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Preamble BY GREG WALTERS
JULY 4, 2014: When the
sun comes up, I wake up. It is something that has always worked that way for
me. Sometimes I may fall back asleep, but the norm is for me to make it the
beginning of the day. Today was no different.
I carefully climb out of
bed so as not to wake my wife, and walk to my office at the other end of the
house and take my dog, Wickett, out to bring in the paper. In case you are
wondering, it is Wickett’s job, who always notices any changes in the front yard,
to alert me in case of peril. So far, she has been perfect in her role as
watchdog of the morning.
Turning to my favorite
section, the editorial pages, I see that the entire page (with the exception of
a few letters to the editor), is devoted to our country’s Declaration of
Independence. Given that today is the Fourth of July, it seems appropriate.
It
also reminds me of a discussion held at a recent meeting of the Raytown Charter
Commission.
The topic was the
preamble of the Charter. There was some heated discussion over how the
introductory chapter of the document should read. Lisa Emerson, the Charter
Commission’s secretary, had written a preamble that brought in elements of the
Declaration of Independence, Bill or Rights and the Constitution, with many other documents of western
culture in attempt to set the tone for the Charter.
It immediately fell upon
sharp criticism from an interesting mix of people from the left and the right.
I won’t bore you with the arguments with the exception of one point brought by
Commissioner and Ward 2 Alderman Jim Aziere when he observed that “We the
People” is not found in any American documents. The graphic at the beginning of
this column pretty much ends that argument. Even though it should serve as a reminder to Charter
Commissioners that the group is in dire need of hiring an attorney who can help
settle some of the stuff that is so stridently offered up as factual in their
proceedings.
To get back on track – I
wondered if those who were so vehemently opposed to the preamble which was eventually
adopted, were as much aghast at the Kansas City Star’s use of ink and newsprint
to reprint a document we can so easily access on the internet.
As it turns out, Emerson
and fellow Charter Commissioner Ted Bowman, were able to work out a compromise on
the language of the preamble. The majority of the Commission agreed with the compromise and its language was adopted. Though not as flowery as Emerson had originally
penned, the finished product did capture the essence of what she intended.
Now the Commission has
come to another stumbling block in its proceedings. This time it has to do with
Section 1.2.
Section 1.2 re-affirms
the protection of the People of Raytown. It outlines prohibitions in which the
city or its officers may use in governing. The same arguments heard on the
preamble are coming back around – specifically, why include something that is
guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and Constitution.
An interesting question
that I believe the Kansas City Star inadvertently answered when it reprinted
the Declaration of Independence in this morning’s paper. There is a proper
place to enumerate the rights of citizens of Raytown. What better place to list
those rights than in what amounts to a “constitution” written by and for the
people of Raytown?
It comes down to this . . . be they civil or property rights, those rights are a subject that should not be ignored in what is essentially the City's Constitution.
 |
| BY PAUL LIVIUS |
The Paul Livius Report
Raytown Board of Aldermen Meeting – July 01, 2014
The Board passed a
resolution approving
the expenditure of funds to the Wilson group for the city hall board room
renovations in not to exceed $81,750.00.
Andy Noll told the Board the renovation of the
boardroom had been discussed at two previous meetings and specific changes were
requested by the Board of Aldermen. The
requested changes were to remove the proposed storage from the back of the room,
update all of the flooring and ceiling in the room. Staff has identified an alternative for the
storage and the Audio/Video room. That
would remove the need for the proposed storage rooms in the south portion of
the Board of Aldermen meeting room and the rooms have been removed from the
plan. The staff has received revised
pricing for the project and includes a base price for the proposed project
without the storage rooms and includes pricing for updated flooring and ceiling
throughout the boardroom.
The renovation costs are:
Base Project – $77,850.09
Ceiling Replacement Add Alternate - $15,096.83
Carpet Replacement Add Alternate - $15,888.33
Lighting update Add Alternate - $10,264.25
He said the staff recommends a 5% contingency fee
for the project which explains the difference between the base project expense
and the $81,750.00 request for approval.
If any of the alternates are approved the total approved amount will
need to be increased by the corresponding amount.
They reduced the original proposal by $17,000 by
eliminating the storage and Audio/Video room.
They will convert the mailroom into the Audio/Video room since the city
no longer sends the sewer bills out from City Hall.
