MOREHEAD CITY —City planning board members got an up-close look at various operations at the state port here Tuesday afternoon, just before the panel continued that evening its ongoing work of examining port and industrial zoning districts.

The board, during its latest work session set to study the Port-Industrial (IP) and Un-offensive Industrial IU zoning districts at the city’s Municipal Building at 202 S. 8th St., reached a consensus on the idea of creating a new “Industrial” district that would eventually encompass properties now classified as IP that aren’t part of state port properties or adjacent to waterways.

“We’re looking to simplify and consolidate,” board member Gordon Thayer said during the meeting.

Earlier in the day, during a meeting in the Maritime Building at the N.C. Port of Morehead City and later on a bus tour of the port, members of the State Ports Authority’s senior management team, employees and representatives of private firms and independent contractors that do business at the port explained their responsibilities, described the cargoes handled and how the facility functions as an economic gateway to the world. But the overarching message was that the port plays a vital role as an employer in the community.