City Council - Regular Meeting

That's so true. Now you don't

Good evening everyone. 7 PM and we'll go ahead and call our regularly scheduled meeting to order. Uh we'll start with the invocation and Chief Sutterby, you got us. All right. Will you bow your head and pray with me? Almighty God, we just thank you tonight for the opportunity to serve our community. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to be here and to uh make decisions in the best interest of everyone. Lord, guide our decisions, give us wisdom, and uh Lord, just be with us all. Be with our community, Lord, to continue to protect it and keep it safe. And we pray this in your name. Amen. Amen.

Thank you. Now all do the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. to the for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Madam clerk, would you please take the role? Mr. Thron, Mrs. Feedback here. Mr. Grant here. Mr. Doug Otto here. Mr. Savage here. Mayor, we do have a quorum present. Thank you. First up, we have the approval of the agenda. We did have a request to delete items 9 and 12. Uh, do we have any questions or any other changes that we need to make? With that, I'll entertain a motion. So moved. Second. Do we need to say approve agenda as amended? No. Okay. All right. All those in favor? I

opposed. Motion passes. 400. Next up, we will do announcements and reports. Um, I don't have a whole lot tonight for everybody. I will say that we've been working on a couple different things. I know uh Lane and I have been talking about a couple different areas for uh crosswalks for kids um and some trails and then also a a bike a bike park that we've identified that we might be able to do. So, those are some things that um I'm going to be trying to set up that trail and um the trail and kind of bike committee that we were talking about before and I think it's something I'll be working on the next couple weeks. So, hopefully we'll hear more. If you have interest, please reach out to me. You can email uh or call or text me. And um I look forward to kind of having some things happen here in the next six months or so. Also, we have our joint meeting with the planning commission coming up on the 2nd of April. I would encourage anybody who'd like to come. Uh we will be making some decisions this uh this particular month and then we'll be talking about some longer term plans that we to give a timeline of what we're trying to do. So I would hope uh anybody interested uh can attend and if you can't feel free to send information over to myself, anybody up here, Amy, Mike, uh Ian, Lane, whoever, whoever you'd like to. Okay. Um that's it for me. Ivan, what you got?

No report. No report, Kristen. No report. Uh, no real report. I've just in the past couple weeks noticed there's a lot of golf carts and UTVs out and I just remind people be safe. Um, the weather's getting nicer and a lot more people are going to be out enjoying it. Just kind of be mindful of them. Yeah, good to see. Chief Sutterby, if you want to elaborate there and then anything else you've got for us. I know we had a post about it recently kind of refreshing the rules of the road and kind of what requirements there are there for that.

Okay, new mic tonight. So anyway, uh yeah, just want to remind people that when it comes to golf carts, uh you have to have a valid unrestricted driver's license to drive those. So, just make sure you know um we've had a couple of instances recently where we've had people without driver's license operating them and we've just been educating those but just wanted to make that as a reminder too as part of that being safe. So, I appreciate that. And then we are going to be having in the middle of uh April. I don't have the exact date in front of me, but we are going to have a a opportunity probably down uh town area on Main Street near the the Bean and Pops to bring your golf cart or UTV if you have any questions about it. We'll answer questions, take a look at your cart, make sure it complies with the city ordinance and just generally just, you know, answer any questions that people may have as the season starts to get warmer. So, uh be looking on Facebook and social media for that and we'll get that information out pretty soon.

That sounds great. Also, you do have to have insurance, right? Yes. Okay, that's another thing. I saw a question about that on social media. I want to make sure everybody knew. Do have to have liability insurance for that. Uh Lane, you got anything for us? Real quick, 191st Street because I I was going to ask. I figured Kristen's going to ask.

Um we're currently working with KOT and our engineers to get the final final approval. We're still hoping that it's going to be the July, you know, it may go into a little bit past July before we can go out to bid that project. Uh we're hoping that this summer we bid it and start construction by fall and then it'll be completed in 2027. We're also working on 183rd Street. That one may be a few months behind it, but we're hoping that that one will be pretty close in the same timeline as 191st Street. And I will say for 191st, I know we've talked about it for a long time, but there is a funding mechanism that we are receiving from KOT that's tied to their fiscal year that restarts July 1. That's one reason it got pushed to July, but that's outside of that, we should be looking pretty good. Um, based off everything I've seen. So Rhonda,

um, good evening. out on uh social media, I see a lot of people are talking about their first Water One bill that they've received. And so um we've taken some calls here at city hall and I thought it might be a good time for me to uh share a little bit of information with the public and and you as well. Um just a reminder to everybody, when you get your water one bill, they bill every other month. So that's a twomonth water bill that you're getting, not your normal one-mon bill like you get from the city. And so be sure to divide your bill in half. So when people look at their like development charge or their monthly fee, it's actually double what you're used to seeing. Doesn't mean you're paying more. Um I analyzed an account for one citizen that called and it's following what we expected to see, which is there's a few dollars of savings including the development fee and everything. Just a few dollars a month in savings. And this particular customer, their water bill with the city was $44.99 and their water bill with all the fees included at water one is $37.88. So they're saving about $712 a month on that particular bill. Obviously different houses, different demand um things are different, but the rate per gallon or per thousand gallons at Water One is much lower than the city's was. So that creates a savings to help offset um if you have the full bill of water, sewer, and trash. For this customer, previously it was $10110. With the new water one bill, it'll be $95.15 or net savings of $5.95. And by the way, the same uh average bill in THA is $12862. So, I just want the city, the citizens to be aware of how their bill is going to work and what to look for in it and that it is um following the savings we thought that

they would see in this early part um with water one and that those numbers they're going to be seeing on this particular statement or will it be where they have to split it in two to cover two months? This first statement that they get, they would have to split it in two. Okay. Okay. So, this first statement is for two months that I would have to look and see the the demand, the water they actually used. I'm not positive on that, but the fees are all doubled on it. So, they got a double billing February, March.

