VIDALIA &045; Vidalia is getting closer to its own port facility.

The town has submitted an application for a federal Economic Development Authority grant that would amount to about $1.2 million for the town’s proposed loading and unloading facility, Mayor Hyram Copeland said.

The application &uot;puts you in about 99 percent you are going to receive it,&uot; Copeland said.

If the funds are not available this funding cycle, Copeland said the town may have to wait for the next cycle. But, Copeland said, the town is hoping to get the funds by the end of summer or the beginning of the fall.

&uot;It looks good; I’m real excited about it,&uot; he said.

When applying for the funds, Copeland said the town has to outline where the funding for the proposed facility, estimated at about $3.5 million, will come from.

Copeland said the town also is applying for three capital outlay grants, totaling about $3.5 million. However, Copeland said it may be sometime this summer before the town will know if they will receive.

The town is not only looking at federal and state funding but also local contributions to bring the facility to Vidalia.

Copeland said the town will probably contribute through in-kind services, like providing the town’s electricity to the facility.

&uot;We’ll get it (local contributions) from somewhere,&uot; Copeland said.

&uot;Hopefully we can use some in-kind (funding) like running some utility lines. If not, we will look at some means to be able to acquire the money.&uot;

Not only will the port facility be good for businesses locating in Vidalia like TXEL, the rubber factory committed to come to the Vidalia Industrial Park, but the facility can bring in prospects that are looking at the area, Copeland said.

The town has been working on getting a port since 1992, Copeland said and already has plans drawn up.

The proposed facility will be a slack water type port, bringing boats into a u-shaped waterway off the river where the boats load and unload.

Also, the town can put a rail spur at the facility to the industrial park, about half a mile away, to take products from the facility to the unloading and loading facility so a truck will not be needed, Copeland said.