City Council - Regular Meeting

Sir?

Thank you.

Good evening. Welcome to the Monday, August 3rd, 2026 City Council meeting. Our invocation will be provided by Laura Dean Wiley at the Vision Church KC. please stand for the invocation and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Father God, we come to you, humble and privileged, to live and to celebrate in America. Lord, I thank you for our leaders, for our city, for our citizens. Please bless those that are represented here tonight. Lord, we also know that your word in the Ancient of Days remind us that you have a plan for us, that you don't want to harm us. And Lord, the future. Lord, we just thank you for that promise. And we ask that you give us the fortitude to earn that, to not actually deserve it, but because of your grace and your kindness. Lord, please let us all remember to be civil, to be respectful, and to live as you would call us to. It's in your name that I pray. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Madam City Clerk, please call the roll call.

Council Member Dorman. Here. Council Member Perkins. Here. Council Member Stewart.

Here.

Council Member Wiley. Here. Council Member Vaught.

Here.

Council Member Atkinson. Here. Mayor King.

Here.

All right.

Start off with the resolution here. Whereas the service recognition program recognizes outstanding performance and exemplary acts of service by employees of the city of Independence. And whereas an employee committee selects the I-Star Independence, service and teamwork above responsibilities. award recipient for exhibiting the qualities and ideals that best represent public service. And whereas the Service Recognition Committee has selected Krista Fala Te Wai. Building Maintenance in the Parks and Recreation Department as the I-STAR award recipient for August 2026. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Council of the City of Independence as follows, that the City Council of the City of Independence, Missouri, joins in recognizing Krista as the City of Independence I-Star Award recipient for August 2026. I need a motion to approve the resolution. I'll make the motion, Mayor. Got a motion.

Second.

And a second. Any further discussion? Madam City Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Dorman? Yes. Council Member Perkins? Yes. Council Member Stewart?

Yes.

Council Member Atkinson?

Yes.

Council Member Wiley? Yes. Council Member Vought? Yes. Mayor King?

Yes. 26-759 is passed with seven ayes and zero nays. All right. Today... We are recognizing Krista for her outstanding dedication and commitment to George Owens Nature Park. Krista consistently arrives ready to help in any way she can. She takes great pride in making sure the park's restrooms, lobby areas, nature center, and lodge are clean, well-stocked, and welcoming to the public. She works to maintain these spaces to the highest standards so visitors feel comfortable and cared cared for during their time at the park. Chris is dependable, considerate of her coworkers, and always pleasant to work with. She plans ahead to make sure there are enough supplies for large school groups, rental groups, program participants, and everyday visitors. Her attention to detail and dedication have resulted in no complaints from staff or the public about the areas she prepares. When unexpected issues arise, Krista does not complain. Instead, she finds solutions, takes care of the immediate problem, and offers ideas to help prevent similar issues in the future. Her hard work allows park staff to focus on providing quality customer service because they know the areas Krista has prepared will be clean, organized, and ready for visitors. A great example of Chris's dedication occurred recently as she was working long hours preparing the new Independence Municipal Commons for its public ribbon-cutting event. Even with a busy schedule and numerous school groups visiting George Owens Nature Park in May, Chris had made sure to find time to prepare the park's restrooms and lobby areas for each of the visiting middle school groups. Krista's hard work, reliability, and commitment to serving the public make her a true example of the I-Star spirit. We are grateful for everything she does to help ensure the visitors to George Owens Nature Park have a clean, welcoming, and positive experience. Please join me in recognizing and congratulating Krista as our I-Star Award recipient.

Right here guys. See?

Mile.

Now, we have a few citizen awards to give out. So, citizen recognition. So I'm gonna start here and we'll kind of work through this. Citizens awards for Derek Young and Charles Lister. Officer Bloomquist recommended these two guys for their assistance when a lady, Sheila Clark, stopped breathing at Pizza Ranch. Derek observed Sheila choking, ran over and performed the Heimlich on Sheila who was choking on her denture. Her family said she was not breathing and her lips were turning blue. Derek's efforts at the Heimlich were successful and he and Charles Lister assisted Sheila to the ground and rolled her on her side so she could breathe until emergency personnel arrived and took over. Captain Jackson on Rescue 7 advised their quick actions are what saved Sheila's life. The chain of command was Emily Kennan, Sergeant Kyle Jarnigan, Captain Steve McVeigh, Major, and Doug Brinkley, Chief. I'm going to ask Derek and Charles to come forward to receive their awards. Congratulations, guys.

Hey, can we get everybody back up here for just a second? Pretend like it's just happening all over again. No, no.

All right.

