Council - Regular Meeting

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Good evening. It is 6 p.m. We're going to go ahead and call this meeting of the City Council to order. Roll call, please.

Council Member Bailey?

Yes.

Council Member McGrone? Here. Council Member Cain?

Here.

Council Member Alvarez? Here. Council Member Wells?

Here.

Council Member Larson? Here. Council Member Click? Here. Council Member Saper?

Here. All right. We'll have the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Bailey. All right. Approval of the agenda. Do we have a motion? So moved.

Second.

All in favor? Yes. Any opposed? Motion passes. All right. Item five, comments. I hear some public comments already happening. All right. Item five, comments from the public. If you are a member of the public wishing to speak this evening, please approach the podium, state your name for the record, and please keep your comment to five minutes. Thanks. Good evening.

I prepared my statement. Hi, I'm Jordan Talbott, the chair of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. I know some of you know that already. We wholeheartedly support the passing of Resolution 26-015. We are hopeful that the city would be committed to a Vision Zero future where all users of our city streets can feel safe and be free from harm. Through our audits, online engagement, and collaboration with other organizations in the region, We have seen many ways to achieve the same goal of a safer community. I hope that we will continue collaborating towards the same vision for the future. Thank you.

Thank you, and thank you for the work you do with that committee. Further public comments? Anybody else? Going once. Sold. All right. Moving on to ceremonial matters.

Citizens Academy graduation.

All right. Coming on down.

Talia Bowman. Jamie Davis. Dorothy Favors. Rachel Fritz. Will Grayfrath. Candice Koss. Lindsey Cush. Lisa Larkins. Robert Mikesell. Tavaris Pennington. Amanda Russell. James Westbrook. That's the end of the graduating class.

Can I get the city council to stand up and let's do a group photo? This is 10 weeks of work visiting every single city department, and we appreciate all of your time and attentiveness during that process.

Thank you guys so very much.

There are refreshments in the back if we want to take a quick break.

All right, all right. Has everybody had a cupcake? If you haven't, you're missing out. There are soccer balls on top. That's very exciting. All right, we're going to get back into the swing of things with the consent agenda. Do we have a motion on the consent agenda? So moved.

Second.

All in favor?

Yes.

Any opposed? Motion passes. Moving on to item 13.

Consideration of a special event permit for the Colombian Independence Festival on July 18th, 2026.

I got you. So this one has been brought to us by Orlando Gutierrez, who is here tonight, and I'm going to give him a couple minutes to tell us what this is all about. Come on up.

Good evening. Good evening. Thanks for having us. First of all, we appreciate the opportunity. The Colombian Cultural Association and, in general, the Colombian community in Kansas City were always excited to celebrate independence in July. Colombian independence is actually on July 20th, and we try to celebrate it on the closest weekend. It happens to be July 18th this year, something that we've been doing for about 20 years, dating back to the beginning of the turn of the century, anyway. It sounds like a really long time, about 20 years. But, you know, it started out as just a picnic, potluck type. Everybody brings something to share, and it's grown from there. This year, we expect somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 people to come out. Some live music and Colombian food and celebration. There's family activities and magicians and face painters and things for everybody to to enjoy so typically or the last four years we've been closing a street somewhere in the city to to have this and it's been super successful we look forward to being able to fulfill everything we need to fulfill in order to be able to have it here downtown north kansas city and we hope to see you on july the 18th excellent thank you so much for bringing this to us we're looking forward to a big street party

All right. Any questions from the council? All right. So we just need a motion. Motion to approve.

Move to approve. Second.

All in favor? Yes. Any opposed? Motion passes. Looking forward to your party. All right. Item 14.

Consideration of an ordinance amending the sign code. Bill number 7992, ordinance number 9789.

All right, this is what was proposed at the last council meeting, just in ordinance form. Are there any questions from the council for Hsu or Mike or Kim? All right, with that, I'll take a motion.

First reading.

Second. All in favor? Yes. Any opposed? Motion passes.

