By Jason Klaiber

Staff Writer

The Manlius Town Board heard from 3Gi CNYIP Inc. at the board’s Jan. 8 meeting.

The company has submitted a zone change application pertaining to the inland port project at the CSX-owned DeWitt train yard.

3Gi CNYIP Inc. has proposed the zone change of three properties adjacent to the rail yard from Residential Agricultural (RA) to Industrial (ID) to make for consistent zoning for the parcels in common ownership.

The construction would include an access road stretching from Fremont Road to the containment yard as well as a 2-acre gravel container pooling yard, an office building and a truck scale for cargo monitoring, according to the company.

According to Manlius-based engineer Matt Napierala, the pooling yard would have shipping containers that can be triple stacked, a percentage of them with refrigerator units that maintain a constant temperature for their contents.

As of Sept. 2019, international cargo can be offloaded and onloaded at the rail yard.

Napierala said the inland port would allow for the management and storage of incoming and outgoing cargo.

“CSX is making money by transporting cargo,” Napierala said. “They don’t make money managing that cargo. They want to take cargo from point A to point B. Right now we have essentially a jetliner that is flying through the area without air traffic control.“

The DeWitt site operates as the first stop on a cargo route originating from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

According to the project developers, the inland port would limit the need for area exporters to use tractor trailers to transport goods, in effect reducing carbon emissions.

Eckardt “Chris” Beck, the CEO of 3Gi CNYIP Inc., said the inland port development should receive more support, calling it an important project for Central New York.

“I’ve got this all set up,” Beck said, addressing the board. “I’ve spent millions of dollars to do it. I don’t need to do it—I’m 76 years of age. It’s not going to happen without your help. You want to do something that’s good for the environment, do this project. You don’t want to do it, I’m out of here.”

Councilor Heather Allison Waters said she welcomed the passion Beck showed during the meeting.

“It means that the stakes are high,” Waters said.

The town board approved a motion to refer to the planning board for advice on “scaling back,” as councilor Sara Bollinger said, the size of the northern part of the development to mitigate impact on nearby houses.

Napierala said the project will also incorporate measures to minimize impact to wetlands in the area and coordinate traffic that might be going to the warehouse in Clay and the proposed one in DeWitt.

The town board’s next meeting will take place on Jan. 22, while Manlius’ planning board will next meet on Jan. 27.

The environmental impact statement, site plan and site plan application are available in the town clerk’s office.

Other project documents have been attached as links in the downloadable Jan. 8 meeting agenda on townofmanlius.org.