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Marcia Napier will be honored this September as Grain Valley's Citizen of the Year. Every year, the Truman Heartland Community Foundation invites local mayors to nominate a member of their community to be recognized as their city's Citizen of the Year. The chosen citizens are selected based on their volunteer work, contributions to their city's economic or financial development, leadership in business, and efforts toward promoting a more positive and inclusive community for all. Honorees from each eastern Jackson County community will be recognized at the Truman Heartland Community Foundation's Toast of Our Towns Gala, on Saturday, September 23, at the Sheraton Hotel at Crown Center. In its submission to the Truman Heartland Community Foundation, the City of Grain Valley detailed Napier's ongoing commitment to her hometown. "In every thriving community, there are individuals whose unwavering dedication, selfless spirit, and profound impact make them stand out as beacons of inspiration. These exceptional individuals embody the essence of good citizenship, going above and beyond to uplift their communities and enrich the lives of those around them. The City of Grain Valley takes great pride in celebrating the achievements and contributions of this year's 2023 Grain Valley Truman Heartland Citizen of the Year. Marcia "Marty" Napier serves as a member of the Historical Society, where she volunteers her Wednesdays at the museum - welcoming the public to explore the treasures of our city. Through her profound commitment to the Historical Society, Marty not only enhances the public’s understanding of the past but also serves as an illuminating force for the present and future of the community. In addition to her invaluable contributions to the Grain Valley Historical Society, Marty holds other key positions on various boards, including the Grain Valley Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the Downtown Grain Valley Board of Directors, the Grain Valley Education Foundation Board, the advisory board for the Grain Valley School District Counseling Department, and was recently a member of the Truman Heartland Community Foundation Advisory Board (Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove). An advocate for supporting and nurturing community growth, Marty promotes the importance of investing in local businesses. With the momentum of the newly formed Downtown Grain Valley non-profit organization, Marty will play a big factor in the revitalization of Main Street by highlighting the community spirit that continues to help our city thrive. Marty exhibits a deep passion for empowering the youth. Upon retirement, after dedicating thirty years of her career to the field of education, Marty focused her attention on guiding young adults - serving as the house mom for Alpha Gamma Rho. After leaving Mizzou, Marty returned home to Grain Valley where she continues supporting the school district and high school athletic teams. In 2017, she endowed the Napier Football Award, a scholarship bestowed upon a Grain Valley football player selected by the team. Marty's unwavering dedication to excellence and high expectations for her community has garnered her to be recognized as the 2023 Grain Valley Truman Heartland Citizen of the Year." Marcia Napier will be honored at the Truman Heartland Community Foundation's Gala in September as Grain Valley's Citizen of the Year. File photo
The final First Fridays event for the year will feature several local bands. The August 4th event will be held in downtown Grain Valley from 5-8pm. In addition to the traditional food trucks, entertainment will be provided by Josephine, Time Bandits, and the Good Sam Band.
First Fridays events are hosted by the Grain Valley Fair Association in partnership with Downtown Grain Valley, Inc. The Board of Aldermen met Monday, July 24th for their regularly scheduled meeting.
During patron comments, Planning and Zoning Commission member Scott Shafer raised concerns regarding what he states are personal attacks from Alderman Dale Arnold during discussion regarding his reappointment to the Commission in January. Arnold made no comments during the meeting regarding these statements. As previously reported, the Board voted unanimously to adopt a resolution encouraging the Jackson County Executive and Legislature to maintain the 2022 real property tax assessments for the 2023 calendar year. The resolution states inconsistent and extraordinary increases experienced by residents, called the appeals process "convoluted and inefficient", and raised concerns that the appeals process may impact the City's ability to meet the October 1st deadline to set its tax rate. A similar resolution was passed in Blue Springs on Friday, July 21st. Alderman Skinner made an additional motion to direct staff to explore joining the class action lawsuit filed against Jackson County and any other revenues to provide relief to citizens and address any impacts to the City. The motion was approved unanimously. In other business, the Board approved a resolution appointing Mike McCurdy to the Grain Valley Parks and Recreation Board for a three-year term. Under resolutions, the Board approved a resolution for a task agreement with Crawford, Murphy and Tilly, Inc. for design update of the Downtown Improvements Phase II-B Front Street as budgeted in 2023. The original design was completed in 2011, but the project was never completed. This task order will update the plans to current conditions. The Board also approved an agreement with Crawford, Murphy and Tilly, Inc. to provide preliminary design and engineering services for intersection improvements at Buckner Tarsney Road and Duncan Road. MoDOT currently owns and controls the intersection and has made staff aware