December 30, 2007

As the year comes to a close we have a lot to be thankful for in Blue Springs.  After many years of waiting, improvements are happening all over town.  The last few weeks have found many of us spending quality time with our families and taking a few well deserved days off from work as we prepare for the coming year.  As a result, there is less to report on for this newsletter than prior editions.

Papa Murphy’s Pizza has opened their new location on North 7 Highway.  Construction continues on several new businesses in the 7 Highway corridor.  One next to Starbucks, one across the highway from the old Village  Garden’s site, and one behind the Walgreen’s at 7 Highway and Duncan.

The clearing of trees for Adams Dairy Landing Shopping Center is largely complete and leveling of the site should begin any day.  Thank you to those of you who have provided suggestions for new restaurants.  RED Development has been very appreciative of the suggestions.  If you have any other ideas for tenants in the shopping center please send them to me and I will make sure the developer gets them.

Some decisions made by the City Council in our last meeting include: Approval to purchase new playground equipment for Blue Springs Park and we renewed our contract with KCATA for Express Bus service to downtown Kansas City.  Some of you may not be aware, but as a part of our downtown revitalization efforts this year we placed a new bus stop downtown in order to draw people into the area to give our businesses a boost.  The entire redesign/plan for revitalizing downtown can be downloaded and viewed from the City Website at http://www.bluespringsgov.com/Administration/DowntownCharrette.htm.

The City Council will hold a special work session on January 12th to discuss possible amendments to our public smoking ordinance.  It will be held in the multipurpose room of the Howard L. Brown Public Safety building at 1100 SW Smith in downtown Blue Springs and is open to the public.

If you are interested in progress regarding a possible new aquatics facility, there will be one additional public open house meeting showing some of the possibilities on January 14, 2008 from 7pm to 9pm at Vesper Hall, 400 NW Vesper Street.  Information regarding this study can be found at http://www.wedesignpools.com/Projects/BlueSprings/Home.htm.

Each time this newsletter goes out, it brings many new subscribers.  If you have friends who would like to know more about what is happening in town, please forward this newsletter to them or send me their email address and I will add them to the list.  Thank you all for the amazing positive feedback that I am receiving for publishing this information.  I believe it is important for your elected officials to communicate with you, listen to your ideas, and take them to heart. 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is anything I can do to be of service.  I hope you have a safe and enjoyable New Year’s holiday!