An ordinance amending Chapter 15.44, Signs, Billboards, Awnings, and Street Clocks of Title XV, buildings and construction of the code of the City of North Kansas City, Missouri by modifying section 15.44.020 definitions and section 15.44.240 manufacturing district.

I move that bill number 7992 be placed under second and final reading and approved as ordinance number 9789. Second. Call the roll.

council member bailey yes council member mcgroan yes council member kane yes council member alvarez yes council member wells yes council member larson yes council member click yes council member safer yes and ordinance amending chapter 15.44 signs billboards awnings and street clocks of title 15 buildings and construction of the code of the city of north kansas city missouri by modifying section 15.44.020 definitions and Section 15.44240, Manufacturing District.

All right, Item 15.

Consider authorizing exceptions to the temporary sign code from June 17, 2026 to July 21, 2026.

All right, I trust that you've all reviewed the memo in your packet. This would authorize city administrator Mike Nichols to make exceptions to the temporary sign code for the duration of the World Cup, specifically for banners or signs or things of the nature that would enhance the city and mention the World Cup, welcoming people for that. Questions or comments on this one? All right, take a motion.

I move to approve Mike Nichols' authority to temporary changes to the sign code.

Second.

All in favor?

Yes. Any opposed? Motion passes. Item 16.

Approval of a task order with Kissick Construction for the West 15th Avenue Sanitary Sewer.

I will say with meant for this to go in consent and didn't get it there, but as a short explanation, this is a project that disconnects storm sewer from going into our sanitary sewer on 15th Avenue, separates. No more I&I. Correct. I ask for a simple motion on that. Do we have a motion?

Move to approve.

Second. All in favor? Yes. Any opposed? Motion passes. Item 17.

Approval to post notice of wastewater industrial surcharge rate increase.

Anthony? Good evening, Mayor and Council. So every year, Kansas City raises their industrial sewer pretreatment rates, and then we follow in suit. We send our sewage to Kansas City to be treated. These rates are specifically for industries that go over in three areas, specific criteria for wastewater. Right now there's about seven industrial users that normally have situations where they end up going over and then are charged this additional surcharge, but it applies to anyone who goes over that amount. But again, you know, this is so that we recoup our costs when we pay Kansas City for treatment of wastewater. So I think, Nick, what we're looking for is kind of a nod to go ahead and post this

This is just to post it, right, not to even raise the rate yet. Right, I think there's a 30-day.

We have to publish for 30 days before raising the rates. And it's just for the industrial pretreatment surcharge, not for residential or the standard commercial flow rate.

Any questions or discussion? Take a motion. So move.

Second.

All in favor? Yes. Any opposed? Motion passes. Item 18.

Consideration of an ordinance approving accounts due and payable by the city through June 12, 2026. Bill number 7993, ordinance number 9790.

First reading.

Second.

All in favor? Yes. Any opposed? Motion passes.

An ordinance authorizing payment for certain accounts due and payable by the city through June 12, 2026.

I move that Bill No. 7993 be placed under second and final reading and approved as Ordinance No. 9790.

Second. Call the roll.

Council Member Bailey? Yes. Council Member McGrone? Yes. Council Member Cain? Yes. Council Member Alvarez? Yes. Council Member Wells? Yes. Council Member Larson? Yes. Council Member Click? Yes. Council Member Safer? Yes. An ordinance authorizing payment for certain accounts due and payable by the City through June 12, 2026.

Staff comments.

Tonight we have the department reports. Kim does have staff comment, though. I'll let Kim lead it off and then go over to Kevin.

Just a quick reminder that we are cutting the ribbon on River Forest Park this Thursday. We do encourage everybody to use the park and ride site over at NKC Health. The shuttle service starts at 3.30, ribbon cutting at 4, and the service will continue until 5.15 p.m. All right.

Who's got it?

