Council to consider airport construction, stormwater and sewer projects

Today's meeting of the Cape Girardeau City Council will include decisions on funding construction costs of hangars and taxi lanes for the airport and a stormwater and sewer project for the downtown area. The council also will vote on placing $77,000 in revenue generated by Isle Casino Cape Girardeau into a fund for storm siren projects in adjacent communities.

The hangars and taxi lanes planned at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport mostly will be funded by a block grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation's aviation division. The purpose of the project is to provide the airport with 10 new hangars it could lease. The airport has experienced a shortage of hangars in recent years. The MoDOT grant is expected to cover the $500,000 cost of project except for a $35,229 match by the city. The hangars, if full, will generate about $22,000 per year in revenue for the airport, according to the city's estimates. Zoellner Construction of Perryville, Mo., has been awarded the contract for the construction. A vote of approval by the council will pass the first reading of an ordinance that gives the go-ahead for the grant agreement.

The council also will consider the first pass of an ordinance that will appropriate money to Cape Girardeau County and the cities of Jackson and Scott City to add storm warning sirens. In forming a spending plan for casino revenue, which consists of fees and taxes from the casino to the city, 3 percent per year was planned to be put into a fund to benefit nearby communities. The $77,000 planned to be sent into the fund is 3 percent of the $2.5 million generated in the fiscal year ending June 30.

The ordinance also would appropriate $797,858 in casino capital improvements money out of the $2.5 million toward a group of projects throughout the city now underway, and an additional $475,856 from the city's separate stormwater and sewer fund for a $2.2 million project that will relieve flooding during major rain events and to help with business, residential and street flooding issues, according to city documents. The project will include construction of new stormwater sewer infrastructure from the intersections of Broadway with Ellis, Frederick and Middle streets to a new junction chamber to be built at the entrance to a storm tunnel. A resolution to execute a contract for the project also must be passed by the council at today's meeting. The additional $475,856 is needed to pay the entire cost of the project plus a contingency. The project was budgeted at $2 million in the city's 2014 budget, according to city documents.

The council's study session is at 5 p.m. and the regular session is at 7 p.m. today at city hall.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.