Good evening.

Welcome to City Hall and the regular meeting of the Olathe City Council for Tuesday, October twenty first, twenty twenty-five.

The first item on our agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance.

Would you please stand with me for the pledge?

We have a couple items under special business.

The first item is recognition of the twenty twenty-five, twenty twenty-six teen council Olatha Teen Council members.

Tonight we are welcoming the new Olatha Teen Council.

This group of Olatha High Schoolers will spend the coming school year learning about local government, the city of Olatha, doing community service and finding ways to better our community.

So here tonight to introduce the new Olatha Teen Council as assistant to the mayor and teen council coordinator Liz Rubek.

Liz.

Good evening, Council.

I'm Liz Ruback, assistant to the mayor.

This year we have twenty sixteens representing eight high schools in Olatha.

Twelve teens are returning members from past years.

James Academy.

Halo Jenkins Reyes, Olatha North.

Hope Kelly, Olathe East.

Isabella Paisley, Olatha West.

Jory Williams, Springhill.

Julia Holtzman, Olatha Northwest.

Lazarus Vaughn, Home School.

Neil Petrao, Olatha East.

Peyton Johnson, Olatha North.

Raven Maringo, Olatha South.

Rosalyn Wiley, Olatha South.

Riley Forshi, Olathe East.

Santosh Samaranian, Olatha Northwest.

Victoria Platinovic, Olatha Northwest.

And Zayed Ashgar Olatha Northwest.

Now, if you can all kind of squeeze together like best friends.

So it was our pleasure tonight to have dinner with uh Teen Council and also hear about their pro upcoming projects.

Impressive group, and we look forward to meeting with them and hearing from them throughout the next year.

We'll now move on to special business item B, which is a report from the Street Maintenance Sales Tax Finance Oversight Committee on the 2024 activities.

Twenty twenty-four was the first year of the renewed cycle of the street maintenance sales tax.

We use this money to for street maintenance and nothing else.

So tonight, committee chair, Mike Mangino is here to present the committee's annual report.

Mike, welcome.

Hello.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council.

Thank you, everybody, for bringing us the opportunity.

I will start.

I'm sure it's done with some people here, but a bit of background real quick.

Uh the Olathe voters first approved a 38 cent sales tax to make sure that street maintenance was funded uh reliably back in 2013.

And then as a bit of a reign endorsement, they renewed that for another 10 years in April 2023, if I remember correctly, by an even higher percentage.

In 2025, we reformed this committee to offer citizen oversight of that uh of that tax and its expenditure and the activities of that group.

And uh, we've prepared a report to go over those various projects and how that money was spent and ensuring that it was all done according to uh promises made in that referendum.

The committee is strictly oversight.

Uh that's all that we do.

Uh we don't decide how to spend funds, allocate projects, uh, offer any guidance whatsoever.

If you see in the state of my own driveway, that's the way it should be.

General oversight, that's it.

That's all under council of death authority only.

Um total allocation is 22.96 million, 90 percent of which are so is coming from the street maintenance sales tax fund, the rest of it coming from the Olatha General Fund 2024 Revenue Selected Word 16.77 million.

Uh they give us the opportunity.

They let us come in and look over their shoulder and look at the projects they were working on.

They took us on a brief tour of a few of those projects.

I learned quite a bit about the various methodologies and technologies that are used to maintain the streets, something I think that we all probably take a bit more for granted than I uh probably should.

We learned about their very data-driven metrics for deciding when to intervene and to ensure that we don't intervene too early on a street uh to make the most out of what's already been done, and then don't intervene too late where some of the less expensive options may not become available.

And you end up having to do full tear-outs and spend more money.

So they have the entire processing curvature for that to ensure that they are getting the absolute most of every single dollar that comes through that.

Uh I think based on the uh the what we've seen and what they reported, uh all of the revenues were spent in accordance with with the voter-approved purposes.

Um I would like to applaud the team there.

I feel like when we talked to them, the transparency that they offered was complete, and it was not out of a sense of duty or obligation.

I think they were really legitimately proud of the work they were doing and the way the money was spent and wanted to uh demonstrate that to to our committee.

We will continue to closely monitor that over the next ten years, and uh I think that it demonstrated a real cornerstone of civilian uh citizen oversight of quite a bit of money and an ongoing project.

And I think that the accountability of that and the public trust that it offers is very important.

I think that anybody in the committee speaking for them uh would be happy to say that they are operating entirely in accordance with what was what was stated and planned, and that it we would uh recommend and recommend continuation of that project as it is currently being run.

So we uh appreciate the council's ongoing support for that, and we look forward to perhaps uh doing this again next year and giving further good results and uh further endorsement of the activities of the street maintenance uh peer maintenance team and their operations.

Thank you, Mike.

Um would you mind standing for a question?

I'd love to Okay.

Councilmember Gilmore.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh Mike, just could you are any of the uh council members committee members here tonight?

Um there are a few.

If you could stay in just so we could recognize you.

I know I saw a couple of part.

Thank you for doing this.

We really appreciate it.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was really illuminating.

I really appreciate it.

Yeah, I learned a ton.

And uh really bolstered my confidence the entire process.

All right, thanks, Mike.

Yep I don't see any uh we'll see you next year, I guess.

I think so.

All right, thank you.

We'll now move on to the consent agenda, but before I do, there are two quick items that I wanted to uh highlight on our agenda tonight.

New business item A will be held for a later date as further staff work is needed.

And discussion item one, the annual report on Olatha Healthy Neighborhoods initiative will be held at a later date.

We have a staff member that's uh out sick tonight.

Mayor.

Those two items.

Mayor, there's a correction.

New business item A will be going tonight.

Well New business item A will be presented.

New business item A is going tonight, yes.

Okay.

So the only thing that it will be delayed is the healthy neighborhoods report items.

Correct.

Okay.

Gotcha.

All right.

So with that, we'll proceed then with the consent agenda.

Uh the items listed below are considered to be routine by the City Council, may be approved in one motion.

These may include items that have been reviewed by the City Council in a prior planning session.

There will be no separate discussion unless a council member require requests that an item be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately.

Councilmember vote.

I have a bunch tonight, because a lot of them are in my ward.

Um I would like to pull H I and J.

Okay.

Councilmember Felter.

Thank you.

Um I had I, J, K, and L.

Councilmember Schoonover.

I I had item I as well.

Okay.

So a motion to approve the consent agenda would be in order with the exceptions of H I J K and L.

Mr.

Mayor, I move to approve the consent agenda with the exception of H I.

J, K and L.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk please call the roll.

Ms.

Vote.

Yes.

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Mr.

Scunover.

Yes.

Dr.

Felter.

Yes.

Mr.

Vaucus.

Yes.

Ms.

Essex.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Motion passes.

7-0.

Item H is consideration of vendors' proposal, acceptance of a cooperative purchasing agreement, an award of contract to Great Southern Recreation LLC for construction of a playground replacement project at Woodbrook Park, PN4-C-021-25.

Councilmember vote.

Thank you.

I pulled this just for uh just for awareness to the citizens.

This is uh whenever we're replacing or renovating a park, I think it is exciting.

This will be in the uh Woodbrook area.

Uh and it is the Woodbick Woodbrook Park.

And it is a renovation of that park.

And it's really fitting tonight because we talked about the teens, one of their um main projects is about a disability awareness.

And of course, we have talked about as a part of this council the need to make sure that when we're ever redoing parks that we encourage um accessibility uh within the park.

So I if Nate, if you will give a little just uh brief synopsis of what's going to take place.

Absolutely.

Uh thank you, Mayor, Councilmembers, Nate Baldwin, City Engineer.

Uh so just to highlight some of the um inclusive features of this park, there is going to be uh inclusive or adaptive swing set.

Um free notes, caterpillar bells, music features, um a play craft spin, madpox, um which let me see there might be a little bit better picture of that.

And I don't have it.

So that's kind of the pod you see kind of the lower right hand corner there.

Um so pods are beneficial for inclusive playgrounds because they provide sensory friendly spaces for children who need to escape over stimulation and offer adaptable imaginable play.

Uh and then the last thing we have on there too is um dynamic sensory playwalls.

So I'm really pleased with what we're doing in our park system, and I think our families are enjoying that.

Um as far as financial impact, I see that it's coming from the neighborhood park development.

One of the questions I asked was is this the same thing as our park uh sales tax?

It is or part of it.

Yep, great question, and it is not.

It's actually part of our park excise tax, which is paid when uh someone comes in for a new home permit.

Uh they pay in park excise tax, and those funds go to the neighborhood parks, just like this one here, either to build a new neighborhood park or renovate existing ones such as we're doing here.

So the park sales uh excise or the parks excise tax is really important because this helps us build a community.

It does.

It really benefits those neighborhood parks.

Very good.

Thank you.

When will it be completed?

Started in completion.

Yeah.

Um, we're going to order it after this, and we anticipate construction uh next year with um, I believe it's May of next summer.

Yeah.

May of 26.

We anticipate the playground being finished.

Awesome.

That's a short period of time, right?

Super.

Thank you.

Appreciate it and appreciate the staff working on that.

Thank you.

Any other questions of staff on this item?

Thanks, Nate.

Thank you.

A motion would be an order on item H.

Mr.

Mayor, I move to approve item H.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk, please call the roll.

Mr.

Schoonover.

Yes.

Dr.

Felter.

Yes.

Mr.

Vacus.

Yes.

Ms.

Essex.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Ms.

Vote.

Yes.

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Motion passes.

70.

Item I is consideration of a professional services agreement with GFT Infrastructure Inc.

for engineering and planning of the BNSF West Track Separation Preliminary Engineering Project PN3-C-029-24.

We had two council members pick this item.

I'll I'll start with Councilmember Schoonover first on this item.

Thank you, Mayor.

My question, Nate, and thank you so much.

I see the study timeline that I think we've previously seen before it has the uh essentially the final product of January 2028, but in the agreement here it's January 31st, 2029.

Uh okay, sorry, Nate Baldwin City Engineer, that should be 28.

And I'll confirm that.

So that may be an error in the actual agreement itself.

Okay.

So we're at we're anticipating January 31st, 2028 uh being complete with the study.

Okay.

So there's there's essentially my question was is are we delayed a year?

Yeah.

It sounds like no.

No, we're not.

And I've got a little presentation here because there's been a lot of questions.

What does this study include?

What's the timeline again?

So it's another uh important milestone tonight uh on our journey on this study, and the study is a little bit different, it's kind of been delayed and has morphed into something else.

So I could run through this quick and then have any other questions and hopefully some of those get answered if you're good with that.

Yeah, that'd be great.

Thanks, Nate.

Yeah, absolutely.

So uh again, you know, uh you you saw this slide uh a couple months ago when we had the FRA agreement, so uh that was in August tonight.

We're actually going under contract with the uh firm that's uh uh GFI consult or GFT consultants, uh formerly known as trans systems.

So Trans Systems has a large history um with the city, especially when it comes to working on rail.

They did the West uh uh quiet zone, uh raising the rail on the east tracks, they're doing the east uh quiet zone, and they were the ones who put together the grant that got us the 1.75 million dollars for this.

So uh really um the you know, if we with with these projects, they're gonna be big projects, right?

We're gonna look at each of these nine crossings throughout the corridor and come up with conceptual plans what we can do for each.

Well, if we're gonna do something, we're almost gonna have to fetch use federal dollars, right?

So if you're gonna utilize federal dollars, uh you really need to do what's called NEPA process.

