Plan for New Convention Center Hotel

The city is currently studying a plan for a 1,000-room downtown convention hotel center hotel. The project is in the planning stage, which entails hiring a consultant to oversee the plausibility of the city owned project.


City Councilmembers and The Convention & Visitors Association contend that more rooms are needed to ensure the success of the convention center. They argue that Bartle Hall is loosing prospective conventions due to lack of available hotel rooms within walking distance of the convention center.

Currently there are seven hotels that can hold 2,000 persons, two of which are more than a mile and a half from the convention center. The Downtown Marriott has roughly 600-750 rooms available, but 2000 total in the downtown area would be the optimum number to accommodate larger conventions.

A report last year showed that only half of hotel rooms available hotel rooms in the area were occupied during the first quarter.

The city isn’t yet to the development stages, but developer Ron Jury already has already a plan for the structure. Jury, who redeveloped the President Hotel is proposing a project that includes using the Power & Light Building in conjunction with new structures to create a roughly 1,000 room complex.

The city's Planning and Zoning Committee is scheduled to vote on the matter next week.

Read the Ordinance - 090444

In the news
• New tower proposed west of Power & Light Building in big hotel project
• Proposal to build downtown convention hotel raises questions

43rd and Main TIF Project Comes to a Close

The City Council finalized a compromise ending the 43rd and Main TIF, Thursday. The plan will pay remaining project costs and redistribute surplus money back to the city. The remaining costs include money for

• Streetscape and sidewalk repair
• S.M.A.R.T Housing Program
• Demolition of the Naughty But Nice building

The 43rd and Main TIF project was created in 1994 and comprises the Southmoreland neighborhood. The council and TIF Commission came to the conclusion that it has served its purpose of rehabilitating the area and therefore did not need to continue.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a development tool that uses future property taxes and other taxes generated by new development to pay for costs of construction of public infrastructure and other improvements. It will oftentimes divert money from school districts and other general funds to sponsor the development.

Read the Resolution - 090347

43rd and Main TIF in the News

• Welcome news about TIF
• TIF project on its way out

Heap of the Week

On the NorthEast News website, I found an entertaining page. The Heap of the Week shows photos of particularly egregious littering!

Abortion Bill Stalls

The House and Senate couldn't come to an agree on the before mentioned abortion bill causing Rep. Bryan Pratt, a Blue Springs Republican to give up on it.

Bill Designates December 25th as Christmas

Representative Mike Cunningham(R) of Rogersville, MO introduced a bill in the house that designates December 25 of each year to be known as Christmas and requires state agencies, public schools and colleges, and political subdivisions to use the traditional names of holidays.

Read the bill -HB 128

Rural Empowerment Zone

A bill going through the MO House and Senate currently deals with the interesting topic of the Rural Empowerment Zone. The Rural Empowerment Zone is an tax-exempt area a rural area with high levels of poverty and unemployment. This bill makes it illegal to have two Rural Empowerment Zones in one county, and allows Rural Empowerment Zones to exist in any county with 18,000 or fewer residents

Click on what you would like to see - more details about the bill, Rural Empowerment Zones, or just what taxes they are exempt from.

Bill in Jefferson City to Limit Abortion Rights

Going through the Missouri House and Senate is a bill regarding consent requirements for obtaining an abortion and creates the crime of coercing an abortion. It is already a crime to coerce anyone into having an abortion, and the rest of the bill details what a physician would be required to do before performing and abortion:

• provide printed materials detailing the risks of abortions
• provide the mother with the age of the unborn child
• give the mother the opportunity to view the ultrasound and hear the heartbeat
• past 22 weeks through pregnancy, provide the mother with info about the pain caused to fetus
  
• Prominently display statements encouraging a pregnant woman seeking an abortion to contact agencies that help women carry an unborn child to full term and that no one can coerce a person to have an abortion

For more info click here

Council Votes to Do Citizen Surveys More Often

Currently the citizens of Kansas City are given a survey once a year to voice their opinions of elected leaders. The City Council on Thursday voted to increase the number of times the citizen satisfaction survey is completed to four times a year. Councilmembers Marcason, Riley, Circo voted against the measure with the remaining members voting for it, and Councilmember Gottstein was not present. Marcason argued against the measure on the grounds that people would be swayed by different concerns during various seasons, like conditions of roads in the winter, skewing the results. She also voiced her concerns about the price of bumping up the amount to four times a year instead of one. Mayor Funkhouser did not believe there would be an increase in cost of doing four surveys.

Click here to read the resolution: 090340

American Jazz Museum To Still Get Funding

The American Jazz Museum will get $550,000 from the city for its 18th and Vine Project to fund its management and operations.

Read the resolution here 090302!

