Intermodal port moving forward

Intermodal port moving forward

Beth Alston
The Americus Times-Recorder

AMERICUS March 06, 2010 08:46 pm

— Brad LaFevers, president of Heart of Georgia Railroad, briefed the membership of the Americus-Sumter County Chamber of Commercee on Thursday at its quarterly membership luncheon on the status of the intermodal port project. He also pointed out Bruce Drennan of Cordele-Crisp IDC and David Garriaga, executive director of the Americus-Sumter County Payroll Development Authority.

LaFevers said he was wanted to dispel rumors that the project was “dead.”
“Through the Crisp County IDC, we have applied for a $38.5 million Tiger grant for the intermodal port to be located in Crisp County,” he said. “That money was scheduled to be used to upgrade the rail line all the way from Savannah to Americus, upgraded and repaired to a higher standard, long-term repairs that would last for many years. Part of that money would have also been for the infrastructure of the tracks and various elements of the inland port project in Cordele.”
But Crisp County did not get the Tiger grant.  “The state of Georgia did not get any grants,” LaFevers told the Chamber membership “ ... due to the Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood came to Georgia and made ... some mandates on the Georgia DOT on the changes they needed to take to be considered for these things. He was not met with a warm reception by the DOT or the governor, so a lot of Georgia being snubbed was a political slap in the face. Kind of like the ‘The Three Stooges,’ they reached out to slap them and hit us.”

Because Crisp County did not get that grant, there have been rumors that the intermodal port project is dead.  “I’m here today to tell you that that is not the case,” LaFevers said. “This project is going forward ... We’re in the process right now to rehab bridges over the Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers. We do have that money in hand. They threw a new caveat at us that we have to do a GEPA study (Georgia Environmental Protection Agency) on those bridges ... which we hadn’t had to do before but that work is now completed ... they have actually closed all those lines between here and Savannah and those will be reopened here shortly. Crisp County is working on some local and state grant money and other funding to purchase land that they have optioned at the site and start construction and build some of the initial infrastructure. We have private investment that will be going into this.

“If you hear someone out there say the project is dead, say no the project is alive and well. We’re moving forward and this is still a great regional project and will have numerous benefits to Sumter County. Crisp County will certainly be the epicenter here, but all the counties in the surrounding region need to be working diligently to make sure they have their assets inventoried and are able to talk to people about opportunities when they come looking for sites to build various industries that may tie in.”

IDC Executive Director Bruce Drennan told the Cordele Dispatch recently that although Crisp received none of the Tiger funds, he has submitted applications for smaller grants, and the intermodal port project is on “go.” “ ... We still expect to be shipping boxes by the end of 2010, but this will delay us some,” he told the Dispatch. He expects those grants will be awarded within the next 45 days.