Ready or Not

Christmas season is upon us, I've already seen a few homes that have "upgraded" their outdoor displays. If you didn't put yours up in the last month you may have missed the primo time to string the lights unless you were in Denver this past few days. The temp almost hit 70 on Friday...contradiction to the view with snow capped mountains. Our first family road trip to Denver for the holiday, straight shot on I70, please pass the NoDoz. I was impressed by the sight of the wind farm outside of Ellsworth, KS. One WL citizen has actually explored the idea of his own wind tower in his back yard. Not sure if the idea can escape the "nuisance law" posted in the City.
Photo from the Salina Journal

Stick In The Mud

While supervising the construction crew place the "bridge" I snapped a pic of North Cove. While the lowering of the lake has exaggerated the "mud bar", it is a reminder of what and at least one place, where stuff migrates to our lake.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our family counts our blessings today, which are many.

Hanging Out in the Hot Tub-Pre Thanksgiving

Look For the Golden Arches

Well, not golden although a coat of paint would pretty it up. Monday marked the beginning of placing the pre-cast cement pieces of what amounts to a big*** culvert spanning Barry Road...the New Barry Ridge Bridge. No politicians in sight as the next step falls into place. Interesting to watch, just stay out of the way.

What is a Winner?

From a reader...
http://www.thegolfchannel.com/golf-videos/meet-butch-lumpkin-9477/?ref=26000

The Buck Stops Here

I was returning home Friday morning about 7:45 AM and as I navigated Barry to Potomac caught a glance of a big buck. He was on my right, casually plodding the tree line behind the water tower. Eight points at least, I couldn't keep an eye on him as I made the turn. Although I've seen more deer this year than any, this was the first buck. Our own stud, right here at WL.

Mouths for Monuments

Thar's gold in them thar molars! Article in KC Star about folks turning in gold crowns for money due to the skyrocketing spot market price of gold...hitting all time highs. If you have had the unfortunate circumstance of poor dental hygiene as a kid or just plain bad teeth...you know the drill, literally. So here is a thought.

Why not donate your heavy metal to the City drive for the Monuments? A couple of decent size crowns has to earn you at least an Opal ($1000), complete lowers should bring in an Aquamarine ($3000) and if you set off the metal detectors at KCI and you look like JAWS (007) you are a sure bet to land an Amethyst. Nice.

Not ready to give it up just yet? I imagaine you can pledge that crown for a jewel through 2012...or heaven forbid, bequeath them as well (City of Weatherby Lake, Entrance Monuments), folks are actually having the dearly departed...depart without the bling in their mouths. Just a thought.

Davids and Goliath

KC Star reports KCMO anticipates a $66 million shortfall (at least) for the next budget year. The bigger they are, the harder they fall...right? While I "donated" 1% off the top for 11 years to KCMO, it is hard for me to shed a tear. However, the motivation for KCMO to be mindful of our Lake, either through siltation or sewage, becomes less in my opinion as they turn inward to resolve their own problems.

Stepping up to the plate. The time is now for our Davids, the City and WLIC, to confront Goliath. As mentioned yesterday, the filing for alderman and mayor begins soon. Maybe some fresh faces willing to step it up are what we need at the City. Does WLIC have to wait on the City to push KCMO? Nope. Maybe the WLIC Board needs to feel a little more pressure from members to get the sling out. I don't think we are out to slay the giant. But he should know we are mad as hell and we're not going to take it any more.

Open Season

No not Deer season, not pheasant season...Candidate season...soon.

Filing for City office holders begins December 15th, ends January 19th. Mayor and one alderman, each ward, plus the judge are up for election.

Who'll be the first to file...and last? Find out, right here.

Speaking of Urban Legends

A little diversion...

www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv=%5FuuA7fG58KI

Favorite Sons

The WLIC Credentials Committee held a meeting yesterday afternoon @ 4PM. (Anybody else get irritated that meetings are being held during "working hours"? They are taking a cue from the City).

