News from KCMO: Mark the Calendar: Trash Amnesty Week, City Offices Closed

City of Kansas City, Mo., offices , which include the 311 Call Center, will be closed on July 3, 2015 in observance of the Independence Day holiday on July 4, 2015. Trash and recycling services will not be delayed during the City-observed holiday.

All residents are eligible for trash amnesty the week of July 6-10. City-wide trash amnesty allows residents to place up to 15 bags of trash for collection. This trash will be collected during regularly scheduled trash days. No household hazardous waste, bulky items or leaf and brush will be collected as part of trash amnesty.

Bulky Item pickups have been suspended for the month of July so that crews can focus on City-wide storm debris removal. Residents that have a previously scheduled July pickup date must call the 311 Call Center to reschedule. Due to large call volumes, residents are encouraged to reschedule bulky pick-ups online, calls to reschedule should be made near the end of July.

For more information about solid waste collection services, visit http://www.kcmo.gov/publicworks/trash or call the 3-1-1 Call Center at 311 or 816-513-1313.

Media inquiries about trash and recycling should be directed to Sean Demory, public information officer for the Public Works Department, at 816-513-0059.

City provides resources for residents impacted by storm damage

kansascity.com

The City of Kansas City, Missouri has assembled resources to aid residents who have been impacted by debris, and electrical outages as a result of last night's storm. A complete list of resources is available online at www.kcmo.gov/storm.

Power Outages & Emergency Aid
Residents experiencing a power outage should report the outage location to KCP&L by calling 1-888-LIGHT-KC (1-888-544-4852). Residents are advised to stay away from downed power lines.
The City of Kansas City, Missouri, in partnership with the American Red Cross, has established an emergency shelter location to aid residents afflicted by power outages. Residents may seek shelter at the Gregg Klice Community Center, located at 1600 John "Buck" O'Neil Way.

Traffic Signals
City crews are working to restore traffic signals as quickly as possible. Residents should treat intersections with non-functioning traffic signals as 4-way stops.

Fallen Trees
Kansas City's 311 Action Center is available to accept reports trees and large debris which may have fallen in the public right-of-way. The 311 Action Center will offer extended hours to accept reports of fallen trees. Due to large call volumes, residents are encouraged to contact the 311 Action Center online, where they can also see if a report has already filed for a given location. Residents may also contact the 311 Action Center by phone at 816-513-1313 or by Twitter @KCMO311.

Leaf & Brush Collection
Kansas City's leaf and brush drop-off sites will be open throughout the weekend, and the fees for drop-off have been waived. Hours and locations for the drop off sites are as follows:

1815 N. Chouteau Trafficway; open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Friday, June 26, 2015
- Saturday, June 27, 2015
- Sunday, June 28, 2015
11660 N. Main Street; open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Friday, June 26, 2015
- Saturday, June 27, 2015
- Sunday, June 28, 2015
10301 Raytown Road; open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Saturday, June 27, 2015
- Sunday, June 28, 2015

Additional information regarding the City's storm response can be found online at www.kcmo.gov/storm.

News from KCMO: City’s Home Repair & Paint Programs help residents make home improvements

Spring is a time for renewal—and the perfect time to make home improvements. On May 1, 2015, The City of Kansas City, Mo., opened home repair applications for three Neighborhood and Housing Services programs to serve residents. The Paint Program provides free paint and supplies to qualifying homeowners who live in Kansas City, Missouri. The City Home Repair Program & Federal Home Loan Bank Home Repair Program assists Kansas City, Missouri homeowners who cannot afford to make urgent home repairs. The Targeted Minor Home Repair, Special Northeast and Marlborough Targeted Programs assist homeowners who live in targeted areas within neighborhood strategy areas identified in the 2012-2016 Consolidated Housing and Community Development Plan.

"Home improvements, both big and small, can be expensive for homeowners," said Roger Stewart, Program Supervisor. "Kansas City is offering resources to home owners in need to make improvements to their properties, which in turn improves neighborhoods and communities."

