MAY 2012

REGIONAL NEWS

Kirk Davis wins recognition — The Missouri City/County Management Association awarded its top honor to Gladstone City Manager Kirk Davis. Davis received the Jay T. Bell Professional Management Award at the spring meeting of MCMA. He was cited for his leadership on initiatives, including citizen-based strategic planning, regional solid waste efforts, and a model for school district partnerships.

David Warm honored by Nonprofit Connect — On Friday, May 11, David Warm, MARC’s executive director, will receive the 2012 Nonprofit Professional of the Year Award from Nonprofit Connect. Warm was nominated by Councilmember Jan Marcason, city of Kansas City, Mo. 4th District, and Park University.

City of Kansas City, Mo. makes management changes through realignment — On April 24 Troy Schulte announced the restructuring of several city departments. As of May 1 three assistant city managers assumed leadership responsibilities for departments that have been realigned. Bob Langenkamp became the director of Planning and Development; Earnest Rouse was named director of General Services, and John Wood became the director of Neighborhoods and Housing.

Clay County wins National Transparency Award — Clay County, Missouri, won an "A" rating in a national government website survey conducted by Sunshine Review, a nonprofit organization dedicated to state and local government openness. This is the second year that Clay County has been recognized. Johnson County, Kan., Overland Park, Kan., and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., also received this recognition.

EPA’s ENERGY STAR certification awarded to city hall — Kansas City, Missouri’s, City Hall has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR certification. This honor recognizes buildings that perform in the 75th percentile nationwide for energy efficiency and meet strict energy-efficiency performance levels set by the EPA. City Hall received an energy-efficiency score in the 92nd percentile, an impressive feat considering City Hall was built 75 years ago.

MARC NEWS

2012 Annual Regional Assembly Luncheon set for Friday,
June 1st — MARC will celebrate its 40th anniversary at the June 1, 2012, Regional Assembly. Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett will be the keynote speaker. Mayor Cornett has received national recognition on his innovative approaches to stimulating economic prosperity in Oklahoma City during his eight years in office. During the event MARC will present its Regional Leadership Awards. The 2012 Award recipients are: Karen Haren, president and CEO of Harvesters; Michael Henderson, Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office; Kitty McCoy, Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance; Ripple Glass; and YMCA of Greater Kansas City. Register online.

Board of Directors — MARC's Board of Directors will meet Tuesday, May 22, 2012. The agenda will be online one week before the meeting.

Series of videos highlight preparation techniques for emergencies — The Metropolitan Emergency Managers Committee (MEMC) introduced a new series of seven citizen preparedness videos in March 2012. The series uses two characters, Disaster and Preparedness, to provide emergency preparedness information in a lighthearted way. Local communities are encouraged to use the videos on their government channels or post the links to the videos on their websites. Watch all of the episodes at our YouTube Channel.

Complete Streets handbook available — The complete streets approach has been adopted in recent years by communities in the Kansas City region and across the country as a fundamental principle for designing, building and maintaining street networks that accommodate all users. MARC contracted with Nelson\Nygaard and the National Complete Streets Coalition to produce a Complete Streets Handbook to serve as a resource for local communities working to adopt and implement complete streets policies. The handbook is available online or contact Heidi Schallberg for a hard copy.

Review changes proposed to Transportation Outlook 2040 — MARC has released Amendment #2 to Transportation Outlook 2040 for public review and comment. Transportation Outlook 2040 guides how the Kansas City region manages, operates and invests $18 billion in its multimodal transportation system over the next 30 years. MARC proposes to split improvements to MO Hwy 92 (Project #653) into two phases and reprioritize the widening of Mo, Hwy. 45 (Project #168) ahead of Mo. Hwy. 92 phase two. Submit your comments by May 18, 2012. Details

GOVERNMENT INNOVATIONS FORUM/LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES NEWS

Creating Sustainable Places (CSP) finalizes the selection of consultant teams for key corridors — The consultants for five of the six key corridors of the CSP project were announced at the April 20 CSP Coordinating Committee meeting. Proposals for Troost Ave, the sixth corridor, have been received and will be reviewed and a selection made in the next few weeks.

Other CSP News — The consultant team that is responsible for the customization of the Envision Tomorrow tool, the digital platform for the CSP toolbox, was in Kansas City the first week of May to conduct focus groups with CSP stakeholders. In addition a joint committee of CSP and TTPC representatives met to begin developing guidelines for the award of $750,000 in CSP funds and $825,000 in STP transportation funds. Solicitation for projects should occur this summer.

MARC will host workshop on redevelopment strategies for underperforming retail centers June 5— The Academy for Sustainable Communities (ASC) will host this workshop as part of its spring Toolbox series. This workshop will present current thinking in reinterpreting underperforming strip malls.  The projects presented will represent a broad platform of public, private and cultural entities. David Dowell with El dorado Architects will moderate the panel discussion. Registration is online.

