Presentations

Recognition of outgoing Council members

Mayor Mikkelson recognized four outgoing Council members this term:

• Sheila Myers, Ward 4
• Tucker Poling, Ward 3
• Jori Nelson, Ward 1
• Dan Runion, Ward 5

Swearing in of new Council members

Mayor read the oath for the new and returning Council Members

• Cole Robinson, Ward 1
• Ron Nelson, Ward 2
• Lauren Wolf, Ward 3
• Dave Robinson, Ward 4
• Greg Shelton, Ward 5
• Terrence Gallagher, Ward 6

Here’s our new council dais, as taken from my seat so I’m not in it 😁

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Evergy Presentation

Rebecca Galati, Evergy liaison to JoCo cities, gave her annual update/recap to the City for the work Evergy is doing within our neighborhoods, both service-wise and community programs and service.

• PV was the first of 9 cities to sign up for Evergy’s Renewables Direct program.
• Evergy Weekly Energy Analysis – you can sign up for this weekly email to receive reports of your energy usage to better understand how you’re using your energy, how to save, and how it varies week to week.
• Tree trimming – don’t forget that you can make a line clearance request at evergy.com
• Evergy has a 3-5 year plan to work on reliability proactive inspections – started in August 2019 and ongoing
• If you feel you’re experiencing frequent outages, you can call and request a frequent outage check by contacting the Customer Care Center: 816-471-5275.

Councilmember Herring asked for regional numbers for neighboring municipalities for similar outages, reliability, upgrades, etc. in future updates for us to use as comparison.

Councilmember Gallagher thanked Rebecca and Evergy for their responsiveness in addressing Ward 6 issues, particularly along the Belinder corridor.

Councilmember Shelton asked how Evergy expects to handle outage issues this coming winter to avoid rolling outages, etc.. I didn’t hear a specific answer to that question.

Public Participation

Debbie McDonald spoke to Council on the proposed sidewalk on Nall Ave., 79th-81st St. Patricia Allman also spoke on the same issue and shared concerns specific to water run-off and the “historic” nature of stone walls. Michael Shook, PV resident for 42 years, shared his battle with water run-off as the site currently is today. All three speakers were against the sidewalk. (We also had emails for and against the sidewalk as part of the packet.)

Committee Reports

Prairie Village Arts Council Committee

The Strength in Diversity show is opening in January at the new Gallery at Meadowbrook Park Clubhouse in partnership with the Diversity committee, JCPRD, and JoCo Arts and Heritage Center. That will run through March.

Instead of our annual Future of the Arts juried exhibition for K-12 students, which we had to cancel in 2021 and were unsure about 2022, we’ve opted to continue our arts community outreach and support the Arts Council of JoCo’s Shooting Stars art contest for high school seniors by way of sponsoring the Literature First Place Award at their April 3rd Gala.

Our call for entry for two new sculptures for the developer, R.H. Johnson Co., at Meadowbrook Shopping Center just closed and we will be scoring those and hopefully selecting two for installation in May.

The Parade of Hearts is coming to Prairie Village, we hope! There will be 155 fiberglass KC hearts placed around the metro in the spring and auctioned off to benefit several local non-profit organizations.

The Prairie Village Art Show, which is an event by the PV Merchants’ Association NOT the City of the PV Arts Council, but a much-loved and missed annual event, should be back in 2022 on June 10-12th. Watch for more information on the PV Shops social media channels and we will share as

Teen Council

Councilmember Reimer thanked the Teen Council members for their work at the two Foundation events this past week, the Mayor’s Tree Lighting and the Gingerbread House Decorating event.

Mayor’s report

• The re-funding of our Meadowbrook Park bonds priced even better than estimated. We went from a projected $700k savings to an actual $1.4m savings for PV tax payer dollars! The current market has a tremendous appetite for this type of bond, and the incredible success of the Meadowbrook project to date also helped. This process also removed the general obligation bonds off the PV books and freed up some encumbrances on the transient guest tax stream which could result in significant increase in dollars there.
• COVID update
  • Pfizer vaccine is now widely available for children 5+
  • Johnson County is BACK solidly in the high transmission category
  • Positive cases have spiked again.
  • Almost all serious cases continue to be among the unvaccinated.
• We have another generous match donor in 2021 for all donations to the Foundation through December 31st that go to utility and food assistance, among other things, and stay right here in PV.
• Thank you to Marianne Noll, Meghan Buum, Corinth Shops and many many more for making the Mayor’s Tree Lighting a huge success.
• Thank you to Councilmembers Gallagher and Reimer, Teen Council, and Meghan Buum, again, for their work on the Gingerbread House Decorating event.
• Mayor acknowledged the passing of Senator Bob Dole, a Kansan who made it a goal to reach across the aisle and work with everyone when it was in the best interest of Kansas.
• JoCo Charter Commission is still meeting. New Councilmember Shelton also serves on this committee with Mayor.
• Congratulations to Councilmember McFadden on being sworn in as the new Chair of the NEJC Chamber of Commerce.
• Mayor has been appointed to the board of the UCS beginning in 2022.
• Stand Up for Black Lives +PV, the JoCo NAACP, and the PV Diversity Committee are planning a Jan. 16th event for MLK.
• PV Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on January 11th at Meadowbrook Park Clubhouse!