Alderman Jason Greene said the staff put in a lot
of hard work to reduce the costs, but he thought it was still too high. He understands the need for an ADA compliant
ramp and new carpet, but he thinks the one thing really needed is new chairs
for the public, which is not in the proposal.
Alderman Lightfoot said the $82,000 doesn’t include
cameras. He said the cameras will be an
extra $15,000. He asked what percentage
of Raytown residents even has Comcast any more.
There’s Direct TV, Dish Network, ATT Universe, and now Google Fiber. He said he thinks less and less have
Comcast. He said a lot people in his
neighborhood can’t watch the meetings because they don’t have Comcast any more. He thinks this is too much money to upgrade
the Board room when the majority of residents can’t even watch the meetings.
Alderman Emerson said she is against the resolution
because she thinks the wood ceiling is beautiful. It only needs to be maintained with some
oil. She is against covering it with
sheet rock.
Alderman Jason Green said he agreed with Alderman
Lightfoot. The City needs to explore
broadcasting to other providers in addition to Comcast.
Mayor Bower said the last time the City looked into
adding providers, it was at a cost of approximately $5,000 per carrier. He said if he is hearing the Board correctly,
there may be a way to fund additional carriers.
Alderman Mock said he thinks the project costs too
much. He agreed they need the ADA ramp
and new carpet, but he agrees with Alderman Emerson that it would be wrong to
cover the wood ceiling.
Mayor Bower asked how much the Board is willing to
spend. He said this is the third meeting
this issue has been discussed. He said
it is time to move forward with the project.
Alderman Mock said there was no need to replace the
ceiling or the carpet. He said he
understand they need the ADA ramp, but everything else is unnecessary.
The Board passed a
resolution to
change the authorized representative for the SRF agreement with MDNR. Since Mark Loughry is no longer our Finance
Director, the city needs to replace his name with the current Interim Finance
Director, Tom Cole.
The Board passed an ordinance to grant a conditional
use permit to park and store business vehicles consisting of trucks,
trailers. On the parking lot surfaces
the owners will use the buildings to perform mechanical work and maintenance of
vehicles, store building materials and supplies, rent the house and office
building to a tenant; and rent one of the buildings for a similar uses at 8506
Westridge Road. John Benson told the
Board the applicant was seeking to allow the following uses on the property:
1. Park / store business vehicles consisting of
trucks, trailers, etc. on the parking lot surfaces.
2. Use buildings to perform mechanical work and
maintenance of vehicles.
3. Store building materials and supplies.
4. Rent the house / office building to a tenant.
5. Rent one of the buildings for a similar use as
described above.
Mr. Benson there were
several concerns expressed at the last meeting.
Following
the discussion at the previous Board of Aldermen meeting, city staff discussed
the storm water drainage issue and determined that the storm water coming off
of the subject property is following natural drainage patterns. In regards to the parking of large trucks such
as semis, etc., which the applicant said they do not have, staff recommends
that a condition be added prohibiting the parking of vehicles over 20,000 lbs.
in size, which is consistent with City Code regulating the maximum size of
vehicles allowed to parked in a residential area. Staff has also recommended that a condition
limiting the hours at which vehicles being stored on the property can be
brought or taken from the property, which would be in keeping with the
residential character of the area.
Kevin Foster said a couple of their vehicles are
24,000 pounds. He said he objected to
the additional conditions that restricted the hours of operation. He said there may be times when they need to
work past 9:00 pm to finish working on a truck, or a customer needs to come in
before 7:00 am to drop off the truck.
The Board heard the first
reading of an ordinance amending Section 50-107, land use table, of the code of ordinances of
the City of Raytown for the purpose of allowing craft brewery. John Benson said the City staff has recently
met with a business owner who is interested in operating a craft brewery with
an accessory tap room in Raytown. The
exact definition of a craft brewery varies, but the term typically applies to
breweries that are relatively small in size, which is measured by the number of
barrels annually produced. After
reviewing information from various beer industry sources, the staff found that
craft beer is made by a brewery with an annual production of 6 million barrels
of beer or less. The staff met with the perspective business owner to discuss
this proposed use in relation to City’s codes and regulations. The review and discussion of the proposed use
included determining if a craft brewery is an allowed use in the Industrial (M)
Zoning District. A review of the M
District, as well as the City’s other Zoning District’s revealed that a ‘brewery’
is not permitted in any Zoning District in the City. As such, there are two options available in
order for the use to be located on the property as well as anywhere else in the
City:
1) Amend the Zoning Ordinance to allow the use in
certain Zoning Districts; or
2) If the use is determined to have certain aspects
or intensity levels, require approval of a conditional use permit application.
