The first six months of my current term in office are now behind me. It’s been an interesting change from my previous term in office just a few years ago.

The Blue Springs City Council is working well together, without the frequent angst that we sometimes experienced in the past. The hard questions are still being asked and we don’t always all agree, but good outcomes are occurring with regularity. Scripted political agendas have disappeared, and a true spirit of cooperation has brought a breath of fresh air to the political climate of our city.

A frequent question lately regards progress on the Woods Chapel Road expansion. This important project is ongoing and actually moving along at a pretty good clip behind the scenes.

Planning and progress at the beginning of a large road project aren’t visible in the first few years. The project is first designed and rights of way purchased from the hundreds of property owners on each side of the road. Construction contracts go out for bid. Significant amounts of work occur before the first shovelful of dirt is turned, but I assure you we are moving forward and are on schedule.

The final steps in acquiring the last few properties needed to construct the road have been set in motion, and an agreement with Kansas City Power & Light is approved to begin moving the utilities in preparation for the new roadway. This will be the first noticeable change that will occur.

A funding agreement is now approved with the Missouri Department of Transportation for the construction of Woods Chapel from Castle Drive to Walnut. This piece of the project is an expansion of the voter-approved improvements from Duncan Road down to the railroad tracks.

This week RED Development provided an update on the Adams Dairy Landing project. This TIF-funded project is paying great dividends for our community. New shopping is available to our residents to buy products at a lower tax rate than they were paying in other retail venues while also saving on the gas they spent to get there. The new tax revenue generated by the project is helping our city maintain services in difficult economic times. Because of a carefully crafted TIF policy and bond issues coinciding with store openings, the project cash flow is positive and paying its own way as expected. It is a benefit for our residents, the city and the people employed at the new stores.

RED Development announced several new stores that will be opening over the next year: Ross Dress for Less, T.J. Max, Home Goods, Charming Charlie, Rue 21, Yogurtini, Ulta Beauty, Arby’s and Chick-Fil-A.

Location, location, location. We’ve all heard how the right location can make or break a business. So, how does a new business choose where to locate? How does it decide if a city has the right demographic mix to make a business successful? In reality, every situation is different, with a variety of issues to evaluate prior to making any commitments.

As a City Council member, I am always looking for opportunities for the residents of our city. As my wife Wanda and I travel the country, we enjoy dining at new and different restaurants. When we discover a restaurant I think it might be a good business to have in Blue Springs, I simply ask for corporate information and contact their home office to let them know about our great city. Frustratingly, most of the contacts never bear fruit, yet I believe it’s important to continue to try. You never know when a great opportunity may come along.

Recently, an opportunity came to me in an unusual way. Many of you know that I am an active user of a smartphone application called FourSquare.  FourSquare allows you to “check-in” and let your friends know where you are. One feature of this application is to publish your check-ins on Twitter. Twitter is an Internet service that shares 140 character “tweets” with anyone who is out there watching.

Here is where the story begins: Growing up, my parents and I frequently traveled to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to visit family. Along the way, we always stopped at Taylor’s Maid-Rite in Marshalltown, Iowa, to have a Maid-Rite sandwich. If you are unfamiliar with Maid-Rites, you’re missing something wonderful. They may very well be one of the healthiest hamburgers you can eat. Frankly, healthy has nothing to do with it. They are just great.

On a recent drive down I-35, I noticed a sign for a Maid-Rite store along the highway and couldn’t resist. I pulled in and we had a couple of Maid-Rites. Like always, I “checked in” and sat down for dinner. By the time we were back in Blue Springs, I had a tweet from Maid-Rite Corporation thanking me for dining at one of its restaurants. I tweeted back “you’re welcome” and suggested the company locate a store in Blue Springs and provided contact information for the city.

Imagine my surprise when this week’s council packet contained information regarding negotiation for locating a Maid-Rite in Blue Springs. It is seeking a franchise owner to run a Maid-Rite store in our city!

