Mitch Stogner, Executive Director Allan Hemphill, NCRA Chairman Ncra.mstogner@sbcglobal.net vinguru@comcast.net NCRA SELECTS OPERATOR FINALISTS Ukiah - May 10, 2006 - The North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) today announced that it will choose between two finalists to operate trains on the Northwestern Pacific (NWP) line. NCRA Chairman, Allan Hemphill, said the final selection of an operator for the line, which parallels Highway 101 between Eureka and Novato, will be made when the NCRA Board of Directors meets in Healdsburg on June 7. The two finalists are the Sierra Railroad of Oakdale, and NWP Inc. lead by the Woodside Consulting Group of Palo Alto. The Sierra Railroad operates the Skunk excursion train between Fort Bragg and Willits as well as other short-line freight and excursion trains in Oakdale, West Sacramento, and Woodland. NWP Inc. is owned by John H. Williams of the Woodside Consulting Group as well as Skip Berg, Property Manager and Developer of Port Sonoma, and Allen Ennis, CEO of Evergreen Natural Resources. “Both proposals outline solid plans to restore rail service on the North Coast,” said Hemphill. “We will spend the next 30 days assessing the relative merits of each proposal and will name the new operator at our June meeting.” NCRA Vice Chairman and Mendocino County Supervisor Hal Wagenet said repair of the line will begin this summer in coordination with the new operator. “The $7.8 million approved by the CTC last month will provide the seed money to begin the repairs,” said Wagenet. “Once the operator is selected, we can work together on a phased rehabilitation plan,” he said. “Both proposers have the talent and resources to begin restoring rail service in phases within the next 18 months,” according to Wagenet. ##### The North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) was formed in 1989 by the California Legislature under the North Coast Railroad Authority Act, Government Code Section 93000, et seq. The mission of the North Coast Railroad Authority is to provide a unified & revitalized rail infrastructure meeting the freight and passenger needs of the region; a first class service working in partnership with others to build and sustain the economy of the region. ----------------------------------------------------------- Union Pacific sued over Eureka, California "Balloon Track" The “Balloon Track” is in a judge’s hands now. Local nonprofit organization Humboldt Baykeeper has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Union Pacific Railroad Co. for what the group claims are violations of the federal Clean Water Act on the railroad’s parcel located between Washington Street and Waterfront Drive in Eureka. In the first week of February, the organization had issued a notice of intent to sue UP for the alleged violation and also alleged violations of other federal and state laws regarding the Balloon Tracks. The notice also lists the North Coast Railroad Authority as “notice recipients.” Baykeeper Program Director Pete Nichols said that the NCRA is involved because it has an interest in the property and that interest is the 150-foot rail easement that traverses the site. Nichols said Friday that the federal court judge will receive a response from UP and then review the case for its merit. “It’s an extensive process before it even goes to a trial,” he said. Nichols added that the lawsuit has nothing to do with the impending sale of the land to Security National for its planned mixed-use Marina Center. “We’re simply coming from responsibility as far as contaminating the waters of the United States and the responsibility for the cleanup,” he said. Nichols is among the speakers scheduled for the Citizens for Real Economic Growth’s “How Toxic is Toxic?,” which is the second in a free series of what it calls “education forums.” It is scheduled for Tuesday at 18:30 at the Eureka Public Marina (Wharfinger Building). Other speakers Tuesday include Patty Cleary of Californians For Alternatives To Toxins, and Tuck Vath of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. In 2001, the board issued a “cleanup and abatement order” for Union Pacific on its Balloon Track site. CREG spokesperson Larry Glass said that Humboldt Baykeeper has “briefed” him on its intention to sue, but he had no comment on it. What he did have a comment about was Eureka-based Organically Delicious Café owner Jim Ferguson’s “Eureka Waterfront Approval Initiative.” Ferguson previously said he is the spokesperson for Preserve Our Waterfront, a grass-roots group that created the initiative and a Web site at www.preserveourwaterfront.org. He said the group was started because Security National submitted an application for an amendment to the city’s general plan land-use designation for nine parcels, which are on the Balloon Track and adjacent to it. If the City council approves the amendment, the Balloon Track could be changed from a “public” to a commercial use, which would enable a planned Home Depot, along with other retail outlets, to locate there. The group had 180 days since the initiative was filed with