Obit

Marvin L. Postma, 78, of Weatherby Lake, MO, passed away Sunday, March 28, 2010, at North Kansas City Hospital. Memorial services will be 4:00 p.m., Friday, April 2nd, at the Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church, 7600 NW Barry Road, Kansas City, MO. The family will receive friends from 2 to 4, Friday, at the Church. Inurnment will be at a later date in Leavenworth National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Heart of America Alzheimers Association.
Marvin was born January 24, 1932, Rock Valley, Iowa, the son of Gerrit and Helen Vandeburgt Postma. He was an Air Force Veteran of the Korean Conflict. Marvin was a retired Regional Director for the Census Bureau. He was a member and Deacon at Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church and was active in the Weatherby Lake Community.
Mr. Postma is survived by his wife, Eunice Postma; three children: Nathan Postma, Natalae Tillman, and N. Scott Postma; four brothers, three sisters, and six grandchildren. (Arrangements: Cremation Society of Kansas & Missouri, 5561 NW Barry Rd., Kansas City, Missouri 64154, online condolences, www.kccremation.com

Marvin Postma

From earlier today:

I'm sad to report, that at about 6:00 AM this morning, Palm Sunday, Marvin passed away at the North Kansas City Hospital. I talked to Natalie this morning at church, no arrangements have been made. I'll let you know the plans as soon as I hear. Please, continue to remember the family during this difficult time.
Thank you
Jerry

Block Party II

From the WLFC

We hope and should have good weather for our final workday for putting in the xmas trees (crappie beds).
Anyone that can help or just show up will be appreciated, we have most of the trees already in and I want to thank all that helped this last week.We will meet at Venetta boat ramp around 9:am Sunday March 28. around 12:30pm we will be serving Hamburgers and Hotdogs and refreshments to all that show -up, If you cannot make the early time, Please still come for the Picnic, this is a Club event for the Community to enjoy. so all are invited, bring your Family and Friends and enjoy the food and get together.
Hope to see you there.
Hank
P>S>.FISHING REPORT: The crappie are starting to bite pretty good, I caught 30 on Friday and most were over 11 inches up to 13 inches long,nice and fat.

**** Happens

WSJ March 25

data from Univ of WI/Green Bay

How Much Manure Does a Dairy Cow Produce?

• 148 lbs per day
• 1036 lbs per week
• 4,440 lbs per month
• 54,020 lbs per year
  

A public service announcement from WLAISI

Double Trouble

As if long suffering WestSiders haven't had enough aggravation with the "Bridge", the second shoe is about to drop. See yesterday's post. Our friends from Platte County are moving forward with the construction on Barry Road west of Potomac, possibly this summer. Besides more frustration and work arounds, the potential insult to the water shed via runoff is huge. Will Platte County play nice? We shall see.

Barry Road (West) Update

From Platte County
PROGRESS UPDATE
BARRY ROAD, WEST
Potomac to Chariton

03-24-10

Scope of Work:

Platte County is working with the City of Kansas City Missouri to design and construct Barry Road from Potomac to Chariton based on an ultimate three lane road with bike lanes but only build a 28 foot wide portion of the roadway with two 14 foot lanes. This improvement will still provide 2 travel lanes, curbs, storm sewers, sidewalks, streetlights and vertical safety improvements. These improvements should work with the existing budget.

In the future when traffic demands increase and funds are identified for construction the remaining portion of the three lane roadway may be completed by the city of Kansas City.

Design:

SKW (Shafer, Kline, and Warren) will be meeting with the KCMO Water and Sewer Departments on March 29, 2010 to verify water and sewer relocations, as planned by the City, will coincide with the project design. If any changes are necessary, SKW will make amendments and issue the final drawings for bidding/construction purposes.

Property Acquisition:

The County is in the final stages of acquiring right-of-way and temporary easements. Currently the County is waiting for lien holders of four properties to return fully executed Partial Deeds of Release which will concur with the property owner’s desire to grant right-of-way across their property. Three owners have not agreed to use of their property, thereby causing the County to implement condemnation procedures that should be complete by the end of April 2010, giving the County access to the property for the purpose of constructing the project.

