T Minus 715 and Counting, I Think

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
3-3 Meeting

Back to the task.
Jerry and George went to a KCMO Preconstruction Meeting for Barry Road on the 26th of Feb. The contractor was officially awarded the contract for the Conant to Potomac portion of the project with a completion date of no later than 715 days. The contractor may ask (but may not receive) a 30 day extension to secure materials. Looking on the bright side you can be assured we will be rolling down the new Barry Road on or before 11 February...2011. If you have forgotten the Barry Road Bridge was closed on August 15th, 2008. You might also recall Jerry and Funkhouser presided over a press conference at the closed BRB (covered by local TV and print media) at which time the Funk saw no reason why we couldn't construct a piddly (my word) bridge in a year when Minneapolis was able to reconstruct their bridge in less than a year. Hmm, I'm thinking we're going to miss that target by a bit. Ya think?

Mary reported in her unofficial minutes "KCPL has not completed their work west of the bridge". Guess she doesn't spend much time on the north end of the ward or listen to Jerry's update. Actually if you look you will see the power poles and lines have been relocated. What has not been moved yet is gas, ATT, TW cable and water. Small problem in that the contractor for the road could not start at Potomac if he wanted because the utilities have not be relocated...and they are coming from the east (I know you know that because you can see some of the activity at East Side and Amity). (We're also facing a decision to upgrade an 8" water line to a 12" line at the cost of at least $40,000)(Keep that in mind when we talk water rates).

The BOA did approve a Maintenance agreement with KCMO. Among other things this allows WL to remove snow from what will be technically be a KCMO street. (There is going to be a service road to accommodate WL residents between the BRB and NW Hillside Drive) Lucky for them, they won't have to rely on KCMO for snow removal.

The BOA did not approve the Cooperative agreement with KCMO for the project. There was concern over the details of the water supply issues with the three KCMO residences across the street from the tennis courts. KCMO asked us to approve with the appropriations for the project pending. City Attorney didn't like the "pending" part (neither do I) and the council deferred. As a result, the $50,000 compensation for entrance monuments is on hold.

Detail, details, right? A year ago at the candidates forum when questioned about Barry Road, Jerry cited his experience with KCMO as part of the Pine Ridge Presby group negotiating the construction of Barry and and their get tough stance with the City. Oops, guess that isn't working out too well. We make the trek to Park Hill High and Congress almost daily, still kind of a mess, huh?

Are you still with me? The point of all this is, where is the passion on the part of our City officials? Jerry's public demeanor about Barry Road is "oh, well that's KCMO". The West ward aldermen, Vic and Mary make no comment at all. Outrage, nah. Resignation, yeah. Their interests are aimed at the more mundane, Rain Gardens, Fireworks, Entrance Committees, Concerts in the Park, you know, important stuff.

When the spring rains hit, so will the runoff, silt, mud, and debris from the Barry Road project, all the way from the High School to Amity. Just watch. Will Weatherby Lake roar? You bet!

MEOW!