Okay. So, that's one thing that I'm sure you'll get more calls and and more things like that. But, if anybody's watching out there, split it in half, matched up to what you had before previous year, or were you looking monthto month as far as year to year? last February, this February, I looked at a five-month average in our system. Okay. And then this customer, of course, has only received one bill. And so that was the comparison I had, but I did a five-month average. And this particular residence, the water moved around some u wasn't just exactly the same every month. Okay. I know I was on water for years and it was it was difficult sometimes with the every every other month billing. So, it is something to get used to.

But it sounds like we are at least not having an increase for anyone. They It it definitely looks not great from the ones I've saw just because of how it's split up, but right when you look at the total total is still a little bit better than it was before. Exactly. So, all right. Thank you. Uh Glenda, if I can just add some additional information on the um meeting that the city council and planning commission will have. Amy and I sent out the notices for planning commission and city council. So, that agenda is on our website. Um, so if anybody wants additional information, it is in this room and it's at six o'clock um from 6:00 to 6:50 because the planning commission will have a regular meeting starting at 7. Okay, perfect.

Okay, thanks. Thank you, Monisha Jones. No report. Okay, Jacob.

Um, because you mentioned the trails with a big assist from the community development, we've got uh we put together most of the information on the trails within the subdivisions throughout the city. So, I'll I'll get you more detailed information uh later, but there are 11 subdivisions uh throughout the city that have trails some size, form, or fashion. Uh we were able to pull together pretty pretty complete information or at least to tell us what we needed to know on eight of those 11. We're still working on three of them, but uh I would say the the kind of the big takeaway is seven of the eight that we found information on. Um the ownership and maintenance of the trails is clearly spelled out that that's um you know belongs to the homeowners association. And um again at seven of the eight of those it specifies that that the trails and and common spaces are for the private use of the residents of that subdivision and there was one of the eight that specifically said it was for public use. So that was just an interesting bit of information that we found in digging through it.

Are those some of the newer subdivisions or some of the older ones? Um, so I assume the newer ones were easier to find than the Yeah. And and it tends to be the newer ones that have the trails. Um, okay. As well, but yes, they were Yeah, I say all of those eight that we found the information on are are our newer ones. Okay. And then we also did some survey. What's the surface of the trail? Is it asphalt? Is it concrete? How wide is it? And that varies as well. subdivision to subdivision. The majority of them are only five feet, but there's one as wide as 10. Oh, wow. Okay.

All right. Well, I look forward to seeing the whole report once you got it. Thanks for working on it. I know it's not the easiest thing to go and find stuff splattered all over. Said the community development staff help digging through those plats and finding finding that information. All right, perfect. Allison,

to piggyback on that, that's the current snapshot of what we're doing. for what we've been doing as far as trails. Uh last Friday I applied for two grants. Um one was for a transportation master plan which will include a trail master plan. Um so that we can start looking at um connections into the regional trail system where as we start to get some of these development applications, where do we want to identify areas for trail connections and such? Perfect. That was actually something we talked about today getting a master plan. So, it's good to know that's already in the works. Hopefully, assuming we get funding. Cross your fingers. That's what you're good at, though. So, let's keep that up.

All right, Mike. I expect something out of you tonight. Uh, I don't have anything on trails. Um, I believe the joint session with the planning commission has been mentioned a few times before. So, um, other than that, I gave a presentation to the Spring Hill Chamber of Commer Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Spring Hill, uh, earlier this week talking about economic development and its relationship with community development. And so, um, if anybody would like to see that PowerPoint, I'm happy to forward that to you.

Okay, great. Thank you. I don't think I skipped anybody unless Amy wants to say something. She doesn't. I know she doesn't want to. Um, that's it for announcements and reports. Next, we'll move to citizen participation. This is a time for citizens to come and speak. We didn't have anybody sign up. I know we've got one guy that wants to come talk. Uh, come on up, Bill. Just name and address for me, even though I probably know it by heart at this point.

Bill Peterman, 1943 West 200 Street. Um, trying to think, uh, the city. I I moved into Spring Hill 12 and a half years ago and I used to watch on the first or the second the dependent the uh city bills go out to the post office and they were stamped and they were sent out. Now the city bills have to go to Kansas City, Kansas and get stamped and come back.

I received my bill on either the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th. That gives me two to three days to pay it, which is no big deal. But when you go out of town and you're not here to pay it, you get a $55 fee. It doesn't bother me, but it bothers some people that are my age, and I want to speak up for them because we need to change that or figure out how the post office can get those out quicker because uh a lot of people are set on times and uh it just doesn't happen when you when you get a bill and have to pay at the end of the month or in the middle of the month or whatever, you just it just needs we need to do something about it. I'll leave it at that.

Now, the other thing is the uh subdivision to the west of me, Woodland Woodland Crossing.

Woodland Crossing. They're building a whole bunch of putting a whole bunch of new basements in. And the last I heard is we're going to not let them have a permit until they put a sidewalk in. What are we doing? Are we not uh I don't see I guess we don't have a law a lawyer, but we need to get a lawyer to find out why they can't they can get away with whatever they want. We need to say if if we're going to say you're not going to get any more permits, don't give them any more permits. Make them come to us and say, "Okay, when do you want the sidewalk put in?" You guys talk about sidewalks all the time, but when it comes to one, what are you doing about it? I'll leave it at that.

No, thank you. I will say maybe we can reference that later, but I I'm pretty sure there's got to be ways. I know the mail is getting slower and slower and I don't know if there's something we can address there on the on the bill side.

The um my group talked about this at length today and Mr. Peterman did a good job of knowing where the issue is that we process the bill on the first of every month unless it's on a weekend and then it goes out on that Monday and they go to the post office on the on the first and then it's out of our control. Um this last billing most people we can see an in increase in a volume of calls when the bills go are received and most people receive their bill on the fifth or sixth so just a few days later. I don't have any way to influence the post office. Um, we do put it in the local post office. We think it's important to support, you know, the local post office to keep it here and all that. Um, there are other options. Um, a couple of things. Um, people can have their bill emailed to them and about half of our people do have it emailed to them. They can also, if you're not getting it, we have not we don't move the due date. um it's been on the 15th. We now have the opportunity to roll it to Monday if it falls on the weekend, but it's always due on the 15th. And most people really know that, like they're used to, I haven't seen that bill. I need to find it. If they'll call city hall, we'll certainly um print it and give it to them, something like that. Um, and in general, if it's something that got delayed in the mail, we would forgive um, a penalty or something like that. If people, you know, say, "Hey, I did everything I could, but I never got the bill." We tend to be flexible and and work with people on things like that. We are also looking at some options with our software and our water partners to look at c we back it up two or three days or four days. But again, I can back it up, but I hand it over to the postal service and then I lose all control.

