*This is the Prairie Village City Council meeting recap for Monday, December 2nd, 2019. You can see the full agenda and board packet HERE.

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

This is a long recap incommensurate with the quantity/size of items being reviewed, but I finally realized it’s because there is a lot of end of year business here, as well as pre-2020 decisions. So buckle up. Here are the highlights of this meeting:

Presentations

Mental Health Co-Responder

Chief Schwartzkopf introduced one of Prairie Village Police Department’s newest staff members, Heather Mason, whom we share with the City of Leawood and who has served in the Mental Health Co-Responder role since July of this year.

Ms. Mason’s “co-responder” role entails responding to 911 calls with PVPD officers when there is thought or expected to be someone in need of mental health assistance in order to assess next level of care for that person at the time of the call. That may include leaving them in their home or going with them to the hospital. She also follows up with those people and with the families of suicide completions with resources and information.

The co-responder role is hired and facilitated through Johnson County Mental Health. Having Ms. Mason on board helps PVPD provide the right intervention at the right time for our citizens and give more support to our officers. Heather Mason can be reached at (913) 731-5239.

PVPD Citizens’ Police Academy

It was graduation day for the 2019 class of Prairie Village Police Department’s Citizens’ Police Academy! I was thrilled to be part of this class myself this fall where we learned so much more about policing in general and PVPD in particular. Some of the topics covered in the 10-week course included:

• Police Officer Hiring, Academy, and Field Training
• Officer Safety
• Constitutional Law and the Kansas Criminal Code
• Special Investigations Unit
• Use of Force Continuum
• School Resource Officer and DARE Programs
• Johnson County Crime Lab visit
• Ride Alongs!

The goal of the Academy is to improve the relationship between the community and its police officers by “personalizing” the Department, and it is very successful in that goal. The other participants and I always felt welcome and free to ask as many questions as we could. Every officer and staff member seemed genuinely pleased to be speaking with us, and we got to do some really cool stuff! I would highly recommend this to anyone! You can learn more at the link above!

First Washington Realty Annual Report

AKA: What has First Washington Done for Prairie Village Lately? 😉

• 2019 Capital Investments & Improvements
  • The Village Shops
    • Courtyard renovation and full concrete replacement
    • Roof Replacement on Tomahawk
    • EV Car Charging Stations
  • Corinth Square
    • Kansas Gas Meter relocation
    • EV Car Charging Stations
    • Ongoing large scale maintenance – Parking lot, brick and stucco, trash enclosures and concrete/sidewalk maintenance
• Community Engagement
  • The Village Shops
    • Prairie Village Art Fair, Lancer Day Parade, Trick or Treating in The Village, Holiday Open House Events
  • Corinth Square
    • Hip to Hop Easter, KU Kick Off Event, Trick or Treating at Corinth Square, Holiday Open House Events
  • City of Prairie Village
    • Jazz Fest, Village Fest, State of the Arts, Mayor’s Holiday Tree Lighting
• New Leases & Lease Renewals
  • In Clover (local 💙)
  • Scoobie (local 💙)
  • On the Ball (local 💙)
  • The French Market (local 💙)
  • The Learning Tree (local 💙)
  • TCBY (locally owned franchise of a national chain, recently changed ownership locally from Nancy & Al Bream to Karie Nelson 😐)
  • Tyler Kingston (first location, Dallas coming soon 😐)
  • Pet People (national chain 😢)
  • Rise Southern Biscuits (national chain 😢)
  • Lash Lounge (national chain 😢)
  • Body Lab (fourth location, started in Arizona 😢)
• Looking Ahead – 2020
  • Roof evaluations and replacements
  • Ongoing large scale maintenance – Parking lot, brick and stucco, trash enclosures, and concrete/sidewalk maintenance
  • Evaluating LED Retrofit and cost benefit analysis 👍
  • Continue to work with current and prospective tenants to provide great merchandising for our patrons
  • Corinth Square South construction

What I would like to see in 2020:

• ZERO Loss of Existing Tenants
• MORE Locally-owned Tenants
• Better attention placed on high-volume traffic retail locations and available parking (Can we talk about Tomahawk from Euston’s to USPS!?!?)
• A Prairie Village mural in one or both of our shopping districts! Community Engagement, Aesthetic Improvements, free marketing, and Public Art all rolled into one!

