Brush Creek Community Partners-Monthly Newsletter

COMMUNITY URGED TO ENGAGE IN BRUSH CREEK PLANNING

The Brush Creek Watershed is 29 square miles located in two states, two counties, and twelve cities, encompassing many business and shopping areas as well as cultural and recreational amenities and the homes of almost half a million residents.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on Brush Creek, but the lack of a comprehensive approach for the watershed has limited its potential as a community asset and the effectiveness of all the money that has been spent.

Brush Creek Public Workshops will be held over the next year to discuss
specific areas of the creek and receive community input.
The first workshop scheduled November 15 will focus on the Bi State Reach,
from Roanoke Parkway to just west of State Line into Kansas.
This area has been a particular community concern for several years.

To optimize resources and effectiveness, interested community stakeholders that include Kansas City, Missouri and Johnson County, Kansas, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Brush Creek Coordinating Committee are working on the Brush Creek Basin Feasibility Study to examine conditions along Brush Creek. This will lead to development of an integrated watershed management plan to improve flood risk management and water quality while balancing economic, environmental and social benefits. The study will also identify projects that can be implemented by the local communities as soon as possible.

Learn about Brush Creek!
Take an informational tour of the creek on Saturday, October 9 with buses leaving every hour from 9:00 a.m. to noon, starting and ending at the Sylvester Powell Community Center, 6200 Martway in Mission, KS. Space is limited for these 90-minute tours; to reserve your space call 816-701-8233 or email kshelton@marc.org, indicating the time of the tour you plan to take (9:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m., or noon).

Participate in Brush Creek's future!
The tours are designed to prepare the community for participation in workshops on various sections of Brush Creek. The first Brush Creek Public Workshop will focus on the Bi-State Reach, the area from Roanoke Parkway in Kansas City to just west of State Line. It is scheduled Monday, November 15, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Centennial Hall Auditorium of the Ward Parkway campus of Pembroke Hill School, 5121 State Line Road. If you plan to attend or have questions, call 816-523-2991 or email carolg@bccp.org.

For more information, visit the Brush Creek Watershed website at www.brushcreekwatershed.com.

BCCP BOARD OPPOSES
MISSOURI EARNINGS TAX INITIATIVE
Urges Members to Vote "No" on Proposition A November 2

At its September 10 meeting, the Brush Creek Community Partners Board of Directors acted to oppose Proposition A on the November 2 Missouri ballot concerning city earnings taxes collected to support municipal services.

In Kansas City, the earnings tax is the one percent levy on the earnings and profits of people and businesses working or living in the city. In Missouri, only Kansas City and St. Louis collect an earnings tax. If approved, Proposition A would require those two cities to either hold a referendum on their earnings taxes every five years, starting in 2011, or lose the ability to collect the tax.

Brush Creek Community Partners believes the Kansas City, Missouri earnings tax is a critical tool to develop and protect thriving, safe and sustainable economic centers in a regional economy. BCCP believes Proposition A's passage would:

ultimately threaten the level and quality of basic services Kansas City must provide to be livable and its capability to attract and retain business.
hamper Kansas City's bonding capacity to fund new public investments and the ability to plan long-term in its efforts to become the world class city that is inviting to visitors. This contributes to the quality of life in Missouri and the state's economy.
potentially force Kansas City to try to place with the state some of the city's financial obligations that are currently being met through the earnings tax and its reliability.

As an advocacy organization, BCCP will sometimes take positions on issues with considerable impact on the Brush Creek Corridor and the greater community. In stating its strong opposition to Proposition A, Brush Creek Community Partners is encouraging its members to inform their associates and constituents of the potential impacts of its passage on their respective organizations, Kansas City and the State of Missouri.

CORRIDOR SCHOOLS CELEBRATE 100!

Rockhurst University lit up the sky in observance of its 100th anniversary. Activities on a September Saturday began with a packed church at Mass at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, followed by a blessing of the university's new St. Ignatius statue. More than 750 guests attended a reception and dinner on Rockhurt's Kinerk Commons. Rockhurst President Fr. Thomas Curran was joined by two former presidents in lighting sparklers on a ceremonial cake, followed by a real fireworks spectacular to end the evening.

