FEBRUARY - 2008

County authorizes additional funds for Leawood Pioneer Library expansion

Construction inflation is increasing the cost to expand the Leawood Pioneer Library.

Additional funding totaling $625,000 was approved by unanimous vote on Thursday, February 7, by the Johnson County Board of Commissioners. In its approval, the Board authorized the total project account to be increased to $5,655,000.

Expansion of the library has been included as part of the FY 2008 Budget. In its budget approval last fall, the Board authorized $5,070,000 for the project based on original project costs developed in October 2006. Construction inflation since then and start of construction now has been estimated at 16.7 percent, requiring the additional funding request by the Johnson County Library Board of Directors.

In a separate, related action Thursday, the Board, in its role as the county’s Public Building Commission (PBC), approved a resolution authorizing a notice of intent for the issuance of up to $5.6 million in lease purchase revenue bonds for the project. The resolution begins a 30-day protest period regarding the proposed 20-year bond issue. Vote to approve the resolution also was unanimous by the PBC.

The existing library opened at 4700 Town Center Drive in 1994. The expansion project has been in the works for more than two years.

The project will nearly double the size of the 11,000-square-foot library located just north of the Leawood Town Center Shopping Center at 119th Street and Roe Avenue.

Plans include a complete interior redesign, roof repairs, and an extra 8,000 square feet made with “green” building materials. The expansion, which will match the existing building, will be added on the east side of the library, housing extra space for a meeting room. The existing building will get a facelift with new electrical systems, lighting, and finishes.

Expansion of the Leawood Pioneer Library will start this fall. The facility will be closed for approximately a year until completion of the project in the fall of 2009.

Library staff is now working on alternate service delivery methods, such as a temporary library site, and locations to accommodate library patrons during the year-long interlude.

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Storm Spotter Training set February 28 at Blue Valley Northwest High School

On the eve of March, which traditionally is designated “Severe Weather Month,” Johnson County citizens are invited to receive free training about severe weather and how to stay out of harm’s way.

The “Storm Spotter Training for the Public” program is scheduled Thursday, February 28, at Blue Valley Northwest High School, 13260 Switzer Road, Overland Park.

The public program will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. in the school’s Performing Arts Center. The program is being sponsored by the Johnson County Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and the National Weather Service.

The training will include:

• educating citizens about safety considerations in responding to severe weather;
  
• defining weather terminology, such as types of weather alerts and warnings;
  
• providing information about different types of cloud formations and when to call 9-1-1 if a dangerous cloud formation is spotted;
  
• discussing the role of the National Weather Service in forecasting, tracking, and informing the public about severe weather activities; and,
  
• explaining the role of Emergency Management in time of severe weather and Johnson County’s early warning siren system.

The training program is not intended to certify participants as official storm spotters for the National Weather Service or Emergency Management Department, but to educate Johnson County citizens to better identify, prepare, and react to severe weather when it occurs.

Citizens also are encouraged to establish or review their emergency plans in the event that a tornado or severe thunderstorm strikes while they are at home, at work, or any other location that they frequent. Information about setting up an emergency plan also will be available at the program.

More information about the Storm Spotter Training and how to create an emergency plan is available by calling Clarin Blessing, assistant director of training and education for the Department of Emergency Management, at (913) 782-3038.

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Johnson County approves part but not all of Overland Park’s annexation request

The Johnson County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution on Thursday, February 21, granting a part of the petition for annexation filed by the city of Overland Park, reducing the requested annexation area by roughly 44 percent.

The action moves the city’s southern boundary to 191st Street between Pflumm and Antioch roads; south to 194th Street between Flint Street and Switzer Road; and west of U.S. Highway 69 to Antioch Road, south to 199th Street.

ANNEXATION MAP

On August 23, 2007, Overland Park filed its petition for the authority to annex 9,569 acres, or roughly 15 square miles, into its city limits. On Thursday, February 21, the Board of County Commissioners gave its approval in a 5-1 vote to authorize the annexation of 5,325 acres, or 8.4 square miles, of the original request. Sixth District Commissioner John M. Toplikar cast the lone opposing vote; First District Commissioner C. Edward Peterson had previously recused himself due to a potential conflict of interest, and did not participate in the meeting.

