Posted by Susan O'Neil on Sep 20, 2017
The meeting aboard the Jonathan Padelford Boat was called to order by Jerry Faletti. Inspirational reading from Nancy Brady. Visiting Rotarians were introduced. President Jerry’s announcements include:
 
Save the date
District Training Sessions
            Roseville, November 28
            Rochester, October 3
            Fairbault, October 7
 
District Celebration November 4
 
Thursday morning Rotary
Table topics at the Sunrise Rotary on Thursday
 
Music in the Park
Ed Coleman reported that there will be a friend/fundraiser October 10-13 at the Music in the Park event.  They are looking for volunteers from 2:30-6:15 each day.
Rose Sale
The Rose sale orders are due now.  Roses are pre-sold and they are not doing the skyway sales.
 
If you want to participate and will not be picking up your roses, you can send a check and they will donate the roses to a local foundation.  Proceeds will go to the Rotary foundation.  Pick up is at Van Paper
 
GUEST SPEAKER
Lee Nelson,
President
Upper river Services, LLC
 
Lee started by saying his first job on the river was painting the Jonathan Paddleford. 
 
The upper Mississippi barges were first used for agriculture, mostly grain.  The Ohio River was used mostly for coal until the last 5 or 6 years.  Minnesota and the region are able to compete with other countries in an efficient and eco manner using a system where product is moved field to truck, truck to rail, and rail to water. Other countries are trying to emulate this system.
 
Facts:
Economical
  • Every loaded barge is = to 68 semi-trucks or 16 rail cars
  • ½ of the poured concrete comes up the river as well as fertilizer and road salt
  • One 15 barge cluster a quarter mile long is the equivalent of two 100 car trains with a combined length of 2.4 miles. On the highway, shippers would need 870 large semis measuring 11.5 miles bumper to bumper
  • Economic efficiencies because you're consuming less fuel
Eco-friendly
  • Green Emissions
  • Environmental efficiencies because you're creating fewer emissions  
    • 450 trucks = 21 rail cars = 15 barges of emissions
Infrastructure
  • South of St. Louis there is no river infra-structure
  • There are 26 dams in Minnesota
  • Minnesota’s first dam going north is in Hastings
  • When loaded, each barge weighs 750 tons and sinks into the water 9 feet
  • Fewer trains on the tracks and trucks on the roads, risk of incident is much lower since freight trains and trucks share the same space as people; fewer people use the river as transportation. That makes river shipping safer than the alternatives.
Historical
  • In 1929 Congress established a 9’ channel system from Minneapolis to St. Louis, which created jobs and boosted the economy
  • There was a 50 year life expectancy of the channels and now we need to re-invest into the river infrastructure
  • $.29 per gallon of gas used on the river goes towards infrastructure
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Susan O'Neil, Scribe