City Council - Regular Meeting

Lee Summit has lots of local destinations, but where do you start? Green Street, a vibrant community space in the heart of downtown, is where Lee Summit comes together. Its three dynamic areas have something for everyone. Green Street Market is a modern event venue and home to the downtown Lee's Summit Farmers Market. Green Street Lawn is a covered performance space hosting live music, family activities, and more. Green Street Grove is a mixture of gathering spaces, an immersive playground, and bold architectural features. And all three areas host community events year round. So the next time you set out to enjoy the city you love, remember, meet at Green Street.

Hello Lee's Summit, I'm Jordan. Here's your flash briefing for the week of June 15th. City Council will meet for a regular session Tuesday night at 6 in Council Chambers and 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 cityofls.net. The World Soccer Celebration is here. As visitors and fans gather to enjoy the festivities, we've created a variety of helpful resources for residents and guests alike. From transportation information and short-term rental guidance to frequently asked questions and a full lineup of local events, our resource page is designed to help you make the most of the celebration while staying informed every step of the way. For more information, visit our city website. Join the next Football Friday celebration this Friday, June 19th from 6 to 10 p.m. at Green Street. This five-week event series is designed to celebrate the global excitement of the World Soccer Celebration in Kansas City while bringing that energy directly into the heart of Lee's Summit. Visit lsgold26.org slash football dash Fridays. And a reminder, city offices will be closed Friday, June 19th in observance of Juneteenth. Thanks for listening and have a great week.

Every time you turn on a tap, high quality water is ready. But where does it come from? In Lee's Summit, water flows from two trusted sources, the Missouri River and its surrounding aquifer. This water is collected and treated in the cities of Independence and Kansas City. In Independence, the Courtney Bend Water Treatment Plant operates 42 water wells. These wells reach 85 to 125 feet underground, drawing water up from the Missouri River Aquifer, an underground water source that naturally filters water through layers of soil and rock. The facility filters, cleans, and softens the water before pumping up to 7.5 million gallons a day to Lee's Summit. In Kansas City, the KC Water Treatment Plant draws water from the aquifer and the surface of the Missouri River. It then filters, cleans, and softens the water before pumping up to 25 million gallons per day to Lee's Summit. In Lee's Summit, Water Utilities controls the flow of these sources into the local system. Advanced software monitors the entire system, including three pumping stations and eight water storage tanks. which maintain the water's pressure as it moves through 639 miles of water mains, carrying it to your home and the homes of more than 100,000 citizens. Water utility staff collect samples from throughout the system and send them for extensive laboratory testing, ensuring your water is safe, meeting or exceeding state and federal standards. When you turn on a tap, you're accessing a vast system spanning hundreds of miles, each foot carefully planned and strategically maintained. A system that leverages innovation to harness nature, turning a vital life source into an ordinary convenience, bringing you safe, reliable, high-quality water 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. To learn more about Lee's Summit Water, visit lswater.net.

Welcome to the Lee's Summit sign department. We are going to walk you through our process from start to finish. We make signs as needed here. It's not like we just go out into the field and place the speed limit sign here, no parking here. Our traffic engineers, they go through and they'll do field studies. They'll send us down an engineering work order for us to go out, place new signs or remove signs as needed. Coming from the material, our blanks come in and they're just aluminum blanks that we can put our white our red, our fluorescent yellow green, whatever. And basically what it looks like is just that there. Throw it up into the roller. And once we got it covered, take it to our work table here and Tim will cut the corners, cut all the access off to where it's lined up right. As far as the plotter and the software that we use, there's a street name sign there and he's gonna go ahead and print that out on the plotter so you can see the plotter and how it operates and runs. There's standards for the height, even just on letters on the signboard. Basically what we have on the computer there is it's pretty much set up to those and it goes through. It's got a very small but sharp needle that goes through and cuts everything out letter by letter. Once that's done cutting, our next stage would be bringing it over here. Currently picking out the sign letters right now. We call it weeding or picking or however you want to call it. Next putting it on the transfer tape. Then after it's taped, we bring it over to the roller. That's where we apply it to the actual sign blank. And we'll roll it through one time just to get the air bubbles out. And the last stage is basically just Taking the transfer tape off the front of it. And there's a finished product of street name sign. We'll take you out to the field and show you our process that we go through. We're gonna go out and follow our sign guys, get something installed for you. This is where we check our underground utilities. Tim, you got AT&T?

AT&T is back here. Ever-G, Google.

We should be good to go. We normally put all of our stuff together out in the field. Then once the base is installed, we'll go ahead and put the post in there. Perfect. And that's how we do it. Simple. Quick.

Traditionally, we think as police officers, those responding to law enforcement needs within the community. But honestly, we are there to serve our citizens, and our citizens do go into crisis. They do have mental health crises, and we're being called to those scenes on a regular basis. In order to help serve those citizens better, we did initiate the Crisis Intervention Team Program. These are officers that are specially trained to de-escalate crisis situations. Recently, we've brought co-responders onto the scene, licensed, qualified mental health professionals housed within our police department. and they respond with those officers directly to those scenes where a crisis is occurring so they can interact with that citizen and get them the help they need right there on that scene.

The co-responders are either bachelor or master level in a behavioral health related field. They wear plain clothes. They don't carry weapons or anything like that.

I have a police radio that I listen to all day. Listen for, you know, those key words. Mental health, behavioral health, crisis.

There's a lot of officers that just call for me. I have my own radio number.

I also have the ability to self-dispatch to them and say, 982 is en route. Officers en route. 914.

So typically I arrive after they've made it safe. I'll make contact and get kind of the rundown, and then I just kind of jump right in.

Like, hey, you know, my name's Allison. I'm a mental health professional. I'm here to help you. I'm not here to take you to jail or arrest you. Sometimes

All a person needs is a voice, someone neutral, someone outside that can listen. I do a lot of safety planning, including family, their support network. Who's close to you? If they're home alone, who can come over and hang out with you today? Can we lock away your sharps? Can we put up your meds? Do you need meds? Can we get you over to the urgent care to get you assessed for your medications? Some of them also were like, oh, I'm so glad you came. This made me feel so much better.

Our main goal as co-responders is to, one, get people connected to the services that they need and also divert from emergency rooms and jails.

And they almost get a different view of the police responding. That lets me know you care and the officers care. Please call the police.

How can we help you?

In 2020, we had 722 mental health related calls for service. 2022, by that time, 1,479. These mental health related calls for service are increasing. How we're responding to that is increasing the number of crisis intervention team officers we have available, as well as the number of co-responders we have available to respond on these calls.

So what I think is important for the community to know about the co-responder program is that we're here, we exist. All you have to do when you call 9-1-1 is ask for us. You know, say, hey, I want a co-responder to respond to this crisis and we'll go. I was really struggling about eight years ago on my personal journey with mental health, and I met some amazing social workers and amazing programs that have helped me get to where I am today. I really couldn't see myself doing anything else. We want to help, and that's what we love to do.

So I had a client, we got a call, she had some suicidal ideations and she really felt that she had nobody. And you know, in getting to know her story and getting to know who comes around and sees you, well then we found a support person and they responded immediately and we made a plan. I called back and checked on her in an hour and then I checked on her in two hours. We were able to get her into the additional services to where she talks to someone every week or more. I just took a person that really just thought they had nobody and nobody would show up for them and show them you do. And you'll be amazed who is in your corner if you just simply say, I need a little help.

Keeping Our City Beautiful is a collaborative effort for all citizens. The City of Lee Summit supports these efforts with a set of guidelines or ordinances. And the City's Neighborhood Services team helps put those guidelines into practice. These guidelines ensure grass stays trimmed, fences are maintained, home exteriors are kept up, and much more. We can all help out by first making sure our property meets these guidelines. If you notice potential violation on a neighbor's property, first check the guidelines on the city's website. If it is a violation, the next step is to communicate with your neighbor directly. If that is not possible, or if the problem persists, it can be reported through LS Connect. LS Connect is an online platform for submitting issues to the city. You can access it on the city website or by downloading the app through your mobile device's app store. Once you submit an issue, it is reviewed by the neighborhood services team. A neighborhood services officer will then visit the site. For any violations found, the neighborhood services officer will leave a notice and speak with the property owner if possible. The officer's goal is to help the property owner solve or abate the problem as quickly as possible. After a 10-day period, the officer will inspect the site to see if the issue has been abated. Normally, by this point, the issue has been resolved. If not, depending on the type of issue, an extension could be granted, or the city might fix the problem at the owner's expense. In rare cases, if all other measures have been applied, the issue will be resolved in the municipal court. Neighborhood services officers work hard to resolve problems quickly and positively. They are here to support the community as we work together to keep our city beautiful.

Thank you. you Thank you. you you Thank you.

and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity to gather and serve our community tonight. Grant us the wisdom in our decisions, patience in our discussions, and grace towards one another. We ask for your continued blessing and protection over our first responders, city staff, and all those that work each day to make our city a better place. Help us lead with humility, listen with open hearts, and always keep the people we serve at the center of our work. Amen.

Thank you. I now call the City Council regular session number six to order. May I please give roll call?

Councilmember Carlisle?

Present.

Councilmember Atkins? President councilmember funk president councilmember Cravens president councilmember prior. Council member Raider president councilmember Frazier president mayor Pro Tem Shields here may Lopez here.

Thank you now we need the approval of the agenda. We have motion made by made by may put some shields in a second by councilmember Cravens any discussion. Hearing none, please cast your vote. All votes are in. The agenda is approved unanimously. Thank you. Go to the consent agenda, please. All right, we have the motion made by Council Member Funk and second by Mayor Pro Tem Shields. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. My vote's run. Consent agenda is approved unanimously. Thank you. All right, takes us to Council Roundtable. Yes, Mayor Pro Tem Shields.

Thank you. I just wanted to give a shout out to LS Gold. They have been working hard all year organizing our World Cup events. And they had their very first football Friday this past week. And it was just an amazing event. Hundreds of people at Green Street watching America win their first game, which was fantastic. Lots of kids activities, food trucks, just everybody had a great time. It was Champions of the Heartland was that first week's theme, and you should all have some stickers at your desks commemorating that. And then this coming Friday will be, I believe, a theme suggested by our very own city manager, Mr. Dunning, Boots on the Pitch. So it's going to be a western-themed football Friday, kind of playing up that wordplay of boots, meaning both soccer cleats and your western boots, so whichever kind you want to wear. So everybody come out this Friday at 6 p.m. to Green Street. Thank you.

Great, thank you. Council Member Frazier.

I just wanted to say that last Thursday and Friday there were a couple of council members. We had an opportunity to travel to Columbia to the Missouri Municipal League. It's a session. Initially it was for new elected members, but it seems like now they're saying anyone can come. So just wanted to say learned a lot, had an opportunity to collaborate with other elected officials and staff members around the state. So looking forward to an additional session locally or regionally and then also in September. And of course, for the record, my son was there because he goes to Mizzou a couple blocks away and we had a chance to have dinner. So great opportunity again for us to collaborate collaborate with other elected officials throughout the state.

Great. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. All right. We will proceed with the agenda. Seeing no other council members wanting to speak. And we will go. We do have one public hearing for tonight. And we will go ahead and go into the public hearing. So I'm going to close the regular session and open the public hearing in application number 2026-7523. And the application, public hearing application, preliminary development plan and special use permit for a convalescent nursing or retirement home, Lee's Summit Senior Community 5101 Northeast Lakewood Way, Lee's Summit Senior Living Community LLC applicant. Will all those wanting to speak please stand and be sworn in by the city clerk. Great. Who's going to go first? Applicant?

How do I advance it? Good afternoon. My name is Eric Wallish, 9100 West 158th Street, Overland Park, Kansas. I'm with O'Reilly Senior Living. I'm here to present our project that we've already presented to Planning Commission. This is a CCRC, a Continuing Care Retirement Community. So it consists of independent living, assisted living, and memory care. This is the site, it's about 12 acres at the northeast corner of Lakewood Way and Boland Road. So this is 172 units plus 15 villas and villas are slab on grade single story structures. Independent living building is a three-story building of 104 units consisting of a studio's one and two bedrooms. Also connected is a two-story structure of assisted living, again, studio's one and two bedrooms. And then finally, memory care in a single-story structure of 20 units. Again, the acreage is about 12 acres, building square footage of about 170,000 square feet, and the assisted living and memory care requires a certificate of need from the state of Missouri, showing that there is unmet demand, and we do have that certificate. So some of the benefits in general of senior housing is it's a very low traffic generator. But one thing we're seeing more and more in jurisdictions, given the housing issue, is that it frees up housing for the younger generation while keeping the resident, the older resident, in the community. Because the average age of our resident is approximately 80 years old. And then finally, although temporary, it does create 450 construction jobs, and there certainly is no negative impact on the school system. So the process that we have gone through with neighborhood engagement is we did the required neighborhood meeting, I think it was at the Lakewood HOA, and there were some concerns, so a planning commission We were asked to do another meeting and we did a zoom call and I would say about 10 residents or 10 homes showed up on that zoom call. And some of the things that we were able to do, we can't solve all problems, but we moved the generator, which was closer to the Northern boundary to the Southern boundary where probably you're going to have future retail and we're going to screen that. And then also we moved the dumpster closer to our structure away from the Northern boundary and we're going to landscape that heavily. We can't move it too much because we have a commercial kitchen. So it, you know, it's got, but we have the same concerns. We want it to look nice because people are going to be living there. And then finally the Northern boundary is a landscape buffer. So we added buffer exceedingly summit standards. Also, we did not install fence because they're already fencing there. We didn't want fence on fence. And then finally on the eastern boundary, there was a neighbor who wanted to continue to see the view south. So we're not going to put any buffer there. So with that, I'm going to turn it over to Tim, our architect, to take you through more detail in plan. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening. I'm Tim Wilson with SWD Architects. Address is 315 Nichols Road, Suite 228, Kansas City, Missouri, 64112. And I will pick up with where Eric left off here a little bit on the some of the changes that we had made on site and initially Or this is where our current generator location is now This is our trash location and this is the buffer area up here that Eric had mentioned See if I can get to an overall plan here. So just to give you a little bit more insight on the project itself. As Eric mentioned, we have villas and these are individual two car garage units, two bedroom, two car garage. We have 15 of those single story structures, and we have those located up here at the highest portion of the site. So the site will slope down around 40 to 45 feet, depending on how you cut the cross section here from, um, the North up here down to the Southeast. So we've got the single-story structures up here with the villa residences. And then this piece of the building will be our AL, which is two-story. This is a shared entry between the AL and the IL building down here, IL being independent living and assisted living for the AL. And this is our main entrance here that will come in and face out to the street So you can split and go both ways here. On the backside of the assisted living is the memory care. This is also single story, which is closest to our neighbors back here in their single family homes. And on the three story portion, this portion of the building is not three stories for the entire building. This half of this wing up here is two stories. So from the street, this will all appear as a two story structure. But down here on the portion that faces the pond, this is three stories. And we're taking this center of the building here and using this to help capture some of that grade and reduce that fall across the site. But this is three stories and wrapping around the backside of the building here. And see if we had a, so this is a little better shot of what we had initially. Initially, we had our generator at this location here with these being the neighbors here. This is roughly about 61 feet to their property line where we had this. We've now moved that down here to this area, which is a little over 600 feet from the property line. Our trash enclosure was right there marked with the T. That was roughly... 68 feet from the neighbors and now we have moved it down in this area when we go back to the next slide and That's putting us about a hundred and sixteen feet Away, so we've more than doubled that distance from the neighbors and it's only it's within 50 feet of our building Now down here or of the residents of our building so We've tried to accommodate those comments the best we can there to relieve their concerns in that area. What's kind of driving this is we've got a commercial kitchen right here at this portion. This is where the deliveries will come in here. And so this is where the majority of the trash is accumulated and created during the course of the day. And this gives them the short distance out. And it's also centralized between the buildings too for when housekeeping is cleaning and can come out to the trash there. And the generators are down here now in this area. We've got two of them. They're each 600 kilowatt generators. They are screened. They will be screened to the top of the generator. I can't give you an exact height on that yet because it depends on the fuel tank height underneath them. But we've noted on our drawings for staff that we will match that height so that it's completely screened. And Eric mentioned the buffer. We increased the evergreen buffers along here to 150% of the city requirement. So I think that ended up adding about 17 additional evergreen trees across the buffer here. And these two lots down here had requested No landscaping buffer at their area, so we've not included anything there based on their request. And that's the project in a nutshell. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Great. I think we're going to have staff presentation first, and then we'll come back to you. So thank you.

Good evening, Hector Soto, Jr., senior planner. I'd like to enter into the record exhibit A, list of exhibits one through 28.

Please enter into the record exhibits one through 28.

So before we start, there are a couple of housekeeping things I did want to mention. So on your agenda and advertised were the special use permit and the preliminary development plan as a single item, and that was done kind of more just for compactness, conciseness, and advertising. So procedurally what's going to happen tonight is that the first testimony that you're hearing and the first action you will take will be on the special use permit application. You will then move on and take action on the ordinance that follows, that accompanies it. After that, then there will be a separate public hearing that will be held for the preliminary development plan portion of it. And what we'll do is that all of the testimony that staff will give and the applicant is given, we're not going to repeat it for the second hearing. So what we'll do is we'll just enter all of the testimony given right now for the special use permit and we'll enter it into the record for the PDP that follows. So, all right. So with all of that being said, to orient, I'm sure everyone's pretty familiar with this site. We're looking at the northeast corner of Boland Road and 470 Lakewood Way. All of this area that is commercially zoned is currently under single ownership. So there's common ownership between the portion of the property that lies between the on-ramp to 470 and the Lakewood Way out road and all this portion of the property where the senior living facilities proposes all single ownership. The commercial zoning has been in place since 1959, so it's been about 70 years that that property has been zoned commercial. And just to get a little reference, the residential zoning to the north, residential zoning has been in place also since about that time, since 1959. It was done a little bit after this portion of the city was annexed in the fall of 1959. The rezonings took place in the winter of 1959. Some more specifically the focus of tonight's application that for which the entitlements are being sought by the applicant are for about 17 total acres in the 17 acres does include this common area track that currently holds the pond that will also provide some stormwater detention the senior living facility itself is will be a separate parcel from the pond. This parcel itself that will house the residential facility is about 12 acres in size. So tonight's application for the SCP, the applicant is requesting a time period of 40 years for the approval of the special use permit. So as has been stated, there are basically three components has been stated. This far northeast portion of the site here is made up of single story independent living villas. And then you've got for the kind of more single contiguous building, you've got the memory care facility at the far northwest corner. of the large structure, and then it transitions into assisted living through a little bit toward the southwest and to the middle, and ultimately you have the taller two-story, three-story split independent living component that's on the southeast portion of the site that backs up to the pond itself. So as the applicant stated, there were two public hearings in front of the Planning Commission, the first one being in March, the second one being in April. And during that public hearing, a number of concerns were brought up by residents, those already being highlighted by the applicant that were namely associated with the trash dumpster location. parking lot location, the landscape buffers, and the requested change to the independent living wing. There were some concerns about privacy and the height of that building that close to the residence to the north. So this is all in your packet, but I'll just kind of give a brief summary. The applicant already touched on this. As it relates to the trash dumpsters, based on the feedback that was received by residents and the Planning Commission at that initial meeting in March, the applicant came back and revised the plan to gain an additional, we'll say, 60 feet of separation for the trash dumpster locations. So... The red square indicates what was originally approved. The green square, or originally proposed, the green square is the revised layout that depicts the additional setback from the property, the residential property. So you can see here that there was significant change, like I said, 50 feet, 60 feet of separation that was gained by relocating the trash enclosures. Similarly, there was another concern about the location of generators, which were about 60 feet from the residential property. The applicant was able to relocate them about 550 feet away, just put them on the other side of the development closer to Lakewood Way, the outer road. The little inset map on the lower right-hand side depicts the proposed landscaping that will be installed around the screen that will be provided around the generated location. So there'll be a combination of shade trees and I believe some evergreens as well that'll provide some additional kind of to dress up the screen so it's not as visible or blends in a little bit more from the outer road. Probably the most significant change or the only change really made to the independent living was that on the left-hand side you could see that the original design had a little bit more of a wing coming off of that northeast corner of the structure. And with it you had three stories of residences, of dwelling units, all of which had balconies and windows that looked out toward the northeast toward the residences. the single-family residences. The applicant has then changed that to take a little bit of that wing off, and the only openings, the only fenestration you see on this end of the building are three windows that are just stairwell windows. So there are no living units that they serve. So those are just stairwell windows, and there's just a manned door to provide access from that side of the building. Redesigned to the parking lot was at its closest point the parking spaces were about 22 feet which met code Which requires a minimum 20 foot separation from residential the applicant was able to gain basically double the amount of separation a little bit more from from the residences to the to the north and The one modification request that the applicant did touch upon is that the residents at the far south, well, it's the south end of the cul-de-sac, which is the northeast corner of the site, you'll see here, those particular residents requested that no fence or landscaping be provided to provide a buffer, seemingly to maintain some of the some of their views or vistas of the park property to the east and also the pond to the south. staff is supportive of that modification request. Overall, the building elevations, the external material pallet is pretty consistent with other residential we've seen throughout the city, composed primarily of fiber cement panels, stone, asphalt shingles. Similarly, that material usage is extended onto the contiguous building, the memory care, independent living, and assisted living building. The IgniteCon plan shows the... Recommended land you know recommended future land use for this site is being commercial Which is reflective of the zoning that has had for about 60 years or actually more like 70 years at this point We're coming up on 70 years so under the existing zoning Hypothetically a number of other commercial uses could otherwise occupy this site. It could be offices restaurants retail locations, but the application that is here before you tonight specifically for development of the site with a continuum of care residential facility. So the city did receive a number of protest petitions regarding the SUP and preliminary development plan. The image on the right here outlines in red the properties that did provide it. Those petitions represent about 13 properties in total, and they constituted 13.6% of the land area within 185 feet of the buffer of the application site. The minimum threshold to be a valid protest is 30%. And for those that are newer to the city council, is that if protest petitions representing a minimum of 30%, crossing the 30% threshold were achieved, a minimum six votes in the affirmative or a supermajority would be required to approve the preliminary development plan and the special use permit. But since that 30% threshold was not crossed, we just need just a simple majority of five votes is needed to approve those two applications. So this slide, it's got the recommendation for the preliminary development plan as well as the special use permit. But right now, I'll just touch on the special use permit. The special use permit requested By the applicant is for a time period of 40 years This is reflective and does parallel another facility facility that they operate also within the city but Aside from that The other conditions I'll touch on a little bit later in the following public hearing but other than that I will be yield to any questions you may have I

Any questions from council? Part of that, Mr. Soto, just for clarification, are you okay with receiving questions both on the PDP and the special use permit in this hearing?

