SB 231-AK RAILROAD CORP; EXEC BUDGET ACT  1:52:10 PM CHAIR MYERS announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 231 "An Act providing that the Alaska Railroad Corporation is subject to the Executive Budget Act; providing that expenditures of the Alaska Railroad Corporation are subject to appropriation; and providing for an effective date." 1:52:18 PM CHAIR MYERS opened public testimony on SB 231. 1:52:41 PM JACK BROWN, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, spoke in support of SB 231. He read a hypothetical letter he had written to illustrate the ongoing dispute and litigation between the Alaska Railroad and South Anchorage homesteaders in the Flying Crown subdivision along an airstrip in South Anchorage, which read: [Original punctuation provided.] I'm a South Anchorage homeowner and I've been fighting the Alaska RR for 9 years now. Their long running lack of budgetary and policy oversight has led directly to the gutting of the value of my home. No Alaskan or American should ever have to go through what I and many others have gone through. Hopefully my testimony here today will be helpful so that others can better understand what's driving this issue and help affect meaningful change. I've written a hypothetical letter from our Alaska Federal District Judge Kindred, who recently rewrote 140+ years of ROW law against Alaskans, and in the process ma a complete mockery of our constitution and settled law. The letter is written to Homesteader Mr Sperstad of who I'm a successor, and all of the WW 1 & 2 Veterans and Miners who came to Homestead and settle in Alaska. Dear Mr. Sperstad. Congratulations on the April 17th, 1950, signing of your new Federal Homestead Patent. The US thanks you for the hardships you're willing to endure in this challenging environment and your adventurous spirit to help settle the last frontier. It's people like you who will set the stage for prosperity in this great land for generations to come. As you're well aware sir, the Alaska RR transits and completely divides your new Homestead, and the following simple language is found within your patent: xcepting and reserving, however, to the US a right of way for the construction of railroads, Telegraph, and Telephone lines in accordance with the Act of March 12th, 1914." This simple language would seem to state the obvious: the US has awarded you supreme title to land and divested itself of all right, title, and interest in the property with the new Federal Homestead land patent conveyed to you. However, just like a road or a canal, the US must reserve the right to continue to safely operate the train through your Homestead and requires a right of way to do so. Unfortunately, it's not so simple. I am writing to you today to ensure that you understand clearly that, despite what may seem obvious in the patent language, the actual far-reaching implications to you, your heirs, and your successors of having the Alaska Railroad as your neighbor are not addressed within the patent language and are quite extensive. Let me explain. I've defined for the US that the actual intent of this sentence is to give the US the fee equivalent authority to fence you out and otherwise permanently deny you any access whatsoever across the ROW for the purposes of improving your private Homestead property. If you have the financial means, present and future access "may" be negotiated at the sole discretion of the RR and it's US owned commercial real estate division via annual lease fees and payments calculated by the square foot at current market rates. You should further be warned that these rising market rates could increase rapidly and prove cost prohibitive to you and your heirs and successors either now or in the future. 1:56:22 PM Additionally, any agreed upon leased or other access to your Homestead can be rescinded at any time for any reason whatsoever by the US now or in the future with 30 days' notice if you're unable to pay escalating access and other ROW use fees. To further clarify: in your area the US only requires roughly half of the ROW acreage through your Homestead to safely operate the train or build a future 2nd track. The remaining portion of your fee simple ROW property has been designated for non-railroad residential and commercial real estate revenue generating operations executed at the sole discretion of the US. I realize that this may be a shock and confusing to you and other Homesteaders but I assure you this is the correct interpretation of the law. 1:57:16 PM SENATOR MICCICHE joined the meeting. MR. BROWN continued to read his written testimony. [Original punctuation provided.] Even though congress put an end to land grant railroads in America in 1875 to avoid this exact issue for settlers like you, the land grant railroad for all practical purposes continues alive and well through your Homestead and throughout the Alaska rail belt. Although technically the US recognizes you as the servient owner in fee of the 200' ROW land and the dirt under the tracks, you have no legal right of access or control over any of these ROW lands, including those large portions of the ROW acreage completely unneeded for the current or future safe operation of the train. Again sir, it's our privilege to welcome and congratulate you on your new Alaskan Federal Homestead Land Patent. We apologize if denying you access across the Homestead we've just conveyed to you causes you any financial or other hardship. We do note, however, that you do indeed have access to some of your Homestead