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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 01-08-2009 0 FORT PIERCE I~IARB R AD O VI:ORY COMMITTEE Meeting Held On January 8, 2009 Convened at 3:04 p.m. Adjourned at 4:03 p.m. This meeting of the Fort Pierce Harbor Advisory Committee (FPHAC) was held Thursday, January 8, 2009 at 3:04 p.m. in Conference Room 3 on the third floor of the Administration Building, 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, Florida. ROLL CALL Roll call was tal~en. Member= Present: Howard Conkrlin, Chairman Mary Chapman, Vice Chairman Gerald Kulzlinskri, Commissioner Grande's Appointee John Holt, Commissioner Smith's Appointee David Souza, St. Lucie Village Commissioner Eddie Becht Also Prefente Commissioner Grande, District 4 Katherine Mackenzie-Smith, Assistant County Attorney Bob Bangert Edie Schor Margaret Seiler APPROVAL OF THE MINIITE:e The minutes from the November 13, 2008 meeting were unanimously approved. NEW BIIfINEff~ Guest Speaker -Ken Shie/ds, Manager of /radian River Termina/ Mr. Ken Shields stated that business is going well. He stated that Indian River terminal ended the year 2008 with growth in sales, revenues and tonnage. He stated that they have seen a growth each year since starting operation in 2002. Mr. Shields stated that there are just over 60 employees with Indian River Terminal. Ancillary jobs go beyond Indian River Terminal if you take into account the crews that are employed by the shipping line and the foreign offices, but in Fort Pierce, there are just over 60 employees. Fort Pierce Harbor Advisory Committee January 8, 2009 Page 2 Mr. Shields stated that their average hourly rate is $14 per hour and their average salary is $38,000 per year. He stated that gross receipts ending 2008 were approximately $30 million. Mr. Shields stated that the top commodities are building materials and supplies. He stated that the markrets that they serve are primarily export with service to the Bahamian Islands, Turkrs and Caicos Islands and the Northern Caribbean. He stated that they do importing from Freeport, Bahamas. He stated that Freeport is different in that it has industrial development. Martin Marietta has a commercial aggregate mine there. He stated that they do a lot of industrial activity there that generates a little bit of exports. He stated that Indian River Terminal does not receive any of their aggregate material. He stated that they have their own bull? carrier that takes their aggregate material to Cape Canaveral. He stated that Indian River Terminal does all of their logistical support services; shipping over trucks and parts, and every so often they have trucks that come back for repairs. He stated that PharmaChem Technologies is a pharmaceutical chemical company that imports some materials into the United States through the port and we export a lot of raw materials to them. He also stated that Dart Container Cooperation makes about 90% of what we consume in Styrofoam products. He stated that they are a huge importer into the United States. He stated that Indian River Terminal does not do a lot of their business, but we do a little bit of it. Mr. Shields stated that most of business is containerized. He stated that there is a very small section to handle aggregate materials. He stated that one of the places that they service is the Ginn Classic in Grand Bahama Bay. He stated that they are loading the commercial aggregate materials, such as sand and gravel for the golf courses, in the Port of Fort Pierce on barges. Most everything that is done at the Port is containerized in either the 20' containers or flat racks. Another big commodity is groceries and heavy equipment. He stated that they shipped a circus last month to Mexico. Mr. Shields stated that the maximum draft that their vessels utilize right now is 15'. The limit of the draft in the inlet is about 20' and that is because of shoaling adjacent to the Coast Guard Station. A hump right in the middle of the channel that limits it to 20', other than that it is 30' everywhere else. He stated that the Turing Basin has a lot of water in it. He stated that one of the major issues right now is the dredging of the channel. He stated that the County has to be the sponsor on the permit with DEP. He stated that it came before the Commissioners as a discussion item and the Commissioners voted to go forward with exploring with DEP and the federal agencies on how to proceed to obtain getting back on the Corp of Engineers role for maintenance dredging. He stated that over the past four years the shoaling rate is about 5'. He stated that there have been no groundings with their vessels. Mary Chapman asked Mr. Shields if he knew what Mr. Bell is up to. Mr. Shields stated that he does not know. He stated that they have no connection with Mr. Bell. Mr. Shields spoke briefly about security at the Port. Fort Pierce Harbor Advisory Committee January 8, 2009 Page 3 John Holt asked Katherine Mackenzie Smith, Assistant County Attorney, if she could check on the status of the dredging permit for the next meeting. OLD BUfINEfi~ John Holt asked if the moored vessel was still an issue or if it was moved. Jerry Kuhlinshi stated that it was moved. John Holt stated that there was an article in the newspaper about Chuck's Seafood. John Holt asked Mary Chapman if she had spoken to Peter Angelos about coming to one of the meetings. Mary Chapman stated no. John Holt stated that they would life to get him to come to one of the meetings to talk. City Commissioner Eddie Becht stated that the fines for Chuck's Seafood have been reduced, but there are other issues. Commissioner Becht stated that there was supposed to be enough room to put a sidewalk waterside of the restaurant, but that room is not there. Commissioner Becht stated that he got a consensus from other City Commissioners and they would like David Record, City Manager, to inquire about it. Commissioner Becht also stated that anytime there are renovations being done, the City was going to pith up right-of-way or make the property owner construct a sidewalk waterside so it would be a continuous sidewalk when the City gets done with the Causeway Parh improvements. David Souza inquired about boat trailer parking at the ramp. AD~OURNMENT~ At 4:03 p.m. the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting will be held Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 3:00 pm in Conference Room 3, on the third floor of the Administration Building. Respectfully submitted: la' Net Pentz on behalf of Stephanie Bush