Next with citizen recognition is citizen Clara A. Anson. Detective Winans recommends Clara for a citizen's award in recognition of her exceptional persistence and concern for the welfare of a child living in dangerous conditions. After twice requesting a welfare check without knowing the child's address or information, Clara refused to give up. Through her determination and resourcefulness, she located the residents and provided the information to law enforcement. Officers responded and rescued the child from deplorable living conditions. Clara's perseverance and commitment to protecting a vulnerable child directly contributed to the child's rescue and exemplify outstanding citizen and community partnerships. Chain of command was Emily Kennan, Sergeant Billy Pope, Captain Mike Onkemager, and Doug Brinkley, Chief. So Clara, would you like to, come on, she's not here. Okay, all right, so we'll move on. This one's a little bit of a long list. So this is for, Fire Staff and K-9 for Special Operations Battalion Chiefs Shane Davis and Ben Schlegel. Captain Tyler Grosser, UAS Program Director and K-9 Handler of Dexter. Captain Joseph Knopp, UAS Training Officer and K-9 Handler of Dengie. Captain Scott Leonard, Special Operations Equipment Officer. MOTF-1, Lynn Ballard, canine handler of PAX. Captain Chad Lunt, Rescue 9, C-Shift and his crew. FF Doug Shields, acting captain, Rescue 1, C-Shift and his crew. Rescue 1, Captain Doug Fields, FAO Cole Laufer, FAO Rick Humphrey, Firefighter Christian Carter, Firefighter Sam Horacek, Firefighter Dustin Snutzenhofer, Rescue 9 Captain Chad Lunt, FAO Zay, Still, Firefighter Greg Harris, Firefighter Scarlett Logan, Firefighter Andrew Spallo, Firefighter William Nelson, and Firefighter Mitchell Brown. Sergeant Cannon recommends the recognition of the Kansas City Fire Department personnel for their outstanding assistance during a missing person investigation. When detectives with the person's crime squad required a FEMA-certified cadaver, K-9 Kansas City Fire Department responded on short notice with handlers and their dogs. The K-9s quickly... alerted to the search area, provided detectives with the probable cause needed to obtain a search warrant. After the warrant was secured, Kansas City Fire Department personnel returned with specialized equipment and worked tirelessly to remove concrete, ultimately allowing investigators to locate the missing person. Their professionalism, expertise, and willingness to assist were instrumental in bringing the investigation to a timely resolution. The department is sincerely grateful for the Kansas City Fire Department's exceptional partnership and support. Chain of Command, Emily Cannon, Sergeant Billy Pope, Captain Mike Onka, Major, and Doug Brinkley, Chief. Would everybody please come up?

Thank you.

All right. Next up is citizen Darren Neermeyer. Detective Winans would like to recognize the citizen for the following. In August 2024, the Independence Police Department's Criminal Investigations Unit began investigating the disappearance of Andre Jr. Martinez, who was last seen at the Executive Inn. On December 26, 2024, Detective Winans received information indicating that Mr. Martinez had been killed and that his body had been dumped behind the executive inn. Detective Winans immediately contacted Darren Niermeier of K9 Missouri Search and Rescue for assistance. Despite it being the day after Christmas, Mr. Niermeier did not hesitate to assemble a search team. The team spent hours searching the area but was unable to locate Mr. Martinez. On March 25, 2025, Detective Winans again requested Mr. Nehemiah's assistance for a large-scale search of more than 60 acres of wooded and agricultural land south of the Executive Inn. After several hours of searching, one of Mr. Niermeier's canines successfully located the remains of Mr. Martinez. The dedication and expertise of Mr. Niermeier and the Canine Missouri Search and Rescue Team were instrumental. Without their assistance, locating Mr. Martinez would have required many more hours of exhaustive searching for personnel on the ground. Chain of Command, Emily Kennan, Sergeant Billy Pope, Captain Mike Onka Major and Doug Brinkley Chief. Darren, would you like to come up? And last but not least, James Bill. Detective Winans would like to recognize Chief James Bill for the following. In August 2024, the Independence Police Department's Criminal Investigations Unit began investigating the disappearance of Andre Jr. Martinez, who was last seen at the executive inn. On March 25, 2025, Detective Winans requested assistance from the Metropolitan Community College Police Academy recruits to conduct a large-scale search of more than 60 areas of wooded and agricultural land south of the Executive Inn. In response, Director James Bill not only deployed the Police Academy recruits, but also the Fire Academy recruits, bringing the total number of volunteers to more than 70 individuals. The Independence Police Department is sincerely grateful for Director Bill, the MCC Police Academy, the Fire Academy, and all the recruits who dedicated their time, energy, and effort to assist with this search. Their willingness to serve and support this investigation reflects the strong partnership between our agencies and our shared commitment to the community. Chain of Command, Emily Kennan, Sergeant, Billy Pope, Captain, Mike Onka, Major, and Doug Brinkley, Chief. James, please come forward.

I'M GOING TO HAVE YOU GUYS TAKE A LITTLE STEP BACK JUST A LITTLE PUTTING ONE IN IT. ONE, TWO, THREE.

All right, moving on. This brings us to citizen's request. I just want to read a statement real quick before we move on. Just a few reminders here. Please state your name and city of residence. Speakers may only address one topic per meeting. All remarks must be addressed to the council as a body and no personal remarks about individuals, whether positive or negative, are permitted. In addition, everyone present must maintain decorum and comply with directives from the presiding officer. If an issue arises, then you will be given a verbal warning, but if the issue persists, then you will be required to leave the meeting. I appreciate everybody's help with this. Our first speaker is Becky Hake. Please state your name and your address, and you have five minutes. Thank you.

