Inland port could bring 25,000 jobs to Port St. Lucie
May 22nd, 2009 by TCPalm.comPORT ST. LUCIE — Thousands of jobs will come to the Treasure Coast if Port St. Lucie gets the chance to live up to its first name.
The Port of Palm Beach in Riveria Beach is looking for a site in South Florida to build an inland port, or an Intermodal Logistics Center, that uses roadways and railways rather than congested waterways to increase transport efficiency.
Studies commissioned by the Florida Department of Transportation found that an inland port would bring at least 25,000 jobs to a community.
“We have an opportunity to get some real jobs for real people,” said Councilwoman Michelle Berger.
She said an inland port would create a wide range of jobs in fields that include construction, engineering, manual labor, welding and management.
“That’s what large cities with large populations need — something that’s diverse (and) something that can accommodate the skilled and unskilled and the ones with the professional degrees,” Berger said.
Samuel McRoberts, the president of S.J. McRoberts Real Estate, put together a package for the Port of Palm Beach of about 7,000 acres west of the city at Glades Cutoff and Range Line roads. It includes access to the railroad and roadways, which would require enhancements for heavy truck traffic.
The land consists of old orange groves no longer in use that can’t be used for conservation land, Berger said. Old groves have water runoff issues that contribute to waterway pollution.
“Here’s an opportunity for us to take those old groves, make them into a productive piece of property, fix water runoff issues and, by the way, be able to put lots and lots of people to work,” she said.
The site also appeals to the Port of Palm Beach because a project is easier to coordinate with only three property owners, Berger said. Kennedy Holdings LLC already has put in a request for voluntary annexation into the city from St. Lucie County, while Bayhill Holdings LLC and Pineloch Management Corp. are expected to follow suit if their site is chosen.
“We have the ability to get people that are living here on the Treasure Coast back to work,” she said, “and we’ll have the ability to see that unemployment number drop in our region pretty immediately.”
The city won’t know if its site is chosen or other details until after the Port of Palm Beach’s requests for quote and proposal are complete in mid-July.
The City Council would look into possible negative effects of an inland port if the site is chosen, but Berger said the traffic would be kept west of the community. The city’s water and sewer systems already reach the land.
Berger said she has been researching the inlands ports in Dallas and Savannah, Ga.
“They’ve had some real positive impacts to their community,” she said. “They’ve got people working. They’ve got production happening. I don’t see a negative in this.”
Berger hopes the local governments of the Treasure Coast will support the City Council in bringing an inland port to the city.
“It will impact the entire region,” Berger said, “and we should band together to make sure we can do as much as we can to make this project happen here in our backyard.”
By Laurie K. Blandford
Tags: appeals, beach, communication, degrees, Florida, government, jobs, name, property, roads, Traffic, unemployment, water
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May 22nd, 2009 at 10:16 am
“The city’s water and sewer systems already reach the land.”
So it appears the water needs for industry and the 25,000 people who work there will be connected to an
already-mismanaged and over-capacity water and sewer system??
Please don’t tell me this new center would simply tap into the aquifer for its water needs, and inject it’s waste into the aquifer via injection wells. Beyond that, I don’t see where the water would come from, or where the sewage and industrial waste/runoff would be disposed.
Port St. Lucie has a terrible record of dealing with water issues, so some significant new infrastructure and management would be required, using new technology.
May 22nd, 2009 at 10:42 am
Lets get rolling!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 25th, 2009 at 8:25 am
I don’t see this not affecting traffic in the city, you think people from all over not employed will not try and flock here? also as tom stated the water issues are a serious problem too.we have considerable mismanagement here,people losing thier jobs and the city crying cutbacks, but I see the expensive landscaping being planted and dying and replanted.The voters of this city need to wake up.