BY GREG WALTERS

From the
Publisher's Desk . . .
This week we are presenting the results of an opinion poll we published two weeks ago. The opinion poll is the brainchild of Ward 5 Alderman Derek Ward.

Mr. Ward to us, “My intent was to create an accurate poll to gauge the needs and desires of the people of Raytown.”

In our view, Alderman Ward has succeeded. He has taken into account all of the needs of Raytown. Not just that of one department. The answers from the public tell the rest of the story. 

The Board of Aldermen should use this valuable tool as they work together to guide Raytown to a better future.

We thank Mr. Ward for his service to the community and his willingness to think outside the box to bring focus to the needs of community.

SPECIAL THANKS: Special thanks to Raytown’s “Wizard of the Web”, Richard Tush. The Raytown Report does not have the software to convert the graphics in Alderman Ward’s story. Mr. Tush came to the rescue and changed over the graphics for us. Looks 500% better than what we started with. Some may recognize the name Richard Tush. He serves as one of the three Executive Directors of the Raytown Fire Protection District.

Alderman Derek Ward’s Survey Results

BY WARD 5 ALDERMAN DEREK WARD

Over the last year, I have consistently and publicly stated that my immediate priorities for Raytown are roads and police.  While our city has many pressing challenges, I believe none are more important than taking immediate action on fixing our crumbling physical infrastructure and ensuring that we have a properly staffed and enthusiastic police department.  And while I am very supportive of a strong and thriving parks system, I cannot support additional taxes for parks before we design and implement a solution addressing roads and police.

Last year, the city hired a consultant to evaluate the present (first half of 2018) road conditions.  The report indicated that as of the report date, our roads required roughly $36 million dollars in repairs.  The consultant advised that if immediately began spending about $3 million per year, we could improve our average road from a score of 46 (out of 100) to a score of 55 (out of 100) over 10years.  Obviously, an average score of 55 is still quite poor.  Most importantly, every year we spend less than that, our roads will get worse and the cost to repair will increase, rapidly.  Very rapidly.  If we can’t afford $36 million today, what chance do we have to afford $100 million ten years from now?

Against that backdrop, the advisory Raytown Parks Board of Directors wishes to double the amount of taxes every shopper pays towards the parks system.  It is my opinion, shared by a majority of other alderman (based upon past votes), that it is not appropriate to raise taxes to build new, expensive park facilities, when (1) we are not maintaining our existing park facilities despite having nearly $1 million in the parks bank account, (2) we are facing upwards of $50 million in present street and sewer needs, and (3) our police department is not properly staffed.

During various presentations to the Board of Aldermen over the last 12 months, Park staff have repeatedly referred to a survey they conducted.  According to the testimony of Park’s staff, the survey shows strong support for various park projects.  However, according to the same testimony, the survey did not ask respondents to rank or compare their interest in the various park proposals against other City needs.

In other words, the Park’s survey did not ask whether the person believed it was more important to build a new splash pad or fix the roads that a resident would drive on to get to the splash pad.  Accordingly, to help fill in that gap, I created a very simple survey last week.  The link to the surveywas provided to multiple news and blog sites and was posted by a group member to an active Facebook page dedicated to Raytown.  The survey was available for approximately five days.  Below are the results and a few summary comments.

Total Number of Responses:                81

Percentage living in Raytown:              93%

Average number of years in Raytown: 20

Drilling into the details, only 15% of people ranked Parks as #1, compared to 43% ranking Parks as #5 (lowest priority).

Looking at just the Parks option, the ranking looks like this:

As a comparison, here are the details on Roads and Police.

Looking at these last three graphs, it appears that an overwhelming number of people chose Parks as the least important, where very few chose streets as least important and virtually no one chose police as least important.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean that people don’t believe our parks aren’t important.  At all.  It simply means that among competing priorities, our park system is less important than roads and police.

I, and others, have frequently criticized our Park Board leadership for failing to maintain existing park facilities, while both (a) sitting on a mountain of money nearly equal to $1 million dollars, and (b) asking to increase taxes to building new facilities.  For example, most of the tennis courts at the parks south of 350 highway are either unplayable or nearly unplayable.  The Parks Board could easily repair these courts and still have a budget reserve larger than most cities.

One of the survey questions asks whether the Parks department should focus more on maintaining existing park facilities or building new amenities.  By a wide margin, 83% of people said parks should focus on maintaining existing facilities.

Finally, my survey asked people to make a very simply “A vs B ” choice.  Specifically, the question asked whether the city should focus on basic and essential services, such as roads, or should instead focus on park amenities and facilities.  Nearly 72% of people chose basic and essential city services.

I’m sure that some people will criticize my poll and my conclusions.  They will point out that polling is difficult, that I’m not a professional poll maker and that I have a bias.  All of those facts may be true.  But that doesn’t change the following:

·        The Parks survey did not ask to directly rank Park Amenities vs. Good Roads, Properly Staffed Police or any other competing need.

