During it’s city council meeting recently, Fort Bragg voted to send a letter to the Department of Transportation, requesting it deny Mendocino Railway’s application for a $31.3 million loan to repair the collapsed tunnel between Fort Bragg and Willits. The city contends that the loan is intended to keep the railway’s designation as a common carrier so that it can develop 350 acres without having to comply with state and local regulations. Vice Mayor Jessica Marcell-Haye has said that it wouldn’t be in the best interest of Fort Bragg to have almost 20% of the town owned by a private entity.