City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Olathe City Council for Tuesday, May 5, Cinco de Mayo twenty twenty six. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. 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. Just a real quick note on the agenda tonight.

New business item D will be held for a later date as we further review the proposed ordinance, and that's regarding, drone flying in the city limits. We'll now move to special business. Item a is a proclamation recognizing May 2026 as public service recognition week. This week, we pause to thank the more than 1,000 City of Olathe employees who serve our community, from our first responders to our engineers, budget analysts, to our special events team, and so much more. These public service employees commit their time, talent, and expertise to make Olathe a community that we are all proud to call home.

Joining us to accept this proclamation tonight is financial strategy manager, Kate Messer. Kate was the was the recipient last year of our leadership philosophy award. She was recognized for her ability to collaborate and innovate for being a true problem solver and for presence and attitude that inspire those around her. Kate, would you please come forward? Okay.

I'll read the proclamation. It reads, whereas public employees at the federal, state, county, and municipal levels deserve recognition and high praise for the work they do to keep our communities running and thriving. And whereas public service recognition week provides us the opportunity to celebrate these workers and to educate communities about the wide variety of the ways Olathe employees make our community a better place, and whereas city staffs at this set the standard for excellence in public service and are committed to serving our community with respect, accountability, initiative, and integrity, And whereas the dedication and commitment of Olathe, our city employees, extend into the community through volunteer activities, being good neighbors, and setting a positive example as exemplary citizens. And whereas the city of Olathe is pleased and proud to join other local governments across the nation in observing public service recognition week and celebrating the many vital contributions of city employees to our organization and community. Now, therefore, I, John Bacon, mayor of the city of Olathe, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as public service recognition week in Olathe, urging all citizens to join in honoring our city employees and recognizing their achievements and contributions to the quality of life for all Olympians.

Alright.

Thank you so much, city council mayor. On behalf of staff, thank you for continuously supporting us and giving us meaningful proclamation that we look forward to every every year. Public service recognition week is a reminder of the purpose behind the work we do every day, serving our community with dedication, integrity, and care. So it's a privilege to show up to work every day with these fine folks and committed to serving the residents of Olathe. So thank you so much.

So thank you, Kate, for being here tonight and accepting that proclamation. And thank you to each and every one of our staff members for your passion and public service. This incredible work you do makes it clear how much you care about Olathe and makes council look good too, so we appreciate that. So thank you for your dedication. We'll now move to the next item on our agenda.

Item b is recognition of twenty twenty six Olathe Civic Academy graduates. Tonight, we are celebrating the graduation of our nineteenth Civic Academy class. This group of men and women have spent the last nine weeks learning the ins and outs of our city and what what we do and why we do it. Volunteer coordinator Mimi O'Hare is here to present the certificates. Mimi?

I've had the pleasure of coordinating this class, which happens to be our largest class with 36 graduates. So that is a great, great thing to celebrate and be proud of. They have learned how the city operates, how their tax dollars are spent, and how to become more involved in the city. A program like this allows city staff to really showcase our passion for serving the community. I first want to thank the 36 participants we had in our group.

What a great class. You all had fun, laughed, became friends, and enjoyed each other's company and asked a lot of great questions. Thank you to our city manager, Susan Sherman, for her investment in community engagement and allowing us to continue this program annually. I'd like to thank the staff that helped us put this together and putting in so much effort in doing so. We had fire station tours, canine demonstrations, and they even got to ride in stagecoach.

So you all rolled out the red carpet for them and it's much appreciated. We even got to video our, one of our newest engines, engine 51 backing in from a call. So that really made that one exciting. I'd also like to extend a thank you to council for generously, making time to speak to them, to show them your why, and to help understand what your role is in in our city. And I know each of you said, feel free to reach out and contact me, and I know you meant it, and I really appreciate that.

Tonight, we do have two graduates that want to speak a little bit more about their experience. So Kate Gimbelow and Mary Verette, if you'd like to come up and say a few words.

Alright. Can break things too.

Okay. Hi, everyone. Thanks for your time tonight. My name is Mary. This is Kate, and we have the opportunity to share a few words on behalf of the Civic Academy class. Over the last couple of months, we have attended nine sessions diving into the ins and outs of what makes Olathe one of the best places to live. So I came to Civic Academy last year. I was bragging to my dad about our trash service. The he's in the service he's in that industry, so very normal conversation in our house. But I was poking around the city trying to find some facts to back up some claims that I had made.

I did find them. I was right. And somehow stumbled across the Civic Academy. Like any good know it all, I jumped at the chance to learn more information. And while that has absolutely been the case, maybe don't quiz me, but I do have a few new party facts. I'm ending this experience with more pride in Olathe, admiration for our city leadership, and an even deeper desire to find ways to connect with and serve my neighbors throughout the city.

So before Mary and I go any further, there's someone who deserves to be recognized tonight. From the very first session right up to this evening, Mimi O'Hare has been the heartbeat of this program. Yes. She planned every session. She communicated with every one of us who participated. She made sure that every Thursday night ran seamlessly. And I think what struck us almost is that Mimi's role is really the perfect reflection of what this whole program is about. Because she doesn't just coordinate logistics, she brings community in rather than keeping it at arm's length. So Mimi, on behalf of every member of our class, we want to thank you. This program is truly a reflection of you.

So as Mary and I looked at our notes across the weeks, a few themes kept surfacing session after session. The first for me is transparency that every department that we visited was remarkably open. They shared the numbers. They shared the challenges. They shared the decisions and the reasoning behind them.

The second thing was fiscal responsibility. I've always known that this city was run well, but we they shared with us from the shocking cost of a single fire truck to the years of planning that go into infrastructure. It's really clear to each of us that the people managing the city's resources are thoughtful, careful stewards. And finding out details like Olathe having its own natural gas main to use for our trucks, that saves the city $500,000 a year. That's astounding information. And third and probably most impressive to me is the the cross functional teamwork. So the departments collaborate, they communicate, and they trust one another. Nowhere was that more visible than in watching how the police department and the fire department works together with such seamless dedication.

Although there was a firefight fire joke to the police and not police joke to the fire. So so everybody knows. Alright. Across every department that we visited, the dedication not only to a job well done, but also serving the citizens of Olathe was apparent. Over the course of the academy, we heard from so many departments that achieved recognition from outstanding work in every category you can't even begin to imagine exist.

Exists. One aspect I also admired was during the few one of the few q and a sessions. Department leaders were a wealth of knowledge for any question we could throw at them. It was clear that these are teams who know what they're doing and who have the drive to keep pushing Olathe to new heights. So a couple of the facts, the interesting facts that we've learned over the course of the Civic Academy.

Circling back to my trash, Olathe's recycling program has a 40% diversion rate. The national average is only about 30%. And yes, my dad was very impressed all the way in Texas. Also, according to the ETC Institute's leading the way awards, Olathe has outperformed national benchmarks by more than 20% in over 39 key areas. It's also the highest of the three Kansas cities, but maybe not a competition for everybody.

And the thing that really struck me is that Olathe has been named the healthiest employer by the Kansas City Business Journal every year from 2015 to 2025. And I think we were all in shock in a great way to find that there is an on-site wellness clinic for staff. So the city doesn't just take care of us, the residents, it really takes care of its people as well. You know, I think that the most important thing, the most important work is that work that connects people to each other and to something that is larger than themselves, and that's exactly what this program did. It connected us to the people behind the services that we take for granted.

