Question No. 2

Shall the City of Lee's Summit, Missouri, issue its general obligation bonds in the amount of $11,860,000 for the purpose of constructing new sidewalks, rehabilitating existing sidewalks and replacing curbs?

Sidewalk Rehab/Construction Phase II

Lee’s Summit has approximately 353 miles of sidewalks throughout the City.   A 2006 inventory of the City’s sidewalk network identified a number of gaps, vertical off-sets, cracks and other defects to be repaired or replaced.  $2.5 million was approved in a 2007 "No Tax Increase" Bond Issue as Phase I of a sidewalk rehabilitation program to address the most sever defects - vertical offsets greater than one inch and gaps in the network system around neighborhood schools.  However, there are still sidewalk repairs to complete.   The 2010 “No Tax Increase” Bond Issue would fund another $2.5 million in the next phase of the sidewalk rehabilitation program.  More specifically, it would address vertical off-sets between 1 inch and ½ inch, and other issues.

Curb Replacement

$9.36 million has also been identified in the proposed 2010 “No Tax Increase” Bond Issue to begin addressing deteriorating curbs and gutters in a number of residential areas that have been built within the last 20 years.  Many residential areas throughout the City are experiencing this deterioration due to construction standards in place at the time these neighborhoods were developed that allowed for limestone aggregate to be used in concrete.  Limestone is pourous which allows water absorbtion.  During the freeze/thaw cycle, the stone cracks along with the surrounding mix.  Standards have since been changed that require granite to be used rather than limestone, but the City now faces the issue of replacing these substandard curbs before further deterioration occurs.   To replace all of the curbs in question could cost the City as much as $46 million.