SANTA FE - Gov. Bill Richardson's plan for a commuter railroad has hit a rough patch of track as lawmakers question the wisdom of a $393 million project that includes buying rail lines in Colorado.
"I have some concerns that it's going to come back to bite us," Rep. Rhonda King, a Stanley Democrat and member of the Legislative Finance Committee said at a committee meeting Friday.
The administration has agreed to buy from BNSF Railway nearly 300 miles of track between Belen and Trinidad, Colo., as the first step in providing commuter rail service between Belen and Santa Fe.
The $76 million purchase would be largely financed from state highway funds. The department plans to spend a total of $318 million in state money on the commuter rail project, and another $75 million in federal funds.
The total cost includes buying rail cars and laying about 20 miles of new track to provide more direct access into Santa Fe.
Members of the finance committee complained at a hearing Friday that there isn't enough hard information about projected usage and the cost of operations and maintenance.
"We're concerned about the hidden costs . . . that none of us could even foresee," said Sen. John Arthur Smith, a Deming Democrat.
Committee members worried that the railway could eat into money needed for highways, and said the Richardson administration hadn't been upfront about the cost. One lawmaker said he had been surprised to learn that the commuter rail would be financed through GRIP - the $1.6 billion transportation program the Legislature approved in 2003.
Sen. Joseph Carraro, an Albuquerque Republican, said he believed that $122 million the department said it wanted for I-25 corridor improvements between Belen and Santa Fe would be used for third lanes - although the GRIP bill cited "public transportation elements including commuter rail."
"That's what GRIP was all about to me, was building roads," Carraro said.
Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught countered that a commuter rail always had been an option in the GRIP plan and that she had provided the $122 million figure before she had a good estimate of the rail cost.
Faught acknowledged that GRIP - which stands for "Governor Richardson's Investment Partnership" - faces a shortfall of nearly $158 million, but she said that is due to construction cost increases, not the inclusion of the commuter rail.
She told lawmakers the department is committed to finishing every GRIP project.
Transportation Commission Chairman Johnny Cope agreed. "This commission is very serious about building every road that's in the GRIP," he said. "We can fund all the GRIP projects."
The portion of the track from Lamy, near Santa Fe, to Trinidad, which cost $5 million, won't be used for commuter rail; it was included in the deal because BNSF didn't want to negotiate for a piecemeal sale of track, Faught said. Once the purchase of that segment is finalized in December 2008, revenue from use of the line by Amtrak and freight-hauler BNSF will pay for its upkeep, she told the committee.
The Belen-Bernalillo stretch of track, which cost $50 million, will be sold to the state in January and the $20 million Bernalillo-Lamy stretch in January 2007.
The commuter train is expected to be in service early next year between Belen and Bernalillo; Santa Fe could be added by late 2008.
Faught also told the committee that even though two companies submitted bids recently to build a new train and bus station complex in Santa Fe that would include a department headquarters and other development, one of the bids did not meet the department's requirements and is not being considered.
The sole remaining bid - by a Santa Fe partnership affiliated with developer Gerald Peters, a close ally of Richardson - will be given close scrutiny, she said.
Faught said financial, legal and design teams from outside the agency have been hired to review the bid from SCS Development.
"When we only have one proposal, we want to make sure that the taxpayer is getting the best deal, (and that) the city of Santa Fe is happy," Faught said.
The department had extended its deadline for proposals after SCS Development was the only firm to submit a bid by the original Nov. 10 deadline. An El Paso, Texas, company - South Capitol Station - submitted a bid late. The same company submitted the proposal in the second round of bidding but didn't meet the requirements, Faught said.
It will likely be the end of January before a decision is made, according to the secretary.
The state wants a mix of residential and commercial outlets, as well as a new headquarters, on the 25-acre site near downtown Santa Fe where the department is headquartered.
Any of this sound familar?
Ax the Commuter Rail Tax!
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