Evansville regional economic group previews Ohio River vision; Port Authority accepts July financials and vouchers

The Port Authority of Evansville on Aug. 4 heard a presentation from the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership on the Ohio River Vision and reviewed routine financial business, including acceptance of July 2025 financial statements and an accounts payable register.

The presentation outlined detailed planning underway for a reimagined downtown riverfront and a multi-year timetable for completing construction drawings. The board approved routine items by voice vote: acceptance of the July 7 meeting minutes, the July financial report and the accounts payable voucher register.

Patrick Hickey, economic development director at the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership (EREP), told the Port Authority he and colleagues came to “strengthen our relationship and explore ways that maybe we can work a little bit more closely.” Hickey described EREP as a 2021 merger of three legacy organizations that now pursues business attraction, retention and expansion across the region. He said the organization has secured “over a $130,000,000 in state grants” and is “leveraging that over into over a billion dollars in public and private investment.”

Ashley Diekman, EREP’s river vision advancement director, gave a high-level status update on the Ohio River Vision strategic plan released in May 2024 and ongoing schematic design work for downtown Evansville. She said the lead design firm is Sasaki, with local firms Morley and Lochmueller handling civil engineering, traffic and surveying. Diekman said the team expects to complete schematic designs for downtown in 2026 and is using detailed underground and utility information to avoid conflicts with the levee, sewer interceptors and combined sewer overflow infrastructure so designs are “implementable.”

Diekman said planners are looking at changes such as reducing Riverside from four lanes to two in parts of downtown, creating green space and public parks and improving pedestrian connections between downtown and the riverfront. She said EREP is actively seeking funding from private, state and federal sources as well as foundations and invited Port Authority members to meet for further discussion and advocacy. When asked about riverboat landings, Diekman said she was not aware of active riverboat passenger operations and that the current riverfront work does not include reactivating docking for riverboats.

On finances, the Port Authority’s finance presenter, Mr. Gunter, distributed July 2025 financial statements and summarized revenue and expenditures. He said interest income and other receipts—funds that include contributions from the Parks Fund—are down, and expenditures exceeded revenue by $18,485 for the month. Cash and investments totaled $112,000 at month-end compared with $121,007.31 a year earlier. Contractual services fell about $109,000 from the prior year primarily because last year’s dredging project drove higher spending. Gunter noted liability insurance charges are higher because the city billed the last quarter early and that audit billing had not yet been received.

Gunter also described utility cost trends: CenterPoint electric charges increased noticeably, representing a roughly 65% change for the Port Authority compared with the same time last year; he noted a citywide CenterPoint increase of about 20% that the city estimates equals roughly $561,000 in additional cost systemwide. He said water and sewer impacts had not yet been calculated.

The board read and approved the accounts payable voucher register for Aug. 4, 2025. Line items read into the record included: BFI Waste Services of Indiana, $391.88 for trash service (invoice date 07/2025); City of Evansville postage, $1.38 (06/30/2025); City of Evansville yearly legal services, $500 (07/23/2025); Evansville Water Works, $281.12 for service at 610 Northwest Riverside Drive (06/05/2025–07/08/2025); and Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Company, $4,267.25 for electrical service (06/05/2025–07/03/2025). The presenter also said the audit invoice had not arrived and that there was $39,078 recorded for conferences.

Votes at a glance: All motions were approved by voice vote with commissioners signifying “aye.” The meeting opening motion to accept the July 7, 2025 meeting memorandum passed; the motion to accept the July 2025 financial report passed; the motion to accept the accounts payable voucher register for Aug. 4, 2025 passed; and a motion to adjourn passed. Four members were present and a quorum was declared at the meeting’s start.

Port Authority members and EREP representatives agreed to follow up. Diekman and Hickey offered to meet with commissioners individually or in small groups to review the released plans and the schematic refinements now underway.