by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Gov. Rick Scott, who has pledged to support Florida’s ports as an economic driver, met with Jacksonville Port Authority representatives Tuesday to hear their goals.
Port CEO Paul Anderson met with Scott, senior staff members and Department of Transportation representatives in Tallahassee to discuss short- and long-term objectives for the Jacksonville port.
Anderson said they briefed Scott on the port’s top priorities: “Mile Point, dredging the channel, and we gave him an outline of what the Corps schedule looks like, what the local match (would be) and to what depth we have local matching dollars for.”
Local governments would match federal dollars. The Army Corps of Engineers would dredge the St. Johns River channel.
“He was very interested in knowing those details,” said Anderson.
Anderson said he also explained that digging a deeper channel involves preparing more capacity for dredge spoils, the material removed from the channel floor.
The port authority has been encouraged by the support Scott is giving to the ports.
“(Scott) is focused on ports and understands the role that they will play in making Florida an emerging, growing shipping capital on the East Coast,” said Anderson.
“We were able to spend an hour in his office with him and senior Department of Transportation staff and (Scott’s) senior staff discussing how we would contribute,” he said.
Scott has been meeting with port officials throughout the state to discuss long-term and short-term strategic goals. Tuesday was the Jacksonville Port Authority’s opportunity to explain how it fits into the national logistics supply chain.
“We were able to discuss what our advantages are and how we can be the port in the Northeast region of Florida that can really be competitive with our major ports to the north on the South and Mid-Atlantic seaboard,” said Anderson.
In order to be a leader in the shipping industry on the East Coast, the port has said it needs to remedy the tidal conditions at Mile Point that limit the time ships are able to call on Jacksonville’s port.
It also said it must deepen the shipping channel to accommodate the larger post-Panamax ships that will be traveling through the expanded Panama Canal in 2014.
Once the issues are resolved, the port can take advantage of the free trade agreements being considered by the U.S. Congress, which Anderson identified as critical to the growth of the local port.
“The Colombian and Panamanian free trade agreements are going to be very critical drivers for the state of Florida. I think we will see benefits in the long term from those agreements and I think that (Jacksonville) will fit into the equation of any new cargo opportunities,” said Anderson.
The U.S. has free trade agreements with Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Oman, Peru and Singapore.
Free trade agreements have been signed with Colombia, Korea and Panama, but Congress must enact legislation to approve and implement each individual agreement in order for them to take effect.
“The Colombian Action Plan Related to Labor Rights” was released April 7 and outlines improvements that will be made in Colombia before the agreement can be approved.
When the Colombia agreement is enacted, it will immediately eliminate most of its tariffs on U.S. exports, with all remaining tariffs phased out over defined time periods, according to the Office of U.S. Trade Representative.
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