Reading & Northern understands that the Jim Thorpe Borough Council issued a press release and letter to residents regarding the amusement tax dispute with Reading & Northern Railroad (RBMN). Although the Council did not share the letter or press release with RBMN we did read accounts of their actions in newspaper articles. We note that the Borough did not see fit to talk with us before issuing its press release or to even send us a courtesy copy of the release. In the interest of transparency, and to ensure that the merchants and interested citizens of Jim Thorpe have all the facts, we are releasing in its entirety our email to the Borough Council that apparently caused them to issue the letter and press release.

Email from Wayne Michel on April 28, 2020 12:31 pm to Borough Council President and Borough Manager “Greg/Maureen  As you know Reading & Northern Railroad is interested in resuming excursion train trips to and from Jim Thorpe. We showed our good faith by publicly announcing our agreement to provide such trips and having trips at Winterfest 2020. In exchange we relied on the statements of the Borough, through its attorney, that it would work with us on an amended ordinance and an agreement to resolve the litigation once and for all. Unfortunately, the language and proposals set forth by your attorney do not fully address our concerns. Simply put, RBMN needs an actual agreement with the current Borough Council that there will be a permanent cessation of legal actions seeking to recover any form of amusement tax from RBMN or Lehigh Gorge for any period of time up until the date of our settlement. Contrary to your attorney’s suggestion, we are not asking this Council to bind future Councils. We are asking this Council to bind itself and to make clear that the prior lawsuit brought by Berkheimer is dropped with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. Similarly, RBMN needs modest changes in the draft ordinance language. For weeks we asked that the Borough counsel work with us to draft appropriate language. That was not done. Instead we received language that did not comport with the request I made at the meeting with Borough officials. Our attorney tweaked the language to make it properly reflect the status of our railroads so as to avoid future questions. Basically we needed additional clarification because our services are not fixed and regulated by the PUC and FRA, but rather our operations and facilities are regulated. This is an important distinction under the law. The changes we proposed would have modified the description of the class of excluded businesses, but would not have singled out our railroads, which we understand was the concern of your counsel. For reasons unclear to us your counsel rejected our request for these minor changes. The time has come for the Borough Council to move ahead and put this matter to rest. We have a willingness to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. All we need is for the Council to instruct its attorney to cooperate with us in making some minor changes that properly reflect the status of the railroads, and to enter into an agreement reflecting the release of any and all amusement tax claims. Let’s work together to get the trains moving again! Wayne”

A reading of our email makes it clear that Reading & Northern made NO new demands. In fact the beginning and ending of the email made clear that we looked forward to resuming passenger rail service to Jim Thorpe. The email made clear that we, out of good faith, resumed trains for Winter Fest even though the Council had yet to act. The facts are Reading & Northern is not responsible for any of these actions. It was the Council that decided to sue us, after many years of inaction, without any effort to talk to us. It was the Council that decided not to issue a joint press release in the winter when we thought we had reached an understanding. It was the Council that decided not to consider minor suggested changes to the proposed ordinance language with us before acting on it. And now it is the Council that has decided to issue a press release suggesting the matter is beyond resolution without even talking to us. The fact is all the railroad has asked for is what the Council had agreed to in the winter. First, an ordinance that clearly protects the railroad. Second, an agreement between this elected council and the railroad that there will be no lawsuit filed against the railroad for back amusement taxes. We do not know why the Borough Council has chosen at this time to declare the matter closed, but in doing so it does a grave disservice to its constituents and visitors who look forward to riding the trains once the current health crises has passed. For our part we are getting our equipment ready to provide train service to any and all communities that welcome us.

-via Press Release