TRANSPARENCY PORTAL: Clay County Bond Initiative

Clay County Progress - Bond Dollars at Work

Our commitment to fulfilling our obligations from the past while building for the future.

This past October the Clay County Commission passed its tax-free bond initiative to fund improvement projects across the county. Very quickly we have started projects that have been deferred for years and in some cases decades. We have begun vital safety upgrades and are starting plans for our growing community. Every step of the process is important, and we will keep our communities informed of progress as promised.

As we continue to make progress,  you will see monthly report expenditures as part of the update process.  As always, we strive to hire local so we encourage all Clay County businesses to keep an eye on the bid opportunities as projects and services are posted. You can register now to be notified of bid opportunities. 

We appreciate your continued support as we work toward a safer, more enriched Clay County for all.

 

Bond Payment Tracking Spreadsheet (Click to download, updated as of 7/1/19) 

Project Updates:

 

NE 188th and NE 148th Bridge Replacement plans are awaiting MoDOT approvals. Property easements have been obtained for both projects. Home Ave and NE 132nd Bridge Replacements are currently in the design stage. Culvert Replacement is in the works in several locations. The Stark Avenue project will be completed by winter. The Mt Olivet, NE 188th and Rocky Hollow Culvert projects are being slightly delayed due to recent storms and weather. RFQ consultant services have concluded for the Greenwood Road project and it is currently under evaluation. The restrooms at Crows Creek Campground will have wood thrush replaced, all facilities will be stained and painted, and toilets/shower replacements are occurring at Jack Rabbit Bend, Crows Creek, and Kelsey Short Group Camp. Camp Branch will also receive a parking upgrade. Three utility trucks will be replacing old units in Little Platte, Eastern Park, and Camp Branch. In addition, a mini excavator and compact truck loaders will be delivered over the next two weeks. Paradise Pointe platform dock has been replaced. Beach renovations will be starting and improvements to trailheads, including 11 kiosk display boards have been installed. Finally, Clay County has been awarded the TRIM grant from MDC to help the planting of 50 native Missouri trees in Crows Creek Campground this fall. 

 

Upgraded pump-out station at Sailboat Cove Marina. Replaced marina dock pavers at Camp Branch and the new restaurant at Paradise Pointe. Electrical upgrades at Sailboat Cove and Paradise Pointe marinas. Upgraded electric service to 50-amp service in Camp Branch D-Loop, Crows Creek E, F, and G-Loops. Replaced Culvert drainage pipes under Arm Road. Resurfaced Camp Branch shower house floor. Completed replacement of HVAC unit at the Park Office. Continuing improvements to ADA Camping Sites at all grounds.

 

Sod stripping on The Posse golf course has been completed.  The irrigation system on holes 1- 5 and 18 of the Outlaw course have been completed. The zoysia tee boxes should see completion in two weeks. Crews out at the Jesse James Farm dug trenches on the north, west and south sides of the cabin and they have begun to install hardware cloth in the trenches to help prevent animal infestation of the cabin. Parks received 4 additional Bike fix-it stations to be installed at trailheads. The playground at Crows Creek has been mulched. At the Midwest National Air Center, crews installed the sanitary line and it is being tested. Planning and Zoning established addresses for 3 entrances at Rocky Hollow park as well as the new marina restaurant and bait shop at Paradise Pointe. 

 

148th and 188th Street bridge designs are under review by MoDot. The Greenwood bridge has been approved by commission and plans are being sent to MoDot for review. The Culverts on Stark and 188th Street are under construction. The irrigation system on the Possee Golf Course has been completed. Crews are preparing to strip the fairways on The Posse and replace with zoysia. The parking lot behind the facilities building has been completed. The culvert replacement on the picnic arm is scheduled to be asphalted on Monday. Beach renovations will resume and the berms will be reconstructed after the flooding. The Anita B. Gorman trailhead has been completed. The vault toilets at Kelsey Short and Anita B. Gorman have been replaced. 2 out of 3 tractors with front ends have been delivered for Eastern Parks and Crow's Creek locations. The Nature Center received the heavy-duty walk behind brush mower. 

 

Holes 4 - 7 have been completed at Paradise Pointe's The Posse. The course is on schedule and on track to be completed by the end of July. The Highway Department has received the notice to proceed with 4 culvert replacements. Crews out at the Marinas continue to replace the dock pavers. Engineering work continues on the upgrade of the electric to Camp Branch's D Loop as well as Crow's Creek E, F, and G loops to 50 amp service. Crews continue to work on painting and staining all brick and wood shelters in the park. The upgrade to the shower house facility at Kelsey Short is underway. New Kiosk displays have been installed at Little Platte South and Little Platte North trailheads along with ADA signage and newly added Bicycle Fix-it stations, and additional Bicycle Fix-it Station was installed at Smoke and Davey Trailhead as well. 

