Homeless Camp Under
63rd Street Abandoned
Sources from Raytown City Hall tell us the homeless camp located under the 63rd Street Bridge has been abandoned.
Plans are moving forward to remove the debris left by the trespassers. Future plans are expected to include a fence or some sort of barricade to keep squatters from trying to gain a foothold on public property in the future.
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| BY GREG WALTERS |
Bus Service on
Blue Ridge Blvd.
to be discontinued
The KCATA (Kansas City Area Transportation Authority) has announced the bus service line on Blue Ridge Cut-off along the west side of the city will be discontinued effective July 7, 2024.
IRIS is a door to destination (and back) service developed by the ATA to provide public transportation to suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri. The program is being provided by Z-Trip.
Z-Trip is the company that manages and operates taxi cab services in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area.
The cost to Raytown users of the Z-Trip option is FREE within Raytown City limits.
Service to Kansas City, Liberty, Gladstone and Riverside, Missouri destinations can vary from $3.00 to $4.00 a trip. For connections to other cities within the Greater Kansas City area contact the ATA at 816-346-0300.
The City of Raytown is entering into a new contract with the ATA (Area Transportation Authority) to provide door to door transportation through a program known as IRIS.
BY PAUL LIVIUS
Paul’s Rant!
Every now and then we receive a question from a reader asking why . . . ?
This week’s question is not uncommon. A reader wrote asking why Raytown has become the delinquent automobile license tag capitol of the Kansas City area.
Last time we wrote about this subject, ALL cities north of the Missouri River had joined together to crack down on motorists driving without proper license tags.
So we did some more checking. Turns out most of the cities in the metropolitan area have increased or joined the effort to enforce a law that is ignored way too often in Raytown. Independence and Lee’s Summit have actively joined in the crackdown.
Why not Raytown?
It is a fair question. Next time you see one of your City Council members or the Mayor, for that matter, the Chief of Police and the City Administrator as well, ask them.
The City of Raytown is missing out on a lot of revenue on those who do not pay their Personal Property Tax, keep the licenses on their cars up to date, not to mention a common question. Are they insured?
Homeless in Raytown
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| Homeless Camp tucked under the road bed of the 63rd Street Bridge. |
Last December, as work
crews were hanging Christmas lights on the 63rd Street Bridge for the holidays, it was noted there were tents and
all sorts of material wedged underneath the 63rd Street Bridge where it passes
over the old Rock Island Rail Line.
The railroad is long gone. It has been replaced by one of the Kansas City area's premier recreational trails, The Rock Island Bicycle and Walking Trail. A view of what is going on under the 63rd Street Bridge can clearly be seen from the popular bicycle/walking trail.
The Raytown Trafficway/63rd Street intersection is part of the West Gateway to Downtown Raytown. It is just a few city blocks from City Hall, and within easy walking distance to where the Mayor holds his summertime concerts.
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| Campsite at the bottom of what used to be the Rock Island Rail Line. |
Legally speaking, the people who have set up the tents and stockpiled material under the bridge are trespassing.
This much is known about the situation.
- The camp is located directly in front of the abutments that anchor the 63rd Street Bridge on the east side. The bridge is owned by the City of Raytown.
- One hundred feet below the bridge is the old railbed of the Rock Island Line. It is owned by Jackson County Parks and Recreation.
Three governing bodies, Kansas City, Independence and MODOT (Missouri Department of Transportation) have worked out an agreement in which all three parties work together to keep the area free of squatters.
Hopefully Raytown City Hall can work out a solution similar to what was accomplished on Sterling Street. A collaborative effort between Raytown and Jackson County Parks would go a long way to remove this unsafe eyesore from Raytown's landscape.
Whatever the solution, it needs to be accomplished soon. To knowingly allow such a flagrant violation to continue is not acceptable.
“Keep Your Fingers Crossed!”
FOLLOW UP REPORT ON THE STATUS OF TWO STATE
GRANTS UNDER APPLICATION BY THE CITY OF RAYTOWN AND
THE RAYTOWN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
Raytown’s Representative on the Missouri State Legislature, Jerome Barnes, has provided a follow-up report on the status of two grants he has applied for on behalf of the City of Raytown and the Raytown Fire Protection District.
We are pleased to report that both grant requests have been approved by the Missouri House of Representatives and the Missouri Senate. The requests now move forward to Missouri Governor Mike Parsons for consideration. Governor Parsons has the final word on whether or not the grants will be awarded as requested.
RAYTOWN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
Raytown
Fire Protection District has applied for a $100,000 Grant to fund the position
of “Raytown Community Paramedic”. The Raytown Community Paramedic has been in operation for three
years. This highly successful program targets the homeless and helps to provide
guidance to resume a productive and healthy life style. The program also helps
to find housing for the homeless so they can turn their lives around with a new start.