I certainly did. Connected us to the vision and the values that drive the city forward, and it connected its us to each other. So before we finish, we wanna thank you. We wanna thank and speak directly to the staff of this city, to all 1,200 of you. To those of you who stood in front of us across nine sessions and opened your world to a room full of curious residents, thank you.

You gave us your time, your honesty, your passion, and your pride. You didn't just inform us, you transformed us. And to those that we didn't get to meet, the ones out on the roads before sunrise, the ones that are answering the calls in the middle of the night, the ones that are maintaining the infrastructure and protecting the records and keeping the lights on in ways that most of us will never see. We want you to understand something, that we see you now. We may not have met you, but we know you.

We know the culture you're a part of. We know the values that you carry and the care that you bring to this city every single day. So on behalf of the entire group, Mary and myself, we thank you for letting us in, and we highly, highly recommend participating in this amazing program to anyone living in Olathe. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Kate and Mary. Thank you very much. So at this time, I will call forward each graduate. Please come to the middle of the room to accept your certificate, and then we will have you all together for a group photo. So Abigail Shikadons.

Andrea White Andrew Meredith. Barbara Beam.

Bev Copsey.

Blair Armenta. Evan Thompson. Gary Plummer Jr. Gary Holarick. Jacqueline O'Hara.

Jacob Wagner. Jerry McMullen, Jill Stewart. John Walton. Julie Ann Graham. And Julie Graham.

Are you? Kate

Gimbello. Kate Mays Lacey Shank Mary Verrett Mary Villarillo. Palpim. Quan Nguyen.

I don't think he's here. I don't think he's here.

Rob Harpst. Roger Moldy. Spencer James. Tabatez Santos Tahani Walton. Teresa Schoonover.

Wayne Gudenkopf. And Zachariah Lotes.

That's it.

So we wanna thank everyone again for participating in the Civic Academy. I don't know if everybody got quite as much out of it as as Kate and, Mary, but, I will tell you this, the staff gets information from y'all too. I don't know if you knew that, but they take notes, and, we use you for input and, try to better ourselves. So we appreciate your participation. I don't know if they knew that was going on or not.

But okay. So now we'll move on to public hearings. The next two items are for the same project, a business park with industrial and warehouse buildings at 171st And Lone Elm. The first item is the public hearing and resolution for phase one of the project. The second item is the master resolution.

So at this time, I wanna open a public hearing in consideration of resolution number 26DashTens37 on a request by Aspen Industrial Land Fund one LLC and assigns for an issuance request for industrial revenue bonds and tax phase in for a first phase project request in a business park with a master resolution. The first phase project will construct 215,575 square feet feet facility on 12.87 acre parcel located near the Northwest corner of 171st Street in Lone Elm. As no one has signed up to speak. Is there a need for a presentation with the staff on this? No.

So I would I would entertain a motion to close the public hearing.

Move to close the public hearing.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk. Please call the roll. Mr. Bacon. Yes.

Mr. Bacon.

Yes.

Mr. Skinover.

Yes.

Doctor. Felter. Yes. Mr. Baucus?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton?

Yes.

Mr. Denault?

Yes.

Motion passes. I

didn't mess up. We should have opened up. If there was anybody that did not get a chance to sign up that was here that would like to speak in this public hearing, I guess I didn't mess up that bad because nobody's here. So that's awesome. Thank you for that. Okay. So then a motion to approve resolution number 26Dash1037 would be in order.

Thank you, mayor. So I move to approve resolution 26Dash1037 for phase one.

1038

or

103037. 37. We're on 37 right now. Okay.

Yes.

Second.

We have a motion and second with the city clerk. Please call the roll.

Mister Skinover? No. Doctor Felter? Yes. Mister Baucus?

Yes.

Miss Essex? Yes. Mister Creighton?

Yes.

Mister Denald?

Yes.

Mister Bacon?

Yes.

Motion passes. Six one.

Item b has related. It's consideration of resolution number 26Dash1038 on a request by Aspen Aspen Industrial Land Fund one, LLC and assigns for an issuance request for a master resolution for industrial revenue bonds and tax phase in for the construction of approximately 1,340,615 square feet of warehouse and industrial facilities on a total of 80.45 acres located on the Northwest corner of 171st Street and Lone Elm Road. Need for presentation on this side with questions of staff. Seeing that, a motion to approve resolution number twenty six dash ten thirty eight would be in order.

Thank you, mayor. I move to approve the master resolution 26Dash1038.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city court. Please call the roll.

Doctor. Felter? Yes. Mr. Baucus?

Yes.

Miss Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton?

Yes.

Mister Denault?

Yes.

Mister Bacon? Yes. Mister Schoonover? No. Motion passes. Six one.

We'll now move to the consent agenda. The items listed below are considered to be routine by the city council and may be approved in one motion. These may be may include items that have been reviewed by the city council in a prior planning session. There will be no separate discussion unless a council member requests that an item be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. Council, are there any such items tonight? Council member. Item h, mayor. Any others? A motion to approve the consent agenda would be in order.

I move to approve the consent agenda agenda as presented, less item h.

Second.

We have a motion and second with the city clerk. Please call the roll.

Mister Baucus?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton? Yes. Mr. Denault?

Yes.

Mr. Bacon? Yes. Mr. Schoonover?

Yes.

Doctor. Felter?

Yes.

Motion passes seven one or seven zero, I'm sorry.

Item h is consideration of a professional services agreement with HNTB Corporation for K 10 at Lone Elm, a 24 inch, water main relocation project PN5DashCDash014Dash26. Councilmember Schoonover.

Thank you, mayor. And, Nate, thanks so much for the information you provided on this earlier this week,

late last week.

I can't remember.

Last week sometime.

Last week?

Mhmm. Yeah.

I slipped since then. But just to to kinda walk through everybody, this is for the the Lone Elm Overpass along K 10 that that if if that project moves forward, we need to to relocate those water mains.

Yeah. Nate Baldwin, city engineer. So, yeah, I knew this would be a popular topic tonight. So, this is that KDOT is moving forward with final design of that project, which that includes land acquisition, utility relocations. As a utility provider, we do have a utility, one of our 24, we've got two transmission mains kind of in that area.

Our 24 inches is in conflict with where they're proposing to put the bridge. So, we have to relocate it as a utility. It's no different than if we're building a road and let's say water one was in our way and we had to have them move, they would be obligated to move out of our way as well. We have to do this. A little bit of different, lots of times we come with utility agreements to you and the utility has an easement that supersedes our right of way or purchasing right of way, so we have to pay them. That's the case here, we had that waterline easement before KDOT had the right of way for K10. So KDOT will reimburse us for the design and the construction, everything that goes along with moving this water transmission main.

Thank you. And they'll they'll to they're moving forward with the overpass project or or planning to move forward with the overpass project.

So I wanna yeah. Great questions. I wanna clarify. So they are moving forward with design, land acquisition, utility relocations. The city of Lenexa still has to secure matching funding. To date, they have not done that. But, KDOT wants to be prepared to be able to let this as early as this fall if and when Lenexa receives or gets the matching funds that have to go to the project. So, as of today, the project is only in design. We do not have a construction date, a letting date, anything. As soon as that changes, we will let you know.

Okay. And and and assuming Lenexa doesn't come up with the money or the project the overpass project itself doesn't move forward, they'll KDOT is still going to reimburse us for this design needed to to move the water lines.

That is correct.

Okay. Thank you. Council member Felter.

