CITY WATER SHORTAGE LOOMS; COUNCIL URGED TO PUT IMPROVEMENTS PLAN ON BALLOT

Thanks to a relatively cool, wet summer, Cape Girardeau residents aren't facing a water crisis.

That won't be the case within two years, water system manager Tom Taggart predicted Monday. He told councilmen that he would bet his last dollar the system hits maximum capacity sometime during the next two summers.

A record for highest water usage in one day was set in August 1995, when residents used 6.83 gallons. The most Cape Girardeau's system can produce is 7.3 gallons a day.

This year the peak already hit 6.4 million gallons, and this hasn't been a typical Southeast Missouri summer.

Taggart took four city councilmen on a tour of two water plants -- one that uses underground wells and the other that processes river water. He is encouraging the council to put a $25 million bond issue on the November ballot, with the money going for water system improvements.

The debt service would be paid with a quarter-cent, 20-year sales tax. Water customers also could expect to see a 2 percent to 4 percent rate increase to help pay additional operations and maintenance fees.

Burns & McDonnell, a Kansas City engineering firm, recently changed some water system expansion plans previously presented to the City Council. The newly proposed expansion wouldn't harm a historic fountain near the water plant on Cape Rock Drive, a concern of some councilmen.

The plans also call for 21 new underground wells about 50 feet from the Mississippi River. The results would be "groundwater under the influence of surface water," according to a Department of Natural Resources definition.

It is abundant and easy to treat, making it ideal, Taggart said.

Some councilmen previously asked Burns & McDonnell engineers to research putting wells throughout the city. Such a proposition would mean about 77 new wells and several tanks where chlorine could be added.

That option would cost the city about $46 million, the engineers reported.

The 21 wells near the river would be $11 million. The rest of the bond money would go for treatment system expansion and improvements.

Councilman Jack Rickard asked about using water fees to expand the system. Taggart said the fees would have to be doubled to pay for expansions. Right now rates are set up so that the water system breaks even.

If the proposed water project is completed as city staff recommends, the city will have 10 million gallons of water per day, enough to use over the next 20 years, Taggart said.

Now the council must race against time. If they choose to put the bond issue on the ballot in November, and it passes, the system additions would be up and running in a minimum of two years, Burns & McDonnell engineer Willis Wilson said.

The question is whether the system will max out before that time.

Despite the predictions, not all councilmen are sure they want a November sales-tax issue. Melvin Gateley, for example, said he wanted more information on other options before making a decision.

"What concerns me is that, no matter what option, we have that increase in water fees," he said. "It will be a double whammy as far as an extra sales tax and a water-rate increase."

The project has Councilman Tom Neumeyer's support. He said putting the sales tax on the November ballot would mean a high turnout of voters -- voters hopefully educated about the city's water needs.

The quarter-cent sales tax would be the last Cape Girardeau legally could impose under state law, no matter what emergencies arose. Although that fact concerns Neumeyer, he said the city has little choice.

"This isn't just smoke and mirrors," he said. "We're doing a lot of research to avoid an exorbitant rate increase. This way people who work in Cape during the day, use our water, and then leave town at night will have to help pay for expansion."

City officials say residents will benefit from softer water and better water pressure. If the change is significant, Cape Girardeau residents also might get a better ISO rating and less expensive home insurance.