Second set of projects approved by Cape council

Impassioned pleas were made, but Cape Girardeau City Councilman John Voss' effort Monday to make a change to a list of projects to be funded with Isle Casino Cape Girardeau-produced revenue for the city fell short.

"We're basically telling the citizens we don't care about your water and sewer bills, we just want to spend money on these projects," Voss told the council, as its members debated whether to support his amendment to remove a proposed downtown parking lot from the project list.

The council eventually did approve a second set of projects to be funded with an estimated $2.2 million the city expects to receive from 10 percent of the total state taxes paid by the casino and half of admission fees for patrons, but not before the discussion led to roll call votes on two amendments and another on final approval of the ordinance that will appropriate $714,000 for the projects. The council approved a first set of projects in February.

The second set contains a parking lot overlay at the River Heritage Museum; a dog park, community garden and accelerated tree planting; improvement of city walking trails; fitness equipment; construction of downtown parking lots; replacement of a roof at the Fort D historical site; lighting improvements on Hopper Road; and the addition of scoreboards and bleachers for youth football fields.

Voss, in light of the call of citizens to reduce utility bills that rose with the passage of two measures in 2011 to fund a new wastewater treatment plant, asked for one project -- a $145,000 parking lot to be built behind the Last Call bar on Broadway -- to be removed from the project list.

Voss said the council has asked for, but has not yet received, any direction from city staff on how the utility bills might be reduced, and he did not want to see money from the casino fund go to projects when the council does not know for certain revenue will stay on track.

Mayor Harry Rediger and council members Ray Buhs, Loretta Schneider and Meg Davis Proffer wanted the project left on the list.

Rediger said the city has, since a streetscape project on Broadway began, asked city staff to find ways to replace parking spaces removed by eliminating parking on the north side of the street. The addition of the lot behind Last Call also holds another key to downtown improvement, according to the mayor, in that the city can't count on interest in new development or storefronts to fill when no parking is available.

A lot added at the intersection of Middle Street and Broadway last year and one to come at the intersection of Main Street and Broadway with the razing of the former Convention and Visitors Bureau building takes care of the parking shortage in the eastern and middle sections of the newly renovated Broadway, and the lot behind Last Call, which is near the corner of Broadway and Sprigg Street, would take care of the west end, Rediger said.

Councilman Trent Summers proposed an amendment that would remove all projects from the list except the parking lot projects, but the amendment was voted down 5-2 with Summers and Voss voting to approve.

The ordinance that will appropriate funds for the projects also passed 5-2, with Summers and Voss voting no.

Rediger said city staff is working on numbers related to reducing utility bills, and the matter could be discussed at an upcoming council retreat in April. The city hasn't raised the flat-fee per month charged to sewer customers to the maximum level. The fee in 2011 was raised to $13.19 per month from $4.50 per month, but the fee is allowed by the voter-approved measures to rise to $16 per month. The rate for water usage has been raised the full amount allowed, to $3 from $1.35.

Contingent list

The council also passed a resolution to accept a five-year capital improvements program, but not until construction costs for several major projects were moved to a contingent list.

Uncertainties with the amount of revenue the city will receive in the future prompted Councilman Mark Lanzotti to request the building costs of a police station and improvements to a transfer station be removed from the program.

"I'm not suggesting that either of the projects aren't meritorious," Lanzotti said, "but I have some discomfort dedicating funding."

Also relocated to the contingent list was the installation of about 200 new streetlights throughout the city. Planning costs for all the projects were left in the program, as were the planning and installation costs for a $1.2 million sewer system on land the city recently purchased to form a business park.

Despite the recent endorsement by the Old Town Cape board of directors of a $1.15 million project that would add lighting to the downtown area, the council also approved only planning costs be included in the project, which would be paid for by a riverfront development fund that combines casino-generated revenue received by the city with matching funds from the casino.

The council also set a special meeting for 5 p.m. April 5 to declare the results of April 2 special elections.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO