City Council - Regular Meeting

the best place [music] to work. I love working here. I feel very blessed. I love it here. I look forward to coming to work every day, being a part of this team. Like a family away from home where everyone [music] feels like everybody knows their name. A city that supports you. We see that with our benefits. [music] A pension, vacation days, job security, being able to be heard. We feel valued. We feel [music] respected. Lee Summit is a very progressive city. It's growing. It's thriving. We have this drive towards not just doing a job, but doing it with a spirit of excellence. I had [music] the opportunity to continue to grow regardless of 30 plus years doing this kind of work. It's more than just dollars and cents. We're here really to give back.

Providing a [music] service to better a community to go out and serve people to be a part of something bigger than yourself.

If I would have known what I know now years ago, I would have been here much sooner. Hello, Lee Summit. I'm Jordan. Here's your flash briefing for the week of February 9th. City Council will meet for a regular session Tuesday night at 6 in council chambers in city hall. Meetings are open to the public or watch live on the city's YouTube channel. If you can't watch, catch the recorded meeting on demand on the YouTube channel or by subscribing to the council debrief newsletter, which breaks down three to four key agenda items. Subscribe at city ofls.net. The city will be hosting an in-person public meeting to discuss the Ward Road improvements project on Thursday, February 12th from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at city hall. The project will improve Ward Road from Northwest O'Brien Road to Blue Parkway, and includes roadway reconstruction to a two-lane section, one in each direction, with bicycle lanes and sidewalks along both sides. This week is Take Time to Be Kind Week devoted to random and purposeful acts of kindness throughout the Lee Summit community. Community members, students, and businesses are encouraged to participate, perhaps performing a good deed for a friend, neighbor, or stranger without expecting anything in return. The Human Relations Commission is hosting activities in the city hall lobby throughout the week. The public is asked to share their acts of kindness on social media using #lskindness. Learn more at lskindness.net. The intersection of Northwest Ward Road and Northwest Blue Parkway is set to close on Friday, February 13th, and will remain closed until approximately the end of June. A section of Northwest Blue Parkway between Northwest Executive Way and Northwest Ward Road also will be closed. The closures are necessary for the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Northwest Ward Road and Northwest Blue Parkway as part of the Ward Road improvements project. For more information about the Ward Road

improvements project, visit city of ls.net back/ward. And a reminder, city facilities will be closed on Monday, February 19th for President's Day. Thanks for listening and have a great week.

The city of Lee Summit has hundreds of traffic lights across its more than 1,000 lane miles, all managed by the city's public works traffic technicians. The work happens inside those metal boxes on the side of each intersection. Inside, technicians program a device called the controller. The controller communicates directly with each signal head via underground wires, telling each light when to turn on and off based on a program cycle. City traffic engineers designed this cycle to allow traffic to flow as efficiently as possible for that particular intersection. In order to best match current traffic patterns, they install something called a detection system. Detection systems have taken many forms over the years, from sensors in the pavement to radar boxes. But in Lee Summit, they primarily consist of cameras which workers mount above the traffic signals. These cameras don't record video or your speed. Instead, they monitor the spaces at the front of the intersection and identify when a vehicle is present in a specific spot. Once a vehicle is identified, the detection system sends a message to the controller, which then adapts its standard cycle to best serve the cars that are present. The pedestrian button works in a similar way. When the button is pressed, the controller receives a signal requesting that it allow that section of the pedestrian walkway to go, which it then inserts into the signal pattern. Technicians also install something called a conflict monitor. The conflict monitor is a device in which they program all the potential patterns of lights that would lead to a collision. If the other systems mistakenly trigger those patterns, the conflict monitor sends the intersection into flash, causing all lights to flash red and directing drivers to treat it like an all-way stop. City traffic technicians implement and maintain these systems so effectively we rarely consider them. But every time we safely pass through a signal controlled intersection, it's all thanks to their work. So the next time you're waiting at a red light, remember the delicate coordination of super smart systems that move you through that space safely and efficiently every day.

Member level. Thank you, Mayor. Um, great presentation, Ryan. Thank you. Um, is there any indicator that shows are we supporting a need?