Do I have to turn this on or not? Okay, thank you. Becky Hake, Independence, Missouri. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. I am here tonight because of the Trim and Complete Streets Phase 2s on the agenda tonight. At last minute, I spoke about the issues on slower emergency response times as well as the safety issues. I will stand by everything I said that night. Tonight I want to expand on safety issues. Many cities, Chattanooga, New York, Boston, Chicago, the list is long, as well as several overseas countries, are removing their on-street bike lanes on busy streets. They're opting for shared path programs. They have found out that narrow lanes on bike lanes have caused safety concerns for the bike riders and have slowed emergency response time. Shared bike lanes protect the riders with a curb. Also, another issue that was brought up was at the Nolan Road meeting on the Nolan Road project at the market the other night. I was looking over the sign, and I was talking to one of the planners, and a couple walked up. And he was a bike rider, and he had a few suggestions, too, for bike safety, mostly on intersections. And the woman asked, is this a bus route, Nolan Road. And the planner didn't know, so I said, no, it's not. And she asked, is there any plans on bringing the buses back? I said, well, I know a lot of the council would like to. And she looked at the planner and said, you can't do a one-lane road with a city bus. And he said, no, you can't. Kind of ended the conversation, but it kind of summed it up. Sterling is a bus route, or was a bus route. It had best bus stops at 32nd Street, Sheely Road and 27th Street. While that area does not see many bike riders or walkers, those stops were used. So tonight I'm asking this council to again postpone this vote until we have a plan that will work for the future. A plan that in a few years we are not having to spend millions of dollars to redo for safety reasons or because we can bring back public transportations like other countries and cities are doing. They have learned, other cities and countries have learned by having on-street bike lanes for a few years and now are spending the money to remove them. Let's take a little extra time now and learn from their mistakes. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Tony Sommer. You please state your address and your name and you have five minutes. Thank you.

All right. Tony Sommer, 220 West Mill Street in Independence. I speak on the Truman Connected Phase 2 and Nolan Road complete streets. Like the previous speaker, I kind of view these as very similar projects that we're both working on at the same time. My perspective on this is that a couple years ago, we approved a plan, the Transportation for All Master Plan. This is a plan that was approved by the city council with a six to one vote. including four positive votes in favor of it by current city council members. And these projects are clearly right in line with this plan. So to me, these plans are no-brainers. They're right in line with the plans that we already have in place. Sometimes with these plans, we spend a bunch of money on them, we spend a bunch of time and effort on them, and then we just put them on a shelf and we don't really discuss them But to me, I feel like they should be our guiding principles here. So the transportation for all master plan, but also the square master plan. The Nolan Road complete streets obviously affects the square. So with this still in its design phases, I feel like with that plan in place that we spent so much time and effort on, we need to be looking at that plan and thinking about this Nolan Road plan in terms of how does it affect the square? Is this going to help the square achieve its goals? The square master plan was great. I thought this is really the direction we need to be going. And so we need to be asking, is this going to help us achieve that goal? And I agree with the previous speaker that we need to consider public transit as well. I can tell you I've traveled to many, many places across the world. Many places do have on street bike lanes. I've been to places where it's one lane on both sides. But what they do have at these bus stops is a pullout for the buses. And so the bus can pull out to the side. At the bus stop, people can get on and off, and traffic can still get by. Bikes can still get by. So I think something like that would be a good plan for any section where we're narrowing it down to one lane. So that's all I have. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Next speaker is Wes Epperson. Please state your name and your address and you have five minutes. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh, Wes Epperson, 3600 Poplar Avenue in, uh, Southwest Independence. Mr. Mayor, council members, I. I came to speak to you tonight about the Shealy Road and Sterling Avenue roundabout and this Truman Connected Phase 2 plan, which seems to still be parts of it up in the air. I want to talk to you about my experience. I drove for UPS for over 40 years. I retired in 2014 with a 40-year safe driving patch on my left sleeve. I drove every vehicle there from a package car, which is a delivery van, up to double 48s pulling down the Kansas turnpike. So I will say that we have plenty of defensive driving technique during my over 40 years at UPS. Two of the major areas that was covered was backing and intersections. Of course, backing was a problem. It's not so much now with cameras on the delivery vehicles, but intersections, a continual area of training, defensive driving training, and that is that There is no more serious accident in the country we live in than intersection accidents. The statistics I read, 8,800 people a year back in 2022 died as a result of an intersection accident. That's about 25 people a day. And intersections... are being replaced by many cities and many states, many countries. I understand in Europe they're really prevalent in Europe. But roundabouts are kind of slow to catch on. In some states, Missouri is finally getting with it. They have about 1,000 roundabouts in Missouri now. Here's a publication they put out. All about roundabouts. This is from MoDOT. According to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, compared to a common signalized crosswalk, roundabouts reduce crashes of all types by 39%, injury crashes by 76%, fatal and incapacitating crashes by 89%, Pedestrian crashes by 50%. And I think that's pretty self-evident why states such as Missouri, a conservative state, but the facts don't lie. The facts are that roundabouts reduce injuries, they reduce crashes, and they save lives. MoDOT published a, the Federal Highway Administration took a piece of literature that MoDOT published, and the title of that publication is Seeing is Believing, Missouri DOT Convinces Skeptics that Roundabouts Work. That's what I'm here for today. We have, neighbors in my area around this proposed roundabout.

You have one minute, sir.

Many of them are skittish about a roundabout. Well, according from what I've read, that's not unusual. Change is always difficult for people. But after these roundabouts have been implemented, those people that were against the roundabouts suddenly become the supporters because they see how well they work. So bottom line is, if we need to, I would ask people from MoDOT to come and have a study session and let's decide once and for all how this Truman Connected plan is going to play out. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker. is Darlene Pollard. Please state your name and your address, and you have five minutes. Thank you.

