Blue Springs council approves final plat, school-based enforcement contract, budget amendment and declares city parcel surplus

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — At its Aug. 18 meeting the Blue Springs City Council unanimously approved multiple routine ordinances: final plat approval for the Retreat at Chapman Farms; a contract described in the ordinance reading as a Jackson County school-based law-enforcement initiative funded by a community-backed anti-drug tax; an amendment to the 2024–25 city annual budget; and an ordinance declaring city-owned property at 1500 Northwest Northridge Drive surplus and authorizing solicitation of offers.

The council took each item through the required first and second readings and recorded unanimous approval for each measure. The city gave the following ordinance numbers during the meeting: 5445 for the Retreat at Chapman Farms final plat; 5446 for the contract with Jackson County; 5447 for the 2024–25 budget amendment; and 5448 for the surplus property declaration.

Clerk readings and roll calls recorded aye votes from Mayor Levisay and council members Kaler, Tholin, Rommel, Erickson, Edmondson and Rowan on each item where a roll call was taken. For example, when council approved the final plat ordinance the clerk called each member and recorded “Aye” for all members; the mayor then said, “Carried unanimously and give an ordinance number 5445.” Similar roll-call procedures and unanimous outcomes followed for the contract ordinance (5446), the budget amendment (5447) and the surplus property ordinance (5448).

The contract ordinance was read into the record as “an ordinance approving a contract between the city of Blue Springs and Jackson County community backed anti drug tax for a law enforcement school based initiative.” The ordinance text was not further discussed at the Aug. 18 meeting.

The ordinance declaring surplus property identifies the parcel by address: 1500 Northwest Northwood (Northridge) Ridge Drive, and authorized staff to solicit offers for disposition of the property; the council did not discuss redevelopment plans during the meeting.

All four items moved through first and second readings and were approved without amendments. No substantive debate, public hearings, or public comments occurred on these items during the Aug. 18 meeting.

The council closed the regular meeting with a motion to enter a closed session under the Revised Statutes of Missouri, section 610.021(1), to hold privileged communications between the governing body (or its representative) and the city’s legal counsel regarding litigation; the motion to enter closed session was approved unanimously.

Details about the Jackson County contract terms, budget amendment line-item changes, or offers received for the surplus property were not provided during the meeting and were not specified in the public record at the Aug. 18 session.