Friday, Oct. 22, at 9 a.m. there will be a “mobility kickoff” event for a in-town new bus route.
The event will take place at Perryville City Hall.
Perryville was one of four communities in the country to be chosen for this project, said City of Perryville Administrator Brent Buerck
Initially, there will be 20 pick up places on the new bus route.
Stops at this time will include city hall, the city parking lot, the health department, the Perry Park Center, probation and parole offices, Perry Plaza, Sycamore Village, Perryville Family Care Clinic, Creekwood Apartments, Hillcrest Apartments, Rozier’s Food Centre, United Enterprises, Dollar General, T.G., Perryville Market, Perry County Memorial Hospital, Gilster Mary Lee, Meadows of Perryville, Walmart, Cross Trails.
“This will be kind of the kick off,” Buerck said. “There will be a month that we will run to get everybody used to it, to see if they like it, and there be an opportunity to make something more permanent. This is something that the community has worked on for a long time. It’s an opportunity.”
ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
Buerck said the city will have a five-year review with the federal U.S. Fish and Wildlife agency regarding the grotto sculpin fish.
“It doesn’t look like anything will change significantly,” Buerck said. “We’ll still have an endangered fish but no critical habitat. I think they’re very pleased with what we’re doing as a community. Folks are taking notice on how that all came together.”
Buerck announced the city locked in an interest rate of 0.76 percent for its new wastewater treatment facility. A construction permit was obtained Oct. 5 and an excavating will begin work later this month.
The city’s animal shelter will be relocated when the work begins later this month.
JUSTICE CENTER UPDATE
The county commission continues to work on the ongoing issue of choosing a location for the future joint justice center. Navigate has been hired as an owner’s representative, Buerck noted. This company was involved with the design of the courthouse in Cape Girardeau County.
“This is what they do for a living and they are quite good at it,” he said. “(The county) continues to explore properties and I think soon, I think in the near future, will probably make an announcement once they figured out exactly where it’s going to go.”
The three final locations were determined earlier this fall and include Rozier’s property across from the soccer park on the Highway 51 bypass, the old St. Boniface site along St. Joseph owned by the Emmendorfers and property across from the Elks hall on the Highway 51 bypass owned by the Pfaff’s.
Buerck described the process of narrowing down the locations. “They had a matrix with 14 different criteria that they were considering,” Buerck said. “All of the people that are going to be in the building, including chief (Direk) Hunt and his team were able to score that.”
NATURAL GAS UPDATE
The board was briefed on natural gas risk management by Buerck as part of his administrator’s report. Earlier this year, a frozen pipe in Texas caused issues with the natural gas supply chain, prompting many municipalities in other states to pay much higher prices for gas than they were expecting.
“We’re working on a plan on natural gas purchases,” Buerck said.
The city has locked in a purchase price of $2.835 for 50 percent of its supply.
