Still in its infancy, the newly formed Ironton Port Authority met for the first time Tuesday to begin looking at ways to guide the city toward a more prosperous future.

A port authority is an independent group of individuals that can perform a variety of economic development projects differently, and sometimes faster, than a city government.

Gathering for its organizational meeting Tuesday, the Ironton Port Authority is comprised of a five-member, volunteer board of directors that was recently appointed by Mayor John Elam and approved by City Council.

With terms that are staggered to expire over the next

four years, the board consists of Walt Holbrook, program development official with Our Lady of Bellefonte's Workplace Health Program; local business owner Rob Slagel; financial planner Jay Zornes; business owner Mike Haas and Bill Dickens, a private businessman with a background in industrial development.

Right from the start, all of the members agreed that they want to be open with the community and solicit public input from the countless other knowledgeable individuals within the county. As the first step, members reviewed some of the legal definitions and powers of the body.

"In essence, a port authority has the power to cut through the red tape and get things done," Dickens said earlier Tuesday.

Port authorities can conduct commercial, industrial, residential and recreational development projects including property development, housing opportunities, marinas, railroad access, trucking terminals, warehouses, industrial buildings, piers and more.

Powers include establishing a foreign trade zone, exercising eminent domain, buying, selling or renting property, hiring without competitive bidding in some cases, receiving federal grants and loans and much more.

One of the primary uses will be to allow the city to have more flexibility

when discussing projects with prospective tenants. The port authority will

be able to negotiate the development of property that the city owns. If the city tries to lease city-owned property, it must put the property out to public bid and cannot negotiate a contract. The port authority would not be restricted this way.

"The port authority is a very valuable tool. The powers are very broad and are excellent tools to recruit businesses," Dickens said. "I don't know of a stronger tool."

The group will ask the city solicitors to make sure the body is structured legally, how to appoint committees and for ways to develop policies as to how to interact with other groups within the county.

In the near future, the members also hope to visit a community such as Mt. Orab that has a successful port authority already in place.

"Those guys have already invented the wheel," Slagel said. "They can tell us if there are any shortcuts or anything that we should be doing."

Overall, the group brought up several ideas that will be pursued later including ways to bring people and jobs to downtown, the need for some type of lodging in Ironton, a way to create a commercial of sorts that would promote Ironton to industry leaders by using testimonials of successful local businesses such as Liebert and Duke Energy and ways to utilize the river as an asset.

"I think one of the most important things is to get something cooking on the riverfront," Zornes said, citing Newport and Covington, Ky. as examples. "It is just a resource we are not tapping."

All the members agreed that partnering with Ohio University Southern and possibly creating a commercial to sell Ironton to employers could be a big benefit, especially because Duke, Liebert and others constantly praise the workforce.

"We have a good workforce that is trainable," Slagel said. "We have people that are hungry to work."

Mayor John Elam and Haas were unable to attend the organizational meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. July 12 in the conference room in the Ironton City Center.