You know, they talk about like gym rats, kids that grew up with their dads that were coaches. Like I was a a city hall rat, but My dad uh Tom Levelvel was uh hired as a parks administrator in 1978 and spent 40 years in public service here in Lee Summit. I would go up on the weekends when he was working and I'd run around and and play and do things. And I didn't know what he was doing at the time, but I just knew that was part of uh our weekend routine some days was was to go up and hang out at city hall. Being part of a city from a young age to now in my adult life, you reap so many benefits from that. The people you know, you care more for something that you've been a part of. My wife and I knew we wanted to raise a family. Just trying to find a community that we thought we could raise our children in that was good to me and it [music] just felt like the right move as we were deciding on a on a city to come back to. fortunate to have started a business in 2018. I founded Levelvel Insurance Group and we are a business insurance brokerage. So we help businesses uh procure insurance decided to throw our flag in the ground here in Lee Summit and it's grown. I also have this passion for learning and curiosity and I started a podcast series. So, I really enjoy this opportunity where I sit [music] down with business owners and tell their story and uh get this out to other people in hopes that maybe it betters their life and gives them some inspiration. This is going to be a really exciting time and obviously this city for my my blood. My dad's been a part of it for a long time. So, I'm really excited. Thank you all.

A lot of people would say I was crazy, right? So, why, you know, why do you throw your hand up and subject yourself to [music] um going into city politics? I think um especially as I've gotten older, I I just felt, you know, maybe a [music] civic duty, like a responsibility to say, "Hey, this city's been great to me. Here's a way that I can give back and take [music] some of my skills and put them to work for the people of this city." I wanted to bring a [music] different maybe way of thinking and take some of my business acumen [music] and see areas that it may apply to how we develop and grow this community and just [music] give a different perspective. One of our biggest challenges but also one of our big biggest opportunities is how do we develop and grow this community? We don't want to grow too fast [music] but we want to grow at a pace that helps support you know who and what we are as a community. So, you know, we've got a lot of opportunities, whether that be through development or parks. Um, we've got a lot of land coming on board. [music] So, I just think it's important like it's a challenge, but it's also our greatest opportunity. And so, we just [music] got to be smart how we do that. It's just asking some different questions. Like, I'm just I'm I'm one that I'm not contrarian for contrarian's [music] sake. What I am is someone will tell me something and then I want to get to that position with them by just asking thoughtful questions along the way. And then if I can get there, then I feel like we've answered everything we can to move that forward versus hey, here's kind of how we've done it. I'm never the this is how we how we do it. This is how we've always done it. This is how we'll continue to do it.

Office council member for district 2. All of my practical experience has put me in this position to serve. [music] And I just raised my hand and said, I want to do that. Which I was elected on April 5th, 2022.

I feel this obligation to carry this legacy that my dad did. and my family [music] did. And then giving my kids an environment to grow up in that makes them want to come back. My kids have started rec sports through the parks and recreation system. [music] And I'm watching them play soccer on this sport field that, you know, my dad helped develop and my dad's sitting there with [music] me, right? I mean, that's just that's the stuff that really matters in life. Heat. Hey, Heat. be hey baby

baby. [music] Hey Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey.

[music] [music]

Oh, hey. Okay, welcome everyone. Would you please rise for the invocation and stay standing for the pledge of allegiance?

As we begin our meeting, let's take a moment to pause and settle our attention. We're grateful to gather here this evening and enjoy the gift of such pleasant weather as we come together for the shared responsibility. May [snorts] we approach our discussion with clarity, respect, and good faith, focused on serving our community wisely and thoughtfully. Let us listen carefully, speak honestly, and act in ways that strengthen the common good. Amen. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right. Again, welcome everyone. I'm calling to order the city of Lee Summit regular session number 63. Can I get a roll call, please? Council member Carlile present. Council member Levelville here. Council member Shields here. Council member Hodes. [clears throat] Council member Rder present. Council member Prior here. Mayor Prom Lopez here. Council member Funk here. Mayor Baird

here. All right. First item on the agenda is the approval of the agenda. [clears throat] I have a motion to adopt the agenda by council member Shield. Seconded by council member Funk. discussion. [clears throat] Seeing none, please cast your vote. Um, is somebody not voted?

Somebody. Somebody. Somebody. All votes are in. Please record the vote. It's adopted unanimously. Thank you. Next is the approval of the consent agenda. I have a motion to adopt the consent agenda by council member Shield. Seconded by Council Member Carlile. Discussion. Seeing none, please cast your vote. All votes are in. Please record the vote. It's adopted unanimously. Thank you. Next is council roundt items of general interest, things going on in the community, anybody okay then we will go right into our proclamation. So I'll meet uh the uh Human Relations Commission and whoever you brought with you. Yes, Vanessa. I'll meet you up front for for Take Time to Be Kind Week.

There you go. Somebody in back have the bring a mic out for mayor. Well done. [clears throat]

Thank you. All right. Thank you for coming.

