It’s been almost a year since Pittsylvania County officials announced a plan to turn Hurt’s former Klopman Mills site into Virginia’s second inland port and now the questions of cost and funding are becoming more clear.
Preliminary engineering and a feasibility study began January, and by this coming April, the Staunton River Regional Industrial Facility Authority should be officially formed from Pittsylvania County, the city of Danville, and the towns of Altavista and Hurt. This RIFA will be similar to the one that allows Danville and Pittsylvania County to pool resources for the creation and upkeep of industrial parks.
“We as a community have to look at and agree on what we want out at the property,” Pittsylvania County Economic Development Director Matt Rowe said. “That’s been a really good discussion, because we have four different localities with four different ideas about how the park should be run.”
