City Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome to the July 20th Blue Spring City Council meeting. If you will stand with me, I will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. You can be seated. We'll now call the meeting to order. First item on the agenda is confirmation of a quorum.

Council Member Kaler.

I'm present.

Tholen. Present. Erickson.

Here.

Marquardt.

Present.

Rowan. Here. Mayor Lovesay. Here. We have a quorum.

Next is the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve? So moved. Is there a second? Any discussion? Roll call.

Council Member Kaler?

Aye.

Tholen? Aye. Erickson?

Aye.

Marquardt?

Aye.

Rowan?

Aye.

Mayor Levesay?

Aye.

Carried unanimously.

We're going to start our meeting off with a little bit of fun. If I could have the council and the state champion Blue Springs South Jaguar baseball team join me up front here. Well, I feel like deja vu all over again. Seems like about a year ago we were here, back-to-back state champions, and I have a proclamation on behalf of the city to help congratulate all of your hard work. So I'm going to read just a couple of the whereas clauses. I'll let you guys do it at home when you've got a little bit more time. But whereas the Blue Springs South Jaguar varsity baseball team will be honored as state champions tonight on July 20th, And whereas the Blue Springs Jaguar varsity baseball team are back-to-back state champions, defeating Rockhurst in the state title game, rallied back from behind to win the Missouri State High School Activity Association Class 6 baseball champions. And whereas this is the first time an area baseball team has become back-to-back state champions, Now, therefore, Chris Levinson, Mayor of Blue Springs and the Blue Springs City Council do hereby proclaim today, July 20th, as Blue Springs South Jaguar Baseball Team Day. Congratulations, Coach. You got anything you want to say on behalf of the team?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and the City Council for taking a little bit of your time today for this. These guys were great all year. They worked extremely hard. They played for each other. It's what you're looking for, and I'm super happy for them.

I know you have some other, I see some guys with some additional hardware here. I know what some of that means, but explain what they're being recognized for as well.

You mean this? Yeah. That's just our state. That's the state metal they got, which is pretty cool. No, no, this is, some of the guys decided to actually wear this, I guess.

It does look good.

It does look good. You're right, you're right. But thank you very much. Appreciate this so much.

If you don't mind a picture, we'll kind of walk through together here. Absolutely. Alright, here we go.

Let's give them another round of applause. Congratulations. Councilmember Taylor and Erickson wanted me to remind everyone that Blue Springs South is in District 1. Okay. Okay. Next item on the agenda is item five, is a public hearing for the Ford Parts warehouse plan development concept plan. We have a request to continue that to the August 3rd city council meeting, so I'm going to go ahead and open the public hearing and then see if there's anyone who likes to speak on that item before we take a motion to continue. Anyone to speak on that item? If not, then I'll accept a motion to continue from the council. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All in favor, aye. Aye. Any opposed, no. That will be continued to the August 3rd City Council meeting. Next item was withdrawn by the applicant, the conditional use permit for wind water, so we won't need to hear that. It's just withdrawn, so I don't need any action, right?

Yeah, we have the general development plan, though.

Yeah, that'll be after, that's item 10. so then next item is the public hearing for the capital improvement program i will open the public hearing and the city clerk will have some items to read for the record

Mayor, the city has two exhibits to enter into the record. City Council information form dated July 13, 2026, with the following attachments. Staff report with attachments, draft a proposed 2026-27 to 2030-31 capital improvements program, public notice published in the examiner on June 30, 2026, and bill adopting the capital improvements program, PowerPoint presentation. This is all we have to enter for the record.

All right, staff, I do have to swear you in, Ms. Cates, even though we very much trust you. If you will raise your right hand, do you swear the testimony you're about to give in this case to be the true soap you've gotten?

I do.

And then give us your name and address for the record.

Christine Cates, 903 West Main Street, Blue Springs, Missouri, 64015.

Is that microphone on? It is green. There we go. Is that better?

