RIVER COMMISSION TO HOLD HEARING AT NEW MADRID DURING INSPECTION

The motor vessel Mississippi was in Minnesota Monday and will be in Iowa Wednesday.

Those places are off the beaten bath for the Mississippi, the Army Corps of Engineers revetments boat used to conduct the annual Mississippi River Commission low-water inspection of the Mississippi and Atchafalya rivers.

Happenings along the Mississippi River will be discussed during the Mississippi River Commission's 12-day inspection trip. The annual fall trips are usually conducted from St. Louis to New Orleans.

The Southeast Missouri stop will be at New Madrid Monday at 9 a.m..

Two years ago the boat stopped in Cape Girardeau. Last year it stopped at Cairo, Ill.

Seven public meetings are scheduled aboard the vessel for the low-water inspection trip. It started at St. Paul, Minn., Monday.

Officials of the Upper Mississippi, Illinois and Missouri River Association have applauded the plan by the Corps of Engineers to include the upper Mississippi for a historic inspection trip. It is a historic commitment by the Corps and the Mississippi River Commission, said David McMurray of Burlington, Iowa, president of the association.

"We're grateful to Gen. Phillip Anderson, commander of the Corps' Vicksburg Division, and Gen. Robert B. Flowers for including this important portion of the river on the schedule," said McMurray.

Flowers, commander of the Corps' lower valley, will deliver a state-of-the-valley report aboard the vessel during the seven public-hearing stops between St. Paul and Morgan City, La.

The inspection trip will end at Morgan City Aug. 22. Other stops include Helena, Ark., and Lake Providence, La. All meetings are open to the public.

During each hearing, commission and Corps members will meet with citizens, elected officials and members of levee, flood-control and drainage districts to discuss planned or ongoing projects in their areas.

A number of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois representatives will be on hand for the New Madrid hearing, which will be held at the foot of the 8th Street levee downtown.

District engineers will report on the river and tributaries projects in their respective districts following the public presentations.

The Mississippi River Commission, organized in 1879, is composed of seven members, each nominated by the president of the United States. Three of the members are officers of the Corps, one is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and three are civilians, two of them civil engineers.

The commission makes recommendations on policy and work programs and studies and reports on modifications or additions for flood-control and navigational projects, in addition to making two river-inspection trips each year. The high-water inspection is done in the spring.

The purpose of the hearings is to keep an exchange of viewpoints and ideas flowing between the public and the Corps. Presentations are made during the hearings, but a copy of the remarks must be presented to the commission for the official record.