Please take a moment to enjoy a
Christmas Gift to our readers. Raytown Report. May God
bless all of us during this Special Season!
Paul
Livius Greg Walters
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| BY GREG WALTERS |
Problem Solved . . .
. . . Crisis Averted!
It was with some surprise we read
conclusions of Randy Battagler of the Raytown Times over the split of sales tax
revenue promised to the votes in 2010 if they approved a sales tax for parks
and storm sewers. The voters approved the tax. The city broke the promise.
Since 2010 100% of the revenue has gone to Parks. None has been spent on storm
sewers.
The tax raises approximately
$280,000 annually. Of that, $40,000 is scraped off the top to pay for TIF’s
created by the city on 350 Highway. That leaves $240,000.
Battagler wrote the park department
would lose 25% of its revenue if the Board of Aldermen opted to keep the
promise made to the voters in 2010.
That argument is misleading.
How much money the Park Board has is
incumbent on how much they spend elsewhere.
For instance, SuperSplash USA, which
has not been funded in the 2016 Park or City Budget costs the city about
$410,000 annually to operate. Last year it had a shortfall (revenue less expenses) of
$135,000. The city came in and bailed out the Park Department. These figures
come from the Park Board Director, Kevin Boji, in a public discussion he had
at the September 1st Board of Aldermen city budget discussions.
Since then the Board of Aldermen has
made it clear they will not bail out the Park Department again. In fact, there
is not any money budgeted by the City or the Park Board to prop up the failing
water park in 2016.
The result is that the Park
Department will reap a windfall of unspent tax revenue of approximately
$275,000 to its coffers in 2016.
This will enable the Board of
Aldermen to correct the broken promise made to the voters in 2010 and spend
some money on taking care of some much needed attention to storm water runoff
problems in Raytown.
Problem solved . . . Crisis averted
. . . unless the Board of Aldermen choose to follow the path set by earlier
Boards of ignoring the public’s needs.
The Special Committee created by
Mayor McDonough is supposed to wrap up its work sometime in February. One of
the most important roles of elected officials is building trust between the
public and those who govern it. The Board of Aldermen has an opportunity to
right a wrong. They should do so.
PAUL’S NOTES: We received a blog
this week from one of our regular contributors, Vicky.
She wrote:
Vicky said...
"I saw on the upcoming agenda that
the staff at City Hall finally got the message. There are 2 items where people
are coming to the Board for action. Instead of putting these items last like
the staff has been doing, these items are now first on the list. Good job,
Steve Meyers!"
I am glad to see the Board is
changing the way of doing the city business to make it more user- friendly.
There is a lesson to be learned here. Hopefully the Board of Aldermen is
beginning to realize they can do more than set the agenda. It is their role to
give direction, not only on the order of the agenda, but also on the direction
of the city.
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| BY PAUL LIVIUS |
The Paul Livius Report
Raytown Board of Aldermen Meeting
December 15, 2015
December 15, 2015
The
Board passed a resolution approving the reappointment of Pat Jackson to the Jackson County Board of Equalization.
The
Board passed a resolution approving the reappointment of Jim Schaap as the Ward 5 Representative to the Special Sales Tax
Review Committee.
The Board heard the first reading of an ordinance granting
approval of the site plan for a bakery on land located at 5902 Blue Ridge
Boulevard. Wanda
Mullins,
owner of “Baby Cakes Bakery”, is seeking approval of the attached site
development plan for a bakery she plans to open in an existing building located
at 5902 Blue Ridge Boulevard. There is an existing building on the property
that is not proposed to have any additions or exterior alterations made to it.
Therefore the building design standards and sign design standards are not
applicable. The applicant is, however, proposing to construct a parking lot on
the property which is subject to the Site Design Standards provided in the CBD
Overlay District. The site development plan identifies the location of the
proposed parking lot as well as proposed landscaping to be installed. The staff
has reviewed the site plan in relation to the Commercial Site Design standards
and found it to comply with all of the applicable standards except for the
standard stating the parking lot be located to the side or rear of the building
on the property. For more information on
this proposal, go to SITE DEVELOPMENT PLANS (go to page 17)
The Board heard the first reading of an ordinance granting a
change in zoning from Neighborhood Commercial District to Neighborhood
Commercial and Central Business District located at 6200 Blue Ridge
Boulevard. The City of Raytown
is seeking to rezone a 3.85 acre area located at 6200 Blue Ridge Boulevard from
Neighborhood Commercial District and Planned District Overlay to Neighborhood
Commercial, Central Business District Overlay and Town Square Overlay District. The rezoning is being sought as the City
wishes to revert the zoning of this City-owned property back to what the zoning
was prior to the proposed Walmart Neighborhood Market grocery store, which was
proposed and approved in 2013.
The Board passed a resolution approving the purchase
of ammunition from Gulf States Distributors off the state of Missouri Law
Enforcement Agency Cooperative purchase contract in an amount not to exceed
$38,400. The Police Department orders a variety
of ammunition types from Gulf States Distributors. The ammunition for training
and duty use, for all weapons systems, is mostly purchased through this vendor.
Vendor pricing is from the cooperative purchasing bid for Missouri law
enforcement agencies.
The Board heard the first reading of an ordinance approving an
intergovernmental agreement with the Jackson County Board of Election
Commissioners to utilize city hall as a polling place for the 2016 calendar
year. This is a request for a cooperative
agreement with Jackson County to provide a polling location for two precincts
that serve the City. Under state law, public entities are required to provide
polling locations to election authorities free of charge and City Hall has been
used as a polling location for many years. To continue the service, the City
needs to approve a new contract with Jackson County.
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| BY JENN |
3 Doggy Health Hazards to Avoid During the Holidays
The holidays are for making merry, and
seeing that pets are a part of our families, that probably means making merry
with them, too. Which may mean a few extra treats and table scraps … And while
that can seem harmless enough, it really isn’t, says Jesse Vasquez, Milk-Bone’s
dog health and wellness advocate.
Every year, countless dogs in the U.S.
go to their vets — many suffering from digestive problems and canine
pancreatitis — because they’ve eaten things they really shouldn’t. So how can
you say “bone appetit” to Fido on Christmas while still keeping your hungry
hound happy and healthy? Avoid these dog-gone health hazards! READ MORE
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1 comment:
To continue the electric discussion: I lived in the Aquila part of Raytown. As I understood it at the time KCPL took over Aquila, KCPL had higher rates. Some sort of agreement was made to keep rates in the old Aquila territory lower. I never understood why or how this happened but at the time I was happy my rates weren't going up and never questioned this action. True it is the same power grid, same electricity, and the same company but the rates are different due to some legal issue.
The same has happened in other areas, for example, New Mexico where the southern part of the state has higher rates than the northern. It is something about being the old El Paso electric area. It sure doesn't make sense to me but if I had been here at the time, I may have had some understanding why and how. These are legal agreements made at the time of a transaction for no apparent rhyme or reason. One would have to dig into the agreements for an answer.
Andy Whiteman
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