Planning commission forwards Cross Street vacation to council amid utility costs and safety concerns

The Poplar Bluff Planning and Zoning Commission voted April 13 to forward a request from Poplar Bluff School District to vacate a 40-by-275-foot portion of Cross Street, between Arthur and Nickey streets, to the City Council voting session set for April 27.

City Planner James Sisk introduced the workshop item, saying the district has FEMA approval for a storm shelter at Eugene Field and that staff had no changes to the previously filed report. Poplar Bluff Municipal Utilities engineer Bill Bach told commissioners the sewer through Cross Street is an 18-inch main with the top roughly 12 feet below grade and serves everything east of the railroad. "It is the main line for everything east of the railroad tracks," Bach said, explaining a full reroute would require deep excavation, pumps and two 90-degree bends to maintain flow and would likely require contracting out the work.

Bach outlined three options: not vacating Cross Street and selecting a different, less infrastructure-heavy site; slip-lining the existing pipe and preserving the easement (the lowest-cost option, he said); or vacating the street and rerouting the main, which he estimated at about $500,000 on the recent engineers' estimate. Bach also presented an electrical relocation estimate of $245,466.44 and said moving to three-phase service would require new poles and safety upgrades.

Fire Chief Michael Moffitt cautioned that Cross Street is a primary route serving the 600 and 700 blocks and that vacating and rerouting traffic "would delay their response time one or two minutes, but every second counts when there is a house on fire," information he asked commissioners to weigh in their decision.

Dr. Aaron Cornman, representing the Poplar Bluff School District, said the district has FEMA approval for a shelter at the Eugene Field site and that relocating utilities could allow construction of storm-resistant hallways and expanded parent pick-up and parking. He said the district would prefer to assume a share of relocation costs rather than pursue construction of an entirely new elementary school, which he estimated could cost $20 million. "Spending $700,000 to save $20,000,000 would be something a district looks hard at," Dr. Cornman said, while noting that any formal financial commitment would require school board action.

Commissioners pressed for details about alternatives, capacity and timing. Dr. Cornman said the district estimated roughly 120 students could be affected and suggested about 15 additional classrooms would be needed under some expansion scenarios; he said FEMA-approved work could proceed in about a year but that design, bidding and approvals could extend that timeline. Commissioners also discussed possible property purchases on Nickey Street and the need for MODOT approval if any reconfiguration connects to a state route.

After procedural maneuvering — including an initial motion to table that was withdrawn — Commissioner Rodney Reagan moved and Commissioner Kyle Batten seconded to forward the Cross Street vacation request to the City Council voting session on April 27, 2026. The motion carried unanimously among attending commission members.

The meeting contained no voting-session items and adjourned at 8:19 p.m. on a motion by Rodney Reagan, seconded by Councilwoman Lisa Parson.