The 1,400 member Pembroke Hill School community prepared for an all-school Centennial photo after a ten-block walk from the school's original Wornall House site to it current Wornall campus. The ceremonial walk kicked off a year-long celebration of Pembroke Hill's 100th anniversary. The school opening with 17 students in 1920; today nearly 1,200 students attend Pembroke Hill, which occupies 18 buildings on two campuses while over 4,000 individuals living all over the globe call themselves Pembroke Hill alumni.

PARTNER UPDATES

Julián Zugazagoitia began work September 1 as the fifth director and chief executive officer of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. An international scholar, museum director and consultant, he served the past seven years as the Director/Chief Executive Officer of El Museo del Barrio in New York. The Nelson-Atkins Museum reports that during his first year, Zugazagoitia will explore the most remarkable treasures from its 33,500 works of art in a monthly series of Thursday-evening conversations called Art Tasting with Julián beginning on October 21. Zugazagoitia succeeds Marc F. Wilson who retired June 1 after serving 28 years as the museum's director.

Visitation School has been selected as a 2010 Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education. Visitation is among 304 schools nationwide - or less than three out of 1,000 schools - that met standards for the national achievement program. Principal Vincent Cascone will join other honorees at an award ceremony in Washington, D.C. in mid-November. The achievement program singles out public, private and parochial and elementary and secondary schools who students are achieving at very high levels or are making significant progress to close gaps in performance on national achievement tests. Established in 1921, Visitation School at 51st and Main Streets currently serves 546 Kindergarten through eighth grade students.

The Missouri Library Association (MLA) has selected UMKC Libraries as the 2010 Library of the Year. Recognizing Miller Nichols Library's efforts to provide superior services, MLA will present the award at its annual conference in October. MLA applauded Sharon L. Bostick, dean of Libraries, and the UMKC Libraries staff for their commitment to improving and expanding student spaces and installing the region's first robotic book retrieval system.

Enrollment is growing in Corridor schools. The University of Missouri-Kansas City is reporting its largest overall enrollment with 13,511 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, based on preliminary Fall 2010 enrollment figures. The Kansas City Art Institute has welcomed 247 freshmen and 52 upper-class transfer students to join 447 returning students, boosting total enrollment to 746. In recent years, KCAI's enrollment has ranged from about 650 to about 670 students. Included in UMKC's figures is the highest freshmen enrollment in its history, 1,129 first-time college students - an increase of 14.3 percent. These numbers contribute to the overall increase of 3.8 percent student enrollment. UMKC also experienced a significant increase of 22.1 percent in Underrepresented Minority students (African American, Hispanic/Latino and Underrepresented Asians) in first-time college and transfer students. KCAI also reports an increase in student diversity with 20 percent of its total enrollment including African-American, Hispanic and Asian students.

PROJECT LIVING PROOF:
A 100-YEAR OLD DEMONSTRATION HOUSE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY

It hasn't even opened yet, but Project Living Proof is already getting a lot of attention.

The finishing touches are being made to the Project Living Proof home
at 917 Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard before it is open to the public later this fall.

Just a few doors west of the Green Impact Zone and two blocks north of Brush Creek, the 3,300 square foot house at 917 Emanuel Cleaver, II Boulevard will turn 100 next year. It is designed to present residential scale green solutions for new or existing homes, Project Living Proof demonstrates multiple options for nearly every improvement strategy. The Metropolitan Energy Center, creators of the demonstration home, believes the strategies it picked for energy efficiency, alternative energy and improving indoor environmental quality results in a 67 percent energy savings for this particular house.

Project Living Proof is a candidate for a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating. The home will be a demonstration of Kansas City Power & Light's SmartGrid, which is a combination of onsite energy generation, advanced switches and capacitors, automated meter reading and other smart technologies that allow for real-time monitoring and energy usage.

Dense packed, sprayed and batting insulation in the 100-year old house
contributes to Project Living Proof's energy efficiency.

Project Living Proof is the cover story of the September-October issue of Greenability Magazine. It is part of the EPA Sustainable Skylines Initiative. The site's landscaping is a pilot project of the national Sustainable Sites Initiative, a voluntary set of guidelines and benchmarks for sustainable land design, construction and maintenance practices.

