Officials visit Southeast Missouri Port Authority

Members of the Jefferson County, Mo., Council and Port Authority joined members of the Missouri Ports Issue Development Committee for a rainy Tuesday bus tour visiting Missouri Bootheel ports to get some inspiration for their potential port.

Dan Overbey, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority, shared the historic ups and downs of the journey to the self-supporting port that operates in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties.

"It's definitely been an effort with a whole lot of players to make it work," he said.

Ken Waller, county executive in Jefferson County, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

After collecting sales tax to get the port started, then fighting to match funds for federal and state grants, considering a mortgage and getting surrounding counties to co-sign loans, the SEMO Port now has between $21 million and $23 million in assets, $60 million to $70 million in private assets and between 100 and 125 employees working at any given time, Overbey said.

Ken Waller, county executive for Jefferson County, said representatives from the Jefferson County Council and the Jefferson County Port Authority took part in the tour of Bootheel-area ports at various stages of development to gather ideas for how they want to develop their port.

Waller said they are looking closely at two of four potential locations for a port in Jefferson County, either in Herculaneum, Mo., or in the Crystal City, Mo., and Festus, Mo., area.

The county has been working on the project for about four years, and finally it is within budget in Jefferson City, Mo., to move forward with the project, he said.

"Right now, it's being held up by a governor's veto, and we understand all that, but we're looking at hopefully that money being released and be able to start to do something over there," Waller said.

State Rep. Paul Wieland is the chairman of the port committee, and Waller said Wieland wanted representatives from Jefferson County to take part in the port tour.

"He wanted a few of us to come down and just kind of see the different stages so we don't get discouraged if we're not where we think we should be, or to be encouraged by what it can be," he said.

State Rep. Paul Wieland, chairman of the House Issue Development Committee on Missouri Ports, speaks Tuesday at the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority. (Fred Lynch)

Waller and Dan Govero, chairman of the Jefferson County Port Authority, said Herculaneum already has spent millions of dollars in infrastructure that makes them more prepared and able to develop a port.

The Doe Run Co.'s 100-year relationship with Jefferson County and the fact a Doe Run facility in Herculaneum must close by the end of the year creates an ideal situation for a potential port, Waller said.

Doe Run built a bridge and road in Herculaneum to allow easier transportation of trucks to a lead smelter. Doe Run's facility must close by the end of the year because of lead smelter pollution, Govero said, leaving access to the Mississippi River open for a port.

"They want to see that repurposed for jobs to come back," Waller said. "They're not going to build another plant there, so they would like to see jobs created. They would like to see a port developed."

A port is needed in Jefferson County for two reasons: to create jobs and to use land along the Mississippi River, Waller said.

The closing of the Doe Run facility will cost about 300 people their jobs, Govero added, and opening a port would be "an economic boom for the county."

"We got to replace those jobs, and so we're trying to do that with the port," he said.

Representatives on the Missouri ports tour today will visit ports in Pemiscot, New Madrid and Mississippi counties.

adowning@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent addresses:

10 Bill Bess Drive, Scott City, Mo.

Herculaneum, Mo.

Crystal City, Mo.