WASHINGTON, D.C. — As pressure builds on elected officials to lure a lucrative Toyota manufacturing plant to South Texas, the San Antonio congressional delegation fired off letters today to attempt to smooth over a railroad stumbling block and persuade Toyota officials that Texas is the ideal plant location, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
The letters come one day after San Antonio Mayor Ed Garza announced plans to meet with Union Pacific Railroad next week in hopes of winning concessions that would allow another rail carrier to use South Texas tracks that could keep down shipping costs for Toyota.
Union Pacific has been reluctant to allow other rail carriers access to its tracks, prompting Reps. Ciro Rodriguez and Charlie Gonzalez, San Antonio Democrats, to write a letter to the railroad urging it to “adopt a more community-friendly attitude.”
“Time is of the essence, and it is important the Union Pacific step up to the plate quickly to indicate its willingness to move forward in a positive manner,” the letter states.
It was sent to Richard Davidson, Union Pacific’s chairman and chief executive officer. John Bromley, a Union Pacific spokesman in Omaha, said that because railroad tracks are so expensive to build and maintain, they become the most valuable assets of the company.
To share those rails with competitors “drives the value of the company down and the long-range view is it would chase investment dollars away,” Bromley said.
“The simple of it is that it would be giving away part of the store, and we do not want to do that,” he added.
Toyota Motor Corp. has made access to two rail carriers a top priority in its site selection for a plan that San Antonio city officials say would create 16,000 new jobs with $250 million in annual payroll.
Another site under consideration near West Memphis, Ark., has access to competing railroad carriers that would provide competition and keep down costs associated with shipping light trucks and sports utility vehicles the new plant would produce.
In Arkansas, Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe own separate tracks that would parallel a site being eyed by Toyota.
Arkansas lawmakers in Washington urged Toyota to choose their location for a new site in a mid-November letter that was signed by the congressional delegation, as well as a lawmaker from a neighboring state.
“It is an expression of support from the congressional delegation touting the benefits of the site in eastern Arkansas,’’ said Josh Earnest, a spokesman for Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., in whose congressional district the plant would be located. Earnest said the six Arkansas lawmakers also vowed to work in Congress to make the deal financially viable for Toyota.
Not to be outdone, the 32-member Texas congressional delegation dropped partisan differences and joined together in a letter urging Toyota to locate a new facility in San Antonio, which is easily accessible to expanding markets in Mexico and Latin America.
In the letter addressed to Dennis Cuneo, a Toyota Motor Manufacturing of North America vice president, they wrote that “companies whose business plans include Mexico can find no better location than Texas.”
“Mexico is Texas’ top trading partner, with just under half of Texas exports going south of the border,” says the letter, distributed by Reps. Henry Bonilla and Lamar Smith, both San Antonio Republicans.
“Thirty international bridges cross the shared 1,248-mile frontier, which includes the main port of entry of Mexican goods,” the letter states.
Lawmakers in both states are fighting for federal assistance that can help them win a manufacturing plant that would boost the fortunes of two regions feeling the effects of a troubled economy. Bonilla received assurances from the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee that the powerful panel that controls federal spending will look into legislation to help cities attract industry that provide economic development.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said federal financing is needed to build a rail spur that would give Burlington Northern access to the site.
A newly created Bexar Country Rural Rail Transportation District would not have the power of taxation, and it would need assistance in the form of grants and loans to complement revenue bonds and other financing.
Rep. C.W. “Bill’’ Young, R-Fla., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said the panel would look at financing mechanisms after the 108th Congress convenes in January.
Young said Bonilla made a “strong case for the economic benefits of a new rail spur in San Antonio, and I look forward to crafting an appropriations bill that will fund projects of such economic benefit.”