City Council - Regular Meeting

Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Welcome to the February 2nd Blue Springs City Council meeting. If you will stand with me, Council Member Edmonson will lead us in the pledge of allegiance. [snorts] I pledge allegiance

to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. You can be seated. Thank you, Council Member Edmonson. Now call the meeting to order. First item on the agenda is confirmation of a court. Council member Kaylor, present. Then present. Ruml present. Ericson Rosen. Edmonson here. Rowan here. Mayor Levis here. We have a quorum. Right. Next is a consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve? So move. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? Your honor. Council member Edinson.

I know one of the items on here is awarding the repavement to uh or tan and pavement to work on clearing some of the brush and getting ready to put a pavement on the trail. Uh that's one of the things that we had money for for downtown renewal and some of the changes. So it's it's nice to see though with the weather being bad as it is and has been. We're taking steps now to be prepared as soon as we can to move forward with doing changes downtown. You're excited about that one, huh? Yes. Okay. Any further discussion? Okay. Roll call. Council member Kaylor. I. Then I rum. Hi. Ericson. Hi. Edmonson. Hi. Rowan. I, Mayor Leves, I carried unanimously.

Don't have any speaker appearance forms for the ordinances on the agenda. So, we'll go to item five, introduction and reading bill 5380, approving the Kansas City resource sharing agreement. I'll introduce. First reading bill 5380, an ordinance approving an agreement between the city of Blue Springs and the Mid America Regional Council for the Kansas City Resource Sharing Agreement. Your honor, I move we approve on the first reading and move to the second. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any oppose? No. Motion carries. Second reading. Second reading bill 5380, an ordinance approving an agreement between the city of Blue Springs and the Mid America Regional Council for the Kansas City Resource Sharing Agreement. Your honor, move to approve the second reading and provide the proper ordinance number. Is there a second?

Second. Any further discussion? Roll call. Council member Tholan. I. Rummel. Hi. Ericson. Hi. Edmonson. Hi. Rowan. Hi. Kaylor. Hi. Mayor Leves I carried unanimously and given ordinance number 5479. Well, believe it or not, that's all the business we have for tonight. Next up is a presentation from the Chamber of Commerce for our by Blue Springs and Chamber Leadership Class. Miss Laura, if you will come up and tell us who you are and what you're going to talk about.

Sure. U my name is Laura Vermillion. Um, I'm very happy to be here tonight to share with you the Blue Springs 2526 leadership class and our annual by Blue Springs presentation. Um, I first though want to recognize that I do have board members in the audience tonight. So, I'll ask them all to stand so that you know who they are. So, board members, please stand. Thank you very much. Um, as I said, we are here tonight for two reasons. Uh, to introduce the class and then do our annual presentations. First, we're going to start with the introduction of the class. And our hope is that you will get to know these people because we think there are some future leaders in this class for Blue Springs. Just kind of as a reminder to you that Blue Springs leadership program was established in 1991 by the chamber and the purpose was to develop that community leadership pool. That class starts in August and they meet once per month through May and then they graduate in June. And each day is a dayong class. It could be about the city, the county, the state government, education, the business community, fire and emergency services, and more. So, not only do they have to go through those classes, but they're also responsible for a class project. And I think this year, what they've decided to do is with the Blue Springs Police Department, and it's a domestic violence project. So, you'll be seeing that more in the community as the months progress. But I'm going to ask them to come forward in just a second and tell you who they are and where they work. But before that, I also want to recognize the three volunteer leaders that help us manage and coordinate this program. We have Carmen Booker with Bank 21. We have Lisa Lome with Yoga Journeys and Platinum Realy. There's Lisa and Brian Markworth who's a community member. Okay, I'm going to ask the class to stand, form a line at the podium, and then class after you introduce yourself, you can sit back down. We're going to take the picture after the Bible.

My name is Sam Murphy. I'm an assistant chief of operations for a shift. And as you can tell, today is a shift. Okay. [laughter] Hi, I'm Sarah Johnson and I own Local Guy Pest Control. Hi, I'm Amy Quayazo and I'm the assistant manager at Kansas City Cannabis. Hi, I'm Holly Grant. I'm the record supervisor at the police department. Hello, I am Jessica Oxbow. I'm with Sandy's Restaurant and the Matter movement.

