If you’re in or close to Dearborn and looking for some action on a Saturday night I’ve got just the spot for you.
Dearborn city officials will be hosting a town hall chat at 6 p.m. Saturday. The topic? Raising chickens.
Discussion during the chat will focus on “rescinding the ban to allow chickens within the city limits,” the city says.
This is awesome. In a weird sort of way. I mean, if you’re into chickens. And town hall meetin’s on a Saturday night.
Hot time in the city. Runnin’ wild and lookin’ pretty.
A posted public notice says the chicken meeting is to be held at the Dearborn Community Center. Kind of surprised it’s not being held on somebody’s front porch, honestly. Put the mayor and aldermen in a porch swing. You know, to set the mood for some informal discussion. Kind of create some ambiance, if you will.
By the way, don’t expect coverage of the chicken meeting in next week’s Landmark. Not sure what my Saturday night activity will be but pretty sure I won’t be spending it performing journalism at a town hall meeting about chicken farming.
Just sayin’. Not being judgmental. To each his own. You be you. I’ll be me.
I don’t have an interest in conversing about raising chickens on a Saturday night but I would fight to the death for Dearborn’s right to do so.
If somebody decides to bring bucket loads of KFC to the chicken meeting I reserve the right to reconsider.
Best song on the radio right now? My answer is “Cool” by the Jonas Brothers. Check out the song and video on YouTube.
You could argue with me that it’s the best. But you’d be wrong.
Electrifying.
If you’re looking for a place to charge your electric car–and who isn’t?–you’ll soon be able to do so in the parking lot between the Mid-Continent Public Library and the Platte County Community Center (YMCA).
It will be the first-ever electric vehicle charging station to be installed in Platte City, thanks to Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative. Platte City Mayor Frank Offutt will be on hand for a ribbon cutting when the charging station is unveiled on Monday, June 10 at 10:30 a.m.
How big of an impact will last week’s court decision on the Zona Rosa bond case have across the state? Depends on whom you talk to. Some experts I’ve asked think it could have a big impact, others say not so much.
“It could be huge. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of these type (appropriation) contracts out there for a variety of items,” one expert told me, including things like lease purchase agreements for major pieces of equipment, certificates of participation for things like recreation centers, etc. “It’s a commonly accepted practice. Everything has been issued without a vote of the people. Is this going to cause potential lenders to not be as willing? If I’m lending money I might be concerned,” now that governments fully realize they have the legal right to walk away from the debt.
Of course if they do walk away, or even talk of walking away, look what it does to your entity’s credit rating. And despite the Platte County Commission’s hopes the court decision will fix the county’s rating, most observers say it’s not likely to happen for quite some time (see front page story for more details).
Another expert told me the statewide impact could be minimal.
“Savvy bond buyers already knew the appropriation language was in there,” this expert said. The law doesn’t mandate payment from the taxing entity so the market reaction “is to pummel the entity’s credit rating. That’s all they’ve got on you,” this expert remarked.
It’s a good example of why government should not be backing private developments. If the Zona lawsuit increases costs of credit on those deals maybe that’s a good thing.
While some observers feel certain UMB will appeal the circuit court’s decision, others told me this week they are not so sure. A circuit court decision is considered an “unpublished” opinion, while an opinion rendered by the court of appeals would be “published” and potentially have greater impact. In other words, an appeals court decision could have a greater negative impact on the appropriation bonds industry than the circuit court decision, so UMB may decide to leave it alone. We’ll know within 40 days.
The $32-40 million county commissioners claim this court ruling could potentially save taxpayers over the years sounds like a lot of money until you realize it’s still $25 or $30 million less than the commissioners wanted to spend on a jail.
Of course what it all means to Platte County is the county commissioners should not be considering any major building projects in the near future. The cost of borrowing will be extremely high because of the credit rating status.
That’s why it was borderline insanity for the county commissioners to recently propose a $65 million jail. Voters were smart to scissor kick that thing in the gizzard.
Let’s hope the commissioners are over their infatuation with spending tens of millions of dollars on a questionable project at a time when their credit rating is in the tank. It would be an expensive price to pay just for a plaque with their names on it.
(Scissor kick Foley via email to ivan@plattecountylandmark.com. Get more Between the Lines on Twitter @ivanfoley or on Facebook at Platte County Landmark)