Cape City Council approves major street repairs, hears public complaints

Cape Girardeau City Council members voted unanimously to approve major street improvements contracts at their meeting Tuesday.

Both the 2022 Asphalt Overlay Program and the 2022-2023 Capital Improvement Sales Tax (CIST) Street Repair Project appeared on the meeting's consent agenda. Combined, the projects represent more than $2.2 million in improvements to Cape Girardeau roadways.

The Asphalt Overlay Program was awarded for just more than $1.35 million to ASA Asphalt, nearly $137,000 more than the engineer's estimate. ASA Asphalt was the sole bidder on the contract. Amy Ferris, city engineer, said in an interview last week that she was concerned about the lack of bids for the project.

"I don't think they knew that they were going to be the only bidder because there was more than one bidder that showed up to the pre-construction meeting," Ferris said.

Ferris said she believes the city still got a good price on the project, but a lack of bidders for future projects could drive prices up.

"It's not good to not have competition," Ferris said.

The labor shortages in construction and bevy of projects have reduced the number of available contractors. Ferris said she hopes that next year the same issues will not be present.

The asphalt repair will include overlaying numerous streets in Cape Girardeau, installing Americans with Disabilities Act compliant ramps, tree removal, and sidewalk reconstruction. It is funded by the sixth iteration of the Transportation Trust Fund, renewed by voters in 2020.

The CIST Street Repair Project was awarded to Nip Kelley Equipment Co. for around $913,000. The project aims to remove and replace numerous concrete streets and sections of other streets such as Lacey Street, Beavercreek Drive and Cape Meadows Circle, among others.

The project is funded by the 15-year, quarter-cent sales tax renewed by voters in 2019 that funds various repairs and improvements to city infrastructure.

Homelessness

For the second consecutive meeting, community members voiced their displeasure with city policies — or lack thereof — regarding vulnerable populations in the city.

The majority of those who spoke were members of one or both of Cape Tenants — a tenants union in Cape Girardeau — or Street Level — a not-for-profit focused on helping the homeless. There were a few community members who spoke soft or outright rebuttals to other speakers.

Though the statements varied from person to person, the message was clear, and at many times, accusational. Street Level members allege Cape Girardeau has criminalized homelessness and it is the city's responsibility to build a shelter.

Cape Tenants speakers allege the city has enabled landlords to take advantage of and price out many tenants and has become lax in following up on code violations, making the city inhospitable — in some cases — for renters.

Currently, section 18.5 of the city's municipal code makes it illegal to sleep on public land. Sleeping on private property is also trespassing. Cynthia Durgan, Street Level's secretary, repeated previous statements by herself and other members of the organization, saying this policy makes it illegal for homeless people to exist in Cape Girardeau.

"The determination to simply harass homeless people into hiding or jail is encoded in city ordinances," Durgan said.

She called upon the council members to move to designate a legal place for homeless people to sleep in Cape Girardeau.

Durgan said not being able to have a legal place to sleep damages homeless individuals' mental and physical health, as well as their employability.

"To deny people sleep is to deny them existence," Durgan said.

She asked that at a minimum to designate a severe weather shelter for homeless people with the startup funds available through the remaining $1.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.

McKenzie Eston, a director-at-large for Street Level, invited council members to do street outreach with her. She goes out a few hours daily to give food and other necessities to homeless people, she said.

Andrew Bard, a landlord in Cape Girardeau, said he disagreed with the idea of a shelter. Once ARPA funding ran out, the city would be unable to support it, Bard said. He said there are state and federal resources that can help with the issue.

He did agree with other speakers at the meeting that there is a problem with poverty and homelessness in Cape Girardeau that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Bard spoke in favor of creating a chronic-nuisance division attached to the Cape Girardeau Police Department. He said it could help with landlords violating city code.

"If you want things cleaned up, put pressure on the landlord financially to make things better," he said.

Mike Peters, owner of SEMO Development Co., was strongly against building a homeless shelter. The developer said a homeless man had terrorized his family, resulting in his children attending months of therapy.

"So, I mean, if they really want to put that stuff (a shelter) somewhere, put them (homeless people) in your house," Peters said. Peters said he has to "run" homeless people out of some of his developments twice a week.

"Doesn't help your bottom line does it?" Aaron Lerma, a member of Cape Tenants, said from his seat beside the podium as Peters was walking toward the back of the room.

Skyler Mart, a member of Cape Tenants, shared a personal story about his father's struggle with undiagnosed mental illness and alcoholism brought on by poverty. Mart cited data from the most recent census that put Cape Girardeau's poverty rate just below 23%. A single person making less than $13,590 a year is considered impoverished in the U.S.

"Just to be clear, that's 9,158 people in your city at a risk of becoming homeless," Mart said.

For the second consecutive meeting, he also quoted Scripture. This time from Acts 4:33 to 35, a passage about the apostles redistributing wealth from richer church members to help the needy.

Lerma invited the council members to come and talk with union members directly rather than landlords.

"Because we know the reason that we formed a union is because we know that landlords can't speak to us and our experiences," Lerma said.