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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-11-06 Special Session - Town Hall Meeting MINUTES SPECIAL SESSION BOARD OF ALDERMEN RIVERSIDE, MISSOURI Thursday, November 6, 2014 6:00 p.m. The Board of Aldermen for the City of Riverside, Missouri, met in special session in the Board of Aldermen Chambers at City Hall, 2950 NW Vivion Road, Riverside, Missouri, on Thursday, November 6, 2013. Mayor Pro Tem Aaron Thatcher called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Those in attendance were Mayor Pro Tem Aaron Thatcher, Aldermen Art Homer, Mike Fuller, Chet Pruett, and Ron Super. Mayor Kathy Rose and Alderman Brad Cope were absent. Also present were City Administrator Greg Mills, City Clerk Robin Littrell, Community Development Assistant Sarah Wagner, Finance Director Donna Resz, Community Development Director Mike Duffy, Public Works Director Tom Wooddell, Administration Director Meredith Hauck, City Planner Jackie Carlson, City Engineer Travis Hoover, Major Chris Skinrood, Fire Chief Gordy Fowlston, Police Captain Mike Costanzo, and Executive Assistant Stacey Rasco. TOWN HALL @ 6:00 P.M. Mayor Pro Tem Thatcher welcomed the public and introduced the MEETING members of the Board of Aldermen. City staff members introduced themselves and the position each holds. He stated that the purpose of this meeting was to discuss different topics and ideas and the goal is to gather information to better serve our residents. Jennifer Ness with the YMCA was introduced. She is the Healthy Living Director for Riverside. Everyone is invited to come and participate in activities at the Community Center. There will be an open house event on Saturday, November 8`h from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Information may be found on Facebook and our city website. Lisa Stupps with MoDot was introduced and she discussed the replacement of the US 69 Missouri River Bridges and hopes to have the project open to traffic by December 2016. This is a design build job so MoDot is working with the designers and contractors closely in an office located across from the Park Hill South School in the Platte Valley Industrial Park. If you have any questions anyone may stop by our office, we have an open door policy. We just had the closure of the Fairfax Bridge; pretty soon we will take that bridge down and begin building the new bridge in that location. We will have historical bridge signage. City staff is 1 working with MoDot on that project. There will be a ten foot bike path and walking trail that will go across the bridge to connect trails. Celinda Kleinback -4835 NW High Dr—Thank you to the Public Works Department and allowing us access to dispose of waste materials and the opportunity to dispose of yard waste at Pursell's. We also want to thank the YMCA and Riverside for offering to pay part of our membership fees. Mr. Kleinback stated concerns with attempted break-ins to garages and homes along High Drive. Teens walking around with golf clubs and large knives are also a concern. City Administrator Greg Mills responded that these issues are being addressed. He recommended that all residents should never hesitate to call 911. Alderman Fuller added that there are concerns in the Indian Hills area too. Judy Miller-4319 NW 52nd Street- I can see young people walking up and down the streets at two o'clock in the morning and feel this is very alarming. Curfews were discussed. Angus Thom -3620 NW 50th St- inquired as to why the city was not offering more information on the crime issues. City Administrator Greg Mills responded to the concern and said that reports are available through a monthly report. Mrs. Thom — stated the crime concerns and said that residents need to be aware of issues. City Administrator Mills said that the city has Nixie, Twitter, Facebook, and our website where information is shared. We will look into producing a crime report according to wards within the city. Mayor ProTemThatcher also reported that www.crimereports.com will give up to date locations and crimes for areas within the city. Judy Miller—4319 NW 52nd Street—Asked why the city dropped the reverse 911 service to the residents. It was helpful to those residents that might not have computers. City Administrator Mills answered that there were two main determining factors for the decision to drop the service. The price was a major factor along with the fact that the database is administered by AT&T and they have created a new outline of the issues that could be processed by reverse 911 usage. Administration Director Meredith Hauck explained the Nixie and how useful it is and it is a free service. Steve Kaspar—5003 Woodside Drive— In the last few years Riverside has done a great job with the Horizons development and getting that project moving forward on the industrial side. Could you tell us a brief update on where we are going on the city side for residential/commercial out-look. Mayor ProTem Thatcher explained that the city has a Master Plan that is followed closely and that getting the Horizons development going and the plan for that area includes office and we are still pursuing excelling that aspect of the plan. We hope to continue seeing new jobs and more residential for those wishing to live in Riverside. For 2 financial stability we had to tackle the Horizons first but we have not taken our eye off the downtown area. This includes acquisition of property and tearing down blight where needed. QuikTrip development was addressed. Mr. Kaspar asked another question in regards to the real estate market, Riverside is continuing to struggle to be perceived well in the Northland, what is the city doing to market our residential areas? City Planner Jackie Carlson said we are getting the word out about trash and