In a struggling economy, with more people looking for work than the number of jobs available, entrepreneurship flourishes. Somewhere in Blue Springs, someone willing and eager to start their own business may be waiting, eager to provide work for themselves, their family and friends. This is an opportunity looking for a connection. If this sounds like the business you are looking for, contact Tania Burt, executive vice president of Maid Rite Corporation at 515-276-5448. She can help you explore the possibility.

Entrepreneurship and small business is the foundation of our economy. Many believe the best solutions to our economic troubles will rise from our entrepreneurial spirit. Could a simple “check-in” actually create jobs for our city? Stranger things have happened.

RED Development announced at tonight’s Blue Springs City Council meeting new stores and restaurants for Adams Dairy landing.  The new Verizon store being constructed next to Olive Garden is scheduled to open in February or March.  Chick-Fil-A is expecting to open in August.  Arby’s is planning to open on the eastern end of the I-70 pad sites in the Fall of 2011.  Michaels is now looking to open on February 4th. 

Ulta, a popular cosmetics store is planning to locate in the shopping center in the former Books-A-Million location.  Projected revenues from this project are double those projected for the former tenant which is an exciting improvement for this project.  If you are unfamiliar with Ulta, their website is located at http://www.ulta.com/.

Ross, a family clothing store, announced their intention to locate in the shopping center.  Their website is located at http://www.rossstores.com/.

Replacing the former Lowe’s store will be 50,000 sq. ft. T.J. Max and Home Goods combination store on the east side of  shopping center.

Finally, Charming Charlie will be opening a store in Adams Dairy Landing.  This highly popular fashion accessory store may open as soon as Fall 2011.  You can learn more about Charming Charlie at http://www.charmingcharlie.com/home.

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Once again, it’s election time, as you can tell by the proliferation of political signs, letters to the editor, and junk mailings filling up our mail boxes. There are politicians who say they represent our interests, politicians who say they aren’t politicians, and opinion column writers, current and former politicians. How do we weed out the facts from the spin and make good decisions in selecting our next leaders? It’s difficult if not impossible to effectively verify the statements made by politicians in a timely manner. We often believe what we read or hear, especially if we know or trust the source.

As I read the letters to the editor and added my own comments to several, it occurred to me that those letters have been written with the best of intentions, usually to help friends with their efforts to win an election. Letters of support to express our own individual opinion of the person, not necessarily that the person we are supporting will in the end vote the way we think they should. Our elected officials surprise us at times with their comments, and their votes not always in sync.

So how do we as voters figure out whom to cast our vote for? Whom do we believe? The answer is simple and hard at the same time. We should make every effort to learn more about the people we are supporting, and we should dig more deeply than just our personal relationship with that person. Friendship is one thing; voting is another.

I really wasn’t surprised when I read Ron Fowler’s letter to the editor supporting Sheila Solon, as they are longtime political friends with similar positions on local issues. Ron wrote about how Sheila voted against multi-family housing complexes. What he didn’t mention is that she votes for them as well. Right or wrong, she is inconsistent on this issue. Once in February 2003 she voted to put multi-family zoning on Adams Dairy Parkway and twice that I recall in 2007 while I was on the council serving with her.

Ron also talks about Sheila voting against sales taxes. Those votes were actually against the new retail development on Adams Dairy Parkway. The next time you sit down for dinner at Olive Garden or shop at Target or Gordman’s, consider that she fought hard to stop Adams Dairy Landing from coming to town. Just before she left city office, she worked very hard to scale back Missouri Innovation Park from its original 500 acres to just 100 acres. Her actions would have restricted job growth in Blue Springs at a time when we need more high-quality jobs. Again, she is inconsistent after making “real jobs” a focal point of her council campaign.

