Commissioners for the Port of San Diego have formally approved the creation of a fund to help mitigate truck traffic and other community disruptions caused by port operations at the port's Tenth Avenue and National City marine terminals.
The coffers of the Marine Terminal Impact Improvement Fund will be filled with the collection of one half of 1 percent of the two terminals' gross revenues. Port officials will add the estimated $113,000 a year in terminal revenues to a one-time $500,000 contribution to the fund from the port's capital development budget.
The fund is expected to be used for the construction of infrastructure projects to help mitigate port-generated truck traffic on residential streets around the two terminals and other community projects.
In other Port of San Diego news, port officials have named Joel Valenzuela as the port's new director of maritime operations.
In his new role, Valenzuela – who has been serving as the departmental manager of maritime industry and trade relations at the port – will direct the operations, maintenance and development of the port's maritime facilities and infrastructure, including the port's cargo and cruise terminals, public piers, wharves and docks.
In addition, he will also be responsible for ensuring maritime facilities' compliance with all applicable federal, state and local regulations, administering the port Tariff, as well as enforcing maritime lease agreements and contracts.
"His experience with terminal management and international trade will help us rebuild our cargo numbers and increase revenue. Not only that, Joel has extensive employee and customer relations experience, which will enable him to effectively lead the Maritime Operations Department," said president and CEO of the port Charles Wurster.
In addition to managing San Diego's main cruise terminal, and various real estate investments along the San Diego waterfront, the Port of San Diego operates the Tenth Street and National City marine terminals.
The Tenth Street terminal is a 96 acres multi-purpose eight-berth facility that handles refrigerated commodities, fertilizer, cement, breakbulk commodities, and forest products. The terminal features a 300,000-square-foot cold storage facility warehousing for storing and handling fresh produce and other perishables.
The National City Marine Terminal is a 125-acre, seven-berth facility operated by Pasha services, which processes over 500,000 vehicles a year. The National City Marine Terminal serves as one of the the primary United States port's of entry for car manufacturers Honda, Acura, Isuzu, Volkswagen, Nissan, Mitsubishi Fuso, and Hino Motors.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
