PANAMA CITY — The Panama City Port Authority blew through its capital improvement budget and then some at a meeting Thursday, approving a series of bids for facility improvements and giving staff direction to negotiate an agreement to purchase a $4 million crane.
During the meeting, the board apprehensively approved $953,000 in contracts to relocate the Port Authority building, a measure fueled by the Florida Department of Transportation’s (DOT) 23rd Street flyover project, which will utilize the current building site as a right of way.
“Because of the DOT overpass project, we’re having to vacate this office,” said Port Director Wayne Stubbs. “What we’re doing is we’re adding on to the Sherman Building, which is the next building over. We’re refurbishing and we’re adding on and we’re also adding a lot of employee parking to that area.”
While the port will use funds obtained from the DOT’s purchase of the property to relocate, project bids came in at about $500,000 more than they bargained for due to the need for extensive site work.
“We’re busting our budget today,” Stubbs said. “We’re way above what our budget originally was for relocating our offices.”
During the meeting, the board also moved forward on purchasing a $4 million mobile harbor crane to increase the port’s cargo-handling capabilities. The port received two bids for the crane, and directed staff to begin negotiations with German manufacturer Gottwald Crane, which priced the product at $4.13 million.
The port will use a $2.2 million matching bond grant from DOT to purchase the crane. To push the price up to the full $4.4 million potential, the grant provides for staff to negotiate with the company over the next month to include extra equipment like spare parts and an extra axel.
Stubbs said once the crane is received, it will be the single most expensive piece of handling equipment the port has ever owned.
“This will be the first time we’ve purchased a new crane,” he said, noting the purchase of two used cranes in the past. “We feel like the port is going to need this crane in order to increase its container trade.”
Stubbs said the crane is an integral part of a plan outlined by the Port Authority to increase container trade threefold.
“It’s part of a plan we have to upgrade our ability to handle containerized cargo,” Stubbs said. “Our goal has been to have the capacity to handle 150,000 TeU’s (20-foot equivalent units), which is about three times as much as we handle today.”
The costly items on Thursday’s agenda required the Port Authority to approve an increase to the capital budget from $11.9 million to $13 million. About $4.7 million will be covered by matching grants, making the net port investment $8.3 million.
Stubbs said the port has invested more than $75 million in capital improvements over the last decade.