CITY OKs CONTRACT TO UPGRADE TV CABLE

The Cape Girardeau City Council approved a new cable franchise agreement with TCI of Missouri Inc. Monday night.

The council also awarded a contract for improvements to Perryville Road.

City officials have indicated they're happy with the new cable franchise agreement, which includes stipulations for a complete systems upgrade and new channels.

"I think in the short run, the community's going to get more and higher quality reception," said city manager Michael Miller. "It will get one additional channel on the basic channels. In the long run, we'll get our system itself basically overhauled and get better service."

Components of the agreement include:

-- Installation of a digital compression system to provide at least 36 new channels to the existing lineup, including one additional channel in the "basic" cable television package.

-- Overhauling the system to increase signal strength uniformly throughout the city limits and to accommodate stereo broadcasts.

-- Provision of an additional education channel, which, Miller said, would be available for use by the Cape Girardeau public schools.

-- Installation of fiber optics after the system overhaul to further upgrade the cable system.

TCI officials have said customers will have to pay extra for the 36 additional channels, plus the necessary converter boxes and remote controls.

The combination of digital compression technology and a higher signal strength will increase the total number of channels the system can carry.

With digital compression technology, more channels can be squeezed onto existing channels. "We're excited about it. I think it's kind of a win-win situation," Miller said.

In addition, the city will also receive $25,000 annually for support of public, educational and governmental channels.

In other action, the council awarded Lappe Cement Finishing and Fronabarger Concreters Inc. a contract for $1,629,162.91 for upgrading Perryville Road.

The combined bid was the apparent low bid of the three received and recommended for approval by Black and Veatch, the engineering consultants for the projects.

Bids were also received from Nip Kelley Equipment Co. for $1,857,539.70 and P.R. Developers Inc. for $2,100,801.

The project calls for widening and straightening Perryville Road from Meyer Drive to the city limits near Evergreen Drive.

The finished product will be a 36-foot roadway with curbs and gutters and a sidewalk on one side.

City officials have been discussing the improvements for almost a decade. The project will be funded through a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1995.

Mayor Al Spradling III was all decked out in a Jackson Indians sweatshirt for Monday night's council meeting. Spradling wore the sweatshirt in payment for losing a friendly wager on the Jackson-Cape Central game a few weeks ago. Cape Central lost.

Spradling also got to wear a Jackson sweatshirt last year after the big game. "I do want to let everybody out there know that this trend is going to end one way or the other," Spradling said.