Good evening, Mayor and members of the Council. Tonight is a formal public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2027-2031 capital improvements program. The notice of the hearing was published on June 30th, 2026. You received the preliminary draft in the agenda packet, so tonight I'll keep my comments brief, a high-level overview, what's changed this year, and a few key projects. Before the numbers, a quick reminder on what this document is and how we get here each year. The CIP is a five-year planning and budgeting tool developed in accordance with the city's charter. It does not appropriate funds in and of itself. Staff evaluates every project against adopted criteria, conformity to the comprehensive plan, and the preliminary draft was provided in the agenda and reviewed by staff. This brings us to tonight's public hearing. Only the first year, fiscal year 26-27, will be incorporated into the annual budget you adopt in September effective October 1st. The full plan is reevaluated and readopted every year, so nothing beyond year one is locked in after tonight. Under Charter Section 7.6, the Council may adopt the CIP budget. Two things to note about the document itself this year. First, the entire document has been reformatted for ADA accessibility and for compliance with the city's style guide. It's a cleaner, more consistent document that every member of our community can use, and it's part of the broader brand implementation under the community identity priority in the city's strategic plan. Second, the strategic plan is now fully incorporated into the CIP. In the narrative on each individual project sheet, each project identifies a strategic priority and advances, so you can trace a direct line from the goals this council adopted to the capital dollars behind them. Last year, CIP was adopted in July, and the strategic plan had not been adopted by the council yet, so this is the first year that you will see reference to the strategic plan in this document. The 2027-2031 program totals $247.6 million. That's up about 10 million or 4.2% from last year's total program of $237.6 million. Last year, 48.7% of the program was funded at 115.8 million. This year, 163.4 or 66% is funded, an increase of 47.6 million. That increase is driven primarily by the April election, result moving the Snyder Bar plant expansion to the funded list, which I'll cover in more detail in a moment. Of the funded total, 67% is capital improvements, 30% is maintenance, and about 3% is equipment replacement. For 2026-27 specifically, the funded program is $53.2 million. Consistent with council direction and past practice, the program continues to prioritize maintenance of existing infrastructure and replacement of mission-critical equipment. The major change this year, as I mentioned, for the CIP is the wastewater treatment plant expansion and upgrade at just over 60 million, and it has been moved to the funded list. As you'll recall, this project includes improvements required by the EPA that must be completed within six years. After the state vetoed our $12 million DNR grant request last year, the path forward was low-interest financing through the Missouri State Revolving Fund, which required voter approval. In April, our voters delivered that approval, and the expansion is now programmed for construction to begin in fiscal year 28-29. Snybar is one of 11 projects that moved to the funded list this year, by far the largest. Flock Safe City also moved to funded, and the remainder are equipment and replacements equipment replacements across street, sewer, and water. In total, moving these projects took $37.5 million off the unfunded list compared to last year. The Preventative Pavement Maintenance Program remains the backbone of the street CIP. At your June 1 council meeting, you approved Task Order 25 with Cochrane Engineering to develop the 2027 program. The 2027 budget is currently projected at approximately $8 million. The final amount will depend on the final cost of the 2026 program and the evaluation of completing Walnut Street project next year. To put the progress in perspective, when the 2026 program is complete, the city will have overlaid 162 of our 585 total lane miles. That is 27.7% of every lane mile in the city since the program began. Three other projects worth highlighting for next year include Southwest Park Construction. It's the single largest item in the fiscal 26-27 budget at $31.2 million. It is funded through a special obligation bond issue repaid by the park sales tax, with completion scheduled for 28-29. Those bonds will be issued later this year to provide the construction budget for the project. The Flock Safe City program moved to the funded list at $1.9 million over five years. In December, the city entered into a 10-year agreement with Flock to become the first Flock Safe City in Missouri, and this project includes implementation of a drone as first responder program. And one note on a project you won't see driving the CIP's numbers, because funding was provided in a previous year, is the double A highway improvements that will begin construction next year as well. The unfunded list of projects stands at 84.2 million, down from 121.8 million last year, thanks to the election result. But these are also real needs for the city. They include the reuse of the Adams Point Conference Center, an animal control facility, body camera and taser replacements, storm drainage improvements, a future water tower among others discussions about funding these projects are ongoing our capacity to balance pavement management against other priorities decreases each year and flexibility in the program is limited stormwater in particular remains reactive there is no capacity in the operating budget or the cip for preventive maintenance of that system identifying resources for stormwater being ongoing conversation will be discussed at a workstation with the council later this year Following the public hearing, the CIP is ready for adoption per Charter Section 7.6. The first year will then be built into the fiscal year 26-27 budget that you adopt in September. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Any questions for staff from the Council?

Yeah. May I? Council Member Erickson. So I kind of get a little picky on these things. Could you redefine the term reuse of the Adams Point Conference Center? Because that implies to me that we're going to use it like it is.

So I could clarify that and say reuse of the property that the Adams Point Conference Center sits upon.

