SeOPA announces repayment of $1.5 million bond to Washington County
Commissioners (from left) Eddie Place, Charlie Schilling and Greg Nohe during the press conference announcing the SeOPA's repayment of a $1.5 million bond at the Washington County Commissioners office on Monday afternoon. (Photo by Sophie Wheeler)
David Haas, treasurer of the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority, speaks at a press conference announcing the repayment of the $1.5 million bond to Washington County at the Washington County Commissioners office on Monday afternoon. (Photo by Sophie Wheeler)
President and CEO of the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority Eric Wade speaks on the development of the former AMP Ohio Gorsuch power plant site for the development of an multimodal port facility during a press conference at the Washington County Commissioners office on Monday afternoon. (Photo by Sophie Wheeler)
Commissioners (from left) Eddie Place, Charlie Schilling and Greg Nohe during the press conference announcing the SeOPA's repayment of a $1.5 million bond at the Washington County Commissioners office on Monday afternoon. (Photo by Sophie Wheeler)
David Haas, treasurer of the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority, speaks at a press conference announcing the repayment of the $1.5 million bond to Washington County at the Washington County Commissioners office on Monday afternoon. (Photo by Sophie Wheeler)
President and CEO of the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority Eric Wade speaks on the development of the former AMP Ohio Gorsuch power plant site for the development of an multimodal port facility during a press conference at the Washington County Commissioners office on Monday afternoon. (Photo by Sophie Wheeler)
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MARIETTA – The Southeastern Ohio Port Authority announced on Monday the repayment of the $1.5 million bond to Washington County for the purchase of the former AMP-Ohio Gorsuch power plant site for the development of a multimodal port facility.
The $1,544,277 bond was approved for payoff on Oct. 28, the loan was not due until Feb. 1, 2035.
Washington County established a development fund in 2023 to "support workforce and infrastructure projects," according to Washington County Commissioner Charlie Schilling.
"(Washington County Commissioners) understood that an investment fund like this, and putting money back into Washington County to provide good opportunities for our residents was the right thing to do," said Schilling.
The project focuses on redeveloping brownfield sites, such as the former AMP site off Route 7 and the former Muskingum River Industrial Park in Beverly.
David Haas, treasurer of the SeOPA, said both of the sites are connected through a rail system that would allow for the Beverly site to be repurposed for bulk commodities.
Eric Wade, president and CEO of SeOPA, said "Our focus is now on what comes next: bringing good jobs to the region, developing the site on State Route 7 into a working, publicly owned multimodal port facility, a site that connects river, rail and road."
Schilling said the $185,307 gained in interest from the loan and the repayment gives Washington County "an avenue to support development, whether that's economic or workforce development and infrastructure projects here in the county in order to move things forward."
Wade said while the SeOPA does not have a solidified timeline for the development of the sites, he hopes the process will start "as quickly as possible. We're going to work with federal agencies and state partners to hopefully obtain some funding and get stuff stood up as soon as we can."
According to a release from SeOPA, the sites have undergone environmental testing through the Ohio Department of Development, wetland mapping, utility review and site planning through Ohio Southeast Economic Development and a port feasibility study led by Buckeye Hills Regional Council with Ohio Department of Transportation funding.
Haas stated phase one of environmental testing at both sites and phase two environmental testing at the AMP site showed "no significant findings."
"The beauty of the (SeOPA) taking over a site like the AMP site or the Beverly site, it's a tremendous risk for a private company to take that one because of the potential risk,” Haas said. “The good thing is, there was very minimal risk there, but we've made connections with the Ohio EPA and we're working with them to make sure if anything comes up, we're ready to go with it.”
Wade said the funds to repay the loan came from the sale of another site at the Muskingum River Industrial Park and "I think that news will come out relatively quickly. … So we will briefly share a press release about that, I think in the coming weeks."
According to the release, the multimodal site will bring approximately 75 jobs to the county in warehousing and rail and river operations once a warehouse tenant is selected, with "room to grow as the port does."
Schilling said "This is truly about jobs right here in Washington County, as (Nate) Long (member of the board of directors for SeOPA) mentioned, there were 500 jobs lost whenever the coal-fired power plant closed and the Waterford power plant closed. 500 jobs lost in this county, and for us to be able to invest properly and to bring some of those jobs back, we're happy to do so."
Sophie Wheeler can be reached at swheeler@newsandsentinel.com.