Yeah, I'm excited about this. You guys got this started a few years ago now and six years. Wow. All right. All right. Well, let's read it and then we'll talk about it for a minute. Um, today's whereas today's world is becoming busier than ever with advanced technology requiring multitasking, distractions from social media, and diversion from being present-minded. And whereas social norms and common courtesies are overlooked when people are stressed, preoccupied, or rushed in maintaining face-to-face interactions are becoming more scarce in our faster paced and inattentive society. Whereas to inspire and and initiate happiness and everyday kindness to others, the city of Lee Summit Human Relations Commission is encouraging the community to take time to be kind the week of February 9th through 14th by demonstrating random and purposeful acts of kindness to promote positivity. And whereas kindness is a simple selfless act of goodwill requiring minimal effort and yet can have a phenomenal impact on an individual in their daily lives whether they are family, neighbors, co-workers or strangers. And whereas being kind could be a smile, holding a door open, telling someone they are appreciated, writing a note of encouragement, or volunteering to help. Kindness is free and does not require a monetary value to give to another person and only takes a moment to be more aware and compassionate towards others. By the authority vested in me as mayor of the city of Lee Summit, I do hereby proclaim February 9th through 14th, 2026 as Take Time to Be Kind Week. [applause]

Would you introduce yourselves? Yes. So, I am Vanessa Hickman and I am the chair for the human relations commission. And I want to say that six years ago when the mayor came to the human relations commission with a challenge to develop something to bring our community together, we was just going to do take time to be kind day. And he's like, "No, let's do it for a whole week." And your support has been phenomenal. And I thank you for always making sure we remember and stepping up and providing the resources for us. And I want to challenge you all just as he challenged us to be kind this week. A random act of kindness goes a long way for someone.

Hi, I'm Debbie Brooks and I'm a member of the human relations commission asked by uh our mayor here and uh be kind week is really really wonderful especially for those that are shut in or older. So sometimes a smile is all somebody needs or or a touch. You'd be surprised the human touch is really really important. So thank you mayor. Thank you. I did u I noticed that the last six years the schools have really embraced this. Have they are they doing are they doing so this year?

Yes. And our businesses actually I got a notification on Facebook that a business is going to paint two rooms for free for just to show kindness. So, it's really catching on. Our businesses and our communities is is I'm so proud of you guys. I am. Thank you all so much. You want to take a picture? Oh, sorry. Here's Crystal. You're right here. I saw somebody standing. So, I don't want to put my head in. Professional, too. Crystal. [clears throat]

Thank you. It's okay. Yes.

Okay. Um, next on the agenda, public comments. We have three commenters tonight. Um, I've got numerous scripts. The script I'm going to read says that we have set aside this time on the agenda to uh for the council on items on the to have the citizens address the mayor and council on items on the agenda or items related to the operations of the city. Speakers will be restricted to three minutes. the mayor can make sure that we're staying in order by staying on topic on items on the agenda, operations of the city, um orderly and fair discussion, um and no attacks on other private citizens. So, with that said, um I see we have a new speaker. One of the three is a new speaker. So, how about we'll start with her, which is Miss Kaufman. Since it's be kind week, I thought I would come and say this to the city council. I would like to take a moment to express how deeply I appreciate your service to this community. Many of you who sit on this dis are my friends and I am truly honored to be to know you. I want to acknowledge how much time and dedication it takes to serve as a city council person. You read countless documents, serve on multiple committees, and devote many hours of your personal lives to this city. Your service goes far beyond the what we see during council meetings. Only those who have served on or tried to serve on city council truly understand the daily challenges you face. You are open yourselves to public scrutiny and criticism and you do so with grace and

professionalism. In a world that feels increasingly divided, it is important that than ever to speak up, but to do so with integrity, respect, and will willingness to listen and lift up the ideas of others. This is a voting year for both mayor and city council. And while each of you may have different views on important issues, I hope you will always be able to work together in a constructive and productive way to serve the best interests of the city. Our community is a better place because of the people who are willing to step forward, run for office, and serve on this DAS. Thank you for all you do with cooperation. Susan Cauman.

