Amador County – Ione City Council on Tuesday decided that moving the Ione Railroad Depot from its current location was the preferred preservation plan in an effort to avoid demolition of the Depot.

Ione City Manager Jeff Butzlaff recommended approval of moving the depot so the city can try to secure funding pledges for the work, and present a work plan to abate lead at the site and move the Depot. The work plan and funding sources or pledges would then be presented to the Union Pacific Railroad, which owns the property, to ask for a time extension for the site’s abatement.

Within the ongoing lease is a 2-year time limit to complete the abatement, by May 3, or Union Pacific will abate it through demolition and bill the city. The railroad company owns the property and the city owns the Depot.

Butzlaff said the Council clarified the intent that they preferred to relocate the Depot from Union Pacific property to the nearby city corporation yard. With the plan in place, Amador County Historical Society and depot advocates can better represent the project to donors and benefactors with a clear plan in place. ¶ Estimates were $40,000 to $50,000 to move the building and clean up the site. Or they could leave the Depot on the site and Union Pacific would demolish it at a cost estimate of $50,000, billed to the city.

Butzlaff said it was the Council’s intent to try to save depot, do abatement to remove asbestos from the building and lead paint from the building and grounds. The move would give the city more time for more comprehensive rehabilitation of the Depot that will be needed.

Once the is Depot offsite, there will be ongoing efforts by a committee to raise money to fix the Depot. Butzlaff said the Council is urging cooperative effort between different groups in the community. Once moved, the city can have more control over that preservation effort.

The groups seeking to save the Ione Train Depot, including Amador Historical Society, wanted a definite plan in place to encourage the financial wherewithal or commitments to be able to show Union Pacific a plan is in place and funding is secured. The company would only give an abatement extension with those in place.

Butzlaff said the City general fund situation has significantly deteriorated, or been revealed for what it has become, and timing couldn’t have been worse. Now it is just a question whether the groups can find the funds or formal pledges of funding over a certain period.

Full abatement will cost about $8,000 on the facility.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.