Cape to redraw ward boundaries, create transport policy group because of census data

The release of the U.S. census data will serve as the launching pad for two developments in Cape Girardeau in the coming months -- the redrawing of the city's ward map and the creation of an organization that will make key recommendations for regional transportation needs.

The city charter requires that the boundaries of Cape Girardeau's six wards be reconfigured every 10 years, giving the city council the task of making sure the wards each have about the same number of residents.

Meanwhile, the census data also revealed that Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City finally have reached the 50,000 population plateau needed for the organization of a metropolitan planning organization, or MPO, a goal that was nearly reached in 2000.

"We were waiting for those census numbers to see exactly what we were going to have to do," said Ken Eftink, Cape Girardeau's assistant city manager and director of planning. "We'll be getting on those, the map and the MPO, almost right away."

Redefining the wards is perhaps the most pressing issue, considering that has to be completed before three council members -- Mark Lanzotti, Deb Tracy and Loretta Schneider -- will see four-year terms expire and elections held next year. Each council member represents a ward. The mayor holds an at-large seat.

Cape Girardeau's population grew by 7 percent from 35,349 to 37,941, according to census figures released last week. Eftink said much of that growth has been in Ward 4, which is in the northwest part of town, due to new subdivisions like Whispering Oaks.

"Typically, we saw new growth on the edge of the city as we expand out," Eftink said. "So we're going to have to look at the number of people in each ward and make adjustments as necessary."

The city's goal is to have as close to 6,323 people in each ward as possible, Eftink said. Historically, he said, the city has been able to come within 1 percent of its goal every 10 years and that's what they want to do this year, Eftink said.

"It's a pretty basic principle for a democratic society to have equal representation," Eftink said. "So in order for them to have that, we have to get the number in each ward to be as close to equal as possible."

In years past, the city council has had new ward maps adopted by September.

The census figures also will trigger the creation a metropolitan planning organization, said Bill Robison, Southeast District planning manager for the Missouri Department of Transportation. MPOs are federally mandated for urbanized areas over 50,000 population.

Scott City actually saw a population decrease of 1 percent, bringing the population total in 2010 to 4,565. But Jackson grew by 15 percent to 13,758, which puts the three communities at a total population of 56,264.

MPOs are transportation policy-making bodies, which are made up of local government and transportation authorities, he said. An MPO's mission is to address concerns, develop a long-range transportation plan and to seek ways to finance those plans, Robison said. Missouri currently has MPOs in Jefferson City, Columbia, St. Louis, Joplin, Kansas City, Springfield and St. Louis.

Not to be confused with a metropolitan statistical area designation that the area got in 2009 and deals with federal government data comparisons, MPOs make recommendations to the Missouri Department of Transportation, Robison said.

"They don't fund projects, but they make recommendations," he said.

Robison said organization of the MPO could be well underway by the summer.

The MPO designation is important because it will bring more transportation oversight to the region, said Mitch Robinson, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Area Magnet, an economic development organization.

"I believe it will give us more local influence on how we determine our priorities," Robinson said. "We'll be able to submit priority needs. The organization would really do analysis and rank projects and then submit them for the state highway plan. There aren't a whole lot of these in the state. It would really put us in a different class."

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