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December 2 2011USDOT Awards RTD $280 Million Loan for Eagle P3 Commuter Rail Project
USDOT announced on December 2 that it had awarded Firm client Regional Transportation District a $280 million loan under UDDOT’s Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program. This loan will advance construction on RTD’s 30-mile long Eagle P3 commuter rail project, which will serve the greater Denver region. The Firm assisted RTD in the negotiations and regulatory approvals required for the acquisition of the railroad rights-of-way needed for this project. Eagle P3 is the first comprehensive public-private partnership to be undertaken by a US transit agency to develop a passenger rail system, and is being funded through a combination of private investment and federal grants and loans. Read more about this project here.
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November 16 2011Federal Transit Administraton Issues Record of Decision Approving the East Link Light Rail Alignment
The Federal Transit Administration and Sound Transit, the Seattle-region light rail system, announced on November 16 that FTA has issued a Record of Decision approving the East Link portion of the light rail system through Seattle’s eastern suburbs. The Firm assisted Sound Transit in the environmental documentation for this project and in negotiations that led to a Memorandum of Agreement with the City of Bellevue. For more information, click here.
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August 23 2011Broward County, FL, approves agreement for intermodal freight facility at firm client Port Everglades’ site
The Broward County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with Florida East Coast Railway to construct and operate an intermodal container transfer facility on a 42.5-acre site at Port Everglades. The memorandum outlines a 30-year agreement between the railroad and the County for the $72.8 million facility, which will be funded through a loan from the Florida State Infrastructure Bank, a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation, and equity contributed by the railroad. Read detailed coverage here.
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August 15 2011Experts Say Proposed Ivanpah Airport Could Become Cargo Base
Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell has been assisting Clark County, Nevada for many years in its planning for development a second commercial airport in the Ivanpah Valley. Click here to see the article in the Las Vegas Review about the current status of planning.
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April 25 2011Gary Airport OKs Rail Agreement Pushing Expansion Forward
As an illustration of the firm’s multi-modal capabilities, Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell recently assisted the Gary-Chicago Airport in negotiations with railroads for moving of rail facilities on property that is needed for expansion of Gary’s main runway and to bring the airport into compliance with FAA safety standards. For an article on the transaction, click here. For more information about our rail practice, contact Chuck Spitulnik in the firm’s Washington, DC office.
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March 1 2011KAPLAN KIRSCH & ROCKWELL WELCOMES STACIE H. TIONGSON
As of March 1, 2011, Stacie Tiongson has joined the Firm as Counsel in our Washington, D.C. office. Ms. Tiongson was formerly Deputy Chief Counsel to the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Staff Director of the Aviation Subcommittee. Click here to read more.
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November 23 2010Sarah Rockwell and Lori Potter Named Among 2011 COLORADO SUPER LAWYERS and TOP 25 WOMEN LAWYERS IN COLORADO
Two firm partners have been listed in the latest edition of the publication Super Lawyers. Sarah Rockwell and Lori Potter have both been listed in the Top 25 Women Lawyers list for Colorado Super Lawyers 2011. The Top 25 Women list appears in Colorado Super Lawyers 2011 magazine, which is a section of the Super Lawyers special section of 5280 magazine. Further information on the publication and our lawyers can be found here.
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June 30 2010KAPLAN KIRSCH AND ROCKWELL SCORES VICTORY IN FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT FOR VIDEO MONITORING OF PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE CABS
KKR recently secured an important victory for its client, Southern California Regional Rail Authority ("Metrolink"), by obtaining the dismissal of challenges to the Metrolink's use of video cameras equipped with audio recording devices in the cabs of Metrolink locomotives. . On June 30, 2010, Judge Percy Anderson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Central California granted KKR's motion to dismiss a complaint filed by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen ("BLET") seeking removal of the cameras. Metrolink installed cameras in its locomotives in October 2009 as a safety measure in order to monitor compliance with certain operating rules, including the rule barring the use of handheld electronic devices, while the engineers operate passenger trains. The U.S. District Court granted Metrolink's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, holding that (a) Metrolink's policy was not preempted by federal law, (b) the installation of the cameras did not infringe the engineers' substantive or procedural due process rights, and (c) BLET could not obtain a court order allowing its members to "work to rule" to protest the cameras. The Court had previously dismissed the Union's civil rights complaints. An action BLET filed in state court is still pending. To read the Court's Order, click here.
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May 1 2010Peter Kirsch Quoted in Airport Revenue News
Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell successfully defended Martin County, Florida in a class action seeking noise damages for operations at a busy general aviation airport on the east coast of Florida. The firm successfully argued that the case should not be certified as a class because noise damages are unique to each property owner. Peter Kirsch discussed the case and its implications for airports nationwide in an article in Airport Revenue News.
Click here to read the article.
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March 29 2010KAPLAN KIRSCH AND ROCKWELL ACHIEVES MAJOR VICTORY FOR COLORADO BROWNFIELD AND INFILL DEVELOPMENT
On March 29, 2010, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission rejected an electric tariff proposed by Xcel Energy that would have imposed burdensome environmental liability and cost requirements on developers of brownfield properties in Colorado. Kaplan Kirsch represented a coalition of intervenors in this matter, including NAIOP, the Colorado Association of Homebuilders, the Denver Metro Building Owners and Managers Association, Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority, Forest City Stapleton, Inc., Fitzsimons Developer LLC, LUI Denver Broadway, LLC, and LUI Denver Broadway Office, LLC, who argued to the PUC that the proposal would severely and unfairly affect brownfield and infill development in Colorado. The PUC agreed with our clients that "the proposal is significantly flawed, and [Xcel's] arguments in support of the tariff are insufficient to justify its problematic language."
To see the PUC decision in its entirety, click here. To see NAIOP's announcement click here.