I know it's kind of a winner to losing game when it comes to that. But do we have an option to where if they sign up for e billilling that they can also receive a paper bill? I know there's some scenarios where you could get both. I don't know if we offer that or we can. I think it's one or the other because there's some folks that really just love to get the paper, but if we give them a second option so they can have both would be nice too. if they called because they didn't get their bill, we could email it to them easily. I believe it's a one one or the other because my team moved me from getting it in email to getting it in the mail so they know when my bill arrives and they kind of know what's happening in the community. So, I think it's a one or the other, but we'd be happy to email it to anyone that would call, we just send it to them.

Well, yeah. What I'd say is, yeah, if we can if we can have some flexibility for folks that do get them really late and have an issue, I think that would be best practice. But um obviously it can't be every month. Like you said, once somebody gets it once, they should probably know the 15th today and either come up or contact us and and we can, you know, address it then. Um when it comes to sidewalks, Mike, I don't know if you'd be the one to um reference that. I know we've had some issues with that neighborhood on some other things. So, are we working to make sure that we have we meet all the requirements that we have for them? So, we actually have issued a public improvement permit for the sidewalk in that area. He's referencing the 199th and Woodland. Yeah. The whatever Woodland Lane. Yeah.

Whatever that off it's like a weird Yeah. Offshoot. Yeah. On Yeah. So, we do have um we have issued a public improvement permit. Um they were waiting on weather um and now we've got administrative items. So, I made a note to follow up with the permit holder to see where they're at as far the contractor to see where they're at as far as mobilizing. Okay, great. They have it. They have been issued a permit. Awesome. Thank you. Is there anybody else that'd like to make a comment or uh speak? Come on up. Just your name and address, please, and then whatever you like to say.

Uh Jason Okaane, 1880 Sky View Lane. I'm in Foxwood Ranch neighborhood. I've talked to most of you guys before. Um, one of my issues and I've been having having some problems with it and there's been a lot of confusion is at 191st and uh, Sky View Lane right there on the corner. We don't have a street light at all for the our entrance to the neighborhood. And I got pictures and I'd be happy to show you guys that, but it's super dark and it's kind of a safety concern for our neighborhood. Um, our other entrance over on Mahavey is lit up. It's got a street light right by our clubhouse and no issues there. But, uh, some issues that I've having, I went down to EverG and talked to them, but they won't give me any information because I'm not on any accounts. Um, they suggested that we go through our HOA and try to get stuff done. Our HOA doesn't want to do anything. Our management group doesn't want to do anything because they don't want to get build. We don't we don't want to get build for the street light. um Summit that's responsible for the development has said that they don't are not responsible for that light. They were responsible for all the lights in the neighborhood. But from what reports that I'm getting is that there was some type of change where now every is responsible for the street lights, something like that. I'm not really sure. We're getting a lot of everybody's pointing fingers back at each other and we're not really getting any air. I know uh one of our board members emailed uh Jacob about uh getting some information on that so that we can figure out how to proceed on that. Um whether the city has to contact EverGy to get a permit or something for the street light to be put in. Um whether it is Summit's responsibility. I'm sure there's some type of lighting plan for that neighborhood. I'd be surprised if there wasn't. They don't just put street lights in wherever they

feel, you know, feel like they need them. Um, but EverGie wouldn't give me any type of information. I've tried to pull plans from Amy. There's no, she doesn't really have anything that she can show me on anything like that. So, um, I don't know if Allison has any information on that um or has seen a lighting plan to see if that one was Summit's responsibility or not. But, uh, um, I know it's been a big concern in our neighborhood and that's really the last, I think, street light that needs to be put in there.

Yeah. Um, we were talking also too about putting a crosswalk in over there to Force Spring Middle School. That's been a a big thing. Um, Mr. Young was telling me about that. Uh, uh, they are looking into something. I know you guys have been maybe talking about getting a some type of crosswalk in over there. That's a huge safety concern. I don't even let my kids cross that road to go over there and I know a bunch of other people. So, we're, you know, using bus services to get over there um, right now. But I would hate something bad to happen and then we start talking about it. It, you know, it'd be nice to get something done before something does bad happen there because 191st is just getting busier and busier and busier.

I mean, it's the main throw for for that the throw for that middle school, the elementary school, the high school. Um, people speed up and down there. It's a 45 mph street. Um, I know you guys are wanting to do a lot of improvements on that. So, it might even get even more traffic. So, um, it'd be nice to have something done on that sooner than later, you know, not years from now, you know, something a little bit sooner than that. But if if anybody can give us any information on what how we can do the street light thing, I'm kind of at a standstill. I don't know who else to talk to because nobody really knows. Yeah. So, somebody puts in street lights, somebody knows how to do it.

Who's who's responsible? Yeah. I think everybody's passing. That's what I was saying. I don't We probably don't have an answer tonight, but we'll work on it and we'll get you we'll get some sort of answer. I mean, because I've been over there. It's dark on that. It It's super dark and I totally have pictures if anybody wants to see pictures of it. I mean, it's it's dark dark. The only only thing lighting up that entrance is landscaping lighting. Yeah, that's it. So, um and we have tons of kids in that neighborhood. Yeah. So, yeah, that's all I had. Thank you.

