Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05202008 - C.27 -TO: Board of Supervisors .. "L_a (;o r FROM: Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee Costa (Supervisor Gayle B. Uilkema, Chair) "" "' 4og County S>n i+'�'�� DATE: April 21, 2008 .- cbii SUBJECT: Port of Oakland's Martinez Subdivision rail expansion project SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS ACCEPT report and AUTHORIZE the Chair to sign a letter to the Port of Oakland as recommended by the Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee. FISCAL IMPACT NONE. BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS The Board of Supervisors in December 2007 sent a letter to the Port of Oakland, expressing numerous concerns about potential impacts from the Port's plans to expand freight railroad capacity along the Union Pacific tracks through West County. The rail expansion project is known as the Martinez Subdivision Project. As originally envisioned by the Port, the project would have expanded railroad capacity between the Port and Martinez. However, by the time the Port applied for Proposition 1 B infrastructure bond funds in January 2008, they had scaled the project back due to cost concerns. The Port applied for$108 million in bond funds to expand capacity from the Port only as far as the Stege area in southern Richmond. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR X RECOMMENDATION OARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): Supervisor Gay a B. Uilkema upervisor Federal D. Glover ACTION OF BOARD ON /;irk W, &6)b APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED S[-OPER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND UNANIMOUS (ABSENT Sl ) CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND AYES: NOES: ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact: John Greitzer (925/335-1201) ATTESTED I 2D2LUF cc: Community Development Department (CDD) JOHN ULLEN, CLERK OF S. Kowalewski, PWD THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS M. Kent, HSD AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR R. Sawyer, HSD - DEPUTY G:\Transportation\Committees\TWIC\2008\Board OrdersWay 20 Port of Oakland.doc , FORT OF OAKLAND RAIL PROJECT APRIL 21, 2008 Page 2 BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS (Continued) The California Transportation Commission allocated only $74 million to the project, which has led the Port to further scale back the rail expansion project. The project now will extend only from the Port to Emeryville. The Port still seeks to build the original larger project but will need to obtain significantly more funding and now sees this as a longer-term goal. The Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee received a status report at its April 21 meeting. Since the Board never received a response from its earlier letter to the Port, the Committee recommends the Board send another letter to the Port, reiterating the County's request for the Port to discuss the proposed project with the local communities along the route, such as North Richmond, Montalvin Manor, Crockett and Rodeo. Even though the scaled-back project will not build any infrastructure within Contra Costa County, the Port still seeks to increase the number of freight trains it runs each day and to increase the length of those freight trains to an average of a mile and a half in length. Exhibit A is the draft letter for the Chair's signature. The Board of Supervisors John Cullen p Contra Clerk of the Board and County Administration Building Costa County Administrator 651 Pine Street,Room 106 (925)335-1900 Martinez,California 94553 County John Gioia, I"District l• 5" Gayle B.Uilkema.2 District Mary N.Piepho,3`1 District Susan A.Bonilla,4°'District "" Federal D.Glover,5°i District May 20, 2008 Mr. Anthony A. Batarse, Jr. President, Port of Oakland 530 Water Street Oakland CA 94607 Dear President Batarse: The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors last December wrote to you to express our concerns about the Port of Oakland's Martinez Subdivision Project. Among those comments was a request that the Port begin a process of public discussion with the local communities along the Union Pacific railroad corridor, to inform them of the project and obtain their input on the impacts it would have on their communities. The Board of Supervisors has been informed that the project has been scaled back for economic reasons, and the rail expansion project will not occur in Contra Costa County for some time. Nonetheless, the Board of Supervisors continues to believe there is a need for the Port to begin a dialog with our communities, since even a scaled-back project could impact those communities if the number of freight trains or length of freight trains should increase. Since we did not receive a response to our previous letter, we are writing to you again to urge that public discussions on the project begin as soon as possible. We continue to support infrastructure projects that have economic benefits for the East Bay, but we want to ensure that such projects are implemented in the best possible way, to avoid or minimize impacts they may have on communities along the Martinez Subdivision corridor. Our staff has offered to help facilitate neighborhood-level discussions. Impacts such as noise, traffic backups at crossings, diesel particulate emissions, and safety concerns, among others, are already of concern to neighborhoods along the railroad tracks in Contra Costa County. The project's potential for expanding freight rail service will magnify these impacts unless appropriate mitigations are developed. We will need the communities' input on these mitigations. As we stated in our earlier letter, the Port also should contact our rail-dependent industries in Contra Costa County, such as the Chevron refinery in Richmond, the Conoco-Phillips refinery in Rodeo, and Shell in Martinez, to determine how the Martinez Subdivision project would impact their operations. Several of these facilities are planning expansions, and they may need to increase their rail transportation as well. We hope the Port will begin these discussions as soon as possible. Your staff should feel free to contact the Supervisors' offices, or John Greitzer in the Department of Conservation and Development at (925) 335-1201, to discuss a process for public outreach. Mr. Anthony A. Batarse Letter May 20,2008 Page 2 of 2 We look forward to working with you on these issues. {— Sincerely, 410 John 176AFe eral D. Glover, Chair Cntra Costa County Board of Supervisors FGUG C: Members,Board of Supervisors J. Amdur,Port of Oakland J. Acosta,Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway J. Bueren,Public Works Director E. Grossman-Bukowski,Port of Oakland J. Rudolph,West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee W. Lujan,Union Pacific Railroad T. McMillan,Metropolitan Transportation Commission R. Sawyer,Contra Costa County Health Services Dept.