To hear King County Executive Ron Sims and outgoing Port of Seattle CEO Mic Dinsmore tell it, the proposal to hand off Boeing Field to the Port in exchange for an eastside rail corridor is a good deal all around.
However, longtime King County Council member Larry Phillips begs to differ. He's not the only one on the council who has misgivings, the Magnolia resident says. "There are several members of the council who are very concerned...."
There are also differences in opinion about a key element in the deal, which involves the Port paying the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad $103 million for the acquisition and up to $66 million for development of the 40-mile-long rail corridor into a trail that will stretch from King to Snohomish counties.
The $169 million is a low-ball figure, according to Phillips, who pegs the true value of the general-aviation airport at around $400 million. And that's "just for the dirt," he said.
Sandeep Kaushik, a Sims spokesman, said the $169 million value is accurate. "We have had an outside appraiser who has been looking at the airport," he said. The appraiser, Kaushik added, said a preliminary estimate for the value of Boeing Field comes in at $150 million to $200 million, "given its use."
Echoing Kaushik, Port spokesman David Schaefer also disputed the $400-million figure. "It was a figure that didn't come from us," he said, adding that the lower figure is based on rents tenants at the airport pay. "We never considered the $400 million represented the value."
Still, Kaushik said, the $169 million is less than the true value only if developers carved up and built on sections of the corridor.
Phillips is sticking by his guns and said council staff came up with the higher figure. "We have not seen any backup on this," he said of the lower estimate that came out of Sims' office.
BNSF is satisfied with the $102 million offer, according to spokesman Gus Melonas. But a corridor-airport swap is only part of the deal, according to two Memorandums of Understanding signed Feb. 26 by the Port, the county executive's office and BNSF.
"The parties also agree to cooperate in the siting and development of an intermodal freight facility to serve the region," according to a press release.
The intermodal facility could be used by both BNSF and the Union Pacific Railroad, according to Kaushik in Sims' office. Part of the deal is that the county bought a piece of property on Harbor Island for potential use as a solid-waste-transfer location, he said.
"The Port covets that land," said Kaushik, who added that the Port thinks the property could be used as a major container terminal. "I think they intend to pay for much of that," he said of the Port developing the Harbor Island acreage. "We are happy to help them out."
Be that as it may, Phillips also brings up an issue of fairness in the proposed swap. Much of the trail system is in Snohomish County, but only King County would be on the hook for the cost and development of the Eastside corridor, he noted. "So why are our taxpayers bearing the burden exclusively?" Phillips wondered. "We need to take a look at that issue."
Phillips said he is also worried that the Port is eyeballing Boeing Field for future use as a commercial airport, if or when SeaTac International Airport reaches its maximum capacity of flights. The SeaTac airport doesn't have a reputation as a good neighbor, and the Port could make an end run around the public process if it owns Boeing Field, he said.
"The Port has reiterated that there would be no major changes (at Boeing Field)," counters Kaushik. SeaTac reaching capacity could change that, but it's not something that will happen anytime soon, he said. "We're talking a couple of decades."
Phillips remains skeptical, pointing out that Sims wanted to move Southwest Airlines to Boeing Field, a move that would have added 35 flights a day to the airport, many of which would have flown over Magnolia. "If you thought the Southwest Airlines (move) was a good deal, you'll love this," he said of the corridor-airport swap.
The bottom line, Phillips said, is that the region would be giving up a general-aviation, blue-collar airport. He likens the deal to the University of Washington regents being handed control over all public-school districts in Western Washington.
But that's not to say he doesn't see value in a trail corridor that could also be used for rail freight and possibly light rail passenger service in the future, something that could become critical as congestion on I-405 gets worse and worse, Phillips noted. "I am a strong proponent of acquiring the BNSF line-just not this way," he stressed.
And that attitude could become a key factor, according to Phillips, because both the county council and the port commissioners have to sign off on the proposed deal.[[In-content Ad]]
