Meyer reflects on Cape surviving, thriving after a coronavirus year

The longest-serving manager in Cape Girardeau municipal history, Scott Meyer, has presided over a tumultuous COVID-impacted 2020, his last full 12 months on the job before his pending retirement next summer after a dozen years on the job.

Recently, Meyer posted an annual summary letter on the city’s website, which can be read at www.cityofcape.org.

Highlights

• Cyberattack

In late January, a “network incident” affected the city’s email and several other systems, prompting municipal staff to only accept cash and check payments for utilities.

“This was a very significant event that pushed every part of our electronic business offline (and) it took us months to fully recover,” Meyer said.

“We worked with the insurance company, our internet technology partners and our own IT experts to protect us against future attacks,” he added.

• Civil unrest

In the aftermath of national outrage over the May death of a Black man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, Cape Girardeau witnessed a series of weekly protests at Freedom Corner in Capaha Park, race discussions in churches and numerous public comments at bimonthly city council meetings.

On June 23, the city’s historical preservation commission recommended removal of the Confederate States of America memorial at Ivers Square downtown.

Two weeks later, the City Council voted to remove the 12-1/2 ton marker, and within 24 hours, it was boxed up and out of public view.

On Sept. 8, city lawmakers voted to give the monument back to the original donor, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, who in turn arranged for the Missouri Civil War Museum to relocate the memorial, made of Georgia silver gray marble, out of Cape Girardeau County within days.

“While emotions ran high at times,” Meyer recalled, “our citizens never took the law into their own hands nor were they violent or destructive as in other cities.”

• COVID-19

City parks were shut down early in the pandemic and later reopened.

Municipal staff got up to speed on Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding.

Split shifts were implemented, utility disconnects delayed, inspections were completed remotely, meetings were made virtual (which will continue into the new year) and tracing and quarantine protocols were put into effect.

“As we emerged from the first wave of shutdowns and uncertainty,” Meyer said, “we began to look at how to stabilize and help restart the (local) economy.”

Meyer said businesses were allowed to put off paying local taxes for a few months, flexibility on liquor licensing and pickups was implemented and developers and contractors were helped to keep projects going through electronic submittals and remote inspections.

• City projects

The Airport Terminal Master Plan for Cape Girardeau Regional Airport was completed with an eye toward a future new or remodeled terminal, construction of new hangars and the implementation of a modern air traffic control system over the next four years.

A Texas-based firm has rented space at the airport as the company reached an agreement with the city and Southeast Missouri State University on a professional pilot degree program launching next year.

“We made great strides with the planning of the leisure pool and the Jefferson School campus update plan with the Cape Girardeau Public Schools,” Meyer said, noting construction is planned in 2021.

Also on the docket for completion in 2021 is the new City Hall project on the site of the old Common Pleas Courthouse and former Carnegie Library site.

• Transitions

Cape Girardeau fire chief Travis Hollis, hired in August 2019, departed the job in October by mutual agreement with city officials. Hollis was replaced by Randy Morris Jr.

The City Council hired consultant Mark Peterson to lead the search for Meyer’s city manager successor. Advertising for the job begins in January to fill Meyer’s slot by his scheduled June retirement.

“We didn’t just survive (2020), we thrived,” opined Meyer, who finished his letter by inviting city staff to reach out to one or two people in the coming months to “encourage them that 2021 will be a better year.”