Nash Road issues

The recent attention to the lack of fire protection for a handful of businesses in the Nash Road industrial area near the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport has raised questions: 1. Why don't these businesses pay for fire protection? 2. Who would insure a business with no fire protection? 3. What other issues are involved?

The answer to question No. 2 is easiest. Businesses can get insurance even if they don't have fire protection, but they have to pay a higher premium. Of the 28 businesses along Nash Road, all but seven have contracts with the Cape Girardeau Fire Department even though they are outside the city limits. Insurance brokers estimate businesses with Cape Girardeau's fire protection pay 25 percent less for insurance. Because of higher fire ratings, protection from Jackson or Scott City would mean less of an insurance savings. And protection from the nearby Delta Fire Protection District might not mean any savings at all.

Questions No. 1 and No. 2 are interconnected. In order to get a contract with the Cape Girardeau Fire Department, businesses must also sign up for city water which was extended to that area a few years ago. And to get city water, businesses must sign agreements to be voluntarily annexed and to comply with city codes. Some businesses don't want to be annexed and don't want to pay city taxes or comply with city codes when buildings are expanded or modified. The industrial area is partly in Cape Girardeau County and partly in Scott County, which have no building restrictions.

Cape Girardeau officials say they are interested in pursuing annexation of the industrial area. If that occurs, the businesses would receive fire protection along with police protection and all the city's regulations. How smooth a process this will be will hinge largely on negotiations between the city and the business owners.