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A proposal to run a railroad through the Carpenter Ranch and other properties to deliver coal to the Hayden Power Station is off the table.

The Routt County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday denied Xcel Energy's proposal for such a coal delivery system. People packed the hearing room to listen to and participate in the discussion.

County Commissioner Nancy Stahoviak said the proposal did not fit with various Routt County zoning and subdivision regulations and that more information was needed. Stahoviak, who is recovering from recent surgery, participated in the conference by telephone.

The sticking point was that the county, along with the Yampa Valley Land Trust, holds a conservation easement for the Carpenter Ranch, she said. That easement is supposed to be permanent.

If the county approved the proposal, Stahoviak said it would be violating its own easement agreement. She said that easement represents a promise the county made to residents and the Carpenter Ranch.

It didn't make sense to approve this option when "we have so many other options," Stahoviak said.

County Commissioner Dan Ellison agreed. Ellison said it was crucial to consider the entire Hayden Valley before approving any new rail spurs.

Stahoviak and Ellison voted to deny the proposal. Routt County Commissioner Doug Monger, whose property could be affected by one or more of the coal-hauling options, recused himself from the hearing.

Xcel has been searching for a long-term method of delivering coal to the Hayden Station, which will lose its primary source of coal when the nearby Seneca coal mine closes this year.

The company has explored 11 options for rail delivery of coal to the station from the Twentymile coal mine near Oak Creek.

Only one option -- option 2A -- was on the table Tuesday night. It involved building a wye and spur from the Union Pacific mainline near an existing spur. The new spur would run through an irrigated hay meadow on the Carpenter Ranch as well as properties owned by Tim Nelson and Rosamond Garcia.

After the meeting, Frank Roitsch, director of the Hayden Station, said possible next steps would have to be evaluated.

Michael Diehl, principal agent for land and siting rights for Xcel, said during the meeting that option 2A best fit into the community's values.

"We feel that we're kind of standing up for the community when we propose (option) 2A," Diehl said.

Ben Beall said Xcel had yet to present other options to the public. That was requested by the Routt County Regional Planning Commission when it unanimously denied the permit in January. Other people echoed that concern.

Willis Carpenter, who signed the documents putting the Carpenter Ranch under the conservation easement held by the Yampa Valley Land Trust and Routt County, spoke against Xcel's proposal. He said that if Routt County approved Xcel's proposal, it would set a bad precedent for all conservation easements.

Sally Claassen said that if the county approved option 2A, it would be breaking a promise to conserve the Carpenter Ranch.

"We tell our children that go to Carpenter Ranch, 'Your leaders had the vision to preserve this property forever ... for you,'" Claassen said. "Now you want to tell them you were kidding?"

Hayden Town Manager Russ Martin said that every option would attract just as much opposition. Hayden officials supported option 2A as one that could work, he said.

Amy Williams, who lives in Hayden, said she did not want an option that would cause backups on U.S. Highway 40 because of another railroad crossing. She said she also thought that more trucks hauling coal would be dangerous to drivers.

Stahoviak said she thinks everyone agrees that a long-term rail option for delivering coal is needed. But, she said, that option is not 2A.

-- To reach Susan Cunningham, call 871-4203 or e-mail scunningham@steamboatpilot.com