The renovation process on Project Living Proof began last May. Tours of the home and site will be offered beginning in November. Visit www.kcenergy.org for more information.

NEW STUDENT UNION GRACES UMKC CAMPUS

A new 109,000-square-foot Student Union at the University of Missouri-Kansas City opened in August, a few days before fall classes began.

Located near UMKC's residential halls at 51st and Cherry Streets, the $38.3 million Student Union features a green roof terrace and wide floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the Country Club Plaza, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and UMKC's Stanley H. Durwood Soccer Stadium and Recreational Field.

Anticipated to obtain LEED Silver certification, the facility features public transportation access, storm water control, natural lighting, skylights, high ceilings, a central stairway and a multipurpose area that is divisible into four rooms. Other features include: a food court with four dining venues chosen by students and a performance stage area; a two-story bookstore; a 10,000 square-feet of space dedicated to student organizations; a 329-seat theater; and a 6,300-square-foot multi-purpose area.

The Student Union project was funded through $1 million in private funds, $500,000 in campus reserves and $36.8 million in revenue bonds. The debt will be serviced through student fees approved by students in a November 2007 referendum.

SWOPE COMMUNITY BUILDERS OFFERS
SMALL BUSINESS ADVISORY CENTER

To develop communities of choice in Kansas City's urban core, Swope Community Builders has established the Small Business Advisory Center to help establish, stabilize, and expand business.

The one-on-one counseling and learning programs are offered to increase the number of successful urban entrepreneurs who will contribute to the improvement of the urban core and its neighborhoods by building an economic base that creates business and wealth within the community. Programs include business plan development, financial and business management and business growth opportunities.

Swope Community Builders is an affiliate of Swope Community Enterprises. For more information about the Small Business Advisory Center call 816.627.2192 or email SBAC@swopecommunity.org.

AJAMU WEBSTER PREFERS FOCUSING ON BRUSH CREEK OPPORTUNITIES
RATHER THAN THE CHALLENGES THE AREA FACES

Ajamu K. Webster explains that he comes to the Brush Creek Community Partners Board of Directors via a different route than some of its other members. He represents the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Commission, which has a designated seat on the BCCP board. In fact, each parks commissioner sits on four not-for-profit or community boards.

Webster, who is also president of Dubois Consultants Inc., Civil and Structural Engineering and a founding member of the Black United Front, thinks it makes particular sense for the park board and BCCP to work together.

Ajamu Webster

Both entities, he explains, are concerned about Brush Creek as a major community asset. "In other cities, a river is often a major amenity. Not in Kansas City," he says. "But in Kansas City, Brush Creek is a major amenity." He sees the Brush Creek Corridor as a green space surrounded by parkland, great neighborhoods, institutions of high learning, culture and research. "We have something very unique. It's what holds us together."

Webster says the BCCP board differs from other community boards because of its philosophy of bringing key people to the table. He also thinks the board gains strength through the geographical connections of its members. When a neighborhood board member comes to BCCP and says, for example, 'foreclosure is hurting my neighborhood,' the Director of the Nelson-Atkins Museum knows that it is also his neighborhood. "It's about neighbors talking to neighbors, whether those neighbors are CEOs or residents."

When asked to reflect upon the challenges and opportunities facing the Brush Creek Corridor, Webster notes that all not-for-profits are challenged by the decline of business and the increase in foreclosures. But he prefers to focus on the opportunities rather than the gloomy news. "The challenges are what we have in common with other organizations," he says. "It's the opportunities that make us unique."

For Brush Creek Community Partners, Webster sees those opportunities as the Green Impact Zone, the KCP&L SmartGrid and the growth of Rockhurst University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Even though the country remains in a recession, he believes BCCP can make substantial progress over the next five years. The most important goal, he says, is "to be able to document measurable improvement in the life of residents who live along the Corridor. And that could be measured by a growth in business or creation of jobs, an increase in housing stock, a reduction in violence and crime, or an increase in community involvement."

Despite the rocky financial landscape, Webster says the organization can engage people to make these improvements. "What we all want from belonging to an organization is to know we are better off. To feel (about that organization) 'I'm glad I met you,'" Webster says.