Okay. Okay. That makes sense. I thought that. And then I asked you this earlier, but I kind of like to have it out there. We have a $15 million unfunded budget for animal control. could you just tell us that that's an amount that we guessed based upon uh excuse me not guess that we've come across based upon regional facility and professional people we don't have a preamble to how we're going to do that what we want to do so that's like on our wish list of projects that we want to start is that correct yes that's correct we have done an initial facility plan to help us generate those estimates for that facility

And we have used current construction cost to develop that number, which is 15 million. When it gets to actually identifying funding for that project and then building an actual plan for that project and what would house and entail, then we would have more definite numbers for that.

One last question. I think in the narrative, but I'm not sure you hit on it. The sidewalk infill project, is that part of this?

It is not.

So that would just be a regular budgetary item?

That could be a regular budgetary item and or we can create an ongoing sidewalk infill project, but we have used all the money that was previously allocated for sidewalks.

And that was allocated through regular budgeting, not through this project?

Actually, it was in the CIP. Gosh, probably 10 years ago, the council allocated $1.2 million for sidewalk improvements. And over the years that had been spent on different things, the last two years, 24 and 25, we allocated specific funding in the amount of several hundred thousand dollars to spend that balance down.

Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Other questions for staff or council? Okay, with that, then I will go to the audience. Does anyone in the audience like to speak in support of, in support of? Anyone speak in opposition to, in opposition to? Any other discussion from the council before I close the public hearing? I will close the public hearing. Next item on the agenda is Introduction and Reading of Bill 5418, Adopting the CIP Program.

I'll introduce it, Your Honor. First.

First reading of Bill 5418, an ordinance adopting the City of Blue Springs Capital Improvements Program for fiscal years 2026-27 to 2030-31.

Your Honor, I move to approve on the first reading and proceed to the second.

Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? All in favor, aye. Aye. Any opposed, no. Motion carries, second reading.

Second reading of Bill 5418, an ordinance adopting the City of Blue Springs Capital Improvements Program for fiscal years 2026-27 to 2030-31.

Your Honor, I move we approve on the second reading and assign the appropriate ordinance number.

Is there a second? Second. Any further discussion?

Roll call.

Council Member Tholen. Aye. Erickson. Aye. Markworth.

Aye.

Rowan. Aye. Kaler. Aye. Mayor Lovesay.

Aye.

Carried unanimously and given ordinance number 5512.

Next item on the agenda is public comment for ordinances that are in the remaining part of the agenda. And so for the public comment, I have several speakers that want to speak on item 10, the Wind Water General Development Plan. Mr. Anderson, you're top of my list here, so if you don't mind coming up. uh we'll just add i don't think what was made clear at the last meeting was that this proposal meets the code that's currently being proposed to develop in so they meet the regional commercial plan and so all the the city is considering is the general development plan which essentially the layout of the development whether it meets the zoning and items that we have some discretion on such as landscaping and buffering and the framework for the plan. So we really don't have a lot of discretion. They can, by right, build this use and this project in this property. So denying it altogether is not really within our discretion. So we're looking at approvals for the general development plan that meet the layout and the framework of the development itself. So with that in mind, why don't you come on up and give the comments. And again, Larry Anderson, I have you first. And I believe you and I had communicated something along those lines this week by email, but wanted to make that clear for everyone.

And I appreciate that. So yeah, I'm Larry Anderson. I live at Stonecrest. And this is the fourth time we've been up here stating our concerns, and we appreciate that opportunity. realizing what you just said i'm going to take my three minutes and run through my points uh as you may recall half the planning commission didn't like how this wind water proposal fits five four to five vote and this is the second time the council has been presented with some adjustments there's been a lot of questions a lot of half answers and some band-aid fixes now we have a couple more band-aid fixes on slide 2b And this is, the first one here is from the council agenda, page 317. We see an eight foot fence now where we had a six foot before. And you can see on slide 2A, an eight foot fence is not gonna block the view that you see from Saunders Road. You're gonna see trucks and pipes left and right. The next item from the council agenda, page 320, the new angled drive onto Saunders. And you can look carefully at the drawing that is on your agenda. Trucks coming out of Saunders, they're gonna almost block both lanes. They're gonna pull up to Jefferson and wait to get onto Jefferson. When they pull onto Jefferson, they're so long, they're gonna take two lanes to get out there. What's wrong with that picture? Last one, from the council agenda, page 317. You can see the views from Saunders Road. We've got a gate there, a wrought iron gate, and I see trees and grass behind that gate. That's not right. It's going to be trucks and pipes. That's inaccurate. Okay, zoning. Zoning implies some measure of aesthetics. Ascetics are a judgment call that the council has the authority to be the judge of what's acceptable or not for ascetics and the quality of life issues for the residents. Slides four, five, and six. These other Midwestern cities, Denver, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Lincoln, Olathe, Kansas City, have put windwaters where they belong, in an industrial park, not next to a single family home. There's no single family homes in those pictures on slides four, five, and six. Okay, slide 13. A, upper left-hand corner. This is why they don't belong. Home valuations will drop, not by a small amount, if an appropriate business was nearby. We're talking a large devaluation of property values. $489,000 maybe from an unsightly pipe trucking and storage lot business? Would you buy a home? If your backyard was next to trucks and pipes making noise all day long, unloading pipes, loading pipes a few feet from your backyard, then maybe you've run the calculation. You can plug the percentage if you want. Mr. Anderson, that's your time.

