SPRADLING SAYS `THINGS ARE GOOD' IN CAPE GIRARDEAU

This is a good time to live in Cape Girardeau.

"Things are good," said Cape Girardeau Mayor Al Spradling III. "There's some mud on the streets, but we don't have much to complain about at the present time."

Spradling, speaking before a large crowd at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee, discussed the "State of the City."

A lot of good things are happening, said the mayor:

-- the Procter & Gamble expansion

-- passage of the school bond issue

-- Sam's Club opening

-- opening of Goody's next week

-- a salary increase for city employees

-- the opening of the Osage building and Shawnee park ball fields.

"And we're hoping for some other good announcements in the future," said Spradling.

The council, during its recent retreat, discussed a number of things, said Spradling.

The Cape Girardeau budget is leaner than usual, but still allows some adjustments to city employee pay, noted Spradling.

"Employee raises can range from 4.6 to 6.2 percent this year," he said. "We're making an effort to bring city employees' salaries closer to parity with comparable cities in Missouri."

One of the down items in the budget could be capital improvements, said Spradling. With a decrease in sales taxes over the past year, replacement of some of the city's equipment will have to wait.

"Capital expenditures are not in the budget," he said.

The budget is usually based on an annual 5 percent increase in the sales taxes for the city, but 1996 taxes were down, and the first few months of 1997 have not been any better.

But the mayor cited a number of project on the plus side.

"We're in the process of sewer work throughout the city," he said. "That's one of the reasons for the mud on the street."

A lot of work is under way on projects which have already been approved.

"We're not looking at any new bond issues right now," he said.

Included in the work will be the design and construction of a water system. Work on this project is in the beginning stage, said Spradling, and should start by the end of this year.

Perryville Road construction will start this summer, he said. The design has been completed on the project.

Another project which has already been approved is the city's flood control work from Kingshway to Burger King to Marietta. This project is expected to be starting soon, with a two-year completion time.

Spradling also touched on the recently-passed school bond issue.

"We're pleased what's happening on the education scene," he said. "The bond issue has passed for the Cape Girardeau Public School, and Notre Dame working on its new facility."

The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge work is continuing, and a number of new subdivisions are starting to appear.

"All this goes together to upgrade our community," said Spradling. "The city is getting a face lift."