This year, Kansas City is offering another resource for homeowners—the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) Home Repair Program. The program is funded by two $500,000 grants that the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines presented to the City and Central Bank of Kansas City to support minor home repair assistance - such as roof replacement, siding, painting and electrical repairs -  to about 150 single family homeowners who live in targeted neighborhoods. Homeowners must also meet the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Very Low Income (50 percent) guidelines.

This is the third time the City has received housing improvement grants from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines. Through its "Strong Communities" program, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines annually returns 10 percent of its net income to support housing projects in communities throughout its district.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines is a wholesale cooperative bank that provides low-cost short and long-term funding and community lending to nearly 1,200 members, including commercial banks, saving institutions, credit unions and insurance companies. The bank is wholly owned by its members and receives no taxpayer funding. The Des Moines Bank serves Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota and is one of 12 regional banks that make up the Federal Home Loan Bank system.

Applications for all programs are available online at kcmo.gov/neighborhoods. To request an application be mailed to you, please call the City's Housing Section at 816-513-3025.

For more information or media inquiries, please contact Roger Stewart, program supervisor, at 816-513-3253.

City crews prepared to respond to winter weather

City of Kansas City, Mo., crews assigned to arterial, primary and residential streets are prepared to respond to the winter weather that is forecast to move through the Kansas City area overnight. About 3-5 inches of snow is expected to fall in Kansas City, Mo.

Crews assigned to primary and arterial routes will mobilize beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28 to clear City roads and bridges. The City has approximately 6,400 lane miles of pavement in its street system. In order to keep traffic moving throughout the City during a winter weather event, the City's snow plan prioritizes plowing into two types of snow routes: primary/arterial routes and residential routes.

On primary and arterial routes, the City's Public Works, Parks and Recreation and Water Services departments collaborate on removing snow and ice from approximately 2,400 lane-miles of pavement and apply salt as needed. On primary and arterial streets, crews plow curb-to-curb and work around the clock.

On residential snow routes, City crews using smaller trucks work 12-hour shifts during daytime hours to provide a passable lane by plowing and applying salt on intersections, hills and curves. As possible, crews will widen the passable lane, which may still have some snow pack due to low pavement temperatures.

Please note, the Missouri Department of Transportation plows highways. Many streets in Kansas City are actually part of the highway system and plowing for them is MoDOT's responsibility. These streets include: Bannister Road, Noland Road, Vivion Road, Antioch Road and part of Independence Avenue. The telephone number for MoDOT is 816-622-6500.

When snow depths exceed a couple of inches, residents are advised that parking cars off-street during snow plow operations greatly enhances the ability of snow plows to remove snow, especially in cul-de-sacs and dead end streets. Residents parking on signed Emergency Snow Routes should be prepared to find alternate parking locations to avoid vehicles being ticketed or towed.

Residents wanting to report slick spots or missed streets to the City's 311 Call Center are advised that while crews are running assigned snow routes, it is assumed that all streets are slick. Only after snow has stopped falling and all snow routes have been run does the City's 311 Call Center accept requests for slick spots and missed streets.

To receive text and email notifications from the City, please sign up for our Nixle notification system atwww.kcmo.gov/nixle. Residents may also sign up by texting their zip code to "888777."

Media inquiries about ice and snow removal should be directed to Sean Demory, public information officer for the Public Works Department, at 816-513-0059.

Westport High School Repurposing Presentations

Presentations for the sale and repurposing of Westport High were held Monday, February 23rd.  Residents who were unable to attend Monday's meeting are encouraged to review the presentations and provide feedback to the Kansas City Public School District by Monday, March 9th.   

To view the presentation for Kansas City Sustainable Development Partners, LLC, click here. 

To view the presentation for Foutch Brothers, LLC, click here. 

Fill out the form below, and submit it to the repurposing team at repurposing@kcpublicschools.org. 

