Shepard to Rollins East-West Trail Connection Open House Meeting in January

Message to Shepard Blvd. Neighborhood Residents from Troy Balthazor – PedNet Board of Directors:

The City of Columbia Public Works Department has scheduled a vitally important informal Open House informational meeting.  This meeting will be held on Monday, January 26, 2015, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm at Shepard Elementary School gymnasium, 2616 Shepard Boulevard, Columbia, MO.

 

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the proposed Shepard to Rollins East-West Connection. The proposed trail is part of the city’s non-motorized transportation pilot program.  The City of Columbia has engaged TranSystems to conduct a study of various trail alignments to make the connection.  A location map for the project and identification of routes are at the following link:   http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/PublicWorks/GetAboutColumbia/Infrastructure_Updates/documents/ShepardtoRollins-Alignmentstudyscope.pdf

At the meeting, information and diagrams showing preliminary design concepts will be available for public review, and City engineering staff will be present to answer questions.  A Public Comment Form will be available.  Your input will be considered as the design is developed.  We need input from everyone and then some!

We hope you are able to attend this Open House to learn about this upcoming Public Works project.  If you have any questions regarding this meeting, contact Scott Bitterman (573) 874-7250 or send your comments to pubw@GoColumbiaMO.com

 

ALSO:  We will be offering the presentation that PedNet, with the exceptional direction of Chip Cooper, has developed to prepare for our advocacy efforts in regard to the development of the East-West Connection.  Entitled “Hinkson Valley Greenway Trail Network:  The Grindstone to Stephens Link (AKA Shepherd – Rollins)”, this comprehensive presentation makes a strong case to SUPPORT OPTIONS #1 & #3 as identified through the link provided above.   All are welcomed!  We will be meeting on Monday, January 5, 2015, in the Friends Room at the Daniel Boone Regional Library on the corner of Garth and Broadway.  The presentation will begin at 6:00. 

 

If you can’t make the presentation on the 5^th, I also make house calls and am more than willing to talk one-on-one with you whenever you like. 

 

More to come!  Please reserve January 26 to provide advocacy for THE MOST IMPORTANT LINK IN THE TRAIL NETWORK – HOW THIS SECTION IS DEVELOPED WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE USABILITY, SAFETY AND NATURAL PRESERVATION OF THE LINK FOR  THE BENEFIT OF ALL USERS. 

 

Troy Balthazor – PedNet Advocacy Team

PedNet Board of Directors

882-3600

Are you missing a cat?

Meredith Donaldson found a cat on Shepard Blvd. - young tortoise shell in color.

If you or your neighbor is missing this cat, please call Meredith at 573-289-3018

Help support our neighborhood school at the annual Stallion Stampede

Dear Shepard Neighbors,

Shepard Boulevard Elementary School invites you to the Stallion Stampede October 18, 11 am - 2 pm. There will be food truck options, including Pepe's, Columbia Dough, Playing with Fire Pizza, Dickey's BBQ, and Kona Ice. Lilly's Cantina, which just pulled into town this weekend, is hoping to make its launch that day, as well. Join in the raffle for some great prizes like an iPad Mini with Retina display, Kindle Fire HD, $100 Columbia Mall gift card, and a two-hour Party Bus rental. A silent auction includes prizes from many local businesses. Jackson Pollock-inspired student artwork will be available for purchase, too. We hope you are able to come out and support our neighborhood school! 

Sincerely,

Shepard Parent Teacher Student Organization

All you can eat breakfast for Sterling Wyatt Memorial Scholarship Fund

Neighbors, please join us for an all you can eat Pancake, Eggs and Sausage Breakfast to raise funds for the Sterling Wyatt Memorial Scholarship Fund.

When:  Saturday, September 6, 2014

Where:  Applebee's (EAST LOCATION ONLY)  2601 E Broadway, Columbia MO

Time:  8 AM - 10 AM

Cost:  $6.00 per person (at the door)

Through the generous support of our family, friends, neighbors and donors, we were able to disperse the very first scholarship from Sterling's Memorial Scout fund this July.  The recipient was Brandon Reddick,  Eagle Scout (2008), from Troop 706.  Brandon is fully supporting himself and is pursing a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Kansas.  

We are so blessed to give back a portion of the outpouring of love and support we have received from so very many people.   Come and join us on Saturday , Sept 6th for breakfast.