that they have a 50/50 grant program for improvements to their facilities. The result of the design work will provide a conceptual design and assistance with a grant application for funding this project. This project was identified in the 5-year CIP and excess ARPA funds appropriated in the 2023 budget are available for design of the project. Director of Community Development Mark Trosen said two options are being considered. The first option under consideration is to leave the existing traffic light but add turn lanes at the intersection. The second option is to look at a roundabout design. Under Mayor comments, Mayor Todd suggested a fireworks display to coincide with the Downtown Spooktacular event near Halloween. A motion was approved directing staff to investigate options with an estimated cost of $7,000 to be paid from the City's tourism fund. The Board will meet for its next regularly scheduled meeting at 7:00pm on August 14th at City Hall. The Grain Valley Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Monday evening to adopt a resolution encouraging the Jackson County Executive and Legislature to maintain the 2022 real property tax assessments for the 2023 calendar year. The resolution (file provided below) states inconsistent and extraordinary increases experienced by residents, called the appeals process "convoluted and inefficient", and raised concerns that the appeals process may impact the City's ability to meet the October 1st deadline to set its tax rate. A similar resolution was passed in Blue Springs on Friday, July 21st. Additional reporting on the Grain Valley Board of Aldermen meeting will be published on Thursday. by Cole Arndorfer
The Board of Aldermen met briefly for their regularly scheduled meeting on July 10th, approving three resolutions and one ordinance. Under resolutions, the board unanimously approved a resolution to appoint Latisha Robinson to the Grain Valley Parks and Recreation board for a three-year term. The Board also approved a resolution to authorize the City Administrator to reach an agreement with Quality Custom Construction to build a new sidewalk on Ryan Road that would connect SW Cross Creek Drive to the entrance of South Middle School. While discussing the resolution, Alderman Dale Arnold raised a question concerning the high traffic on Ryan Road and children crossing the road to get to the entrance of the school. Addressing this concern, it was noted the board had previously allocated funds to put in a pedestrian light at the crossing in order to cut down on the danger of crossing that road, as well as the crossing guard the school has at the crosswalk. The Board also approved a resolution to reach an agreement with Valbridge Property Advisors to give the city an appraisal for acquiring easements needs for the Buckner-Tarsney Trail project. Under ordinances, the Board approved the second reading of a bill to approve the final development plan and final plat for Creekside Village fourth plat. In staff reports, Parks & Recreation Director Shannon Davies, said that the department will be holding a public open house event on Thursday, July 13 from 4-7 pm at the Grain Valley Community Center. The event will allow citizens to view plans developed as a part of the City’s comprehensive plan as well as the drafting of the new parks master plan. Mayor Mike Todd brought up the issue of solicitors, noting the city requires solicitors to have a license and they receive the no soliciting list. However, Todd stated many appear to ignore the list as well as no soliciting signs on doors. Chief Ed Turner answered Todd’s concerns stating that the best thing residents can do if they are dealing with issues from solicitors would be to make a report to the police department. Todd also expressed his desire to put together information for residents that may have concerns over the license plate readers being installed on police vehicles. Todd asked Turner to address some of the privacy concerns about the plate readers. Turner said that the readers will only alert officers if the license plate was tied to specific incidents, such as AMBER Alerts, Silver Alerts, violent crimes, and other incidents of that nature. By law, the information collected would be stored for 30 days and anything retained past that period would relate to special circumstances. The next Board of Aldermen meeting will be held at 7:00pm on July 24 at City Hall. reporting and photos by student intern Clara Jaques The Grain Valley Fair Association and Downtown Grain Valley Inc. co-hosted the July First Fridays event downtown on Friday, July 7th. In addition to food trucks, vendors, and a carnival, the All-American Summer themed event featured a car show. "This is the first time I have been to Grain Valley for a car show. My favorite thing about tonight would be the cars," Denis McKinney said. Kelly Hopkins is a volunteer for Vally Baptist Church and helped host carnival games that the Fair Association and Downtown Grain Valley Inc. coordinated. "This is so much fun. My favorite part is watching all of the successes seeing the little kids making something into the hoops.” The goal of the First Fridays events is to draw people downtown to support local businesses and create a sense of community in the area. Paul Sopher owns a local chicken and bee farm named Wings N Stingers. He participated as a vendor on Friday, selling his locally sourced honey. “I have been in Grain Valley for 35 years. I love it here - this is my community, This is as local as I can possibly be.” The final First Fridays event for the summer will be held Friday, August 5th in downtown Grain Valley. On Monday, June 26, the City of Grain Valley Board of Aldermen met for their regularly scheduled meeting at City Hall. The meeting included four new resolutions, and two ordinances.
