GO-CART TRACK OPPONENTS GAIN REPRIEVE

Armed with a petition bearing the signatures of more than 100 Cape Girardeau residents, opponents of a go-cart track on North Kingshighway assailed the city council Wednesday and thwarted final approval of the proposal.

The council approved first reading of the measure at its meeting Feb. 7, but on Wednesday agreed to table final passage until March 7.

Opponents who live in the vicinity of the track site, at the corner of Kingshighway and Lexington, argued that the noise of the track would be a nuisance and that the facility would be an eyesore.

During the council's study session Wednesday, Councilman Al Spradling III sought to allay some of the controversy by proposing that the noise level be tested.

"It might be wise to table this a couple weeks and bring a go-cart in, crank it up, and just see how loud it is," Spradling said.

But during the regular session, opponents of the facility said they were skeptical that a test of a single vehicle would be adequate. The track operators have said they would have up to 20 carts at the facility.

Cheryl Ritter, 2425 Horseshoe Ridge, said that noise from Kingshighway already carries the half-mile or so to her home.

"From our home we can hear the highway, we can hear trucks, we can hear lawnmowers," she said. "We'll be able to hear 20 go-carts."

Jonathan Foley, 2132 Woodhollow Ct., said he and his neighbors are most concerned about the go-cart track's noise late at night and on weekends.

"We're concerned about when you're having a barbecue at 10 o'clock at night, spending time with friends, and there's the equivalent of 20 18-wheelers running just down the street," Foley said.

He called the single-cart test "ludicrous."

But James McHaney, the attorney representing the operators of the amusement, said noise and aesthetics won't be a problem with the facility.

"We feel they simply do not understand what they will sound like and look like, and we're confident that the council's test will bear that out," he said.

Vernon and Carole Rhodes, who own the 2.6-acre commercial tract that's been proposed for the go-cart track, requested the special use permit for the facility.

James Reed, who operates a track in Batesville, Ark., has said the Cape Girardeau track will be a $250,000, "family-oriented amusement facility."

At the council's last meeting, Councilman Melvin Gateley made a motion to table the matter until the council could hear more from neighbors.

But Gateley's motion died without a second, and after City Planner Kent Bratton reported that more than one-half mile of property separates the tract from the homes of opponents of the development, the council gave first-reading approval to the special-use permit.

In other business Wednesday, the council approved:

-- A resolution determining the city's intent to borrow money to provide city services to Twin Lakes subdivision.

The city plans to issue $2.75 million in bonds to finance the closure of the city landfill ($700,000) and to provide water and sewer service to Twin Lakes ($2.1 million). The debt will be repaid with solid waste fees, special assessments and sewer connection fees.

-- A $198,700 contract with Sverdrup Civil Inc. for sewer engineering services to extend trunk sewer lines and lateral sewer lines to Twin Lakes.

-- The reappointment of Jerry Schwab to the Board of Adjustment.

-- A motion approving plans to extend the city water system to serve the Lutheran Home on Bloomfield Road.