Board Of Aldermen Approves Road Repairs, Lauber Recognized

​     The City of Grain Valley Board of Aldermen passed three ordinances and one resolution at their September 23rd meeting. Each passed by a unanimous 6-0 vote.    
     New ordinances included a new chapter addressing medical marijuana facilities and conditional uses, the city’s annual tax levy for government operations during the 2019 calendar year, and authorizing the escrow of funds sufficient to pay a portion of the series 2011 outstanding general obligation bonds.
     The sole resolution passed by the board was to authorize the use of the City of Lee’s Summit Co-op Bid to replace failing curb and sidewalks at various locations in Grain Valley. City Administrator Ryan Hunt commented that the City of Lee’s Summit Co-op bid was used due to it being less than that of Jackson County for the repairs.
     Affected areas of repair will include the 300 to 500 block areas of NW Woodbury Drive and streets within the Greystone subdivision. Work is expected to start in these locations the week of September 30th.
     Once completed, the following will have edge mill, patch and asphalt overlay completed (approximately 6,220 linear feet of roadway) in the Greystone subdivision. The streets included are:  NE Greystone Blvd., NE Erin Ct., NE Mary Ct., NE Katie Ct., NE Kim Ct., NE Jaclyn Dr., NE Hannah Ct., and NE Amanda Jean Way.
     In other business, Grain Valley City Attorney Joe Lauber was recognized as being only the seventh current attorney in Missouri to pass the International Municipal Lawyers Association exam. Sitting for the test is by invitation only through referral.
     Other qualifications include having to be in practice for five years as a municipal lawyer, keep up on continuing education requirements, and exhibiting proof that you have a significant municipal practice.
     “The exam consisted of completing four out of seven handwritten essay questions. The answers were ten to twenty pages in length with the average question being three pages on a variety of every imaginable issue that may come up in municipal law. The exam wanted to know if you could issue spot and come up with the correct analysis in application of municipal law,” Lauber said.
     “The purpose of the exam is to help cities distinguish amongst lawyers who are truly experts in the field and to provide cities with a means for being able to rely on a stringent testing process with formal rules. Then a city may have confidence that their attorney is informed on state and local government law. Personally, it was quite an honor to have been invited and be named a government fellow.”
     Requalification is needed every five years to maintain status achieved through the exam. Lauber will also have to go through additional training and produce articles significant to the law community as a whole in Missouri as well as the United States. The six attorneys who practice law at Lauber’s firm focus solely on municipal law.
 

Grain Valley City Attorney Joe Lauber was recognized at the September 23rd Board of Aldermen meeting for passing the International Municipal Lawyers Association exam.
Photo courtesy: Lauber Municipal Law