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 Manatee County
 Comprehensive Plan
 Element 4 - COASTAL
 Appendix 1.2. Port History

§ 1.2.1. The Early Years: Phosphate and Petroleum  

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  • In the early 1960s, a group of local business leaders envisioned the creation of a deepwater seaport to expand Manatee County's economic base. Accepting a port feasibility study that evaluated the concept, the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners acquired 357 acres near a former ferry landing in the Piney Point area of northwestern Manatee County. The county approved the establishment of the Piney Point Port and Industrial Complex, subsequently renamed Port Manatee.

    In 1963, the Board of County Commissioners adopted a "Resolution Creating and Establishing the Manatee County Port Authority," pursuant to the provisions of the Port Facilities Financing Law (Chapter 315, F.S.). Manatee County voters approved a referendum to create the Port in May 1964. Court cases filed by nearby communities delayed development efforts for several years, but, in 1966, the initial lands for Port Manatee were purchased. Subsequently, the Florida Legislature passed the "Manatee County Port Authority Act" (Chapter 67-1681 of the Laws of Florida) which codified the Port Authority's powers and enabled it to issue revenue bonds for the construction of port facilities.

    Subsequently, in 1967, the Port Authority authorized $8.6 million in revenue bonds to acquire land and construct Port Manatee. The bonds were to be repaid from Port revenues and the county's portion of the state's pari-mutuel funds, or "racetrack funds." Also in 1967, a master plan prepared for the Port recommended a north basin extending eastward almost to the CSXT main line track, and a smaller slip to the south, creating a 22-berth configuration. Phase I of this plan provided for the construction of a portion of the northerly basin. This provided four 700-foot berths and is the basic Port configuration that exists today, as discussed in Chapter 2.

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    The Port Authority issued $6 million of the previously authorized revenue bonds in 1969. With these funds, the Port dredged the entry channel and basin and constructed the berths on the north side of the basin for dry bulk, general cargo, and petroleum products. The Interstate Commerce Commission for railroad operations issued a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to the Port Authority in October 1969, entitling the Port to initiate its own terminal rail service.

    The Port was officially dedicated on October 30, 1970; but the first ship to call at the new Port, the 576-foot M/V Fermland, delivered 2,000 tons of Korean plywood to VanPly, Inc. on August 7, 1970, 84 days before the dedication. During the initial year, about one million tons of cargo moved through the Port, primarily petroleum product brought in by Belcher Oil Company (now TransMontaigne), which constructed storage tanks for 1.5 million barrels of petroleum on the northeast side of the basin.

    Between 1969 and 1974, the Port added several facilities, including Berth 8 on the east end of the basin and Berth 5, a barge berth, on the west side. Florida Power & Light Company began planning construction of a 30-inch petroleum pipeline to service its Parish generating plant. In addition, a transit shed with 30,000 square feet of space was built at Berth 8. Through the '70s, the Port primarily served the petroleum and phosphate industries.