MOBILE — A vote on whether Mobile will formally commit funding toward restoring passenger rail service to the city has been pushed back a week, after several city council members raised questions about the financial risk the city could be taking on.
The Mobile City Council was set to vote this week on a Letter of Support to the U.S. Department of Transportation backing a grant application from the Southern Rail Commission (SRC) to help restore passenger rail service through Mobile. Under the proposal, Mobile would commit $3 million spread over three years. Council members instead postponed the vote to their Feb. 4 meeting to allow more time to weigh the city’s financial exposure.
The new date carries its own urgency: Feb. 4 falls just one day before the deadline for the SRC to submit its letter of support and qualify for the federal grant. According to Stephen McNair, a member of the SRC, missing that deadline would raise the price for the city considerably — Mobile’s share for the first three years of operation would jump from $3 million to $6 million.
Councilman Joel Daves was the most vocal skeptic during the council’s work session, arguing that the city needed firmer safeguards before signing on, including relying on a feasibility study conducted by Amtrak to set realistic expectations for the project’s chances of success.
“Once we’ve made the commitment, we’re bound to the contract,” Daves said. “I’ve talked to my constituents and they are opposed. It makes no economic sense for the city of Mobile. I think it’s important to use a conservative assumption to determine if it’s a good idea.”
Not every council member agreed that caution was warranted. Councilman Fred Richardson and council president Levon Manzie both said they were ready to vote and saw no reason for further delay.
“I have not received one negative comment from citizens in District 1,” Richardson said. “They want Amtrak. If it failed all over the country, then we shouldn’t pursue it.”
“If we go off on the assumption that it will not be successful, then we’ll never do anything,” Manzie said.
In the end, the council opted to give city finance director Paul Wesch and the administration time to study possible contingencies and bring back more information before members commit the city to the funding.
McNair told the council that while Mobile’s $3 million commitment under the Letter of Support would cover operating costs, the money needed to build out rail infrastructure — platforms, station structures and the systems needed to keep trains running safely and on schedule — could come from a variety of other sources, and would likely hinge on decisions the city itself makes.
“Money for the remaining capital for infrastructure relating to the platform and the structure, as well as making sure the train runs on time and safely, can come from any number of sources, whether it’s from state, county or the local government,” McNair said. “There’s really no limits where those funds can come from. We’re still having active conversations with the governor’s office and the Mobile County Commission to find active sources of revenue.”
McNair added that the SRC was comfortable with the guardrails the council has already placed on the project. “If we receive the money for the contingencies, but if we don’t receive money for the infrastructure, the train won’t run anyway, so we’re perfectly content with restrictions the city council has placed on the Letter of Intent,” he said.
McNair said he appreciated the council’s careful approach given that taxpayer dollars are involved, and that the SRC would remain in contact with council members in the days ahead.
Passenger rail hasn’t served Mobile since Hurricane Katrina forced the suspension of Amtrak’s Sunset Limited route in 2005, and the SRC-led push to restore Gulf Coast service between New Orleans and the Florida Panhandle — with a stop in Mobile — has been years in the making. The council’s Feb. 4 meeting is now expected to determine whether the city moves forward as a funding partner in that effort.