I am Shelby Boore. I'm the events coordinator with the chamber. Hi, I'm Sarah Singleton. I work at MCC Blue River. Hi, I'm Tabitha Ferah. I'm assistant manager at Central Bank. Hi, Teresa Keane, executive director downtown Blue Springs. Hi, I am Kent Lair. I'm a battalion chief with CDC fire overshift. It's not sea shift today. [laughter] Ben McCra, detective sergeant, Blue Springs Police Department. Melissa Nicholson, City of Blue Springs Utility Billing.

Kristen Hoenshell, um, finance department. Hi there. I'm Kaylee Nelson. I'm the assistant principal at Lucy Franklin here in Blue Springs. Hello, I work for State Farm Chad Smith's office and my name is B Curry. Hello, my name is Josh Schnelli and I'm a relationship manager for Armed Forces Mutual. Hello, I'm Kristen Shackleford. My husband and I own Casey Auto Center.

So, quite a diverse class, a large class. We seem to have some companies that have someone in that class every year and we absolutely love that. All right. So, um, in a minute I'm going to turn the presentation over to Trish, and she's going to talk about our billocal and visitor spending efforts, but I wanted to just bring your attention to the bag that we left at all of your places. You should each have one of these. Um, it says, "Support your local everything." And we know that all of you do that. And I just wanted to say thank you for all of your support for um, the local environment that you provide for us each and every day at the Chamber of Commerce. Okay, my pleasure to turn it over to Trish Todd, and she's going to talk about our two programs. Thank you, Laura. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here and join you tonight and provide an update on how the ByBlue Springs and Discover Blue Springs program support our local economy and community in 2025. These initiatives may be familiar to many of you, but I'd like to offer a quick refresher to those that this is new to and um get them up to date. These programs exist to encourage resident spending and visitor spending and supporting our local businesses. While the two efforts serve different audiences, they work in tandem to showcase Blue Springs and strengthen our local economy. And it's important to remember that every resident was once a visitor. This year, we made it a point to track our data so we could share a snapshot with you all on who reaches out to the chamber and how we serve our community dayto-day. In 2025, the majority of our calls, emails, and walk-in visits fell into a few key categories, ranging from tourism inquiries, help with city related questions, marketing support, and business relations. After on an average one to two interactions a week are tourism questions, and that happens with no organized tourism efforts. A few examples are grandparents hosting their grandkids, questions about local

campgrounds, the best hiking trails, visitors looking for public transportation, directions to parks, and of course, information about our hotels and restaurants. You'll notice a strong engagement around residents inquiries and chamber resources, which reinforces the chamber's role as the front door for information, not just for the business, but for the broader community. They want to know where the local shoe repair shop is, what's being built on Seven Highway, when the fireworks displays will be, and the hours of our farmers market to name a few. We always see consistent requests related to doing business in Blue Springs and marketing and advertising, which speaks to the need for guidance, visibility, and connection among our local businesses. The chamber supports business directly, but our work also impacts our community. We often serve as a first stop for people navigating Blue Springs. Ultimately, this slide reinforces the role for Blue Springs extended beyond the membership alone. We're supporting economic vitality, community engagement, and the positive experience for those interacting in Blue Springs. As we review this evening, you'll hear the common theme, supporting local businesses to increase our economy. Through programs like member of the month, small business Saturday, and consistent digital promotion, the chamber reaches thousands of residents to help members increase visibility and engagement. We also promote promote our major downtown events like Trick-or- Treat Main Street, The Car Cruises, Christmas on Maine, bringing hundred hundreds of people directly to our local businesses. We work closely with our local partners, and the result is more foot traffic, brand awareness, and dollars staying in Blue Springs. the passport challenge. For the third year in a row, we paid for the app called Proxy. It is an interactive way for us to drive local spending during the holiday season. This event grew this year with 175 participants visiting businesses across the community, reaching 700 I