Former Councilman Solon, as pointed out by Mayor Ross in a recent article, was very ineffective as an elected official while on the City Council. I expect it would be no different in Jefferson City. Fortunately, the voters have a choice on Aug. 3. I would recommended giving strong consideration to Mike Parker. I’ve spent some time getting to know him and believe that he will best represent the interests of his constituents and will be an effective leader.

The past few weeks have been an adventure, one that I have dreamed of for 30 years. Last summer we purchased a Gold Wing motorcycle from Dell’s Powersports, setting the stage for a touring vacation.

We spent 12 glorious days exploring North and South Dakota, culminating in the Smidt family reunion in White, S.D. My two great aunts, 96 and 101 years young, along with many members of my maternal grandfather’s family, enjoyed a great reunion. Our travels took us to the Crazy Horse Memorial, Mount Rushmore, Needles Highway, Spearfish Canyon, Standing Rock Indian Reservation, the Corn Palace, Laura Ingalls Wilders’ Homestead and Pageant, and the cities of Brookings and White. What a truly remarkable country we live in!

When we arrived in Brookings, a city of about 20,000, we spent a little time seeing the sights and discovering hidden treasures. Tree-lined streets with sidewalks set far back from the right of way enhanced the walk-ability and attractiveness of the community. Their downtown is vibrant and focused on local business, dining, and entertainment. Like many cities along an interstate highway, their business community also included national chain stores and restaurants at their interchanges. Similar to Blue Springs, Brookings has its own economic development corporation collaborating with the city to achieve balance, as it pursues opportunities for growth and development.

Blue Springs was again recently honored by Money magazine as one of the “Best Places to Live,” ranking us 49th out of a total 100 cities honored. Our low cost of living, nationally recognized schools and low tax rates helped us stand out among the 746 cities considered for recognition.

It is a blessing to live in one of the best cities in America, but that blessing requires commitment from our residents and our elected leaders. One of our long-standing challenges is the revitalization of our downtown. The city has adopted a blueprint for that revitalization that will allow our downtown to grow to a size that is appropriate in relationship to our current population. Our downtown business owners, city government and Chamber of Commerce continue to work hard to provide and promote events that encourage residents and visitors to the downtown area. These events help to generate the synergy necessary to make our downtown thrive.

By working together, we have the ability to make this happen. There are those in our community with the available resources to bring more business opportunities into our downtown. However, they need the confidence that we will support those businesses once they open their doors. We need to focus on local innovation and creating a unique mix of businesses that will make our downtown a destination for residents and visitors alike.

Adams Dairy Landing continues to add new tenants.  If you want to keep up to date on the happenings at the Landing you can sign up as a VIP on their website at http://www.adamsdairylanding.com/register.asp.  Following is the latest information about stores and restaurants in Adams Dairy Landing in Blue Springs Missouri:

Now Open...Target, Gordmans, Olive Garden, Petco, Famous Footwear, Sally Beauty, GameStop, Maurices, Gap Generations, Chipotle and Mattress Firm.

More...

I would like to share a little about an organization I have been a member of since 2004, the Shriners.
Supporting hospitals around the nation that provide specialized care for children, the Shriners actively participate in service to their community. Shriners Hospitals provide children up to the age of 18 with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate care in a family-centered environment with no financial obligation to patients or families.

You can learn more about the Shriners hospitals at http://www.shrinershq.org/Hospitals/Main.

Beginning Sunday, the Blue Springs Shrine Club will be selling freshly harvested Vidalia onions to raise funds for the local club and Ararat Shrine Temple. The onions will be available daily at the parking lot entrance to Adams Dairy Landing on the east side of Adams Dairy Parkway (in front of Target) until all are sold. They are available in 10-pound bags for $10 and half bags for $5.
We appreciate your support of our local Shriners organization.

Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, Chipotle, Panera, Sonic, Panda Express, Taco Bell, Planet Sub. The addition of these eight restaurants, along with new retail shops like Petco, Gamestop and Maurices in the developments surrounding Coronado and Adams Dairy Parkway have provided opportunities for residents and visitors alike to have greater options for shopping and dining.

