JANUARY - 2009

County regulations on land disturbance begin with start of 2009

With a goal of enhanced environmental stewardship, new regulations to control erosion and sediment from affecting streams have taken effect in unincorporated Johnson County with the start of the New Year.

The regulations, which also comply with federal and state requirements, were approved by the Johnson County Board of Commissioners. The new policy began January 1, 2009.

According to Lee Kellenberger, water resources manager for the Johnson County Stormwater Management Program, the new regulations require the implementation of erosion and sediment control measures whenever land disturbance, large and small, occurs in the unincorporated areas of Johnson County. The county’s Stormwater Management Program is part of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

“The goal of this regulation is to protect water quality and minimize the potential of sediment, such as soil, sand, and rock, from entering our streams,” Kellenberger said.

The regulations define “land disturbing activity” as any project that changes the physical conditions of land form, vegetation and hydrology, creates bare soil, or otherwise may cause erosion or sedimentation. The activities include, but are not limited to, clearing of land, removal of vegetation, stripping, grading, grubbing (uprooting vegetation, trees), excavating, filling, logging, and storing of materials

Projects, involving disturbance of less than one acre of land, will require applicants to follow the “Erosion and Sediment Control Standards for Building Construction” county’s guidelines for small lots and parcels. The calculation of acreage in the projection also needs to include land that’s being disturbed for driveway construction, outbuildings, pools, etc., in addition to the home. No permit or fee is associated with projects less than one acre.

The new policy for projects of land disturbance of one acre or more requires the applicant to apply for a Land Disturbance Permit from Johnson County. In addition to filling out an application, an applicant must submit an erosion and sediment control plan in order to obtain a permit. The permit fee is $250 for plan review and inspections. A performance surety also is required from the applicant to provide the county assurances that requirements for the project are installed in a timely and workmanlike manner.

Weekly site inspections are required by the Land Disturbance Permit holder as well as after every ½ inch precipitation event. Inspections must be performed by a qualified erosion control specialist.

Johnson County will enforce violations of the Land Disturbance Permit through fines and stop work orders.

A National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is still required in addition to the county’s Land Disturbance Permit.

More information about the county’s new regulations to control erosion and sediment and the Land Distribution Permit process is available by contacting the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, 1800 Old Highway 56, Olathe, by calling (913) 715-8300 or visiting its website at www.jocogov.org/pubwrks.

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County plans swearing-in ceremony for three new, two re-elected officials

The Honorable Stephen Tatum, chief judge of the Tenth Judicial District Court, will administer the oath of office to three newly-elected and two re-elected Johnson County officials during an inaugural ceremony that is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday, January 12, 2009.

The public ceremony will take place in the Board’s Hearing Room, located on the third floor of the Johnson County Administration Building, 111 South Cherry Street, in downtown Olathe.

The following officials will be inducted to their elected county office as part of the proceedings:

Steve Howe, District Attorney. Howe was elected to a four-term term in the 2008 General Elections on November 4, succeeding Phill Kline, who was appointed on December 11, 2006, by a Johnson County Republican Caucus. Kline was named to serve the remaining two years of the unexpired term of former District Attorney Paul Morrison, who was elected Kansas Attorney General in the 2006 November General Elections.

Howe was a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office for 16 years before he left in early 2007 to join a law firm. Prior to that, he was an assistant district attorney in Shawnee County for two years. He and his wife, Cyndi, are the parents of four children. The family lives in Shawnee.

Frank Denning, Sheriff. He was re-elected to a second four-year term in the November General Elections. Prior to becoming sheriff in 2005, he served as undersheriff in the administration of the late Sheriff John Foster and as acting sheriff following Foster’s death in March 2003. Prior to that, Denning was the chief of the Roeland Park Police Department from 1996 through August 2002.

From 1978 to 1996, Denning worked in the Sheriff’s Office as an administrative supervisor, line supervisor, detective, and field services deputy. His law enforcement career began in 1971 with service in police departments at Garden City, Great Bend, and Larned before joining the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. He is married to Robin Lewis, a former assistant Johnson County prosecutor now in private law practice. The couple lives near Edgerton.

Jim Allen, Second District Commissioner. A former member of the Shawnee City Council, he succeeds John Segale, Shawnee, who served on the Board of County Commissioners for the past four years. The Second District includes the cities of Shawnee and Lake Quivira along with northern Lenexa.

