Ranier citizens and business owners were given no warning
of the closing
After a unanimous vote Monday, the Ranier City Council will begin the process to establish ordinances and resolutions to address concerns with Canadian National Railway.
From Nov. 6 through Friday, the CN railroad crossing on Spruce Street in Ranier was closed with no warning to the people or business owners of the city.
“Nobody in town was told that this was going to happen,” said Ranier Mayor Ed Oerichbauer. “This just shows that CN could care less about our city.”
Lorraine Bobst, who owns Grandma’s Pantry told The Journal she felt the closing of the street hurt business for her.
“Business is slow this time of year anyway, this didn’t help,” she said.
Oerichbauer said a meeting to address the need to repair the crossing was held in July 2008 with CN officials who assured Oerichbauer that they would get back to him in a matter of days with a schedule of when work was planned for the tracks.
When CN did not reply, Oerichbauer said another meeting was conducted in May 2009 with officials making similar promises. Because no definite decisions resulted from either meeting, Oerichbauer said he figured he would hear more when CN planned the work.
Instead, CN closed the crossing without prior warning Nov. 6, leaving Oerichbauer and several Ranier residents extremely frustrated.
“What if an ambulance or fire engine would have had to get through?” asked resident Arden Barnes.
Oerichbauer said the closure of the crossing without notice to the city or its residents shows the need for resolutions or ordinances “to protect our city and businesses should this happen again. This is what we need to do if CN is going to play these games. We need some advance warning before they just come in and shut everything down.”
Ranier Trustee Fred Woods said businesses that lost customers during the closing of the crossing should be offered some kind of compensation from CN.
Oerichbauer said he would speak to the council in committee and possibly involve a newly formed citizens committee to take further action.