Thank you, mayor. Nate, just for clarification, it's a full interchange. Right? Not an overpass?

That is correct.

Okay. Did I say no? Thank you. Yes. Wishful thinking. You're still stuck on the middle finger, aren't you? Okay. I just wanted to make sure. We we have not made any progress towards the overpass. Right?

Yeah. It

is The the they

are designing it as an interchange if I misspoke and councilman Screwenover misspoke. That was just mistakes on our part. So Yeah. Thank you for correcting us.

Thank you.

Just man of

Wishful thinking. Alright. I'm with you.

Yeah. No other questions or comments, a motion to approve item h would be in order.

I move to approve item h. That's the professional services agreement for project PN5CDash014Dash26.

Second. We have a motion and a second with the city clerk. Please call the roll.

Miss Sessick. Yes. Mister Creighton?

Yes.

Mister DeNault?

Yes.

Mister Bacon?

Yes.

Mister Schoonover?

Yes.

Doctor Felter? Yes. Mister Baucus? Yes. Motion passes seven zero.

We'll now move to new business. Item a is consideration of ordinance number 26 dash one seven, which is r z 26 dash zero zero zero one, requesting approval of a rezoning from the CTY RUR County Rural District to M 2 General Industrial District and a preliminary site development plan for Hedge Industrial Park East on approximately 80.47 acres located Southwest of West 167th Street and Lone Elm Road. Planning Commission recommended approval six to zero. This proposal consists of five single story speculative warehouse distribution facilities. Senior planner, Emily Carrillos, joins us for our presentation. Welcome, Emily.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor, members of council. Emily Carrillos, senior planner. As introduced, this is a rezoning along with the preliminary site development plan for Hedge Industrial Park East. As you mentioned, it's a phased construction for five speculative warehouse facilities.

The site is located just south and west of 167th Street and Lone Elm Road. As you can see here in the vicinity, we also have Lone Elm Park just to the East and other industrial use facilities such as Faith Technologies, FedEx, and Crown Packing located to the North. The subject property was recently annexed in 2025 and still retains county rural zoning, so it does require rezoning to a city district. The surrounding area is primarily zoned M 2 or m MP 2, which is a planned, general industrial, And the request tonight is to rezone the property to the M 2 District to ensure that consistency with the surrounding area. The future land use map of Plan Olathe comprehensive plan does designate the site and much of the surrounding area as part of as industrial area as well as greenway.

The requested M 2 zoning district does align with this designation and aligns with policies from Plan Olathe Comprehensive Plan, including targeting desirable new industries to support Olathe's employment base. I will also mention that while the application was submitted and reviewed under the, prior to the adoption of our comprehensive plan, update for Elevate Olathe, the proposed zoning does align with this plan's designation as well for industrial. So the 80 acre site will accommodate five single story speculative, warehouse facilities totaling over 1,000,340 square feet. The applicant does intend to commence development with phase one, so that's shown here on the right hand side of the screen highlighted in yellow, and that includes Lots 5 And 4, as well as tracks A, B, and all street utility and stormwater improvements required to serve this phase of the development. Future phases will proceed from east to west and will be developed based on market demand.

The proposed buildings are single loaded lock excuse me, single loaded dock warehouses with overhead doors that are gonna be facing interior to the property, and then the primary building entrances are facing public roadways or, public parking areas. There are five on-site dry detention basins that are proposed around the perimeter of the site located in common tracks. And then access to the development is proposed from a future collector roadway, let's see if this works, located along the south here. That's a future 170, which will connect to Lone Elm Road and provide the primary access to the site. One additional full access driveway is proposed along Lone Elm Road via a shared access point to the north the property to the north.

So these two access points highlighted, would go north as such to the adjacent property to the north, and connect up with Lone Elm Road. Since planning commission meeting in collaboration with the applicant, staff has included a stipulation regarding access to the south for a temporary solution if a southern connection until a southern connection is in place. And so if that is needed, that would place that point of access about 600 feet north of what you see there on the screen. So on to the landscaping, a 50 foot planted buffer, is proposed along Low Nelm Road as required by UDO, and required buffers are also being provided along the perimeter of the site, and refinements to those landscape plans will be included at the time of, final site development plan, including berms along roadways where grading will allow for that. All buildings do feature three primary facades, are consistent architectural design, materials, and color palette.

They incorporate clear glass and tilt up concrete panels with form liner reveals finished in light and dark tan tones to highlight key features. All facades do exceed architectural code requirements, and no waivers are being requested. The applicant has met all of the notification requirements. A neighborhood meeting was not required, and staff has received no correspondence from adjacent property owners regarding this application. So with that, staff does recommend approval of the rezoning to the M 2 District with the restriction of some higher intensity uses due to the project's location to the major intersection as well as adjacent to public open space, and the applicant is agreeable to these restrictions.

Staff also recommends approval of the preliminary site development plan as stipulated. It's probably easier to read in the packet than on this screen. I apologize. But also highlighted here in red, the first two stipulations basically address that shared access that I mentioned onto Lone Elm Road, between this site and adjacent properties. The two stipulations that you see where it's highlighted here in red, those two stipulations were updated since we were at the Planning Commission meeting, to address those shared access, including the shared entrance and the temporary access solution to the southern, if needed.

So that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to stand for any questions, And I believe the applicant might be here for questions as well. Maybe not. I'm not seeing anybody raise their hand.

So it

may just be me this evening. Thank you.

Thank you, Emily. Council member Brassic.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you. Just I might need to ask Nate a question. I know you guys didn't get contacted by people, but I got several emails, and I'm sure the rest of us did too. Number one thing is, was there a traffic study? If there's gonna be five warehouse facilities, what is the traffic impact numbers? And have we done a study?

Yes. A traffic impact study was required and is always going to be required, especially with future phases as well. But I will, I may punt to Charlie Love, our development engineer. We'll start there. Thank you.

Charlie Love, Chief Development Engineer. So yes, there was a traffic impact study that was done and it was completed. With those that study, it talks about the need and the requirements for turn lanes to be built and constructed along Lone Elm. The other thing is, is the traffic study that was completed. We have a lot of development that's going on down here and so we've been getting a lot of different traffic studies that have been submitted, whether it's the property that's across Lone Elm to the East and also the next one on the agenda that's just to the north.

And what we're seeing is is these traffic studies are consistent with one another in regards to what they're collecting in their traffic data and also future proposed type traffic development. So yes, we are receiving traffic studies.

All right. So it's sufficient with those turn lanes?

Yes.

Okay. Thank you.

Councilmember Schoonover.

Thank you. And I wanna I wanna piggyback on on that point because I think, you know, over the last several months, we've had a lot of discussions about this area down south and and certainly hearing from a lot of the neighbors and the residents that live down there. I think they would say it's it's it's not sufficient looking at at some of some of these two lane roads and and the increase of truck traffic on them. So I I noticed that on the slides, of the the staff recommendations was making traffic adjustments or adjustments to to rope. What what are those? Are is that something that that the city is gonna be asked to to do as part of our CIP? Or is this something that all those developments that are coming down in there are gonna do for us?

Are you talking about the trap the the stipulations that we had in Yes. Okay. Yeah. So to clarify on on really what the intent on those stipulations are, the city's putting some greater restrictions in regards to where we are gonna grant full access along Lone Elm for the truck traffic. And so what we're trying to do, for instance, between this property and then and the property to the north, we're limiting that access between these properties for that truck traffic to be one access, one full access that goes out to Lone Elm.

