CITY WORK PROMPTS GROWTH

Cape Girardeau City Engineer Kensey Russell sees a direct connection between aggressive sewer construction and new street construction.

"Build in one area and growth in the other usually follows," said Russell, who has the statistics to back up such a claim. When nearly five miles of sewer construction took place in 1991, some 3.28 miles of street construction followed in 1992. With six-plus miles of sewer construction in 1993, Russell expects street construction in 1994 to reflect yet another healthy surge.

With new street construction comes interest in additional development and a healthy growth pattern for the city.

"Developers will look at what is planned in a city's capital improvement projects, and that has a lot to do with the decision that is made," said Cape Girardeau City Planner Kent Bratton. "If the needs of one person are met, sometimes that opens up a project that will affect the needs of someone else."

Thus the importance of maintaining a capital improvement program designed to promote growth and encourage progress.

Bratton has kept a close eye on the development of sewer projects in recent years. He attributes a carefully calculated capital improvements program to accelerated growth in the last four or five years.

"Probably the most dramatic effect of the capital improvements program can be seen in the sewer construction that reached across the highway (I-55) to the area where Wal-Mart is," said Bratton. "The timing of that construction was such that nobody had to even ask when that would be done. It was already there waiting for them when the store was ready to open for business. Without a capital improvements program in place, we wouldn't have seen that kind of timing take place."

The capital improvement cost for projects in 1994-95 is $15,647,700.

The largest capital improvements program area is the environment, with a long-range price tag of more than $35 million over the span of the next five years.

The most significant project in this area is $16.9 million in sewer improvements that are related to the April 1994 sales tax extension and bond issuance votes. Eight projects are contingent on passage of the sales tax issue including combined sewer segregation and the Mississippi River lift station replacement renovation.

Also included in this area is $5,290,000 for expansion of the water system's production-treatment capacity and $4,068,000 for the completion of the Corps of Engineers flood control project along Cape La Croix Creek and Walker Branch.

Russell pointed to a total of 99 different engineering projects, exclusive of items for various city departments, that were worked on during this quarter.

Of these projects, 24 were privately funded or subdivision improvements and 42 were various other city capital improvement projects.

"These numbers represent a significant expansion of the number of projects worked on and reported during the first quarter," said Russell.

Water utility work continues to grow, paralleling subdivision and commercial development within the city.

The City Hall parking lot, the grading for Shawnee Park development, and the majority of pipe for the Belleridge sewer project have been completed.

About 90 percent of Lexington Avenue from Perryville Road to Sherwood has been completed in this quarter.

Design for a number of water line extensions has been completed.

Progress has been made on the design of the Mt. Auburn extension to relocated Highway 74, Silver Springs Road south of Independence, and sanitary sewer protection under the new highway route.

"The contracts on the Cape La Croix flood control project are now in effect, with a total value of approximately $17 million," said Russell.

"Infrastructure spending in the city excluding this work is estimated to have been $4,338,058. This represents a significant contribution to the city in terms of jobs and economic gain."