NORTH COAST RAILROAD AUTHORITY (NCRA)
BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2001
AT 10:00 A.M.
Chair Ripple called the
meeting to order at 10:10 a.m.
B.
ROLL CALL
Directors present:
Chair David Ripple, First Chair Allan Hemphill, Max Schlienger, Robert
E. Simonson, and Daniel Opalach.
Directors absent: Robert Jehn and Jake Mackenzie.
Also present:
Executive Director Max H Bridges, General Counsel Christopher J Neary,
and Administrative Assistant Pamela Fishtrom.
2. Approve
Minutes of February 6, 2001 Special Board Meeting
Dir.
Schlienger moved approval of both sets of Minutes; seconded by Dir. Hemphill.
Vote taken; Dir. Opalach abstained because he was not present at the February
meeting; motion passed.
Dir. Hemphill moved approval of the Agenda; seconded by Dir. Schlienger. Vote taken; motion passed unanimously.
Larry Henderson, Northwestern Pacific Railroad
Support Coalition (NWPSC), Northern Counties Logging Interpretive Association
(NCLIA), and Humboldt Bay Citizens for Port Development (CPD) requested
priority be given to repairing the Line from Samoa to South Fork.
Fred Carmichael, proponent of the Railroad since
1985, suggested prayer by Board Members.
Dwight Winegar, local concerned citizen, suggested a
citizen’s committee perform a fact-finding mission on potential local transit
usage and feasibility.
Pete Oringer, of NWPSC, NCLIA, and North Coast
Leadership Roundtable, emphasized that the Humboldt Bay area is suffering
socially and economically due to the closure of NWP (Northwestern Pacific
Railroad). Also, he recommended a
structured approach in garnering political support in dealing with the Federal
Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) performance on the Environmental
Assessment process.
Marcus Brown, NCLIA President, with concurrence by
California Redwood Coast Agency, said the goals of both agencies to operate
excursion passenger service are compatible. Also, he encouraged the hiring of
Stone Engineering in preparing to offer the use of the tracks to excursion operators.
1.
Consider Easement – Caltrans Representative Jeff Purdie
Mr. Purdie reported Caltrans is planning to repair a slope failure which impacts the Railroad, and he requested the Board accept his appraisal of the easement price.
Dir.Hemphill moved to accept the Caltrans appraisal along with our processing fee; seconded by Dir. Opalach. Roll call vote taken; each Director signified approval by a vote of “aye;” motion carried. Dir. Hemphill amended the motion to authorize Mr. Bridges to sign the documents; seconded by Dir. Schlienger. Vote taken; motion carried.
2.
Consider Recommendation of Passenger Committee
Dir. Hemphill
brought forward two recommendations from the Passenger Committee as a
motion: 1) to have Dir. Opalach and
staff develop a request for proposals matrix for passenger service for
presentation to the Board, and 2) to sell the passenger equipment, when
practical, with preference to an operator that will perform on the Railroad;
seconded by Dir. Schlienger. Vote
taken; motion carried.
G. LIAISON REPORTS
1.
Northwestern Pacific Railroad Authority (NWPRA) – Mr.
Bridges
Mr. Bridges reported NWPRA received a report from the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit Commission consultant on establishing service between Cloverdale and San Rafael. Also, there was discussion regarding the Haystack Landing Bridge; however, there was no discussion about the loan from NWPRA to NCRA for its repair. Mr. Neary is negotiating with NWPRA staff to secure the loan.
2.
Legislation
No report.
3. Sonoma-Marin
Area Rail Transit Commission (SMART) – Dir. Jehn
No
report.
4. Web Site – Dir. Jehn
Mr. Bridges read a report by Dir. Jehn, who apologized for not attending the Meeting, which said NCRA’s web site received 5,289 hits this month, the web site contains 175 pages, there are 200 subscribers, there was added a creditor update section which received 55 visitors, next week a video will be added of the ribbon-cutting ceremony in Petaluma.
5. Contractor – Northwestern Pacific Railway
CO. LLC (NWPY)
·
February
1 – the Federal Railroad Administration granted a partial waiver from the
provisions of Emergency Order 21 to
Mile Post 43,
·
February
6 – the Surface Transportation Board published a notice of exemption
establishing NWPY as a common carrier of freight by rail, and
·
February
13 – NWPY handled its first revenue load into Petaluma.
·
Work
is continuing between Petaluma and Windsor: track work is complete, however,
approximately 30 signals must be tested and repaired including two hit by
lightning, one hit by fleeing criminals, and one damaged by P. G. and E.
Chair Ripple directed Mr. Bridges to contact Celia
Kupersmith, NWPRA Executive Director, to facilitate repair of the crossing
damaged by P. G. and E. In response to
Mr. Darling’s concern over repair of the Line between Windsor and Willits, Mr.
Bridges arranged an appointment between NWPY and Boyle Engineering to complete
preparation of the bid package. Mr.
Darling suggested establishing a policy regarding equipment on the line that is
not owned by NCRA or NWPRA.
H.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT – Max H Bridges
Mr. Bridges reported:
·
He
will meet with Caltrans regarding the draft audit report dealing with Rail-Ways
the same day he is meeting with Boyle Engineering and Mr. Darling over the bid
package mentioned earlier,
·
He
will attend the annual meeting of City and County Engineers March 7-9,
·
He
will meet with Caltrans on March 12 to go over NCRA’s strategic plan for
presentation to the California Transportation Commission,
·
He
and Mr. Neary will meet with the parties to the Consent Decree to define the
scope of work to be included in the request for proposals for environmental
work,
·
Caltrans
is reviewing NCRA’s request for qualifications for an engineering consultant,
and
·
The
recruiting process for the position of Project Manager is continuing and should
be resolved by the next Board meeting.
I. LEGAL
REPORT – General Counsel Christopher J Neary
No report.
Dir. Opalach reported meeting with the McKinleyville
Rotary Club to give an update on the status of the Railroad, and with the NWPSC
to share information. He also reported
he has a meeting with Congressman Mike Thompson’s staff person in Eureka, Liz
Murguia, to talk about NCRA issues.
Dir. Schlienger expressed concern regarding the
clean up of the track. Mr. Bridges
assured him the track will be cleaned as part of compliance with the Consent
Decree with the cost funded by the Traffic Congestion Relief Program.
Dir. Hemphill reported Sonoma County is developing
Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square.
Regular Board Meeting –
March 21, 2001 at 10:00 a.m.
Healdsburg City Council
Chambers, 401 Grove Street, Healdsburg, Sonoma County, CA, USA
Conference with Legal Counsel – Initiate Litigation – Mr.
Neary
Government Code Section
54956.9(c)
Determine
with Reference to Improved Project
Chair Ripple announced the Board received information and provided direction to Legal Counsel.