Economic developers may have found a way to provide potable water for Nash Road and other Cape Girardeau County areas without water or sewers.

They want to finance improvements through a Tax Increment Financing District. Such districts, found throughout the state, earmark specific taxes to pay for infrastructure improvements.

Mitch Robinson, an economic developer with the Cape Girardeau Area Regional Commerce and Growth Association, presented the idea to the Cape Girardeau City Council Tuesday. With him were Chauncy Buchheit, an economic developer with the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission, and John Mehner, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

The three were promoting a TIF District that would take in Nash Road, an industrial area south of Cape Girardeau's city limits. It also would take in Cape West Business Park and land around the Interstate 55 and Highway 61 interchange between Jackson and Cape Girardeau.

State law provides a mechanism for county commissions to establish TIF Districts. In this case, the Cape Girardeau County Commission would have to pass an ordinance establishing a nine-member TIF board. The group would develop a plan for the proposed district, describing how collected money would be spent. Then county commissioners would have to approve the plan.

Robinson wants the TIF District to focus on sales taxes, not property taxes as most districts do. No sales tax increase would be involved.

Under his plan, 1995 would be established as a base year. The existing city and county sales taxes collected that year from businesses within the district's boundaries would be the base amount.

Fifty percent of those sales taxes collected over the base year amount would be earmarked for needed infrastructure improvements like water and sewer lines.

Economic developers hope that with infrastructure improvements in place more businesses would open in the TIF District and more sales taxes would be generated.

Mayor Al Spradling III mentioned that Cape Girardeau could try to annex Nash Road if city water was provided to that area. However, there could be a problem if voters don't approve a $26.5 million water system bond issue in November. In that case, there wouldn't be enough water to provide Nash Road even if water lines were installed.

"If we max out on water, we won't have the opportunity to grow," Robinson said. "But we feel confident the project can move ahead."

He said the money could be used for other infrastructure improvements if the bond issue failed.

Robinson and the other economic developers said they want to have the legal mechanism for the district in place by Jan. 1, so 1995 could be counted as the base year. Because of new business they expect a great jump in sales taxes collected in the district in years following.

The City Council gave informal approval to Robinson's proposal.

In other action, the council voted to put an ordinance creating an Ethics Commission on the Sept. 16 meeting agenda.

The ordinance, patterned somewhat after the law creating the Missouri State Ethics Commission, sets out the duties of and requirements for members of the commission. It also lists the offenses the Ethics Commission can investigate.

Councilman Richard Eggimann said he didn't like the part of the ordinance that states only three out of seven commissioners have to agree for an alleged ethics violation to be investigated. He said that section means the minority instead of the majority will rule.