All right. Thank you. All right, Mr. Alwish Alchawish, sorry. Thank you. I I'll keep my remarks brief tonight. You know, several of you have been uh compelled to respond after my public comments lately and uh complain that you think I'm up here trying to make you look bad. So tonight, I' I'd like to give you guys a genuine opportunity to to look great and to demonstrate leadership, public trust, and come across as truly committed to serving our community's best interest. And I honestly hope you'll take me up on it. Uh so Bea, last week I I raised questions about the reports that you may return to commercial development after the election. Uh you had plenty to say in response about me, but you didn't directly address the substance of that concern on the record. If I'm mistaken or misinformed about your intentions, please correct the record tonight uh after my speech. And I'm asking you to clearly pledge on the record that you will not shift from nonprofit work back into commercial development uh when the election's over. I think that simple commitment would provide real peace of mind to me, but more importantly to the residents you serve. And Bill, Donnie, um and this would apply to you as well, Beto. You know, the core issue with these developer subsidies and projects is the appearance that they directly benefit your own business interest. So, to eliminate any doubt and restore full public confidence, I'm asking all three of you to go on the record tonight with a clear commitment, no tenative talk, that you will not accept any personal or business benefit from the developers or the projects that you help subsidize with our taxpayer dollars, even after you leave office or even if you lose the election. That means no bidding on or accepting work on these projects. No partnerships, business relationships or transactions with these developers that you subsidized. And no placing your realy signs in these developments to profit from leasing the properties

funded by our community's tax dollars. Now, none of you have hesitated to respond to my comments in the past, so I trust you won't shy away now. If you're truly providing these subsidies strictly for public go good, I would think this should be an easy pledge to make. So, I'll yield the remainder of my time to you. All right. Well, [clears throat] I'm not sure I even understand the logic behind much of this. um with regard to it's it's still it's still the same thing um with regard to um ins insinuating that we're profiting and we do this for profit um that we're benefiting in some unethical way. I've already answered questions around my personal financials. I wrote some notes down um so I'll go ahead and I'll go ahead and get through this tonight. um get this over with. Um because it just seems that um it's constant that we're being accused of things that none of us have done. Uh and I know that I haven't done. So, I've already answered questions about my personal financials and everything's in order. Everything's legally compliant and always has been. I've stated for the record many times now, I've not taken any illegal or unethical monies or kickbacks. Um, I've only had to recuse maybe on three topics in eight years. That's for somebody that does as much real estate as I do. That's because I don't work with these developers. Um, and then now someone wants me to commit to never working in, you know, with certain people in my

industry again afterwards. That's just it doesn't fit. So, I do want to put on the record that I've been in I've um I've done thousands of transactions in my real estate businesses. Uh no lawsuits in with my businesses. Um I've been audited many times by the real estate commission. No issues. Um this isn't the first time someone is I call it slander whenever when they're saying that you're doing things that are unethical and illegal. Um but you know, life's tough. is full of good and bad times and public office comes with great scrutiny and lesser protections when people want to make up lies about you. Um, here's what we do in these situations. We just let everybody know the truth, uh, which I have been on record. Uh, you you and you just do this over and over again and you continue moving forward until the bullies of the world, you know, you can't let them deter you. Um, there are times that people are going to intentionally, knowingly, and with malice slander you. And I've learned to be an open book when it comes to these things and this type of bullying. So, you have to be prepared to share things in your life. I've I've shared that none of the following is private. I've talked to thousands and thousands of people about my story. And it's really it's really pretty amazing. And it's not really that hard to research if you were really trying to learn more about someone. Um, there's a lot of comeback stories in my life. And you know, I grew up in what I would call abusive household with mean-spirited, prejudiced, alcoholic bully of a father. And this is where I get my disdain for bullies. Um, it's it's one of those things where when

I was young, I used school and sports as a refuge to get away from a lot of the the issues that come with with this type of life. And it was even to a point where I gave up going to I could have gone anywhere in the country because of of uh of academics and athletics, naval academy, Ivy League schools, but I chose to stay close to home so I could be near my family, my mom and my much younger brothers to protect them from the bully in our lives. So, I came into this world a protector and a guardian. And that's who I am to this very day. When it comes to moving to Lee Summit and such, everybody wants to act like I'm making a bunch of money. Listen, I've been struggling since the moments I moved in this town in 1997. I had a daughter uh with my wife. We moved here. Um, I lived in a little ranch for years with my mom, with my disabled grandmother, with my wife, daughter, and my youngest brother and struggled through the affordability issues of Lee Summit. Like truly could not make ends meet. And it took a long time. I finally got into real estate. I struggled for many years, but you know what? I figured it out. When I was in my 30s, I built a company with over 100 agents. and we started selling over 100 or nearly 100 million in sales per year and I got involved everywhere in the community um everywhere I could and I pushed my employees and more to give back to the community and I had a lot of financial success but I'll be honest the recession came along and 2009 and beyond and it was brutal. It took it took me down. I didn't lose the company but I lost my