Apparently Paul Gross had/has a number of grievances relating to the election of directors at the past WLIC Annual Meeting, including the fact that Tanya Finn is married to Dick Finn (Gee, I thought they were brother and sister all these years). Both are on the credentials committee. Verlin Boes appeared on behalf of Mr Gross. During his testimony he freely offered he had a couple of drinks prior to the Annual Meeting where he ran for director...if you were there you might recall his erratic and rambling election speech. You might also recall he finished dead ass last as well. I guess his point was he felt intimidated by the process and board members, enough so to drive him to drink...Here's a toast to you Mr Candidate for Weatherby Lake WLIC Director man (you'd have to be a Bud Light commercial aficionado to get it).

The committee heard the supplications of both gentlemen and denied all of the grievances brought forth. I understand the meeting ended under the threat of lawsuit from Mr Gross. Free country right? It has been quiet here lately at Litigation Lake. Too quiet for some I guess.

Entrance Pledge Form

For Your Information

The pledge form for donations for the new Entrance Monuments is now on the City of Weatherby Lake web site. Click on the link, go to Entrance Committee and you will be able to access the Word document that describes the levels and payments which can be spread over 4 years.

http://www.cityofweatherbylake-mo.gov/documents.aspx?id=477&catid=26

Cool

I try to read all the Comments, hope you do too. One that I missed the other day that is worth highlighting. See comment under the post Happy Veterans Day. Mentions very interesting information about the origin of the land here at Weatherby Lake. Here is the link:
http://ioway.nativeweb.org/history/treaty1836.htm
Cool...huh?

WLIC Annual Meeting

I was out of town last Tuesday, so could not attend the meeting. I have talked to a couple of folks who did attend (guesstimate of 100 or so members), here are some of the highlights, post your thoughts if you were there.

• All in all a fairly calm meeting
• Don/Kathy Birmingham were designated the winners of the Sherman Award (kudos to the award committee)
• Discussion of the proposed upgrades at C Point road/bathrooms/gazebo/utilities/seawall.
• Brief discussion of the sewage spill, but apparently nothing definitive on what could/will be done. (Off the record comments indicate WLIC suspects the amount of sewage spilled by KCMO was in the tens of thousands of gallons based on "off the chart levels" of e coli, not the 1,000 gallons the KCMO spin machine put out to the media community)
• All four directors up for election were re-elected, no nominations from the floor.
• Nothing new regarding Barry Road.

The Law Doesn't Apply...

While I was off attending the Park Hill High School assembly saluting veterans, your BOA and Mayor were slaving away at a budget work session at City Hall. More about that in a moment. Park Hill High does a great job in honoring vets at this annual event. Choir, band, and wonderful remarks from the various speakers. The keynote speaker for the assembly was our own Larry Maher, Quartermaster for the National VFW HQ here in KC. Larry did a great job, hard to hold students attention for very long, the applause was sustained and heartfelt...nice. The program finished with Taps played by 1963 PH grad Larry Shaver.

Back at City Hall the work session went to almost 12:30. Although it was a City Holiday, all three full time employees, Gary/George/and Gwen got to relax around the budget table instead. It must have been really special for George, a VietNam vet. No mention or recognition for him during the meeting. Jerry decided to go into closed session to discuss employee comp. Would have happened except, as a citizen pointed out, the meeting notice did not include the posting of a closed session. Oops. It's only the law, the Mayor isn't a rookie, and two of the alderman are well beyond their first terms. Had the citizen not been present and posed the question the Sunshine law would have been violated...and "we didn't know"/"we forgot" is no safe harbor. Makes one wonder what happens when no one is watching.

Speaking of Scrooge...apparently the Mayor and BOA are having second thoughts about the "Bah Humbug" they first voiced in considering employee raises for 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ3lr3urgDU&NR=1

Happy Veterans Day

Saluting all men and women who have served and are serving our country.

One of my dad's favorite quotes from "Patton"
" Now, there's one thing that you men will be able to say when you get back home. And you may thank God for it. Thirty years from now when you’re sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you: What did you do in the great World War II? You won't have to say, Well, I shoveled shit in Louisiana. "
Ken Moratz, WWII South Pacific combat veteran


The City of WL version of celebration is to schedule a BOA "budget work session" at 9AM today. I guess working vets will have to figure out how to cram another event into Outlook.