In determining the appropriateness of these two
options, staff reviewed the proposed use in relation to the type and intensity
of other uses permitted in the City’s Zoning Districts, and contacted other
cities that have craft breweries to learn how they regulate this type of use. Based upon this research, the staff found
that the volume of traffic generated by a craft brewery, including both cars
and trucks, is relatively low. The
perspective business owner stated that the number of trucks delivering supplies
and picking up the beer produced for distribution would be minimal, typically
occurring only three or four times per month.
The number of employees would also be relatively small at approximately
7 to 10 persons. In reviewing other
permitted uses in the City’s Industrial and Commercial Zoning Districts, the staff
found that the intensity of a craft brewery is similar to food / bakery product
manufacturing; laundry service; manufacturing and assembly; transit facility;
and warehousing and wholesale.
The staff also spoke with staff from other cities
and learned that craft breweries in those cities are not an excessively intense
use. Rather, the cities of Liberty and
North Kansas City each have craft breweries that are located adjacent to retail
and restaurant uses in their downtown commercial areas. North Kansas City also
has one that is located in an industrial zoned area.
 |
| BY SUSAN |
FIT BOTTOMED EATS
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Comments
Are we now to hear people separating others by democrats, non partisan, tea party, liberals, republicans ???
Before it was the us against them theory .
What's next ? Men against woman?
Germans against Irish?
Get over it!!!
Not Everything has to be labeled by a party, race, nationality , or gender.
That's just back to the paranoid thought of us against them
They say the best defense is an offense
However this is not a sick game
Get over it!
It really should not make any difference. When it comes to fixing a hole in the street there is not a democratic or republican way of repairing it.
The Charter Commission is very different. There are Democrats, Republicans, and what appear to be Independents in charge. It may be why the biggest arguments they have had is over personal freedoms and rights.
It is interesting to watch.
There is a Democratic Committeewoman and a Republican Committeewoman who are very frequently on the same side of an argument. Their target appears to what they call Tea Party people.
From watching the discussions play out on You Tube it would probably be more correct to call them Libertarians.
I wish some of the more traditional party members would join in and support their efforts. It would make for a better charter.
Then there are those who sound like they are trying to win an award for being diplomat of the year or just like the sound of their own voice.
They really do not add much to the debate other than waste a lot of time.
One thing that is very clear to me is that they do need some legal advice on their decisions. Writing entire sections of the Charter based upon faulty information and people presenting opinions as facts is a poor way to create a charter.
figuring out that Jim Aziere is about as sharp as a ball bearing!
He has never made any sense to me.
existing building located at 6513 Railroad Street. This property, which is owned by the applicant, is zoned Industrial. The brewery will produce beer while the tap room will be open to the public to sample the beer that is produced.
Prepare to be amazed again.
Raytown, being a 10 square mile town already has
over six grocery stores including a WalMart with a
grocery store in it. That is 1.6 grocery stores for
each square mile of Raytown.
Independence, being a 78 square mile town,
has room for such a store without putting people
working in most of their other grocery stores out
of a job.
There are 2 Applemarket , HyVee, Aldi, Walmart Grocery , and The Store.
I can't think of where the other stores are in Raytown.
I live there and was upset because we keep getting dug up in our yards for the past six months. I thought it still was google fiber until one day I had the day off and I asked the workman why we are still being torn up?
He informed me that MGE is replacing all the underground lines in the Gregory Heights area and moving the meters from back yards to side front yards ; that all the underground lines are deteriorating .
He couldn't explain why last year they put new meters in several of the older homes backyards when a year later they are going to move them.
Personally; Im tired of the yards and streets being torn up by google fiber and now the gas company!!
I realize upgrades need to be done by both company however couldn't they hAve coordinated the efforts!!! Geez!!!!!!
The city can only sit back and oblige them much like we have to ; we are at all their mercies. Goodness gracious
Where is that money going?
There are a couple of Cosentinos. One is an
Applemarket and the other is a Price Chopper
just over the city line at 63rd and Blue Ridge.
There are two John’s Apple Markets, an Aldi,
WalMart, Hy-Vee and the Store.
Still Raytown has more than it’s share of grocery
stores.
