Mississippi River mayors: New fund will aid in development

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The mayor of Dubuque, Iowa, says a new fund will help with seed money for sustainable waterfront development in cities and towns along the Mississippi River.

Roy Buol spoke Wednesday as co-chair of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative: mayors of 65 riverfront cities and towns in 10 states. Twenty-five of them are meeting in New Orleans.

American Water, of Voorhees, N.J., gave $15,000 to start the fund.

Initiative director Colin Wellenkamp said the fund will provide money for early planning, engineering and environmental assessments. He said that’s often the hardest part of getting money for a project.

Buol also said Home Depot — one of the nation’s largest container importers — has joined the group’s push to bring container barges back to the Mississippi River.