Tonight

WLIC Annual Meeting

Not a moment too soon, the perfect opportunity for our leadership to address what has to be the most important task for the coming year...no, not amenities at C Point, or maintenance of access areas, or addition of dock spaces. Protection of the lake...of course. The recent sewage spill and the road work on Barry road pose major threats to the lake. Have you been down to the "hole" that used to be the bridge? I was down there Sunday. Impressive, as they lay the footings and pad for what will amount to a mongo cement culvert to span Barry Road. Take a look. While you are there you will see in North Cove the huge mud bar that represents sedimentation from upstream. Not so impressive. As a matter of fact, scary. The development to the north of the Lake can only continue to contribute to the "stuff" that ends up in the Lake, not to mention what will happen as the Barry Road project goes into full swing.

The media reports about the sewage spill emphasize the urgency of the matter. If the quality of our water is even a question why would someone want to buy a property here? If you can't swim in the lake would we need a beach? If the fish are tainted would you bother fishing? Hopefully the directors tonight will signal what the plan is for 2010.

Sunshine

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
3 November

The BOA is going to hold a "work session" on November 17th, at 1PM, to discuss the budget for 2010. I am sure the BOA will properly notice the meeting to comply with the "Sunshine" laws of Missouri. And of course it will be held during daylight hours. Just too bad it is being held during normal working hours, when most folks here are at work. Something fishy going on? Nah, don't think so. It does reflect the mindset and status of the Mayor and BOA, basically retired.

Before the couple of whiners out there start asking what I did when I was on the BOA, I can refresh your memory. Virtually all the aldermen I served with had full time jobs. Mayor York had a full time business. Mayor Henderson was retired, one of the few I served with who was retired. I was always on record as having meetings after regular business hours, a few emergencies being the exception. What does the time of day say? None of your business.

"Rest Assured"

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
3 November

Mayor Jerry Bos "The important thing is we are talking. Rest assured we are trying hard to understand all aspects of the spill."

Question from alderman Hoy, "Why the delay?" (in notifying the City regarding the spill)
Answer from Jerry, "We don't know."

WLIC President Joe Ennett was in attendance at the meeting and when asked for his perspective on the spill, "had nothing to add". Wow.

The BOA went into closed session at the end of the meeting. Let's hope the discussion was around legal options concerning the spill and KCMO.

Apparently Jerry and the BOA had more important things to do as the open session of the meeting took a little over an hour, a record by far, for this Mayor and the BOA. Rest assured, your elected officials are on the job, trying hard to understand....

Sewage system failure (again), raw sewage flows into the lake (again), and we seek to understand (again).

Underwhelming

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
November 3rd meeting

Duty called so I was locked in a conference room in Cincinnati about the time the BOA kicked off. Nonetheless, I have pieced together some of the highlights from two attendees and hope to talk to a 3rd today.

"I am sure that there will be much discussion about the sewage spill last week and our actions as a result."
Alderman Hoy in her agenda email to residents.

"Finally, the Mayor reported on the sewage spill situation. Joe Ennett, President of the WLIC also commented. They are working together with DNR to gather information and determine the extent of the spill and the damages. No action was taken by the BOA."
Alderman Hoy's meeting notes.

Apparently the discussion was short and benign. Action 41 News had a cameraman tape Jerry's remarks about the issue during the meeting and then 41 News vamoosed.
http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story/Raw-Sewage-Spilled-Into-Weatherby-Lake/yMuLKvcgeUuviOQOi0wCUw.cspx

Lively passionate discussion? Nope. We're not going to take it any more? Nah. Jerry was quoted by News 41 as saying we had a spill 6 months ago...huh? "According to Bos, the same pump caused a spill about six months ago. They were told the problem was fixed."

Hey everybody chill, KCMO has everything under control.

Weatherby Lake Is Now Open

This a Lake Advisory Notice from the Weatherby Lake Improvement Company:

Weatherby Lake is now open for full use. Testing results are now within acceptable range. Thank you for your patience.

Under The Radar

Lost in the "spill" last week was a special BOA meeting held last week Monday to discuss/review the results of the 2007 audit conducted by the Miller firm. One citizen attended (for about 10 minutes) while the BOA was presented findings by City Treasurer Marianne Ennett. This amounts to the City checking itself, probably not a best practice when it comes to maintaining or improving financial controls. Interestingly, no members from the Bos appointed Audit Committee were present either. The Audit Committee has found little work to do despite the fact an audit for 2008 has never been conducted and of course 2009 is virtually finished...without any outside financial review. All under the guise of saving money for something Mayor Bos believes is unnecessary.