I would be fine with that.

Okay. Thank you. Council Member Funk.

Thank you, Mayor. Hector You mentioned, it's probably more of a question for the applicant, but you mentioned the other facility that they have. Is this going to be the same design team and same operator for this facility?

I'll let the applicant speak to the design side. The operator, my understanding is yes, it'll be the same operator for both facilities.

Yeah, same architect and same operator, which is Arrow. They operate all of our facilities.

That's all I got right now mayor, I'll probably come back.

Thank you. Council Member Pryor.

Thank you. So I know traffic, especially when 470 is backed up, is really bad in this area. Are there any plans to mitigate the traffic at all or to improve the flow at all?

So there was a traffic memo that was required, that was submitted in support of this application. And based on the traffic generation, there were only about, in the AM and PM, about 40 total trips generated by the site. So it didn't trigger a full traffic impact study. The memo also did not recommend any additional road improvements associated with this development. And staff did not recommend any separate road improvements either.

Okay, thank you. I'm not sure where those numbers came from because I've driven the area and it's bad, but okay, thank you.

Well, sorry, just for clarification, the 40 in and out are the 40 generated by this specific use. Oh, okay.

Yeah, so. Okay, thank you.

You good? Okay. Mayor Bertram Shields.

Thank you. Following up on Councilmember Pryor's question, as far as traffic goes, I think the applicant kind of mentioned that this is a lower traffic generating use than some others that might go in for an area with the zoning. Would that be correct? If this were to be office or retail or something else that it's zoned appropriately for, would that generate more traffic for the site?

It would. Certainly, certain uses like fast food restaurants or C-stores that might be allowed under that would trigger more than 100 trips in the peak hours. That would then trigger traffic impact study and then might, in turn, trigger some road improvements. But this use does not.

Okay. And then this might be for the applicant. I know the presentation indicated there had been some protest petitions and that you've made some modifications to the site. Were any of the neighbors who'd opposed it before, have any of them kind of removed their opposition or did they kind of, I know you've done what you can, but I'm just curious if that's affected the neighborhood reaction at all.

I know some after the meeting were happy, but not all of them. So I really can't comment on that. Some were very satisfied that we had met with them, but things like removing a floor, that's just not going to happen.

Okay. I appreciate that. And then I guess for staff, so tonight we're looking at the preliminary development plan, so the site layout and the special use permit to allow the convalescent use. Is that like that's? that's what we're voting on is just the, do we approve the layout and are we okay with this use conceptually?

Right, so the first action is on the special use permit as to whether or not to allow for the use and then if that gets approved,

I think in our packet it's the opposite.

It's PDP first and then SEP. Actually, it should be the SEP first from a procedural standpoint because if hypothetically you're not okay with the use of the property, then there's no point in going on and reviewing the layout of the site. Okay.

But those are, and the criteria that we use for that might be a lot of questioning. You guys always give us that kind of rundown of what are the factors that we use when we make a decision on this kind of application? Okay, sorry.

They are the same criteria.

Okay. That's all I have right now. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Funk, I'll come back to you in a second. I'll let other council people get in line first. Council Member Cravens.

Thanks, Mayor. So just for clarity and to make sure that I heard it right, so the Three-story, is that only the independent living building, or is that all of the buildings?

That would be the independent living.

And that's the narrow one down at the, yes, is that East End? Yeah, right there. Yeah, it would be this. Okay, so that's the three-story, and that's facing the pond.

Correct.

And no residential homes or properties are.

No, just at this far northeast end. That's where the closest point that it gets.

Okay, so right in that corner area. And then that corner area is the area where the modifications have been made, where the lookout portion is just from the stairwell.

Correct.

Okay, thanks. You good?

Yep.

All right, thank you. Council Member Carlisle.

Thank you, Mayor. A couple questions. The SUP for 40 years. So you said that that is in alignment with the other one that they have. That one got approved for 40 years?

Correct.

The other one that's up there, is that 40 years as well? Like, is this a normal thing for these to be 40 years?

They're typically closer to like 20 to 30. They're closer to 20 to 30. We don't have many 40, but they're, like I mentioned, they're one facility that Princeton is one that does have 40.

OK, and then you said they moved the trash enclosure to that. Yeah, that little area. But the trash trucks are still going to come around into there to pick it up, right?

They will, yes.

OK, and that because this is like commercial, that'll probably happen like in the wee night hours.

That might be more of an operational question for the applicant. One would assume, well, I don't want to assume, I don't want to speak for them, so I'll let them address that.

So we have similar concerns with the neighbors to the north because we have folks living there, so we would never schedule, you know, beep, beep, beep at 7 or midnight. So we have very similar concerns.

Okay, thank you. Okay, thank you. I think that's all I have right now.

Great, thank you. Council Member Atkins.

Just a tiny question about the evergreens against the fences. When those are installed, are they installed at a point where they're taller than the fence already, or how many years does it take before that provides a significant barrier?

Our ordinance requires evergreen trees to have a height of eight feet at the time of planting. So a fence would be, or a standard fence, separating the two would be a six-foot fence, so these would be two foot taller. Okay.

Okay back to you councilmember funk Thank you mayor.

Sorry to follow it to my my first question would would there be any consideration to a different design team or Something of that nature given the problems we've had with the other facility That would be a question for the applicant

Mayor, Council, Tim Moore, Arrow Senior Living Regional Operations Director, 17399 South 1900 Road, Nevada, Missouri, 64772. We did, as you mentioned, have some issues with hot water and low pressure. It was originally brought to us as a few isolated incidents in February of 2026. Our on-site team took immediate action, increased tankless hot water heater system temperatures to 180 degrees, which temporarily solved some of those problems. And then in March of 26 and early April, we began receiving additional reports of hot water issues, and we attempted to resolve those. A lot of our attempts went back to the initial construction, the original plumber, original architect. to use to determine what the actual issue was. And what we actually found was we had some unbalanced circuit setters that hadn't been properly adjusted to the manufacturer's recommended specifications. And then in early May, we determined that we had some improperly installed recirculation pumps that were found to be causing some reduced flow and temperatures. So those are just a few of the items that we did to rectify the situation. I don't know what specific questions that you have, but I'd be happy to answer those. We do have... closure of the system or of the problems at this point in time. We've had compliant temperatures for probably at least three to four weeks now, three weeks roughly, as well as due to the inconvenience to our residents, which was about 29% of the community, we did provide concessions in the amount of about $1,000 per apartment to roughly 45 apartments. Okay.

I think the question was, you wouldn't consider changing the design team and getting it right the first time so these people don't have to suffer through this?

I mean, I think The transparent answer to that is we have reviewed the design, and I don't think you'll see future failure because of the review of the design. Princeton is actually a little over four years old. There's been a lot of changes to the design, to the system since then, and so I think it is an isolated incident. As Ben's mentioned multiple times, We have multiple communities in the Kansas City market that were built by O'Reilly and the same design teams, architecture teams, and this has been an isolated incident. So we do feel that there were some system failures as well as possibly some vendor issues that caused this at this particular location, and we're not seeing it at the others.

Thank you, Mayor. Okay, thank you. Mayor for Tim Shields.

Thank you. Sorry, I did want to just follow up on the question that I asked before. So I was looking at an email that staff had sent around to us prior to this hearing, and it had some language that there's a legislative entitlement request of the PDP and a quasi-judicial entitlement request for the SEP. And I was just trying to understand what the difference between those are and the criteria that can be used for voting there.

The primary difference between a quasi-judicial versus... Are we still in public hearing?

We are.

I was not sworn.

Okay.

Can we swear in Mr. Head?

I do. So the primary difference between a quasi-judicial and a legislative hearing, which is what the PDP is, is... With a quasi-judicial hearing, you are acting as a court. You are acting as a judge, and many of the same rules apply as to how you make your decisions. So when you have a quasi-judicial decision in front of you as you do here, your decision must be made with the evidence that's in front of you, only the evidence that is in front of you. Outside influences, outside evidence should not come into your decision-making. A legislative decision, you have more leeway. Looking at the UDO, there are 16 criteria for a special use permit, character of the neighborhood, compatibility with adjacent property, uses and zoning. At least I think I have the correct one here. suitability of the property for which the special use is being requested, extent to which the proposed use will negatively impact the aesthetics of the property and adjoining properties, extent to which the proposed use will injure the appropriate use of or detrimentally affect neighboring property, impact on the street system to handle traffic or parking, impact of additional stormwater runoff to the existing system or the watershed area if no stormwater is available, impact of noise pollution or other environmental harm, potential negative impact on the neighborhood property values, extent to which there is need of the proposed use in the community, economic impact upon the community, extent to which public facilities and services are available and adequate to satisfy the demand generated by the proposed use. comparison of the benefit gain to the public health, safety, and welfare of the community if approved, versus the hardship imposed upon the landowner if the requested application is denied, conformance to the UVO and current city policies and ordinances, recommendations of staff, consistency with permitted uses in the area in which the special use permit is sought. So there are 16 of those categories. The things you do not see in those are external reviews. You don't see external things like comments from comments from social media. Those are not things that you see listed in this list. This is a list that is about the appropriateness of that use within the area and within the neighborhood and within the category or in the location that it's at.

Okay and anything that's presented in the public hearing we can kind of use that list of things as reasons to support or not support the... Okay. No, that's helpful. I know you've run these down before, but we do so many of these different kinds of applications. I always like to make sure I understand what criteria I'm supposed to be judging it by, so I appreciate that. I think that is all that I have, Mayor. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. I don't see any other questions for now. I just had a couple of questions myself. living in this area geographically, myself personally, very familiar with this intersection and this piece of ground. So I have a couple follow-up questions. Partly traffic related, traffic flow, but also for the developer. So the generator itself, generator and transformer, I see it here on this diagram on this site plan. How far is that from the intersection of Boland Road, Lakewood Boulevard, Lakewood Way. Anybody can can answer that.

So as the crow flies, it's going to be approximately 450 feet from the intersection of Lakewood Way and Boland Road. Okay.

And will there be required access to this from the street, from Lakewood Way?

To the generator? No, they've got parking spaces that are just immediately adjacent to it, in front of it. Suppose these kind of, this one probably shows a little bit better. So that's the, here the boundary of the parking space is here. So they'll be able to access it directly just through the parking lot.

On the inside of the home? On the internal side. Internally.

Okay.

All right, and I see the landscaping plan looks like they're making every attempt possible to make sure it is shielded from street view and any kind of visible perspective from the street. I know it's a lower topography area, and it's next to the pond. Is that right?

Yeah, it's fairly adjacent to the pond. It's just west of the pond.

Okay. All right, that answers that question. Thank you, Hector. Then also related to traffic, Mr. Park, I don't know if you could maybe answer this question. So I know in the past there's been concerns by multiple neighborhoods in this vicinity regarding traffic flow and potentially congestion of additional traffic. And as Council Member Pryor said, you know, 291 is kind of a challenge. And these roads, exterior roads, are used as alternative roads. There's issues on 291. So that being said, the only access to this development is on Lakewood Way. Is that right?

Yes, Michael Park, Director of Public Works. That's correct. They have two full-access driveways to serve this particular development on Lakewood Way.

Okay. And based on the estimated volume of autos, I guess, for the development itself, there is no need to widen or expand any of that intersection or that roadway?

There's not a continuing care retirement facility like this is a very low traffic generator. You know, we would estimate during a peak hour that it would generate less than 50 vehicle trips. That's combined going in and leaving. So imagine not a lot of, especially when you split those over two different access points. And the current volume of traffic on any average typical day is anywhere from 5,000 to 6,000 cars a day. Granted, yes, you might have an event that might create additional traffic load, whether it be an event on I-470. that diverts traffic, or maybe it's a special event up at the event center that's in another community to the north, and those spikes do create levels of congestion when that occurs. But the amount of traffic generated by this particular development in front of you is not substantial. three to five percent increase in traffic When you look at the overall traffic volumes that are happening during the peak periods as well as on a daily basis I would also remind those that are watching mayor and council that there is a capital improvement project planned and It was included in a previous election by the voters to improve Lakewood Way. Now, that project is not to widen Lakewood Way and provide four lanes. You know, the capacity of Lakewood Way as a two-lane road currently handling, you know, 5,000 to 6,000 cars a day could double, and it's still got enough capacity. What that project will do is add turn lanes at intersections to improve safety and the flow of traffic because right now without turn lanes, a single car that stops to wait becomes the bottleneck. The other part of that project is add some lighting to address the multimodal safety by putting shared use paths along the corridor, which actually this project does implement along their entire property frontage.

Excellent.

That's exactly where I was headed with that question.

So you got ahead of me. Thank you. And so just one last question for the developer. Just to confirm, this will all be one phase. You mentioned the commercial pad sites. Can you kind of just clarify what that means?

So this parcel is owned by one owner, as previously stated, and he's very concerned about what we do because he wants to kind of match what we, you know, what he does. So we're only buying, we're under contract to buy the northern 12 acres, and it's anticipated that he will develop retail around the bottom on Boland. And then across Lakewood, there's that little parcel. It probably ends up being kind of a, I think around here, quick trips. That's probably what it is. But we also are concerned that he doesn't put, say, Collision center there with I know I'm making a lot of noise again because we don't want that so we have certain use restrictions or Ways he orients the building so the noise does not project on us. Does that answer your question? Absolutely. Yeah, that's thank you. I appreciate that Yeah, appreciate that.

Yeah, so that's all the questions I have then. Thank you councilmember prior

Thank you, sorry I should have asked this or ask this earlier, but so with that being the main way in and out of Blue Springs Lake in the marina was the was the traffic looked at during the summer or was it looked at during the winter? Because I know that makes a huge difference.

So the volume, like daily volume or the peak volume? Not that it necessarily matters in this particular application because the trips generated by this development again are so minor that it really doesn't even necessitate an evaluation of the signal operations down at Boland Road. But we're always monitoring those signal operations so if we see a delay or change that needs to happen, the city does manage those signal timings at Lakewood Way and Boland and that would occur. But to answer your question on the daily volume, those are taken to represent the average day and the state DOT does those collection data collection. The city does that similar data collection. Typically, it's like a weekday. We avoid Fridays. We avoid Mondays, so it's Tuesday through Thursday. For the peak hours, we're in the normal commuter rush hour, and we usually do a two-hour data collection, so it's like five to seven to make sure we get that peak hour correct, both in the morning commute and the evening commute as well.

Okay, thank you. And I understand this isn't going to generate that much traffic. I just didn't know at what point a traffic study needed to be done. Like is it based on total amount of cars or is it based on what this specific development is going to generate?

So it's a good question. As you will see, preliminary development plans get presented to you all the time, the question of when does a traffic study get done. So our staff does a traffic assessment on every one of these applications that come before you. You'll see that in a standardized form with standard sections that evaluate the development. the applicant does their own traffic impact study, a much more deeper analysis of their impacts on the system, any time that development generates 100 or is expected to generate 100 peak trips in a peak hour. And the determination of how many trips they generate is a standard that we all reference. It's a publication that is widely used across the country. It's from the Institute of Transportation Engineers. They look up standard land uses like a continuing care retirement facility and that giant book of hundreds and hundreds of pages you will find a facility that matches and based on its square footage it will give you a projection. Those books are based on countless studies of actual conditions to arrive at an average to give you a projected trip estimate. And that 100 trip threshold is actually codified in the city's ordinances under the access management code to help developers and those come to the city with an expectation of when they do and do not need to do a traffic impact study.

Okay, thank you so much.

Thank you. Not seeing any further questions from council at this point. Is there anyone who wishes to speak in support of this application? Is there anyone who wishes to speak in opposition of this application? I saw that hand raised first here on the left. Yes. Please provide your name and address, please.

Heidi Bergman, 1012 Northeast Scenic Circle, Lee Summit, Ridgewood Hills. My concern, can you hear me?

Maybe lower the mic a little bit.

Hello?

Sorry about that. Yes, I am actually kind of surprised that an actual full traffic study hasn't been done for a couple of different reasons. One of my major concerns is safety, especially The fact that Northeast Lakewood Way has no hard shoulders on the, you know, and so there's, my issue is for first responders, fire trucks, ambulances, et cetera. Obviously there's going to be, if you have a senior center, a senior living facility like that, definitely they're going to be at points, there are going to be ambulances, and they would probably go, well, they might go in different directions to different hospitals, but the closest hospital is Center Point, which goes right past our subdivision. And as we were driving down here this evening in rush hour, there was a, probably an accident on 291 coming into town. And so what starts happening, and this is something that hasn't been mentioned, but I mean, well, you mentioned it Mayor Lopez briefly, but people wind up using Lakewood Way as an alternate route, a service road. And there's been no mention of this, but I could tell you that there are multiple a year where there's total gridlock on Northeast Lakewood Way in front of our subdivision, including one time we had to get to the airport and we were wondering if we were going to make it because we could not get out because the only access and egress we have from our subdivision is onto Northeast Lakewood Way. What happens if there's a terrible emergency and people have to evacuate for some reason out of our subdivision? and there's gonna be gridlock, and what happens if there's a fire or something in our subdivision and there's an accident and there's gridlock? How are emergency vehicles going to be able to access our subdivision? That's one thing. The ambulances, as I said, if there's a problem, and this happens, it's happening more and more because of the growth of our town, and because of development further to the north and because of the... Am I done? Is that it?

You can finish your comment. Thank you.

I mean, because that's a worry for us, you know, because of Independence Arena, because of sporting events. This all coalesces, so there's a lot of gridlock more than, and it hasn't been mentioned once. The other thing that we're concerned about is, another concern I have is sewer, how the sewer system work. I haven't heard anything about that. And on the other end of our subdivision, Timber Hills uses a grinder system somehow to link into our sewer, and it actually has caused problems, including really foul sewer smells coming up. And so that's another concern that I have, but thank you for your time.