 

Significant progress has been made at the Paradise Pointe Golf Course, the back nine holes of The Posse have been completed. Next, they will begin work on the front nine of that same course. 148th and 188th street bridges are now at MoDot for design approval. Clay County Planning and Zoning has issued permits to move forward with the installation of the next 4 CXT bathrooms to go in at Smithville Lake Parks. 

 

The Jesse James Farm renovations are moving along, crews continue to remove siding from the walls of the cabin and are working on removing chinking from logs on the west side. Utility lines were marked this week and cabin logs were tested for durability. Three holes at the Paradise Pointe Golf Course reached its completion goal on time and holes 17 & 18 are also almost complete. The golf course also took delivery of the new grinder. The final version of the 188th street (New Hope) bridge plans have been sent to MODot for approval, also landscaping environments surrounding both  188th and 148th street bridges are being worked on. 

 

Due to the recent extreme weather and emergency situations, this weeks bond update will be delayed so that staff can assist citizen's, prepare preventative efforts and assess the damage already done. If you are interested in volunteering to help clean up after the tornado, please check back. Details will become available in the coming week. Thank you for your understanding.

 

The sanitary sewer project at the airport is underway, crews came out and staked the area and work will begin on June 1st as long as the weather cooperates. The Parks Department took delivery of maintenance equipment that includes two large area mowers and two 7200 Toro mowers. The road resurfacing project at Kelsey Short has been completed. The bicycle repair stations for the trailhead have been delivered, the installation will begin weather permitting. At the golf course, 50 ft lengths of pipe have been fused together. The next steps will be taking those and making 500 ft lengths which will be tunneled underneath the ground. In all this step will put in 35 miles of pipe that will be used for the irrigation system. Holes 10, 11 and 18 have been marked for sprinkler head placement. 

 

The Jesse James renovations team removed the floors in Zerelda James' bedroom in the cabin. Currently, the floor joists are set on the ground which can cause moisture and mold. To prevent deterioration, the space under the cabin will be cleaned out and vents put in place to keep the space under the cabin dry.  The Tryst Falls playground dirt has been leveled and seeded, the ADA accessible ramp and parking will be placed when weather permits. Midwest Irrigation will be delivering the pipes for the irrigation piping on Monday just ahead of the ribbon cutting for the system which will be at 3 pm at Paradise Pointe Golf Complex, 18212 Golf Course Road, Smithville, MO 64089.

 

The Jesse James Farm had its floors surveyed this week, the cabin will also receive a more historically accurate roof, a look at the cabin before renovations. The playground at Tryst Falls is completely installed and mulched. Grading, seeding and adding parking will follow next week depending on the weather conditions. Tree replacement efforts continued this week with the installation of 12 more trees around loop A in Crows Creek Campground. The community also gathered at Little Platte Park near Shelter 2 today to celebrate Arbor Day with a tree planting lead by our community's future, we appreciated their enthusiasm for the job. They also took part in the official ribbon cutting for the new Playground. It was a beautiful evening to be at the park! The ribbon cutting for the new irrigation system will be May 6th.  Information along with a map of the proposed irrigation system will be on display in the clubhouse. 

 

Construction for the playground at Tryst Falls Park has begun, the ground has been prepped and work will continue over the next couple of weeks.  Supplies for the James Farm Cabin renovation have been ordered for reconstruction starting with the exterior of the historical site.   Four John Deere front mowers, two large area mowers, and two zero turn mowers have been purchased for grounds maintenance.  Resurfacing of all of the Camp Branch showers are now completed.   Supplies for the new irrigation system at the golf course are on order with a tentative installation start date of May 6^th.  Groundbreaking for the new irrigation installation to be announced once a solid date is set.  Information along with a map of the proposed irrigation system will be on display in the clubhouse.  Sod will be installed in tandem with the irrigation construction. 

 

The Little Platte Playground has been fully completed. The dirt work around the playground has been smoothed, leveled and seeded. A ribbon cutting for the playground will happen at the Arbor Day celebration set for April 26th. This event will also kick off the program to plant 200-250 Missouri native trees around Smithville Lake. Sodding has begun at the golf course, crews will be working on 4 holes at a time to cut down on play disruption. Engineering work stage has been completed for the electrical upgrades to Sailboat Cove and Paradise Point Marina. Engineering work has been started for the electrical upgrades to Camp Branch Campground - loops EFG; work is scheduled for this project to begin in the fall. Replacement to the second HVAC system for Camp Branch Marina is completed. The hot water heater for shower house 1 is completed and operational. 

