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City Council Meeting February 12, 2001 Page 9 has the lease with the rail district, and she did not believe they look at it as a win-lose situation, but as a win-win situation so that they would have an east and west short line railroad as well as the north-south line that is here. Ms. Fancher said she did not believe that they wanted to put anyone out of business, but that four miles will be detrimental in determining whether that 45 mile track could be used for a short line railroad. Ms. Fancher stated that she felt that they would be willing to work with the Kiamichi Railroad and further stated that competition is the best. Gary Vest, 1651 Clarksville Street, came forward stating that he has some questions about endorsing the Fannin County Rural Rail District. He was very familiarwith rural rail districts and there are several cases, such as in Sulphur Springs, where it was vital to keep rail service to that community. Mr. Vest said at the same time, here in Paris, we were abandoned by the Texas Northeastern Railroad. They abandoned the rail from Paris to Clarksville and on to New Boston, and then they told us in a meeting that they intended to abandon the rail between Paris and Sherman. Mr. Vest said that is the course they are taking now. Mr. Vest advised the City Council that the Fannin Rural Rail Transportation District was formed to save that line. He said there are a lot of questions, and there is a lot of need there, but his concern arises out of the fact that the Kiamichi Railroad has come in and struck a deal with the Texas Northeastern Railroad to provide all the services in Paris, provide all the switching, and they provide all the connections to Burlington, Southern Pacific and any other railroad that any of our users want to use. He said he did talk to the head of the States Rails today and there are two representatives here from Kiamichi, and he would like to hear from them to make sure before the endorsement is made. Mitch Becker, General Manager of the Kiamichi Railroad, based out of Hugo, Oklahoma came forward stating that they were present to ensure that council members understand the facts and the issues. He wanted the Council to know what endorsing Fannin County Rail District would mean. He asked that they strictly consider the facts. He said it would be a risk for the city if they choose to support this request. He said one risk is that the rail service that you already have in place could go away. Mr. Becker said the public, shippers, and vendors who may already be established with Kiamichi are hearing from the Fannin Rail District that they want to increase jobs, have a warehouse come in, and many other things. He said the city of Paris already has the Kiamichi Railroad who is prepared to