Thank you. We'll stick up to that that section up there and then we'll come down this way. I think there was some hands that were raised up above.

Francie Hayes. I live at 5305 Northeast Scenic Drive. This thought came to me. It's not as significant. I still have the same concerns that Heidi mentioned for traffic. You know, you could do traffic studies all you want, but we live there, and we know how it can get so backed up that you can't. It takes a long time to get out of a subdivision. And so that is a concern for... I don't know if there's been any discussion about maybe a sidewalk that would be along Lakewood Way. That was a thought that I had that would be good to consider. But widening the four lanes would be ideal. That's something that I wish would be considered. And then this other issue that I thought of when they were talking about the evergreens, that backing up to the park we have a lot of deer and I know right I back up to the park and I planted a memorial area for my husband who passed away and the deer ate down my blue atlas cedar and so if you do plant like they love white pines You need to put a wire fence around the trees at the bottom while they grow, because otherwise they'll just eat them up pretty high, and you kind of lose your screen. So those two issues. And then the sewer issue, too.

Great. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Hi, Connie Easton, 63 Northeast Scenic Place. I'm down in the corner where they made the concession not to put the shark, so you know what neighbor I am. I had a question for the developer. On the outline, I think one gentleman with the city had a red square on it that included the lake, and I'd like to know how is the lake included in this development, if any? You know, we're talking about the development of the senior living, but the lake is included, and I wanted to know what's going to happen to that if this is approved moving forward. There are a lot of tall trees in the neighborhood that have grown over the last 30 years and not, you know, since it's not been developed, that I'd like to see if there's any way that they can be left and the buildings can start right behind them. For example, on the three-story building, all of that has grown up to... huge trees that would you know you don't even have to put a barrier up there's a barrier up that could block the building from the residents my other one is I did also had a question about the permit for 40 years I don't have a home loan for 40 years I don't know what a 40-year permit means for a site like this does that mean they keep get to they keep the get to do things over and over and over for 40 years? I don't know. And then I did have a question that wasn't answered. It was about the trash truck chiming and noise. It was brought up, but it wasn't answered like when they will come and go. And will there be any residue or water flow or sewer or anything from the independent, the senior living into the lake?

That's all. Great, thank you.

Oh, one more question. Is the company on the inside Ignite? That's all I have, thank you.

Great, thank you. We'll get through all the questions and then if you all can come back and maybe answer some of these. Appreciate that. Sir?

Hi, my name is Bill Leeds. I live at 1063 Northeast Scenic Place, Lee 7, Missouri. I live in the cul-de-sac with nothing behind me there. One of the questions that I have for the city going forward, this sewer system has been in, and it's plastic sewer, this sewer has been in for 20, 27 years, I do believe, that runs through. There's a manhole cover, and this stuff runs into my backyard. There's a manhole cover back there, and then it runs out into the street and hooks into sewer out above. Since this stuff has been in for 30 years already, I mean, is this something that might need to be replaced before anything ever gets built here? I've already got sinkholes I filled in three times over the last 30 years. And right now I've got a drop in my side yard from where we sit right over top of that sewer line. And with increased pressure and stuff coming through there, I have a bad feeling that this is gonna sink it even more. The street has been broken in half for 30 years. by our mailbox for the same reason. I don't know if it's improper backfill, what it is, but the street is cracked out by the mailbox and it's because of the sewer line. With all this increased waste and stuff flowing through there, is that going to cause a bigger problem? My other main concern, and I've watched this for 30 years, going on 30 years, is the lake. With all this increased development and stuff going in on eight and a half acres, nine acres, whatever it is, two inches of rain will take the water above the spill in the middle of the lake. With all the extra runoff and stuff that's going to run in, I have a feeling it's going to go over the top of the dam. And that's something no one has addressed. Nobody's cared about that way for 30 years. But it's going to come time to where it could be a major issue going forward. So that's all I got.

Great. Thank you. Appreciate it. Ma'am, did you want to speak? Who else wanted to speak? Come on up.

Okay, I'm Patty Dowd. My address is 1104 Southeast Hipper Creek Lane. I'm residents aging in place in Lee Summit.

Get closer to the mic if you can. Yeah, thank you.

Residents aging in place in Lee's Summit, for this to occur, the facility needs to be able to care until the last breath. Okay, I don't know what you guys have planned for that. Some facilities do not have the equipment for somebody at their last breath, and they have to ship them out. Will John Knox be able to take care of them, or will they end up on the Kansas side? So it all sounds great. Aging in place, Stanley, Summit, but that doesn't always occur. Last time, Sherry, you asked about the cost of the apartments, and they said about $2,000 to $3,000. When we look at independent living, that's about $2,000 to $3,000. When you go to assisted living, you're looking at like $8,000 to $12,000. Memory care, maybe even more. Could they add a skilled facility facility near there that could take care of people. I know, can John Knox take care of it, but would they have the staffing to do it? So I'm just kind of questioning if that's really a right place for it. If we want our residents to age in place, maybe something bigger, more spread out, similar to John Knox. So that's all I got.

Thank you. Anyone else on this side? Yes, come on up.

Hi, my name is Jessica Kors. I live at 5205 Northeast Holiday Drive in Lee Summit. First, I wanted to thank you for the adjustments that were made. I do appreciate those. However, I do still have some points that I'd like to make. There's still several areas where there is building very close proximity to the neighbors and there is, I do believe that will reduce our home resale values. The three-story building is still taller than most other buildings in the area and will stand quite a bit above the neighboring homes. It's such a limited space for the amount of buildings and construction that are being put into that area. It just seems very congested, not a lot of space or room to expand. If the facility did want to grow in the future, there's not really any room for it. The needs assessment that was mentioned was for the assisted living and memory care. However, it appears that about two-thirds is more of an independent living apartment type style for age 55 and over. that doesn't seem like it really goes with the needs assessment as much. And then the traffic, I know there's been a lot of talk about traffic, but it does seem like the estimate of drivers seems low to me for the age of independent living. It seems like there would be potentially a lot more drivers than they're estimating. So again, as others have stated, I would recommend a traffic study because it is bad in that area. The north drive was also mentioned as it's kind of on a blind curve, and I wanted to make sure that had been addressed. And then I did also want to mention that at the previous council meeting, there was a presentation for a tax incentive. And I would just like to express that I'm not in support of that. So thank you for your time.

Thank you. Anyone else on this side? Good. Anybody else? Ms. Fallin-Whiter.

Teresa Vollenweider, 5201 Northeast Maybrook Road. I guess my concern is similar to the fellow's concern and that is drainage. Is this runoff going into storm sewers and then to that lake or what is happening to 12 acres of runoff, water runoff?

Thank you. Is that all? Anyone else want to speak? Would the developer want to come up and answer any of these questions?

Well, a lot has been said. Do you want to ask me specific questions? I don't know some of the key questions about water. So I'm going to answer the lake issue in layman's terms, and then if it gets too technical, I'm going to hand it off to the... the civil engineer. So the developer John Evans specifically designed that lake I think 20 years ago to assume all of the surrounding flow into that basin. So he went to great expense to design that to sheet flow into that. You want to give a little bit more detail?

Yes, and to answer the question, oh, sorry, Matthew Crudy, Engineering Surveys and Services, Office of 1113 Faye Street in Columbia, Missouri, and civil engineer on the project. So the lake itself, yes, originally John Evans did design that to be a detention basin for development in that area. Since that time, new ordinances, new requirements have changed the requirements. So this lake will receive some moderate upgrades to get them in compliance to the current standards. like the outlet structure you see, that's going to be raised slightly. You're going to see some other moderate changes to contain that. Runoff from the site will all reach this. Very, very little is going to bypass that pond in there. Storm sewers will be in place to take it there. It'll be designed so that the 100-year storm does not overtop the dam. In fact, provides freeboard even to the spillway, again, per current requirements of the city. So the any concerns with the runoff again, it's all compliant with current standards which are really pretty robust even compared to other communities around the area. Do you want to also discuss the sanitarian traffic? Yeah, so traffic items. Not to say too much more, I think city engineers also hit this pretty well. We talked about the overall traffic, you know, around 5,000, 6,000 cars a day that are out there today. Peak PM hours, about 748 vehicles. So lots of capacity actually left here on this road to carry more traffic. Peak hour, about 40 that we'll be adding to it. So little impact. So this development isn't causing any of the concerns or Certainly, the incidents that occur, those are hopefully pretty limited in time. Again, from this development standpoint, it's in line with the ITE manuals and requirements for traffic studies. It does provide recommendations where 40% of what would be required to instigate the need for a traffic study. And at this point, we don't have capacity issues on the road today. And the traffic generated between each of those driveways is very limited. So you're not getting a lot of left turns causing backups. Brake turns are going to be pretty minimal, even in the peak hour. And there's questions about, are those right? Again, we don't develop those numbers. These are generally accepted numbers developed by an independent agency that are used nationwide and taken on independent studies and numerous studies across the country to come up with these numbers. So it is, and it does take into effect urban conditions, rural conditions, and suburban conditions. We're pulling from the appropriate location here from those numbers. And then sewer, from a design capacity or design life of a PVC sewer, I think you're looking at something around 80 to 100 years. That material will last for a long time. So 30 years old, you know, no. I mean, it's got a lot of design life left. You know, if we continue to see some problems, you know, maybe something that, you know, city may want to have sewer staff come out and take a look and see if there's an issue to be resolved there. But in terms of receiving the capacity from this development, No, it's got the capacity. We've reviewed it with city staff. I'm sure they've reviewed it as well. It shouldn't be an issue.

What about sewage going into the lake?

Oh, no. Yeah, no sewage going in the lake. Everything goes into sanitary sewer. That's the state requirements, not local requirements. It will be collected, gravity fed into the existing sanitary sewer in the area and taken to the treatment plants down the way. So none of that's going to reach the lake or any surface flow. Thank you.

Tim, do you want to talk about the continuum of care and how if hospice, for example, is needed, how that's dealt with?

So a couple of things. One of the questions was on trash. I want to address that real quickly. At the beginning, when the community first opens, probably have trash pickups one to two times a week. As the community progresses to full capacity, it's typically three times a week. We do have in our contracts that it's during acceptable business hours. So it's not early in the morning, late at night. One of the questions was, the operator, is it Ignite? No, we are Arrow Senior Living. We operate 45 plus communities in six states, and we have four more under development and or construction and another 20 plus planned in the next four years. To answer the aging in place, we, as an operator, we are a level two community in all of our communities, which means we can do everything except for extreme behaviors. extreme wounds, and 24-hour IV. So we have many, many residents that move into independent living, age in place to assisted living, and then may end up in memory care before their time is done. But we do have extensive support from hospice. We work with multiple hospice agencies, as well as home health, as well as one of our preferred providers, Empower Me, based out of St. Louis. And then the last thing on the continuum of care was brought up about the assisted living and the memory care being approved by the state for the certificate of need. The state does take into effect the independent living program. account or or the quantity of independent living it doesn't affect the certificate of need but they do understand that again it is a continuum of care so if you've got 100 apartments that are being built as independent living those will likely flow into assisted living and memory care so that is part of their equation i i just confirmed with our civil engineer we're required to put a sidewalk down lakewood you want to hit that

Sorry, I could have addressed that one while we're here as well. Again, we'll have a shared use path that's, of course, planned along Lakewood Way. We're required to install a portion of that across our property frontage, and it is 10 foot wide. So the sidewalk requested, well, I think the start of it's occurring now. We also had, again, improvements on the road. We do have to put curb and gutter on. There was a comment about no shoulder on the road. So, again, that's being addressed also.

Yeah, okay.

And then in terms of building height and proximity... Yeah. Hector? Oh, there we go. Back to the... Oh, it's back on the cross-section slide. Yeah, sorry. I don't have to switch it. It's on the other side. In terms of building heights, the site has been effectively laid out to Locate the tallest buildings the furthest away from the subdivision that can possibly occur. The three-story is, you know, obviously taking advantage of the lake view position to do so. Orienting this in a different way is going to push that three-story towards the neighborhoods and be more intrusive into their views, into their backyard. From the cross section, you can see one, the top one, being kind of cut from north to south. You can see to the right being the existing home that's there. Roofline there actually being above the villas, above the three-story, above the two-story. You can see where the site transitions its way across the grade. Again, right through here, following the existing topography. Again, roofline here. above the homes. So certainly the road's falling as the site's falling as well, so the houses are losing elevation as well. But again, single story here, single story here at the closest proximity, two story further away, and then the three story being at this location as well. And that last cross section shows how that would look. Again, a two story home in that location and where that height sits. So you can see the vast majority of these homes are going to be sitting really at an even or and maybe a little higher elevation than the adjacent development.

The other issue I had here is the deers eating the base of the trees. We would have the same concern. We don't want that either. So we would handle that somehow.

Great. Thank you for your responses. Are there any other questions from council? Yes, Mayor Pro Temp-Shields.

Thank you, Mayor. There were a couple of, I think, terminology that might be helpful to explain for especially members of the community that, for example, what is a certificate of need? I know you've brought that up a couple of times and I think we heard about it in an earlier presentation, but can you just kind of clarify what that is and why you have to have it for this?

A certificate of need is an approval made by the Missouri Board of Nursing to understand is there a need in a particular area for additional apartments. We call them apartments. Some call them rooms. Additional apartments in that particular geographic area. And so they have given us a unanimous approval that there is a need in this area.

But it's not for all types of... of the residences here. It's just for the assisted living or the memory care. Which ones do you have to get?

The certificate of need is specifically for the licensed portion of the community, which would be assisted living and memory care. That is correct.

Right. So even though they are aware of the independent living, you just don't have to have a certificate of need to put up independent living, but you do literally have to have one before you are allowed by the state to place these here, right? That is correct.

Correct. Before we proceed with anything, that is one of the first things that we have to obtain.

Okay. And then a special use permit. So I think everybody on the dais kind of knows what that is, but why do you need a special use permit for this site and why is it 40 years?

I'm going to defer that.

Like because I think there was it sounded like from some some of the folks here that were asking questions that they were wondering like What is being permitted? It's just just the the use right that in this zoning you have to have this Special use permit in order to run a facility like this That is correct a special use permit is required for this type of facility in each of the zoning districts in which that are allowed Okay, but it's not permitting any other Special activities or any other special events or anything like that. It's just to to literally to have assisted living mixed-use community, that's what you have to have here?

Correct. So if the City Council tonight approves the preliminary development plan and the special use permit, the entitlement that is being given is specifically for the uses that are outlined here and no other uses outside what's in front of you.

Okay. And then when we talk about the traffic, the reason why you keep citing that, is it 40 autos? I think that's the peak. So it's not the... Over the course of a day, especially given the senior use, folks don't all have to leave right at 8 o'clock to go to work. They don't all have to come home right at 5 o'clock. So the kind of the trips are a little bit, there's fewer of them and they're more spread out. Is that kind of why that peak number is never quite as high? Do I have that right? Sure.

Oh, you can do it.

From a traffic standpoint, you're right about this population will tend to not travel as much in the peak hour. It doesn't peak as high as maybe an apartment complex, you know, working the typical 8 to 5 job. However, you know, it is still hitting peaks in valleys, and it's about 425 trips a day is what we see, again, based around that 5,000 that's already on there. So, again, it's a very small percentage to the overall traffic.

They may kind of try to time theirs. around when the rush hour is because they don't want to drive through that either if they don't have to.

Yeah, I don't either. If I could, I would. Right, right.

Thank you. And then a couple of times you talked about drainage into the lake. I think there might be, at least for me, there's a little bit of confusion of when we're talking about the detention pond on site versus Blue Springs Lake that's right nearby. So all of your... On-site drainage, is that all going into your pond?

It's going into our pond. You know, we're not talking about Blue Springs Lake. This does end up eventually discharging into it. But again, it's a peak storm event. So we're required to look at, you know, let's say a 2-inch storm, an 8-inch storm, a 10-inch storm, I think 11-inch storm, right around that range. And the lake itself is then designed to hold back the peak discharge of that to lessen the pre-developed conditions, you know, like undeveloped today for the full development. And the way it's being looked at now is not just for this facility, but also for what may be developed and commercial in the future. You know, seeing a pretty high impervious area on that.

So the site right now is vacant. All the water is slowly draining into Blue Springs Lake because you'll put impervious surface and buildings on there. there won't be as enough area for it to all absorb. So that's why you have the pond there. So it can flow into the pond, kind of sit in the pond and then slowly drain.

Slowly drain, yeah.

The same pattern it has now, just kind of slowing it down.

Yeah, you have the peak storms and then it's held back. Your typical rainfall, your one-inch rainfall is going to be held back, you know, about 40 hours for a full discharge of that. So it'll more mimic a typical rain event. And that's about 90% of your rain volume that occurs in that case. And then the big flood events are held back so you don't increase flooding downstream. So two-fold.

And I assume staff agrees that this has adequate drainage and sewer capacity and everything else, utility capacity. You guys concur on that?

We do concur, yes.

And then, okay, I think my last question, and then I really will be done. So traffic study. So when we talk about a traffic study in this context, it's not like what the city would do where we're looking at for our CIP capital improvement plan, what's traffic like all over the city, where do we need to increase capacity? It's just specific to given this development, does this development trigger needing to do some kind of study and do some kind of improvements? Is that right? Because I think some folks were asking, like, why aren't you studying the traffic in this region generally? But it's really just dependent on what this project would affect. Is that kind of right? Or what is a traffic study in this context and what triggers it?

So there are two, and Michael Park can speak to this better than I can, there's essentially two levels of documentation reports that are provided. There's a traffic memo, which was done by the applicant as part of this application, and those are done for lower volume uses during the peak hour. The 100 peak hour trips, like fast food, C-stores are the more typical ones that trigger that, where you do have more of a comprehensive look at areas of influence based on the amount of traffic generated by individual uses. Yeah. Close.

Really what the staff assessment is doing is ensuring that all of our policies are met with regard to operational levels, service expectations, access management code, and improved road policies, and assessing the impacts of that development. We review the traffic impact studies, if such is required, to see that we concur with the recommended improvements. The purpose of a traffic impact study that a development might do on a larger impact, one that generates at least 100 peak trips. And of course, if there's an issue where it's questionable, you all as well as staff could require a traffic impact study be presented, but what it's assessing is its impact on the system and mitigating its impact, right? It's not there to correct all of the existing problems that may exist on this corridor or other corridors nearby, but it's really assessing the reach of that particular development that's being proposed and its impact and where does its impact drive service levels below our standards or expectations. And so we have to set a bar to say, here's what our expectations are. It's like a grade card, A through F. It's an industry practice for level service on roadways and capacity analysis of intersections. And as a community, we've said level service C, average is acceptable. You look at the state DOT, they say level service D or E is acceptable. And in this case, given the traffic volumes, the intersection operations, they did an assessment of what their trip generation would be and concluded that there's just not enough trips for us to have an impact on our system, um, that would necessitate some level service improvement by turn lanes or signal timing or other improvement recommendation.

Right. That would trigger that larger.

Correct.

But then as a citywide, like the reason why Lakewood is like good way is going to have upgrades and improvements done is because we, separate from this development. We are always looking at our roads and making sure that we're looking at what needs improvement and that kind of thing, not just development by development, but big picture.

Yeah, it's a big picture. We're constantly monitoring all of the city's roadways, not the state's highway system, but our roadways for safety and operational issues. And then we come before you in a prioritized fashion of where can we address the most severe operational and safety issues in the community? And then typically it ends up on a ballot measure of some kind of funding source. And then if approved and funded, it moves forward through even deeper analysis of what level of widening is needed. Where are the intersection improvements required? That's good. And that's what's happening with Lakewood Way. I'll mention we started with Lakewood Way south of Bowen to Woods Chapel. That's kind of the phase one. So we're still several years off before we begin the work on Lakewood Way north of Bowen to our city limits.

Okay. Thank you so much.

I really appreciate that. Thank you, Mayor.

Sure. Thank you. Council Member Atkins.

Thank you. And this might also be for Mr. Park again or Mr. DeSoto. More on the traffic. You talked about several years off for the Lakewood Way improvements that are part of the CIP plan. Can you layer that over the timeline for when this would be installed? Because they mentioned that there would be a 10-foot sidewalk installed in their portion of the sidewalk. So can you layer those projects on top of each other and say the timeline for both projects?

