City ponders railroad property purchase

The Porterville City Council met behind closed doors Thursday solely to discuss the fate of a 30-mile stretch of rail corridor between Strathmore and Jovista (near Delano), particularly about a 5-mile portion that lies within city limits.

Listed on Thursday’s agenda as the subject of negotiation is the terms and price of the property, while negotiating parties are the City of Porterville and the Union Pacific Railroad Company.

The special meeting comes at a time when Tulare County rail negotiators are also working out the purchase of the same stretch of right-of-way (the land beneath the tracks) formerly known as the East Side Rail, with the same negotiating parties. And although what the discussion entailed is not specified on the agenda, County officials are not too happy about Thursday’s meeting.

“That’s news to me,” County Supervisor and negotiator Allen Ishida said Friday he was never notified of the closed session meeting. “If the city of Porterville is trying to negotiate a separate deal from the County of Tulare, I’d be very upset.”

Ishida explained that the county is looking to purchase the entire 30-mile stretch, and perhaps lease the approximate 5-mile section within city limits to Porterville for the construction of a pedestrian trail and bicycle path. He added that the property would be designed with the understanding that some day the rail service may be reinstated, requiring the rail to be put back in the middle of the right-of-way, not to interfere with the walkway.
Tom Sparks, Tulare County Association of Government (TCAG) member at large and chief negotiator for the county, said he also wasn’t aware of the meeting.

“It’s awfully hard to tell from the captions on closed session items exactly what’s going to be discussed,” Sparks said over a phone interview Friday.

“Allen and I are negotiating for Tulare County, and I don’t know if this is overlapping or in conjunction to our plans.”

In the meantime, Sparks said talks with Union Pacific and the county are ongoing, however, issues with property ownership have delayed the process.

Sparks also said that rail abandonment has been a major subject of discussion at TCAG (the county’s transportation authority) board meetings for the last three years, and because the group does not have the power to acquire, maintain and dispose of real property, the county’s purchase is the next best thing.

In October of last year, the City of Porterville further hindered TCAG’s ability to purchase the same right-of-way when it voted unanimously to reject an amendment to a Joint Powers Agreement that would have allowed TCAG to not only purchase property, but to also enter into its own joint powers agreements with other agencies.

Sparks said that although TCAG does not have the power to purchase the property, recent legislation may change that.   

SB 325, Sparks said, would allow Councils of Government (COGS) to enter into joint ventures with other COGS for the purchase of rail lines to preserve them for future use.
Porterville Mayor Ron Irish and Vice Mayor Cameron Hamilton refused to comment on the closed session item.

The city is looking at the rail line from approximately Linda Vista Avenue to Gibbons or Tea Pot Dome.

The Porterville branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad was opened on July 1, 1888 when the first train stopped in town.

If the City of Porterville were to purchase the property for the exclusive use of trail, for the first time in 123 years no land within city limits would be designated for the use of a railroad. The Santa Fe rail line was abandoned more than 15 years ago.

RailAmerica, which operated the freight line and owned the hardware to the railroad, pulled up tracks and crossing guards earlier this year and that company is looking to abandon the rail line from Strathmore to north of Dinuba as well. Tulare County has been working to keep the rail line intact and, at the least, the right of way for a future rail system. Union Pacific still owns the land.

Contact Denise Madrid at 784-5000, Ext. 1047 or dmadrid@portervillerecorder.com.