Cass Politics

Posted By J.T. on July 1, 2010

From the Pleasant Hill Times:
F. Kirk Powell

The Pleasant Hill Fire District will have a new pumper on the road later this summer.
Fire Chief Steve Long and Assistant Fire Chief Nathan Carpenter picked up the new pumper from the manufacturer in Breda, Iowa, earlier this month and plan to make it operational the first week of August when firefighters have had the opportunity to equip the new truck and train with it.
A new pumper is part of equipment being requested by the Pleasant Hill Fire District in a $4.5 million bond issue on the ballot in August, but the need for a new fire truck was so urgent that the fire board agreed to purchase it early under a lease-purchase agreement.
“We desperately needed a new pumper,” Fire Chief Steve Long says. ”Both of our old pumpers are in such poor mechanical condition that we couldn’t wait.”
In fact, the two older pumpers have both broken down and had to be towed from a call three times in the past two months and the fire district has had to pay nearly $4,000 so far this summer in repair bills.
“We wanted to wait to buy the new pumper until after the bond election,” Long said, “but we didn’t have a choice.”
Long said the fire district will be able to make payments on the lease-purchase agreement if the bond issue falls short in August, but it would be tight.
“We couldn’t take the chance that one of our other pumpers would break down on the way to a fire and result in the loss of life or serious injury,” the fire chief said.

(more…)

Category: Pleasant Hill | 1 Comment »
Tags: fire department, Pleasant Hill

Posted By J.T. on July 1, 2010

From the Cass County Democrat-Missourian:
Ashley Freburg

A boil water notice was put in place for Garden City this week as a limit use advisory for Drexel’s water supply was lifted.

Around 11 a.m. Monday, Garden City received notice that a contaminant was present in the city’s water. Residents were presented a boil water notice the same day and a notice was sent out using the county’s Code Red emergency alert system.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources lists the cause of the boil water notice as high turbidity levels. Turbidity is the measure of suspended particles in drinking water. While the report says it has no health effects, it can interfere with disinfection and indicate the presence of disease-causing organisms. Chlorine is added to drinking water as part of the disinfection process.

The turbidity level reported by Garden City was 1.55 turbidity units. The maximum allowed by safe drinking water regulations is 1 turbidity unit. The city also reported low chlorine levels.

According to the boil water notice, a high amount of manganese passed through the plant treatment process. When chlorine disinfectant was added, the water turned brown. The notice said the system is being flushed and more treatment is being done.

Garden City Mayor Mark Lopez said while the cause of the contamination has not been determined, it is possible it came from old lines that need to be replaced within the water treatment system.

Category: Drexel, Garden City | 3 Comments »
Tags: Drexel, Garden City, utilities

Posted By J.T. on May 4, 2010

From the Cass County Democrat-Missourian:
Ashley Freburg

The former home of Cass Medical Center, located on East Mechanic Street in Harrisonville, is under contract to be sold.

Winners Limited Enterprises of Missouri LLC has signed a contract with Cass County to purchase the facility and its 15.26 acres of associated property for $608,000.

A contract between Cass County and Winners Limited Enterprises of Missouri was signed by the county March 4. Presiding Commissioner Gary Mallory said the closing date for the sale is scheduled for 120 days after the contract was signed.

Chris Lang, CEO of Cass Regional Medical Center, who has been working with Cass County on the sale, said the purchaser plans to create a multi-phased senior living project.

“It will range from everything including independent living to memory counseling,” Lang said.

Lang said the former hospital building will be used for part of the project and other buildings are expected to be developed on the campus.

The proceeds from the sale will be used to help pay off the loan on the new Cass Regional Medical Center, located on Rock Haven Road.

A representative of Winners Limited Enterprises of Missouri was not available for comment at press time.

