Cape council approves power-ful agreement

The next time ice knocks out power in the city of Cape Girardeau, a few more lights will stay on.

On Monday, the city council unanimously approved an agreement to pay $117,000 to Cotner Electric Co. to install a generator at city hall and a second one at Osage Community Centre, one of the city's designated emergency shelters.

During February's ice storms, both buildings lost power.

Already a 500-kilowatt generator is positioned at city hall; an 800-kilowatt generator has been ordered for the community center.

The city council also approved an agreement with Schneider Electric Co. to upgrade 13 traffic signals, giving each an uninterruptible power supply. The project will give each of the signals up to three hours of electricity and allow them to accept power from generators, according to city manager Doug Leslie.

He said the state-of-the-art improvement was suggested years ago by former councilman Matt Hopkins. The project will cost the city $60,154 and will be subsized by as much a $20,000 in federal funds.

The agreement must be approved by MoDOT before installation begins. Schneider Electric's contract promises the work will be substantially done with 45 days of the contract being signed.