Monday, December 01, 2008

Major setback for Crows Landing project astounds developer Kamilos

By MICHAEL G. MOONEY
mmooney@modbee.com

last updated: September 14, 2007 07:33:21 AM

Developer Gerry Kamilos was dealt a stunning blow Thursday when the Port of Oakland turned its back on his ambitious plan to build a short-haul rail center at Crows Landing.

Whether that blow proves fatal to the multimillion-dollar proposal, however, remains to be seen.

Stanislaus County is in the midst of an exclusive one-year negotiation, which ends in April, with Kamilos' company, PCCP West Park, to develop the old naval air station at Crows Landing.

Short-haul rail linking Crows Landing and the Port of Oakland is the key component of the project.

"This is a significant wrinkle ... and one that West Park will have to address," said Keith Boggs, the county's project liaison. "Their project description hinges on rail, and making it viable is their responsibility."

Supervisor Bill O'Brien, who opposed the West Park plan, said the county still must honor its agreement with the developer.

"The majority of the Board of Supervisors voted for this plan, and we've got to give (West Park) a fair shake with a year's negotiation to see if they can pull it off," he said. "They have a lot of work to do, and they admit that as well. (But) West Park deserves the 12 months we gave them to make it work."

Kamilos vowed to move the project forward -- with or without the port's support.

"The Port of Oakland is an important partner in this," he said, "(and) we will continue our dialogue with the port. (But) we're going to go full speed ahead with this. There's no hesitation here."

Officials at the Port of Oakland, in a Thursday morning phone interview with The Bee, indicated that there may be little Kamilos can do to change their minds. Spokeswoman Marilyn Sandifur, and Jon Amdur, a freight expert and manager of the port's maritime capital improvement program, said short-haul rail doesn't figure into the port's immediate plans.

"Our priority projects all involve long-haul rail," Amdur said. "That's our proven market. That's what our customers are pushing, (and) that's what the railroads are pushing."

That sentiment was echoed by Randy Rentschler, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The MTC is the lead transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine-county Bay Area.

"We have millions of Bay Area residents and billions of dollars in trade all tied up in (traffic) congestion," Rentschler said. "Our view is that the Crows Landing project won't help us solve the problems we have right now."

West Park was trying to put together a Bay Area-Northern San Joaquin Valley coalition, which would have included the MTC. The group would present a single funding application early next year seeking state transportation bond money, including $52 million needed to kick-start Kamilos' $200 million venture.

Kamilos said that effort would continue but conceded that valley interests may have to go it alone in their quest for state funding.

Sandifur said the Port of Oakland had no interest in joining a valley-Bay Area coalition that would include short-haul rail at Crows Landing. But she added the port would not oppose a separate funding effort by Kamilos or others interested in short-haul rail.

The system is based on using freight trains, usually 50 cars or fewer, to move goods short distances, such as from Crows Landing to the port. Kamilos' plan would have the first trains moving in 2011, and full project completion in 14 years.

"We are supportive of the (short-haul) rail concept as a long-range strategy," Sandifur said, "just not at this time."

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