JACKSON TO UPGRADE ELECTRIC SYSTEM

JACKSON -- An upgrade tripling the capacity of electrical lines on the west side will begin this spring.

Jackson aldermen accepted the low bid of the L.E. Myers Co. of Decatur, Ill., to perform the upgrade. The $223,475.38 bid was $7,000 less than the estimate.

Public Works Director Jim Roach compared the upgrade to increasing the size of water lines to improve water pressure. Power will be more reliable and increase the city's capacity for growth.

The areas are near the Jackson Skate Center on Highway 74.

Roach said contractors will replace aerial distribution lines, transformers, underground lines and ground-mounted transformers.

The work should be completed this summer and is being done in conjunction with improving the city's west substation.

In other business, City Administrator Steve Wilson said about 200 residents called athe city Monday to say they hadn't received their utility bills. The bills, delivered to the Jackson Post Office, were not sent out because the Cape Girardeau Post Office was shorthanded.

Aldermen also heard a complaint from developer John Lichtenegger, who said tons of silt are eroding from the Savannah Ridge Subdivision onto his property. Savannah Ridge is owned by developer Stacy Mansfield, who was not present.

Lichtenegger urged the board to pass a stormwater detention ordinance to control the situation.

Roach said the city has worked with Cape Girardeau and the county to devise a stormwater detention law. Jackson has an erosion control ordinance. Mansfield has met the requirements of the erosion control ordinance, Roach said.