FITSNews Exclusive: South Carolina-Georgia Ink Deal For Jasper Port
BI-STATE PORT AUTHORITY WILL DEVELOP FACILITY ON SAVANNAH RIVER ACCORDING TO AGREEMENT OBTAINED EXCLUSIVELY BY FITSNEWS
FITSNews – March 11, 2007 – Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford have concluded an agreement between their two states to jointly develop the last remaining deepwater port site on the Atlantic Seaboard, according to a copy of the agreement obtained exclusively by FITSNews.
Under the agreement, the Jasper County (S.C.) project – mired in a seemingly inescapable morass of court challenges, bureaucratic incompetence and intrastate turf wars for years – would finally be constructed under the auspices of a Bi-State Port Authority similar to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. For now, the ports of Charleston and Savannah will continue to be governed separately by the Ports Authorities of their respective states.
Governors Perdue and Sanford, who have been negotiating the specifics of the deal for the last eight weeks, will unveil the agreement together Monday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at the Jasper County site on the Savannah River.
Specifically, the agreement calls for:
*The creation of a Bi-State Port Authority to be owned 50-50 by both states and governed by a board appointed in equal number by both states.
*The acquisition of the contested Jasper Port site by the Bi-State Port Authority under the specific terms of a Bi-State Compact.
*The use of private capital in the construction of the Jasper County terminal.
The agreement also includes a specific timetable for action, as Govs. Perdue and Sanford will name a six-person task force to draft the Bi-State Compact within the next 180 days, in time for both state legislatures to ratify the agreement during their 2008 legislative sessions.
“The contract guarantees that the Bi-State Port Authority will not warehouse the Jasper terminal,†a source familiar with the negotiations told FITSNews. “There are very specific requirements the compact must provide as to the commitment of the new entity to build the Jasper port.â€
If approved by both legislatures (and ratified by the U.S. Congress), the Bi-State Compact would effectively end the controversy surrounding the condemnation of the Jasper Port site, as well as the dispute between the two states over Army Corps of Engineers’ easements associated with the dredging of the Savannah River.
The move comes at a critical time in South Carolina’s economic development history, as high unemployment rates, a non-competitive tax climate, a poor education system and excess government spending have kept the state far behind its regional and national peers in terms of economic growth.
The successful completion of a port terminal in Jasper County could be a major boost to the state’s economy, perhaps as significant as the decision by German automaker BMW to locate a plant in the Upstate in the early 1990’s.
“It’s a natural comparison,†says College of Charleston economist Dr. Frank Hefner. “It’s a little bit different than BMW in that BMW was a single plant site, but in terms of diversifying our economy, it becomes very important to us.â€
Hefner says the explosion of international commerce will keep the market strong for the expanded port capacity that would be created by a terminal in Jasper.
“As the rest of the world grows we’re going to have more trade, not less. Looking at those additional trade opportunities, the question then becomes ‘how do you move the merchandise?’ Well, the answer is containers, bulk shipping. It’s pretty clear that expansion along the east coast is worth doing.â€
Perhaps most notable about the agreement is the expressed commitment it makes to securing private investment for the construction of the terminal facilities. South Carolina and Georgia currently operate the only two port systems in the nation which insist on “total state control” of port operations, but the explicit permission to leverage private capital in the Bi-State Compact could pave the way for Charleston to expand its facilities using private investment.
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