Utility Relocation:

The County is currently finalizing an agreement with MGE to relocate a 6” natural gas line within the construction area. All other utilities have been relocated or will be completed during road construction.

Platte County will continue holding coordination meetings with all the utility companies, Kansas City and the design engineer (SKW) to ensure compatibility.

Bidding:

Platte County’s goal is to bid the project in May 2010, pending successful design and property acquisition.

Construction:

Construction of Phase I (Chariton Ave. to approximately West Side Dr.) is currently anticipated to begin in summer 2010.

Questions regarding this project can be directed to:
Platte County Department of Public Works at (816) 858-2223 or,
Bob Heim, Project Manager at bheim@co.platte.mo.us

Vacate or Not To Vacate

That is the question. The continuing saga of the process to vacate, initiated by the Harvey family on the Hillside cul de sac, moves along, with another meeting/hearing scheduled by the BOA for March 30th, 6PM. What seemed like a straight forward situation has dragged on for months...who is to blame? Not sure blame is the right word, but it is interesting.

Block Party

A friend of ours commented she saw a work team sinking Christmas trees (aka fish habitats) last week. In the course of our chat I asked her how many cement blocks were used in the process. She guessed 40 or 50 blocks. Nope, I said closer to 400 (at least it was last year as reported here). We've both been here 10 plus years, so in that time span, +/- 4000 blocks have gone down to Davey Jones locker. Bad for the lake? Don't know. Good for crappie? Yes.

Remodel

Minor face lift on the blog as you can see. I have added Twitter for all you Twitterati. I'm not a big Tweeter but thought I would try my hand at Tweeting from the BOA just for kicks (sick, huh?). Another new feature puts recent Comments up front...so you don't have to hunt for them. I'm just featuring the latest 5, I can expand if necessary. I may add a video feature at some time. Of course always open to your suggestions.

Snow Job

Enough said, right?

Marvin

Yesterday evening received a number of emails reporting a stroke suffered by Marvin Postma. He has been hospitalized and no further information is available.

No Joke

By now you have received the invite for April 1st, the "Residents Only" preview of West Ridge at Weatherby Lake, 4-7 PM. Drinks and heavy hors to be served (gotta love the heavy part...hey honey, you don't have to make dinner). Website www.westridgeatweatherbylake.com. If you go there you will see these comments for the property for 10515 79th Place: "Neighbor features-Boat Dock, Club House, Community Center, Curbside Recycling, Play Area, Snow Removal, Tennis Courts, Trash Pick Up". Not sure how the dock thing works or where the Club House will be and I hope Curbside recycling comes some day...we'll see.

Here Fishy, Fishy

Just can't escape fish, it's on the brain...and in the tummy. I travel to or through Minneapolis enough to have found a great spot to eat...in the airport. If you ever get a chance, stop at Ike's on the main drag where C meets the concourse. Ike's is a sit down diner, nice atmosphere, good menu and...great walleye, either sandwich or plate. It is super. Lightly coated, fried perfectly with straw fries on the side. OMG. I was there this week and ate one that wasn't caught and released, it made it to my plate.

While on the subject, this pic is making the rounds on the WLFC email, a neat trophy from a fishing derby past. Neat.

Size Matters

The Fishing Club back and forth continues, at least one wife has joined the fray, motivated me to wet a line yesterday and get ready for the tournament. I can't divulge exactly where I caught this monster, but let's just say you might see it again come tournament time. I'm in it to win it!

ok, so that's not me and that's not a bass (Northern Pike), but one can dream, right?

A Big Bunch of Croc

Speaking of Croc, KC Star, page A4, Tuesday article about Rep Emmanuel Cleaver. Seems his lease vehicle costs taxpayers $2,900 a month, tops in the House of Reps. Retrofitted to run on vegetable oil. A real Roll Model, right? Sorry Rev, a number of watch dog organizations think it is a bunch of blarney. Happy St Patricks Day!