And so the additional thing is, is where 171st Street is, is we need 171st Street to line up with the already approved plan that's across there to the east, which is Lineage, and aligning with their driveway also. So really along this corridor, what we're looking at is giving larger spacing between where these access points are than even what our current access management plan allows.

Is is that Hundred And 71st Street, is that something that this development is going to to put in or is that something that that we're gonna have to find the money for as a city to to try and do?

It would be this development.

So this Yeah. They are gonna build 171st Street as part of

this? Correct.

Okay. Would that be as part of phase one or? It'll it'll it'll

be phased. So as they plat or as they develop across their lot anticipating that they are going to start adjacent immediately adjacent to Lone Elm, For each section that they plat, they will have to construct that south portion of 171st Street. Now, there is the one other stipulation that is on there because some of those improvements are off-site. We did give the applicant some flexibility for that first phase or so to get access at a temporary drive that is approximately 600 feet north of 171st Street. But the intent is is that is only temporary until they continue to further develop that site and 171st Street ultimately will be constructed.

Okay.

And then that that then that temporary access will will go away. Yeah.

I I appreciate that. I'm I'm I'm getting a little worried. Well, I am I am worried about what we're doing down south because we just heard earlier tonight in a budget meeting that we're gonna have to look at restricting our CIP and and and things along those lines. And we already know that there's going to have to be a lot of work down in that southern area with all the development that we have. And it's great that we're having that development, but at what point are we biting off more than we can chew based on our current infrastructure down there is is really my question.

Okay. One one one item I'll let you know is is we do have a current major maintenance project that is gonna happen and take place this summer, and it's actually slated to begin towards the end of May of this year. So here coming up very soon, and it is going to resurface and do major maintenance along Lone Elm all the way from kind of a Hundred And 59th, A Hundred and

is it A

Hundred and

164. So up there were the the interchanges of I 35, and it will continue all the way south to the South city limit. So it will actually extend South of 175th Street. Now that portion that's South Of 175th Street is just going to be a mill and overlay. The section that is North of 175th Street is going to add some some structure to that roadway because there was concerns about the

Shoulders.

The shoulders and the condition of it. And so that existing cross section is actually going to get an additional two inches of asphalt placed on top of it. And in addition to it, there will be four foot asphalt shoulders added to each of those sides as

well. Okay.

Thank you.

Yep. Council member Felter.

Thank you, mayor. Emily, maybe this is for you. The North Road, does it align with the site of our future Fire Station 10?

Let me get to a map really quick. Emily Carrillo, senior planner. Let me get get you to a can you restate that question? The road to the north?

Road that's coming out of it. Maybe maybe our fire chief could shine some light on this.

Oh, right in this area. Can you see where

I am?

Wouldn't it be on the East Side Of

Lone

Yeah.

Yeah. In there.

Oh, in in part of Lone Elm Park.

Yep. Okay.

Alignment with the fire entrance on the East Side Of Loano?

Sorry. Charlie Love, chief development engineer. So that has been looked at, and that is also part of the reasoning why we're we're having the discussion on needing the two properties to have one driveway. And so we are looking at that site that's also across the way. And if I re recall that preliminary site for that fire department does have kind of multiple accesses based on where fire engines are coming off out on Lone Elm and also possibly passengers' cars coming in.

And so though that driveway for the fire department may have to shift a little bit north and south once those final plans come in. We believe we have the room in there to to make those shifts and make sure that those driveways align with what's coming in on the the West Side, because there may be the need in the future for that to be a full access and for it to be signalized at some time in the future.

Okay. Sometime in the future, I think, is kind of on our doorsteps with the rapid growth. And so as we are looking at the budget constraints going forward, I do think, as a council, we're going to have to think of how we're gonna fund our, public safety, especially down here, especially thinking of cardiac arrest save rates. It's the window of time, you know, is your sweet spot. And, I mean, we saw today a coordinated response out at Panasonic, with multiple responses to a smoking battery.

It sounded like but, you know, it happens at warehouses, and we're having a concentrated cluster of economic growth down here that is a little bit ahead of the curve of when we're going to reap our benefits from these because of abating so much. And I do believe in planting the seed for economic development, but perhaps we need to visit our policy on embedding maybe some funding stream to help us with these infrastructure and the public safety expense that will be coupled with this because I think that these companies will also want to have, safe and secure properties. And, we can't just shoulder all of that expense during the abatement period as a city. So just planting that seed. And I I know that, public safety sales tax has been floated, and I know that we're constraining our property tax.

We're all being very sensitive to spending public tax dollars. But here's a great example of being thoughtful and mindful as we are on that runway working towards the future. I mean, from what I hear, we kind of already need it here because of this growth. So let's just be thinking about that as we move forward. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you, Charlie. Thank you, Emily. I don't see any other questions of staff. Do I hear a motion on ordinance 26 dash 17?

Thank you, mayor. I'll move to approve ordinance 26 dash 17.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk. Please call the roll.

Mister Creighton?

Yes.

Mister Denault?

Yes.

Mister Bacon?

Yes.

Mister Schoonover?

Yes.

Doctor Felter? Yes. Mister Baucus?

Yes.

Miss Essex? Yes. Motion passes. Seven zero.

Moving to item b. Item b is consideration of ordinance number 26 dash one eight, which is RZ26Dash0002 requesting approval of a rezoning from the CTY RUR County Rural District to the M 2 General Industrial District and a preliminary site development plan for DRG Olathe on approximately 37.63 acres located Southwest of West 167th Street in Lone Elm Road. Planning Commission recommends approval six to zero. This project is directly adjacent to the north of the previous one. This would be the two speculative industrial buildings. Senior planner Jessica Schuler is here.

Good evening. Thank you, mayor and council members. Jessica Schuler, senior planner. And yes, we're staying in the same neighborhood this evening. This property is just at the hard corner of 167th And Lone Elm.

Obviously, we have Lone Elm Park to the East and the other industrial use facilities to, the north and the West as well. The surrounding property is again zoned to the M 2 General Industrial District, and the request for this property is to also zone to the M 2 District as it does retain county rural zoning currently. This can this is consistent with the request that we just heard Emily present for the Hedge Industrial East project. The application was submitted and reviewed under the Plan Olathe comprehensive plan, designate designates the site and the area as an industrial area. The requested M 2 District directly aligns with this, future land use designation and several policies of the Plan Olathe comprehensive plan, including targeting desirable new businesses to support, Olathe's employment base.

Our recently adopted Elevate Olathe comprehensive plan does also designate this site for industrial uses. So this is a 37 acre property. It will accommodate two single loaded dock warehouses with overhead doors facing interior to the property, the primary entrances facing public roadways. Building 1 is just over 250,000 square feet with Building 2 just over 290,000 square feet. These are currently planned to be constructed in just a single phase.

We have two screen walls that will be constructed on the north to block the view of the truck courts. Detention is located internal to the, development out of public view. There are I'm trying to get that cleared.

There we go.

There are three full access points to the to the development and turn lanes constructed at each entrance. In addition, as Emily mentioned, there are two driveways along the southern property line that will provide shared access to the development to the south. An access agreement will be required between the two property owners. 50 foot planted buffer is proposed along 167th and along the Lone Elm as required by the UDO. We have buffers on the adjacent property lines as well.

Further refinements to the landscape plan will be provided at the time of final development. Here's a look at the renderings of the buildings. These are meeting all UDO requirements. We have, painted and textured tilt up concrete panels and shades of blue and gray, ground floor glass,

and upper clear story glass as well.

