Spooky

Drive down Potomac Avenue, close to Venita, and you will see a nice display of Halloween blow-ups...nice!

BUF4

Bubba on the scene: Central Park

You may have seen this on TV:

Bubba had to break into his emergency rations after being without power last night> 

What a trooper and today is his birthday!

Road Warriors Rejoice

KC Star confirms reports of the Broadway connector opening tomorrow morning. Yipee!  The thoroughfare, which carries 35,000 vehicles a day, has been sorely missed.  Enjoy your treat on Halloween.

BUF3

The Bubbas report power being shut down in lower Manhattan due to flooding.  A crane @ 57th and 6th blew over.  Bubba says the hotel bar is still open.

BUF2

In the storm Bubba visits the 911 Memorial and the evacuated Battery Park.

Bubba Update Frankenstorm 1

While you can view the major networks to get the scoop, get the insider view from our intrepid couple, the Bubbas, deeply imbedded in NYC:

• Letterman show cancelled tonight
• Storm weather does not discourage the Naked Cowboy!
• Use Comments to ask them your questions.

pic by Mrs Bubba

Scary II

Okay, so now Ace wants to get into the act, one of his favorites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfcNoMnKjrY&feature=player_embedded

Frankenstorm has dominated the news so I dispatched Bubba to report live from the scene...he is presently in NYC with Mrs Bubba...no fear, they are braving the mutha.

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/nyc-empties-ahead-of-hurricane-sandy-slideshow/

Scary Week Ahead

I know, the election is next week, but this week is Halloween.  Unless you live in a cave or don't get out much you know what "gundam style" is.  Here is a Halloween version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6t7oowAsGs&feature=g-logo

Speaking of AMR

Editorial in the KC Star today continues the flogging of the ambulance service and response times in KCMO...times have worsened in 2012 from 2011.  Ironic that KCMO got the same cold shoulder from former Fire Chief Smokey Dyer that the South Platte Ambulance District Board got.  Maybe not having a mutual aid agreement with KCMO isn't all that much of a calamity.

English: An American Medical Response ambulance in Redwood City. Photographed on September 15 by user Coolcaesar. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Trick or Treat?

Jack-o-lantern (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

KANSAS CITY – Northland travelers should expect a treat by Halloween. Route 169 will open next week, likely before the mid-week holiday brings out the costumed trick-or-treaters. The general contractor, Pyramid Contractors Inc., and their subcontractor, Comanche Construction Co., have now revised their anticipated target date for opening at 5 a.m. Wednesday, October 31, unless rain over the next few days significantly affects progress. The contractors continued to take advantage of warm, dry weather to shave even more days off the months-long closure of Route 169. The workers not only beat the original contract completion date of December 16 by a month and a half, they kept pushing to get the project done and open before November. “The contractors’ efforts are extraordinary, particularly considering the scope of construction and tight working conditions,” said MoDOT District Engineer Dan Niec. The removal and replacement of about a mile of bin wall holding up the east side of the northbound lanes, the repair and rehabilitation of the southbound lanes, and drainage improvements were performed in an unusually restricted area that has an active rail yard on the east and the Missouri River on the west. Workers are now constructing barrier walls and will conclude with striping just before opening the highway next week.

Related articles

• Northland Travelers- Your Bridge Is Opening on Halloween

AMR "On The Job"

The Official Unofficial Minutes Of The WL BOA
October 2

Jerry reported AMR is now providing ambulance service for the Southern Platte Ambulance District. Matter of fact he observed them loading someone into the meat wagon when he was in Parkville on the first day AMR was official.  AMR will be staging two vehicles in the vicinity of Price Chopper for "30 to 60 days" until they observe a call patter, at which time they may reposition.  The curent contract calls for one and a half ambulances according to Jerry, he was unsure the impact if two were needed.  One sticky issue, coverage in the event of multiple calls at the same time.  AMR may use other transport vehicles (not ambulances) if necesary.  Currently there are no mutual aid agreements in place, KCMO apparently has bruised feelings in dealing with the District, and the District to the north (NRAD) has floated a figure of "$3,000 to $5,000 per call", so says the Mayor.  Nobody asked what the charge will be if you need AMR for transport to a hospital.

BIg $

The airport isn't the only big ticket item in the Metro being questioned, today's Star outlines the continuing story of the cost/benefits of the proposed trolley system in downtown KC.  It is always easy to spend what appears to be other folks money.

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Mile High Club

Southwest airlines (Photo credit: Photographer Clayton)

Now that I have your attention...you couldn't have missed the announcement regarding the plans for the new airport this week.  Take out Terminal A, build a gigundo terminal with a ginormous parking garage and voila!, everything will be up to date in Kansas City.  And, at no cost to the taxpayer of KCMO...well at least not out of the general fund (there will be Federal funds involved, which are free of course).

