E-Mail Express

Name:

Company:

E-mail:

Phone:

The News in Brief

$9M in repair contracts approved for freight

SONOMA COUNTY – The North Coast Railroad Authority board of directors approved $8.9 million in track bed and bridge repair contracts aimed at getting freight trains rolling on the southern portion of the line from southern Napa Valley to Windsor next year.

An $8.7 million contract was awarded to Balfour Beatty to repair track on 62 miles of the line between the junction in Lombard and the depot in Windsor. Trains stopped using the 316-mile line that runs to Eureka seven years ago under federal order.

A $92,000 contract to repair two swing bridges on the Petaluma River was awarded to Summit Signal.

The NCRA also gave a notice to proceed with bridgework, a $3.9-million contract aimed at repairing 42 timber bridges.

The goal is to complete the repairs within four or five months, weather permitting, which would allow freight service to resume in spring at the earliest or by early fall, according to railroad authority Executive Director Mitch Stogner.

Palo Alto-based freight operator Northwestern Pacific Railroad Co. President John Williams is optimistic that freight cars will be rolling sooner than later. He said his group has financed the remaining repairs.

“We’re putting in 50,000 cross ties, and that is a large number, so it will be a factor of how fast our supplier can provide them,” Mr. Williams said.

There is also 60,000 tons of ballast being replaced in the track bed.

Also, a contract with Ghilotti Bros. of San Rafael and Cooper Crane of Vallejo to repair timber, delayed throughout this year because of a lawsuit by the city of Novato, was awarded. A settlement was reached Nov. 3.

The railroad has been undertaking $50 million in repairs on the southern part of the line.

This month the railroad authority plans to release its draft environmental impact report on repairs planned for the section of track between Windsor and Willits in Mendocino County, according to Mr. Stogner.

Calistoga Beverage cuts 74 jobs as sales slow

CALISTOGA – Calistoga Beverage Co. last week laid off 74 workers as a majority of production moved to Southern California to cut costs.

Parent company Nestle Waters relocated production of Arrowhead spring water to plants idled because of a slowdown in bottled water sales, according

to Chris Canning, director of Calistoga Beverage.

Twenty-four employees remain at the plant in Calistoga to produce the namesake sparkling and spring water brand as well as Arrowhead sparkling water. A new organic fruit juice Calistoga water brand is bottled in Sonoma County.

The laid off workers will be paid through the end of the year and will receive severance pay depending on seniority. The company will hold job fairs in coming weeks.

Calistoga Beverage is looking for new uses of the excess capacity and warehouse space, according to Mr. Canning.

Conservation rates OK’d

LARKFIELD – The California Public Utilities Commission approved new conservation rate designs for California American Water customers in San Diego, Ventura and Sonoma counties.

The tiered rates are designed to encourage conservation by increasing the cost per unit of water as consumption increases. The new rate structure resulted from cooperative negotiations between California American Water, the CPUC’s division of ratepayer advocates and other interested parties.

Final rate tariffs still need to be developed and filed with the CPUC for approval prior to implementation, which is planned to begin in January 2009.

Nelson opens new offices

CALIFORNIA – North Bay-based veteran staffing and employee tech company, Nelson Family of Companies, added three new northern California offices.

The Nelson & Associates division opened one of the new locations in Redwood Shores, which is its ninth Northern California office. Nelson Technology opened an office in San Francisco, and Nelson Staffing opened its 16th location in Hollister.