Jefferson County Port Authority Settling in to New Digs
Date Posted: September 22, 2019
Posted In: Projects,
From My Leader Paper: It may have taken longer than expected, but the Jefferson County Port Authority is now in its new home in Crystal City.
Executive Director Neal Breitweiser said renovation work on the 2,000-square-foot office at 114 Mississippi Ave. recently was finished, and he was able to move in on Aug. 12 – a year and a month from the date that the authority’s Board of Directors approved the purchase of the property.
“It’s been a long time, but this is good,” Breitweiser said. “The reason it took longer than expected (the original prediction was that the office would be open at the start of the year) is that we wanted to make sure that things were done right, and that they would be done cost-effectively as well. If we didn’t get a bid in (for a new heating-air conditioning-ventilation system or electric rewiring, for instance) that we liked, we waited until we found one that was better. Because this was a relatively small job, sometimes it’s tough to find contractors.”
He said the building, which the Port Authority bought from attorney Kevin Schaaf for $48,000, needed some work.
“It wasn’t a rehab by any means,” he said. “More of a brightening.”
The general contractor was Cliff Lane’s Lane Consolidated Services Co. of De Soto.
“Cliff really did a great job,” Breitweiser said. “He was enthusiastic about doing a good job, which we appreciate.”
The Port Authority’s board last year approved a $75,000 loan to finance the cost of the building, closing costs and other incidental expenses, plus improvements to the building.
Breitweiser said the work was completed within budget.
“We had a lot of help with that,” he said. “All of our board members came in to volunteer their help throughout the process with whatever we needed. Also, Dave Crump (president of Jefferson County Habitat for Humanity, which operates a ReStore that sells donations of home improvement items) was always on the lookout for furniture for us. All of the furniture came from Habitat at a fraction of what we would have paid for it new.”