*The port's tonnage during each of the last four months of 1994 was above 30,000, bringing tonnage for the year to 336,743. That was 77,000 tons more than the 259,000 handled in 1993. It was almost five times as much as the 74,000 handled in 1994.

SCOTT CITY -- The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority is actively in development, says Dan Overbey, executive director.

"This period is crucial to the ultimate success of the port," Overbey said. "Much work has been done at the port to get it where it is today, but there still remains a lot to be done on our plans."

The port in 1994 received authorities for more than $4 million in federal and state funds for infrastructure improvements, purchased almost six miles of rail line and a railroad engine, started construction of Route AB as an extension of Nash Road into the port, agreed with Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. to construct a grain elevator, and saw tonnage going through the port increase almost 30 percent over 1993.

The Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce is providing $3.075 million in a third grant to the port for economic development. That is being combined with $838,000 from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department and a $187,000 grant from the state Department of Economic Development to give the port $4.1 million for continued improvements.

The improvements will allow six companies at the port to retain 129 jobs and will create an additional 155 jobs, Overbey said. Several of the planned improvements will allow government agencies and businesses to use the port even during high water such as that during the record 1993 Mississippi River flood.

Construction projects planned for the money include: a small auxiliary dock above the 500-year flood elevation to serve the Coast Guard, Corps of Engineers and commercial haulers during floods; the extension of Nash Road across port property; a concrete street and gravel road to industrial tracts; additional railroad spur tracks above the 500-year flood elevation to serve industries during a flood; a sanitary sewer system; and a second dredge disposal basin to relieve a 27-acre basin that is almost full.

Overbey said work continued last year on a second grant the port received from the Economic Development Administration of $1.2 million, which is being matched by $800,000 in local funds through a line of credit. Some capital improvements from the grant in 1994 were concrete paving of a general cargo dock and the railroad purchase.

The work planned for 1995 from the grant includes a 1.5-mile railroad line to the harbor, a 1,200-foot siding east of Scott City as a railroad interchange track, a railroad industry spur to the general cargo dock, and extension of the port's 10-inch water line to loop the system into its 250,000-gallon water tank.

The railroad purchase

The port authority formed SEMO Port Railroad Inc. as a wholly-owned subsidiary to operate as a rail common carrier to provide a switch service over 5.8 miles of railroad track. In October it purchased the track from Union Pacific for $300,000. It runs from the Thebes, Ill., bridge north through Scott City to the port and into Cape Girardeau.

By owning the rail line, port businesses have access to three railroads: Burlington Northern, Union Pacific and Southern Pacific.

SEMO Port Railroad got a government surplus railroad locomotive in November for about $25,000 in transportation costs and state processing fees. The 1951 locomotive was overhauled in 1979 by the Army. It was worth about $125,000.

The first carload of freight was moved by the railroad Dec. 3. Overbey said the fixed cost of running the railroad will have to be absorbed as industry develops at the port.

Highway to increase access

A groundbreaking ceremony in early November marked the first step in extending Route AB from Interstate 55 at Nash Road to the port. The first stage of the $1.89 million project includes grading and drainage work along 1.7 miles, beginning about a mile east of the interstate and extending to the port railroad line.

Planning of the road project was completed in three years. Overbey said the project was a priority "since trucks will have better access to the port from the interstate."

Grain elevator deal

The agreement that Consolidated Grain and Barge would lease 16 acres at the port for construction of a barge facility and grain elevator was announced in December. Consolidated expects to initially employ eight people with that number possibly tripling during the first year at the port.

Consolidated, which has had a grain operation at Cape Girardeau along the Mississippi River since 1986, plans to build a $3.4 million facility with construction starting in 1996 at the port. The project will include a 350,000-bushel concrete storage bin and loading and unloading facilities for trucks, 100-car trains and barges.

Port tonnage increasing

Girardeau Stevedores and Contractors, First Missouri Terminals and Midwest Agri-Chemico have long-term leases at the port. There are also two temporary leases with Xylem and Cape Fleeting.

The port's tonnage during each of the last four months of 1994 was above 30,000, bringing tonnage for the year to 336,743. That was 77,000 tons more than the 259,000 handled in 1993. It was almost five times as much as the 74,000 handled in 1992.

The largest volume of cargo through the port is petroleum coke. Dry and liquid fertilizer is second and third. Shipments last year also included salt, coal, mulch and lumber.

Marketing the port

The port is marketing the port nationally. Industries most likely to locate at the port are those that could benefit from having the nearby connections to rivers, railroads, highways, airports and pipelines that the port offer.

Overbey said marketing efforts by the port's three employees and its board to secure additional industries and generate more traffic through the port are important.