Darlene Pollard, 1318 North Nolan Road, Independence, Missouri. Madam Sir Mayor and Council Members, I speak on the 136 East White Oak Street, Tiny Homes Project. I was under the understanding that that project was going to be removed from the agenda. The plan was going to be dismissed, but I don't know if that's the case or not. But I attend Second Baptist Church. at 116 East White Oak, which is next door to the site where this proposed tiny homes is going to be built. Just wanted to say we are already experiencing a lot of homelessness in our area. The homeless people sit on our church property. They leave their trash all over our property. They're all over the neighborhood. We have lots of children that go to our church. And for the safety of our church members, our children, The neighborhood, we are totally against the place being where they're locating it at. I have nothing against anything helping the homeless people because I do know that they need help. We just don't think that this is the area that is best suited for that homeless community to be placed. And thank you for your time.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Roxanne Robinson. Please state your name and your address, and you have five minutes.

Thank you. My name is Roxanne Copperidge Robinson, and I live at 131 East Farmer, and I'm also not a favor of the tiny homes that they're trying to build. Does these tiny houses exist anywhere else in our city? I think the area that they want to put these tiny houses is too small for nine tiny houses. They're going to be stacked up on top of each other. And if we go right now, and I can show you all the homelessness that's around that area with the trash and so on that's going on. I know we're trying to build up our Independence Square. We're right there by the Independence Square, a block up. We've got those beautiful duplex homes that were built not too long ago. And on Old Sage is another beautiful home that was built. So, like I said, I think it'd be another place that they can put these tiny homes that I understand is supposed to be one per unit. But, you know, everybody has a friend and they're going to invite them in. And if the temperature is 100 degrees or five below, they're going to invite all those people in. So it's going to be something that I think that needs to go back and be thought about more so. Has anyone talked to the chief of police and see what they think about this as well? Because they have been up there many times already trying to move the homeless around and out and all that kind of stuff. Our church at Second Baptist, we are helpful to the homeless and try to do what we can. But this area where they're trying to put these tiny homes is just not the place. You know, like I said, move them out where they have where they can breathe and won't be stacked up on top of each other and danger for anyone in our area. So this is what I'm saying. I'm not in favor of it at all. Thank you.

Thank you. This brings us to our consent agenda.

Mr. Mayor.

Proceed.

I move to approve the reports and recommendations of the city manager.

Got a motion.

Second.

Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Would anybody like to pull anything off the consent agenda?

Mr. Mayor.

Proceed.

I would like to pull item number 18.

I would actually like to pull resolution 26-760 as well. Are there any other ones? Seeing none. Madam City Clerk, please call the vote.

Council Member Dorman? Yes. Council Member Perkins? Yes. Council Member Stewart?

Yes.

Council Member Atkinson?

Yes.

I can't see you. Can you turn your camera on, please?

It's showing that it's on. It appeared to be frozen.

Okay, I'll come back.

Okay.

Council Member Wiley? Yes. Council Member Vought? Yes. Mayor King?

Yes. Consent agenda passes six with yeses and zero noes. All right. At this time, I'm going to turn it over to Council Member Vought for item number 18.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to approve item number 18. I second.

Got a motion and a second to approve item number 18. Any further discussion?

Yeah, sorry. So I know council has already voted on much of this project, but I do still have some questions that I would like to get. Could we hear how this roundabout will affect emergency vehicle access being single lane?

Yeah, I'm going to call up our fire chief, Chief Walker, to address the emergency response.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Council. So we're talking about traffic circles this evening. So Councilwoman Vaught and I have spoken about this. Traffic circles, when done properly and appropriately, do not impede emergency vehicle access. As long as the roadways are of the proper specifications, they really don't have any more impact on our emergency response than, say, a light, a lighted intersection. One of the examples I brought up was the interchange of 23rd Street and Nolan Road with the large island that separates the traffic. Many times emergency vehicles will get stuck in there and have a red light, and best practice for us in those situations is to shut off our lights and sirens and wait for the lights to turn instead of forcing traffic out. The benefit to the traffic circle in that case is traffic's continuously flowing. So, no, I see no impact to our emergency response with having the traffic circles.

Okay, thank you. Any other questions?

Any further discussion?

I have more.

Yeah, go for it.

Okay, so since I, well, maybe not for Chief Walker, but since I assume that a fire truck can go through, that would also mean that a bus could make it through that roundabout.

Yes. Yeah, the geometry of these roundabouts are such that they can support not only the large fire apparatus that you heard Chief talk about, but also a large bus.

Okay, and then can I have an explanation as to why Sheely Road was chosen for the roundabout?

Yeah, I'm going to call on Mike Jackson, Municipal Services, to provide a little bit more in-depth response.

Good evening. Mike Jackson, Director of Municipal Services. So if you know this intersection, if you're familiar with this intersection, it's kind of angled. So the line of sight is a really big issue when you're merging onto Sterling from Shealy. It's also positioned essentially right in the center of the corridor between Winter Road and 40 Highway. So for traffic calming to help slow down all the speeding in that area, this is really the ideal spot for that. And obviously the biggest thing is to reduce the number of crashes in the area. So that's why we picked Shealy.

Okay. And this probably is for you also. So if we postpone this change order tonight, what work stops and what work would continue?

