Sen. Collins: Mega berth funds still an option
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said the city will have another opportunity to apply for federal funds after officials learned last week an $8 million application for a second mega berth for cruises ships was rejected.
During a visit to Mainebiz last week, Collins said U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood told her the federal agency would make another $600 million available for various projects in the upcoming fiscal year.
She said the city should be able to reapply for the federal funds to create the second mega berth at the Ocean Gateway International Marine Terminal facility during this calendar year, but she did not have firm timetable.
"I'm hopeful the department will be receptive to it," Collins said.
City officials were hopeful their initial application would be approved before Gov. John Baldacci's office announced last week the state received $14 million in federal economic stimulus funds for three port improvement projects and the mega berth project was not included.
"We're disappointed," says Nicole Clegg, the city's spokeswoman.
City Manager Joe Gray says he wants to consult with the city council and with members of the state's congressional delegation to see if there were any other funding options.
"They have a sense of what may be out there in the future," Gray says, adding it was very unlikely the city would finance the project this year.
The federal government's decision not to fund the second mega berth project represents another setback for the $20.5 million Ocean Gateway International Marine Terminal facility the city opened in 2008. In December, Bay Ferries Limited of Prince Edward Island, Canada, announced The CAT high-speed ferry would no longer serve Portland, Bar Harbor and Nova Scotia.
City officials and business leaders want to see the second mega berth project completed because it will allow Portland to host larger cruise ships and up to three cruise ships at one time. The city's cruise ship business has grown the last three years.
For example, Clegg says the city saw 48 cruise ships in 2009 that brought 70,000 visitors and in 2010 the city expects to see 71 cruise ships that will deliver 80,000 visitors.
When the city hosted 31 cruise ships in 2008, visitors pumped $6 million to $8 million into the city and other Maine communities when they boarded tour buses and traveled elsewhere, according to Clegg, citing the most recent statistics available. To read more about the potential use of the Ocean Gateway terminal, read "Anchors aweigh."
Collins said the competition for the $1.5 billion in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants was extremely intense. She said the U.S. DOT received 1,400 applications worth $57 billion. She said the next round involving the $600 million of potential grants will be equally intense.
Collins said she and U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe endorsed the Ocean Gateway second mega berth project and the other Maine port projects that were approved.
"All of the projects that Maine submitted were excellent projects," she said.
Collins said Portland officials should be optimistic about their chances in the next round because the second mega berth project represents great economic potential. "Portland is the perfect city for cruise ships," she said.
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