Cape Girardeau City Council OKs Wal-Mart market plat

The Cape Girardeau City Council approved the ordinance for a plat for a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market at the site of the former Plaza Galleria at its meeting Monday night.

City manager Scott Meyer said the item has been a popular topic of discussion among the council and the public. However, when the council reached the ordinance approving the record plat of the Galleria Plaza Subdivision, no member of the council had any comments to share before the vote. The council unanimously approved the ordinance, minus the votes of absent members Mark Lanzotti and Meg Davis.

What garnered the most discussion at the meeting were the Capital Improvements Program and the future of its projects.

The council previously met in a special meeting Thursday to review the program and give their input and kicked off Monday night's meeting with a public hearing to gather community input.

Molly Hood, the city's assistant manager for development services, delivered a presentation explaining where the CIP draft stood after the council's input. The major changes, she said, were scaling back the William Street project to focus on pedestrian safety and to put on hold a project that would have extended Armstrong Drive.

Hood also said it was determined that the CIP process needs to be "refined" to study the more minute details of projects. To allow more public input, she said a "citizen input portal" may be put in place as well. Work on that project would not begin until later this year, around October or November.

No one approached the podium after Hood's presentation to ask questions or give statements to the council. Meyer said he believes this is a sign the public is in agreement with the council.

"I think people have listened to what council has done and don't duplicate that by coming out," he said. "I believe that says a lot about council listening to the public. ..."

Other business

• The council also unanimously approved an ordinance that allows the city to apply for a sobriety checkpoint grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation for a BAT -- blood alcohol testing -- van and equipment. The grant would provide funds to replace the van already in use by the Cape Girardeau Police Department and update equipment.
• The council voted to hold a special meeting April 14 to declare the results of the April 8 municipal election and to recognize incoming and outgoing council members. Wards 1 and 2 will have new representation after the election and councilman Wayne Bowen runs unopposed in Ward 6. Mayor Harry Rediger will run against another candidate, Walter White.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.