In the past two weeks I have had the pleasure (swallow) of flying three different airlines for business, Southwest, American and Delta.  The convenience of access to the gate, relatively quick TSA check and then bag retrieval upon return is unmatched...anywhere.  Kiss that goodbye.  Okay, so we don't have a shopping mall or fancy boutiques, food choices are limited and some of the departure areas are small and crowded.  Ask Bubba, frequent flyer champion what he prefers.  It will be the Bubbas of the world, and their companies who will pay a big chunk of the freight, because of the sure bet increases in airfare to cover the costs...and then there is the occasional trips for pleasure that will get tagged as well.

That is progress, at the cost of a billion dollars.

Related articles

• Terminal A seems likely site of new KCI

Death and Taxes

Wall Street Journal, October 18
"The Best and Worst U.S. Cities for Travel Taxes"

Tax (Photo credit: 401(K) 2012)

You may not realize it because most of us never stay at a hotel in Kansas City, but KC ranks # 4 (worst) when it comes to add on taxes to hotel room rates, rental car, and meals.  The recent survey showed that on a room rate of $103.45 the total additional taxes added on are $34.58 (yikes, do the math, that is +30%!).  Business travelers become acutely aware of the impact, especially when travel budgets are tight.  The survey also indicated 19% of travelers change their travel plans because of high taxes.  Who is the baddest?  Chicago, followed by New York, and Boston.  Well, at least we are big league in something.  Death?  A sure way of opting out an all the above.

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Packing Heat

Former School Board member Fred Sanchez' peccadillo of packing heat on district property reminded me of the current WL ordinance forbidding guns in WL public buildings (that would be City Hall and the CC). Then Mayor Mike Henderson was more than mildly irritated over the proposal, but there was nothing he could do but watch as the BOA enacted the law. Make my day? Nope, not when you are paying your water bill. Fred will have to add the CC to his list of places he has to stow his pistola.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mevxenJ6Mtc



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Cover Up

Board Accepts Sanchez's Resignation
The Park Hill Board of Education met tonight to accept the resignation of Fred Sanchez from the Board.
Sanchez said he resigned because had a concealed handgun when he came to last Thursday's Board meeting. He said he was running late for the meeting and forgot he was wearing the gun.

Although Missouri law allows school board members and other members of governmental boards to carry concealed weapons, Park Hill's Board policy prohibits it.

The Board will follow its policy to appoint someone to fill Sanchez's vacant seat on the Board until the April 2013 election, when the community will elect someone to serve the remaining two years of his term.


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"If I Had A Blog"

The Official Unofficial Minutes Of The WL BOA
2 October

Thus stated the Mayor to no one in particular (well ok, he was looking at me) when he began to ruminate regarding the impending potential loss of the county road tax. Never one to miss a cue, I asked him if he had a blog (and I advised him to start one...to which he said "oh no!) what would he say. He would advise his readers to contact the new county commissioners in the North and South and lobby for the renewal of the tax.

Question from the audience, how much money does WL have in their road account at the county? "About $500,000". When does that sunset? Around 2014 Jerry thought.

And so my friends, that is Jerry As He Sees It.
(www.jerryasiseeit.blogspot.com)



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Rust Not Want Not

The Official Unofficial Minutes Of The WL BOA
October 2

Once again no formal report from the EAGC, nor comments from the Mayor. However Vic did make the comment he had received a number of reports from citizens regarding rust on the stone (you might recall the intention is to speed up the "patina" process to increase contrast to improve visibility of the WL...phew)
Anyway, the brackets apparently are leaching rust on the stone, not wanted. So Vic says a "modification" is in the works. Ok.


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Juretta Goode

Former City Clerk passed away last Wednesday.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/kansascity/obituary.aspx?n=juretta-louise-foster-goode&pid=160397488

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What A Waste

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
Oct 2

The BOA renewed the Hazardous Waste agreement with the Mid America Regional Council.  This is one of the real bargains out there, the cost to the City for a year amounting to a little over a dollar per person per year.  If you have paint, cleaners, old gas, motor oil and more the facility on Deramus in KCMO takes it for free, no appointment necessary.  Drive right up, you don't even get out of your vehicle.  For more info:
http://www.marc.org/environment/solidwaste/hhw/hhwfacilities.htm 

There will be a mobile collection event on October 27th @ Platte Woods United Methodist.  For more info:
http://www.marc.org/Environment/SolidWaste/HHW/hhwevents.htm  

Coming Soon

Forwarded by Farmer John:
Route 169 Bin Wall Project Ahead of Schedule by More Than a Month 

