FORT SMITH -- City directors have decided to support an effort to gauge interest in developing an intermodal port on the Arkansas River in Crawford County.
The directors voted unanimously Tuesday to chip in $40,000 to hiring a Virginia consultant who has proposed to draw up a request for interest and circulate it throughout the port development industry to attract companies to invest in developing a rail, truck and water port on the river.
Fort Smith is one of five Western Arkansas Intermodal Authority entities asked to help pay the $200,500 fee to Vickerman & Associates to analyze the market for a port, put together a proposal, circulate it and recommend candidates to the authority.
The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority voted to add its $40,000 share to the project. The other entities -- Van Buren and Sebastian and Crawford counties -- are expected to consider making their contributions in meetings later this month.
In presentations made last week, port planner and designer John Vickerman said the authority had the opportunity to develop not only railroad infrastructure and track transfer but to integrate a new inland port on as much as 6,000 acres along the river east of Van Buren.
Vickerman said over the nine months it would take to do the study, his job would be to gather data, do a market assessment, devise a terminal development plan and send out the request to gauge interest. He said he also would meet with companies responding to the requests and make recommendations to the intermodal authority.
He envisioned the project as a private/public partnership where the private sector would bear the cost of building the facilities and the public sector would handle such things as enabling laws and applying for permits.
Several officials said they were enthusiastic about the economic possibilities of a port, but others worried about paying $40,000 for the study when they had other financial burdens to consider.
NW News on 02/09/2017