THE PUBLIC MIND: READERS URGE CITY TO REVIEW OTHER OPTIONS CONCERNING PROPOSED SPORTS COMPLEX

To Jim Drury:

We have studied your proposal for the Osage Park/John T. Crowe Center in the October 18, 1992 Southeast Missourian. It has raised several questions and suggestions we would like to share.

Our first concern is spending the excess funds collected from the hotel and restaurant tax and property taxes intended to fund the cost of the "Show Me Center" to pay for a sports complex that has been soundly defeated at the polls by the taxpayers of this city. It seems that our city government and some prominent citizens are trying to push this sports complex in through the back door. Perhaps you did not hear the voters.

Secondly, we believe that building twenty-seven (27) sports fields/courts with lights in such close proximity to an extremely peaceful neighborhood would be detrimental to the tranquility, privacy, property values, and wildlife. There are other areas where these facilities could be placed so as to minimize the effects on surrounding neighbors.

We also object to using this money for the construction of another multipurpose facility when these funds were intended to pay off the original multipurpose building. The excess funds can be used to retire the Series 1987 bond issue prior to their maturity dates. There would be a penalty involved to retire them early; however, the 2 percent penalty for early retirement is considerably less than the 8 percent interest rate to borrow the proposed $3,650,000.

If the bonds are retired early, the property tax assessment could be discontinued per the sunset provision the voters approved in 1987. We are worried that there is a vicious cycle developing here: borrow money, increase taxes to pay the debt, borrow more money and use the tax increase to pay for another project instead of what was intended. This becomes an endless cycle because there is always another new project the city government or a few citizens think we need to survive.

Where will the money come from for operations and flood clean-up after the bonds are retired in June, 2005 and the property tax expires per the sunset provision? Another tax increase?

We are not opposed to every aspect of your proposal. Osage Park could be a wonderful idea if left as a nature area with a few picnic tables, hiking trails, the bike trail, playground equipment, BBQ grills, horseshoe pits, and shuffleboard courts without lights. Leave the trees and wildlife as they are. This can be done for an amount considerably less than your proposal.

If it is necessary to build new ballfields (softball, football, soccer, etc.) spread these out in the other parks the city owns. There is room for several more fields at Shawnee, Cherokee, and Arena park~. Lighted horseshoe pits and shuffleboard courts could be constructed at some of the smaller parks such as Choctaw, Indian, Missouri, Ranny, and Washington. These fields could also be built on park property that has not been developed at all. These areas include Casquin Park, Delaware Park, and Twin Trees Park. The taxpayers own 523.5 acres of park land - spread these ideas across town so they are convenient to all citizens.

We fail to see where the economic growth you propose will be evident by building this facility. Most of the new income will be for restaurants and motels when there is a tournament two or three weekends per year. It appears that most of this revenue will be yours. According to your calculations only 33% of the excess funds are generated by the tourists visiting our city. Would this small amount of revenue be considered economic growth to the unemployed citizens and the low income taxpayers? Perhaps our excess funds could be used to bring new businesses to Cape Girardeau. This would result in economic growth throughout the year rather than the six months of each year the sports fields could be used.

In closing, we do not oppose the idea of a park at Mt. Auburn Road, Hopper Road, and Kingshighway. We oppose spending money intended to retire "Show Me Center" bonds for a sports complex the taxpayers rejected in an election. There are other areas to build these sports fields if the voters have now decided they want them.

The LaCroix Creek project is a good idea as is the hiking/biking trail, but we do not need to destroy a peaceful wooded area to build lighted sports facilities. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had a different idea in their 1983 report on the LaCroix Creek flood control project when they stated: "The opportunity to satisfy unmet outdoor recreational needs and significantly improve the future fish and wildlife habitat all combine favorably with the flood-control solution to provide a naturally oriented and aesthetically appealing urban, suburban and rural environment."

If your proposal for the Osage Park/John T. Crowe Center is approved there will be no future wildlife habitat and nothing natural or rural about the area in question.

Please reconsider this plan and we urge the city council to review other options and lend an ear to the voices of the citizens and taxpayers of our community.

~~~William D. And Laura B. Bennett

Cape Girardeau