SEPTEMBER NEWS

The big news in September is that the city is redistricting. PLEASE email mayor @kcmo.org and council@kcmo.org to complain that the 6th District is NOT having a PUBLIC MEETING on the NEW CITY REDISTRICT MAPS. There are 3 possible maps NOT on the website. Study and consider what these changes will mean for us, especially if we have to share with Ward Parkway. PLEASE ask for a fair hearing. Our school district could be spilt in half and more important is that we will lose the impact of south Kansas City or Hickman Mills to vote on representatives who will help us.

2012 Bills are going out at Halloween to give all owners time to look over bylaw changes before the Annual Meeting in Nov. Votes will be collected to Dec 31. A brief summary will be included in the yearly information letter. PLEASE let us know if you have address changes or sold without a Title company.

We will be discussing updates at the next homeowners meeting in November Many homeowners complain about people or companies who do not maintain homes on their streets. Members in good standing pay their assessment and care about their neighborhood. They have voiced the need to collect from the bad neighbors who do not pay.

The Emergency Homeowner’s Loan Program (EHLP) application process has reopened in 27 states and Puerto Rico to give homeowners at risk of foreclosure more time to apply for the program. Applications will be accepted through September 15, 2011. EHLP will assist homeowners who have experienced a reduction in income and are at risk of foreclosure due to involuntary unemployment or underemployment, due to economic conditions or a medical condition.  Eligible homeowners can qualify for an interest-free loan, which pays a portion of their monthly mortgage for up to two years, or up to $50,000, whichever comes first.  

Three Trails Day was very successful. The Parade let students, faculty and board members come together to bring Hickman Mills School District to a start. The parade led down Blue Ridge from Ingels Elementary to Hickman Mills Jr. High for a rousing assembly. Students recieved backpacks with supplies. Many tables were set with a variety of resources and interests. We are most happy for our children to begin a productive and safe new school year.

At our BI-Annual meeting by-law changes were discussed again. A highlighted copy can be viewed by clicking this link. >>> BY LAWS UPDATE DOCUMENT. ARTICLE XI revision . Homeowners please send comments or questions to: rhha1874@netscape.net A nominating committee was selected to prepare a 15 board member slate for our ANNUAL Homeowner meeting in NOV. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. This is your chance to suggest ideas and ask questions. This has posted since the start of July to alert all homeowners via the Advocate and our website. Every meeting is open to members. We meet normally the second Tuesday of every month at Ruskin High School Media Center at 7pm. Annual is normally in the Cafeteria. As in our politics, if you don't vote, don't complain. Right now we are all holding our breath to see what will happen to us all in August.

Vacant and Rental Registration for Kansas City homes is highly suggested. Please register or renew at: kcmo.org look for - neighborhood and community services- and follow the prompts. Keep your properties up to date. This information is important to the Police

-September 24, the 7th annual Walk For Life will begin at 9 am. Registration will be from 7:30 am to 9:00 am. For details to participate please call 816.836.90 St. Lukes United Methodist Church at 95th and Jame A Reed will host the next Community Ministry Meeting (all 5 groups) at 7:00 pm to discuss the next steps. The Clinic Groups are also invited to attend. St. Lukes continues to host a community breakfast for $3.00 on the first Saturday of the month from 7 am to 10 am. This is a great time for the community to gather together, share a meal at a great price, and discuss issues with your neighbors.

Discount Prescription Drugs

Our Councilman John Sharp presented this important announcement:

The City of Kansas City, Mo. is pleased to announce its participation in the Coast2Coast Rx discount prescription card program, effective Tuesday, Dec. 14. This card will offer significant healthcare savings to Kansas City's residents, regardless of age, income or health status, and without cost to taxpayers or the City. Used in many other municipalities, the program has saved cardholders an average of 45 percent on prescription drugs in 2010.

"With healthcare costs on the rise, prescription drug discounts will help ease some of the financial burdens Kansas City families are facing at a time when they need it the most," said Councilman John Sharp.

