Members of the Western Arkansas Intermodal Authority are hearing from a consultant who, if hired, would search for a private firm to build and operate an intermodal port on the Arkansas River.
Nationally known port planner and designer John Vickerman has spent the past three days in western Arkansas making presentations of his proposal to the governing boards of Fort Smith, Van Buren, Crawford and Sebastian counties and to the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, the main members of the 7-year-old intermodal authority.
Vickerman's proposal is to draw up a "request for expression of interest" and circulate it throughout the port development industry to attract companies that would invest in developing a rail, truck and water port on the river in Crawford County.
The proposed 6,000-acre port could include a slack-water harbor on the river side of the levee east of Van Buren and an intermodal port for a rail yard, distribution centers and warehouses on the inland side of the levee.
"We believe there is viable opportunity to develop not only railroad infrastructure and truck transfer, but the ability to integrate a new inland port," Vickerman told Sebastian County Quorum Court members at a presentation Monday night.
He made similar presentations to the other entities, the final one before the Van Buren City Council during a special meeting Wednesday.
Vickerman said his job over nine months would be to gather data, conduct a market assessment, devise a terminal development plan and prepare and send out requests to gauge interest. He said he also would meet with companies that respond to the requests, review their proposals and make recommendations to the intermodal authority.
He said he anticipated that the project would be a public-private partnership in which a majority of the capital investment would come from the private sector.
He also said the port could expect to have a greater volume of business from rail rather than water traffic. But having a harbor as a feature for the port would be rare among ports in North America and could make it more attractive to potential developers, he said.
Several officials at the meetings seemed excited about the proposal and the idea of developing a port in Crawford County. The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority voted Tuesday to contribute $40,000, its share of Vickerman's $200,000 fee.
Authority Executive Director Ivy Owen said Vickerman has the knowledge, experience and money to do what the authority cannot, adding he believed that Vickerman's plan would put western Arkansas one step closer to getting a port on the river.
Van Buren's aldermen voted unanimously Wednesday to put a resolution on the agenda for their Feb. 27 meeting. Mayor Bob Freeman said he was enthusiastic about the economic boost the port could have on the area and called on others in the region to cooperate and make the project work.
"If ever there has been a regional opportunity, I believe it is here," he said.
Fort Smith city directors will vote Tuesday on whether to pay the city's share of the study.
The Sebastian County Quorum Court held a special meeting Monday that called for members to vote on an appropriation ordinance to pay its $40,000 share but tabled it after the discussion turned negative.
Quorum Court members complained about the lack of financial help from the state and the private sector when the county has contributed more than $250,000 to the redevelopment authority over the past seven years in addition to being asked to pay $40,000 more.
Quorum Court members noted other pressing needs before them, including $5 million to make jail repairs and improvements and a possible $7 million jail expansion.
Some justices of the peace also didn't want to be the first to vote on contributing to the project without knowing how other members of the intermodal authority would vote. They tabled the proposed ordinance until their Feb. 21 meeting.
County Judge David Hudson urged the Quorum Court to support the project.
"Is it going to work? I don't know," he said. "If you don't try it, I guarantee it won't work."
County Judge Dennis Gilstrap of Crawford County said the six members of the Quorum Court who attended Tuesday's meeting seemed to support the project. He said the Quorum Court's Economic Development Committee and Budget Committee will review Vickerman's proposal, and that it may be voted on later this month.
"The budget is really, really tight, but I feel we would do an injustice to Crawford County if we didn't figure out a way to fund this $40,000," Gilstrap said.
State Desk on 02/02/2017