New sewage treatment plant tops list of Cape Girardeau capital improvements

A new sewage treatment plant is the most expensive item Cape Girardeau's list of needed capital improvements. And despite the city having no money to build the $73 million project, it is something that must be done soon.

Since October, the city has been waiting for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to comment on a plan that calls for replacing the existing wastewater plant at 429 Cooper St., city manager Scott Meyer said Monday. At the same time, the St. Louis office of Jacobs Engineering Group has been hired to study the effect a new sewer plant would have on rates and look for alternative sources of money.

"We will be tapping into as much state and federal funding as possible," Meyer said.

The city's last permit for the plant, issued in 2006, called for its replacement by October. The city missed that deadline, but the large fines that could be imposed are on hold as long as the city appears to be moving toward building a replacement, Meyer told the Cape Girardeau City Council during a study session Monday.

The sewer plant was one of a $222 million list of transportation, environmental, recreational and community development projects reviewed Monday by the council. Reviewing and updating the city's five-year Capital Improvements Program is an annual job mandated by the city charter.

The council will have a public hearing on the program March 1 and a final vote on it March 15. Approval doesn't mean any project in the plan will be built. Of the $222 million in identified projects, only $28.2 million have a secure source of funding.

Some projects, such as a 16,000 square-foot addition to the police station first placed on the list in 1998, have been waiting years for funding. The sewer plant, added to the list in 2008, must be built to comply with state and federal laws.

Those long-delayed projects brought a note of frustration from Ward 1 Councilman John Voss. "There are projects in my ward that are unfunded and moved out every year," he said. "Others showed up 18 months ago and are on the TTF-4 list. That is not a criticism, but I think we can do better."

The total for projects in each category, with unfunded amounts, are:

• Transportation, $62.9 million, with $49.1 million unfunded. Passage of a sales tax extension, called TTF-4, expected to be on the ballot in August, would reduce the unfunded amount by more than $20 million.
• Environment, $126,9 million, with $117.7 million unfunded.
• Recreation, $7.9 million, with $2.7 million unfunded.
• Community Development, $24.3 millioin, all unfunded.

Maintaining a list of city needs and priorities, even when funding isn't available, keeps the city ready to build, city manager Scott Meyer said.

"Opportunities sometimes come up very quickly in the world of government," Meyer said. "Loans and grants and special programs sometimes have quick turnarounds and deadlines, and if we have had those discussions and set priorities, we can¹t do it quickly enough."

The city must replace the sewage plant because of environmental rules designed to prevent the release of untreated sewage to the Mississippi River during big rainstorms. The current plant is designed to handle an average of 7 million gallons a day of wastewater with a maximum capacity of 18.5 million gallons in a day, said Tim Gramling, director of public works.

Wastewater bypasses the sewage plant when flows that would equal 20 million gallons in a day occur, he said. That happens about 40 times a year, he said.

The replacement plant, which may go on city-owned land on Commercial Drive near the public works building, will need to have the ability to handle 11 million gallons daily on average with a maximum capacity of 50 million gallons in a day, Gramling said.

The plant currently handles an average of 6.5 million gallons daily, he said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent addresses:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO

429 Cooper St., Cape Girardeau, MO