After four meetings via ZOOM the Raytown Board of Aldermen was finally back at City Hall for last week's meeting. Board members were separated by a minimum of six feet distancing. Face masks and gloves were provided to Board members (most had brought their own).
In Our Mailbox
Greg,
“There
was a lady picking up trash by my office on 63rd Street, so I talked
with her a bit. She told me she was a member of the Kiwanis Club and they did
the litter removal as a public service to the community. I thought you might
want to give some recognition on the Raytown Report. I believe keeping streets
cleans encourages pride in our community and am thankful for those selfless
individuals who step up to do this volunteer work.”
BOA Receives Annual Reports
 |
| BY PAUL LIVIUS |
Last
Tuesday’s meeting of the Raytown Board of Aldermen was pretty much a review of
annual reports from the City Auditor. Park Board Director Dave Turner was on
hand to give his annual State of the Parks report to the Board as well.
ANNUAL AUDIT REPORT . . .
The
Board listened to a presentation from Trout, Beeman & Co., PC on the City’s
Annual Audit for the 2018/2019 fiscal year.
The
bottom line is that the city’s financial status is, fiscally speaking, in good
condition. Reserve Accounts are all in good shape and should be able to weather
an anticipated slow down in tax revenues to the city. This loss of revenue is a
result of the COVID19 Pandemic Shutdown. It will take some time for the Raytown
area economy to improve.
The
good news is that new hires and jobs opening back in up in America have
exceeded expectations since the mandatory shutdown. The city is well positioned
to weather an anticipated loss of revenue for the coming fiscal year.
The
City refinanced the TIF bonds used to bring Walmart to Raytown. The reselling
of the bonds has created better terms for the city to re-pay bonds. This helps
in the management of cash flow as regards city revenue.
However,
20 years of scheduled payments are needed to retire the bonds. It has been said
the re-selling of the bonds saves the city about 2 million dollars, which is
true up to a point. The 2 million of savings is not realized until the bonds
are finally paid off.
STATE OF THE PARKS REPORT . . .
Park
Board Director Dave Turner gave the Park Department’s Annual Report to the
City.
Most
park activities that cater to large numbers of people have been cancelled or
set back until later this summer. This includes the Parks and Recreation Summer
Concert Serious, Movies in the Park, the Annual Fishing Derby at Kenagy Park to
name a few.
Park
employees recognized more people than usual were fishing at Kenagy Park during
the Shutdown. So the Parks Department decided to continue stocking the lake.
The
adult softball league will be opening very soon and softball teams are now
allowed to practice on Raytown Park ball diamonds. Shelter house rentals are
now available as well. Basketball is not being allowed until a later date.
Shelter
house users are reminded that amplified music within Raytown City Parks is not
allowed by City Ordinance. Violations of the city’s noise ordinance are asked
to report violations to the Raytown Police Department at 737-6020.
Looking
forward, Mr. Turner reported discussions of repairs needed at the tennis courts
at Kenagy Park, for which a grant has been applied to pay a large portion of
the cost.
He also
spoke of plans for a dog park at the old Super Splash location. One Alderman suggested
creating a new basketball court venue at the Super Splash location as well. The
Park Board has already installed basketball goals on the parking lot at Super
Splash.
Other points
of interest regarding possible future plans included a continuing discussion on
how to best repair the concrete block walls surrounding the pond at Kenagy Park.
The current walls have been vandalized with concrete blocks pushed or thrown
into the park. Some of the wall has a definite inward (water side) tilt which
may be the cause of the deterioration.
Another interesting statistic Mr. Turner shared with the Aldermen was that the private security service hired by the Parks and Recreation Board has removed 37 curfew violators from the parks so far this summer season. This is the third summer the Park Board has hired the outside service to patrol parks after curfew.
Crime
and Police
Overview Activity
- On June 3rd, at approx. 5:30 pm, officers were called to an apartment complex in the 8700 block of 61st Ter regarding a large fight in progress. A large group of people were brawling in the parking lot, stemming from a domestic disturbance. One woman struck several people with a shovel and broke the arm of one person. She was arrested at the scene and charged with several felonies by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
- On June 5th, at approx. 2:00 am, officers made contact with a citizen regarding a robbery in the 6500 block of Willow Ave. The victim said that a friend had tried to steal his property and had struck him (the victim) with a bat. After his initial statement, the victim refused to provide any additional information and stated he did not want to prosecute.
- There was one sex crime report taken this week. A citizen reported finding child pornography on a family member’s phone and the subject was arrested. The investigation is ongoing.
7 comments:
For those that didn't know, there is a Facebook group called Raytown Clean Up. They have organized several clean up days in Raytown.
Volunteers spread out over the city and pick up litter along city streets.
They deserve kudos too.
I watched the Board meeting, why were so many people allowed in the chambers when the limit was supposed to be only 6? they seemed to all know the Mayor. I also noticed the COVID jokes and the lack of proper safety protocols. Could it be that the Mayor is taking advantage of this opportunity to stop having public comments for a reason?
"...opportunity to stop having public comments for a reason?"
And you're surprised how? You're getting exactly what you asked for.
Proclamations n' platitudes aplenty.
Mis- or under-informed citizens keep mindlessly re-electing some of these people.
Develop a qualified and capable slate of candidates. And get to it.
Had you actually watched the meeting there was only two members of the public in attendance at the board of alderman meeting. Everyone else was staff
or the pastor who was there long enough to do the prayer and lead the pledge. So the meeting and those in attendance were still in compliance with what was listed on the agenda.
@ June 17, 2020 1104am
I guess you weren't there. They also had Randy's grand daughter and others taking pictures, and the gentleman that is with the audit company. at one time there were 8 non staff members in the chambers.
In any event do staff not count as people anyway? are they somehow immune to the potential effects of CoVID19?
I watched the BOA meeting on ch 7 and at the very end you could see the big crowd of TWO people.
Alderman Walters went over to chat with the Chief and the room was basically empty.
I wonder if I was the only one thinking someone was playing a joke with all of the "Sharp for Sheriff" signs popping up around town.
Nothing against former Sheriff Sharp, but what I recall in the news after he stepped down had me believing he could not ever seek office again.
I made a few phone calls and learned he is a candidate because the Jackson County Prosecutor did file charges on him.
I am now not sure what the bigger insult to us taxpayers is. On one hand we have someone who according to the Kansas City Star had two employees on the payroll that no one saw nor understood their job duties.
I don't know about you, but in the private sector you would be fired and charges filed. This brings us back to the Prosecutor's Office and the open question of why two years later it appears nothing has been done to make us taxpayers whole and hold those individuals accountable.
Lucky for us taxpayers we have options this year and not only should we exercise those options on election day we should public ask for an update and status on where the county is and why nothing has been done.
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