Scott's missed port opportunity
Jacksonville Business Journal - by Mark Szakonyi
Date: Friday, March 11, 2011, 2:51pm EST
The rumor was that Gov. Rick Scott would pledge to pay for the $40 million fix of the Mile Point navigational problem at the Cornerstone Regional Development Partnership luncheon today.
It didn’t happen.
Instead, Scott said he would work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fix the problem that is preventing the port from handling more cargo. It’s unclear what Scott would be able to do that area legislators and the Northeast Florida business community have been trying to do for two years. Even U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, is skeptical that the time line can be sped up.
Hopes were high for Scott to make a pledge to fund the project after he announced last week that he would give $77 million to Port of Miami so it could deepen its harbor. In a brief question and answer period with the media following his speech, Scott said the time line of the Mile Point project wasn’t firm enough to back, and he had to still take a look at the economic benefit.
That’s weak.
First, the project hasn’t been authorized but Scott could have done a lot of good by pledging to fund the project in fiscal 2012 once it was. That could mean the fix could be finished before 2014 because the port wouldn’t have to wait for federal funding.
His second point, that the economic benefit still needs to be considered, doesn’t hold up much better. City officials to shipping executives have been trumpeting how the navigational fix is hurting.
The challenge caused by swift tidal currents where the St. Johns River and the Intracoastal Waterway meet has prevented the new Asian terminal from gaining new cargo and competing with the ports of Savannah, Ga. and Charleston, S.C., TraPac Regional Vice President and General Manager Dennis Kelly previously said.
Scott’s support of the port of Jacksonville is welcome, but he missed an excellent opportunity to put his goals to create more jobs into action. The pledge of financial support for the project could have given the Port of Jacksonville a helpful nudge that it so needs.
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/blog/trade_trucks_trains/2011/03/scotts-missed-port-opportunity.html
I heard the rumor two days ago that he would be pledging matching money for the Mile Point fix. It's immensly ashame this did not come to fruition.
Jaxport isn't even at 30% of its present capacity right now b/c of the Mile Point issue. That number grows as capacity grows come 2014.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE establish a position in the mayor's office entrusted to be an advocate at the state/federal level for port funding.
This is SO critical of an issue to our community.
maybe an annoucement in the next few days?
QuoteEven U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, is skeptical that the time line can be sped up.
What???? Mr. High Speed Rail had something, ANYTHING to say about Port Growth?????
I'm no Scott fan but I listened his statement and he sounded very committed to funding Japort's dredging ASAP. He is visiting Panama with Jaxport's new director next week. I think he is very serious about Florida's ports.
he may be serious...but cutting the budget like he proposes won't leave much to allocate to ports.
This for comparison:
Excerpt from today's Jacksonville Business Journal Article:
...If the port can find the money locally or from the state, it can begin the Mile Point project following the corps’ nod and complete it as soon as the end of fiscal 2013, said Chris Kauffmann, the Jacksonville Port Authority’s chief operating officer.
Gov. Rick Scott has been coy about committing the roughly $40 million needed for the Mile Point project once it is authorized. This is why the port and its supporters need to band not only surrounding counties together but all North Florida under an initiative to support the port.
Instead of asking Scott for the money, make the economic case that not funding Mile Point means lost jobs and capital investment in North Florida. Few people know that the completion of the project would add up to 400,000 more containers and create thousands of jobs.
Make the argument so well that it’s politically infeasible for Scott not to commit to funding...
Excerpt from yesterday's Augusta Chronicle Article:
ATLANTA -- Georgia needs to be ready to finance the deepening of the Savannah River if the feds don't ante up, Gov. Nathan Deal told the Atlanta Press Club today.
He also renewed his pledge to push passage of the transportation sales-tax next year.
Asked if he thought the budget cutting by congressional Republicans would jeopardize Georgia’s chances of getting federal money for the $600-million deepening project, the governor said he’s hopeful but realistic.
“I’m not going to place any bets on whether or not we get it,†he said. “We’re going to have to be prepared in the alternative to do whatever the state of Georgia and the (Georgia) Ports Authority has to do in the event that federal funding does not come forward in a timely and appropriate sum.â€
This year, he convinced the Georgia General Assembly to commit $32 million in bond borrowing to the project, raising the state taxpayers’ total investment so far to $125 million.
Having a strong transportation network -- on land, sea, rail and by air -- is key to job development, he said. The sales tax and the deepening of the river’s ship channel to accommodate bigger freighters are both vital to the state’s economy.
It’s not only Deal saying it. He recounted a conversation from his trip Tuesday to visit with bond-rating agencies.
“It’s amazing to me when you go to New York City and they ask how the deepening of the port of Savannah is going,†he said. “You know they are keeping up with what’s going on here"...
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/blog/trade_trucks_trains/2011/04/jaxport-still-has-a-chance-to-catch.html
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/government/elections/georgia-elections/georgia-governor/2011-04-20/deal-georgia-ready-fund
exactly...and Deal, a conservative Republican like Rick Scott, is also in favor of the regional sales tax increases for transportation Georgians may be voting on in 2012.