MARC’s Managers Coaching Program offers spring “lunch & learn” event — Current and past coaches and protégés will meet Tuesday, May 15, 2012, at 11:30 a.m. to discuss multi-generational leadership. Arlene Alvarez Quick, a performance management consultant, will facilitate the discussion. This session is open to others interested in MARC’s Managers Coaching Program. For more information contact Georgia Nesselrode.

Next Managers Roundtable set for August 10 — Two programs are slated for the August 10 Managers Roundtable luncheon. UMKC will present information on its new Executive Master of Public Administration degree program, which is part of the Henry W. Bloch School of Management.  MARC staff will demonstrate Envision Tomorrow, the new digital platform being customized for the Creating Sustainable Places initiative. Additional 2012 dates for the Managers Roundtable luncheon are September 14 and November 9. Registration information can be found online.

STATE & NATIONAL NEWS

Crowd sourcing development decisions through popularise.com website —  Popularise.com, a new Washington, D.C., website, gives users a way to tell developers what they want. Popularise aims to turn the real estate industry on its head by, as the site says, putting "the power back in the hands of the people who care." The website works by allowing the public to comment and vote on a list of potential businesses or to submit ideas about what businesses they would like to see in available properties. More from Urban Land.

How cities support entrepreneurs and small businesses — The National League of Cities (NLC) has recently produced a toolkit to provide local leaders with concrete strategies to assist in the growth of local entrepreneurs and small businesses. The toolkit’s core message is that cities need to look to the things they can actually control. This includes providing supportive political leadership, open channels of communication between business and government, and reasonable, transparent regulations with accessible interfaces. The toolkit is available for download online.

New EPA webcast series on funding and financing local government clean-energy programs — EPA's Local Government Climate and Energy Program will host a three-part webcast series about funding and financing clean energy programs: May 16: Part I: Getting Started: Answering Big Picture Funding Questions; May 30: Part II: Getting it Funded: Finding Funding for your Clean Energy Programs; and June 13: Part III: Keeping it Going: Financing Options for your Clean Energy Programs. Also available are new resources from EPA that can help identify and design financing programs that are specific to a community’s needs: the Financing Program Decision Tool and Clean Energy Financing Programs: A Decision Resource for States and Communities

Urbanism works for small towns, too — Small towns are increasingly adapting touchstone principles of urban planning like walkability, density, and mixed-use in efforts to improve quality of life for residents. Gary Toth, director of Transportation Initiatives with the Project for Public Spaces, posted on the blog Better! Cities and Towns after participating in the “Smart Growth” bus tour of small communities in North Carolina.

EPA accepting applications for national award for smart growth achievement — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the application period for the 11th annual National Award for Smart Growth Achievement is now open. This competition is open to public- and private-sector entities that have successfully used smart-growth principles to improve communities environmentally, socially and economically. Winners will be recognized at a ceremony in Washington, DC, in December 2012. The award guidelines and application are available online.

How much is a tree worth to a city? — In the April 16 issue of Planetizen Newswire, Nate Berg reports on several recent pilot studies that have quantified the economic, aesthetic and energy-saving benefits of urban trees. According to the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture pilot study in Tennessee, "Through energy savings, air and water filtering and carbon storage, the urban trees of Tennessee account for more than $638 million in benefits," without considering aesthetic values. "The method used for estimating tree values is commonly used and was developed by the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers. The Kansas City region conducted a sample inventory of its tree canopy in fall 2010. The randomly selected plots are 1/10 acre in size and consist of private- and public-owned trees within the nine-county region. The survey recorded information on species, condition, tree height, trunk diameter, and canopy density, among other criteria. Inventory data was analyzed in 2011; a summary of the findings include: Number of trees — 249,450,000; Tree and shrub canopy cover — 28.3 percent; Structural value — $93.4 billion. Details are available online.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

Reconnecting America provides inventory of federal funding programs related to sustainability — The list consists of more than 50 federal programs related to sustainability with more than $125B in grant funding available. Complete list is available online.

Farmers Market Promotion Program — The Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) offers grants to help improve and expand domestic farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agri-tourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities. Approximately $10 million is available with the maximum award of $100,000. Applications must be received by May 21. More information on FMPP grant is available online

Community Economic Development (CED) Projects — Health and Human Services (HHS) has $27 million available to provide technical and financial assistance for sustainable new employment and business opportunities. The program targets recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other low-income individuals. Applications due June 5. More information is online.

Public Works & Economic Adjustment Assistance — The EDA will allocate $160+ million in grants that will leverage regional assets to support the implementation of regional economic development strategies designed to create jobs, leverage private capital, encourage economic development, and strengthen America’s ability to compete in the global marketplace. Applications due June 8. More information is online.