10:55 Dr. Bob Johns is talking about the relationship between economic development and transportation. A recent study revealed the relation between growth and investment in transportation. Transportation can spur growth, but only as part of the play of a number of variables. Interesting material. We'll see about we can get a copy of the powerppoint.
Jack Geller is comparing road building with creating telecommunications infrastructure. He notes that telecom development is more like a private railroad. The regulatory environment is fundamentally different than for transportation. The Internet is used for information, business and government. If we're going to push more government services online, will we have a need to assure access. Finally, he mentions access and availablility of broadband in rural Minnesota. About 90 percent of rural communities have broadband access, though in the countryside, it's more problematic. But if free braodband were suddenly available, the one-third of households that don't own computers still wouldn't be online.
Amy Fredregill of the Minnesota Assocation of Cooperatives is talking abotu her organization's membership; about 2/3 of the member co-ops are agricultural cooperatives. The major transportation issue facing the ag and electrical co-op is captive rate shipper rates by railroads. In 1980, Congress passed the Staggers (sp.?) Act that allowed higher rates in many area. The rates are increasing, and service isn't as good quite often. They're working on legislation to apply anti-trust legislation to railroads. Complaints about railroads are expensive and take a long time. She mentions the Walz's amendment to the Farm Bill for studying rail issues that the House Ag committee approved yesterday.
11:14 Wes Urevig, representing the building trade unions, talkls about how transportation creates many of the construction jobs in the area. He mentions that much of the labor for building ethanol plants comes in from out-of-state. He welcomes renewable energy and notes that the unions are building training centers. He notes some construction workers fear having to use computers and the Internet, but they can adapt.
Red Arndt from the Lewis and Clark Water project is reciting the litany of water shortage woes faced by Southwestern Minnesota. The stats are staggering--in some counties, 100 farmers wait to get access to rural water systems. The Lewis and Clark Water System was formed to address the issues. The project needs to get completed as soon as possible. Arndt notes the water conservation measures the Southwestern Minnesota was forced to adopt, and the Lewis and Clark Water System is now required to conserve water as part of the federal legislation that enabled it.
Next two business people talk about their businesses' transportation and technology issues. Bill Arndt of Lakeside Foods notes that its shipping moved from rail to trucking. The roads are being neglected and that's a cost to Lakeside Fodds. Mark Troutman of Benchmark Electronics notes that the medical and educational infrastructures are most important for Benchmark. He also noted the importance of nurturing smaller, new companies that are often on the edge of technological development.
11:19 There's a question about the impact of the ethanol industry and water use. The woman asking the question worries about the effect of ethanol plants of rural residents' wells. Red Arndt says that wells are protected by state laws, but can't address the ethanol water use demands. Amy Fredregill notes that the co-operatives are studying water use issues. Nancy Adams volunteers information from a recent conference on ethanol and water use; under Minnesota law, there's a hierarchy for water users. Residential wells are protected first, and other uses, including ethanol, comes second.
Two questions come up about railroads and barge traffic on the Mississippi. There's discussion of the DM & E system and the short line railroads. There's enormous need and expense for upgrading the railroads. Red Arndt notes that the process of upgrading the Upper Mississippi Lock & Dam system has been similar to the long process the Lewis and Clark Water System has faced. He'd like to see the process speeded up.
Jack Gellar notes that a lot of the problems are posed by geography: we're in the middle of the country and that poses unique transportation needs.
11:42 A woman asks if we should have a national transportation plan. Jack Gellar says that he often talks about having a rural strategy, by way of analogy, noting that it's hard to generalize even within the strategy, because each rural region is facing different problems. Some are facing explosive growth, some depopulation, while others are hanging in there. Urevig suggests coalition building. Fredregill notes growing urban and rural tensibillons at the legislature, and cites the I-90 coalition. Johns mentions the upcoming authorization of the federal transportation bill.
A couple of people offer anecdotes about travel. Safety comes up.
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