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Chris Sandie named Public Works Director
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City Administrator Eric Johnson has recently named Chris Sandie as the permanent Public Works Director. Sandie has worked in an Interim role for the last several months, due to the passing of long-time Public Works Director Oliver DeGrate last year. Sandie has over 29 years of public works experience with the City of Blue Springs and has served as the Assistant Public Works Director since 2006.
Mr. Sandie will have oversight of both the Engineering and Operations sections of the Public Works Department and will continue to serve as the City's Emergency Management Coordinator. Mr. Sandie has lived and worked in Blue Springs since 1973, and is a graduate of Blue Springs High School and the University of Central Missouri.
I would like to be the first to congratulate Chris on his new position! For more information, click here.
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Roscoe Righter awarded Civic Leadership Award
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Municipal Parking Lot Signs Are Up!
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As you may remember, the City purchased the America's Community Bank satellite parking lot in May. The paperwork is now complete and the new municipal lot signs are up!
The City plans to combine the newly acquired parking lot with the adjacent municipal parking lot to create a new, expanded public parking lot with over 90 spaces. The new public parking lot will be landscaped and incorporate architectural and engineering design elements to serve as an attractive and highly functioning addition to the downtown corridor; serving local businesses, municipal needs and special events.
Construction on the expanded public parking lot will coincide with renovations to the Howard L. Brown Public Safety Campus expected to begin this fall.
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Farmers Market
Saturday, August 3
Saturday, August 10
 Paper Shredding Drive Up Event August 17, 9-11:30 a.m. Blue Springs City Hall 903 W Main Street
Bring your sensitive documents to this drive-up paper shredding event!
Residents are permitted up to
four paper grocery bags of documents to be shred on-site.
Sensitive documents may include old tax returns, processed checks, loan applications, financial reports and papers that include Social Security or credit card account numbers.
All paper collected will be recycled.
For more information, call (816) 220-4504.
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Let's Move! Saturdays!
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1100 NW Highway 7
August 3, 10-11 a.m.
Join us for dancing activities.
Lunar Bowl
2001 NW Highway 7
August 3, 2-4 p.m.
Join us for a game of bowling. Clean tennis shoes required.
Centennial Pool-Plex - The Blue
August 10, 9-11 a.m.
Join us for a water polo clinic.
Action Martial Arts
August 10, 12:30-2 p.m.
Join us for kids kickboxing and cross training events. Ages 7-13, capacity of 25. Register at (816) 224-4105.
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City Government on
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Check out what's new and going on in Blue Springs, 24 hours a day,
7 days a week.
Watch Comcast Cable
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 News Happenings
Around Town A bi-weekly message from your Blue Springs Mayor and City Council |
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Greetings!
Hello and welcome to News Happenings Around Town, your one-stop source for City information and news updates, including those items most important to you.
Tuesday, August 6 is election day here in Blue Springs. To see what is on the ballot, click here. If you need help finding your voting location, click here and fill out the form on the right.
Just a reminder that we have moved our National Night Out from August to October. This decision was made two years ago when we had to cancel our event due to extreme heat. This year's event will be held on Tuesday, October 1 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. For more information about our National Night Out event, click here.
Lastly, we will be having a budget work session on Thursday, August 22 beginning at 6 p.m. in the Howard L. Brown Public Safety Building. Public comment will not be taken, but this is an open meeting and anyone can attend. A public hearing will be held on Wednesday, September 4 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Howard L. Brown Public Safety Building and public comment will be taken at this meeting.
As always, please continue sharing this timely publication and spreading the word about what's good and going on in the City of Blue Springs.
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August 6 Election
On the August 6 election ballot, the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District (CJCFPD) has placed a $.15 EMS levy question for your consideration. To see an informational video about the ballot question, click here.
The question is as follows:
"Shall the Board of Directors of the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District be authorized to provide emergency ambulance service within the District and be authorized to levy an additional tax of not more than $0.15 on the $100 assessed valuation to provide funds for such service, $0.05 of which would be levied for the year 2013, and $0.05 of which would be levied for the year 2014, and the final $0.05 of which would be levied for the year 2015?"
In October 2012, the City Council passed a resolution supporting the permanent transfer of the City's Ambulance license to CJCFPD.
On Monday, July 29 the City Council held a work session to discuss the ballot initiative and the majority of the City Council is supportive of the CJCFPD ballot initiative.
The Council also discussed what would happen with the current EMS annual subsidy should the proposed ballot initiative pass. The current subsidy is over $700,000 a year and would be phased out over three years of the initiative is successful. After much discussion, the Council agreed to keep an open mind and continue the conversation after the election at the first Budget Work Session on August 22, 6 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Howard L. Brown Public Safety Building. This work session is open to the public, but is designed to allow the City Administrator to present his recommended budget and allow for Council comment and direction. No public comments will be taken at this time.
The public hearing for the City's budget will be on September 4, 6:30 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Howard L. Brown Public Safety Building. Public comments will be taken at this meeting.
I encourage you to exercise your rights and vote on August 6! For more information about the August 6 ballot or to find your polling location, click here.
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Simply the Best
Congratulations to our very own Downtown Alive! for winning the "Outstanding Affiliate Community Award" at the Missouri Main Street Connection Annual Conference and Banquet last week!
These awards don't just happen, they are the result of the hard work and amazing dedication of the Downtown Alive! group. This group has accomplished a commendable amount of work in just a few years, and they are always looking for more volunteers to help them achieve their goals. To get involved with Downtown Alive, send a note to Cindy Miller by clicking here.
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Sni-A-Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant Ribbon Cutting
The City of Blue Springs along with the City of Grain Valley hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, July 31 to celebrate the completion of the Sni-A-Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion project.
The Sni-A-Bar Wastewater Sewer plant is shared resource between The City of Blue Springs and the City of Grain Valley. The expansion project increased plant capacity from 6 to 10 million gallons a day and allows the plant to address environmental regulations and meet growth projections for the next 20 years.
This project incorporated an innovative 'green' solution for solid waste treatment, which reduces the processing costs. The new 'green' feature is the implementation of reed bed technology. Specially designed reed beds offer a simple, robust and cost-effective means of wastewater solids treatment. The reeds planted in the beds naturally pull out impurities found in the sludge and transforms a wastewater byproduct into a usable material. (bottom photo)
Again, thank you to the voters for approving this initiative in August 2008 to authorize $35 million revenue bond for sewer facility improvements to meet mandated environmental regulations and to take advantage of low-interest state financing.
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Tri-County Water Authority Treatment Plant Tour
Before the Sni-A-Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant Ribbon Cutting ceremony, I along with the City Council and City staff members toured the Tri-County Water Authority Treatment Plant.
You may remember that voters approved entering into a contract to purchase water directly from Tri-County Water Authority in April 2013. This contract would also allows Blue Springs to pursue representation on the Tri-County Water Authority Board with voting rights. This seat will give us input on future Tri-County Water Authority operating budgets and infrastructure improvements. Blue Springs should have a seat on the board this fall.
Currently, the City purchases up to 2 million gallons of water a day and the facility has the capability of producing 10 million gallons of water a day. Tri-County currently supplies water to several municipalities with plant expansion plans under consideration.
The tour was very informative and I look forward to working with Tri-County Water for years to come.
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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 for 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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