This is the first part of the May 21st Board of Aldermen meeting. It covers from the beginning up until the rezoning of the Green Space is addressed. From 20 into the video to about 35 minutes into the video are remarks by the public that are about Wal-Mart. The official part addressing the zoning issue covers almost 7 more hours. Future parts will be posted in 1 hour blocks.
This segment is the start of the Wal-Mart rezoning portion of the meeting. All of this segment is Wal-Mart, Board of Aldermen, and Raytown City employees talking.
At almost 3 am, after 8 hours, a vote was held and the Wal-Mart zoning changes were approved. The Greene brothers, Emerson and Aziere voted against approval. The allowed hours of operation were shortened from midnight to 10 pm.
Wal-Mart will be building a grocery store on the area known as the Green Space, unless other factors interfere. At present there are a couple items that may derail the process.
1. The last minute change from the agreed upon 6 am to midnight operational hours being changed to 6 am to 10 pm by the Board of Aldermen may be a deal breaker for Wal_Mart.
2. There may be a challenge to the vote requirements. Alderman Jason Greene contended that it takes a 2/3 majority to override the BZA vote. The city’s attorney read the law as requiring only a simple majority. There are no attorneys on the staff of RaytownOnline.com so we are not going to speculate on who is correct in this matter or how it could be appealed.
This video was taken with a smart phone. In the course of 8 hours 2 camcorder batteries ran out, and 32G of memory was used. The smart phone had to be taken to the van to be recharged twice. about 5 hours of high quality video was captured, along with about an hour of smart phone video. All of the meeting was captured (up until the Wal-Mart issue was resolved) on a backup audio recorder. Putting all the parts together, cleaning them up, rendering and then uploading them to the video server involves days of work for something this big. It would take weeks if the video and audio were to be cleaned up to the normal degree RaytownOnline.com usually does. Be advised there may be pops, clicks, hiss, rumble and shakes that are not up to the normal standards.
The 2nd meeting of the Raytown Board of Aldermen has a long agenda. Part of the reason is that the public comment at the last meeting (available on RaytownOnlinie.com) ran for almost 2 hours. The result of this was that the meeting lasted till almost 1 am and a lot of agenda items were not taken care of.
The upcoming meeting will have the second reading of the Google agreement, the second reading of the proposed zoning changes to allow Wal-Mart to put a store in the Green Space in the manner the want, first readings of changes to licensing of businesses and craftsmen in Raytown (with a staff recommendation that the rules be suspended, which probably means the want voted on at this meeting), the second reading of two conditional use permit, and a discussion on the location of Pawnshops, Short-Term Loan Stores and Tattoo Parlors.
The public is expected to turn out in force on the question of altering the zoning regulations to suit Wal-Marts needs/requests.
Click on the link below to read the latest version of the agenda.
City Administrator’s ReportFROM: Mahesh Sharma, City Administrator
Public Works
The first cleanup coupon was issued Wednesday. The coupons are available for the public to obtain at the Public Works window at City Hall. A resident wishing to obtain a coupon no longer must provide a recent utility bill as the information can be verified at the Public Works window. A picture ID is still required. The coupons will cost $5 and will provide $25 of value at two vendors. One vendor is Material Recovery & Transfer located at 4020 Winchester Avenue which is just west of 435 on Raytown Road. The vendor is a drop-off site only and information about fees and location can be found on the website at www.materialrecoveryandtransferkc.com; the information will also be provided to the resident when obtaining the coupon. The second vendor is Flynn’s Raytown Disposal and is primarily a pick-up service. The resident will have to contact Flynn’s at 816-358-1211 to coordinate services and determine a fee. The fees will vary depending upon the size and weight of the material to be disposed.
The annual concrete repair program has started and the contractor has made great progress. The contractor will be removing and replacing sidewalk, handicap ramps and curbing. The contractor is A&A Concrete Company and the work is expected to be completed in July.
Raytown Water Company has finished 99% of the roadway and sidewalk restoration work in the downtown area as part of the water line replacement project. There are a few sidewalks and curbs that still need repair.
Public Works crews completed two sanitary sewer line point repairs this week. The point repairs were located at 5918 Raytown Road and 6513 Blue Ridge Boulevard; pipe offsets that could cause sewer backups were repaired at both locations. Board, Committee and Commission Meetings, and Events
May 20 – Parks Board Meeting 7:00 p.m.
May 21 – Drive Up/ Drive Thru Car Seat Event – EMS 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
May 21 – Board of Aldermen Meeting 7:00 p.m.
May 22 – Community Blood Drive – EMS 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
May 24 – Raytown Night at the Royals 7:00 p.m.
May 26 – Super Splash Opens for the Memorial Weekend only (May 25-27)
Community Blood Center blood drive to be held at Raytown EMS in the training room, 10020 E. 66th Terr., on Wednesday, May 22nd from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. To make an appointment online go to www.savealifenow.org and use Sponsor Code raytownems. You may also contact Kim at (816) 737-6030 with questions or to schedule an appointment. Buy-one-get-one free Schlitterbahn vouchers will be offered to anyone coming in to donate blood. Take the opportunity to help save lives in your community!
