PLAN CALLS FOR A NEW FIRE STATION

A proposal to replace Cape Girardeau's Fire Station No. 3 with a new facility at Sprigg and Bertling has been included in the city's five-year capital improvements plan.

If approved, the proposed plan would earmark $650,000 for the fire station project a project Fire Chief Gene Hindman said is sorely needed.

The city council will further consider the capital improvements plan at a special meeting March 9.

Hindman said there are a number of reasons the existing Fire Station No. 3, situated on Emerald Street, needs to be replaced.

He said the 42-year-old facility is the city's oldest fire station. Also its location, only 20 feet from the curb at a curve on Emerald, makes the current site dangerous.

"Then there's the problems we have getting in and out of the station," Hindman said. "It's amazing to me that we haven't had an accident, pulling out of there. Even when we just pull the trucks out to clean them, it blocks part of the street."

Hindman said the proposed site for a new station, near the corner of Sprigg and Bertling, also will better enable the fire department to serve the entire city.

City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said he expects significant residential development north of Bertling as streets and sewers are extended into the area over the next few years.

The Lexington Avenue project will include an east-west arterial street in the north end of town. A northern extension of Sprigg Street to Lexington is expected to open the site for development.

"We feel that once Lexington is cut across the north end of town and Sprigg is extended out to Lexington, we're going to experience more growth in that area," said Fischer.

"Also, part of the long-range sewer plan points out the need for trunk sewers in that area. Once you do that, along with the North Sprigg extension and Lexington, you'll see significant growth in that area."

Fischer said replacement of Fire Station No. 3 in five years would accommodate the expected growth, which won't occur immediately.

The fire station project in the "community development" section of the five-year capital improvements plan sets out funding of $50,000 from the general fund in 1995-96 and $600,000 in Public Facilities Authority revenue bonds in 1996-97.

The project will include land acquisition, building design and construction. Initial plans call for a single story, brick veneer building with a two-bay, drive-through truck room and a basement below the living quarters.

Hindman said placement of a new fire station further north should help the fire department cut its response times to several parts of the city.

"By getting it out on North Sprigg, what we're trying to do is strategically place the four stations we have so we can cover the whole city in the most efficient way possible," he said.

The new site also would improve access to the Red Star District on the city's northeast side. Hindman said that during heavy rains, some streets in the area are susceptible to flooding, which forces fire trucks to take an indirect route to calls in the Red Star area.

Fischer said the community development portion of the five-year capital improvements plan is reserved for projects that are intended to accommodate the city's expected development.

"These are projects that we would be looking at for future growth of the community," he said.

Although the project is at least five years from fruition, Fischer said the fire station relocation is a priority for the city.

"That is the next project in fire protection," he said. "It's something that's definitely needed and wanted."