Port authority offers 5-year lease to Port of Richmond

NORFOLK

The Virginia Port Authority has sent a "letter of intent" to the Port of Richmond, proposing a five-year lease of the facility, said Joe Harris, an authority spokesman, on Thursday.

The authority's letter to the Richmond port comes about three months after Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton said the state was interested in the Port Authority possibly taking over the facility.

The Port of Richmond, on the James River south of downtown off Interstate 95, is owned by the city of Richmond, managed by the Port of Richmond Commission and operated by PCI of Virginia LLC, a private company, according to the port's website.

PCI's contract expires Nov. 30, said John Smith, operations manager of the Port of Richmond.

A request for bids from potential operators of the port was posted on the city of Richmond's website on July 2, with a deadline of Aug. 4.

Harris said the authority has not determined who would operate the Richmond port if the authority's proposal were accepted, but that "we would figure that out."

The authority's proposal to the Richmond port includes a nominal payment, but Harris declined to disclose the amount.

A Freedom of Information Act request by The Virginian-Pilot for a copy of the authority's letter to the port was denied, citing an exemption related to the possible impact on the authority's bargaining position.

The Port Authority owns three marine terminals in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News, as well as an inland port in Front Royal, about an hour's drive west of Washington.

Connaughton has expressed interest in enhancing a weekly barge service ferrying cargo containers between Hampton Roads and the Richmond port.

"If we could start to treat the Port of Richmond like we treat the inland port, we could have a very positive impact on Richmond," he said in April.

The Front Royal facility serves as a truck and rail interchange for goods and is ringed by distribution hubs for companies such as Home Depot, Family Dollar, Sysco Foods and DuPont.

"If we were to get it, we think that we could build business in the barge service," Harris said Thursday. "We have some contacts, some parties, that are interested in using the barge service, allowing the Port Authority to grow that into a more than once-a-week operation."

The Richmond City Council this month approved a $1 million loan to the port, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Thursday. The city has said the port is losing $100,000 a month, according to the paper.

The Richmond port was hit hard last year when International Container Lines, its biggest customer over the past 24 years, left for Wilmington, N.C.

Robert McCabe, (757) 446-2327, robert.mccabe@pilotonline.com