Fishing Club Fried

The WLFC email list is getting a good workout with the proposed "2010 WLFC Tournament"
out there for club members to kick around, some hot for it, some hot about it. Take a peek:

2010 WEATHERBY LAKE FISHING CLUB TOURNAMENT BASS SERIES
Entry Fee –
$40/Boat per event – (Limited to 1st 15 paid entries)
· Pre-register one week in advance – Sent or dropped off to Tournament Director.
· Cash only for onsite registration - (Arrive at the tournament site 30 minutes before the start time for onsite registration and boat inspection. All boats must be Weatherby Lake Residents with proper WLIC Permit Stickers and Block lot ID #.
· Big Bass Pot – Optional - $20/Boat for the year (Paid out at Series end)
· Catfish Tournament will be $20/Boat but will not count toward Series.
Format/Rules –
· The WLFC Tournament Bass Series will be held in a traditional tournament buddy bass format - boat with the heaviest one day total wins. Payouts based on number of entries. Entries limited to the first 15 boats.
· Teams are comprised of you and another partner.
· You may go with a different partner from one weekend to the next. We know it will be tough fishing your tournaments with the same partner every time. You may fish alone.
· In the case of not having a partner, same entry fee still applies.
· Four (4) bass limit per boat. (Largemouth and Smallmouth will be weighed)
· Fifteen (15) inch minimum size requirement. Fish are measured with mouth closed; tail may be fanned or squeezed.
· Limit switch for a bigger fish will be allowed once you reach the 4 Bass limit. No culling at weigh-in.
· All fish must be alive at time of weigh-in. NO DEAD FISH WILL COUNT. Fish will be weighed with Digital Scales. All fish will be released after weigh-in.
· All boats must have a way of keeping fish alive. Preferably, each boat will have an aerator. Portable aerators reaching into a cooler may be used. No "live bait" or "prepared bait" will be permitted during competition.
· All fish must be legally caught by rod and reel casting. Only artificial and biodegradable artificial lures may be used. Only one casting, spin casting or spinning rod and reel may be used at any one time. Other rigs, as specified above, may be in the boat ready for use; however, only one is permitted in use at any given time.
· When visually fishing a bed or for bedding bass, to be counted as a legal fish all bass must be hooked inside the mouth and must be verified by your partner before being unhooked.
· Total combined weight will determine the Champions of each tournament.
· Total combined tournament scores/weight will count toward placement in the 2010 WLFC Fall Fish-Off Classic.
· Entries into the WLFC Fall Fish-Off Classic will go to the 4 highest tournament season point totals.
· Automatic entries go to individual tournament team champions (MUST FISH A MINIMUM OF 4 TOURNAMENTS) and the 1st 6 teams whose season tournament fees are paid-in-full (minimum 4 tournaments) prior to WLFC Series Tournament # 2 May 20th, 2010.
· NO POINTS WILL BE GIVEN TO ANY TEAMS THAT BLANK OR DO NOT WEIGH IN FISH.

Any rules disagreement or protests from another contestant will be turned over to the Tournament Director, his decision will be final. Any violation of rules could result in a disqualification and no refund of entry fee. Remember this is a Tournament for competitive fun.
2010 Schedule of Events -
April 17th (Sat.) - WLFC Series Tournament # 1 – 7AM – 11AM
May 20th (Thurs.) - WLFC Series Tournament # 2 – 6PM – 8:30PM
June 17th (Thurs.) - WLFC Series Tournament # 3 – 6PM – 9PM
July 18th (Sun.) - WLFC Series Tournament # 4 – 7AM – 11AM
July 31st (Sat.) – WLFC Catfish Tournament – 7PM – 11PM - (Does not count toward regular Series)
August 19th (Thurs.) - WLFC Series Tournament # 5 – 6PM – 9PM
September 9th (Thurs.) - WLFC Series Tournament # 6 – 6PM – 8:30PM
* September 25th & 26th (Sat./Sun.) - WLFC SERIES FALL FISH-OFF CLASSIC – 7AM – 12PM
* The 2010 WLFC Series Fall Fish-Off Classic will be a 2-Day tournament. Total fish weight will be accumulated over both days of competition to help determine the 2010 WLFC Series Champions. Tournament will be a free entry to teams that qualify!