It's me. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Not too much changed in the report this month. As you will see, trespassing is no longer in the lead of our calls, our activity levels. But the first two are self-initiated activities by the officers. So still the number one call for service is still trespassings, although It is trending down. It's 70. It had been in the 90s, so trending down a little bit. So hopefully that continues to go in the right direction. Still trespassings are our number one citation for the month. And yeah, not much different in the report. Saw some activity during Police Officer Memorial Week where a couple officers traveled to Jeff City and lay a wreath there during the ceremony. Three officers traveled to Washington, D.C. for the National Law Enforcement Memorial Service. So happy to answer any questions. And I just, again, want to kind of offer out, like, if you want to see something different in this report, just let us know, and we'll work on it.

Council Member Kane.

Thank you, Chief Freeman. I just had one quick question. I saw on the Facebook page for the animal shelter, I believe, like late May, Is the shelter at or near capacity? Do you know, is it still at or near capacity?

I don't know. Based on the report, it looks like there's four or five dogs available. That's pretty close to capacity. That could have changed since we, I mean, it fluctuates day to day, to be honest with you. They're doing a really good job of getting adoptions done. Not sure what the feline population is down there, but I'm sure it's full. It typically always is. Cool.

All right. Hey, thank you.

I guess I'm next. Good evening, Mayor and Council. I don't have anything, really anything else to add to the report. Just ask if you have any questions for me tonight.

I want to say thanks for the fire department coming down to the block party and letting the kids crawl all over the truck again. I know every time it's a hit. I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. So we are in the throes of the budget season right now. We're having department budget meetings these next couple weeks in anticipation of proposing the budget to you next month. We are also finishing up our single audit since we spent more than a million dollars in federal grant funds this past year, so we anticipate some really good feedback on that, and we'll bring that report to you when it's completed. And then finally, Lisa Larkins, our new accountant, is here.

She graduated from the Citizens Academy today.

So we've got two more weeks with Brad, and then we've got a whole new crew coming in. So looking forward to that.

Congrats, Lisa. And big thanks to Brad. Hopefully he's not watching.

Right. Thank you all. It's great to see you again. I know I missed the last meeting where you did the joint visioning workshop with the planning commission. The only meeting I should not miss, and I missed it. But I want to say I got good feedback from our consulting firm saying you guys provided a great feedback over there. So I take it as because I was not there. So thank you all for your effort, an hour and a half contribution to this master plan. and I can't reiterate more about my appreciation. Moving forward, I will share the results that we currently have for quite a few different things with you. If I knew this meeting will be that short, I will take another hour. But that will probably toward the end of this year when you guys have a broader view of what have been done, what is the recommendation overall, and we'll be open to all the questions and discussions at that time. So again, thank you very much. And the second part I want to do with my director's report is to talk about the NASA HeatSmart project. We did not hire. Name, name. I apologize for that, because at that time when it was published, we offered the job, but we haven't been confirmed yet. So we have a very competitive graduate that will be working on this particular project along with me. excited to bring her forward. Hopefully you'll meet her at the next meeting. All right, that's it.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. The monthly snapshot for Public Works numbers are in the report, as are some various project updates in the report. Two that I just wanted to kind of highlight. The first one is the Burlington Water Main. We talked about that last time during regular We are targeting that for after FIFA. That is going to be a very large waterline project on Burlington, Highway 9. It will be very disruptive and just kind of a big project. So we are looking at doing a public engagement session in July. I think around July 23rd is when we're targeting that right now, but that information will get out more as we get closer to that time. But that will be a very large project coming down the line. The other one is 18th Avenue, 18th and Swift. We're looking at a stormwater project in that area. Every time we have a really heavy rain, it floods. It can actually be very close and sometimes go inside the Oxbow. So that is looking at updating those sewer lines and storm lines under that roadway there. If you have any questions on any of the other projects, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. Council Member McGrone.

Just a quick thing that I think some people might have a question about. When we're talking about doing the work on Burlington, I know that they're also doing a lot of work on 169 and other areas. Are we going to make an effort to try to coordinate the closures of Burlington with some of that work just to try to disrupt as little as possible?

