RESIDENT SUBMITS NEW INTERSECTION PLAN; HENDERSON-NEW MADRID AT ISSUE

In an effort to save part of his yard, a local peridontist Wednesday night submitted plans to the Planning and Zoning Commission for the New Madrid-Henderson street intersection.

Dr. Taylor Bahn lives near the hazardous spot, and recent plans to realign the streets would have taken a sizable portion of his property. He threatened to fight the city on the issue.

That fight was delayed when, in June, two companies considerably overbid the project's $559,000 price estimate. Southeast Missouri State University, which initially will pay for the work and be reimbursed by the city, considered rebidding the project. University officials wanted the intersection changed quickly to accommodate traffic created by a new business building.

But a plan drawn up by former city engineer Kinsey Russell in 1986 resurfaced. It differed greatly from the overbid plan, and residents seemed to like the 10-year-old work better.

The rejected plan jogged North Henderson Street, putting it apart from the intersection. It made New Madrid Street from the Show Me Center a through street. Traffic diverting to Henderson from New Madrid didn't have to stop, either.

Russell's plan made the intersection a four-way stop.

Bahn, the peridontist, took things one step further, moving the intersection to the top of a hill. The move, he said, makes it safer and takes less of his yard.

While admitting he isn't an engineer, Bahn said he had good reason to attempt redesigning the intersection.

"I already knew what the university's interests were and what the city's interests were," Bahn said. "If the intersection can be built without going through my yard, why not? There's no reason for them not to accommodate my property if it still meets their ends."

He said his plan helps the city by "keeping the integrity" of Henderson and New Madrid streets. It helps the university by expediting traffic from the main campus to the Show Me Center and it helps residents by making traffic safer, he said.

Several residents in attendance at the meeting seemed tentative to agree with Bahn.

Commissioners voted to refer Bahn's sketch, along with the 1986 city plan, to the city's engineering department. Staff is expected to judge between the two and come up with cost estimates by the commission's September meeting.

Bahn wasn't entirely pleased with the decision.

"They are going to leave it to the city engineer with no recommendation," he said. "They could have sent it and said to approve a plan like mine if it were feasible."

Commissioners took a step toward settling another controversial issue Wednesday: whether to suggest the City Council allow a manufactured home at 133 East Cape Rock Drive, in an R-1, single-family residential district.

They voted to recommend the City Council approve the homeowner's request, but only if the manufactured home is bolted to the foundation. Commissioners also voted not to approve any similar issues until guidelines are established.

The process of setting those guidelines will begin at a special meeting, tentatively scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Sept. 4 at City Hall.