 So I want to thank everybody for coming out this afternoon. It's an exciting day in Columbia, South Carolina. I want to take a few minutes as we talk about railroad elimination and realignment here in Columbia, South Carolina. Something we've been talking about for close to 120 years. First time it was written, it was in 1905. So we're finally addressing the issue. I want to thank the Senator Setzler and Harpoolian for being here, Representative Finley, Council members Brennan, Taylor, DeVall, McDowell, and Herbert. We're all here. I also like to thank Mayor West Columbia, Mayor Tim Miles, Mayor Eastover Gunther, who's here. We have Alex Harrell, the student body president at the University of South Carolina. Join us, Bill Kirkland. We also have Ray Tanner, who's on the way to join us. I also like to thank Shaquise Newton for being here. We have several neighborhood leaders here, also in attendance. Carl Blackstone from the Chamber of Commerce. Bill Ellen, am I forgetting anybody? She's representing Richland County. I know that Paul Livingston is on his way. Overture Walker sends his regards, but could not be here. So with that, I'm going to turn over and let a couple people speak. And then we'll follow up. I'd like to start with Representative Kirkman Finley. Six months ago, Chairman Smith, Chairman Ways and Means and Speaker Lucas, Speaker of the South Carolina General Assembly with the South Carolina House and the General Assembly challenged the members of the South Carolina House to think about what would transform their community. And to quote Chairman Smith, he said, I want transformative projects that make our communities and our state better. Not small things, but big things. We have the money and we have the time to do something that is truly transformative. So I've been thinking about what that was. And Councilman Joe Taylor gave me a nudge or more of a slap on the top of the head and said, the railroad tracks, your dad's vision for the city is what we need to do. And he's exactly right. Most of y'all don't remember 30 years ago, really 50 years ago, a city bifurcated and divided by railroad tracks, a vista that was really just a series of warehouses. In the early 70s, my dad working with the city, the county, and the state and the federal government was able to get the initial phase of the railroad track realignment and burial done. Therefore, my goal in this budget is to ask for the $35 million to be matched with $15 million or so from the city and county so that we can reach out to the federal government again 50 years later and hopefully be able to get a matching grant for this $200 to $220 million project. And to lay the vision of what we're looking for on the table. Rosewood, below grade, Assembly Street, UG Street. Everybody in this crowd has been stuck at a railroad track in Columbia, South Carolina. I can think of no project that would transform our community better than this and allow Southwest Columbia to grow in a way that we haven't ever seen. I'm going to do everything I can to push. And I just want you to know that generally, I am not somebody who asks for a lot of largesse from the state, but this is one where I'm going to go bag, borrow, and steal. I'm all in, and I hope we all are, because this is an asset and something that will transform our community, our communities, our city, and our future. Thank y'all. Thank you, Kirk, and thank you, Mary Rickman. Nikki Satsua, where's Nikki? Come up here. Nikki and I represent this area, and both of us have been here a long time. Longer than we want to talk about. Longer than we want to talk about. And both of us agree that the railroads have constricted the economic development of this community. And this project is a solution to that problem so that we can grow without people having to wait just sometimes an hour for the train to clear through so they can go about their business. And you can't have a vibrant downtown if people are always constricted by these trains. So we're going to work with Representative Finley and our compatriots in the house to try to get this money so that this project can go forward. It affects the entire Midlands. It doesn't just affect the city of Columbia. So we're happy to be here and we're happy to work. And this is the kind of cooperation that gets things done. It's bipartisan, it's across the river. It's everybody coming together to make this happen. Thank you. Thank you. So I'd like to add to that, Dalton Trezvan is here representing Congressman Clyburn who couldn't be here. And then obviously our federal delegation who's working closely with us. Y'all, the difference between what you're here and what you're seeing today is what's behind me. This is what competitive communities do. They come together collaboratively to go after a big project that absolutely monumentally changes the outlook all the way from east over across the Midlands. Every community is affected by this. Historic communities, lower income communities, higher income communities, business community. There isn't a person who hasn't been if they're an hourly wage person to a businessman, to a lawyer, to our police office, to the fire department, to our state legislators that have not been affected by this rail. The state has made an incredible investment in the port and an inland port. And the result of that is a huge increase of containerized trains coming through our community. And we're feeling negative impact. This is an opportunity for the Midlands as a whole, both at the federal, state and local level to come together to make a difference for our community. And we're extremely excited about this opportunity by funding it both at the local and state level, but partnering with our federal delegation to go after four different grants to make sure that we take this monumental project and change the future of Columbia. We've waited 120 years to make this kind of difference in our community and we're excited because this isn't gonna be the first project that we come together as a community from all aspects to make a difference. By eliminating these obstacles, obviously we're growing the commerce as Senator Harpoolian said, we have a dead quarter now that has the ability to live. We're affecting neighborhoods. We're affecting almost 15 crossings just for here which then allow us to enhance the other. Columbia, South Carolina is the only community in South Carolina that has over 55 railroad crossings in its city. So this is the change. And I have to tell you, by looking behind me and seeing the collaboration, neighborhoods, business people, community leaders, our university Ray Tanner is here. He's just slipped in the back to show support for the athletic. The university is involved. The students are involved. You just don't see that a lot in South Carolina. What you're seeing is a new start and a collaboration. And I wanna thank every one of y'all for being here. We're excited about the opportunity. It's a process that we're going through but I'm very hopeful that our state will come to the table just like our federal partners. With that, I'll open it up for any questions. Well, safety, and I failed to mention it and I apologize, safety is the number one issue. If you look at when you have so many crossings and so many are back and forth loading, stopping, causing anything, you have more accidents. And a knock on wood, we've been very fortunate over the history of time but we don't wanna take any more chances for the future. So this is one of those projects that fits all the way across as we look at railroad safety across the city all at one time. We thought the state paper endowment was gonna write a check for that. I was counting on publisher Tolly to help us out with that. So no, seriously, we're working on that together. Obviously, the railroad realignment was one of the projects that was listed in the penny sales tax that folks voted for, didn't have a dollar amount to it. So obviously looking at that. And then we have engineering, environmental. As you'll see on Tuesday's agenda, we're appropriating the cost for us to go ahead and engage with the grant writing team in junction with SCDOT to get this done. So this project wouldn't happen without that type of collaboration. But more details to come as we are getting all the numbers together but it's somewhere between 15, ground 15 million between the two entities. Well, I'm gonna tell you right now, Mr. Fastenow, we're going at lightning speed. We're appropriating funds tomorrow. We got an application in to four federal grants. We're working with the state. We've done a lot of studies so far. So we've got feasibility studies. So we're on the work. It's not gonna happen overnight but I think you'll see progress in the next three to five years. Anybody else have a question for any folks here? Yes, ma'am. So we're using a third party here and part of the process right now if you've been watching the city, we just put out for grant writing teams to help us with HUD applications, Infra, mega, Chrissy, rail realignment. So we're working with third parties to make sure that we're not missing out on all the opportunities at the federal level. A lot of it's gonna be application driven and so we wanna be prepared to take advantage of that because with all the opportunities that are coming from the federal government that if we can leverage with our state and our money, we really can monumental change Columbia more than just the railroad. Everything from housing to the railroad. So we're gonna cover the gamut. Anybody else? Anybody have any parting words? I see the city manager snuck in here to make sure I recognize her. Is there anybody else that I didn't recognize that's here joining us? All I can say is thank you. As you see collaboration, it's the key. Thank you.