savings. I lost pretty much everything. And by the time it was over with, I sold my company. I sold the house that I my dream house that I had built. And I started over in my 40s. And that's where I that's where I was right before I hit public office. I dove myself into the community and started giving back to the education system, the nonprofits, volunteering. Um, I eventually ran for school board where I found myself face tof face with another bully and this bully wasn't following policy and state laws. Wasn't looking out for the teachers and staff. And it took everything I had physically, mentally, spiritually, and again financially to go fight that battle. But I fought that battle and this community, this community that I love, rallied around me and we got the ship rided. So, you would have thought I would have learned. You would have thought I would have learned from that that the financial toll it takes on you. But you know what? I looked over here at city hall and I saw city council members bullying each other. That's what I saw. I saw police and fire being underpaid, [clears throat] not paid very well at all, in fact. And I thought, you know what? [snorts] There's another opportunity for me to give back in another way. So, I ran for mayor and I won twice. So maybe some people were too disengaged to notice or even vote in those elections, but my history and story have been front and center in the public's view for decades now. I'm a protector and guardian of the city, and the depiction of me is being paid under the table by the public, you know, for my public service is offensive, reckless, intentional, and in legal terms is being done with actual malice. It's also

reckless when it comes to the way you're portraying our community to distort the picture of Lee Summit for the last eight years and all that we've accomplished. I won't allow it. I won't allow it. You don't seem to appreciate the hundreds of millions we have invested in public safety during the last eight years. You don't like the way we've championed billions of dollars, that's with a B, by the way, towards infrastructure, roads, sewers, storm water, and more because half of those dollars came from new developments. And we used incentives to get developers to put much of the public infrastructure in. I'm guessing you didn't like the thousands of jobs we brought with Scanel and the numerous other highquality industrial space like ward development, performance food groups, and even recently Midstates because yes, they all involved incentives. Being good, bringing good paying jobs to the community is one of the most critical components of economic development. And you and for some reason you think that all these council members and I are being paid by developers off the books, which is illegal. Yet there's no proof of such thing. It's reckless, again, intentional, and done with malice. So, did you know that we've built nearly $5 billion in new construction assets such as commercial and residential in this community, including the infrastructure developments, but you know, we want to zero in on one or one or two developers. There's so many. There's the one that brought Yes. the one that's been under fire that's brought Roots, Firebirds, First Watch, Red Door, Shake Shack, Q39, Chick-fil-A, Costco, and dozens and dozens of more. There's the Discovery Park on on uh Coburn Road. That's a billion dollar development. There's hundreds of millions of dollars over at

Paragon Star and Blackwell and 50. There's incentives in all of these and hundreds of millions of dollars went into roads, sewers, and infrastructure to get those incentives. What about the handful of developers that we gave approvals on CIDs to help clean up all the dilapidated neighborhood centers across the city? Did they all play pay the council and I because let me tell you almost all of those were 9 to0 votes. Nine to zero. There might have been an 81 in there and a 72, but it's just one of the most far-fetched and outlandish conspiracy to think that all of this was done and we got paid and I have some kind of magical power to get all these council members all these years to vote for all these developments and incentives. I may not have agreed with all my council members over the years, but I have great respect for all that I have served with. And not one of them and in my entire time, not one has given me a reason to doubt their integrity when it comes to being paid in an illegal manner. Now, I've stated for the record that I have no conflicts and I've done everything by the book. I've admitted I have had some hardships and you know difficult times in my personal life. But the real story is I I get up every time and I move forward. And I think that the biggest thing is I've been motivated by making a difference for this community more than I have been making money. So hearing all of this over and over again is insulting. So I think you all should know I'm a very faithful person. I've been through a lot in my lifetime. I've never really spoken about God and my beliefs from the dis ever. Not on school board, not here. But in less than 60 days, I'm going to be out of here. [laughter] So I'm going to pass on a little bit of

wisdom and guidance to this council and any future councils. God's gotten me through the toughest of financial times. God got me through the schoolboard conflicts. God got me through the many emergencies and adversities that have been actually thrust upon me as mayor. And that's what you do. You pray to God for guidance, wisdom, and his favor to keep you moving forward. And you can't let the hatefulness of of people speaking about you prevent you from wanting to get involved in public service or get you thinking negatively about being involved in public service. You can't be bitter about how someone is wronging you. When someone wants so badly for you to have flaws, they will keep making up lies. They will connect dots that have no relation to each other. that the changes that will occur on this dis in 60 days are not going to matter. The certain people will start making up things about you, the next mayor and and the council member members. So when people just don't have self-respect, they will try to bring you down to their level. So lies about me and this council will not stop. So backing away is not an option. We have to keep going forward. I've spoken about grace many times from this das that's I have done and I've talked about giving grace to those that may have offended you. I've asked many times for forgiveness and grace when I've said something incorrectly or offended someone. So in situations like this where you're dealing with someone who doesn't live and act by this type of philosophy, you simply have to give yourself grace and turn it over to God and ask God to fight the battles because you you've done what you can and God will deliver

grace to you. So I'm going to give this person grace tonight since he says he's going to give us grace and I will ask for and re receive grace from God. But just remember everybody that in 60 days I'm going to be turned out and I'm going to have a lot more time on my hands. And when that door closes, another one will open. And I've got a pretty clear vision of how I'm going to make a difference and still be that guardian for this community because I don't like people hurting others and disgracing our our community. I'm going to keep moving forward. And I can tell you this, I have shown over and over again how relentless I can be. So, please put all that on the record. And peace be with you. Thank you, Miss Fallen Wider, you're up. Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Fallen White. I got a couple people want to speak first. Council member Funk.

