PORT BOARD OPPOSES CORPS IN PLAN TO REGULATE RIVER

SCOTT CITY -- The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority went on record Monday opposing a Corps of Engineers' proposal to release more water in the spring and less in the fall.

Port Commission Chairwoman Mysie Keene said the proposal would change the objectives of the corps' approach to the Missouri River from flood control and navigation to recreation and flood control.

She said priorities should remain the same as they have since reservoirs were built on the upper Missouri River years ago.

The proposal calls for releasing more water in the spring from the six reservoirs that feed the Missouri River in the upstream states of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.

The plan calls for less water to be released from the reservoirs in the fall, making barge navigation more difficult.

Keene said the corps' proposal would increase the chances of flooding in the spring and water could get so low in the fall that crops couldn't be moved on the river during harvest.

Along with the resolution opposing the change, Keene sent a letter to the corps with copies to U.S. legislators and officials of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

"We oppose elevating recreation in certain states to a higher priority than flood control and navigation in other states," she said in the letter.

The letter says jobs would be lost in Missouri because of a shorter navigation season, and wildlife and habitat will be hurt from the proposed change.

In other business, the port's executive director, Dan Overbey, said dozer work began Monday to clear the right of way for the proposed Highway AB project, an extension of Nash Road from Interstate 55 to the port.

Bloomsdale Excavating Co. was awarded the nearly $2 million contract to prepare the roadway from Ramsey Creek east to the port.

The project includes cutting through several areas of the Benton Hills area about 3/4 mile north of town, building a detour around a county road, cutting ditches on the project, placing pipes and setting erosion control before winter.

Overbey also reported preparations were proceeding with the purchase of the Union Pacific Railroad line that runs west of the port from Cape Girardeau to Scott City. The closing date on the sale is planned for Oct. 28.

The tonnage report through September showed the port has reached 86 percent of last year's amount. The net tonnage for September was 30,483 tons, bringing the 1994 total to 225,160.

With an additional three months, the port is expected to exceed last year's total tonnage of 259,338. The most tonnage of any quarter during 1993 was moved into the port during the last three months of the year.