The applicant did meet all their public notification requirements. A neighborhood meeting was not required to be held, and staff has not received any, correspondence. The planning commission did recommend approval of the rezoning to the M 2 District with, again, the restriction of some higher intensity uses, the same ones that you saw on the previous application this evening, and the applicant is agreeable to these restrictions. Staff is also recommending approval of the preliminary development plan as stipulated. Again, the first stipulation is the same as was just referred to in the previous application about shared access with the property to the south and some minor edits made from the time of planning commission meeting shown in red.

With that, I'm happy to answer any questions, and the applicant is also here for any questions you might have. Thank you.

Thank you, Jessica. I don't see any other questions at this time. A motion to approve ordinance number 26 dash one seven would be in order. Oh, I'm One eight.

Yes. Thank you. I move to approve ordinance 26 dash one eight.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk. Please call the roll.

Mister Denault.

Yes.

Mister Bacon? Yes. Mister Skinover?

Yes.

Doctor Felter? Yes. Mister Baucus?

Yes.

Miss Essex? Yes. Mister Creighton?

Yes.

Motion passes. Seven zero.

Item c is consideration of ordinance number 26 dash one nine, which is r z twenty six six dash zero zero zero three requesting approval of a rezoning from the CTYPRN two planned residential neighborhood district to the M 2 General Industrial District and a preliminary site development plan for Lone Elm Commerce Center on approximately 60.5 acres located Northwest of West 167th Street in Lone Elm Road. Planning Commission recommended approval six to zero. This proposed project includes three industrial buildings to expand the existing Lone Elm Commerce Center. Planner Taylor Van De Velde is here to join us for a presentation. Welcome, Taylor.

Thank you. Taylor Van De Velde, Planner two. As introduced, this is a rezoning request for loan owned Commerce Center 6 Platte as long as well as a preliminary site development plan for the development. The 60 acre property is located Northwest of 1 67th Street and Lone Elm Road and is a continuation of the existing Lone Elm Lone Elm Commerce Center development to the west, which is dashed on your screen there. The property does retain its county zoning and the requested M 2 general industrial district is compatible with the existing surrounding industrial districts, including M2 and MP2 At the time of the public hearing, the Plan Olathe Comprehensive Plan designated the subject property as industrial areas, employment area, primary and secondary greenways on the future land use map.

However, as previously mentioned, the City Council recently adopted the Elevate Olathe comprehensive plan, which designates this entire area as simply industrial. The requested M2 district aligns directly with both the former and newly adopted future land use designations and policy elements. The site does include three industrial lots and three tracks, including 355,000 square feet of industrial space. The phase will take direct access from the existing Erickson And Monticello Road as shown outlined on your screen there. The existing Erickson Street will be extended as this development develops out into the future as well.

Alright. The proposal also includes over 600 parking spots throughout development, including trailer parking for industrial uses as well. This will be built out in phases including phase one being the largest one for building one, track C, track B, and track A for storm water as well. The conceptual phases will be phase two and three, which do not have a timeline at this time and will require a revised preliminary site development plan once users are identified in the future. The development is greatly exceeding UDO requirements and preserving over 40% for open space and 80% of the existing trees on-site, primarily the green shaded area to the right where the existing stream corridor runs through.

The perimeter landscaping is also provided around each of the developments and includes fencing and additional berms and screening purposes which also exceed UDO requirements. The development will manage stormwater on-site with Track B located in the northern section of the development and will include a fountain and street trees to be incorporated into the development as more of an amenity. Architecture was provided for Building 1 of phase one and it shows a mix of materials and articulation to match the existing Building 5 of the existing Lone Elm Commerce Center that we showed earlier. So it'll make for a more cohesive design with the existing industrial that's already there. All facades will be constructed with all class one and class two materials.

However, the applicant has requested one waiver to the minimum glass requirements which I'll outline in a second. So the applicant is requesting to reduce the minimum percentage of glass on the primary facades as outlined on the screen there. So it requires 15% and the applicant is providing 611% due to the nature of this building. The applicant is also attempting to match this building with the existing one adjacent to this and approved for a similar waiver as well. Staff is supportive of this waiver request as they added additional architectural treatments and believes that this will be more cohesive with the existing buildings to the West.

The applicant met all notification requirements and neither staff nor the applicant has received any further correspondence. Public hearing was held on April 13. No individuals were signed up to speak at the public hearing and Planning Commission recommended approval including the list of prohibited uses for the M2 District. We also recommended approval of the preliminary site development plans as stipulated, granting the waiver and several other requirements for the future phases as well. This concludes my presentation and I am available for questions. And we also have the applicant here as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Taylor. I don't see any questions. With that, I'll entertain a motion to approve ordinance 20 six-nineteen.

I move to approve ordinance 20 six-nineteen.

Second.

We have a motion and a second with the city clerk. Please call the roll.

Mr. Bacon? Yes. Mr. Schoonover? Yes. Doctor. Felter? Yes. Mr. Baucus?

Yes.

Ms. Essex? Yes. Mr. Creighton?

Yes. Mr. Denault?

Yes.

Motion passes. Seven zero.

A lot of development. I know we said warehouse industrial buildings being all the chamber has indicated that a lot of these warehouse distribution centers actually become manufacturing facilities with a lot higher paying jobs. So we're anxious to see what happens down there. It's a growing area. So we'll now move to general issues and concerns of citizens. We do have a couple of individuals that have signed up to speak. So would the city clerk please read the guidelines and then call up our speakers tonight?

The council has extended this privilege to allow people who live and work in Olathe to address concerns to the city council. Speakers must only address the council, and council members are not required to respond. Please treat others with kindness and respect. The council has allocated three minutes per speaker. Tonight, we have two speakers. Our first speaker is Kate Gimbelow. Please go to the podium. State your name and address for the record.

Welcome, Kate.

Thanks.

You had nice comments today before, so now we get to hear

you twice.

You kept me at two minutes that time, and you don't have to talk longer than that. I'm very verbose. My name is Kate Gimbelow. I'm 11236 South Rees Street, and thank you for letting me speak again tonight. It's because we we couldn't go as deeply as we wanted to in some of the things, and I just this is really meant for the people in this room. You know, I've been involved in this the community for a really long time, and I've served on boards. I've led nonprofits. I've built programs. I've worked alongside a lot of organizations. I've also been an executive in a professional sense across a wide variety of business models for the last thirty years.

So I know what healthy culture looks like and feels like is every organization has a culture. They're just not always positive. And I wanna tell you that what I experienced over the last nine weeks in the Olathe Civic Academy. So at every single level of this organization, you have the most remarkable leaders. They're not just competent. They are remarkable. I saw them lead without ego, but with genuine pride. They bring serious acumen, but they also make you laugh, and they make each other laugh. I watched leader after leader from Mary Yeager to chief Butod to Liz Ruback all lead from behind. And by that, I mean, they stepped up, but then they stepped aside to let the spotlight shine on other people.

And the atmosphere in every one of those nine sessions was relaxed. It was confident. It was collegial, and it was inspired. So this staff, citywide, clearly deeply cares about the city, its residents, and about each other. And I know that that's not a given.

It can be really rare, and it certainly does not happen by accident. When you see that kind of culture woven through an entire organization of over a thousand people, someone is choosing well. I would honestly love to sit down with your HR team and your onboarding team just because whatever criteria they're using and whatever culture they are setting from day one, I gotta tell you, it's working. And then your leaders are taking that foundation and they're building something even stronger on top of it. I was very impressed.

