Board Passes Budget, Enters Second Phase Of Community Campus Planning

     The Grain Valley Board of Aldermen unanimously voted to approve Ken Murphy as Interim City Administrator and Theresa Osenbaugh as Interim Deputy City Administrator during their meeting on Monday, December 7th. This vote shifted both Murphy and Osenbaugh’s titles from acting to interim administrators.
     Among the resolutions unanimously passed by the board was R19-48, which adopted the Grain Valley Community Campus Master Plan as prepared by Sapp Design Architects.
     The board subsequently unanimously passed resolution R19-52 which authorizes the Interim City Administrator to enter into a contract amendment with SAPP Design Architects for services related to a schematic design for a municipal complex. This moves the city into phase II of the planning process at the Sni-A-Bar Farms property at the northwest corner of Sni-A-Bar and Buckner Tarsney Roads.
      The board also unanimously approved the 2020 fiscal year budget and comprehensive fee schedule for the City of Grain Valley as well as a conditional use permit for a concrete crushing and recycling facility. The facility would sit on 14.3 acres that is generally located at the northeast corner of McQuerry and Seymour Roads.
     A public hearing was conducted to allow any Grain Valley resident to come forward and speak for or against the conditional use permit before being voted on by the board. No one from audience elected to come forward and speak.
     The permit will grant Metro Recycle Concrete use for ten years in Grain Valley at the identified location. The company largely turns the crushed concrete into rock for roads and driveways along with recycling the steel rebar pulled from the concrete. The city also identified through the permit that hours of operation for the facility would be from 7am to 4pm Monday through Friday.
     Presentations given to the board included a YMCA Grain Valley feasibility study. YMCA representatives Mark Hulet and Gary Lynn presented study results and answered questions from the board. The study surveyed 300 households and found that 83% would support developing and funding a YMCA as part of the community campus at Sni-A-Bar Boulevard and Buckner Tarsney Road (assuming no tax increase).
     Hulet and Lynn shared that anticipated operating performa would include the need for 1,652 membership units across a two year ramp up period for the proposed 42,000 square foot facility.
     Other study objectives listed by the YMCA included market penetration levels for like service providers, Grain Valley Community Center and outdoor aquatic center usage, utilization of new Community Center/YMCA including of specific features and amenities (survey respondents identified cardio equipment, indoor pool, and walking track as three things they most wanted), demand for programs and services, importance and use of medically based programs, and community support of funding new development based on no increase in taxes.
     “One of the things that we are looking at is getting as big as draw as possible (for the city). The thought is having the partnership with the YMCA might broaden the base that would use the facility. There’s a price tag that comes with a proposed facility like this and there’s a needed membership to back that up,” Murphy said.
     The YMCA’s presentation to the board included a base indoor pool option for the facility as well as a secondary larger pool option. Both Grain Valley High School boys and girls swim teams currently practice at what was the Blue Springs YMCA. The facility was purchased by the Blue Springs School District and closed October 30th.
     “Through this whole process, Dr. Snow (Superintendent of Grain Valley Schools) has been on one of our steering committees for the Community Campus. We are all using the same tax dollars from the citizens of Grain Valley so we are trying to make sure that we are best using those dollars in working with the school district to see if there’s something we can do to accommodate them to where they are not using the Blue Springs facility indefinitely,” Murphy said.
     The base leisure indoor poll option would have zero entry and two water lap lanes and as one body of water that is family friendly. The other option presented that would increase price was a leisure pool and a separate four lap lane pool with a diving board and well. The second option would keep the two bodies of water at separate temperatures and add approximately 3,600 square feet to the building design.
     With phase one of the plan completed, Murphy and City staff look forward to the details to be worked out in the next phase of planning.
     “We have done phase one which is the layout and the site master plan. The next phase is seeing what those buildings might look like and what it would mean layout wise. The architects currently have only provided a footprint of a building. It’s about getting enough in a plan to educate moving forward without spending money that could be wasted,” Murphy said.
     The next scheduled meeting of the Grain Valley Board of Aldermen will be at City Hall on January 13, 2020 at 7:00pm.