Staff Reports

Administration

City Clerk Adam Geffert updated that the Property Tax Rebate program will open 1/10 at 10am to make sure residents have a chance to receive their PV Village Voice with the info first.

Police Department

Chief Roberson shared that the PD raised $1,300 for Special Olympics at the Tip-a-Cop event at Tanner’s.

Our new mental health co-responder will be starting December 27.

We reappointed our amazing Deputy City Administrator, Jamie Robichaud!

United Community Services (UCS) presentation

Ashlie Guidry with UCS gave the annual update:

The Human Service Fund is a critical city/county partnership between 14 cities and JoCo that uses a pooled fund of general tax dollars that supports a competitive grant program for organizations that assist households that fall at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, which is about 15% of the population of JoCo, or nearly 90k people.

Alcohol Tax Funds are an 10% excise fund on liquor by the drink that is collected by the state and 30% is returned to the jurisdiction where the tax was assessed. 1/3 must be used for programs that serve substance use and continuum of care. The Drug and Alcohol Council is a group of about 20 members (10 representing their jurisdictions) who put together their priorities each year and then put out an RFP to qualifying providers who the apply for funds.

Prairie Village is estimated to contribute about $44,000 to support 2022 programs. (This is down from previous years due to fewer liquor by the drink sales during the pandemic – even though overall alcohol consumption is up.)

Consider 2022 contribution allocation recommended by UCS for human service fund grants (see pg. 67) – Approved unanimously

Consider 2022 contribution allocation recommended by the Drug and Alcoholism Council of Johnson County for the 2022 alcohol tax funds (see pg. 86) – Approved unanimously

Consider approval of software services agreement with OpenGov for new permitting, licensing, and code enforcement software

This includes a customer portal where customers can track all of their current permits, track inspections, and more. This will cut permit issuing time in half! This software will also be applicable to code violations and city clerk processes as well. Overall this will be a good customer service tool. Approved unanimously.

Consider approval of sidewalk construction on Nall Avenue from 79th Street to 81st Street as part of the 2022 CARS project (NAAV0004)Consider approval of the 2022 fee schedule

Melissa Prenger, Public Works Project Manager:

“After much analysis of the right of way constraints including the 1929 wall and its proximity to the right of way, the design options and the related costs for the construction (lowering the road to get proper drainage from the sidewalk would add over a million dollars to the project), City staff recommends limiting the construction of sidewalk from 79^th Street to 81^st Street.”

Councilmember Reimer asked how the run-off and erosion issues mentioned by Mr. Shook are being addressed, and Ms. Prenger stated that the mill and overlay will create proper cross slope and drainage to incorporate properly into the storm water drainage. They will review the stormwater issues in that area again.

Regarding rerouting of sidewalk traffic from 81st Street, where the new sidewalk will end, to Briarwood Elementary via Briar St/Ln and crossing 83rd Street: no RFBs/flashing light beacons are planned as of yet, but it is on the radar.

Any trees along the new sidewalk section that imped on the path will just have narrower sidewalks in front of them to accommodate.

Council approved this section of sidewalk unanimously in line with our City policy for sidewalks and for the safety of our walking students and other pedestrians.

Consider approval of the 2022 Fee Schedule – Approved unanimously

Discuss the 2022 legislative platform

Council gave input on changes to the platform for the coming year, and staff will now put those into items to vote on at the next meeting. More info to follow.

Agenda Packet for your reference

Closing

So that’s it for last week.

Some things I’ve been up to:

• Attended the PV DEI training with Sophic Solutions.
• Participated in the 2nd Housing Task Force meeting to narrow down our list of priorities.
• Attended the 3rd Racial Equity in Communities workshop with UCS.
• Met with the Parade of Hearts location committee twice to discuss all the possible installation locations throughout the metro.
• Had our year-end meeting for the Johnson County Library Foundation board. Another virtual close-out instead of in-person. 😢
• Met with city staff and a First Washington Realty representative to learn about FWR’s plans for PV Art Fair 2022.
• Had another planning meeting with the Voter Girl committee for LWV JoCo and GSKSMO.
• Had a chill Thanksgiving with my in-laws in rural Arkansas.
• Went to a League of Kansas Municipalities elected official training and end-of-year dinner at Meadowbrook Park.
• Joined hundreds of PV families at the Mayor’s Holiday Tree Lighting at Corinth Square and walked around soliciting small donations from attendees for the PV Foundation. Thank you to all our generous donors!! It’s not too late to donate! Please consider any size donation by going HERE!
• Attended the UCS Annual Meeting.
• Got my booster shot!!

Be well and have a great weekend!

🙂