*This is the Prairie Village City Council meeting recap for Monday, November 4th, 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.

Thank you for your patience for this recap. (It’s been a crazy week-and-a-half! Thank you so much for your support! My swearing in will be January 6, 2020! 🤗) There is some interesting information here regarding zoning regulations, staff changes, and the public works facility financing.

Here are the highlights:

Presentation

Highlands Cemetery

Mike Armstrong, General Manager of WaterOne, presented a joint venture between WaterOne, the City of Prairie Village, and HomeServe* to bring water service to Highland Cemetery at 65th and Hodges.

Previously, to clean tombstones and water the grounds, volunteers had to transport in their own water or beg neighbors to connect to their taps. The City had let WaterOne know about the need at Highland and other small local cemeteries, and while WaterOne, as a public non-profit utility, can not donate the connection materials or labor, they were able to bring HomeServe to the conversation and requested they use their charitable program, HomeServe Cares Foundation, to bring a water tap to Highlands.

So they did. The HomeServe Cares Foundation donated $10,000.00 earlier this year, and WaterOne installed an 80 foot water main to connect Highland Cemetery to the distribution system. A four-season lockable hydrant was also installed as part of the project for use of the Highland Cemetery patrons. The project’s completion was commemorated at a dedication event on September 18^th at Prairie Village City Hall and Highland Cemetery. 

Steve and Marianne Noll were also in attendance as Highland Cemetery Board members, and spoke about the cemetery, the volunteers who care for it, and how grateful they are for this generous donation.

See this video for more information about Highland Cemetery, its history, and this water project.

*HomeServe is the insurer who covers water lines in our area if a resident signs up for it.

Committee Reports

Arts Council

Councilwoman Morehead gave the following statistics so far for the Prairie Village Arts Council in 2019:

• 220 art pieces were submitted to the annual juried State of the Arts Show.
• Entry fees of $2,870.00 were collected.
• In 2019, over 1,000 pieces of art were displayed by 267 artists.

Planning Commission

Jamie Robichaud, Deputy City Administrator, and Chris Brewster, City Planning Consultant, presented the proposed final draft of revised ordinances amending the zoning regulations applicable to:

• Landscape Standards (19.47 – NEW)
  • Requirements for different site elements
  • Planting location guidelines and specifications
  • Exceptions
• Sign Standards (19.48)
  • General Interpretation Improvements
  • Design & Location Standards for Specific Types
• Site Plan Criteria (19.32.030)
  • Improve criteria and give applicants better expectations based on past difficult applications.
• Alternative Energy Systems (19.50)
  • General Interpretation Improvements
  • *Planning Commission CAN approve varying angles of solar panels offset from roof, but they want to review on a case-by-case basis during the site plan review process.
• CUPs / SUPs / Uses and Districts (various sections)
  • Better distinctions between Special Use Permits and Conditional Use Permits
  • Clean up list of uses
• “Clean-up” items
  • Neighborhood Design (19.06.025.C & 19.08.025.C)
    • Frontage landscape and “street tree” requirement
    • Coordinate with Public Works permitting process
    • Update terminology (“street tree” vs. “private tree”)
    • Clarify and emphasize PW / Tree Board Species list
  • Yard Exceptions Encroachments (19.44.020.C.)
    • Re-instate 12’ rear yard encroachment for porches, etc. (it was inadvertently removed previously, so this is just a correction of that error)
• Wireless Facilities (19.33)

Councilwoman Nelson shared concerns about developers buying multiple adjacent lots and building multifamily homes in the middle of the single home neighborhoods and larger lots being split into smaller lots to pack in houses tighter, and asked how those were addressed in these changes. Chris Brewster indicated that they were currently under discussion, but at this time those would require zoning changes before projects like those described could occur.

Councilman Poling reiterated his concerns about the solar panel restrictions and asked that the Planning Commission continue to review those and revise so that that residents who want to angle their panels don’t have to go through the process of paying for a site plan and going before the Commission or BZA which can be a barrier and deterrent for residents.

Councilman Gallagher asked about green space requirements in parking lots of commercial properties and about residential roof-mounted wind turbines. His concern related to reducing hard surface for stormwater absorption and heat load, and making sure any turbines larger than mini- residential-designed turbines would need a Conditional Use Permit or Special Use Permit.

Councilwoman Nelson asked if the City or Tree Board could recommend plantings for environmentally sustainable commercial plantings. Chris Brewster confirmed that the landscape architect looks at that when reviewing site plans, and they have set performance goal criteria for plantings in lieu of species requirements.

