City Services, Community, Informational, Infrastructure

Council Meeting Recap
Posted by Bonnie Limbird

*This is the Prairie Village City Council meeting recap for Monday, October 7th, 2019. You can see the full agenda and board packet HERE.

Council members present at roll call: Herring, J. Nelson, Schermoly, R. Nelson, Poling, Myers, Morehead, Runion, McFadden, Odell, and Gallagher.

Here are some highlights from this meeting:

Presentations

National Arts and Humanities Month

Sarah VanLanduyt, with Johnson County Arts Council, thanked the Mayor, Council, and Prairie Village Arts Council for proclaiming October National Arts & Humanities Month in Prairie Village and encouraging residents to celebrate and promote the arts in our region which strengthens our economy and our communities.

Public Participation

Mary English, Ward 4, spoke to Council about her support of a LEED Platinum goal for the public works buildings and her concern about how quickly the City was going into a contract with the design firm without fully vetting their LEED experience.

Committee Reports

Community Center Ad Hoc Committee

  • Council will meet the survey consultant and receive an agreement and draft survey at the next meeting for review and discussion.

Tree Board

  • The Tree Board will be planting 25 trees on November 8th as part of Heartland Tree Alliance. If you’d like to volunteer to help that day, please reach out to the Tree Board.

Parks & Recreation Committee

  • The October Parks & Rec Meeting has been rescheduled to respect Yom Kippur. Note the date is now October 16th.
  • The Wassmer Park dedication will be Saturday, October 26th at 2:00 p.m.

Arts Council

  • State of the Arts
    • Friday, October 11th, 5:30 p.m.
    • VOTE for People’s Choice Award HERE.
  • Future of the Arts Call for Entries now open HERE.
  • 2020 Gallery Shows Call for Entries now open HERE.

Teen Council

An orientation for incoming Teen Council members is happening soon, and they will be present at next City Council meeting.

Mayor’s Report

  • Council took a Highlands Cemetery tour, which is located in Ward 1, and is a local treasure. Many of our founding families are buried there, and Water One recently gifted the Cemetery with running water infrastructure so they can better care for the space.
  • Council took a Lenexa City Center Library tour. (Mayor didn’t say, but presumably this was so Council could see the type of libraries and amenities that are being built now, and in particular in conjunction with city partnerships.) Lenexa City Center shares services and parking with City Hall, a rec center, and an aquatic center.
  • Mayor met with MKCCAC and MARC leadership to coordinate sustainability efforts in the City and region.
  • The City has hosted several well-attended public meetings in the last few weeks:
    • Zoning Regulations
    • Skate Park Design Input
  • There was a NEJC Mayor Breakfast with Evergy
    • Note: Evergy will be back at PV Council soon to update on the major circuit upgrade that recently finished. Stay tuned.
  • Mayor met with Advent Health for a discussion on how to be a future partner on the proposed new Community/Civic Center
  • Attended the JoCo Library Foundation’s annual Library Lets Loose event with Wes Jordan, City Administrator.
  • The PV Arts Council’s 2nd Chamber in the Chamber event featured the Battledore Trio and the trio interacted really openly with the guests and everyone had a great time!
  • The City recently finalized an agreement with First Washington Realty, owner of the PV and Corinth Shops, to gift a swath of land at the corner of 71st Street and Mission Road for a public art installation. The installation ceremony should be scheduled to occur yet this year.

Staff Reports

Public Works

  • Roe (was set for) paving on Wednesday and could be open by the weekend
  • Delmar project: hope to open road next week
  • Wassmer Park won’t have the solar panel installation yet at grand opening ceremony due to schedule challenges
  • The Skate Park group is meeting again Wednesday with design concepts
  • Belinder Avenue residents have been updated on sidewalk plans and the final paving and stormwater work next year. Public Works has tried to make the temporary surface between 73rd and 75th smoother, but there will be no more work until spring.

See 2019 Construction Projects for a map!

Business

  • Consider approval of the renewal of the City’s health, dental and vision insurance providers, as recommended by City Human Resource Manager, Amy Hunt
    • PV benefits are comparable to other municipalities, and the overall cost went down this year.
  • Consider revising Council Policy 217 – Arbor Day Honoree Nomination, Sheila Myers
    • Nominations can now include non-residents/organizations who have made a significant impact in Prairie Village.
  • Consider professional services agreement with Clark Enersen Partners for the Public Works building schematic design, Keith Bredehoeft
    • Clark Enersen has been in, essentially, a 2-year interview process since they were awarded the Public Works facility assessment study in 2017.
    • PW staff have been impressed with their deliverables and timeliness.
    • PW staff have reviewed their LEED credentials and experience, and are more than comfortable moving forward.
    • Calculations for LEED Platinum Return on Investment will begin now that the budget has been set and approved.
    • Council directed Clark Enersen to make a few corrections in their contract, but ultimately approved the award.
    • A small contingent of councilmembers are still pushing back hard on the LEED status at all. *It would be my recommendation that a workshop for ALL councilmembers be arranged (and open to the public) by the U.S. Green Building Council local chapter to give a presentation on WHY there are NO good arguments to NOT do this.
  • Glass recycling and food composting pilot program, Jori Nelson
    • Council directed City staff to take the reins from here to make sure the pilot program is properly vetted for City processes, and vendor approvals, etc..
  • Village Voice redesign, Ashley Freburg
    • Council directed Staff to a preferred layout (attendees were not privy to the options presented) designed in-house from now on, but also requested research on the recycled content and recycle-ability of the finished product.

Actions

The City Council took the following actions:

  • Approval of regular City Council meeting minutes – September 16, 2019
  • Approval of Expenditure Ordinance #2982
  • Consider bid award for 2019 tree trimming program
  • Approved renewal of the wireless telecommunication facility at 7700 Mission Road – Ordinance #2409
  • Approved renewal of the City’s health, dental and vision insurance providers as recommended by City staff
  • Revised Council Policy 217 – Arbor Day Honoree Nomination
  • Approved a professional services agreement with Clark Enersen Partners for the Public Works building schematic design

Upcoming Events

  • October 11th – State of the Arts Juried Art Show 5:30 p.m.
  • October 21st – City Council Meeting
  • October 26th – Wassmer Park Dedication

*This council meeting recap is indicative of how I will update residents twice monthly in my efforts to increase transparency and communication as your Ward 3 Councilwoman so you always know what’s happening at City Hall. I make an effort to pull together references from previous meetings, topics, and issues that are relevant in hopes of making some of the ongoing issues more clear.

Volunteer for Campaign
Contribute to Campaign

Take care and reach out if you have any questions or concerns,

#ShowUp
#Breathe
#DoYourBest
#BeKind

Related Post