October 14, 2007
Today I noticed that the duplexes just south of the South Outer Rd on Highway 7
were demolished over the weekend to make room for a new commercial usage at that
location.
I also noticed yesterday that large dumpsters have appeared in front of the old
Food Barn at Duncan and Highway 7 and there seems to be some activity happening
for the first time in quite a while at that location. We don't know yet what
is happening, but hopefully there will be some good news to report at this long
vacant location soon!
October 10, 2007
Today I attended a ground breaking for Adams Dairy Bank which will be located in
Coronado Place across from Wal-Mart. At the ground breaking Bill Wrisinger
announced that a Texas Roadhouse Steakhouse had signed a contract to locate in Coronado
Place next to Sports City. The site plan will be considered by the Planning
Commission on October 22nd at 6:30pm in the Howard Brown Public Safety Building.
Yet another restaurant success for our residents to enjoy!
September 26, 2007
Empty
buildings continue to fill up on Highway 7. It is exciting to see how the
business community is participating in the revitalization of this important corridor
in our city.
The
Downtown Master Plan is up and running. To the left are the first houses built
under the new downtown zoning and to the right see the facelift that some of our
downtown businesses are getting.
August 28, 2007
The Rancho Grande Cantina restaurant has opened in what was once known as the Country
Kitchen Restaurant on Jefferson Street, the North Outer Road along I-70 between
MO-7 and Adams Dairy Parkway! Encouraging the redevelopment of empty buildings
has been a priority of mine during my term in office so I am pleased that this new
business has opened its doors in Blue Springs.
June 27, 2007
This morning the City Council approved the final plat for the first project to come
before us under the new downtown development code. It is exciting to see continued
interest in the revitalization of our downtown!
June 25, 2007
At Rotary Park last night our citizens celebrated the coming of the new Adams Dairy
Landing shopping center. I was joined by Councilmen Shaver, Stubblefield,
and Reed at our Summer Concert in the Park series which was sponsored by RED Development,
Block and Company, The Examiner, ABC Tow, and the City of Blue Springs. The
community turned out in force and it was exciting to see so many people out to enjoy
the fellowship, food, and the excellent music of the Cold Blue Band. Good
things are truly happening in Blue Springs!
If you missed the party and want to learn more about the development of this new
shopping center, information is available on the City web site at
http://www.bluespringsgov.com/ecodevo/TIF/RED/RedPres02202007.pdf
June 19, 2007
The City Council approved the 2007-2008 Capital Improvement Plan commonly referred
to as the CIP. Included in the plan was $1,000,000 dollars to address the issues
regarding traffic congestion at the I-70 & Woods Chapel Interchange. According
to our most recent citizen survey this is the highest priority item facing our city
at this time.
The 2nd most import issue in our citizen survey is street maintenance. The CIP puts
in place a six year rehabilitation plan for our streets. This will allow our City
to rehabilitate roughly 90 miles of our streets over the six year period.
Another item of note is the council approved supplementing our Community Development
Block Grant program with enough money to complete the installation of street lights
and sidewalks in our downtown district. This continues our ongoing revitalization
of our downtown and makes it more pedestrian friendly environment.
Also approved was a Pay-as-You-Go Tax Increment Financing plan to allow the redevelopment
of the old Wal-Mart location and to expand the Hy-Vee and redevelop the adjacent
shops. These projects set in motion the revitalization of the Highway 7 & Highway
40 intersection.
June 16, 2007
Recently Ted Anderson (click here for Mr. Anderson's Letter)
responded to a
Letter to the Editor
that I wrote and was published in both The Examiner and the Kansas City Star.
Please click here to see my open letter
to Mr. Anderson responding to his concerns.
Blue Springs is once again on the move! The 7 Highway corridor is taking on
new life with old buildings being refurbished and new businesses locating in our
City. Please take special note of the new Village Gardens store at Mock &
7 Highway. Their old store will soon be torn down and replaced with a restaurant.
Adams Dairy Parkway is coming alive with projects that will bring shopping opportunities
in the form of a new lifestyle shopping center. The shopping center will bring
a string of restaurants along I-70 on both sides of the Parkway.
The TIF Commission recently recommended approval of a TIF application that will
revitalize Hy-Vee and the old Wal-Mart at the 40 & 7 Highways intersection.
Also a project is being considered to redevelop the K-Mart location at the same
corner.
A Culver's restaurant is in the process of locating in the Mall at Fall Creek.
This important addition will bring new life to the Mall.
The city is continuing to move forward with the revitalization of our downtown district.
A new bus stop and parking have been added in downtown to increase traffic into
our downtown area. The City is applying for a grant to build an entrance structure
that will make our downtown more visible to travelers on 7 Highway that might not
know where our downtown is located.