KANSAS CITY – The Route 169 bin wall replacement project is ahead of schedule by more than a month, thanks to extraordinary efforts by the contractors and unusually favorable weather so far. 
A realistic target date for completion has now moved up to early November, a significant acceleration from the contract completion date of December 16. The new target takes into consideration the possibility of some weather-related interruption over the next few weeks. 
The general contractor, Pyramid Construction Co., and their subcontractor, Comanche Construction Co., have planned and executed the removal and replacement of about a mile of bin wall holding up the east side of the northbound lanes, the repair and rehabilitation of the southbound lanes, and drainage improvements. The work is being done in an unusually restricted area that has an active rail yard on the east and the Missouri River on the west. 
Pyramid expects to complete the bin wall replacement by the end of this week, with remaining work to include the paving on northbound lanes, completion of southbound lanes, some drainage work, guard rail installation and striping. 
For more information about other MoDOT projects, please visit MoDOT’s Website at www.modot.mo.gov/kansascity. For instant updates, follow MoDOT_KC on Twitter or send questions and comments to kccommunityrelations@modot.mo.gov. We want your feedback on our work zones! Rate Our Work Zones at www.modot.org/kansascity

In The Mail

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
Oct 2

Alan Jennerich appeared before the BOA to request an ordinance "to prevent vehicles from blocking my driveway. Discussion ensued, with the reality being current ordinances do not allow blocking of the driveway on the same side of the street of the driveway, but do allow parking on the other side of the street, making it difficult for entrance and exit. (This has come up before). He had called the Police Department and was told by the officer on scene that although "it is illegal in other cities" it was okay in WL. AJ said "it blocks my mailbox as well". Ding,Ding. Chief Gary sat up and exclaimed, "now that is illegal". So, all is well that ends well, next time someone parks in said spot, the police will be summoned and the scofflaw will be ticketed.


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Pay Raise For City Employees

The Official Unofficial Minutes of The WL BOA
Oct 2

Although not mentioned during the 2013 Budget discussion, a question from the audience got the bottom line, employees 2013 salaries will average "just under 3%". That number reflects a recent national survey of employers where the average is 3%.

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Fast & Furious

Chatted with Ace this morning, he recounted a chase that happened early this AM along Potomac, Miami and back to Potomac.  A number of chase vehicles.  Neighbor Joe was up at the time, heard a lot of racket and went to the window to see a car with lights out going south on Potomac at a high rate of speed (he said he thought 80mph), no lights, with State, County, and WL on the chase.  He turned on his scanner to hear mention of "boat ramp" (maybe Venita?).  More to follow?

Chicago Police 1981 Chevy Impala 9C1 (Photo credit: Cylon8)

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
2 October

Police Report
Chief Gary reported very busy month, including two stops for speeding that turned out to be arrests because of outstanding warrants.  Neither were WL residents.  This has been a continuing trend starting last year.  Stops that turn into arrests tie up the officer for some time.  Makes you wonder if our tickets recover any portion of the amount of time/money spent.  Could it be a revenue/budget issue to explore?  A question one of the aldermen might want to check out.  

Going Up-Going Berserk

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
2 October

The hoo-haa surrounding the budget discussion centers on the proposed water/sewer rate increase.  The notice, and the rates, can be found here:
http://www.cityofweatherbylake-mo.gov/UltimateEditorInclude/UserFiles/Common/calendar/Public_Notice_Water-Grinder-Sewer_increase_11-06-2012_083729.pdf

Our rates are calculated on tiers based on use, as Jerry described the basic rate as "the same if you use one drop or a million drops".  Rather than get into all that and to determine if you might be a candidate to "go berserk" (Vic) you can do a ballpark on the effect of the proposed water/sewer rates.  Just haul out your latest bill or two (be mindful the last couple probably represent max use because of the drought, if you water the lawn or plants) and do the math.  No biggie?  Cool, water in that grass seed.  Need Pepto?  You might want to consider coming to the public hearing for the rate increases on Tuesday, November 6th, at 6:30PM, City Hall (I know, the notice says Monday, that is a typo).

My assumption is our out-of-city customers may need the Pepto, their rates are getting a substantial jack.  Unless they read the blog their first post-increase bill might in fact cause them to go postal...I mean berserk.

(Old) Jackson County Insane Asylum (Photo credit: jimmywayne)

BTW-WL Yard waste collection starts today @ 7:30 to 3:30, City Hall, continuing Saturday & Sunday.  

Water Board(ing)

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
2 October

The rough waters encountered by Mayor Bos regarding passage of the 2013 budget isn't without precedent. Former mayor Mike Henderson, after struggling to come up with a city budget, sent his proposal via email, to the aldermen for review.  It contained an Excel spreadsheet with various department projections.  Turns out the author of the document was not Henderson but...Paul Gross.  True story.  The properties tab indicated PG was the owner/author...oops.

