Time, more work ahead for rail project

Stakeholders seek funding for segment around airport

MOSES LAKE - Efforts to increase rail around Grant County International Airport netted positive feedback in Washington, D.C., but leaders predict a multi-year process still ahead.

Pat Boss, spokesperson for Columbia Basin Railroad, said there was positive feedback from the offices of Sen. Patty Murray, Congressman Doc Hastings and others following a trip to Washington, D.C., in mid-March.

The coalition includes representatives of the Port of Moses Lake, the City of Moses Lake, Moses Lake Industries and the railroad.

"All of the federal offices back in D.C., are really trying hard to find some funding for the Moses Lake Railroad Project," Boss said. "In particular the segment that goes around the (airport) is the one we're really pushing hard to get funding for."

Moses Lake Industries, in particular, needs a rail connection in order to stay competitive with Asia, Boss said.

"Rail is a big part of their future needs," he said. "But having said that, there are several other companies out there that would like to have rail access too."

Increases in petroleum prices have caused many companies to reconsider their transportation strategies, and rail is becoming a larger need for many, Boss explained.

The group is currently looking at a combination of different funding sources, including federal earmarks, state appropriations and federal grants.

"I think Moses Lake is at a point here where some major decisions will need to be made about how rail is going to go through the community," Boss said. "We're trying to get ahead of those and trying to make sure we're prepared to make those decisions in a way which benefits everybody."

Boss said stakeholders need to be persistent and in constant contact with the delegation to ensure some funding appears.

"It's mainly a grassroots approach. There's a number of different companies, different entities that are trying to help support getting rail out around Grant County International Airport, and we're working with all of those," he said. "It's a real critical part of the economic development of the city to have that rail connection out there."

Port of Moses Lake Commissioner Mike Conley said the group is repackaging information to be sent to Murray's office this week, as she is on the right committees to help efforts.

"There are some other pools of money out there, but at least from the port's standpoint, we've got to get some of these other permits in place before they're going to let us build that piece of track," Conley said.

Conley said port Executive Manager Craig Baldwin will provide a briefing at the port meeting Monday whether $213,000 of a low-cost loan authorized by the state comes anywhere close to completing engineering on the segment around the airport.

"If it does, then how do we plug that into our budget to repay that?" Conley said. "It's all loan. It's not a grant. But if it gets us close enough to get the engineering done, it's probably worth taking that $213,000 bond and getting us so we're ready to start turning dirt as soon as we get the money put together to start building this thing."

City of Moses Lake Manager Joe Gavinski said he was along during the trip because one of the lines runs through Moses Lake and because the city is affected by the economic activity serviced by the railroad.

"I think results from a trip like that is perhaps long in coming," Gavinski said. "Those were some initial steps in order to make contact and introduce the project to Congress, to those folks in our own congressional delegation and those other congressmen who have some interest."

The city will continue to offer its support, he said.

"It is important to businesses in the Port of Moses Lake area, which certainly is important to the City of Moses Lake," he said. "It does affect our economy directly."

It may be some time and a "considerable amount of work yet" before seeing results, Gavinski added.

"It's going to be a long-term process," Boss agreed. "We're starting what's going to be probably a five- or six-year process to get all this resolved, and it's going to take a lot of work by the community to do it right."

Boss anticipates the next part of the project will be looking at the rail line which goes through downtown Moses Lake.