Sherry, Randy and Chandler

Shepard Neighborhood Picnic August 16, 2014

To all neighbors in Shepard Blvd - you're invited!  Please join us and meet new neighbors and visit with friends at the annual SBNA potluck picnic on Saturday August 16, 2014 at Shepard Park. We will gather at 5:30 pm under the shelter at Shepard Park and eat around 6 pm. Please bring a dish to share and your own plates/utensils. Neighbors Brian and Rheanne Brinkman are bringing and cooking the meat for the picnic. Please be sure to thank them!  Hope to see you at the picnic!

Little Free Library

The next time you're walking along Bluff Drive, be sure to stop by the "Little Free Library", which was placed by the Dye family for neighbors to read a book/trade a book.  It's located on the South side of Bluff Drive near 2226 Bluff Drive.  You will find books for children and adults inside the Little Free Library - right here in Shepard neighborhood! Thank you to the Dye family for your gift of reading! 

City will host Ward 6 check-in July 29, 2014

(From City of Columbia)

Want to know more about upcoming projects, developments, safety efforts and issues in your ward? Come listen to and speak with your councilperson, the city manager, city department heads, city staff and fellow ward residents at your ward check-in.

The ward check-in for Ward 6 residents (includes Shepard Blvd. Neighborhood) will be held from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, at the Hillcrest Community Center on 1907 Hillcrest Drive in the Waters-Moss Memorial Wildlife Area. Ward check-in meetings are held biannually for each city ward.

Contact: Leah Christian at 573-441-5515

Looking for Prescription Sunglasses lost in Shepard neighborhood

From neighbor Cokie Blake: Lost prescription sunglasses:  rather large lenses, metal frames.  I left them on the back of our car several days ago.  My glasses must have fallen off after we drove off.  Perhaps on Meadow Lark between Pheasant Run and Falcon or on Pheasant Run, Shepard between Pheasant Run and Old 63, or Falcon.  We have looked all those places, but I am hopeful someone picked them up. If you find any sunglasses, please call Cokie at 442-0831 or 573-819-5408 or email me at crblake@socket.net.

Thank you!

Update on East-West Trail Connector from Shepard to East Campus

Message from neighbor Jake Giessman:

As many of you know, Columbia has federal money in hand to construct a bike/ped trail connecting the Shepard and Bluffdale neighborhoods to East Campus. This fall, City Council is expected to vote on whether or not and how to execute the project. If approved, it will likely involve one or more of the following scenarios:

1)      A short trail from Rollins/Wilson Park to Bluffdale.

2)      A medium-length trail from Rollins/Wilson Park to Sterling Wyatt Park.

3)      A longer trail along a (wide and cleared) sewer easement from Bluffdale to the bike

         underpass at Old 63 and Stadium.

4)      Improved bikeways along Stadium from Old 63 to Ashland.

The map of the proposed trail options can be found at the City of Columbia's website

The project represents a long-planned missing link in the central part of Columbia’s bike/ped network. For the city, it means linking up City Center, the Grindstone Trail, the Hominy Branch Trail, and Stephens Lake Park. For Shepard residents, the most significant benefit is improved bike/ped access to campus and downtown.

There is concern from Bluffdale residents about increased bike/ped traffic in their neighborhood and about disruption of the natural landscape in the valley between Old 63 and East Campus—both concerns that we should be sensitive to and that the final design can take into account.

One question especially relevant to our neighborhood is where our point of access would be to the connection. Sterling Wyatt Park would seem most convenient to us but forces users from outside the neighborhood to climb the Old 63 hill only to climb right back down into the valley via switchback. Thus, there has been wide interest in making Bluffdale the access point, which we would access by riding down one of the bikeways on Old 63. Either way, we have the same number of hills to negotiate!

To the extent possible, we want to present a unified voice at the fall City Council vote. That means hashing out some of our own debates beforehand and, most importantly, getting a handful of people to show up at the meeting. If you have questions, opinions to share, or want to know when the vote gets scheduled, email jake_giessman@hotmail.com.

Dedication of Sterling W. Wyatt Park on July 11

Message from neighbor Sherry Wyatt:

Just want to remind our neighbors that you are invited to the dedication of the Sterling W. Wyatt Park (formerly the Old 63 South Roadside Park) on Friday, July 11 at 6 pm.  The neighborhood association has been fully engaged in making this name change of the park to honor our son, Sterling, who was killed in action in Afghanistan while serving in the U.S. Army on July 11, 2012.

We hope to see our neighbors at the dedication.  A couple of Sterling's Army buddies will be present at the dedication, as well.  Neighbors can meet them and thank them for their service. 

After the dedication, we will host a Pot Luck gathering at our house (1002 Danforth).  We will have plates, cups, napkins and silverware and soft drinks. We will have a fire in the fire pit to honor Sterling's love of campfires and brownies (his favorite dessert).  BYOB and your own lawn chair.

