Finger Lakes Times

Friday, Feb. 19, 2010

Grant 'no' derails spur 

Federal money would have helped fund landfill project, Amtrak study for Lyons       and Geneva, and area upgrades

by DAVID L. SHAW/dshaw@fltimes.com

Friday, February 19, 2010 12:07 PM CST

Federal funding was denied Wednesday for nearly $20 million in passenger and freight rail services upgrades in Ontario, Seneca and Wayne counties — including a controversial spur to Seneca Meadows Landfill.

Two local applications were filed by Finger Lakes Railway and its private and public partners for money from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. The program is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress and signed by the president exactly a year ago.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood announced that 51 out of more than 1,400 applications were approved for funding.

The accepted applications totaled $1.5 billion. The total amount sought by the applicants was more than $60 billion.

Seneca County partnered with Geneva-based Finger Lakes Railway and Seneca Meadows for the TIGER grants.

The project would have:

• Constructed a rail yard and spur to Seneca Meadows.

• Purchased 14.5 miles of Norfolk Southern track from Lyons to Geneva.

• Upgraded more than 20 miles of mainline track from Lyons to Geneva to the Seneca Meadows Landfill in Seneca Falls.

• Upgraded weight capacity to 286,000 pounds to meet national standards for freight rail shipments.

• Improved ties, tracks, rail components, sub-grade and right-of-way landscaping.

• Upgraded 10 public grade crossings in the town and village of Waterloo.

• Added run-arounds, sidings and track structures that improve train movement safety.

• Enhanced the timeliness of a state DOT-Amtrak passenger rail study for the Lyons and Geneva areas, requested by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

• Created and retained jobs.

The rail company submitted two applications. One, in partnership with other regional rail companies and Seneca Meadows, was for $17.5 million.

The other was in partnership with the state DOT and other short line railroads. That application was for about $2 million for this immediate area and $20 million for a larger area.

Deborah Najarro, public affairs manager for Finger Lakes Railway, was disappointed but said she has “mixed emotions” about the grant rejection.

She said it’s become somewhat controversial for entities to receive taxpayer money. Najarro said not having to face that controversy may be a good thing.

“We will continue to pursue parts of the projects, despite not obtaining the public funding,” Najarro said. “We feel it’s a valuable project, and some of these things we would have done with the grant still have to be done.”

The reopening of the rail line from Geneva to Lyons and making track upgrades and improvements needed to increase efficiency will be planned, but with the railroad partnering with the customers who want rail access.

Najarro said she and Seneca Meadows Landfill Regional Manager Donald Gentilcore talked when word of the grant rejection was received.

“We agreed it was disappointing to see some of the projects that did get funding. One of the criteria was it should be in an economically distressed area. Seneca County is such an area, but I’m not sure New York City is,” she said.

Najarro referred to the Moynihan Station Phase 1 project at Penn Central Station.

LaHood said the TIGER grant program targets major national and regional transportation projects that are in many cases difficult to pursue through other government funding programs. The projects must foster job creation, show strong economic benefits and promote communities that are safer, cleaner and more livable.

The approved grants range in size from under $4 million to more than $100 million, distributed throughout 41 states and the District of Columbia.

Leland Henry, a Waterloo resident active in Concerned Citizens of Seneca County, has spoken out often against the spur to the landfill, calling it a “trash train” that would make it easier to bring trash from New York City and other states to the landfill.

“This is a good step forward in our fight to limit trash coming into the county from other counties, who should be handling their own waste,” Henry said. “It would be horrible for Waterloo and Seneca Falls if this was approved and the spur was built. But we can’t drop our guard.”

That trash now arrives by truck. The landfill is the largest in upstate New York, allowed to handle up to 600,000 tons of trash a year.

Gentilcore said he wasn’t surprised the local grant was not approved.

“There was only so much money to go around, and the competition was nationwide and pretty fierce,” he said. “Our piece of the project was pretty small. I’m disappointed for Finger Lakes Railway. They could have improved passenger and freight service to the area.”

He said only one application from New York state was approved, that being in New York City.

Gentilcore said the landfill will not pursue a rail spur, calling it an “expensive option” to fund on its own.

“We proposed this option to address the concerns about truck traffic through the Finger Lakes,” he said.

http://www.fltimes.com/content/e-edition/2010/02/19/1/1A.pdf

http://www.fltimes.com/content/e-edition/2010/02/19/1/4A.pdf