Perfect. Thanks. And we are working on options for crosswalks and things like that. So that's definitely on our on our radar. Now that uh street light will also be on there. So thank you. Anyone else would like to come up and speak. Looks like nobody else. All right, we'll move on. We have a uh presentation from Chief Sutterby on victim services. Come on up. All right. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, council, for the opportunity here to discuss with you and present information about a new program we want to begin using uh beginning May 1st. And I was instrumental in bringing this at the last agency I worked uh for uh bringing this to fruition and it seemed to um really serve the needs of the community. And uh I wasn't planning on really uh getting this started this early in my tenure here when I came to Spring Hill. But a story that I'd like to share is um our public safety our public service officer who is Jod liveveng good um I was in my office one day and we were I was working on some things and she brought in a couple of reports uh where uh they were uh reports where there were victims listed on the on the reports and she noticed that there were some things that could be done to assist these victims in these two cases and she thought it was important enough to bring it to my attention so that somebody could look into them. And right away, that is exactly what we want in a victim advocate. We want somebody who is looking out for victims in our community and looking for ways that they can

serve. And so, I just kind of wanted to explain uh this what this will be as we uh bring this. And our goal is is to begin this service on May the 1st. Uh we're still finishing up on a manual that will guide the program and we're also working on a policy that will also give some some obviously some guard rails as uh we can we start to serve the community in this way. So what is our mission in victim services? It's to empower crime victims uh by listening to their needs. We want to safeguard their rights because as you know Kansas has a bill of rights for victims um in the state statutes. Um we want to offer a safe and welcoming environment for them to get support to be educated and to get referred to different resources that are out there. So there's a lot of resources out there for victims that I'll cover later on in this presentation. And um and if you don't know, you don't know. And that's why this victim advocate is so important is because uh through the process we'll be able to get a hold of victims and be proactive in making sure that victims know how we can serve them best. Part of the the process in this is making sure that we're trauma informed and that we're victim centered. And that's the whole purpose of creating a victim services program and having a victim advocate is because through our investigations division um from the officers working the street and taking reports, we want to provide victim centered care to those people who unfortunately may be suffering one of the worst days or nights of their life. So what does it entail? So, um there's not many in the county law enforcementbased victim specialist programs. You have Johnson County, um the district attorney's office who has a

victim uh program, but that's for the courts. Uh currently, Oland Park, Kansas City, Kansas Police Department. I believe Gardner PD kind of has a part-time uh detective who fills the role of advocate and does victim services. Um but um other than that, we'll probably, if I'm counting right, we'll be the third law enforcement agency to have a victim-based service in this county. So that's that's quite a quite an opportunity for us to be out in front of being proactive. And as our community grows, we'll already have hopefully this service established um as we move forward. this right now. Um, the victim advocate will report to me, but that could change as the department grows and there's more personnel and more command staff. Um, and then the hours of operation will be Monday through Friday. Normally this will happen during regular business hours, but there is times where when crime occurs in the middle of the night and we have a victim maybe of a sexual assault, maybe it's a homicide, god forbid, but this victim advocate can be called out and come to the scene and be with the victim and again add that piece of support as officers are doing their job interviewing people and trying to get facts. this person can help us get uh help the victim get through this and get us the information that we need so we can do the investigation. Okay, so these are the crimes that we want to concentrate on to begin with. It doesn't mean that we won't expand them as we go on, but all domestic violence crimes, adult and child sexual assault, and you can see the list there. These are mainly uh violent crime. And uh we don't have a lot of this, but uh why we want to start with these is because uh this will give us a good way of beginning the program and starting it

out and getting our feet underneath us. And um I believe that uh we do have domestic violence in our community. And so that will probably be the main focus of the victim advocate, but there's other things that we'll uh we'll be able to address as we go forward. And we might expand it to property crime once we um again develop the program a little bit more, understand, tweak it a little bit as we move forward um in the in the coming months. And anytime you have questions, please stop me and ask me. This is an example of a victim interview room for um victim services. It's not your traditional interview room. Uh if you've seen TV shows and watched detectives interview people, usually it's a cinder block walls with, you know, white paint and maybe a bright light, I don't know. But um we try to soften uh an area where, you know, victims feel comfortable, they feel at ease to be able to share their story. And um and this is something that we would do in the future. We don't have room to provide this right now. Uh but in the future, this is something that we definitely would do as we um look at um you know the future and what we may need. Um this would definitely be something that we could use again. What is uh what are some of the duties of a victim specialist really to provide crisis intervention and assistance safety planning? um helping with protection from abuse orders, how to get those, uh how to get them online, helping a victim walk through that process, uh getting connected with the Kansas Vine notification service, which is a place where you can go and track offenders, let you get notified if an offender is getting out so that you know um for safety of the victim. Uh accompanying victims to interviews and just being supportive during an

interview process. um assisting victims and survivors with uh the compensation process. So, Kansas has a victim's compensation program. There's ways that you can get uh compensated if you're a victim of a crime and and that can be kind of challenging. And so, one of the other things that a victim advocate will do will help a victim navigate the criminal justice system and help them find their way, give them updates on case investigation. So, this takes the load off of the detective to keep giving the victim updates and it's coming from a person who's really centered on the victim itself and uh will provide that care and information that a victim may desire uh when they're um you know, kind of wondering, okay, what's going on with my case? The the the advocate can put this as a regular notification on their calendar. Hey, I need to call this victim and just give them an update on how the case is moving forward. um if they have any questions about court, about how to um maybe get there, these are all things that our victim advocate can do in order to support uh victims of crime. Another thing they can help them do is, you know, connect them with resources like safe home. Um, if it's a domestic violence uh situation or if it's a child uh victim, we have a uh a uh forensic interview process at Sunflower House where uh the CAC can then, you know, help the victim advocate can help coordinate that uh child's interview at that location and and help the family just understand what that process is. So there's a lot of uh things where there's a lot of collaboration with outside partners um and with internal partners really to to make this work. You know we'll track you know these are some of the key things that we'll track you know how many victims we're serving

how we contact them how many referrals we're making. Um this is pretty standard in this particular area and there may be some other things that we realize that we need to track to kind of measure our success um as we move forward. Here you see all the partners. This just gives you a kind of a a good screenshot of all the people that we collaborate with. Um whether it's detectives or officers or myself and the captain, we're always we have all these uh people that we collaborate with. And so the victim advocate can be that central location so that you're not calling, you know, seven or eight different places to get the information that you need. They can call the victim advocate. Victim advocate then make those calls and get back to the victim so they feel like they're really being served. Uh what can they do? Well, we can build relationships uh with victims to keep them engaged in the process so we have better prosecution outcome. You know, if if we can keep that victim engaged and they really feel like we care and that we really have their best interest of mind, then we can hold offenders accountable uh a lot better. We can provide these resources and navigate them through this system, educate them on the criminal justice process. Uh again, serve as the main point. What they can't do is they're not investigators. So, they don't gather, collect evidence. They don't investigate the crime. um they don't provide legal advice. They're strictly there to support the victim and they don't have privilege. So, you know, they can also be a help because the victim may feel more comfortable confiding in the the advocate and that advocate can then share that information with the detective and be that uh can help with that process to uh to get that information hopefully flowing. But they're they don't have privilege. So,

