VIDALIA — The proposed Vidalia port project could receive $13.8 million in 2010.

A document on U.S. Congressman Rodney Alexander’s Web site lists the port appropriation as one of the requests Alexander made for 2010.

The document states that the funds will be used “to construct a loading and unloading facility in the City of Vidalia.”

Those involved in the project have requested a total of $15 million, Concordia Parish Economic Director Heather Malone said.

“I feel we are closer than ever to seeing this project funded,” Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said. “I feel really confident we will get (the funding). We have been working on it for 15 years.”

The project has already been given a $1.2 million grant through the U.S. Economic Development Administration, though it has not received the funds yet, Malone said.

Local leaders — along with District 32 State Sen. Neil Riser — met earlier this week with representatives from Alexander’s office and Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office to discuss the project, Malone said.

“In the conversations we had in the meeting, we discussed phasing the project in over a period of three to five years,” she said. “That way we wouldn’t need all of the money in the 2010 appropriation.”

The appropriation would require a 20 percent match from local or state government, Malone said.

“We have received so much support from businesses in the local area and businesses that are looking to expand in the area, that we are going to talk to those businesses about making a job creation commitment to the area,” she said. “That would turn it into a job creation development and hopefully send state dollars this way.”

The local government can also use the port property itself as a local match, Copeland said.

The port project is currently in the permitting stage, and the development district is currently working to get a 404 permit, which is concerned with the impact the port will have on a federal waterway — in this case, the Mississippi River.

The development district has also applied for a water quality certification through the Department of Environmental Quality.

Once those permits in place, the port planners can begin conducting the studies necessary to plan and begin construction.

“If all goes smoothly we will have the permit in hand in six months, and from there we can do the studies,” Malone said.