SPA approves Jasper land acquisition
David Posek
Looking past a long-standing rivalry, the South Carolina State Ports Authority on Tuesday approved joint acquisition of land that will become a massive marine cargo terminal shared with Georgia.
The Georgia Ports Authority approved a similar resolution Monday.
The more than 1,500 acres of Jasper County land along the Savannah River will cost the two states $5,000 per acre. Though in South Carolina, the property belongs to the Georgia Department of Transportation.
A transfer is set for July 28.
"This is a historic kind of move here," SPA Chairman David Posek said before the vote. "The faster we can get it moving, the better."
State port officials had to settle disagreements with both Georgia and Jasper County before reaching the decision late last year to build the terminal, which is expected to be functional in about a decade.
A group called the Jasper Ocean Terminal Joint Project Office, which formed to move the project forward, will meet in coming weeks to plan the next steps, Posek said. After the unanimous decision to approve the acquisition, he congratulated the SPA board.
In other news, port officials reported a record number of cruise calls, with 50 expected by the end of 2008, up from 44 in 2007. The Union Pier terminal also experienced a record year for roll-on/roll-off cargo, with exports alone up 40 percent.
Reach Allyson Bird at 937-5594 or abird@postandcourier.com.
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This article has 1 comment(s)
Posted by lifeonthecoast on July 16, 2008 at 10:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Don’t kid yourself about the 2 states working together. Here is the story of what really happened. Georgia acquired the land in Jasper County some time ago. The politicians in Jasper County were excited about the tax base of and jobs. Georgia had every intention of going at it alone.
The rail spur (I think CSX owned) that would ultimately serve the port (which would be critical) was being abandoned.
Typically a state agency has first right of refusal to purchase abandoned track. In this case SC would be first and Georgia would be secondary (as it was in SC).
At the meeting with CSX several years ago Georgia sent 7 people and South Carolina sent 1. This 1 on SC state employee walked in the meeting and announced that SC would option the rail spur. He did because it was in the best interest of the state. Needless to say the Georgia people were not happy and I doubt the Jasper County politicians were.
How do I know this? Because he is a retired family member. Oh yeah and he did not work for the port of Charleston (which is one of the 2 for profit state agencies). He was not even from the Charleston area.