COUNCIL TO CONSIDER PAVING AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANS

When residents of Northview Drive two years ago protested plans for a $45,000 concrete street with curbs and gutter, the city opted for a temporary chip-and-seal surface to alleviate dust problems on the gravel street.

Now, a property owner along the street has proposed to pave the street with asphalt. The Cape Girardeau City Council tonight will consider the plan.

In a letter to the council, City Engineer J. Kensey Russell said a representative of ASA Asphalt contacted City Hall on behalf of property owner Earl Norman, who wants to pave with asphalt the northern 800 feet of Northview.

The proposal calls for at least two inches of pavement and ditch and road work to widen the narrowest portion of the street.

"They propose to fill the east ditch line ... widening the road to a minimum of 18 feet and sloping it to provide positive road drainage to the west side," said Russell.

Norman owns all the property on the west side, where the drainage would occur, he said. The pavement would be placed from Bloomfield Road south to a point just past the Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall.

Russell said the benefits of the proposal are that the asphalt overlay would require less maintenance than the chip-and-seal surface, and that the cost to the city would be limited to two days' staff inspection time.

"Dust in the neighborhood would be controlled, and traffic generated by the Kingdom Hall and the neighborhood could more readily pass, avoiding congestion and delay," Russell added.

He said the plan's potential drawbacks include the substandard width of the street and that any subsequent maintenance would have to be asphalt, "as it would be difficult to allow the street to revert to gravel."

Also, the proposed pavement thickness is less than the city has used for its three-inch overlay program on gravel streets.

"The widening strip may not perform as well as the established roadbed, creating maintenance sooner than otherwise would be expected," Russell said.

The city engineer also said that filling the east ditch could pool water on the right-of-way in front of Charles Kain's house at 614 Northview, unless the spot is filled with dirt.

The city staff recommended approval of the proposal provided the asphalt thickness is at least three inches and the drainage on the east side of the street be appropriately diverted to prevent the pooling.

In other business tonight, the council will conduct a public hearing on the proposed five-year capital improvements plan.

Also on the agenda is a resolution to authorize the city's application for state Emergency Shelter Grant Program (ESGP) funds.

City Planner Kent Bratton said in a letter to the council that Capt. Elmer Trapp of the Salvation Army will prepare the city's application for a $50,000 ESGP grant. It would be the city's second ESGP grant.

"If the city is awarded a second grant, we will contract with the Salvation Army for the provision of essential services," Bratton said.

If approved, the grant will be matched by the Salvation Army with $64,900 in local cash, $9,000 in "in-kind" contributions, and $8,037 that the Salvation Army receives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The total project costs are $131,937.

Bratton said the funding will be used by the Salvation Army for rent and utility assistance; transient lodging; emergency food assistance; and prescription medicine assistance. The city staff has recommended the council authorize the grant application.

The council also will consider a two-lot subdivision plat in the area between Holiday and Victorian Inns and Doctor's Park. The proposed development by MidAmerican Hotels Corp. is a Cracker Barrel restaurant. The city's Planning and Zoning Commission March 11 recommended approval of the subdivision plan.