for the relocation that had increased beyond our expectations. Because of these increased construction
costs, we experienced delays in arriving at final terms with the Flathead Country Economic Development
Authority (FCEDA) for the relocation. I'm sure you can understand that until we have a final agreements
in place to support our relocation, we cannot provide an unconditional statement of support regarding
the abandonment of the Track servicing our existing facility in Kalispell.
CHS is committed to doing everything within our power to help make our relocation happen; however,
we need to have a business that is financially solvent, which is contingent upon receiving a financial
commitment from FCEDA. We hope to reach a final agreement with FCEDA within the next 30 to 60
days. We request that the Surface Transportation Board defer its decision on BNSF's Petition for
Exemption to abandon the Track until we are able to provide you with our decision whether or not we
will proceed with relocating our existing facility operations to the New Rail Park.
Sincerely,
CHS INC.
Gv
Mark K. Lalum
Assistant General Manager
Mountain West Cooperative
Kalispell, Montana
www.chskalispell.com • www.chsinc.com
P.O. Box 579
150 1st Avenue WN
Kalispell, MT
59903
406-755-7400
Fax 406-755-7478
August 10, 2017
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on this day August 10, 2017, 1 caused a copy of the attached letter dated July 20,
2017 to be served by first-class mail, postage prepaid, emailed or hand delivered upon all parties of
record in this case as follows: STB (Kenyatta Clay and Jeffry Herzig), emailed City of Kalispell, Katherine
Thompson, hand delivered, and BNSF, Karl Morell, emailed.
This letter requests an extension of the abandonment decision due to inability of FCEDA and CHS to
reach final financial and terms agreements until those agreements can be completed.
Mark Lalum
mark.lalumCcDchsinc.com
Assistant General Manager
CHS Mountain West Coop
Box 579
Kalispell, Montana 59903
www.chskalispell.com - www.chsinc.com