Allen has been a State Farm Insurance agent for 29 years. He served as mayor of Shawnee from 1993-2004 and represented Ward 1 on the Shawnee City Council from 1989-1993 and Ward 4 from 1983-1987. He and his wife, Julie, have four sons and one granddaughter.

Calvin Hayden, Sixth District Commissioner. He succeeds John Toplikar, Olathe, who has served on the Board for six years. The Sixth District includes the cities of Gardner, De Soto, Edgerton, the western portion of Olathe, and unincorporated areas in southwestern and western Johnson County.

A lifelong resident of Johnson County, Hayden retired in mid-2008 as a lieutenant in the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office after nearly 27 years of service. He and his wife, Kelly, live in De Soto and have five grown children.

David A. Lindstrom, Third District Commissioner. Lindstrom was re-elected to a second four-year term as a member of the Board of County Commissioners, representing the city of Spring Hill, the southern half of the cities of Overland Park and Leawood, and the southeastern unincorporated quadrant of the county.

A resident of Johnson County since 1979, Lindstrom owns four Burger King Restaurants, including two in Overland Park. He played defensive end in the National Football League, including being a member of the Kansas City Chiefs from 1978 to 1986.

Lindstrom served out the two-year unexpired term of former Third District Commissioner Annabeth Surbaugh, who was elected to the office of Chairman of the Board in November 2002. He was re-elected to his first full term as a commissioner in the 2004 General Elections.

As part of the proceedings, each official will be introduced by a person of his choosing and will then be given an opportunity to offer brief remarks before the oath of office is administered. A reception has been planned to follow the inaugural ceremony.

The inaugural ceremony and reception are free and open to the public, and interested members of the public are invited to attend.

For more information, please contact the Office of the Board of County Commissioners at (913) 715-0430.

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Aubry and Oxford Township meeting notification

Members of the Aubry and Oxford Township Zoning Boards will be meeting together at 5:45 p.m. Thursday, January 15, to discuss the possible options for consolidation of the two zoning boards. No action is expected.

Third District Commissioner David Lindstrom and the Johnson County Department of Planning, Development, and Codes will make the presentation. The meeting will take place in Room 200 located in the lower level of the Johnson County Administration Building, 111 South Cherry Street, in downtown Olathe.

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Firm to help in search for new county manager selected

The Johnson County Board of Commissioners has selected The PAR Group to assist in a national recruitment process for the next County Manager.

The firm, based in Lake Bluff, Ill., was one of the finalists selected in the process that began last October when County Manager Michael B. Press announced his plans to retire on April 1, 2009. Another finalist invited to make a presentation to the Board was Slavin Management Consultants of Norcross, Ga.

On Friday, January 9, during a special meeting, the Board interviewed representatives from both professional management recruitment agencies before awarding the contract to The PAR Group.

The Board placed a limit of $25,000 in the contract award along with an additional maximum allocation of $3,000 to cover any necessary travel and other related costs.

The timetable of the recruitment process, screening of applicants, and selection of finalists for interview by the Board of County Commissioners will be announced as soon as details are worked out.

The County Manager serves as the County’s chief executive officer and is accountable for organizational performance, achievement, and service delivery for a community of more than 520,000 residents and an operating budget in 2009 of $736.3 million. The County Government employs more than 4,000 employees in its 38 agencies and departments, providing services ranging from human and social services to zoning, public works, and infrastructure.

Press has served at the helm for almost a decade. When he retires, he ends a career with Johnson County Government that spans more than 32 years.

He began his career with County Government in 1976 as a MICT (paramedic) with Emergency Medical Services (EMS) known as Johnson County Medical Action, or Med-Act. In 1980, he was promoted to director of Med-Act and served until May 1999 when he was selected interim county administrator by the Board. Press was named county administrator in April 2000. The position was changed to County Manager by the Board in December 2001 under the county’s new Home Rule Charter.

Press and his wife, Carol, who retired in 2006, have one son, Daniel. The couple lives in Olathe.

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Commissioners seek applicants to serve on nine advisory boards

The Johnson County Board of Commissioners is accepting applications from interested residents who would like to be considered for 11 appointments to serve on nine advisory boards for County Government.

Two appointments involve filling vacancies in the Third and Sixth Districts on the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals. The seats will be filled by Third District Commissioner David Lindstrom and Calvin Hayden, new commissioner for the Sixth District.

Another two vacancies exist on the Housing and Community Development Committee with the appointments to be made by Chairman Annabeth Surbaugh and Fourth District Commissioner Ed Eilert.

