Weekly News Summary For November 14-20, 2005:
The Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 2006 (H.R. 2419), a spending bill for the current fiscal year that started October 1, was approved 399–17 November 9 by the House of Representatives. The bill, in the form of a House-Senate conference committee report, is expected to be taken up by the Senate in the near future.
Waterways Council Inc. expressed appreciation to the conference committee for the “exceptionally strong bill that sets the funding level of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works program at $5.4 billion and makes necessary policy changes to the Corps program.
“We are indeed grateful that the conferees were successful in reaching policy agreement with respect to how the Corps of Engineers will manage itself in fiscal year 2006. Particularly significant is the elimination of the practice of across-the-board withholding of monies for ‘savings and slippage.’”
The National Waterways Conference (NWC) also hailed the agreement.
“Most people don’t realize just how much the missions of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers affect their daily lives,” said Worth Hager, NWC president. “From flood protection to transportation of a wide range of products using low-cost and eco-friendly barges on our inland waterways, to ports that are the lifeblood of our international trade, to beach renourishment and recreation, coastal restoration, electricity through movement of fuel and hydropower, and local job creation, the Corps is always there to support the nation.”…
Keynoting the 45th annual meeting of the National Waterways Conference, Mike Parker, former assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, plowed headlong through a fast-moving critique of the current state of the Corps of Engineers, among other things.
Now a partner of Welch Resources Inc., a government affairs consulting firm in Alexandria, Va., the blunt-speaking Parker told a crowd of about 200 waterway proponents at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock, Ark., November 1, that the most colossal mistake Congress ever made (with respect to the Corps of Engineers), was to move contracting out of the military side of the organization.
The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act, which was passed in 1990 and amended since, was intended to “professionalize” contracting by setting various training and educational standards. While it applied to both military and civilian personnel, the act’s emphasis was on offering greater opportunities to civilians.
Although well-intentioned, some say, the act had the effect of “neutering” the Corps’ commanding officers by stripping them of their ability to administer contracts. Moreover, some believe many civilian contracting officers are ill-equipped for the job….
Veteran tankerman service provider Felix Neel has relocated his Liquid Services operation from Paducah, Ky., to a new site across the Tennessee River at Ledbetter, Ky. He had formerly operated from the former Tolen Marine Inc. facility in suburban Lone Oak.
On November 4 Neel hosted an informal cookout and reception at the newly remodeled facility situated on two acres in what he and Livingston County officials hope will become the nucleus of a new industrial park. Neel said the building formerly served as a large-volume tomato processing and warehousing operation before becoming vacant several years ago. New attractive and functional offices have been built within the 15,000-square-foot facility, which also accommodates a machine shop and warehouse space for the many pieces of equipment necessary to provide the varied services now offered by the expanded company….
American Commercial Lines Inc. (ACL) announced last week that it is adding 100 hourly positions to work at Jeffboat, ACL’s shipyard division. Jeffboat is the second-largest manufacturer of barges in the United States and is in the process of increasing its production volumes, the company said.
“We are beginning to see the early stages of a very significant barge replacement cycle for Jones Act companies in the United States,” said Jerry Linzey, senior vice president-manufacturing. “While we expect to reach approximately $140 million in revenue this year at Jeffboat, we anticipate reaching approximately $300 million in revenue in 2007. As a result, we are preparing the shipyard to be able to meet this level of demand.”…
A brilliant late October sun perfectly illuminated the freshly applied stack colors and new company logo of a refurbished veteran harbor boat during the boat’s christening ceremony at TECO Barge Line’s Metropolis, Ill., headquarters October 22.
Glistening in fresh paint was the former Massac, which was renamed Sue Kossow in honor of the senior executive secretary to company vice president David O’Neill. Kossow has been employed by TECO Barge Line for 21 years following a 10-year association with the former Paducah Marine Ways.
The 1,250 hp. vessel has been a mainstay in TECO’s Metropolis fleeting and shifting operations since 1989, when it was acquired by Mid-South Towing Company. Mid-South became TECO Barge Line in 2002. The Sue Kossow is hardly recognizable as the former Choctaw when delivered to Indian Marine, Inc. by Berry Bros. of Berwick, La., in 1981.
Immediately upon its purchase from Indian Marine, the boat was taken to Quality Shipyards at Houma, La., where the pilothouse was raised and flanking rudders were added to the 63- by 24-foot hull. The original 940 hp. Cummins diesels were replaced with a pair of Caterpillar 3412 diesels by TECO’s engine shop personnel in 1993, boosting total power to 1,250 hp….
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