February 26, 2012 [The Advocate] - The Port of Greater Baton Rouge’s board of commissioners approved a lease agreement with Westway Terminals to allow the tenant to expand its existing facility by 6.5 acres.
The lease, approved Thursday for $6,500 per year per acre, would allow Westway to build between six and 15 tanks on the land adjacent to its current facility, depending on what the market will bear, said Greg Johnson, the port’s director of business development.
Westway has discussed adding capacity for methanol and liquid fertilizer. However, the nature of the commodities business is such that other materials could make more business sense by the time the company builds the project, which could take as long as a year, Johnson told the board.
Board member Angela Machen asked how much leeway Westway has in what it decides to store at the complex, a reference to an ongoing battle over odors between port tenant Center Point and nearby residents.
Johnson said there are a number of materials Westway could store there.
However, it is difficult for the company to say exactly what it would put there so far in advance. He said some tanks will hold some specific materials and not others, and some require state Department of Environmental Quality permits and some do not.
Port attorney Barry Wilkinson said he hadn’t researched whether there are any restrictions in the Westway lease in particular, but that port leases in general can have restrictions in them if it’s appropriate.
Johnson said the port always has the option to “tariff out” anything it doesn’t want there, a reference to setting rates at a level where it’s not economical for a tenant to store that commodity.
Board member John Tilton said Westway is one of the oldest tenants at the port with a solid track record and that he didn’t understand why there are any questions.
Port Director Jay Hardman sought to assure board members by pointing out Westway will have to return to the board with its plans. He told the board officials that Westway — which addressed the port’s engineering committee only a few weeks before — could be made available again to answer any questions.
The lease agreement approved Thursday can be terminated after two years if Westway doesn’t expand, and the deal will give the port as-yet unspecified dockage and throughput revenue.
