“INVERNESS — Brad Thorpe knows Port Citrus is not a done deal.
It’s not a slam dunk. Not a sure thing. It could bring jobs but, then again, a lot of things have to happen for that to occur.

“There’s peril in here,” Thorpe said. “I’m not naive about this.”
Thorpe is the Citrus County administrator who, in the last 12 months, also assumed a new title: port director. [Read more...]

“INVERNESS — Citrus County officials believe in the viability of Port Citrus, but they also acknowledge a potential roadblock: How does product barged into the port get to its destination?

County Administrator Brad Thorpe, who also is the port director, said a key component to the port’s success is an “inland port” being developed in Marion County at U.S. 27 and Interstate 75. [Read more...]

“When the concept of Port Citrus was launched a year ago, many Citrus County residents initially considered it a progression of the then year-old plan for a port district and a marina community on a portion of the former Cross Florida Barge Canal.

Hollinswood Harbor hit the news in November 2011, after Citrus County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted to create the port district in the comprehensive plan and rezoned Dixie Hollins’ 547 acres of industrial, conservation and mining property north of the canal to open [Read more...]

“There’s a lot more information that we need to know, so I am awaiting the outcome of the feasibility study. Having a functioning port is a good idea, sure. But how it can function, I don’t know.” – Jim Farley, Crystal River mayor.

“I’m not very excited about it. I would give priority to the airport and the business park in Inverness, which has been talked about for [Read more...]

“For all the talk of Florida’s 14 ports that are being prepped to capture the expansion of cargo through the Panama Canal and the overall growth in international trade, there is a possible 15th on the western horizon.

Officials in Citrus County are looking to capture some of the growing trade. Their eyes are not on creating a deepwater port that would be able to dock the massive [Read more...]