09E - Mississippi River Cities _ Towns Initiative - CC 09-24-2012

7/29/2019 09E - Mississippi River Cities _ Towns Initiative - CC 09-24-2012

1/8

Mississippi RiverCities & Towns Initiative

Organization MeetingFormation Year 2012

July 27, 2012The Honorable Dennis EganOffice ofthe Mayor315 West 4th StreetRed Wing, MN 55066Dear MayorEgan:

ki r -mwaEI T U T E

Itiswith great excitement thatIextend an invitation to you to jonme in St. Louis forthefirst meeting ofthe Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative (MRCTI)September 12 -14.Over thirty mayors from all ten Mississippi River States have joined MRCTI to bring nationalattention to America' s great waterway. MRCTI is on e of th e few organizations to addr es s t heentire length ofth e River' s main stem an d is th e only mayoral -ead group advocating for th einterests of th e waterway.In S t. Louis, we plan to engage officials from EPA, USDA, FEMA, an d U.S . Army Corps ofEngineers on critical federal activities affectingMississippi River Cities an d Towns. Inviteesinclude important figures such as Dave White, Chief ofth e National Conservation Service; NancyStoner, Assistant Administrator forWater at U.S . EPA; an d Major General John Peabody,Commanding General ofthe USACE Mississippi Valley Division.Congressman Jerry Costello12 -IL) has been invited to discuss opportunities in Congress to improve the economc and

environmental conditionsofMississippi River communities. Wewllalso engage State officialsan d non -government organization stakeholders including Dale Hall (invited), C EO ofDucksUnlimted, on ways Mayors can work togetherwith themon behalfofthe Mississippi River. Yourparticipation in ourwork sessions with principals fromthese sectors is critical.

We have reserved a blockof rooms for the mayors in our conference hotel at a reduced rate. We will bemeeting at th e Hyatt Regency St. Louis at th e Arch, 315 Chestnut Street, St. Louis, MO 63102,1 - 888 -421 - 1442. Please RS V P with Colin Wellenkamp at cwellenkampknemw. org, or by call ing y a202) 46 4 -4 010. A draftagenda with more informationregarding this historic gathering is attached'AI look forward to seeing you th ere a nd charting a course for ournation' s most important naturalassA

incerely,

Francis SlayMavor- Ctv ofSt. Louis- issoui

d


2/8

The 1 5 Y Annual Mississippi River Cties & Towns InitiativeOrganizational Meeting

AgendaSeptember 12 -14, St. Louis, MO

Unless otherwise noted, all sessions and events areopen to all mayors and other officially invited attendees.Official functions an d meeting services ar e located in the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at theArch unless

otherwsestated

September 12Registration4:00pm : 00pm, Gateway Ballroom FoyerWelcome Reception6 : 30pm : 30pm. Gateway E a s t Terrace ( 1 8 ` h floor, outdoors)The Honorable George Heartwell, Mayor of Grand Rapids, MIJoin S t. Louis Mayor Francis Slay for a welcoming of this first gathering of mayors along the Mississippi River. Thereception will beon the Gateway Terrace of the Hyatt Regency overlooking theArch. Mayors will hear from MayorHeartwell, Chair of the Great Lakes & St . Lawrence Cities Initiative on how mayors ca n be a game- changing force aroundplace -based assets like the Great Lakes and Mssissippi River.

September 13Registration7: 30am : 00pm, Gateway Ballroom FoyerIntroductions andWelcome (continental breakfast)8 : 00am : 30am, Gateway EastPresiding: Francis Slay, Mayor ofSt. Louis, MOFLOODS & DROUGHTS: MITIGATING, INSURING, AND DEVELOPING IN THEIR PATH8 : 30am 10:00am, Gateway EastModerator: Hyram Copeland, Mayor of Vidalia, LASandra Knight, Deputy Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administrator for Mitigation, FEMAChad Berginnis, Executive Director,Association of State Floodplain ManagersJasper Grant, Acting Missouri Executive Director, Farm ServiceAgency, U. S . Department ofAgriculture

