Federal Funds at Risk for Verizon’s Refusal to Pay Rent for Funicular Use: Pa. County

The federal government and the state of Pennsylvania “have an interest in the repairs and structure” of the Inclined Plane funicular that connects the city of Johnstown to the borough of Westmont, said a brief Thursday in U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh in which Cambria County opposes Verizon’s June 6 motion to dismiss the county’s complaint (see 2306070030). The county asserts Verizon breached its easement agreement by failing to maintain the telephone equipment along the funicular. The federal government and the state require “any person, company or utility to pay fair market rental for their use of federally funded facilities, and Verizon has refused this obligation under federal law,” said the county. The failure to collect rent or enter into a federally approved lease or maintenance agreement “could negatively impact federal monies used to support the Incline Plane,” it said.