City Administrator’s Report for //2014

City Administrator’s Report
FROM: Mahesh Sharma, City Administrator

Administration
Just a reminder that the Board of Alderman meeting has been moved from April 7 to April 14, 7 p.m. at City Hall due to the General Municipal Election.

If you missed the Mayor and Alderman Candidate Forum, you can view it on our YouTube account at youtube.com/cityofraytown.

Finance Department
The department is finalizing agreements that will allow the City to accept online payments in the near future.
The Sales Tax Oversight Committee will meet April 21, 2015 at 5:30 p.m.

Development and Public Affair
The April 2 ribbon cutting at 53rd and Hedges was a success. It was so great to have Congressman Emanuel Cleaver help us open two more homes in our Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The homes will be available to tour at an open house on Saturday, April 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free food and drink while supplies last.

On April 9 at City Hall, the Council on Aging will be holding a safety driving course with AARP. You will learn defensive driving techniques, proven safety strategies, new traffic laws and rules plus there are no tests to pass. $15 for AARP members, $20 for non-members. The course runs from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Please bring a sack lunch, drinks will be provided. Registration is required by calling 767-0103.

The City of Raytown’s newsletter has received a national award from the National Association of Government Communicators. They indicated that the newsletter was eye-catching and succeeds beautifully in helping keep citizens informed about city activities and opportunities, encouraging dialog and responding to concerns about government transparency. Another judge indicated that it has a clean and attractive look with great use of color, font sizes and page layout that work together to boost the effectiveness. The award will be presented to the City in June at the National Award Ceremony in Memphis, Tennessee.
The City’s Mobile App is now live. If you put in our Website address, www.raytown.mo.us it will take you to a mobile friendly app.

Parks Department
Public Forum for Parks and Recreations Master Plan will be held April 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the REAP Conference Room.

Public Works
Just a heads up that work will begin at 79th and Elm in the next 2 or 3 weeks. Road closures are being planned to occur for a few hours at a time….exact days and times will be posted later as the contractor requests. Some days only one lane will be open for use. Here is an explanation of the City’s Street Maintenance Program.

Street Maintenance Program Costs
The City of Raytown maintains 331 lane miles. We use the transportation sales tax and some City revenue to pay to upkeep our streets. Over the last five (5) years the City has spent $833,600 per year for this service. These costs also include sidewalk and curb repair, striping as well as handicap ramps which is a federal law requirement under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). We have to be in compliance with this law.

Let’s say you purchase a new car. You know in 10 years you may be able to afford to buy a new one, but you cannot expect your car to go that long without some repair. So, you do repairs to extend the life of your car until you can afford to purchase a new one. Or, you could ignore the repairs until it quits running or until you have the money to purchase a new car. Not a reasonable choice.

This is what the City faces when it comes to street maintenance. We’d love to have new streets, and be able to do overlays. But, the reality is the City cannot afford it. So, we use a seal that extends the life of the street until we can afford to do the mill and overlay.

To understand the numbers you need to know how the Public Works Department determines costs. A lane mile is a unit of measurement used by Public Works Departments for determining progress of maintenance programs. One lane mile is the width of one lane (12 feet) by one mile (5,280 feet). If you have a two lane street then that would be two lane miles. A turn lane also counts as a lane mile. The two tools the City of Raytown uses are Lightweight Aggregate Seal and Mill and Overlay. The cost per lane mile and life cycle of each tool is:

Cost per Lane Mile Life/Treatment
Lightweight Aggregate $21,542/Lane Mile 7 to 10 years
Mill and Overlay $66,176/Lane Mile 10 to 15 years

If all of the maintenance program funds from the last five years had been spent on Mill and Overlay, the treatment would have covered 50 lane miles, only 15% of all lane miles in five years. In one year we would be able to cover about three percent of all streets or 10 lane miles.

If we go back to our car example, the life cycle of a car is similar to the life cycle of a mill and overlay street which is about 10 to 15 years. Only doing Mill and Overlay would force us to expect a life cycle of a street to be 33 years. We can’t wait 33 years to treat our streets; therefore, the mixed approach is needed.

In the last five years, we have been able to complete Lightweight Aggregate on 70 lane miles and Mill and Overlay on 40 miles, in total 110 lane miles have been treated, or 33% of all the roads in Raytown using both tools. It is prudent to use the most appropriate tool at the proper time. Using the Lightweight Aggregate treatment stretches the life of the street and allows us to keep our roads in a manageable condition.

The City understands that the Lightweight Aggregate is not the first choice of our residents but we hope that this explanation will help you understand the decisions we face in developing a fiscally responsible street maintenance program.

Board, Committee and Commission Meetings, and Events
April 06 – Municipal Court – 6:00 p.m.
April 07 – General Municipal Election
April 08 – Municipal Court – 8:00 a.m. & 6:00 p.m