JAXPORT: The Numbers Aren't What You Think They Are!

[Ocklawaha]

Like I've said Lake, it won't matter since this is evolutionary in nature. 30 years from now, it WILL matter, but not so much on 2015. That date is going to be the global shipping equal of the Y2K fiasco.

[If_I_Loved_you]

In less then five years a lot of the stuff we import from China will be made right here in the U.S. with are own 3D printers?

[thelakelander]

What's the future plans for Fernandina's port? Do people really expect those paper mills to be around for another 50 years?

[If_I_Loved_you]

What's the future plans for Fernandina's port? Do people really expect those paper mills to be around for another 50 years?

Next meeting will be on August 14, 2013 at 6pm. Meeting will be at 96315 Nassau Place, Yulee Florida.

The commissioners of the Ocean Highway and Port Authority of Nassau County meet the second Wednesday of each month at 6pm.

The meetings are held at at the James S. Page Governmental Complex
(96135 Nassau Place, Yulee FL 32097)

The public is invited to attend these meetings.

It is advised to confirm the meeting time by calling ahead of time
(904) 491-7422 or inquire via email. http://portoffernandina.org/

[JayBird]

^ Do you have knowledge that they'll be discussing future plans at this meeting or was this just a cut and paste from their web site? Because they have been forming a future outlook proposal, but to my knowledge it won't be presented until October/November of this year and won't be placed in budgets until FY2016 ... Or has something changed?

[If_I_Loved_you]

^ Do you have knowledge that they'll be discussing future plans at this meeting or was this just a cut and paste from their web site? Because they have been forming a future outlook proposal, but to my knowledge it won't be presented until October/November of this year and won't be placed in budgets until FY2016 ... Or has something changed?

Cut and Paste the rest is up to the people who go to the meeting.

[simms3]

So my whole take on the port is based on distribution and politics.  When you look at sort of the top 5 distribution markets in the country - Inland Empire, Chicago, Dallas, NJ, and Atlanta - it becomes clear why Savannah has pulled ahead (and Charleston as well).

Frankly, JaxPort even benefits from Atlanta's distribution network/infrastructure, but not nearly as much as Savannah or Charleston do, which are ports that almost exclusively serve this massive network and infrastructure.  The overall Atlanta real estate market is deemed risky by default, as most sunbelt markets are, but the industrial sector there is always one of the strongest in the country.  Companies like to build distribution centers there and real estate developers even like to go spec there because of the strength of the distribution network and the infrastructure in place.  The same cannot necessarily be said of Jacksonville, even though Jacksonville's own industrial sector is its strongest real estate sector.  Jacksonville may be tops in the state of FL, but is still middle of the pack as a favorable industrial market, and will never compete with Atlanta, either in terms of direct connections to other major population centers or in terms of infrastructure and warehouse space.  Atlanta is simply a much larger rail hub (it was literally built on rail) and is within a day's drive of much more population (not to mention the 6 million people within its own region).

And then you factor in political backing - you have a very powerful mayor (the mayor of Atlanta is usually one of the most powerful politicians in the country - and Kasim is quite connected to the Hill and the Obama Admin; it was even thought he would leave the city for the District), and this black Democrat mayor is working side by side with white Republican good ol boy governor to fuel Savannah, because it fuels statewide industry and Atlanta distribution/jobs center.

Contrast with JaxPort...a port in a dysfunctional city with historically poor city and state leadership, and competition with several major metro centers as opposed to one, none the least of which is SoFla - one of the largest population centers in the country with its own two large ports - and you have a port in lil ol NE FL that will always lose out to the competition, even despite the logical benefits of funding increasing infrastructure capacity in Jax and Mile Point/deepening.

Perhaps its time that JaxPort leaders and city leaders find a way to politically align themselves with and tap into the politically advantaged GA port system.  Clearly there is no love to be found from the home state of FL, but perhaps there is some sort of advantage that can be found across the border.

