Local gas prices drop nearly eight cents
Average retail gasoline prices in Savannah have fallen 7.9 cents a gallon in the past week to $2.51 a gallon on Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 262 gas outlets in Savannah.
The national average has fallen 8.3 cents a gallon in the last week to $2.57, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.
Prices Sunday in Savannah were 72.3 cents a gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 30.1 cents a gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 33.2 cents a gallon during the last month and stands 67.0 cents lower than a year ago.
“By tomorrow, more stations in the U.S. will be charging under $2.50 per gallon than over, a remarkable milestone,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy. “In fact, as of Sunday evening, the number of states that saw at least one station at $1.99 or less had jumped to thirteen from just three a week ago.”
Budget bill has $1.5 million for Savannah harbor
A $1.1 trillion spending bill approved by Congress contains a small amount of money to help begin deepening the Port of Savannah’s shipping channel.
The measure sent to the White House over the weekend includes $1.52 million in construction funding for the long-sought Savannah harbor expansion, which is expected to get started in early 2015. That’s less than 1 percent of the $250 million the Army Corps of Engineers plans to spend in the project’s first year.
The federal government has committed to pay 60 percent of the harbor deepening’s $706 million total cost. But getting money from Washington has been tough. Gov. Nathan Deal has agreed to spend $266 million in state funds upfront so dredging can begin.
New Kroger to be built in Rincon
A new, 114,000-square-foot Kroger is being planned on 27 acres next to Lowe’s on Ga. 21 in Rincon.
Arahn Hawkins, real estate manager for The Kroger Co., told the city’s planning and zoning board Dec. 9 it would include apparel, a toy shop, an expanded baby center, a vitamin shop, pharmacy, large deli and seafood area and a Fred Meyer Jewelry Center.
Plans also call for nine gas pumps.
The current store, on the east side of Ga. 21, was built in 1996 and is 49,400 square feet.
The new store would be about the same size as a Kroger marketplace that opened in April across from Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah.