The headline and post title tells the basics of this story which informs us that the suburbs are crumbling just as badly as the urban core given that political leadership to spend cash on boring stuff is waning. Checkit:
Shawnee may need $140 million in next decade to repair or replace aging stormwater pipelines
Shawnee's aging stormwater infrastructure is becoming a widespread problem, with the city needing as much as $140 million over the next 10 years to repair or replace drainage pipes that are on the brink of failure. Public works staff demonstrated this need in a presentation to the Shawnee council in early April.
Same city that wanted to spend big money on a community center?
ReplyDelete^^Thought it was a child care center for Wyandotte County.
ReplyDelete12:52, on May 21, the voters completely rejected the $54 million WANT not a NEED community center, 72% to 28%. Six of the nine council are up for election in November. High school dropout Mickey Sandifer already saw the light and pulled out of his race for re-election. He was a big supporter of the failed community center debacle.
ReplyDeleteALL six on the block now face opposition--and three face August primaries! That's what happens when you don't listen.
Shawnee, like every other city and county in the metro, hires ETC/Elaine Tatum Consultants to promote their tax grabs with FAKE surveys, Made as instucted, to LIE to voters that we want these excesses and fads. ETC was so off the mark they should be banned from doing future surveys for any city or county.
The Public Works dept. does a great job and are underfunded, because of happy happy joy joy councils spending too much on Parks and Rec. Which is not even a basic NEED, and was not part of why cities were allowed to incorporate. The NEEDS are police, fire, roads and pipes.
Shawnee had another storm pipe emergency this week: Switzer--a collector is shut down. In the past month, we have also had to shut down ONE direction of Johnson Drive in front of city hall, and ONE direction of Shawnee Mission Parkway. My own subdivision's arterial street will be shut down--BOTH WAYS-- for stormwater repair for 4 MONTHS. That is unprecedented.
Doug Whitacre and team are prudent--to fix ASAP, because if you let the escaping water linger, it causes sinkholes. We hate it when cars disappear into a hole, with the driver!
Nieman NOW (which I call Nieman NEVER or Whenever) is 2 years of orange cones and still not finished. Yet the city, chasing those federal dollars, is now doing a survey to screw up (they call it improve and beautify) 75th St--a major arterial. But ETC's survey does not make it clear if this will be a "road diet", meaning fewer lanes for fancy bus shelters and bike lanes--or if they will steal (they call it 'eminent domain' private property for these unNEEDED federally matched amenities.
The survey does not allow NOTAB--None of the above.
Stay tuned.