Written by David Wren.

If the Port of Georgetown’s precarious future wasn’t clear before now, the previous two months of operations at the bulk and breakbulk terminal along the Sampit River should leave little doubt.

So far in fiscal year 2017, which started on July 1, the Port of Georgetown has handled a mere 1,517 tons of cargo. That’s down from 88,521 tons moving across the terminal during the same period a year earlier.

June’s total of 882 tons was among the lowest single-month tallies on record. Then it was followed by August’s figure of 635 tons.

Both numbers are well below the monthly goal of 10,000 tons set by the State Ports Authority — a “Tale of Two Cities” maritime agency that operates both the struggling Georgetown site and the Port of Charleston, one of the nation’s best-performing seaports.

One of the Georgetown port’s largest customers “had a change in its business landscape, and as a result their volumes have dropped significantly,” SPA spokeswoman Erin Dhand said, explaining the tonnage decline. Dhand said cargo levels for that customer aren’t expected to recover in the foreseeable future.

Things aren’t likely to get any better at the Georgetown port, located about 60 miles up the coast from the SPA headquarters. Its onetime biggest customer, the adjacent ArcelorMittal steel mill, shut down more than a year ago. And the fast-silting Georgetown Harbor needs at least $66 million worth of dredging before it can handle heavy barges.

All of that is a backdrop to this week’s series of meetings sponsored by the Urban Land Institute to find a way to revitalize the waterfront part of Georgetown where the port now operates and the steel plant that once ranked among the nation’s leading wire rod producers still sits.

A panel of land use and urban redevelopment experts from around the country will meet with officials from Georgetown, the SPA and other stakeholders to plot a direction for the 150-acre site. The hope is to turn the rusting mill area into a place where tourists will want to visit, residents will want to live and businesses will want to set up shop.

“We are aiming to demonstrate how the revitalization of this key waterfront site can contribute to the area’s overall economic prosperity, livability, investment appeal and competitiveness,” said Alex Rose, senior vice president of development at the Continental Development Corp. in El Segundo, Calif. Rose will chair the Urban Land Institute’s panel in Georgetown.

The group plans to interview dozens of local community and business leaders, focusing on:

Market conditions, economic development and economic diversity;

Community engagement and efforts to attract new residents and businesses while boosting quality of life; and

Using new infrastructure and incentives to spur redevelopment.

Toward the end of this week, the panel will compile its recommendations and present them Friday at Winyah Auditorium.

The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit research group made up of developers, engineers, architects, designers and others in similar fields. It has worked on about 600 similar projects during over its 69-year history, said Thomas Eitler, senior vice president of the group’s advisory services program.

“The independent views of the panelists bring a fresh perspective to the land use challenge,” Eitler said of the process. “The advisory services program is about offering creative, innovative approaches to community building.”

ArcelorMittal, the steel mill’s owner, has put the property up for sale and is “evaluating credible interest from potential buyers,” company spokeswoman Mary Beth Holdford said.

“We hope to see the property transformed into a more productive use,” she said.

Tee Miller, the city of Georgetown’s economic development director and owner of a Front Street business, said he’s confident there will be follow-through when the Urban Land Institute group leaves, and that the study won’t sit on a shelf regardless of the recommendations.

“I feel there is a strong commitment from the city and county leaders to keep the ball moving after Friday because we cannot afford to let the sites sit idle and foster local pessimism,” Miller said. “I’m also hoping with a shared vision that we can get the full support of the state agencies and leadership to help us maneuver through the process.”

Miller said the economic impact for Georgetown could be as important as Boeing Co. is to North Charleston and Volvo Cars will be to Berkeley County.

“We need to treat this like a Boeing or a Volvo,” he said.

Which circles back to the Georgetown port property, a key component in any redevelopment plan.

One measure of success at the port is its ability to qualify for federal maintenance dredging funds. The port would need to handle at least 1 million tons of cargo annually for that to happen. It hasn’t come close to that mark in a decade.

Jim Newsome, the SPA’s president and chief executive officer, has said the port’s future will have to be addressed soon. But he stops short of saying the Georgetown facility has gone the way of Port Royal — a former breakbulk terminal the SPA shut down in 2004.

Newsome also told The Post and Courier this month that one of his goals for the maritime agency is to sell any SPA-owned property that isn’t crucial to the agency’s operations.

“We’re intent in getting out of the non-operating real estate business,” he said.

At just 635 tons last month, the Georgetown Port comes mighty close to fitting that definition.

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