 

The interior of Camp Branch Campground's restrooms of loops A, B, & D as well as shower house one and the swim beach restrooms have all been painted. The interior of Crow's Creek Campground's restrooms of loops A, B, C, D & G as well as Shelters #5 and #9 restrooms painting has been completed. The highway department met with Burns & McDonnell to discuss bridge replacement on Home Avenue and 132nd. The design work for the bridge on Shady Grove is 90% complete. Read more on the bridge process here. 

 

Golf course vendor, Turfworks, has completed the design of the hydraulic system and sprinkler head layout for the golf course. Strategy and planning meetings have started in regards to the dredging out of the lagoons at Crows Creek. The county has also met with the Corps to discuss how to permit the dredging of Rocky Hollow. Blueprints are being made for the electrical upgrades to the Marinas and campgrounds that are currently at 30 amp. 

 

Project completed! Arctic-like temperatures were no match for the crew from Atlas Dock. Dedicated to the completion of this project, 6,000 sq. ft. of frozen dock pavers were pried up and replaced. Looking forward to warmer weather and walking the docks! Pavers surrounding the new marina restaurant will be placed as that project progresses. 1, 2, 3, &4

 

Despite frigid temperatures and old pavers being frozen to the dock Atlas Dock has started the 6000 sq ft installation of new dock pavers at Camp Branch Marina. Engineering work has been started on the electrical upgrades at both Sailboat Cove and Paradise Pointe Marina. The culvert drainage tube is in place and is waiting on more cooperative weather to backfill the area and complete the project. 

 

Frigid weather conditions made it possible to install 40 Truckloads of riprap along the shoreline at Crows Creek campground, loop D.  This is the start of the shore stabilization project, it is projected that 10 additional days of installation will be needed to complete the project. At the golf course, the layout for the sprinkler heads has begun, the next step is the hydraulics layout. Projects task orders have been approved for the trail alignment and Rocky Hollow Park. Completed the reconstruction and conditioning of the courtesy dock at Crow's Creek. 

 

6000 sq ft of replacement pavers for Little Platte Marina have been installed. Culvert at Crows Creek is installed and nearly complete. Remaining CXT buildings to be installed upon approval from the Army Corps of Engineers approval to remove the existing structure. Reconstruction of the courtesy dock at Crow's Creek is underway. The site for the Tryst Falls playground has been graded and is ready for installation as soon as weather cooperates. 

 

A pipe was replaced under the picnic arm at Crows Creek. CXT buildings have been installed, backfilled and graded at Little Platte South (DD &F) and North (188th past Central Services). Playground for Tryst Falls to be delivered this week. RipRap, 14 tons delivered and for the northern part of E, F, &G. The installation will be weather and ground dependant.  Sole source bid went out for Rainbird equipment needed at the golf course. Started sampling lagoons which will determine the direction of that irrigation system and the replacement valve. 

 

Four New CXT restroom facilities have been installed at Little Platte South (at DD & F Highway) and North (188th street past central services, near the trailhead) and both facilities at G & B loops at the campground. Rip Rap for Crows Creek shore stabilization has been ordered and plans for placement have been outlined. Repairs were made to the main water line leading to Parks. Twenty trees were planted ahead of the weather, another 100 to 150 more are planned in time for Arbor and Earth Day 2019. These trees are vital to our environment but critical to pest control.

 

The Clay County Commission has retained Cook, Flatt & Strobel Engineers (CFSE), P.A. to conduct a double-blind site survey for the Clay County Annex Facility. CFSE will provide analysis of three new sites as well as the existing annex facility and will provide recommendations to the County.
 

Phase one of Smithville Marina's paver replacements on the docks has been started. The culvert at the Picnic Arm of Crow's Creek has been replaced. Roofs for all shelters throughout the park have been replaced. Little Platte Park's playground has been installed and the ADA parking lot and accessible sidewalk into the playground has been poured.

 

George K Baum reports that the sale of the bonds went very well and all bonds were sold. They also reported that they secured better interest rates than previously expected, bringing the overall TIC (True Interest Cost) down. Bond Counsel will be working on closing documents that are set for October 30, 2019. 

 

 

Clay County passes the proposed no-tax-increase bond initiative. The county has outlined its improvement and maintenance projects - outline of projects.