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Port Budget Reflects Waterfront Work

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 November 2005, 21:00 CST

By John Stark, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

Nov. 2--Beginning with the 2006 budget, Port of Bellingham officials are developing a financial framework for spending millions in planning, cleanup and redevelopment of 137 acres acquired from Georgia-Pacific West Inc.

The budget presented to port commissioners Tuesday envisions two major 2006 spending projects related to the long-term redevelopment of the site:

-- $781,000 for design and permits on the cleanup of the G-P wastewater treatment lagoon, with state toxic cleanup money reimbursing half that sum.

-- $815,000 to pay for the yearlong process of developing a master plan to guide residential, commercial and industrial redevelopment of the site. A state economic development grant is expected to defray about $191,000 of that.

Port Finance Director John Carter told commissioners that the bulk of the cleanup work will come in two to three years, when environmental cleanup work on the G-P property will be in full swing.

Port officials figured on total environmental cleanup costs of about $64 million when they agreed to take the property off G-P's hands in January. G-P is paying for an insurance policy that will limit the financial risks of cost overruns for the port. The state has agreed to cover half the cleanup costs with money from a tax on industries that bring potential pollutants into the state.

But the port's share of those costs is still roughly equal to the amount of spending envisioned in the port's entire budget for 2006.

Carter said the port could cover its portion of the cleanup costs with bond issues, taking advantage of its gilt-edged bond rating.

By 2010, Carter said, the waterfront property will begin to generate income as it becomes available for redevelopment. Port officials have said they expect to sell some of the property to developers to recoup costs, but others have suggested relying on long-term leases instead. No decisions have been made.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Bellingham Herald, Wash.

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