um it's not something that if uh we're talking to a victim that there's confidentiality there and we make sure that the victims know that. Um and this is just a site that says they're going to be working internally too with officers. Officers can can help them. Hey, I need you to contact this person that I had contact last night. Uh we can get them through. She'll be reviewing reports every day. Uh looking for opportunities there to um to contact victims. So, there's a number of ways internally that she'll be able to uh look and see who she needs to contact and reach out and make those uh necessary uh referrals. This just shows you some of the memberships that are open to us as a part of this uh program. So, um, there's many committees out there that look out for victims, and it would be great if we get our program to a point where we have representative on one of these committees representing the community of Spring Hill and our best interest to um in any of these um committees uh just to make sure that a lot of these committees discuss best practices in the area of whatever specialty it is when it come to victim services. Okay, that's pretty much uh victim services in a nutshell and kind of how we're going to deploy it. If you have any questions, I'll be uh more than welcome more than happy to answer any questions.

I have some questions. So, um the the victim advocate, is it a qualified mental health professional or it's a law enforcement person? No, it's a law enforcement person. Yeah. Okay. And so, who's going to be because one of your things on here talked about direct mental health counseling services. No, we can't actually provide that. No, no, we'll be we'll be working with our co-responder program for that. So, okay. We have the Johnson County mental health co-responders and that's who we'll be partnering with if we have to refer them to something like that. So, and so they'll be on call. This victim advocate will be on call outside of the Monday through Friday hours. Well, I wouldn't say they would be on call, but they'd be available if we need to call them to

to respond to something if we felt like there's a need for support. Okay. Yeah. Almost seems more like a good resource person to get them to where they need, not necessarily the person that's going to help them per se for all the different things. Is that correct? To clarify. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's good questions. Okay. Um Yeah, that's good as a liaison. Um and but they're strict their job is strictly to advocate for the victim and direct them to resources. And direct them to resources. Yeah. Yep. That's gonna be good for the officers, too, because that's a little bit less work that they have to do to follow up with everybody, right? So,

well, sometimes, you know, I think our officers do a great job of engagement in the community and we get compliments all the time and they're very caring, but sometimes we're police officers and we and it's just the facts, please. And so it's always good to have somebody who's has that softer approach who is really looking at it from a different perspective than the officers. And so you're right, not only does it take a load off the police officers, but it also can be a little bit we get focused on doing our job as police officers and this can be somebody who can come alongside this person and give a little bit more care, sensitivity, empathy um from that perspective. Now, I know the uh interview room, you guys don't have any room at the PD. Is that something that we could kind of outsource to somebody in the community that maybe we'll be able to provide a room that we could do those soft interview rooms?

Yeah, right now we'll have to make do with um what we can do. We we'll probably use the our conference room is is probably soft enough that we can, you know, do that. in the future as we maybe look at a new building or we look at some place we can start we can incorporate something like this into those plans so that as we move forward we'll have this type of uh resource for interviews and victims

is Johnson County going to be Johnson County um mental health center are they the ones that are going to be providing the training to the law enforcement officer or I know all the resources that you know we're going to be directing the clients too. But in terms of the law enforcement officer's own training, so uh through VOCHA there's training. So okay, um the uh the Jod has already been through um some training through VOCA

um for victim services and delivery. Um there's all there's other trainings out there that she'll be continuing to take and become more um educated on victim services. So, um there's also training through the International Associated Chiefs of Police website um for law enforcement based victim advocates. She shadowed Oland Park's victim advocates for two days um to uh understand how they uh handled their victim services program and um she's made several contacts in the community with the Johnson County District Attorney's Office um and with others where she she has resources for herself to ask questions and as we move the program forward. So, and again, you know, we we're we're she'll have a manual that will guide her in some of these things. So, it's uh she won't be just um out there doing it without some guidance.

Well, and I like how you're collecting data. I think that's really important to see, you know, how many connections that we're making, how many referrals we I mean, I just think that's in any program that a place starts. I think that's important. Yeah. Just to see how effective it is and how it's working. Yeah. if again it may need something it may be something where we need to to right now Jod's going to absorb this responsibility within some of the other duties that she does. So this could open up a doorway for we may need something full-time in the future and this data will help us to provide that information to you guys so you can make that decision. So yeah, that was going to be my question. What's the is there a financial impact or is she just absorbing it within her current role?

Yeah, there won't be any uh impact to the budget. Um, just what you said, she's going to she's she's she has some uh capacity to to do this in in her own uh in her own duties right now and she's very excited about taking it on. So, it sounds like something that she'd be really good at. Yeah, I think I think she will be. Yeah. Also, I wanted to know uh since half our town is split into Miami County, do they still get all the uh benefits from John's County also or are we partnered with my something on Miami?

Yeah, we we partner with the district attorney's office. Okay. um in Miami County. And just as a side note, so there's a there's a push for a family safety center in the metro area. Um those plans are still being kind of worked out. What a family safety center would do would bring uh a lot of resources for victims underneath the same building. Um, this would incorporate detectives from a bunch of metro area victim advocates and you would send the victims of crime to these to the central location and all their resources be in one place. All they'd have to do is walk from place to place within the same building to get the services they need. And so there's also opportunity for for that for us to be a part of that as uh that evolves. But u that's just getting underway. Miami County is is looking at something similar to that, too. So, um yes, we're always partnering with Miami County and making sure that um the same resources are available to everybody. So,

those are huge. I went to the one in Denver, Colorado. It's amazing.

