| Rail backers work to keep idea rolling
Consultants to the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments are working on a detailed study of commuter rail between Charleston and Summerville, through North Charleston, and also potential rail service extending to West Ashley, Moncks Corner and Goose Creek. The study was launched last year and expands upon a $50,000 preliminary study that concluded passenger rail service between Charleston and Summerville is feasible and could help reduce traffic on I-26. "The riders will come," said Summerville Town Administrator Dennis Pieper. "The folks I'm talking to in Summerville are very interested in this." A federal grant of up to $350,000 has allowed the BCD Council of Governments to expand the scope of the study, making it a detailed look at the investment necessary to create a rail system and keep it running.
Cape Wind hearing draws crowd to UMass-Boston
The impassioned debate over the future of Nantucket Sound continued tonight as more than 200 people packed a gym at the UMass-Boston campus in Dorchester for a public hearing on the controversial Cape Wind project. The event wrapped up four straight nights of public hearings on the 130-turbine proposal that were organized by the U.S. Minerals Management Service. The federal agency was soliciting comments on the largely positive report about the offshore wind farm's potential environmental impact that the agency issued in January. Developer Cape Wind Associates LLC hopes the agency will give its final approval by the end of the year. "It has taken a long time to get here," said Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for the Boston-based developer. "But we think from this moment on, things are going to be moving more quickly." A similar set of hearings took place once before, in December 2004.
Mill Site Plaza finds a buyer
The economic headlines may be depressing for a large part of the nation, but in the Mon Valley city of Clairton, business is looking up. City council recently approved a motion that will convey the city-owned abandoned Mill Site Plaza to the city's redevelopment authority, which will then sell it to Blue Mountain Equipment Rental Corp. The Uniontown-based company plans to build an 8,000-square-foot office and warehouse facility on the vacant 2.6-acre lot at the corner of Maple Avenue and Route 837. The $800,000 facility will also serve as its corporate headquarters. The target opening date is Sept. 1. The company hopes to hire, starting later this year, 15 new employees, jobs such as truck drivers, mechanics, and office workers. "There's a large talent pool of people in the Mon Valley who we want to hire,'' said Chief Executive Officer and co-owner Jim Jones.
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