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| "Serendipity"
Dedication Ceremony and Ribbon
Cutting
Tuesday, June 9
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The 2009 Temporary Public Art
Exhibit "Serendipity" is
now on display at St. Mary's Medical
Center in Blue Springs.
The exhibit consists of six original
artworks, commissioned by the Blue
Springs Public Art Commission as
part of its ongoing program to bring
art to the community. This is the
first year the program has partnered
with a private enterprise to show
the work.
Join members of the Public Art
Commission, City staff and Blue
Springs Elected Officials on
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 for the
dedication and ribbon cutting of the
"Serendipity" exhibit.
The event will be held in the
Memorial Garden at St. Mary's
Medical Center, with an opening
reception at 6:00 p.m., and program
at 6:30.
The exhibit will be on display at
St. Mary's through September 30. For
more information about the exhibit,
or to view photos of the artworks, visit
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 News
Happenings
Around Town
A
monthly message from your
Blue
Springs Mayor and
City Council
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Greetings!
Hello and welcome to another
informative edition of News
Happenings Around Town, your
one-stop source for City
information and news updates,
including those items most
important to you.
We will soon enter into a new
season, perhaps everyone's
favorite season of the
year...summer. In Blue Springs,
the summer season means the start
of many activities for a variety
of people. For your family, summer
may be the beginning of a much
needed family vacation, a time for
yard work and home improvements,
or a chance for the kids to enjoy
a day at the community pool. For
our staff here at the City of Blue
Springs, summer is the time
citizens can look forward to a
number of improvements being made
in our local neighborhoods, on our
city streets and throughout our
parks facilities.
In the summer, we also celebrate a
variety of community festivities
including our Blue Springs
Concerts in the Park, the
Independence (4th of July)
holiday, and two local favorites,
Blue Springs Downtown Street
Flicks and Saturday Night Car
Cruises.
Here in Blue Springs, we want our
citizens to know, that while the
seasons continue to change, our
commitment to serving you, our
residents, will never change. Our
goal is to provide you with the
highest quality programs and
services from street maintenance
to Street Flicks. We're here,
working for you!
As always, please continue sharing
this timely publication and
spreading the word about what's
good and going on in the City of
Blue Springs.
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Citizen
Police Academy Graduates Third Class
 On
May 20, 2009, the Blue Springs Citizen
Police Academy graduated its third
class of participants. The Academy
members, which included District 2
City Councilman Sissy Reed, completed
9 weeks of training in the
"behind the scenes" workings
of the Blue Springs Police Department.
During the course, students were
acclimated to the administration and
policies of the Police Department,
Police Department facilities and
operations, report writing, Crime
Scene Investigation (CSI), the
Firearms Training System (FATS),
vehicle stops and building searches.
The class culminated in a graduation
ceremony where I (a Class 2 graduate),
and Police Chief Wayne McCoy
congratulated the students on their
commitment, charging them to go and
spread the word about what real police
duty entails.
Once again, I congratulate all the
participants of the third Citizen
Police Academy graduating class on a
job well done. For more
information about the Citizen Police
Academy, contact Sergeant Allen Kintz
at (816) 228-0177 or visit the Citizen
Police Academy Alumni website at www.bscpa.org. |
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Citizen
Survey Results Indicate Progress and
Positive Direction
Results of Blue Springs'
annual DirectionFinder
Citizen Satisfaction
Survey are in, and
findings reflect
significant improvements
in citizen satisfaction
with City programs and
services. According to
the most recent survey,
which was conducted at
the beginning of 2009,
Blue Springs residents
are pleased with the
City overall,
particularly in the
areas of public safety,
code enforcement and the
leadership of the city
staff and elected
officials.
Findings from the survey
indicate that a majority
of residents (78%) are
pleased with the quality
of the police services
and protection of the
Blue Springs Police
Department, 73% are
satisfied with the
quality of the City's
water and sewer
utilities, 79% are
pleased with the quality
of City parks facilities
and 79% are satisfied
with the City's primary
communication source
with residents, the Blue
Springs Magazine.
Citizens are also
satisfied with the
overall customer service
the City provides its
residents through
various programs and
services. According to
the survey, 81% of
residents who had
utilized City Services
in 2008, rated City
employees as courteous
and polite and indicated
employees were easy to
contact.
