City council, budget and weather delays

These last weeks have been particularly busy for both staff and council. Our executive team is fully staffed now with the addition of police chief Wes Blair in 2013, development services director Molly Hood and the expanded role into customer service for our city clerk Gayle Conrad. I am very pleased and excited about the level of expertise we now have on our leadership team.

Our council has seen significant changes recently with the election of Shelly Moore in Ward 2 and Joe Uzoaru in Ward 1. Trent Summers resigned his position in Ward 3 as he moved outside the ward. Our council has appointed an interim member, Patrick Koetting, to represent Ward 3 until the August election.

Staff and council have been working on the 2014-2015 budgets for several weeks. Our capital improvements budget has been approved and our operating budget will be approved next month. The budget will be a balanced budget, but I will tell our citizens that our continued growth and quality of life is dependent on the continued extension of future sales taxes for public safety, transportation, parks and stormwater. These extensions will come to our voters in August 2014, 2015 and 2018. We will bring forth for consideration specific needed projects so that voters will be able to make an educated decision for the future of our great city.

Winter's toll

We had a very harsh and long winter that drained valuable resources as we kept our streets in drivable condition. Our public works department did an outstanding job in difficult circumstances. However the combination of salt, thawing and refreezing took a toll on the condition of all our streets. Our staff is hard at work making the necessary repairs to all our streets. The snow removal and needed street repairs have added to the financial stress of our budget.

CID

Our council recently approved the creation of a Community Improvement District for our downtown area. This has been an ongoing effort for several years by many citizens within that district. Their goal, if approved, is to improve the safety and cleanliness of that particular business district. There has been some confusion as to the action of our council, but our action only created the district and ultimately it will be up to the citizens living within the district if they want to move ahead with this initiative. The date of the vote has yet to be determined.

Wastewater

I have had several inquiries as to the status and completion date of our new wastewater treatment plant. Once again the winter weather forced some construction delays and the original June completion date has been moved to a September or October time frame. This plant is a very exciting addition to our city infrastructure and will support our city's growth for many decades.

Finally, I want to thank all our citizens who supported both our citywide April cleanup and the annual Friends of the Park Day on April 26. Our city definitely looks better for citizens and visitors due to all your efforts.

Harry E. Rediger is the mayor of Cape Girardeau.