Commissioner Ryan Maier and TCRPC meeting on 4/17/2015: what was the BIG ISSUE?

Here is Lake Worth Commissioner Ryan Maier's account of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC) meeting last month (April, 2015) from the minutes approved on May 5th of the Lake Worth City Commission meeting on 4/21 (go to pages 80 and 81):

Commissioner Maier: announced his attendance at the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council meeting on April 17, 2015, and said the big issue which affected Lake Worth was discussion about the train horn noise. He said Lake Worth was not the only municipality experiencing the excess train noise, there was a new type of train engine that was louder than Florida East Coast’s (FEC) older train, an FEC study on train noise found that the noise was within its range, a quick fix solution was to remove the number of bells to make the horn quieter, and the City needed to petition the FEC and request the number of bells be removed to make them quieter because FEC said they were operating within the range. He commented that it was a lovely experience to see other cities having the same experience. He said All Aboard Train would have a station in West Palm Beach and they had the same horn, so noise would increase. He suggested writing an ordinance about the noise. He said the Metropolitan Planning Organization had put together staff and funding to change how the railroad crossings worked, which was the reason why train horns were blown.

Small point but relevant: train horns do not have "bells"; train horns are made of "chimes". As was pointed out by Mayor Pam Triolo many of the issues Maier has have already been addressed by the City the previous year (in April of 2014). Maier proposes an "ordinance about the noise". The City Commission can draft one or a hundred ordinances about the train noise. The FEC tracks fall under Federal Law, not state or local laws. Federal law takes precedence by the way.

Commissioner Maier said the "big issue" which affected Lake Worth at the TCRPC was the train horn noise. Going through the draft minutes of the meeting the issue of train horns only came up once:

Commissioner McKinlay asked if anything can be done in terms of the volume the horns of the new locomotives. Staff stated that this issue has been raised with the FRA [Federal Railroad Administration] and they have conducted an evaluation to measure the volume of the horns, and they appear to be within the permitted range. Staff indicated that there have been a series of requests to FECI [Florida East Coast Industries] to dampen the sound, and they have indicated they are considering ways to lessen the noise. 

Maier seems to be confusing two separate issues, and they are train horns and quiet zones. This is very important to understand: the railroad was here first. Any railroad crossing you see is access the railroad allows over its right-of-way. Train horns are required and regulated by Federal law at all railroad crossings (unless it's a quiet zone). Quiet zone locations will be determined over time using calculations of traffic, population density, safety, infrastructure needs, etc. Not every crossing is going to get a quiet zone but you can be sure everyone will want one near their house.

The next TCRPC meeting is on Friday, May 15th. The All Aboard Florida Update is #12 on the agenda. Hope to be there with my camera; its been a while since I attended a TCRPC meeting.

I have Maier's comments at the City Commission meeting on video and will have those comments up soon. Along with that video will have additional comments about the FEC, quiet zones, and how working and being cooperative with the railroad generally is a good idea.