By Dennis Minich
New homes were the focus of much of the discussion at the Harrisonville Board of Aldermen meeting Monday night.
The board approved the final plan for six new homes in Lexington Place, a development of six infill houses on lots near Lexington and Chestnut streets.
The developers, Brent Hastie and Chris Chiodini, told the board the homes would probably be in the mid-$250,000 range.
“These will be high-end entry-level homes,” Hastie said. “We would like to build $150,000 starter family homes, but with the current prices of lumber, it’s just not feasible.”
The board heard concerns from neighbors, including having rental homes in the area, but Chiodini emphasized the homes are being built for sale, not as rentals.
Chiodini also addressed concerns about water runoff from the new development. He said their engineer said the homes would add about one cubic foot per second of runoff water. He said with various accommodations, they might not only
lower that increase, but possibly decrease the amount of water being delivered downstream.
“I am convinced we can have less runoff,” Chiodini said.
Hastie said keeping the city and neighbors happy is a key concern.
“This is not going to be the last time we are going to be here, so we want the city to like what we’ve done and that’s not just city officials, but citizens as well,” Hastie said.
Earlier in the meeting, the board voted unanimously to allow the city codes department to waive the connection fees on 25 more new housing permits. Codes Director Chris Arthur noted the board had approved 25 waivers late last year, but most of those have been issued and Arthur said the city is expecting 20 more in the Glen Eagle Development very soon.
“The last time we did this it took five years to use up all 25 waivers,” Arthur said. “This time it took just eight months.”
Mayor Judy Bowman said the increased activity is a result of the city reaching out to builders.
“This came from our meeting with developers. We asked what it would take to jumpstart the building in Harrisonville,” she said.
During his report, City Administrator Brad Ratliff gave updates on various projects. He noted Aldi’s has revised its schedule for a June 1 opening. He noted the second floor of the Community Center would be closed May 10-17 for duct cleaning.
In other business, the board approved the appointments of Donna Hotchkiss and April McLaughlin to the historic preservation commission.
Bowman presented certificates to city staff recognizing Local Government Week, National Public Works Week, National Police Week and National EMS Week.