As much as we can. We kind of hand everything over that we're planning to MoDOT to help. Hopefully they can kind of coordinate what is going where. MoDOT does want to repave Highway 9 right after this project, so they want us to go as fast as we can as well, so I think they're kind of letting us have the green light, even though they also have 169 in the state that it's in. I think 169's project is a multi-year long project, so we're looking at eventually having to do both at the same time, I think.

Yep, and you already can't drive up North Oak, so

Yes, and there's North Oak.

It is for about 15 more minutes, and then they'll shut down the other side.

Yeah.

Good. All right. Any more staff comments? Perfect. All right. Councilmember comments, starting with Councilmember Bailey.

If only all the meetings were this short. Big thanks to staff for everything they do. I'll keep my comments short.

Just a couple of things. Kudos to Parks and Rec and all the other groups that helped out with Arts in the Park. It was a lot of fun. We went on Friday when the weather was absolutely fantastic and had a really great time, and we're sorry it had to get shut down a little early. Also, thanks to Public Work for their quick response to the storm on Saturday and all the time that you guys respond so quickly. And then also, for anyone who missed the North Rail open house last week, there's another one tomorrow from 4 to 6 p.m. at River Bluff Brewery in the City Market. I'd encourage everybody to go check it out. There's some really great renderings and some cool plans, and it would be a really neat project. And then finally, I also encourage everyone to attend the ribbon cutting of River Forest Park on Thursday.

Council Member Cain.

Thank you. So first I want to thank Jordan with NKCB PAC for giving comments tonight and for her strong support. for the Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, so thank you for attending and giving your comments. I also want to thank Ward 3's Amanda Wooldridge for her reappointment to the Library Board tonight. She's a strong advocate for her community and her neighbors, and we appreciate her work. And finally, I just want to thank everyone who was involved with the Comprehensive Safety Action Plan. That was a big group and a big effort, and I know that a consent agenda doesn't always have the glory. That would come with another agenda item, but it is worth the kudos. So the Community Development Department, thank you all. The entire consultant team, Wilson, WSP, Bike Walk KC, and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, they were really boots on the ground about that work. and were very involved. All of the pins on the interactive map, I could look at them and I'd say, I think I know exactly who that was that had a comment about that crosswalk or that intersection. So I really appreciate that. There's a lot of good data in there that I encourage folks to read. Again, thousands of crashes in North Kansas City across that five year time period. And a lot of low cost and short term solutions that could really help and really make mitigations at the edges. The retroflected back plates, 15% crash reduction. Rectangular rapidly flashing beacons, 47% reduction in crashes. Lead pedestrian intervals, 13%. Shared use paths, 45% crash reduction. Advanced yield and stop lines, 25% crash reduction. So when you have hundreds of crashes in a given year, that can really make a huge difference. So I really appreciate your guys' work on that. Thank you.

Council Member Alvarez.

Sorry, just want to say congratulations again to the Citizens Academy graduation group tonight. Also, a reminder, it's already been said, but the River Forest Park Thursday at 4 o'clock. And just a reminder, too, I guess City Hall will be closed this Friday to celebrate Juneteenth. And I think that's it.

Thank you.

Council Member Wells. I'll try to keep this brief as well. I'm known to ramble. So yeah, thanks for all the city staff, the emergency staff, and everyone else that helped with the storm on Saturday. I saw police officers checking on us over in River Forest literally moments after the storm came through and not long after public work staff coming through. So it really means something to live in a community where you know your city staff and workers care that much about you. Thank you for that. And then just going to reiterate the River Forest Park opening. I'm super excited about it. You don't miss something like having easy access to a neighborhood park until you don't have it. And haven't had that since I moved over to River Forest, but I'm just super excited. If it looks anything like what it looks like back in October when we had a little preview event, it's really going to be a special place. And just please come and take part in the ribbon.

Ribbon cutting on Thursday.

Thank you.