I came into that program already proud to call Olathe in my home, and I'm leaving it even more so. And I am so genuinely excited about the continued growth and success of the city. I have every confidence that under Susan Sherman's leadership as city manager, that our best days are still ahead. So thank you for the stewardship. Thank you for the leadership, and thank you for your hearts.

Thank you.

Our second speaker is James Van Bueben. Please go to the podium. State your name and address for the record.

Good evening. Excuse me. I'm James Van Boven. 18342 West 155th Street speaking about the pending drone ordinance. There's three groups of people of civilians flying drones.

Part one zero seven pilots have passed an FAA proctored exam demonstrating understanding of the regulations, airspace, charts, flight patterns and more. Recreational flyers operate under section four forty eight zero nine and are required to pass online training and follow basic rules and safety guidelines. The problem group are those who don't know or care that all drones flown in the national airspace at any altitude all the way to the ground are subject to FAA regulation. They don't know that all drones flown outdoors, even toys in your own backyard, are legally subject to FAA regulations. Banning drones over wide swaths of Olathe only hurts responsible drone users, especially those of us who use them commercially and won't address those who use them irresponsibly.

Banning drones isn't a solution any more than banning cars is a solution to drinking and driving or reckless endangerment. The proper solution is to ban the bad behaviors. As Councilwoman Doctor. Felter did ten years ago, push for legislation to outlaw acts like voyeurism, harassment and reckless endangerment. The FAA regulates the safety of the national airspace and how it relates to the safety of people on the ground.

FAA regulations specifically forbid hazardous flying. FAA regulations also largely prohibit flying over people or moving vehicles. Recreational flyers aren't allowed to do so at all and part one zero seven pilots only can with aircraft meeting specific requirements or with an FAA issued OOP waiver and in both cases there are strict rules. You have a copy of my waiver. There are provisions the FAA requires for flying over people, one of which is documented permission from event coordinators before flying over people at outdoor events.

Even with a waiver from the FAA, you can't fly over people at events without the event's permission. While local restrictions on takeoff and landing are allowed to a degree, there are limits. I've provided you a document from the FAA's office of the chief counsel and highlighted key points where the proposed ordinance faces federal preemption as communicated earlier this week. But help is on the way. The FAA is trialing their discover API to allow law enforcement access real to access real time, drone registration information.

Resulting from an executive order last June, airspace and safety violations are now required to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Three letter agencies are actively working to empower properly trained local law enforcement to mitigate legitimate drone threats. And just today, the FAA published their 181 page notice of proposed rule making, for the rule that will establish the framework for localities to define critical infrastructure around which there are serious federal restrictions on drone use. Don't ban drone flights. Ban reckless and illegal behaviors.

Add an exemption in ordinance for those operating lawfully under 14 CFR part 107 or section 44,809 and look forward to the additional tools that are coming down the pipe to enforce the existing regulations. Thank you.

James, you have time for one quick question. Just clarifying.

I would be happy to

answer questions. So, do you know, are these documents required to be on file with any state or local authority or is it just the FAA?

So the the you're referring to the operations of repeat waiver?

Yeah. Certificate so

that is

get a waiver that has a lot of your information as far as who's flying the drone and things things like that?

So that is publicly available on the FAA website.

Okay.

If you do a Google search for Part 107 waivers issued, it will take you to a page on the FAA website. You can search for my last name. That exact document is publicly available Alright. To

Thank you. Thank you. Good information. We'll now move to convene a planning session. We have four reports, think, or three. Report one. Anyone had any questions or report one? How about report two? Report three regarding the title seven, a temporary change to the sale of alcohol beverages. Any questions on that?

I I just wanted this is a little bit it's a little bit germane to this. Had a question about our waiver for the downtown area. At some point, will we have a painted line to delineate those spaces, especially during our summer events? I know a neighboring community does that, and I think it's helpful so people know where they can extend to and where they can't. The other thing I was going to ask is restaurants that have gated outdoor seating areas.

It seems like there's some restaurants allow an alcoholic beverage out on the gated areas, some don't. And I don't know if it's they're uninformed or or there's different licenses or what, but I'm specifically referring to, like, some, Jose Peppers, for instance. They have a gated area, and it's permitted. And then you go to a couple of our, Chipotles, they allow it, and then some don't. So I'm confused. Maybe they don't under understand or what, but, just look into that. It's really not it has to do with our alcohol beverage consumption, but, something to consider.

Happy to. Susan Sherman, city manager. I, we've been talking about common consumption downtown and, having to look at that with the new restaurants and new interest in being part of common consumption. With that, we will probably develop something that will designate on our sidewalks or there Okay. So that you can't go beyond that. But those are good. And I'll find out about

Yeah.

Okay. Any other questions on item three? Seeing none, we'll then move to our discussion item tonight. Discussion item one is the 2026 federal legislative program. We have Amanda Stanley and Susan Sherman present. Welcome, Amanda.

Thank you so much. Okay. Amanda Stanley, deputy city attorney. Thank you today for having me here to talk to you about our upcoming, federal 2026 city Of Olathe federal priorities. So this year's agenda at the direction of the city manager is very intentionally focused, and it's perhaps a little bit more narrow than you've seen in past years.

And that's a very deliberate approach that we wanna talk through with you tonight. So one of the city manager's directions was that she wanted us to really focus on areas where federal partnership can move projects forward, and bring those federal tax dollars that we all pay back into our Olathe community in ways that translate into real local, outcomes. And so as part of that, in your packet, you have the very beautiful federal agenda that Cody's team put together for us. But this project this year, we focus mainly on three main projects that are currently in the federal pipeline as request for funding where we might have very direct ability to bring those tax dollars back home. So the first is on the downtown post office redevelopment.

This is our primary funding request. This is being put forth by representative Davids as a community project funding request, so it's currently in the appropriations process. So this funding request, would allow us to continue to move that project forward and fill a gap in funding. So currently, the city has already acquired the relocation site. We're actively working with the post office to finalize those agreements, and relocating this post office unlocks one of our most strategic redevelopment sites in downtown and creates a wonderful opportunity for workforce housing, mixed use development, long term economic growth.

And so having the federal support through the funding gap that we've requested would allow the project to continue to move forward. And so this is currently being advanced as part of the appropriation request from representative David's office. So getting it through the house side and then over to the senate side would be a big win for the community. So that is the primary request. The second request is also being advanced by representative David's office through the appropriation, and this is our real time information program.

This is a public safety investment that was requested by our police department. So this would build on federal partnerships that we already have in place and help improve coordination and response in real time. This program is about strengthening how those resources are deployed, improving coordination, situational awareness, and overall effectiveness in the field, And it will help the system on a day to day basis and could make a real difference in public safety in our community. The next requests really focus on infrastructure and transportation pipeline that is currently ongoing and continuing that federal partnership. So we have lots of improvements as you guys have talked about, several times in the I 35 in Santa Fe Corridor, which is one of our most heavily traveled, and economically significant areas in the region.

