Olathe City Council Meeting: June 17, 2025 – Parking Garage, Bonds, and Proclamations
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Olathe City Council Meeting: June 17, 2025 – Parking Garage, Bonds, and Proclamations
The Olathe City Council met on June 17, 2025, at 7:00 PM in the Council Chamber. The meeting included a Juneteenth proclamation, service awards, recognition of student state champions, approval of consent agenda items, and new business items regarding bond issuances and a downtown parking garage project. All votes were unanimous among the five present members (Bacon and Essex absent).
Special Business
- Juneteenth Proclamation (G25-5138): Mayor Pro Tem Marge Vogt read and presented the proclamation recognizing June 19, 2025, as Juneteenth to Pastor Kenny Stokes of Nexus Church. Pastor Stokes spoke about the importance of Juneteenth, emphasizing unity, freedom, and community responsibility.
- Service Award (G25-5136): Valerie Bentley was recognized for nine years of volunteer service on the Olathe Parks & Recreation Board. Board Chair Greg Foss highlighted her fundraising and advocacy work, including the recent award of two $1,000 scholarships to Olathe seniors.
- City of Champion Awards (G25-5137): Athletic directors from Olathe West, South, East, North, Northwest, and OATC introduced state champion students and teams. Recipients included the Olathe West softball team (6A state champions, 28-1 record), boys track team (back-to-back state champions), multiple individual track and field winners, and TSA (Technology Student Association) state champions from various schools.
Consent Calendar
- Approved as presented (excluding item H): Motion by Gilmore, seconded by Felter, carried 5-0. Items included:
- Approval of June 3, 2025, meeting minutes.
- Renewal of licenses as recommended by the City Clerk.
- Business expense statement for City Manager to attend a League of Kansas Municipalities meeting.
- Resolution No. 25-1056 setting a public hearing for July 15, 2025, on a community improvement district (200 W. Santa Fe Street CID).
- Final plat acceptances for Villas at Hilltop Farms, Second Plat (19 lots, 11.64 acres) and Olathe Range Addition (1 lot, 95.63 acres).
- Consent Calendar (G25-5140? – not specified but approved).
- Renewal of contract with Arcwood Environmental for household hazardous waste disposal.
- Renewal of contract with Insight for Microsoft Enterprise Agreement.
- Item H – Professional Services Agreement with Freese and Nichols, Inc. for Cedar Creek Sanitary Sewer Hydraulic Study (PN 1-C-009-24): Councilmember Schoonover removed this item from the consent agenda and abstained due to professional conflicts. Motion by Gilmore, seconded by Felter, carried 4-0 (Schoonover abstained, Bacon and Essex absent).
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were heard during the General Issues and Concerns of Citizens segment.
Discussion Items
- New Business Item A – General Obligation Improvement Bonds, Series 2025A (G25-5160): Director of Economy Jamie Robichaud presented. The city received 11 bids; the winning bidder was Huntington Securities with a true interest cost of 3.559% for $25.5 million. The city’s AA+ credit rating was reaffirmed. Funds will finance FUM Road, Claire Road, 135th and Flum geometric improvements, and the annual street reconstruction program. The motion to approve Resolution No. 25-1057 and Ordinance No. 25-18 carried 5-0.
- New Business Item B – General Obligation Temporary Notes, Series 2025-A (G25-5163): Approved for $154.1 million with JP Morgan Securities as the winning bidder at 2.995% interest. Funds will support Santa Fe/Ridgeview, Woodland to North Gate, Fire Station 9, and the animal shelter. The motion carried 5-0.
- New Business Items C & D – Interlocal Cooperation Agreement with Johnson County for Downtown Parking Garage (G25-5151) and Resolution No. 25-1059 authorizing the City Hall Parking Garage Project (G25-5154): Deputy Director of Infrastructure Zach Hardy presented a project history and proposed three-level garage with ~379 total spaces (225 net new) at a budget of $22.5 million. Johnson County approved an $11 million cost share. Council discussion included concerns about cost, deficit of 235-240 spaces over 10 years (per Walker Consulting study), potential expansion northward, aesthetics, ADA compliance, EV charging, and construction timeline (14-18 months, mid-summer 2027 opening). Councilmember Felter advocated for purchasing three homes to the north and building larger; Councilmember Vakas emphasized elevated design and physical security. City Manager Wilkes clarified that the immediate request was only to approve the MOU and authorize the project; design details will come back for council approval. Both motions carried 5-0.