I'll ask the developer come up and explain their timeline for developing the project But when you see in their application a shared use path that's shown on the plan or you see it as a condition of staffs Recommendation assuming if you approve it with those conditions still stated They have to have those improvements built being the shared use path before they're issued an occupancy Okay, so And that would be the case if there were other improvements as you see developments before you that require say a turn lane improvement or sanitary sewer improvements or water line improvements or storm sewer improvements. They have to mitigate their impact. They have to comply with the terms of their approval before they're issued their occupancy. So a little bit irregardless to what the city's timeline is on the capital improvements, they still need to meet the improvement requirements for the development to proceed.

Okay. So that part is happening regardless, and that is on the east side of the road. And the improvements that you were talking about with the city installing improvements on Lakewood Way, what would those look like? Because all of Lakewood, is it Lakewood Way or Lakewood Drive?

Lakewood Way.

Lakewood Way. All of Lakewood Way won't get a right-hand sidewalk like what they're going to do, but what would the rest of it look like down the road when Lee Summit gets to it?

Well, what they're proposing is the shared use path from their northernmost property frontage down to Boland Road. I believe that's correct, which is their property frontage. The city would then build out the rest north to the north city limits of that type of improvement with shared use path and lighting and potentially curb. We haven't gone through the design process again yet. You know, it's still Little ways out before we start into that level of analysis and design, but that is the intention The scope that was presented is to provide those non-motorized transportation facilities lighting the safety improvements the turn lanes at Intersections all north then of this development if this development wasn't proposed The scope of the city's project would include this same area all the way down to a bowling road

Okay, so one way or another, that lighting and the turn lanes will happen one way or another. And is that inside the five-year CIP plan? I think it is.

I believe the design is certainly within the five-year capital improvement plan. I don't know whether or not construction will necessarily start, but it could towards the latter part of the five-year plan that's currently adopted.

Okay. Is there room to have discussions on that in the Public Works Committee, or is it going to be cut off?

We can address it probably separate of this conversation.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

Okay. Thank you. And then to the developers, can you explain your timeline on how all of this would take place?

Yeah, so we're currently, as I said earlier, under contract. So we don't close on the land because the land has no value to us if we can't do what we do until we get final approval. So hopefully that occurs, I believe, on the 7th for the second reading, if we get through tonight. Then we would start the construction drawings, which are a big expense and take time. So I know you don't like me quoting times, but maybe three months to create the construction drawings, Tim.

Our current schedule would have us finishing our construction documents around mid-December, depending on approval on the 7th, and then the developer approving us to move ahead. So and then following that, we would normally have two to three months of bidding and permit review. So it would be probably second quarter before construction would start next year and then anticipating probably around a 24-month construction process.

Okay.

So it's still like two and a half years down the road before construction. before it would be complete and ready for occupancy.

Okay, thank you. So two and a half to three years by the time this is all done, which would impact the roads, and then if the city does theirs, it would be five years, six, seven years before all of it is widened and stuff. Okay, thank you. I appreciate the detail on that so that we know how the traffic is impacted. I think that's all I have, Mayor.

Good, thank you. Council Member Funk.

Thank you, Mayor. Hector, when we did the, I think recently we did the similar facility in Raintree. The new Raintree.

Yeah, the north side of 150 Highway, yes.

What was the special use permit on that, 25? The length of time on that one?

If you give me a moment, I can look it up. Are there any other questions or questions?

I mean, I think with that, I mean, the question would be to the applicant if they would consider a 20- or 25-year special use permit.

So we were granted 40 years on the Princeton. What comes into play is the ability to finance the project because these are special purpose projects. They're built for one use. So a lender is going to look at that and say, well, wait a minute, though. I can't extend then beyond, say, 20, 25 years. It would make the project difficult to finance.

I think you mentioned there's such a high demand in this permit and everything. I mean, I think it would be pretty simple. There's such a high demand for this.

It depends what the thresholds are. Can somebody just come in and say, we're going to yank your special use permit? That's a problem from a financing standpoint. It would be very difficult to finance the project. And that's why we have 40 years on the Princeton. Thank you. Thank you. You good? Yeah.

All right. Council Member Pryor.

Thank you, my is not a question. Well, kind of is is it Mr Head? Is it an appropriate time? To say that I've had people reach out to me regarding the hot water at the Princeton, but I believe I'd wait until you get out of the public. OK, I didn't know if it needed to be during public hearing or not. OK, perfect, thank you.

You good? Yep. Okay. All right. Yeah, Council Member Atkins.

Sorry, one more thing. When Mr. Eads came up and spoke about the sewer question, you had said that your sewer is broken and your cul-de-sac, and on that road, is this related at all? Like, has the city come to see that, and is that related at all? Is it two different pipes? Is it two different... Well, no, I'm asking the staff, I guess. Is this something that... is relevant to this project.

Jeff Thorne, Director of Water Utilities. The line that this is going to tie into is the line that I believe cuts through that property. We're not aware of any structural failings of the line itself, so I don't have any issue with that. There shouldn't be any capacity issues downstream of this. It goes from a 10 inch to a 12 inch down to a 102 inch line that goes underneath Blue Springs Lake. So there's plenty of capacity in that system, but we can certainly have our crews go out in camera and make sure the line's intact.

That'd be appreciated.

Yeah.

Okay, thank you.

Great, thank you. All right, not seeing any other questions at this point from council.

Mr. Mayor, if I could answer Council Mayor Fonk's question. So the Raintree Senior Living Center did not require a special use permit because it's located within a P-MIX zoning district. So all uses in a P-MIX are set by the approved PDP.

Great, thank you. Appreciate that. Now, not seeing or hearing any additional questions from council. I will now close the public hearing and reopen the regular session. Now, are there any council comments? Yes, Mayor Pro Tem Shields.

Thank you, Mayor. Well, as always, I want to start off by thanking members of the public who have taken time out of their evening to be here. There are a lot more fun things you can do on a Tuesday night, and we appreciate you engaging with the process, including through public hearings it seems like a lot of the comments that folks in the neighborhood have made have helped make this a stronger project with how they're doing their screening and where their generator is located and things like that. So I think this has been a good demonstration of our public engagement process. This is an application that I would support. I think that we absolutely have a need for more senior living options in the community and for more ways for folks to age in place within our community. Given that this area is right off of the interstate and it's kind of a major intersection and is already zoned commercial, I think that there are a lot more high intensity uses that could easily end up there that would be more disruptive to the neighborhood. So this seems like... one of the least disruptive uses that could go there while also being a real benefit to our seniors. So I would be in support. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Council Member Pryor.

Thank you, Mayor.

So now is the appropriate time. Okay. I did want to just fully disclose that I have received some concerns regarding the hot water at the other, your other facility. But my decision is solely based on what I heard during this public hearing. So thank you. That being said, I'm not completely decided, but I do not believe I will be supporting this just because I don't feel like it fits the character of the neighborhood. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Funk.

Thank you, Mayor. I, too, wanted to put on the record that I have been contacted by, I counted them up, seven different constituents. Five of them have residence in... The Princeton and they are very dissatisfied, so I have had contact with those folks. I was asked to come over and speak at the Princeton. I did not. But, you know, based on hearing a lot of bringing in companies from St. Louis to help with the operations, we hear a lot about the demand, the demand, the demand, this special certificate. And I can't support 40 years on a special use permit, so I won't be supporting this application either. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Council Member Atkins.

I wanted to disclose also that I had been invited to speak at the Princeton, and we haven't arrived at a date or anything, just disclosing that I was contacted to speak publicly. I don't know the, I don't have an opinion on the special use permit portion of it. I do appreciate that everyone came to speak and talk about your objections to it. I hope that most of your objections were answered tonight, that those were new answers that you had not heard before. I have known for a while that the road itself would be improved in the next, well, now we know it's five to seven, but our CIP process that runs every year to include the roads has been in process because I've heard before from before you guys that there's a lot of traffic on that road and I come home on that road from work also. So I know that it gets backed up on special event nights. And so I hate that, but I'm happy that it will be addressed one way or another in the future, regardless of this development. But like Mayor Pro Tem Shields said, since it's commercial, anything could go in that area. It could be something yucky that you would not want. And I feel like out of all the things that could go in the area, this type of property is peaceful and quiet and should blend in pretty naturally after you're adjusted to not having that green space there. But we do need this type of housing in Lee's Summit a lot. So thank you for your comments. I appreciate that. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Council Member Rader.

Thank you. I as well would like to thank the people that came and spoke. It's hard to get up and speak and we appreciate always hearing from our residents and knowing how they feel. They live in the area. I live over there, but I don't live in Ridgewood Hills. So I can't say that I can experience the same things that you guys experience there. So it's good to hear from you. I'm not in agreement with the 40-year SUP. I think that's a long time. I understand the financing piece of it, but we also have to think about what's best for the city and the residents here. I understand that we do need some senior housing. I don't like the three-story building. I don't think it fits in with the character. I would probably be more on board if it was a two-story building, but I think they indicated that they couldn't do that financially. So I won't be in support of this project. Thank you.

Not seeing any other comments. Council Member Carlisle.

Thank you, Mayor. I just also wanted to put on the record that I was contacted by members of the community regarding the other Housing facility and not just about the hot water, but also about the hot water. So just so that's on the record and then with the sup and I do understand that there's a couple over there off 50 that did get 40 years. It still just seems like a long time to be and I also understand that if this were in a P mix, this wouldn't even be part of the conversation, but this is obviously not P mix. It's mostly residential. And that's just, I don't know. I don't like a 40-year SUP. I just don't feel comfortable with that. But also, I want to thank all of the neighbors that came out to speak to us and give us your concerns and make sure your voices were heard. We do appreciate that, and it does help in our decision-making. So thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Council Member Cravens.

Thanks, Mayor. So I think there was a lot of good dialogue tonight on both ends, the concerns from the residents as well as the developers. I appreciate being able to have answers to a lot of the concerns, and it do seem to me that There was some good thought in this, and a lot of the concerns were at least acknowledged. I also went into this thinking one way, because I did hear some concerns from the other residents that you own. But for me, it seems as if that was some type of manufacturer situation that you guys have gotten in front of and a one-off, hopefully, that you learned some things from that won't translate over into this property. For me, you know, I am kind of torn on a couple of things. One is I, too, think about the character of the neighborhood. That is very important to me, as well as, like I mentioned before, the affordability of this specific project. I get that, you know, we want nice facilities in our community, and that is, I think, true for all of us, but we also have a due diligence to just ensure that some of this development is capturing residents of different economic levels. I'm not saying that we ignore these types of developments, but I would have loved to to see if there was some type of subsidies for a small portion. But that's neither here nor there. I think I agree with everybody who had a comment on the diets, all the council members. There are some pros and cons. And right now, I'm not for sure which ones has the highest highest rating for me, but I do appreciate the dialogue. I do think that there were strong considerations and answers to a lot of the concerns. So thank you for that and thanks for coming prepared and thanks to the residents for coming with your concerns because they are very valid concerns. That's all.

Thank you. Not seeing any other comments for now, so I will go ahead and kind of chime in. And I'll try not to be repetitive to what has already been said, which with whatever perspective was shared already by my colleagues. As I said earlier, and I've said before at your previous conceptual plan when you came before us a few months ago, I think This is a less intense use for that parcel. That parcel, the way it sits and has sat there for a while, really is an eyesore for that intersection. However, saying that, I do want to emphasize that I really, really appreciate, and I think my colleagues have already expressed that, the very respectful dialogue between our citizens and you all as developers. Thank you for respecting opinions of our citizens. That's the way public process should be conducted and so I'm very appreciative of that. But with that being said I think it comes down to what some of the statements that my colleagues made as far as what is the best use of that that piece of ground. It is uncommercial. It eventually will something will go there. It could be a more intense use and The traffic situation, I think it was Heidi. You let it off. You did a great job of kind of laying the framework for the entire situation. Those concerns that you brought up, I've been fully aware of those for a long time. And we've worked really hard. You heard Mr. Park. discuss kind of the plans with the capital improvement plan and it's not just a wish or an opinion or an idea. It's going to happen. There's going to be road improvements along that road. And it's extremely important for a lot of the reasons that you mentioned. I'm looking at you, but a lot of the comments that were made are very spot on. But I think you have to look at the project for what it is, the piece of ground for what it is, the use that they're wanting to put on there. There is a demand for that type of housing in our community. And I'm very, very sensitive to making sure. That's why I ask the questions about traffic. I think the questions about sewer and water flow are very important as well. I think most of those technical questions were answered. But the road itself, there's been other projects that have been presented in the past that had much more intense use that I did not support. And so, like I said, I drive this area quite a bit. But I think with the merits of this project, I think we have to be careful of what we wish for for this particular site because something else could come in there that's more intense of a use. But I think what's really important for us, my colleagues all have their own discretion, they make their own opinions, they make their own decisions, but I think we have to send the message of being consistent as an elected body. And a similar project that has had some challenges, I think the developer answered the questions very transparently, They had challenges with some plumbing issues. What they're testifying today and our staff is comfortable with their responses. If those issues will not be issues at this location, then again, we have to be consistent in our decisions and, you know, granting the 40 year special use permit, I think is being consistent. So that being said, again, I appreciate you all taking the time and being gracious to our citizens and respectful. Hearing them and trying to accommodate every one of their wishes, I think that Again, the respectful dialogue kind of tells us that it's a tough decision for us always to make a decision on these kind of projects, but I feel comfortable supporting the project. So with that being said, I'm not seeing any other questions. Mr. Head, we're going to reverse the order of the bills, correct? Can I interrupt? Sure.

We very much want to get this project done. I've been doing this a long time. I can actually move into this place now. An SUP is generally a special use permit or a conditional use permit, and I don't want to speak for this particular jurisdiction, but across the U.S. shines more light on it. It gives it, you look at it more closely. That's the reason for it. As I said earlier, these buildings are special purpose. I mean, if I can't do what I do, It has no value. So there was also concern that the operator was from St. Louis. It's a Missouri operator. We use them everywhere. I think you're headquartered in St. Charles, correct? Yeah. And I think what's also correct is something's going to get developed here. And this is a pretty docile use. But that said, because I want to get this done, I'll do a 30-year SUP. So I'd like to propose that. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Head, procedure-wise?

Given the statement, I believe you could amend the special use permit to 30 years if you chose to do that.

Okay. Well... We'll go ahead and read it, and then... Council members that had concerns about the SUP time, do you all want to make any comments?

I'll entertain it, but to clarify his question about the operators from St. Louis... No, it was mentioned that you would bring people from Saint Louis here to do the work such as your agent place stuff, your hospice stuff and things like that to clarify what I said. I don't want to go back and forth about it. Do we have to open that?

We have to reopen.

Well, I think the question is whether you are going to allow the additional testimony. You could reopen at this point by that testimony if you chose to.

I think we probably should. You guys okay? You guys want to talk about it more? Go ahead. All right. That being said, I will go ahead and close this regular session and open the public hearing once again on application number 2026 dash 7523 and I think we know the application with the intent is and the purpose. So we're in open meeting. Public meeting. If you can answer the question, please.

To clarify my statement, Arrow Senior Living is based out of St. Charles. All of the employees at the Princeton or the Barrymore or any other community are based out of the Kansas City metro. They are not from St. Louis. Empower Me is one of our preferred providers. They are based out of St. Louis, but they have employees that are based out of the Kansas City market. They are not coming in. They are based here in Kansas City. They go home to – I know – I believe at least one from the Princeton lives in Lee Summit. So they are all metro-based staff, even though our home office is in St. Charles and Empower Me is based out of St. Charles. So all the staff in all the communities are local-based. They run the communities with support from the regional team or the home office team.

Great. Thank you. Any further questions, Council Member, or comments? Okay. Council Member Carlisle?

Yes. Just a reminder that any additional testimony, all the persons who were previously sworn remain sworn for the reopened hearing.

Great. Thank you. Any other comments from Council Members? If not, we will proceed then. Council Member Carlisle? Sure, yeah, OK. Alright. We've man this and we can't just speak from the we just can't speak from out of the audience. We are in a public hearing and I will grant you an opportunity to come up and talk. If you want, if you want.

Teresa Vollenweider, 5201 Northeast Maybrook Rd. I heard Pro Tem Shield say that it was a detention pond. I don't think it's a detention pond. It's a retention pond. Unless we have a severe drought, I doubt that that thing ever goes dry. So I think when I've driven by there, there's always been water in it. So my understanding is that is a retention pond.

OK, thank you. Yeah, OK, so now we will go ahead and go into public hearing. And we will close the public hearing and reopen the regular session. Oh, come on, come on up.

Belize, 1063 Northeast Scenic Place, Lee's Summit. As far as the retention pond, and I asked Hector just a minute ago, if anybody realized that there's five different springs that run into this retention pond, that's why that pond never, ever goes dry. Based on the map of where that generator is, those springs start from about that pond toward the intersection. When the survey was done on the property last fall, we hadn't had rain in six weeks. The guy who was doing the survey, just on the other side of the drive toward the intersection, probably 20 foot on the other side of the intersection, all the way to the intersection, six inches down was wet. So that's how that palm never goes dry.

Great, thank you. Appreciate that. OK. With all testimony that's been given, we will now close the public hearing and reopen the regular session. Are there any additional Council comments? That's from Carlisle.

Thank you mayor. I just wanted to say to the developer. I thank you very much for saying you could do 30 years. I do appreciate you doing that. It helps me a bit, but I'm I'm just I'm still I'm still thinking. So thank you, but I appreciate your concession.

Thank you, appreciate that. Alright, then hearing no more questions or comments, Mayor Pro Tem Shields, will you please read bill number 26-091?

Sure. Question to Mr. Head. Can I read this with a 30-year or would I need to wait for someone to make an amendment?

It would need to be read as presented on the agenda, but then there could be an amendment to that bill subsequent to the reading.

Thank you. I move for second reading of Bill number 26-091, an ordinance granting a special use permit for a convalescent nursing or retirement home in District CP2 on land located at 5101 Northeast Lakewood Way for a period of 40 years, all in accordance with Article 6 of the Unified Development Ordinance for the City of Lee Summit, Missouri.

Great. Thank you. We have a motion made by Mayor Tim Shields for Bill number 26-091 and a second by Councilmember Atkins. So now... I'll help you through it.

Okay.

All right. So I move to amend... Okay, so I move to amend bill number 20267523 to include 30-year in lieu of the 40-year. What's that? Oh, sorry. That was bill 26-091.

So we have the motion made to amend Bill 26-091 by Council Member Cravens, and it's been seconded by Council Member Atkins. Any additional discussion? If not, please cast your vote. On the amendment. We're missing one. Is there a recusal? You're gonna what is your Are you saying we choose with them you must say that on your mic You're you'll be voting Sorry, I have to recuse.

Okay.

Great. Thank you. So the the bill passes five three with one recusal That's on the amendment So now, do you want to read? Yes, so now we need to vote on the motion as amended. Can you do that for me? May I pretend? Okay, then please cast your vote. It's the same one, same one. All right, here we go. As amended. So. It is.

All votes are in recusal as well.

Thank you so the motion is tied. And then recusal. So it fails. Mission fails. So no need to read the next one, right? Go back in there. All right. Thank you all. You want a break?

Yeah.

We will take a 10-minute recess.

Ever wondered how the city budget works? The total 2026 budget is over $380 million, which includes funding for daily operations, capital improvements, debt service, internal service, and enterprise operations. For example, the General Fund is the foundation for the city's day-to-day services and investments like road maintenance, public safety, and fire protection. The General Fund is supported by property taxes, sales taxes generated by local businesses, franchise taxes, and other sources like licenses, permits, and fees. For every dollar citizens pay in property tax, the city receives 18 cents. This means the city receives $845 a year in property taxes for a median single-family house. These taxes provide public safety, park maintenance, infrastructure, and the best services to keep Lee's Summit going and improving. One of the community's top priorities is infrastructure investment, which is reflected in the capital improvement plan. $113 million of the 2026 budget is invested into the capital improvement plan. The 2026 capital improvement budget includes investments like the 291 and 50 highway interchange, 3rd Street, Ward and Purcells intersection, and Prior Road. The budget process includes guidance from the City Council, citizen input, and critical success factors from the City's IGNITE strategic plan. To learn more about the City's budget, visit cityofls.net backslash budget.

