Editor’s Note: “The Economic Development Side” originally appears in the Pine Bluff Regional Chamber of Commerce’s weekly member e-newsletter. It is written by Rhonda Dishner, the Economic Development Alliance’s executive assistant.
The Pine Bluff-Jefferson County Port Authority is one of at least six Arkansas port agencies notified that they have been approved for grants to upgrade their facilities. In all, nearly $875,000 in grant funds are scheduled to be distributed to improve public ports in Arkansas.
Pine Bluff’s port authority received official notification early last week from Gene Higginbotham, executive director of the Arkansas Waterways Commission (AWC), that the authority was approved for $163,833 from AWC’s Arkansas Port, Intermodal and Waterway Development Grant Program for fiscal year 2017.
Port Authority Executive Director Lou Ann Nisbett said the funds will be used for a Public Terminal Rail Rehab Project to refurbish hundreds of feet of rail spur track serving the public barge/rail/truck terminal at the Port of Pine Bluff’s Harbor Industrial District. It was noted in the grant application that the rail spurs were originally constructed around 1969 with development of public terminal facilities by the Port Authority, now an Alliance-affiliate organization.
The rail spurs have been maintained and partially refurbished over the years, but they are currently in need of a complete rehab to properly serve the rail customer base in this area, according to the terminal’s long-time manager, Mike Murphy, who had asked the authority earlier this year to be on the lookout for grants for the crucial improvements.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The 20-acre terminal’s rail infrastructure allows products to be shipped rail to barge or barge to rail. Additionally, it serves as a rail-to-truck or truck-to-rail transloading facility.
The Port Authority adopted a resolution at its August meeting authorizing board Chairman David Bush to apply for the AWC grant on behalf of the authority. The submitted application asked for $280,715. That amount was calculated as ninety percent of costs for the proposed project, which has an estimated total of about $312,000. The board also approved a ten percent Port Authority match that was required for participation in the grant program.
The authority’s grant application was prepared for submission by Rhonda Dishner of the Alliance staff.
Eligible projects were for construction, improvements, capital facility rehabilitation and/or expansion of a public port terminal, with awarded grant funds not to exceed ninety percent of costs.
Recipients must complete their projects within one year of receiving the grants and make quarterly and final reports certifying the accurate expenditure of funds. It is expected that award checks will be distributed in early December at a special presentation ceremony.