Alameda Corridor Nearly $6 Mil Short of Cash To Pay Debt Due Oct 1 Demands "Cash Advance" Of Nearly $3 Million Each From Ports of LB & L.A., Item Is on Today's LB Harbor Comm'n Agenda

In a further stunner, ACTA indicates its plan to deal with its debt involves a taxpayer credit card: a multi-million dollar loan from a federal agency (the Federal Railway Administration).

The item, on the LB Harbor Commission's agenda today (Sept. 9), is accompanied by a Port of LB staff memo that says the federal loan to ACTA is "expected to defer [comment: note "defer"] the need for any additional shortfall advances into future years." An accompanying ACTA cash-demand letter says that while the federal RR agency loan has been completed, ACTA's "future ability to restructure its debt service obligations through other transactions may also improve ACTA's debt service capability."

The ACTA-sought "shortfall advance" is on this afternoon's (Sept. 9, 1 p.m.) Long Beach Harbor Commission agenda, reduced to a sparse one-page transmittal memo from Port staff recommending approval and a one-page letter from the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority requesting the funds. However it's not exactly a request. Each Port is required to advance funds to cover any ACTA shortfall up to 20% of the debt service at the time.

ACTA seeks the nearly $3 million "advance" from each of the Ports via an electronic wire transfer by Sept. 24 but indicates it gave notice of the "cash flow" issue in March, 2012.

An August 8, 2012 letter by James Preusch, ACTA's CFO, informs the Ports that while ACTA "shortfall advances" aren't "expected" to continue through 2019, the amount and duration of future advances is "largely dependent on future San Pedro Bay cargo volumes and the mix of local vs. discretionary cargo."

The item comes as officials simultaneously seek to spend millions of taxpayer funds to expand the I-710 freeway to up to 14 lanes (including four "freight corridors") in large part to handle cargo traffic that freeway planners project won't be using the Alameda Corridor.

Area residents were originally told the Alameda Corridor would carry truck as well as rail cargo, reducing pressure on the I-710...but the truck component was ultimately removed, leaving the Alameda Corridor exlusively a rail project. The Alameda Corridor as a rail project built to accommodate cargo interests, was one of the costliest public works projects in U.S. history.

ACTA is governed by a Board comprised of the Executive Directors of the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, a representative of the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (currently Supervisor Don Knabe), a member of each of the LB and L.A. Harbor Commissions (currently PoLB's Susan Wise and PoLA.'s Robin Kramer) and one Councilmember each from the LB and L.A. City Councils. LB's current Council representative is Long Beach Councilman Gary DeLong. (L.A's is Councilman Joey Buscaino).

The two agendizing items are reproduced below...and speak for themselves.

LBReport.com plans to carry LIVE video of today's Harbor Commission meeting, starting at 1 p.m., during which supporters of a restaurant, seafood market and sport fishing operation at Berth 55 (the last remaining publicly accessible businesses at the Port) have indicated they will urge the Harbor Commission to reconsider the Port's stance ousting their businesses to build what Port officials say will be a combined fire/police security complex.

Also scheduled for Harbor Commission closed session discussion today: a new future HQ building for the Port.