Break (15 mn) Refreshments provided

RURAL /URBAN DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN Conservation & economc development10:15am 11: 15am, Gateway EastModerator: Tom Hoechst Mayor ofAlton, ILDr. Dale Chapman, Chairman, National Great Rivers Research & Education CenterMichael Kimmel, Vice President, Waterfront Development Corporation, Louisville, KY

Mayors' Press Conference11 : 30am 12 : 00pm, Parkview (4 `h floor)


3/8

Luncheon1 2: OOpm 1: OOpm, Gateway WestPresiding: DickieKennemore, Mayor ofOsceola, ARDavid White, Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA

CITIES, NAVIGATION, ANDTHE USACE, WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE MISSISSIPPI1: 30pm : 30pm, Gateway EastModerator: Paul Winfield, Mayor ofVicksburg, MSColonel Christopher G. Hall, Commander, St. Louis District, UACEPaul Rohde, Vice President, Midwest Area, Waterways Council, Inc.Dennis Wilmsmever, President, Inland Rivers, Ports & TermnalsAssociation


CITY /STATE PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE RIVER2: 45pm : 45pm, Gateway EastModerator: Bill Gluba, Mayor ofDavenport IADru Buntin, Immediate Past Chair, Upper Mississippi River Basin AssociationMichael Marshall, Federal Co-Chairman, Delta Regional Authority


Seating of MRCTI Leadership4:OOpm S : OOpm, Gateway EastPresiding: Francis Slay, Mayor ofSt. Louis, MOA 10- member Executive Committee an d 2 Co- Chairs will be selected to temporarily lead MRCTI until formal by -laws ca nbeadopted an d leadership ca n beelected for a full term.River Development Showcase & Dinner6: OOpm B : OOpm, Kemolls, One Metropolitan Square ( 1 . 5 city blocks from Hyatt)Mayors and attendees will be given a showcase presentation by Walter Metcalfe, Chairman of the Board forCityArchRiver 2015. Th e presentation will focus on riverfront development strategies, funding models, an dimplementation approaches using a variety ofpartnership strategies mayors ca n take b ac k a nd apply to their ownriverfront development projects. Dinnerwill be provided.

Attendees may meet in the lobby ofthe Hyatt at5:45pm and be escorted to theShowcase & Dinner.)

September 14Breakfast8: 30am : 30am, Mills 6 ( 4 ` h floor)Presiding: ACWharton, MayorofMemphis, TNJeffery Krida, CEO, American Queen Steamboat Company

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IMPLEMENTATION ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI Clean water =obs and revenue9 : 45am 11:OOam, Gateway EastModerator: JoAnne Smiley, Mayor ofCarksville, MONancy Stoner, Acting Assistant Administrator for Water, US EP AKatherine Baer, Senior Director of Clean Water & WaterSupply Programs, American Rivers


4/8

Next stepsfor MRCTI1 1 : OOam 1 1 : 30am, Gateway EastPresiding: Francis Slay, Mayor ofSt. Louis, MODeveloping a Platform and planning a launch of that platform in Washington, DC, March 201311: 30am- Adjourn


5/8

Mississippi RiverCities & Towns Initiative

Participating CitiesFormation Year 2012

As ofAugust 10, 2012, those cities that have joined th e MRCTI are listed below. Out of th e te nstates touched by th e Mississippi River, all are represented within MRCTI.

St. Cloud, MN Moline, IL Wickliffe, KYCearwater, MN Rock Island, IL Columbus, KYMinneapolis, MN Davenport, IA Tiptonville, TNSt. Paul, MN Muscatine, IA Osceola, ARPrescott, WI Fort Madison, IA Memphis, TNR ed Wing, MN Canton, MO Helena -West Helena, ARLa Crosse, WI Carksville, MO Vicksburg, MSLansing, IA Grafton, IL Natchez, MSPrairie du Chien, WI Alton, IL Vidalia, LAGuttenberg, IA St. Louis, MO Baton Rouge, LADubuque, IA Sauget, IL New Orleans, LACinton, IA Prairie du Rocher, ILSavanna, IL Ste. Genevieve, MOBettendorf, IA Chester, ILEast Moline, IL Cairo, IL

Ou r critical dates for 2012 include a first organizational meeting September 1 2 - 1 4 in S t . Louis,MO an d a public launch of th e effort from Washington, DCwithCongressional champions inspring 2013. If yo u have an y questions, orwish to learn more, please do not hesitate to contactthe M R C T I director, Colin W ellenkamp.

