The Olathe City Council met on September 3, 2024, at 6:30 PM (live-streamed session began at 7:00 PM) to address a full agenda. Key actions included adoption of the 2025 city budget and capital improvement plan, approval of industrial revenue bonds for a large business park, and a declaration of an unsafe structure at 413 S. Cherry Street. The meeting also featured presentations of the Mayor's Cup to Garmin, proclamations for Deaf Culture Month and Co-Responder and Crisis Responder Week, and appointment of a new member to the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm Advisory Board.
Okay, welcome to the regular meeting of the Olatha City Council for Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024. The first item on our agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. Would you please stand with me for the pledge? Pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands under God with liberty and justice. We'll now move to special business. Item A is a presentation of the Mayor's Cup. Each year we uh present the Mayor's Cup to the to the Olathe Company with the highest performance in the Kansas City Corporate Challenge. We do this to celebrate companies that prioritize active lifestyles and healthy work cultures. The um things that we're thrilled to see in our local businesses. So this year, once again, it's Garmin, is the winner of the Mayor's Cup. They also won the Kansas City Corporate Challenge in their division for the third year in a row. So congratulations to Garmin. So at this time, would Associate Katie Stapleton please come up and accept the award. Okay. Thank you, Mayor Bacon, for awarding Garmin with this with the Mayor's Cup, we um we garmin this aligns a lot with our passion uh just for health and wellness and fitness. Of course, I work in the fitness division, but really the entire company values uh just being outside the camaraderie that sports uh provide us with and um you know there's a lot of work that goes into it. We have our well-being and wellness center people who uh do a great job taking care of all of our coordinators who are um involved in every single event. They're full-time employees who just take this on uh outside of their work time, and um it's pretty cool that we uh work in a place that also values fitness and wellness, and it's uh just very very special. So thank you very much, and uh yeah, we are very excited to keep uh keep competing and maybe go for four years. So thank you very much. So thanks to Katie for coming, and congratulations again to Garmin. Item two is a proclamation recognizing September as Deaf Culture Month. Uh Olatha is proud to be known as one of the most deaf-friendly communities in the country. An important part of this is the celebration of the culture of the deaf community. Joining us to accept tonight's proclamation is Chris Stelley, executive director of the Museum of Deaf History, Arts and Culture. Chris. Okay. You can stay right here. So the proclamation reads, whereas the City of Olatha is pleased to join communities across America in recognizing Deaf Culture Month to celebrate a diverse deaf community that emphasizes wide-ranging variations in ons in onset of deafness, level of hearing, educational background, communication method, and cultural affiliations. And whereas Kansas is home to more than 240,000 deaf community members, many of whom do not define themselves as one with loss of impairment, but rather as individuals with an alternative sensory and social experience who harness the power of visual languages. And whereas Olatha has been named as one of America's most deaf-friendly cities, in recognition of the opportunities and programs we offer as well as our culture, which truly embraces our deaf and hard of hearing residents. And whereas Olatha has the very proud distinction of being home to the Kansas School for the Deaf, the Museum of Deaf History, Arts and Culture, and the Olatha Club of the Deaf. And whereas the lives of all Olathians are enriched by the contributions of the Deaf community as well as this opportunity to recognize their achievements within our great city. Now, therefore, I, John Bacon, mayor of the City of Olatha do hereby proclaim September 2024 as Deaf Culture Month, in Olatha encouraging all citizens to celebrate the diverse human biology of our state and the values, culture, heritage, and languages unique to the deaf community. So thank you very much. The City Board, we appreciate the recognition for this month. And we do have a deaf museum here in Olatha. A lot of you may not realize that. So we're very proud to have this recognition and to have this museum here. And if you haven't been to the museum, please come learn about different ways that deaf people do live their lives and have their own culture and values and everything. We are excited to have an event coming up September 28th. We have our second annual 5K event. We try to promote uh sharing signing communities where all of us deaf or not deaf come together and support each other. You can learn some sign language and that type of thing, and we can communicate with each other. So you can join us at Frontier Park on September 28th. I have postcards. I'm gonna leave it on the table, I think out there, and you can pick it up, but please come and join us. Again, thank you, Mayor. All right.