What would you like to see in 2020 from First Washington?

Committee Reports

Civic (Community) Center Ad Hoc Committee

Councilwoman Myers shared that Wiese Group online survey postcards to 10,000 addresses (same distribution as Village Voice newsletter) should hit mailboxes this weekend.

Arts Council

Reminder: The Prairie Village Arts Council is pleased to feature the artwork of Elaine (Laney) Haake, Lisa YaDullah, Sylvia Augustus and Vicki Scanlon during the month of December. The artist reception will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, December 13.

Mayor’s Report

• Prairie Village had a very successful Annual Holiday Tree Lighting at Corinth Square – record attendance! Teen Council collected donations for the PV Foundation, and big thanks to the Foundation Board and Public Works, PVPD, Meghan Buum (Assistant City Administrator), Ashley Freburg (PV Public Information Officer) and all staff for putting the work in for a magical, fun event. Money raised for the Mayor’s Holiday Tree Fund helps deserving and qualified Prairie Village residents with utility assistance, home maintenance, food assistance, and other vital needs of the community. 
• Successful Chamber in the Chamber event with Opus 76 – PV Arts Council has made decision to combine with art gallery openings moving forward
• Several councilmembers and staff attended the GKC Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner including Chief Schwartzkopf, Major Roberson, Councilmember Terrance Gallagher, and Councilmember-Elect Inga Selders. The Mayor spoke with Senator Jerry Moran at the event about PV and invited him to give a federal update to Council, and he said he would give it serious consideration.
• The PV Annual Public Works Holiday Lunch was last week. PW staff are gearing up for snow season, so think of them kindly when it starts snowing at 3:00 am and they’re out treating and plowing our Prairie Village streets to make them safe for school buses and our morning commutes and the effect that has on them and their families.
• Upcoming events
  • PV Annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, December 7th
  • PV Foundation Gingerbread House decorating fundraiser, December 8th, 1:30-3:00 at Briarwood Elementary
  • UCS Annual Breakfast, December 10th
  • Lathrop & Gage Annual Legislative Breakfast, December 11th
  • GKC Chamber Public Policy Reception, December 11th
  • NEJC Chamber Legislative Preview Breakfast, December 14th
  • PV City Issues Legislative Forum, January 8th
• Prairie Village has been independently rated AAA with a stable credit outlook by Moody’s. This rating “reflects the city’s strong financial position, low debt, pension burdens, favorable location, and high income levels.” It was later added that Moody’s asked about our environmental initiatives and stormwater partnerships across the county when evaluating our city.
• Former Councilmember Steve Noll was recently appointed to Consolidated Fire District No. 2 Board of Trustees

Staff Reports

Police Department

• Shop with a Cop is coming up on December 12th.
• Tip A Cop for the Special Olympics Kansas was Thursday at Johnny’s.

Public Works

Keith Bredehoeft, Public Works Director, announced that the second Skate Park Community Workshop to hear comments and thoughts from skaters will be Dec 10th 6:30-8:30 pm.

Bike “sharrows” are starting to show up around the City. There are almost 150 installed, and still significant more to go.

No councilmembers had questions (publicly) regarding sharrows, but I have one: What education will residents, auto-operators and cyclists alike, receive on sharrows and how to properly and safely share the road? What are the rules that we should all be following?

Administration

Wes Jordan, City Administrator, referenced the Staff December Plan of Action. Some items there include:

• Website audit
• New Councilmember Orientation 🎉
• Sculpture Unveiling (SE corner of 71st & Mission)
• Committee Volunteer Applications (open now through January 1st)
• Diversity Training for non-PD personnel
• JoCo Municipalities Housing Study

Old Business

Public Works Facility Bond Sale

The City received 3 bids on the bond solicitation, and approved the award of the bond to the low bidder at 2.89%. This 30-year bond, a typical length for a public 50-year lifetime building, is to fund the construction of a new Public Works facility previously assessed in “poor” condition and in need of replacement. The replacement cost, including a solar panel array and LEED Platinum certification is budgeted at $10 million. The project is expected to begin construction in mid- to late-2020.

