City Council hearing of 4/19/2016 on Valero Appeal of Planning Commission denial of Valero Crude By Rail. Excerpt begins with questioning of Union Pacific representative Francisco Castillo at minute 11:40.
Category Archives: Benicia City Council
CRAIG SNIDER: An interesting evening at City Hall last night
Repost from Nextdoor, Benicia CA
An interesting evening at City Hall last night
By Craig Snider, April 19, 2016It was an interesting evening at City Hall last night.
According to Valero, and the “City’s” Valero-funded contract attorney; the City of Benicia has no right to deny the project, because Valero is a “shipper” and when a shipper uses a train to ship their goods, under federal law, nobody can stop them. That’s it in a nutshell.
In other words, if Valero wanted to ship nuclear waste to their refinery and store it there, the City can do nothing to stop them. End of discussion.
Someone needs to tell the citizens of Oakland to stop wasting their time fighting the Utah coal proposal since that city is apparently powerless to prevent a coal exporter from setting up shop and shipping coal out of the Port of Oakland.
Fortunately, our Attorney General and many other knowledgeable attorneys have informed the Council that this interpretation is wrong. A shipper’s rights do not trump State, County, or City zoning laws.
Unfortunately (for those of us that are tired of this issue), three City Council members agreed to postpone the decision until an “opinion” can be obtained from the Federal Surface Transportation Board which may or may not choose to offer their opinion regarding our situation.
Their opinion, if they offer it, is just that. And the City Council will still have to weigh the merits of the various arguments on either side of this issue and choose.
And in either case, a suit will likely follow.
Quick update on City Council meetings of April 18 and 19
By Roger Straw, April 19, 2016
Quick update on City Council meetings of Monday Apr 18 and Tuesday Apr 19
Several subscribers have asked what happened at last night’s City Council hearing on Valero Crude By Rail.
No vote was taken by Council. Members of the public were heard, followed by a 5-minute final comment by Valero attorney John Flynn and Valero Plant Manager Don Wilson.
Council followed this with questions for Valero and City staff. During this lengthy portion of the meeting, Council offered contract attorney Brad Hogin lengthy opportunities to defend against the recent letter of California Attorney General Kamala Harris, and to take issue with City staff’s recommendation to deny Valero’s request for a delay. (Seems when City staff agrees with Valero, Mr. Hogin does as well; but when City staff disagrees with Valero, Mr. Hogin will take up Valero’s cause.)
Council concluded the evening with questions for and answers by the traffic consultants, and their after-11pm powerpoint presentation.
Before it all started, Valero packed the hall with employees. There was a deliberate effort to position sign-bearing employees and their families in all the front and aisle seats. Valero supporters claim to have arrived at 4pm to crowd the door, and massed to deliberately keep STOP Crude By Rail people out. Council chambers and overflow rooms were full of folks from both sides.
When Council opened to public comment, 28 (!) of the 30 who spoke were OPPOSED to the oil train proposal. Speaker after speaker came to the mike and offered knowledgeable and carefully reasoned analyses and passionate personal testimonies asking Council to deny Valero’s request for a delay and to uphold our Benicia Planning Commission’s unanimous denial of the EIR and the project.
UPDATE: The City HAS NOW POSTED video of all the speakers on April 18 at http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/index.asp?SEC=0CB04C5F-05FE-4492-9173-DE064A31707D&Type=B_BASIC.
If I can find time, I will excerpt some of the comments by video and/or in writing.
Tonight, Tues. Apr 19, Council will continue deliberations, asking questions and possibly arriving at formal votes on Valero’s request for delay, whether to certify the environmental report, and whether to approve or deny issuance of a land use permit.
Your presence is important. This is surely one of City Council’s most important decisions of our times.
ANOTHER FLURRY OF LETTERS OPPOSING VALERO CBR
By Roger Straw, April 18, 2016
ANOTHER FLURRY OF LETTERS OPPOSING VALERO CBR
Today the City of Benicia released Public Comments received April 15-18, 2016.
The PDF document is 34 pages, 2.4 MB. It includes
- a letter from Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates;
- a response from City staff to a letter from Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community protesting procedures at the April 4 City Council hearing;
- 13 individual letters opposing the proposal;
- Marilyn Bardet letter commenting on the Attorney General letter
- Jim Church letter (Jim is a Benicia resident and a librarian at the University of Cal, Berkeley)
- Giovanna Sensi-Isolani letter (Giovanna is a First Street Benicia business owner)
- Janette Wolf letter (Janette is a Benicia resident)
- Jan Cox-Golovich letter (drawing attention to the San Francisco Chronicle editorial opposing Valero CBR)
- Karen Jacques letter (Karen is a Davis resident, self-described as a “Blast Zone Resident and Potential Victim”)
- Richard Slizeski letter (Richard is a Benicia resident)
- Roger Straw letter (drawing attention to potential financial impacts of Valera’s proposal including a formula for expectable costs in a worst case scenario.)
- Maria Streifer letter (Maria is a 34 year Benicia resident)
- Bart Sullivan letter (Bart is a Benicia resident, patent engineer and law student)
- and names of 11 people who signed Valero’s support letter.
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