For all the Maryholics out there, unless I was omitted from her email, apparently she decided not to send a "Dear Resident" email summary of the Monday meeting. Pattern? She does have a tendency to be choosy on what she sends and when she sends it. Another example of self reporting gone bad.

What Are You Going To D0?

That should be the question put to the Mayor and BOA tonight at the monthly meeting (7PM, City Hall). There will probably be lots of discussion on what happened, when it happened and why it happened. If the past is a predictor of the future, not much time will be spent on what the City will do. Same at the Annual WLIC meeting next week.

Are you concerned? When the Bridge (and road) on Barry Road is complete will it indeed be a bridge to nowhere...nowhere that somebody would want to live? The negative press/media coverage on the "spill" is not where our community wants to be...right?

And so the question to the Mayor, BOA, WLIC and you is...

What are you going to do?

"Avoid Weatherby Lake state warns"

KC Star November 1st, page B3

Avoid Weatherby Lake, say environmental regulators, page B1

Another headache for the WL Chamber of Commerce not to mention home sellers in WL. According to the article our lake is "tainted" and E coli levels are at least 10 times above allowable for swimming, so says the DNR of MO. Subsequently the Women's Club cancelled their annual All Saints Fund Raising Swim at the C Point beach. No word on a reschedule. In the meantime the show must go on. JB was seen fishing on Saturday afternoon, Crappie don't read newspapers, therefore the fishing must have been good. You may want to select the "Non-Tainted" fish at the next Fishing Club Fish Fry.

Rumor has it at least one entrepreneur has approached WLIC for licensing rights for "WL E Cola", I could not verify this. I'm certain the Landmark or the Luminary will get the scoop.

Neighborhood Rain Gauge

1.55" during our last rain event.

"They're sometimes a little slow"

Mayor Jerry Bos, KC Star 10/31, page A4

That's a quote from Jerry referring to KCMO Water Services Department and their two day lag in reporting the latest sewage spill into the lake. Questions abound, aside from the obvious why did it take KCMO two days to notify WL?

• Is it possible no residents on the East side noticed the commotion?
• Is it possible no police officer on patrol noticed the unusual?
• Is it possible nobody in Public works saw the activity at the pump station?
• Nobody from WLIC noticed the bubbly (not referring to champagne).
• When was WLIC informed?
• Why wasn't an email on their (WLIC) listserve sent out?
• The City has the capacity to send emails to those signed up on the website (I signed up), why wasn't it used?
• Who determined the size of the spill?...and how?
• What is going to be done?
• How did the goofy robocall go down and how much did it/they cost?
  

Deja vu? Go back to my post on August 26, 2008 (Wake Up) if you have forgotten...or Aug 27th 08, or Sept 19 08, or Oct 8 08, or Jan 4 09, or Mar 28 09, or Sept 11 09. Enough?

I will make a few predictions:

• KCMO will say they are "Sorry".
• The 1000 gallons will be referred to as" minor" by all parties.
• Jerry will appoint a committee to look into the matter...and they will do nothing.
  
• The BOA at their meeting Tuesday will make loud noises...and then do nothing (see last spill).
• The WLIC Board of Directors will be "deeply concerned" at the Annual Meeting...and then do nothing (see above).
• The Improvement Company will focus on improvements, less on protection of our lake.
  
• There will be no monument erected to designate U cove as "Stinky Cove".
• The just released Trout and Walleye will think they got a real poopy deal (hey freedom has a price).

On the issue of" minor", so you can get a better grasp. A typical toilet flush is 1.6 gallons per flush. 1000 gallons divided by 1.6 equals 625. Imagine 624 of your friends and neighbors, plus you, lining up along the shoreline at Stinky Cove and at the designated moment squatting or shooting (your choice) of human waste. Don't have that many friends?...no problem, some of that waste belongs to KCMO, I'm sure they would oblige for the event.

8:39PM - Another RoboBob (don't they know it's the Word Series?) to tell us the Lake is Closed. Yipes, hope there aren't any Open Houses on the Lake...explain that to a prospective buyer "you can look but you can't touch".

No Chiefs football this weekend, forced to do yard work. Hope we will be upwind.