GOVERNMENT: CAPE SEEKS WATER GRANT FROM STATE

Employees at businesses along Nash Road in Cape Girardeau might not have to drink bottled water at work for much longer if the state approves a grant application from the city.

Now any drinking water consumed at businesses on Nash Road has to come from bottles because the existing water wells don't connect to a treatment plant.

The city has been working to provide a potable water supply to its industrial park and has submitted a $650,000 grant application to help pay for a new water main.

The project includes a water main extension from Water Plant No. 2 on South Sprigg Street that would cross the Diversion Channel.

The council approved a grant application earlier this month to help pay for the project and city officials expect to hear if it was accepted by year's end.

The existing wells are shallow and the water is just industrial grade and hasn't been treated, said Bill Vaughn, development services coordinator for the city planning department.

The city isn't applying for the grant because of any problems with the wells but wants to create a potable water supply, he said.

The city hopes that creating a better water supply would help attract more business to the industrial park. "It makes the property more attractive when there is potable water," Vaughn said.

A similar grant was prepared last year when Zenair, a plane manufacturing company, expressed an interest in opening a plant here. The company chose another application for its business and the grant never was finalized.

No businesses that have looked at the Nash Road Industrial Park have cited the potable water supply as a problem, said Mitch Robinson of the Area Industrial Recruitment Association.