Published: October 11, 2008 07:08 pm         

Public meetings set for proposed Miss. port plan

Jackson — The board overseeing the State Port of Gulfport could vote later this month on an ambitious plan that would greatly expand operations at the facility and help it weather future hurricanes.

Port executive director Don Allee said the port authority has meetings scheduled for Oct. 14 and Oct. 24 in Gulfport to discuss lingering questions about the project. He said a final vote could take place at the second meeting.

The authority has received about 100 comments regarding the proposed restoration.

Hurricane Katrina devastated the port in August 2005, rendering it unusable for months after the storm. The plan being considered calls for expanding the port from its current 210 acres to nearly 1,000 acres. The expansion also would take the port south of its present location, requiring dredging and a deepening and widening of the channel. The property would be raised 25 feet above sea level to protect against future hurricane storm surge.

Some concerns remain about the project, based on the public comments provided to The Associated Press by the Mississippi State Port Authority. However, Allee said “the positives overwhelmingly outweighed anything that was remotely labeled negative.”

Jeff Grimes, assistant director of water resources for the Gulf Restoration Network, said he wants port officials to follow through with an environmental statement about the project.

“Where is all the fill going to come from to create this raised port? They will take some when they dredge the channel. I question whether that’s going to be enough. The big concern for us would be if they’re going to be digging up some wetlands to get that fill,” Grimes said Friday.

Allee said some type of environmental review will be conducted.

The state would use $575 million in Katrina recovery funds to begin the restoration, which is expected to create more than 6,000 new jobs. The money initially had been earmarked for housing, and the diversion by Gov. Haley Barbour’s administration drew rebukes from advocacy groups and some congressional leaders who said too many housing needs had been neglected. The federal government approved the diversion earlier this year.

Allee said that the restoration would cost about $1 billion to $3 billion, and that the project would be constructed in phases.

Rick Quinn, vice president of Island View Casino Resort, is hoping to learn more at the meetings about the suggestion that U.S. 90 be moved to accommodate the expansion.

“We don’t want anything to disrupt our business or any of the other businesses along the Gulf Coast,” Quinn said.

The rerouting of the highway was included in the plan developed by CH2M Hill, a Houston firm, only as a consideration for the port design, said Mississippi Development Authority spokesman Lee Youngblood. Several elements of the proposal are subject to change, he said.