County may buy railroad tracks

In a move that “substantially changes a measure approved by the public,” according to Second District Supervisor Pete Vander Poel, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors voted this morning to allow the county to purchase abandoned railroad tracks.

The 3-1 vote changed the spending plan for countywide transportation funds— known as Measure R—providing more flexibility as to how sales tax revenue can be spent.

The 2006 ballot measure was sold to the public as a funding source to repair potholes, widen roads and promote pollution-free transportation.

An oversight committee that monitors Measure R spending also has concerns about using the funding for a railroad project that proponents say will keep trucks off the roads.

The change was one of five amendments made to the Measure R spending plan during the board’s regular meeting today. The five changes were enacted as a package, with the other amendments altering individual cities’ spending plans, for such projects as bike paths.

The plan previously stated that rail corridors could be only preserved by purchasing the right of way —the land beneath the tracks — but not the actual physical material. Now, it allows for the purchase of existing fixtures, such as the railroad ties, ballast, tracks and signals.

“We’re doing this because we feel like there’s a real potential here, for flux of income and jobs for this side the county,” Fifth District Supervisor Mike Ennis said. “These industries are going to be the ones to come in when the economy takes off again but we won’t be able to do it unless we can show its viable.”

With the new spending plan, county government can purchase a 30-mile segment of abandoned railroad between Jovista (north of Delano and West of Richgrove) and Strathmore. Some officials say the tracks are key in potentially connecting Kern County to ports in Stockton or Oakland, enticing manufacturers to the area and improving air quality by keeping trucks off the road.

“This does not mean you must use the money [to purchase the rails], it just means you are able to,” County Counsel Kathleen Bales-Lange said.

First District Supervisor Ishida left the meeting before the vote took place.

He is headed to Florida, where he and Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG) Executive Director Ted Smalley and board member Tom Sparks will meet with representatives of Rail America—the company that owns the tracks between Jovista and Strathmore.

“They are flying out there [Tuesday] to prove the railroad’s viability,” Ennis said. “In order to get this thing to go forward, and eventually get the monies we need to upgrade the tracks, we are going to need to form a public and private partnership.”

With the cost of maintaining the tracks outweighing its traffic flow, the line has been approved for abandonment by the Surface Transportation Board (STB). If the tracks are pulled out of the ground, the county could lose its fight to use railroad as the area’s primary shipping method.

“I’m glad Vander Poel objected,” Visalia resident Linda Youngs said. “I just don’t think the government has any interest in something that private enterprise is abandoning. If a company can’t make it profitable, how does the government think it can make money?”

She was the only member of the public to speak about altering the spending plan during the board of supervisors meeting.

The county has previously put in offers to buy the line, but withdrew in September 2008, not willing to meet the STB’s appraisal price of $3.3 million.

The STB is a regulatory agency charged with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers.

Rather than pay the appraised price, the county began searching for a private company to buy the tracks. They courted Patriot Rail, whose leader Gary O. Marino formerly served as the president and CEO of RailAmerica.

County officials also set their sights on purchasing the right of way.

“After today we will not be able to discuss this issue ... we are entering into a confidentiality agreement ... hopefully we will have something to report that’s very positive for Tulare County,” Ishida said before leaving Tuesday’s meeting.

With the change to the Measure R spending plan “we can purchase the rail for one-third of what it would have took to buy the right of way,” Ishida said.

All aspects of Measure R are coordinated by the TCAG, which serves as the Tulare County Transportation Authority. It is comprised of 13 voting members of TCAG — eight members representing each city in the county, along with all five members of the Board of Supervisors and TCAG staff.

It also has an oversight committee comprised of county residents whose purpose is to watch how the sales tax revenue is being spent.

“The Oversight Committee is not yet convinced of this project,” committee member David Harrald said. “We have reservations about using Measure R money on the east side railroad.”

Before TCAG sent the amendments to the Board of Supervisors for approval, the oversight committee reviewed the changes. They voted in favor of all the amendments with the exception of the railroad plans.  

“The change adds some some flexibility to the original expenditure plan,” Harrald said. “As oversight members, we’re finding that that’s an unpopular idea [among the public].”

“Generally we are very supportive of the work that county staff and TCAG has done. This is really the first time we’ve found fault with the spending.”

Measure R money has been spent on railroads before.

In August 2008, the California Transportation Commission approved funding for three county projects that were met with a 50 percent local funding match.

The local match was funded in part by Measure R, to improve highway-railroad crossings at Bardsley and Cartmill avenues and Betty Drive in the Tulare area.

Before casting his vote this morning, Third District Supervisor Phillip Cox said he was not in favor of using government money to purchase the rail, but voted in favor so that the other supervisors and members of the TCAG rail committee had better chances of securing the financial assistance of private partners.

“I did not want to kill the deal with my single vote,” he said.

The change to the spending plan did not allocate any additional funding for the project.

Contact Jenna Chandler at 784-5000, Ext. 1050, or jchandler@portervillerecorder.com.