The vote came after the record of the proceedings was closed on Friday, February 15, 2008. Under state law, the Board is required to render its decision to approve the annexation, either in whole or in part, within seven days of the close of the record. The Board conducted a public hearing on the petition on October 30, 2007, which drew a capacity crowd at the Performing Arts Center of the Blue Valley High School, 6001 West 159th Street, Stilwell. The public comment period—which was originally scheduled to close on November 15, 2007—was extended by the Board of County Commissioners to February 15, 2008, in order to give citizens and interested parties additional opportunity to comment on the annexation petition on the official record.

According to Casey Joe Carl, the Clerk of the Board, approximately 1,844 pages of comments were received for the record, including letters, emails, and items submitted during the Board’s weekly business meetings. Most of the viewpoints expressed opposed the annexation.

The 49-page resolution adopted by the Board identified five areas—labeled as Areas 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5—which were analyzed, among other factors, for current and future trends in population and growth; land use and development; police, fire protection, and emergency medical services; sewer availability; and other government services. The resolution provides that it is “prudent and advisable” to approve the annexation of Areas 1, 2, and 3; Areas 4 and 5 were denied.

Areas 1, 2, and 3—which have a total population of approximately 1,100 people—were favored for annexation for several reasons, including:

• A clear trend that such areas were in the natural growth path of the city of Overland Park;
  
• Imminent sewer availability which would occur within the next few years;
  
• Identification of approximately 25 existing platted subdivisions or platted tracts of land, many of which were less than 10 acres;
  
• A reasonable likelihood that further development would occur in the near future; and,
  
• The availability of police, fire protection, and emergency medical services, either already occurring or to be readily provided by Overland Park in the immediate future.

Areas 4 and 5, which also were sought by Overland Park, were not approved for annexation and will remain in the county’s unincorporated area. Those two areas have a combined population of approximately 570 people and contain approximately 4,244 acres. Both of these areas were far less developed and sewer development was not expected in that area for at least a decade, and probably longer. There are approximately seven platted subdivisions or platted tracts of land in Areas 4 and 5, and both areas exhibit more rural characteristics, with large tracts of 40 acres or larger being the norm. The resolution described Areas 4 and 5 as clearly not exhibiting “characteristics of urban fringe property” and generally are not readily accessible to Overland Park for the extension and provision of public safety and other governmental services.

The Overland Park City Council now must adopt an ordinance to complete the annexation of the 5,325 acres into its city limits.

ANNEXATION FACTS:

• Original Total Acreage Requested for Annexation by Overland Park: 9,569
• Approximate Total Acreage Approved for Annexation by Johnson County: 5,325
  (56%)
• Approximate Total Acreage Omitted for Annexation by Johnson County: 4,244
  (44%)
• Total Number of People in the Annexed Areas: 1,110
  
• Total Number of People in the Areas Not Annexed: 570
  
• Number of Pages Submitted to the County about the Annexation: 1,844
  
• Number of Written Comments Submitted about the Annexation: 884
  
• Number of Written Submitted Comments in Opposition to Annexation 877
  
• Number of Written Submitted Comments in Support of Annexation 7

(All totals are estimates or preliminary and, therefore, not intended to be precise)

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Applications sought for 2008 Johnson County Heritage Trust Fund Grant Program

The application process for the 2008 Johnson County Heritage Trust Fund Grant Program now is under way. The program is making available $250,000 for eligible organizations to apply for local history and heritage grants.

Completed applications must be delivered to the Johnson County Manager’s Office by 5 p.m. Monday, April 14, for consideration by the Johnson County Heritage Trust Fund Grant Review Board.

The trust fund was established by the Johnson County Board of Commissioners in 1991 to recognize the importance of preserving the valuable heritage and history of Johnson County. Projects that promote historical activity in the county are invited to apply for funding grants.

Governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations in Johnson County are eligible to apply for grants. Applicants must meet the requirements set forth in the policies and procedures. The seven-member grant review panel reviews and recommends projects for funding to the Board of County Commissioners.

Revenue for the trust fund is derived from a one-cent increase in mortgage registration fees that is in surplus of the amount Johnson County is required to contribute to the Kansas Heritage Trust Fund, established by the Kansas Legislature in 1990. That legislation created the state fund to support the preservation of historic properties in Kansas. It also provided that no county would contribute more than $100,000 to the state fund annually.