Thank you, Mayor. um appreciate everything you just said, but I want to make sure that it is known that I've never recused myself from any developer all the way down to my 12 years now with planning commission and now council because I don't do business with any of these guys. I don't want to proclaim myself as a marketing genius because I've never taken marketing, but the name of my company is Selective Construction Services. If you look at a construction spec in section 024100, which we go off of in every bid that's provided to us, section 024100 is selective construction services. There's a dash or a point that points to demolition. It points to environmental services and it points to recycling services. So, selective construction services kind of fits that bill and the specification. So, that's why I named chose to name my company that. And just for the record for the public speaker tonight, who is my opponent in this election? 55% of my business is conducted in the state of Kansas by out of state contractors. 45% of my business is conducted here in Missouri by a handful of general contractors that I've worked for for the past 25 years. That will not change. They do not do business with the city of Lee Summit. They don't build buildings. They remodel stores and things of that nature. Mostly on the Kansas side. Some are more or less basically just plain white box materials that you never know what's going to happen in that space again. So, for the record again, I don't work for any of these guys. Never have. They probably don't even know who the name of my company is or would even require our services. So, with that, I appreciate it, Mayor. Thank

you. [clears throat] Thank you, Mayor Tim Lopez.

U Thank you, Mayor. Um and thank you for your comments and for the most part, you're spot on. Um not a whole lot for me to add um to respond to some of the allegations or comments that have been made. Um the only thing I will say is uh to answer the question that was posed, you are 100% for the record, you are 100% mistaken about your perspective of what my future career path is. 100% wrong. So maybe in passing I said I' I've been a licensed real estate agent for almost 30 years and it's an active real estate license. probably in the last I haven't made worked on a transaction in the city limits of Lee Summit probably in over 20 years. So, and the entire time that I've served on city council and four years of planning commission, never once worked on a transaction in Lee Summit. And I don't intend to do that while I'm an elected official here. So, hopefully that puts that to rest. Um my own home, when we sold our home 20 years ago, I didn't represent myself. We hired a third party realtor. So, I don't do any business commercial or residential in Lee Summit. Never have, never will, as long as I'm an elected official. So, hopefully that answers your question. Um, it's all I have. Thank you, mayor.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. Now, Miss Bowen Whitewater, I apologize for interrupting you when you came up. Caps. Okay. Tell me to get

I'm with a property line right here. With a property line. If you want to take it up with someone. I already explained that. Just be a partial stolen plate. There we go. You're really pushing it right now. I don't understand taking our photo. We're trying to work with you and all you want. Could we get the volume up? Teresa Volenwider 5201 Northeast Maybrook Road was yell at us and try to instigate. I already have. I listen to everything that you have.

Notice my location on that issue with the property line. If you want to take it up with that to you to get an attorney and file 2022 and file a case, there is a problem in I'm going to be honest with you. I haven't even looked at the map to confirm. I go going by you know all the way down to the corner. What map? Our mapping system that shows property lines show

our mapping system that shows property lines. Okay. So record this is in there. You're going to have to do on this page as well. Okay. This section had to be removed, which is the one they cut out.

Please make sure that the volume's up. So, is that the ones that were right up? Where was that at? Yeah. So, like now she has the um the bricks down there. So, she came out today when this is officer iceberg. She came and laid these bricks on that section that they and my neighbor Stephanie Mullins property. Did you notify the codes department? or was that the one that you notified the codes department about? Um, well, I just came home to I saw those bricks there, which means again and I'd have to go back and I saw her on the property today on my reading. Was it Daryish who said that he went and Mhm.

