PANAMA CITY — The Panama City Port Authority kickstarted a process Wednesday that will outline the organization’s goals for the next decade once complete.
Accompanied by representatives from the Florida Department of Transportation, the board began preliminary discussions for updating the port’s five and 10-year master plans, prioritizing projects to improve infrastructure and support regional economic development.
At the forefront of the discussion was a need to invest in sustaining the port’s aging bulkheads, four of which are between 50 and 60 years old.
“This seems like a really good time for us to be investing in infrastructure because there’s so much emphasis on ports right now,” said board member Tom Neubauer.
Representatives from the DOT agreed that it would be beneficial to “get ahead of the problem” by including infrastructure improvements in the plan, which also could open up funding opportunities for projects.
While the port spent $3 million last year and will spend about $1 million this year adding protections to the older bulkheads, Port Director Wayne Stubbs suggested shifting protections to two newer bulkheads in the next few years and completing a thorough annual update on the state of the bulkheads.
“It’s going to be very, very tough for this port because we’re very active for a small port,” Stubbs said. “If you take two berths totally out of commission to rebuild them, you really lose a lot of customers and you may never get them back. It’s kind of scary.”
Apart from infrastructure, other goals outlined by the port authority include working to better meet the needs of tenants, develop additional cargo capacity and focus on expanding and promoting the port’s new intermodal distribution center on U.S. 231.
Also discussed was a project to relocate the Port Authority offices in the next 10 years, which was delayed due to pending construction of the 23rd Street flyover, which will route a detour road close to the site intended for the new buildings.
Board members also addressed a question they often receive from community members, regarding the feasibility of having cruise ships dock at the port. Ultimately, the board members said they intend to “stick with what we know” and steer away from the “high risk, low return” industry.
Port Panama City Project Manager Joan Sanchez said having a master plan is essential to secure grant funding for port projects.
“Why do you do a plan?” Sanchez asked. “You do a plan because dollars go to a plan.”
In 2013, about 16.7 percent, or about $2.3 million, of the port’s $13.7 million operating revenue came from grant funding.
This time around, the port’s master plan process will be a bit different because port and DOT consultants will work hand-in-hand to jointly write the plan, something that is unique for a Florida port.
“We are the first port in Florida that I know of that is undertaking an update of a master plan in partnership with the DOT,” Stubbs said. “If we can really engage our district DOT in our port master plan, they can be really familiar with what we’re trying to do, with all our projects and have some ownership in it in helping us secure funding.”
Consultants will have a draft plan ready for review in June and a final plan will be considered for adoption into the Panama City Comprehensive Plan this fall.