- New City Council Business: Councilmember Schoonover recognized National Waste and Recycling Workers Week, thanked the solid waste team, and noted his 19th wedding anniversary. Councilmember Felter thanked first responders for saving her husband's life (3 years ago), praised the retaining wall construction on Santa Fe and the updated Black Bob Park play area, and thanked the solid waste team. Mayor Pro Tem Vogt highlighted the household hazardous waste program (111,215 pounds disposed of in 2023-2024), announced the Black Bob Park ribbon cutting on June 25th, fireworks on July 4th at the College Boulevard Activity Center, and that City Hall will be closed for Juneteenth. She also announced that starting next meeting, the entire meeting will be live streamed.
Key Outcomes
- Juneteenth Proclamation presented and accepted.
- Service Award presented to Valerie Bentley.
- City of Champion Awards presented to student athletes and TSA winners.
- Consent Agenda approved (minus item H) 5-0.
- Item H (Freese and Nichols Agreement) approved 4-0 (Schoonover abstained).
- Resolution No. 25-1057 and Ordinance No. 25-18 (GO Bonds) approved 5-0.
- Resolution No. 25-1058 (Temporary Notes) approved 5-0.
- Interlocal Cooperation Agreement with Johnson County approved 5-0.
- Resolution No. 25-1059 (Parking Garage Project) approved 5-0.
- Meeting adjourned at 8:48 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening all. I will now call this meeting to order. Good evening to all of you and welcome to the regular meeting of the Olatha City Council for Tuesday, June 17, 2025. Thank you all for being here. What a great crowd. First item on the agenda agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. If you all stand and say the pledge with us. One nation. The next item on the agenda are some special businesses tonight. Many of you are here today to celebrate some of those uh special business. First item is a proclamation. Um recognizing June 19th, 2025 as Juneteenth. Juneteenth recognizes the emancipation of slaves in the U.S., it allows the opportunity to celebrate the contributions of our black neighbors within our community. Joining us tonight to accept this proclamation is Pastor Kenny Stokes of Nexus Church. There you are. Would you join me, please in the middle? Come on over here. All right. Whereas on January 1st, 1863, President Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation declaring that all persons held as slaves within any state shall be then thenceforward and forever free. And whereas more than two years would pass before the news reached black Americans living in Texas, when on June 19th, 1865, Union soldiers spread the word that slavery had been appolished. And whereas June 1th was celebrated the following year and continues to be celebrated today, to acknowledge a period in our nation's history that still shapes and influences our society and to honor the principles of the Declaration of Independence. And whereas the City of Olatha is committed to fostering a community that recognizes the value of each resident that is strengthened by our diversity, and that celebrates the varied cultures and backgrounds that make up our great city. Now, therefore, I, on behalf of John Bacon, mayor of the City of Olatha, do hereby proclaim June 19th, 2025 as Juneteenth in Olatha, urging all citizens to recommit ourselves to work of equity, equality, and justice in making Olatha a better place for all to call home. Do you have a few comments that you'd like to make? Go ahead. I'm gonna try to be as quick as possible, but I felt like these words needed to be said. Um good evening, everyone, Mayor Pro Tem, Council. Tonight we gathered together to honor the history that lives in our hearts. Two days from now, it will be Juneteenth, a day when freedom rang louder than chains, and the American promise echoed a little closer to home for all of us. On June 19th, 1865, the last of our enslaved ancestors in Galveston, Texas, finally heard the words that should have been theirs from birth. You are free. Those words carried on, the hot winds of Texas of a Texas summer, lit a fire that has never gone out, a fire of faith, family, and freedom. Juneteenth is not just about what we were freed from. It's about what we were freed for. We were freed to build strong families, the bedrock of our community, free to worship without fear, faith in Christ being our enduring compass in every storm, free to work with dignity, to dream without limitation, and to achieve not because of handouts, but because of hands lifted in hard work and heart-rooted hope. Let me be clear. It is one of victory. From the cotton fields to the Capitol, from the business owners to the brave soldiers, from the pulpit to the podium. Black Americans have not only contributed to this country, we've helped shape it. And we did it with grace, with grit, and with God. In a time when many want to divide us by race, status, or ideology, we must remember that unity doesn't require uniformity. What we need, what we need is shared respect and a shared responsibility from responsibility. Freedom comes with duty. Opportunity comes with action. Let us teach our children that their history is rich, their potential is unmatched, and their future is not defined by what this country was, but by what they choose to make it. Let us turn to faith in our Lord Jesus, the same faith that kept our ancestors singing in the dark and remind ourselves that no matter the headlines or the hardships, Christ has not brought us this far to leave us now. On this Juneteenth, we celebrate freedom, not as a finish line, but as a foundation. And with that freedom, may we walk forward proud of our past, clear in our convictions, and committed to lifting every generation higher than the last. May God bless you. May God bless our community, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.
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