Scott Meyer: Staff made 'considerable effort' to educate about Broadway project

Cape Girardeau officials mailed 167 letters, hosted four open houses, distributed news releases to various media outlets and had 100 fliers hand-delivered to businesses along the length of a suddenly controversial $3.85 million Broadway corridor project.

Some business owners have recently complained that they were not made aware of the full scope of the project or that it is being -- as council member John Voss put it Monday night -- "shoved down their throats."

On Tuesday, however, city staff members compiled a detailed list at the request of the Southeast Missourian that outlines the city's efforts to inform and gather input from the public that began last May.

"We did make considerable efforts to contact everyone," city manager Scott Meyer said. "We certainly made huge attempts to contact the property owners and the business owners. It was never our intent to leave anybody out."

The data provided by the city's office of Developmental Services also offers the reminder that the city went with the will of the majority when it made its decisions.

Parking spaces

At issue is the project's plan to remove 60 to 70 parking spots along the north side of Broadway to create a 15-foot-wide sidewalk. Construction of the project, which also includes street resurfacing, sidewalk replacement and gutter improvements, was slated to begin in March.

But on Monday, Dru Reeves of Horizon Screen Printing showed up at the meeting and said that losing that many parking spaces would put a strain on customers and tenants who live along the project, which stretches from Pacific to Water streets.

With the support of council members Voss and Kathy Swan, Meyer was directed to re-evaluate the project and come back with a report outlining options that could save some or all of the parking spaces.

Reeves also told the council that several other business and property owners were not aware of the open houses and had never been contacted by the city. Even after he was told Tuesday of the city's efforts, Reeves remained adamant that the city hadn't done enough to let Broadway business owners know.

Furthermore, he said, the opinions of Broadway business and property owners should have been weighted more heavily than the rest of the community's.

"We're the ones who have to deal with it," Reeves said. "They don't have any skin in the game."

Reeves did acknowledge that they should have come forward sooner, though his father Glenn, who owns Horizon, did provide copies of several letters of objection he had mailed to council and city staff members.

"We should have done something sooner than we have done now," Reeves said. "I admit that."

Reeves would like to see the city go back to option one, which leaves the sidewalks. Kelly Green, director of developmental services, said the only fully designed option is option two. The city would have to pay its consultants, SWT Design of St. Louis, to design option one. She did not know how much that would add to the costs.

For his part, Meyer said that the city's efforts were "exhaustive," but added they will attempt to learn from the experience how to improve.

Open houses

The city's first two-hour public open house was held May 23 at Discovery Playhouse. According to data provided by the city, 67 letters were mailed to property owners May 12, although 10 were returned as "unable to deliver." On May 19, about 50 fliers were hand-delivered to businesses along Broadway corridor.

Thirty-one people attended that open house.

The second public open house was held July 28 at the First Presbyterian Church, which drew 89 attendees. The city mailed 66 letters to property owners July 13, again created news releases for the media and hand-delivered 50 more fliers to businesses July 7.

That's when those who attended were given the opportunity to vote on which option should be used. Option one left parking on both sides of the street, while option two removed parking on the north side for the "pedestrian promenade" for seating areas, trees and pavers.

Of the 66 votes collected, 22 were for option one, 38 were for option two and six were undecided.

The city then held two more open houses that were geared specifically to property owners on the north side of Broadway on July 26 and 27. The week before, they mailed 34 letters. A total of nine people attended those two meetings. None of the meeting totals include city or consulting firm representatives.

"I think it shows we did make exhaustive efforts," Meyer said. "It's a reasonable expectation for us to do all we can and that's what our efforts show."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Broadway, from Pacific to Water streets