Chairman Surbaugh also is seeking applicants to serve as her representative for the Board of Code Review and the Building Codes Representative for the Contractors Licensing Review Board.

Aside from filling the vacancy on the Board of Zoning Appeals, Commissioner Hayden also plans to appoint citizens to five other county advisory/governing boards, including:

• Developmental Supports Governing Board;
  
• Library Board;
  
• Northwest Consolidated Zoning Board (filling his vacancy on the board where he has served for approximately 18 years);
  
• Planning Commission; and,
  
• South-Central Zoning Board.

Johnson County residents interested in being considered for appointment to an advisory board should submit their cover letter and current resume or fill out an application to the Board’s office at the following address:

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Attn: Appointments Clerk
County Administration Building, Suite 3300
111 South Cherry Street
Olathe, Kansas 66061-3486

Applications are available on the Board’s website at http://clerk.jocogov.org. For more information, residents should contact the Office of the Board of County Commissioners at (913) 715-0430.

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County to receive American flag flown in Afghanistan from returning soldier

An American flag flown on missions in Afghanistan will be presented to Johnson County Government on Wednesday, January 14, for public display in honor of active military personnel and veterans, past and present.

The flag presentation will take place at 11 a.m. in the Johnson County Department of Records and Tax Administration (RTA), Suite 1200, in the Johnson County Administration Building, 111 South Cherry Street, in downtown Olathe. Refreshments will be served.

Presenter of the flag is Sergeant Daniel Quinter, who recently returned from his first deployment to Afghanistan. He has spent almost half of his seven years of active duty in being deployed overseas after serving two military tours in Iraq. He currently is a member of Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

The ceremony will feature an escort by members of the American Veteran’s Motorcycle Club and presentation of colors by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office Color Guard. Annabeth Surbaugh, chairman of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners, will accept the flag and present Sgt. Quinter a Certificate of Commendation on behalf of the county.

In addition to the flag, the sergeant will present the county a certificate of authenticity that the American flag was carried on military missions in Afghanistan.

Bartolac, who will emcee the ceremony, said the flag and certificate will be displayed on a front wall at the lobby area of the RTA. A department employee’s spouse, who is also a veteran, has volunteered to build a large frame to accommodate the flag, which is currently framed in a small triangular box.

“We are proud of Sgt. Quinter’s service to our country and humbled by his gesture to present us with this flag,” Bartolac said.

A graduate of Shawnee Mission West High School, Sgt. Quinter enlisted in the Army in 2001. He and his wife, Christy, have four children. He is the son of Lawrence and Elnore Quinter, Overland Park. His wife’s parents are Ted and Nancy Moore of Gardner.

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Board of County Commissioners names Peterson as 2009 vice chairman

The Johnson County Board of Commissioners elected First District Commissioner C. Edward Peterson on Thursday, January 15, as its new vice chairman for 2009, marking the third time in six years that he has been chosen for the role.

He succeeds Doug Wood, Olathe, commissioner from the Fifth District, who served as the 2008 vice chairman. The vice chairman assumes and performs the duties of Chairman Annabeth Surbaugh whenever she is unavailable and because of temporary absence or disability.

The election of Peterson as the 2009 vice chairman occurred Thursday during the Board’s weekly business session. He was the only Board member nominated for the position. The nomination was approved by unanimous vote with Peterson abstaining.

Peterson served as the Board’s vice chairman in 2003 during his first year as a county commissioner. He was the first vice chairman to serve under the county’s new Home Rule Charter that expanded the Board’s membership from five to seven members, including an at-large, publicly elected chairman. He was elected vice chairman again in 2006.

He was sworn into office on January 13, 2003, to a four-year term as the Board’s representative from the First District. He was re-elected in the November 2006 General Elections to his current second four-year term in office. Peterson has been a resident of Fairway for more than two decades. He served as mayor of his community from 1993 to 2002 and was a member of the Fairway City Council from 1988 to 1993.

A Kansas native from Pittsburg, Peterson has been a Kansas attorney since 1982 in a legal career that began in 1979. He received a B.A. degree in political science and philosophy in 1974 from Wichita State University and a Juris Doctor degree in 1979 from Suffolk University Law School at Boston.

The First District spans 11 of the county’s 19 cities, including all of Merriam, Prairie Village, Roeland Park, Fairway, Mission, Westwood, Westwood Hills, Mission Woods, and Mission Hills along with a northern spur of Overland Park and the northern half of Leawood.

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