Lively discussion takes place as part of the Manlius Informed Speaker Series
By Hayleigh Gowans
Staff Writer
The community room at the Manlius Library was packed with residents who were looking to learn more about the need for an inland freight port during a presentation by Kevin Schwab, vice president of external affairs for CenterState CEO, on April 27 as part of the spring 2016 Manlius Informed Speaker series.
An inland port is an intermodal container transfer facility with the capabilities to process international trade — both imports and exports — with some key features, which includes container handling, storage and chassis maintenance. In October 2015, the Port of Oswego along with the support of CenterState CEO proposed an inland port, the CenterState Inland Port, to be located along the north side of Route 481 in the towns of DeWitt and a small portion in the town of Onondaga, a location currently owned by Hanson Aggregates North America. This project was met by opposition from some residents of Jamesville who had concerns with the impact on quality of life for them, as well as the DeWitt town and planning boards, who obtained legal counsel in December 2015 in order to combat the project.
When Schwab asked the room to raise their hands if they thought an inland port was a good idea, a majority of the attendees did.
Schwab explained that there are several changes taking place in the goods trading industry, and that Central New York has a unique opportunity to build something that will both create an estimated 2,000 jobs at the actual inland port, as well as attract businesses and manufacturers to the area because importing and exporting goods internationally will be about 40 percent cheaper.
Over the course of the next few months, the expansion project to the Panama Canal will be complete, allowing larger cargo ships to pass through locks, and these larger ships will allow for an increase in the number of international products that are brought to other sea ports, including those that are on the eastern coast of the United States.
In December 2017, Schwab said new trucking regulations will be implemented that will move trucking logs from paper to electronic. Schwab said that change may have an impact on how fast semi-trucks carrying international goods can travel from sea ports. Currently, there are no freight train ports in the area which import or export international goods on a regular basis, and most businesses in the area rely on semi-trucks to move their goods to and from sea ports.
Schwab also explained that because CNY is located a day’s drive within 1/3 of the population of the United States and Canada, there is a unique opportunity for an inland port facility to be built here.
“I think we have a chance to be way out in front of this…The need is important and timely. The market won’t sit there and wait for Central New York to twiddle their thumbs,” said Schwab.
Schwab said the Jamesville quarry location is just one of about a dozen that the Port of Oswego Authority is looking into as part of the environmental review process. A total of about $80 million in initiative money has been secured in funding the project, said Schwab, and sometime during the month of May, the Port of Oswego Authority will release the environmental impact study to the public.
After Schwab was finished with his presentation, questions from attendees were allowed. Concerns and questions ranged from the inland port’s location, environmental impacts, traffic congestion from increased rail use and truck use and which government entity would have final approval of the project.
Vita DeMarchi, a representation from the 3Gi Central New York Inland Port project, was in attendance at the event and spoke about the project she and her team are proposing to be located off of the CSX DeWitt-Manlius rail, between Girden Road and Fremont Road. She said she believes the 3Gi project would be more feasible because the infrastructure for an inland port is already there because CSX it is a Class 1 railroad. DeMarchi said her team has already released their environmental impact study, and has submitted both a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant and a Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term Achievement of National Efficiencies (FASTLANE) grant.
To learn more about the Manlius Informed Speaker Series, go to manliusinformed.org. To view a video of Schwab’s presentation and the inland port discussion that ensued, youtu.be/31jewMzX7iI.
