Tacoma port extends logistics center PR contract

Tacoma port extends logistics center PR contract Port of Tacoma Commissioners Thursday extended a contract with communications firm Barney & Worth to provide more time for the firm to help the port answer public questions raised two weeks ago over a port-proposed logistics center.
   On Jan. 31, the Tacoma and Olympia port commissions held a joint meeting in Lacey to discuss four possible locations for the proposed rail cargo logistics center.
   The four locations for the proposed several-hundred-acre, multimillion-dollar rail facility — in Maytown, Offutt, Tenino, and Chehalis — were identified in a $70,000 siting study commissioned by the port last year and previewed to port staff and commissioners Jan. 28.
   Requested by the commission as a 'pure analysis of what is out there,' the study merely identified parcels that could accommodate the proposed facility. The port criteria for inclusion on the study list included:
   ' Being in Pierce, Thurston or Lewis counties.
   ' Located no more than 10 miles from Interstate 5.
   ' Located on an active rail line.
   ' A site larger than 600 acres and able to accommodate at least 8,000 feet of continuous track.
   The study did not consider other factors such as current ownership or possible development problems. The port has not contacted any of the property owners or any of the possibly impacted communities.
   The ports had planned to discuss the locations and take public comment on the study at the Jan. 31 meeting, but after more than 300 people showed up, commissioners decided instead to collect the comments and respond to them at a later date.
   Many at the public meeting expressed concerns about possible negative impacts from increased rail and local truck traffic that would accompany the operation of the rail facility.
   The Tacoma port's original $100,000 contract with Barney & Worth was set to expire Feb. 28. Commissioners voted Thursday to extend the contract through Mar. 31 with a maximum additional contract cap of $40,000.
   Port officials said port staff is trying to complete the responses in time for the commission's Feb. 20 meeting.
   “This is a full-court press to get the answers out there,” Rob Collins, the port’s director of intermodal services told the Tacoma Daily Index. “We’re working on the responses.”