So that's the environmental permitting for that.

Um it it what we really want to define is a clear purpose and need for these improvements.

So once we do that, we can go back with whatever improvements we decide, and we've already done the groundwork for it.

Um the first step after this is we're gonna start working on what's called a project management plan or that PMP.

And what that does is that defines uh the scope and the timeline of the project, and we have to submit that to the FRA.

Now that's due August 2026, and we're gonna be way ahead of that deadline.

We anticipate having that submitted to them in uh first quarter of 2026.

The problem is you never know how long it's gonna take for the FRA to get back to you, right?

Uh if you look at this in September 2024, um we had the grant application, and then it was August of 25 before we actually had the agreement.

We imagine it's gonna move a little bit faster than that because we do have an agreed upon timeline with the FRA.

So initial stakeholder engagement we anticipate in summer fall of 2026.

Um that gives them the ability to come in, see the work we're doing, and give feedback on that.

Um so then you've got that project planning package, which is January 2028, and I apologize if in um somewhere in the report it said 29, that was if it was in the CAI, that was a type on our part.

If it was in the agreement with um with with Trans Systems or GFT, we'll get that corrected.

Yeah, it's in the it's in the actual.

Okay, all right.

Well, thank you.

So the the um project planning package is the crux of the study itself, right?

So it's the actual study.

It includes technical analysis, stakeholder outreach, and other project planning activities, and the study will evaluate each crossing to determine recommended measures.

And that could be safety improvements, closures, grade separated, etc.

So really what I want to talk about next is what are the goals for the study?

Because a lot of people are asking what what does the study entail?

What are these goals?

So we've got like nine different goals I want to go through.

And remember, we've got partners on here that are BNSF and FRA, so not all these are specific just to what Olatha needs are, but this is holistic of the tracks because we need to build partnerships, right?

Um so the first thing really is to begin that NEPA process, because that's the foundation of everything we're gonna be doing moving forward.

Um we really need to establish a purpose and need, and uh we've discovered that in the past.

So that's that's a big part of this study because that springboards us to everything else we can do.

So safety improvements for every crossing.

You know, it's not just about sitting there waiting for a train, but we want all those crossings to be safe, and that's for rail, that's for pedestrians, and that's for vehicles.

Um we want to improve time uh travel time reliability for city streets, right?

I mean, that's what everyone's goal is that and mitigating disruption of traffic flow down there.

That's what we hear from the citizens is how are we gonna give um the traveling public uh reliability for getting from point A to point B if they have to cross those railroad tracks?

Um we also want to look at community impacts.

You know, sound of the train's a big deal.

I hear that from my wife all the time.

We live about 600 feet from it, and when a train goes by, she still hears it.

I don't, I'm used to it, but we don't want to make it worse for our citizens, right?

I mean we we get people we did the the quiet zone on the west tracks, we're working on it on the east tracks right now.

So that is definitely something we want to consider with all these improvements.

Is it gonna make the noise worse?

Um we potential to divide community.

We don't want to do anything out there that has the potential to divide Olatha.

We want to be one one community, right?

Visual aesthetics, what are these improvements at each crossing going to look like?

You know, we want to make sure that it's something that is going to be visual pleasing uh to the community.

And then accessibility.

Um I talked about mitigating traffic flow.

A few others, affordability.

So we don't want to just look at what it costs to construct this, right?

There's the design construction cost, but each of these improvements, what's the lifecycle cost?

We're going to have to maintain these.

What's the long-term maintenance for that?

So that's going to weigh into what options we select for each of those crossings.

Um again, this is big for BNSF.

Increase um rail operation efficiency.

Um for BNSF, you know, they want to look at safety.

Safety is huge, probably number one for them.

And then also reliable rail availability.

They want to make sure they have that too.

They've got to get their trains from point A to point B, just like we have to get our vehicles.

Uh constructability, you know, um impact to rail availability.

We can't shut down that rail for you know even days or weeks, let alone a year or two to to construct an improvement.

So, how do we construct these improvements while maintaining um you know rail availability on those um the BNSF rails?

That's gonna be a big challenge and really something we're gonna have to look hard at.

Umpacts of the community during construction.

How is each improvement going to impact the community?

Uh impact of private properties.

You know, we want to try to minimize that as much as possible.

Uh impact utilities, what's that going to do for them?

Are we going to have to have all these utilities moving?

Are we going to have to incur those costs or other utilities?

And then the final one on the list is improving the state of good repair of roadway and rail assets, right?

Um, you know, right now we get a lot of complaints about people going over the crossings being SF.

You see emails of me from all the time, they're out closing it down because they're maintaining it.

So what can we do to long-term keep those crossings um in our roadways uh in the best um condition possible?

With that, I can stand for any questions.

Hopefully that helped.

Um Marge, did you have other questions?

Yeah.

Thanks.

Thanks, Nate.

That's exactly what I wanted to hear.

Um a little bit about the deliverables.

So to reiterate, what we're gonna get is concept.

We're gonna get the ability to prioritize projects.

Yes.

Because we're not going to be able to do all nine at one time.

But it will help us to then prioritize based on these nine goals or ten goals that you gave us, in addition to funding.

So this is a very important study because this as far as uh transportation and how the rails impact our community is very important to our citizens.

So I think this is gonna really help us to begin to put together plans for the next 10 years, maybe, CIP.

Because this is not gonna be uh a quick fix for all of them.

And I think it's important that people understand and I appreciate how you've gone through the process so that we all understand that it will be a process and it's gonna take time.

Yeah.

So you similarly, if you think about it, Santa Fe and I-35, we started looking something similar to that, but just for that interchange in 2018.

We're gonna start construction 2028.

So we're gonna get there, but it's gonna take some time to go through this process and figure out what we want to do, what we want to do first, and what's the best thing we can do for Olatha.

And the engineering will only take place once you figure out the prioritization of the projects, is that correct?

Correct.

Well, it will get to conceptual engineering.

So we'll have a pretty good idea of the impacts of each of those costs and everything, but then when we move into the actual design, that's gonna be when we select what projects we want to move forward with first.

And with us having completed NEPA and then doing some conceptual plans, which include some engineering, will that be enough plans on the shelf to compete for funding?

I believe it will.

Okay, super.

That's what we need to do as we've done in the past.

Thank you.

Councilmember Vaucis.

Um thank you, Mayor.

So Nate, when does the NEPA process start?

After this is over?

No.

So the ne this we're gonna do we're not gonna do a full NEPA, probably what I call pre-NEPA to set the boundaries for the entire rail system.

So that lays the groundwork for everything.

Once we get into design, there's gonna be the next step in NEPA, but a lot of NEPAs will take 12 to 18 months.

This is gonna condense that because we've already done a lot of the groundwork.

We've we've looked at all the crossings, we've done the um stakeholder engagement.

We're just gonna have to focus it to whatever project we're doing.

So that should really speed up the the process.

And could you remind us again how many crossings are we looking at?

Nine crossings.

Nine crossings.

Sure.

So we you this is super.

I mean, first of all, fantastic.

You know, but we've been talking about the West Railroad tracks for 15 years.

You know, and people have been talking about it in earnest for the past decade.

I know we've studied some of this before.

And so as good as this is, and I'm very complimentary.

We seem to be on a bureaucratic road of lethargy in moving this along.

Do we have the ability to accelerate some of this?

If we want because we've talked before about let's focus on spruce and Santa Fe, two big issues for us, in particular Santa Fe, given our elevator latha comprehensive development plan, which we're going to adopt this spring.

As we put this contract in motion, do we have the ability to adjust some timelines and focus, maybe to try and pull forward a couple of them earlier than 2030 or 31 that we may be talking about?

Yeah.

Potentially there's a possibility to move a few things forward, but we really have to be careful because we have to follow what we said we were going to do in the grant and the FRA guidelines, right?

So it's not like right now we can jump into it because that risks our partnership with the FRA.

So we have to go through their steps.

Hopefully we can get them that uh um project management uh plan, get that approved uh as soon as possible, and then at that point we really start hitting that study.

But there are certain steps you have to take through that study that you can't rush.

And and what we all know is BNSF um not always the easiest partner to work with, but still a great partner.

None of this is a surprise to them.

None of this is a surprise to the FRA.

So the idea that we would want to try and accelerate some of this situationally, when it makes sense, this shouldn't be something that they have a problem with.

It's just how we position the whole thing.

We're about to give a contract to a great contractor, no doubt about it, and they have tremendous flexibility, I would think.

So I would just ask you and ask for all of us on the council that we don't lock ourselves into this uh bureaucratic, pedantic, slow process, but maintain some ability to be life and move this forward a bit quicker for the good of the community.

No, I I I understand I hear that.

Yep, okay, good.

Thank you very much.

And again, I appreciate what you're doing.

Thank you.

Nate, I appreciate your um optimism.

That we're gonna get this done.

I love that.

Um we'll get there.

I heard that.

We raised the what rails and there were there were people that said that wasn't gonna happen.

That's true.

It can be done.

And we just need to have a plan.

And to me, this is the very beginning.

We know it's gonna take time, we're gonna do it right and get it done.

Yeah.

Um systems.

So did they get bought out or did they same group and just change their name and what does GFT stand for?

Great question.

So it's uh Garrett Fleming Transystems.

So they merged with the another nationwide company just like them.

They were both kind of equal, so it was a merger, not a true buyout or anything.

So still working with the same local office, the same great people there.

Yeah, I would say that uh transystems saved us a ton of money when we eliminated the four uh at grade crossings on the Fort Scott subdivision back uh a few years back.

So I'm anxious for this project.

I was surprised that it doubled, you know, in dollar amount, but um I think the deliverables are um good.

So I'm anxious to see um this move forward.

So with that a motion be in order.

On item I.

Just quick questions.

Yes, I'm gonna do that.

Since the document says something else.

Um the agreement it says T 2029.

Yeah, yes.

It should be 28.

It'll be 2028.

Okay.

Uh so I'll move to approve item I.

And uh in the agreement, the appropriate changes for the date will be 2028 instead of 2028.

Second.

We have a motion and second one.

City clerk, please call the roll.

Dr.

Felter.

Yes.

Mr.

Vacas.

Yes.

Ms.

Essex.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon?

Yes.

Ms.

Vote.

Yes.

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Mr.

Scanover.

Aye.

Motion passes 7-0.

Item J is consideration of resolution number 25-1090 authorizing the fire station number four replacement project PN6-C-022-25.

Councilmember vote.

Thank you, Mayor.

I pulled this one again mostly to highlight it.

Fire station number four is on 135th Street, you know, in Berlin, Santa Fe in Berlin.

And I asked the fire chief to come on up and give a brief presentation on it.

I think many of you may realize over time we have been putting a little bit of money in to do some restorations.

And I guess it has come down to that we're putting good money after bad.

Is that how that goes?

And then it's time to do a replacement, not only because of aging, but also because of need.

So I'll let the chief go ahead.

Thanks.

Mayor and Council members, Jeff DeGrafty, Fire Chief and Director of Emergency Management.

So thank you for the opportunity to address this issue.

So we're talking about fire station number four there at Santa Fe in Merlin.

While I don't have a favorite fire station as the fire chief, I would say I have a fond memory of working in this station.

It has served our community very well.

So it's an old station built in 1971.

So when it was first built, it had an open dorm, which was fun for uh shenanigans, uh, but just not what the modern fire service is today with one bathroom because that's all you needed at the time.

