NEWS FROM THE CURRENT: Port St. Joe Port Authority pushing for $3.75 million grant for railway upgrades

Gray Rohrer, 07/16/2013 – 04:29 PM
Officials from the Port St. Joe Port Authority are seeking a $3.75 million grant from the Florida Department of Transportation for upgrades to the nearby AN Railway.
In a letter last month to DOT Secretary Ananth Prasad, port chairman Leonard Costin asked the agency for the grant of state money, which would make up 75 percent of the $5 million project to upgrade the railway.
The improvements are necessary, Costin said, to attract tenants for the port. The port has already lost potential firms interested in investing and adding jobs to the area over the condition of the railway, and would need to upgrade the railway even without plans to dredge the port, the letter states.
“These potential tenants would locate on Port property and generate for us the revenue we need to service our debt and contribute to our overhead expenses. Rail is vital to the economic development efforts of the community independent of the need for ship channel dredging,” the letter reads.

http://www.thefloridacurrent.com/article.cfm?id=33664352&utm_source=not_lt_user&utm_medium=article_link&utm_campaign=current_email