Category: Countywide, Hot Topics, Raymore | No Comments »
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Posted By J.T. on May 4, 2010

Press release from Cass County -

There’s a new group of volunteers in Cass County, which has banded together under the leadership of the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Diehl has established a Sheriff’s Auxiliary program that is designed to supplement the regular activities performed by his organization. This will allow the Sheriff to increase the level of service provided to the community by his Office in a way that does not ask the taxpayers for additional funding.

The Auxiliary is made up of Volunteers from the community, who have completed the Sheriff’s Citizen Academy and wish to donate their time and skills to help extend the good work performed in the Sheriff’s Office. During periods of normal activity, this will allow our Deputies and the Sheriff’s civilian employees to focus more of their time on activities that take advantage of their talents and training. When unexpected events occur, such as a severe storm or an extended crime scene investigation, the Sheriff will be able to call upon the volunteers to fill the sudden and short term need for extra help. Volunteers will do tasks that do not need to be performed by Deputies. This will free up the Deputies and allow them to devote more time to law enforcement activities.

Sheriff Diehl commented “I consider every volunteer to be an important member of the Sheriff’s Office. Every hour they contribute to making their community a better place to live is time well spent.”

In addition to the requirement of having completed the Sheriff’s Citizen Academy, the Auxiliary Volunteers must pass a thorough background check and are held to the same high standards of conduct that are expected by the Sheriff from every person representing the Sheriff’s Office. It is important to note that the Volunteers will compliment and extend the work performed in the Sheriff’s Office and will not be a substitute for the Deputies or the civilian employees in any way.

Of the 50 people who have already completed the Sheriff’s Citizen Academy and are eligible, 44 applied for membership in the Volunteer Auxiliary. There is a wide range of backgrounds and ages represented in the group, and each person brings a unique set of abilities to offer to the community. The Auxiliary Volunteers receive additional ongoing instruction at monthly meetings, taking advantage of the training facilities that are in place at the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

As our community grows and the County budget shrinks, all of our public service offices are continuously challenged to do more with less and this is an innovative way to increase service to the public without placing an additional burden on the taxpayers.

Category: Countywide | No Comments »
Tags: Cass County, law enforcement

Posted By J.T. on April 7, 2010

Here are the highlights from yesterday’s elections:

Cass County voters overwhelmingly approved Questions 1 and 2, related to roads and capital improvements.  Question 1 extends the 1/4 cent sales tax through 2026 while Question 2 authorizes the county to issue bonds totalling $34,750,000.

Voters also supported the $.05 levy to maintain the Sheltered Workshop.  The final tally was 9840 to 3301.

Raymore-Peculiar voters said no to an $.80 levy by a wide margin.  The proposed levy increase failed,  1635 to 4746.

Harrisonville voters turned down a proposed 3/8 cent sales tax to build a new City Hall and Police Station.   The measure failed with 57% of voters saying no, resulting in a vote of  580 to 793.

You can view the results at casscounty.com/clerk/results.htm

Category: Countywide, Elections | No Comments »
Tags: Cass County, Elections

Posted By J.T. on April 6, 2010

There are quite a few issues today for county residents to vote on.  Please let your voice be heard.

Category: Countywide | 1 Comment »
Tags: Cass County, Elections

Posted By J.T. on March 31, 2010

Today, Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) issued the following statement regarding the President’s decision to open previously-restricted offshore areas for oil and natural gas exploration.

“I commend the Administration for deciding to open more offshore territory for responsible domestic oil and natural gas exploration. Today’s announcement is important to national security and to American energy consumers. If implemented properly, it will reduce the amount of oil the United States must import from foreign countries that do not necessarily have our best interest in mind.

“Further, I am grateful that the Interior Department has been coordinating carefully with the Defense Department to ensure any new offshore energy exploration does not interfere with military training. And, I appreciate the Pentagon’s increasing efforts to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil by using biofuels to power military machinery.”

Category: What your public servants are doing | 1 Comment »
Tags: nationwide

Posted By J.T. on March 31, 2010

The Harrisonville Police Department has put two new radar devices in service to help analyze traffic patterns on city streets while also checking motorists’ speed and warning them when they are exceeding the posted limit.