The ordinance passed by a vote of 9-3 with Councilmembers Herring, J. Nelson, and Poling voting nay.

Mayor’s Report

The following is an excerpt directly from the official meeting minutes published 11/14/2019:

• The Mayor met with Representatives Stephanie Clayton and Jerry Stogsdill, as well as County Commissioner Becky Fast.
• The City’s legislative agenda will be presented at the November 18 Council meeting.
• Planning is underway for a “city issues” legislative forum in January.
• A City employee appreciation event was held on November 1 at Bury the Hatchet.
• The Mayor and several Councilmembers attended the Mainstream Coalition event the prior week, at which Governor Kelly gave the keynote address.
• The Shawnee Mission East girls’ golf team won the state 6-A championship.
• The Prairie Village Municipal Foundation met on October 30.
• The Mayor’s tree lighting ceremony will be held on November 21 at the Corinth Shops.
• On November 6, a delegation from Ukraine will meet with Councilmembers and staff to discuss women in elected office.
• The next Chamber in the Chambers music series event will take place on November 22.
• A lunch meeting with Representative Sharice Davids will be held on November 8 to discuss the advancement of city issues at the federal level.
• A Johnson County and Wyandotte County Mayors’ dinner will be held later in the week.
• The Mayor will attend the Johnson County Community College annual gala on November 9.
• The Mayor will meet with seniors at the Meadowbrook Event Center about Prairie Village current events the following week. He will also meet with the Claridge Court men’s group.
• The next Coffee with a Cop event will take place on November 15 at Panera.
• A Northeast Johnson County Mayors’ lunch will be held November 15 to consider the need for representation by a lobbying firm.
• The Northeast Johnson County Chamber Gala will be held on November 16.

Staff Reports

Administration

Meghan Buum has stepped into the City’s Assistant City Administrator role vacated recently by Alley Porter. Meghan was previously the City’s Public Information Officer/Deputy City Clerk.

Wes Jordan, City Administrator, indicated that a postcard mailer is being developed to notify residents of the upcoming Civic Center survey by Weise Research Group.

From the October 21st meeting minutes: “Cathy Morrissey, representing Wiese Research Group, said that the market sustainability study would include both a phone survey of 400 residents in the surrounding area that would potentially be served by the civic center, as well as an online survey for Prairie Village residents only. Phone participants will be determined by zip code, and both versions of the survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.“

Council Committee of the Whole

Debt Capacity & the Public Works Facility

Council previously approved a project bond for the Public Works project but wanted to see the cost breakdown comparison for 20-year and 30-year bond terms. Lisa Santa Maria, Finance Director, presented these options.

At the previous meeting, Lisa had indicated that, while the City hasn’t approved a 30-year bond like this in recent years, we also haven’t had a project to build a 50-year building like Public Works either, and that a 30-year period is fairly standard for such a building.

In addition to the cost breakdown of 20- or 30-years, Lisa also presented a list of estimated costs for potential future projects, including the civic center, pool improvements, and a remodel of City Hall to be considered when deciding how long to bond the Public Works building.

Councilman Poling moved to proceed with bonding the Public Works project for a 30-year term in an amount not to exceed $10,000,000. Councilwoman Nelson seconded the motion. The motion passed 9-2, with Councilwoman Myers and Councilman Runion in opposition.

Actions

The City Council took the following actions:

• Approved the regular City Council meeting minutes – October 21, 2019
• Approved an interlocal agreement with the City of Fairway for the installation of sidewalk on Delmar Drive.
• Adopted the 2020 salary ranges by Resolution No. 2019-16
• Appointed Erik Hansey to the Insurance Committee
• Approved Ordinance 2407, amending the zoning regulations applicable to signs, alternative energy systems, special use and conditional use permits, wireless facilities, commercial landscaping, site plan review criteria, and other minor clarifications
• Adopted the 2019 Standard Traffic Ordinance for Kansas Cities and the 2019 Uniform Public Offense Code for Kansas Cities
• Approved construction change order #1 (final) for Roe Avenue, 63rd Street to 67th Street – ROAV0005
• Approved Addendum #2 to construction administration agreement with Trekk Design Group for 2019 Paving and CARS programs

Upcoming Events

• November 18th – City Council Meeting
• November 21st – Mayor’s Holiday Tree Lighting – Corinth Square, 6:00 p.m.
• November 22nd – Chamber in the Chamber Music Series, 5:30 p.m

👋

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