State says it’s still trying to keep Freighthouse rail station on track

State transportation officials have not given up on negotiations with the owner of Freighthouse Square over construction of a new Amtrak station there, a senior official said Thursday, and no other site is being considered.

In a letter to the project’s citizens’ advisory committee, a Washington State Department of Transportation official said negotiations for the site continue, despite a note to the same group Wednesday warning that the project was “at risk” because the owner and the state cannot agree on compensation.

“I just want to clarify that WSDOT is not actively seeking alternative station locations at this time,” wrote WSDOT Rail Division communications manager Janet Matkin in Thursday’s letter to the advisory committee.

Freighthouse Square owner Brian Borgelt said he found the clarification promising.

The communication did say that should negotiations be unsuccessful, “we currently are looking at options such as additional funding to supplement the time-constrained federal funding, an unstaffed stop at the platform in Tacoma, or busing passengers from the existing station to the new platform.

“However, most of these are not long-term solutions and do not meet the future needs of Amtrak Cascades passengers and the community,” the note added.

Wednesday’s original note from the state said plans to build the station at the Freighthouse site “are at risk. Negotiations to purchase the identified portion of the building are at an impasse and any further delays that impact the construction process will make it impossible for WSDOT to meet deadlines for building the new station.”

The process to assess, negotiate and plan the new construction has taken three years, at an estimated $5 million spent so far by the state from a federal grant on matters ranging from design to relocation of existing tenants.

The state said in Wednesday’s note, “Following an extensive four-month negotiation process, WSDOT and the property owner have failed to reach agreement on the cost of acquiring a portion of the existing Freighthouse Square building and other related property easements.

“Therefore,” it continued, “WSDOT is investigating other options to serve our passengers at this time.”

Neither the state nor Borgelt would specify the amount of compensation being negotiated. Funds received from the state would help Freighthouse management mitigate the loss of business during construction and to ensure access to the facility during and after construction.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Borgelt said of the first note. “We’ve spent three years. We’ve committed a lot of resources. All of a sudden, to bring that to the floor — it’s hard to take it seriously. They waited until the eleventh hour. It seems like a bully tactic.”

In its first note, the state did not specify what alternatives it was considering.

David Smelser, WSDOT manager for the Point Defiance Bypass project, said Wednesday evening “there are no good alternative station sites” for a Tacoma Amtrak station. Even if a location were compatible, it would take months to conduct an environmental study, hold public hearings and to secure the site. That’s time the parties do not have if they are going to open the bypass rail route in the summer of 2017.

The DOT’s best hope is that a judge will quickly rule that the station is a public necessity under the doctrine of eminent domaine and allow the state to gain ownership of the Freighthouse site in time to begin construction this spring, Smelser said. A hearing is set for early March and a full trial would follow to determine a fair price for the site.

Smelser said state law allows the DOT to keep private what amount it is offering for the station site. He did say that the state and Borgelt are “several million dollars apart.”

Prepared to negotiate, Borgelt said of his current figure, “Can we take a more austere approach? Yes.”

Borgelt places the context of the conversation not on money but within a wider perspective.

“The primary function of of Freighthouse is giving way to transit,” he said while visiting the building’s food court on Thursday.

“This is about the community,” he said.

And the state still wants to be a member of that community.

“We still hope we can resolve the current impasse,” WSDOT’s Matkin wrote Thursday. “WSDOT appreciates your involvement in the public engagement process and, like you, wants to see our common vision realized for the new station at Freighthouse Square.”

“I find that encouraging,” Borgelt said. “I look forward to continuing negotiations in a civil manner.”

“All we’ve asked for is adequate compensation,” Borgelt said.

Staff writer John Gillie contributed to this report.

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 5:03 PM with the headline "State says it’s still trying to keep Freighthouse rail station on track."