Um so it has had significant renovations, including you know adding kitchens and locker rooms and bunk rooms and exercise rooms and foundation repair and uh all kinds of things.

Uh and it continues to serve our community uh today.

Um and I will just say it's one of our busiest stations.

That engine that works there is one of the first three units on all of our most critical calls.

It's truly a magical place from uh response uh standpoint be um and it's an important place for us to be.

Today, um uh it is staffed with an engine and a squad, both are 24 hours a day.

It used to have, you might remember.

It's had some history.

Uh we we owned it, and then the county owned it for a while, and now we own it again.

Um and the ambulance used to be there, and um, because we had service delivery needs, we had to ask the county to do something different than their ambulances at a different one of our stations now.

So um it is still a fun station to be at, but it's just not the kind of station that serves the community the best.

So I'll just tell you you're welcome to come ring the doorbell.

We'd love to have you visit that station.

Um, but be ready to walk sideways because when the doors open on the trucks, they overlap.

You can't get through, and it's just things have changed, right?

Um in terms of size of apparatus and uh it doesn't hold um some of our uh apparatus that might be beneficial to their for some certain ISO and credit and just service delivery.

So um, you know, it it's it's time to do something different.

And um we have a great partner team that we're asking you to approve contracts with tonight, and Nate's here, and thanks for being here in person tonight uh from Centric.

They're gonna be a great partner for us if you approve this contract, walk the building with them and talked about, you know, can we just build on or should we uh remodel and at the end of the day, after the design team looked at it, it's just the best choice for our community to do something different and and take it down.

So it will not be staffed during construction.

Um it's just not going to be possible on that site.

Uh so we've been working uh on a plan for that, and so we will likely move those units to adjacent stations.

Well, I wish we could stay right there on the site, it's pretty limited.

Um, we have a parking lot um on one side uh that's uh under some redevelopment and the other side is a creek and the it just doesn't lend itself to a temporary structure there and um so uh you know um it does have opal overlapping coverage and you'll remember the conversation we had um uh just recently where we showed the maps.

Uh there is good overlapping coverage there, uh, and that's important to us, so we'll still have appropriate response times for that area.

Uh what I think will be a challenge for us is to make sure we continue to have coverage um the depth we need, so those units will be busy.

Uh we do that in different ways.

One of the ways we uh use to make sure we have coverage is uh a computerized program called Live Mum, which looks at our call history during different times of day and um and it tells us you have a gap problem.

You need to move a unit to this area.

So um I will just say it's not just our gut feeling of when we need to move units around, even today, uh, but we'll use that same software during that time, which helps make sure that we don't miss any calls that where we need to be placed.

So it's very interesting because it usually real call history, right?

So uh two o'clock in the morning, it might not recommend to move uh uh to move a unit, but two o'clock in the afternoon, I might say you need to move two units because you're gonna have calls here.

So I think it's pretty nice that we have that software.

Um if this is approved tonight, uh we'll have a design uh starting uh immediately.

Matter of fact, our partners are ready to help us today.

Uh be back to you uh in August of next year for GMP with construction in fall of next year for at least a 12-month build.

Uh of course, when you ask me, I'll say it'll be done in November.

Uh of course, when you ask me, I'll say it'll be done in November uh and you ask the design team and they're like, how about February?

So we're still arm wrestling, but at the end of the day, um it's about a 12-month build.

Happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you, Chief.

Those are the things that I wanted highlighted uh to make sure the viewing public understands the coverage that will take place during that time and they feel the same safety that they have now down the street, um, and also the timeline.

Um how uh because it is still a time before demolition and actual construction.

Um how do you plan to inform the public again other than what we're doing tonight?

Just so they understand what's going on and again the coverage.

Reassurance.

And certainly the city has a great team and we'll partner with infrastructure.

There's going to be a lot of coordinated uh messages because while this is an important project in and of itself, uh you have the whole Santa Fe project.

And so, you know, when you talk about what's happening on I-35 and the buildings that are being changing soon along Santa Fe, and uh if this timeline holds, the station will be opening about the time that Santa Fe is being redone.

So I will say uh while we might uh amplify the message the city has as a whole, uh it'll be a team approach to make sure the infrastructure and our communications team uh has a coordinated approach, and certainly we've done that before and we'll continue to do it this time.

There will be a lot of moving parts.

But that's what happens when you have a growing community.

Thank you, Chief.

Councilmember Felter.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I pulled this and the two following items just to highlight what's going on there and to ask you.

So once this is done, does it check up all off all of our needs for public safety through the fire department?

Listen, I've said it before, and I sometimes I get a chuckle, hopefully well, tonight.

Uh, I'm the fire chief.

I want a fire station on every street corner.

Um, you know, uh but you know that's not reasonable, of course.

But I will just say we're living in unique times where it's very great uh that we're growing as a community uh which puts different service demands on us, so we're looking to grow um fire stations in areas uh that are kind of emerging, and uh you've seen some of those plans about where we need to be.

Um but we're also a community that has some good history, and so we need to take care of the assets we have.

And I think what you're seeing here is a balance of some of that.

So you know this initially started as a project at Fire Station One.

Um and just through the budget process, we saw that that was going to be a difficult thing to move forward this year.

Um but just in and we just didn't give up on the project or the idea that we can do something.

Uh and the manager's office worked with us to make sure that we could do something uh in this project fit.

And you sometimes you put the puzzle piece in uh when it'll work.

And this is the what we have done with this project.

And so we'll continue to bring you uh other projects in the future.

Um but the demands are pressing right now.

Thank you so much.

And thanks for your leadership here.

Coverage during the construction, I'm sure will be challenging, but you're up to the task.

I sure appreciate it.

Thanks.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Bacchus.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

So the this will function much like fire station number nine.

Yeah, it it's uh the neighborhood fire station.

It's not one of our headquarters stations, but um, it is busy and it fulfills an important role.

So, Chief, are we hiring the same firm as as the one doing Fire Station 9?

Uh yeah, so we've had um a good relationship with Finkel Williams, and they have been a good partner with us and they understand uh the expectations of our fire department and our community for service delivery and have uh done a nice job of helping us focus on uh some things that are important to us, like getting out of the fire station fast.

Not every fire station uh in the world is built the same where the idea is I mean uh you it shouldn't take you two minutes to walk to your uh apparatus.

You should be able to get out fast.

Um but health and safety is important to the firefighters too, so making sure that it's a station that has the right kind of uh air handling systems and all the utilities that are needed to make sure that happens.

So, yes, Fingle Williams is the same design team.

Good.

And so uh, you know, conceptually, as I think about what this new station should look like.

It isn't a brand new design necessarily, it's somewhat of a replicant of fire station number nine being built.

Um if you walked on the inside, you would see some things that look very similar.

Uh so we'll use the same kind of utility.

I mean, some kind of like the sink might be the same, and on the base size might be the same.

The outside might look a little bit different because of the constraints of the site.

And so we've talked about it's a tight site and it has uh a waterway along one side that I would say we want to stay away from because of all that what it can do to your timeline and all the regulation around that.

So the site will kind of dictate maybe what the outside looks like.

And I asked these questions because um I mean, certainly we want to do this right.

We fully fund our fire department.

There's no question about that.

But you know, cost is always a consideration.

And since we're hiring the same firm, a great firm, my expectation is they aren't going to have to charge as much as they would have otherwise because they've done so much of the work on fire station number nine.

Is that am I thinking correctly?

Yeah.

You know, listen, they're a great design team, and this can all be said out loud because we have had that conversation with them.

And uh at the very beginning, they're like, since we know some things, we can move faster.

And I would just say it doesn't happen all the time.

Um, but this design team has already had conversations with us about what this station needs to look like in terms of the amount of space we need and how many units we're going to have there, what kind of call volume they run uh prior to this contract.

So uh some of that's in good faith.

Um of course you have to approve this contract tonight for it to move forward, but the idea that uh it's a team sport, uh, we've appreciated that with them.

And um some of our neighboring communities have seen how great our stations are and are are engaging them in some of their work too.

And just my last comment.

We uh and it's not so much directed to the fire department, but rather say management as a whole.

So we we continue to use a contract uh project manager, and we because we have a vacancy.

A great person retired, hasn't been backfilled.

No, it has to be built.

Have they?

Okay, good.

Okay, good.

Yeah, we've got to do that.

So there's more coming.

Okay.

Well then I will segue to introduce the new project manager.

Yeah.

Thank you, Chief.

Good evening, Mayor City Council, Zach Hardy, Deputy Director of Infrastructure.

This is a great segue, actually.

Uh Laura Gogliano is our new senior project manager.

She's been with us for four months.

She came to us uh from KU.

She did essentially the same job for twelve years there, fifteen years there.

Um and she has in meetings introduced herself as the new Jeff, which she has never met Jeff.

So that kind of tells you.

But we're very excited to have her.

And she'll be uh managing this project as well as uh if approved, City Hall Parking project.

Good.

Good.

Thank you so much.

Very happy to hear that.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Sconover.

Thank you very much.

Uh Chief, just one more question on perhaps two more questions on on uh station nine and and while you're working your way back up.

Uh essentially my question is uh if you can remind us roughly of when Station 9 will open and if station four will be closed before station nine opens.

Good question.

And if so, follow-up.

So I guess three questions.

Should we delay station four a little bit until station nine opens to perhaps ease some coverage gaps?

Yeah.

Thank you.

Um station nine is well underway.

Um it's a great project.

If you want to go see it sometime, let me know.

Uh uh the um construction group has been great there with done.

Uh and they're on schedule.

Um and so that's a positive thing.

They believe they'll have a substantial completion in March of next year with maybe a station grand opening being in uh May sometime, and which will be significantly before that we would start construction on four.

So I don't think there will be overlapping that we need to worry about.

Okay.

Thank you.

Yep.

Thank you, Chief.

Um I don't see any other questions.

Uh motion to approve item J would be in order.

Um Do you want me to approve JK and L because they're all related?

The contract.

I mean, is that okay with everyone if we can find those?

Okay.

All right.

Uh Mr.

Mayor, I would move to approve J, K, and L.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Would the City Clerk please call the roll?

Ms.

Essex.

Yes.

Mr.

Vacas.

Yes.

Dr.

Felter.

Yes.

Thank you.

Mr.

Scunover.

Yes.

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Ms.

Vote.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Motion passes 70.

We'll now move to new business.

Item A is consideration of ordinance number 25-39 authorizing issuance of the city's taxable industrial revenue bonds and the amount not to exceed 3,200,000 for business garage authority for the construction of a 33,000 square foot garage flex office building at 15571 South Mahappe Street.

Is there a need for a presentation on this item?

See a motion to approve the dean would be in order.

Mr.

Mayor, I move to approve ordinance number 25-39.

Second.

We have a motion and second one.

The city clerk please call the roll.

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Mr.

Sconover.

Yes.

Dr.

Felter.

Yes.

Mr.

Vacus.

Yes.

Ms.

Essex.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Ms.

Vote?

Yes.

Motion passes.

70.

We'll now move to item B.

Item B is consideration of ordinance number 25-40, which is RZ25-0011, requesting approval of a rezoning from the CTY IP-2 County Planned Industrial District to the M2 General Industrial District with a preliminary site development plan and a final plat, FP 25-0026 for the for Earth Contact Products located at 15680 South Keeler Terrace.

Planning Commission recommended approval of this rezoning 7 to 0 and approved the final Plat 7 to 0.

