Under questioning by legislators, Chief of Staff of Commerce Tim Dangerfield said nothing excludes the agency from working directly with a county or private enterprise, but the State Ports Authority is the expert on port development in South Carolina and should work with the Commerce Department.
For more than a decade, Jasper officials have tried to bring a marine terminal to their side of the Savannah River, and in January the County Council approved an agreement with SSA Marine, one of the world's largest port developers, to finance, build and operate a marine terminal.
The State Ports Authority responded with a state Supreme Court lawsuit against the county seeking a ruling that it is the "sole or superior" port developer in the state and on the Savannah River.
The Senate Finance Committee created the Ports Authority subcommittee last month to gather information on the battle before it heads to the state Supreme Court.
The subcommittee was scheduled to report its findings to the Finance Committee on Tuesday, but Sen. Harry Peeler, R-Cherokee, the subcommittee chairman, changed the agenda, adding a presentation from Dangerfield, before packaging the final report.
"If we were doing a project like Jasper County, I would bring in the State Ports (Authority) because they're the experts," Dangerfield told the panel. "Not knowing the details, I'd still want someone from the Ports Authority at the table."
South Carolina will run out of port capacity in the next five years if expansions, like the naval base in Charleston and a Jasper County terminal aren't realized, Dangerfield told the subcommittee.
Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, asked which model works best with economic development: "a state-owned and operated port, state-owned and privately run, or a private port. From an economic development point of view, is there a better option?"
Dangerfield said that as a businessman, he liked the private partnership option.
Several senators attacked the county plan as lacking state control. Peeler questioned whether the Jasper plan would put state economic development strategies in county hands.
"If a business wants to use the port and build, what's stopping a county from saying you have to build here?"
George Hood, chairman of the Jasper County Council, and Andy Fulghum, the county's administrator, watched the proceedings but did not address the committee.
Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, defended the county position saying that Jasper doesn't have the infrastructure to demand that companies build within county lines, and that the county would work for South Carolina, not Georgia.
"Last time I checked, Jasper County was still in South Carolina," Pinckney said.
Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, spoke to the subcommittee to clarify that the State Ports Authority hasn't initiated any compromise with Jasper County over the port issue.
The Department of Commerce and Gov. Mark Sanford's office have discussed the Jasper port project, though neither office has issued a firm opinion on who should run a Jasper port.
"We're not taking a position here," Dangerfield said after the meeting. "We're just getting involved now."
Carroll Campbell III, a State Ports Authority board member from Columbia, attended the subcommittee meeting.
"(Sanford) is very well aware of the issue. We talked to him prior to doing anything," he said before the subcommittee meeting.
Jasper officials shrugged off the meeting, saying it didn't go as they'd like and wondered why the Department of Commerce was called in at the last minute.
"We're not asking for any state incentives or any help in attracting business," Fulghum said. "We already have the business."