How very different this area looked just five short years ago. The area along R.D. Mize consisted of deteriorating homes, with the majority of the area along the parkway largely undeveloped for well more than a decade.

These developments have not come easily or without conflict. Our District 3 City Councilmen have continued to look for ways to stop these developments from progressing, in spite of the overwhelming support for new retail development in our citizen surveys. As I drove through the area after lunch at Olive Garden, I observed the restaurants and shops, all teeming with customers, and I simply could not comprehend why anyone would want to impede such progress.

Our council members must continue to open their minds to the opportunity inherent in these developments and look for ways to encourage the refurbishment of older shopping and business districts throughout our city.

New restaurants have recently opened in both the northern and southern areas of Blue Springs; we have seen progress in our downtown district; and the redevelopment of Woods Chapel Road is under way from Interstate 70 to the railroad tracks. The majority of our council members are eager to continue the positive momentum of the past several years. They understand the commitment they are making to finish what began and reap the benefits for our community.

Much work remains. On April 6, each district in our city will elect a council member. This is a privilege and a sacred responsibility. Those whom we choose to represent us will influence the future of our city.

Over the past several weeks, I have encouraged each of you to be an informed voter. Citizens willing to serve are a blessing, and we are fortunate to have two candidates to choose between in each district. The following are my endorsements for City Council:

District 1 – Dale Carter will listen to his constituents, consider the facts and ramifications before making a decision, and seek collaborative solutions on the important issues facing our city.

District 2 – Sissy Reed has served our city well for many years and will provide an experienced voice of coherent reasoning. Her calm leadership and respectful decision-making will guide the rest of the council members and facilitate support for continued development of all areas of our city.

District 3 – Grant Bowerman has a clear understanding of the issues facing our city. His positive demeanor, his passion for the community, and his intelligent evaluation of the challenges facing our community will serve the citizens of District 3 well.

Tom Ryan, Store Manager has announced  the grand opening of Gordman’s at Adam’s Dairy Parkway on Friday, May 7 at 8:30.  You are invited to attend this special occasion for our city.  Tom is hoping that LOTS of people will attend. 

His contact information is: 402.350.5662

The headline on the front page of Saturday’s Examiner, “Innovation Park hits roadblock,” was discouraging to me considering the hard work and dedication so many people have invested in making this project a reality. As I went on to read the article, my hopeful expectations for the future of the Innovation Park were restored.

Rarely do complex projects advance exactly as originally envisioned. Adams Dairy Parkway itself is an example of the need and benefit of adaptability in accomplishing objectives for the greater good of the community.

Today, we know that the University of Missouri component of the park will initially locate in the Heartland Financial building, adjacent to Adams Pointe Golf Course, while waiting for economic conditions to improve before beginning construction of the Mizzou Center. This is an excellent example of adapting and recognizing that market conditions require flexibility to accomplish this very worthy goal for our community.

The vision of Missouri Innovation Park is to build a regional home for a knowledge-based workforce dedicated to innovation and the commercialization of the ideas that come from that work. The park will link scientific research, higher education and entrepreneurial development and as a result encourage high-tech commercial development along the Adams Dairy Parkway corridor.

The current plan is to locate the first building in the park immediately south of the Adams Dairy Landing shopping center. Future expansion will initially be to the south.

A recent economic impact study found that over the next 15 to 25 years the Missouri Innovation Park would bring close to 3,765 new jobs within the park itself and indirectly an additional 2,140 jobs in the surrounding community. The average pay for these jobs would be $51,000 per year and in many situations, higher incomes are likely.

Proposed state legislation to encourage and accelerate the development of the park – House Bill 1635 and Senate Bill 922 titled “Missouri Jobs For the Future” – is the vehicle for accomplishing this objective. I would encourage us all to stand together in support of these bills as we work to continue the progress toward the Missouri Innovation Park’s development.