Cape city manager search draws dozens of applicants

A total of 50 applicants applied for the job of Cape Girardeau city manager by the Feb. 28 deadline, Mayor Bob Fox announced Monday to the City Council.

Current manager Scott Meyer plans to retire in June after 12 years on the job, the longest tenure in the role in municipal history.

The city's consulting firm, GovHR USA, will spend March going over the credentials of each applicant and winnowing the field according to pre-set guidelines established by the City Council.

At the beginning of April, Fox said, council members will meet with GovHR USA consultant Mark Peterson to come up with an estimated three to five finalists, with a plan to invite them to Cape Girardeau for interviews.

The last time the job was open, in 2009, according to previous reporting by the Southeast Missourian, 56 resumes from 23 states were received.

Meyer, the then-director of facilities management for Southeast Missouri State University, was hired at the time for the $117,000 position, which carried a $8,000 performance bonus.

Downtown race

The Muddy River Marathon, a 26.2-mile race mainly through downtown Cape Girardeau scheduled for May 1, has 609 runners from 17 states signed up so far at runsignup.com.

Organizers Brandon Hahs of Courtyard by Marriott and Bryan Kelpe of the Missouri Running Company told the council they will cap participation at 1,000 marathoners, adding there is an option for entrants to participate in a half-marathon and a half-marathon relay.

"I've been organizing races for 30 years," Kelpe said, "and this is by far the biggest."

Kelpe said the course will begin at Century Casino Cape Girardeau, head through downtown running along Main Street, under the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, taking Bloomfield trail out to Dalhousie Golf Club, circling back on old Highway 74 back to downtown.

Hahs and Kelpe said Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri is the designated charity for the race with a goal of giving the not-for-profit $15,000 from race proceeds.

LifeHouse project

Jeremy Rowland, regional director of Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri, updated the council on the LifeHouse project, a planned residential transitional housing program for homeless pregnant women.

Rowland said a parcel on Spanish Street has been donated to the organization to build a facility with 15 bedrooms, office space and a conference room with an estimated groundbreaking this summer.

Catholic Charities has launched a $6 million capital campaign and Rowland said just more than $2 million has already been pledged.

LifeHouse began in 2013 in Springfield, Missouri, and Rowland said the high infant-mortality rate in the Bootheel was part of the reasoning for wanting a facility in Southeast Missouri.

Rowland said the facility is expected to open in December 2022, will be staffed round-the-clock and is open to "women of faith or no faith."

First Ward Councilman Dan Presson praised the project but expressed concern about the planned location with its "high density of bars" in the immediate vicinity.

Notes

• The council approved on first reading an ordinance authorizing the city to issue up to $10 million in industrial revenue bonds in support of the River Campus Arts Extension project, headed by Scott and Lisa Blank.
• Jared Snell, Janet Esicar and Josh Parham were appointed to unexpired terms on the Golf Course Advisory Board.
• Ivy Shen was appointed to the University of Missouri Extension Council for a term ending Feb. 28, 2023.