MARBLE HILL HAS ITS SIGHTS SET ON GROWTH

MARBLE HILL -- A plan that will guide the growth of Marble Hill is 95 percent complete, city officials said Monday.

The 20-year, comprehensive plan is just one more step in an effort to finally bring the towns of Marble Hill and Lutesville together, operating as one community, according to F.X. Peters, president of the town's Board of Aldermen.

"We've come from two towns with one policeman to what we think is the making of a small city," Peters said.

The towns of Marble Hill and Lutesville consolidated in 1986. But officials said it has taken time for residents to get used to being only one community. The Lutesville Post Office closed just this month.

The plan, which officials have been working on for more than two years, projects business and population growth, new zoning regulations, a widening of the city limits and the addition of four new city parks over the next 20 years, said City Administrator Herman Skaggs.

Final revisions will be made in the coming weeks, after which the public will be asked for input on the plan, Skaggs said.

Approval rests with the Board of Aldermen and the city's Planning Commission.

Skaggs said the plan sets a direction for the town and is a necessary guideline for the expanding community.

"A lot of people think of Marble Hill as `that little town in Bollinger County,'" he said. "But there are a lot of big things going on here."

Early this year, the city completed work on a $1.3 million sewer system, one that serves all city residents. In addition, Skaggs said, the city has a dual water system and a growing industrial park and has just invested $50,000 into city streets. There are plans to build a new road to the airport.

A public pool is also in the planning stages and will likely be constructed by late 1992 or early 1993, Skaggs said.

Marble Hill has a population of 1,400 residents; about 400 other people live within one mile of the town's boundaries.

Peters said what has kept the town vital is its mix of successful businesses. And he said many people who were born and raised here but left the town are returning to start businesses and raise families.

He said the small-town warmth of Marble Hill, coupled with a wealth of outdoor activities, serves as a "magnet" for people.

Mayor Shirley Cooper said the city's comprehensive plan sets high goals but is realistic.

"I think most of the changes are positive things," she said. "You have to answer the problems of today, but you also have to look 10 or 20 years down the road."

Peters said that according to the plan, the city limits will increase by 20 percent. The population is projected to increase by about 30 percent, due in part to the expansion of city limits, he said. Officials also hope businesses that bring new jobs to the town will move into the area.

The plan covers land use, housing, transportation, parks, and community facilities, including the construction of a new City Hall building in the next two years.

Skaggs said residents will be most interested in the land use segment of the plan. A date for a public hearing for resident input has not yet been set, but Skaggs said residents will be encouraged to ask questions and to tell city officials of their needs.

He said it will take dollars and action by the Board of Aldermen to make the plan a reality.

Eight members of a special committee have worked on the plan, along with the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission.

Peters, Skaggs and Cooper were part of that committee, which also included City Clerk Pauline Clubb, Fred Thomas, chairman of the city's Planning Commission, Martha B. Peters, Sheila Teeters and Bill Gilmore.

Skaggs said the plan illustrates a desire for a growing community that offers much to its residents.

"We're part of Southeast Missouri, but our niche has been staked out pretty good," he said. "We have a lot to offer."