CITY COUNCIL STILL AWAITING REPORT ON FACILITIES PLAN

Future Facilities Needs

Major building needs and capital improvements would be included in a future facilities plan. The following list was compiled during a City Council retreat last year before a consulting firm was hired. No final report has been received from the consultants, Horner and Shifrin Inc. of St. Louis.

Fire Department

• Relocating Fire Station 3 from Emerald Street to North Sprigg Street.
• Adding a fire training facility, possibly for use as a regional site.
• Relocating Fire Station 4 in the Lexington Avenue area.
• Adding a fire station west of Interstate 55.

Police Department

• Building an annex to the main police station to alleviate overcrowding and adding office and storage space.
• Opening a precinct office on the west side of the city, possibly in conjunction with a fire station.

Public Works

• Relocate public works facility from Kingshighway to an area closer to the wastewater plant, transfer station and water plant No. 2.
• Build a public works building to replace old buildings in need of repairs.

Parks and Recreation

• Develop an aquatic center to supplement the city's pools system and to replace aging Capaha Pool.
• Add space at the golf course clubhouse for lockers, dining room and a pro shop.
• Add land for the Shawnee Park complex.
• General park development, to include adding restrooms and upgrading playground equipment to meet safety standards.

Administration

• Build an annex to City Hall. As city departments grow, more work space is needed. Relocating customer services to Convention and Visitors building will help in short-term.

Airport

• Make improvements to T-hangars.
• Make runway improvements for extensions and added traffic.
• Make improvements to the terminal as traffic expands.
• Plan will be used as guideline for future city needs.

By Laura Johnston

Nearly a year after the Cape Girardeau City Council approved a project to study its building needs and future plans, no final report has been made.

The council approved an $85,000 project with Horner and Shifrin Inc. last October, but the consulting firm has not made a final report.

The St. Louis-based company was asked to study building needs and then make recommendations on what were pressing capital improvement needs. The plan was originally due in the summer but was delayed and should be coming shortly, city planners said.

While no specific project hinges on its completion, the plan will be used as a guideline and consideration for planning and zoning issues and city construction needs.

Some of the things considered in the Future Facilities Plan are a new public works site, relocating a fire station, adding an annex to the main police station and replacing Capaha Pool.

The city already has a lease agreement for land to be used as a new public works site, but construction would be dependent on the sale of the existing building on North Kingshighway.

Finalizing a land agreement for the public works site was a need the city had to address immediately because of increasing land values in the area, said City Manager Michael Miller.

A consideration for P&Z

The plan also will be a consideration for the Planning and Zoning Commission when it reviews major street plans and future land use later this month. The commission will meet for study session on the topic at 4 p.m. Oct. 25.

Future land use serves as a guideline for designating zoning classifications, said Kent Bratton, city planner.

It would be easier to address zoning needs and possible park development if a plan was complete because many municipal sites, like future parks or new city buildings, have to be determined far in advance, Bratton said.

"The idea is to look at what's available and consider how it might change," he said.

City departments had been doing just that: Studying their own building and space needs and projecting how it might change in the future. Yet there wasn't an overall plan that included every department, Miller said.

So the council agreed to hire Horner and Shifrin to compile a plan. The consultants can see where needs are arising and help the city get some handle on future growth issues, Miller said.

While talking to residents about other public projects like bond issues for sewer and road construction, city staff learned that it needed a better idea of city building needs.

"One thing was very clear," Miller said, "we should have some idea of what building needs we will have in the distant future and make plans for when those issues might come up."

The Future Facilities Plan is similar to a wish list for the city, at least that's how Parks and Recreation Advisory Board members viewed their input for the plan.

The board created its own master plan for park development, expansion and additional projects.

That plan was included in the city's Future Facilities Plan, but until the plan is finalized and adopted, it puts all other projects on hold, said Parks Department Director Dan Muser.

There are also issues of funding availability that have to be considered but the facilities plan would help the city get a handle on the scope of its projects, he said.

The plan lists what could be done in the parks and other city departments if money were to be made available.

"It's something that somewhere down the road we might have to have," Muser said.

With such a list, voters would know what is needed so that if the city ever requested a bond issue, the outline would be available.

"It lets people know what might be next," Miller said. "We had a feeling that we had a bunch of little things but not an overall picture."

Miller said the Future Facilities Plan likely would be used for projecting needs not establishing policy.