This applicant's plans include a new 27,000 square foot industrial building for office, manufacturing, storage, and shipping operations.

Is there questions or need for a presentation on this item?

Seeing none, a motion be in order.

Mr.

Mayor, I would move to approve ordinance number 25-40, rezoning 25-001, and final PLAT 25-0026.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk.

Please call the hole.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Ms.

Vote.

Yes.

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Mr.

Schoonover.

Yes.

Dr.

Felter.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacchus.

Yes.

Ms.

Essex.

Yes.

Motion passes.

70.

Item C is consideration of ordinance number 25-41, which is RZ25-0010, requesting approval of a rezoning from the R1 single family residential district to the O office district for with a preliminary site development plan for Advent Health on approximately four acres, located at 14345 West 119th Street.

Planning Commission recommended approval 6 to 0 with one recusal.

This is the site of a former church.

The medical building would offer various outpatient services.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor and Councilmembers.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

Andrea Morgan, Planner 2, as introduced, the following is a request to rezone to the office district with the preliminary site development plan for Advent Health Medical Office facility.

The subject property highlighted here in yellow is located southeast of 119th Street and Alcant Street and is approximately 4 acres.

It's currently developed with a 12,200 square foot vacant church.

The subject property is currently zoned R1, single family residential, and is requesting to rezone to the office district to allow for the medical office use.

The future land use map of Plan Olatha identifies the subject property as conventional neighborhood.

However, the property is directly adjacent to a designated neighborhood center.

In addition, the proposed office district aligns with other policies of Plan Olatha regarding providing a mixture of complementary land uses and economic sustainability.

The office district includes a number of employment focused uses.

While this rezoning is compatible with the adjacent commercial districts and uses found nearby, use restrictions are recommended.

These restrictions will minimize impacts on the adjacent residences, and the applicant is amenable to these use restrictions.

As mentioned earlier, the site is currently developed.

The applicant is proposing to retain the general layout of the site, but will demolish the existing structure structures to construct a two-story 22,528 square foot medical office building.

The primary building entrance is located at the northwest corner of the building and faces west, and the existing access to the site from Alkin Street will remain, and an additional access point to the south will be added to increase site circulation, and a total of 105 parking spaces are being provided.

The applicant is meeting all landscape standards.

All interior and buffer requirements are being met.

The proposed building is exceeding UDO requirements and utilizing a mixture of class 1 and 2 limestone veneers, architectural metal panels, and glazing options.

The color scheme of the buildings include two different tones of natural bays with gray glazing and natural woodlook accents.

The natural color scheme helps the building blend into the natural environment and will complement the future development to the south.

The applicant met all public notice requirements and held a neighborhood meeting on August 28th with one resident in attendance.

Topics discussed included business operations, site layout, landscaping, and site history.

Staff has not received any other correspondence regarding this project.

Staff recommends approval of RZ 250010 with the following stipulations and the preliminary plan as stipulated.

And the applicant agrees with all stipulations.

A public hearing was held on September 22nd with one person from the public signed up to speak.

And planning commission recommended approval 6 to 0 with one recusal.

And that concludes my presentation.

I'm available for any questions.

Thank you, Andrea.

Any questions of staff?

Councilmember Essex.

Thank you so much for being here.

Did I read that there is, I don't know if it's a church or a residence, but a historical building that's gonna need to be demolished on this property?

And do we know the significance of the historical building?

Yes.

So Emily Carillo, senior planner, and liaison for this historic preservation board and I have looked into the property.

There are two structures currently on site.

One is uh home built in 1940.

Uh we've determined it doesn't have any architectural significance.

It has been altered both interior and exteriorly, but the site was part of the larger um spear kid farm, and so that is the last structure, and uh we have yet to start the process of documenting that structure.

But but we plan to make sure we address what we need to before anything happens to those buildings.

Correct.

Right.

Okay.

Thank you.

Councilmember Vaucus.

Um Thank you, Mayor.

So is this a 24-hour facility?

Part of it will be 24 hours, correct.

Okay, good.

Overnight stay also or no, no overnight stays.

Okay, good.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Andrea.

Any other any other questions on this item?

Councilmember vote.

I'm sorry.

I'm hitting the wrong buttons here.

Um you already answered the question regarding 24-7.

And I know one of the concerns resident-wise was ambulances and so what was the response to that by the applicant?

What do they anticipate?

Um the applicant anticipates that there will only be approximately one ambulance trap um transfer from the site based off of data from other um facilities of this nature.

People will not be brought by ambulance to the facility.

It it would it will be going to a larger facility with more um uh technology for the patients.

Okay, very good.

Were there any other concerns that were mentioned by that single resident?

Um the only other concerns mentioned by that resident were just um regarding um the access, the 120th.

Right.

And then also um ensuring that landscaping is installed and stormwater is captured.

And I appreciate I don't know if the applicant is here tonight or a representative.

Yes, they are.

Okay, I appreciate that.

They did uh make some structural changes uh to the facade facing 119th Street.

Um I appreciate them taking the time to include that design.

That's it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Schoonover.

Thank you.

Uh I obviously this is right along 119th Street, which is already one of our busiest streets, and I know that in addition to this, we've got some other developments that that we've recently approved that are going in that area.

Um there any concerns as all of these developments seem to kind of come online right around the same time in an already pretty congested area.

Are there concerns that what will happen to traffic along 119th Street there?

Um, so the the applicant coordinated with um the developer further south um in regard to the uh traffic improvements that are happening and being installed with the Olatha Commons development.

Any other questions?

So the the light that will be available for this development will be the current light that's there by Starbucks?

Yes, that's correct.

So they'll go to the west and go through that existing lights.

All right.

Thank you, Andrea.

Um other questions or uh comments on this item.

A motion be in order.

Mr.

Mayer, I move to approve ordinance number 25-41, rezoning 25-0010.

Second.

We have a motion and a second one.

The city court please call the roll.

Mr.

Roccas.

Yes.

Ms.

Essex.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Ms.

Spot.

Yes.

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Mr.

Scunover.

Yes.

Dr.

Felter.

Yes.

Motion passes.

70.

We'll now move to item D.

Item D is consideration of ordinance number 25-42, which is UDO 25-0001, amending Unified Development Ordinance Section 18.50 pertaining to signs and consideration of ordinance number 25-43, amending Olathe Municipal Code 12.

Planning Commission recommended approval 7 to 0.

This item was a report at our October 7th meeting.

Is there a need for a presentation or question on this item tonight?

Seeing none, a motion would be in order.

Mr.

Mayor, I move to approve ordinance number 25-42, which is UDO 25-001.

And I guess ordinance number 25-43.

Very good.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Would the city clerk please call a roll?

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Mr.

Sconover.

Yes.

Dr.

Felter.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacchus.

Yes.

Ms.

Essex.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Miss Vote.

Yes.

Motion passes.

70.

The next three items concern a supercritical water oxidation pilot project.

This new technology will help manage biosolids generated during wastewater treatment.

Item E is consideration of ordinance number 25-44 approving a loan agreement with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, KDHE, acting on behalf of the State of Kansas for the funding of the supercritical water oxidation pilot.

PN 1-C-019-25.

Is there a need for a presentation on this item?

Questions?

A motion be in order.

Mr.

Mayor, I move to approve ordinance number 25-44 and PN1-C019-25.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk, please call the roll.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Ms.

Vote.

Yes.

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Mr.

Schoonover.

Yes.

Dr.

Felter.

Yes.

Mr.

Vacchus.

Yes.

Miss Essex.

Yes.

Motion passes.

70.

Item F is related.

Consideration of the authorization to transfer from water and sewer CIF cash to the supercritical water oxidation pilot project PN1-C-019-25.

Motion be in order.

Move to approve the authorization to transfer from water and sewer CIF cash to the Supercritical Water Oxidation Pilot Project.

PN 1-C-019-25.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk, please call the roll.

Dr.

Felter.

Yes.

Mr.

Vacus.

Yes.

Ms.

Essex.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Ms.

Vote?

Yes.

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Mr.

Schoonover.

Yes.

Motion passes.

70.

And item G is consideration of amendment number one with Garney Companies, Inc.

for equipment uh procurement for the supercritical water oxidation pilot project, PN 1C-01925.

Motion be in order.

There's no need for presentation or questions.

Mr.

Mayor, I move to approve the amendment number one with Garney Company Companies Incorporated for Equipment Procurement for the Supercritical Water Oxidation Pilot Project.

PM 1-C 019-25.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk please call the roll.

Mr.

Schoonover.

Yes.

Dr.

Felter.

Yes.

Mr.

Vacchus.

Yes.

Ms.

Essex.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Miss Vote?

Yes.

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Motion passes.

70.

Yeah.

Sure.

On that on that particular on the super.

Whatever makes it super.

Okay.

We have a comment from Councilmember Essex.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I just wanted to say this is such a huge win for Aletha.

I have been excited ever since I've heard about this.

And most of you know what PFAs are.

You hear about those forever chemicals.

And at the State Water Committee, we hear all the time it's causing people to be ill.

It's there's nothing that is working to get rid of it.

And the fact that we were chosen for this pilot project, I am beyond excited.

And maybe this will be the answer to help everyone else.

So I just wanted to say go, Olatha.

I'm super excited.

Good comments.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll now move to general issues and concerns of citizens.

No one has signed up to speak tonight.

So we'll then convene a planning session.

We'll uh talk about item A under report one on the audit plan.

Any questions on that report?

There was a date.

It said November 2026, and I'm wondering if that date, if it was supposed to be 2025.

It was okay.

So that's the only question I had.

So let's move on to discussion items.

Item one will be at a later council meeting.

And so we'll go to item two, economic incentive policies review.

Jamie actually, financial manager Strategy Manager, Catherine Messer is here.

Catherine, welcome.

All right.

Good evening.

Mayor City Council, Catherine Messer, Financial Strategy Manager.

Tonight we're going to be discussing the city proposed changes to our economic development policies.

All right.

Here is the list of the policies that we typically review with the industrial revenue bond and tax abatement policy with an annual review.

And then the community improvement district, the benefit district, and the tax increment financing policies are every other year, and we we get them on this year agenda for policy review.

Of the four policies reviewed this year, staff have proposed one policy change to the industrial revenue bonds and tax abatement policy with the new language permitting an additional 30 percent of abatement within the highlighted boundaries on this picture here on the slide.

Staff are recommending this increase due to growing competition in the southern portion of the city to attract and retain industries and jobs.

Due to this growing competition, nearby cities and county are offering significantly higher abatements, ranging from 75 percent up to even 100 percent in some cases, and often without annual escalation.

Since neighboring communities are offering more favorable tax abatements, last year Olatha had a development project that de-annexed from the city to take advantage of those of those higher incentives.

So the southern portion of Olatha serves as a key gateway and continues to attract significant private investments.

So to maintain our momentum in this critical economic corridor in our in our economic development goals, staff recommend an additional abatement of 30 percent for a total of 80 percent of abatement in the highlighted boundary, um, applying to distribution, logistics, manufacturing, and data centers.

For the three other policies uh subject to this review this year, staff is not proposing any uh substantive changes other than date and reference details.

So for that uh CID, the benefit district, and the TIP policy.

Tonight is our reporting to City Council on the proposed changes for the one policy.

Following that on November 7th, we'll engage the economic development committee for the review of the proposed changes and then look towards adoption on uh December 2nd.

And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have.

All right, Catherine, uh councilmember Vaucus.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh thanks, Catherine.

