One of the touchiest issues at Tampa's port will get a very public airing this week.
The question before the Tampa Port Authority's governing board Tuesday will be what to do with Gulf Marine Repair Corp., a longtime tenant and the smallest of three shipyards at the port.
Gulf Marine sits on a corner of Port Ybor, a warehouse and office development under construction on land the port authority has leased to Trammell Crow Co. Gulf Marine's lease expires in 2006, but the public agency hasn't found a new home for the shipyard yet.
Unless the port authority acts soon, Gulf officials say, the company and some 250 jobs could go down the tubes.
But Gulf Marine's predicament raises a bigger issue for traditional industrial companies at the port. Many think the port authority cares more about cruise ships and real estate projects such as Port Ybor than the grittier kind of business that built the port.
Agency staffers and Gulf Marine have been talking about a solution for years. In November, former port director George Williamson called relocation of the shipyard a top priority. But relations between the two sides increasingly have grown sour.
In April, the port authority told Gulf Marine to vacate 2 acres south of its leased property, land the shipyard hasn't paid to use. Without access to the land, Gulf Marine says, it can't use two leased berths to repair vessels, including one that's heading to Tampa.
Port officials have said the change shouldn't affect Gulf Marine's business. They suggest owner Aaron Hendry is angling for a sweetheart lease on a new site.
Hendry wrote interim port director Zelko Kirincich on April 29 asking to take the dispute to the five-member port authority board. "GMR can no longer wait for staff to address the relocation issue," he wrote.