During his presentation
of the survey results to
the City Council on May
18, Chris Tatham of ETC
Institute said,
"the City has
produced significant
increases in
satisfaction levels
compared to both the
2007 and 2006 surveys,
with many areas
improving by at least
10%."
Tatham also noted that
of the 87 areas that
were assessed in both
2007 and 2009, the City
of Blue Springs improved
in 74 of those areas.
Some of the more
significant increases
included:
- City Municipal Court
(+ 20%)
- Quality of
leadership by the
City's elected
officials (+14%)
- Responsiveness of
police to
investigation of
criminal offenses
(+13%)
- Quality of new
residential
development (+13)
- Public artworks and
exhibits throughout
the City (+13%)
- Effectiveness of
City Administrator and
staff (+12%)
While results reflected
significant improvements
in several areas, the
survey also provided
indication where
additional focus is
warranted. According to
the survey, the three
major areas that residents
thought should receive the
most emphasis from the
City over the next two
years include (1)
maintenance of City
streets and sidewalks, (2)
the flow of traffic and
congestion in Blue
Springs, and (3) the
effectiveness of community
planning.
In the future we will
continue to utilize the
annual Citizen Survey as a
mechanism to help align
citizens' service
priorities with the policy
goals of our City Council.
Again, my thanks to the
citizens, staff and City
Council of Blue Springs
who have made the results
of our most recent survey
a tremendous success. To
view the entire 2008-2009
Citizen Survey, visit www.bluespringsgov.com/citizensurvey.
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City
Receives Award for Engineering
Processes
 A
special congratulations is due
to Dr. Oliver DeGrate, Public
Works Director and his staff for
their recent recognition by the
Missouri Society of Professional
Engineers - Professional
Engineers in Private Practice (MSPE-PEPP).
Each year, this professional
association awards its
prestigious Qualifications Based
Selection (QBS) Award to a State
or Municipal organization in
Missouri that best demonstrates
QBS practices in their selection
process for engineering services
for various
infrastructure-related projects.
Through QBS practices,
municipalities are required to
choose companies based on skill,
or experience, rather than
price.
The City of Blue Springs has
been selected as the 2009
recipient for the QBS award due
its use of QBS practices in
several road and sewer projects
in Blue Springs. One of such
projects includes the
engineering, design and planning
work completed for the
bond-approved Woods Chapel Road
improvement project. The
presentation of the award will
be made at the MSPE-PEPP's
Annual Meeting on June 22 in
Branson, Missouri.
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City
Finance Staff Goes Green...Making
Streets Clean
 Earlier
this year, the City re-launched
it's Adopt-A-Street program.
Adopt-A-Street is a fun volunteer
based program designed to preserve
the cleanliness of Blue Springs'
streets and to help keep these
areas free of litter and trash.
The program is open to all
individuals, businesses and civic
groups in Blue Springs, and is a
good way to generate public
awareness about the importance of
improving our local environment.
Recently, staff from the City's
Finance Department adopted a
portion of the North Outer Road,
just East of I-70, in front of
Lake Remembrance and Gregory O.
Grounds Park. The group
participated in their first
organized litter pick-up day on
May 1. Participants included:
Rebecca Smith, Allison Hamilton
and son Christian, Christy
Hessenius and children Kaitlyn and
Nolan, Kimberly Emberton and son
Jacob, and Tish Bennett.
Tish Bennett, coordinator of the
Department's Adopt-A-Street
efforts hopes to expand the
program throughout the entire
Department. Tish said the group
plans to conduct pick-ups about
every 45 days. For more
information on how you or your
community group can
Adopt-A-Street, call (816)
228-0277 or visit www.bluespringsgov.com/cleanstreet.
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I hope you
have found this issue of News
Happenings Around Town to be
both informative and timely for
your City information needs. Is
there anything we missed? Do you
have questions about any of the
articles from this issue? Share
your thoughts with me and the City
Council by calling City Hall at
(816) 228-0110. Know that we truly
value your time and support for
our City and hope you join us for
the next issue of News
Happenings.
Sincerely,
Carson Ross,
Mayor
City of Blue
Springs
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