Review of the applications by the grant board will occur in June. Recommendations for recipients of 2008 Heritage Trust Fund Grants will be made to the Board of County Commissioners by either late July or early August for final approval.

Applications and additional information is available at http://www.jocogov.org/heritagefund/heritage.htm or by contacting Megan Laha in the County Manager’s Office at (913) 715-0737.

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County establishes Transportation Cooperation Council

The green light was signaled Thursday, February 28, to create the Johnson County Transportation Cooperation Council (TCC) to provide a local and regional forum for the coordination of future transportation planning in the community.

During its regular business session, the Johnson County Board of Commissioners approved an interlocal agreement that authorized the county’s participation in the advisory group, which will include both city and county leaders.

The process of creating of the new advisory group has been in the works for almost two years under the Transportation Future Focused Task Force chaired by Second District Commissioner John Segale. The task force included a core group of local elected leaders, city and county staff members, officials from area chambers of commerce, and representatives from key agencies and organizations, including the Mid-America Regional Council and Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance.

The task force recommended the formation of the TCC in its report, presented to the Board in April 2006. Task force members have met several times to draft a “charter document” to serve as the basis for the interlocal agreement.

In both the 2005 and 2007 Johnson County Citizen Surveys, public transportation was listed among the top five priorities that should receive the most emphasis from the county in the near future.

“The formation of the TCC would provide a forum for better local and regional collaboration and coordination with respect to transportation planning efforts and related services and programs,” Commissioner Segale, adding that the task force “identified a number of issues with respect to a countywide transportation network which could improve the overall coordination of transportation plans within the community.”

The TCC will serve as an advisory group to both the county and participating cities with initial administrative support being provided by the Johnson County Department of Public Works and Infrastructure under the direction of the Office of the County Manager.

The agreement commits no county funds to support the TCC. As with other advisory bodies, any question or interpretation of local policy or funding requirements of the TCC would require future approval by the Board of County Commissioners and by the participating cities.

The Board of County Commissioners will designate the chairman of the TCC, who will participate and have a voice, but no vote, in all proceedings. Members of the advisory council will select a vice chairman from the representatives of participating cities.

A copy of the interlocal agreement also has been submitted to each city in Johnson County. Under terms in the agreement, the TCC will be created and the agreement will be in effect upon its adoption by the county and by at least one of each of the three classes of cities in the county.

According to the League of Kansas Municipalities, there are eight third-class cities in Johnson County, including De Soto, Edgerton, Lake Quivira, Mission Hills, Mission Woods, Spring Hill, Westwood, and Westwood Hills. There are seven second-class cities. They are Bonner Springs, which has an area in northern Johnson County; Fairway; Gardner; Merriam, Mission; Prairie Village; and Roeland Park. The remaining five cities (Leawood, Lenexa, Olathe, Overland Park, and Shawnee) are first class.

The classification of cities in Kansas is roughly based on population with third class being less than 5,000 residents; second class being between 5,000 and 15,000; and first class having populations of more than 15,000.

The deadline for Johnson County cities to adopt the interlocal agreement creating the TCC has been set for January 1, 2009. If the requisite number or combination of cities has not executed the agreement by that time, it will then be null and void.

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County sets public hearing for April 9 on petition to incorporate the City of Stilwell

The Johnson County Board of Commissioners has scheduled a public hearing at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, on a petition to incorporate portions Aubry and Oxford Townships into the proposed City of Stilwell in the southeast corner of Johnson County.

The tentative site for the public hearing will be in the gymnasium at Blue Valley High School, 6001 West 159th Street, Stilwell. The hearing will allow the Board to hear a presentation from organizers of the proposed Stilwell incorporation and other public comments.

A petition for the requested Stilwell incorporation was filed with the Board on February 4, 2008. On Thursday, the Board unanimously approved a resolution to set the April 9th public hearing after being advised that the petition has been certified as valid by the Johnson County Department of Records and Tax Administration and the Johnson County Election Office.

The petition seeks to incorporate the City of Stilwell from the remaining unincorporated portion of Oxford Township, roughly located between 154th and 167th streets and east of Mission Road to State Line Road, and from the unincorporated portion of Aubry Township east of Antioch Road to State Line Road and south of 167th Street to 215th Street, the boundary between Johnson and Miami Counties.

Johnson County currently has 20 incorporated cities.