Light Up The Night!

PICK UP TWO FREE LED LIGHT BULBS THIS SATURDAY A RAYTOWN OR RAYTOWN SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL FROM 10:00 AM TO 2:00 PM.

Many of will remember that last November Mayor Mike McDonough organized a “Light up the Night” event. Thousands of FREE LED Light bulbs were given to those who took the time to show up at two pick up points. One was located at Raytown South High School and one located at Raytown High School.

What most people do not know is that not all of the light bulbs were given away. So, this Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. volunteers will be handing out the remainder of the light bulbs to those who drive through at Raytown High School or Raytown South High School.

The Mayor has put a limit of two light bulbs per recipient – one for the front yard and one for over the garage. These are LED light bulbs – very low energy users with an amazingly bright light. They are designed to be left on all night long. 

So, if you are out on Saturday, May 1^st, take a detour and come by either Raytown South or Raytown High School to pick up your free light bulbs!

A SPECIAL “THANK YOU”

TO EVERGY AND THE MANY VOLUNTEERS WHO MADE THIS EVENT POSSIBLE.

 

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The Rest of the Story BY PAUL LIVIUS

Last week we received the following comment at the Raytown Report.

ANONYMOUS WROTE:

I watched the park board meeting the other night. They voted to increase the lighting and not put in the cameras. What happened? You told us we were getting more cameras. When are you going to get us the cameras?

Rather than post the notice on the blog portion of the Raytown Report we thought it would be better to hold off, do a little investigating, and give a complete answer to the author of the anonymous post.

He (or she) is unhappy because the Park Board voted to not purchase a new high definition camera to be used for security purposes at Colman Park.

The author seems to think that we at the Raytown Report had promised “getting more cameras”. Then goes on to question . . . “When are you going to get us the cameras?”

This story, like many of the news stories on the Raytown Report can be traced back to a Weekly Report published by  the City Administrator, Damon Hodges. Those “reports” are a collection of reports by city department heads used by the City Administrator to keep elected officials up to date with what is being done in Raytown. This report undoubtedly came from Parks an Recreation. Dave Turner is the appointed Director Raytown Parks and Recreation. It is important to note neither Hodges or Turner have a vote on the Park Board. The final decision on whether or not to purchase the cameras rests entirely with the members of the Park Board.

Here is the portion of the report used when we published it.

The City/Parks Department has set up two high-definition cameras at Colman Park to compare their capabilities to capture license plates on Lane Ave. Both of the cameras were capable and would be an improvement toward that goal. He will get back to me with a proposal to install one of these options. The current camera that is not up to that task will be turned to face 59th Street, giving it a longer look at the vehicle and direction out of the park. The Parks Department will also be updating at least one parks owned area lights.

The following week the City Administrator published a follow-up to the original report.

KENTON BROTHERS CAMERA PROPOSAL: One option is $2,600 installed, the other is $2,800 installed. I will present this information to the Park Board tonight. Ron Fowler also purchased two flood lights to be installed in Colman and Southwood Parks.

This report was published the day of the Park Board meeting. No doubt the author of the anonymous post was referring to that meeting when the Park Board voted to NOT purchase the camera(s).

Mr. or Ms. Anonymous made some painful twists in the three sentence blog they sent us. They went to an extreme twisting of words as if someone had failed to deliver on a promise of new cameras for use at Colman Park. The motive is pretty transparent. They were slapping at Alderman Greg Walters because he had failed to deliver the promised cameras!

Nice try. But as the narrative above shows, this “blame game” is false. Like Damon Hodges and Dave Turner, Greg does not have a vote on the Raytown Park Board. Attempting to blame this on him is false.

OUR VIEW AND THE REST OF THE STORY:

We believe the Park Board made the wrong decision by not purchasing the high definition cameras. One of the problems faced by the Raytown Police is that they cannot be sitting at city parks 24/7 to keep the peace. A high definition camera would come in useful for the Police Department in tracking down those who partake in criminal behavior at city parks.

We note that the plan originally called for a camera to be moved to pick up traffic on 59^th Street on the north end of the park. Police Officers in the RPD have a nickname for 59^th Street. They call it Interstate 59 because of the high volume of speeders who love the wide lanes and rolling hills that stretch from Blue Ridge Cutoff to Raytown Trafficway.

It is interesting to note that the Park Board did approve the purchase of two additional flood lights at Southwood Park and Colman Park. The additional illumination has proven to be effective at keeping our parks safe.

So now you have the rest of the story.

BY GREG WALTERS

Privacy Gate at Colman Park 

On a related story . . . Last March the Park Department agreed to block off a portion of the public parking along Lane Street with a privacy gate. This gate would separate Park dumpsters and the maintenance garage employee parking area from public parking. It is important to note the shooting and murder that occurred at Colman Park happened in the area to be blocked off. The remote location of the parking area is isolated from the rest of the park and has proven to be a security concern for local residences, the Park Department maintenance barn.

Construction of the gate was slowed by the extremely cold weather earlier this year.

Speed Humps . . . an effective way to slow down speeders

There has been considerable discussion on Facebook about the use of speed humps to slow down speeders in Raytown neighborhoods and . The Park Department has already installed speed humps at Kenagy Park. They have proven effective is keeping drivers from cutting donuts and spinning out Kenagy’s large parking lot.

Colman Park, with its block long extra wide access along the entire west side of the park, has proven to be a popular spot for speeders. Burn marks on the pavement on Lane Street in Colman Park attest to drivers “peeling” out when they leave the park.

Comments on social media in the Raytown area show there is confusion between the difference of speed “humps” and speed “bumps”.

Speed “bumps” are narrow curb-like structures. Speed “bumps” are rarely used on public streets.

However, speed “humps” are being used more and more in the metropolitan area. A speed “hump” is a raised area of pavement, generally four to five feet wide. They are easy for drivers to see and have proven to be effective in slowing down speeders in residential neighborhoods.

The best example in the Kansas City area of the effectiveness of speed humps can be found in the Brookside area. To view these speed humps take 63^rd Street or Gregory Boulevard to Main Street. The entire stretch of Main Street between 63^rd and Gregory Boulevard has multiple speed humps. You will be impressed with what you see.

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