Racing Around

While WL is in the slow lane on this one, there will be at least one reason to go to the polls in April. The Park Hill School District has a number of candidates running for the School Board, including a WL resident, Joyce Kallenberger.

Down the road in Riverside an interesting mayoral contest between incumbent Kathy Rose and alderman Mike Fuller is shaping up. Mr Fuller apparently thinks Ms Rose has too much power. We'll watch this food fight from afar.

See Mark Vasto's comment under the recent Parkville post. Parkville does have a race as it turns out. Get all the news that's fit to print...in the Luminary.

BigFoot

Thursday, Jan 28, KC Star
Editorial by Yael Abouhalkah

Interesting piece documenting the KCMO moves to annex the Lake at Tomahawke subdivision in Platte County. Our good friend Ed Ford is one of the sponsors of the legislation to make it happen. He claims to have the votes and so BigFoot gets bigger...wish we could say better...but we know better. KCMO does what it does because it views itself as the Godzilla of the Metro. A good example is the current food fight between Jackson County and KCMO regarding TIF. Jackson County has filed a lawsuit because of the arbitrary way KCMO is administering TIF. Who cares, right?

We should, we being the City of WL and WLIC. Who has routinely ignored or delayed requests regarding sewage spills? By Mayor Bos' own public admission we have been routinely stiffed by KCMO. Discussions about Barry Road? KCMO has gone out of their way to be a good partner...right? In this case, past performance does predict our future.

Addendum:
The original post was written yesterday...today's KC Star "TIF Legal Dispute To End". The KCMO City Council votes to approve measure to settle "legal spat" over TIF. Jackson County Exec Mike Sanders "said the county negotiated with city officials without progress". "We felt we had no choice but to sue". Apparently when Bigfoot gets stepped on hard enough things happen.

La Buena Vida

A friend of mine recently returned from Cuba. She was a little girl when the huge migration from Cuba to the US occurred in the early 60's. Her first trip back was nostalgic, reconnecting with family broken apart by the Castro regime. Lots of cousins, in different areas of Cuba. One cousin was not so lucky, recently sent to jail for five years. His crime? Selling toothpaste on the blackmarket. You see they still have shortages of what we consider the essentials of life, toothpaste and toilet paper...yep, TP. The national newspaper serves the purpose in lieu of Charmin, no kidding.

Another cousin is an ophthalmologist...making $25 a month. Nah, not possible right? Guess again. But they do have national health care. I was attending a forum a year ago at Rockhurst College on healthcare when a physician stated he would gladly accept the healthcare system of Cuba over the US. Hmmm, I think it comes as a package.

The bottom line according to my friend is this. It isn't so much the Cubans like or dislike their lot in life as much as they accept it. They settle for what they have. And they are happy. Fancy that?

What Happens In Parkville...

As reported in the Parkville Luminary by Mark Vasto

The Mayor and all four aldermen will be running unopposed in the April election in Parkville. A trend, incumbents just like WL, in for another term. The printing and sign companies will not see an upturn this time around.

Last Flight Out

Sitting in 3D on the window, in BWI, waiting for our flight to ATL to proceed. I glanced out the and looked down to see the Delta crew loading a long box on to the baggage conveyer. As the box moved up into the baggage/cargo hold I got a better look, the name Robert Glendon Luke written on the cardboard with a Sharpie as well as the name of the receiving funeral director in Sanborn, Florida. I am changing planes in ATL, I assume Mr Luke as well. It may be his last flight, I'm hoping I have a few more in my itineray.

Default

Unless someone comes out of the weeds as a write-in candidate, the lineup for the City elections in April reflects the status quo for BOA, Judge, and Mayor. Not surprising, the malaise that seems to be fairly widespread in the City continues. At least the social scene is vibrant...right?

Self Portrait

Quick Draw

A dreary week in CVG, no sun, just overcast and intermittent showers. Thursday evening I was on my way back to MCI, catching a quick sandwich and brew at the Sam Adams restaurant on Concourse A @ CVG. I was standing at the bar when I noticed an Army Sergeant stroll up at the other end. He looked a little weary...I thought he deserved a beer on me so I reached in my pocket for my wallet. Simultaneously the two suits seated in front of me drew their plastic as the bartender approached. Suit #1, a millisecond ahead of Suit #2, told the barman to give the soldier a drink on him...Suit #2 added if he needed a second, put it on his tab. I was a distant 3rd in the proceedings, not even close to getting my money down. The beer was delivered to the soldier, a nod our way, a return salute by Suit #1. The three of us on the other end of the bar giggled like school girls. Nothing said, just smiles. You gotta be quick on the road.

