Starting Friday, Kansans can gather in slightly larger groups, take in a movie, go to an art museum and bowl a few frames. But concerts, festivals, summer camps and parades will remain shut down. And you still won’t be able to get a drink at a bar. At a news conference Tuesday a day before a meeting with President Donald Trump in the White House, Gov. Laura Kelly announced another round of gradually eased restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19. “We may be transitioning to Phase 2,” the governor told reporters, “but we still have a long ways to go before arriving at anything bordering on normal.”
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The Roeland Park city council Monday evening approved a resolution setting a 2025 goal to reduce the city’s carbon emissions by 28%, in addition to a solar-ready ordinance. Roeland Park’s 28% reduction goal and date complies with Paris Climate Agreement recommendations, and the city intends to achieve its goal by implementing suggested strategies from Dynamhex — the company tracking the city’s carbon emissions — and the Climate Action KC Playbook. Mayor Mike Kelly, Climate Action KC leader, said he appreciated the council’s unanimous approval of the resolution. “I’m excited for all the great co-benefits that will come with [lowering the city’s emissions], public health, economic prosperity and better quality of life for our residents,” Kelly said.
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The Leawood City Council on Monday night voted unanimously to open the city’s aquatic center in June. The target date for opening the center, at 10601 Lee Blvd., is June 8, but that could be pushed back to June 15 based on necessary time to train lifeguards, Parks and Recreation Director Chris Claxton told the council. Councilmembers and staff discussed several logistics details without making final plans — including how many people at a time to allow in the pools, restrictions on people entering and leaving the facility, social distancing enforcement, the use of masks by lifeguards, schedules for swimming lessons and other training. City Administrator Scott Lambers asked the council to allow only Leawood residents with reservations to use the center, saying that would be easier to administer. If a non-resident has a complaint, “they need to go to their city council.”
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With less than two weeks to go before its contract runs out, the Johnson County Household Hazardous Waste program has hit a snag at the county commission. Discussion of a contract with a new provider – Heritage Environmental Services – was delayed to May 21 after some commissioners questioned whether the county should investigate making it a metro-wide program to become more efficient and save money. “I’m not advocating we get out of this business but I’m questioning whether or not there’s some better way of doing it,” said Commissioner Steve Klika, who noted that he had been “bombarded” with emails about the program since the commission brought it up as part of an agenda review session May 7.
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Overland Park Pools will not open this summer, the city council has decided. Councilmembers discussed an option of opening just one of its five pools – Tomahawk Ridge Aquatic Center – with a list of attendance and distancing restrictions. But in the end, a majority decided risking the safety of the pool staff and possibly spreading the coronavirus was not worth it. “Unfortunately until we defeat the coronavirus this is one year I think we’ve just got to bite the bullet and go through this, I’m sorry to say,” said Councilmember Faris Farassati. Councilmember Logan Heley agreed, noting the distancing measures in Johnson County have prevented a higher death toll.
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The Prairie Village city council has rejected a proposed ordinance that would have required people to wear a facial covering in stores and other public spaces. The idea, which had been introduced by Ward 1 Councilmember Jori Nelson earlier this month, had drawn passionate response from residents and business owners in the days leading up to Monday’s remote council meeting, with many telling city officials they believed it would be an overreach and difficult to enforce. Others, however, said that with wide lack of adherence to public health officials’ strong recommendation to wear masks in public, the city should put the rule in place to protect the well-being of those within the city limits. In the end, concerns about enforceability and effectiveness were enough to dissuade seven of 12 councilmembers from supporting adoption.
(Read more: Prairie Village Post)