People say there are no guarantees in life but at this point three things around here seem pretty close to guaranteed:
*Somebody at the county will want to build a bigger jail.
*Delivery times on anything handled by the Parkville Post Office will be slower than slow.
*Electrical service in downtown Platte City will be unreliable.
Sadly, power outages in downtown Platte City have become so frequent the situation has turned into a spectator sport. Employees from some of the government offices step outside and gawk for hours. Maybe an entrepreneur needs to start swinging by with a food truck or a drink cart at appropriate times.
It’s Wednesday morning and with a lengthy power outage in downtown Platte City–the second one in the past eight days–Landmark employees are finishing up this edition from home, where we have Platte-Clay Electric service. Sure, these outages are a major hassle for a newspaper but they’re a real revenue killer for someone with, say, a coffee shop/bakery operation that makes its money from morning to early afternoon. Twice in the past week the downtown Platte City coffee shop has had its entire business day shut down by lengthy power outages. The owners aren’t the kind of folks to jump and down complaining, so I’m politely mentioning it here. There are other small businesses on Main Street who are equally negatively affected. When the livelihoods of small business owners are consistently being impacted, patience can start to run thin.
City Hall will want to apply pressure to Evergy because it will be tough for economic development leaders to attract new businesses to the downtown district when the existing businesses talk about how frequent the power outages are. City Hall, affected business owners and affected residents need to start putting some pressure on Evergy to fix the Platte City problem, which likely has many levels that need addressed, from increased tree trimming near power lines to upgrading equipment.
Some curious readers have asked for more info on the zip line set to go in at a Platte City park so here we go. A zip line will be installed at Rising Star Park in Platte City (that’s the park with the splash pad off of Second Street), but it’s not the adult-sized zip line some of you might have pictured in your head. Platte City has specified a 60 to 100 ft. long zip line with a poured in place fall safe surface below it. “The safety surface is identical to the fall zone of the existing Rising Star Park playground area,” DJ Gehrt, city administrator says.
The zip line will be primarily designed for users aged 5-12, Gehrt says, however the equipment is constructed to allow for older users. The platforms from which riders will board the zip line are 2.5 to three feet above the ground. “The bottom of the seat when a rider is using the zip line is also about three feet off the ground,” Gehrt said.
Proposals for companies to submit bids on furnishing/installing the zip line are going out. A contract award is scheduled to happen in July and the zip line has a completion date of mid-November.
Televised hearings of the Jan. 6 committee begin this week and if you’re having a watch party be on the lookout for Dagmar Wood storming into your living room wearing a viking headdress.
Word of new restaurants coming to Platte County fills our front page this week and I gotta say I like it.
I do worry how these new restaurants will be filling out their rosters of needed employees, as nearly every food service outlet in the area is already talking about how hard it is right now to find staff. But hey, for now let’s focus on the positive. The good news we have new food options coming our way and I’m excited about it. Are you?
Get more details in our front page stories but here is my personal favorite:
.LongHorn Steakhouse is coming to the former Ruby Tuesday restaurant location at the Tiffany Springs exit off I-29. In the last few years LongHorn has become my go-to outlet when hungry for a juicy steak, and their Wild West Shrimp appetizer is fantastic, as is the Texas Tonion appetizer. There are LongHorn restaurants in Liberty and at Legends (both are great–I find the vibe at the Liberty location preferable). Very much looking forward to the shorter drive for a LongHorn experience. Company officials told me this week they’re expecting to open in September.
If you’re paying money to go to Royals games, do us all a favor and please stop. Everyone with a set of eyes can tell major changes need to be made but the Royals front office is jerking your chain and gaslighting you. They refuse to call up a couple of top performers in AAA because they’re trying to sell you hope. That’s all they have left to sell at this point. After all, if they call those guys up and the losing continues at the current pace, the team has nothing left in reserve to keep you interested. With those guys still in the minors, the front office can say things like “yeah, we’re losing now but the future is brighter with those guys on the horizon, blah blah blah.”
The best way to get the Royals’ attention is to stop going to the ball park and hope that leads to a housecleaning, on the field and in the front office.
Longtime Kansas City TV weatherman Gary Lezak is retiring in December, so after that you’ll have to turn elsewhere for inaccurate forecasts.
We’ve adjusted the date of our upcoming Landmark Live with Dean Katerndahl, new mayor of Parkville. The show with the mayor will now be Thursday, June 30. Landmark Live producer Tech Man Schneider learned he will be out of town for work (he has a real job, apparently) on June 16, thus the rescheduled date. Music man Brad Carl will join me as co-host that night. And rumor has it June 30 might just be Tech Man’s birthday, so we may or may not have a surprise for him.
(Any more power outages and we’ll be carving your newspaper in stone. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)