Boarded my flight on time, compliments of Delta Connection. Not quite the accommodations you see in "Up In The Air", although my business bag did fit underneath the seat in front of me...wahooo. Best that can be said is I am probably beating Bubba home...but then again that is why he will be a Double Black Diamond Super Elite traveler again this year. At least George Clooney and me have something in common, ...our good looks...right?

Strategery

Road warrior this week, actually every week this month, so posts will be spotty this week. I could not attend the monthly WLIC board meeting this past Monday... a shame because I wanted to follow-up regarding the latest updates from the Board on Barry Road and the Sewage Spill. As I posted after last month, there were at least a few board members who felt there could be better communication from the board to members regarding important issues. This was reiterated in Jim Miller's comments to the BOA at the last BOA meeting (as noted on a previous post).

Not mentioned by anyone but apparently part of the "strategy" was the withdrawal of complaints filed by WLIC with the City against two contractors on the Barry Road project. This happened at the December court session. Reason? Unkown. Stragtegery? Apparently.

Sobering

It's hard to watch the news about Haiti, isn't it? And hard to imagine the scope of the tragedy. It does make it easy to count blessings, right?

According to Jerry

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
Jan 4 Mtg

Mayor's Comments:

• Support The Troops planning a Valentines shindig
• Community Service Projects idea for WL youths moving forward. Will be coordinated with WLIC to "work out a program"
• Boy Scouts will do projects on April 17th
• Light Up the Lake decorating contest winner - Dick and Sharon Starks. 30 judges gathered to judge the 10 homes entered.
• Mayors (KC) Prayer Breakfast is the 23rd of Feb
• The City of Riverside gifted a Ford F550 truck (15,000 miles) to the City
• Jerry urged all to participate in 2010 census

{Note: This isn't the first time we have benefited from the benevolence of Riverside. Mayor Henderson scored a squad car from them at a time when the City was low on funds. Next time you feed the slots at Argosy you just might be helping your City}

George

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
Jan 4 Mtg

Public Works:

• Have used 100T of salt so far
• Anticipating 3 building permits
• Cold weather has caused some grinders to freeze. Their fix, a 100 Watt light bulb unless badly frozen, then a 250 spot is needed
• Water Plan to be finalized soon
• RFP for S. Miami replacement of 2" water line
• RFP for "emergency repair" of manholes
• A fair amount of overtime was earned by hourly employees between snow removal and grinder repairs

Jerry in congratulating and thanking George and his crew for their performance used an analogy. He likened the situation to a business that in a similar circumstance would recognize employees with a "reward, tip, bonus". As Jerry has found out, via the City Attorney, not in government. A potential work around is to give the employees a "sign on bonus" if they pledge to continue to work for the City for a period of time. Jerry wasn't crazy about that, he'd rather slip the boys a Franklin. The issue went unresolved.

Financials

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
Mayor Bos' overview of 2009:

• 09 transactions complete with exception of CD interest which has not been received.
• General fund is at +$250,000
• Nov tax collections up over previous year.
• Telephone franchise fee revenue up
• Venita "special tax" revenue better than expected
• Permit fees more than expected
• No audit expenses in 09
• No City Hall repair/updates
• Continuing to "look at" Community Center
• $6,200 in road bond money left
• $330,000 in Water, need $200,000 to run business-10% rate hike planned for in 2010.
• Sewer - "We need to put some money away"

Jerry asked the BOA if they still wanted to move forward with a financial review of 09 by the BKD firm at the cost of $11,000. Alderman DeJong pointed out the last review cost $4,000. A short back and forth over the quality of the review was short circuited by the City Attorney. Turns out, the question was not on the agenda, so could not be voted on at the meeting. Ooops. Maybe next time.

Police Report

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
Jan 4 Mtg

• 3 attempts in the City during the Oct/Nov timeframe to scam residents with the "Grandmother Scam" (as reported in the WLL). None successful.
• 964 residence checks in Nov, way up.
• Questions regarding calls for assistance by our Police Department to other cities. Chief Gary maintains calls even out (us/them). Regarding Platte Woods, they have an officer on duty "almost all the time".

WLIC Report

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
Jan 4th Mtg

Jim Miller provided a WLIC update to the BOA:

• Ice conditions look good but stay away from the dam area
• The "Goose Scramblers" have been effective in scaring off the geese with green lasers, assisting in the freezing of the lake.

