Public learns about port

CRYSTAL RIVER — Citrus County officials brought a message Tuesday night to about 80 people at the Plantation Inn: Port Citrus is not the “silver bullet” answer to the county’s struggling economy.

But it sure could come close.

County Administrator Brad Thorpe and Commissioner Joe Meek provided the county’s first wide-ranging public explanation of the Port Citrus project to area business leaders and residents.

They attended at the invitation of the Crystal River council of the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce, which wanted county officials to explain the potential economic effect the port could have on Crystal River.

While Thorpe and Meek didn’t address that issue specifically, they provided a PowerPoint presentation that showed the history of the project and its potential future.

And Thorpe offered to take the same presentation to any community group that wants to see it.

The county commission, sitting as the Citrus County Port Authority, meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday and is expected to approve sending out requests for qualifications from consultants to conduct a feasibility study. Thorpe said by the end of 2012, the county commission should be in position to decide whether to move forward with the port project.

He said the taxpayers’ risk is minimal. The port would be built along the Cross Florida Barge Canal on private property by a private developer, with some funding possible from the state ports council.

Meek, who is up for re-election next year, said the political risk is worth the effort. Both Meek and Thorpe said the county commission is doing what it can to bring jobs to the county.

“If you’re not here to do what’s best for the county, get out of the way,” Meek said.

The barge canal — 6.5 miles long, 14 feet deep and 250 feet wide — was originally planned to slice across the state to the St. Johns River, creating a shipping channel between the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean.

President Richard Nixon stopped the $74 million project in 1971 for environmental reasons.

What’s left is an asset the county should not ignore, Meek said.

“From a purely geographic standpoint, we have something not many places have,” he said. “Two words that describe this port: opportunity and possibility.”

Thorpe and Meek answered several questions from the audience, including:

Q: Who pays for the construction?

A: The port developer. It would not be up to county taxpayers to pay for any construction of the port.

Q: What will the feasibility study cover? What if the study says this isn’t a good idea?

A: The study will determine what works best along the barge canal as it sits today. It will include an economic and market analysis.

“We fully expect the feasibility study to come back with the facts,” Meek said. “We’re not going to push something that’s not there.”

Q: How safe will it be for canoeists and kayaks on the barge canal when barges are heading in and out?

A: The canal is wide enough. “A fairly good boater can figure out a way to get past that barge,” Thorpe said.

Q: What’s the realistic trickle down economic benefit to Crystal River and the county?

A: Unknown. The feasibility study will determine that.

Q: Will the barge canal be dredged for this project?

A: No.

Q: Who stands to lose the most if Port Citrus fails?

A: Everyone. “If there’s a better idea out there to diversify our economy, I’d like to hear it,” Thorpe said.

Q: A 1985 port study showed four possible uses for the barge canal. A marina was first and barge port fourth. Are county officials taking that study into account?

A: Yes, but the study was done on behalf of a marina project and it’s also 26 years old.

Q: Has the county considered long-term impacts on county infrastructure, such as roads and law enforcement, if the port is built?

A: The port will be self-supporting. Thorpe said the county has similar programs now at the county landfill and its utilities, which are funded by fees and not taxpayers.

Q: What are potential consequences to manatees?

A: Unknown, but that will be addressed in the permitting process.

Chronicle reporter Mike Wright can be reached at (352) 563-3228 or mwright@chronicleonline.com.