·        The Parks survey showed that less than half of respondents (45%) were satisfied with Raytown Parks.  Nothing in the survey indicates or proves that more money spent on parks is necessary to improve satisfaction.

·        The survey was conducted in 2015, focuses heavily on Super Splash and assumes the presence of a local YMCA.  Raytown in 2019 is a very different city in important respects than it was in 2015.

But most importantly, even the Parks paid-for survey barely has the proposed ½ cent tax passing.  Maybe.  Only 38% of people said that they would definitely vote for the tax increase.  Combined with the 13% that said they “might vote in favor” means that at best, in 2015, the measure may have passed with 51% of the vote.  Or failed with 38% of the vote.

I remain committed to supporting our Parks Department, while remaining firmly resolved to immediately addressing our current road and police needs as the highest priorities.  Accordingly, if presented with the opportunity, I will vote to renew the existing tax, but I will not vote to double it.

For more information the survey results, please visit https://bit.ly/2IP0O9T for the summary or https://bit.ly/2PCFXHj for the full results.

The Paul Livius Report
Raytown Board of Aldermen Meeting – May 7, 2019

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

Loretha Hayden told the Board the aldermen need to work together to build up Raytown, not tear it down.  They should be willing to represent the people who voted for them.  If not, they should reconsider their positions.  Also, the Park Board is attempting to complete some of the project the residents indicated they wanted when they returned the survey.  The current tax is sunsetting in 2020.  The citizens have told the Park Board they want a dog park, splash pad, and redevelop the Super Splash property, but these can’t be done without more money.

The Board heard the first reading of an ordinance declaring a nine-month moratorium on the acceptance, processing and issuance of business license applications, building permits, occupancy permits, package liquor licenses and development approval applications for liquor stores, smoke shops, and convenience stores and similar uses within neighborhood commercial zoned districts within the city of Raytown.

For the past year, numerous Raytown citizens have contacted City Staff and several Aldermen expressing concerns regarding the number of liquor stores, smoke shops, and convenience stores opening in Neighborhood Commercial Districts throughout Raytown. An analysis of the City's current zoning and licensing regulations, the City's economic development plan and goals, and other pertinent information, especially national, regional, and local economic trends, is required to reach an informed decision as to the propriety and direction of resolving the apparent conflict between the stated intent of the Neighborhood Commercial District and the aforementioned uses.

As a result, the Municipal Committee instructed staff to come up with some recommendations. The Assistant City Administrator  suggested imposing a nine (9) month moratorium on processing applications for these businesses so that the ordinances, including the zoning and licensing ordinances, can be evaluated and if necessary amended. The proposed delay would take effect upon passage of the resolution and last until new ordinances are approved or until January 31, 2020, whichever occurs sooner.

The moratorium would not impact the processing of business license renewal applications for these types of businesses, filed after the approval date of the ordinance. Staff would also process any renewal applications for package liquor licenses for these types of businesses, if filed after the approval date of the ordinance, but the businesses must maintain a valid Raytown business license and be issued a renewal package liquor license from the State of Missouri. Should a business with a package liquor license need to change ownership of the business and keep the business in the same location within Neighborhood Commercial Districts, staff would process the new package liquor license.

The Board approved a resolution authorizing the continuation of an agreement with Mize Houser & Company for the performance of professional audit services and the expenditure of funds in an amount not to exceed $22,890.  The fiscal audit was completed and presented in April 2019 and services are completed as requested.

 

The Board approved a resolution authorizing the city administrator to enter into an agreement with Sak Construction for the infiltration & inflow reduction & rehabilitation project, east sewer basin in a total amount not to exceed $177,969.

The Public Works Department received two (2) sealed bids that were opened on Tuesday, August 14 at 2:00 p.m. A third company decided not to turn in a bid. SAK Construction, LLC is the lowest, responsive, responsible bidder with a total bid of $161,790.00 and is being recommended for approval. This East Basin Sanitary Sewer Shed has been investigated with our flow meters in multiple locations to try to pinpoint areas with the most inflow and infiltration. This project is designed to tighten up the sanitary sewer system to try to keep more rain water & groundwater out of the sewers.

This project includes doing point repairs, repairs to private sewer line connections at the sewer main and installing cured-in-place pipe to seal long runs of sewer main. The base bid was in the amount of $161,790.00. Staff is requesting purchasing authority up to $177,969.00 to accommodate for potential change orders. This is an additional 10% of the total bid cost. Construction inspection services will be performed with City staff. The Sewer Fund has $240,000.00 budgeted for sewer rehabilitation in Capital Expenditures.

The Board approved a resolution authorizing the professional services of Leath & Sons for emergency sanitary sewer repairs at 10200 E. 85th Terrace in an amount not to exceed $15,080.  On Monday, April 1, 2019, the sanitary sewer crew was called out to a sewer backup in the 10200 block of E. 85th Terrace. Upon arrival, the crew discovered there was a backup within the City main line, and after a considerable amount of time we were unable to free the clog and open the City main line.