Hope to see you!

Sherry

Looking for services or offering a service to neighbors?

We've added a couple of new pages to our SBNA website, which allows neighbors (must be a resident of Shepard Blvd. neighborhood) to post any services they can offer or a service they are in need of. For example, lawn mowing, raking leaves, babysitting, pet sitting, handy services, etc.

If you have any of these items you wish to advertise among your neighbors, you can post it on this blog by contacting SBNA Webmaster.

The new services pages appears on the right side of this website.

SBNA Neighborhood Garage Sale

Hello Neighbors!

Just a reminder that we're about two weeks away from our annual neighborhood garage sale on Sat. June 14. Contact Susie Robison if you plan to participate at robison33@mchsi.com.  This will ensure that directional signage will point the way to your family's sale.  The neighborhood is paying for a general sale ad in the Columbia Daily Tribune.  A listing is also going on Craigslist.com.  We're advertising it from 8am-1 pm, so be prepared for early shoppers roaming the neigbhorhood and waiting for those garage doors to open!

If you change email addresses or know of any neighbors who would like to be on our email list for the Shepard Boulevard Neighborhood Association, please contact me.  We have new neighbors moving in at various times, so if you meet someone new to Shepard, please invite them to be part of our association.  I will always send notices using blind copy, so your email address is protected and will not be shared beyond the neighborhood elected officers.

Also this summer, our annual neighborhood picnic is Sat. Aug. 16, beginning at 5:30 pm at Shepard Park.  We'll send another reminder once August arrives.  

SBNA Annual Meeting

Shepard Boulevard Neighborhood Association

Minutes of Annual Meeting   

April 22, 2014

Chair John Prenger began the meeting at 7:00pm and introduced association    officers.

6^th ward councilwoman Barbara Hoppe updated us on several items of interest to our  neighborhood. Barbara does not know what will happen to the closed Bee Line gas station on Old 63 & Shepard Blvd., but will try to find out any future plans. She wondered if MFA might be interested in that location.  Improvements to the intersection on Old 63 and Stadium have been approved and funded: landscaped medians, pedestrian cross walks and lights, a second turn lane on North bound Old 63 turning west on Stadium, a longer turn lane on Stadium going west & turning North onto Old 63. This should make getting onto and off of Stadium easier, more attractive and also pedestrian-friendly. Park 7 can come back to the City Council in September to request approval for student apartments to be built north of Stadium and east of highway 63.   Barbara is working with the neighborhood to come up with other developments that would fit better with the area and city planning. One of the concerns of Shepard Neighborhood Association is a need for a designated left turn light (rather than the current blinking arrow) for traffic coming from the west on Stadium onto Audubon.  As it stands now, the left turn signal would be installed two years after any permit was issued, if approved by Missouri Department of Transportation. There was much discussion of the need for the change now, as traffic has increased greatly since The Domain apartments opened at the East end of Stadium Blvd. Barbara will continue to push for this change and let the neighborhood know how they can help advocate for this with the City & MODOT.

John Prenger said he has been attending City Council meetings as well as meeting with the Shepard Hills neighborhood association as they discuss the Park 7 situation.A fourth option for the trail to connect the neighborhood to campus area is being studied by an engineer to determine cost and/or feasibility.  It would follow along Stadium Blvd.  There is interest to keep the Altis property as park area as much as possible, including the connection to campus area.

Meredith Donaldson, representing the Parks and Rec Commission, reminded us the park sales tax continuation will be on the ballot this year.  If there is a project of interest to us, we should ask the commission to include it in their proposal.  On a side-note, Meredith mentioned that she has talked with some neighbors, who are noticing more dog waste being left on the street and in yards. Just a reminder to pick up after your dog.

Barbara Wyatt announced that the mini park on Old 63 near the corner of Shepard Blvd. has officially been name after her grandson, U.S. Army Specialist Sterling Wyatt, who died while on duty in Afghanistan.  On the second anniversary of his death, July 11, 2014, there will be a dedication to unveil the sign with Sterling Wyatt’s name and a bench.  A tree has already been planted in the park in his memory.  Following the dedication, the Wyatt family is inviting neighbors to their home. More information will be posted on the SBNA blog as to the time of the dedication.

A motion to schedule the neighborhood garage sale on June 14, 2104 was made by Rod Robison, seconded by Meredith Donaldson and passed by voice vote.  The Robisons will publicize the sale.