When the person called on the phone, she said that there was a dinosaur walking down her road. Of course, we had to go out and check that out. We get out there, and it was a big African tortoise, probably 60 pounds, walking down the road. When they walk, they really stand up tall, so I could see why she thought it was a dinosaur. I'm Rodney Wagner, I'm the manager of Lee's Summit Animal Control. So as you can see, we've got all sorts of animals here. We've got some guinea pigs off to the side. All the windows up here are animals that are adoptable right now. Every one of these dogs is ready to go and ready for adoption. And the same thing with our cats over here. A lot of cool cats in here now, so. This is our three-acre lot we have out back. This is where we do all the walking of dogs, exercise. We also have a side yard off to the side over there so we can let them run loose. They can run together and we have what's called play groups. Kind of like having a bunch of kids. Here's our vet room. We have a vet that comes out twice a week. This is our sally port where we bring the animals into. This is one of our animal control trucks. And we can hold up to six animals. We have a lift on the other side to put big animals in. We actually have temperature gauges in here and in the truck to tell us how hot it is. Once it gets to a certain temperature, we bring all the animals back here immediately, so. This actually has traps in it, but. We do a lot of wildlife trapping. I mean, a lot, so. Bats, pot-bellied pigs, horses, cows, emus, a lot of reptiles. We had a citizen one time that had over 200 reptiles in his basement. Caimans and alligators in here that are four or five feet long, you can't keep those. And people do, and they're surprised when they can't keep them. I'm like, really? You're surprised you can't have an alligator now? Our main goal here is public safety and also the safety of the animals. And we have very dedicated people back there, and they definitely stay here for the love of the animals, which also includes getting them adopted out. We'll have about 4,000 impounded animals a year. Probably about close to 2,000 are dogs and cats. The cats and dogs, when they get impounded here, they go on a five-day hold. And then after the five days, if the owner doesn't show up, then we can put them up for adoption. Adopt an animal here is actually really simple. You just come in, look for whatever animal you're looking for, find the right pig. You have to go to the adoption room up there and see if you get along with them. You spend as much time as you want to in there. From that point on, it's just a matter of making sure they're spayed or neutered and all their vaccinations up to par and they're good to go. We have a very high adoption rate because we try everything in our power to get animals adopted out. We have Heart of America, a humane society that we do a lot of adoptions through. And then we also have other groups. We have some people that literally will just look all over the country for somewhere for a dog to go. And we sent dogs up into South Dakota, North Dakota, Washington State. So it's actually, it's a huge united effort to get all these animals home.

Tarzan's got lots of energy.

Hazel's got a weird bell bell. She wants nothing to do with the other cats. She'll kind of get her grumpy face going.

And the good thing about the people here is that they get all their friends to get animals too. All of us have probably the limit of all the animals that we can have at home. You know, they are huge animal lovers. If it was up to the people here, we'd have 15 cats running around in here. We had a citizen one time out there, and he was bathing his two nine-foot-long boa constrictors in the front yard. Apparently, that was garnering some attention, and so we went out there and had to talk to him about that. Do I do this job? Oh, dude, I love this job. I grew up on a farm, and taking care of that many animals, you can't help but like animals. This is just like fancy farming. You know, you're just bringing animals in here, taking care of them and and find them homes. And yeah, absolutely animal lover.

Traditionally, we think as police officers, those responding to law enforcement needs within the community. But honestly, we are there to serve our citizens. And our citizens do go into crisis. They do have mental health crises. And we're being called to those scenes on a regular basis. In order to help serve those citizens better, we did initiate the Crisis Intervention Team Program. These are officers that are specially trained to de-escalate crisis situations. Recently, we've brought co-responders onto the scene, licensed, qualified mental health professionals housed within our police department. and they respond with those officers directly to those scenes where a crisis is occurring so they can interact with that citizen and get them the help they need right there on that scene.

The co-responders are either a bachelor or master level in a behavioral health related field. They wear plain clothes. They don't carry weapons or anything like that.

I have a police radio that I listen to all day. Listen for, you know, those key words. Mental health, behavioral health, crisis.

There's a lot of officers that just call for me. I have my own radio number.

I also have the ability to self-dispatch to them and say, 982's en route. Officers en route. 914.

So typically I arrive after they've made it safe. I'll make contact and get kind of the rundown. And then I just kind of jump right in.

Like, hey, you know, my name's Allison. I'm a mental health professional. I'm here to help you. I'm not here to take you to jail or arrest you.

Sometimes All a person needs is a voice, someone neutral, someone outside that can listen. I do a lot of safety planning, including family, their support network. Who's close to you? If they're home alone, who can come over and hang out with you today? Can we lock away your sharps? Can we put up your meds? Do you need meds? Can we get you over to the urgent care to get you assessed for your medications? Some of them also are like, oh, I'm so glad you came. This made me feel so much better.

Our main goal as co-responders is to, one, get people connected to the services that they need and also divert from emergency rooms and jails.

And they almost get a different view of the police responding. That lets me know you care and the officers care.

In 2020, we had 722 mental health related calls for service. 2022, by that time, 1,479. These mental health related calls for service are increasing. How we're responding to that is increasing the number of crisis intervention team officers we have available, as well as the number of co-responders we have available to respond on these calls.

So what I think is important for the community to know about the co-responder program is that we're here, we exist. All you have to do when you call 9-1-1 is ask for us. You know, say, hey, I want a co-responder to respond to this crisis and we'll go. I was really struggling about eight years ago on my personal journey with mental health, and I met some amazing social workers and amazing programs that have helped me get to where I am today. I really couldn't see myself doing anything else. We want to help, and that's what we love to do.

So I had a client, we got a call, she had some suicidal ideations and she really felt that she had nobody. And you know, in getting to know her story, getting to know who comes around and sees you, well then we found a support person and they responded immediately and we made a plan. I called back and checked on her in an hour and then I checked on her in two hours. We were able to get her into the additional services to where she talks to someone every week or more. I just took a person that really just thought they had nobody and nobody would show up for them and show them you do. And you'll be amazed who is in your corner if you just simply say, I need a little help.

You can make the difference in somebody else's life.

If you're trying to get into the fire and EMS service, Lee Summit is probably the top name.

On a daily basis, we are tasked with an incredible task. So we're trying to keep it a relaxed environment.

As a new person, you are constantly on edge, learning.

Morning will look typical. Coming in, getting a report from the shift that's going off. We get our truck checks done.

Our citizens trust us and believe in us by providing amenities like our gear, our stations.

They build it to accommodate getting to a call, but also having a home. State-of-the-art weight equipment. Individual bunk rooms. Downtime errors.

Breakfast and dinners together.

Cook together. Get to know one another. Train together. Like a brother knows a brother and a sister knows a brother. Banter back and forth. But when the tones go off, they go to work.

We're here for 48 hours, so it can happen at any time. You can be in the gym. You can be in the middle of the night. You can be cooking.

Stop what you're doing and listen. Wherever we are in the station. People will stop what they're doing and listen. Finding out which station it is. What is the nature of the call? EMS. Fire. What apparatus? Where are we going? Is it in my district? Maybe on the highway.

Am I assisting somebody?

Despectations. What gear is it in? Other lives involved. that adrenaline dump, adrenaline rush, pants on, coats on, getting in the truck, we're mentally focused, geared up, paying attention to where we're going.

Then we have a game plan that happens in the truck. The officer can give directions, the dispatcher will update you, the officer will listen, the driver will listen, we get all on the same page, then when we get to the call, we can go to work. So many degrees of severity, structure fire, swift water rescue, EMS, car accident, technical rescue, attack medic team. The equipment the fire department offers us is top notch, from ring cutter to extrication equipment.

State of the art stuff, great trucks. Tablets, Lucas device, battery powered pot.

The right tools, the right training. The learning does not stop in the academy. Building blocks continue call after call. Opportunities to grow. Started out as a firefighter paramedic, moved to the rank of engineer paramedic, most recently the qualification of acting captain.

Firefighter, engineer, recently promoted to captain.

Promoted to paramedic since I've been here. I'll be honest, it's scary sometimes. You're the one back there. That person is having a bad day and they're counting on you.

We practice these scenarios over and over. So when someone has an emergency, we can channel those energies, minimizing any more injury. And then when it's over, we'll say, hey, how did we do it? How is everyone doing? and we'll have frank conversations back at the station. The station assignment for us is a 48 on, 96 off.

The four days off is probably one of the greatest things ever.

Help us improve our sleep patterns, wellness, mental health. It gives you many, many options.

I have a small little 15 acres that we like to hobby farm, but backpacking in the spring and in the fall. Mountain biking when the weather's good.

I have a 21 month old at home, so I feel like I get to work full time job and then on the four days off be a stay at home mom as well.

Spend a little more time with my kids, travel around the world. I was able to take my oldest daughter on a trip of a lifetime. We went to Europe for 22 days. I got hired to help others. Helping others also helped me see my children grow, see my family grow, see my career grow, and me grow as a person.

People that are in the industry know the name of Lee's Summit Fire Department. Every fire academy knows it, every other fire department knows it. If you're looking for a job in the fire service, Lee's Summit's the place to be.

That's who you want to be, somebody who can make positive change in other human beings' lives.

Welcome to the Leaf Summit sign department. We are going to walk you through our process from start to finish. We make signs as needed here. It's not like we just go out into the field and place the speed limit sign here, no parking here. Our traffic engineers, they go through and they'll do field studies. They'll send us down an engineering work order.

part of the agenda that is the public hearing so that being said we do have some people that have signed up to speak i believe i will go ahead and say it because she filled out a form to speak but i believe she spoke earlier during the public hearing miss heidi bergman is she gone she gone okay all right thank you we'll stick to alphabetical order mr floyd

I did like that whole back and forth with that last motion. That was awesome. I am civically refreshed. And I'm not here to bash people. My mission in life isn't to bash public officials. However, I must say these things because I mean them. The public comments portion of the council meetings is optional. The Missouri Sunshine Law does not mandate public comments. Public comments can go away tomorrow and that's legal. It'd be a horrible look for the city if anybody cared. Public testimony on the other hand is different. Can it be eliminated? I don't know, I don't have that answer right now. But the fact that I even ask is a troubling symptom. Like the previous mayor, this mayor in his official capacity is demonstrating a surprisingly thin skin for somebody who sought public office. You were here for eight years on council. You're not a babe in the woods. This is the arena that you chose to enter. Your official page received a volume of sharp and immediate criticism of your response to downtown days. I don't think you expected that. You didn't like it, so you shut it down. In my opinion, you were wrong to do that and you remain wrong for doing that. This is your official Mayor page and you don't get to do that. It belongs to the people. If there were actual imminent threats made to either your family or anybody else, that is a matter for Chief Forbes. I assume those imminent threats are currently under investigation. As for the other nastiness, vulgarity, or even racist or otherwise offensive comments that were made, that's the price of admission to this arena. You know this. The Rules Committee meets Thursday with one agenda item, the camera fiasco. It's kind of moot since public comments are optional anyway and they can just be taken away. So it's kind of moot, kind of not. I've said a lot about this publicly and to the entire council. It's frustrating because it's so embarrassingly unnecessary. As an example, as a private citizen, if I want to campaign from this lectern, I will do just that and I've made a clear demonstration of doing that. Ultimately, the city can video from whatever angle it wants, so long as it's equal for everybody. So there's no real winning for me on this whole issue. It's a bellwether. Finally, the communication strategy. I looked it over briefly. Torres Communications developed the plan. I'd like more information on the partnership, like the length, the cost, the contract, the ongoing consulting, and so forth. I see some issues, but overall, I think it's a good plan. Thank you.

All right. We have J.D. Schiller.

Good evening, Mayor, council members, and city staff. My name is J.D. Schiller, 705B Southeast Melody Lane 1106, Lee's Summit, Missouri, and I am a lifetime resident of Lee's Summit. I am here tonight because I do love this city, I love our downtown, and I want to see our community festivals and events continue to thrive. For 37 years, Downtown Days has been a celebration of our community, our businesses, and the people who make Lee's Summit such a wonderful place to live. People gather and enjoy a few days together to begin their summer. Unfortunately, on June 6, 2026, I witnessed something very different. What began as a normal festival celebration during the day deteriorated quickly into large crowds of unruly minors, multiple fights, panic runs, and assaults on law enforcement into the evening. Families were running and many people had no idea what was happening or where the danger was coming from. I personally recorded several videos of the fights and panic spreading throughout the crowd. Most importantly, during a panic run, my friend was shoved to the ground. She hit her head and suffered a serious head injury. She was hospitalized in the ICU, and she continues to recover. As a witness, I felt it was important to make the public aware of what happened. I provided my videos and firsthand account to local media outlets, and the footage has since been shared nationwide on social media, bringing national attention to events that occurred in our city on June 6th. Downtown Lee Summit is one of our greatest assets. I do not want fear to replace the success our community has worked so hard to build. My request tonight is simple to all of you. First, conduct a thorough review of what occurred and publicly share the findings. Second, implement enhanced security, crowd management plans, and additional resources for future festivals before situations escalate like we saw. And third, provide clarification regarding how injuries related to these events are documented and communicated to the public. As we look ahead to Oktoberfest and of course other events that we want to have in downtown Lee's Summit, let's take proactive steps to ensure residents, visitors, families, and business owners feel safe and secure attending them. Finally, I ask that city leaders, law enforcement, event organizers, businesses, and residents work together to preserve these important traditions while improving public safety. We do not let bad actors win in any part of our society. The answer is not to give up on festival events. The answer is to learn from what happened, make improvements, and ensure that families once again can attend these events with confidence. Lee's Summit has built something great. Let's protect it, strengthen it, and make sure future generations can enjoy it safely. I appreciate your time, your service to our city, and your willingness to listen. Thank you all. Thank you. Appreciate it.

All right, Ms. Bollenweider.

Teresa Vollenweider, 5201 Northeast Maybrook Road. Listen for the word blip and try to figure out what it means.

Continue. Actually, I'm just going to give you a map.

Need the volume up.

The sanitary sewer essentially runs down here in this creek.

Need the volume up.

The one, the easiest option is obviously just to come directly to it. There is an option that would come further over, come south, and then come down and connect. But the issue is that we're starting to work with, and we just briefly discussed this with Public Works, but we're starting to push the length of that line to 300, 400 feet long. And so what I think Public Works' immediate response is, is, man, that seems like a lot of line for us to maintain for a single house to be connected to it. So there is... Of course, Public Works does not need to maintain that line. We're open to... continuing to look at that and see if there's another way or see if that easement is possible. But that, I think, is the kind of immediate concern when that discussion started was it's just going to be such a long line for one use that it was going to be taxing on your maintenance staff to keep that line up.

So the initial expense is for the applicant, but the ongoing maintenance is for our public works.

Correct. And that, of course, is false. That's wrong. And coming around, it's about a $35,000 sanitary sewer system that would go out and around that would be paid for by the applicant to install. Thank you.

Council Member Carlisle.

Thank you, Mayor. Sorry. So you said to what you just drew out with your little hand here, How far? You said that's 300 to 400 feet to connect to go within? I'm assuming the property line is there for the neighbor, so you have to go that way and then come over to miss the other neighbor?

Yeah. So if you look in here, I think we can kind of show you. The lines are a little tricky as they get in there. This line with kind of a little blip on it, that's the road right-of-way line. So that's the right-of-way of Maybrook. And so you can see that up to about a point right here, that creates that sliver that is owned by the adjacent property owner. And so in order to get onto our own property and only cross road right-of-way, we'd have to come over somewhere near this utility pole that exists before we could come south across the public road right-of-way.

And how wide is that blip that you just called it that the other property owner owns?

Oh, right in here? Uh-huh. So obviously it starts at a zero here, and I think it goes up to somewhere in that 18-foot range.

It's concocted and contrived.

So what we're truly asking for that is forcing us to either put this...

Took me a long time to figure out, but it's concocted and contrived.

...is 20 feet.

Thank you.

As I've said before, you all need to be looking for these seals. This one has it. It's obfuscated, but it has it. This one doesn't. You all need to be looking for those seals. On documents that are being put up on that screen.

Thank you miss phone wider. Alright, we are on agenda item number 6. That is a presentation tonight. I see Ms. Slate coming up. Presentation is on communication strategy findings. We have a whole team.

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. Donna Lake, Assistant City Manager. I get to work with the Creative Services Team, and we thought we would bring them up here for you guys to have a quick introduction of them. I don't think you often get enough face time with that team, and you always see Matt in the back as he's getting the... meeting up and running for you guys and some of the different staff here that help support that as well. So I will let, start with Jordan and let her introduce herself and then we'll kick off our presentation.

Good evening, my name is Jordan Byers. Madison Meade. Laura Ingaman.

Josh Cominellis. Matt Bowles.

All right, and that is your Small But Mighty Creative Services team. Let, yes. Who has new leadership under Megan Dillard? And anyways, and just to give you a little history and background, you know, for many years the city operated with a single PIO that worked in administration. About 11 years ago, and actually Mr. Dunning had a big role in developing the creative services department and splitting that off out of administration and into its own division. and of course was under different leadership at that time and as that team grew I think Laura who you just met was one of the initial employees and then Josh and they continued to build the team over the past 10 to 11 years and so as that team was developed and through iterative processes was very heavily marketing focused and trying to tell a story of the city and working with a lot of video content and those things that you've seen from the team itself. This is just the next iterative phase. And so I will say that when we started this project, council voted to give us some funding to do this communication strategy out of our unfunded oh gosh, General Fund Reserve unfunded dollars. And so with that, we were able to engage the Torres Communications Management Team to do this strategy for us. Of course, that started back in September when we kicked this off and with different leadership. And so I just want to have that conversation for a second just because the fact that When we started, we had different leadership, different mindset, different communication styles and then we took a little bit of a pause because our former director decided to retire and so instead of continuing that path forward, we wanted to take that pause so that we could have our new director, Megan Dillard, come in and have a lot of input and conversation and finish developing that product and developing that strategy. and really shifting towards a whole of community and more into not just the marketing and supportive things like Explore LS and Green Street and all of the things that the team has put together in internal and external communications for the city, but also a lot more public information content as well. And so with that, I will turn it off or turn it over to Megan Dillard, our new director of communications.

Well, Donna teed it up nicely and introduced the team. I'm grateful that they came tonight and took time away from their families to be here. I thought it was important as they speak to you and they hear about the things that we've done. I was doing the math. Today marks my three-month anniversary in the city, so a lot of change in the last 12 weeks, and we've gone through some things as a city, and so I think the timing of this is right, and I want to... Switch it off of this and get Ann pulled up. That is the consultant who's going to walk us through the presentation. Ann is here. You'll see her. You can see her and then questions that you have. She'll get through her slides, but if you have questions, she and I will just kind of share the lead depending on what the question is and what the answer warrants.

Thank you. I'm assuming everyone can see the screen and what I'm sharing.

Yes.