Entry Fee - $40/Boat/Tournament - (6 Paid Tournaments) (Fall Fish-Off Classic is a Qualifier)
50% Per Tournament Payout
50% to Fall Fish-Off Classic Pool
Big Bass Pot - Optional - $20/Boat for the year (Paid out at year end)

The payout table didn't cooperate being copied over to the blog, so if you are interested contact your friends at the WLFC.

The Need For Speed

Cub Reporter Ace is fuming over the velocity of vehicles on Potomac Speedway. Despite small potholes violators seem focused on making up time due to the Barry Road WorkAround. One thing about Ace, he's not a whiner, always has a solution. These pics are his suggestion to the City and Police on how to slow the lead foots down..cool.

Thanks to Ace for the pics

March 10th

Forgot to post on March 10th the fact that it was the 2nd anniversary of this blog. Two years, 608 posts and around 36,500 hits later, I'm still blogging although lately my business travel schedule has been cramping my style.

The lack of any City contested races this time around gives a little less fodder than two years ago, but there is still plenty of stuff going on in and around WL.

You may have caught the article in the Star earlier this week about road construction @ Barry Road, just east of I-29. Going to kick off late spring early summer. Lucky we have the "back way" down Amity and Tiffany Springs, right? Hmmm, don't get too comfortable, Amity is on the board to be widened as well...not sure when that is scheduled. You can see some of the utility prep work going on right now. And of course there is the county piece of Barry Road from Potomac west...westsiders just can't catch a break. This too shall pass...years from now.

Climate Change...In A Big Way

KC Star, March 5th

(From LA Times)

While the global warming, global cooling, climate change continues to buzz, don't know if you saw the article entitled "Cause of extinction certified". Fabulous news bit, making it official the cause of the extinction of dinosaurs and many other species 65.5 million years ago. An asteroid 7.5 miles wide struck the earth in an area in Mexico called Chicxulub. The result of the impact was energy released more than a billion times more powerful than Hiroshima...massive earthquakes, wildfires, rock and dirt in the atmosphere. Aftereffects shrouded the planet causing global winter. Only species that could adapt survived...burrrr! My advice? Drive that SUV proudly...take advantage of the 70% off winter clothes @ Dillards (really, you need to check it out)...and wait.

MISC

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA

March 2nd

• The EAG Committee has $250,000 committed and are looking for more big donors before going to residents for individual donations...expect a knock on your door soon.
• BOA approved waterline replacement on South Miami, cost $57,000.
• Mayor Bos went to a KCMO Water Department meeting, cost of water from KCMO going up 5.65%. You might recall the Mayor and BOA declined last year to pass along rate increase from KCMO, causing a reduction in the City "nest egg" in the Water Department. The BOA did not take any action at the meeting. Expect your water bill to go up...just a matter of how much.
• The WL Police have been certified on AED by the Red Cross? Why is that important? 99% of the time the first responder is the WL Police officer, not MAST, not SPFD. A 4 hr CPR class for citizens is in the works.

BOA Moving

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA
March 2nd

Just so you don't get frustrated (this is for the 4 or 5 insiders who attend the monthly BOA meetings) the BOA meeting for April has been changed to April 13th because the 6th is election day.

The BOA voted 4-0 to amend the final plat of WestRidge, releasing $45,000 for trees/shrubs/cover. This money was being held in escrow as part of the original "deal" for the subdivision. The original idea was to plant as the subdivision began to take shape. The new developer requested an amendment to be able to plant now. From Mary's notes on the subject, "I find it interesting how we can't just do the right thing, but must make it official with another ordinance." Well spoken like a 2nd term lawmaker...except following that advice would be the wrong thing, based on the law. Oh, dern.