The SBNA potluck picnic is scheduled for August 16, 2014. We will gather at 5:30 pm under the shelter at Shepard Park and eat around 6 pm. Please bring a dish to share and your own plates/utensils. Terri Anderson will reserve the Shepard Park shelter from noon until 8pm.  (post meeting note: we received confirmation from Terri that she has reserved the shelter for us.) Brian and Rheanne Brinkman will take care of the meat for the picnic.  More information on the picnic will be posted on the blog this summer.

The current officers agreed to serve for another year.  Motion to approve the slate by acclamation was made by Joe Donaldson, seconded by Barbara Wyatt, and approved by voice vote.

Julia Helvey, treasurer, reported that our balance was $683.22. Dues collected tonight are not included in that amount.

Motion to adjourn was made by Jim Muench, seconded by Suzie Robison, and approved by voice vote.

Respecfully,

Cokie Blake (taking notes for Beth Cunningham, Secretary, who was unable to attend the entire meeting)

SBNA Meeting Reminder

Shepard Blvd. Neighborhood Association annual meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 23 at 7 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church, across from Shepard Blvd. School and next to the neighborhood park.  One of our neighbors, Meredith Donaldson, asked that I include a message to any attendees that she is looking for cottage cheese containers or butter spread containers (empty and clean) for use by the Columbia Outdoor Classroom Project. If you have any plastic containers taking up room in your cupboard and wish to donate, please bring them to Meredith, who will be at the meeting.

Annual Neighborhood Meeting April 22

Our annual SBNA meeting will be be held on Tuesday, April 22, 7 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church on Shepard Blvd., across from Shepard Elementary School.  All are welcome. We will post the meeting agenda prior to the meeting on this blog, so please check back here.

We hope you can join us as we make plans for a neighborhood garage sale this summer, as well as our annual potluck picnic at Shepard Park.   Know any new neighbors? Please be sure to invite them and let them know about our blog for information affecting our neighborhood.

5K Race in Shepard Neighborhood on Saturday, March 8, 2014

Cub Scout Pack 733, which is sponsored by Shepard Blvd. Elementary PTSO is hosting a 5K race on Saturday morning, March 8 at 9 a.m.  The race starts and ends at Shepard Elementary and about 100 people will take part in the race.  If you are driving in the neighborhood from 9-10 a.m., please be mindful of runners and children on the street.  

The directions/streets for the race are listed below:
Race begins at Shepard Elementary.  Turn right on Audubon Drive.  Continue left on to Randy Lane.  Turn right on Bluff Blvd.  Turn left on Bushnell and left on Danforth Drive.  Turn around at the end of Danforth Drive. Turn right on Shepard Blvd.  Turn right on Audubon Drive.  Turn left on Azaela then right on Audubon.  Turn right on Mallard court, left on Teal, left on Cardinal Dr.  Turn right on Audubon Drive.  Turn right on Shepard Blvd and sprint to the finish at Shepard Elementary.

Bi-Annual Ward 6 Check-In January 22, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sierra Napier
City Manager’s Office
(573) 441-5515

City of Columbia will host ‘Ward Check-In’ January 22nd

COLUMBIA, MO (January 16, 2014) - Want to know more about upcoming projects, developments, safety efforts and issues in your ward? Come listen to and speak with your councilperson, the city manager, city department heads, city staff and fellow ward residents at your Ward Check-In.

The Ward Check-In will be held for Ward 6 residents from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, January 22nd   Shepard Elementary-- 2616 Shepard Blvd, Columbia, MO 65201. The Ward Check-In will be held bi-annually for each city ward. Check the city’s website at www.GoColumbiaMo.com to see when and where the Ward Check-In meeting will be held in your ward.

Neighborhood Watch training in February

Please send this to our Shepard Boulevard neighbors.  It is really helpful to attend.  I have been involved in Neighborhood Watch and would like to renew our neigborhood's participation.  It would take someone on each street to encourage neighbors to attend a training.  Here is the next one.

Meredith Donaldson
1001 Pheasant Run Dr.
573-289-3018

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Melvin Buckner <mebuckne@gocolumbiamo.com>
Date: Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 3:20 PM
Subject: Columbia Neighborhood Watch Orientation

Neighborhood Watch Orientation (training) will be Feb. 4th.  This will be held at Gentry Middle School located at 4200 Bethel St at 7 pm.  You may register online at www.columbianeighborhoodwatch.org.

Please share with your neighbors who are not members of Columbia Neighborhood Watch.

--
Officer Melvin E. Buckner
Columbia Police Department
Office Of Neighborhood Service
Columbia Neighborhood Watch Liaison
Crime Free Programs Coordinator
573-874-7426