STE. GENEIEVE – Officials in Ste. Genevieve are hoping to keep the Ste. Genevieve – Modoc Ferry running, but as its stands now ferry service will end at the end of June.
“We are doing everything we can to save the Modoc Ferry,” a post of the Visit Ste Gen Facebook declared. “As it stands, it will cease operations at the end of June. After that, the ferry will be split and sold off.”
This ultra charming feature, which carries passengers across the river to the French heritage communities of Prairie du Rocher and Fort de Chartres, was first petitioned for in 1798 and began operating soon after.
Back then, the Mississippi River was not a divider but a route of connection between two settlements in a thriving French territory, long before the United States was even imagined.
“If you would be sad to see the ferry go, please make your voice heard…” the post stated.
There had been a proposal for funding from the Illinois government, but the current status of that is unknown.
The Ste. Genevieve Board of Aldermen will be asked to consider bailing out the ferry, when it meets for a work session following Thursday’s regular meeting.
City Administrator Happy Welch told the board members in a staff report the New Bourbon Regional Port Authority which operates the ferry, is seeking the assistance for a short period of time.
The ferry operates on $88,000 from the Missouri Department of Transportation which has run out this fiscal year and will not be available until July 1st. The ferry needs to pay employee salaries and bills from April, May and June which will total about $25,000.
This transfer boat carried railroad cars across the Mississippi River for many years, It docked a the same location as the car ferry does today.
The Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission is also working on getting $100,000 from the federal government.
Illinois lawmakers are also considering allocating funds to support the ferry.
The ferry currently runs on weekends. It recently increased ferry fares.
Welch points out that Ste. Genevieve’s general revenue funds are low, so any assistance would have to come from the capital improvements fund.