COUNCIL GIVES INITIAL APPROVAL TO ANNEXATION OF LAND WEST OF I-55

With a simple vote, the Cape Girardeau City Council Monday night approved a resolution accepting annexation requests for slightly more than 190 acres of land west of Interstate 55 and set a public hearing for Dec. 6.

The Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission, Christian Faith Fellowship, Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau Inc., and James L. Drury and Wanda L. Drury have asked the city to be annexed so they can receive sewer and water service. In all, the city would annex 190.58 acres of land along Route K west from the city limits to County Road 206. Two more approved readings are necessary for the annexation to occur.

Typically, the city receives several annexation requests each year from individual property owners. Most requests are made so that property owners can receive basic services like water hookups, sewer lines and fire and police protection. Unless a property is annexed, the city cannot provide those services.

Notre Dame High School, as it was being built, requested annexation for water service. The city and the school shared the cost of sewer and water lines. By extending services to the Twin Lakes subdivision, Eagle Ridge Christian School benefited from sewer lines, said Ken Eftink, development services coordinator for the city. As the city annexes properties, it tries to anticipate additional traffic and "consider what impact it will have" on existing infrastructure, he said. "But it's hard to predict with something like this."However, the area being considered for annexation is part of the city's plan for overall growth. The city is moving north and west, Eftink said. By annexing land from the Missouri Highway Commission, the city isn't taking over maintenance of roads but simply trying to keep the city limits contiguous, he said.

With each annexation, there are costs for adding service areas and impacting traffic on roads. "But there is always a trade off," Eftink said. Annexing the land and offering city services likely will help attract new businesses, particularly in the area west of Interstate 55.

In other business, the council gave conditional approval to a liquor license for Rock's, a nightclub at 823 S. Kingshighway. The business must obtain 28 additional parking spaces before the license can be approved. The building had been the sight of two previous nightclubs whose liquor licenses were either revoked or denied by the council. In the past year, police have responded to several calls to the place for incidents of stealing, assault, trespassing, arrests and curfew violations. Councilman Melvin Gateley urged councilmen to consider that record when making their decision. Despite it being a new business, the site hasn't had a good history, he said. Neighboring businesses that have had concerns about a lack of available parking presented a petition to the council asking that the matter be reconsidered.

Although the site has been a problematic location, those problems occurred under different management, said Police Chief Rick Hetzel.