Community Garden in Juniper Gardens
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 ENews SourceUnified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas
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Growing from the Ground Up!
Mayor Mark Holland is proud to announce a kickoff event for his Healthy Communities Initiative, "Growing from The Ground Up!"
The event will be held Wednesday, April 23rd, starting at 5:00 p.m. at the urban garden site, 1045 Splitlog, Kansas City, KS. The kickoff will work to spread word of the Mayor's initiative designed to reduce food deserts and increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables in Kansas City, KS through education and community gardens.
"This is a chance for us to finally start working the ground and getting our hands dirty!" said Mayor Holland. "I'm thrilled that with the warmer weather we're able to start making visible progress on creating this sustainable garden and furthering education to our neighbors about the benefits of healthy foods grown in our own backyards."
All interested parties are welcome to attend this informational event that will include speakers from the Unified Government and K-State Research and Extension Office as well as additional information on garden designs, growing tips, and community fellowship. Persons unable to attend but are still interested in volunteering are encouraged to call the Mayor's office at 913-573-5010 for more information.
"Growing from the Ground Up!" is made possible by a $25,000 Cities of Service Impact Volunteering Fund Grant, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Cities of Service model focuses on impact volunteering - volunteer strategies that target community needs, use best practices, and set clear, measurable outcomes to gauge progress. This initiative is fueled by the hard work from Community Housing of Wyandotte County, Inc (CHWC), the K-State Extension Office, and the volunteers of our city.
To follow progress you can follow Mayor Holland on Twitter at @MayorHollandKCK and Cities of Service @CitiesOfService.
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Make the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice
Unified Government Mayor/CEO Mark Holland will host the 2014 Wyandotte County Mayor's Food Summit on Thursday, May 1, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., at the Kansas City, Kansas Community College Technical Education Center, at 6565 State Ave, Kansas City, KS 66102. The Summit is sponsored by the Wyandotte Health Foundation.
Citing statistics released this month that rated Wyandotte as having some of the worst health outcomes in the state, Holland said, "Our community needs to continue to rally around the cause of health improvement. Increased access to healthy food should be one of our rallying cries. We conducted a recent survey of Wyandotte County residents that confirmed this is a major felt need. The Summit will give cross-sector leaders the tools to meet this need."
A joint effort of the Mayor and the Healthy Communities Wyandotte Coalition, the Food Summit seeks to bring together elected officials, education, business and community leaders and give them the information and resources they need to take action in their communities to increase accessibility to good food. "Healthy Communities Wyandotte has been working on this issue for over 4 years: now we want to expand the circle of concern. Leaders everywhere can and should take an interest in healthy eating."
The Food Summit arose from a transparent community planning process held from 2009-2011 that involved hundreds of residents, area experts and public officials, the results of which were compiled in a document titled "Recommendations for a Better Future." The recommendations included strategies for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, and in fact, the Food Summit is the kick-off for a three-year plan to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among Wyandotte County residents. Holland and others hosting the Food Summit acknowledge that changing individual behavior is an important component of improving diet, and in order for change to stick, the healthy choice needs to be the easy choice.
Following welcoming remarks by Holland, the Food Summit will feature a keynote address from Dr. Oran Hesterman, a national leader in sustainable agriculture and food systems, and author of Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All. The Food Summit will also feature Dr. Judd Allen, President of the Human Resources Institute and a national expert on creating supportive cultures for healthy living.
The Summit will include the following four breakout sessions featuring speakers, facilitators and panelists from community organizations:
- Nutritious Food in Schools
- Ensuring Healthy Food Access for Low-Income Households
- Transforming Organizational Culture for Health
- Increasing Physical Access to Healthy Food in Wyandotte County
Lunch will be provided by the Kansas City, KS Community College's Culinary Arts Program, led by Chef Cheryl Runnebaum.
Video services are being provided by NODAK Films. To register for the event, please visit 2014foodsummit.eventbrite.com. Please contact Wesley McKain with questions.
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BPU Ethics Commission Meeting
The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) Ethics Commission will meet on Tuesday, April 29th at 4:00 p.m. in Conference Room B of the West Wyandotte Public Library, located at 1737 North 82nd Street in Kansas City, Kansas.
The purpose of the Ethics Commission is to ensure proper implementation of BPU's code of ethics and to review and report on all violations of the ethics policy.
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KC Regional Bikeway Plan Seeks Public Input
Online tool allows residents to highlight favorite trails and more
The Mid-America Regional Council is working with a team of local officials and other stakeholders to develop a Regional Bikeway Plan. The plan will help establish a vision for high-priority bikeway and trail investments across the metropolitan area.
The plan will also include an inventory of the current trails and bikeways system, along with priorities for improving and expanding the region's on-road and off-road trails network. Planners are seeking public input through an innovative online WikiMap and a series of public meetings.
Bicycle riders are encouraged to visit the WikiMap at http://wikimapping.net/wikimap/MARC-Regional-Bikeway-Plan.html before May 23 to add their input. After providing some basic information about their bicycling habits, users can use mapping tools to highlight routes they currently bicycle or would like to bicycle, barriers to bicycling and destinations that they ride to. The map also allows users to leave specific comments about the routes and points they enter. The site provides an instructional video for those unfamiliar with mapping tools and layers.