Stakeholder Feedback Form - PDF 

January Meeting Agenda

Southmoreland Neighborhood Association Meeting

7 p.m. January 12, 2015, All Souls UU Church

1. Call to order, Greg Corwin, president

2. Approval of November minutes (no official December meeting)

3. Introduce guests

4. New business 

·         Nelson-Atkins request to renew special use permit and to obtain an additional permit*

·         Nominations for 2015 officers/board members (for February meeting elections)

6.  Committee reports – as needed, and may include:
  a.  Treasurer – Kat Carroll
  b.  Safety – Gina Tamasi

  c.  Planning and Development – Greg Corwin
  d.  Program/Events – Laura Burkhalter
  e.  Newsletter/Website/Blog/Facebook – Kelly Phelan
  f.   Neighborhood (Culture and Preservation – Scott Hefley
  g.  Membership – Susan Casserly is absent)

7. Adjourn

* The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art will soon file paperwork with the City of Kansas City for special use permits to use two of its properties for office space. The Nelson-Atkins is asking the City to renew for five years a special use permit for the Bishop’s House, 400 E. 45^th St., which is now used as office space for the Design Department. The museum is also asking the City for a new, five-year special use permit for the currently vacant Feingold House, 500 E. 45^th St., for office space. According to the request, the museum would make virtually no changes to the exterior and very few interior changes. Employees would park in the museum’s underground parking garage. 

The City would like to see letters of support and/or opposition, especially from Southmoreland Neighborhood Association.  Also, All Souls UU Church has been asked by the museum to sign a letter of support – but before signing, has asked (through Marli Murphy) for SNA’s position on the matter, as well as any concerns. Marli will report to the church board after tonight’s meeting.

City issues helpful tips to prepare for winter weather; City Services Postponed Due to Inclement Weather

Due to inclement weather, the City of Kansas City will postpone the following scheduled events and services:

• The City's recycling, leaf, and brush drop-off locations will be closed on Saturday, Nov. 15.

• Kansas City's Hard to Recycle Items Event, originally scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 15 will now take place on Saturday, Nov. 22.

• Bulky item collections scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 15 will now be collected on Sunday, Nov. 16.

• Regularly scheduled trash pick-up will not be impacted by this weather event.

As the winter season approaches, the City reminds residents to follow these tips during snow events to both stay safe and help make the City's snow operations run smoothly and efficiently:

• Avoid parking on City streets when it snows, but if you must, please use the north or west side of the street so snow removal crews can do their job. If vehicles are parked on both sides of a narrow street, it may not leave enough space for a snowplow, and that street might get skipped.

• Do not park on signed emergency snow routes. Vehicles parked on these routes may be ticketed or towed during snowstorms.

• Please wait 36 hours after snow stops falling to call 311 or tweet to @KCMO311 about slick spots or missed streets. This allows snow removal crews adequate time to complete multiple passes on all assigned snow routes. If a crew is taken off of its assigned route to take individual requests, it will delay the entire snow operation.

• Keep children from playing in snow banks along the road. It's enticing—because the large piles of snow seem like a giant fort—but very dangerous; children may tumble onto the road in front of cars or snow plows.

• Avoid driving during snow events, but if you must go out, keep water and blankets or an extra coat in your car for warmth, and keep the gas tank full.

• Make sure your vehicle has adequate tire tread to avoid getting stuck.

• Keep a snow shovel in your trunk. You never know when you might need one during your travels.

• When shoveling the end of your driveway where it meets the road, also clear a 10-foot strip along the curb to the left (when facing the road) to avoid snow plows pushing it back across your driveway. Watch a 41-second MoDOT video describing this at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bm7mJxJOSU.

• Be a good neighbor, and remove snow and ice from any sidewalks on your property, whether residential or business, within a reasonable time after a snowfall.

• Follow the City of Kansas City, Missouri on Twitter and Facebook for updates and information on major snow events.

• Subscribe to Kansas City's Nixle messaging system for updates in your area, and visit the City's dedicated snow webpage, kcmo.gov/snow for city-wide updates and information!
The City appreciates your help and cooperation - please stay safe during winter weather!