The Port of Bellingham Commission approved a $14 million bond Tuesday, June 18 that will fund a large portion of the Bellingham Shipping Terminal modernization project.
The two-year $27.5 million project is meant to improve the existing wharf by replacing the dock, which will then lead to encouraging more cargo traffic and business in the port. Tuesday’s vote is meant to fund fixing the shipping terminal pier at 629 Cornwall Ave. and repairing pilings and steel beams under the cruise terminal pier at 355 Harris Ave.
For many at the public hearing, the bonds were a sign of the port commission’s investment into the long-term future of the area, including jobs, environmentally conscious transportation and economic longevity. Others questioned the port commission’s motive for using bonds.
Brian Sarni said he felt the bond payments would fall on the taxpayers.
“Something doesn’t add up,” he said. “Somebody has not crunched the numbers. Somebody doesn’t have a business plan.”
Port commissioners and employees were quick to point out the approved bonds wouldn’t be paid for by taxpayers. Instead, port revenues will be used for the payback period, port spokesperson Mike Hogan said.
No new bonds have been issued for port projects since 2010. That was when the port borrowed $40 million for the Bellingham International Airport expansion project, said Rob Fix, the port executive director.
“We’re about to pay those bonds off which makes our balance sheet even more attractive,” he said.
Once the bonds are issued, it’ll take the port about 15 years to repay the amount borrowed, with an estimated annual payment between $1–1.4 million, Hogan said.
The total amount for the bonds, including aggregate principal, cannot go above $15 million, according to the bond resolution.
The modernization project already received a $6.85 million federal grant from the United States Department of Transportation Port Infrastructure Development Program. Representatives from the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) toured the port in December, praising the plan to increase cargo as demand continues to increase across the nation.
“We’re going to need four times to 10 times what our cargo capacity was, (when it was) maxed out during the port congestion period of time,” Max Vekich, of the FMC, said at the time, referring to supply-chain backups during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So we need to hold on to these ports and hold on to these places that have industrial lands,” Vekich added. “It’s really vital.”
The port has already started dredging the Whatcom Waterway with the first round completed in January. All dredging is expected to be completed by February 2025 to increase the navigation depth from 26 feet to 35 feet. More depth means more vessels carrying cars and offshore wind opportunities accessing the port.
The project is expected to create an untold number of jobs for longshoremen, shipyard and rail workers, freight forwarders and truckers — a point which was reiterated by a number of longshoremen in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting.
Longshoreman Joe Schmidt said prior to the shipping terminal’s activity slowing due to the Georgia-Pacific Mill closure, the shipping terminal supported most of the economic activity for the port.
“We’re finally getting somewhere we can actually make some money and reduce taxes for the community,” he said.
Dan Tucker, part of the Working Waterfront Coalition of Whatcom County, added that economic activity at the shipping terminal will ripple its way out into downtown Bellingham and greater Whatcom County.
“The reason that the terminal works so well is that it is close to downtown so all of those folks can still go to downtown businesses after work and dine and shop with their families,” he said. “It’s on their way home from work a lot of times, whereas places like Seattle, those trades jobs are out far south of downtown. They never go downtown.”
On top of the economic benefits, the port also plans to create a state-of-the-art stormwater management system to capture water from the new dock for on-shore treatment, according to the port. Additionally, 22,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from past industrial activities will be removed from the area.
The port hopes the bond sale will be held in mid-July after it receives a credit rating.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