So just to make sure I didn't misunderstand.

So this revision in the abatement policy is just for this southern area?

Yes.

Okay.

Okay, good.

Thanks very much.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Gilmore.

Thank you, Mayor.

I understand Mr.

McKee is here.

Tim, if you would come forward.

I I just like to have you just expand a little bit on, you know, this is a significant, to me, a significant change from what we've done in the past.

And I know one of the projects we just recently approved was feeling those economic or those uh market pressures to do something more than what we have been doing.

So Tim, I thought maybe if you could just speak to So the question as a council member is are we racing to the bottom to get to 100 percent abatements?

So maybe and I know that's an overstatement, but maybe you could just respond to that.

Sure.

Um key, umetha chamber of commerce CEO.

Um yeah, I think in um in an ideal world we wouldn't have done this.

I think unfortunately this we um are reacting to what is happening around us and just trying to be remain competitive.

I you know, if you I can give a little bit of history and how we got here.

Um I think you um you may recall that the county out at New Century actually um lowered their um the abatement policy to this amount.

Um we have historically been at 50 percent.

I think it served us well.

Um other communities around us, I think have become more aggressive trying to compete.

Um the county was um they weren't the first um to go beyond 50.

Um, you know, uh Edgerton actually um had a more aggressive policy than us.

Um, but the county and what they did at New Centure really put pressure on us.

You may recall the group Panantoni came in, we had annexed some property into Olatha.

I received a number of calls from that development group saying you know we can't compete with what the county has done right down the road and you need to look at your policy we held firm um said that we were not going to change our policy they decided to de-annex out of Olathe which they did and then annex into Gardner which then Gardner did give them the abatement exceeded the 50% to match what the county had done right next door.

I over that time we were also receiving a number of calls our office was about the incentive policy and from our developers who were already developing in Olatha Scannell Heise Meyer, Jones, others saying that we can't compete with what the county had done.

And so we had gone to the county we expressed that issue to them they held firm um with their uh abatement at that higher amount and then I think what really kind of pushed it over the top was when um the project uh that came in you know south with um the refrigerated warehouse project lineage um you know when they were looking at different cities and and Spring Hill had offered to basically give them that 80 percent abatement as well too so for us to be able to compete we can you know we could have uh we could hold firm at at 50 percent and what I think would happen is just development would happen around us and um and then we would you know not develop until that those surrounding areas were actually built out.

The good thing is um you know 10 years is not a long time.

These buildings you know last five, six ten times that that time period and so it's a very short window before they come fully on on the uh tax rolls.

So well thank you for that perspective because I know often we get complaints from constituents why are we doing these abatements and just making the rich richer and all those kinds of things and I wanted you to hammer home the point this is a marketing a market reality for us.

Yes because we can just simply deny doing this and then we'll see no development for who knows how long.

Yeah.

You know can we prove that?

Well yeah we can prove it by not doing any more it'll prove itself.

But I don't think anybody in this council wants to take that stance at least I don't think to tell you the truth I'm not aware of any community now doing less than you know this amount.

I mean DeSoto, Kansas City Missouri, you know is they they've been doing more than this for quite some time and they have the ability to go 25 years so on the Missouri side.

I just wanted to point out we're just not making up these numbers.

This is this is real we're trying to meet the market as best we can and we're monitoring it.

It's for very limited space for limited industries and we'll just continue to monitor as we go forward.

Thank you for those comments.

Thank you.

Councilmember Felter Thank you, Mayor.

Tim can I ask you some more questions sorry about that.

So this allows flexibility to add up to 30 percent it's not just a given if it's in on this map.

No.

Okay.

Because to me some of these properties are just prime and have intrinsic value beyond what you know other areas if you had to drive two miles south you know every single time it's baked into the the value of Olatha.

And so I just want to be aware I want as you're working on developing you know businesses in this area be aware of that value.

And you know don't go with our highest best offer right out.

You know I also neglected to mention that the county the incentive policy there as well too it's not just above 80 percent it's a fixed pilot at 35 cents and that has no escalator which we have a 2% escalator built into our policy.

So every year when we set a pilot it it increases 2%.

The county's abatement policy that they put in place is at 30 cents, 35 cents and it holds at 35 cents throughout the entire abatement process.

And that 35 cents applies to every building and in the future, any building that is built, it's still at 35 cents.

So if they don't build the last building for another five to ten years, it will still be at 35 cents.

What we do is we we um you know look at up comps and other buildings around the county, then look at what 80 cents or 80 percent would be, and if that's 50 cents or 60 um cents a square foot, that's what we do.

And then so if you looked at the last abatements that we've done over the last 10 years, we looked at comps, each one of those has increased, you know, as value over time has gone up.

So yes, um we are being more aggressive, but we're nowhere near even now what we're going into.

Now I do think we'll still be competitive and we can still because we we are a latha and I think we do have intrinsic um things that we have to offer with labor and other things.

But still, you know, it still comes down to dollars and cents at the end of the day as well too.

Right.

So Tim, I don't know if you've heard any of our conversations about this area being woefully um having inadequate uh semi-truck parking.

But um, you know, as we're intentionally growing this area, I wanted to make you aware that you know m my hope is that every development going forward will have on-site parking for a significant amount of their trucks so that they can help with that problem.

Sure.

And and you know, I I hope that there's a mix of uses down in this area.

I hope that you know there's manufacturing which may or may not have as much truck traffic as straight distribution.

I also hope that we can also look at at maybe data center development as well, too.

I know there was a lot of discussion about lineage and jobs and the lack thereof, but I will say with data centers, even though you know the amount of jobs may be low, the strain on your infrastructure and the amount of taxes they pay is great.

So that might be a you know, if we're lucky to um be able to attract it's all about power and some other issues um that we have to deal with on some of those other mixes, but it would be great to to offset some of those issues with truck traffic and others with some other development as well down there.

And uh I don't know if you've been reading about data centers where they're located and increases the the cost of electricity for that community generally.

So if we're looking to draw that component in on this area of the map down south, um I would love to work that in somehow to look at the three data centers that we have, you know, up along K-10 and I uh encourage you to do so.

Look at what they're paying in property taxes.

Um it is unbelievable what they pay in property taxes, those three buildings up there.

Um it's unbelievable.

Do you know if we've seen any increases in our electricity due to the other?

And because of those three, I don't I don't know.

I don't believe I mean they're blip, you know, probably in the overall network.

Okay.

Thank you, Tim.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Schoonover.

Thank you very much.

And and thank you, Tim.

I know we've had a lot of discussions on this on this issue, and I think uh uh I'm I'm disappointed where we are where we are that I think the county and some of our neighbors had perhaps put us in a position that is in nobody's interest I totally agree long term.

And I would hope that you know if Kansas and Missouri can work out a uh a truce to the border war, um then maybe we can do the same with with uh the county and and and some of our friends down there.

So um if any of you all are listening, um I it's not from lack of trying.

Yeah.

No, I know it's worth them.

Yeah, yeah.

Um but uh you know uh uh Kevin, your thing uh to your comment, I think ultimately this is a race down to zero and it doesn't benefit any of us sitting up here and and or any of the constituents, so I think it's very unfortunate.

My concern with this specific um uh proposed revision, I have no problem incentivizing development in in that area um in that uh exhibit B.

My concern is that we've we've put this item, we've tied this item to they get an additional 30 percent for developing a warehouse uh distribution and logistics center within exit uh within that area.

Um as as I read this proposed revision.

Um so I what I would suggest is if we're if we're wanting to div uh cause development down in that area, perhaps we move this item from paragraph I and put it in paragraph D, which already is a targeted area, um, and we remove the reference to uh you know, qualifying warehouse distribution and logistics type development projects.

Because if somebody wants to come in down down south and put Class A office space down there, hey, pardon me.

Sure.

Uh I totally agree.

That'd be great.

Yeah.

Um so but I I you know, uh yeah, I I don't think it's going to happen either, but I don't think we should limit the the uh incentive to only applying to these type of things.

So that's I think my initial concern.

I we do hear a lot, or at least I do hear a lot from from folks that say, you know, why are we building uh another warehouse, another all of this type of stuff.

I think there is a benefit to having those.

Uh uh, you know, I um I think I showed this to you last time I was here.

The majority of what we're seeing actually isn't distribution.

Most of what we're seeing is manufacturing down in that area.

And I think you know, uh there is distribution down there.

Um, um you just approved, you know, Amazon's new um fulfillment facility, which they purchased that.

Um, you know, so there is some, I'm not saying that there isn't distribution, but you know, most of it Coca-Cola, Walmart, um, you know, most of those are manufacturing.

Sure.

Yeah.

Okay.

And yes, and I agree a hundred percent with you that I would love to try and get office, try and and actually there will be, if we think about it, Garmin uh is included within that area, and they will have Class A office in that area.

Yeah.

So my final thing is as we're looking at these these policies, um obviously I think on the back end, it would be helpful to know our are people meeting what they tell the city they're going to do when it comes to actually developing that area.

You know, it's one thing to put a building on on the lot.

It's another thing to actually have the jobs and have uh that type of investment in the community.

So I think as we're looking at revisions to our our policy, I don't have any specific in mind, but certainly if we can look at the data requirements both on the front end um with regard to the proposed economic uh uh investment as well as on the back end, you know, what are they actually doing and how can we double check that?

Yeah.

I think would be helpful.

Jamie Roboshot Economy Director.

So one thing we should um should have mentioned at the beginning is we did place at um your seats, our annual IRB report, which is going to show you the number of jobs each, all of our active IRBs told us they would create versus what they have created, the square foot that they were going to create versus what they have created, and the property taxes that we've estimated they would generate versus what they are currently generating.

And so that report's provided to you all for that purpose.

And you'll see at the bottom line of all the projects, you can look at them individually, but the bottom line, we are generating more property taxes and have created more jobs and square footage than what we estimated when we created those incentives.

I I appreciate that.

Do we collect data on the wages that those jobs bring?

It is um a little bit of a mixed bag because it didn't historically be it wasn't historically included in our performance agreements that that data had to be provided, and it's something that we're asking for in recent years, but it's very difficult to collect on existing IRBs that had performance agreements in place before that time.

So we're trying to get to a better place with that with new um IRBs created, but it's a little bit more difficult to report on that piece specifically.

Okay, but that is something that we're gonna be doing for IRBs moving.

Have we have we implemented that already for for IRB or is that something that we're going to do in our performance agreements now as we as we ask for it, unless like we do get a lot of pushback, and that's probably why Tim's stepping up here, so I'll let him fill uh step in.

But it is it's a sensitive subject for a lot of um companies, and so you can't.

It's a little more difficult than you think as well, too, because some of these buildings have multiple tenants within the buildings, you know, and trying to go back and then and we may, you know, they were a spec building, and they may have multiple tenants within it.

Um for instance, um, you know, just uh Heisemeyer built a building spec McCoony, one of the brand new Panasonic sub suppliers is moving into that.

They're not going to be the only building, they're not gonna be the only company within that building.

When they came in when Heisy Meyer came in and applied for the abatement, he you know, it was a spec building.

They didn't know who or what the tenants, so there was an estimate.

Um I think most of these companies end up exceeding what because we tell them to be pretty conservative when they're you know throwing these numbers out.

We've we don't want them to shoot the moon or tell you that and we'd rather under you know, what is the you know, uh over um overestimate when they come in and and uh have it be a good thing.