A new mobile radar trailer and a pole-mounted radar sign were purchased with federal grant funds earlier this year at a combined cost of $8,900 from Decatur Manufacturing. Chief John Hofer says the new equipment has three major capabilities which will assist HPD in keeping city streets safe. First, it will keep a complete count of vehicles which pass from the direction being checked, allowing police to keep data on the amount of traffic carried on any city street. Second, on-board radar in the units will check the speed of any motor vehicle approaching it, and display the speed so drivers can see it. Lastly, if the vehicle’s speed exceeds the posted limit, the display will flash to alert drivers to slow down.

“We placed the trailer on Meadowlark for its test run,” Chief Hofer said, “and within 24 hours, we had a complete, hour-by-hour count of traffic on the residential street. We could even tell at what times of day traffic was heaviest, and when people were most likely to be exceeding the speed limit.”

Hofer said the trailer tallied 2,994 cars on Meadowlark during its first week of operation, with an average speed of 23.55 mph. However, he noted that 1424 motorist were above the posted speed limit and 367 of them were driving more than 6 miles an hour over the posted speed.

The pole-mounted unit is currently installed on Pearl Street. The police department has identified a number of other locations to place the new radar equipment in the coming months. The data gathered will help police determine where and when patrols should be stepped up to curb speeding and reduce traffic crashes. The information on traffic patterns will also be shared with other city departments, such as engineering and streets, to keep streets in optimum condition.

Category: Harrisonville | 1 Comment »
Tags: Harrisonville, law enforcement

Posted By J.T. on March 31, 2010

Communication Information Specialist Sheryl Stanley would like to remind Harrisonville citizens that there is information available about the upcoming election on the city’s website as well as local cable channel 2.

The 3/8 per cent sales tax is not something that will continue indefinitely – it will expire when the building is paid off. At current economic levels, officials expect that will be in 15 years or less. This type of sales tax is something the city has embraced in the past for other municipal facilities including the EMS headquarters and the Community Center.

The city is also pursuing more than $1.5 million in grants to help reduce the cost of the building. The lower the cost, the sooner the sales tax will expire.

According to a brochure on the city’s website the Police Station and City Hall would be relocated to a tract of land adjacent to the square, bordering Wall, Mechanic, Marler and Wirt streets.

Stanley goes on to say

The Board of Aldermen has mandated that the total cost will be no more than $8.39 million. This will include land acquisition, construction, furnishing, and equipping the new building. Furthermore, they adopted a resolution to seek out and encourage the use of local contractors, workers, material suppliers, and vendors to the greatest extent possible in the construction of the proposed facility. By utilizing the local construction industry, we will re-circulate grant monies and sales tax revenue in our local economy.

Citizens are welcome to tour the current City Hall and Police Station facilities. Please call 380-8916 to arrange a time to visit.

Category: Harrisonville | No Comments »
Tags: Harrisonville, Sales tax

Posted By J.T. on March 30, 2010

The Raymore-Peculiar school district is hoping area residents will pass a levy increase on the April 6 ballot.

The district has released a fact sheet about the 80 cent levy, which is expected to bring in $3.6 million in revenue.  The funds will be used for teachers and classrooms, as well as operational expenses.

A group opposed to the increase thinks the district has not been transparent about its needs or spending, worried at how high property taxes would climb.

The ballot language is as follows:

Shall Reorganized School District No. R-II of
Cass County, Missouri, be authorized to increase
the operating tax levy ceiling of the District to $4.55
per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation for
the purpose of paying ongoing District operating
expenses? If this proposition is approved, the
adjusted operating levy of the District will increase
by $.80 from $3.75 currently to $4.55 per one
hundred dollars of assessed valuation.

The last levy to pass was for 60 cents in 2003.

Category: Elections, Peculiar, Raymore | No Comments »
Tags: property tax, schools