|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Web posted Saturday,
January 8, 2005
|
 |
Jasper
thinks port finally workable
RIDGELAND: Legal navigational course set
for deepwater marine terminal south of
Hardeeville.
By Mark Kreuzwieser
Carolina Morning News
Jasper
County hopes its ship has finally come
in.
After working for five years to develop
a deepwater port on Georgia-owned land south of
Hardeeville on the Savannah River that would
ultimately bring to the poor, rural county
hundreds of ships, thousands of jobs and millions
of dollars, Jasper officials on Friday set sail on
a course they say will make the dream a
reality.
"We have a good plan," Jasper
County Council Chairman George Hood said after
council members approved a resolution and gave
first reading to an ordinance that would lay the
groundwork for the renewed port
initiative.
"Our attorneys have done a good
job getting us to this point," he said. "We're
right on target."
That target is getting
the land for the deepwater marine terminal, about
1,776 acres among tens of thousands of acres the
state of Georgia owns and uses to dump dredge
spoil to keep the Savannah Harbor navigable for
some of the world's largest freighters.
The
land Jasper is eyeing for its estimated $450
million port is right across the Savannah River
from Elba Island in Chatham County and just down
the river from downtown Savannah's River
Street.
Jasper officials also love to point
out that their proposed port would be miles closer
to the Atlantic Ocean than the Georgia Ports
Authority's Garden City
Containerport.
Council members scheduled a
special meeting on Friday to get the ball rolling
on the new port plan.
After several years
in lower courts, Jasper's original condemnation of
the land was heard by the S.C. Supreme Court,
which in September 2003 ruled against the
taking.
The justices said the condemnation
violated state law because the action essentially
would be taking by force private property and
handing it over to a private company, SSA Marine,
a Seattle-based company with offices in Savannah,
Charleston and other seaports in North and Central
America.
If Jasper County pursued the
condemnation again, county attorneys would have to
prove in court that the county would be the sole
owner of the port and the land.
Jasper
officials now think they have the right plan: SSA
Marine, through its subsidiary South Atlantic
Internal Terminal LLC, will loan Jasper $15
million to finance buying the land and paying
legal, permitting and design costs, and build the
ship terminal.
The big chunk of change - up
to $450 million initially - to build the port will
come through "permanent financing," or "credit
enhancement," Jasper officials said
Friday.
That basically means that Jasper
will have to obtain financing, through bond sales
or loans, to bankroll construction of the port,
Jasper County Attorney Marvin Jones
said.
But according to plans, any financing
Jasper County pursues would not obligate taxpayers
or affect the county's credit
ratings.
"Jasper County and (developer)
South Atlantic International Terminal ...
acknowledge that upon entering into (the port
terminal) agreement they have not determined the
structure of the permanent financing for the
terminal," according to the management agreement
with the developer.
That agreement and
several others were given the first of three
readings as an ordinance by Jasper County Council
members on Friday.
"This is a win-win
situation for the citizens of Georgia and South
Carolina," Councilman Thomas McClary said. "The
terminal will provide jobs for citizens of Georgia
and South Carolina, and we hope they agree" to
sell the land for the project.
Hood said
Jasper's done its homework and due diligence since
the state Supreme Court turned down the county's
condemnation of the land.
"We'll make
Georgia an offer, and wait for their answer," he
said.
Work is just beginning, said County
Administrator Andrew Fulghum.
"Everything
hinges on property acquisition," he said. "We have
to stay focused on that."
Jones said he
hopes Georgia will see Jasper's side of the port
idea and sell the land. He said the county's bond
attorneys are handling the purchase
offer.
If negotiations fail, condemnation
would be the next step. Logically, the eminent
domain taking would go first to a court of common
pleas, in Jasper County, but attorneys are
investigating the possibility of a fast-track to
the Supreme Court, Jones said.
County
officials said the role of a recently created
"Jasper County Port Authority" hasn't been defined
under the current strategy.
What's
next
Jasper County attorneys will
officially offer the state of Georgia $9.2 million
for about 1,776 acres of land south of
Hardeeville, along the Savannah River - the site
of the county's long sought after deepwater
container cargo shipping terminal. If Georgia
turns down the bid, Jasper will pursue
condemnation.
Reporter Mark Kreuzwieser may
be reached at 837-5255 or
mark.kreuzwieser@lowcountrynow.com
| | | |
|
.gif){kind=spacer}
.gif){kind=spacer}