V&T group waiting on NDOT

The hot topic for the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway is an environmental report coming soon from the Nevada Department of Transportation.

The report is expected in the mid-May, though it's the third time the date has been pushed back due to "priorities."

Commissioner John Farahi proposed at a meeting last week that if the department does not meet the latest deadline, the group should go to NDOT and stage a riot.

"But it looks like NDOT is very committed to the new deadline," said reconstruction project coordinator, Kevin Ray.

Plans call for the first section of the V&T line to be the Gold Hill Line change at the Overman Pit in Gold Hill.

The federal government has offered a grant of $2.6 million toward that section, requiring the V&T commission to provide a 5 percent match of $130,070 in services or in dollars.

The federal grant means waiting for NDOT to finish its environmental assessment, according to Ray.

"It been said that if we just gave back the federal money, we could get it done faster," he said. "But at the stage we're in now, the commission is going to work with NDOT to finish the Overman Pit section."

The Carson City Convention & Visitors Bureau has pledged $83,500 toward the match. The remaining $46,570 will come from the commission in services or in-kind contributions.

The Nevada Commission on Tourism, meanwhile, has committed $1 million to the project over the next two years.

The V&T group has begun appraisals of land along the proposed right of way, which it will have to acquire for reconstruction of the historic railway.

But because the environmental assessment might require moving the line from its current proposal, the commission must wait for NDOT's results.

Thursday was to be the first meeting for three new commissioners -- John Flanagan from Storey County, Kelly Kite from Douglas County and Jim Shaw from Washoe County.

While neither Shaw nor Kite made the meeting, Flanagan was elected vice chairman in a unanimous vote, filling a space left vacant by former Washoe commissioner Ted Short, who retired.

In other business, the commission unanimously approved a tentative budget of $1.03 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004. The budget will be finished next month and submitted to the state by June 2.

In a move he says will save the project about $40,000, Ray secured two crossing lights with flashers from the downtown Reno tracks, which are being torn out for the new trench. In another salvage effort, sections of the Interstate 15 bridge from a Las Vegas expansion project could be used to cross Highway 50 near Mound House.

The commission also established a Web site connected to Carson City's site. With the help of Carson's Dan Nevin, vtrailway.org has become a place to see maps of the proposed line and photos of the area.

A fund-raiser for the V&T planned for April 19 will feature comedy, champagne and a silent auction at the Atlantis Hotel and Casino in Reno.

On the Net

Virginia & Truckee reconstruction:

www.vtrailway.org/