Tag: Unified Government Commission

UG Commission to discuss code of ethics, charter ordinance changes Thursday

The Unified Government Commission is scheduled to discuss changes to the charter ordinance and code of ethics at a 5 p.m. meeting Thursday, April 10.

The 5 p.m. meeting location  has been changed to Commission Chambers, lobby level, City Hall, 701 N. 7th, Kansas City, Kan.

After the 5 p.m. meeting will be a closed, executive session on the ninth floor about labor negotiations.

The regular 7 p.m. meeting April 10 will be held in the Commission Chambers, lobby level, City Hall.

On the agenda for the 7 p.m. regular meeting:

– An ordinance authorizing issuing industrial revenue bonds for MS Kansas City (Main Street) for a skilled nursing and assisted living facility at 8900 Parallel Parkway.

– An ordinance to allow the UG to acquire property for the Missouri River-Jersey Creek Connector Trail Project.

– An ordinance certifying that the UG has sufficient legal authority to administer stormwater management programs that were agreed to with the EPA and state of Kansas.

– A question of whether an easement should be given or sold to the city of Edwardsville in connection with Edwardsville’s proposed development near the south side of 110th and I-70, which would require sewer service. The project would install a  pump station on the south side of I-70.

– Authorization to apply for a grant to establish a mental health court, a four-year grant with up to $384,000 a year.

– A plat of Strawberry Hill Pointe, 4th and Armstrong.

– Disbursement of $23,961 of unexpended drug and alcohol funds to Requesting Mirror Inc. for a mentoring program.

– A report on emergency management operations and storm season procedures.

– A change in the amount of taxes for real property located at 7836 State Ave., Kmart building, owned by Sears Holdings. The value was reduced on the property from the Court of Tax Appeals. The tax was lowered from $141,399.70 to $127,939.68, a reduction of $13,460.02.

– A change in the amount of taxes for personal property property located at 5846 Kansas Ave., Mo-Kan Container Services. The value was adjusted on some trucks, based on their condition.  The tax was reduced from $47,203.98 to $36,750.60, a reduction of $10,453.38.

The agenda is online at www.wycokck.org.

Several zoning projects to be reviewed at UG Commission meeting Thursday

The Unified Government Commission is scheduled to meet Thursday, March 27, at City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kan.

A special session is scheduled at 5 p.m. March 27 in the ninth floor conference room at City Hall for a closed meeting on litigation.

At 6 p.m. is the Police Department’s service awards in the Commission Chambers, lobby level of City Hall.

The 7 p.m. meeting also is scheduled in the Commission Chambers.

Several planning and zoning items are on the agenda for the 7 p.m. meeting.

They include a special use permit to provide emergency shelter for children at 6005 Nogard Ave., in a new building proposed by PACES.

A new 113-unit Residence Inn at 1875 Village West Parkway, at The Legends, is on the agenda for a plan review. The new hotel, in an area of more than 25,000 square feet, would be built on existing parking areas at the shopping center.

Also on the agenda for the 7 p.m. meeting:

  • 4458 State Line Road, change of zone from C-1 limited business district to TND traditional neighborhood design district for a mixed use development.
  • 11501 Parallel Parkway, change of zone from agriculture district to R-5 apartment district for a 309-unit apartment complex.
  • 2102 Metropolitan Ave., special use permit for an electronic message sign for Save-A-Lot grocery store.
  • 99 N. 61st St., special use permit for a dirt fill.
  • 735 Walker Ave., special use permit renewal for temporary storage shed.
  • 9 N. Cherokee St., special use permit for temporary use of land for a construction trailer.
  • 4752 State Ave., El Portrero Bar and Grill, special use permit for live entertainment on weekends and holidays.
  • 1333 S. 27th and 1324-2334 S. 26th, preliminary and final plan review for garden-style senior living apartment complex.
  • 5340 Oak Grove Road, preliminary and final plan review for a new school building.
  • 1703 and 1801 Village West Parkway, preliminary and final plan review for a retail development.
  • 1333 S. 27th St., master plan amendment from low-density residential to medium-density residential.
  • 11501 Parallel Parkway, master plan amendment from planned mixed business park-commercial to high-density residential.
  • 4116 Metropolitan Ave., an ordinance rezoning property from limited business district to planned general business district.
  • 10118 Hutton Road from agriculture district to single-family district.

Motor Vehicle office will try paging system to reduce long waits in office

Unhappy taxpayers, crying children, and personnel who were applying for other jobs – that is how Unified Government Treasurer Debbie Pack described the situation in the Motor Vehicle Department in Wyandotte County.

Ever since the state shifted more of the workload to the local offices in May 2012, also changing forms and software at the same time, there have been long waits in the Motor Vehicle office for people who want to get their vehicles registered. The state shifted the approval process from the state to the county.

The county office handles about 60 to 70 new registrations a day at each of its two locations, and sometimes the number is 100.

The average wait in February 2014 was four hours for new registrations, Pack told the Unified Government Commission at the 7 p.m. meeting March 20.

But something is being done now that may address the long waits in the office, she said.

Currently, Wyandotte County’s Motor Vehicle office is working with Shawnee County, which developed its own queue system to allow customers Internet access that will tell them the approximate wait time, she said. The office is also working on a call-in system.

That will mean that customers may come in with their paperwork, leave for a few hours, get a message that they will be needed in 45 minutes, and then come back when it is close to the time they will be needed.  The office still will need about the same amount of time to process the paperwork, she added. But customers will not have to wait in the office the entire time.

Pack hopes the new system will be running by the end of March.

The county office handled more than 37,000 new registrations in 2013, and there were 114,000 renewals that year.

Pack said the state had four to seven full-time persons at the state level working on Wyandotte County cases in 2012 when it shifted the approval process to the county level. That shifted some additional costs to the county in the form of extra personnel needed, according to UG officials.

The county has had to add one approver and other staff since then. Only one employee can take time off from the office at any time, she said. She also asked the commission for additional personnel.