Advisory board to recommend plan for county facilities today

The citizen advisory board formed to review plans for the future of Cape Girardeau County facilities has been given plenty of suggestions to consider before making its final recommendation to county commissioners today.

At the two public meetings hosted this month in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, advisory board members said they favored Option C -- the final option of the three drawn up by

Treanor Architects. The plan calls for building a two-level parking garage with 88 spaces on each level, next to a new courthouse that would be at the corner of North Missouri and Washington streets. All court operations would take place in the new building, which also would house county offices.

The historic courthouse in Jackson would be renovated and filled with the offices of county assessor and public defender, as well as drug court. The current administration building would be demolished, and the county no longer would need to use the Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau.

People attending the public meetings had many questions about the specifics of the new or renovated facilities. Sufficient parking, the amount of space allotted to county offices and how the plans respected the historic nature of both existing courthouses were among the top issues discussed at both meetings. Associate Commissioner Charlie Herbst said those concerns play a role in the advisory board's process of analyzing and making its final recommendation.

" ... I think from the public input, they realize there are people that have concerns," he said.

Herbst, along with other county officials and advisory board members, have made an effort to point out the board does not have to strictly follow the plan as it was laid out by the architects. If people seem to feel strongly against part of the plan, the group has the option to remove or alter it in some way.

Herbst said he believed he learned a little more about public sentiment by "doing some active listening at both open houses." He recalled one man attending the Jackson public meeting who, after listening to Circuit Court Clerk Patti Wibbenmeyer describe the crowded, potentially dangerous conditions at Common Pleas, questioned why the county didn't act sooner.

"[Previous commissioners] have been talking out loud for a while about doing something. This commission just pulled the trigger," Herbst said, referencing the facilities studies and other work that's been done by the county in recent years to take inventory of its buildings.

Funding also has held up the process, he said. The county identified property taxes, sales taxes or a use tax as the three options available to fund the facilities project. A public hearing to discuss the possibility of placing a use tax question on the April ballot will be held in the commission chambers Tuesday.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

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