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A Pontiac G5 that was traveling west on I-70 on the ramp to Central Avenue lost control and hit the wall on Monday, according to a Kansas Turnpike Authority trooper’s report.
The driver, a 20-year-old woman from Edwardsville, Kan., was injured and taken to the hospital, according to the trooper’s report. The accident happened at 12:15 p.m. Aug. 22.
Showers and thunderstorms will spread across the region today, likely persisting well into the overnight hours, according to the National Weather Service.
More storms will be possible again Wednesday afternoon and night as a front stalls in northern Missouri, the weather service said.
A threat of severe weather today includes the possibility of large hail and damaging winds, and isolated tornadoes late this afternoon or evening cannot be ruled out, according to the weather service.
Areas most at threat from severe weather will be along and north of a line from northern Kansas City to Princeton, Mo., which is in northern Missouri, the weather service said.
Torrential rain will accompany storms today and Wednesday, which could lead to some local flooding, the weather service said.
The frontal boundary could stall across the northern part of the region on Wednesday, which could focus the flooding threat in areas north of the Missouri River by Wednesday afternoon.
In Wyandotte County, today the main chance of showers and thunderstorms will start mainly after 10 a.m., the weather service said. There is a 50 percent chance of rain and storms. The high today will be near 81, with a south wind of 5 to 15 mph, gusting as high as 22 mph. Between a tenth and a quarter of an inch of rain is forecast.
Tonight, there is a 60 percent chance of showers and storms, mainly before 10 p.m., according to the weather service. The low will be around 72. The south wind will be 10 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Between a tenth and quarter-inch of rain is expected.
Wednesday, there is a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1 p.m., according to the weather service. The high will be near 87. Between a tenth and quarter-inch of rain is forecast.
Wednesday night, there is a 70 percent chance of rain, the weather service said. The low will be around 68. Between three quarters and an inch of rain is possible.
Thursday, there is a 30 percent chance of precipitation, according to the weather service. The high will be near 81.
Thursday night, there is a 40 percent chance of precipitation, the weather service said. The low will be around 63.
Friday, there is a 30 percent chance of rain, the weather service said. The high will be near 80.
Saturday, there is a 40 percent chance of rain, with a high near 85, according to the weather service. Saturday night’s low will be around 70.
Rainfall amounts may be higher in thunderstorms, the weather service said.
For more weather information, visit www.weather.gov or listen to a weather radio.
The Unified Government Public Works and Safety Committee tonight approved a resolution that will allow the UG to start a process to survey land for condemnation in connection with the collapse of North 33rd Terrace.
Ken Moore, UG attorney, said that in May, after heavy rains, an area of North 33rd Terrace washed away, denying people on the road access to their property.
“We have looked at various alternatives to resolve this situation, one of which was we applied for a FEMA grant that would have potentially allowed us to rebuild that road. That grant application was denied,” Moore said.
“Essentially what we have is property owners who don’t have public access to their property,” Moore said. “And so, this resolution, again we have been working with them since May 23 to try to reach some type of resolution, but another alternative, if we would have to essentially condemn this property to relocate them, this resolution allows us to start that process since it is a multi-month process.”
UG looks at changes to block party policy
Changes to the block party policy also were discussed at the Monday night Public Works and Safety Committee meeting.
The proposed changes included approval by 75 percent of the neighbors on the street of the block party, and notification of 100 percent of the neighbors.
Currently, 51 percent of the people on the street need to sign a petition for a block party, and there were no criteria under current policy for turning down or approving the permit, and nothing in the current policy about cleaning up or public safety, said Susan Alig, attorney with the UG legal department.
Public Works Director Mike Tobin said most of the block party permits are issued for the Fourth of July weekend. In 2015, there were 70 permits for the Fourth of July weekend, and 123 permits issued during the entire year, he said. So far in 2016, there have been 91 permits issued.
For the most part the current system has been working but there have been one or two complaints each year, he added.
The proposed policy says applicants must pay a $120 security deposit with a $30 permit fee. The UG Public Works Department sets up barricades to block off a street for a block party, and if the street is not cleaned up afterward by the residents and if the barricades are not returned in good condition, part of the security deposit can be taken. There was some discussion about how much the UG should charge for placing and picking up the barricades.
There is a list of arterial streets that cannot be used for block parties included with the proposed policy.
Commissioner Gayle Townsend said she would like to see the total number of hours of an event limited to six hours, but the UG Committee did not support a change to the proposed hours of 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. for an event.
Cleanup was discussed. Gordon Criswell, UG assistant administrator, said a record could be kept of those applicants who do not clean up after the block party, and they could be prohibited from making an application the following year.
Commissioner Melissa Bynum suggested that a sentence should be added to the policy to state that all of the current UG ordinances on noise and fireworks, and all other ordinances, also still apply to block parties.
Two neighborhood group volunteers spoke at the committee meeting, and one said that she had asked several neighbors if they signed a petition for a block party, and they said they had not, although their names were on the list submitted to the UG.
The neighborhood volunteers and some commissioners asked if there was any way the Public Works Department could verify the names of those who signed petitions. Currently, the staff does not do any verification and it doesn’t get many complaints, according to Alig, but some of the people at the committee meeting urged them to include verification in the new policy.
One of the neighborhood volunteers said she would like the policy to say that the block party has to engage among a community, not just be a party for a family. She had heard about private block parties, after a funeral, or a birthday party, which did not have any connections with the neighborhood, she said.
Another neighborhood volunteer said that at times, when the noise level was too loud, residents called police and the music was turned down for a short while, but when the police left it was turned up again.
The proposed policy will be revised according to ideas discussed at the meeting, and it will come back to another standing committee meeting in the future, according to UG officials.
In other action, the committee approved some changes to the Emergency Support Function 6 dealing with mass care, housing and human services of the Wyandotte County Emergency Operations Plan. The change may go to the full commission for approval at a later date.
According to UG officials, the most significant change in the plan is the realignment of the coordinating agency, primary agencies and supporting agencies with a slightly different definition than has been used in the past. In a serious emergency requiring temporary shelter and humanitarian assistance, the UG Emergency Management Department would most likely act first, calling in the UG Human Services Department to be the coordinating agency, according to the change in the plan.
The committee also gave its approval to:
• A resolution that would allow a land survey to be taken for the Grant Elementary Sanitary Sewer Improvements project.
• A land survey for the 26th and Grandview emergency sanitary sewer repairs.
• A land survey for the 2016 storm sewer R&R project and 2017 sanitary sewer improvements.
Items approved at the committee level later go to the full UG Commission level.
The committee also heard an update on the residential water and service line protection program.
The UG and the Board of Public Utilities will be offering a warranty program for water and sewer service lines, according to Trenton Fogelsong, UG water pollution control director.
The program will start next month, and in late September, mailings will begin to residents.
HomeServe was selected through a bidding process to be the provider for the program, which will allow residents to buy insurance that will cover the repair of water and sewer lines to their homes. Residents are responsible for paying for repairs to the lines that are on their property.
According to Fogelsong, the program is optional, and residents are not required to buy insurance. Replacing a water or sewer line can be expensive. The program is only for residences at this time.
The cost of the insurance will be $5.99 a month for the sewer line protection, or $71.88 a year; and $3.99 a month for the water line protection, or $47.88 a year. The sewer line maximum coverage is for $10,000 a year, and the water line maximum coverage is for $8,000 a year.
According to UG assistant administrator Melissa Mundt, this program can go a long way toward helping people who are just trying to hang on and stay in their homes, and not be faced with an unmanageable expense.
