CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERS STREET EXTENSION AT MEETING TONIGHT

The Cape Girardeau City Council tonight will consider hiring a Jackson engineering firm to handle construction design work for extension of Minnesota Avenue.

The council meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 401 Independence.

The city staff is recommending that the Bowen and Lawson engineering firm be hired at a cost of $4,300.

Plans call for extension of Minnesota from the south boundary of Shawnee Park to Highway 74.

"Right of way plans were prepared a few years ago by Bowen and Lawson and acquisition is under way," City Engineer J. Kensey Russell pointed out in a council agenda letter.

Assistant City Manager Al Stoverink said Sunday that extension of Minnesota Avenue has been requested by adjoining property owners, primarily the Six-Thirty Corp., which owns much of the industrial land along the proposed route.

"This is basically being initiated by the developers in the area," said Stoverink.

The adjoining property owners would pay the cost of constructing the 40-foot street, with the city paying its share of the cost for the section bordering Shawnee Park, the assistant city manager said.

Construction is already under way on a section of roadway near Shawnee Park. The project is being handled under private contract, Stoverink said.

Plans call for extension of Minnesota from Highway 74 northward to Shawnee Park. Minnesota would also connect with Wilson Road and Rust Avenue, providing connections to Kingshighway.

Stoverink said that would result in providing three access roads to the south-side area.

In other action, the council will consider first reading of an ordinance amending the city code concerning sale of liquor, to come into compliance with state law.

The city code currently provides that no person may hold more than three licenses for the sale of liquor by the drink within the city, City Attorney Warren Wells said in a council agenda letter.

"This provision is patterned after a previous state statute, which has now been amended," Wells wrote. "The state statute now provides that restaurants and facilities for the performance of live entertainment are exempt from that provision, and it further provides that municipal ordinances may not limit licenses for restaurants and entertainment facilities," Wells said.

The new ordinance would exempt restaurants where at least 50 percent of the gross income is derived from the sale of prepared meals or food consumed on the premises, and live-entertainment facilities where "receipts for admission to such performances exceed $100,000 per calendar year."

Council members will also consider first reading of an ordinance establishing a no-parking zone along the north and south sides of Blattner Drive between Mount Auburn Road and Silver Springs Road.

Drury Development Corp. and other affected property owners had requested restricted parking in that area.