Appreciate it. Next, I have Speaker Willie Jordan. Willie, if you'll come up, you've got three minutes to tell us what you're thinking.

Thanks for allowing me to come up. I'm Willie Jordan, I live at 2604 Northwest Timberline Drive. Look at picture 12 and 13. My home is directly behind this proposed project. My family and I, we moved to Blue Springs in 2003, like many other families. Looking for a good school district to raise our family and looking for a nice neighborhood to live in. We've invested years into this community and thousands of dollars into our homes, and we've enjoyed the peaceful residential environment that it provides. As I approach retirement, I've been looking forward to enjoying the fruits of my labor, sitting on the backyard, relaxing on the deck, but now you're saying I have to listen and look at pipes, forklifts beeping all day. To me, that's not fair. This proposed project will put a negative impact not only on me and the quality of my life, but also my neighbors. This is a neighborhood, not industrial park commercial site. The noise, the traffic, the visual impact of this operation are significant concerns for me and for my neighbors, especially the ones that are directly behind this project. I respectfully ask that you reconsider the project and its location. My neighbors and I do not deserve this. We should be able to live in peaceful, quiet neighborhood, not disrupted by industrial activity so close to our homes.

Thank you, Mr. Jordan. Next I have, I believe this is Andy Quick. Continue whenever you're ready.

All right, as you said, my name's Andy Quick. I live at 1509 Northwest Timberland Court. I happen to be the president of HOA for Stormcrest. I do understand, Mr. Mayor, that this project meets code, and I'm not here to argue a checklist. What I am here to argue, I guess, is that simply meeting the minimum criteria is not the same as being right for this community. Forgive me, you're gonna hear some of the same points you've probably been hearing for months. My first one, though, is the stormwater. I know the plan calls for some alleviation of it, but they have developed and graded that land already, cut off about half the trees that we're preventing and backing as a natural barrier, flooding several of my neighbor's backyards in heavy rain. and I'm not sure a retaining wall is going to be sufficient. My second point again is Saunders. It's a substandard road. The substructure was not built, I mean it's an old road, it wasn't built to handle semi-truck traffic. Simply whiting it is not going to, it's gonna fail within a matter of just a few years. The third point is, and it's kind of an opinion thing, that the flex space that they're intending to build, just a quarter mile west, there's four or five flex buildings just like it that are sitting empty. It's not meeting a market need, it's oversupply, and it's being parked in our backyard. Finally, it's an aesthetic thing. Having those pipes and everything visible from the front, it's ugly. It's not aesthetically pleasing. Even Geyer Fence, even though they have outdoor storage, it's covered and it's basically camouflaged from street view. I'm not against development. It's gonna happen. It's good for the community. I'm not even asking you to necessarily decline the proposal. but maybe table it and get some independent assessments on some of these things before, instead of just the applicant's ideas and say so, before it gets approved. That's all I ask. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Quigg. Next I have is Jack Redney. You can come on up if you're ready. Did you want my address and all, or am I signed in? It's not a public hearing, so you can continue when you're ready.

