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During the May 5th Prairie Village City Council meeting, the City Council President stated that there were an equal number of people that supported the new City Hall as were against it. He said that the statement that "2/3rds of the residents" are against a new City Hall is misinformation. I printed out the 31 comments cards. My count is 20 against the new City Hall, 5 for the new City Hall and 6 comments but no necessary support either way. Below are the actual Public Information Meeting Comments Sheets. I invite everyone to read the comments and make up their own mind. Thank you. 
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The city of Prairie Village works great day-to-day, and the staff do a good job managing the "normal" city functions. My issue is the management of the larger construction projects and the "steering" by some of our elected officials. This is highlighted in past projects. Regarding the proposed city hall. I am not in favor of building to LEED Platinum (the highest LEED Standard). This greatly increases the cost of the project, and I believe this is somewhat arbitrary and unnecessary. I also believe we should scale down the size and scope of city hall. It is too expensive. I believe that building at this scope and cost is disrespectful to the residents of Prairie Village. I am familiar with commercial construction, and I am in favor of having quality and efficient municipal buildings. Prairie Village can build a high quality, energy efficient City Hall without a LEED mandate. There are a lot of energy efficient building practices that can be implemented that may get Prairie Village to a LEED standard without the mandate. I believe Prairie Village should be focused on building a quality, energy-efficient city hall that meets the needs of the city and its residents and that fits the city. It is my understanding that while borrowing the money for city hall may not drop the city’s credit rating, it will potentially negatively impact future borrowing. This was alluded to two meetings back when the coming need to refurbish the pool house was mentioned. I believe the city should be saving money for these future capital projects. I have read several articles where cities have actually saved the money necessary to build a new city hall. Prairie Village knows about these capital projects years in advance. Way before they reach the City Council agenda. Proper management and planning can reduce future debt requirements. From watching construction projects in Prairie Village, I believe that our city consistently builds at the highest cost. I believe future construction projects should be closely monitored and highly scrutinized. It is important to remember and recognize that high cost does not necessarily equate to high quality. Finally, I was impressed by my Ward 2 representative's request to slow the process down to make sure the correct decisions were being made. Unfortunately, her request went unheeded. It reminds me of the old proverb: "Haste makes waste"... Thank you.  It is important to consider the magnitude or scale of ideas, changes or projects. When implementing changes in life one must consider how these changes will impact people, financing and the surrounding environment. When there is pushback in life, it can come from the scale of the idea more than the idea itself.
What will this massive borrowing do to the city of Prairie Village? Who knows? Prairie Village, I am told, currently has a AAA rating. I am told that the proposed borrowing will mean that Prairie will lose its AAA rating and be downgraded to AA. Are the current estimated debt services calculated at a AAA rating or a AA rating? I don’t know. My final point is on “listening to the residents”. I hear that statement bandied about quite often. I also see it ignored. Moving forward, I hope the Prairie Village City Council considers valuing Prairie Village residents’ input on these and other items. Thank you.  Last night I listened to the Johnson County Homeless Service Center presentation at the Prairie Village City Council Meeting. The presentation lasted approximately 1 hour. I then listened to 3-minute statements in support and in opposition to the center after the presentation. Most were in opposition, and most were very informative. After the meeting I read a comment on social media from an elected Prairie Village City Council person that stated opposition to the center is "not the kind of leadership the county needs or deserves". I completely disagree. What we need is more discussions and debates, on both sides of the issues. And longer than 3 minutes. Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate. - Hubert H. Humphrey I would say that true leadership provides an equal opportunity for both sides of a proposal, issue or argument to be presented. During the meeting, I heard that it is a social responsibility to help the homeless. I completely agree. It is a social responsibility not a government responsibility. My family helps fund Mobile Loaves & Fishes. If the Johnson County Homeless Service Center had proven to be a better designed project, it would get our support. Currently it does not. One comment that caught my attention was that the Prairie Village commitment would only be $17 thousand dollars a year. Not a big deal. I've heard this same augment with giving extra money from the City of Prairie Village (resident's money) to a local charity and to a high school party. My response is, if the Mayor and City Council would like to fund entities/projects outside of the core responsibilities of the City of Prairie Village, they should bring their own check book. At some point we are going to need to cut back on local and federal government spending, because at some point you run out of other people's money (yes, I stole that last line from Margaret Thatcher). Thank you.  Last night the Prairie Village City Council and Mayor voted to change zoning codes for all multifamily districts (R2,R3,R4), commercial districts (C0,C1,C2), planned development and mixed-use districts. There were two changes to the proposed zoning changes that impacted the mixed-use standards. Lowering the maximum height from 50 ft and 4 stories to 40 ft and 3 stories. Increasing the minimum green space requirement from 20% to 30%. Both changes and others are positive for the city of Prairie Village. A significant change that was approved allows residential use in all commercial districts. This change primarily impacts our shopping centers. The ability to include residential in our shopping centers through rezoning has always been available. The City Council’s decision to add residential use to all commercial districts means rezoning is not required. A portion of the presentation from the city planner is below: “An existing building could be modified, or a new building constructed with a residential use if it meets all current standards and would require a site plan review which requires a neighborhood meeting, Planning Commission decision, and appeal option to City Council.” This is an interesting and confusing statement. After several hours of reading, researching and communication with experts I was able to fully understand of the statement above. The neighborhood meeting is for notification purposes only. The Planning Commission meeting does not have community input. The appeal option is for the developer. Keep in mind, a site plan review does not go before City Council. This change eliminates community input. Last night it was confirmed that if a development request is submitted that meets all current standards, the planning commission is obligated to accept it. Though after almost two hours of debate I’m not sure how hard that statement stuck. The City Council in approving residential use in commercial districts last night disenfranchised residents of Prairie Village. Meaning, property owners were deprived of their rights and privileges of full participation in their community, especially of the opportunity to influence policy or make their voice heard. Thank you.  |