Okay. So, he All right. So, when they come out here, they'll actually look at that. So, hopefully they'll take a look at and see what's up. is uh so when you have a right like that roadway where that road comes through over there and probably even going over to wherever that dang little pin is at over there that where that dang pin's at over there at the corner at the 90° bend but of course the city has right of way on it for public use so the public can use it right I see what you're saying yeah

oh I see what you're saying you can't have stuff that's in that right of way that's for public use and the city has finally asserted their authority on it and said, "No, we're not going to allow stuff to be here." You know what's really sad too is and and I mean this completely is that I said to the city a long time ago and miss all cuz I said you better make sure that driver can go there because thank you Miss isn't supposed to be there. She was going to make our lives miserable. And I said, "What if we just extended the driveway? What if we just extended the driveway?"

You know, she knows the driveway is not on their property. Okay. Thank you, Miss Bitter. Okay. We've got yet she tells the police to arrest me for being on her property. Council member Levelville.

Yeah, I just uh I just felt compelled to add something um after three of you spoken and just um seeing what's transpired over the past couple of months. You know, part of being up here and running for public service is um as an elected official is is making really difficult decisions. Um it's not some right-wing or left-wing rhetoric. [snorts] It's not some grand conspiracy up here. [clears throat] And I think it's I think we are lucky to have the professional experience from the private sector up here every single time we're making a difficult decision. We're managing a gigantic budget. These people up here have seen a profit and loss statement. They understand revenues and expenses. These people up here have managed construction contracts as we weigh the contracts we enter enter into and the money that we spend on behalf of taxpayers. when we're sitting back there in close session on major litigation matters and all this experience up here from from being in those situations in the arena in the private sector help us come up here and protect our public and our citizens and to sit here on a continual basis for talking points or election points is just beyond me and we need more people that are willing to get in the arena as public servants giving up time in their private lives where they are earning a living and everybody up here that I've been involved with the last four years has been nothing but professional, removed themselves from conflicts and we are damn lucky in this city to have people that have given their time to do that and to sit here week in and week out and hear these things and and and none of it says anything to how you might legislate

or represent our city um is beyond me. And uh the real weight of of what we do up here is not these talking points. It's the things that I just mentioned. And we're lucky to have these people up here that have given their time to do it. And I appreciate every single one of you. That's it, Mayor. Thank you. Okay, let's go on to proposed ordinances. First reading. Council member Shields, would you please read bill number 26-024? Thank you. I move for second reading of bill number 26-024. An ordinance approving a standard form funding agreement to be used by the city of Lee Summit reserve the purpose of defining the cost and fees associated with the review implementation and monitoring of incentivized economic development projects in Lee Summit.

Thank you. We have a motion to move to second reading bill number 26-024 by Council Member Shields, seconded by Council Member Carlile. Discussion. Yes, Council Member Shields. Thank you, Mayor. Um I was just wondering if if staff it looks like Mr. Elen maybe can explain a little bit of what this is. I think we're we're trying to standardize our contracts to make sure that we're protecting the city. That's sort of my general understanding. Can you talk a little bit about

Yes. Good evening. Ryan Elum, assistant city manager. So, what this is is this is a a funding agreement and it's a standardized form, a template funding agreement that we enter into with developers and essentially they provide a deposit based off of the estimated value of their their project at three different levels. Uh and then we utilize those funds in order to pay outside consultants such as legal counsel, financial analysts and uh things along those lines associated with incentivized projects. Uh we enter into these funding agreements to ensure that the developer is the one that is responsible for paying for those uh those costs uh and the city does not end up uh carrying the cost of those forward. Uh we do that as a deposit agreement uh in order to ensure that we always have funds there. uh when funds are drawn down out of this then they're build immediately back to keep those levels up as we go through the project. Uh at eventually uh towards the end these funding agreements do end uh and they kind of end at the the point when we have an implementation of an incentive project. This is a way to allow even those projects that don't move forward the city is not out of of money on there. One other key point with this uh we are looking to kind of streamline this process a little bit with this ordinance. And so what this would do would give staff the authority to enter into this agreement uh in order to not have to bring that funding agreement to the city council prior to entering into that agreement. So what that does is it allows us to receive the money, pay those funds as we're working through the conceptual process and before we get to the formal process.

Thank you. That that's actually really helpful. So kind of that administrative function you can handle behind the scenes, but also because because like these these projects are really complex, you need to sort of fully vet them and make sure that they make sense that we're analyzing them thoroughly. So we don't want to run up cost for the city doing that. Yeah, that's correct. Um just you know for example uh you know a a financial anal uh analysis on a project like the the East Village tiff contract that we just did was upwards of $35,000 and the developer then pay the developer pays. Thank you. I appreciate the explanation. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you. Any other discussion or comments? Seeing none, please cast your vote. All votes are in. Please record the vote and it passes 800. Thank you. Council member Prior, would you please read bill number 26 26-025? Thank you, mayor. I move to advance to a second reading bill number 26-025, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to execute the real property and tower site lease agreement with T-Mobile Central LLC for the Monopole Tower at 404 Woods Chapel Road.