But I digress.

This somnolent Board of Aldermen has pretty much been sleep walking when it comes to the City Financials during the past two years, thus a bit surprising anybody would even question the Mayor on the budget or anything within it.  During the budget hearing the Mayor expressed concern over the tight budget/finances of the City and admitting, as Public Works Director George pointed out in a recent conversation, he (Bos) "screwed up" when it came to not passing along the water rate increases from KCMO.  In Jerry's words, "we never caught up".  Yawn from the BOA.

The water and sewer rate increase hearing will precede next month's BOA.  Presumably the Mayor and BOA will take another run at the 2013 budget at that BOA meeting as well.  Will the citizenry go "berserk" as Vic suggests?  I promise I won't but I cannot vouch for the other two citizens who attended last meeting.  They might need waterboarding.  

Riot Police. (Photo credit: alhussainy)

Budget Bust

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
2 October

The proposed 2013 City budget got voted down by a 3-1 margin last night, which clearly irked a frustrated Mayor Bos.  The Public Hearing on the budget started at 6:30 and was rather benign with a couple of questions and comments from the public (ok, it was me, there were two other citizens in attendance), and a short back and forth with me in the Mayor regarding trash and recycling revenue.  Other than that, looked like it was smooth sailing for the BOA to formalize the budget during the BOA meeting which started shortly after 7PM.

Nope.

The budget was brought up for a BOA vote.  When discussion was opened I anticipated there would be no comments, budget adopted, next item.  Instead Alderman DeJong brought up his concerns regarding the calculation of the revenue projected for Water, particularly in regards to water rates.  "They will go berserk over the 39% increase" DeJong remarked.  The "they" would be you my friends, as you received your first post increase water bill.  This followed by a long interchange between the two and dueling figures galore.  Bos posed the proposed rate as a 12% increase, while DeJong demonstrated the arithmetic did not work.  Part of the calculations revolved around projected water usage, Bos using a figure of 70 million gallons for 2013.  The final figure for 2012 might be as high as "75, 76, 77, million gallons" said Jerry.  The budget in 2012 used the figure of 55 million gallons, a recent historical number.  This year's unprecedented drought certainly came into play.

Tomorrow: Water Boarding

Highway 45

45 Highway project updates from this morning’s meeting:

§         Graden Road to re-open today.

§         Median and turn lane improvements at 9 & 45 to be started mid-October.  No lane closures expected.  Temporary delays only.

§         Resident requested that MoDOT lengthen turn lanes from 45 Hwy into the Commons (at Lewis) to accommodate more vehicles and minimize conflicts with through traffic. MoDOT has studied and the westbound turn lane into Lewis is being extended approximately 50 to 55’ (will accommodate approximately three additional cars).  The eastbound turn lane cannot be extended. 

§         Blair Road closure planned for October 8th. 

§         Blair traffic signal being reviewed and adjusted to address afternoon traffic backups

§         Equipment to be added to Melody traffic signal so it can be coordinated with other signals in the corridor.  Will minimize delays.

§         Street barn entrance expected to be completed next week (depending on KCP&L utility completion).

§         Ribbon cutting will be planned for project completion (expected Mid- to late-November).

Posted by Ace

Hearing/Meeting Tonight

City Leadership to discuss the 2013 budget tonight, for you, at 6:30 PM prior to the regular BOA @/around 7PM.  They already had their workshop last week, so the budget should be a "baked cake" unless someone from the public has severe heartburn over something (there were no members of the public at the meeting last week).
http://www.cityofweatherbylake-mo.gov/UltimateEditorInclude/UserFiles/Common/agenda/Budget_hearing_&_Board_of_Alderman_meeting_-_Board_of_AldermenAgenda_10-02-2012_083436.pdf
BOA agenda items include:

• Hiring new IT person
• Discussion about appointing interim judge
• Adopting budget 2013
• Apparently an alderman wants more discussion of the sign ordinance
• and much, much more.

Lambeau Leap

 (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Me and the Boy took a Mantrip back to the Fatherland on Friday.  Put the van on cruise control and landed in Milwaukee on Friday night.  Saturday night we watched the Brewers smack the Astros (wow, their domed stadium is nice) and then continued our pilgrimage to Green Bay on Sunday for the Packers vs the NO Saints.  Don't know if you saw the game on TV, but it was a struggle with GB hanging on for the win.  (BTW, I know KC prides itself on tailgating, GB is in a class all by itself).  Back on the road and in KC early this morning, a long drive from GB.  So, Pardon The Interruption but the blog had to idle the past few days. 

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