The board of directors of the Connecticut Port Authority, established by 2014 legislation to develop and market the state's ports and promote its maritime economy, will meet for the first time at the end of the month, and one of its first orders of business will be to appoint an executive director.

The board will meet on Feb. 29 in Hartford and will handle various housekeeping items like appointing a chair, setting up office space at the Department of Economic and Community Development, and "setting up the processes for how fiscal elements of this will work," Tim Sullivan, deputy commissioner of DECD, said.

It will also decide upon a process for hiring an executive director, a salaried position.

The Port Authority was authorized by law to exist as of July 1, 2015, but it's taken several months for it to take shape. Board appointments have begun to roll in.

Locally, Scott Bates, of Stonington, a former senior policy advisor to the federal Committee on Homeland Security, Old Lyme First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder, and Old Lyme businessman John Johnson, all received appointments. 

"The first order of business is thinking like the Port of Connecticut," Bates said. "When marketing the ports of the state, you're tying it up as a package, including the smaller ports."

During his testimony before the state's Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee nominations committee, Bates said he understands "how ports must be tied into the larger infrastructure of a state to be part of a strategic approach of leveraging assets to greatest effect."

To start, the port authority will be housed within DECD, which will provide a lot of the back office functions such as payroll and human resources.

In fiscal year 2016, $119,000 was allotted to the Department of Transportation for the port authority. Proposals call for $239,011 in fiscal year 2017, and $253,352 in fiscal year 2018.

The money will be used to pay an executive director and an executive assistant, who will do much of the administrative work, help run the port authority and manage the board.

But the funding will also go toward other expenses such as start up costs, legal fees, auditing, and pay for fringe benefits for the two employees, Garrett Eucalitto, undersecretary for transportation policy and planning, said.

The 2016 money will partially be used to pay for a search firm to hire an executive director, Eucalitto said. In the meantime, DOT is holding onto the money.

On July 1,  the maritime functions of DOT such as the grants-in-aids program that many of the smaller harbors use for dredging and other infrastructure projects, and ownership of State Pier will be transferred over to the port authority.

The main lease at State Pier is with Logistec serving as terminal operator for the facility, aside from a small part of the pier that is leased to the Thames River Seafood Co-op.

The periods of the two leases coincide, and were due to expire on Jan. 31, 2016 but have been extended.

The volunteer board has 15 voting members including four ex officio members: the state treasurer, or a designee, and the commissioners of the Energy and Environmental Protection, Transportation, and Economic and Community Development departments, or their designees.

Other members include Terry Gilbertson of New Haven, David Pohorylo, of Milford, Parker Wise, of Branford, Nancy DiNardo, of Trumbull, Pamela Elkow, of Redding, and Henry W. Juan III, of Greenwich.

The port authority is required to submit a plan of action to governor and legislature by December 2016.

j.bergman@theday.com

Twitter: @JuliaSBergman