Um totally under but but you know, from as we're considering whether to grant the abatement, that's one of the the considerations that we need to consider that's in our the policy that for us to and so I I recognize that that tension to say, you know, yeah if it's a speculative building, how can they know?

Um I'm not sure how we resolve that.

I think I know that may be a challenge.

I mean it's just you know, when we had office buildings up at K 10 and and um you know in Ridgeview.

Um, you know, Opus develop those buildings, we had you know multiple tenants within those buildings that um you know so it's just and they you know the agreement was with the developer, right not necessarily with those tenants.

So then trying to get the tenant to report is a challenge, you know, when they the agreement wasn't with them, it was with the developer or the property owner of the building is is some of the problems we have.

Anyway, I'm not trying to make excuses.

No, we ask, we try.

It's just they don't always report sometimes.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Sorry.

Councilmember vote.

I was just gonna make a quick comment.

Uh Jamie, thank you for those reports.

I know we asked for those a cute few years ago regarding uh IRB performances, and I think it's very helpful.

And it helps us to then explain to our citizens, yeah, what we're doing is for the good of the city.

So thank you.

That's all I wanted to say.

Appreciate that, Marge.

I just want to give a shout out to Kaylee Stowers, our economic development analyst who spends a lot of time putting this together and Catherine's assistance as well.

So I'm glad to hear they're helpful to you.

Um I don't know who this is directed to, either you, Jamie or Catherine.

But um so the title of this policy is property tax abatement.

Did we kick around changing it to um the tax phase in policy?

Or and I don't want to remind everybody, this is a one-year deal.

So we can and hopefully we don't have to do this forever.

Once we get these areas built out and we keep them in a later, that's kind of our goal is to not lose all these developed areas to other cities.

So um did you kick around changing the name, or is it just too much because a lot of our competitors, like the county, uh in this regard were using different language and it was hard to convert our 35 cents or their 35 cents pilot to our tax abatement at 55 or or whatever.

So uh just so that we all were seeing it the same uh language.

It was a little bit difficult for a while to come to compare.

Yeah, yeah.

Um we didn't talk about that usually how we put them on the agenda is property tax basin, as you know.

And so I personally don't have concerns about changing it.

I don't know if any I'm looking at our city attorney and our chamber CEO and city manager, but uh that's an easy enough change for us to make, I think, when we bring the policy for adoption, if that's the will of the council.

Well, the tax abatement a policy still is reliant on the appraisal every year, is that correct?

It's not a set 2% growth like a pilot program would be from 35 cents.

Is that accurate?

Well, it's so the way we set our property tax abatement policy, it's based on a percentage, but usually we give the option to set a pilot payment in lieu of the 50, 80 percent that we set, and then we figure out what that pilot is based on what that percentage abatement would be if we estimate what it would be appraised at, what's 50 percent, and then we build in a two percent escalator per year.

Jamie, that's a lot of work.

We could just go to a tax phase in pilot and eliminate the tax abatement 80 percent.

Yes, I think that whole deal.

We talked about that extensively, and we I think feel pretty strongly as a staff that you do not want to do that.

Okay.

Um because properties are valued differently depending on the type of project they are.

So a 35 cent per square foot pilot is about an 80 percent tax abatement on a warehouse distribution facility.

It is much more than 80 percent on a manufacturing facility, and it's probably practically a hundred percent abatement on a data center because they're valued higher.

So the percentage gives us greater flexibility to set the abatement at a reasonable amount based on the value and the comparable properties.

So to be competitive, we don't necessarily have to set a 35 cent pilot on a data center.

Exactly.

So that gives us the flexibility to give that 80% if we want to, but the pilot would be more like $3 a square foot, probably on the data center.

So yeah.

They're very high per square foot on their pilots.

So thank you.

Great information, good conversation.

So this will be before us probably in the next meeting or so for sometime before August 2nd.

I think November 2nd.

September 2nd.

No, no, not September, but sometime December.

September sometime before the year end.

Very good.

Thank you.

I have a tough time.

All right.

Thank you, Catherine.

All righty.

We'll now move to discussion item three, which is our municipal court update.

Both our judges are here tonight to update us on what's happening in our court.

The honorable Kate McElhanny and uh Judge Jill Kinney's here.

So good evening.

Well, Judge Kenny and I are here to present the state of the court.

Um let's get our dealio open.

Here we go.

No, you just hit that the space button.

No, go back.

You just hit the space button.

Yes, we need to start this.

I got it.

There's a dot.

There we go.

Just click and go.

So I just click it and go.

Technical difficulties.

All right.

As municipal judges, uh we work alongside each aspect of the legal department to ensure compliance with our city ordinances and creating that trust between the community and the city.

We want to say a quick thank you to our city council liaisons who take time out of their busy schedules to meet uh with Judge Kenny and I quarterly, uh, which allows us to share updates and concerns with the city council.

So uh that way you don't have to try and digest everything from one annual meeting.

Um thank you to Marge Vote, to Robin Essex, to Lietta Felt Felter for sharing your time, expertise, and your connections with us.

It's much appreciated.

So getting numbers out of the way.

Uh this first slide uh indicates that the criminal case filings as of September 30th of this year have already eclipsed the year-end numbers for 2022 and 2023.

Uh we are on pace to match or exceed last year's case filings.

Uh here's another view looking at each quarter.

And looking at this last quarter and 2025, we knew there was a reason we felt busier.

Oops.

And revenue from court fines, uh fees, and costs remain consistent.

Uh, if you look at the number of cases in relation to revenue, it uh really is almost a mirror image.

Uh last year you all asked about community service hours and how many hours we credit and to what extent that uh goes towards fines and fees.

We ran a report this year and we found out.

Uh and the number was actually surprisingly a little bit higher than what I had anticipated.

Um342 worth of costs were basically worked off in community service.

I think the um higher amount really comes from the folks that are at the uh therapeutic community.

That is a six-month residential um stay, if you will, and they allow folks to do community service there in their downtime.

Now the community service hours that we allow to work towards um fines and fees, it has to be in addition to the regularly assigned chores.

So it's stuff that they do above and beyond.

Uh they have a garden uh that they there's folks that work outside in the garden when the weather's nice.

I mean, there's always painting projects around the facility, kitchen work every day.

So that number I think was a bit higher than what I had expected, but as I looked through the defendants, I recognized names and they had all been at the therapy community and had done hundreds of hours of community service while they were there.

And it's $10 an hour.

Oh, and we did increase it to $10 an hour.

That's true.

We were at $8 an hour.

We're we're coming up to $10.

Um so how does it all add up?

Um basically, if case numbers decline, so does revenue.

And as case numbers go up, so does revenue.

It really um it's it's interesting to me that it really mirrors each other.

So in um in May of this uh year, I went along with um Claire Kibodeau, who's one of our city assistant prosecutors, and Brandy Fiedler, who is our court services program manager.

We went to the All Rise conference.

The All Rise Conference started with trying to get consistency with drug courts, veterans treatment courts, other such courts across the United States.

And the concept is that when we as a court help one person to rise, the whole community rises.

So when one rises, we all can rise.

And so we did a five-day 40-hour training down there.

And we uh got to the end of the first day, and we were we were very, very, very overwhelmed.

We all were we were like, we this is too much, we don't know that we're gonna be able to do this.

And then day two, we were like, okay, we can do this because it felt like you were drinking from a uh a fire hose is what it felt like.

Um but we have formed a multidisciplinary team, and so we've got um components of prosecution, um, court services, um, Judge McElhaney and myself, um, some person persons from legal department and um other concepts, um, other departments coming in to form a multidisciplinary team to figure out are we ready to do this?

And if so, um, how do we get started?

So we need to get everybody up in training, and we're working on that now.

Um we've been down to the Kansas City, Missouri Municipal Court.

They have been running their court system down there, their wellness court is what they call it for over 25 years.

So they started with a drug treatment court, veterans treatment court, and a mental health court, and then have brought all of those under one under one umbrella, which is really what we would have to do.

We'd have to have one umbrella organization that we've caught we've called a wellness court, because um a lot of the defendants that we would be serving would be dual diagnosis and having mental health components, behavioral health components, um, obviously substance abuse treatment.

Um so being able to, and we just don't have the manpower or quite frankly the number defendants it would need to be able to do all of those courts.

So we went today, we spent the majority of the day across the street at the Johnson County Courthouse.

Judge Wanell was kind enough to let us sit in on all of his um proceedings over there.

So starting with how they do staffings all the way through um court and um into the follow-up that took place with that.

So I think that what um Johnson County has done, they have all of their courts separate, um, but I think how they run their courts would probably be something um similar to what we would do.

We would have a lot of partnership agencies.

And the concept of wellness court is that when a defendant comes into court and Judge McElhaney and I are putting somebody on probation or diversion, and we're saying you need to obtain a substance abuse evaluation, you need to obtain a mental health evaluation, you need to get a job, you need to get housing, you need to find transportation.

And we're handing them an order that says to do all of this.

Some people can do that and some people cannot.

So it's having somebody who can come aside alongside a defendant that has higher needs to be able to say what's the next step that you need to be able to take in order to accomplish these things.

And for a long time, honestly, it's been Judge McElhaney and I, along with our court services program doing that, and we'll talk a little bit about that in the next slide and give you some case examples, but it's really been us doing that, but we need agencies and partnerships to come alongside.

So if a defendant is in court and we say, How do we find this person housing?

We need to have a contact at housing.

We need to have a contact to be able to get all of these things accomplished and help to defendants.

And so it's the concept of all of those partners being in one at one place at one time being able to help provide these services.

So right now what we're looking at is how do we adhere to Kansas statutes?

What are the parameters for somebody being able to enter this program?

Um who are our agency partnerships going to be so we can look at what those referrals are going to be looking like?

We need to we'll we have a client, we have a we already have we already utilizing Johnson County Mental Health for our mental health diversion programs, so how can we continue to foster that relationship with the clinician that we're getting ready to hire through the opioids and the options program with the police department?

What will that look like for that to us to have that case manager there so we can get access to immediate treatment?

Big difference between us and Kansas City, Missouri is that they have a public health system that's very widely used.

And so when we sat down at their table and we had it, they had probably 30 people at their staffing and they'd say, We've got a defendant in jail, we need transportation, and somebody would say healing house has a bed space open, uh, we can transport them in 72 hours.

We don't have that.

We don't have a public housing system, we don't have public uh services like that at the municipal court level.

So we have to bring in agencies to help us with that.

And then what would case managers management look like, procedures, and program cost for defendants?

Because obviously, this is not a population that will have access to a lot of resources to be able to pay for these.

So then how are these agencies going to be able to help us with that?

So those are the things that we're looking at at our committee.

Um, and it's it's going to be time-intensive, and it's but it's been um a real learning process, and in the meantime, we've started to implement these things now.

Um as you know, we already utilize the adult residential center.

We've done that more, we've done work release.

Um, the problem solving bed we use uh probably every every couple days where I feel like we're contacting problem solving bed and asking if we can put somebody there.

Uh, the re-entry program has changed now.

It used to just be 60 days.

Now out at the work release program and the residential center, they have a 15-day, 30-day, or 60-day program.

So we've had people that are utilizing those.

We just had a defendant that completed the 15-day program.

And even within that 15 days, um, they were helping they were able to help her um get a um a job at a facility not too far from where she is living, so she was in within walking distance, and that just happened last Wednesday.

Um we have the therapeutic community, which is really um we've had our uh first successful graduate from there, and we'll talk about her in the next slide.

