SOME DOWNTOWN PROPERTY OWNERS UNHAPPY
Some Parkville citizens and downtown property owners are concerned that the city’s plans to re-route Hwy. 9 could result in changes to the area that would obscure the aesthetics of the historic district.
The concerns arose following a March 10 public meeting in which city officials outlined six possible scenarios for dealing with some downtown streets that are very congested, especially during rush hour traffic.
The plans also address traffic congestion in the city’s historic downtown and a lack of parking.
Some of the merchants’ and citizens’ reticence rests with the makeup of a Highway 9 Steering Committee to which city officials automatically appointed a board of aldermen member as their liaison without first consulting merchants, said Tom Hutsler, chairman of the Parkville Old Towne Market Community Improvement District.
Hutsler said he and other merchants did not know about the formation of a steering committee and feel as if they lack representation on the group. Hutsler sent the city a letter expressing concern and city officials responded by offering a seat on the steering committee to a CID member of its choice.
Mayor Dean Katerndahl said automatically appointing a liaison was not meant as a slight to CID members.
“It’s not a big deal,” Katerndahl said, since steering committee members are simply narrowing down methods for dealing with the highway issues with a final decision on the matter to occur in a few weeks. He said the committee is dedicated to finding a solution that’s agreeable to all parties involved.
Gordon Cook, Parkville resident, requested public records of steering committee meetings, including agendas and notices under the state’s open meetings law, known as the Sunshine Law.
However, city clerk Melissa McChesney replied in an email to Cook that the information did not fall under the purview of the Sunshine Law since the committee is not a public body. Therefore, the records were not made available.
Katerndahl said committee members and those with an engineering and architectural group hired by the city to design the project, are in the process of coming closer to an option for dealing with the highway congestion.
Another public meeting will be held sometime in June, but a specific date has not yet been set, the mayor said.
Hutsler said he’s also concerned about a scenario that calls for the demolition of the 1918 Park College Power Plant, initially used to supply steam heat to the college and the city. Hutsler compares it with a museum in a small town in Kansas housing old boilers like the one that remains in the Park College site.
Hutsler said that while the building has not served as a power source for many years, it has been repurposed and leased out for use as a brewery and small restaurant but recently was purchased by members of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).
