City lobbies for berth funding
Maine voters will be asked to provide the city of Portland with the $8 million it needs to complete a second deepwater mega berth at the Ocean Gateway International Marine Terminal.
Gov. John Baldacci announced earlier this month that he would include the proposed $8 million in his $79 million bond package that must first win approval from the Legislature and then voters in June.
Nicole Clegg, a city spokeswoman, said the city approached Baldacci about including the funds in his bond package after they learned the mega berth project was not included in the $14 million economic stimulus funds the state received in February for three port improvement projects.
Clegg says city officials are hopeful state voters will approve the bond package because it represents job creation and the mega berth project is part of that.
"There is such a strong regional benefit," says Clegg of the mega berth project. About 100 construction jobs will be needed for the shovel-ready project, which creates the infrastructure for a year-round facility to repair large ships, she says.
Clegg says city officials are scheduled to attend public hearings in Augusta this week to testify in favor of the bond package before the appropriations and transportation committees.
The federal government's decision not to fund the mega berth project represents another setback for the $20.5 million Ocean Gateway International Marine Terminal facility the city opened in 2008. In December, Bay Ferries Limited of Prince Edward Island, Canada, announced The CAT high-speed ferry, which used the terminal, would no longer serve Portland, Bar Harbor and Nova Scotia.
City officials and business leaders want to see the second mega berth project completed because it will allow Portland to host larger cruise ships and up to three cruise ships at one time. When the city hosted 31 cruise ships in 2008, visitors pumped $6 million to $8 million into the local economy, says Clegg, who previously told Mainebiz the city expects to see 71 cruise ships and 80,000 passenger visitors in 2010. (For more on the potential use of the Ocean Gateway terminal, read "Anchors aweigh.")
If approved by Maine voters in June, Clegg says the city would issue a request for proposals. As soon as the state sells the bonds to generate the $8 million in funding, Clegg says work on the proposed mega berth could begin within a few months. Ideally, Clegg says the city would like to see the project completed by the summer 2011.
If state voters do not approve Baldacci's bond proposal, the city could pursue the next round of federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
During a visit to Mainebiz, in February, Sen. Susan Collins said U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told her the federal agency would make another $600 million available for various projects in the upcoming fiscal year.
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