(The Associated Press circulated the following on May 5, 2010.)
BOISE, Idaho — Boise city staffers are recommending using $915,000 Union Pacific paid for storing rail cars on the city’s idle tracks to spark economic development.
Economic development assistants John Brunelle and Cece Gassner suggest the city use $500,000 to repair the 18 miles of track, making it valuable as a short line, The Idaho Statesman reported.
They also suggest spending $350,000 for other economic development projects, including remodeling an empty city building to create office space for the Green House small business incubator.
The city also will explore creating a “foreign trade zone” around the Boise airport.
Union Pacific says it will scale back the lease from $40,600 to $28,000 a month, starting next month, and may cancel the lease by the end of the year.