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Wine Train 'stimulus pork': blows my mind.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 8:24 AM
NIKI2
Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...
Quote:It is the quintessential Napa Valley experience. Passengers aboard sleek antique rail cars pay more than $100 for a four-course meal, not including the wine. A recent lunch aboard the train included steak, lobster cakes and local greens. During their three-hour journey winding through Napa Valley, passengers can choose from more than 100 wines to complement their meal. The Napa Valley Wine Train has been shuttling passengers through one of the country's most famous valleys for more than two decades, but now it's under fire because of Republican Sens. Tom Coburn and John McCain. They ranked the wine train as No. 11 on their list of the 100 most "wasteful" and "silly" stimulus projects, leading some to call it the Stimulus Waste Express. When Melodie Hilton, who handles public relations for the wine train, learned about that nickname, she was less than pleased. Hilton said the report temporarily affected business. She said through a smile, "it's never fun to wake up and find that you're an object of national scorn." But CNN found that scorn undeserved. In fact, CNN confirmed that not a single stimulus dollar is being spent on the wine train itself. The stimulus money is really being used for a massive flood-control project for the valley. The train's tracks happen to be in the way, so they have to be moved. It is a simple fix, but it's not cheap. To make it happen, $54 million is being used to build a flood wall at the wine train depot, elevate the tracks and move them 33 feet, and raise four bridges. How did the wine train end up on the list of wasteful projects? "The person who did the research for the senators didn't do a thorough job," Hilton said, "and I think if they did a thorough job, we wouldn't have been on the list at all." Barry Martin is the spokesman for the Napa River Flood Control Project. He called the senators' report "deliberate deception" and a way to score "political points." The goal is to prevent Napa from flooding every few years, as it does now. In 1986, a flood cost the city $100 million. In 2005, flood damage hit $115 million. Hilton, who has lived through the floods in Napa Valley and recalls neighborhoods under feet of water, wrote a letter to McCain: "Since you have thrown down the gauntlet, and made accusations, I would like to demand satisfaction! ... Talk to the officials behind this project; learn what is really going on. It is your right and your responsibility." "We all have the same goal," she later said. "Nobody appreciates waste. If he came out and explored this, I don't think this would have been on the list."
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 8:44 AM
STORYMARK
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 9:42 AM
GEEZER
Keep the Shiny side up
Quote:11. All Aboard The Wine Train! ($54 million) While some major U.S. cities have still not been fully protected from the possibility of catastrophic flooding, engineers are hard at work to relocate the Napa Wine Train to prevent just that. The contractor, Suulutaaq, has received at least $54 million in stimulus funds for the project despite little to no experience with a project of this size.80 Suulutaaq, an Alaska Native Corporation, won the contract as part of a non-competitive bidding process, sparking local concern. When the project first began, Suulutaaq‘s work was slower than expected, causing the firm to replace its construction managers. An Army Corps of Engineers official said that in the spring, Suulutaaq was ―not performing like we expected,‖ though performance has since improved.81 Until receiving the Wine Train relocation project contract, the largest contract Suulutaaq had ever managed was $30 million.82 The Napa Wine Train has proven to be a popular tourist attraction, providing, ―a relaxing three hour journey along the thirty six-mile round-trip… through one of the world's most famous wine valleys.‖83 One of the most popular meals on the train is the $124 Vista Dome Lunch, where guests enjoy ―a complimentary glass of California sparkling wine [that] continues with a four course lunch‖ of their choice.84 Sean Pramuk, the former owner of Uva Trattoria Italiana in Napa, had wanted the city to take care of other flood prevention measures before the Wine Train. ―We need the Wine Train. It‘s good. But we're doing something first for the tourists before we‘re doing it for the people that are here year-round and get flooded.‖85 The proposal includes building a flood wall at the Napa Wine Train station, constructing a new railroad bridge and moving the existing train track 33 feet to elevate the track to align with the new bridge.86 Streets in the area, as well as underground utilities, will need to be raised to match the newly elevated track.87 The Wine Train project is part of a $99 million stimulus allotment Napa received for flood control.88 80 Recovery.gov, ―Suulutaaq: Contract Award summary,‖ accessed December 5, 2009, http://www.recovery.gov/Transparency/Pages/RecipientProjectSummary.aspx?AwardIDSUR=53936&PopId=77274; Courtney, Kevin, ―License Flap on Flood Project,‖ Napa Valley Register, August 14, 2009, http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2009/08/14/news/local/doc4a84e337d2394214594850.txt. 81 Courtney, Kevin, ―License Flap on Flood Project,‖ Napa Valley Register, August 14, 2009, http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2009/08/14/news/local/doc4a84e337d2394214594850.txt. 82 Courtney, Kevin, ―License Flap on Flood Project,‖ Napa Valley Register, August 14, 2009, http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2009/08/14/news/local/doc4a84e337d2394214594850.txt. 83 Napa Wine Train, ―What is the Wine Train,‖ http://winetrain.com/about, accessed November 20, 2009. 84 Napa Wine Train, ―Lunch,‖ http://winetrain.com/lunch, accessed November 20, 2009. 85 Ritter, John, ―City of Napa lures wine-country tourists,‖ USA Today, July 31, 2007, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-30-napa_N.htm. 86 Recovery.gov, ―Suulutaaq: Contract Award summary,‖ http://www.recovery.gov/Transparency/Pages/RecipientProject Summary.aspx?AwardIDSUR=53936&PopId=77274 accessed December 5, 2009. 87 Recovery.gov, ―Suulutaaq: Contract Award summary,‖ http://www.recovery.gov/Transparency/Pages/RecipientProjectSummary.aspx?AwardIDSUR=53936&PopId=77274. 88 Website of the City of Napa, News Release from the Office of Rep. Mike Thompson, ―Stimulus Contains over $99 Million for Napa Flood Project,‖ April 28, 2009, http://www.cityofnapa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=907&Itemid=30, accessed December 5, 2009
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 9:54 AM
PIZMOBEACH
... fully loaded, safety off...
Quote:Originally posted by Geezer: To read the actual list of "wasteful, silly" projects go here. http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=a28a4590-10ac-4dc1-bd97-df57b39ed872
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