The Tulare County Association of Governments voted to create a Rail Advisory Committee last week, with a representative from most cities jumping on board.

The resolution was unanimously approved April 21 during TCAG's monthly board meeting in Tulare. The TCAG Rail Advisory Committee will be chaired by Tom Sparks, an alternate TCAG Board member. Other members include:

€ Jack Allwardt - alternate TCAG Board member, Exeter City Council

€ Pam Kimball - TCAG Board member, Lindsay City Council

€ Felipe Martinez - TCAG Board member, Porterville City Council

€ Chuck Littlefield - Chief Operating Officer of Richard Best Transfer Inc.

€ Bob Bloomer - President of West Coast Railcar Service Inc.

Agency staff members named to serve on the committee include: Paul Saldana, executive director of the Tulare County Economic Development Corporation; Scott Cochran, Tulare County Resource Management Agency; Ben Giuliani, TCAG staff; and Ted Smalley, TCAG executive director.

The idea for the committee came out of TCAG's opposition to the San Joaquin Valley Railroad's application to abandon 9 miles of rail between Exeter and Strathmore and 30 miles of track between Strathmore and the County Line. Both proposals were filed in February with the Surface Transportation Board, an economic regulatory agency that oversees railroad disputes and mergers.

Earlier this month, SJVR moved its dispatch employees to Roseburg, Ore. and its customer service employees to St. Albans, Vt., so the railroad's parent company, RailAmerica, could consolidate those departments. RailAmerica, Inc. announced plants for the creation of five Transportation Logistic Centers (TLC) to handle dispatch and a Revenue Protection Center (RPC) to handle customer service in December 2007.

“By centralizing those departments we can offer better customer service,” said Richard McGowan, Assistant General Manager, Marketing and Sales for SJVR. “The office in Exeter is not closing and general manager and trainmaster will remain in this office.”

TCAG and the Tulare County EDC filed a joint protest for the 9.2 mile segment (south of Exeter to Strathmore) on April 3 and a second protest for the 30.57 mile segment (Strathmore to Jovista near the Tulare-Kern County Line) on March 28.

The protest argues that the abandonment of rail would further hurt an already economically depressed area with high unemployment (9.2% in the first quarter of this year), high poverty rates (23.9%, worst in the state), and awful air quality (non-attainment status with the EPA for dust and particulate matter).

“Tulare County cannot develop economically without air quality friendly rail,” the protest letter stated, citing a 1996 study of California I-40 which found that goods moved by rail versus truck effectively lowered emissions.

The protest also claims that the application filed by SJVR was misleading and inaccurate. SJVR's proposal to abandon track between Exeter and Strathmore stated that “the abandonment by SJVR will no result in a loss of rail service” and that the public will not be deprived of any needed rail services.” This ignores use of the line by Tulare Frozen Foods (formerly Lindsay Foods LLC) in Lindsay, which has seen its demand for rail grow with expanded operations. Tulare Frozen Foods reported that it ships 65% of its products on rail and would face severe hardship if it had to ship by truck and would not move forward with a $10 million investment of a new freezer warehouse, which could create new jobs. Furthermore, Tulare Frozen Foods reported that it anticipated shipping 150 boxcars this year and 200 by 2009 or 2010. The abandonment of the line south of Strathmore would preclude future use from historical rail users such as Tri K Truss, Sierra Forest Products and Britz Fertilizer.

TCAG claims that SJVR's proposal says that the line (between Exeter and Strathmore) “runs parallel to California Highway 65 for its entire length, so motor carriage is an available alternative.” Again, this does not benefit businesses such as Tulare Frozen Foods which primarily deliver goods to the East Coast.

As an alternative to the abandonment proposal, TCAG stated it is willing to assume full responsibility for management, liability and payments on taxes assessed against the right-of-way owned by SJVR.

The city councils of Lindsay, Woodlake, Porterville, Visalia, Tulare County Board of Supervisors and the county's Economic Development Corporation (EDC) have all formally opposed the plan “on the grounds that such rail service is a vital link in transporting goods from farm to market.”

TCAG's protest points out that SJVR is “ignoring the huge agricultural industry in the county, superb soils and the plethora of packing plants along the line who are elsewhere being induced by to other railroads to ship by rail.”

It goes on to state that Tulare County is ranked first in the country in value of production from livestock and poultry, fourth in the value of crops and second in combined valued, based on the 2002 Census of Agriculture. “Virtually no county in the U.S. has more agriculture than Tulare County and it is rail dependent for the inbound shipments of grain and outbound shipments of produce Š Absent rail facilities to transport agriculture products in and out of the county, this prime agricultural land will most definitely be threatened.”

SJVR line is currently owned by RailAmerica, Inc. Based in Boca Raton, Florida, RailAmerica operates 41 short line and regional railroads along 7,800 miles of track in 25 states and three Canadian provinces.

TCAG said its Rail Advisory Committee will provide a forum to identify, discuss and make recommendations regarding commercial rail in Tulare County. The committee will meet quarterly or as needed. For more information, contact Ted Smalley at 733-6291 or visit www.tularecog.org.

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