The Cape Girardeau City Council buzzed through a staggering amount of ordinances at Monday’s meeting that ranged from a plat at the site of the former Plaza Galleria to a B.A.T. Van for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.
What sounds like an vehicle used by comic book hero Batman is actually a tool for police. B.A.T stands for “Blood Alcohol Testing.” The police department will acquire the $50,000 van to cut down on time spent processing alcohol related arrests by doing all the necessary tests and paperwork at the crime scene. This allows officers to use patrol time more efficiently.
According to Chief Wes Blair this vehicle could mean a lot of good things for the Cape police department.
“Right now we currently have a BAT Van - it’s a blood alcohol testing unit that we use for DWI checkpoints and things like that. The current one we have is kind of gotten old and is a little outdated. So with this grant funding will be able to upgrade to something a little newer,” Blair said.
Blair is confident that the department will have the van within the next three months.
After last week’s special meeting city officials informed the council that several changes were made to the Capital Improvement Program. A project to extend Armstrong Drive will now be postponed and the other major change was scaling back the William Street project to focus more on pedestrian safety within the city.
In other news, the council unanimously approved the record plat for the future Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market at the site of the former Plaza Galleria. Council members unanimously approved the ordinance.
The council also decided a special meeting will be held on April 14 to declare the results of the April 8 municipal election.
Councilmembers Mark Lanzotti and Meg Davis were absent from the meeting.