So the design would continue. There's no construction for a little while, so we've got time to kind of move it around a little bit What this plan was to do was to have the multimodal path off of the street, which was going to cost considerably more money than the original plan, but at least they're not on the street. What this is doing is allowing us to do all the assessments for those properties to find out how much we're going to have to go out of the right-of-way into people's yards and how much we're going to have to take. But if we ultimately decide not to do that, and we go shift a different route, this isn't going to hurt anything to go ahead and approve this tonight. We still have a chance to come back and discuss it some more.

Okay. And cost savings, would there be a result in cost savings with not going with the change order?

No, because if we go with the change order and we follow along with the multimodal path, it's going to be what it is. But if you give us direction later on to say we would let's say we don't want the multi multi-modal path anymore. We want just sidewalks. If we postpone that, if you postpone it, um, it's kind of a six to one half dozen, another, we're not going to spend the money if it's not necessary. Just, this just gives us approval if you want us to go down that path.

Okay. All right. That's all I have.

Just a quick question. I know this has been discussed a lot and, and maybe I just want to clarify a couple of things with city manager. If we vote yes or no, what's the options here? If we vote this down, can we direct municipal services to go and give us different ideas looking at this moving forward?

So, Mayor, Council, what's before you this evening is a change order, is an addendum to the contract for the design services. as you heard from Mr. Jackson, when the multimodal concept was introduced, there was going to have to be due diligence in identifying additional right-of-way that may or may not need to be acquired. It expanded the number of properties that were affected from some 20 to some 150 plus, right? And so it was that additional work that warranted this particular change order. Just for clarification, the contract that's in place today for about $850,000 is already on the books, right? This is only $118,000 change order for this additional work. You have a couple of options before you, right? one is to approve it and in that case we go do sort of the due diligence and then through the design work the ultimate product that comes before you will ultimately have to go through the bidding process and the ultimate construction process which you all will have an opportunity to weigh in on as well if you all choose to postpone consideration of this amendment then it leaves it on the table that if in some point in the future you want to bring it back and have us explore adding that multimodal then that option exists in the future if you vote it down then the options before you are will continue to just proceed as planned which includes Construction of the continuity of the sidewalks and the construction of the roundabout those two aspects of the project will be pursued regardless of your action tonight. Your action tonight is in regards to do you all want us to pursue adding the multimodal aspect to the project and have the contractor do the due diligence to find out what additional right-of-way and what additional property would have to be acquired from. That's the amendment that's before you tonight.

Thank you. I want to make sure I heard you right. You are recommending this to pass, correct?

I want to make a motion to postpone indefinitely.

Okay.

Just to evaluate that multimodal component a little bit more.

I'll second that. That's in the form of a motion.

Got a motion and a second to postpone number 18.

Oh, I'm sorry. Oh. I'm sorry. Oops, I did. Okay.

So I'm going to refer to our counselor to make sure we do this correctly.

If you would withdraw your motion to approve and instead make the motion to suspend and postpone indefinitely, I think that would work.

Okay. Yes, I move to withdraw my motion to approve and make a motion to postpone indefinitely.

I'll second that motion.

So we got a motion and a second. All right. Any further discussion?

So this is to postpone indefinitely. Yes.

All right. Madam City Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Dorman? Yes. Council Member Perkins? Yes. Council Member Stewart?

Yes.

Council Member Atkinson? Yes. Council Member Wiley? Yes. Council Member Vought? Yes. Mayor King? Yes.

Yes. Item number 18 passes with 18. Postpone. I mean, postpone indefinitely with seven yeses and zero noes. So, all right. I kind of want to talk about 26-760 for a minute, if you don't mind. Can you tell us what the resolution amending the council rules or procedures, if you don't mind?

Yeah, so, Honorable Mayor, members of council, This was a concerted effort between the governing body and our law department as we have been analyzing how these city council meetings are conducted. It came to our attention that there was an interest in revising sort of laxing a little bit of the specificity in the council rules to create a more generalized order of business as it relates to these city council meetings. For example, there were some changes that changed the time allotment for speakers. It also expanded the ability that speakers could talk on multiple items rather than just one, but gave a little bit more flexibility rather than sort of a stringent which became incredibly burdensome from sort of an administrative oversight. This still allowed for city to receive public comment, to give a little more leeway to the general public in being able to provide some commentary. They could, again, speak on multiple items. So that was just one of the changes I know there were some other changes in regards to maybe the order of how items appeared on an agenda Looking at old business first sort of then as we take on new business And so we just wanted to make sure that the rules Were consistent with how we wanted to conduct these these or how you all wanted to conduct these City Council meetings

Thank you. I would move to approve Resolution 26-760. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Madam City Clerk, please take the vote.

Council Member Dorman? Yes. Council Member Perkins? Yes. Council Member Stewart?

Yes.

Council Member Atkinson? Yes. Councilmember Wiley? Yes. Councilmember Vaught? Yes. Mayor King?

Yes. Resolution 26-760 passes with seven yeses and zero noes. All right. So at this time, this brings us to our public hearing. I am going to recuse myself at this point in time for the public hearing and for 26-063. Mayor Pro Tem Perkins will take this over for me, and I will come back in after the public hearing and 26-063 is voted on. Thank you. Will do. Thank you, Mayor.

