Port Meeting Minutes from June . . . .
NATCHITOCHES PARISH PORT COMMISSION
June 22, 2021, Regular Meeting
Present were Nettles Brown, William Allen, Ralph Ingram, Dan Simmons and K. David Zachary, Commissioners. Also, present were Travis Tyler, Executive Director of the Port, Mickey Chambers, Assistant to the Executive Director of the Port, Wendell Luneau, Corporate Sales Executive with Brown & Brown of Louisiana, LLC and Erika F. Cedars of McCoy Roberts & Begnaud, Ltd., legal counsel to the Commission.
An insurance proposal was presented to the Commission by Wendell Luneau, with discussion afterwards.
A motion was made by Mr. Simmons, seconded by Mr. Ingram, and duly carried to approve the minutes of the May 17, 2021, Commission meeting.
As part of the Director's Activity Report, Mr. Tyler reported:
1) approximately 188,000 tons of material have moved through the Port year to date; 2) there has been an increase of locomotive usage by both ADA and Custom Commodities;
3) Madden is increasing its train usage over the previous month; and
4) Kisatchie Chips has started chipping pine in addition to hardwood; and
5) he met with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives at the Red River Valley Association to discuss possible solutions for the erosion issues the Port is facing. A motion was made by Mr. Ingram, seconded by Mr. Allen and duly passed approving Mr. Tyler and Mr. Brown meeting with U.S. Representatives to discuss and ask for support for solutions for the erosion issues at the Port.
Also, as part of the Director's Report, Mr. Tyler provided updates on several projects, including:
1) Project Titan - the Port was knocked off the project's list due to the presence of wetlands;
2) Project Drill Ñ the company wants to handle the transportation of crushed material, but have another company do the crushing;
3) Project Milton is still working with LED and will visit the Port again;
4) Project Green Ñ Mr. Tyler had a conference call with representatives and is moving forward with potential expansion of the Port which could bring in 1,000 barrels a day by barge; 4) Project Lloyd, a new project applied for by the Port, is a metal recycling facility that would utilize 60 to 80 acres of land and would infuse approximately $150 to $200 million in capital investment and provide 100 +/- full time jobs;
5) Project Patty, another new project applied for by the Port, is a steel manufacturing company that would barge Òpig ironÓ and utilize 60 to 80 acres of land and provide 360 +/- full time jobs.
Finally, as part of the Director's Report, Mr. Tyler reported:
1) he continues to have potential discussions with parties interested in grain facilities;
2) he has been in talks with parties regarding liquid fertilizer;
3) Piney Woods contacted the Port regarding the potential purchase by the Port of some of its property. It is getting the property appraised;
4) Terral is not expected to renew its lease at the Port and interested parties have contacted the Port, one being a local construction company looking to store materials;
5) BioMass representative, Mr. Carroll, corresponded with Mr. Tyler stating BioMass signed a MOU with a company from Japan and Mr. Carroll would follow up with a phone call. Mr. Tyler has not received a phone call as of the date of the meeting;
6) he met with a local timber company that hauls in and out of Kisatchie Chips. It is considering hauling logs after they have been delivered and potentially utilize the chip pad to store logs;
7) talked to a Houston group looking at one time project of loading barges with 12 control shacks (2 shacks per barge) being built in Minden for a facility it is building in New Orleans;
8) met with BNSF through KCS and they are looking at bringing in pallets to unload and will need a center beam location.
After the Commissioners reviewed the May 2021 Treasurer's Report, a motion was made by Mr. Allen, seconded by Mr. Simmons and duly carried to accept the report, a copy of which was available for review.
In Old Business, Mr. Tyler reported the following:
1) no new information regarding capital improvement;
2) regarding the Dock 3 Repair, the Port has received an extension until October to stabilize Dock 3 and returning it to a usable form.
In New Business:
1) after discussion regarding new insurance policies, the discussion was tabled until the next regular meeting;
2) Terral has decided not to renew the lease utilizing truck scales and asked if he Port was interested in purchasing the scales, appraisals will be requested.
A motion was made by Mr. Ingram, seconded by Mr. Simmons, and after a unanimous roll call vote, the Board entered executive session to discuss litigation matters.
After exiting executive session, a motion was made by Mr. Allen, seconded by Mr. Ingram and duly carried that the meeting be adjourned.
616-21 08/19
