“We’ve got good news and bad news,” said Ed Petrie, Director of Finance for the Metropolitan Council.

 

Petrie and John Paul Zanaska, Director of Commuter Rail, were giving their Northstar report to the Sherburne County Board Tuesday.

 

The good news - Northstar’s expenses will be almost $600,000 lower in 2015.

 

The bad news - ridership in 2014 is down from 2013 and is expected to be low again next year.

 

Petrie’s financial report for 2013 shows Northstar had a net income of $3,885,455 compared with budget projections. But fares still fell short of projections by $8,264. The income was a result of $5.3 million in lower operational expenses.

 

There was $460,000 in savings in salaries and benefits due to unfilled positions and changes from family to single health insurance coverages. Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) refunded $1.3 million from service contracts. There was  $750,000 in savings from professional and maintenance contracts. “Mainly we’re doing more of the maintenance and mechanical work ourselves, saving on the contracted costs,” said Petrie.

 

There was also a savings of $740,000 in insurance from fewer claims than anticipated, $600,000 savings for parts, $450,000 saving for supplies and utilities and $1 million in refunds from excess allocations from administration because different departments came in under budget, said Petrie.

 

As of the end of September, Metro Transit is forecasting a total of 720,000 rides in 2014, compared with the 742,146 projected for this year. That translates in $108,748 less in fares for the year.

 

When fares were lowered by $1 in 2013, ridership increased 12% from the year before. But numerous delays caused ridership to slip in 2014. Zanaska said many of the more recent delays are due to track work by BNSF, which is currently replacing railroad ties at a rate of about 1,000 per day.

 

Work started July 1 and continues today.

 

“Ramsey to Coon Rapids is their first block,” said Zanaska. “They expect to  go all the way into the Fridley area.”

 

Because of the work zones, speed restrictions have slowed the daily commute. The most recent rider alert from Oct. 20 says passengers can expect up to 20-minute delays as trains slow to 25 mph.

 

Zanaska said dealing with delays from the track work has been a challenge. In August, the on-time percentage (OTP) was just 27%. It dropped to 21.7% in September when 235 of 300 trains were late.

 

But Zanaska says BNSF has installed new covers on all the switches to prevent them from freezing and replaced one switch that caused delays last winter. He says the current track work is expected to be done in late November. 

 

“We expect with all the work they’ve done on that main line, which is our inbound track, we’ll be able to fly through that zone,” he said. “They’ve done a lot of work and we feel confident. We’ve ridden the corridor. The work looks good. The gangs are working this week, doing 1,000 ties each day for the next 10 days, and then they’ll be out of our way.” 

 

Commissioner Felix Schmiesing said there has to be improvement or more riders will decide to drive instead of taking the train.

 

“I’m concerned that our performance has been very poor. Our ridership that we worked hard to gain is slipping away on us because we’re not a reliable source of transportation,” he said. “Somehow, we have to find our way out of this. I don’t know if we can withstand another summer like we had or another winter like we had.

 

“I know that people are trying, but somehow we have got to turn this thing around.”

 

The board approved a contract with Prairie Restorations, Inc. to remove approximately 100 oak trees at Oak Savanna Park that are within an oak wilt infection site. The bid was $13,450, with work to begin shortly after the first snow.

 

In other action the board:

• Approved the final standard plat of Whispering Prairie Estates Seventh Addition, consisting of four lots with one existing residence on 13 acres in Blue Hill Twp.;

 

• Approved the final residential plat for Riecken Addition, consisting of three lots with one existing residence on 110th Ave. SE on 40.29 acres in Clear Lake Twp.;

 

• Approved an interim use permit (IUP) for Patrick and Jean Wandersee for a fireworks storage facility on 10.77 acres on Co. Rd. 73 in Big Lake Twp.;

 

• Amended an IUP for Karl Bekius for a yard waste compost operation on the Manthei property on 40 acres in Livonia Twp.; 

 

• Authorized the auditor/treasurer to publish calls for bids for 2015 publications on Dec. 6, 13 & 20 in the official county newspaper.