February 19, 2020
General Meeting
Plexpod, Room 1K, 39th Street
Kansas City, Missouri
6:30 pm – 7:15 pm
Board Members Present: Scot Stockton, Nadja Karpilow, Matthew Browning, Dianna Atkinson, Angie Phillips, Deb Robinson
Other Neighbors Present: Marty Phillips, BIll Burk, Leigh Blumenthal, Tom Gerand, Alex Miller, Cindy Adams, Mackenzie Yeager, Joe Gelbmann, Mary Dollins
Special Guests: Tom Gerand and Alex Miller from the Streetcar Authority attended as special guests and provided an update on the Main Street Streetcar.
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm
Dianna Atkinson gave the treasurers report. Currently there is a balance of $4,134.24.
Two historic district plaques have been sold.
The minutes from December were approved after a change was made clarifying the donation to Midtown Now KC to $250. Dianna motioned to approve with the change. Angie seconded and all were in favor.
The downtown streetcar was implemented 3.5 years ago in May 2016. It has in that time expanded to six cars from four cars and makes 60-100 trips per day.
The Main Street MAX was implemented in 2005. The MAX on Main Street will go away when the streetcar has expanded down Main Street.
The TDD (Transportation Development District) will not be activated until the federal resources are secured. Fifty percent of the cost of the streetcar will be paid for with federal funds.
It is possible that in November 2020 the special taxing assessments will be applied to properties but perhaps not until 2021.
The stations will generally be located where the MAX stops now. Currently the design details are being worked on. Water and sewer improvements will be done prior to installing the rails. August is the desired time for groundbreaking. More details on the schedule will be available in April 2020.
Construction is planned to start in 2021 with a completion date of 2024-25. Three and a half more miles will be added.
Currently there are six lanes on Main Street. This configuration will change to four lanes and a turn lane.
The Authority is committed to keeping the streetcar fare-free.
Six to eight additional cars will be purchased to maintain the same level of service.
Ordinance 190972: There was a community meeting on February 17 with David Macrombie from the PIEA regarding the designation of midtown as blighted. Nadja will work on a letter to the Planning and Development Committee expressing the board’s concerns.
Pener Development on Linwood: The neighborhood was contacted by Barry Pener regarding development of a vacant lot on Linwood. There was discussion prior to the meeting with concerns expressed regarding curb cuts. Since the city is working on a Linwood Corridor Plan with the intent of making the Boulevard more pedestrian friendly, the group was supportive as long as no additional curb cuts were built in. They were asked to consider sharing the driveway with Taco Bell. Scot wrote a letter saying we were supportive of the project with one curb cut.
Other: Cindy Adams from the Board of Trustees of MCC shared with the group that the Business and Technical Campus will be moved from Front Street to 29th and Troost in the old Nazarene building. Some courses will be moved to the Penn Valley campus as well.
Leigh Blumenthal from Midtown Now KC shared a few announcements including the news of their new director Kevin Klinkenberg.
The Netherland building on Main Street near 39th is open and rents range from $675 to $1,200. The Monarch next door is still under construction and is slated to open in June.
Debra Robinson is a board member of Midtown Now KC and is representing our neighborhood.
A grocery store is planned to open at the historic building on Gillham near Linwood.
Marty will organize a social gathering for March.
The next board/general meeting is scheduled for June 17th.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 pm.