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For Immediate Release VANCOUVER PORT COMMISSION APPROVES LAND BUYS FOR NEW RAIL ACCESS January 9, 2007 -- At their first regular meeting for 2007, Port of Vancouver Commissioners adopted an amendment to the port’s Comprehensive Scheme for Harbor Improvements and Industrial Development that opens the way for a new rail access to the port to serve the needs of current tenants and future growth while relieving a major West Coast rail chokepoint. The resolution outlines plans to purchase nine parcels of land, ranging in size from a third of an acre to 19 acres, to accommodate the proposed new rail line. The rail route would run along Seventh and Eighth streets and under BNSF Railway’s north-south line to the east boundary of the port. After crossing the port’s current 600-acres of operating terminals, the line would continue west to serve the proposed Columbia Gateway development. The port has budgeted $4.9 million in 2007 to purchase property for the project. The plan calls for buying a total of 34.3 acres within the next two years for the rail line access. Approval followed a public hearing on the amendment. The port is required by law to have an official Comprehensive Scheme of Harbor Improvements and Industrial Development (or simply known as the Comprehensive Scheme) to depict any port improvements or expansion. The present Comprehensive Scheme for the Port of Vancouver, USA, illustrates marine, industrial and recreational development concepts but does not commit the port to enact illustrated concepts. Commissioners also authorized Executive Director Larry Paulson to purchase the first parcel on the list, .35 acres of land located just east of the BNSF Railroad Bridge and bound to West 8th Street. Purchase price for the site, known as the Leed Development property, is not to exceed $475,000. “To remain competitive in the global marketplace and to provide economic growth for Clark County, the port must enhance its rail system,” Paulson said. More than 70% of cargo passing through the port is transported by rail and that figure is expected to increase to 85% with the development of Columbia Gateway. The new rail line will benefit existing businesses at the port by reducing train delays caused by the current access that crosses BNSF’s main north-south tracks. Trade industry forecasts, and a study of future rail usage, project that rail cars serving port operations will increase from 44,000 to 120,000, annually, over the next decade. The new rail line provides a separate access to the port that accommodates growth and also improves rail service for the entire region by decreasing delays for trains on the mainline. Additional benefits of the plan include:
In other new year port business, Commissioner Arch Miller was elected to serve as president for 2007. Miller, first elected to the Commission in 1990, is chairman of the board of International Air Academy, Inc., a vocational school which he founded in 1979, with the main campus in Vancouver and a branch campus in Ontario, Calif. He is also president and chief executive officer of Executive Forum, a leadership development and training company located in Vancouver; chairman of Academy Properties, Inc., a local property management company; and manager of C2J2, LLC, an equipment leasing company. Miller represents the Port on the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council and serves on RTC steering committees for the Corridor Visioning Project and the Clark County High Capacity Transit System Study. He also is active in several industry groups, including the Joint Marketing Committee, International Trade Alliance Board, and the International Air Service Committee. His current term expires December 31, 2007. The Commission elected Brian Wolfe as Vice President and Nancy Baker as Secretary for 2007. The Port of Vancouver, USA has a three-member Board of Commissioners
that sets policy and approves all major expenditures. Commissioners
are elected to six-year terms of office by voters in the port district,
which covers much of Clark County. Port Commission meetings are
open to the public and are normally held on the second and fourth
Tuesdays of each month, 9:30 a.m., at the Port of Vancouver Administrative
Offices, 3103 Lower River Road, Vancouver, Wash. * * * * * * * * The Port of Vancouver, USA, created by Clark County taxpayers in 1912, is one of the major ports on the Pacific Coast. Its competitive strengths include available land, versatile cargo handling capabilities, vast transportation networks, a dependable labor force and an exceptional level of service to its customers and community.
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