Speaking of WestRidge, here are the Mayor's comments on the Planning Commission meeting regarding the "front fiasco" at WestRidge..."there was a lot of discussion of what determined the front of a house and that our city code was like most others and didn't really clearly define it." Really? (See pics below in previous posts...to date nobody has a problem picking the front of the house...even the builder labeled the plans with FRONT on the exposure we all would agree is the front of the home...truth is, this one skipped through). "They kicked Tanya (Finn) and me out and went into closed session and I really don't know what happened there." How rude, huh? Of course Jerry knows better. The Planning Commission went into closed session under the MO statute that allows discussion for legal matters (with counsel). Only those on the Commission may participate, and the public attending the meeting must leave the meeting chambers...just like during BOA when they go into closed session.

No comment from either Alderman Hoy or DeJong on the happenings in literally their own back yard.

Bert Woods has resigned from the Planning Commission but will remain on the Plans Review Board. Jerry intends to appoint Jeff Goodwin to the Plan Review Board.

Mayor's Comments, March 2nd

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the WL BOA

March 2nd

• Boy Scout Project on 4/17 moving forward. There is a need for volunteer help from the community. Next meeting is March 10th @ City Hall, 7:30 AM.


• SWAT Dinner and Talent Show March 28th @ CC, 5PM. $10 adults, kids $5.


• Barry Road Update: "Chad from KCMO says the completion date is still 2011 sometime. Chad also said they are going to start in earnest in the Spring." In case you missed it, here is the Mayor's comments regarding the same issue in the last WLL. "Recently I was updated on the Barry Road project....Kansas City hopes to complete the project sometime in late 2011. This is not good news and a long way off of what we were told in the summer of 2008. I'm not sure what to say further, my dad always told me "son, if you don't have anything good to say, be quiet."

I may do a montage of comments from Jerry and others concerning the Barry Road project...certainly on the 2nd anniversary of the road closing. For those of us who traverse Wildwood daily, unlike Mr Bos, it's more than just an inconvenience. It is the quiet, from the City, that does harm.

We and No

The Official Unofficial Minutes of the Weatherby Lake BOA
March 2nd


I was away on business but had my cub reporter ACE at the meeting as well as information from others who attended the meeting.


Vote on CC manager contract, Shawna Payne passes, 3 to 1. Alderman Bossert was in attendance so when the contract was brought up for vote again it passed. As you recall it failed last month because of Mary's NO vote (without explanation). Alderman Finn pressed Ms Hoy to explain her No vote, Mary replied, "because of the amount of the increase was 10%." Massive, huh? Excessive. huh? When was the last time Payne got an increase? She hasn't...ever. Has the use of the CC increased? Over the past year, yes. How much are we talking about? $37.50 a month. How did Mary report this in her meeting notes?

"We approved a contract with Shauna Payne to manage the Community Center. Ivoted no on this contract because I felt the increase of 10% excessive."

Close, They approved the contract...She voted No.

The Answer Is...

False.

According to the building permit application and setback dimensions of the property, the above pic shows the Front, and note the mailbox which is the address for the property...on 79th street in the cul de sac. Don't ask, I don't know the answer.

Reader Survey/Quiz

True or False

The home pictured above has the Front of the home facing Roberts Road in the WestRidge subdivision.

Answer tomorrow

BU2?

See previous post for full meaning of BU. Got my latest edition of WLL. No WLL in April and possible semi-monthly after that...tough times in the publishing world.

But, the government moves on...relentlessly. Tonight @ 6:30 @ City Hall the Planning Commission will meet to consider replat of lots 86 & 87. Also on the agenda is a discussion of the home placement on 10507 NW 79th St in the WestRidge subdivision.

If that isn't enough for you, tomorrow night (6:30) there is a public hearing to consider the vacation of a City street, Overlook Place. Of course that is followed @ 7PM by the monthly BOA meeting. Free admission and plenty of action. I understand the contract for the CC manager will be brought forth again for a vote. You may recall it was rejected last meeting by Alderman Hoy's NAY vote. 2nd time a charm. We shall see.

This is post #600 who would have thunk?