Okay. Thank you, Megan. Good evening, council members. Good evening, Mayor Lopez. Thank you for your time. Again, my name is Ann Torres. I'm the CEO and President of Torres Communications Management. A little bit about myself. I spent the majority of my career more than 15 years in government communications. I previously served as a communications director for a few large metropolitan cities. Here in the US, and when I finally left government and public service in 2018, I started my firm. And now, since then, I have been working with municipalities, cities across the country, nonprofits and companies in helping them develop their own strategic communications plan. So, tonight again, as you heard, we're going to be presenting the city's communications strategic plan for 2026 through 2028, which will serve as a 3 year roadmap for how the city communicates with residents, businesses, employees, partners and stakeholders. And this plan is the result, as you heard, is the result of more than six months of work. And so that included stakeholder interviews across the organization, benchmarking against comparable cities, peer cities, and a full assessment of where the city's communications stands today. Now, quick framing note before I begin, you know, this, this plan represents a period of real change and a significant shift in the way that we hope that the city will communicate going forward. And so I want to make sure that everyone knows that this plan is built to stay flexible and nimble. And so 1 of our main priorities and goals when we were developing this plan was not about adding. You know, additional layers of approval or red tape really wanted to focus and center this on a solution that one provided better communication information, sharing coordination, and really just shared awareness so that the city can communicate as well as it's growing. So our agenda, here's where we are headed. So tonight I'll start with why this plan matters now, then share what we learned during our research or discovery period. From there, I'll walk through the plan itself, the vision, how we'll work together and our priorities. We'll touch on what this looks like in practice and then close with the roadmap and how we will measure progress going forward. I'll aim to keep this to about 15 to 20 minutes so that we have plenty of time for your questions. But if at any point during the presentation, you have questions, please feel free to interject and ask happy to pause and answer or clarify anything. So, why now? Well, we know that lease summit is really at an inflection point today. We are looking at being a city of about 107,000 residents today, but we know that is projected to grow anywhere upwards of 140,000 or more. And so we have major moments ahead. We just talked about large capital projects. There will be other possibly ballot measures coming up in the future. and obviously maybe other major events that will bring regional attention, and that just comes with growth. Each of these is a moment where clear, proactive communication builds public trust. Again, the goal of this plan isn't simply to do more communication, it is to make sure that the city's communications matches the scale and ambition of the community that we are becoming. So, what we learned, so, before recommending anything, we did the work to understand where the city stands. We talked with people across the organization department managers, communications team department, the former mayor. We audited tools channels and platforms that the city uses. Again, as I mentioned, we completed and benchmark against comparable cities across the country and then we also completed a needs assessment that mapped our capacity against what we identified the gaps to be. And so everything in this plan and what you will hear tonight and in the extensive plan that I hope you'll have copies of traces back to what we heard and what the data showed. And so through that discovery process, four themes emerged consistently. First, there was a strong creative foundation. I think there was consensus across the board that creative services knows what they were doing and were extremely helpful when it came to developing quality marketing materials, videos, graphic design, really producing high quality video and creating a trusted brand for the city. There was general consensus there. However, we also heard That because of this, it seemed like the city, or at least creative services was stuck in a reactive operating model. So what does that mean? Well, that means that they were really driven by request, right? So that will look that would be department managers, maybe city council members requesting different items or marketing materials from creative services, which really limited their ability to proactively plan and create a strategy for communications. We also discovered that really there was a missing governance structure. There was no formal PIO leadership. There was a communications or core communications team that met on a somewhat quarterly basis, but that wasn't necessarily consistent. And as I mentioned, there was a request driven workflow, but again, it wasn't formalized. And so those requests were coming in through email, maybe a text or even a phone call. If you knew someone in creative services, there was no formal intake system. And then lastly, across the board, there was alignment and an agreement to modernize, right? There was a broad consensus across leadership and departments that change is needed, not just in looking at how we communicate, but really the governance structure, looking at creative services to really become A proactive communications partners, someone that departments could not only call to if they had a media inquiry, but that they could work with proactively to have communications and marketing support for larger campaigns and more public facing initiatives. So, the big shift, this is the central idea of the plan. Everything that's in the plan really drives us for being a model of reactive communications to being proactive. So, again, as I mentioned today, much of the communication responds to what comes to creative services. But by 2028, 3 years from now, our goal is to be strategy led and that means planning around the city's priorities. and telling our own story rather than only reacting or only responding when we receive a media inquiry or maybe hear something from a resident on social media so again the target isn't to eliminate responsive work that is always going to exist but what we are looking for is targeting balance and part of being proactive is making sure that we're not only answering inquiries when they come in we're also sharing the good news right we're promoting the programs initiatives and resources that the city departments and council offer that residents may not even know about. So, there are 5 strategic goals that guide the plan and I will also talk about what we're here. Some of the initial changes that we have recommended and we hope will be implemented after today. And 1 is that strategic leadership and governance. So, what we found in our work and experience across the country is that you will not find any communications functioning. Or public information facing department called creative services. It is just the model that just does not exist anymore. So across the country, any department that handles communication or public information is often referred to as communications and marketing communications and public information or a variation of. Those combined skill sets what we have recommended and have received internal approval for is to begin this with renaming the Department of creative services to the Department of communications and public information, which we think really better describes the work that they do and really puts us in the mindset of how we would wish to how we would wish to communicate going forward. Which again is not this reactive marketing. Um, you know, creative design, but really forward thinking strategic communications. And so that was 1 of the initial changes that we recommended and that we hope will be fully implemented going forward again. So we're moving number 2. 1 of our strategic goals is that proactive planned communication. So, moving from request driven to being campaign led what we have worked with with communications and public information is actually creating a single point of entry. Intake system that will replace the outdated model of just single handedly reaching out to people with different requests. We've created this in the form of a Google form, which will translate to the city's platform, but essentially will serve as a single intake process where you can submit requests for marketing materials, video assistance, communication support for larger and longer. long leave campaigns and that form once it's submitted will be sent to someone who will be dedicated in communications and public information to follow up with the request to ensure that it is delivered on time and to also see you know hey have a conversation if there's enough capacity or if the deadline needs to be shifted other in any capacity in any way communications or those requests are now going to be tracked so we can have data to inform decisions going forward. But more importantly, again, help ensure that we have the capacity within communications and CPI to handle the requests that are coming in going forward. Number three, transparency and public trust. Obviously, explain decisions with context and not just announcements. So we know that residents often likes to have the details. And so we'd like to move toward a communications function that does that also reaching every audience. We know that we're not just communicating to 1 audience. We're communicating to several in the city. And so we have created a communications channel matrix. So that individual seeking to communicate, have a clear understanding of the best channels to match the people that they're actually trying to communicate to and serve. And then also capacity, measurement, and sustainability. So really building a system that will make excellence durable and sustainable going forward. So how we will work together. This is also probably one of the most significant changes that's proposed in the plan. And so that is, you know, making CPI, the Department of Communications and Public Information, the hub for communications across the board. We'd like to think of this as a hub and spoke model where CPI is the hub and then you have your departments as your typical standard subject matter experts, operational experts. They are the spokes to the hub. And so the communications department serves as that hub, they'll be responsible for citywide strategy, consistent messaging brand and coordination and each department is a spoke. So, as I mentioned, they'll bring the subject matter expertise that only they have departments will continue to lead what they do best police, fire parks and recreation where utilities they will retain their operational independence as they have their own. But I want to make sure that I want to be clear about what this model is and what it isn't. So it's not a new layer of approval and it's not about control again. It's really more so about coordination information and shared awareness. So the city speaks with 1 clear and consistent voice. And so this is a model that is using nearly every compatible, comparable city that we studied and it's designed as I mentioned again to stay flexible as the city keeps changing. So what does this look like in practice? I will give you one quick example. So traditionally now, if a PIO receives a media inquiry, they probably just work with their department manager to get an answer to that media inquiry and then send something out to the reporter and that's it. What we are asking and charging departments to do going forward is, for example, if a department PIO receives a media inquiry, They will be required to send that they'll respond to the reporter. They'll get the details of the inquiry, the deadline, but they will now also be required to kind of send that inquiry to CPI and give them a heads up. So, again, we're building awareness. Now, if additional coordination is needed, meaning. if a if editing to the response the formal response to media is needed cpi will do that they'll have that first look they'll edit they'll you know they'll make changes according to you know consistent messaging just to make sure that everyone's aligned they'll send it back to the pio pio gets sign off from the manager by the end of the day that response goes back to media we've met our deadline Right now that doesn't really exist. And so again, what we're asking for is that concentrated communication and information sharing so that we can catch things before they happen, address things properly and adjust and pivot messaging if it's needed. Now, 1 of the other things that we also heard about consistently in our research and discovery was, of course, the need for a crisis communications framework. And so this plan does incorporate 1 for responding to crises that aligns with the existing protocols that are already in place with police and fire. This, again, this is probably one of the only parts of the plan that we think will still be in development after today's presentation. And so what you'll see in the plan is probably a more extended framework, templates, structure, defining crises. But what we've heard from management and other folks is that there probably needs to be additional changes just to make sure it matches the needs of the city and leadership. In looking at that, I just want you to know that that will probably be subject to some additional tweaks. But the framework is in there, we've provided that. We hope that going forward, if it's adopted, fleshed out, that it will equip the city to respond to emergencies in a coordinated, consistent, and timely way. With clear roles, shared messaging and unified leadership across departments again, this piece is still being refined and we expect it to evolve as we work through it with our public safety partners. So I just wanted to keep that at a high level this evening. Now, as I mentioned, you know, these summit, is it just 1 audience? I'm sure all of, you know, that all too well, it's several. And so, in our plan, we've identified several audiences that we will be targeting in the communication strategic plan. We have families and older adults, our largest segment, younger residents live on different platforms, obviously, Instagram, short form, video, mobile 1st. Businesses employees underserved communities and our partners in the media each need to be reached differently. And so the plan matches channels to audiences rather than expecting 1 message to reach everyone. And that includes a commitment to bilingual content for priority topics going forward. So, becoming storytellers for a growing city also, you will find in the plan or 5 messaging pillars that could that give every piece of city communication, a consistent narrative thread, everything from a social post to a press release. And again, you'll see that this also aligns with the strategic goals and objectives that I mentioned earlier. So these 5 messaging pillars again. Help us spotlight the good news, the services, initiatives and resources that improve daily life, but often go and notice the shift here is from a city that announces to a city that tells a story. So, building the foundation. What does this look like going forward after this evening again? As I mentioned, this is a considerable change in the way that we communicate. And so we don't expect that this change is going to happen overnight. I think really the expectation here should be that at least this 1st year, or these initial changes will take a good. 6 months to really get on board and have everyone adjusted to. So, our goals are looking forward for the 1st year are going to be this, which is activating that governance structure model that I mentioned, renaming the department elevating the director of the department as the chief communications officer primary. It's launching that intake system that I mentioned, which will be a portal for all department request. It's standing up a communications council. You also briefly heard me mentioned that there was a communications group that met on a quarterly basis. Well, we're suggesting meeting on a monthly basis and not just on a monthly basis, but having someone a staff member or 2 in CPI that essentially is a liaison to each department and they should be meeting with their department representative or PIO. on a weekly, daily, however they determine best basis. Because again, this isn't just about creating awareness about when immediate inquiry comes in. We really want to shift this to have conversations with PIOs and departments to really say, what's the good news? What do you have coming down the line? What are the next three largest projects you have three, six months from now that we can help amplify, elevate, and support from a communications perspective? Uh, the crisis framework, as I mentioned, that's still going to be under development after this evening, but we hope that at least within the next 6 months to a year that that can be formalized and possibly even have a 1st, table top exercise. We hope that we that CPI will build the editorial calendar and again, that calendar will align to city priorities. larger events, website updates, ballot measures. Again, it's that one consistent calendar that allows CPI to look ahead, plan proactively, and create strategic communication plans to support that. And then, of course, roll out that messaging framework that we just discussed, those five pillars adopted citywide, and the brand voice guide distributed. So, if we look at the next 3 years, I just went over what we hope to achieve within the 1st year. But if you look at the next 3 years is again, this is going to be a runway. This is going to be a marathon for sure. Not a sprint. So, as we look into 2027, we hope that we will reach a good balance. As I mentioned a 50, 50 proactive to reactive balance. We hope to have an analytics dashboard operational by that point. And we say that because a year in, if we have that intake system, and we're using and tracking a request, we can get valuable data from that. So, we hope that within the 1st year, we can take that data and put it into an analytics dashboard so that we can really track operational excellence. As I mentioned, making sure that we are producing bilingual content for priority topics. Hopefully, maybe in 2027 as well, we're having a 2nd, table top exercise to go through the crisis communications framework. And then, of course, audience expansion to the under reached. 2028 sustaining in advance by year 3, we hope that the hub and spoke model is fully embedded. We hope to benchmark against your 1. if there's a need to revisit staffing capacity at least we'll have enough data to really inform that decision and that should happen in year three and then of course looking forward three years from now as we all know things change considerably if we look about what's happening in tech and information technology what we're presenting today of course will probably change considerably so three years again so three years from now we are recommending that this plan is revisited and updated And so here is how we will know that it's working. We'll track a focused set of measures, how quickly and reliable reliably we turn work around what we're producing, how audiences engage and the outcomes that matter, like public understanding of major initiatives, resident satisfaction that could be done through another citywide survey. We'll report regularly and use what we learn to adjust because, of course, you know, measurement here is really just about how we demonstrate value and make good decisions. So, what does this mean for you city council? Well, we hope 1st, that we are creating a communications function that matches the scale of the city and building public trust as you grow 2nd, and I know that this is top of mind also clear support and communication. I'm sorry, communicate coordination for you. So, under this plan, we, 1 of the goals is to make sure that council is kept informed. And so what does that look like? Well, CPI will work with the city manager on major announcements or sensitive issues and keep and then the city manager will be the direct point of contact for the mayor and city council. Of course, as things develop, it will be incumbent upon CPI to keep the city manager updated. And 3rd, I'm sorry, if we're looking at council member interviews, if you're wondering what that would look like, going forward, we do have a section for that and the plan as well. But we think that support council members continuing to respond independently to me to increase about their personal views policy positions. If it's a topic that involves city operations pending decisions, active projects, we welcome you to notify. They can support by providing talking points. They, of course, do not need to screen or approve council member statements, but they can be used as a resource for you. So, in short, we hope that as a result of the plan that you'll be better informed, better supported and better equipped to communicate with confidence. And so that is where we are for the evening. That is the end of the presentation. I'd love to open up the floor to questions, comments, feedback, and to hear from you directly.

Yeah, you ready for us now?

Sure. I have a couple of slides about the next steps and moving forward, but I didn't know if you wanted to pause and speak with a consultant and ask her some questions before I head into my two slides.

Everyone want to ask questions first? Or you want to keep going? Keep going? Okay, we'll keep going. Let's see.

So the plan that you just heard from Torres Communication Management is the overall strategic plan, right? That is the framework that will guide us. It explains the why, really the what. I think we are at the stage now where we've got to discuss the how, right? So you heard what point A was, and you hear what point B is. We really have to discuss the in-between, and it's how we get there. My focus moving forward will be, and it's been really helpful to have gone through several months now with my peers and walked through different situations and really got to know how each of their departments function, how they function within the organization. Really just exposure to these things really helps me set the framework to be able to now formulate and begin working through these operating guides, right? the implementation piece of this strategic plan. So this is just kind of a high-level list, and we can add to it as we go, but I think it's important. Before we presented to you, we presented to this core communications group, which includes the departments that have their own PIOs, the rest of the members of management team. And it does look a little different for each department, right? Like what their need is from a communications perspective and how we can work with them. And so each department will have its own operating guide. We'll have to define those roles and responsibilities. We'll have to talk through approval versus awareness. This is certainly by no means intended. You heard Anne say to take over anybody's autonomy, but awareness is so critical. When you have these departments that work in their own space, so we can be, I think one of my peers said, having all the wagons circled, that's so critical. When you talk about one brand, I've heard Mayor Lopez say repeatedly alignment is very important. That can't happen in a space where there isn't awareness among all of the important people who need to be aware, right? And so understanding and making sure that my peers know when it's approval versus awareness and what that reporting structure looks like, all of that needs to be ironed out and documented. You heard Ann talk about the intake. and the triage and prioritization, department request. I will say, too, the target audiences, that piece of it we need to spend a lot of time on, because you heard a lot about the internal piece and the media piece. We do have to talk about social media and all the different platforms that we use. I'll get to the next slide. I'll tell you my priorities, so let me save it for that. But social media governance is a piece. Our departments, some of them have their own social media pages, right? What does that look like? What does the archiving piece look like for Sunshine Laws? And who has access to which pages, which platforms? How is that monitored, given, taken away? How does that align with current First Amendment best practices? Facebook settings change, right? We have settings on our pages based on what has historically been best practice. But as we now have learned that profanity is a class of protected speech under the First Amendment, that changes the burden upon us. We have to have this conversation about Okay, legal. Okay, leadership. What does that look like? And it needs to be defined and documented within one of these guides. Same thing with the website. So we have both the public-facing website and then the internal intranet site, right? So in theory, the two would be mirrored. The internal is for city staff, right? And you get the city information, the updates that go to the employees. they need to kind of be similar. The headings need to be the same. Department information needs to live in a place where it all makes sense. And so what does that look like, right? Development services needs access to certain pages to be able to put things up. We have folks who run the GIS system, right? And so that's not my department, but my department needs to be aware and be able to support them with what they're putting up. So all of these little pieces need to be identified and documented and included as the next piece of this work that we're doing. I will state, too, for me moving forward, let me backtrack one second just to say that this team does a lot of this stuff already, right? Like, they do the marketing. They understand the social media pieces. They're doing the content creation. So, yes, the plan is calling for these things, but I also don't want to take away from the work that has been done. gone, but she's been here for eight years. You know, so the work's been there. It's a matter of like pulling it together, right? And so improving it. I will say priority one for me is our website. It has a lot of information. Education, and I think we're all aligned, education is fundamental in your narrative and your communication pieces. A lot of what people are seeking is out there Could it be streamlined and more easily accessible? Absolutely. There should not be eight different ways to reach the same piece of information that lives on four pages, right? So very important to me to clean that up and make it more user-friendly. And I will say, I think someone on my team told me 2018 maybe is when the page was kind of built out and everything. So definitely room for improvement. It's why it's my number one priority on this list. Right behind that are those operating guides I just defined for you. I think that's really important because it helps, too, with... staff over here so they understand the why behind the approach to this. It's important for them to understand and to explain and defend. These are the things that are important to our department that we need to be communicating out. And just for us to work together to get to that alignment, I think the operating guides are really important. So that, to my third priority, doing this and getting into this rhythm will then allow us the capacity to get to the creative stuff, right? To get to the fun stuff. Yes, absolutely. There are so many great stories happening with residents, with staff, with our neighborhood. There's just so much good out there. But until we get all of these things aligned and find that rhythm and get this process in place, it's going to be difficult because the way Ann worded it, when you're living in the reactive space versus the proactive space. So it's kind of the funnel of my priorities, and I can now let Ann jump back in to answer questions, but I just wanted to add those pieces to the presentation.

Great, thank you. I'm sure the board's going to light up with comments and questions.

And Donna, yeah, okay, she's here too. I report to Donna, so I just want to make sure she's here to answer questions too.

Great. So I know they're eager. The board's lining up. But I think I'm going to make a comment first because this is so highly appreciated and welcomed. I've sat up here for eight years. I know some of us have sat up here for a few years as well. And as you said, and as the plan says, the city has grown and changed. It changes every year, let alone in the last 10 years. And we need to, as we've grown and everything has evolved and become more sophisticated, this is the part that I think has lacked quite a bit for our city. And it becomes apparent every time there's an election season. And that's when people get really frustrated with the lack of, or at least the perception of lack of information and transparency. So I don't want to speak and take a lot of my colleagues' opinions and comments, but I love the plan itself. I love the strategy. The buzzwords that are being said that are in the plan are key. The HUB, the CPI, I like these kind of different acronyms much better than just creative services. But the different audiences, this is very well thought out. There's different audiences that we reach and there's different social media mediums that are used and it's great that y'all have identified these. you know, we definitely have to have a different approach to everything. So just the better coordination between the departments and the CPI kind of being the main quarterback of everything, I think it's super, super critical. We are one brand. I've said that for a long time. We are one brand. And you all, every department has a critical, very critical key component of the city. But Sure sure seems like at times we we work in silos and and that becomes more apparent when there is a crisis So the crisis plan is something that I'm really looking forward to to evolving and I wish we could condense The three-year plan into one year, but I'm sure you're gonna hear more comments here in a few minutes But anyway, I appreciate it and I'll make some more comments later. So councilmember Pryor

Thank you mayor. I think this is fantastic. I think creative services is such a dated name, so I already call you the communications Department, so I'm excited to see a new name. I. I love the presentation. I guess my biggest question would be, I know that our city, our city's done it with me from the day that I got elected. They don't like to communicate. I mean, it starts and it trickles down. And I've been told not to communicate. Like, is this a plan that she's going to be allowed to follow and that she's going to be allowed to communicate? Like, is this something that we're going to support her in and actually allow her to do what she needs to do?

Yeah, that's the plan.

Okay.

It's the strategy, and then you put the plan behind the strategy.

I hope. I have seen different, me personally, but I think that's fantastic, and I think that you have a lot of talents to offer, and so I'm excited to see this all roll out. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Funk.