Yeah, I'm excited about it. Um, I was on I was the program director for the the board here um for the family safety center board. And uh the last over the last week we had a um oh a uh I'm I'm I'm losing the the word I'm trying to use, but a consultant. Uh the consultants came in um Alliance for Hope. Maybe you've heard of them, but they're they've started over 50 uh family safety centers all over the country. These are in uh the closest ones to us are Springfield, Missouri, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City. Um and so um they have everything from food pantries, uh clothing pantries, and the clothing is not just used clothing, it's clothing donated by businesses so that victims are getting new clothing and not just used clothing. So there's child care for when victims have to go to court so they know that their kids are safe. So there's this is a uh something that's evolving and I think you'll hear more about in the coming uh year but it's just now getting to the stage of you know how how how to fund it, how to bring it all where to locate it at and those discussions were being had over the last week just to see um where we needed to go to move forward with it. But I think this fits right in line with with what that is and what we're trying to provide for for our community. So,

no, sounds like a great program. I'm excited to see how it turns out. Yeah, I'll be glad to come back. Hopefully, I'm glad we have Jody that step right in. Yeah, exactly. Okay. Well, thank you all for the time and I appreciate that. All right. Thank you. All right. Now, we're going to move on to the consent agenda. Uh I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended. So, moved. Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? I

opposed. Motion passes 400. Move on to formal council action. We removed item number 12. So we'll go to item number 13. Consider approval of ordinance number 2026-06. Reszoning of Z25-5 C2 to MPO between US 169 highway and Webster Street a half mile north of 223rd Street. RIC consultants. And Ian has got the floor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh Ian Trefer, city planner. Uh this evening I'll be presenting uh ordinance number 2026-06. Uh the reasonzoning from C2 to MPPO for the property there uh norththeast of northwest of Webster Street. Um the application is presented and applied for by Todd Alenbrand of Renaissance Infrastructure Consulting on behalf of the owner Brian Brenamman of Brightcliffe Enterprises LLC. Uh the requested reszoning is going from C2 general business to MP Industrial Park with a PO protected overlay. So the applicant is seeking to develop an office center with exterior laid down storage. Um however the C2 does not permit that at all. Um, so in order to find the nearest zoning designation that does permit exterior storage, we had to go to MP, the industrial park, and then apply an overlay, which restricts all the land uses that would typically be found in the MP back to C2, but allowing for the exterior storage. So, it's kind of going from C2 to C2 plus. It's just called MP with a PO. Um, just kind of clarify why it's industrial park. It is, but it's not. Um, if you have any questions, we can clarify that. But surrounding zoning districts uh include commercial to the south across Webster uh as well as multif family and single family to the north and single family and undeveloped land to the west and northwest. Um

the proposed zoning change meets all the standards of the uh comprehensive plan or at least with it aligns with existing land uses. Um the comprehensive plan does call for the property to be residential. However, the existing property is already zone commercial as well as uh sits along the major arterial thoroughare of Webster Street which is more commercial nature anyways. Uh and the existing landscaping and natural features surrounding the property kind of lend itself more towards the commercial side of development rather than residential. Um so that paired with landscape buffering that be required as part of a site plan application staff feels comfortable supporting a commercial uh industrial land use in this in this property. Um, so yeah, if you have any questions, I will happy to answer them.

Uh, my biggest concern when I first saw this was, yeah, we don't want to kind of start the the train of industrial use over here, but based off of how it's been presented, I kind of know the restrictions that are all been replaced. Um, you know, I know Spencer's not here tonight, but I spoke with him about it, and it's, you know, we're not setting a precedent that that, um, any industrial is going to go in there. This is a

theoretically a C2 building that we just don't have, you know, a proper zoning for, which we are working on. That's one thing that you and Mike have been working on. So, this is something as a stop gap to get us through. Um, until those things are fixed, I I feel pretty comfortable with it. Um, I just want to go on record saying the only reason I'm comfortable with it is because of the way it's set up and the way it's presented and the restrictions that we're putting on it. Um, but outside that, I think it's seems like good company. It seems like a good development. Um, I'm excited for C2 to to go in that area, and I think this will be the kickstart for that. Um, it'll also help getting some connection eventually through that area that's kind of been a dead zone for a while for us. And so, with all that housing back there, um, it'll be nice to get some development so that eventually we can get a thoroughare to get through to Webster. So, I I I feel pretty good about this one. Um, and uh, I look forward to kind of the future development that can happen in that area because I think it'll be really nice to have Webster become,

you know, a nice C2 area. So, I would agree. Um, I think the PO piece of it with the protection there is good. Um, so yeah, good work on finding that. By the way, I had to have Lane explain it to Yeah, I will say I wish we would have considered that a long time ago for a lot of different areas that we've got in town. So, going forward, it's nice to have that in our back pocket to really use it for for all the different industry that's coming in uh to make sure that we're we're not just blatantly zoning things that don't don't fit in areas. So, thank you for finding that. Yeah, I think that was Ian, right? The founder. Yeah, it was me and Mike.

Oh, okay. He's take full credit. He doesn't want to take full credit. Yeah, we really it's frustrating because we love the fact that we have it. It's a great tool to have moving to a planned district type setup where we can add land uses. It's a very roundabout workway workaround for now. Um, so we don't want to rely on it too much, but for now it is definitely a great stop gap. We're very happy we have any other comments or questions? No. And this is just a resoning. So we're not necessarily talking about the actual use today, but can you explain a little bit how that overlay works and what restrictions we put in? I know it was discussed a little bit at planning, but I want to make sure that we all have a firm grasp of that.

Yeah. So the restrictions are going to be that the subject property can only be allowed are only used for land uses that are identified in the C2 district as well as the exterior storage. So it's basically just saying take C2 and then add on exterior or I guess in this case take MP rip out everything that's not C2 and add on exterior storage. So that's really limiting it to really just a C2 plus. So that's great. I'm glad that I'm glad that we figured that out because I think this one was a little nervous about and I'm glad that we were able to get that kind of figured out. So thank you.