OK. Thank you, council and mayor, for your time and consideration. Some time ago, I had a meeting with some city officials about several land issues. After the meeting, I was told that there was a conversation in which one of those officials said, this meeting is proof of why we should listen to our constituents. That's what you are doing today with these fine neighbors. You are listening to them. You are in charge of their quality of life and property values. In that regard, some years ago, we brought a proposal for an apartment project to the then city council, a different one, but city council. It complied, I heard your comments, Mayor, it complied with all zoning and other criterion. And yet one homeowner's objection overcame our project. One homeowner and one council lady with a letter from that homeowner didn't even appear, killed our project. We complied with the zoning, but a homeowner request, one, killed it. This group of homeowners and commercial constituents asked for similar consideration. The Windwater Engineering firm says their business is consistent with other businesses on Jefferson. It simply is not true. Aesthetically, truck traffic, architecture, storage, it simply is not consistent with all else, nor to the east, nor with all else the city has demanded of us on our property to the west. further states that their project would not be harmful to rrc zoning land that's speculation it's not true we have evidence that similar business models and construction to the west have already cost the city and us a valuable asset and upgrade to the area marriott hotels turned down our site because of the neighborhood demographic. I respectfully ask this council to not surround us and allow similar demographics to our east. The Marriott Hotel is capable of changing the trajectory of this area. What do you want? The city has insisted on high value commercial properties from us, but you're not insisting on it here. In fact, we, according to the city's restrictions on our RC zoning, we are not allowed to put this wind water project on our land. It does not comply with the city's specific demands within our RC zoning. So if it's prohibited on our land, why would you want to allow it next to us? We were encouraged by the then city council to build an office park and to bring other high value commercial opportunities. We're trying to do that. We can't do it without help for the city taking care of the neighborhood. Thank you very much for your time.

Appreciate your time as well. Next speaker, looks like Loretta Ross.

Mr. Mayor and Council, I appreciate your time. I live at 1505 Northwest Timberline Court with my family. I am here agreeing with the things my neighbors have said. If you would look at that packet, there's a little picture of Saunders Road where you see a school bus and a car. trying to pass each other. I have raised many children in this neighborhood. It's where we've called home for the last six plus years. I've lived in Blue Springs for 27 years. There are at least three families, including my own, who have children with special needs and developmental disabilities in our community. My own son is a 23 year old who has special needs. The way he expresses his independence living in our community is that he's able to walk by himself down Saunders Road and take a right on the outer road to take himself to Casey's when he wants to buy a Coke from the gas station. And right now, Saunders Road is so small that there is no way two cars can pass each other safely. And even if you expand that, there will not be room for a sidewalk. Additionally, I would let you know that since the trees have been cut down, the verbal or the auditory Quality of the neighborhood has diminished greatly. We can hear all of the highway traffic. We've already been subject to hearing all of the parties that happen at the Harley-Davidson place down the street. They have lovely bands they bring in. We all get to hear those from our backyard. Now we have the highway noise as well, and we are not looking forward to the beeps of backhoes and truck traffic. But I'm mostly concerned about the safety issue and the fact that this home, which we purchased six years ago, is our biggest investment. I'm 61 years old. I want to retire someday. And when I sell my property with at least $100,000 of improvements that we've put into our property, I'd like to get some of that value back. And I'm very concerned that you're killing our neighborhood and my ability to retire and the ability of my neighbors to effectively gain what they have put into their homes and invested into this community back. This is not a neighborhood that is typical of a neighborhood that would be surrounded by industrial stuff. So I agree that whatever the proposal is, six foot fence or eight foot fence, it isn't good enough. We need the kind of fencing that I've seen off 435 in Overland Park or Leawood, something that blocks the noise and the traffic if we're gonna put that up there. We need to see a much different proposal. So I would agree and ask along with my neighbors for this to be tabled until you come back with something that doesn't basically put all of the homes in our subdivision out of our ability to live there or ever sell our homes or raise our children safely. And I thank you for your time.

Thank you. Final one I have looks like from Linda Deluna is what I'm going to say.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Linda DeLuna, and my husband and I live at 2512 Northwest Timberline Drive, which sits directly adjacent to the proposed property that we're here talking about. We are here tonight to ask that the City Council deny this proposal due to the severe direct negative impacts it will have on our surrounding neighborhood. we must look at the physical reality of a water work supply yard when water handles massive infrastructure materials like heavy municipal pipes and large-scale valves. Operating this yard requires a continuous stream of heavy flatbed trucks and loud industrial forklifts. The piercing backup alarms, the slamming of heavy metals, and constant diesel engine noise will severely disrupt our neighborhood worsening the noise pollution we already face with the I-70 expansion. Furthermore, our local infrastructure cannot handle this freight. The intersection of Jefferson and Saunders is already heavily utilized. Introducing slow-moving, wide-turning commercial trucks carrying oversized cargo into this traffic mix is an immediate hazard for families and daily commuters. This industrial aesthetic also completely undermines the character, zoning intent, and visual appear of this corridor. An open air yard stacked high with industrial utility inventory and machinery is an eyesore. No amount of standard fencing can obscure an active sprawling waterworks distributor. When you ruin the visual character of an area, neighboring property values plummet. To support this, I have provided you with a letter from a local realtor outlining our property value concerns, and I would direct you to the highlighted statements reflected in that letter. Homeowners invest in Blue Strings with the expectation that the city will enforce smart, compatible zoning that protects their investments. Compounding this issue is a proposal for speculative flex space buildings. Because a developer cannot guarantee who will occupy these units, this council is essentially signing a blank check for overdevelopment. These spaces can easily transition into automotive repair shops or high turnover retail, creating a logistical nightmare. One side of the lot will feature Windwater flatbeds, while the other faces a chaotic influx of delivery vans and customer vehicles. The west end of the Jefferson Corridor already has new flex space buildings. However, they are not adjacent to any single family homes.

