City
studying park proposal from county
Aldermen
hold closed session with park board
by Ivan
Foley
Landmark editor
City of Platte City officials Tuesday
night continued to study the recent proposal for a joint
park project from Platte County.
The mayor and board of aldermen met in
a closed session with the city's park and recreation board
following the aldermen's regularly scheduled meeting.
City officials somewhat curiously closed the meeting to
the public and the media, citing RSMo 610.021(2) and "park
land acquisition" as the reason for the closed session,
even though under the current proposal it is the county—not
the city—that would be purchasing the land for the
park.
Second District County Commissioner Steve
Wegner, who first presented the park partnership idea
to the aldermen at a public meeting two weeks ago, attended
Tuesday night's closed meeting, apparently to provide
further details of the proposal.
"It's in the infant stages. We listened
to his (Wegner's) presentation," Mayor Dave Brooks
said Wednesday morning.
Brooks said no timeline for a decision
from the city on whether it will take part in the joint
project has been established, but added: "There's
probably not going to be any decision for a while. There's
too much to think about. We need to decide whether we
want to do it or not."
Two weeks ago Wegner told city officials
the county would be willing to buy up to 200 acres of
ground to be used as park land. The ground would need
to be within three miles of the city limits of Platte
City in order for the city to legally take part in the
joint project, he said.
The land would be purchased using receipts
from the county's half cent sales tax for parks.
Wegner would not confirm it this week,
but sources say the search for the ground has been narrowed
to two tracts of land north of Platte City. One tract
consists of 210 acres, the other 94 acres.
Wegner earlier said the county wants assurance
that the city is willing to partner in the project. "We
won't go it alone. We don't want to be park operators."
The issue for Platte City will be finding
money to be used for developing and operating the park.
Platte City has it its own half cent sales tax dedicated
to parks, which takes in about $350,000 annually.
"I'd be surprised if any decisions
were made before fall," Brooks said. "It's a
large commitment for the city and the parks board. Although
it's a marvelous opportunity, somebody still has to pay
the bill."
The county is in the process of having
appraisals done on potential park ground.
In other business Tuesday night, the board
of aldermen approved in a 5-1 split vote for the city
to pick up the nearly $10,000 cost for installing sidewalks
on 10 properties in Tudor Flats. The action came against
a recommendation from City Administrator Keith Moody and
despite opposition from Alderman Lee Roy Van Lew.
Moody said the subdivision was initially
platted in the county, designed to the city's subdivision
regulations and subsequently brought into the city under
a friendly annexation. The properties lacking sidewalks
were to have constructed sidewalks, Moody said.
The city administrator recommended the
board move forward with the construction of the sidewalks
that are incomplete and assessing the costs to the property
owners.
"Their neighbors paid to construct
their sidewalks and it is unfair for these property owners
to not construct the sidewalks," Moody said in a
memo to the board.
Several of the affected property owners
were in attendance. Some said they did not agree to constructing
sidewalks at the time they signed on for the friendly
annexation.
"You're trying to reach into somebody's
back pocket. Nobody brought up sidewalks to us when we
were annexed," said Randy Stewart, property owner.
Alderman Gary Brown said he believes the
city was lacking in not requiring the builder to install
sidewalks at the time of construction.
Alderman Shelle Browning initially recommended
more research to view documents that would have been signed
at the time of the friendly annexation, but later voted
in favor of a motion made by Jim Palmer and seconded by
Ron Porter to have the city cover all costs associated
with installing the sidewalks.
Van Lew was the only alderman voting opposed,
indicating he felt the action would set a precedent that
may come back to haunt the city in the future.
In other action:
•The board approved a conditional use permit that
will allow the Bank of Weston to use temporary trailer
offices on property the bank owns east of I-29 along Hwy.
92. The bank, which recently announced the sale of its
Tracy building to the Platte County Regional Sewer District,
eventually plans to construct a permanent building at
that location. The temporary structure will be a prefabricated
mobile building, metal finish with a factory-applied painted
finish.
•Aldermen approved changes that relax
the city's temporary sign (banner) ordinance. Banners
may now be displayed for a maximum of 120 cumulative days
during one calendar year. New language provides for an
application and a fee to be paid for banners, but the
deposit requirement has been removed. Maximum sign area
of a banner is tied to the maximum sign area allowed for
a site, based upon the square footage of the face of the
building to which it is attached.
•Brooks said he is moving forward
with plans to have CPR classes offered at the Community
Center. Members of the public who might be interested
should call the mayor at city hall.
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