Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Deepwater Port topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Plans for deepwater port and shipyard aim to bring hundreds of construction and maintenance jobs
Summary
City and private partners detailed plans to develop the mill/6-mile property into a deepwater port with space for a JAG-operated shipyard, freight operations, and associated site work; presenters projected roughly 150 direct shipyard jobs and significant construction impacts if funded by the EDA package.
Project leaders described a planned deepwater port redevelopment on the mill/6-mile property that would reserve ~25 acres for a shipyard tenant, create multiple entry points and full utilities for subdivided parcels, and include improvements such as sheet piling where required by heavy industrial users.
Tim of JAG outlined his company’s experience operating regional shipyards and said the syncrolift and shed-based repair model would allow multiple vessels to be worked on simultaneously. “We build up that relationship and... build that up to about a 120 to a 150 permanent employees,” Tim said when describing previous scale-up at similar operations. City staff said about $38.3 million of the proposed $50 million EDA package would fund site development at the deepwater port, and that short-term leases (three-year initial leases) are being considered to secure tenant commitments before longer-term arrangements.
Panelists and audience members discussed operational details (freight handling, barging materials, inventory storage) and the community’s competitive advantage: an independent power circuit to the mill property that reduces the need for feeder upgrades in town. Utility representatives said a team will assess transformer and switchyard needs next week to re-establish service to the site.