Jim brought up the issues of Barry Road and the Sewage spill, from the WLIC Board perspective:

• WLIC Board is being "aggressive as we can be" in regards to e coli and is "enthusiastic in working with the City".
• "We have a strategy" which includes lake bottom surveys, EPA involvement, DNR involvement.
• "You can feel comfortable we have the right strategy". There is a need to do a better job of informing the members.

Entrances

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
Jan 4th mtg

Jim Miller of the EAGC (Entrance Advisory Group Committee) appeared to give his Committee report. He mentioned he wanted BOA approval for two actions, "collecting money" and "construction drawings" (for East Side City Hall, West Side, 76thSt and Kearns entrances), followed by RFP for those entrances to get an idea of costs.

Jim gave a quick review of financial considerations:

• Initial project projections were $600,000
• $250,000 has been pledged by 25 individuals during the initial "silent phase" of fund raising.
• $50,000 has already been given to the City by KCMO
• Project may be scaled down to $400,000/$450,000, which might be reasonable.
• Expect to collect more than the third pledged for 2010, although "cash flow is an issue".
• Hosted events could bring in more money

Alderman Finn asked if the $50,000 from KCMO would be segregated for the Barry Road entrances. Miller responded, "I don't think that will be an issue". He is "very optimistic" of funds being raised in the $400,000 to $450,000 range. The entrances will be built on a cash basis with funds available on hand, "will not borrow against pledges". There was some discussion regarding the cost of the project, two-thirds represented by labor cost. Mayor Bos opined it might have been cheaper to have a private fund raising effort rather than the EAG. The City Attorney quickly pointed out to the BOA any City project is required to pay "prevailing wage", a concept that continues to confound the Mayor.

A resolution to support the efforts of the EAGC and donors was included in the BOA packet. The item was not on the agenda and because it could be seen as an "affirmative act" the City Attorney said there was a potential Sunshine issue because it was not posted in the proper time frame. The BOA ended up with an "expression of gratitude" for the 25 individual donors.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
January 5th

The BOA adopted the Hazardous Waste Agreement with MARC, continuing our ability to drop of waste at their site or mobile drops. Cost to the City, $1, 751.22.

Open Floor to Visitors:
(As you go forward through the Minutes you will see neither the Mayor nor BOA discussed or brought up the issues/updates regarding 1) the Barry Road Project, 2) the sewage spill of last October, so I asked.)

Mayor Bos responded to both issues, interesting how none of the aldermen weighed in.

• Barry Road - "Not much going on" (Sound familiar?). "It's a KCMO project, it's hard to move KCMO, it's hard to communicate". Platte County has been "sassy", they are having difficulty securing easements.
• Sewage Spill - referring to a contact @ KCMO, Bos referred to someone he thought was named "Bernardo" and "the new guy has blown us off". "Not much progress, not near what we're looking for". George referred to the "Jackson manhole" and efforts to put an alarm on it.

There, feel better? KCMO's best patsy in the Northland is Weatherby Lake. Just ask Patsy Bolivar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patsy

What Doesn't Kill You...

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
January 5th

Just for the fun of it, I’ll go backwards from my notes from Tuesday night.

Adjournment a little after 9:40 PM.
· Happy Birthday to Alderman Ed Bossert, Mayor Bos claims he is in his “late sixties”.

· The Harvey Christmas Vacation
o Michael and Mary Ann Harvey of Hillside Drive, represented by attorney Bill Quitmeier made a request of the BOA in regards to their property. (This will not accurately capture all the details, because there are many). The essence of their request goes back to 1954/1955. There is information available to indicate somewhere in the past the road in the cul de sac they live on was vacated by the City. The importance of this is the when a road is vacated, the road/land goes to the adjacent property owner, in this case from the middle of the former road to the property owner. The importance to the Harvey’s is they are in the process of selling their property. A title company does not recognize the vacated piece of property…without it the Harvey’s have less than 15,000 sq feet of property…prospective buyers wishing to buy the home and raze it for a new structure would face the requirement to request a variance from the BZA to build. The Harvey’s are requesting some action/resolution/quit claim to indicate the road has been vacated. The ordinance that would have formally vacated has not been found, it is not known if there ever was one. In recent years the “street” has been treated as if it has been vacated, no paving, etc…however it has been plowed by the City. The City Attorney is reluctant to advise the BOA to give specific relief in light of the title companies position. His belief this would be an action that would be reserved for the courts or a judge. Much discussion and back and forth. The Harvey’s are seeking quick action. Agreement was made by Quitmeier to re approach the title company and determine what would satisfy them in regards to a communication from the City.

All The News That's Fit to Blog

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA.
Jan 5th

Traveling today, out the door very early. I did attend last night, and there is news that inquiring minds want to know. In Chicago now, Detroit tonight, hope to post somewhere along the line...Chicago is balmy, should have brought short sleeves.

