RITA approves 5-year funding, program plan

A five-year funding and action plan for the Regional Intermodal Transportation Authority (RITA) was approved Wednesday (April 13), with much of the financial support coming from four area governments and Arkansas General Improvement Fund money.

RITA was formed in August 2009 with the broad goal to maximize the use of all forms of transportation — rail, barge, air, interstate — so as to reduce shipping costs and increase service options for regional business and industries. Start-up funding for RITA came from $325,000 in Arkansas General Improvement Fund secured primarily through the efforts to then Rep. Rick Green, R-Van Buren.

The authority was formed with the approval of Crawford County, Sebastian County, Fort Smith and Van Buren. Each government agreed to contribute at least $25,000 each to help fund RITA through Dec. 31, 2011.

RITA officials have taken the lead in working with federal and private-sector officials to fund and build railroads and improve port facilities in the Fort Smith region. The group also pulled off a lengthy meeting in June 2010 with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and others to directly lobby for funding of Interstate-49 and other RITA funding requests.

In addition to seeking more I-49 funding, RITA officials have an $8 million infrastructure plan of which they seek $5 million in federal funds. The $8 million includes $3.5 million to improve roads at Van Buren port facilities and to extend railroad from Arkhola to a Van Buren river port operation downstream. The remaining $4.5 million is for railroad work at Chaffee Crossing. The plan also includes infrastructure support for a 50-acre economic development site at Chaffee Crossing and a 30-acre site near the Van Buren port.

RITA BUDGET
The forecasted budget shows RITA — now operated through the Western Arkansas Planning and Development District — with a 2011 ending balance of $14,489. Total operating expenses are projected to be $144,241 in 2011.

For 2012, combined financial support from the four governments is $140,000, rising to $150,000 in 2013 and projected to rise to $160,000 for 2014 and 2015.

What is not in the forecasted budget is about $142,000 in Arkansas General Improvement Fund money courtesy of legislation pushed by Sens. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, and Ruth Whitaker, R-Cedarville. The money is likely to be received during the 20111-2012 state fiscal year (July 1, 2011-June 30, 2012).

RITA OBJECTIVES
The five-year plan approved Wednesday by the RITA board has five key objectives.
• Assess the economic development needs of the region, especially with respect to freight movement.

• Develop infrastructure improvement strategies to improve freight movement. This objective includes improving rail service at Chaffee Crossing, I-49 funding, and development of development sites at Chaffee Crossing and in Van Buren.

• Seek and encourage public and private investments in the region and support the freight movement goals.

• Work with regional, state, and federal groups and agencies to promote and fund RITA’s objectives.

• Enhance and sustain the organizational capacity and support for RITA so that it may continue to pursue the infrastructure and economic development goals.

I-49 WORK
Mat Pitsch, intermodal project manager for the Western Arkansas Planning and Development District, reported that he continues to work with Mike Malone, director of the Northwest Arkansas Council, on Interstate 49 funding.

“That is a relationship we have and we want to continue to build on it,” Pitsch said of the Northwest Arkansas Council.

He said Malone, who once worked as a staffer for the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, knows his way around Capitol Hill — physically and through contacts. Pitsch said he and Malone had a recent chance encounter with John Porcari, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, during a recent trip to Washington.
www.dot.gov/bios/porcari.html

“He recognized us as Arkansas boys,” Pitsch said, adding that they visited for about 15 minutes during which Porcari promised I-49 would “hold a place of priority” in the next federal highway bill.

“That’s not a check you can cash” but it’s a good commitment from “the No. 2 guy at the department,” Pitsch said.