LAW COULD PAVE WAY FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENTS

Paving gravel roads takes time and money.

It's a difficult task in Cape Girardeau County where limited funding means slow going in efforts to pave county roads.

But a state law called the Neighborhood Improvement District Act could pave the way for local governments and county residents to get the job done sooner.

The Missouri Asphalt Pavement Association is pushing the idea, along with a 15-year guarantee on paving from Koch Industries. Koch is a major asphalt supplier from Wichita, Kan., and a member of the asphalt association.

The asphalt association will host a noon luncheon Tuesday at theCape Girardeau Holiday Inn to explain the neighborhood improvement law to county and city officials and interested residents from Southeast Missouri.

Officials from 14 counties have been invited to the meeting.

The asphalt association views the neighborhood improvement law as a way to drum up more business.

Cape Girardeau County commissioners see it as a possible way to plow ahead with paving those dusty, bumpy gravel roads.

Cape Girardeau County has 350 miles of gravel roads. The county currently paves four to five miles a year with asphalt, said Gerald Jones, Cape County's Presiding Commissioner.

"We are chipping away at it," said Jones.

But it isn't cheap. Last year, it cost more than $45,000 a mile to pave gravel roads. This year, the cost has climbed to about $52,000 a mile, Jones said.

Last year, the county paved about four and a half miles. "We have five and a half miles planned this year," he said.

That is far short of the county's goal of 10 miles a year. The county has set aside more than $250,000 for such paving work.

But with the high cost of paving work, the budget won't go far, Jones said.

The county highway department paves gravel roads on the basis of traffic volume. The more heavily traveled roads are higher on the priority list, Jones said.

Wayne Muri is executive director of the asphalt association. The organization based in Jefferson City represents about 80 asphalt contractors, providers and equipment suppliers in the state.

Muri previously headed up the state's transportation department.

"The usual process of funneling our monies through an often-worsening political process is making taxpayers more and more gun shy," he said.

With the neighborhood improvement law, property owners can get their roads paved without waiting on their local governments to find the tax money to do it.

Property owners can set up improvement districts. Bonds would be issued and property owners would pay off the bonds over a period of years, Muri said.

The bonds would be issued through city or county governments.

The law covers both paving and storm drainage improvements.

Such projects have been done in the Columbia area and other parts of the state. "This hasn't really caught on in Southeast Missouri," Muri said.

But Muri said that could change.

Koch Industries has offered to design the road improvements, oversee the work and guarantee the pavement to be pothole free and crack free for 15 years.

Muri said new asphalt technology makes for almost-maintenance-free pavement.

Koch would work with local contractors to do the paving. Koch would handle the financing. Bonds would be issued, with affected property owners or even local governments retiring the bonds over a period of years.