Construction underway for Cape utility billing center

Residents and businesses of Cape Girardeau will soon be able to pay municipal utility bills at the Osage Centre in the northwest part of the city now that construction has begun on a 1,000-square-foot customer service addition there.

Currently, residents and businesses may pay water, sewer, trash (solid waste) and recycling bills at City Hall, 401 Independence St., or use an auto-pay option.

The new City Hall now being built at 44 N. Lorimier St. will not have a utility payments office, but bill-payers may use a drop box at the new location. Auto pay will also continue once municipal offices relocate.

"They're working on the foundation [for the addition] right now," said Anna Kangas, the city's development services director. "Next week, I believe, they'll be starting on the interior."

Penzel Construction, which is general contractor for the new city hall, is also working on the Osage addition.

Kangas said the exterior work on the new addition at Osage will be paid for through city sewer funds while interior work -- including new finishes, some new offices and creating a new conference room -- will be funded by the proceeds of the April 2018 renewal of the Parks and Recreation Stormwater Tax Initiative or PRS2.

Six permanent municipal employees will move from City Hall to staff the new utility payment center at Osage, which will be situated on the right-hand side of Osage's main entrance.

Timeline for completion, Kangas said, is late September or early October.

Current Osage offices will temporarily relocate to new quarters within the building to accommodate construction, she added.