​Board of Aldermen meeting recap; Planning and Zoning Commission recap

by Cole Arndorfer and Valley News staff
 
The City of Grain Valley Board of Aldermen met on Monday, June 12, 2023 for their regularly scheduled meeting.
 
The meeting began with new police officer Jennifer Murphy taking the oath of office.
 
Public comments and previous business focused on the issue of parking and storage of vehicles in rear yards.
 
During public comments, Grain Valley citizen David Pinon spoke regarding the issue. Pinon said he owns several cars, and at times he runs out of space in his driveway. Pinon stated that rather than parking them on the street and causing people to drive around them, he parks them in his backyard to keep them out of the way.
 
Other residents spoke out against restricting residents from parking vehicles in rear yards, citing the city should not be involved in issues best resolved by homeowners associations or by the city only when a parked vehicle becomes a safety issue.
 
In previous business, the board discussed the issue of vehicles parked in rear yards at length, eventually voting 4-2 to send the issue back to the planning and zoning commission, with aldermen Arnold and Knox voting no.
 
Under new business, the Board approved a series of 2023-24 liquor licenses for local establishments.
 
Five resolutions were approved unanimously, including a resolution to allow the city administrator to enter into an agreement with Jackson County to distribute $85,867 from the Anti-Drug Sales Tax. Next was a resolution to allow the city administrator to enter an updated agreement with Idemia for “Livescan” services. This would provide the police department digital fingerprint software and equipment to determine a person’s identity, and criminal history.
 
Two resolutions were approved authorizing the installation of 11 new streetlights in the Rosewood Hills subdivision and the installation of three new streetlights in the Greystone Plaza subdivision.
 
The final resolution authorized the city administrator to enter into a one-year cooperative agreement with the Grain Valley Chamber of Commerce at a budgeted cost of $10,000.
 
Under ordinances, the second reading of a bill to annex the property of Grain Valley Safety Storage and make it part of city limits was approved unanimously.
The second reading of an ordinance to establish a new chapter of the Grain Valley Municipal Code of Ordinances, Chapter 145, regarding the City’s procedures for sunshine laws and public record requests resulted in a lengthy discussion prompted by Alderman Arnold.
 
City Attorney Joe Lauber addressed concerns raised by Arnold regarding Section 7 related to the handling of closed records; Arnold continued to express concerns regarding the ordinance and requested the vote be postponed so the issue could be further discussed in workshop, which was voted down. Additionally, Alderman Skinner requested a line in section 8 of the ordinance related to the requirement for a hard copy of the agenda be posted on a bulletin board outside City Hall be removed. This motion passed, with a later motion passed to direct staff to install a fixed sign for the purposes of posting agendas outside the building. Returning to the second reading of the ordinance itself, it passed 4-2, with Aldermen Arnold and Knox voting against.
 
In staff reports, Community Development Director Mark Trosen, said that the annual Public Works Event for the city would be held Wednesday, June 21 from 5 pm to 7 pm at Armstrong Park. Citizens have a chance to come out and meet Public Works staff and Community Development staff as well as see live equipment demonstrations, food and drinks, and activities for kids.
 
Alderman Skinner introduced a motion to direct staff to draft an ordinance in order to allow archery hunting within city limits. The motion was unanimously approved.
 
The next scheduled board meeting will be held at 7:00pm on June 26th at City Hall.
 

Planning and Zoning Commission:
 
The Planning and Zoning Commission met Wednesday, June 14th, reviewing three action items and noting a plan to discuss the parking of vehicles in rear yards for the July 12th meeting. 
First, the commission unanimously approved final plat approval for the 4th plat of Creekside Village. The plat is located just north of NE McQuerry Road on the west side of Seymore Road.
Additionally, the board approved the final plat 4th plat as written. Approved unanimously.
The Commission reviewed and approved the 2024-28 Capital Improvement Plan, which outlines capital projects including the pavement maintenance program, public works and parks and recreation projects, as well as equipment replacement scheduled for the next five years.
The Planning & Zoning Commission will meet next on July 12th at 6:30pm.