Port of Benton Budget Includes Work at Park, Airport

By Mary Hopkin, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.

Nov. 19–The Port of Benton has passed a $10.8 million budget that includes improving Crow Butte Park, rebuilding an airport hangar and expanding the Fruit Smart building at the Prosser Airport.

The Port expects to earn about $2.6 million next year in lease money from its various properties from Richland to Prosser.

Scott Keller, the port’s executive director, said the port uses that money to cover operations and maintenance costs.

“We don’t use our tax revenues to cover the operations of the port,” he said.

The Port’s taxes add up to about $1.7 million, a little more than a quarter of all its revenue, which is expected to be about $6.37 million next year. The money will come from lease payments, taxes, grants and interest income.

The port’s operations and maintenance budget is expected to be about $1.5 million. That’s a 17 percent increase over last year. Part of that increase is because the port has taken over operations of Crow Butte Park, a popular waterfront park near Paterson.

The Army Corps of Engineers owns the 30-year-old park, but the Port signed a 25-year contract this summer to manage it.

Overall, the port plans to spend more than $325,000 on the popular recreational site next year.

On the port’s long to-do list at the park this year is fixing the parking lot, painting the gazebos and the wellhouse, putting new windows in the ranger’s house, upgrading the RV electrical service from 30 amps to 50 amps, and replacing the group camping restroom.

The Port also plans to spend about $4.8 million in capital projects, including tearing down an old hangar at the Prosser airport and rebuilding it and doing a $500,000 expansion of the Fruit Smart building at the airport.

They’ll also start a project to relocate the airport’s runway because of a new Federal Aviation Administration rule that requires the port — as the airport owner — to own the runway protection zone, which extends about 1,000 feet beyond the runway.

The runway configuration puts the protection zone across Wine Country Road and over commercial property, leaving two options — realign Wine Country Road or move the runway.

Port officials decided it would be easier to move about 1,000 feet of runway from the east side of the airport to the west.

They’ll also be spending about $170,000 to build a railroad crossing for the proposed Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Prosser, which will require a railroad signal and crossing arms to be built on Chapman Lane.

Total cost of the project is being split between the port and Desert Wind Winery, which also will benefit from the crossing.

The port also is setting aside about $230,000 to build an amphitheater at the Prosser Wine & Food Park, a project they have been working on for two years.

And they’ll sink about $250,000 into a new freight distribution facility in Richland to help Mid-Columbia farmers ship produce throughout the nation. The Port has received a $1 million state grant for the project, but must kick in its own money, as well.

The 720,000-square-foot refrigerated building will be built on 6.8 acres off Highway 240 on Kingsgate Road.

The port will spend about $436,000 at its Technology and Business campus, making road improvements, replacing lighting, painting buildings and doing landscaping.

And it will spend about $120,000 celebrating its 50th anniversary. The Port is planning various events, including a parties at Crow Butte and in Richland, Prosser and Benton City.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.

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