Board of Aldermen meeting recap

by Cole Arndorfer
 
The Grain Valley Board of Aldermen met on Monday, February 26, for their second meeting in the month of February. This meeting included a presentation from Grain Valley Schools Superintendent, Dr. Brad Welle, over the district’s tax levy ballot measure, one new resolution, and two ordinances.
 
Welle said that the district is asking for a 25-cent increase to the overall tax levy in order to improve pay for teachers and staff, as well as positions such as a new school resource officer and paraprofessionals.
 
Welle explained that in the ballot language, voters will see that they are voting on whether or not to increase the districts’ operating levy by 65-cents. He said that the district is in a position currently where it can decrease its debt service levy by 40-cents in order to get to that 25-cent total increase.
 
One of the main reasons, Welle explained, the district is asking for this levy increase is due to a drop in applicant numbers. He said that applicants for teaching positions across all subjects are half of where they were just four years ago.
 
The impact of this new levy on a household with a home worth $250,000 would be about $119 per year. Even with this increase, Welle said that Grain Valley would still have one of the three lowest school tax levy rates in Jackson County.
 
After Dr. Welle’s presentation, the board moved onto resolutions. This resolution allows the city to engage with Crawford, Murphy and Tilly Inc. to design intersection improvements at Eagles Parkway and Kirby Road. Some improvements would include adding turn lanes at the intersection and new trail/sidewalk construction. This resolution was approved.
 
Next, the board moved to ordinances. The first bill was the second reading of a bill to amend city code in order to update the Board of Aldermen meeting procedures.
 
Alderman Arnold noted a provision in the bill that would automatically cancel meetings that fall on observed holidays and made a motion to postpone any action on the bill until the board gets more information regarding how many meetings this would affect and the protocol regarding that. Alderman Arnold’s motion was approved and action on this bill was postponed until the next meeting.
 
The second and final bill discussed was the first read of a bill that would amend the city code in order to include vehicles without ignition interlock devices in the city’s alcohol-related traffic offenses. Chief Turner said that the state recognizes this practice and other local agencies already participate in it as well, this would be mirroring their practices. The board passed the first read and it will be brought back for its second read at the next meeting.
The board then moved into city staff reports. First, Parks and Recreation Director Shannon Davies, gave an update on construction at Armstrong Park. The work on the all-inclusive playground has started and is ongoing.
 
The new playground will be named “Kiki’s Playground” in memory of Christina “Kiki” Claphan, who worked for the parks department for over ten years and Grain Valley Schools for nearly ten years before passing away unexpectedly in February of 2020.
 
The next Board of Aldermen meeting will be held at 7:00pm on March 11 in City Hall.