Pittsburg, Kan.-based Watco Companies LLC, which owns the short line railroad serving the Port of Vicksburg, today takes over port operations from Kinder Morgan, which currently operates the port.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors Monday approved assigning the lease from Kinder Morgan to Watco, allowing the company to take over port operations. Port director Wayne Mansfield said the Port Commission approved the assignment March 16.

“There’s been an equity transfer between Watco and Kinder Morgan. The Vicksburg port is part of the transfer,” Mansfield said. “Under our current contract with Kinder Morgan, we have to approve any assignment of lease. The first day of business for Watco will be the first. Nothing changes, just the name.

“I think this will be a better situation for us,” Mansfield said after the meeting. Kinder is such a large operation they tend to move slow, not in terms of their service, but just in terms of decisions. Watco seems to be a little bit quicker. We get a lot of requests for one-time shipments and Watco’s situated a lot better to handle those types of requests.”

According to a press release from the company, Watco and Houston, Texas-based Kinder Morgan reached an agreement Jan. 22 involving the acquisition of 31 of Kinder Morgan’s terminal operations in the United States, including 13 inland waterway ports.

“I’m not privy to all the details, but no cash was exchanged,” Mansfield said after the meeting. “Watco already has a presence here as Vicksburg Southern Rail.”

He said the ports contract with Kinder Morgan expired Dec. 31 but was extended to June 30. Under the contract extension, he said the company pays the port a lease based on tonnage handled by the port. He said port officials are negotiating with Watco representatives to have a contract in place by July 1.

In other action, the board:

• Approved renewing liability and property insurance coverage through the Mississippi Association of Supervisors Insurance Trust at a premium of $237,143 a year. The trust is a self-insured pool of 34 counties in the state. The premium was $12,405 less than the $249,548 a year coverage package presented by Travelers Insurance.

• Approved advertising for the county’s 2015 paving project. The supervisors are preparing a list of county roads to be paved under the program. The project has a budget of $982,000

• Approved a board order to begin striping county roads. The county will use $30,000 in left over state aid road money to stripe state aid roads in the county.

• Approved sending a supervisor, County Administrator John Smith and the county road manager Buddy Poole to the Mississippi Association of Supervisors Convention in Biloxi in June.

• Approved travel for a supervisor to attend the National Association of Counties Conference in Charlotte, N. C. in July.

• Authorized Board President Bill Lauderdale to sign an order employing extension agent Anna McCain, who is replacing Wesley Purvis, who moved to Claiborne County.

• Authorized emergency management director John Elfer to use Grand Gulf REP program money to buy meals for 20 participants in the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station’s radiological planning meeting April 22.