We have advanced programs and use the federal dollars, but it would be extremely helpful to help continue to have federal funding to move those from planning into implementation to help continue to fill some of those funding needs. Additionally, we have passed, in the past, received funding to look at the BNSF rail corridor, study that to look at those high traffic at grade crossings, to look at what impacts traffic flow, how does the railroad impact economic development, where can we make improvements. And so to be able to spend time with the federal delegation and talk to them about the impact that rail has in Olathe and how paying attention to how those dollars are used, could help us in numerous areas. And then additionally looking at US 169 and K 10, our other key corridors, 167th Street, and looking at ways that we can leverage our federal partnerships to help with funding major infrastructure projects. And I could have continued through my slides as I was talking about this.

All of these approaches really focus on a coordinated effort to talk about how using those monies in ways in our community can help expand our housing and our tax base, how infrastructure grows our support helps our growth and our access, public strict safety strengthens our community confidence. All of these are designed to work together to show that we are a growing, thriving community where there is lots happening in our community. So what we wanna do is continue to leverage our federal partnerships. Also in the, agenda and the priorities are several other supporting areas. All of that support this coordinated approach.

It talks about things like decreasing administrative burden so that when we implement new things like, no tax on overtime, that the cost to implement that at the local level local level doesn't outweigh the benefits. So asking the federal government to look at ways to decrease our administrative aspects and let us do what we do best, which is local government, while also helping leverage bringing those dollars back home. So the agenda before you is pretty directly focused on things that are in the pipeline that we can make an immediate impact on and prioritizing those things like the post office real time center continuing to advance our infrastructure funding. And also included in there is a discussion to show our delegation how much active, activity is happening across Olathe to kinda put a map and put it in front of them to show that we have all these high dollar projects and that we want them to continue to invest in us, like we invest in our local community to help our state thrive. So our ask today for you is to give us feedback if there's things you think we're missing, things you wanna change.

But our goal would be when you meet with the delegation next week that you talk about these priorities and how we can make a direct impact in projects that are already in the appropriation pipeline to, get those projects across the finish line. Happy to stand for any questions.

Excellent, Amanda. Council member Baucus.

Thank you, mayor. I appreciate your work on this, Amanda. As we talk about this deeper, one thing we would like to add is, an additional topic, a new topic. It's envisioning, and quite frankly, it's a thirty year envisioning. But it's the idea that we really do want fixed rail transit in Johnson County, specifically running through Olathe.

And this is tied to the BNSF right of way that we're talking about our at grade separations. It's the idea that looking to the future, there's absolutely no reason why we wouldn't want to establish light rail from New Century Airport to the Garmin campus to Downtown Olathe to the Chiefs and then on up north traveling to Downtown KCMO. You know, the streetcar in Central Kansas City is wonderful, and that will continue to expand. It's very expensive. It's being funded by federal dollars.

For us out here, you know, outside the metro, it becomes a light rail conversation, not a streetcar conversation. And there's no reason why the county, Annaletha specifically, shouldn't be previewing this to our delegation, asking them to think about this and consider that we'll come forward and ask for planning dollars at some stage in the future.

Absolutely. If that fits in really well into the agenda, then we can definitely get that added.

That'd be great. Thanks very much.

Council members? Council member Schuno.

Thank you, mayor, and thank you, Amanda, very much. This is a great, great presentation, and I really like that we've kind of broken up our legislative priorities from a cumulative approach to more federal, and then I assume we'll have a state legislative priority later on at some point this this year. But earlier tonight, we we heard a little bit about some of the changes to prescription drug pricing and how that is gonna impact us annually. Is that at the state level, or is that is that more the federal level?

Yes. That was at the state level, and what happened is they've added a dispensing fee on every prescription. So before we paid about 30% per prescription that was filled. Now we'll pay $10 I think is what it is. And so that is the offset, but that is all state law. It's being pushed and has been implemented in lots of states.

It was

kind of just always going to come to Kansas, and now it's here.

Okay. So that that additional cost is is appropriately not in this Correct.

That is all state driven.

Okay. The other thing I was gonna ask is, I know, obviously, there's been a lot of discussion over the last year, eighteen months about tariffs. Has the city done any type of impact study to see how much maybe we think that we've spent in tariffs? I I know we're probably not directly paying them, but if there's if there's any type of financial impact that we can point to, potentially to tell our our, elected representatives to say, hey. You know, this is this is real budget numbers for us, and this isn't something that you know, now this money is just gonna go to FedEx or UPS or whomever it is, brought this in.

That might be something that we look at too to to see if we can help address some of those costs.

Yeah. I will very helpfully phone a friend to see if we have those numbers. It does not look like we do, but we

can something up.

But we can talk to

the delegation too about as they are looking at rebates after the Supreme Court order, like, how is that flowed down, and are there things that they could do at the federal level to make sure that those money that comes back does not stay at the company level?

I think I think that that would be something important for us to look at. And I know I mean, from a policy standpoint, it's probably, quite frankly, a crapshoot. But but for them to know, hey. This there there is a real impact here to to state and local governments, I think, would be very helpful.

Yep. Great

job. Council member Felter.

Thank you, mayor. Amanda, I really like the brochure that you put together. I love the map. I think that has great impact. And, I like how simplistic it is.

You've broken it down into bite sized pieces, and yet it feels like you've pretty much addressed everything. Something that might be helpful for us as council members is to know I mean, we hear these two names all the time, US senator senator Moran and representative Davids. Like, how much they've been responsible for bringing to our city so that, you know, when we say thank you, it, like, has teeth to it so that we can say thank you for like, I can say, thank you, representative Davids, for the it's, like, $895,000 part that you got at the water tower at 1 19th And Renner for us. And it feels good to be able to be specific and not just broad brush. And and it's also good to know when you have a federally elected official that doesn't necessarily bring big dollars to you.

I mean, no matter where you stand on the federal budget, the money's on the table. And once it's there, they should be grabbing it for us as a municipality because it's our federal tax dollars that are paying into that pot. And so, yeah, I would personally love that data. It helps us to be very specific in our gratitude, and, I I like that a lot. Thank you.

Absolutely. I'll put that together for you for next week. We are very lucky in Olathe. Our delegation has definitely helped leverage money back to our community. So say thank you for the COPS grants we've gotten, the money for the railroad studies, money for infrastructure. It's helpful. People would like to know that you they've helped you do something as well.

Council member Danault. Thank you, mayor. Great brochure as doctor Felter said, and I like there the six the map with the six, areas. One thing I was curious about, is there any room at my off base to wonder if if there's any room for anything relating to housing that could be on the agenda?

So inside the agenda, looking at what number it is, we do talk about our CDBG and how that leverages money to help with housing and, affordable housing as well as when we are talking about post office and those things that can leverage workforce and open up area for that. But number eight is about preserving affordable local infrastructure financing as well as number Five. Five is all about maintaining housing and community development tools. That CDBG money is crucial for helping benefit our low to moderate income individuals and strengthening the broader base of housing. So we can definitely beef that up and strengthen that if you want some additional language in there.

I'd love a little more conversation. Yeah. That'd be great.

Great job, Amanda. You know, I I was looking at this, and I thought, you know, this is a lot, though, still for our representatives. I was thinking this might this is a great document to give their staff, but I think it would be almost helpful if we had a one pager that highlighted things because they're we're so limited on time. I don't know if that if anybody else thinks that that's necessary or not, but, I think this is still quite a bit for them to try to flip through. I don't know.

Yeah. We can see what we can tailor to for each of the members. Some things are matter more to one member than the other, so it's always helpful when you strategize about what to talk to to who.

Okay. Excellent job. Looking forward to meeting, with our representative next week. Okay. We'll now move to additional items. I'll start on my right tonight. Council member Danole. Danole. You may go first.

