CAPE COUNTY SAYS NOT TO I-66 FUNDING

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County commissioners Thursday made their position on supporting the I-66 project clear to the project's executive director, Walt Wildman.

Their fists stay closed, for now.

Wildman has approached the commission in the past to get a contract with Cape Girardeau County. Commissioner Joe Gambill said the county sent him a letter saying it couldn't support the I-66 Project at that time.

The commissioners didn't give a reason, and Wildman wanted one. He approached them again Thursday.

"It's complicated," Gambill said following the commission meeting. "Right now we just don't choose to participate in the support."

Wildman said commissioners told him the reason was a case in Livingston County. Three commissioners there stood trial on charges of official misconduct for donating money to the YMCA, Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and other groups.

They were acquitted of criminal charges, but the advisability of donating public funds to private projects came into question.

"It's a concern for all the counties involved in the I-66 Project," Wildman said. "I'm going to ask for a legal opinion on it."

He said cities like Cape Girardeau and Springfield dealt with the public funds issue by entering into a service contract with him. Wildman works as a lobbyist for the cities.

He said he didn't know when the legal opinion would be completed.

I-66 is a proposed east-west trans-America corridor that has supporters in states along the route. The idea originated with the Cape Girardeau Regional Commerce and Growth Association about five years ago.

Cape Girardeau County Auditor H. Weldon Macke said Cape Girardeau County made a donation when the project first started but hasn't since.