Despite high bid, Cape Girardeau City Council moves ahead on Broadway project

Sending a message that the project is simply too important to endure another setback, the Cape Girardeau City Council voted unanimously Monday night to push forward with the Broadway corridor despite a low bid that came in at more than $863,000 than originally estimated.

The decorative streetscape has already been beleaguered by delays, public criticism and an increasingly tighter deadline as the city has worked to get the now $4.5 million project done in time for the opening of Isle of Capri's $125 million casino that is under construction a few blocks away.

"It's such an important project," Mayor Harry Rediger said following the meeting. "We knew it was going to be more expensive because of the limitations we put on the contractor. We just didn't know how much more expensive."

The council authorized the bid from Oak Ridge-based Fronabargers Concreters Inc., which means the project will now begin in just a matter of weeks. The project is being paid for by the voter-approved Transportation Trust Fund, a half-cent sales tax that is set aside for transportation projects.

During a study session before the meeting, city manager Scott Meyer said that there was enough in the Transportation Trust Fund's contingency fund to cover the higher cost of the work that includes colored concrete, pedestrian lighting, landscaping and a 15-foot-wide "promenade" sidewalk.

"I'm not at all uncomfortable with using that [contingency fund] to balance that budget," Meyer said.

Rediger said it was expected more recently that the bids would come in higher. The project was delayed by a month in January, when some business owners along the scope of the project -- from Pacific to Water streets -- came forward with concerns about losing more than 70 parking spots along Broadway's north side to make way for the wide sidewalks.

Also, as Rediger mentioned, the city put extra requirements on the contractor, specifically that work cannot cause more than two blocks to be closed at one time and no single block can be closed longer than three weeks. That was done to diminish the damage done to businesses, which would lose more business from lengthier street closures.

Meyer also said asphalt prices have gone up as much as 40 percent and fuel prices also likely drove up the bid. The contractor also has a strict deadline, with the project needing to be completed before Isle's workers wrap up the casino. The casino is ahead of schedule, with company executives now saying it could be open by Thanksgiving.

At least one city council member worried about eating into the contingency fund and what it might mean for the other 11 TTF projects that were approved along with the Broadway project in 2010. Councilman John Voss asked the city's staff to look at ways to find savings. The council made a promise to voters that the other projects -- including work on Bloomfield Road, West End Boulevard and William Street -- would be completed with the money, too.

"I'd hate to come to the last project in the fifth year and have to say, 'We can't do it, the money's not there,'" Voss said.

City finance director John Richbourg told the Southeast Missourian after the study session that the contingency fund has about $2 million right now. Based on his projected sales-tax growth and interest, an extra $800,000 will be generated over the next five years, basically making it a wash.

When told this, Voss said that there were three alternate projects that perhaps that extra money could have been spent on.

"My initial concerns were, simply, to preserve all the projects that we committed to voters," Voss said.

Meyer said they were looking for ways to trim the project that also calls for replacing the street, adding fiber optic lines and adding storm-water improvements.

Debra Tracy

Goodbye to Tracy

Following the meeting, the council members also said goodbye to one of their own. Debra Tracy attended her last regular meeting as a city councilwoman. Tracy opted not to seek another term, and the election is set for today between candidates Ellen Dillon and Trent Summers.

Tracy grew emotional when she was given a plaque from Rediger thanking her for her service. After the meeting, she said her tears surprised her. Tracy, who is now seeking the county public administrator job, was elected in 2005.

"It's just been a really perfect gift to have been able to serve," Tracy said. "When people think about government, they think of a system. They don't understand until they get involved. It's about people and how to live together and how to work together."

Before leaving her council seat, Tracy said: To have "the view from here has been a real privilege."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO