AUG. 3 CITY VOTE CONTEMPLATED; ELECTION WOULD BE FOR CHARTER AMENDMENTS TO IMPLEMENT WARDS

The Cape Girardeau City Council is considering holding a special election Aug. 3 on proposed amendments to the city charter implementing a ward system of electing council members.

Tonight, the council will give the first reading to an ordinance calling for the special election. The meeting begins at 7:30 at City Hall.

The charter amendments have been recommended by a council-appointed committee, and include proposed boundaries for the six wards.

Cape Girardeau voters last November approved a measure to scrap the at-large system of electing the council in favor of choosing council members by ward.

Under the plan, one council member would be elected from each ward, with the mayor being elected at large. All would serve four-year terms.

"It is the unanimous recommendation of the committee that these amendments be submitted to the voters and that the ward boundaries prepared by the committee be adopted by the council for use in the 1994 election," City Attorney Warren Wells said in a council agenda letter.

If approved by voters Aug. 3, the amended charter would provide for election next April of a council member from each of three new districts: Wards 1, 2 and 6.

In April 1996, voters would elect council members for Wards 3, 4 and 5.

The mayor and council members would have to be registered voters of the city and at least 21 years of age.

In order to run for a seat on the council, a candidate must have been a resident of his or her ward for at least 90 days prior to the first day on which a nomination petition can be filed.

In other business tonight, the council will hear the first reading of a measure setting a special election Aug. 3 on the proposed annexation of Twin Lakes Subdivision.

The council will also hold a public hearing on and consider giving initial approval to the city's annual operating budget for the 1993-94 fiscal year.

The budget calls for increasing the transfer station fee to $30 per ton and increasing sewer rates by 5 percent.

Another new ordinance on the agenda is one that calls for a supplemental appropriation in the current budget of $165,000 for purchase of park land, $54,000 for the Parks and Recreation Department, $48,000 for public safety, and $134,000 for the Public Works Department.

"These appropriation requests amount to only 1.2 percent of the current year budget," Assistant City Manager Al Stoverink said in a council agenda letter.

"The land acquisition, which is the largest amount, is to cover the purchase of the Heisler Tract property authorized by the City Council in October," Stoverink said. The property borders the Kingshighway and Mount Auburn Road intersection.

The money will be paid back to the general fund from the park improvement fund over the next several years, he said.

"The Parks and Recreation appropriation request is needed to provide for the expenditure of dollars received through donations that were not anticipated, as well as expansion of programs in the recreation area, an increase in fleet repair costs, and to cover utilities at the Arena Building that were not budgeted," Stoverink said.

"Participation by citizens of Cape Girardeau in the city recreation programs has been growing significantly, which resulted in additional costs," he pointed out. "At the same time, this increased participation generates additional offsetting revenue from fees."

The public safety appropriation is for the police department. It covers program grants and donations that had not been anticipated, increased fleet repair costs, hepatitis B vaccinations for officers and an increase in food expenditures at the jail because of a 35 percent increase in the jail population.

The Public Works Department appropriation covers a variety of items spread across the department's 12 operating divisions, Stoverink said.

He said the city generally ends the fiscal year at well below projected expenditures and expects that to be the case again this year.