A federal board has determined a date by which Ulster County must respond to a petition calling for the county to stop removal of track near the Ashokan Reservoir for a recreational trail.
On Thursday, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board ordered the county to reply to Ulster & Delaware Railway Revitalization Corporation’s petition by February 23. In a filing, the county had refuted the petition’s claims and asked that the deadline for its formal reply be moved from February 5 to March 7, given the facts and files surrounding the petition date back some 40 years. U&D’s January 16 petition questions whether Ulster County is acting within federal regulations in pulling up the rail. After the county’s deadline request, U&D stated that it would be willing to engage in Board-sponsored mediation with the county, a dispute resolution process the Board favors.