Thank you, Mayor. Well said, Council Member Pryor. I know we probably, number three on page seven is transparency and public trust, and I've heard it over and over and over that we don't communicate. We're always putting out secondhand information. I had no idea until tonight that somebody was injured at Downtown Days and has been in the hospital with concussions, and Chief, I hope you have that video. Apparently all the media outlets do, but do we have it? We can cross that later. I'm just talking about communication. Sorry, Chief. So on your... Maybe this is probably for the consultant, Ms. Dillard. So you would change from your job title to the city's communication director... that would report to the city manager and the other department, like the fire POI and police POI and so on and so forth? Is that how it would work?

Yes, I'm happy to. They're not sure who's going to take it, but I can jump in if needed.

And why don't you respond? And then Donna has also stepped up so she can respond.

Okay, got it. Yes. So the director of CPI will report to the city manager and deputy city manager. Um, as I mentioned departments, they, she will report to them. They will technically. Work in coordination with her, right? So there's, there's the spokes and so they again are always going to be those subject matter experts. They are always going to have the operational information that she may need to share. Um, but there's always going to be a line between the departments. To CPI, if that makes sense, they don't necessarily report to her, but they understand that there's a new process in terms of responding to anything communications related. They understand that the CPI is the hub and should be made aware of. Even if it's something that they don't necessarily need to edit, right? Maybe it's not a media response, a simple email forward just to make sure that they're aware of an initiative, or maybe someone doing an interview later on in the day, just so that they have awareness. And so that can be shared among the people who need to know. instead of again reading or opening up a paper or going online and reading a new story that you had no idea would be in the paper or in the story you had no idea what was coming so what we're trying to do is not just get rid of those instances and take that gap away but also again make sure that they are comfortable with information sharing on a proactive basis. So communicating more, again, whether it's daily, weekly, or that monthly core comms council, we're proactively just sharing information and talking about the good stuff. It doesn't always have to be about, you know, complaints on social media or maybe what media are talking about. We can help drive and reframe that if we start telling the story proactively.

Okay, thank you. One more question. What is your, and maybe staff could, Ms. Dillard, or you could take this one. You say the stand-up communications council. What does that council look like?

So right now we have departments that have their own internal PIOs. We have Parks Department that does their own communication. And so it is the team, the CPI team, plus all of those departmental PIOs and then the directors of those departments as needed. That is kind of the core, that communications council and that way they are in alignment. They'll have access to that content calendar and that editorial calendar so they know every year we have this open enrollment every year in the fall and we have just different things that happen throughout the course of a normal year through this year. cyclical needs of a government agency or department or sorry a government local government and so with that you know we can plug in and we have all of those dates out there mapped out for all of the departments because they have different needs and things you know we have multiple departments that are accredited that comes around and and being able to tell that story and and those dates and those timelines I think it is having that group of people all invested in this entire calendar so that when we have campaigns and things to that we want to push out, like our stormwater election. We know that's coming at a certain time, but we can back out of those and all of those other additional communications and content needs are plugged in between those dates so that we can all be aware of what's going on and what the needs are and what the communications campaigns are over time. Now, of course, that doesn't um, take away when we have an incident that happens and that immediate communication needs to occur. So that communications council will meet on a regular basis so they can view those timelines, share that information, understand what in their own department, what is coming up next and what they want to push out and what are their stories that they're wanting to tell over time. And then how do we layer that into this whole process? And so I think that's what that communications council will look like and what they will do.

Okay, thank you, Donna. Chief, I didn't mean to interject you into this conversation.

No, it's a good conversation to have. So I don't want to talk too specifically about that particular incident because it's an active investigation. But some of the information came in after the fact. In fact, after we made an official city statement. So we are backtracking with some of that information that we've received after the fact and doing active investigations. I really don't want to comment on what evidence we do and don't have. I will say that we have a lot of video. And if somebody was, and there were multiple crimes committed that night, and if somebody was downtown and committed a crime, I would not want to be in their shoes because we have a lot of evidence. So I think leaving it at that might be the best thing to do, but it's a good case of... with communication, particular to criminal investigations, we have a lot of different responsibilities. Of course, transparency is one of them, but we never want to jeopardize a criminal investigation and potentially not serve the victim to the full extent that we can. So we're being a bit cautious about some of the Evidence that we have but we have I just spoke to our investigators today They're combing through hours of evidence to see if we can make some cases on individuals who? frankly Terrorized our community that evening, so we're it's very serious to us.

Thank you for the update chief Um, if you want to go on mayor, I'll save a few.

And if I can clarify one thing, I know, you know, just because of span of control and, and because of the, the, um, you know, uh, city manager already has multiple people reporting to him and then has a lot of other responsibilities. Obviously his responsibility to you guys, technically, uh, CPI will still report here with that dotted line to the city manager. So it'll be kind of a, hybrid a little bit just to help with span of control and just help with keeping the ability to keep and elevate that information to the city manager. It doesn't mean they won't communicate directly as well, but it, you know, just trying to keep focus and clarity and, and, um, the ability to expand and elevate that communication. So just FYI.

Great. Thank you. I think if our taxpayers are paying for a strategic plan, And it's written in the strategic plan that a certain person reports to a certain person. I think that's the plan we need to follow. I'm going to leave it at that. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Atkins.

Thank you. Ms. Torres, thank you for this presentation. I appreciate the work that you went through to do it. And thank you for summarizing it and following up, Ms. Dillard, with your comments. I'll second what Mr. Funk said. I don't know what's happening internally or what your discussions are, but I would, my, this is my field also, so I understand what you're going through, but I do think it would be good in the future to work towards reporting directly to the city manager because as the center of the hub, of the spoke, like if you're going around, you know, if there's three different departments coming out of the city manager and if you're only in one wing, that's going to just inherently limit your exposure to what city manager is dealing with and all the stuff that's coming at him. So I think it's also best practice that you would report directly to him. But I wouldn't have thought of that if you didn't say that. But I agree with that. So if I could touch base on a couple things in my feedback on some of the things in here, because it's great and it covers a lot of things, and so did your feedback. on slide eight with the hub and spoke model. Fantastic, that's great and a lot's happened in the last six months so I would add on to that spoke to make sure that finance is a really big spoke right now. The finance department would get a starring role in the spokes coming forward in the future because there's just so much background information to give and I love the designation of 50% planned information versus 50% reactive because we've got two different worlds happening, like stuff that happens every day versus stuff that people just have to get educated on or to be able to verify when they need it. And Mr. Elam and I have talked about this a lot because there is a ton of information on the website. It is a wealth of information. It's very transparent, but you cannot find it. Like a normal human can't find what they're looking for just because it's so big. And so that's fine. It's 10 years old, so it's great to renew it, and that's wonderful. In terms of crisis communications, yes, I think that we are all super in line with that. And I would add the context that there doesn't necessarily need to be a police report in order to respond to the community. A PR crisis communications is going to be like, holy cow, good morning. We realize a thing happened, and we're going to report back when there's more. It does not have to talk about who was there and what happened. It doesn't have to be detailed. It just needs to acknowledge that we're all living in the same town and that we know the thing happened. And so I hope that that... is noted, like the crisis just means responding to the thing. The intake system, I love that, I love consolidating the intake system, and I'm hoping that that also, it sounds like the intake system is for internal use, between departments requesting marketing from each other, but I would add that hopefully it could include external communication requests because I know that all of us as council members are getting emails from people saying, what about this? Can you trim my weeds? Can this thing fell down? Can you fix that? And that's a lot of incoming communications. We are instructed to copy all the city managers on that. And I can only assume that that's a very not efficient use of their time to be responding to those levels. I think if there was an intake form for us to say, oh, Mrs. Jones wants to know about this tree and funnel it to you so that you can handle it wherever whoever needs to handle that. But I don't think city managers should be handling that level of information like they've got really important things to do. and I would rather have that type of communication included in an intake form. In terms of the Communications Council, with all of you meeting regularly and weekly, that's fantastic. I love that. I love repeated, consistent meetings. Mayor Lopez and I have been talking in the way that we do business as well, and we are huge. I can't speak for you, but... Maybe you will later the EOS system if you're not already aware of the entrepreneurial operating system. It's a product. It's a productivity model for how to structure your meetings with weekly meetings and all of your leaders in the room and following your big rocks and following their sand. And that's got software to go with it. It's like a nationally internationally known system. There's five books on it in a row, but then you hire a consultant to come in and do it. So I would highlight just could not say enough good things about that. And Mayor Lopez. lives it at his office also. So I think for right now those are the things that I that was you know those are the things that are shouting out at me but I love the program I love that you're doing it and I really really hope that you are empowered to do it because I know that change is hard for everyone especially when you have people that have been here a long time and like and know what's going on change can be hard for everyone involved but I hope that you're empowered to be able to implement this and get your team rolling and start pulling things together. I think it's fantastic. Thank you.

Excellent. Thank you. Council member Frazier.

I love this. I, um, and I think, um, timing is of the essence, especially considering what we have just gone through in the last couple of weeks. I will say the last week or so. I will say this. I would like to see A picture. A picture of the structure. We're talking about a dotted line organization. And that would be helpful when we start talking about process. Who do we call when? And I agree with... Councilmember Atkins, you know, I think it should be it should come down a level if you would initially from the city manager I know he is inundated and definitely has been inundated with communication this past couple weeks we as a council also have been hit and I think we were We were at an impasse as far as how we communicate out to our residents, when we do it, should we wait until it happens. And that's a lesson learned for us as a city, I believe. But we also need education direction on when we can weigh in. I cannot tell you the number of calls, the number of emails that we've received just on a particular incident. The gentleman that was here this evening, I did see that on the news. yesterday or actually even today. So that was actually the first time I had heard of it as well. So to the extent that we could say, what you've told me today is great. I don't know when I would contact CPI. I don't know when I would contact the city manager or Ms. Dillard when we would contact you. So to the extent we could get some, that's my favorite word, operational definitions as to when we could do that, that would be extremely helpful. I think it's great that we are being proactive on this because the last week we have been reactive and nothing goes well when you're constantly in a reactive phase. I think also there's a ton of information out there and we've heard from many of our residents that they can't find it or they don't know or they thought they found it and they didn't and they want to know a status and an update so I think it'll be very helpful you know to include that and I know this is work in progress so I'm just saying that that would be helpful. It would also be helpful if and maybe you said this and I apologize that you had representation from someone or us on the council in your communications council because I think we not that everyone else is and we are getting hit you know first line of defense so I think we need to be able to provide you know, what's out there. I know I'm getting hit with some issues of downtown days that perhaps, you know, Council Member Pryor is not getting hit with. So to be able to provide that information to you as well so that you're able to, you know, make a statement or put it out there, I think that's helpful. Something I learned today, I'm assuming that you did the research and your findings about bilingual content. I would have never thought that at Lee Summit, and that is ignorance on my part. So the question is... What bilingual? Are we seeing Spanish? Are we seeing, you know, Chinese? That's important because if that is a significant part of our residents or our population, we need to know that. I can make assumptions all day, but I'm not seeing it. And so if that's something that you all have determined or realized that needs to be, you know, out from a communication standpoint, that would be helpful to know.

I think, too, just the awareness that the need is there. So, for example, my last position, I came from the Independent School District, and I learned that there were more than 19 different languages spoken within the school district families. That's huge. Swahili is very prominent in the Independent School District. So there's work to be done. from my end to discover what our demographics are. But I think that even with the tools that exist, adding, and I'll get with technology on what's available, but adding a widget or the ability to translate the page that you're on into whatever the language is that you speak, We partnered with Downtown Lee's Summit on some of the materials for Football Fridays, and we know that the four languages coming in, you know, Dutch, Arabic, English, and Spanish, we created those same, was it Football Fridays? It might have been actually coming up before Legacy Blast and some of the July 4th stuff. It was Firework Regulations, excuse me. We translated those using Google Translate and put the disclaimer, this is AI automated or generated, but to create something so that when I walk by and I speak Arabic and I see, oh, this is in Arabic, I scan the QR code, now I'm looking at on my phone what is on this sign, right? So I think without having the full definition or scope of what that looks like, at least saying to you we are aware that there is a need in our community to address that, and I think also That might be why Ann put it a little farther in the plan, just so it's there and we'll get there.

I think we're growing. The number is 107 to 140. That's huge. And I'm going to assume a relatively short period of time. And along with that growth, as we've seen, are diverse populations, diversity in ages, in incomes, and living situations as well. So I think it's important that we recognize that and be able to work within that framework. framework. Thank you. Again, thank you for this. I think this is great and couldn't be more timely than what you're doing.

Thank you. Council Member Pryor.

Thank you. I just wanted to add really quick to piggyback off of Council Member Funk and Council Member Adkins. I think that the recommendation to report straight to the City Manager was for a reason. I'd like to see her report directly to the City Manager. Thank you.

Thank you. Mayor Pro Temp-Shields.

Thank you, Mayor. So I guess I just had a question to start. So is this considered a plan that the city has adopted and is following word for word? Is it still kind of in the advisory stage? How do you view this strategic plan and how you're going to operationalize that?

My understanding is it doesn't involve or require any type of council action. This is a plan that we are moving forward with.

But you don't consider it just purely advisory, like this is kind of an action plan for you?

Well, yeah, I would say advisory, but also we had some hand in the final product. I did make sure and I asked Ann for the link so that we now own the document. And so it can be changed when things arise. And again, I really think that the meat on the bones, if you will, are going to be these operational guides or the way that Council Member... Council Member Frazier called the operational definition. I like that. I might use that actually because I think that's where we'll really get into the nitty gritty. And we have ownership rights to all of the things that would need modification if need be.

Okay. I was just trying to understand sometimes we get something like this and it's more of a here's an interesting thing for us to read and think about and sometimes it's more of a this is what we're going to implement now. So it sounds like we're more towards what we're going to implement.

This is what we're working on. Let's see.

And then I wanted to second Councilmember Adkins comments about crisis communication that I feel like one of the things that I've seen during my time at the city is that it feels like when we if we don't know everything, we're hesitant to say anything. And I think that in an age when everybody else is putting something out immediately. It's really important, even if the statement is just, we understand that an event occurred, we're gathering information and we'll provide a statement soon. It's just important to show that you're not ignoring it because silence is taken as either you're just not aware or you don't care. And I've seen that in multiple instances this year. And I don't wanna be backward looking, I wanna look forward, but I do think that's a really important point.

Yeah, I would say that I think that was a framework of previous leadership. I think that Megan and I have been through some PIO classes together already on crisis communication. And just with her background, my background, we have a very different philosophy. But this is meant to dovetail in with the emergency operations plan and the crisis communication pieces in that plan as well. But obviously a water main break is a crisis in a different way than a fire or a mass casualty incident versus a cyber attack. And so it's meant to dovetail into the emergency operations plan, but then also just like you said, there are statements that can be made and development of statements that can be prepared ahead of time to pivot and morph into those crises.

And I guess when I say crisis, I don't just mean an actual emergency, but something, call it time sensitive. That there's an emerging topic that is on people's minds right now. And if you wait a few days, even if nobody's lives are at risk in those few days, it can cause real issues because the impression of whatever it is has already hardened by the time you get your statement out.

Agreed. And I think that is where you can develop some of that messaging ahead of time so that you have it.

Absolutely have have your in case of emergency break glass statements ready to go and ready to work on.

Absolutely. I can chime in really quickly. I'm sorry that the presentation obviously tonight is very condensed. The plan itself is probably close to 80 pages, but it's much more comprehensive in that crisis communications framework section. We did provide templates as everyone is talking about of those simple statement placeholders that can be used and provided to the media and to the public in the event that we don't have all the information because we know that we don't need to have all the information just to get a response out. So those templates are in there. along with defining what crises would be, right? So that we have a level one, a level two, a level three. Again, these are the things that can be modified going forward, but the long plan, if you all have a copy of that, we'll go into detail and you guys can review that and provide your feedback as well after you take a look at it.

And we did just get that this morning, so we haven't all had a chance to read the entire logbook of the plan. I understand. And then to follow up on something that I believe the Mayor said earlier, when you talk about the same brand, that we need to be in alignment because we are all, and that's across the city departments, but I think it's also across our partner organizations that people don't really distinguish between the City of Lee Summit, the Lee Summit Schools, the Lee Summit Chamber, the Lee Summit Downtown. And I think it's important going forward to engage with community events even if we don't have ownership of them that that it's people just they unless you are deep in the weeds you don't understand where those lines are and it's part of our job as the city to help people understand what's not just who's responsible but what's happening like we that's what we're here for is to serve the community um I also would kind of second what Councilmember Pryor and I think Councilmember Adkins said about the direct reporting that I think the more layers that we have between the Director of Communications and whoever has veto power over what statements are going out just is going to delay that rapid response time as well. And then the last thing I'm going to say is the one thing that I really want to see us do with our communication is to sound more human. I don't want every statement that we put out to sound like it came from a corporate robot. We need to be empathetic. We need to be genuine. We can't just vet things to death. It's more important to connect with people. And I think we show a lot of caution on being afraid to say the wrong thing. But I think we need to also be cautious about saying nothing or saying something that is tone deaf, and so really working on that. And I think when you work on your voice guide and your brand guide, I think that'll come through hopefully. But those are all my thoughts right now. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Council Member Cravens.

Thanks. So I think that was a good segue to the point that I wanted to make. I do like the fact that you did point out that we're not talking to one person, we're talking to seven. Because that is very important when we think about who we want to attract to our communication spaces. Because if we are not aware of our community's demographic, we will miss the mark on that and we will just be putting a communication infrastructure in place just to be putting it in place and we'll find ourselves back where we started. One of the things that I am very big on is clear, concise communication. Communication where anybody can go and right away understand what the message is. I think in order to do that, though, we have to be open to a diverse team. And one of the things that... And just also knowing the community that we're in, just nationally overall, and how people look for information. It is very important to get our youth involved. They are our future. They are... If we are... if we are kind of tailoring our community as a fun place to work, eat, play, Where is that, who is communicating that aspect of things? Because it can't just be the silo of, you know, our team and staff. So maybe if there is space to get internships to come in, you know, during summer months or wherever to kind of put a different type of spin on our communication. Because I think that's going to be important. You know, if we're attracting certain types people into our community, whether it's the young adult couples and so forth, we have to be able to have people in that space that can communicate on that level. So I think that my advice is just modernizing our communication because I think it is great to have, build a communication structure, infrastructure, because that's where you start. But how do we build that out and fill it up so that we can attract our community to want to go to us for information? And then last thing is we just got to read the room, right? So we know that there is a lot of local chatter all the time, all the time. Who is on top of that? You know, who is constant? Because that's a constant role. Like, that's almost a 24-hour role to pay attention to what's going on. Social media has just taken... control of everything. So who's monitoring that so that we can be a part of the chatter? And it doesn't always have to be crisis mode because we can make, you know, we can be creative and turn a negative situation or crisis into something that's more palatable to the majority of our residents who don't want to hear, you know, our city is just horrible. It's, you know, teens are taking over or whatever the case may be. You know, I have faith. I think that, you know, we're bigger than this. You know, we're not going to let, you know, whatever the case may be. But I think we have a lot of opportunity to join the conversation. And so with that being said. I think we're on the right path, though. I'm excited to see how this builds out. Thank you.

And one of the things that probably a good story we haven't told is we work with Summit Technology through the school district. And earlier this year in the spring semester, we had a couple of interns that were able to work, co-work with both Creative Services at the time and also our Explore LS group. And so you see the board outside about the ice cream kind of hop along, that was one of the things that that intern group, two young ladies from the school district created. So again, another story we probably should have told or shared or made awareness about, but yes, to your point, obviously we want to be able to have those voices of different audiences as part of the program.

Great, thank you. Council Member Atkins.

Thanks, Ms. Lake. I think that once the council... environment is established with your spokes around the departments, that type of thing will come to the surface because every department will be like, oh, these are our three big things that we're focusing on. And I think that'll come naturally. And if you've been operating all this time without an editorial calendar,

Jordan's back there. I had to make sure she didn't also leave like Lauren. But yes, actually, we have one. We've built one in place. I'm coming from a Google organization, and so it took me about a week to get back into the Microsoft shift, right? It is a shift. That was college, right? But we're back now. I'm there. And so she's actually built that out through... I know about forms. What's the... Oh, Outlook. Outlook. We had these different ideas back and forth, and we landed on Outlook so that we layer it onto our individual calendars. So the point being, yes, that's like baseline, right? So we've got it on it.

