Port Manatee's E-Newsletter • December 17, 2009
Fellow members elected Larry Bustle Dec. 15th as 2010 chairman of the Manatee County Port Authority.
Bustle succeeds Ron Getman, who served as port authority chairman in 2006 and 2009.
MCPA members serve four–year staggered terms with annual election of officers. The authority sets policy and approves major expenditures for Port Manatee. It is comprised of the seven members of the elected Manatee County Commission, but with distinctively separate officers and financial accountability.
Other MCPA officers elected with Bustle include: Ron Getman, first vice chairman; Dr. Gwendolyn Brown, second vice chairman; and John Chappie, third vice chairman. MCPA veterans Donna Hayes, Joe McClash and Carol Whitmore return as members of Port Manatee’s governing body.
Bustle was elected to the Manatee County Board of Commissioners in 2008 and has served on the MCPA for one year. Previously he served two terms as mayor of Palmetto.
The MCPA meets on the third Thursday of each month at 9 a.m. at the Port Manatee Intermodal Center, 1905 Intermodal Circle at Port Manatee. The meetings are open to the public. Photo identification is required to gain entrance to the port.
The Manatee County Port Authority authorized a 30–year, $42 million contract with Martin Marietta Materials at its Dec. 17th meeting.
The company intends to build a 20–acre aggregate terminal at Port Manatee, linking Berth 5 to the new facility with a 4,900–foot–long high–speed conveyor system.
The proposed conveyor is designed to move approximately 4,000 tons of aggregate rock per hour. Construction is set to begin in early 2010 with operations beginning within seven months.
“Without the port authority’s wisdom in funding the construction of Berth 5 nearly eight years ago, this opportunity may well have been lost,” said Port Manatee Executive Director David L. McDonald PPM®. “Revenues could exceed $50 million if predicted volumes are realized.”
Martin Marietta may extend the 30–year agreement with two five-year options.
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Port Dolphin Leaps Toward Final Approval
FERC Issues Certificate of Public Necessity
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a certificate of public necessity and convenience to Port Dolphin Energy, LLC Dec. 7th to build and operate an onshore pipeline connecting to its deepwater port 28 miles off the coast of Manatee County, Fla.
The certificate pushes the company closer to receiving a license to build its deepwater port after getting a Record of Decision from the U.S. Maritime Administration in October and Gov. Charlie Crist’s formal approval of the project in September.
“We are extremely pleased with the positive response to this project by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,” said Sveinung J. Støhle, president and chief executive officer of
Höegh LNG. “The port will be an important new solution to bring much–needed natural gas for the state of Florida.”
Once approved, liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers would arrive at the Port Dolphin offshore deepwater port and then connect to a new undersea pipeline system that would come onshore at Port Manatee. The LNG is returned to a gaseous state onboard the vessels offshore and then fed into the natural gas pipeline to serve customers throughout Florida.
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Port Manatee’s Chill Business Heats Up
Green Reefers’ M/V Green Nova sits at Port Manatee’s Berth 8 after delivering Fresh Quest cantaloupe and honeydew melons from the company’s farms in Zacapa, Guatemala and Choluteca, Honduras.
Liberty Terminals stevedores the weekly vessel calls, arriving from Puerto Barrios, Guatemala and Puerto Cortes, Honduras throughout the melon season — November to May.
Delores Jameson, Denise Stufflebeam, Anne O'Roake, David McDonald PPM® and Sandi Arnold stand with boxes collected during Port Manatee’s 2009 Troop Salute.
A U.S. Army platoon in Kyrgyzstan will soon rip open more than 40 gift boxes sent as part of Port Manatee’s 2009 Troop Salute effort.
Members of the port family filled boxes with movies, games, snacks and other gifts requested by the soldiers through the national Adopt–A–Platoon Soldier Support organization.
The Port Manatee Propeller Club, Gulfstream Natural Gas System and Joanne DeSimone received outstanding participation awards and recognition for their efforts at the Manatee County Port Authority’s Dec. 17th meeting.
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Inside This Issue
Port Dolphin Leaps
Toward Final Approval
Port Manatee’s Chill
Business Heats Up
Buchanan Joins Friends of
Panama Caucus
Congressman Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) is part of a new Friends of Panama Caucus, seeking to increase trade between the United States and Panama and foster greater economic development opportunities.
“As the closest deepwater port to the Panama Canal, Port Manatee is in great geographic position to benefit from the on-going expansion of the Panama Canal,” said Buchanan.
“As a member of the Friends of Panama Caucus, I will work to create jobs by enhancing the port’s ability to capitalize on new trade opportunities with Panama.”
Manatee County Port Authority Chairman Ron Getman said, “Congressman Buchanan’s appointment to the caucus demonstrates the importance of Panama to the Manatee–Sarasota region from a national perspective. And it brings into clear focus Port Manatee’s pivotal role in achieving regional economic growth through its relationship with the Panama Canal Authority.”
In addition to joining the caucus, Buchanan is working to secure federal funds for berth expansions and dredging projects at Port Manatee and is seeking to ratify the U.S.–Panama Trade Promotion Agreement.
Federal Marine Terminals offloaded more than 1,600 tons of steel coils from SeaBridge Freight’s barge last week.
The coils will be delivered to a customer in North Carolina from a steel mill in Celaya, Mexico.
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A Party To Say Thanks
Hundreds of customers, tenants, port users and guests including (from left) Marianne Lopata, Shirley Talley, Barbara Fuhlbruck and Barbara Tyler poured into the cruise terminal Dec. 17th
for Port Manatee’s 2009 Customer Appreciation Party.
Guests enjoyed fresh seafood, turkey and tasty trimmings while a string duo from Bradenton-based Musical Rendezvous treated guests to classic holiday music.
Dec. 24-25
Christmas Holiday
Port offices closed
Jan. 1
New Year’s Holiday
Port offices closed
Jan. 14
Port Manatee Propeller Club
Bradenton Yacht Club
5:30 p.m.
Jan. 18
Martin Luther King Jr.
Holiday
Port offices closed
Jan. 25
Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting
USF Sudakoff Center
9:30 a.m.
Jan. 26-27
AAPA Conference
“Shifting International
Trade Routes”
Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay
8 a.m.
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300 Tampa Bay Way
Palmetto, FL 34221 U.S.A.
Phone: 941-722-6621
Fax: 941-729-1463
portmanatee.com
