WEIRTON - The Weirton Area Port Authority has leased the old training center building in the Half Moon Industrial Park.
WAPA Chairman B.J. DeFelice told members of the West Virginia Port Authority, meeting in Weirton Tuesday, they'd taken a "nine-month lease leading to purchase of the facility."
DeFelice updated WVPA on the organization's status, saying they had 110 business and individual members, 27 active volunteers and year-to-date income of $73,500 generated through member fees and contributions.
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CONSIDERING PRESENTATION — The West Virginia Public Port Authority met in Weirton Tuesday, reviewing several business items and hearing a presentation by representatives of the Weirton Area Port Authority on some of its projects. It was the first time the WVPPA had met in Weirton in 14 years. -- Craig Howell
He said the nonprofit WAPA is in charge of district governance; WAPA Inc. will handle port operation, and its for-profit subsidiary, Tri-State Port Management, will oversee port concessions.
"We've been working diligently for the last couple of years, in stages," he said. "The date we're targeting for completion is the end of the year. Obviously we'll use local contractors, local labor ... we have world-class laborers that aren't being utilized, we're working hard to get them back to work."
In other action, the state port authority members were asked to consider participating in the Institute for Trade and Transportation Studies, which would require about a $39,000-a-year commitment for the next five years.
ITTS performs specialized analysis and research that individual states need on a continual basis but is not practical to undertake singularly.
Established as a resource on issues regarding the implications of international trade and increasing freight transportation demands, ITTS's mission focuses on providing research data and expert opinions to its members concerning the effects of commercial freight movements on domestic and international activities, with reference to infrastructure and transportation needs and safety implications.
ITTS grew out of the Latin America Trade & Transportation Study, which was a 10-state alliance aimed at identifying trade opportunities with Latin America, evaluating infrastructure investments needed to support that growth and develop infrastructure investment strategies. Phase II of the LATTS was a two-year analysis of the critical transportation "needs" that initially had been identified.
