Committee aims to educate business owners about CID

Questions about the Downtown Community Improvement District's boundaries, services and more may be answered Wednesday night in a meeting hosted by the Downtown CID steering committee.

Committee member Jim Maurer said the meeting's purpose is to clear up any misunderstandings downtown business owners might have.

"We've had some business owners who I feel just don't have all the correct information and we wanted to have a meeting just to inform them and explain to them about the process we went through," he said.

The petition to create a CID was approved earlier this month by the Cape Girardeau City Council, with 95 of 180 property owners signing.

Property owners have been the focus of the committee's efforts in the past, since their support was necessary to move forward. But some business owners who rent their spaces might have missed out on earlier educational meetings.

"We have a lot of business owners down there that do not own their property and they have questions," Maurer said. "We opened up the meetings to whoever could come, but most of the information we sent out went directly to property owners."

He said the committee doesn't want business owners to feel the CID is being imposed on them; the goal is to improve the area. Maurer has met with some business owners individually to answer questions, but said hosting a meeting was a better way to ensure anyone with concerns has an opportunity to voice them. The committee also will prepare a list of frequently asked questions to distribute to those who attend.

"We're hoping since we've got some people who are truly concerned right now, they will show [up]," he said. "We may not get them to agree with the CID, but that's not the purpose of our meeting. The purpose of our meeting is to make sure they at least have the true information ... because some of the things I'm being told [by business owners] are just not true."

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 235 Broadway.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

235 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.