Kansas City Gets Attention for Vacant Arena

(photo by neal1960)
There's an article this month in Atlantic Monthly about the Sprint Center here in KC (and an accompanying entertaining illustration!) Mayor Funkhouser says of the arena created by the previous mayor ' “I tell people it’s a shotgun wedding, but I have to make the marriage work. And if you look at it just in terms of the performance of the facility itself, it has exceeded expectations. It’s shiny and new. People like it.” '
Click here for the article

Additional Money to go to Kansas City Free Health Clinic

The City approved an additional $201,926.84 Thursday to go to the Kansas City Free Health Clinic. It provide additional primary care services to those that qualify in the Kansas City Transitional Grant Area, which is a city program whose mission is HIV prevention and care.
Find out more-090296

City to Restore Jarboe Pool

City Council passed an ordinance Thursday during its legislative session allowing Director of Parks and Recreation to use $123,374.22 in PIAC money to repair and open the Jarboe Pool this summer. The repairs should keep the pool operational for 5-10 years.

Find out more! Ordinance- 090311

Black Heritage District Plan To Be Explored

The KC City council authorizes the city to enter into a $175,000 contract with Collins Noteis and Associates to create a master plan and economic development study for a Black Heritage District. The Black Heritage District Economic Development Plan is an area bounded by 9th and 29th streets to the north and south and Troost and Prospect Streets to the west and east.
Councilmember Beth Gottstein stated that this had been a forgotten area in terms of economic development and said that the district “deserves the best of the best”.
The Black Heritage District idea is spearheaded by Ollie Gates, president of Gates BBQ, and the Intra Urban Economic Council. In the district, the council hopes, the city sales tax of %7.725 will be removed to draw business.


Read the ordinance- 090293

Unspent CHDO Money To Go To Low Income Building Projects

After a heated debate during the legislative session, KC City Council passed an ordinance authorizing the use of past unspent Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) money for two community housing development projects. The ordinance allows $774,914.83 to be spent on building two single-family houses and to rehab nine others in the Westside, Scarritt Renaissance and Blue Hills Neighborhoods for low income residents. These projects are facilitated through the Blue Hills Community Services and Westside Housing Organizations. These organizations are non-profits that aim to create solutions for low-income housing.
Read the entire ordinance- 090292

New recycling contract negotiated

The city negotiated a new 3-year recycling contract with Town and Country Disposal that would allow for weekly pickup of recyclables. It was forecast that the pickup would be halted to every other week because of this year’s budget cuts. Recyclables were picked up in the past by the Deffenbaugh company, but the company increased their price by 25% this year, and the city just couldn’t afford to do curbside recycling pickup every week at that price. So they negotiated with another company with a lower bid. The city will continue to pickup recycling and trash in the city’s core, with the north and south now using Town and Country Disposal. Not much will change, the new company will still pick up plastic items with labels 1 through 7, but still will not accept glass. Read the ordinance in full 090309
Stay tuned for a complete post about recycling, where and how to do it in KC, even if you do not have curbside pickup. Exciting!

KC City Council Approves Legislation for Homesless Prevention

The City Council on Thursday passed the resolution (090282) accepting money from HUD for homeless prevention and re-housing those currently homeless. Read the past post about it

KC City Council Votes Down Airport Privatization

City Council Thursday voted down a plan to submit for an application to privatize Kansas City’s airports through the FAA’s Airport Privatization Pilot Program. Several councilmembers stated their concern for jobs that might be lost and many doubted that anyone would actually buy the airport during such dire economic times.


“Wrong move, wrong time, wrong for Kansas City,” Councilman Terry Riley said during a lively debate about the privatization plan. Mayor Funkhouser and councilmembers Ford, Skaggs, and Johnson voted for the resolution, while the remaining members in attendance voted against it. Read the entire ordinance- 090167

Homeless Prevention and Re-Housing Money

On the agenda for the Housing Committee this week is a resolution (090282) accepting money from HUD for homeless prevention and re-housing those currently homeless. The city has made some unfortunate choices with the budget, but they are trying to get money from the Recovery Act to fill in the gaps. Here's an info-graphic about the resolution!

Fixing Kansas City’s Business License Code

A November referendum in is the works to fix Kansas City's outdated business licensing system. Some businesses are being overly taxed and some not taxed at all, and as a result the city has been loosing an unknown amount of money. KCs old-timey regulations are yet again pandering to coal peddlers and horse drawn candy wagons! Well, no longer! The KC Star says...

What is the City Council up to this week?

Passed a resolution recognizing the program Aim4Peace and supports their efforts to look for grant funding for the program. Unfortunately, this year's budget cut the program, and so this resolution is only recognizing the sticktoitiveness of Aim4Peace, and not funding the program.
Read the resolution! 090280


Passed an ordinance that would stop a supplemental retirement program for some of the city's high level administrators. The program cost the city $260,000 annually.
Read the resolution! 090270