CITY SAYS NOTRE DAME HASN'T FILED APPLICATION FOR CITY WATER

Nearly two years after its first discussions with Cape Girardeau city officials about water and sewer service, members of the building committee at Notre Dame High School still have not applied to the city for water service.

After meeting with city officials Monday, members of the building committee haven't decided how to supply the school with water, said Hillary Schmittzehe, chairman of the building committee.

The city and the school building committee have held discussions since October 1995, when both sides agreed to cooperate. The city said it would help the school get hooked up to sewer and water lines and the school said it would apply for annexation.

The site of the planned Catholic high school is two miles west of Siemers Drive on Route K in unincorporated Cape Girardeau County. It is not served by any water district, but is near a planned city sewer line that would serve Twin Lakes subdivision.

The City Council has contracted with DSW Development Corp. to build the portion of the sewer line that would serve Twin Lakes for $500,000.

With construction of the school under way, school officials say they need the water by November.

The city hasn't moved forward because the school never filled out an application for a water line even though the city gave the school an application long ago, said Walter Denton, the assistant city manager.

The application "probably fell into the wrong hands and we didn't know," Schmittzehe said.

Now, Denton said, there is no way the city could build a water line out there by November.

Normally when a contractor wants city water, the contractor builds it after the city staff designs the line with the city supplying certain parts. That usually amounts to the city paying for about one-third of the project.

Denton said engineers estimated that the line would cost about $600,000. The city plans to build water lines to Twin Lakes, but they won't pass by the new Notre Dame. Plans call for the lines to run along Hopper Road, Denton said.

Schmittzehe said the members of the building committee are still studying their options: building the school with trucked-in water; drilling a well; hooking up to Hillcrest Utilities, the small water utility that serves nearby Hillcrest Manor subdivision; working with the city on hooking up to city water; or some combination of the options.

Applying for city water also means applying for annexation, Denton said.

Schmittzehe plans to meet with city officials next week.