PROJECT WILL START IN 1992

Construction of flood control improvements along Walker Branch should begin in July 1992 and be finished by December 1993.

That's according to a schedule shown Thursday night at a public meeting on the improvements. The meeting, held at Cape Girardeau City Hall, drew about 35 people.

The improvements are planned as part of the Cape LaCroix Creek-Walker Branch flood control project, a joint city-federal undertaking. Three members of the Army Corps of Engineers attended Thursday's meeting, including Wayne Miller, the agency's manager for the flood control project.

Thursday's meeting was held primarily for businesses whose properties will be affected by the Walker Branch improvements. Those businesses are located south of Kingsway. A December public meeting will be held for home owners located along Walker Branch north of that site, said two city representatives at Thursday's meeting.

Walker Branch begins at its southern end along Kingshighway at Good Hope. Auto Tire & Parts Co. at Good Hope. The improvements along Walker Branch would run north to Cape Rock Drive and Perryville Road, said Ken Eftink, planning coordinator for the city's Division of Planning Services.

The construction along Walker Creek would follow a seven-month right-of-way acquisition period from December to June 1992, according to the schedule.

"Construction is going to take a while," said Bill Vaughn, a Planning Services technical assistant. "It has to start at the confluence, at the lower end, and go upstream. It's going to be a tedious process...."

Vaughn said inconveniences to the businesses and some residents along Walker Branch would be reduced as much as possible.

Vaughn said it is the city's responsibility to reach agreement with each property owner on a fair acquisition price and to avoid condemnation proceedings where possible. The city's action over the project should not play a part in contributing to an already overburdened court system, he said.

"By following the guidelines set down by the federal government for the fair and equitable treatment of everyone, we should never have to go to the courtroom. We should be able to settle it right here," he said.

If properties can be acquired without going to court, Vaughn said, the construction schedule could be moved up.

Each individual property owner will be dealt with, he said. Eftink said the meetings will also be confidential.

"What we discuss, other people don't really need to know about," he said.

By and large, the city officials said, the acquisitions will be partial takings. After the meeting, Eftink said the only business exception would be Hill Equipment, which will be relocated.

Eftink said the city planned to avoid higher than anticipated acquisition costs, such as with the Cape LaCroix section of the project, through modifications that have been made to the original plans. He acknowledged those modifications would also minimize inconveniences to businesses.

City officials said all of the Cape LaCroix Creek right of way has been obtained for the project.

Audience members at the meeting seemed genial and asked several questions about the Walker Creek improvements and the overall project. Vaughn and Eftink also presented a slide presentation detailing the project, and right-of-way plans for the project along Walker Creek were laid out for audience members to view.

Eftink said property owners realize the improvements are worthwhile.

"They've been flooded," he said. "If the Corps, the federal government, and the city didn't step in and do it, they couldn't afford it themselves."

The flood control project is expected to cost about $42 million. The city will pay $9 to $10 million.

The city is funding the project through a 10-year, quarter-cent sales tax approved by city voters in 1988. The tax is expected to raise about $10 million.

When the project was first approved in 1989, its estimated cost was from $34 million to $36 million.