Again I'm happy with it. I think these guys would be a good addition to the city. Any other questions or comments? If not, I'll entertain a motion. Move to approve ordinance number 2026-06 resoning application Z-25-5 from C2 to MP with PO protective overlay west side of Webster Street approximately half a mile north of 223rd Street. Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. Mr. Roll call. Mr. Delgado. Yes. Mr. Savage. Yes. Mrs. Feedback. Yes. Mr. Grant. Yes. Mr. Young.

Yes. Uh, ordinance 2026-06 passes 500. All right. Thank you. Next up, we're consider approval number 14. Consider approval to continue the enterprise fleet management program. And Mrs. Dunn.

Thank you. Good evening. In uh 2023, we entered into a master agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management to take over the acquisition and well acquisition of vehicles for the city. And I thought this was a good time. We need to change the signatures on the account to Mayor Young. We have a couple of leases that are coming up. One for a new vehicle we need, one to switch one out. And so we thought this was a good time to give you an update on that program and how it works so we can u move forward and have Mary Young continue to sign leases and documents as we need to for the program. So I I pulled the the uh presentation I did back in 2023 to talk about the justification for why we needed a fleet management program. I'm pretty happy to say we accomplished the things that were on this list. Um the city had a fleet that of 27. We'll be have 28 when we're done um with some of these purchases. We needed then it was a low priority. There was always something else to spend money on besides replacing work equipment like trucks and cars. Um we were reactive, not proactive. And so we often bought at a higher price because we need something right now. And so we were spending staff staff time at that time. It was a much higher demand market. Staff time spent a lot of time. We'd find a truck we needed and before we could get it bought, it went somewhere else. And so we really needed to give those activities to the professionals to acquire vehicles for us instead of us doing it as a part of our jobs. Um the city can buy at government pricing. We weren't always getting that benefit because we were reactive. we can capture the market value between our government pricing and the market

for resale. Um, we move these tax tasks to the experts. We have a lower cost fleet. We have safer vehicles and we are planning purchases instead of reacting and the city still controls the process which is a good thing. So when we went um with Enterprise Fleet, the average age of a vehicle in this city in 2022 23 was a 2007. And this you can see here the miles and the age that we had at that time. We now average a 2023. We did most of our replacements in 23. So we don't have a lot left that's older than a 23. Now we're buying 26s and things like that. So this has been a huge improvement. Um equipment was not reliable and now we have most certainly have reliable equipment. And this by the way is light and medium duty vehicles. They don't do big dump trucks and sewer trucks and vac trucks and things like that. So we've replaced most of the vehicles. The average age now is about three years old. It's time to start the flip side of this, if you will, which is where you sell a vehicle we bought at government pricing in the retail market and that profit, that equity we built in that vehicle then can be reinvested into our fleet. And so, we thought this was a great time to kind of let you know how the program's working. We've built about $50,000 worth of equity in the vehicles we're going to flip, hopefully flip this year. We do analyze it case by case. We don't just wait for Enterprise to tell us, "Hey, this one's got some value. Let's flip it." We look at other factors that go into that. Give you some examples. Um, we have a vehicle that's a staff vehicle and everybody uses it, checks it

out, rents it. It doesn't have a great resell um growth in it. And so, we didn't flip it when the lease came due. We renewed it for another year, and we're waiting. it will have value probably late this year and then we'll look at that. We have we're downsizing some vehicles here and there. We um by the use that we have in in those vehicles now, it makes sense to get a smaller vehicle that's about a third less the cost than the one we're replacing. So, we just go through the things that we need and figure it out. Enterprise comes to us each year and says, "Hey, these are the ones that are expiring. let's talk about them and we make a plan for each vehicle and with each department. Sometimes we they need an upgrade to be really honest. We didn't buy a lot of double cab trucks in our public works group and they have learned they need some of those. So, we're going to do some upgrades like that. So, it's definitely a case by case approach. Most of our police cars we don't acquire through enterprise. They end up at dealerships. we end up with an accident, we need, you know, so we make the best deal we can at the time for our needs. So what does that mean? So in our fleet of 28 vehicles, we have six that are in the area of expiring leases. Currently, we pay just over $258,000 a year. We acquired more about a million dollars worth of vehicles in this process and we pay about $258,000 a year for those vehicles. If we flip those vehicles, take advantage of the $50,000 worth of equity we've built, get our six new ones, that's the key, our payment will go down about $50,000. I'm sorry, about $20,000. And so we can upgrade the equipment we

need. we can put that equity to work for us and lower our payment at the same time. So, we would have a budget savings of about $22,000 starting this year moving into the next. So, we're putting our equity to work. We have an option. We could take cash for that $50,000 that would just get taken into the bank account. We would have a higher um resale book value for our vehicles. we wouldn't have as great of equity in the next round of flips. And so I think it's the best thing to put that equity back into the vehicles that we're getting and move forward and build more equity and flip again and help it. The whole point is to put your equity to work and lower your cost and that's what we're doing. Can I answer any questions?

What is it you're actually asking then? Is that if you can do the switch of the six vehicles or what is it you're I would like you to approve the continuence of this program. We're not signing a new contract. Okay. Or anything like that. The mayor will need to sign leases. I actually have two for him tonight. If you approve this so that we can I wanted you I didn't feel it was fair to say hey mayor this other council signed this so please keep signing these leases. We felt it was a good thing. So we would like you to approve the continuence of this program. I remember when you presented this in 23. Yeah. So, yeah, it's it's been a good program. Yeah. As long as you're stay in control of it.

We are buying the things we need when we need them and not and like the big um kind of the medium duty, the big heavy duty to me, um public works trucks, we won't be flipping those. They have $20,000 worth of aftermarket equipment on them. we will keep them for their life and then hopefully buy a similar truck we can move that equipment to, you know, things like that. So, we're managing the program.

I had a couple questions. I I think we were the only two up here when we did this um back in 23 and back then prices were astronomical still kind of from COVID and so this made a a lot of sense back then and I'm glad it's worked out the way it has. I would say as we move forward and prices maybe stabilize a little bit on on vehicles, is there option to do buyouts on these leases? I can't remember if we had that option. We can we can buy them out if we want to. Yes. They don't go to they're not a dollar lease, right? There's still a value at the Yes. or a or a balance due. Yep. And we we would consider that each time as we go through. Yeah.

