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THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2000
THE SEA COAST ECHO • HANCOCK TODAY
Port Bienville, Stennis International Airport naking steady progress
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BY ED LEPOMA Staff Writer
Steadily and without a lot of fanfare, the Hancock County Board of Supervisors and the Port and Harbor Commission continue to lure new tenants and make improvements to Port Bienville Industrial Park and to Stennis International Airport.
The P&H Commission has applied for a $500,000 state loan in hopes of luring a California manufacturer of high performance polymer resin to Port Bienville.
Maxdem, Inc., based in San Dimas would locate on a 20-acre site behind the Calgon Plant on the southeast side of the industrial park.
The Port plans to build and lease to the firm a 10,000 to 15,000 square-foot metal building, but estimates are the firm’s initial investment would be between $7 million and $8 million. Initially 15 to 20 people would be employed to manu-
from several firms from across the country which indicated an interest in managing a huge inter-modal warehouse to be built at Port Bienville. The 100,000 to 300,000-square-foot warehouse would be built on a 30 to 50-acre tract located behind the Manufab Plant and would be accessible by rail, surface roads and the nearby ship canal.
The Port is awaiting approval of a $1.2 million grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development for the long- needed realignment and widening of Lower Bay Road, which is the main roadway into Port Bienville.
The Port also has on hand $9 million in general obligation bonds authorized in the 1999 session of the state legislature. A total $5 million will be used to build a 700-acre industrial park at Stennis Space Center aimed at luring high-tech, aerospace firms. The other $4 million will be used to expand the
Echo staff photo by Donna J. Smith
A barge at Port Bienville prepares to transport some of the goods produced at one of the facility’s many factories.
facture the resin, which is used in the aerospace industry.
The Port has recently spent $500,000 to build a two-bay Fire Station at Port Bienville just past the giant Wellman plastics/fiber manufacturing plant. It has another $130,000 set aside for a fire truck and for initial staffing.
Over the last year, the Port installed 15,000 feet of new rail spurs, upgraded over 20,000 feet of 85-lb rail to 115-lb rail, and expanded its railcar and truck wash facility over 300 feet to accommodate Wellman, GE and other port tenants. It also modified the pressure wash system to increase pumping capacity. Funding came from a $2.5 million revenue bond issue authorized by supervisors.
Although no decision has been made, the Port has on hand bids
Boeing rocket engine assembly plant. A design contract has recently been let for engineers to expand the sewerage treatment plant serving port tenants, and sewer and water lines have been extended to accommodate present and future tenants. At Stennis, bond funds are being used to refurbish the elevated water tank serving tenants, and to finish widening and paving Road D all the way out to Texas Flat Road.
Improvements continue on the airport’s lighting system, taxiways and runways in anticipation of installing a *	$2.5 million
Instrument Landing System (ILS), which will be mostly federally funded. Already installed is an Automated Weather Observation system and Precision Approach Path Indicators.
SEE PORT, PAGE 5