Council Member Larson.

I don't want to sound like a broken record, so I'm not going to talk about the River Forest Park ribbon cutting. But I will say, parking is limited, so we encourage using the park and ride or walk. If you walk or ride a bike, there are plenty of bike racks. So looking forward to seeing everyone there on Thursday at 4 o'clock. Also, kudos again to our Parks and Rec team for an amazingly successful Arts in the Park Festival. It was unfortunate that it had to shut down early on Saturday, but it was nice to see everybody out and able to enjoy great music, great food, and just being amongst beautiful artwork. Also, on Wednesday, July 15th, the North Kansas City New Neighbors Group is hosting a legislative recap with Senator Maggie Nirenberg. and Representative Eric Woods at the Parks and Rec building. So if you have any questions about the past legislative session or if you have any questions about upcoming ballots, please show up, tell your friends, and come out and meet your local representatives. That's all I've got.

Council Member Click.

That sounds awesome. I'll be there. I wanted to specifically call out Kim. Thank you for the Citizens Academy work that you do. It's amazing to see people get involved and get interested in local happenings. And I think everyone kind of covered a lot of stuff, so I'll just second what they said.

Council Member Saber.

I'm going to second what you said. Thank you, Kim, for your ongoing work in the youth program that's beginning as well. Thank you. And to all who came out to the Fayette block party, thanks. It was a wonderful time. Had by y'all, I think. And I'd like to say FIFA is here, but it'll be over in a month. River Forest Park We'll be here for generations. This is a very big moment for North Kansas City. Come out and celebrate with us.

Love that. All right. It comes back to me. Arts in the Park, phenomenal. Victoria and the team did a great job. As Council Member Larson mentioned, it is unfortunate that tornadoes managed to shut it down on Saturday, which segues into public works. Thank you for your cleanup after the tornado. Many people in the public have reached out to say thank you to the team. I was able to sit down for lunch with them and speak directly to the water group and the street crews who do the groundwork. And there were some ideas that bubbled to the surface. Perhaps a community event that can be attended by the public. Obviously optional because it'll be off hours, but for the street crew and the water crew and police, fire, anybody who wants to come out and engage in with the public. And that idea came from Justin Serino with the Water Department. So Justin, if you're watching, I know you are. Great idea. So stay tuned for that. North Rail Study, we had the open house. It was phenomenal. Huge attendance at Center Block. If you've ever been in the reclamation room, you could barely move in there. A lot of hype, a lot of positivity. And, again, meeting coming up tomorrow night on the south side of the river if you'd like to attend that one. Block party season continues, and nobody has a better time at a block party than Councilmember Saper. I defy you to have a better time than this guy. He's out just mixing it up with the kids, jumping on inflatables. I mean, he's having the time of his life. It's incredible to watch. So if you want to throw a block party and party with your neighbors – NKC.org slash block party. Put in the application, you get $400 from the city to party with your friends. More people should do this. Northtown2040 is ongoing. I've heard from so many people, how do I get involved with the master plan? Northtown2040.com. Is that right? .com? Northtown2040.com. Jump in, sign up, get involved. And the last thing is I will echo every single person here. River Forest Park, 618 at 4 o'clock. We will be cutting the ribbon. We will be giving a brief history lesson of how that site came to be. And then you can explore the nature trail and the playground. That is all from me. All right. Moving to item 22.

Consideration of a request to hold a recess into an executive session is requested by the city administrator to be held on this date. Excuse me. Pursuant to Missouri revised statute section 610.0212, real estate matters, two real estate matters.

Do we have a motion? So moved. Second. Call the roll.

Council Member Bailey. Yes. Council Member McGrone. Yes. Council Member Cain. Yes. Council Member Alvarez. Yes. Council Member Wells. Yes. Council Member Larson. Yes. Council Member Click. Yes. Council Member Saper.

Yes. At this time, the live stream in Channel 2 will cut off. There will be no further votes for business this evening. Thank you for tuning in.