The card is distributed free of charge at most pharmacies or online at _www.coast2coastrx.com_ < http://www.coast2coastrx.com/ >, and it can be used at all pharmacy chains and at most independent pharmacies. There is no enrollment form, membership fee, usage limits or card expiration date. Family members living outside of Kansas City and pets can also partake in the program.

"There are no eligibility requirements, so the Rx card is expected to have a sizeable affect on uninsured residents, residents facing high insurance deductibles and insured residents in need of prescriptions not covered by their current plans," said Councilwoman Beth Gottstein.

In addition to saving residents money, the City will receive a $0.75 royalty on each filled prescription, which comes out of the pharmacy dispensing fee. The City will use the added revenue to help subsidize the City employee healthcare system. Participating pharmacies will absorb the money lost to help propel additional business.

"We are pleased to work with Kansas City to help individuals, their families and pets combat the rising cost of healthcare," said Martin Dettelbach, chief marketing officer of Financial Marketing Concepts, Inc., the company issuing the card. "We appreciate all that Kansas City and local pharmacies are doing to help those in need."

SECOND FRIDAYS NEWS

2nd Friday 2nd Friday will be at the Trailside, 7:30am Friday August 12th. It is always an imformational treasure to attend.

Look back for a list of topics on the next second Friday meeting.

Stop Vandals and Burglars

WE have partnered with the TIPS Hotline number to be able to make available up to $1500 leading to the arrest and conviction of persons vandalizing and burglarizing OUR homes. Local media tends to note the negative view of this action, but we are putting our money where our mouth is. We want a safe neighborhood with our homes secure.
Our area has no more or less than any other area of the City. Statistics vary from month to month. Our ONLY difference is WE want to be more proactive to curb these numbers in our neighborhood.

PLEASE CALL 9-1-1 . The documentation of calls-for-service is necessary to help with trouble spots in the neighborhood. Be sure you get an accurate address. Burglars are trying all sorts of tricks to get in YOUR house.

PIAC MEETING

August 24th PIAC Meeting gave people a chance to promote projects that would benefit there neighborhoods. About 10 different individual spoke on their projects for consideration. Seven projects were talked about at length.

Barb Engel from Martin City CID talked about a connector between 150 and Martin City. The -length is not long butit has alarge water pipe in it, which would make is costly.
Kenneth Roads Bridge is in disrepair and closed to traffic. Another CID is interested in dismantling bridge and using it as a walking bridge.

Blue River Road erosion and closure was mentioned in same breath as Longview rd expansion.
Why couldnt Blue River be fixed since it is impassable then do Longview later??

Soccer fields at 9th and Van Brunt Project was proposed. The initial bore tests were ok. They have found a soil problem that
would be around $900,000.00 to remediate.

155th St and NNSA is going wel, but l may need something else.

90th & Cresent main water line is breaking a lot. This has been an ongoing problem.

CAC Needs Donations

With the heat of summer hitting for record temperatures weeks at a time and the economy being very rough, our CAC is always in need of donations of food, money or goods that you cannot get from food stamps.

CAC also helps people with utility bills and other needs. Summer heat makes it very expensive for people to run air conditioning and fans are helpful but circulate hot air. We have had people die from the heat and hope that no one else will ever suffer from lack of resources. The Hillcrest Community Center and the Library are great places to go to cool off if you do not have a/c. We do not want any of our community to die from the heat as in past years.

ST LUKES Cleans up our schools

On Saturday July 23, 8 am to 4 pm the St. Lukes United Methodist Church, Turning Point Church, and LINC ran Project Shine for Dobbs, Ingels, and Sante Fe elementary schools. They had teams from the neighborhoods, students, teachers, parents, concerned church members,. and school board members worked painting, and cleaining up the lots of three elementary schools. April and I worked at Ingels, and John Sharp worked at Dobbs. Dan Osman worked all day with his wife and little girl at Ingels. The trees were trimmed, grounds fixed up, building painted inside and outside in the stifling heat. This was a wonderful way to fix up our elementary schools and save money for labor costs all at the same time. God bless the people who gave up their Saturday to come together and worked hard to give our children nicer facilities in their educationl.

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Updated September 18, 2011

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