Weilbacher gives update on KRPD
<span>A little more than a month after the Kaskaskia Regional Port District celebrated its 50th anniversary, KRPD General Manager Ed Weilbacher updated the County Board on Friday on the organization's upcoming projects.</span>
<span>Gateway FS, which purchased land from the port district in 2013, is expanding its dry fertilizer facility and building a new Agronomy Center on-site for liquid fertilizer and chemical mixing.</span>
<span>The project will add 14 new jobs and is anticipated to be completed next year.</span>
<span>"I think they're going to double their capacity," Weilbacher said.</span>
<span>Due to increased electric demand at Gateway FS and nearby The Material Works, Egyptian Electric will build a new substation on the north side of Route 154 along Bowlin Road to serve the port and its future tenants.</span>
<span>"That's really going to position us, in addition to the waterline and new road, for expansion at this location," Weilbacher said.</span>
<span>According to a handout given to media at the meeting, KRPD is the 76th largest port in the country, including coastal ports.</span>
<span>More than 66 million tons have been shipped through its facilities in the past 50 years with tonnage on the Kaskaskia River increasing every year for the past four years due to better crops, increased fertilizer sales and more scrubber stone shipments.</span>
<span>At KRPD No. 2, new towboats are under construction. Southern Illinois Transfer Company and St. Louis-based J.B. Marine Services have formed Kaskaskia Shipyard Inc. with the goal of at least two boats constructed per year.</span>
<span>Top decks of the vessels are being built in Baldwin.</span>
<span>"There's a few extra jobs created there because of the new business," Weilbacher said.</span>
<span>A new outbound conveyor was installed in February at KRPD No. 2 and was vital in the transportation of scrubber stone for the Baldwin Energy Complex while the Kaskaskia River was closed due to flooding.</span>
<span>Further south, Weilbacher said the Jerry F. Costello Lock and Dam will be "dewatered" for the first time next year. New bulkheads will be installed and the water pumped out to permit inspection of the dam.</span>
<span>The facility, formerly the Kaskaskia Lock and Dam until being renamed in 2014, became operational on November 9, 1973. It is anticipated to be out of service for at least three weeks due to the inspection.</span>
<span>Weilbacher also updated the board on the status of the 8-inch potable waterline from Baldwin to the port, which will aid expansion at the facility.</span>
<span>"We're waiting on final approval of release of funds from (Economic Development Administration) and as soon as we can get that, we can put it out to bid," he said.</span>
<span>The KRPD is also developing a terminal on the east bank of the Kaskaskia River south of Route 15 near Fayetteville. The port has been approved for an Illinois Department of Transportation Economic Development Program grant to build an access road to the site with roller-compacted concrete.</span>
<span>The commissioners also heard from Randolph County Health Department Administrator Thomas Smith on a funding assistance request from the Monroe-Randolph Transit District.</span>
<span>The district's operating expenses were said to be $180,000 per quarter.</span>
<span>"We don't have the sufficient reserves to fund them unless things change," said Commissioner Dave Holder.</span>
<span>The commissioners also discussed the state budget mess in Springfield and how 60 percent of the county's general revenues come from state funds.</span>
<span>"If our leaders in Springfield wanted us to feel pain, we're starting to feel the pain," said Board Chairman Marc Kiehna.</span>
Roundup
<span>The commissioners tabled approval of new AFSCME labor contracts with the Randolph County sheriff's deputies and Randolph County Courthouse security officers due to contract language issues.</span>
<span>"Hopefully, that will be on the agenda in two weeks," Kiehna said.</span>
<span>The board approved two special use permits for Rick Cowell and the David and Vernon Sickmeyer Trust.</span>
<span>Cowell's request is to separate 10 acres from a 78 acre tract on Milford Lane in Evansville for the construction of a new home. An existing home on the tract will be torn down.</span>
<span>The Sickmeyer Trust request is to separate two acres of the father's estate on Shiloh Hill Road near Campbell Hill for the sale of a residence. The family wishes to retain the remaining 78 acres of the tract.</span>
<span>General assistance for the period was $900. The Randolph County Care Center had 64 residents.</span>
<span>Kiehna said the public hearing for the county's proposed noise ordinance has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 27 in the Performing Arts room at Southwestern Illinois College.</span>
<span>"We'll have more coming out on that," he said.</span>
<span>The next meeting of the Board of Commissioners is scheduled for Aug. 14 at 9 a.m.</span>
<span> </span>