So I I think it's fine as long as we're still having that the value there. Um, I will I will ask too, I notice that we have a couple of like the half ton trucks and I don't know if nowadays there doesn't seem to be a huge difference in pricing between like a 3/4 and a half ton or a ton. Would it be beneficial to have one or two more of those bigger trucks that we could throw a plow on if we need to during the winter? I know we're a little bit short on those sometimes. I know we're probably short on drivers, too. So, it may be a null point like, oh, we don't have the drivers for them, so it's not worth it. But I know the pricing isn't a huge difference. At least I'm looking at trucks right now and they're about the same when you look at an F-150 and an F250. So

we do look at it by the job and Jacob has a couple trucks actually the one he's even driving are up for this renewal and then they look at their needs then and they definitely have some need a heavier truck or two in the public works group. And so again we do it case by case to say is this making sense? is, and I'll give you another, we need a new, we have a new um engineering inspector, so we want a similar vehicle to the one that the other inspector has that's actually cheaper than the vehicle we just bought for the other inspector last year. And so, we're definitely seeing the advantage of the prices coming down and we get, you know, similar trucks and save a couple hundred a month.

Yeah. And the other thing is I know we we got a couple of the hybrid versions for the police. Is that something we look at for these vehicles, too? I know with gas prices looking like they're going to keep increasing, what options do we have there? We do discuss that at the time, depending on the vehicle and its needs. Yes. Okay. Um, last thing, what was I going to say? Fluttered away as quickly as I said that, but I mean, overall, I think this is a pretty good program. Oh, really just reiterating, we do get all these vehicles at the government rate and then we get to sell them at the retail or the the current market value rates. So, we we kind of buy with built-in equity, which is really nice for us. Yes.

That's why you see the new ones. That's why everybody used to always get mad at the school district and like, well, they get them for so cheap, that's why. But for us, I mean, it is nice. We were we were driving, you know, we had and just for you guys, we had in 23 there were trucks with entire panels that were gone or half gone and the rest were rust. You know, you were too. Yeah. And so now we that was the whole thing is can we be similar in cost because I think just in just in repair costs, we were we were throwing money out the door. So tens of we might have paid a little bit we might be paying a little bit more now but we have sturdy vehicles that are easy to drive you know low maintenance better fuel mileage. Yeah. So I mean those are all things that also go into it. Yes.

Um sometimes the cost is a little bit shocking when you look at it especially when we look at it and say oh my gosh you know that's that's a lot of money for payments on vehicles when a lot of us think about vehicles is single purchase and we don't do payments. So, right, uh, that's one reason I am okay with this type of program personally, but let us put cash in other things. This is kind of an yeah, a built program for things like this and then cash can be spent somewhere else. Do you have any information about where mileage is on kind of the car the vehicles that we have now?

Um, I worked on my whole spreadsheet today and that's the one piece I didn't get done. So, no, I don't. But we're we're very low mileage with the exception of the police cars. They work around the clock 365. So, um, we're pretty low mileage because they stay in general right here in Spring Hill. And we have the flexibility within this program if there is a heck of a deal that we can purchase out that we can just go ahead and do that. We don't have to flip that vehicle when it comes due or or at any time. Typically when it comes due. Typically when it comes due, but we can always go back and say, "Hey, this truck doesn't work for us or this car doesn't work for us. Where are we? How do we, you know, or how much longer?" Yeah. or we didn't use truck and it's only got 2,000 miles and it's

worth way more. Why don't we just keep it type thing, right? We do that too where we've kept some of these another side. We looked at a we bought a police car recently that was a little bit older but had really low miles. We had a pickup that we were going to get that was the demo model in the dealership and you know we look at whatever is the best deal, not just this program. So I'm okay with that. Yeah, any other questions or comments? Yeah, I think this one's worked out a little bit better than I even anticipated. Um because I was a little nervous about it, but I knew we kind of needed to do it. So, good. Thanks, Rhonda. You're welcome. Thanks. Uh what's nice is Yeah. So, when we go to sell them, we don't do anything, right? Because we used to have to put these on

a website and manage it ourselves and all that kind of stuff. And now it's enterprise takes over and we don't Right. And there's not a huge fee changing for them. They kind of take a little piece off every $100. Yeah. Every transaction. Right. All right, great. Uh, let's see here. I do have a motion here. You also kind of have uh buy in together either way. Yeah, we're not approving an agreement or anything like that. Just a uh Yeah, that way you have their authority to keep sign continue this program. I move to continue the lease program with Enterprise Fleet Management and authorize the mayor to sign the documents as needed. Second. All right, I have a motion and a second. All those in favor? I I

opposed. Motion passes 4 Z. Thank you. All right, that is it for our uh for our formal council action. We'll now move to executive session. I don't think does anybody need a break before that? Lane wants one. Sure. Why don't you add a little fivem minute break? We're still doing 15 minutes on this one. Okay.

Okay. I move the city council recess into executive session for 15 minutes to 15, I'm sorry, 20 minutes for preliminary discussion on the acquisition of real property pursuant to KSA 75-4319B6 of the Kansas Open Meetings Act. The open meeting will resume in city council chambers at 8:28. No formal action is anticipated following the session. Anticipated following the session. People to be in attendance are the following. Lane Massie, city administrator. Mike Malone, community development director. Sorry. We have a second.

Oh, second. Second. Motion second. All those in favor? I. All opposed. Motion passes 400. We see you back at 8:28.

Let the record reflect the governing body reconvene open meeting at 8:28 p.m. No votes were taken or or decisions made during the executive session. The discussion was limited to the subject stated with that. We are going to extend 10 more minutes. So if we do we need a motion just to extend. Okay. I move to extend executive session for 10 more minutes. 39. Oh to end at the 2039 second. All those in favor I opposed. 4 Z. Thank you. We'll be right back.

They never do enough time.

It wasn't me. It was Ivan. It wasn't me. All right. Let the record reflect the governing body reconvene opening meeting at 8:39 p.m. No votes were taken or decisions made during the executive session. The decision discussion was limited to the subject stated. With that, I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. So move. Second. Motion and a second. All those in favor? Opposed? 4 Z. We are adjourned. Thank you.