But the TC is really changing.

Used to be very strict, 180 days.

Now what they're doing is they're doing um a more supportive and individualized TC treatment program.

So they're gonna be doing more of what we're talking about here, which is this multidisciplinary planning and saying, okay, you have a defendant that comes in.

Maybe they don't need one 80 days, maybe they need 120, and then we're gonna be looking at re-entry starting the last period of that.

So maybe you don't get to go home overnight, but you get to go home for two hours, or you're gonna go out to a work site for two hours, or you're gonna go on job training for two hours, and then looking at reintegration.

They're going to be allowing defendants to come back to use their facility for independent living.

Um, they're gonna be allowing um defendants to come back if they're having relapses to re-engage in treatment for up to 30 days, and we are the very first city to have a successful graduate from there.

We are the only, it's only us in Overland Park that have bed spaces there.

And the director told us um I would take any of the referrals that you and Judge McElhaney make.

She's like you guys do such a great job figuring out who needs to be here and who doesn't need to be here, and had just really kind things to say to us.

So the re-entry program started in September, the reintegration program is starting in November, and we're uh we have one defendant right now that's in the interview process for this, and we're very excited for her.

I think it honestly could be life-changing for this family if this young lady is able to get through this program.

So we're also implementing our wellness court principles now by just being remaining hands-on in our cases and being involved, uh continuing to staff cases and seeing how we can best help defendants get through this at a different ways, so it doesn't always look the same for everyone.

So here are some of our cases that we want to talk about.

Um, our first is our first TC graduate.

She completed those 180 days.

She got out of custody, we were very excited.

We sent her out into the world, and within 72 hours, she was re-arrested by the Olatha Police Department.

So we she went back to to into custody and we said, okay, we can't just have her come out and drop off into the world.

We have to do more of this reintegration concept.

So we all of us met in the courtroom many times over.

We all sat down, we all went through it again, and we brought her into the courtroom and walked through what do we need to do to have reintegration.

We had our boyfriend there, we had our mom there, we brought everybody in to the courtroom, and we sat down and we went through all of the principles that we had learned at our training, and we said we need to have a 24-hour-a-day, seven days a week schedule for this defendant who um her primary concern, I think she had 17 referrals for huffing.

So if you're familiar with huffing at all, um all of these agents are available.

You can go into Home Depot, Lowe's, CVS, and buy any sort of huffing agents.

So it's hard to be able to not put this person into a circumstances where they're not having access to this.

And so, what did it look like?

Well, you know, with uh what this did is that we gradually reintegrated her back into home, and that was in June.

And she is she's being very successful, she's done very successful since we did this slow reintegration.

She's working full-time.

Um, she just had an appointment this morning with uh court services.

Um she's maintained sobriety, she's maintained uh cleanliness.

Her children are still living with mom, but she's being reintegrated with her children in a slow manner, and I mean, she just looks so incredibly different, just beautiful.

So it's been uh great to see that, and I'll let Judge McElhaney talk about a couple other people.

All right.

Um JB.

Um, you know, I start to slide with how do we measure success?

When working with some of these defendants with serious mental health diagnoses, sometimes the that answer changes depending on the situation.

But his case is from 2024, and it involved charges of urination in public, pedestrian under the influence, interference with law enforcement, and battery on law enforcement officer.

He's 31 years old, schizophrenic, and his mother is his legal guardian.

He's been under care with Johnson County Mental Health for many years.

He's been using meth and marijuana since he was 16.

His behavior in the past two years became really out of control with his meth use, and his parents couldn't handle him when he was high.

He's not a small person.

She had no idea where he was.

She was incredibly upset and worried and basically begged our court to help her find him.

She believed he was on the streets in KCK, so we escalated our warrant in the hopes that he would get arrested and at least be in custody so he wouldn't be harming himself any further.

As it turned out, he ended up coming home and his parents took him back in.

So they brought him into court because he had the active warrant.

And I talked to him and I said, uh, JB, uh, you can't do this.

Um you have parents that are here taking care of you.

Um they're sticking their necks out for to help you in any way that they can.

I said, you've got to get back on your meds and you've got to stop using drugs, or you're gonna end up in jail.

Um, but he uh stayed with his parents, refused to stop drinking, refused to stop using meth.

Um he was finally ordered to return back to court, and the morning he uh was ordered back to court, he went into the bathroom and smeared feces all over the bathroom wall.

And his stepfather was in court and announced that uh JB had literally taken the TV off of the wall and pawned it so he could get more drug money.

So at that point, JB went to jail.

Uh JB was in jail for about a month and a half while we um came up with um a plan to help him.

And at this point, it was our court services department and his mother, um, his legal guardian, who put some pressure on K Dads, the Kansas uh Department of Aging and Disability to have him screened for a level two psychiatric nursing facility.

And um he was accepted.

Um we were blown away because first of all, didn't know this facility even existed.

And um it was just thrilling because they were gonna keep him on his meds and he could live there.

So he um he's been there for approximately six months, and um again, measuring success.

Uh we got a call recently that he was using meth and they caught him using drugs again.

And originally they said he's out.

Where are you guys gonna you have 30 days to figure out placement for him?

So fortunately, our court services officer um spoke with uh Vallejo, who's also in Topeka, it's a substance abuse uh group, and with the uh Providence Living Center where uh JB had been living, and they agreed that he would go to treatment and that if he successfully completed treatment that Providence would take him back.

So huge success that he's got a place where he can be on his meds and his parents are calm, they're not scared of him anymore, uh, they don't have to lock their doors.

So stay tuned for JB.

You want to talk about that.

Um we have a couple other people where if if we have any time a defendant is in court, and if the defense attorney, uh the prosecutor or the court is concerned about competency, which means I don't understand the legal charges, I cannot aid in my own defense, I cannot proceed in this case.

We are required to get a competency evaluation.

We utilize Johnson County mental health, we do an evaluation with them, and they generally will send back a report that says this person is competent.

I would say 95% of the time that's what we get back.

But occasionally we will get back not competent for trial.

We've had two of those in the past month with C L and SM.

And um today we met with uh the district attorney's office to figure out uh what how do we how do we get a case once defendants found incompetent?

We don't have the ability to order them to Osawatomi State Hospital to be made competent.

Or in these cases, one of this defendants was we had a uh report back that said neurologically and mental health-wise, they're not able to be made competent.

They will forever be incompetent.

So we've now been able to work with the district attorney's office, the options department, with the police department, which is just phenomenal.

The CIT team has been able to now get care and treatment cases filed on these cases at the district court and is moving forward with long-term guardianship.

So we've been able to process both of those cases in that manner.

I know we're going to talk quickly about um and and um she's currently in jail, uh charges involving resisting arrest and battery on law enforcement from 2023.

Um she's basically been MIA for the last year and a half, been bouncing around Missouri from shelter to shelter um using methamphetamine.

Um is psychotic.

Um she talks to herself.

Although she has great moments of lucidity, both uh Judge Kenny and I spoke with her and had completely lucid conversations about the charges in her case, the fact that she didn't want a lawyer, she wanted to plead guilty and accept the responsibility.

So there she is accepting responsibility, and we are working hard to figure out what to do with her.

Um we um are initially thought that some time in custody would clear the drugs out of her system and her mental health would stabilize and she'd be able to go to work release.

Um she has family here in Olatha, but they won't take her in.

Uh she has no housing, she has no job, she has nothing.

Um she was not stable enough at work release.

They rejected her and now she's back in jail.

So then we had a staffing, so incorporating those um same elements that uh learned about at the all rise conference.

We had both judges, we had court services, we had Olatha Police uh CIT officer present, we had a co responder there, and we also had Johnson County Mental Health Adult uh services.

Oh, that's such a mean noise.

Um she is being transferred tomorrow at 1230 to a um newer facility.

Uh it's a newly expanded.

It's the Johnson County Mental Health Adult Crisis Stability Stabilization Center in Shawnee.

Um a police officer will transport her there.

They will further screen her with a psychiatrist to make sure she's on the meds that she needs.

And if she is not stable enough to be in that environment, they will hospitalize her, um, most likely at Osawatomi.

So we have got a whole team of people that are just working together for these folks, and it's just been fabulous.

Um quickly, our Olatha Court Services team, this is uh Jeff and Brandy on the slide.

Um I will just say first of all, a big thank you and shout out to Ron Shaver who made the move from uh for Olatha Court Services to go from the prosecutor's office to underneath the court.

Uh the change has been um amazing.

And uh Brandy's got a corrections passed.

She's also a licensed addiction counselor, which means she can write substance use evaluations.

Uh Jeff is full-time monitoring probation and diversion clients.

Um we just feel super supported.

And I don't think Judge Kenny and I realized how unsupported we felt until we've had court services with us.

To have somebody there every day, all day when we need help with difficult defendants has been invaluable.

So thanks, Ron.

All right.

And um our court administrator, Christy Orban, longtime court administrator, retired in May.

Skylar um page has been hired to replace her.

Um we need to keep Skylar Page as a city employee forever.

And she needs to, I mean, she's just dynamic, so incredibly sharp.

Um the clerks love her, the staff loves her, everybody who interacts with her just has not enough good things to say about her.

So um just a really, really great hire.

And she's come up through the ranks of the city and also kudos to Ron for recognizing that and just really getting her into the system.

And then these are just some of the fun things we've done with our staff and the staff appreciation office picnics.

We've helped with backpacks, deliveries, school, um, all sorts of different events that we've done, fun stuff and community service stuff.

We've had two major retirements, Debbie Stein also retired from the city this year, and so we've just had some really great people.

But we've had um continue to stay involved in all sorts of organizations.

You guys can see those slides there, and um all sorts of different events that we attend.

So we love Olatha.

We love living in Olatha, we love working in Olatha, and we constantly tell each other we have the very best job ever.

So we um really, really, really just love what we do and we're glad to be a part of Olatha.

We wish those were all our staff.

Those are current and former, not all of us now.

Right?

We take we take some of them back.

All of them back.

But thank you very much.

If you have any questions, we'd be glad to answer.

Yes.

Yes, I'm sure we do.

Great information what tough stuff you have to deal with and appreciate your efforts and trying to help all these folks.

Councilmember Vaucis.

Thank you, Maren.

Thanks very much.

You know, I I would uh wager that the majority of Olatha residents really don't have any understanding of what you do.

It's a piece of city government that people are just oblivious to, but as you expose this, expose it to us, it's clear it's so significant and an important part of Olatha government.

So th so the wellness court, are are you uh are you proposing that you establish something new, or is this simply how you treat select cases?

This is how we're treating select cases right now.

We're our goal is going to be, I think if we're I mean we have to still work on this as a committee, but I think our goal ultimately is going to be two days a month that on like the first and third week of the month, we have a specialized docket for defendants just to come in.

Um I was probably a month ago when the defendant came into court, looked around, turned around and walked back out, and I knew who he was.

I'm like, you have court right now, why are you going?

So I said to one of our bailiffs, um Officer Mikal Akowski, I said we that defendant needs to be in here because we have two courtrooms, so I thought maybe he was going over to Judge McElhaney's courtroom.

And so um I got a Teams message that from the clerks that said he's sitting on the floor in the lobby, he said he can't come in.

And so I said, tell him I only have two more people.

Once I clear these people out, he can come in by himself, no one else will be here, and it will be okay.

So he waited and they waited until the courtroom got cleared out, then he came in, and there's always a bailiff in there when we're in there.