Colin Wellenkamp, DirectorMississippi River Cties & Towns Initiative

Northeast -Midwest Institute50 F Street, NW, Suite 950

Washington, DC 20001202) 464 -4010, offc

F Non - M[Dw Ty N . , T U T E


6/8

Dear Colleagues and Friends

Welcome to S t. Louis, host of th e first organizational meeting for th e Mississippi River CitiesTowns Initiative. I want to personally thank you for joining me on this very importantoccasion. I also w an t to thank the Northeast -Midwest Institute for having the vision to set u son this path.

In early 2012, we began a new and historic effort around sustaining our country' s mostvaluable natural asset th e Mississippi River. America's Great Waterway has many advocatesfrom all parts ofthe public sphere. Now, added to that chorus is a new voiceof thenation' smayors epresenting where most people live along th e main s te m a nd w h ere m o stinteraction with the water occurs.

During th e two days of this meeting, we will work together to build a platform for how th eMississippi River can be managed at a more sustainable level involving partners from th eFederal Government, our States, the private sector, and the public arena.

I invite you to participate in the work sessions that will follow a s much a s possible. It is onlyth rough direc t and honest d ia logue that we can we effectively assemble a plan for theMississippi. It is a River that winds th rough ten states, passing 12 4 mayor -ea d municipalities,supporting ten percent of th e U.S . economy, and powering over on e million jobs directly.An essential role that mayors can play a s we proceed is, appropriately enough, bridge builder.Mayors ca n be th e key broker in unprecedented regional collaboration at multiple levels ofgovernment and society to ensure th e River continues to be healthy and economical ly robust.A mayor' s prime function is to link critical services from provider to resident. We can fill thisrole likeno one else when it comes to linking th e River to resources and initiatives needed tokeep itpristine a s well a s industrious.Indeed, th e Mississippi is such a binding tie within th e tapestry ofour culture and heritage thateven Winston Churchi l l recognized its signif icance when he compared democracy to ou r greatriver: " Like the Mississippi, it [democracy] just keeps rolling alone. Le t it roll. Let it roll onfull flood, view the process with an y misgivings. I c ou ld n o t stop it if I wished; no on e c anstop it. Like th e Mississippi, it just keeps rolling alone. Let it roll. Let it roll on full flood,inexorable, irresistible, benignant, to broader lands and better days."


7/8

o L u r 1V' ssissi 'PN&E eNGT9 EYh , SUMMER 12

Mayors unite to form influential river voiceThere' s trouble in river cities. But it may be noth ing tha t acoalition of Mississippi River mayors can' t solve. A newgroup is combining the political muster of th e mayors of asmany as 124 main s tem r iver c it ies and to wn s to bring atten-tion to the challenges and needs of America's greatest river.Mayor is one of the hardest jobs in the United States," saysonolin Wellenkamp, who directs the initiative through a Mayor Dave Hemmer ofPrairieDiWalton Family Foundation Grant an d theWashington, D. C. Chien, Wise. ( left) an d MayorKipbased Northeast -Midwest Institute. "Wherever there is a pot- Holden ofBaron Rouge, Lahole or a light out, the mayor is the one who gets the call.

Y ou have to approach things very practically and very efficiently, and that's what the riverneeds." There' s been a benign neglect of th e waterway over th e last decade or so , as n a-tional attention seems to have shifted more to the Great Lakes, the Gulf and the Everglades,he says. Issues rela ting t o clean water, floodplain development, jobs, recreation an d evenriver history and culture are expected to be part of a formal river priority agenda that will bedeveloped this year. The effort culminates with a public release o n Capitol H i l l next spring.While it' s tough for a single mayor to get the attention of federal stakeholders, Wellenkampsays, an assembly of 15 or 3 0 or 50 is harder to ignore. The river's issues should commandattention, member mayors say.

