Wednesday, Feb. 03, 2010

Five sites submitted for proposed maintenance facility

County wants facility built here.

CHOWCHILLA NEWS STAFF

Madera County has been very active in the competition for a high speed rail heavy maintenance facility site. On Jan. 15, Madera County submitted a total of five sites to the High Speed Rail Authority. The selection of the heavy maintenance facility site in Madera County has been a top priority for Madera County officials, especially since it was announced that Madera County will not have a rail stop.

Madera County residents feel that a heavy maintenance facility may be the only way that Madera County will benefit economically from the project. Madera County sites are well suited for the heavy maintenance facility because the high speed rail planning process has both north-south and east-west routes converging in Madera County.

"Madera County is an ideal chose for the High Speed Rail Authority considering it is positioned in the north-south, east-west corridor and is strategically situated to pull employees from both Merced and Fresno counties creating enormous amount of available workforce," said Chairman of the Madera County Board of Supervisors, Tom Wheeler.

Madera County, the cities of Madera and Chowchilla and the Madera County Economic Development Commission, have researched the best Madera County sites for the heavy maintenance facility. During the research process officials worked diligently to form partnerships with the local governmental jurisdictions, landowners and industrial development companies in preparing very attractive proposals for the state to review. Madera County is confident the five proposed sites that were submitted to the California High Speed Rail Authority will be extremely competitive sites during the selection process.