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PGG project moves closer to landing $2.7 million grant
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An application from the Union County Economic Development Corp. and Pendleton Grain Growers for $2.7 million to upgrade PGG’s Alicel shipping facility is headed for ConnectOregon II’s Final Review Committee. UCEDC and PGG submitted the application to ConnectOregon II, the state program making $100 million available statewide for air, rail, freight, marine and public transit projects. A total of 12 projects in the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Region 5 are heading for the final review. The UCEDC-PGG application was given top priority in the review process by the Northeast Area Commission on Transportation.
If successful in the quest for grant funding, PGG will acquire 4 1/2 acres of land at the existing site and build a new, 755,000-bushel grain storage facility. Also planned is an extension of the rail siding. The UCEDC, a private, non-profit economic development group, is hoping along with PGG that the second time will be the charm. The project failed to make the final cut in ConnectOregon’s first round, in 2007. The Final Review Committee for ConnectOregon II will meet in Portland next week to finalize the list of projects. The meeting will take place Tuesday and Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Portland Airport, 8439 NE Columbia Blvd. Seventy applications requesting a total of $178,514,910 were reviewed by their respective advisory committees (air, rail, freight, marine and public transit), as well as the regional Area Commissions on Transportation and a specially created Portland area committee (because there is no ACT covering the Portland metro area). The Final Review Committee, consisting of 26 volunteers from each of the modal and regional committees, industry groups and other stakeholders, will evaluate modal and review committees’ recommendations during the two-day meeting. The committee is charged with finalizing a prioritized list of projects for the $100 million program that the Oregon Transportation Commission will review at a public hearing in May. The OTC is scheduled to make its project selection in June. A complete list of all the review committees’ recommendations is available on the ConnectOregon web site, http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/COMM/CO/committees.shtml#Modal_and_regional_committee_review_matrices . |