without having to trespass on private RR land. You're quite fortunate in this regard as many Homesteaders are discovering that they have no lawful access to any buildable Homestead acreage due to the ROW location. They simply have no choice other than to try and pay whatever the RR demands or give up on their dreams of Homesteading in Alaska. So again, I must warn you that because the US has held back a 200- foot swath of private property within your Homestead, it's critical that you plan your future time and investments into your property very carefully. Just because there aren't fences in place today doesn't mean you won't be denied access or have to pay to avoid fences in the future or be fenced out entirely if you can't afford it or refuse to pay. There is no "permanent" access across the ROW in your Homestead. The ROW across your land for all practical purposes is fee simple land grant RR land in everything but name. Thank You, Judge Kindred of the Alaska Federal district court, 2022. 1:59:48 PM ROBERT GASTROCK, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, related that he had an ongoing dispute with the Alaska Railroad regarding the right-of-way (ROW) for over 11 years, mirroring Mr. Brown's dispute. He purchased his home when the federal government owned and operated the railroad but sold it last year. MR. GASTROCK related that he provided written testimony to the committee. He offered his belief that SB 231 would provide executive and legislative oversight of the Alaska Railroad, which has been lacking since the Alaska Railroad Corporation was formed in the 1980s. He offered his view that many of ARRC's policies were ill-conceived and detrimental to public access and private property rights. 2:01:37 PM MR. GASTROCK offered his view that ARRC acts with impunity. He said ARRC considers itself a state agency when seeking state or federal funding, but it uses its corporate status to avoid disclosing financial information to the public. He provided two examples when ARRC had ignored statutory requirements. He said that the patents received and accepted by ARRC in 2006 were done without legislative approval as required by statutes. He said that the patents had clouded the title of property owners, including himself and Mr. Brown. He explained that the patent was superimposed on the patent granted to Mr. Sperstad. 2:03:44 PM MR. GASTROCK stated that the legislature amended AS 42.42.350 and AS 42.42.410 to say that the railroad could not claim exclusive use in any area where the railroad could not demonstrate that the federal government had such rights to transfer to the state. He stated that members might be aware that ARRC filed a lawsuit against Flying Crown Airpark. The property association had asked ARRC to honor the statute and provide proof that the federal government owned fee title to the land or something other than a surface easement. Flying Crown provided a complete chain of title reports showing that there was no mention of any interest by the federal government regarding land ownership of any portion of the right-of-way that runs through Tom Sperstad's homestead. Instead of acknowledging the facts, ARRC filed a lawsuit in federal court against Flying Crown, which is still under litigation. 2:05:06 PM MR. GASTROCK asked members to support SB 231. 2:05:30 PM SARA TAYLOR, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, stated that the Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) claims to own 12,000 acres of land along a 500-mile railway corridor, including submerged land. She expressed concern that the legislature does not have oversight over ARRC. She referred to a US Supreme Court case [Illinois Central Railroad v. Illinois 146 U.S. 387 (1892] regarding Illinois Central Railroad ownership of 1,000 acres of submerged lands. The court reaffirmed that each state, in its sovereign capacity, holds permanent title to all submerged lands within its borders and holds these lands in public trust. MS. TAYLOR stated that Alaskans have a constitutional right to free access to use navigable waterways. She offered her view that state officials cannot disregard the public trust doctrine protections when the state received title to submerged lands along the Alaska Railroad. She said AS 38.05.126 is not ambiguous. She asked members to consider the substantial merits of SB 231. 2:09:38 PM BONNIE WOLDSTAD, representing self, North Pole, Alaska, spoke in support of SB 231, noting it was a step in the right direction. She expressed concern that the state does not have sufficient oversight over ARRC. She stated that in 2003, the Alaska Railroad worked to repeal 45 U.S.C. Sections 1208 and 1209 of the federal act. She summarized that the adjacent property was to revert to the adjacent property owners, but by repealing this law, the Alaska Railroad no longer needed to comply with those provisions. She referred to the Anchorage lawsuit. She noted that then-Representative Tammy Wilson introduced a bill related to railroad rights-of-way [HB 93]. She expressed an interest in having the railroad accountable to the people. She was unsure whether the remedy was to expand ARRC's board members to include property owners, but she viewed SB 231 as a step in the right direction because it would provide accountability. The US patents that were issued before statehood do not offer exclusive easements. She characterized the railroad's exclusive easements as an inverse take. 2:13:24 PM CHAIR MYERS closed public testimony on SB 231. CHAIR MYERS held SB 231 in committee.