mean 671 check-ins at local businesses and restaurants. That's three times more than last year. Each visit earned entries into our grand prize drawing for $400. It's engaging, measurable, and effective. It turns shopping local into an experience people generally want to be a part of. Our plan is to continue this program next year as research shows it's typically takes at least three years for a program to gra to gain traction with a within a community and reach its full potential. And of course, thank you to Mayor for showing up in his festive attire and drawing the winner for this year's um contest live on Facebook. We made sure that we were in the spotlight and that our community was seen whenever possible. We invest in the visit KC so we can promote our events on the f like fall funfest on various community websites. We work with JAG TV to draw the younger generation's interest into what's happening in our community. We took advantage of our contacts at Kshb41 who did a feature on Main Street and the positive impact that we have economically with our small businesses. And Cassie UT, owner of Red and Rooted, was interviewed and reported that during that weekend, she sees lots of new faces that come back and bring return customers to downtown Blue Springs. New this year, we used our resources to create a communitywide map for crowdsourcing holiday events. People could add their activities to the mobile friendly app for free, and it served as a hub for holiday fun in Blue Springs. There was 25 events added by the public, including Santa spottings, light displays, pet friendly activities, and more. The map had,00 views and 300 shares. We can't wait to see what this does in three years. Back for the second year in 2025 was the Casey Open, an international pool tournament hosted at Side Pockets, creating an economic impact in Blue Springs. The chamber worked with Side

Pockets and the Ultimate Pool USA to welcome 160 competitors along with 900 spectators and supporters, many of whom traveled for the weekend. This means hotel stays, visits to restaurants, shopping, and spending throughout our community. With the live TV coverage showcasing Blue Springs, we weren't just hosting the event. We were marketing our city to a national a national audience, ideally benefiting Blue Springs long after the tournament. The Curling Club is another steady economic driver for Blue Springs through the months of April to October. During peak season, we see estimated 800 visitors coming into our community, many traveling specifically to compete, practice, and attend the events. On top of that, there's 200 re league plays and practices every week, creating consistent repeat traffic through our community. What makes this even more powerful is that this is one of the only dedicated curling clubs within 350 mile radius, attracting visitors from across the Midwest, the US, and internationally. This is not a one-time event. It's ongoing tourism, repeat spending, and long-term economic impact, and our community treasures and loves to promote and brag about this. You may be familiar with the Centerline Volleyball Complex. It's another major driver for our regional traffic to Blue Springs. In the winter alone, it attracts 2,000 visitor visitors, bringing players and families from across the metro, Jeff City, Sidelia, and Colombia. During the spring play alone, we see about 500 visitors per session. 75% of those players are outside of Blue Springs. That means again consistent spending on local businesses week after week. And because Centerlind is one of the only facilities of its kind until you reach Kansas, it positions Blue Springs as a regional sports destination. Again, repeat visitation, another standout in our community that the chamber partners with. You may be familiar with Ashish Patel, the owner of Hampton Inn, who has shared

with us that how regional and national events brought to the Kansas City area drives overnight stays to Blue Springs. When the Chiefs are in town, the hotel is often split with 50% Chiefs fans and 50% visiting teams. People traveling in staying overnight and spending money. The guests often make it a weekend and their visits average stay is two nights. Each year, the Wood Bat Tournament comes to Blue Springs, drawing hundreds of youth sports enthusiasts to our area from a five-state region. The chamber has secured an annual sponsorship promoting our local restaurants and retailers and encouraging attendees to keep their dollars here in Blue Springs. We also support the youth through the real world learning program. This fall, Becca Blake, our communications director, had the opportunity to work with the class of Blue Springs on a tourism project. This year, they are studying to see what it takes to organize a successful event and come up with several ideas that would keep our community youth engaged here in Blue Springs. They're looking at four seasonal events. Anxious to see how that comes out. These next two slides represent successful initiatives driven by the chamber that has been going on for 10 years. They are simple but very impactful. Meet me for lunch on average on average hosts 25 people spending roughly $20 per person which puts about $500 directly into a local restaurant every time we host. Multiply that across the multiple events throughout the year and that's thousands of dollars intentionally driven to local business. It's networking with a purpose. We often during try to visit during off- peak hours when the support matters most. Beyond the immediate spending, these events introduce members to new locations, encourage return visits, and help build long-term customer relations. It's community connection and economic impact all in one room. While these

investments uh might seem small in sorry, let me start again. While the investment of these three initiatives may seem modest, the impact definitely is not. As we look ahead to 2026, our for our focus will of course remain the same, driving economic growth. But as we are aware, there's opportunity at the front door with the World Cup. We're going to continue partnering closely with Visit KC to ensure Blue Springs is positioned as a welcoming destination during World Cup. We will support our local businesses the best way we can to ensure that they are ready. We will investigate in the proxy app and do our best to keep Blue Springs in the spotlight. To close, I want to say thank you. Thank you for being a partner. Whoa, I got emotional. Thank you for being a partner. We trust and for your financial support here and as you invest in the chamber's work, the chamber is able to serve as a trusted resource, leveraging strong partnerships like ours to stretch resources further and maximize the impact. Our hope is that the update today provides a clear insight on how our resources are used to support local business, drive spending within our community, and position Blue Springs for long-term e economic growth. On behalf of the chamber and the board we serve, thank you for believing in our mission. And I am open to having any questions.

