JEFFERSON CITY, Mo – Democrat and Republican Representatives from Jefferson County praised the effort to allocate $750,000 in the House approved budget to the county Port Authority. They happen to be facing each other for the District 22 Senate seat.
Rep. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, proposed the amendment for the allocation. It brought the Port Authority funding up to $1.25 million for 2015. The funds were moved from an account paying for retired state employees, overfunded in 2014 by about $20 million.
“Pretend its Christmas,” Wieland told port authority officials. “How much would you need?”
Patrick Lamping oversees the port authority as the Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation of Jefferson County. He said of the two major infrastructure improvements that $750,000 can pay for is power and a fleeting operation for a holding barge.
“It will be a tremendous benefit,” Lamping said. “There are tremendous startup costs.”
Infrastructure improvements are one part of a 20-year plan that would bring thousands of jobs to Jefferson County, both in construction to build up the port and hundreds of jobs working in a completed industrial park. The current focus of the project is the Doe Run Company site in Herculaneum. There is already a small working port at that location plus railroad and road connections. Doe Run closed the Herculaneum site when it inherited an EPA Superfund area from a former company, ending its lead smelting process and lead production.
“We spend $1.6 billion on roads, $46 million on infrastructure, $23 million on airports and $615,000 on ports,” Wieland said. “We’re missing the boat.”
Ideally, Weiland wants Doe Run, when back up to full strength, to be a contributor to the port project. His bill, HB 2063, would divert taxes from a willing company to cover port costs.
Rep. Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart, attributed the fact that Doe Run is even remotely viable to the work of Sen. Gary Romine, R-Poplar Bluff.
“He helped keep the company’s head above water,” Roorda said.
Roorda said that he worked to have funds allocated to the port authority in previous years with former District 22 Senator, Ryan McKenna.
“It’s a good bipartisan effort,” Roorda said.
A good enough effort that Wieland thinks it might make a difference in the upcoming Senate race.
“I think it shows my constituents that I’m willing to commit to creating economic opportunities,” he said. “That’s the No. 1 thing I hear from people that we need good, family-sustaining jobs.”
Roorda downplayed the impact of the budget allocation.
“I think the folks in Jefferson County see clearly the distinction between Representative Weiland and myself,” Roorda said. “In me, they have somebody to go to bat for the county and will bring home the bacon.”
