Paul Livius

The Paul Livius Report

Raytown Board of Aldermen Meeting – November 20, 2012

The Colors were presented and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Girl Scout Troop 4027, from the Blue Ridge United Methodist Church.

Everyone was reminded the Holiday Lighting Ceremony is scheduled for December 7 at 6:00 pm at the Pocket Park.  There will be Christmas Carolers, a hay ride, and Santa Claus will be at the UMB Bank.

Boys from Scout Troop 469 with the Blue Ridge Trinity Church were welcomed to the meeting by Mayor Bower.  He explained the boys were observing the meeting as a requirement for their Citizenship in the Community merit badge.

·         The Board approved the purchase of fuel from Maher Oil Company from the City of Kansas City’s cooperative purchase contract. 

·         The Board approved a maintenance contract with Motorola Solutions, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $19,831.00. Chief Lynch told the Board the Police Department uses the Motorola radio system during its normal course of duties and proper maintenance is necessary to extend the usable life of the radios. Having the manufacturer perform the maintenance will make certain the equipment has the best service available to ensure the life span of the equipment.

·         The Board approved an ordinance establishing the compensation for the office of Board of Aldermen.  City clerk, Teresa Henry said at the direction of the Board of Aldermen, staff drafted an ordinance keeping the monthly salary at $400.00 month and the monthly car allowance at $50.00 per month.

·         The Board approved an ordinance amending the city code relating to obedience to no-turn signs.

·         The Board approved an ordinance amending the city code relating to the number of retail alcoholic beverage licenses.  Alderman Van Buskirk moved to change the language of the ordinance.  He asked that instead of limiting the number of licenses issued to one license per 1,500 residents, it be changed to one per 2,500 residents.  He said the City needs to have some controls.  The City shouldn’t be oversaturated with certain types of businesses. 

Alderman Ertz said there are so many establishments selling package liquor, for example, grocery stores, liquor stores, and gas stations, there is no need to limits to restaurants like Applebee’s.  He said he misses going to the Fiesta Aztec restaurant and thinks it has to do with the businesses around it. 

Alderman Lightfoot said he thought free enterprise would dictate the amount of liquor stores in the area.  Alderman Van Bus Kirk said the city is trying to attract young families.  They won’t want to come with so many liquor stores in the area.

Alderman White said she is pleased to be doing away with the limits.  This ordinance is from the old days gone long past when people didn’t talk about drinking.  There’s a limit as to the number of liquor stores that can go up in the ten square miles of Raytown.  Alderman Lightfoot said the Planning and Zoning department should regulate when liquor stores are established.  The motion failed and the Ordinance passed as written.

·         The Board approved a contract for transit service the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.  Mark Loughry told the Board this is a public transportation service the City has provided under contract with the KCATA since April 2001. This system is integrated with the rest of the KCATA system. The service area extends beyond Raytown to make connections with the rest of the ATA network to the north and to the south.

·         The Board heard the first reading of an ordinance to establish the compensation for the Police Chief.  Compensation Committee recommended and the Board of Aldermen agreed to not increase in the current compensation. Their recommendation was that $96,742.87 should be the yearly compensation for the office of Police Chief for the term beginning April 2013 and ending April 2017.

·         The Board heard the first reading of an ordinance to establish the compensation Municipal Judge. 

Alderman White said she would not support any salary increase for the Judge because that person is not accountable to the Board of Aldermen.  That person is accountable only to the people.  She has not seen any information about the number of cases this judge has handled and how those cases were disposed. 

Alderman Pardue said the salary increase was not based on merit, but on the elected official.  This ordinance will keep the compensation current for this official.  Alderman Lightfoot said this ordinance has nothing to do with the sitting judge.  It is for whoever is elected in April.  The police Chief received 2% salary increase a year for 4 years, while the Judge received no salary increases.  Now is the time to correct that. 

Alderman Mock said the current case load were 8 sessions last month and the judge hears over 10,000 cases a year.  The Raytown court system works well, in his opinion.

“At-a-Boy” Awards BY PAUL LIVIUS

Many people complain that there is just too much negativity in the news. Which is kind of odd, because such a statement is just as negative as the news they are complaining about . . . but that is another discussion.

There are, however good deeds that deserve recognition that often times go unheralded.

With that in mind, the Raytown Report will, from time to time, share those stories brought to our attention of good deeds and ideas in Raytown.

This week we have two awards:

• Our Lady of Lourdes: Raytown lost one of the gems in its crown when Lourdes Grade School was shuttered by Bishop Finn of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City. But all is not lost. A home school operation is now using the grade school for classes. Just goes to show that every ending is an opportunity for a new beginning.
• Southeast Enterprises: Southeast Enterprises has found a way to join a recycling effort, create jobs for over 106 employees with developmental disabilities and make money in the process!It’s good to be environmentally green. It’s even better when you can make money at it. Now if we can just find a way to convince those folks who leave the lights on their house all year long that there is a place to take them. Southeast Enterprises is located just west of Raytown at 67^th and Booth. It’s Executive Director, DeeAnn Stock, is a long time Raytown resident.

