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Contact Your
City Councilmember
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District 1
District 2
District 3
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Community Blood Drive
Monday, August 14
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Blue Springs Police Department
1100 SW Smith Street
The Community Blood Center is in an Emergency Blood Shortage. There is no substitute for blood and it has to come from one person to be given to another. For this reason, a critical number of voluntary donations are required every day to meet the need for blood in the Blue Springs area.
Please consider giving blood during our annual Community Blood Drive. It is
in partnership with the Community Blood Center and is open to the public. To register click here.
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Taste of Blue Springs
Saturday, August 19
4-7 p.m.
Blue Springs High School
2000 NW Ashton Drive
Join the Blue Springs Historical Society for their third Annual Taste of Blue Springs event!
Bring family and friends to enjoy a variety of delicious food samplings from 30+ local restaurants. Attendees can also
enter a raffle that will feature a number of gift baskets sponsored by local businesses.
Tickets are $12 in advance and $17 at the door; free for children 5 and younger.
You can purchase tickets by
clicking here
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Annual Clothing Bank
Saturday, August 19
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
1416 S 19th Street
Several area congregations have gathered gently used clothing to give to those in need. This event is open to the public and community members can come and take what they need.
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Facebook Live Town Hall
Tuesday, August 22
6-7 p.m.
Cordill-Mason Elementary School
4001 SW Christiansen Drive
The Blue Springs City Council will host a Facebook Live town hall meeting on Tuesday, August 22 at Cordill-Mason Elementary School, 4001 SW Christiansen Drive, beginning at 6 p.m. to talk with community members about city government issues.
The Mayor and Council will provide development updates, information about the 5-Year Dedicated Parks Maintenance Sales Tax implementation, field questions from residents in the audience and via Facebook, and facilitate dialog about City priorities.
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Officers Down 5K and Community Day
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Sunday, August 26
8 a.m. to Noon
Blue Springs High
2000 NW Ashton Drive
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Community members are invited to register for the
Officers Down 5K. This nationwide event is to recognize
officers who put their lives on the line daily to keep our communities safe and honor those who have fallen in the line of duty. The day will include
a 5k run walk, a kids fun run, and a community day where we will have vendors, police cars, STAT, and K9 Demos among other things.
Click here to register for this event. Please note you must register no later than August 13 if you would like to get an event day dri-fit t-shirt. To stay updated about the event, join the
Facebook event page by clicking here.
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Paper Shredding Event
Saturday, August 26
9 a.m. to Noon (or until full)
903 W. Main Street
City Hall (exterior)
Blue Springs residents can properly dispose of sensitive documents at this drive-up paper shredding event! Residents are permitted up to 4 grocery bags per person and the event will run until the truck is full.
All paper collected will be recycled; dry, clean paper only. Please do not bring binders or binder clips (small paper clips and staples are okay).
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Let's Move! Saturdays
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These events are free and open to the public.
To view the entire spring/summer schedule,
click here.
CrossFit Cerberus
200 NW 11th Street
Aug. 12, 10-11 a.m.
Kids Yoga
Rink Ratz
513 SW Keystone Drive
Aug 12, 4:30 -6:30 p.m.
Open Roller Skating
Blue Springs Fieldhouse
425 NE Mock Ave
Aug 19, 10-11 a.m.
Open Soccer/Turf Time
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 News Happenings
Around Town
A bi-weekly message from your Blue Springs Mayor and City Council |
Hello and welcome to News Happenings Around
Town, your on
e-stop source for City information and news
updates including information that's im
portant to you.
On August 1, 2017, the proposed annual budget of $68,306,425 was submitted to the Mayor and City Council for their review and consideration.
The Proposed 2017-18 Fiscal Year Budget is available
online and the Public Hearing of the Budget is set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 6 at the Howard L. Brown Public Safety Building.
I ask that each of you take the time to review it and read this edition for more information on possible impacts to our City.
Next week marks our annual Community Blood Drive. It is a great opportunity for you to give the gift of life to those in need. Keep reading for more details on how you can sign-up to give.
In this edition you can also read more about upcoming events including Second Saturdays in Downtown Blue Springs, the upcoming Taste of Blue Springs event and the City Hall paper shredding event. Finally, as school starts back up next week, remember to be careful sas you sahre the roads with student drivers and be attentive in school zones.
As always, please continue sharing this timely publication and spreading the word about the good things in the City of Blue Springs.
