There is much concern in the Valley from farmers about the loss of their farms. In a written statement, the Farm Bureau said that the rail line will displace "hundreds of farms."
"These farmers are the ones whose property is being threatened," said
Anja Raudabaugh, executive director of the Madera County Farm Bureau.
Raudabaugh said farmers in Madera County are unified in fighting the
loss of land to the rail authority. Rather than sell all or part of
their affected parcels, the farmers are prepared to force the state to
use eminent domain -- to go to court and ask a judge to order the
property be sold to the rail authority.
"It's taken six months, but I've finally contacted every single
property owner along the route from Avenue 17 south to the San Joaquin
River," she added. "Except for one, everyone else is getting ready to be
unwilling sellers."
On the other side is Jeffrey Morales, the rail authority's CEO, who is quoted in the article:
"We think eminent domain will be a minority of the parcels," he said."On the other side is Jeffrey Morales, the rail authority's CEO, who is quoted in the article:
The Bee sought out the one property owner who is excited to work with the HSRA and interviewed him: "Instead, he's excited about a planned Road 27 overpass over both the
high-speed line and the BNSF tracks. "Once they put in that overpass,
the freight trains won't have to honk their horns," he said. "That's
noisy, and it drives the dogs nuts."
"Unlike other landowners who vow to force the rail agency to go to court
for their land, "I'm going to work with them," Ureña said, "but I want
to make sure I'm fairly compensated."
Apparently Juan Urena is unaware of the high pitch 95 decibel screech the proposed train squeels each time it passes. According to the CA HSRA's own data: (http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/assets/0/152/198/1efc92bd-1ce9-4514-bb8c-be51d1320488.pdf ) the sound at 100 feet is equivalent to a lawn mower or an un-muffled diesel truck. For Juan's benefit, a train horn blast at 100 feet ranges from 97 to 107 decibels.
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