[Cheshire Cat]

While we focus on the numbers associated to improvements at Jax Port I think there is something much more important here that is not getting near the attention that it should.  Our waterways in Jacksonville are one of the most important and visible assets our community has.  Beyond what is visible however is the underlying reality that we human beings are often shortsighted when it comes to our material wants and how going after those wants can have a devastating impact on the St. John's river and all of the life it supports.  Please read the following piece from the St.John's Riverkeeper.  We must proceed with wisdom and a deeper understanding of what dredging can actually do to our environment and by extension how it can harm our community for years to come.  Please click link to view the complete article.

http://www.stjohnsriverkeeper.org/blog/obama-port-initiative-threatens-st-johns/

The "We Can't Wait Initiative" shortchanges the harbor deepening study and our river.

Lisa Rinaman, St. Johns Riverkeeper: "We can wait.  We can't afford to shortchange the evaluation process.  By doing so, we are potentially jeopardizing the health of our region's most valuable economic and ecological asset, the St. Johns River, based on incomplete studies and speculative job projections."

On July 19, 2012, President Obama issued the "We Can't Wait Initiative," expediting the study of the proposed St. Johns River Harbor Deepening Project.  This decision dramatically reduced the study schedule by 14 months, potentially jeopardizing the integrity of the analysis by providing the Army Corps of Engineers with insufficient time to thoroughly evaluate this complex issue

[mtraininjax]

I don't believe the salinity study has been released yet. The official one from the Army Corps of Engineers, regardless, how many unemployed people will stand up and fight for the manatees? But I agree with Simms3, why fight Brunswick and Savannah, when you can combine and form a partnership to work together to combat Miami/FtL and Tampa? Yeah sure Rick Scott, all 14 ports in Florida benefit from working together. Yeah right!

JaxPort is a great port for aggregate materials, building supplies as well as rock and asphalt. Why not continue to work to build our port as an area for these materials? The housing boom will return, and we have an infrastructure that is in dire need of fixing and replacement. Why not use our lands, like Keystone Coal is doing in shipping out coal from their terminal? Fla Rock/Vulcan Materials is still a major player in road materials in Jax. I see tremendous opportunity, yeah, not as sexy as containers, but still a great option for Jax. I agree, you need partners in growth, we should look to work with them, instead of trying to beat their brains out.

[Cheshire Cat]

The numbers have changed to the tune of 27.5 million dollars from the state.   

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-09-25/story/jaxport-get-275-million-state-funds-port-improvements

By Drew Dixon   

Florida ports will get $150 million in bond proceeds from the state in the next fiscal year and $27.5 million of that will be coming to JaxPort.

Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet approved the funding for the state's ports through the Seaport Investment Program.

While $150 million will fund port projects statewide in the next year, $27.5 million is specifically earmarked for Jacksonville's port facilities. JaxPort spokeswoman Nancy Rubin said $14.8 million of that money will be used for improvements at the Blount Island Marine Terminal. The remaining money will be used for maintenance and upgrades at the Talleyrand Marine Terminal downtown.

"We need to take aging infrastructure and make it useful heading into the future," Rubin said. "These projects are to upgrade and revitalize aging docks, rail lines that need upgrading. These waterside facilities, think about what they go through the course of the day."

Rubin said the maintenance and upgrades will not only serve current customers, but will better prepare the facilities to handle future cargo customers, such as those that could come if the St. Johns River shipping channels are deepened or the Mile Point section of the river is fixed.

The state money approved by Scott for Florida port funding is not directly linked to current Congressional consideration of federal authorization or the other major issues facing Jacksonville's maritime interests.

In the House, a draft bill would authorize projects whose federal studies are completed by the end of 2013 only. That would include fixing tricky navigational currents in the Mile Point portion of the St. Johns River, just west of the mouth of the waterway near the Atlantic Ocean.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expects to finish its study of deepening Jacksonville's harbor from its current depth of 40 feet to 47 feet next April, which would fall outside the cut-off date in the currently worded House bill.

Still, the state funding granted this week for upgrades at JaxPort facilities is more than welcome news for port officials.

"Florida's leaders understand the value of building port infrastructure today and the returns that will come in the form of jobs and economic opportunity," JaxPort CEO Brian Taylor said.

Jacksonville's Economic Development Director Ted Carter said the state money will make JaxPort more attractive to potential shippers considering harboring here.

"The investment from the state means improvements that will make Jacksonville and our port even more appealing for current and new businesses and industrial tenants," Carter said in a news release Wednesday.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-09-25/story/jaxport-get-275-million-state-funds-port-improvements#ixzz2g2Siu2xL