HIGH-WATER HANGUPS: AMERENUE SAYS CITY SHOULD PAY FOR OPERATION OF NORTH MAIN LEVEE DISTRICT

It used to protect Cape Girardeau's largest industrial area, but the primary function of the North Main Street Levee District in recent years has been to safeguard nearby residents from the Mississippi River's occasional outbursts.

That's why the city of Cape Girardeau -- not AmerenUE -- ought to be responsible for its operation, says at least one levee board member and Mark Baranovic, the utility's transportation supervisor who also oversees the district's Mill Street Pumping Station.

"There's no getting around it: This station only helps property owners," Baranovic said. "Who's it protecting? Not Ameren."

City manager Mike Miller says it's the responsibility of the entities which set up the district, and that includes the former Missouri Utilities Co., which was absorbed by Ameren. The city is looking into taking over the district, Miller said, but it may not be financially feasible.

The district's annual board meeting is at 10 a.m. Tuesday at 45 S. Minnesota, the local AmerenUE office. The meeting is open to the public, and Baranovic said the pumping station is a perennial topic.

Levee board member Gary Bunting has owned the Knock On Wood furniture refinishing shop at Main and North streets since 1974. Like Baranovic, he too thinks it is unfair that the city doesn't operate the North Main Street Levee District.

"When we have these flash floods like last week, the whole city pays for that through their taxes," Bunting said. "It's not fair. I don't see why these groups have to pay. The city's been getting a good deal for a good many years."

The levee board's president, Doug Groesbeck, who is also AmerenUE's district manager, was unavailable for comment. J. Fred Walz, the lawyer for the levee district, declined comment citing attorney-client privilege.

How it began

The North Main Street Levee Improvement District is made up of AmerenUE, the Boyd Gaming Group and Burlington Northern Railroad. AmerenUE began maintaining the pumping station after it absorbed Missouri Utilities in 1983. In the late 1940s, Missouri Utilities signed an agreement to operate the station if the federal government would build it using the Army Corps of Engineers.

Missouri Utilities used to own a power plant and garage at 506 N. Main St. The former Florsheim Shoe factory, then the city's largest employer, had also lobbied for construction of the pumping station. But the shoe factory property along Main Street is now owned by the Boyd Gaming Group, which has had the land on the market for some time after having decided not to pursue a gambling boat here.

AmerenUE, with nominal manpower support from the city, has spent more than $150,000 in operational fees on the pumping station since 1993, Baranovic said. Some of the expenses also have come from Burlington Northern and Boyd, but Baranovic said AmerenUE absorbs most of the costs.

"But it's not just the money," he said. "Anything outside our core business takes away from our core business, which is the utility business, not the levee business."

The cost each year varies depending upon the number of times the river reaches flood stage, he said. While the station was not activated last year, it already has been activated four times this year.

"We're only doing it to fulfill our Missouri Utilities obligation," he said. "We've approached the city a few times over the past two years to get them to take it over, and they have basically told us that it wasn't their responsibility either."

Insufficient revenue

"It's the levee district's obligation," Miller said. "They've asked us to look into taking the thing over, but our review of it in the past is that there'd be more cost to operate it than any revenue that would be generated in that district. It's not a matter of wanting to."

The only way to generate revenue would be to issue taxes to property owners, which Miller said would require a vote of the people.

The district is essentially the same as the better-known downtown Main Street Levee District, Baranovic said. When the river reaches flood stage and water starts backing up into the city's sewer system, the Mill Street Pumping Station blocks the water, allowing it to collect in a 29-foot reservoir below the station, and then intermittently pumps the water back into the river.

When there is no flooding, the station stands empty except for routine maintenance. But once the river rises high enough, it requires 24-hour-a-day maintenance until the water subsides.

Main Street Levee District President Andy Juden said the two districts have the same mission, but their funding is different.

"Those groups pay for the district, but we tax our people through the county taxing authority," he said. "Forty years ago, we assessed everybody in Main Street District. The person who got wet first got the most assessment, and the person who got wet last got the least for its valuation."