Story - The Meade County Messenger


Vol. 115, No. 33	August 13, 2008

Riverport Authority still awaits property deed resolution

By LARRY SEE JR.
Messenger Staff

Who owns the Riverport property?

Not the Riverport Authority – yet.

Riverport officials did learn Aug. 6 during their monthly meeting that although consultant Mike Flint has not heard anything from discussions, he was aware County Judge Executive Harry Craycroft and County Attorney Margaret Matney were addressing the issue.

“It is critical we have our site controlled very well and defined,” Flint said. He added with third party involvement, those vendors want to see clear, clean site control, adding it needs to be very well defined.

“Our project is going to be very well defined,” Flint continued, especially following recent changes board members approved.

Those include making the Riverport constructed in phases and proposed modifications to the terminal.

“All of the permits are in place and everyone has been involved,” Flint continued. “It’s not like we’re starting with a new company. Consolidated Grain and Barge is a Fortune 1000 firm.”

Flint said that will be one of his main targets as soon as final designs are presented and GeoTech, the geotechnical engineers, complete soil borings.

Board members asked Flint if he had a timeline for the lease agreement, to which he replied that was a good question, but he didn’t have an answer.

“It is just one of these things that keeps coming back and you constantly have to resolve. I just think it might come back and bite us,” he said.

He reiterated if anyone was interested in doing anything on the property, or even if the Authority wanted to rent a piece of machinery for work there, they needed a clear deed.

“They want to understand you have control of the land before they’ll come in there and put in something down to the tune of about a half million dollars,” he said.

Riverport chairman Joe Wright suggested members first deal with the road issue, and an expected $500,000 shortfall there, before tackling the deed agreement.

“They (meaning the county) need to get their arms around it first,” Flint said. “They have site control and we’re a subdivision of that.”

Secretary/treasurer Edd Pike suggested members have a work session with Craycroft and Matney to discuss the matter.

“I think that six weeks from now we’ll know where we are,” Wright said.

“I would hope to hear something soon on this,” Flint said. “I know the judge is working on it.”

The original deed was made between Arch Chemicals Inc. and the Meade County/Brandenburg Industrial Development Authority on Dec. 27, 2005.

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