recycling that we offer residents, the healthy initiative, and no city property tax. I have visited with realtor offices and letting them know what we have to offer. We are continually working on this effort and we have put together marketing materials for realtors to hand out. Beverly Allen-5030 NW Woodside Drive- I would also like to point out the ease of access to all location from Riverside. Ms. Carlson stated that many realtors comment after visiting Riverside that it is totally transformed and a great place now with so many improvements. Steve Kaspar stated that Riverside is the metropolitan's best kept secret. Celinda Kleinback - 4835 NW High Dr—Thanked the Fire Department for the smoke detectors and the lock box for the front door in case of an emergency. We also want to thank the Street Department for the fantastic job they do clearing the streets in the wintertime. We also just had our house reappraised and it has retained its value through all the economy struggles. Frank Biando—3706 NW South Drive— Compliments to the Public Works Department especially with winter just around the corner, it is great to know they are out working clearing the streets for the residents. He asked what could be done with the building across the street from Hawg Jaw Fritz it is not in keeping with what the city is trying to do. Alderman Fuller said that it is privately owned and is at a very high price. Ray Uhl—4524 NW Apache— Riverside needs to go east off of Gateway, a good thoroughfare all the way around the city. Signage is confusing around the Briarcliff area as well. Full and better interchanges at 9 Highway and Riverway and 1-29 and Gateway would help traffic flow to Riverside. Mike Duffy responded that signage would be reviewed and possible modification. He explained the complications and the obstacles along with funding for such work, but that the city is looking at concerns. Duffy also showed demographics of retail in our area and why it is difficult to get retail in our area. Alderman Mike Fuller shared his concerns with the downtown and the concerns of doing the Horizons first, but the reasons for that 3 decision. He discussed the cost of downtown development and concerns. We need to consistently be looking at getting the debt paid off and getting focus on downtown as soon as possible. Mayor ProTem Thatcher said that we will have a planned approach with the downtown development, not just one location at a time. The Board doesn't always agree on everything, we have many good discussions, but one thing we have always agreed on is that we want a financially sustainable community. When a majority of the Board was elected the financial profile of the city included sixty to seventy percent of the revenue comes from the Argosy Casino. Three to four million of that was expended annually to pay for the bonds. We don't want to raise taxes, so the other way is to create retail. Jobs help give us density and revenues. PowerPoint slides were used to help explain expenditures and revenues over the last few years. We are still working on density of retail and working on financial diversification. We hope the gaming revenues turn around, but it is our goal to look for new none taxed revenue sources to help make the city continually financially sustainable and to make investments that are aligned with increasing revenue or decreasing expenditures within the city. Finance Director Donna Oliver reviewed the cities financial outlook. Steve Kasper asked what would happen if Argosy closes up, what happens to the City of Riverside? Thatcher stated that 8 million of a 13 million dollar budget is from gaming. Oliver explained that in the last two years the board has set aside a "rainy day fund"that is 50% of operating expenditures. This year we set aside 4.5 million dollars. In addition the Board wants a 1.5 million contingency fund as well and not cut into the 4.5 million. In the last two years we have had a 2% increase in the General Fund. Thatcher commented that most cities reserve one to two months, so we have a much larger reserve than most cities our size. It should be noted that we have a very good credit rating. Mike Duffy also wanted us to point out that we have people at the state level that are helping us and looking out for us, such as; we have converted the TIF from one type to another type of TIF which helps us when new jobs are created. Alderman Super stated that Public Works does such a good job with the streets and the quality of the streets, curbing and sidewalks are taken care of and well maintained. None of this is cheap. We are a one trick pony, but we would not be where we are today without it. You can see what Riverside is doing with the gaming funds. Staff and those on this board keep a very close eye on the best decisions possible to make everything sustainable. We try to make sure that every dollar spent is in the best interest of the city. 4 Jason Condon —4433 Indian Lane—What is being done to increase residential population? Mayor ProTem Thatcher said that we are close to 3,000 population and we are 6.4 square miles. There are several residential developments in the community today. Gatewoods and Gatewoods III has new residential going up now. Montebella on the west side of the city. There are a number of homes going up there now. Also there a homes going up in Briarcliff. We do not have any other planned residential developments. We are wanting to increase the homeowner percentage population of the city. Alderman Super responded that the city is about 32% owner occupied and 68% renter occupied. Master planners that we have had, have commented that stability of a community is in your owner occupied homes and your businesses. We have hesitated doing multi-family housing for the reason. Beverly Allen asked if senior housing was