A public hearing for the application to rezone the property at 20691. East US 24 Highway from R6 single family residential to R6 slash PUD single family residential slash planned unit development plan and approve a preliminary development plan. New information only.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Temp and members of the council. My name is Rick Arroyo. I'm the Assistant Community Development Director here at the city. This rezoning PUD and development plan was considered by Planning Commission on June 9th of this year. Planning Commission did vote 4 to 3 in favor of this PUD and development plan. This property is currently zoned R6 single family. The applicant here is requesting an R6 PUD. Purposes for that is to develop homes in the size range of 1,200 to 2,000 square feet on lots that have a square footage between 3,500 and 7,000 square feet. with an average of about 4,100 square feet, which is just a little bit smaller than the minimum R6 zoning lot size of 7,000 square feet. With that, I have no new information to provide.

Is there any questions or comments? Hearing none, thank you, Mr. Orr. Thank you. Madam City Clerk, will you read 26063, please?

26-063, second reading, an ordinance approving a rezoning from District R6 single-family residential to District R6 slash PUD single-family residential slash planned unit development and approving a preliminary development plan for the property located at 20691 East US 24 Highway, second reading.

Any questions or comments? Hearing none, Madam Secretary. Sorry, I forgot you were there, Councilman Atkins.

DIRECTOR DEWOLF. You're good. DIRECTOR DEWOLF.

Please proceed.

DIRECTOR DEWOLF. So I just wanted to comment on this. I'm sorry there's a lot of feedback. So as we look toward expanding housing options within Independence I understand that this does not meet the definition of what anybody really would consider affordable housing but it does give an added option for those seeking to move into our city to spend their lives here, raise their kids here, maybe open a business, spend money, expand our tax base. So I'm looking forward to expanding housing options within our city and hope that it will support us.

Thank you, Councilman. Any other questions? Councilman Stewart.

Sorry. So I've heard from some constituents in my district regarding this and there's some major concerns about that the traffic will be flowing into the subdivision that would be sit right next to this. So I'm going to be voting no on this. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you.

Any other questions?

I believe that this was one that did not have like any storm shelter or basements is this correct or am i incorrect i don't believe is there a plan on this for since it's a higher density housing now to have some sort of storm shelter for that subdivision so there is no requirement in current codes or ordinances

that require storm shelters either within a one or two family residence or within a subdivision. The topic of storm shelters is slated to be a discussion point at a near future study session, but currently there is no requirement on the books today that requires an owner developer to incorporate storm shelters into design at this time. that all.

Mr. Mayor Pro Tem.

Councilwoman Wiley.

Thank you. So one of the biggest differences between independents and the communities around us that are seeing is that they're building new single-family developments. These homes represent new single-family housing at a price point that is attainable to many families, and I think that's an important piece of the housing puzzle. I understand the concerns from neighbors, especially regarding traffic, and those concerns absolutely deserve to be heard. The traffic study did conclude that this development will not be a major contributor to delays during either morning or evening peak traffic periods. Also, our 2024 housing study made it clear that Independence needs more housing of every type if we want to remain competitive and continue growing. It specifically identified the need for new residential construction, and I think that this development fits that bill, so I will be supporting this development. Thank you.

Any other questions or comments?

Okay, so I thought that I heard councilmember Atkinson saying that it's not affordable housing I Can maybe answer the distinction between affordable housing and housing that's affordable There is a distinction right so when when we hear terms affordable housing that is subsidized housing. That is housing that is offset and managed through a housing authority, subsidized through things like low-income housing tax credits. There are restrictions on income and income limitations on who can buy or rent housing. So affordable housing is is a term that is identified by federal government, housing and urban development, and it's all based on a percentage of the area median income, right? Housing that's affordable There's a wildly different conversation, right? And when we say housing that's affordable, that's going to mean something different for everybody in the room, right? What might be affordable for one person might not necessarily be affordable for somebody else. So words matter. No, these are not affordable housing units in the context that these are not sort of governed or subsidized by HUD. Limited rent restrictions and those kind of things. This is probably more on the spectrum of what we call Workforce housing or housing that's attainable housing. That's more affordable and so The distinction between sort of affordable housing and housing that's affordable if that helps Any other questions

Okay, one more, I'm sorry.

Please continue.

The Planning Commission was very split on this. So it sounds like it's the lot size that's small is what our concern is. The neighbors have concern about the traffic or that many people. These aren't tiny houses. I mean, what I would view as a tiny house. So what is the feedback from the Planning Commission? What was their concern that they're split? Because we're

I'm going to refer back to our plan. They were probably a little more attuned to the comments that we heard from the planning commission.

So I think, you know, your question is accurate. The question about whether or not this would have, what kind of impact it would have on neighboring properties in terms of property values and things of that nature. At the time, I know the developer spoke of what these houses were looking at in terms of pricing. They were looking at between the $200,000 and $300,000 price range. I think some of the houses in the nearby neighborhood were either in that range or maybe just slightly below that range. I think maybe that was it. I can't necessarily speak specifically for each council member as to why they voted what they did. But I know that that was one of the concerns. And so that is true. These are 1,200 to 2,000 square feet. That's not really a tiny house. It's really more of a lot size. But again, it's kind of a scale. You're looking at houses that are a little bit different architecture that are on a more narrower lot versus a standard 60 foot wide lot. So that's really the difference in the distinction here. Hopefully that helps.

Anything else? Councilman Atkinson, before I move on, do you have anything to add? Please.

I do, yeah. So at this particular price point, you're really looking in kind of a an entry-level home as crazy as it seems to say any more than a $200,000 home is an entry-level home. This is when people are going to be moving into our city with their children deciding where they want to set up the rest of their lives where their kids are going to go to school where they are going to invest spend their time I'm really looking forward to making this available as an option to future residents and expanding our city to keep up with the needs to attain the American dream.

