FEDERAL OFFICIALS SEE RESULTS OF GRANTS TO CITY

A team from the U.S. Economic Development Administration Wednesday got to see flood improvements their agency helped fund.

The team, along with city staff members, inspected new water-intake facilities and an emergency generator at the city water-treatment plant, a recently elevated access road to the wastewater plant and the South Sprigg Street elevation project area.

"We hadn't really planned on it, but this was a good time to do it because the river is high enough that we can see the results that came out of this good work," said Paul Hildebrandt of the EDA.

The EDA provided grants for all three projects after the 1993 Mississippi River flood. Floodwater crept into the intake building at the city's water plant on Cape Rock Drive, threatening to ruin motors.

The floor of the building was elevated and reinforced, and the grant also helped fund construction of a giant diesel-powered generator to run the plant in the event of a power failure during a flood or other disaster.

The plant lost power during the 1993 flood, threatening the city's water supply, said Ken Eftink the city's planning coordinator. "It gets very serious in a hurry," he said.

If the power stays off too long, boil-water orders have to be issued, and the city's water supply for fighting fires is threatened, Eftink said.

Total cost of the water plant project was $1.1 million, including a $720,000 EDA grant.

The South Sprigg Street elevation project involved elevation of 2,000 linear feet of roadway from old Highway 74 to the Cape LaCroix bridge to allow access to industries, including Lone Star Industries, Kasten Block plant and Consolidated Grain and Barge.

Total cost of the project was $760,271.54, including a $425,750 EDA grant.

The access road to the city's wastewater treatment plant was also visited. A grant helped fund elevating that roadway -- which includes portions of LaCruz, Third, South Sprigg and Cooper streets -- after plant employees had to be ferried into work by boat when floodwaters closed the road during the 1993 flood.

The road was closed for 103 feet during the 1993 flood.

The project raised the street to 350 feet above sea level.

As part of the project, a temporary bridge was built so that even when water covers the railroad tracks across the roadway, traffic can still get back and forth, Eftink said.

Total cost of the project was $671,391.61, including a $392,000 EDA grant.

The EDA team also visited the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority to view improvements there funded by a $1.2 million grant awarded in 1993. Those improvements included purchase of a rail line to serve the port, construction of a rail spur and lead track from the branch line to the dock and extension of the waterline around the port.