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Record of Proceedings

Overland Park City Council Meeting – December 1, 2025: Oath of Office, Sign Deviation Approved, Rezoning Denied

City Council — Monday, December 1, 2025
BodyOverland Park, Kansas
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, December 1, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:41:03

Transcript — Verbatim
0:20

Mayor Scog?

0:21

Here.

0:21

Council President Grummert.

0:23

Here.

0:23

Council members Healy?

0:25

Here.

0:25

Cheatham.

0:26

Here.

0:26

Nutrition.

0:27

Here.

0:28

Orlaza.

0:29

Scribner.

0:32

Antrim.

0:33

Here.

0:34

Reese?

0:34

Here.

0:35

Payne.

0:36

Here.

0:36

Eunice.

0:37

Here.

0:38

Back.

0:39

And Newland over here.

0:41

All right.

0:45

Not sure.

0:46

I'll get clarification on Richard if he's running late or uh if he has excused absence.

0:51

Councilmember Berlaza indicated to us last week that he was traveling.

0:55

Oh, that's right and would not be here tonight.

0:57

Yes, that's right.

0:58

So he has an excused absence.

1:00

For those in the crowd, this is kind of an interesting meeting.

1:05

Last meeting, we said goodbye to four council members who ended their term of service to the Overland Park residents.

1:14

And tonight we're uh swearing in those that were just elected.

1:18

That includes four new council members.

1:20

That's why they were saying present from the crowd.

1:24

So uh they haven't been officially sworn in yet, so that's where we are.

1:28

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:32

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

1:38

To the Republic for which it stands.

1:41

One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

1:49

So next we have the oath of office, so we can do the rest of our meeting.

1:54

Uh first uh I will do uh my oath of office, and then after that, we'll be followed by the six council members who were just elected.

2:03

So I will come up front.

3:02

So uh I'll allow uh every council member is getting sworn in to recognize anybody that they want in the crowd.

3:07

So I'd like to recognize my wife Amy, who is the one that allows me to be able to serve.

3:14

So thank you.

3:15

Uh love you.

3:17

Uh my daughter Alison and my son-in-law August Sukalix and my five grandkids, uh Piper, raise your hand, Piper.

3:30

Ada Towns, Marin, and Gillian's little yeah.

3:37

Oh, she got it up.

3:38

All right, all right.

3:39

Very good.

3:40

Thank you all for being here.

3:41

Thank you for your support while I do this job.

3:44

All right, those six council members who uh were just elected, if you would go and follow my lead and uh take the oath, please.

4:10

I don't know if you want to offer this way.

4:17

That will support the constitution.

4:42

Well, as they make their way to their seats and an opportunity to uh recognize anybody in the audience.

4:48

I just want to take a second for all council members, uh, even those that were elected two years ago.

4:55

The importance of service.

5:02

And uh from my conversations and working with all of you, I know you take that seriously, and uh I'm excited uh for the mission uh that's ahead of us for the next two and four years ahead.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning And Development█████████████████████████████████████████████54%
Procedural████████████14%
Transportation Safety███████8%
Community Engagement████5%
Education Facilities████5%
Public Engagement███4%
Engineering And Infrastructure██2%
Public Safety██2%
Active Transportation██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Overland Park City Council Meeting – December 1, 2025

This meeting began with the swearing-in of four new council members (Ward 3, 4, 6, and at-large) and the re-elected mayor. The council then proceeded through a consent agenda, public hearings, and two major contested items: a sign deviation appeal for Tomahawk Elementary School and a rezoning request at 7500 College Boulevard. The meeting adjourned after a report from the Mid-America Regional Council.

Consent Calendar

  • Reappointments (Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee, Environmental Advisory Council, Parks and Recreation Council) approved unanimously by voice vote.
  • The consent agenda was approved minus items #8 and #9 (removed by Councilmember Beck). Roll call vote: Yes – Scribner, Newland, Cheatham, Beck, Eunice, Healy, Reese, Grummert, Metrition, Antrim, Payne. Passed.
  • Items #8 (pharmacy benefit plan renewal with Blue Cross Blue Shield) and #9 (stop loss insurance coverage) were each approved individually. Councilmember Beck abstained on both. Roll call: Yes on #8 – Healy, Newland, Payne, Metrition, Scribner, Reese, Grummert, Eunice, Cheatham, Antrim (Beck abstained). Yes on #9 – Payne, Scribner, Cheatham, Grummert, Eunice, Healy, Reese, Antrim, Metrition (Beck abstained).
  • Charter Ordinance 107 (exempting city from KSA 12-1738 regarding lease of public buildings) passed unanimously. Roll call: Yes – Beck, Metrition, Cheatham, Grummert, Healy, Scribner, Reese, Eunice, Antrim, Payne, Newland, Mayor Scog.
  • Planning Commission consent agenda approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Public Comment (Mark Harrell, 12808 Maple Street) – Spoke as Chief Inclusion Officer of Variety KC, noting that 28.7% of the U.S. population has a disability. Urged that all future city projects be fully accessible and inclusive, and offered Variety KC as a resource to help Overland Park become a leading inclusive community.
  • Public Hearing on CIP 2027–2031 (Laura Harsh, 4525 West 89th Street) – As Chair of Friends of Overland Park Arts, expressed strong support for including public art funding in each CIP project. Cited economic impacts from the Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 study (30.7% non-local visitors, $54.62 average spending, $21.7 million personal income, $6 million tax revenue), health/well-being benefits, and safety improvements (Bloomberg Philanthropies found art-rich communities in top 25% for safety).

Discussion Items

  • Continuance of Bike Share KC Pilot Program – Councilmember Scribner declared abstention (works for Bikewatt KC, which operates Bike Share KC). Motion to continue to December 15, 2025 meeting passed unanimously by voice vote.
  • Sign Deviation Appeal (DEV 2025-00052) – Tomahawk Elementary School (6301 West 78th Street)
    • Staff (Brian Monberg, Manager of Current Planning) presented: The school installed two signs totaling 116 square feet (vertical

Meeting Transcript

Mayor Scog? Here. Council President Grummert. Here. Council members Healy? Here. Cheatham. Here. Nutrition. Here. Orlaza. Scribner. Antrim. Here. Reese? Here. Payne. Here. Eunice. Here. Back. And Newland over here. All right. Not sure. I'll get clarification on Richard if he's running late or uh if he has excused absence. Councilmember Berlaza indicated to us last week that he was traveling. Oh, that's right and would not be here tonight. Yes, that's right. So he has an excused absence. For those in the crowd, this is kind of an interesting meeting. Last meeting, we said goodbye to four council members who ended their term of service to the Overland Park residents. And tonight we're uh swearing in those that were just elected. That includes four new council members. That's why they were saying present from the crowd. So uh they haven't been officially sworn in yet, so that's where we are. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. To the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. So next we have the oath of office, so we can do the rest of our meeting. Uh first uh I will do uh my oath of office, and then after that, we'll be followed by the six council members who were just elected. So I will come up front. So uh I'll allow uh every council member is getting sworn in to recognize anybody that they want in the crowd. So I'd like to recognize my wife Amy, who is the one that allows me to be able to serve. So thank you. Uh love you. Uh my daughter Alison and my son-in-law August Sukalix and my five grandkids, uh Piper, raise your hand, Piper. Ada Towns, Marin, and Gillian's little yeah. Oh, she got it up. All right, all right.

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