Please protect our neighborhood.

Thoroughly review the severe traffic and environmental impacts and deny Windwater's proposal. Thank you for your time and your service to Blue Springs.

Thank you, Ms. Saluda. Those are all the speaker appearance forms I have. The only other item on the, yep, come on up, that's what I was about to say. Unless anybody's got any comments on Colburn Road annexation, this is the only other item. You can give it to us when you're here in just a moment.

Yep.

Is it Dew? Yes. All right, Mr. Dew, please continue. 2612 Northwest Stonecrest Court. I don't know that I can add anything to what my neighbors have said. They've all spoke very well. I was late a little bit today for a reason, the very reason I'm in this town. I'm a country boy. I was raised out in Bates City where it was quiet, and I love the neighborhood I'm in. It's quiet, was quiet. I'd like it to stay that way. I was driving here today coming down Vesper, five cars ahead of me, a tree falls across the road. all five cars got out every driver every passenger we all collectively got the tree off the road as friends as neighbors we pushed things off the road so we could all continue into our evening that's why i live here i love it um i don't think that code is broken it doesn't seem you guys have covered that you said it in your opening there's no code breaking here we legally based on code, have to let them do it. But that's not what we're asking. Most of us are saying, it just doesn't fit. It's gonna run our property values, it's gonna run our peace, it's gonna ruin why we're here, why we're in that particular neighborhood. There are neighborhoods that are louder, but ours is quiet. That's what I love about it, that's why I'm there. And this beautiful city has that opportunity right in the middle of the city, and I'd hate to see that change. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Du. I saw somebody else had another speaker. Come on up if you, yep, come on up. If you're ready, go ahead. Thank you so much. Ms. Morris, Galloway-Morris, continue when you're ready.

My name's Emily Galloway Morris. I've lived in Blue Springs since 1972, December 72. I've lived in the Lake Village addition in my home there at 3613 Southwest Lakeshore Drive for 40 years now. My backyard is facing the Christensen Law Office and that's all commercial property back there. It's several acres back to the apartments and so on and then down to Moreland School Road area and there's a creek there. near my backyard and runs to the north, and there's about 17 neighbors there that have their backyards kind of adjoining that creek bed, which we don't own. The commercial property owners to the west own that and don't maintain it. They don't maintain the field there. They don't... clean it they don't mow hardly ever and so we're asking for help we know the city's been helping with some of the flood control lately some of the storm sewer lines needed to be replaced there at your lexington circle and lakeshore drive and they did replace those they were just way too small for what was needed there's a huge amount of water that comes down the uh hills from lexington circles and concord and also the cordell mason elementary school area down christiansen street lots of water so we need help getting that creek cleaned out better so that it will drain properly and not backflow and There's so many trees and roots in there, things that really need to be cleaned up and it gets awful smelly sometimes when it doesn't drain right in the heat of the summer, full of mosquitoes. It's not a healthy atmosphere and we need to get it fixed right so that we have an even better storm, like flood ponds maybe even up further. There's one by the school. And we need more because there's more homes being built east or south and east of Cordell Mason Elementary even. There's a lot of homes out there. So they're coming in and that is more runoff into our addition. So that is what we're asking for is help with that city to talk to those owners to get that fixed right.

All right. I appreciate your comments. I know your district council members have been talking to some of your neighbors and been working on that. So appreciate your comments here tonight. I apologize it wasn't clear. There will still be a section, a visitor section, at the end of the meeting for all issues. This should be specifically on the items on the agenda. So any other further on either the Windwater General Development Plan or the Colburn Road annexation before we move on? Okay, no additional comments seen, then we'll go on to item 10, that is introduction to reading of bill 5419, approving a wind water general development plan. Do I have an introduction? I'll introduce it, your honor.

