UG Commission meeting planned tonight

The Unified Government Commission plans to meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, at the Commission Chambers, lobby level, City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas.

On the agenda is an ordinance for a BPU Rosedale Electric Substation. The ordinance authorizes UG attorneys to start legal proceedings to acquire property for the Board of Public Utilities’ new 161kV Rosedale Electric Substation. The addresses include 128 S. Cherokee St., 132 S. Cherokee, 125 Lloyd St., 135 Lloyd St., and 145 Lloyd St. They are near South Minnie Street.

Also on the agenda are some changes to the Land Bank policies.

At a Neighborhood and Community Development Committee meeting on Monday night, a proposal advanced to change the policy so that the UG administrator would have approval of rehabilitation projects from some Land Bank properties. Currently, this is brought to the Land Bank board, which is made up of UG commissioners, for approval.

Chris Slaughter, Land Bank manager, said at the Monday meeting that this change could speed rehabilitation of these homes. Currently, it takes about seven weeks for some properties to get through the process.

According to Slaughter, houses that were not sold in a delinquent tax sale may be placed in the Land Bank, and some of them may be eligible for rehabilitation. No tax dollars are being used, according to UG officials. The properties are offered to contractors for rehabilitation, who fund the improvements, then may sell the properties. The UG works from a list of registered contractors, according to officials.

Also on the UG agenda is the appointment of Joan Spero to the Wyandotte-Leavenworth Area Wide Advisory Council on Aging, submitted by Commissioner Angela Markley.

Another agenda item is the appointment of Denise Tomasic to the Kansas City, Kansas, Housing Authority, submitted by Commissioner Jane Philbrook.