In celebration of EMS Week, Raytown EMS employees will be holding several community service and education events. On May 21st from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m, at the Raytown EMS building, located at 10020 E. 66th Terr., Raytown EMS staff will be hosting a drive-up/drive-thru car seat event. Nationally certified Child Passenger Seat Technicians will be conducting inspections and installations of child safety seats. No appointment is necessary during this event, but it is recommended that caregivers know the weight and height of the children if they are not present. It is also recommended to bring the vehicle manual and child safety seat manual. Questions can also be answered regarding the proper seat for a child’s size and when they are able to use a booster seat or seatbelt only. Please join us to keep our children and community safe!
The Board of Aldermen heard the 1st reading of requested zoning changes requested by Wal-Mart. These changes are for a Wal-Mart grocery store to be located North of downtown 63rd Street in an area commonly known are the Green Space. This zoning change comes out of the Planning and Zoning Commission with a 5 to 4 vote recommending to deny the requested changes. Video of the public comments on the request are below. Due to the extensive amount of comments, the video portion is cut short due to exhausted batteries. Photos of the last few members of the public are show with the audio from a separate source overlaid.
City Administrator’s ReportFROM: Mahesh Sharma, City Administrator
Public Works
The cleanup coupons have arrived. The coupons will be available for the public to purchase on Wednesday May 15th at the Public Works window at City Hall. Residents wishing to obtain a coupon must prove residency by providing a utility bill that is no more than two months old and must provide a picture ID that matches the name on the account. The coupons will cost $5 and will provide $25 of value at two vendors. One vendor is Material Recovery & Transfer located at 4020 Winchester Avenue which is just West of I-435 on Raytown Road. The vendor is a drop-off site only and information about fees and location can be found on the website at www.materialrecoveryandtransferkc.com; this information will also be provided to residents when obtaining their coupon. The second vendor is Flynn’s Raytown Disposal and is primarily a pick-up service. The resident will have to contact Flynn’s at 816-358-1211 to coordinate services and determine a fee. The fees will vary depending upon the size and weight of the material to be disposed.
The annual concrete repair program will start with construction next week. The construction will start in the project Area A that is in the Northwest part of the city. The contractor will be removing and replacing sidewalks, handicap ramps and curbing. The contractor is A&A Concrete Company and the work is expected to be completed in July.
Public Works storm crew regarded approximately 200 feet of ditch line at Gregory Boulevard and Evanston Avenue. The crew also installed an erosion control mat to prevent erosion and allow the grass a chance to grow.
Development & Public Affairs
The Development & Public Affairs Department is pleased to announce that June Van Loo joined the department as a Permit Technician. June previously worked for Jackson County Public Works Department dealing with county permitting and environmental health regulations. If you are in City Hall, please stop by to welcome June to the City.
Board, Committee and Commission Meetings, and Events
The comments by Google at the meeting have been clarified in an email to the city concerning taxes and revenues. The following is from that email.
Upon clarification from our Google tax advisor, he provided the following details on the VSPF:
· Google pays the 5% VSPF only on our TV revenues (not internet), per our Video Service Provider franchise
· The VSPF only applies to premium TV Fiber customers, and the VSPF (in addition to applicable MO taxes) does show up on the premium TV Fiber customer’s bill. However, the 5% is assessed only on the $50 tv portion of the Premium TV customer monthly bill of $120. The customer is also responsible for paying applicable local sales tax
· We do not assess the VSPF for our Free or 1Gig-only Fiber customers (though the customer still has to pay sales tax per local tax laws, on top of any of our monthly fees)
· VSPF is also applied to Video on demand and premium TV channels (such as ESPN 3D), and the VSPF will also show up on the customer’s bill
Mahesh Sharma, Raytown City Administrator, has announced the promotion of Doug Jonesi to the position of EMS Director. “Mr. Jonesi has demonstrated an impressive aptitude of leadership in the department. Along with his wealth of emergency medical services experience, his excellent technical skills and dedication I am confident that he is the right person to head this department.” said Mr. Sharma
Mr. Jonesi has been with the city for the last 28 years. He began his career in Emergency Medical Services in 1979 in Patterson, California. He has stated that his love for EMS comes from the unique challenges EMS workers face each day.The department consists of a physician medical director, paramedics and EMTs including in-house continuing education, making sure that all staff is always on top of the latest and best methods.
Doug has been married to Susan for 23 years. They have one son, who is studying computer science at the University of Missouri before joining the United States Air Force. Outside of work Doug enjoys music and can be found playing blues throughout the metro area.
The May 7th meeting of the Raytown Board of Aldermen will have items on it that are controversial. The main item of interest is the first reading of a proposed change to allow Wal-Mart to build a store in the downtown area known as the Green Space.