Things are only going up from here. That's amazing. I just want to toss in this thing, and I assume you've probably already thought through this, but I'm just going to say it out loud because I won't. come find you later to tell you, but when it comes to the 50-50 information, you know, some of its current stuff and some of its education, are you approaching it in a way where you're thinking, what's the top 10 myth busters right now? Like, what's the top 10 hot topics that are totally incorrect that are flying around and how can we debunk those and plan those out? Every two weeks we're going to release a new one of our top 10 totally wrong. There's really bad stories that travel quickly, and so can we start knocking those down with data and information so that anyone can find them?

Because it all goes back to education, right? Michael Park stood before you tonight and talked about what prompts a traffic impact study. And I literally wrote down Public Works 101 short video and slid it over to Josh, and I said, we've got to do this. Because that's what it is. It's the education piece. So yes, and then as far as the MythBuster pieces, these ladies monitor constantly on the weekends. They're not paid to do that on the weekends. And they're like, hey, this is what's going on. This is... what people are saying, true or false, this is what the narrative is for your awareness, right? And so that helps me report back to them to say, here's what the narrative is. What is true about this? What isn't? What's the city's process? Let me put all of that together and formulate what I think our response ought to be or our approach ought to be, and then we go from there. So that's kind of how it's currently working.

Yeah, archiving and just documenting the way that things have happened and the way that things are so that someone always has a base point for where to go to find the information. And especially coming up in the next month as we finalize the budget and stuff, being able to write a narrative about the story of the budget and how it progressed and the phases because most people don't know the timeline of how a budget gets done. And that's totally fine. It's not their job to know, but just say, here's what we did during 2026. We started here and we moved here and here's the truth about how the budget ended up and here's things that came and went from our operating abilities, but those important things that are really damaging when they're misunderstood, I hope that we prioritize those first. So thank you. Thanks, Mayor.

Thank you. Okay, so once again, Great job to the team, all of you. And Ms. Torres, thank you for your role as well in helping us guide us through this process. As far as the next step, Mr. Dunning, we had talked about, not only at the recent council retreat, but in previous conversations about having some follow-up, right, and more engagement with the council with these type of discussions. After listening tonight, I think you have some pretty good feedback from the council. Your brain's probably spinning, yeah. So rather than rush it, I think you have enough to probably work on for a little bit. However, we talked about possibly doing some kind of a work session down the road. I don't think we need to rush that. I think you have enough to kind of work on for now. However, the question was asked by, I think, Council Member Frazier. We definitely do want to continue to be engaged in this process. And that's the part I hope we don't, there's no drop-off in that part.

Yeah, when you mention work session, I always think of how often are we touching bases with you, right? And if we're not touching base, then you all can sit back and think, well, nothing's getting done, right? And so we owe that to you. And there should be portions along the implementation where we are engaging with you. And that's what I took from... this thought about the work session, right? We need to come back with updates. Here's what we're working on. We've defined this further. Here's what we're thinking. How does this feel? Especially in crisis communications, right? Having an understanding of that framework and what to expect from us and then you as elected officials, what role do you play in an emergency operations plan? We owe that to you in greater depth. So those kinds of things come to mind when you mention work session. Yes, we need to schedule those, yes.

So again, I don't think there's a need after tonight's pretty in-depth, robust conversation to rush that. But I would say sometime in the next, you and I can work on an agenda and schedule in the next two months, perhaps some kind of, how many? Six months?

Well, what would be realistic for you all? I would like some time to develop the operational guides and let that be fed by what you've shared with me. I'm trying to think what we've got coming up. We have the start of the fiscal year. Let us get through World Cup. What am I not anticipating in our... We've got the election. Yes.

August.

End of... Quarterly, maybe?

I think quarterly would be probably appropriate. So let's stick to quarterly.

Okay.

And again, so there's no drop off in this in-depth discussion that we've had tonight. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Well done.

Thank you.

And thank you. Thank you. Thank you. She's in Atlanta.

The entire team. Thank you guys for being here. Appreciate it.

Thank you.

All right. Yeah, I want to keep pushing through. OK, let's do it. We have a resolution. Oh yeah, I didn't see you. I'm so sorry.

No, you're fine. I just wanted to say one thing about Josh. He is so talented and the the City Council videos that he does. Will those continue as part of the as part of the plan as?

Yes, and some former fashion. Yes, OK, because just because I'm sorry I'm not supposed to yell at you from the.

OK, because Josh is so talented in what he does. So thank you.

Thank you. Sorry about that. Okay. Resolution item number seven.

Resolution 26-13, a resolution authorizing the mayor to appoint successor directors to the board of directors for the Raintree 150 Center Community Improvement District.

Thank you. I have a motion made by Mayor Pro Tem Shields and a second by Council Member Atkins. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Resolution is adopted. Missing one. Oh, there you go. I vote to run. Resolution is adopted. Thank you. All right. It takes us to proposed ordinances forwarded from committee. Mayor Potemps-Shields.

Thank you. I move for second reading of Bill number 26-110, an ordinance awarding the bid for project number P154 for the water main replacement FY25 project to meet an income amount of $5,458,696 and authorize the city manager to execute an agreement for the same.

Thank you. We have a motion to advance a second reading, resolution number 26-110 by Mayor Pro Temp-Shields and a second by Councilmember Carlyle. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Bill is adopted. 9-0. Thank you. Mayor Pertem.

I move for adoption of Bill number 26-110, an ordinance awarding the bid for project number P154 for the water main replacement FY25 project, with an amount of $5,458,696, and authorizing the City Manager to execute the agreement for the same.

We have a motion to adopt Bill number 26-110 by Mayor Pertem. She will attend a second by Councilmember Pryor. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote.

motion is adopted nine zero thank you mayor for town i move for second read bill number 26 just one one one ordinance approving modification number one to an agreement for the design and construction of a welcome monument to be located at the intersection of m291 highway and m150 highway between the city of lee summit missouri and bartlett and west construction llc for an increase of three hundred seventy five thousand eight hundred forty three dollars for the amended services with amended not to exceed amount of three hundred eighty five thousand eight hundred forty three dollars and authorizing city manager execute agreement for the same

We have a motion to advance the second reading by Mayor Pro Tem Shields, bill number 26-111, and seconded by Councilmember Frazier. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Motion advances to second reading 9-0. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

Move for adoption of Bill number 26-111, an ordinance approving modification number one to an agreement for design and construction of a welcome monument to be located at the intersection of M-291 Highway and M-150 Highway between the City of Leeson, Missouri and Bartlett and West Construction LLC for an increase of $375,843 for the amended services with an amended not to exceed amount of $385,843 and authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement for the same.

Thank you. We have a motion to adopt Bill number 26-111 by Mayor Pro Temp-Shields and seconded by Council Member Pryor. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Motion is adopted 9-0. Thank you. Please record the vote. Mayor Pro Tem.

Move to second reading bill number 26-112, an ordinance approving a state block grant agreement for eligible preliminary project costs toward the construction of a GA terminal for the Kansas City Lease Summit Regional Airport between the City of Lease Summit, Missouri and the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission in the amount of $44,277 and authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement for the same.

Thank you. We have a motion to advance the second reading by Mayor Pro Tem Shields, bill number 26-112 and seconded by Councilmember Atkins. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Motion to advance the second reading is adopted 9-0. Mayor Pertem.

Move for adoption of bill number 26-112 an ordinance approving a state block grant agreement for eligible preliminary project cost short of construction of a GA terminal for the Kansas City Lee Summit Regional Airport between the City of Lee Summit, Missouri and the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission in the amount of $44,277 and authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement for the same.

Thank you. Motion to adopt bill number 26-112 was made by Mayor Pertem Shields and a second by Councilmember Carlisle. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Motion is adopted, 9-0. Thank you. Mayor Pertain.

I move for a second reading of Bill No. 26-113, an Ordinance for the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission Amendment to State Block Grant Agreement Amendment No. 3 for Project No. 23-109AO-1 by Between the City of Lee Summit, Missouri and the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for the construction of a GA terminal for the Kansas City-Lee Summit Regional Airport Between the City of Lee Summit, Missouri and the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission in the amount of $19,637 and authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement for the same.

Thank you. Motion to advance the second reading, Bill number 26-113 by Mayor Pertem. Motion was made by Mayor Pertem and seconded by Councilmember Carlisle. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Motion advances 9-0. Thank you. Mayor Patel.

I move for adoption of bill number 26-113, an ordinance approving Missouri Highway Transportation Commission amendment to state block grant agreement. Amendment number three for project number 23-109A-1, buying between the City of Lee Summit, Missouri and the Missouri Highways Transportation Commission for the construction of a GA terminal for the Kansas City Lee Summit Regional Airport between the City of Lee Summit, Missouri and the Missouri Highways Transportation Commission in the amount of $19,637 and authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement for the same.

Thank you. We have motion to adopt bill number 26-113 by Mayor for Tim Shields and seconded by Council Member Cardo. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Missing one. Bill is adopted 9-0. Thank you. Please record the vote. Mayor for Tim.

I move for one second reading of 114.

That was to adopt already. That was 26114.

Okay. That's still 13 on screen. Okay. I move for second reading bill number 26-114, an ordinance approving change order number two to the agreement for the construction of project number 718 sidewalk gap phase two with Phoenix Concrete LLC for an increase in the contract price of $90,135 for revised agreement amount of $666,617.48 and authorizing the city manager to execute agreement for the same.

Thank you. We have a motion to advance the second reading bill number 26-114 by Mayor Pro Tem Shields and second by Council Member Carlisle. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. The bill advances to second reading 9-0. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

I move for adoption of Bill number 26-114, an ordinance approving change order number two to the agreement for the construction of project number 718 Sidewalk Gap Phase 2 with Phoenix Concrete LLC for an increase in the contract price of $90,135 for a revised agreement amount of $666,617.48 and authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement for the same.

Thank you. We have a motion to adopt Bill number 26-114 by Mayor Pro Temp-Shields and a second by Councilmember Frazier. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Bill is adopted 9-0. Please record that vote. Thank you. Takes us to item number, agenda item number nine, emergency ordinances. Bill number 26 says 1-1-5. Councilman, or Mayor for Tim Shields.

Again, move for second reading of bill number 26-115, an ordinance awarding the bid for project number 106 for the Douglas Complete Street improvement from Southeast 2nd Street to Northeast Chipman Road project to pyramid contractors, Inc., for an amount of $6,994,890 and authorizing the city manager to execute an agreement for the same, all as an emergency ordinance pursuant to section 3.13f1 and 3 of the Charter of the City of Lee Summit, Missouri.

We have a motion to advance a second reading. Bill number 26-115 by Mayor Patron Shields and a second by Council Member Atkins. Any discussion? Yes. Council Member Rader.

Thank you, Mayor. I'd just like to have an explanation of what this is so Mr. Park could help us with that.

So this is the construction of the capital improvement project on Douglas from 2nd Street to Chip Monroe. And so the reason for it being an emergency ordinance as opposed to the normal process of the low bid being recommended, and it is a low bid in this case because there are federal funds and we are bound by those statutory requirements. We missed the Public Works Committee date. And due to the timing of this particular project, if we were to wait a whole nother month, it pushes the project start of construction closer to winter. And there's a substantial amount of work that we want to get done, particularly at the intersection at 2nd Street. and Douglas before winter hits so we don't winter that disruption for a longer period than necessary.

So did it not go through Public Works then?

This did not, no. We had originally anticipated it could go through Public Works, but we postponed the bid opening to allow for more coordination on the traffic control and the closures of 2nd and Douglas. And that postponement of the bid opening caused us to open bids literally right about the time we were having the Public Works Committee meeting, so it was too far gone for us to incorporate that on the agenda. And at this point, The next committee meeting would be in July. Just a matter of weeks sometimes makes a difference in months in a construction schedule when you push up against winter.

So you said this is your lowest bid? Oh, yes, absolutely. So we don't have reason for concern?

No. This actually is almost a million and a half under the engineer's estimate, and we did get several bids ranging above the engineer's estimate to what you see here is the low bid pyramid construction.

Okay. Well, thank you very much. Thanks, Mayor.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Park. Motion has been made. We have a second. Any further questions? If not, please cast your vote. The bill advances to second reading 9-0. Thank you, Mayor Pertem.

Move for adoption of bill number 26-115, an ordinance awarding the bid for project number 106 for the Douglas Complete Street improvement from Southeast 2nd Street to Northeast Chipman Road project to Pyramid Contractors Inc. for an amount of $6,994,890 and authorize the city manager to execute an agreement for the same all as an emergency ordinance pursuant to section 3.13 F1 and 3 of the charter of the City of Lee Summit, Missouri.

Thank you. We have a motion to adopt bill number 26-115 by Mayor Pertemps-Hields, second by Councilmember Cravens. Any further discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Bill is adopted 9-0. Please record the vote. Thank you. Takes us to item number 10, agenda item number 10, proposed ordinances. First reading, Mayor Patem.

I move for second reading of bill number 26-116, an ordinance vacating certain utilities and easements in the Oldham Village development, generally located south of Highway 50 and west of Highway 291, south in the city of Lee Summit, Missouri.

Thank you. We have a motion to advance the second reading, bill number 26-116 by Mayor Patem Shields and second by Councilmember Pryor. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Bill is approved 8-1. Thank you. Please record the vote. Mayor Furtem.

I move for second reading of Bill number 26-117, an ordinance accepting final platen titled Retreat at Bailey Farm, second platen, lots 135 through 144, 149 through 176, and tracks C and D as a subdivision to the City of Lee Summit, Missouri.

Thank you. I have a motion to advance the second reading of Bill number 26-117 by Mayor Furtem Shields and a second by Councilmember Carlisle. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Bill is approved 9-0. Please record the vote. Thank you. Mayor Pertem.

I move for second reading of bill number 26-118, an ordinance accepting final plat entitled Cornerstone at Bailey Farm, second plat, lots 177-195-233-3251 and tracks E&F as a subdivision to the City of Lee Summit, Missouri.

Thank you. I have a motion to advance the second reading of bill number 26-118 by Mayor Pertem Shields and second by Councilmember Carlisle. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Bill is approved 9-0. Thank you. Please record the vote. Mayor Patem.

I move for a second reading of Bill number 26-119, an ordinance authorizing the execution of an agreement between the City of Lee Summit, Missouri and Jackson County, Missouri to provide for the collection of property taxes by the City of Lee Summit.

Thank you. We have a motion to advance the second reading of Bill number 26-119 by Mayor Patem Shields and a second by Councilmember Carlisle. Any discussion? If not, please cast your vote. Question. Mayor Patem.

I was just going to say, finally.

Nice job. Thank you. Hearing none, please cast your vote. Bill is adopted 9-0. Please record the vote. Thank you very much. We got through that. Takes us to committee reports. Yes, Mayor Bertin.

So we had CDC last Wednesday, June 10th, and we started discussing the liquor license ordinance that had been brought up at Council before, and I've sent around an email to everyone about kind of some of the preliminary discussion, and I just encourage you to share that with any business contacts that you have that operate bars or restaurants that might want to weigh in on that prior to our next CDC meeting. Thank you.

Great, thank you. I saw some other names pop up. Am I missing anybody? Are we good? Council Member Carlisle.

Thank you, Mayor. We have a Rules Committee meeting this Thursday at 1130 via Zoom. So please feel free to join us while we talk about exciting rules.

Thanks for the invite. Council Member Funk.

Thank you, Mayor. We had our legislative governmental affairs meeting on Monday. We discussed with Mr. Head we're getting prepared for our lobbyist RFP, work through that and get that out for bid. And then we had a discussion on looking at uniting the local councils and even including Jackson County. And that some will continue that discussion and work at a game plan on that. But thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Councilmember Funk. Councilmember Atkins. Oh, we're still on committee reports.

So we'll go to council comments.

Not seen any other committee reports, so we will go to council comments. Now, Councilmember Atkins.

We're just chatting over here about the retreat that we had this weekend. It was fantastic. We had a council retreat with the staff led by City Manager Dunning and Mayor Lopez and organized by Mayor Tim Shields. It was fantastic and really appreciated all the staff's time for spending a Saturday morning. Very helpful to have open dialogue and a very efficiently run meeting. meeting but really appreciated getting everyone's feedback and problem solving so that we could set priorities for the next couple years very valuable and very appreciated so thank you for that time thank you for that comment appreciate that council member prior thank you mayor um i had sent an email last week but i never heard anything as far as so jackson county implemented a curfew

Countywide curfew. That was affected June 10th. What does that mean? Is that enforceable in our city? What does that mean for? Do you know anything about it? I've had quite a few questions on if if that's enforceable in our city, is it enforceable in our downtown? Who's doing the enforcing? Questions like that.

I know very little about it, frankly. It wasn't included in those conversations. It probably is something we need to discuss as a city ourselves if we want to have an ordinance. And there are many cities around us that do with curfews. Complex conversation of course, but it's probably one that we need to engage in and I believe there was a plan perhaps to do so as part of our after action review of what occurred during downtown days coming up.

Yeah, thank you.

Good question, though.

Yeah, and I agree. If all the cities around us are implementing a curfew, that leaves our city without one. We need to have one, probably.

I'm not sure if all of them are, but a good number are, so I do know. I talked with my community interaction officer today about this very topic, and she rattled off several of the cities that... we have all heard of, but I'm not sure all of them do, but I think a good number do.

Yeah. So at the county level, I guess Cass and Jackson do. Wyandotte and actually Johnson County, Kansas. So that's at the county level. I'm not sure about city specific, but I didn't know how the county played in. So is it the sheriffs that would essentially have to implement that.

Normally, those apply to the sheriffs or state charges. So I think there's a preference for those to be handled more through municipal court. So that's why you see more cities. And there actually are some states, such as the state of Indiana, that have a statewide curfew. So it runs the gamut, but probably for our situation, it would be best to discuss it at the city level and handle through municipal court or family court or youth court.

Okay, perfect. Thank you.

Thank you. So I'll just say something briefly, Mr. Dunning, before you can just finish it off. Just thank all of you up here, council colleagues, for a very in-depth, really good conversation, public hearing. you know, it's some projects, you know, are gonna be that way, just very complex. But at the same time, it was a very respectful overall public hearing, both between the developer and our citizens, and especially amongst us as colleagues. So I appreciate you guys for being so professional and respectful. And also, Council Member Atkins, that's fine. I'm glad you shared your perspective about the retreat last weekend. So I appreciate that a lot. I thank all of you and all of you staff that were able to make it on Saturday. I think it was very productive, and I think it kind of lines us up really well so that as a new body of elected individuals, the electeds, right, Council Member Carlisle, the electeds, It's only a nickname. You know, I think it was great to be involved in just good dialogue with you all as administrative leadership. So thank you guys for that. With that, Mr. Dunning, you can close it off.

Thank you. We would echo the sentiments and appreciation for all of you dedicating time on a weekend to, I'll use the term align, right? Identify and align priorities. So we as staff will be working and we have a management team tomorrow We'll be working to pull together that summary report from the retreat so that we can get that back into your all's hands and review, and then we'll go from there. A couple quick items. Many if not all of us as organizational leaders belong to professional organizations within our respective disciplines. And I sent this email to you not too long ago, but our own Chief Snyder has been elected to the International Association of Fire Chiefs as the second vice president, which means he'll become vice president and then ultimately president of that association. So a well-deserved recognition. Election there, I know he worked extremely hard for that and that's just a reflection not only on himself as a leader and a fire chief, but this organization, the fire department and all of you. So I'm not gonna stop there. I also learned that another individual within our fire department, Assistant Chief Dave York, was elected to the International Association of Fire Chiefs as an EMS director position at the national level too. So a couple folks serving on the national level within that professional organization. Last thing, Mr. Park mentioned Second and Douglas. and the timeliness of that emergency ordinance, there was information. So now that intersection, the southbound Douglas Lane, will be closed between 1st and 2nd Street between June 17th through July 10th to do some pavement repair. We had a water main break over there right on the heels of downtown day, so we do have some... We do have some work to do before we get the ultimate improvement project done. So just for awareness, that information just went out recently.