PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Applications for two South Dakota railroad improvement projects seeking special federal grants won official support Wednesday from the state Railroad Board.

Board members however delayed decisions on three others until at least the next meeting May 15.

Topping the list is reconstruction of the Lake Farley bridge at Milbank.

The Sisseton Milbank Railroad proposed the $1,927,000 project, with $1,550,000 to come from a federal special-transportation circumstance (STC) grant. The railroad would provide the remainder.

“In my mind this Sisseton bridge is number one,” board member Steve Scharnweber of Pierre said.

The bridge looks ready to fail, according to Scharnweber, a long-time railroader who rose to vice president of engineering for the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern until he retired a decade ago.

“I concur,” said board member Greg Carmon of Brandon, who’s been in the rail-car repair business for 20 years and owns several rail-car leasing companies.

“I feel the same way,” said board member Gary Doering of Cavour, who’s semi-retired after more than 40 years in helping run and managing grain elevators and co-ops.

The board also unanimously supported an application from Dakota and Iowa Railroad to replace seven miles of jointed track that’s a century old with continuous track between Sioux Falls and Dell Rapids.

D&I seeks nearly $4 million in federal aid and would provide nearly $1 million, according to Jack Parliament, president and general manager for the railroad and a past member of the state board.

South Dakota has approximately $12 million or more coming from the Federal Railroad Administration through what are known as special-circumstance transportation grants, according to Joel Jundt. He is deputy secretary for the state Department of Transportation.

Jundt said the money won’t be available until the federal government issues a notice inviting applications, but he’s been in contact with FRA officials.

Dakota Southern Railway operates on the state-owned Mitchell-Rapid City line and wants a $2 million STC grant to build a 10,000-feet siding east of SD 45 near the Gavilon grain elevator outside Kimball.

The rest of the money, according to the application, was to be a combination of private funding from Dakota Southern and a $278,000 contribution — either a loan or a grant — from the state board.

Consultant Bruce Lindholm, who previously was the state department’s railway office administrator, said Wednesday that Dakota Southern’s owner, Mike Williams, was willing to provide the entire $500,000 if the state board would extend the operation agreement four years to 2036.

Jundt said the MRC regional railroad authority needed to be consulted first. The MRC authority leases the line from the state board and sub-leases operation rights to Dakota Southern.

The board agreed to delay that discussion until the May meeting.

Board members wouldn’t commit to endorsing the application from Belle Fourche industrial park to add 3,975 feet of track for a siding that might service a company that would provide metal workings for the Sanford Underground Research Facility in the old underground Homestake gold mine at Lead.

The Belle Fourche project sought about $1.9 million from a federal STC grant with about $479,000 to come from local sources. The industrial park is served by the Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad, the successor to the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern.

Hollie Stalder, who is executive director for the Belle Fourche Development Corporation, said she’s been talking with high-level personnel at the Sanford project. “Without your blessing, it really stalls everything out,” she told the board.

Lindholm consulted on the Belle Fourche project too. “It’s a chicken or an egg issue,” he said, explaining the metal-working company won’t locate in Belle Fourche without the rail service.

Deputy secretary Jundt said there’s no guarantee Sanford would choose the company as a supplier. “There’s a lot of moving parts,” Jundt said.

Board member Doering made a motion to commit to submitting the Belle Fourche project to the FRA. The other four members at the table looked at each other. “The motion dies due to lack of a second,” Jeff Burket of Spearfish, the board’s acting chairman, said.

Scharnweber turned to Stalder. “I hope it goes through, Hollie,” he told her. “Thank you,” she replied.

The board returned from a break and voted 6-0 to defer it.

The meeting started with a message from Darin Bergquist, the department’s leader. Bergquist said he’d been speaking with Chuck Jepson of Fort Pierre, who agreed to defer his proposal to buy the state-owned Napa-Platte line for $1.5 million and to seek a $3.6 million federal grant to improve rail service in the Napa Junction area.