So officer one of the officers was there, but I could tell he was escalating.

So I was messaging Brandy, our port probation officer.

This is who's in the courtroom.

Can you please head this direction when you get a minute?

And so I said, would you feel more comfortable if you he said I feel like I'm gonna pass out.

I said, You're welcome to sit in a chair.

He said, I don't want to sit in a chair.

And I said, Would you like to sit on the floor?

Would you feel better if you sat on the floor?

And he said, I would feel better if I sat on the floor.

I said, Oh, you're welcome to sit on the floor.

That's fine.

And then we're gonna talk about your case in just one moment.

But let's take some deep breaths.

Let's figure out, you know, like breathing through a straw, exhale.

So we talked about that for a second while Brandy was coming in.

And the two of us were able to then talk to him.

And he was anxious because he saw the officer, so we thought he was getting arrested on warrants.

We run everybody, which is fair enough.

Every run everybody who comes into the courthouse.

So if you have an existing warrant when you come into the courthouse, we're gonna know when you're you're gonna be arrested on your warrant.

So he thought that's what was happening when he saw the officer, so we just had to assure him you're not getting arrested, you're leaving here today.

We're giving you a new court date.

So every day is a little bit different, but when we have people that come in like that, um, we're trying to use the principles that we've learned right now, because number one, we we don't want him to escalate because it creates dangerous situation for law enforcement, a dangerous situation for all of our employees.

So we don't want him to escalate for that reason.

We don't want him to escalate and get more criminal charges against him, and we need to figure out what services do we need to get this person to be okay to live in our community.

And what okay to live in our community is kind of looking different these days because what's okay for him is not having new charges, um, not committing new crimes.

And so I think that's kind of what we're looking at in regards to what does it look like to be okay for this defendant.

So our goal ultimately is to have a separate docket where persons can come in and be able to have all of those agencies, all of those partnerships there and be able to address some of these issues while they're going on.

Um but right now we're trying to use those principles to apply to our existing dockets.

Got it.

And so are there sufficient partners available to us for us to be uh to enable us to make this successful consistently?

I think so.

We currently utilize um we if somebody needs a substance abuse evaluation right now and they cannot afford it, we will do it in-house with one of our two providers that we have.

There isn't a cost that's added on to their court cost.

Um it can be waived at sentencing if we need to, or they can set up a payment plan, $25 a month or do community service for that.

But we also have other partnerships that we work with, like RADAC, um, which is Heartland, uh the regional alcohol and drug um uh uh committee.

I'm forgetting the day, advisory council.

Um they'll use a sliding scale fee.

So we know which of our agencies will use a sliding scale fee.

Um so we try to utilize those partners, but that's who what we're doing right now is we're having conversations to say, will you be a partner that will come to court twice a month and sit here on this committee and be a part of this and have services immediately available because we need to know we have a bed space for defendants.

We need to know we have a place for defendants because they can't leave there without having that already helped and done.

Good.

And one more question, if I could.

So we know the county has a veterans court.

Yes.

And uh but we we don't at our level.

Are you suggesting that we do want to do something specific to veterans?

Um we would have just one um wellness court.

And if they were a veteran, they'd come there.

We do have several defendants that are veterans.

We recognize that in their cases, and they're utilizing VA services, and they can sign a release of information and we're able to communicate and work back and forth with VA.

Um I don't know that we're ever going to have the funds or dollars available to us that the district court does.

I mean, ideally, I think Judge McCarthy, that that court that he runs is just amazing.

Sure.

I don't know that we'd have the number of defendants available to service that level.

No, and and I'm not suggesting we would want to, but but what you are saying is that we certainly could factor in that small clientele into the wellness court.

Yes.

Okay.

Yep.

Thanks very much.

I appreciate that.

Yeah.

Councilmember Essex.

Thank you.

Hello, good to see you.

Um I just wanted to make a few comments.

Um for the close to four years that I've been meeting with you all.

Um, one thing is always consistent, and you're always asking, how do we make this better?

You're educating yourselves.

You're you're constantly um trying to do things to make our municipal court the best it can be.

And I I can see the passion every time we hear about cases that you're dealing with, and you know these people and your true desire is to help them.

And I I just don't know if we know how blessed we are to have two such passionate people involved.

And you wear so many hats.

I mean, you are um tech support lately with all the stuff you've been dealing with, but um, you know, involved in the compute community and problem solvers, working with agencies, all the things that you do every day.

Um and I just wanted to say thank you so much for everything you do, and we're very proud of you.

So thank you.

Thanks.

Councilmember vote.

I'm gonna pick you back on what you said.

Whoops, hitting all the wrong buttons.

You're still off.

Oh, no, I'm not there good.

No, you are.

Okay, thank you.

Well, I just wanted to applaud what you all are doing.

You are both incredible judges.

Um doubt our citizens don't know what's involved.

They think you go to court, you sentence them, and whatever happens after that happens.

And that may be the case in many courts.

But that obviously is not the case in ours.

I think you know, just the information you've given us through our meetings and then tonight, that you're very astute to the special needs of defendants, and I think that's incredible.

Uh the fact that you are concerned about their well-being and their ability to reintegrate into society.

We know, and you know better than anybody, that's not going to be the case for all.

But again, you're able to be astute enough to select out those and provide the services that they need to hopefully be successful.

I do not think that is something we see in all courts.

And I do want to applaud you for that.

Um thank you.

Councilmember Felter.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so much, judges, for being here tonight.

I was looking forward to your report all day.

And as you were doing the report, I was like, oh, but there's this and this.

I mean, you do so much, I can think of a 40-minute presentation.

And uh I appreciate you cutting to the actual where the rubber meets the road and sharing the stories because we will not forget the stories, especially thinking of the mom that went through TC, which is therapeutic centers, which she's our first graduate.

I I don't know if everybody caught that.

That's a big deal, right?

We're thrilled to get that um bed kind of reserved or held for Olatha or uh the access to it, I'll just say that.

And um I would equate her experience the best I can through my lens as when you're trying to diet and you're a mom and you still have to cook food and be around all the goodies, you know, and you've got kids that are skinny and they can eat anything, you know, and huffing, you have access to all the cleaning supplies and really probably should have access to clean.

But I'm sure that that is probably gonna be a lifelong problem for her.

Just like some of us have a lifelong diet problem.

And so I just wanted to say thank you for thinking about the trajectory of her life and not just closing the book, we're done with this case, move on.

Oh, here she is again.

Once you saw the cyclical nature of the recidiv recidivism happening, you were like, how can we actually affect change?

And so, yeah, I'll echo the sentiments of our uh my fellow committee members that get to spend time with you.

It's an honor, by the way.

Um I I think we have some of the best judges in the country, and I'm so honored to get to work with you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Sure.

Well, this is like a hope for humanity video.

Let me uh set the stage.

Um was at the Monday afternoon walk-in docket after missing court.

Um it was about three o'clock, and we were getting to the end of this walk in docket, and when I called him up, I noted that Judge Kenny had called his case uh four times previously, and he had failed to show up four times in a period of five and a half months.

So there were notes in his file that he is not to get his warrant set aside, and he is not to get a signature bond.

Um so I was explaining this to him and I was asking him, well, how much can you make your bond?

Your bond is five hundred dollars cash or two thousand through a bondsman.

Can you make your bond?

He said, No, no, I can't.

And I'm like, well, do you have any money?

Is there any amount of bond that you can post today?

And at that point, he begins frantically uh working his phone.

Trying to find a friend or family member who can bring him some money.

So if you're able to make out that video, total random third-party stranger in the audience volunteers to post this kid's bond because he doesn't have the money.

And then the other woman behind says that she'll she'll post the other half.

So we were quite moved by the whole thing.

So good still exist.

That's right.

All right, thank you so much.

Thank you for having us.

Well, we're now at executive session to a hear a motion to recess into executive session.

An item A, I moved that the Olaitha City Council recess into executive session for preliminary discussion of the acquisition of real property in Southern Late to pursue it to the exception provided in KSA seventy-five-4319 six four.

How much do we need?

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk, please call the roll.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Miss Vote.

Yes.

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Mr.

Sconover.

Yes.

Dr.

Felcher.

Yes.

Mr.

Vacus.

Yes.

Miss Essex.

Yes.

Motion passes.

Seven zero.

Let's get it done.

We are reconvening from executive session, a motion be in order.

Yes.

Executive session a motion to recess back to the executive session for fifteen minutes on the previous item would be an order.

All favor say I oppose.

We are reconvening from executive session.

A motion on item B would be in order.

Um item B, I move to authorize staff to proceed with the strategies discussed with and directed by the governing body.

Second.

We have a motion and a second one of the city clerk.

Please call a roll.

Miss Boat.

Yes.

Mr.

Gilmore.

Yes.

Mr.

Sconover.

Yes.

Dr.

Felter.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacchus.

Yes.

Miss Essex.

Yes.

Mr.

Bacon.

Yes.

Motion passes.

7-0.

We are now on additional items.

I'll start on my left.

Councilmember Schoonover.

Uh nothing from me today.

Councilmember Essex.

I just want to say we talked a lot about tax abatements tonight.

Sure would be great if we could put something together more for our seniors.

We've talked about that over and over.

I don't know.

Can we get the process started looking into how do we give more breaks to our senior community in property tax?

I would love to tackle that as soon as we can.

Councilmember Gilmore.

Councilmember vote.

Councilmember Felter.

Thank you, Mayor.

At an age when most are content to take life a little slower, 82-year-old David McClung continues to lead a life filled with adventure.

And he now holds the record as the oldest known person to compete to complete the rigorous 17,598 foot in altitude trek to the South Base Camp of Mount Everest in Nepal.

Dave McClung and his son Dennis McClung, who's 55 and lives in Fur Quest Furcrest, Washington.

Um the guys completed an eight-day trek called the McClung Expedition to Mount Everest South Base Camp, making their destination on October 19th.

McClung lives in Olatha.

Do you guys know where that is?

Anyone who doesn't, that huge hill just to the south of Lowe's on Black Bob with a maybe what 30% grade can train you for Mount Everest Base Camp.

And Dave McClung isn't just any resident.

Um the street maintenance sales tax finance oversight committee on the 2024 activities.

Mayor, I just add one thing.

Thank you.

City Manager's Office.

Anything this evening?

I wanted to mention a couple of events that are coming up.

Our Parks and Rec staff have been preparing some really uh exciting activities for Olatha families ahead of Halloween.

Friday is trick-or-treat trail at Stagecoach Park.

Saturday, you can go trick or treating at Mahaffey and then head over to the haunted swamp at the Olatha Community Center.

So you can also bring your little trick-or-treaters to get some treats at both libraries on Halloween.

And so thanks to all our staff who put so much work into making some fun activities for our Olatha kids.

So have a happy safe Halloween everyone.

Oh, yes, Council Emmervis.

I did think of another thing.

Thank you.

November 7th, Olatha Community Prayer Breakfast, our annual gathering in the community.

If I don't say it now, it's almost going to be too late for the next meeting.

Yes.

So tickets and tables are running out.

So please, if you're planning to go, uh please get your tickets.

And who's coming this year?

Oh.

Oh, sorry about that.

I remember the lady's name that's speaking.

Sorry about that.

Okay.

Well, anyway.

Pray Olatha.org.

Okay, there you go.

Get all the information there.

Thank you.

Thanks, Kevin, for mentioning that.

Thank you all for being here and for watching and uh have a good night.

We are adjourned.