Technical issues on Zoom couldn’t stop the Excelsior Springs City Council from voting Sept. 6 to pursue public transit funding – or from holding a meeting in general. That evening at the Hall of Waters, the council approved an ordinance granting Mayor Sharon Powell permission to pursue that funding “and to execute any contracts resulting from such application or any grants” involving the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission and the city, Powell read from the ordinance. As the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) states on its website, the commission oversees MoDOT. Specifically, with the council’s approval, the city seeks to pursue 5311 grant funding. Chad Birdsong, public works director, explained in a letter and reiterated shortly before the vote that the grant gets its name from its chapter section under U.S. Code Title 49 – the section covering transportation. As MoDOT information states, Title ...