VIDALIA — After nearly two decades of lobbying, applications and funding commitments, the Vidalia Port could be open for commercial business this time next year.

Concordia Economic Development Director Heather Malone said the port project cleared its last environmental regulatory hurdle last week when the Federal Highway Administration deemed the environmental permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to be sufficient for the project.

“If everything goes as planned, we should begin turning dirt and start construction by mid-February,” Malone said.

Port Director Wyley Gilfoil said for construction to start in time, the Louisiana Department of Transportation will have to prepare an advertisement for the project, which will run for 30 days.

“Assuming that you have a good bid, within 30 days of the start of advertising, you should have a contract signed,” he said.

Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said the project will be overseen by the LaDOTD because some of the funding is directed through the department, but the Vidalia Board of Aldermen will likely pass a resolution seeking bids at its next meeting.

The port location is south of Vidalia near the town’s second industrial park.

The initial work will be to extend an access road, and build a spur levee to the river, a concrete ramp down to the river and a working pad with a truck turnaround area, Malone said.

“From there, we can extend our infrastructure and utilities, and we will be able to put out the T-dock and conveyer system,” she said.

“Contingent on the river (levels), everything should be moving along quite seamlessly.”

Gilfoil said if river levels cooperate with the construction, the port could be moving agriculture products onto barges as early as fall 2014.

The project has $5 million in cash on hand and $5 million in priority 5 reserves with the state, Copeland said, and $2 million in federal funding.

The total project should cost approximately $20 million, he said.

“As we proceed with the construction, we are naturally going to be asking for more money to finalize the project, but we are also going to have industries and private sector interests coming in and wanting to add their own things in,” Copeland said.

The mayor said several industries have expressed interest in the port recently, and Malone said the possibility of an operational port facility will help with the recruiting of agricultural and other industrial prospects.

“We can already foresee that we already will need more than one conveyer,” Malone said. “We hope we can meet the needs of the agriculture industry with another bang-up year like this year.”

Copeland said the past 19 years of work have been worth it to see the Vidalia port move forward.

“This port is not just for Vidalia or Concordia Parish, but for the whole Miss-Lou,” he said. “It has been a long process, but the end result is we are going to have a good port.”