First reading of bill 5419, an ordinance approving the general development plan for wind water and flex use at 2601 Northwest Jefferson Street, Blue Springs, Jackson County, Missouri.

Your Honor, I move to approve the first reading and proceed with the second.

Is there a second?

Second.

Is there any discussion? Yes, Your Honor. Council Member Erickson. Is the applicant present?

The applicant is here.

May I ask some questions? What's the appropriate way to do that?

So there really isn't one, because the public hearing is closed. If you have some questions, I don't mind allowing the applicant if that's something that a council member is requesting.

You have some questions for them? Yeah, I have.

Is the applicant willing to come up and answer some questions?

Some of them might be actually for staff, but.

You have a question for staff? I think they're prepared as well.

No, it's for everybody, I guess. Could you tell me the, someone told me that staff They threw out some guest numbers for the number of semis per day and the delivery trucks with trailers. How many of those do you think you'll have?

Yeah, so Wind Water operates five vehicles. Two of them are 250, four 250s, I believe, of that size. And then they have a couple trucks that pull 22-foot trailers. And they typically get an average of three to four semi loads a day for deliveries.

So if I want to be generous, you would say three semis per day, five days a week?

I would say, if you want to be generous, I would say four or five.

Okay, well then let's say 20 of them then because that, let's see, you got, if I'm doing the math right, four semis per day.

Five days would be 20.

Five days a week, so 20 of them. And then how many of those trucks will come back and forth? Just a guess, make it minimal, I don't care, I just wanna know.

Let's say they make 10 deliveries a day. Okay. To do 53 million in revenue, they would have to be making quite a few deliveries of piping.

So has any thought been given to where those 20 semis and 20 trucks are gonna go after they get on to Jefferson? Are they gonna go west to Jefferson? Are they gonna, excuse me, to Woods Chapel Road or east to, Seven Highway?

I would say they would determine on where they're headed. If I was headed toward downtown, I would go to Woods Chapel. Otherwise, I'd head to probably Seven.

Have they given any consideration? I know there's a lot of questions, but have they given any consideration for the amount of time to turn left to get back to I-70 off of Jefferson Street? It's difficult to do with a car. My point is it seems impossible to me, but I haven't seen a traffic study. Okay. So you don't, you don't, okay.

I don't have an answer for that one.

Let me go on to this one then. In the original that you withdrew, or whomever withdrew it, Saunders Road was to be widened completely. Now it's half width, is that correct?

No, that's not correct. So I guess let's just back up maybe, because I'm getting hit with quite a few questions. We withdrew the special use permit because of misunderstanding residential storage in the flex use buildings so that was no longer that was never I mean for this prime location you're probably not going to rent one of these flex units to store your Christmas trees so it doesn't make business sense for us and to get away from that special use permit we back up you know we went to Planning Commission We listened to what Planning Commission had. We listened to the residents. From the Planning Commission, we had issues or concerns of the colors of the buildings. As you can see, the architectural renderings, it's going to look nice. I am a resident of Blue Springs.

Could I interrupt you and ask you to answer the question on Saunders Road? Just Saunders, and then I'll ask you some others, and you can keep going all night if you want.

Saunders is being improved on the east side as required by code. And then over and beyond, my client is improving the west side by three feet to bring it to the full width requirement.

So it's gonna be full widths?

28 feet wide, yes. Okay. The west side will not be curved together, but it will be concrete slab, and we were working with the city engineer on that.

And then the sidewalk, one of the premises is that, even though it's approved by right or whatever, that there's a sidewalk that you're going to escrow?

I believe we're not even gonna escrow it. We're gonna write a check to the city. Well, however, okay. It's not gonna be escrowed, so it's not gonna expire in three years. But we are paying for that sidewalk. And the sidewalk itself is not to get out of or try to short the city to show good faith. We're just gonna go ahead and pay that into the general fund. We provided a sidewalk constructability diagram there.

I saw that. I was confused because of some of the other things that changed since last night.

