To my readers . . . Some have noted the Raytown Report was published late this past week. An explanation is in order . . . so here it is. I was out of town participating in Ragbrai (the DesMoines Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). It has become an annual event I participate in each year.

Greg (on the left) and his
cousin,  Phil, on soggy Sunday.

Other than a very wet Sunday* the weather was great.

210 miles later, a bad sunburn, and a swollen right ankle, I decided it was time to head back home.

No worse for the wear – a little rest and the body does a fine job of healing itself.

I see there has been some excitement about the two committees working towards improving Raytown in the time I was gone. So I spent some time catching up on what has transpired in the last week.

*It rained ALL day long, followed by two hours of some very strong headwinds. In case you were wondering, yes . . . we ride in the rain.

BY GREG WALTERS

We are All
on the Same Side

From what I have been told, last week in Raytown was an interesting time of frayed nerves and anger rising to the top. Rather than re-hash what has already been well discussed on Facebook and the Blog portion of the Raytown Report, I thought it would be better to show some signs of progress.

Raytown Parks Improvement Committee (PIC)

The Raytown Parks Improvement Committee with the Raytown Park Board, is making positive progress. s making progress. With cooperation from the Raytown Park Board, I am pleased to report of some new ideas under consideration by the Raytown Park Board and its Director, Dave Turner.

Mr. Turner has shared that the Park Board is considering the purchase of LED Solar lights for use in Raytown’s parks. Recently the Park Board upgraded the ability of the police to monitor city parks remotely in real time. 

Which brings up an important point.

Some have complained on the Raytown Report Blog that all of the improvements are being made for one park.

That is not true.

According to Park Board Director Dave Turner, the proposed LED solar powered lights would be used in a number of parks. This is the first installment. The Park Board (wisely, in my opinion) has opted to see how well the new lights perform before going all in on the purchase.

The Raytown Police has also shown it is stepping up its patrol of the parks. Last week an event took place which has been a rarity in the past. According the Police Chief Randy Hudspeth, two citations for Curfew Violations at Kritzer Park, located at 11707 East 75^th Street, were issued lasts week.

Nay-sayers please take note. Those tickets were not issued at Colman Park. For that matter, the new LED lights are being tested in a number of Raytown Parks. The Park Board is also considering the use of private security on Friday thru Sunday evenings to work with the police to enforce park curfews.

How do Other Parks Handle Curfew Violations?

ZIMMERMAN PARK AT 55TH AND BLUE RIDGE

I wondered how other parks deter curfew violations. So I took some time to visit a sports park operated by Graceway Church, located at 55^th and Blue Ridge Cutoff.

Zimmerman Park is a huge sports complex located at the northwest corner of 55^th and Blue Ridge Cutoff. It is a state of the art complex of softball and soccer fields. The playing fields are enclosed by chain link fencing. The only entrances also have gates to enforce its curfew after the park(s) are closed.

The complex is massive. It is larger than most Raytown Parks. Its history and how it resolved its problems holds some interesting lessons for Raytown Parks.

Tony Jacob, who recently ran for Mayor of Raytown, used to work security for Graceway. While working in that capacity at Graceway, Mr. Jacob was awarded a commendation for working with Raytown Police in keeping the park safe. (PART OF THE GRACEWAY COMPLEX IS LOCATED IN RAYTWON)

Jacob said the park did not always have gates at its entrances. The lack of a solid barrier was an open invitation leading to many of the same problems Raytown Parks is currently experiencing, such as the homeless attempting to make the park their home, criminal drug dealing, illicit sex and what appeared to be gang influence.

It was decided to gate the parks during non-use hours at night.

Once the word was out that entrance could not be made into the park at night, the homeless stayed away, the drug leaders went to more available location without gates and lax enforcement. The lovers went to other places for their intimate moments.

An interesting footnote, Mr. Jacob said that even if the gates are not locked, presence of them just being shut has made a huge difference.

We all want our parks to be a safe haven. We want them free of drug use and not a homeless refuge. We want to be able to visit go them without witnessing the seamy side of life. Most importantly we want a park system of which we are proud.

We need to open ourselves to suggestions for park safety that has worked in other communities and other locations.

Most of all, we need to remember we are all on the same side.

Picture shows gates at the old Super Splash Water Park location. The gates are left open (I closed them for the photograph). Each gate spans 28 fee in length. The same width as a residential street in Raytown.

The gates were built to close off the parking area to the south of the Water Park. The parking lot is currently used by tree trimming company for employee parking. There are also some large piles of mulch on the unpaved portion of the parking lot.

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Love Those Fiber Optics!

This past weekend I attended the Fringe Festival in Kansas City. The following photos were taken at the “After Party” at which the different shows were ranked and recognized.

The first picture of the pretty girl was made with a hula-hoop. The other pictures were created using a string of fiber-optic lines built like a whip. Very colorful....very fun!