(The following story by Kurtis Alexander appeared on the Santa Cruz Sentinel website on August 2, 2010.)
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — County transportation leaders this week must commit to running excursion trains on the North Coast as well as freight trains countywide if they want to proceed with the purchase of the 32-mile Union Pacific rail line.
The pledge to operate trains, a prospect county officials have long discussed but not solidified, is among a handful of new conditions the county must meet to win state funding for the planned $14.2 million rail acquisition.
“We’re working on meeting these conditions,” said Luis Mendez, deputy director of the county’s Regional Transportation Commission.
While commission officials are hopeful their board will commit to train service when it meets Thursday, officials are not as hopeful about finalizing a contract for management of the train service. The contract is another prerequisite for the getting the state funds.
“We’ll show them (the state) we’re working on it,” Mendez said.
The effort to please state officials is just the latest in the county’s back-and-forth with the California Transportation Commission over the purchase of little-used rail line between Davenport and Watsonville and plans to build a trail alongside the tracks.
Last month, county transportation leaders narrowly met the state’s deadline for applying for $10.2 million for the effort after negotiations with Union Pacific ran late. State officials have since asked the county to meet additional conditions by Aug. 11.
The county’s contract for train service, one of the state’s new terms, hinges on assurances that a private operator can be contracted when public money is involved.
The county anticipates Woodland-based Sierra Northern Railway, which is now handling freight trains on the line for Union Pacific, to manage future service, including recreational trains between Santa Cruz and Davenport.
The state Department of Transportation, which county officials are now in discussion with, must grant clearance before tax-free bonds can fund the public-private partnership.
California Transportation Commission officials said Monday that next week is technically the deadline for the county to meet all of its new funding conditions. But they noted there might be flexibility.
“It’s likely that the commission would grant them more time to meet the one condition,” said Juan Guzman, a deputy director of the California Transportation Commission.
The decision to postpone the deadline would be made at the state commission’s Aug. 11 meeting.
The $10.2 million that the county expects to get from the state comes from proposition money set aside for the county years ago. Local transportation leaders are also counting on another $10 million in State Transportation Improvement Program funds, which would cover the balance of the rail purchase and improvements to the line.
While the California Transportation Commission’s approval of county funds is vital, the money is not expected to be handed down until the state’s financial situation improves.