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Board Waives Credit Card Fees BY GREG WALTERS
The Raytown Board of Aldermen has waived credit and debit card fees for payments made on sanitary sewer bills dated August 24th through October 13th.
Raytowners who pay sewer bills by check or cash are not
charged bank fees for their transactions.
Park Problems Continue . . . BY PAUL LIVIUS
Neighborhoods
surrounding Colman Park at 59th and Lane Streets endured large crowds and decibel
levels that could be heard and felt in neighboring homes.
“Last
Saturday night was the worst,” said Jim Delong, who lives near Colman Park.
A large
smoker had been wheeled up to Shelter House No. 2. An estimated 300 people
crowded into park shelters and surrounding areas Saturday night. The parking
and over-flow parking areas of the park were full to capacity.
“I have no
complaint about the response from the police and private security service,”
said Delong. “They were prompt in responding to our calls for help.”
Delong said
the problem is the decibels of the music get turned down while the police are
on site. But then are usually turned back up when the police leave.
It is
believed social gathering restrictions in Kansas City causing people to search
out other places to gather.
“Kansas City
Mayor Quinton Lucas has taken a very strong position to deter large crowds
gathering at any public or private event to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
This leaves Raytown, which does not actively enforce such restrictions, the
closest place for people to gather,” said Ward 1 Alderman Greg Walters.
“We view this
as a safety issue”, continued Walters. “The spread of Covid-19 is serious
business. It is not in our neighborhood’s best interest to become party central
during a pandemic. In this age of cell phones it does not take long for word to
spread of a large gathering."
Walters says
he intends to reach out to City Administrator Damon Hodges to help neighbors
reach a solution to the problem.
"We have
some ideas that we believe have merit,” said Walters.
“Jim Delong
and I met with the Chief of Police and Administrator Hodges a couple of weeks
ago. Some of our suggestions have already been put into place,” said Walters.
The police have teamed with a private security service in responding to calls over excessive noise and vehicles on park grass. The Raytown Park Department is paying for the private security service.
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9 comments:
Could someone with some common sense tell me why we are not having school but the football teams are having practice? It's time for a new school board and a new superintendent of schools. They have been here for far to long.
August 29, 2020 at 2:08 PM, I agree that this type of noise needs to cease. If RPD would cite the perpetrators into court each time, it might stop. "Please turn off your noise," doesn't work. I suspect there is an underlying cause such as drug dealing/drinking/parties. I suspect this because I once lived next door to a drug dealer and was aware of what was happening. Where was the private security hired by the Parks Dept?
When I buy a house, I refuse to buy across from a park or even within what I consider to be hearing distance from a park. I suggest you do the same if you ever move.
Andy Whiteman
Park suggestions:
1) An emergency ordinance limiting the number of people in gatherings at all Raytown parks. The ordinance should allow the number of people to be changed as COVID-19 conditions change. IMHO 250 people at one time even if there was no health hazard is way TOO MANY PEOPLE! There should be a limit as to number of people in the gathering as well as a limit as to the number of people at each shelter.
2) IF the noise is being turned down when RPD approaches, RPD should respond in at least one unmarked car. As mark cars approach, the officer should roll down his/her windows from an out of sight distant location. A citation could be written, "Loud music heard (state location) xxx feet from source." RPD should be alert for other illegal activity.
Andy Whiteman
“We view this as a safety issue”, continued Walters. “The spread of Covid-19 is serious business. It is not in our neighborhood’s best interest to become party central during a pandemic. In this age of cell phones it does not take long for word to spread of a large gathering."
I do not often agree with Greg, but on this issue, he is right on target.
Andy - there is an ordinance in Jackson County - which Raytown is in - that limits the number of people allowed to gather in any one place, including outdoors. The police come along, tell them to turn down the music. The people in the parks turn down the music until the police are gone, then crank it back up again. Don't make the comment the police should come back. They have robbers and thieves to catch. They don't have time for a noise disturbance in the park. The park board is trying to solve the problem. What the blog writer doesn't know is the park board is paying the private security company to go to the park when loud noise is reported. Again, the noise is reduced while the security company is present, and after they are gone, the music goes back up. Unless the city council pays for park security 24/7, there isn't a lot to do except respond to each incident as it occurs.
Andy, there is an ordinance in Jackson County which the City of Raytown and, for that matter, Jackson County, DOES NOT enforce limiting the number of people allowed to gather in one place. (including outdoors)
We place the number at 250 to 300 people at the event last Saturday. We based that number on the fact that ALL of the parking spaces were filled with cars. There are approximately 175 parking spots at Colman Park. We down-sized the number to take into account spots that should not be parked in (but often are) at the park. We estimated two riders per vehicle. Even if you set the number at 1.5 persons per vehicle the number still shoots up to 235.
Trust us on this. We visited with folks who live around the park. It was very crowded.
By the way, we are well aware that private security was called in. The Park Department is charged $25 per call by the security service. We are also aware the police were called at least four times.
Throwing up hands and saying nothing can be done is not a solution. The danger is more than just the spread of the Pandemic. Judging by the pattern that party-goers arrived, the news of this event was spread through cell phones. That makes for a mix of people that do not know each other personally. Mix it up with drugs and alcohol and you have toxic mix in which anything can happen.
Gunshots fired at the park (and yes, there was at least one shot fired last Saturday night), are not uncommon. Remember it was just two years ago when a young woman was murdered at Colman park when two shooters started firing into a crowd of 25 young adults who had gathered after curfew.
In the five minute gunbattle that followed three houses were shot up, the Park Maintenance Building took a number of hits, and a young woman died.
Like I said, we need solutions. Not excuses.
Peter Wilson, The "Turn the noise down" step should be skipped and a citation issued. Since Jackson County limits the number of people gathering at a public place, the gathering should be dispersed immediately based on that ordinance.
Andy Whiteman
I see Kansas City and Independence have already striped their streets for winter. Is Raytown going to stripe their streets/gravel streets this fall? They haven't done it for years. You can't see what lane you are in if it rains or snows. I know, I know, they have no money! But they can put a worthless hard to read digital 1950's sign in front of city hall to the tune of 40,000.00. That would of gone to getting our streets striped!
9/5/20 10:47 AM
Yes they will be re-striping in Sept 2020. It was on the city's FB page on 9/2/20.
Approx 100,000 ft on selected roads.
The map of roads being re-striped is on the FB announcement.
Also the 350 Hwy and Raytown Rd intersection is being redone starting this month as well by Raytown and MoDot.
I wish they would post these updates on the city's website as well and not just FB. Not everyone has FB (such as yourself).
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