Merriam on Friday welcomed the latest addition to the fleet of fire equipment that serves the city: Truck 46, a $893,718 aerial truck. A dedication ceremony was held Friday morning by the Overland Park Fire Department, which effectively merged with Merriam’s Fire Department back in 2014. The dedication included the cleaning of the tires and pushing of the truck into its bay, both traditions. Capt. Pat Gantt said the department realized about five years ago — after Merriam and Overland Park began a partnership in which Merriam provides “fire coverage for the northernmost parts of Overland Park,” according to Merriam’s website [...]

Austin Homes, a Johnson County-based development company owned by Greg Prieb, has sued the city of Shawnee for denying its application to build a multi-family project near Johnson Drive and K-7 Highway. The Woodsonia West Multi-Family development was proposed as a $50 million project to build 42 townhome units in 14 triplex buildings and 384 apartment units in 16 multi-story buildings on about 29 acres in the 5300 block of Woodsonia Drive. The city council on Dec. 23 rejected a rezoning request and preliminary plan submittal from Prieb Homes on the project. The Woodsonia plan had called for at least 14 [...]

Discord may be in store on the Overland Park City Council tonight as new member Scott Hamblin and mayoral candidate Faris Farassati try to rescind a tax abatement that was strongly favored by nine of the twelve-member council. Hamblin and Farassati say the abatement is clouded by a faulty cost analysis and ethical concerns because of a family connection between one council member and a company official. But one council member who supported the tax break counters that it is a political move. (Read more: Prairie Village Post - Neighborhood news and events for Prairie Village, Fairway, Mission Hills)

The Roeland Park city council last week approved material, installation and maintenance fees of up to $8,000 for landscaping around the See Red Run sculpture located at R Park, 5535 Juniper Drive. The piece, by artist Jorge Blanco, was commissioned after a citizens group raised funds for the public art and installed last May. The Parks Committee brought forth a recommendation to approve funding for the landscaping around the sculpture — as it was not allocated for by the Arts Committee — in an effort to discourage people from climbing the art. The Parks Committee representative said going forward, the Arts [...]

This is a tale of two types of Kansas cities: Those who had the foresight to own their own streetlights and those who do not. Those who do have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars — even, they say, with the added maintenance. And they’ve been able to save more money by switching to LED bulbs. The energy-efficient lights cost more upfront, but pay for themselves over time, eventually leaving more money in city coffers. The other cities’ streetlights are owned by Evergy, which charges the same flat monthly rates for LED bulbs as older less-efficient lights. In these situations, the [...]