Cape council to discuss SEMO plans, future road projects

The Cape Girardeau City Council will hold a special study session Monday evening to discuss major plans from Southeast Missouri State University and a proposed list of road projects.

The study meeting, to be at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers at city hall, also includes a discussion of city-sponsored capital improvements projects and an open-topic period for council brainstorming.

The council holds the special study sessions on a quarterly basis to deal with topics that don't fit into the regular council agenda, assistant city manager Ken Eftink said. Regular meetings are held on the first and third Monday of each month. At those meetings, the council convenes a study session at 5 p.m., but the discussion is generally limited to items on the public agenda for the meeting and an update on items before the Planning and Zoning Commission that are likely to be before the council in the near future.

"That just gives them more time to review things in more detail than they have to do at their regular meetings," Eftink said.

First up will be Scott Meyer, director of facilities management for the university. He'll be asking the council to consider placing a stop light at Henderson Avenue and Broadway, said university spokeswoman Ann Hayes.

The university last year purchased property on the south side of Broadway near the intersection and is constructing a new residence hall on the north side. The university is considering converting the property on the south side of Broadway to parking, Hayes said. The lines of sight for cars and pedestrians at that intersection is poor, she noted.

Meyer will also discuss the future development of the properties on the northwest corner of Broadway and Pacific Street. Howard's Sporting Goods is moving to the southeast corner of the intersection and the university is concerned about the future use of the property, Hayes said.

The road projects that will be discussed Monday are proposed for inclusion in the next tax measure city voters will be asked to approve. City leaders have been working on a list for what will be known as TTF-4, or the fourth version of a Transportation Trust Fund.

In each of the three elections, beginning in 1995, voters have overwhelmingly approved the half-cent sales tax with a designated list of road projects included. The list that council members will see Monday represents work done to pare 35 proposed roads to 20, Eftink said. The list needs further culling, and council members will get a chance to make a pitch for ideas that have either been deleted or never made the list.

The next step, Eftink said, is to prepare preliminary design and cost estimates for consideration by the Planning and Zoning Commission in July.

The discussion of capital improvements for the city will cover plans for this year through 2013. Most of the projects are already well known, including a new aquatic center, roads under the current transportation program and storm-water projects.

For anything that would come from city general funds, "it is very limited," Eftink said. "There are some wish list projects in there. But just because they are in the capital improvements program doesn't mean they will make it through the budget process."

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

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