Today I c a n watch 6 0 percent of a ll grain exported from the United States pass right b y m yoffice in City Hall on its w ay to markets around th e world," says Mayor Kip Holden of BatonRouge, La. " O ur c ity depends on a healthy river, as do all of th e cities, towns an d villagesalong the 2,350 miles that the Mississippi River meanders through in the heart of America.More than 50 cities depend on it for their daily supply of clean drinking water, and ou r nationdepends on it fo r jobs. We m ust fin d w ays to keep all of these activities sustainable an dmake sure the river works for all of us."

More than three million people live in the 1 24 Mississippi River cities and towns, spreadacross 10 states. Wellenkamp believes their common interest in waterfront development,green infrastructure, clean drinking water, working ports and smart floodplain managementhelps overcome th e diversity of history, polit ics an d cu lture tha t h as o fte n hindered efforts inth e past. Integration of transportation, farming, industrial, municipal an d environmental inter-ests is th e plan, to launch lasting river management solutions.M a yo rs h av e a vested interest in bringing a new focus to river needs an d solutions, saysMayor Dave He mm er of Prairie du Chien, Wis. They' ll hold their fi rst meeting Sept. 12 - 14 inSt. Louis, Mo. "I f w e look at our city as a corporate body, th e most valuable stock we have isth e ecological s to ck o f th e waterway," he says. " Sport fishing along th e Mississippi brings inover $ 100 million a year. That' s economic development worth investing in . That' s why ourwaterfront development plan calls for highlighting the natural beauty and d raw of ou r front-age. Making the natural beauty of the Mississippi a priority for all 2 , 500 miles i s somethingmayors can take to the national level."Questions? Contact Wellenkamp at [email protected]. K.S.


8/8

For Immediate Release

City ofREI INGContact: Teri SwansonSeptember 20, 2012 Title: Executive SecretaryAdmnistration651. 385.3615

Mayor Dennis Egan is selected to serve on Executive Boardof the new Mississippi River Cties & Towns Initiative

Sept. 20, 2012, Red Wing, Minn.) Mayor Dennis Egan was selected by 20 other mayors fromup and down the Mississippi River to represent the state of Minnesota on the Executive Boardof the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative. This mayoral -ed effort is being built to bringnational attention back to the Mississippi River America's most critical natural asset andspearhead a new level of regional cooperation to make it more sustainable. The drought heworst in 50 years has severely impacted the towns, cities and people who live and make aliving along the River, the ecological linchpin to the 3 7 -state Mississippi River Basin ncludingRed Wing. Now, Hurricane Isaac has further threatened many river towns.In answer to these developments and in consideration to the Mississippi' s economc importanceto the Country, Mayor Dennis Egan has taken a leadership role.Mayors on the Executive BoardFrancis Slay, St. Louis, M O"Paul Winfield, Vicksburg, M SBill Gluba, Davenport, IAR oy Buol, Dubuque, IAJo Anne Smiley, Carksville, MODavid Kleis, St. Cloud, MN"

A.C. Wharton, Memphis, TNHyramCopeland, Vidalia, LADickie Kennemore, Osceola, ARTom Hoechst, Alton, ILChair, Co -Chair

WhyMayors fromtowns and cities the main stemMississippi River participated in the inauguralmeeting of the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative (MRCTI) September 12 -14 in St.Louis, which is engaging officials from EPA, USDA, FEMA, an d U . S . Army Corps of Engineerson critical federal activities affecting Mississippi River cities and towns as well as state officialsand non -government organization stakeholders. The drought and hurricane have added a newsense of urgency to their efforts to organize.Due to the jobs that depend on it and its support American GDP, neglect of the Mssissippi Riveris a recessionary practice. The Mississippi encapsulates so many issues important to the nationthat, for the first time, this River has become an election issue.

Mayor Dennis E gan h as decided the River means too much to this city and is taking pro- activerole in protecting it for the future.

Documents

09E - Mississippi River Cities _ Towns Initiative - CC 09-24-2012