Port of Royal Slope proud railroad owners
Port of Royal Slope commissioners attend the signing over of the Royal Slope Railroad to the Port of Royal Slope by Gov. Jay Inslee in Olympia last week. From left, the commissioners are Frank Mianecki, Davey Miller and Alan Schrom. On the right are Port lobbyist James Potts, 13th District State Rep. Matt Manweller of Ellensburg and State Sen. Steve Conway's Legislative Assistant Kimberlie Lelli.
ROYAL CITY - The Port of Royal Slope owns the Royal Slope Railroad after Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill on May 18 turning over ownership from the Washington State Department of Transportation.
It is a conditional ownership, however. If the Port can't find an operator in five years for the line from the Port to the BNSF line at Connell, ownership will revert back to the state.
And if the Port does find an operator and later loses that operator, it will have another five-year period to find a new one or lose ownership.
"All we have to do is get it going and keep it going," Port Executive Director Cathy Potter said.
That may not be as difficult for the Port to do as it was for the state, according to Potter. The Port can do the work in a much swifter fashion. In 21 years, the state put out only one RFP (request for proposal) regarding the railroad's operation.
"It took us years to get any action," Potter said.
But Potter doesn't blame individuals at the WSDOT. She blames the cumbersome bureacracy that is state government. She said the WSDOT had more important issues to deal with than a short line railroad.
Potter expects to put out a RFP within a month. She expects to speak with operators personally. She will take care of the paper work and not wait for the state.
Potter noted that when the Port filled out the paper work for the state so it could seek a RFP back in 2010, the Port had six potential shippers that would need to move as many as 1,200 cars of cargo a year. Interest in rail shipping dropped after that because the state was slow-moving.
Potter believes there are now potentially more than 1,200 cars. It's a matter of re-attracting the shippers who lost interest and new shippers who weren't part of the figures then.
"Once we get a train, I believe they'll want to use it," Potter said. "They just never saw a train."
Potter said the Port believes rail shipping will reduce the cost of delivering commodities, packed fruit, processed fruit and manufactured products from the Royal Slope and surrounding areas to state, national and international markets.
"That will lead to growth here at the Port and new employment opportunities for people," Potter said.
The railroad was cleaned up voluntarily by Commissioner Mianecki and his machinery in 2011. The state made repairs and changes that brought it up to code in 2013.
But the Port had no access agreement from 2011 on, Potter said, and there have probably been new minor slides since then, and surely weeds are growing. With renewed access, one of the first projects is likely to be a new light clean-up.