WETLAND ISSUE RESOLVED ON SCHOOL PROPERTY

Construction of a new vocational-technical school is progressing, thanks to a swap of some swampy land.

The Cape Girardeau School District has traded 2.8 acres of wetland on the school site for seven acres of farmland that will become wetland on a farm north of Cape Girardeau. That swap allowed the school board to officially resolve state and federal issues and finally award a bid for site work.

Last week, the board awarded a contract for site preparation to the low bidder, Nip Kelley Construction Co., with a base bid of $193,000.

The vocational-technical school will be built on 72 acres west of Kingshighway and Southern Expressway. The district's master plan calls for construction of a high school and athletic complex on the property as well, but voter approval is needed for the second phase of the plan.

Construction at the site was halted in March when the swampy ground was declared a natural wetlands by the Army Corps of Engineers and Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Wetlands are protected by federal law.

The fact the project can proceed is great news. But the fact it was delayed so long by this wetland dispute is discouraging. It is a shame the district had to jump through such bureaucratic hoops to proceed with this much-needed school construction.