Here’s the problem with installing another grocery
store in Raytown. A new store will almost certainly
ask for and receive tax breaks. That’s just the way
Raytown’s leaders do business. This means a loss of
tax income for the city. Then you have the smaller
local grocery stores going out of business and more loss
of tax income all the while making the fat cat (WalMart)
even fatter at the expense of the Raytown taxpayers.
Here’s another fact. This town runs on tax income.
If our leaders give away tax income by T.I.F’s or any other
means, it means they have to raise your taxes to make up
for the giveaways.
Very sad indeed.
You asked what happened to the money from the transportation tax. Well, it was spent on a parking lot for Walmart, a left turn lane and traffic light on both east and west bound 350 highway next to Walmart and for the bus turnaround spot at Walmart. Oh, and for the three monuments in Raytown.
If the transportation tax was the only tax dollars spent on Wal-Mart, but we all know Wal-Mart took us to the cleaner and yet we have great thinkers a city hall that believe they did so much for our town that they should still be allowed to open a second location.
The other problem with our tax dollars is those same great minds giving one department head a $30,000 raise.
The same department head who always has some excuse as to why he cannot move into Raytown.
Leilani H. added an idea in Charter Commission!
Jun 4
Why do we need a charter commission in addition to alderman? Sounds like more bureaucracy and the city isn't doing a good job communicating what it's doing right now!
2 Comments
Brenda Gustafson, Site Admin
23 days ago
I'm interested in your comment. We currently have Facebook, Twitter, the Website, YouTube, an administrator report, a newsletter that goes to every household twice a year. What other means of communication would help you in our communication efforts?
Brenda Gustafson, Site Admin
21 days ago
also, the charter would replace the current Board of Aldermen
Raytown’s city hall is like a dysfunctional family.
Ten aimless leaders that are governed by Big Daddy
Bully, who don't care for the people they run over.
My wife shops at Price Chopper at 63rd and Blue Ridge because we don't have to pay 10% in sales tax. In fact, I don't think we buy anything in Raytown. It is cheaper to drive to Price Chopper or even Lee's Summit than pay the outrageous sales tax in Raytown.
The tax on my grocery bill from Raytown HyVee yesterday is as follows
General 8.725%
Unprepared 5.725%
Price Chopper
K.C. Brywood Centre CID
8.725% general
5.725% unprepared
Go to sales and use tax rates by location-City of KCMO
Www.KCMO.org/.../salesuseproptaxrates20...
This is a PDF form for all locations
Plus...
Special Taxing District info which Brywood Centre is one of them.
It will help when you are out and about shopping : for you see not All Stores within a municipalities shares the exact same tax quote.
Hope this helps you and all others who want to stretch their tax dollar and be I formed
Go to cityofls.org sales tax rate
There are 7 transportation development districts TDD
And 4 community improvement districts CID
Authorized within a portion of LSMO that have levied additional sales tax from 7.725% to 8.225% and 8.725%
Go to ci.independence.mo.us
They also have TDD and CID
You can see a map of taxing locations
Taxes are 7.85% 8.475% 8.6% 8.725% and finally 8.85%
Hope this helps as you venture out; knowing the special taxing districts has helped me to be more informed of how I spend my $ in various areas. Sometimes we just assume it is all the same across the board
Many years ago there was a Jones store at Bannister Mall, Blue Ridge Mall, and Independence Center . While all were within driving distance of our home we checked out the tax rate at that particular area to see if a CID or TPP was in effect that would change the tax rate. On large items like a piece of furniture or draperies which all the Jones stores carried; it made a difference.
For people to assume areas such as LSMO , KCMO , or Independence all have lower taxes across the line have never really looked at a receipt.
Might just be surprised .
Depends where you are in those cities as to what the sales tax is.
the bloggers on this site are understand what the charter commission and the proposed charter will do.
Brenda Gustafson the Public Information Officer who is highly paid with our tax dollars doesn't understand the process. She is the site administrator for the Engage Raytown site that is hosted by Mindmixer. and is once again publishing wrong information. Those who have paid attention and have had to communicate with her know she does not know how to do her job.
My question is if the charter is written and it requires management employees to live within the city limits will it be retro-active to the current positions that do not live within the city limits? how will this be enforced. I hope the commissioners have copies of the current employment contract for all managers. they my be surprised about the BS that has been given to these people.
Does anyone know how much money our PIO officer makes and by whose authority did she get hired?