Intermodal board assigned homework; Rep. Green thanked for funding

The first meeting of the Regional Intermodal Authority was appropriately held at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith because the new board members were given homework assignments and “encouraged” to educate themselves about the legal scope of the authority and about freight issues in the region.

Mat Pitsch was hired by the Western Arkansas Planning and Development District in late April to direct the effort to create the authority. Pitsch has worked as vice president of economic development at the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, an employee at UAFS and for a manufacturing company in Fort Smith.

The authority is charged with diversifying the freight management solutions — truck, rail, water, air — in the Fort Smith region.

Although an authority has been sought for more than 15 years, the recent effort to create a regional intermodal authority began again in earnest on Feb. 18, and resulted in a May 27 meeting in which key governmental and business leaders in Crawford and Sebastian counties agreed to push the effort. The governments of Crawford County, Sebastian County, Fort Smith and Van Buren approved the authority creation and the documents were officially signed Aug. 6.

The effort was funded thanks in large part to Rep. Rick Green, R-Van Buren, who successfully pushed legislation during the 87th Arkansas General Assembly that provided $375,000 to get an intermodal authority on its feet. Green, along with Rep. Stephanie Malone, R-Fort Smith, was at the Wednesday meeting to present a check for a little more than $243,000 to John Guthrie, executive director of the WAPADD. The remainder of the $375,000 will be delivered in the summer of 2010, Green said.

“I can honestly tell you that when I pulled this bill together, I had no idea of what it would take to get us to this point, and I didn’t realize how truly big and wonderful this could be,” Green told The City Wire after the meeting.

Green told authority members during the meeting that thinking about the economic potential of the authority “gives me goose bumps.”

The members of the new board are:
Gary Harshbarger, materials manager, Bekaert Steel & Wire, Van Buren
Keith Hefner, president and CEO, Citizens Bank, Van Buren
Vince Losole, materials manager, Rheem, Fort Smith
George Moschner, CFO and secretary, Baldor Electric Co., Fort Smith
Bob Null, owner and president, Arkansas Lamp, Van Buren
Ivy Owen, executive director, Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, Fort Smith
Russell Owen, logistics director, Hiram Walker, Fort Smith
Jay White, vice president-plant operations, Peppersource, Van Buren
Van Buren Mayor Bob Freeman
Crawford County Judge John Hall
Sebastian County Judge David Hudson
Fort Smith City Administrator Dennis Kelly

Pitsch outlined three “homework” assignments for the newly convened board.
• Bylaws
The board was provided an outline of new bylaws for the authority and asked to review, edit and be prepared to soon adopt new bylaws.

• Act 690
The legislation enabling transportation authorities in Arkansas was approved in 1997 and became Act 690. Pitsch stressed to the 12-member board the importance of understanding the “scope of authority” in the Act, including rules related to eminent domain and potential funding. (Link here for a PDF document of the intermodal authority enabling legislation.)
www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/1997/R/Acts/690.pdf

• Freight Realities
Pitsch presented results from survey conducted in early 2009 that showed Fort Smith regional inbound freight patterns followed close to the national average, with about 78% of the freight coming in on trucks and about 16% on rail. However, 97% of the outbound freight uses truck, with less than 3% using rail.

Pitsch explained that diversifying “freight management solutions” would lower the costs of shipping and make the process more efficient. Lowered costs and a more efficient system would attract companies who might previously have placed distribution/logistics centers in other states. Pitsch said the goal of the authority is not to reduce truck freight, but to “grow the pie” for all modes of transportation.

“We need to quickly transform from the education process to doing some visionary things,” Pitsch told the board when reiterating the importance of the three homework assignments.

Pitsch said creation of the authority is already drawing interest from other parts of the state and nation. He said transportation officials in Memphis and Tulsa have contacted him, and added that “the Northwest Arkansas Council wants to meet with us.” The council is a group of prominent business and civic leaders in Northwest Arkansas who focus on big-picture, long-term infrastructure needs and goals.

Pitsch also told the authority board that there are more goods coming in and out of the area than most people realize. He noted that the region handles about 40% as much tonnage as Memphis, yet the Memphis metro area is 12-times larger than the Fort Smith metro.

The new board is expected to tour freight facilities and other related infrastructure during their Oct. 14 board meeting.