Thank you, Miss Todd. Any questions?

All right. Thank you for that report. A lot of good stuff going on. Well, with that, I will move on then to visitors any speaker appearance forms. We'll go to council member comments. Any comments from council members going on? Anything on liaison committees, events in your districts, anything going on? All right, I'm going to make up the difference then because I'm going to about talk as long as the rest of the meeting's been. So, all right. Well, then if you'll give me a few minutes, I got a couple things to highlight tonight. Uh the parks department participated in the maintenance rodeo this week. They uh we had two got some individual recognition. Gabe Bickl got first place in the skid steer competition and Gabe and David Beam won the truck and trailer competition. Justin, do I add this right? The team got second place overall from the whole event

for the Ferrar region. So there's 15 other departments. They got second place overall, which means they're going to the maintenance rodeo state championship in Colombia later this month, which I think I read was the third time they've been to the state championship. So, their skills on display uh doing some good work there in the parks department. Also, the Blue Springs Animal Control got recognized this week at an event, the Coffin Foundation Real Word Learning Event, the Get on the Bus event. It was kind of fun. Um they recognized an internship that the animal control blue animal control does with the career innovation center students specifically those in the veterary assistant program. So they intern with animal control gives them hands-on learning with the animal control department to care for animals and so nice to get some recognition. Sergeant Johnson was actually one of the speakers at the event. He had to stand in front of everybody and give a speech. And it's the only time one of the animal control officers says the one time they saw Sergeant Johnson sweat before was uh there in front of a bunch of people. So, you know, having fist fights with drug dealers, okay, but he sweats when he has to talk in front of people. So, it tells you public speaking. Um then also a couple other things on the agenda tonight. Thank you, Council Member Edmonson, for highlighting one of those that the uh contract has for clearing and preparation for the Central Park Trail. So, that is happening. The contract was approved this evening. A trail will be put around the pond there behind the depot at Central Park. That contract was approved tonight. Also approved the contract for construction of the right turn lane at ADP and Duncan. So, the District One representatives and their residents. We pretty excited about that one. Also happening this year. also approved a contract tonight for Olsen for our comprehensive plan. So last comprehensive plan was in 2014. So we're due uh you as residents will hear a lot more about that. It will be a big deal to really highlight what we're going to

do from a land use perspective and just general planning for the future of the city for the next 10 at least years. And so that's pretty exciting as well. And finally on the consent agenda tonight was the creation of the neighbors in need task force. So part of the strategic planning we did uh identified we needed to do more to coordinate services for our vulnerable population. And so this task force will kick off. There are several members of that task force here tonight already. Um and we'll start scheduling meetings now that it's been formally created and members appointed to it. So that's a big uh step towards our strategic plan. Uh one of the items on the strategic plan will be big for the community as well. So a lot of exciting things happening. Um, I'm also going to go to my fifth daddy daughter dance this week, so that'll be fun. Uh, and it's also Black History Month. I'm not aware of any events happening in city limits of Blue Springs. If anybody is aware, I'm glad to highlight those as well. What I do know is that the Royals have once again covered admission to the Negro League Baseball Museum for the month of February. So, uh, take the family out to see that. The Jazz Museum is next door as well. So, lots of great things happening in our community. With that, I will accept the motion to go into executive session.

So move. Sorry. The city clerk will read something to read. So move to go into executive session. Mayor motions in order for council to go into close session pursuant to section 610.021 sub paragraph 1 revised statutes of Missouri for the purpose of privilege communications between a governmental body or its representative and legal counsel including litigation. And that any minutes, documents, and other records discussed or taken during the closed session remain closed. and that this body stand adjourned at the completion of such session. Council member. Yes, sir. I would make Would you like to so move? I would so move. I'd like to second it for the second time. [laughter] Roll call. Council member Brahole. Yes. Ericson, yes. Edmonson, yes. Rowan, yes. Kaylor,

yes. Solen, yes. Mayor Leves, I. Motion carries. We're in executive session. Stick around. We'll take pictures before we go off and have our meeting.