House committee to consider granting land to Heartland Port Authority
The Missouri House committee on Corrections and Public Institutions is scheduled to consider a measure Tuesday that would see a roughly 116-acre area of riverside land transferred from state ownership to that of the Heartland Port Authority,
House Bill 813, sponsored by Rep. Rudy Veit, R-Wardsville, is the next step in the development of a river port in Cole County.
“This bill authorizes the Governor to sell, transfer, grant, convey, remise, release, and forever quitclaim all interest in specific property, described in the bill, along with an easement, located in Cole County, Missouri,” the bill summary said.
The port authority’s chairman, Rick Mihalevich, said his testimony in the committee hearing will center around the following 5 points:
A 2018 feasibility study that garnered approval of the project by the MoDOT commissioners, The fact that it is a cooperative project between three entities and two counties, The general purpose of the project is to promote general welfare, encourage capital investment, increase volume of commerce and the establishment of a free trade zone, The understanding that land conveyance will provide access from highways and rails to the Missouri River and The site can provide port service to the State of Missouri and the military.
The bill is scheduled to be heard by the house committee at 9 a.m. Tuesday in House Heaing Room 6,