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The Proposed 2017-2018 FY Budget
The Proposed 2017-18 Fiscal Year Budget of $68,306,425 represents the City's continued effort to provide residents with high value municipal services in a fiscally responsible manner that is in alignment with the 2015 Strategic Plan Framework and the 2014 Citizen Survey. It
includes areas where new revenue sources will allow the City to address deferred maintenance in the City's Parks system and other areas where operational expenditures must be reduced due to areas of minimal revenue growth.
Proposed Budget highlights include:
* General Fund operating budget increases by .60% or $153,129. The personal services budget increases by 1.63%, materials and supplies are decreasing by .99%, contractual services decrease by .07%, and capital outlay decreases by 14.31%.
* A reduction in full time employees of 3.65 bringing total employment to 318.64 full time employees.
* $2,850,000 for the construction of NE Roanoke Drive from Adams Dairy Parkway east to NE Porter Road.
* Anticipated closure of the Recycling Center located in Pink Hill Park by October 1, 2017, due to rising costs of operations.
* Implementation of the first year of the 5-Year Deferred Maintenance Parks Sales Tax.
* 22.3% of all City funding supports public safety efforts.
The proposed budget is available online here and the Public Hearing of the Budget is set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 6 at the Howard L. Brown Public Safety Building. T
he second reading and adoption is scheduled for the City Council Meeting on September 18.
Prior City Budgets can be reviewed on the City's website in PDF format by clicking here or on the City's OpenGov platform.
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Eastern Metro Municipal Challenge
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| Top Photo (left to right): Raytown Mayor Michael McDonough, Blue Springs Mayor Carson Ross and Sugar Creek Mayor Mark Larson; Bottom Photo (left to right): Independence City Administrator Lauren Palmer, Oak Grove City Adminstrator Steven Craig and Blue Springs City Administrator Eric Johnson. |
In late July, I participated in the seventh annual Mayor's HotShot Basketball Challenge with fellow mayors from
Grain Valley, Oak Grove, Raytown and Sugar Creek to celebrate the opening games of the Eastern Jackson County Municipal Challenge. For the second year in a row, our City Administrator Eric Johnson challenged fellow City Administrators from
Grain Valley, Independence and Oak Grove in the City Administrators' Hotshot Basketball Competition.
Our annual challenge allows city employees from neighboring communities to come together for fun, wellness and fellowship. The city with the highest number of points at the end of the two-week competition will win a trophy which will remain in that city until the next year's competition.
Congratulations are in order for our City Administrator Eric Johnson who brought home the gold medal for the second year in a row for the Adminstrators' Hotshot Challenge! I did not bring home the gold this year but I did get the silver and I'll be going for gold next time around. Congratulations to first place winner Mike Larson, Mayor of Sugar Creek!
Special thanks to Councilman Jerry Kaylor for being the event MC and to our employees who came out to support Team Blue Springs.
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Downtown Alive! Second Saturdays
Saturday, August 12
4-8 p.m.
Downtown Blue Springs
Artists, makers and merchants are invited to bring merchandise to sell each Second Saturday from 4-8 p.m. along Oak Street.
This event is hosted by Downtown Alive! and will be no charge to attendees or people selling items and will be held rain or shine. Each month will bring a different mix of artists and activities plus there will be various musical entertainment.
For more information and a calendar of upcoming events,
click here
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Happy Sixth Birthday Let's Move! Saturdays
 On Saturday, August 5, I had the pleasure of joining Let's Move! Saturdays as they celebrated their sixth birthday in style at the Gage Center.
This program is a continued success in Blue Springs providing free fun for our community members.
What you may not know is that it is operated on almost a full volunteer basis. The businesses donate their time and facility while local volunteers coordinate the events; the City of Blue Springs helps to promote these events.
I'm looking forward to another year of fun with Let's Move! Saturdays.
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New Blue Springs Point of View Episode
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| Blue Springs POV Episode 13 |
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Check out what's new and going on in Blue Springs by watching the monthly Blue Springs Point of View (POV) episodes. You can also stay informed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by tuning into CTV-7 on Comcast Cable channel 7 or AT&T U-verse Channel 99.
To watch videos of past Blue Springs events, check out the City's YouTube page by
clicking here.
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I hope you have found this issue of News Happenings Around Town to be both informative and timely for your City information needs. Is there anything we missed? Do you have questions about any of the articles from this issue? Share your thoughts with me and the City Council by calling City Hall at (816) 228-0110. Know that we truly value your time and support of our City and hope you join us for the next issue of News Happenings.
Sincerely,
Carson Ross, Mayor
City of Blue Springs |
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