Council nixes airport observation deck; officials say it may be built with outside funds

A $30,000 public observation deck won’t be built at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport in the next fiscal year as a result of action taken by the city council on Monday night.

But airport manager Bruce Loy said after the council meeting some type of observation deck for public viewing of aviation may be installed in the future if sufficient outside funding can be obtained.

Two weeks ago, council members questioned the need for an observation deck, a project long favored by the airport advisory board. Council members argued the airport has more important improvement needs.

At Monday’s meeting, the council unanimously approved a revised fiscal 2017 budget that reallocates the $30,000 for unspecified

capital-improvement needs at the airport.

City manager Scott Meyer, who proposed the reallocation, said after the meeting the intention is the money be used for other capital improvements and not an observation deck.

Meyer said city staff will look at the possibility of finding another way to fund an observation deck, including the possibility of securing donations.

The revised budget crafted by the city staff also reduces the amount of money for part-time worker raises by $5,000.

Ward 6 Councilman Wayne Bowen suggested earlier this month the city should give 2 percent pay raises only to full-time staff and use the savings from not raising part-time pay to provide better raises for public-safety employees.

The revised budget includes pay raises for part-time employees, except for those who were hired on or after Jan. 1, city officials said.

The $5,000 savings will allow the city to allocate another $2,500 to increase specialty pay for police officers by 3 cents an hour above what had been proposed in the budget.

As a result, specialty pay increases will go from 29 cents to 32 cents an hour above the 2 percent base pay increase.

The other $2,500 similarly will be used to boost pay for city firefighters, with the specifics to be determined in negotiations with the firefighters’ union, Meyer said.

In addition, the city will allocate $2,400 from water and sewer funds to increase pay for public-works employees who have specialty certification.

“I think it is a good compromise,” Bowen said of the revised budget proposal.

Mayor Harry Rediger said he was “pleased” the city could provide pay raises for all but new part-time employees.

The revised budget proposal was not outlined in the city council agenda materials posted online Friday.

After Monday’s meeting, Meyer said the city staff had discussed possible budget revisions with city council members individually and only recently finalized the budget changes.

The city’s total budget for the coming year is $90.3 million, which includes both operating and capital expenditures. The new fiscal year begins July 1.

The council also agreed to pay $59,298 to the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri to provide boarding, care and disposal of animals in fiscal 2017. That was an increase of $1,800 from the previous year.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

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401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.