Re: W&I Questions for Stan Patterson
Author: GGHS
Date: 04-23-2014 - 21:35
Land not zoned for retail, there has been a years long effort to build a shopping center across the hiway from Wilson that has so far gone no where. Zoning would permit a reload of some sort -- say for the remaining pea plants in Moscow, Kendrick and Genesee -- or for a reload for the Idaho Cedar Sales mill in Troy (formerly a major rail shipper in the 70's and 80's). Business climate for retail is better in Idaho, but not Moscow due to an anti-business past that has recently changed a little. Wilson has had some issues with the Chipman trail in the form of vandalism and turning rail cars loose. Also, tree huggers don't like fertilizer plants which is why the next door Wilbur Ellis liquid plant shut down last year and moved operations to Palouse and Uniontown. Busch Oil Distributers, decades ago when they had plants in Moscow and Pullman used to get fuel by rail and that could offer some traffic to Wilson. If the present Wilson plant shuts down and nothing replaces it in a couple of years, I would expect the WSDOT to abandon the line between Fallon and Wilson. ALSO, the McGregor plant at the port of Wilma will get much of it's product by rail and they have built a rather odd trackage arrangement to service the plant that will be a bear to switch.