The Columbus-Lowndes County Port is part of a regional partnership to improve infrastructure along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
The Port Authority Wednesday voted to apply for a federal transportation infrastructure grant, partnering with the ports at Yellow Creek, Itawamba, Amory and Aberdeen, in the amount of $30 million.
Lowndes County”s portion of the grant would be $5 million, for the rail spur going into the west bank.
At the east bank, the port has access to rail, water and road; the Port Authority is seeking to have the same intermodal opportunities at the west bank.
The environmental studies, engineering, design and wetland mitigation are being paid for through a $300,000 Mississippi Department of Transportation grant.
Construction is estimated to cost between $4 million and $5 million.
“We”ve had several meetings, and the feeling is if we do this as a regional approach … and we”re all in it together that we”ve got a better shot at getting some of these funds,” Port Director John Hardy said.
In other matters:
n Hardy announced the port was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation for purchase of a wheeled front-end loader to handle limestome and coal products being received at the port.
n The Port Authority will spend $187,211.20 to make a portion of Old Macon Road on the west bank, from Kinder Morgan to end of the port, heavy duty.
n The board approved Falcon Contractors as the low bidder for the project. The project will allow future tenants of the area to transport by truck. The current road will not support loaded trucks.
An intermodal connector grant is paying for 80 percent of the project.
Funding from Port Authority comes from lease charges and tonnage fees from industries using the port. Industries at the port include Kinder Morgan, a pipeline transportation and energy storage company that also stores and handles gasoline, jet fuel, ethanol, coal and petroleum; Southern Ionics chemical manufacturer, Logistics Services, a public terminal handling the unloading of barges and trucks; Southern Wood Fiber wood-chip mill; and Baldor Electric, which makes industrial motors and generators.
n Work has begun on adding a third lane to Industrial Park Access Road at the port, Hardy reported to the board. The city of Columbus, Lowndes County and the Port Authority jointly are sharing the cost, $234,582, minus a $150,000 grant from the Mississippi Development Authority.
Burns Dirt Construction is the contractor on the project. Perma Corp. is relocating water lines for the work.
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