Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transload Feasibility Grant topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City plans feasibility study for transload facility, eyes up to $1 million DOT grant with no match
Summary
City grants staff said they will apply for up to $1,000,000 from the US DOT Innovative Finance and Asset Concessions program to fund a feasibility analysis for a transload facility at Pocatello Regional Airport; study would inform public-private partnership options and potential TIFIA financing.
Christine Howe, the city's grants manager, told the council the city plans to apply for a U.S. Department of Transportation Innovative Finance and Asset Concessions grant of up to $1,000,000 with no required local match to complete a comprehensive feasibility analysis for a transload facility at the Pocatello Regional Airport.
Howe said the award would fund market analysis, site feasibility, cost-benefit and revenue analyses, private-partner outreach and structuring needed to pursue a public-private partnership. The city built a task budget for the study that totaled about $998,000 including an allowable 10% administration line, she said.
Howe and Planning Manager Becky Babb said the work would examine whether the airport and adjacent undeveloped land could support a multimodal transload facility where freight moves between truck, rail and potentially air freight. The work would also identify infrastructure needs and potential state and federal partners.
Councilors and staff discussed existing local transload operations; Council President Loehr noted Savage Industries already operates a transload site on Craft Road and has larger facilities in Salt Lake City, and staff said there has been private-sector interest in expanded capacity.
Howe said initial engineering conversations produced large infrastructure estimates (she cited an illustrative $200 million figure for related transportation upgrades in some scenarios), which underscored the need for a feasibility study before proceeding. The grant would fund the planning-phase work needed to determine whether the project "pencils out," including outreach to potential private operators such as Savage and railroad partners including Union Pacific.
Howe said the application would be presented for council approval on Sept. 18; the DOT program also includes an associated TIFIA financing program that could provide more favorable credit terms and potential construction financing for projects that advance with private partners.
Councilors asked whether the $1,000,000 would be enough to complete the study; Howe said similar studies in other communities fit within that budget and the city had structured tasks to remain below the $1,000,000 cap. She said awards could take six to 12 months and, if funded, the feasibility work would likely begin the following summer or fall.
