Changes at the pump in Tracy

By Deb Gau

TRACY - Although small corner gas stations have become a thing of the past, drivers looking for fuel can usually find a station or two in towns with a highway. But sometimes even those are rare.

In just a couple of years, the number of gas stations along U.S. Highway 14 in Tracy has dwindled from four to one. The Food N Fuel has been closed for about two years, although the property is now up for sale. The BP station shut down earlier this year, and the pumps near the Red Rooster are also closed. Only Casey's General Store is left.

While they'd like to see a bigger variety of choices, some Tracy area residents say they can handle having a one-station town.

"It's sad that we don't have another choice, but it isn't something we can't live without," Ralph DesLauriers summed up on Wednesday.

"I would like to see something local," Sandy Nyquist said. But at the same time, she and Denny Campbell pointed out, the Casey's station is doing good business and employing local people.

And while there are often customers at the station, there aren't long lines at the pump, Ken Giles said.

He can always find a spot.

Some residents said they thought fluctuating gas prices or other factors might have contributed to Tracy gas stations closing, but not competition from Casey's.

Tracy EDA Director Robert Gervais said there has been interest expressed in the gas station property by the Red Rooster, especially because of its location and space for trucks to pull up. But so far, he said, "nobody's stepped forward."

"It would probably bother me more if I had a diesel truck," Gordon Blanchette said of the one-station situation. The one thing Tracy is missing is a diesel pump. Right now, the nearest diesel pumps are in neighboring towns like Walnut Grove, Milroy or Balaton. Blanchette said having an E-85 pump in town might be good, too.

A diesel station is "a real asset" for the community, Campbell said.

"You have farmers driving grain trucks, and you need a different fuel for out on the road than you do for farming," he said.

Local contractors and other people who drive diesel trucks would also benefit from a having a diesel pump in town, said Dave Hartley, energy manager of Cenex-Harvest States.

Fortunately for diesel customers, CHS is pursuing diesel in Tracy. Hartley said Wednesday the company is looking at a couple of options for fueling, but more information isn't available at this time.

"We will bring diesel to Tracy. We just don't know where," Hartley said.

"(CHS) wants to help the community. We're a local business," Hartley said. Diesel fueling, he said, "benefits the community as much as it benefits us."