[6/11/04]Repairs to the barge of the Kings Point Ferry were to begin immediately and rising water on the Mississippi River will help Warren County save money on leasing a replacement.

The ferry crossing the Yazoo Diversion Canal is the only access to a farming, timber and hunting area cut off from the main part of Warren County when the canal was dug more than 100 years ago. The only land access to the area is available only when the Mississippi is at low, summer stages.

Warren County supervisors found out in May the ferry barge would have to be taken out of service for an inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard. The inspection was needed to maintain certification from the federal agency to continue to operate the ferry.

At Thursday’s informal meeting of the board, Road Manager Richard Winans told supervisors the barge had essentially failed the inspection and could not be returned to service until repairs are made.

“They want us to replace 33 (feet) by 20 feet of the bottom,” Winans said, adding that the Coast Guard also wants the area of the hull where the bottom meets the rake areas on both ends replaced.

He said he had gotten a cost estimate of $65,000 for the repair. Also, officials at Big River Shipbuilders on the E.W. Haining Industrial Center, the company with the closest dry dock, said they could do the work in 15 to 20 working days.

Winans said the rise coming down the Mississippi River could work in the county’s favor. As of Thursday morning, the forecast for the rise was for it to crest at 37 feet on Tuesday instead of 38 feet on June 18 as predicted earlier this week. At either water level, access to parts of Kings Point are cut off because of water over the road. So, with the time schedule given by Big River, the county could have the barge back in service by the time the roads on Kings Point are usable.

The county is in the process of getting a new ferry barge and push boat for the ferry and awarded a contract to Tensas Machine and Manufacturing of Newellton for $623,100 to build the new barge and the boat to push it back and forth across the river. With the specified construction time and the time allowed to order the steel and have it delivered, delivery of the new equipment is expected some time in 2005.

In other discussions before the board’s informal meeting, members of the Warren County Parks and Recreation Commission asked for additional funding so it can continue to operate through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

Commission member Jimmy Harrison said the commission is short of funds because fewer people have bought yearlong memberships and play is down. He and golf pro Randy Tupper blamed it on work in progress on the greens of the front nine holes of the Clear Creek Golf Course.

They said maintenance, staffing and supplies have already been cut, but the commission will still need an additional $94,000 from the county for operating expenses.

The work on the greens is to correct a problem with the grass that caused it to die.