Excelsior Springs City Council Recap April 4th, 2022

Recap of the Excelsior Springs City Council Meeting for April 4, 2022:

Agenda item number one was the approval of a liquor license for 415 S. Thompson Ave. for the upcoming wine bar, Pairings, from Van Till Winery. From meeting documents:

Clifford J. Van Till is requesting a Beer and Wine by the Drink license for the area of 415 S. Thompson Avenue, Excelsior Springs, Missouri. The license requirements stipulate that the applicants shall submit the signatures of 51% of the owners of property and 51% of the tenants within 185 feet of the proposed licensee, in support of the application. The applicant has supplied signatures of 9 of 14 owners and 5 of 8 tenants within the 185 feet, satisfying the license requirements of 51%. Clifford J. Van Till will be the Managing Officer of the liquor license. The Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control has issued their license. Approval of the liquor license should be conditional upon satisfying the requirements for a business license (i.e. inspection: life safety issue).

Item number two was the consideration of DEP façade grant program that would allow DEP to continue to provide funds to individual business and building owners in downtown Excelsior Springs for awnings and signage improvements. According to meeting documentation, the City’s ARPA funding allocation provides funds to assist in our recovery from COVID impacts which can be used to recover from the impacts of illness as well as impacts to our economy. The guidelines specifically described façade improvements as an example of how funds can be used. $50,000 of ARPA funds were allocated to DEP to issue grants to individual businesses and building owners to exterior improvements. The council noted, that one specific change to the original Façade program is the option to provide grants to non-profits, such as the Museum. Funding has never been robust enough to provide funding to businesses that were not generating sales within the downtown district. DEP will be required to follow the same reporting requirements that the city responds to regarding use of funds.

Item three was an agreement with Viereo for resubmission of a RAISE grant to support the Safe Streets & Sidewalks Program to improve almost 7 miles and nine intersections with improved mobility in the vicinity of Cornerstone, Westview, and Westside Commercial Districts. The application scored as highly recommended, but there was not enough funding to support all applications in the final round. To re-submit the application by the April 14th deadline will require a new Benefit-Cost Analysis and technical memo ($20,400) and application edits with format adjustments and additional rendering ($11,400). To include the replacement of two railroad bridges at Kearney and Wornall Roads to improve connectivity between the east and west side of the tracks ($17,100) and research Advanced emergency warning signals at the Dunbar crossing ($3,000). Please consider approval of the agreement provided to move forward. It was proposed the City use ARPA funding to support this effort.

Item four was a modification to the agreement with Professional Service Industries, Inc. (PSI), an Intertek company is pleased to submit a proposal to conduct a geotechnical exploration for the proposed Century Park Pond Dam Modification project.

Item five was an agreement with Lamp Rynearson for Engineering Services for the 2022 Overlay Project funded thru Transportation Trust. Details from council documents:

Lamp Rynearson has prepared Task Order Number 2022-01 for Engineering Services for the 2022 Overlay Project funded thru Transportation Trust. This year’s project area is the Westwood Hills Subdivision and includes Pierson, Virginia Road, Garden Lane, Wisconsin, and Frontier for a mill and overlay, base repairs in Cherry Hills, and portions of N and H Highway inside our City Limits (South Marietta and St Louis Avenue- this would be prep work for a chip seal project the following year). At this point, we are estimating the total project cost to be $798,903.25 for design and construction. The fee for this work is a lump sum of $47,400.00 of which $21,650.00 is for design services/contract documents and $25,750.00 for construction administration and observation. The Transportation Trust Authority met on March 14th, 2022, discussed and approved the funding for this project for a not to exceed the amount of $800,000.00 for design and construction.

Item six was for consideration of a stormwater basin pump #2 replacement at the wastewater treatment plant. council documentation:

The WWTP is designed to have two pumps transfer water back from the stormwater basin to the plant for treatment. Pump #2 has failed and is in need of replacement. This leaves us with only one operational pump until this one is replaced. I would consider this pump replacement to fall under Section 165.080 Emergency Purchases of the Purchasing Policy. We obtained bids by phone from local vendors in the KC area that fit this application for the replacement of the pump and the service work to complete the installation. The bid tab is attached along with the bids from all three vendors. C&B Equipment was the low bid at $45,033.75 for the replacement of the pump and completing the installation. C&B is well qualified and has performed this type of work for us in the past for various other pumps replacements and rebuilds.

Item seven was the approval of the Rezoning of Parcel on Meadowlark Lane from RP-4, Planned Medium Density Apartment District to C-3, Service Business District. Council documentation:

The applicant is proposing to rezone a vacant piece of land to the C-3 District to provide for commercial development of the land. This parcel was zoned C-3, Service Business District in 1988 according to zoning maps. At some point over the past 34 years the zoning was changed to RP-4, Planned Medium Density Apartment District. The property is on the southern edge of the McCullough Industrial Park and is adjacent to the Royal Care Center, a nursing and rehabilitation center.

Appropriations were approved.

Remarks were brief. City Manager Molly McGovern remarked on the success of the Parks and Rec. Foundation’s Picadilly Fundraiser and Councilwoman, Sonya Morgan asked for prayers for the safe return of missing Excelsior Springs student Jenna Hall (17).