CITY OF RAYTOWN
The grant
request for the City of Raytown is for $50,000.
State Representative Jerome Barnes has partnered with Raytown Alderman Greg Walters to request funding to appropriate $50,000 for implementation of Traffic Calming practices within the City of Raytown, Missouri.
The purpose of the proposal is to supplement traffic enforcement in the City of Raytown. Like many small suburban cities in Missouri, Raytown is having difficulty hiring enough police officers to properly enforce traffic laws.
The following two practices have proven successful in other communities in managing traffic enforcement and, in so doing, reducing the reliance on police personnel to remind motorists of the need to follow traffic laws.
Traffic Calming
RADAR TRAFFIC SIGNS /
SPEED TABLES
Traffic Calming is the
act of adjusting signage and street structures to encourage motorists to slow
down and drive more responsibly. It is found to be most effective in
residential neighborhoods and has proven to be a valuable aid to police in
enforcement of traffic laws.
RADAR TRAFFIC SIGNS
Radar traffic signs look like regular speed limit signs. The
signs are equipped with radar showing the speed of an oncoming vehicle. If the
motorist does not slow down after seeing the speed limit sign flashing, then a
bright light, similar to a photograph “flash”, is triggered. This “flash”
usually causes the motorist to slow down.
More advanced models track the time and date when speeders (who are often
creatures of habit) speed through a neighborhood. The police can then be
alerted as to when the illegal activity can be expected to best enforce traffic
laws.
The signs are a gentle reminder to motorists they are driving in a residential area where children play, pet owners walk their dogs, and bicyclists use the safety of a neighborhood street to get their exercise.
SPEED TABLES AND SPEED
HUMPS
Speed tables are
longer than speed humps. They are flat-topped, with a height of 3” to 3.5” and
a length capable of slowing traffic in residential areas.
Studies have shown the speed of a vehicle crossing a speed table or speed hump will reduce its speed by 10 to 15 miles per hour. Examples of effective speed tables and speed humps can be found in Lee’s Summit, MO and the Brookside neighborhood just south of the Country Club Plaza and at Starlight Theatre.
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| GRAPHIC OF A SPEED TABLE |
15 comments:
I drive downtown and travel Grand to Truman Road and the city of Kansas City has installed rumble strips in the intersection of Grand and Truman. The side shows continue to do their show on top of the rumble strips! They are fairly deep cut ins into the street. It has to be hard on their tires, but they have endless money. Maybe the speed humps place in the intersections might work and slow people down from running red lights.
Instead of the Mayor getting on Facebook and promoting his little concerts at the green space it would be nice to see him do the job he was elected to do.
Maybe it is time to take over his little event and have a session as our Nation's founders would have about what he should be doing.
Why are we paying for all those department heads as NOT a one is doing a thing and guess what we are a 4th class city and therefore not required to have many of those positions.
In your WOKE state of mind you don't realize the savings and that money could be spent back on the city and NOT a few gold diggers.
That is right back towards salaries for your beloved police department
Codes would actually be enforced
Streets actually maintained
Money for storm cleanup
STOP RUNNING AROUND TOWN HUGGING WOMEN AND GET TO WORK!
It was good to see Mr Ward post last week.
I am glad we have a former Alderman who tells it like it is.
Good old Mayor Mike wants everyone to believe things are great, but too many of us don't drink his Jim Jones Kolaid and know the truth.
We are not better off than before he crawled out from his rock.
The city was enforcing codes and speeding under David.
David would have an honest conversation with you and he never wanted to grab any ladies.
I wonder what David things of how Mayor Mike has turned us into a gehto for thugs and punks to fire their guns with no action from the police.
It seems that ever since the voters made it clear they didn't want more taxes Mayor Mike has become more abusive and decided retaliation is acceptable behavior. It is horrible to see an adult acting as a play ground bully.
Mayor Mike likes to brag about growing up in Raytown and I for one would love to here from those that grew up with him to see if he has always been a bully or it happened when he became Mayor.
I do hope he realizes that it is behavior like his that has lead to no one having respect for police officers. Respect is earned through hard work and respecting others.
Someone might want to call those three government bodies that are addressing the problem at I70 and Sterling because it is back and appears to be worse than ever.
I think everyone is forgetting the underlying issues. When Regan was President he defended mental health and the problem has grown rapidly ever decade since that foolish decision.
The second issue which based on the local news is the assessment and corresponding taxes for schools.
All of use in Jackson County believe the problem is the way the assessments were done and the news has uncovered so things like why is Frank White house not valued like his neighbors on either side of his.
However, we in the Raytown School District forget that the School Board claimed if we voted for the bonds last year there would be no new taxes. Sounded like no increase to many, but because it was an assessment year it allowed a tax increase otherwise the School Board would have had to lower under the Hancock Amendment.
The news did a great story how KCK wants the ball stadiums and the state of Kansas would use star bonds to fund.