the city in late March to collect approximately 1,500 signatures of registered Eureka voters to allow it to be placed on the November ballot. If it is passed it will make Balloon Track land-use decisions contingent on a voting majority. The Preserve Our Waterfront site was not online as of Friday, and Ferguson did not return The Eureka Reporter’s phone calls by press time. Glass said the public already voted on the issue. In 1999, Measure J would have revised the city’s general plan, rezoning the Balloon Track from “public” to “commercial.” That would have enabled Wal-Mart to locate there. It was defeated by Eureka voters 61 to 39 percent during a special election. “The public has already voted that they didn’t want the zoning changed before,” Glass said. He said that if he were approached to sign Ferguson’s petition he “probably wouldn’t sign it.” “That’s what they elect people to the City Council for is to make those decisions,” Glass said. He added that referendums “slow things down.” “I’m not sure that’s the approach I would want to take,” he said. “It’s not timely enough. … This project is right in front of us right now.” - Wendy Butler, The Eureka Reporter
And some more NCRA/NWP stuff NCRA Apr. 30th Audit showed that the leased box cars made $25,125 last month, which is $5000.00 short of the initial projection. Here is story about Humbolt Bay and the NCRA./NWP. The first phase in a long-range plan to take advantage of the development of the deep-water Port of Humboldt Bay and greatly expand freight traffic along the North Coast. The Port of Humboldt - recently deepened and with seven shipping terminals but too little business - is already discussing possible partnerships with the Port of Oakland. Container shipping and rail freight operations enjoy a hand-in-glove relationship. Developing Humboldt Bay "makes sense, economically, logistically and from an energy standpoint," said NCRA Executive Director Mitch Stogner. The plan is to put Humboldt Bay, which is outside Arcata, on the world-wide shipping map. Expanding the port operations at Humboldt Bay would revitalize the North Coast economy and relieve congestion at Oakland and other West Coast ports, Stogner said. The state has already designated the port an Enterprise Zone, which makes tax incentives available to shippers and others who set up operations there. Oakland is the 5th busiest container port in the U.S. Port officials there were "very supportive" of the NCRA's funding requests before the state, Stogner said. But Oakland's support goes beyond morale- building. The 75-year-old port's biggest subsidiary is the BNSF Railway Company (BNSF), which has 33,000 miles of track in 28 states and two Canadian provinces. The BNSF moves more intermodal traffic - cargo containers - than any other rail system in the world. It's also the country's largest grain hauler. Increased freight business from a revitalized port would increase rail business. The California Transportation Commission is funding the NCRA's $4.9 million job - emergency repairs to culverts, bridges, levees, the roadbed and track. The rail infrastructure took a beating during the winter storms, Stogner said. He estimates it will take from $20 million to $25 million to make the track fully operational between Willits and the rail interchange at Lombard, near Napa. If all goes well, the line will be ready for freight by the end of 2007. The connection is critical because it is at Lombard that freight cars will leave the NCRA track to link up with the California Northern line to Fairfield/Suisun, then to the Union Pacific Interchange and the national rail system. Stogner said he expects that initially trains would haul two major outgrowths from the North Coast - forest products and Sonoma County's garbage, which would likely end up in Nevada. Humboldt officials see Asia as a major source of their business. The state is looking at the long haul. "The CTC is now an official partner with us," Stogner said. The commission is making $41.2 million available to the NCRA incrementally for environmental review and clearances, to come up with the scope of its rail program and, finally, for construction. Stogner also said he is "absolutely confident" that the NCRA's freight traffic can coexist with the commuter rail service proposed by the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District. Marin and Sonoma voters will decide in November whether to increase the sales tax to pay for the SMART commuter rail system, which is proposed to run the almost 75 miles from Cloverdale to Larkspur. The rail authority also has an application before the Federal Emergency Management Agency for $2 million to $3 million in storm- related repairs in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. The state commission also granted the NCRA $2.9 million to come into compliance with an environmental consent decree - dating from 1989 - at nine rail facilities, all of them north of Willits. The NCRA has already performed a surface cleanup of the sites; the new grant money will pay for the subsurface investigation of possible contamination.