Ace Pipe Cleaning, Inc. was called and helped us clear the line. During post backup investigation, our CCTV crew discovered some heavily cracked and collapsing pipe along with tree roots. Staff reviewed the CCTV work and found 3 segments of clay pipe that needed to be immediately replaced to prevent further backups (about 10’ of pipe to replace that we can readily identify). Due to the condition of the pipe, we are unable at this time to determine if additional may be required to be replaced, until this project is underway.

Staff initially received an estimate of $5,870.00 from Leath & Sons Inc. on April 3, 2019. Due to the unknown condition of the downstream sewer pipe (possibly 20’ to 100’ in length) beyond this area to be repaired, and staff wasn’t able to safely estimate a contingency amount at that time. Leath & Sons, Inc. started work on this emergency dig-up on Monday, April 8th.

On Tuesday, April 9th we identified 35 additional feet of work at the top of the project area. Staff was able to CCTV the remainder of the line downstream and found a failed drop structure at the manhole connection and another 15’ of pipe to remove and replace just outside of this manhole. The original emergency memo in the amount of $5,870.00 was for 10’ of sanitary sewer pipe removal and replacement. The revised emergency memo for $15,080.00 in repairs is for 60’ of sanitary sewer pipe removal and replacement. That is the difference in the price increase.

The Board approved a resolution approving the purchase two stainless- steel augur spreaders from American Equipment Company off the city of Kansas City Missouri cooperative purchase contract in an amount not to exceed $35,000.The Public Works Department staff obtained a quote from the KCMO cooperative purchasing agreement with American Equipment Company ($14,419.00) for the stainless-steel auger spreader. Public works will purchase 2 of these, as budgeted. The attached quote is for $14,419.00 and x2 is $28,838.00, which is within the budgeted amount of $35,000.00. The remainder of the budgeted amount, $6,162.00, will be used for contingency. The Capital Sales Tax Fund has $35,000.00 budgeted for salt spreaders.

The Board approved a resolution approving the purchase of a 2020 Ford Explorer from Shawnee Mission Ford, off the Johnson County Kansas cooperative purchasing contract in an amount not to exceed $35,000.The current Ford Escape owned by the City is a 2008 model. The bodywork (rust) on the existing vehicle is half the value of the vehicle to repair. The Public Works Department staff obtained quotes from the Johnson County Kansas Cooperative Contract with Shawnee Mission Ford, Inc. for a new 2020 Ford Explorer base model 4x4.

The attached quote is for $29,097.00 and is within the budgeted amount of $35,000.00. The remainder of the budgeted amount, $5,903.00, will be used for the in-house upfitting for lights, decals, and contingency. The existing Ford Escape will be put up for auction. The Capital Sales Tax Fund has $35,000.00 budgeted for the replacement vehicle.

The Board approved a resolution authorizing participation by the city in the “Click It or Ticket” Enforcement Campaign and authorizing an application through the Missouri Department of Transportation Highway Safety & Traffic division. The Police Department would like to participate and make an application for grant funding for the 2019 Click It or Ticket Enforcement Campaign through the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Highway & Safety Division for the 2019 fiscal year. If awarded, the billed hours worked by officers of the Raytown, Missouri Police Department will be reimbursed at the rate of 100%.

The Raytown Police Department intends to utilize these funds to locate, apprehend and deter hazardous driving, with attention focused on the utilization of safety belts, within the Raytown City limits. With the extra officers designated to participate in this grant, it is perceived that injuries associated with non-use of factory installed safety belts during motor vehicle crashes within the Raytown city limits will be decreased as well. The grant, if awarded, allows for $750.00 dollars to be used for overtime assignments, and will be reimbursed at 100% to the city. There is no match required by the City for this grant.

The Board approved a resolution authorizing the purchase of a single axle dump truck body, plow, spreader and hydraulics from American Equipment company off the Kansas City Missouri cooperative purchase contract in an amount not to exceed $78,546.The current dump truck owned by the City is 16 years old. Maintenance costs have become excessive due to the age of the vehicle. The Public Works Department staff obtained a quote from the KCMO cooperative purchasing agreement with American Equipment Company ($75,546.00) for the dump truck body, plow, spreader and hydraulics.

The following RBA will be for this dump truck’s chassis. A contingency amount of $3,000.00 will be used for the in-house upfitting of lights and decals – making the cost $78,546.00. The Capital Sales Tax Fund has $165,000.00 budgeted for a single-axle dump truck with spreader.

The Board approved a resolution authorizing the purchase of a 2020 International truck chassis from Summit Truck Group off the Johnson County Kansas cooperative purchase contract in an amount not to exceed $86,454.The current dump truck owned by the City is 16 years old. Maintenance costs have become excessive due to the age of the vehicle.

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