Thank you. Have a motion to move to second reading bill number 26-025 by Council Member Prior, seconded by Council Member Carlo. Discussion seeing none, please cast your vote. All votes are in. I wondered how you were going to vote. All votes are in. Please record the vote. She she did vote for it. Um after eight years or six years of not voting for it. Oh yeah. Inspection. How old is that?

I understand. It's I've learned a lot about these uh towers because of you. going back to education. You think? Yep, you did. Um, committee reports,

council member Levelville. I'm excited to announce we will have a rules committee meeting this Friday. Um, we'll be discussing uh public comments. I believe that was um brought up a few meetings ago, like uh kind of relooking at at how we manage those. And then also I think something with the charter um and if we had to replace someone there due to the election. So um see everybody Friday online. Excellent. Thank you. I am I just found out I am [laughter] sure you did. I did. Yeah. I am in that in that committee. Council member Prior.

Thanks. Last night we had our public works committee meeting. It was another quick agenda with routine business items that we recommended approval. These will be in front of council next week for consideration. Of note is the bid award for construction of traffic calming on Lake Drive in Lakewood which is approve which if approved start construction and be done this spring. Oh, that's quick. We also discussed FY27 capital improvement plan project status sequencing and possible new projects for future years. There is a website for CIP that residents should visit, review the CIP and submit project requests for or comments. Then we received a 2025 change order summary summary report which was about 1.2% 2% change orders on the year and a 2025 property interest acquisition summary report which included hundreds of acquisitions for projects and 99.7% were done without condemnation. It was actually a really informative meeting. So I think everyone should go back and watch it. It was very good. Thank you.

Good. So is there a website for the CIPs to go to and what is it? Go to the city of Lee Summit website. and then just Yep. hit search and it'll take you right there. In the search bar of the website, you can uh type in CIP and it will take you to the capital improvement plan. Can we have um can we have them share it on the city Facebook page? Absolutely. Okay. Thank you.

It's good. It's a good idea. Thank you, Council Member Carla. I just want to say for uh council member Hajes that we will have a meeting for CDC tomorrow since she's not here to tell us at uh 4:00 I think, right? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Uh council comments, council member Shields.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, I'm probably just going to sound like I'm repeating council member level, but I think he made some really good points. Um, I really appreciate the breadth of experience that we have on this DAS right now. I think having folks from uh professional real estate, both residential and commercial, having folks who deal with insurance, having a couple of uh legal legals up here who pretend to be attorneys once in a while.

Uh, we would never give you legal advice without a supervising attorney. um having folks with experience in healthcare and public safety and in construction, it really um is important to the discussions that we have up here. It brings different perspectives that are really important. Um I really appreciated council member Levelville in one of our finance and budget committee meetings recently when we had a discussion about insurance that he has a professional background in was asking really good questions, making good points and helping to guide that discussion. And I appreciate when we have questions about um real estate sales or acquisitions that we have a couple of folks up here with a lot of experience in commercial real estate who can say is that a price per square foot that makes any sense in that location? um because I can read those contracts just fine, but that gut instinct about what makes sense and how to protect the city and make sure that we're not uh overpaying for something or selling something for too cheap and and protecting the taxpayers is really important. Um, and I think to say that you would never want to have anyone say that you wouldn't want that experience on the dis, I think it would really sell the city short, that we would miss out on um people bringing that perspective to our discussions. So, you know, we call it silly season for a reason. People can say what they want to say and that's the first amendment and everybody's welcome to their opinions. But I really [applause] do appreciate um the perspectives that I see up here every week. I know that I don't agree with everybody on this DAS all the time. There's only one council member that I always agree with and her honestly only like 95% of the time. So, um it but it's I appreciate serving with everybody up here. So, thank you guys very much for for your service to the community. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you. [clears throat] Okay, staff round table.

Thank you, mayor. Couple quick items. So, next week is our legislative trip to uh Jeff City to meet with our state legislate legislators share our city legislative priorities. So, looking forward to that. So, there will not be a council meeting next week. We'll pause on that one. Um and then uh we have put out a public meeting announcement for the Ward Road project between O'Brien and North uh or it'd be yeah, Blue Parkway. Um that meeting is going to be held Thursday February 12th at from 4:30 to 6:30 here at Strather uh conference room here at city hall. So the public's welcome to attend that. It's not a there's not a formal presentation. It's a come and go ask questions uh look at the project uh type of opportunity. And that's it, mayor. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Well, it's one of one of the firsts. We're going to adjourn this meeting at 6:52. Hey baby, baby.