Council OKs spending for Cape tourism

The Cape Girardeau City Council approved plans for a tourism trolley bus, improvements to Civil War-era Fort D and organized tours of local museums as part of eight projects that will be funded with city motel and restaurant tax money over the next 12 months.

The council voted 5-0 in favor of the tourism plan drawn up by the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and agreed to allocate $106,500 plus a 5 percent contingency fund for those eight projects.

The proposed trolley bus would shuttle visitors and the general public around the downtown area and stop at various museums and tourist sites, visitors bureau director Chuck Martin said.

Besides the trolley, improvements to Fort D and orchestrating tours of the city's historic sites, the plan proposes spending money for directional signs, billboards, other marketing efforts, and creation of a new video to promote Cape Girardeau tourism.

Visitors bureau officials presented an even broader plan, but only asked the council to allocate money for the short-range projects. Requests for funding are expected to occur annually.

The council instructed city staff to draw up an appropriations ordinance, which will be voted on in February.

John Mehner, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, said mid-range and long-range projects might be revised before they ever get to the council for funding.

"Frankly, the mid-range and long-range projects need further study," he said.

Mehner assured the council that the visitors bureau would account for every dollar spent on the projects and provide a detailed financial report to the city at least annually.

The chamber operates the visitors bureau under a contract with the city.

The council last August asked visitors bureau officials to draw up a strategic plan on how to spend some of the $1 million in surplus motel and restaurant tax money.

The visitors bureau, with the help of a planning committee, drew up a plan that includes more than $346,000 worth of projects, including short-range projects that would take place over the next 12 months, mid-range projects that would occur over the next two years, and long-range projects that won't occur for more than two years.

Mayor Jay Knudtson praised the visitors bureau for its "conservative approach" to spending the tax dollars.

"This isn't about a lot of feel-good projects," he said. "This is a return on our investment."

The plan envisions using the tax money in combination with private investment to fund the tourism projects, Martin said.

Councilwoman Evelyn Boardman praised the proposed projects. "I'm really proud of what you put together," she told visitors bureau officials.

Bureau officials said the planning committee will continue to meet and revise the plan as warranted.

"So we are always looking out two to three years down the road," Martin told the council.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123