Before the 7:00 pm meeting there will be a work session at 6:30 to hear a report on the Downtown Streetscape and Bike/Pedestrian Trail Update form Andy Noll, Public Works Director.
The Wal_mart requested zoning change is the second to last item on the agenda and reads as follows.
10.Public Hearing: A public hearing to consider a Change in Zoning for property located at 6200 Blue Ridge Boulevard, 10016 E. 63rd Street and 10028 E. 63rd Street.
10a.FIRST Reading: Bill No. 6318-13, Section XIII. AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A CHANGE IN ZONING FROM NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL AND TOWN SQUARE OVERLAY DISTRICT TO NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL AND PLANNED ZONING OVERLAY DISTRICT ON LAND LOCATED AT 6200 BLUE RIDGE BOULEVARD, 10016 E. 63RD STREET & 10028 E. 63RD STREET IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE COMPREHENSIVE ZONING REGULATIONS FOR THE CITY OF RAYTOWN, MISSOURI. Point of Contact: John Benson, Director of Development and Public Affairs.
RAYTOWN ALDERMEN TO CONSIDER GOOGLE FIBER AGREEMENT Residents would experience TV and jet speed internet.
Raytown, MO? On May 7, 2013, the Aldermen of Raytown, Missouri will consider adopting an agreement with Google Fiber for the installation of high speed internet. This will be the first reading of the agreement. The second reading and vote would occur on May 21, 2013. The two week interval gives the Raytown citizens a chance to read the agreement and make comments to their aldermen.
Raytown would be the second city in Missouri to get the service. Kansas City, Missouri has already inked a deal with the provider. The city staff have been diligently working with Google to get the agreement in place. “We are absolutely thrilled with the opportunity that this could bring the residents of Raytown.” Said Mahesh Sharma,City Administrator.
Google Fiber will provide an Internet connection speed of one gigabit per second for both download and upload. This is 1,024 megabits per second, or 128 megabytes per second (there are 8 bits in a byte), or roughly 100 times faster access than what most Americans have.[6] Obtaining the full gigabit speed will require a wired Ethernet connection to the supplied router, which currently supports only the 802.11a/b/g/n wireless protocols. The best of these, 802.11n, has a maximum net data rate of 600 Mbit/s.
Google Fiber offers daily tours of their facility at 1814 Westport Road, Kansas City, Missouri.
Board of Aldermen meetings are held at Raytown City Hall’s Board Chambers, 10000 E. 59th St., Raytown, Missouri. The agreement will be available for viewing the afternoon of May 3 on the Raytown Website at www.raytown.mo.us.
The Planning and Zoning Commission will meet tomorrow (May 2nd) at 7:00 pm. The last meeting ended in a tie vote on the Wal-Mart issue. There have been recommended changes that include not being open 24 hrs. a day, reducing the size of signage, and the elimination of the parking lot extending to 63rd Street.
Wal-Mart is not asking for tax abatement for this project, but members of the community are worrying that the downtown area is already designated a 353 tax abatement district.
To read the city document on the downtown 353 district, click HERE.
This video contains the second session after the break. There is a second public comment portion and the final vote to carry it over to the next meeting. Due to the size of this file, it is not in HD format. There are portions where there is only audio. The reason is that the backup digital audio recorder can record days of audio non-stop. The video equipment can only record about 4.5 hours without changing the internal memory card. About 9 minutes of recording time were reserved for the last portion of the meeting, in expectation that voting would happen in that time period.
The Board of Zoning Adjustment met last Thursday (April 25th, 2013) and the main topic of discussion was the proposed Wal-Mart to be located in the area North of 63rd Street commonly known as the Green Space. The meeting lasted well over 4 hours. This video is of the first round of public comments.
City Administrator’s ReportFROM: Mahesh Sharma, City Administrator
Public Works
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is conducting an environmental study of
I-70 in Jackson County. The study is a Second Tier Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the future I-70 from the Paseo interchange to the Blue Ridge Cutoff interchange. Public Works is participating in the Community Advisory Group to provide input and review of the suggested improvements.
Currently three Alternatives are under Consideration:
1) No-build: maintenance activities as needed and projects that are already committed;
2) Geometric Improvements: incorporates the No-Build Alternative with improvements aimed at improving the engineering issues in the corridor, such as short ramp lengths, tight curves and weave areas;
3) Interchange Consolidations: incorporates the Geometric Improvements Alternative and consolidates some closely spaced interchanges.
Please visit www.metroI70.com for more information and to provide comments. The comments received will be a major factor in determining the preferred alternative that will be presented summer/fall.
Development & Public Affairs
The Planning and Zoning Commission met on April 25, 2013 to consider the rezoning application for the proposed Wal-Mart project. Presentations were made by the developers and the public comments were provided. At the conclusion of the meeting, the commission decided to continue discussion on the proposed rezoning to May 2, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. The application is scheduled to come before the Board of Aldermen on May 21, 2013.
Board, Committee and Commission Meetings, and Events
April 27 – National Prescription Drug Take Back Day 10:00 a.m.
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