Award of the bond passed with Councilmembers Runion, Odell, and Myers voting no.

New Business

UCS Resource Allocations

United Community Services’ vision is that all people have the opportunity to fulfill their potential and contribute to the health and well-being of the community, and has been around since 1967.

The Human Service Fund began in the 1980’s, and PV has contributed since 1990. PV contributions are pooled together with 14 other participating municipalities for distribution to local non-profit agencies. The Prairie Village 2020 budget has designated $8,300 for this contribution. The UCS grant review committee and the UCS Board of Directors reviewed grant applications from a variety of agencies, including CASA , Growing Futures, Kids TLC, and many more.

The Alcohol Tax Fund was formed by the Drug and Alcoholism Council (DAC) in 1982. In 2019 there are 18 members of the DAC with representation from each jurisdiction. State statutes require that one-third of the revenue derived from a state excise tax on liquor sold by the drink be used for alcohol or drug prevention or rehabilitation programs. The Drug and Alcoholism Council of Johnson County formed a grant review process that provides a structured and accountable system that allows organizations, through one application, access to funds from multiple jurisdictions. PV has pledged $40,000 for 2020, same as 2019.

It’s worth noting, and Councilmember Herring pointed out, that these contributions fall within Prairie Village’s Non-Discrimination stance and only fund programs that offer equal access to ALL county-wide residents who could benefit from the program.

Council voted unanimously to approve both allocations.

2020 Residential Street Program

This part of the meeting was just to approve design fees for the 2020 paving program – services that were bid in a multi-year RFP back in 2017. BUT I wanted to review quickly, because there’s some info here of interest to Ward 3* residents! 📣 📣

2020 Paving Program may include the following streets:

1. 71st Street, Belinder to State Line Road *
2. 71st Street, Mission Road to Cherokee Drive *
3. Booth Street, 73rd Street to 74th Terrace *
4. 74th Terrace, Booth Street to High Drive *
5. Village, 71st Street to 75th Street *
6. Fontana, 67th to 69th (mill only)
7. 74th Terrace, Mission to Village (mill only) *
8. Eaton Street, 75th Street to 76th Street
9. El Monte Circle, south of 75th Street
10. 82nd Street, Roe Avenue to Somerset Drive
11. 83rd Terrace, Briar Street to Roe Avenue
12. 85th Street, Briar St to Roe Ave – sidewalk memo only
13. 74th Place, Fontana to Village *
14. Aberdeen, 75th Street to 77th Street
15. Belinder Ave, 73rd St to 75th St (sidewalk design on the east side) *
16. State Line Rd, North City Limits to 75th St (design only) *

2020 Legislative Platform

Jamie Robichaud was prepared to present the final 2020 Prairie Village legislative platform for Council consideration.

See the November 19th Council Meeting Recap for Changes/Adds from 2019 Legislative Platform.

Council voted to hold this over to the next meeting with a full Council in attendance.

Actions

City Council took the following actions:

• Approved the regular City Council meeting minutes – Nov. 18, 2019
• Approved the 2020 Cereal Malt Beverage licenses
• Approved Expenditure Ordinance #2983
• Approved Expenditure Ordinance #2984
• Approved renewal of Blue Valley Public Safety Contract for the City’s outdoor warning siren system maintenance for 2020
• Approved renewal of Information Technology Services between Johnson County DTI and the City of Prairie Village
• Approved items for bond sale related to the Public Works facility
• Approved the 2020 contribution allocation recommended by United Community Services for Human Service Fund grants
• Approved the 2020 contribution allocation recommended by the Drug and Alcoholism Council of Johnson County for the 2020 Alcohol Tax Funds
• Approved a design agreement with Affinis Corporation for the design of the 2019 Residential Street Program
• Approved final project costs for Wassmer Park and Porter Park

Upcoming Events

• December 13th – Monthly Arts Council reception
• December 16th – City Council Meeting
• January 6th – City Council Meeting, New Member Swearing-In, and Reception to Commemorate and Honor the outgoing councilmembers
• January 8th – PV Legislative Forum at Meadowbrook Park, 6:00 p.m.

👋

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