Any other questions or comments? Hearing none, Madam City Clerk, will you call the roll, please?

Council Member Dorman? Yes.

Yes.

Council Member Perkins?

Yes.

Council Member Stewart?

No.

Council Member Atkinson?

Yes.

Council Member Wiley? Yes. Council Member Vaught? Yes.

Ordinance passes. Would someone like to bring the mayor in, please?

Sorry, guys. This brings us to our ordinances 26-070.

26-070, second reading, an ordinance repealing and replacing ordinance number 19522 and granting necessary easement authority as part of the Valley View Extension Project, project number 512-001, second reading.

Any discussion on 26-070? Hearing none, Madam City Clerk, please call the vote.

Council Member Dorman? Yes. Council Member Perkins? Yes. Council Member Stewart? Yes. Council Member Atkinson?

Yes.

Council Member Wiley? Yes. Council Member Vaught? Yes. Mayor King?

Yes. 26-070 passes, seven yeses and zero noes.

26-071, second reading, an ordinance authorizing the acceptance of funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Marshal Service, through the Joint Law Enforcement Operations Task Force for the use by the police department, making the necessary appropriations and authorizing future change orders for additional funding and or time extensions, second reading.

Any discussion on 26-071? Seeing none or hearing none, Madam City Clerk, please call the vote.

Council Member Dorman? Yes. Council Member Perkins? Yes. Council Member Stewart? Yes. Council Member Atkinson?

Yes.

Council Member Wiley? Yes. Council Member Vought? Yes. Mayor King?

Yes. 26-071 passes with seven yeses and zero nos.

This brings us to our first readings.

Madam City Clerk, would you read the first readings?

26-057, first reading, an ordinance creating section 12.05.018 at the Independent City Code for the prohibition of unlawfully gaining entry into a motor vehicle, first reading. 26-058, first reading, an ordinance amending Chapter 5, Article 10 of the Independent City Code regarding private security guards, first reading. 26-072, first reading, an ordinance amending the Unified Development Ordinance Chapter 14 of the Independent City Code pertaining to data processing and hosting and battery energy storage system uses, first reading. 26-073, first reading, an ordinance amending ordinance number 19723 by repealing and replacing the previously approved legal descriptions for parcel 1 of the annual neighborhood sanitary sewer project, project number 302004-1, first reading. 26-074, first reading, an ordinance authorizing the acceptance of a mutual aid agreement in the amount of $450 from KC2026 for law enforcement assistance provided by the Independence, Missouri Police Department during the FIFA World Cup events held in Kansas City, Missouri, appropriating the necessary funds in the Police Department Grant Fund, authorizing the acceptance of future change orders, extension, amendments, or addendums for additional funding or time extensions for the same project, and authorizing certain future appropriations first reading.

Mr. Mayor? Yes. Regarding 26-075, I would like to make a motion to postpone that indefinitely.

Okay.

We have a motion to postpone 26-075. I second it.

Second.

Got a motion and a second. Any discussion on 26-075? Madam City Clerk, please call the vote.

Council Member Dorman? Yes. Council Member Perkins? Yes. Council Member Stewart?

Yes.

Council Member Atkinson?

Yes.

Council Member Wiley? Yes. Council Member Vought? Yes. Mayor King?

Yes. 26-075 passes to postpone indefinitely seven yeses and zero noes.

26-076, first reading, an ordinance authorizing the city manager to execute a sidewalk improvement agreement with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for the Winter Road Complete Streets Project, project number 112403, slash federal project number STBG-33479, parentheses 440, first reading. 26-077, first reading, an ordinance amending section 12.03.009A of the Independence Code to add subsection 3 to create a Santa Calgon district curfew over the Labor Day weekend, first reading. 26-078, first reading, an ordinance calling an election to authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds for the City of Independence, Missouri, first reading. 26-079, first reading and ordinance authorizing persons to hold more than one office within the city.

This brings us to Council Member comments. Council Member Dorman.

I don't have any tonight.

Council Member Stewart.

Nothing tonight, Mayor. Thank you.

Council Member Atkinson.

DIRECTOR DEWOLF- Yeah. So I've been gone for a hot minute but that does not mean I have not continued to work for y'all. Much to the chagrin of my wife I stayed up to date on my email as best I could. I'm actually in D.C. now for work. I was able to stop by Representative Cleaver's office and had a really wonderful discussion about his the Bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing, he introduced and passed and looking forward to working with his office, identifying how these to be able to bridge $200 million for jurisdictions pursuing policies or programs for increasing housing supply. That'll be a nationwide grant. So I hope that we can get in on that early. There are a number of other things that are very important as well. We also have a small community cleanup that I hope can dovetail nicely with the citywide cleanup. The cleanup is going to be at Fairmount Park from 9 to noon on August 15th. Please show up. It's we will be able to have folks under the age of 18 and we can qualify for volunteer service and more. So really looking forward to that and getting some momentum going into the citywide cleanup. While I was gone, city staff also had a meeting with the organization dedicated to making sure that our parks are inclusive of those with a variety of disabilities. They are doing an initiative now that will help fund inclusive parks throughout the metro. And I'm looking forward to continuing that conversation with them, identifying what grants may be available to ensure kids of all abilities are able to enjoy our parks and recreational programs. I also shared the Sustainability Commission survey on composting options. It's a really cool thing that they've been doing and working very hard on. This is really just to gauge community interest in composting. There's nothing formal set up. This is just to say, hey, maybe we should explore that as an option. And the Roots Festival is this Saturday from noon to 9 p.m. at the Bingham Wagner Estate. Please go check that out. It's going to be a lot of fun. I haven't checked the weather but hopefully it cooperates with us as well. We will also have a study session coming up within the next couple of months on license plate readers. That's been a really hot topic. And a couple of council members have been discussing how we can really make sure we have strong privacy rights protected while identifying paths to use them in a manner that allows us to fight crime that again respects folks privacy. And lastly if you have something that you would like me to shout out if there's a community event a volunteer opportunity soup kitchen, anything that you want the community to know about, please let me know. I'm happy to be someplace that can allow that to be expanded, I guess, for the community. Looking forward to being back home. Thanks.

