The Olathe City Council met on October 1, 2024, at 6:45 PM (live streamed session at 7:00 PM) to consider a range of items including proclamations, a public hearing on industrial revenue bonds, consent agenda items, and new business. The council unanimously approved all items on the agenda, including a $6 million increase in industrial revenue bonds for a warehouse, an ordinance amending procurement policies, $62 million in bonds for Garmin campus renovations, and a rezoning for a 214-unit rental community called Olathe Commons. The council also received reports on the Street Maintenance Sales Tax and held discussions on the Olathe Community Fund, opioid settlement funds, and municipal court operations.
Good evening. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Olatha City Council for Tuesday, October 1st, 2024. The first item on our agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. Would you please stand with me for the pledge? A pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republican, which it stands One Nation and Indivisible with Liberty and Justice Crawl. I'd like to take just a minute to pass along condolences to the family of police sergeant Greg Richardson. Sergeant Richardson passed away unexpectedly last week while off duty. He spent most of his life serving the Olatha community since 1997. So to his family and to his work family, you're in our thoughts and prayers. We'll now move to special business. So the first item is a proclamation declaring October 6th through the 12th, 2024 is Fire Prevention Week. The theme of this year's Fire Prevention Week is smoke alarms. It's an important tool about which Olatha's fire public education team regularly speaks with our community. Olatha Fire Public Education Specialist, Karen Wiley joins us to accept the proclamation, Karen. Talk about smoking. I would love to. Okay. This proclamation reads this whereas the City of Olatha is committed to creating a community where people feel safe and where residents and businesses can expect exceptional public safety services. And whereas the Olatha Fire Department preserves lives and prevents fires through an active community risk reduction program. And whereas the 2024 Fire Prevention Week theme is smoke alarms, make them work for you, which serves to remind us of the three key steps in smoke alarm maintenance. Install, test, and replace. And whereas working smoke alarms since smoke well before you can, and double your chance of surviving a house fire. And whereas families should ensure everyone in the home understands the sounds of the smoke alarms and knows the family's emergency escape plan. Now therefore, I John Bacon, Mayor of the City of Olatha, do here boat hereby proclaim October 6th to the 12th, 2024 as Fire Prevention Week, and urge all Olathians to install smoke alarms on each level and in every bedroom to test them once a month and to replace them at least every 10 years. So Mayor Bacon and also the council for your continued support of the Olatha Fire Department. I appreciate the opportunity to address the need for working smoke alarms for all of our residents. As was mentioned, we urge our community to test their smoke alarms to ensure they're working properly. If you're watching online, you can wait until the meetings adjourned to do so. Batteries need to be changed every year, and the smoke alarms need to be replaced when they're 10 years old. To help spread our message, we've already visited 54 schools this semester to teach our children how to keep their families safe. If our residents have any questions, they can go to our website and click on smoke alarms, the smoke alarms tab, or um email us at Olatha, uh smokealarms at Oatha KS.org. We also want to highlight that we can help facilitate the installation of bed shakers and smoke alarms, strobe alarms for our deaf and hard of hearing communities. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah, thanks. So thank you again, Karen and Fire Department for all you do to keep us safe in Olatha. Item B is a proclamation declaring October Disability Employment Awareness Month. The City of Olatha is proud to offer a high quality of life to all our residents. And that means all of the life of all our residents, and that means all our residents. Excuse me. We're grateful to our persons with disabilities advisory board for the work they do to support our residents with disabilities, including their effort to retain employment. So at this time, I'd like to call forward the P PDAP Chair, Mark Gash to accept the proclamation. Welcome, Mark. Thank you. Thank you. I'm sure there's stuff going on. So the proclamation reads whereas the City of Olathe is committed to being an inclusive community where all residents can live a productive life and enjoy a high quality of life. And whereas workplaces that welcome the talents of all people, including those with disabilities are a critical part of our efforts to build an inclusive community and strong economy. And whereas 2024 marks the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 79th anniversary of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. And whereas the Olatha Persons with Disabilities Advisory Board serves as a strong advocate for residents who live with disabilities, including mobility and sensory impairments, physical illness, mental illness, and developmental and learning disabilities.