However, there was one short piece that the mayor of KCK also wants as part of the deal an earnings tax for both WY and JO County. When earlier complaining the property taxes in WY County are to high.
I don't care which politicians or side of state line the lies and double talk need to end. I recall our own Mayor running around town complaining about assessments, but pushing tax increases tied to assessments.
Homeless issues are in part often because of mismanagement thanks to School Board saying more money for better students when test scores don't support. If that doesn't hurt people it is the greed from billionaires that believe others should pay for their play toys like sports teams.
Anyone else recall the seemingly interminable debacle at 40 Hwy and Noland Road a few years back?
A murder, a killing, shootings, assaults...
People DIED. People were hospitalized in critical condition.
ON WHAT PLANET was it acceptable for Raytown to have welcomed that guy and his cohorts, lock, stock and barrel, into Raytown?
Near our schools.
Near our public library.
Etcetera, etcetera.
And with no space buffer, this time around.
Like many residents, I was against the liquor and smokes shop, however there wasn't much we could do about it.
Booze and smoke shop citizen concerns will be a pleasant memory, up against what we're facing if this new "nightclub" takes off and the parking lot "erupts" again.
When will roads resurfacing begin? I see a lot of pretty graphs and pictures from city hall, but I never see any roads being resurfaced.
If you dream it....
....it will happen.
Better roads is only a dream until we get rid of the department heads that are not needed and those that only draw pay.
Actions always speak louder than words.
I was reading this blog and about the concerns over homeless living under the 63rd Street Bridge. I agree it is concerning and could end up costing us a lot off money. All we have to do is contact the MO DOT and find out the repair cost because of the fire the homeless set under a bridge on I70 back in 2022. I for one am not surprised the city has done nothing as nothing has become the new normal in Raytown. I don't understand why our elected officials have not done something about the management at city hall. However, I too should not be surprised after a majority of the board turned on us the citizens and voted to allow a non-citizen to build an additional gas station/liquor store/smoke shop. I know we once had a motto "Reaching for Tommorrow", but I fear what it is today. However, the talk around town is "Shoving It Up the Taxpayers" to "We Don't Care What Is Right". Of course the best one in my opinion is "You Want Something For Your Tax Dollars Here Is The Bird". Time for another state audit or at least an Alderman to conduct their own audit/investigation.
If I was an Alderman I would represent those in my Ward and not the few people who work at city hall unless they just happen to live in my Ward.
The reality is the city has gotten away from hiring people who actually live in Raytown and as this path has continued so has unenforceable traffic laws and codes. Departments now celebrate they did the job they got hired to do instead of celebrating when they have gone beyond the norm.
It is time to end this WOKE ungrateful and unmotivated work force and hire people who take pride in a hard day's work.
Raises need to be based on justified positive production and not just because others got a raise.
Staff at any level that can justify improvements and/or job eliminations that don't add value not only deserves a raise, but are the type that should be department heads.
I truly believe that Raytown is in a much better financial place than city hall wants us to believe. I believe a deep review of what department head positions are required by the state under a fourth class city status is a place to cut unnecessary costs and lay the ground to better days.
At this point, I am only exploring running, but every day the department heads don't address the issues facing our city tell me a few hours a month to better our community might be what I need to do.
The homeless are our past and our future when we fail them we fail the teaching of Christ.
We should love our neighbor (even the homeless) as we love ourselves, which is the word of the Lord.
To often in today's society one claims to be Christian, but forget ones actions speak louder.
Now go in peace and not as a piece!
I didn't think fireworks are legal at this time in Raytown. I guess I am just day dreaming that I hear them.
Taxes are not the problem....
.... The people overseeing how those funds are used is another story.
I agree that living or playing up under a bridge is not the safest thing to do. I recall in a tornado you are to get in a ditch, but never up under a bridge. This does bring into question where in our city may the homeless live without fear of others harassing or law enforcement eviction. Many of these are veterans who the government promised benefits for their service, but forgets them when they retire. If not taking care of our veterans is bad enough what about the families who loss everything because of unexpected life events.
"People DIED. People were hospitalized in critical condition.
ON WHAT PLANET was it acceptable for Raytown to have welcomed that guy and his cohorts, lock, stock and barrel, into Raytown?"
The people from that nuisance nightclub at 40 & Noland that got shut down by KC Regulated?
Raytown bears no responsibility. They would have had no way of knowing who it was at the time. Nor would the property owner or the insurance carrier.
Why? Because the owner carefully set up everything in his girlfriend's name.
No worries, though. The landlord just filed (again) to evict them. Hopefully they'll be on their way soon.
Has anybody else noticed how when there is a concert at Arrowhead seems some of the homeless start showing up in our town for a few days ? We noticed it bad this past weekend. Sleeping on the corner of 63rd and Raytown Road in the middle of the day, just great for visitors to see.
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