SR0249 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0249 LRB104 13275 LAW 25500 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to congratulate the Channel Cat on the occasion of its 30th anniversary; and

WHEREAS, In 1994, Executive Director Kathy Wine of River Action, a local nonprofit group dedicated to fostering environmental, economic, and cultural vitality of the Mississippi River and its riverfront in the Quad Cities region, received a grant from the Riverboat Development Authority to conduct a feasibility study of a water taxi on the Mississippi River; and

WHEREAS, A committee was formed that included River Action, city planners from Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa and Moline, Illinois, the local transit authority MetroLINK, a riverboat captain, a retired U.S. Coast Guard employee, and a local non-gaming riverboat company, the Celebration Belle; and

WHEREAS, In lieu of moving forward with a planning study, the committee proactively purchased an aluminum pontoon boat with limited seating and began planning for service on the Mississippi River, leading to the launch of a single pontoon boat on the weekend of July 4, 1995; and

WHEREAS, In 1998, under the direction of CEO Jeff Nelson of MetroLINK, the local transit authority assumed operation of the Channel Cat as a public transit, passenger ferryboat option for the region; and

WHEREAS, Since that time, MetroLINK has received Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transportation Administration discretionary grant awards, resulting in the purchase of three open air, 47-foot, 24-net-ton military transport barges that are each powered by two 250-horsepower John Deere engines using B20 biodiesel fuel, are fully ADA accessible, and possess an aluminum hull, a deck, a seating bench for 49 passengers, and room for seven bicycles; additional grant awards also resulted in the construction of four new and improved docks, two being located in Moline and one each in Davenport and East Moline, which provided wider passenger queue areas, ADA accessibility, signage, and improved pedestrian and bicycle access to the riverfront, as well as the future addition of two battery electric ferryboats; and

WHEREAS, MetroLINK has also expanded the Channel Cat passenger ferryboat service, increased ridership, and provided public access to the wildlife, history, culture, and geology of the Mississippi River and the Quad Cities; and

WHEREAS, MetroLINK and the Channel Cat have received the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce Multi-Modal Award, the River Action Eddy Award, and various community recognitions; and

WHEREAS, The Channel Cat passenger ferryboat service has had a tremendous impact on the Quad Cities economy, providing over 1,000,000 rides to date while offering riders an alternative mode of transportation to cross the Mississippi River and access to two states, three downtowns, and riverfront pedestrian and bicycling trails; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the Channel Cat on its 30th anniversary in providing critical passenger ferryboat service to the Quad Cities, and we acknowledge Executive Director Kathy Wine of River Action and CEO/Managing Director Jeff Nelson of MetroLINK for their leadership, innovation, and commitment to the Mississippi River and the Quad Cities riverfronts; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Executive Director Kathy Wine of River Action and CEO/Managing Director Jeff Nelson of MetroLINK as an expression of our esteem and respect.