The engineering firm hired to draft a plan for a proposed Missouri River port in Jefferson City said a prime port site on the south side of the river would face fewer development restrictions than the alternative sites.
At Thursday's Heartland Port Authority Board meeting, officials with Barr Engineering showed board members their initial study of "critical issues" for the proposed sites for the port.
The majority of the prime site, which is 116 acres just east of the Ike Skelton Training Facility on the south side of the river, is in what the Federal Emergency Management Agency would classify as in the "flood fringe" of the river, meaning the chances for flooding hazards are less in that area, Barr officials said.
Being in the fringe, Barr said, would mean there would be fewer restrictions for development of the property.
The initial phase of the port project looks to be an area from 150 feet south of Range Road to the Missouri River with a dock system capable of unloading two barges at a time, construction of a new access road off Cortez Road, and upgrading Range and Cortez roads to handle two semi tractor-trailer trucks. The remainder of the site would be for future development.
Barr also looked at a river site where a port could potentially be located near OCCI Inc. in northern Jefferson City in Callaway County. Its finding was this site would be in what FEMA classifies as a regulatory "floodway," which would mean there would be greater flooding hazards and more restrictions for building in that area.
Because there may be a potential memorandum of understanding between the Port Authority and Capital Sand, Barr also looked at a site where Capital Sand is considering expanding, perhaps building a second dock just to the east of its current location on the north side of the river. Barr officials said this also would be considered in the floodway.
Barr officials said they looked at zoning classifications of the properties and found the OCCI and Capital Sand sites are classified as "rural zoning." Barge transportation is listed among the conditional uses for "rural zoning" properties.
The Ike Skelton site is classified as "conservation zoning." Development would typically be discouraged in this type of zoning, but barge transportation is also listed as a conditional use.
What type of permits could be needed were also looked at by Barr; the majority would be with the state, in particular the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for things such as water quality certification.
Barr officials said they'll know more about what type of permits will be needed for the port project as they move through their process. They said they expect to have a critical analysis for the south site completed by June 15.
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May 22, 2021 at 08:45AM
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Engineers: South port site faces fewer restrictions - Fulton Sun
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