Council delays DesertXpress economic study

BARSTOW • Despite city staff urging the Council to act quickly, its members postponed discussion on a study that would highlight Barstow’s potential losses should a proposed high speed train between Victorville and Las Vegas become a reality.

According to city staff, Barstow could lose $1.3 million a year in revenue if the DesertXpress train project is built. Barstow Finance Director Terri Willoughby based that amount on a traffic impact study, which states the project would result in 20 percent fewer cars on Interstate 15, and the amount lost in sales tax revenue from fewer people shopping at the outlet malls.

Staff asked the Council Tuesday to approve a $22,000 contract with economist Ronald Barbieri to prepare an economic study on behalf of the city. City officials would present the study at a public hearing conducted by the Federal Railroad Administration on the DesertXpress project in October.

But with Councilman Tim Saenz absent, members deadlocked over approving the contract. Councilman Tim Silva and Mayor Pro Tem Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre voted in favor of the study. Councilman Willie Hailey Sr. and Barstow Mayor Joe Gomez, opposing the contract’s price tag, dissented.

The Council voted 3-1 a second time in favor of discussing the issue at a special meeting Monday when all members would be present. Gomez again cast the dissenting vote, saying he didn’t think the project would happen.

McIntyre, who is the Council’s representative on the San Bernardino Associated Governments board, said a professional study is needed if the Council expects the Federal Railroad Administration to listen. This could result in the railroad administration extending the permitting process, which could reduce the chances of the project happening, she said.

DesertXpress officials expect to be finished with the permitting process and ready for construction by the end of this year, said spokesperson Lee Haney. The project will be partly funded with federal loan dollars, but Haney said the company will pay those loans back. She couldn’t go into more specific detail, however.

The DesertXpress project is one of two high speed trains proposed for the High Desert. The Council has long opposed the project because it does not include a stop in Barstow. Another proposed high speed train project, a magnetic levitating train, will stretch from Anaheim to Las Vegas with a stop in Barstow.

The supplemental environmental impact report can be found on the Federal Railroad Administration’s Web site, http://www.fra.dot.gov/Pages/1703.shtml. A public hearing will be held Oct. 14 at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Barstow.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com