Council Member Riley.

Thank you, Mayor. I have two quick things. Many of us were present over the weekend to celebrate Hope House. They had their yearly fundraiser. And every year I'm always reminded what a wonderful program they have. They do amazing things for a lot of people in our community. And also what a great legacy it is for Mayor Potts, who I always think about so much when I'm in the presence of the staff at Hope House. So thanks to them for inviting us. And then I have been getting calls in the last couple of weeks for animals outside in the heat. I just want to remind everyone that we do have adequate shelter laws and independence. And during the summer, that means that if your animal is outside, you have to provide access to shade from direct sunlight. It's going to heat up again. It's too hot for people. It's too hot for animals. So if you are concerned about an animal in your neighborhood, please call animal control. That's all. Thanks.

Thank you. Council Member Vaught.

Thank you, Mayor. So I would like to just give a quick update to residents about Fire Station 5. The station is closed now. It closed July 31st for demolition and construction, construction of a new state-of-the-art facility designed with both community safety and the well-being of our firefighters. Construction is expected to take about 18 months, and during that time, The Station 5 crew has been relocated to Station 1, and Stations 3 and 4 will also provide coverage. Kansas City Fire Department will also be available for mutual aid from its station at 47th and Sterling to cover the southern area. And I just want to say I appreciate Chief Walker and our firefighters for carefully planning coverage during the construction, and I look forward to seeing a new Station 5. Thank you. Thank you.

Council Member Perkins.

Thank you, Mayor King. So this weekend, Mayor King gave the opening remarks to the Truman Memorial that was celebrating 100 years, and boy, how fast 100 years go by. So that was kind of a fun event to be a part of that. The Chrysler Avenue Bridge has been a good topic of conversation around about here. Can we still say roundabout? Is that too soon? Good topic of conversation. From my understanding, Mr. City Manager, that we do have a letter to proceed with the work on that.

Yes, that is correct. And we're looking at calendars and schedules right now, but hoping to get started later this month.

Excellent. So we've got that in hand. So there's nothing stopping us now. So go boy, let's do it. That's all I have, Mr. Mayor. Thank you.

Thank you. Just a couple things. I want to thank everybody that attended my town hall. I thought it went really well. There was a lot of engagement there. I learned a couple things. Less topics, more time for people. to listen to and have those conversations, but I really appreciate everybody that came out to that. I hope that they were inspired, and I really saw how much our citizens really care about what's going on in this city. A couple things that kind of spurned off of that, though, is we talked about doing a volunteer small business committee, and I'm going to October 19th at six o'clock at the Santa Fe and Oregon rooms. We will have our first volunteer, uh, small committee meeting, uh, small business committee meeting. So I'm looking forward to that. We've got 12 or 13, I think now that have, that are interested. So that's, that's awesome. Um, yeah, I think, uh, councilman Perkins talked about determining Memorial, uh, building, um, I do not know how to square dance, so I kind of left before the square dancing started, but it was a great turnout. I see somebody looking at me. The Hope House, I was there with Council Member Wiley. That's a great a great organization and you know, what better yet than to have our former mayor, uh, Barbara Potts, uh, be the one that founded that. That's really, really interesting. I'm going to take just a moment, and I'm going to try to get better at doing this during meetings, but I want to recognize Daryl Hutchins, which is a journeyman power plant electrician, and Jason Onka, master police officer. They are retiring now. this month. So I want to tell both of them, thank you for your, your years of service to the city. And I, I really appreciate it. And congratulations on your retirement. Just just one more thing. Um, yesterday I had the, um, I had an opportunity. Our Japanese sister city, and I hope I get this right, because this is almost as bad as Krista's last name. Higashimura-Yama is the city in Japan. We have 10 students in town for two weeks that are here touring Independence, Kansas City, and just learning about our culture here. It was kind of funny because we asked them what they wanted to do, and some of them wanted to go see a baseball game. But there was one in particular that caught my attention, and she said she wanted to eat at Taco Bell. So...

But, yeah, August...

Yeah. August 11th, they will be around the Independence Square all day. So if you're not doing anything on August 11th, go up and meet them. There are some that speak pretty good English. There are other ones that don't speak it as well. But they are very excited to be here and can't wait to learn about our culture and our history here. So that is... All I have. I'm going to turn it over to City Manager Anderson.

Nothing this evening, Mayor. I think Mayor and Council covered all of the recent events and activities very thoroughly. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Well, thank everybody for coming. This adjourns the City Council meeting.

Thank you.