By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
A port is not a canal, it's not water. As Stafford County Port Authority (SCPA) Board President Carolyn Dunn explains, "At its essence, it's public infrastructure that allows transportation to occur." On the plains of Stafford County, that port is a transload rail facility and loop that could handle full-size unit grain trains of more than 100 cars. The Kansas legislature authorized the creation of the port authority in 2014, and with grant deadlines approaching, the SCPA is hoping to begin construction near St. John later this fall. The ultimate goal is creating more jobs and pumping an estimated $7-9 million annually into the local economy.
"We can have port tenants that locate there and offer their services for the more efficient railroad transportation to various businesses in the area," Dunn said. "We've tried to approach this in a way that not only helps us get businesses to locate in our part of the state, but is also very conservative to our limited tax base."
In 2020, SPCA received a letter of intent from Wind River Grain of Garden City to build the grain terminal. That allowed SCPA to apply for grants, and it received a $2.5 million Building a Stronger Economy (BASE) grant in April 2022. The state legislature added another $2.5 million for the project. It's a good start, but the project could cost an additional $3-5 million.
"With five million, we had a really solid start, but as infrastructure costs have gone up just like every other construction cost has gone up, we've not been sure that's going to be fully enough to go to construction," said Dunn.
But now there are time constraints. A grain company would still be the anchor of the project, but SCPA is now in talks with two other companies that have expressed interest in leasing the land. SCPA has applied for an additional $5 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration that would benefit the project, but to keep the $5 million in grants already received, construction needs to begin this year.
"We're so far along that we also don't want to lose that progress, and don't want to miss this opportunity if we don't get the federal grant," said Dunn. "So right now, we're talking to two other businesses we would like to persuade to locate here. If they did, and those improvements that they make played into our TIF district, that would also make moving forward a lot more clear."
Stafford County Economic Development Director Kathleen Norman said the plan is to move forward with the $5 million in the bank, but it would not allow for everything in the plans, and there would be a fair bit of debt financing required.
That's where the TIF, or Tax Increment Financing, District comes into play. SCPA would own the land and lease it to the businesses operating on it. It could use lease money collected to pay off the debt, and property taxes assigned and collected to any new infrastructure could also be used to pay off the debt. That means no tax increases for the general public.
SCPA is moving forward with construction plans later this year, but many details are still in the works. The additional $5 million in federal grant money would make the project much easier and allow SCPA to scratch some items off its wish list, such as a higher-volume energy line to handle usage from the new businesses. It would also help ensure long-term success for the project.
Norman estimates a new grain company could bring approximately 10 direct jobs to the area, and some 20 more auxiliary jobs like trucking. One of the other companies in question would also bring approximately 30 jobs to the area.