The planning team will also host a series of public meetings for those who prefer to talk with planners and provide input in person:
- Monday, May 12, from 5-7 p.m., at Belton Memorial Station. 602 Maurer Parkway, Belton, MO 64012
- Tuesday, May 13, from 5-7 p.m., at Spring Hill Community Center, 613 South Race, Spring Hill, KS 66083
- Wednesday, May 14, from 5-7 p.m., at Gladstone Community Center, 6901 North Holmes, Gladstone, MO 64118
- Thursday, May 15, from 5-7 p.m., at Bonner Springs Community Center (Sunflower Room), 200 E. 3rd Street, Bonner Springs, KS 66012
The Regional Bikeway Plan will be completed by December 2014. The planning effort will be coordinated with the current update of Transportation Outlook 2040 - the metropolitan area's long-range transportation plan - to help clarify regional priority investments and implementation strategies.
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Arbor Day Planting in KCK
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas is going to be celebrating Arbor Day with a tree planting on Friday, April 25, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. The tree planting ceremony will be at the Unified Government's Fleet Center, 5033 State Avenue.
The ceremony is to start at 2:00 p.m. with introductions and comments by Mayor Mark Holland. An Arbor Day proclamation will be read followed by the planting. The Unified Government's Tree Board is hosting this Arbor Day Celebration.
Kansas City, Kansas is celebrating Arbor Day as a local "Tree City USA" member since 2008. To qualify for this designation of the Arbor Day Foundation, local communities must have a tree care ordinance, a tree board or department, annual expenditures on tree planting and care, and an annual Arbor Day observance and proclamation http://www.wycokck.org/InternetDept.aspx?id=36921.
Through the natural process of photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutant particulates, then store the carbon and emit pure oxygen. When you plant trees in your yard and around your home they'll provide shade to cool your home in summer and windbreaks to reduce cold winds in winter-reducing your energy needs.
"The planting of trees means improved water quality, resulting in less runoff and erosion. This allows more recharging of the ground water supply. Wooded areas help prevent the transport of sediment and chemicals into streams." USDA Forest Service.
"A mature tree can often have an appraised value of between $1,000 and $10,000." -Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers. "Healthy, mature trees add an average of 10 percent to a property's value." -USDA Forest Service.
There is a free computer program called I-Tree Design which allows anyone to make a simple estimation of the benefits provided by individual trees. With inputs of location, species, tree size, and condition, users will receive an understanding of tree benefits related to greenhouse gas mitigation, air quality improvements, and stormwater interception. With the additional step of drawing a building footprint - and virtually "planting" or placing a tree - tree effects on building energy use can also be evaluated http://www.itreetools.org/design.php.
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Plant Sale
The Wyandotte County Extension Master Gardeners will have a plant sale on:
- Friday, May 2nd from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Saturday, May 3rd from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
The sale will take place at the K-State Research and Extension Office located at 1200 N. 79th Street in Kansas City, Kansas. There will be vegetable plants, flowers, ornamental grasses and garden miscellany.
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Road Closures
Based on information provided by both the UG's Public Works Department and the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), we are able to provide motorist living in Wyandotte County an update on road and highway projects.
This information can be useful to prepare individuals, commuting to and from work, with early warnings on minor delays. This also encourages motorists to use alternate routes due to land and ramp closures.
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North 71st Street
Water Pollution will have N. 71st Street closed today and tomorrow between Leavenworth Road and Roswell for a sanitary line replacement. They will plate the pavement cut and reopen the street around 4pm both days.
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Texting and Driving Changes Lives
For Julie Breitenstein, distracted driving changed her life, and that of her entire family.
"When you are behind the wheel of a vehicle, no text message is so important that it cannot wait," Breitenstein said Friday at the State Capitol in Topeka. "When you are driving, every text message can wait."
Breitenstein spoke at a news conference announcing a statewide campaign to stop texting while driving. Also on the program was her son, Austin, who was incapacitated in a 2009 crash in which he was texting and driving.
Accompanying Austin was his companion dog, Macie. Before the crash, Austin was a popular student with a vibrant family and social life.
"Today, Macie is Austin's best friend," Breitenstein said.
Paul Atchley, a professor of psychology at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, preceded Breitenstein on the program and spoke about the growing aspect of distracted driving as a cause of vehicle crashes.
"Distracted driving is underreported as a cause of crashes because, unlike impaired driving, it is difficult to legally establish and challenging to prove," Atchley said.
Crash report investigations often require additional evidence and resources, Atchley said, so distraction often is not reported as a contributing circumstance when it may well have been a key factor.
Gary Warner, Public Resource Officer for the Kansas Highway Patrol, said troopers, police officers and sheriff's deputies across the state are more diligently enforcing the state law which prohibits texting while driving.
In cooperation with the Kansas Department of Transportation, law enforcement will be conducting overtime enforcement and supporting an advertising campaign running through April 27 urging Kansans to 'Ditch the distractions, not the car. JUST DRIVE.'
"When you text while driving, you take your eyes off the road, hands off the wheel and mind off the task of driving," Warner said. "That puts everybody's lives in danger, and no one has the right to do that."
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Daily Lane Closure 
Remember, you can always go to the KDOT website for up to the minute road closures and traffic information. |
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Delinquent
Real Estate
Tax Sale List
Tax Sale 331
May 15, 2014
10:00 a.m.
City Hall
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Improving the Quality
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The Code Enforcement Division of the UG brings you this message monthly to encourage voluntary citizen compliance to reduce blight and beautify the appearance of our city.
Please click on the target to access information on the Code Enforcement for the month. You may contact Code Enforcement.
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