There were no proclamations, no citizens who came forward to address the board for public comment, no previous business, and no new business in the first part of the meeting. Butch Beeman with Troutt Beeman & Co. P.C. presented an overview of the recently completed City audit, and informed the board that the city is, “in a very sound financial position.” Four resolutions were passed Monday evening, the first authorizes the city administrator to complete an agreement with Crawford, Murphy and Tilly, Inc. for the design of a new 1.25-million-gallon elevated water tank. This agreement would cost $257,000 for the design of the elevated water tank. This resolution passed unanimously. The second resolution, also passing unanimously, approves the 2024-2028 City of Grain Valley Capital Improvements Plan. City Engineer Dick Tuttle went over some key points and prices of the plan with the board, noting some projects are pending funding. The final resolutions addressed the allocation of funds from the American Recovery Plan Act(ARPA) to upgrade the Police Report Management System (RMS). Grain Valley Chief of Police, Ed Turner, said that police departments around the region are moving to a new RMS, called Central Square. Chief Turner also said that moving to this system would increase the police department’s ability to communicate with other local law enforcement agencies, as well as increase their ability to serve the Grain Valley community by having a better understanding of what the community’s needs are. The board voted unanimously to amend the 2023 budget to allocate ARPA funds to upgrade the police department’s RMS, and authorized the city administrator to enter into an agreement with Central Square to upgrade the department’s RMS. Under ordinances, the board approved the first reading of an ordinance to approve the final development plan for Creekside Village 4th Plat. This ordinance was unanimously approved and will be brought back for a second reading at the next regularly scheduled meeting. During staff reports, Finance Director Steven Craig thanked the staff that assisted during the audit process. He said that it’s a very time-consuming process and the city had a very good year. Community Development Director Mark Trosen stated that last week the city successfully held their annual Public Works Event and recognized the Public Works staff and the other departments that helped out with that event. City Administrator Ken Murphy shared that the Workplace Improvement Committee is putting together a staff appreciation lunch on Friday, June 30, therefore, City Hall will be closed from 12-2 that afternoon to allow the staff to take part. Murphy also noted that he and Chief Turner are in talks with FOP to modify the city’s compensation plan for officers and sergeants. The city currently uses a 17-step compensation plan. If modified, the new plan would be 14 steps, raising the starting pay for an officer by three steps. Murphy said that hopefully this new plan would help not only with recruitment of officers, but also retention of current staff. A motion was requested to implement the plan, which was made and unanimously approved. Mayor Mike Todd recognized Murphy’s 17-year anniversary working for the City of Grain Valley and thanked him for his service. Todd finished his report by saying that a new video is coming out shortly from the city as a part of their ongoing community outreach efforts. The video is a parody of a popular YouTube series where guests eat hot chicken wings while doing an interview. The city’s video includes Mayor Todd and various employees in the Public Works Department. According to Todd, this is “the most highly anticipated video Grain Valley has ever made.” The next regularly scheduled meeting will take place at City Hall on Monday, July 10 at 7:00pm. Downtown Grain Valley Inc. is seeking volunteers to help the organization continue its work to revitalize the downtown area. Volunteers are needed to serve a variety of roles, including beautification, event volunteers, photography, and serving on a number of committees, including design and promotion.
The promotion committee works to promote downtown as the center of commerce, culture and community for residents and visitors alike. This committee will bring forward new image campaigns for the district, assist with content and ideas for social media, and bring special events to downtown. The design committee will address public art, lighting, wayfinding signs, landscaping, use of greenspace and vacant land, preserving historical buildings, and public improvements. To express interest in volunteering on a committee, visit: bit.ly/43soXbM coverage by Clara Jaques, Student Intern Grain Valley's Public Works Department put on its annual Community Event Wednesday night at Armstrong Park. In addition to free pizza and snow cones, attendees enjoyed a variety of games, raffles, and were able to witness live equipment demonstrations. Public Works Maintenance Assistant Stefanie Ambrose has worked with the department on this effort for two years. "I feel like the turnout is amazing; it looks awesome. Everyone seems to be having fun and enjoying themselves and I have heard a lot of comments from parents and kids about how much fun they are having," Ambrose said. Photo credit: Clara Jaques, Student Intern
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. |
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