FEW AT ROAD TAX EXTENSION MEETING

J. Hunze was curious enough about road improvements in Cape Girardeau to attend a public meeting about a proposed Transportation Trust Fund extension Thursday night.

But he was the only one.

About 12 people, most of them city staff, attended the first of a series of meetings designed to talk about road projects in the city.

"I came to find out what they planned to do and how they plan on doing it," Hunze said. He doesn't live along any of the streets proposed for improvements but thinks the city should look at projects that would impact the greatest numbers.

"By looking at their maps, you can see they are spread out around the city," he said of the current Transportation Trust Fund program.

Thursday's meeting at First Church of the Nazarene was hosted by Vision 2000. It is the first in a series designed to get public input about which streets need improvements and what needs to be done to improve traffic. Other meetings will be at City Hall Tuesday and at the Osage Community Centre Wednesday. Both begin at 7 p.m. and will last about one hour.

City Councilman Melvin Gateley said more people should get involved so that more ideas are generated. "It's an easy process," said Gateley, also a member of Vision 2000.

The meetings begin with a presentation explaining what the Transportation Trust Fund is and how it works, what it has done for the city and how it could be extended.

Currently, the city is working on a list of 20 specific projects outlined and approved by voters in 1995. Other projects involving street overlays, pavings, repairs and new sidewalks also have been done under the Transportation Trust Fund with money collected by a half-cent sales tax.

Voters approved the half-cent sales tax in 1995, and the city hopes to extend that tax for another five years to fund more street improvements. The current tax expires Dec. 31.

The tax extension would generate enough revenue to fund the $20 million in proposed projects. The issue would likely be placed on the August ballot, should the council agree with the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendations.

In 1995 the specific street projects were listed in priority, which hampered the process because "some were easier than others," said City Manager Michael Miller.

In the final year of the Trust Fund, four of those major projects are finished, four are under construction, six are awaiting bids, three are under design and three are pending.

One of the pending projects is actually outside the city limits, so it might not get completed, said the city manager. However, all the projects should begin by year's end.

The city tried to keep its promises and wants to continue with future projects that could benefit everyone, Miller said.

Hunze agreed that those projects with greater impact should be considered first. Widening Siemers Drive is necessary, he said. It is one of the proposed projects recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Because the Transportation Trust Fund is a "pay-as-you-go" program, money collected from the sales tax must accumulate for several years before any major projects can begin.

While there are fewer projects listed in the proposed extension, it doesn't mean that only those few projects are necessary. The Planning and Zoning Commission has been studying the issue for more than a year and took the list of suggestions from the 1995 meetings under consideration before beginning its current proposal, said City Planner Kent Bratton. "It's been a long, hard struggle."

The original list of 20 Transportation Trust Fund projects included more projects of less cost, and now the list includes more costly projects "so there are fewer of them," said Charles Haubold, chairman of the planning commission.