Council moves ahead with police, fire station projects

The Cape Girardeau City Council moved ahead Monday night with plans to build a new police station and a new fire station.

The council voted unanimously to authorize city manager to negotiate contracts with two design-build teams: the Kiefner Brothers team for the police-station project and Penzel Construction for the fire-station project.

Mayor Harry Rediger called the council’s action “very significant.”

He added: “It is the next step forward.”

The council action included authorizing the city manager to negotiate with the second-ranked team for each project if contracts cannot be reached with Kiefner and Penzel. Both of the selected contractors are local. Kiefner Brothers is based in Cape Girardeau; Penzel is headquartered in Jackson.

The city plans to build an $11 million police station, municipal court and jail at 2530 Maria Louise Lane on the site of a former Naval Reserve Center near Arena Park.

The $3 million fire station would be built on the southwest corner of Lexington and Flad avenues in the Laurel Grove neighborhood. It would replace a much smaller fire station built 42 years ago at 1459 Kurre Lane.

According to city staff, the Kiefner Brothers and Penzel teams were chosen based on their qualifications and experience with such construction projects.

Monday’s meeting marked the final council session for Ward 4 Councilwoman Loretta Schneider and Ward 5 Councilman Mark Lanzotti, who are stepping down because of term limits.

The mayor presented each of them with a plaque recognizing their accomplishments and years of service on the council,

Former council members John Voss, Bob Herbst and Charles Herbst showed up at the study session before the regular meeting to praise the two retiring council members.

Lanzotti has served eight years on the council. Schneider has served 16 years in all, having first been elected in 1981 before voters approved term limits.

Rediger called Schneider “an anchor on our city council.” He added she probably has attended more meetings than any current or past member of the city council.

Schneider said, “I consider myself a concerned and compassionate citizen.”

She added: “It has been a labor of love.”

Lanzotti stressed the need for council members to work together for the good of the city and avoid infighting.

“At the end of the day, it is not about individual victories,” he said.

What the council does today lays the groundwork for the community’s future success, he added.

During the meeting, council members voiced support for the two use-tax issues on the ballot.

In other action, the council voted to sell the former fire-station property at 429 Emerald St. to Quinn Strong for $25,000. Rediger said it was “very good to get that property off our hands.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.