being considered. Mayor ProTem Thatcher responded that it is being looked at but there is nothing concrete that we can share at this point. Steve Kaspar asked about water and sewer. I have lived here five or six years and the water and sewer rates have doubled and I have lowered my consumption. Thatcher stated that this is common among all residents. Duffy explained that we are one of the few communities that do not manage their own utilities. We have two private systems, Missouri American Water and they answer to the Public Service Commission and their shareholders, so they are out to make a profit every year. They must meet certain standards. We have no question on water quality, but do have a few questions at times about water flow and pressure, but are working on that by looping the system. Duffy explained the districts with MAW and how improvements are made and the cost is shared within the district of customers. We are proposing that they share costs among all districts rather than individualized districts. The sewer is with Kansas City, Missouri. They have many problems with the EPA and the costs to fix the problems are being shared with us, even though most of the problems are south of the river. Duffy explained the billing issues and if you have any problems, please call us and staff will make contact and make sure that your bills is calculated correctly. Chris Craig-5019 NW Woodside Drive—When I go over the north and south bound on and off ramps from Gatewoods to 1-29 there are some cosmetic issues to the bridges, have there been any inspections there recently? Lisa Stupps thought that they have been and that anything structural on the bridges was inspected. I will take that back to our area engineer. 5 Steve Kaspar asked Lisa Stupps with MoDot about the pavement stabilization at the bridge at 9 Highway and Riverway. Stupps will see where that project is on the rotation program list to see if that could be fixed. Beverly Allen pointed out that the bridge that goes from Gateway to 1-29 is the bridge that looks like it is crumbling. Back to the water and sewer, what is the possibility of Riverside and Parkville getting their own treatment plants? Alderman Art Homer stated that Parkville is already a part of the Platte County that goes up towards 435 near Parkville. What would it take for Riverside to hook onto that? As long as we are with Kansas City, Missouri we are going to have problems with sewer. Homer said that Parkville has a pump station that pumps up to a new treatment plant and it is Platte County Regional Sewer District. Duffy stated that the Platte County Regional Sewer District actually gets treated by KC,MO. There would be a high up-front cost and he explained the expenses that residents would have to consider. We have looked at privatizing water or sewer for the city, but in every case so far, the cost would be higher to bring it in-house. Homer added that North Kansas City tried the private route and costs were astronomical for a small town. Riverside's situation is not a great deal but probably the best deal we can get at this point. Mr. Kleinback asked about the storm water drains that are supposed to drain directly into the creeks and rivers. If they do that, then why is the pump station overflowing when it rains? Mike Duffy explained how the drainage from Highway 152 and other areas north of Riverside flows down to us and is causing the problem. Chris Craig —Asked about the trails that are planned for the future. Duffy announced that this week the section of the MRT has just been opened but at the same time another section was just closed to build the new bridge. We have opened up the trailhead for easier access. We have just received a grant from MARC and Travis Hoover our city engineer will be working on constructing a trail connection between Northwood Road and Horizons Parkway. We would like to continue that along 9 Highway and have a loop with the trail they have along English Landing Park. Mike Duffy and Travis Hoover gave brief updates on all the trails. Connectors are being addressed when funding is available. Where does the City stand with Google? Mayor ProTem Thatcher stated that we have received a letter saying that when we are interested we will let you know. We are continuing to keep in contact with them. 6 Steve Kaspar— Is there anything that staff needs from us? City Planner Jackie Carlson stated that there are a couple things residents can do. The ETC Survey is something that you could fill out to help us. You each volunteering to be on our boards or commission is a great help as well. Chris Craig —commented that the survey was a great idea, but he could not find a due date on it and just kept pushing it aside. It might be a good idea to make sure there is a due date and more may be filled out. Mayor ProTem Thatcher stated that your feedback is very valuable to us and we always want to hear from the residents. Mike Duffy encouraged residents to call when they have questions or comments. Staff is here at city hall to serve our residents and to put you in touch with the proper resources and to give you the best answers that we can. The question was asked about keeping the trash cans out of sight from the street. Duffy explained the code that states the trash cans are to be inside or not visible from the public street. If there are issues, call us and we will go and visit with the resident and see if we can find solutions. We will work with you as best we can. Mayor ProTem Thatcher thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and sharing their concerns, your comments are valuable to us. We will stick around if you have any other questions and remember the YMCA open house is Saturday at 8:30 p.m. MOTION TO ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Robin Littrell, C' y Clerk 7