Okay. As promised. Thank you. Yeah. I had two things this week. One, I understand it is national small business week, so, I wanna say thank you to all the local small business owners, that live in Olathe. You know, you're our local economy. It's really, really important, to us, and the city, to have us, our local business owners bringing in tax revenue, keeping our city running. So this weekend, if you're out shopping in every weekend, maybe consider shopping someplace that is locally owned. And then the other thing I wanted to mention is, I believe, next week is teacher appreciation week.

My wife is a teacher. I know a lot of hardworking teachers, and I wanna thank all of them for what they do. Keep up the great work. Keep educating all the thinkers and the doers because eventually they're going to be sitting here or, you know, out there and just living in in the city doing great things.

Councilmember Essex.

Thank you, mayor. I just wanted to say congrats again to our Aletha Civic Academy. I love how they were a glowing advertisement for the city of Aletha and for our staff. I mean, it's it wasn't just the two here. I heard, when I visited the class how many positive things they had to say, and that's that says a lot. I know I did this class back in, like, twenty thous or 2010. I almost said 2000, when it was just a few years old. So it's just an excellent opportunity for citizens, and just wanted to recommend that if you're interested in learning more about the city and appreciating everything that the city does in operations, I strongly encourage you to take a look at that. It's also municipal clerk's week. We have some of the best.

I just wanted to say thank you to ours. Brenda, I know Eric's not here, but, we appreciate you guys. He's listening. Okay. Good. And, I just wanted to say, I I've noticed through social media a couple of things I wanted to bring up that staff partnering with our schools. We're planting trees. We're doing experiments on our city water with first graders. We're we're we're doing so many wonderful things, and I think the community is noticing that. And I just I think it's beautiful.

Wanted to mention the communication on the new scooter ordinance has been phenomenal. A lot of people have been responding and very supportive of the new scooter ordinances. So last thing, just congratulations to all of our graduates. My youngest just graduated from Northwest Missouri State on Saturday. So all the graduates ahead and those that have already taken place, congratulations, and good luck on the next chapter.

Council member Vakis. Thanks, mayor. Again, I would offer, my thanks to all of our public service employees here on city staff. I'm very fortunate to be able to work with all of the fine people that work for Olathe. I wanted to highlight too, again, congratulations to the graduates of the Olathe Citizens Academy.

But also, next week we have graduation of Leadership Olathe, our second leadership program here run by the chamber. And Leadership Olathe and the Olathe Citizens Academy collectively graduate about 60 people every year, People that graduate better informed about how government works, people who are creating a network and will be friends for a long time. I know that I graduated from lead leadership in 2008. Go what is that? Eighteen years ago.

But to this day, there are a couple of folks on city staff and certainly members of the business community that I continue to interface with, and those initial relationships were formed in leadership of Lathe in 2008. They're great programs. So thanks to everyone who steps up and goes through these programs and contributes to the city going forward.

Thank you, mayor. Councilmember Felter.

Thank you, mayor. Congratulations to the Olathe Civic Academy. I can't believe it's the nineteenth one. That represents so much work for our staff, and a special shout out to Mimi O'Hare. She does a great job. And then congratulations to our city clerks. Every week is city clerk week, don't you think? Yeah. We're so grateful for you, Brenda and Eric. Thank you so much. And then, all of our public servants that are here working day in, day out to make our city a great place. And to all the graduates, even if it's a civic civic academy, college or high school, wherever, we're very proud of you.

Councilmember Schoonover. Thank you, mayor.

I wanted to give a quick shout out to, the graduates of, yes, Olay, the Civic Academy, but I will also say Project Citizen, which is a, group of of high school seniors and juniors. I had the opportunity to to speak with them earlier, I guess it was last week. But their teachers, Kim Wayhouse at Olathe South and Brianna Francis at Olathe East do a wonderful job, shaping, these students and helping them to understand the importance of being involved in their community. So it's a it's it's a great program, and I appreciated being a part of it, a very tiny part of it. I also wanted to thank everybody who reached out for feedback on the new drone ordinance and to thank the staff for for giving us some more time to look at that and to think about that.

I mean, it's it's an area where I'll where where I'll confess, I I didn't have a lot of insight into. And so certainly getting that feedback from the community on on the ordinance was very helpful. So thank you for everybody who devoted the time to do that. The final thing, I wanted to kinda put Mary Jaeger on the spot a little bit and and say, I've heard I heard yesterday that Lewisburg is having water issues. And, I don't know what's going on, but I just, you know, wanted to make sure, hey.

We everything we're doing is okay. We're able to, you know, weather the storm, so to speak, and and our water is doing great. And are we able to help Lewisburg at all with with what they're going through?

Mary Yeager, infrastructure director. Lewisburg had a couple of clarifiers go down, because of equipment, malfunction. They went into a stage three, water conservation plan this morning, which meant businesses, schools closed down, daycares closed down. They were when I looked at, I think it was this afternoon, we were in a meeting. Sometime around two, they were able to go back up to a stage one conservation. So they got it repaired fairly quickly.

Okay.

Do we have that same liability? Not that I am aware of in any shape or form. So, that was pretty, shocking to have a community. I mean, what did we say? Like, population 5,000, that's a lot of people to be out of water in a stage three conservation program.

So

Well, you guys do a wonderful job. So Thank you. Thank you very much for staying on it. That's all I have.

Councilmember Crady. Thank you. And I understand why last meeting, Councilmember Denault said I don't know what else to say. I am going to do a couple of things. First of all, echo what's already been said. Thank you to a great city staff. Appreciate it. Thank you to the those who took part in the Civic Academy. Look forward to you being part of the next phase of leadership in the community. As what Mr.

Skinover said, thank you to staff for listening to the concerns of the residents, the concerns of those of us on council who initiated on our own and then also through contact from the citizens and taking the time to step back and say, okay. Let's just make sure that what we do is right. We understand the concerns about safety of our citizens, but thank you for hearing that. And finally, the last thing, there's the direction finder survey is something that we rely on a great deal in making plans for the city. Those are going out this week.

I received mine yesterday. So to the citizens who have received them, please respond. We really listen to what you have to say, and it goes a long way to how we build a budget and make plans.

Thank you. City manager Susan Sherman.

First, thank you for the recognition of Public Service Recognition Week. Next meeting, you'll get to meet our award winners. So that'll be another celebratory night. And then also, I'm kind of tagging at orange barrel season. We have lots of construction going on. Millions of dollars are going out into all of our street networks, and it's just a really busy time. But really, I know it's a inconvenience, but this is when when we do our best work.

I wanna mention that May is Asian American Pacific Islander month. We have a strong AAPI community with residents who bring so much to our community. So, thank you to our Asian American Pacific Islander residents for sharing with us your talents, your history, and your culture. Summer's almost here, and, that means there's a lot coming up in Olathe Olathe's parks. Thursday night, Lester Estelle was performing at Lake Olathe in our Lake Nights music series.

And, May 13 is our first sip and shop of the season at County Square. So, speaking of downtown, people now have one more this past week, you now have one more reason to come to downtown, and that's to enjoy a wonderful dinner at Third Street Social. Yes. Yes. We are restoring date night to Olathe. That's awesome. That was we're getting dinged on that a little bit a few years back on social media. So so you can find a full list of family friendly events on our city website calendar at .gov. So check that out and participate in all the fun activities we have coming up this summer. Folks, thank you all for being here tonight.

That's we're that's all, I think, and we are adjourned.