Blunt staff member outlines projects in region to Cape County Commission

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt continues to work to improve conditions in Southeast Missouri, staffer Madison Baker said at Thursday's regular Cape Girardeau County Commission meeting.

Prior to the recess, Baker said, Blunt championed two bills: one regarding the opioid crisis, and the other, a prison reform bill. The latter bill potentially would lower recidivism rates and would institute workforce development, Baker said.

Baker, who addressed the commission although his appearance was not listed on the meeting agenda, also mentioned the grant money at work at the SEMO Regional Port Authority in Scott City.

According to previous reporting, the authority will receive a $19.8 million grant through the Department of Transportation's Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Grants program.

The funding will be used to finish the port loop track terminal, providing more efficient transfers between railroad unit trains and river barge transportation.

St. Louis' port traffic continues to be busy, and a new grain elevator is set to open there, Baker said, which potentially could bring more jobs to Southeast Missouri.

In other action:

• The Justice Center project is moving ahead. All piers, or footings, are drilled, and steel for the building's infrastructure has been ordered, said Commissioner Charles Herbst. Commissioner Paul Koeper said foundation walls will need to go in before the steel goes up, and weather will be a factor. Koeper said steel probably will not be up before April.
• Herbst said the county's public defender office is planned to move into leased space by April 1.
• No County Commission meeting will be held Monday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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