Making An Entrance

Unofficial Official Minutes of the Entrance Advisory Group Committee (EAGC)

• Chair Jim Miller announced the "quiet phase" of fund raising has been completed with 25 donors pledging $250,000. Add the $50,000 the City received from KCMO, the EAGC has reached the 50% mark on the necessary funding for completion of the project.
• There was discussion of "tweaking" the plans to reflect a completion target of $400,000/ $450,000, the extra $150,000 needed was "not very difficult" to raise according to Mayor Jerry Bos.
• There was a Fund Raising Subcommittee meeting this past Saturday.
  
• Discussion vacillated between the $600,000 target vs $450,000 for fund raising. It was pointed out by Kristopher Dabner of the Greensman, that without construction plans it is very difficult to get a more exact idea of costs that would be determined by RFPs.
• Glenda Negrelli pointed out clubs like the Women's Club may want to contribute, she added "we have quite a bit of money".
• Chairman Miller said some of those who made pledges would like to see a larger contribution on the part of the City.
  
• Lynn Hinkle would like a statement of strong support from the BOA and Mayor to be used to stimulate donations based on commitment of the City. "We need to push it to the next level".
• Jerry was asked on best guess when Barry Road would be completed, he replied late 2011 or early 2012.
  
• The term monuments is out, entrances is in.
• The EAGC passed a motion/recommendation to the BOA (to be presented Tuesday night) recommending expenditure of up to $8,000 for construction plans and the active solicitation of the checks for the first round of pledges.
  

MeetingsThis Week

• Entrance Advisory Group Committee, Tonight, 6:30 PM, City Hall.
• Monthly BOA, Tuesday, 7 PM, City Hall.
  

Hook, Line and Xmas Trees

From a recent email to the Fishing Club email list:

"John and I went 2 Walmart Stores and picked up 2 loads Monday and had to throw them off the trailer at the top of the hill at Venita because the road was blocked by snow that was plowed from the roads, I called George and he plowed the road for us, Thank you George"

The road mentioned is the WLIC Venita Access road, private property. I know George's heart was in the right place, unfortunately his (or his Bos') head was not. Use of City equipment for private purposes is out of bounds. The Fishing Club seems to have a special place in this regard (see a past post "Freezer Burn"). Next time you get snowed in your driveway try flagging the City snow plow for a little assistance...don't think that will happen..

Final Summary 09

One last post looking back on 09, October and the first post of November . I figure you can review Nov/Dec on your own if you haven't looked at them or remember...or both.

• No WL Audit for 08, possibly none for 09 as well.
• WL conducts shredding event, part of MARC grant.
• EAGC estimates cost of monuments to be in neighborhood of $500,000.
• EAGC kicks off fund raising.
• KCMO Fire Chief Dyer assures SPAD, MAST transition to KCMO Fire will be seamless.
• Oct 30, "RoboBob calls WL homes with "heat advisory".
• Second RoboBob amends warning to advise of sewage spill and lake closure.
• WL advised of spill that occurred on October 28.
• "Avoid Weatherby Lake State Warns" headline from KC Star.
  

09 Review, September

• DNR audit cites City for failure to collect primacy fee.
• KCMO pays up $50,000 for replacement of entrance monuments along Barry Road.
• BOA prefers no pay raise for City employees in 2010.
• Hoy alludes to an "issue" related to "personnel" and potential audit of finances.
• "Sewage Spills Into Lake" post of 9/11 describes spill at Prairie Lee Lake...I muse if WL is prepared...See October.
• Barry Road Bridge removed.
• Bos quoted by KCTV5 saying BRB was supposed to be completed by January (09).
  

2010

Happy New Year to all, best wishes and hopes of health and prosperity for you and your family this New Year!

Biggest challenges for 2010 for WL? That's pretty simple, here's my shot:

• Protect and defend our lake. A watershed year for our watershed. Will the leadership of WLIC and the City step up to the plate? The Barry Road project will reach a crescendo this year, the results could be devastating for the lake, for our property values. Will KCMO be held accountable for the multiple sewage spills in our lake?
• Fiscal responsibility. Both the City and WLIC have no problems spending money...our money. Are the right choices being made?
• Infrastructure. Are we taking care of business, both WLIC and City? Prospective buyers of property will be more particular with all the choices in the Northland. Do we have plans that maintain our core?
• Leadership and engagement. Will more folks step up to contribute their talent to WLIC and the City?
• Stay tuned, we will know the answers in 364 days...or less.

That's how I see it, what about you?