As you can see here, it would not ever come close to ADA requirements. At the end of it, you're going to have to put some type of object marker, like a road closed. If you can imagine someone trying to ride a bike at night, and once they get past the Windwater site, they're in the creek and we've got a liability problem.

then one last one in the packet it says about it talks about the septic tank will be either abandoned or removed it's already gone it's already gone okay appreciate that all right that's my question thank you appreciate it any other discussion from the council

Okay. I will just add, so in addition to the project meeting zoning, our ability to evaluate the gender development plan is just based on reasonableness. We have already requested of the applicant additional screening. We've already requested additional buffering. We've already requested many design modifications. So things that I heard tonight requested as residents were a large uh interstate style fence that's not something that we can require that would be considered reasonable in half of the business we have to balance the rights of the residents with the rights of the business as well and so we have to find where that line falls and so i i don't know that there's a lot more we can ask of the business developer at this point because we've continued to ask them more additional things and they continue to provide them so um i think i'm I understand the concerns of the residents. The zoning is what it is, and they meet the zoning requirements, and that's part of our responsibility is to make sure that they meet those requirements and then approve it accordingly. Any other comments from the council? Okay, then with that, all in favor, aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, no.

No.

All right, I'm gonna go ahead and just roll call that.

Council Member Erickson?

No.

Mark Worth?

Aye.

Rowan?

Aye.

Kaler?

No.

Dolan? Aye. Mayor Lovesay?

Aye.

Motion carries.

All right, second reading.

Second reading of Bill 5419, an ordinance approving the general development plan for wind water and flex use at 2601 Northwest Jefferson Street, Blue Springs, Jackson County, Missouri.

I move we approve on the second reading and proceed to assign the appropriate ordinance number.

Is there a second? Second. Any further discussion? Okay, roll call.

Councilmember Markworth?

Aye.

Rowan? Aye. Kaler?

Aye.

Dolan? Aye. Erickson?

No.

Mayor Lovesay?

Aye.

Motion carries and given ordinance number 5513.

Next item is item 11, second reading of Bill 5413. This is the second reading of the Colburn Road annexation. The second reading, motion.

Second reading of Bill 5413, an ordinance annexing 2.43 plus minus acres of unincorporated property consisting entirely of Southwest Colburn Road right of way east of Southwest 7 Highway into the city of Blue Springs, Jackson County, Missouri.

Your Honor, I move we approve on this second reading and approve and apply the appropriate ordinance number.

Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? Okay, this is roll call.

Council Member Rowan?

Aye.

Kaler? Aye. Dolan? Aye. Erickson? Aye. Markworth? Aye. Mayor Lovesay?

Aye.

Carried unanimously and given ordinance number 5514.

Next item on the agenda is the visitor section. I do have a speaker appearance form from Levi Woodbury. Is Levi here? Okay, he had indicated the August 3rd council meeting, so he may be here for that, but I wanted to make sure just in case he just got the dates wrong. I don't have any other speaker appearance forms. With that then, I will go to council member comments. Any council members have anything to add this evening? Maybe that like Blue Spring South is in District 1? I mean, I already mentioned it, but if you want to emphasize it.

No, that's fine. It is in District 1. I have to say I was really antsy and disappointed that I had to come to the meeting two times ago because I wanted to watch the US of A play. It was a bittersweet night at midnight when I tried to say, Anyway, whatever, it was disappointing, but we were here a long time, and we did a yeoman's job for three hours.

That was an honest meeting.

Congrats to all you guys. Your Honor?

Yes, Councilmember Kaler. I could have saved him in time and told him what the score was.

No, I think he was trying to avoid that. That's why I didn't delete your email address.

Well, yes, it was a disappointing loss. But I guess congratulations, Spain. I don't know. Yeah, we should. We should. Exciting. Spain, I think, does become the first team to have the Women's World Cup winners and the Men's World Cup back to back. And I know Kansas City is also looking to get the Women's World Cup. So we might be able to do this again, just hit repeat all over again. Any other councilmember comments this evening? I know you're itching to remind people about District 1, Councilmember Kaler.

I'm going to sit right here, sir.

All right. Well, I don't know that I have anything that I'm missing upcoming events. It's still summer, and so Parks Department is still doing lots of exciting things every day and every week. So get out and participate in one of those. And with that, then, I'm going to have the city clerk read some items for the exec session to so move.

Mayor, a motion is in order for the council to go into closed session pursuant to section 610.021, subparagraph one and three, revised statutes of Missouri for the purpose of privileged communications between a governmental body or its representative and legal counsel relating to litigation and personnel, and that any minutes, documents, and other records discussed or taken during the closed session remain closed, and that the regular meeting of this body stands adjourned at the completion of such session.

So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Is there any discussion? Roll call.

Council Member Kaler?

Aye.

Solon? Aye. Erickson? Aye. Markworth?

Aye.

Rowan? Aye. Mayor Lovesay? Aye. Motion carries.

We will head to executive session. I think it's going to be long.