Street, school safety heart of discussion at Jackson aldermanic meeting

At nearly 90 minutes long, the Jackson mayor and Board of Aldermen meeting Monday, March 17, delved into numerous topics.

The meeting began with Mayor Dwain Hahs presenting two proclamation certificates. The first went to Alix Gasser, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence, a child advocacy center. This marked April as Child Abuse Prevention Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Jackson.

Hahs also presented Parks and Recreation director Jason Lipe with a proclamation for Jackson being named a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Several payments also appeared on the agenda, all of which the aldermen approved. They allotted $50,289.96 to Penzel Construction Co. of Jackson for work on Jackson Fire Station No. 1 and $63,000 to Robert Boitnott Painting of Cape Girardeau for power plant equipment painting.

The aldermen also renewed a contract with Metro-Ag Injection Systems of Breese, Illinois, to remove biosolids, or sludge, from Jackson’s wastewater treatment plant. This new contract would last for one year, until April 2026, and would cost the city 7.2 cents per gallon of sludge removed in spring and fall cleanings and 7.6 cents per gallon during the summer.

Study session

​During their lengthy study session, the aldermen discussed two issues related to roads by the city’s schools. One was a request from a resident to raise speed limits outside of school hours on Oak Street by Jackson Junior High School. The other was for the Jackson School District to take over a portion of West Madison Street to construct a more secure entrance for the football stadium.

Keenan Kinder, assistant superintendent of safety for the school district, had attended aldermanic meetings the past weeks to discuss the proposed changes. He said the district would support the board with whatever decisions it made.

Oak Street currently dips from a blanket 30 mph speed limit to 20 mph as it approaches the school, then to a 15 mph limit parallel to the school. The aldermen discussed allowing it to be 30 mph throughout, outside a specific time frame. However, they could not determine what that timeframe should be.

“I’ve looked into this a bit and it’s just flat busy there from probably 7 o’clock (a.m.) … to almost 9 o’clock (p.m.). From my perspective, it’s just concerning to change something that’s been in place for as long as it has been in place unless it were after 9 o’clock,” Ward 4 Alderman Steve Stroder said.

Many school events and sports practices last late into the night, almost every night. Various aldermen said the existing speed limits would likely suffice.

As for turning a section of road over to the school district, Kinder said it would help improve security at football games. He said he did not see a way for the district to install weapons detectors there without creating a concourse at the stadium’s entrance.

“The only thing worse than not doing it and having an event is to make people think you’re going to and something happens,” he said.

Sanders said the next step for the mayor and aldermen would be to draft a memorandum of understanding and hold a public hearing regarding the proposed street abandonment.