Random Thoughts . . . BY GREG WALTERS

Greg Walters

Last week's debate over eliminating requirements for liquor licenses was, to say the least, bizarre. Consider the following:

Alderman Christine White says she likes to have a glass of wine with dinner at a nice restaurant. Perhaps that was her reason for voting to eliminate the 50% food requirement for by the drink liquor licenses. But it is not well thought out. Eliminating the 50% requirement will open the floodgates for operators who stayed away because they did not want to go into the restaurant business. The reason is simple. The big money liquor sales is just that -- in liquor sales -- not in the food sales. Under the new rules it is conceivable that a bag of beer nuts could be considered a food item. Bon Apetit Christine!  

Alderman White also stated that Raytown is only ten square miles in area. Which is an accurate statement. However, only about two square miles of business area available for by the drink establishments. The reason is simple. Businesses are not allowed in residentially zone neighborhoods. That is why you see so many by the drink establishments crammed into areas like Downtown Raytown. Go check it out. You will not want for a watering hole in Downtown Raytown. 

Our favorite has to be Raytown's most persevering Urban Legend. Back in the 1980's Applebee's Restaurant was looking to open a restaurant on Raytown Trafficway near the No. 1 Fire Station. A number of people, led the later Reverend Caylor, were opposed to granting more licenses. The legend is that because of their opposition Applebee's could not open in Raytown and moved to its first area location at Blue Ridge and 63rd Street. Problem with that legend is that it is just that . . . a fanciful story.   

The fact is that Applebee's located at 63rd and Blue Ridge because it had much, much higher traffic counts. It is also a matter of record that the Board approved the increase in licenses available for establishments that had income of over 50% from food sales. 

Little matter, it is the nature of Urban Legends to live on and on -- repeated by those who base what they say on what they were last told. 

On another note, the Board did decide not to raise their own pay. They voted unanimously to keep their salary at $400 monthly with a $50 car allowance, or, $5,400.oo annually. They did vote to increase the salary of the Municipal Judge by 10% effective after the April 2nd Election.

Clarification 
In our last two issues we have reported on the filing opening and deadlines for public office in Raytown as in regard to next April Municipal Elections. 

As we reported, filing opens on December 11th and closes on January 15th. Three of the governmental bodies holding elections, City of Raytown, Raytown Fire Protection District and Raytown Public Water Supply District are open all regular business days except for Christmas Day and New Years Day for the purpose of filing for public office.

The Raytown School District will be closed December 24th through January 4th for Christmas Vacation. 

FIT BOTTOMED GIRLS

I Like a Sore Butt . . . BY JENN

Today, I want to talk about the butt, ladies. The sore butt, to be precise. (And, no, I can never resist a good opportunity to reference Sir-Mix-A-Lot in a headline. I’m helpless against his shake-that-healthy-butt attitude.) See, after suffering from the most ironic of all ironic injuries back in 2010, I’ve taken an even... Continue reading

Raytown Calendar of Events
Data compiled by Friends of Raytown Parks. For more information go to Friends of Raytown Parks

Warm from the Oven Cinnamon Rolls, December 4

Join an award-winning culinary team to learn how to make mouth-watering, made-from-scratch cinnamon rolls at your local library. Click for details.

Mr. Stinky Feet's Christmas, December 6

Jim Cosgrove presents "Mr. Stinky Feet's Christmas"! Celebrate the holidays with singing, dancing, and stinky feet! Fun for the whole family. Click for details.

Raytown Holiday Lighting Ceremony, December 7

Raytown Main Street Association will host this year’s Holiday Lighting Ceremony. Click for details.

Raytown Soccer Club Night at the Comets, December 29

Join the Raytown Soccer Club to watch the Missouri Comets vs the Syracuse Silver Knights! For discount tickets, be sure to say you are supporting Raytown Soccer!  Click for details.

Holiday Lights Recycling in KC Region continues . . .

Southeast Enterprises and St. Louis Green are joining forces in the goal to collect and recycle 104,000 pounds of holiday lights. In addition to keeping holiday lights out of the landfill, we have the benefit of providing challenging work for over 160 employees with developmental disabilities. 100% of holiday lights we collect will be recycled. Click for details.

MCPL-Raytown, December

The Mid-Continent Library of Raytown's events can be found in the right margin of our calendar. They are a wonderful resource for learning, from storytime, book clubs, internet, business, cooking and craft classes, and more! Click for RSS feed.

Raytown Police to host Citizen's Police Academy! BY MARILYN FLEMING
It will be held at the Raytown Mid-Continent Public Library, on Wednesdays (January 16 - March 6, 2013) from 5:45 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. Upon registration, prospective participants will be contacted by the Raytown Police Department, which must complete a background check on all participants before confirming enrollment in this program. Topics covered during this 8 week program include: crime analysis, patrol operations, domestic violence, narcotics investigation, and Neighborhood Crime Watch programs. You must be 18 to participate in this program. 

Questions?  Call 816-875-6568.

Or, use this link to sign up for  . . . POLICE ACADEMY

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