But in the past month, a family has in fact had its house burn mostly to the ground. And so far as we can tell, no one has been properly roused.
On Sept. 29, the Osegueras’ home on Falcon Court burned down. The culprits appear to be a group of careless teenagers who set a fire nearby. But the culpability doesn’t end with them.
Union Pacific Railroad has failed to keep up its property between Sixth and Third streets, known to us as the Bow Tie.
The evidence is fairly clear. On April 20 of this year, the city of Tracy sent three citations charging U.P. $100 for each day the Bow Tie area wasn’t cleared of refuse and weeds. By our tally, that puts the bill for just one of the citations at $18,300 and climbing.
Yet the refuse remains.
Of course, the city hasn’t followed up, either. In an interview with a Press reporter last week, the head of the code enforcement department said the city wouldn’t consider taking the railroad to small claims court until the citations added up to $1,000.
But by our math, that day has come and gone several times over. And still, no hard-line action by the city.
In the meantime, the weeds continue to grow and create a perfect hazard, a place where vagrants and teens tromp and fire danger abounds. But you don’t need to tell the Osegueras. They already know.
It’s time for Union Pacific to at least pretend it cares about the Tracy community by cleaning its property.
We’re not talking about the extensive reclamation
needed to make the land suitable for development. We’re talking about a crew, a dump truck and disc equipment to remove the rubbish and mow the weeds.
(Though that deep-cleaning eventually needs to happen, too, as the Bow Tie is an incredible untapped resource and will remain untapped until it’s cleansed.)
If U.P. doesn’t act, it’s time for the city to pursue a civil claim. Maybe the threat of legal action will put some fire in that locomotive’s belly.
That should help remediate some of the blight of an area that was once one of the busiest rail terminals in the United States.
David Jackson
Railtown Tracy Project
Website: http://www.TracyRail.org
SomeGuyWhoMovedHere is right. It is slabs of concrete with rebar sticking out. If you check into where the concrete came from you will find it's from the Downtown Redevelopment Project that was performed during 2004-2005.
The City Engineer give the contractors the OK to dump the concrete on the UP's property without approval from the UP.
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Wow, it is messier than I thought!!
I find it hard to believe that the City Engineer allowed the city refuse from downtown renovation project be placed on the UP property without their permission. That is a NO NO.
Better tackle your own mess on UP property or you may be faced with citation or lawsuit from UP.
It could run into millions, they can afford it, got staff of lawyers... but then you knew that... it is not a game for the residents of Tracy!
Good luck.
CN
I wonder why the Tracy Press wrote an article like this. I think it was last year when Sam Matthews wrote an article about a train trip to Livermore on board the Ace Train. If so, all Sam Matthews had to do was look out the window of the Ace Train and see that there is trash piled along the entire route. In one place along the Ace Train route there is a city between Fremont and Pleasanton. From there you can see a homeless city where people are living along the tracks and an eclectic array of sorted trash.
As far as railroad companies are concerned the people who go on their property are called "trespassers". In fact, when someone commits suicide on a railroad track the lawyer at the railroad announce it was a "trespasser". If that is the case then they should file "tresspassing" charges.
The City Engineer give the contractors the OK to dump the concrete on the UP's property without approval from the UP.
You were insensitive. And I am a falcon court resident, well, we were until this.
By not putting up a fence on their property and not abiding by Tracy's codes this property owner is maintaining a nuisance.
The city doesn't issue cites just because it feels like it. It does so because there are violations. We all agree without this kid having lit a fire, our home would still be here, however, had it been properly fenced off it would have been much less likely.
Everyday there are kids smoking behind these mounds of concrete because it gives them cover. 20-40 kids EVERY day trespass this property. EVERY day! I'm tired of broken windows, repeated field fires, the smell of pot etc. I'm also tired of people thinking a pickup truck and 4 guys can fix this. You'd need cranes. One pile is taller than our neighbors house.
I agree, it's not Union Pacific, even though they could be, in my opinion, a little more proactive on this, it's th people dumpin thair trash an th people lightin th fires that are th real blame.
It's not as if Union Pacific has signs up sayin "Please dump your garbage here" or "Please set this garbage on fire so we can burn down neighboring homes."
If ya really look deeper ya can probably find that in many cases th homeowners next ta th railroads are th ones dumpin thair trash thair fer th railroad ta clean up.
Now I am not sayin this is th case with all homeowners but you an I both know that it happens an happens enough that it creates th problem we see taday.
Ya know, we constantly see th same thang with th garage sale signs plastered all over public property all over th city. Is it th city's fault or th fault of th person puttin up th illegal signs?
Go after th problem causer instead of th problem an th problem will go away.
I disagree with all the blame being placed on Union Pacific. The resposibility for the fire starts and ends with the idiot or idiots that started the fire.
The idea that UP somehow invites trash dumping, as stated in one of the letters below, is ridiculous. I have never seen a single sign near the rails saying "please dump trash here." The trash is 99% the fault of individuals in our community who dont care about it and who unfortunately have more in common with us than with UP. With 10s of thousands of miles of rail line UP can hardly run out and pick up every piece of trash the moment some idiot dumps it.
Rather than blame the property owner who had nothing to do with the trash ending up there (with the exception of harmless railroad ties), why not put a $10k per incident fine on those caught dumping trash and put some police resources on catching folks who do that, or who trespass. We could then take that money and pay for clean-up.
Just a thought.
CN