The Roeland Park City Council is preparing for changes to management of its pool operations following the termination of the long-standing joint operating agreement between the city and Johnson County Park and Recreation District.

The city is looking to Midwest Pool Management to pick up some of the duties handled under the previous agreement with JCPRD. The city and JCPRD held a ceremony this summer marking the city’s assumption of ownership of the facility.

(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County)

As the wave of teardown-rebuild projects in the city continues, the Fairway City Council has asked its planning commission to take a fresh look at the building code and review process. But one member of the planning commission is raising concerns that changes to the status quo could eliminate important checks on homebuilders.

The council on Monday directed the planning commission to conduct a review of  chapter 15 of the building code, which last underwent a major rewrite in 2014. The city has approved a half dozen changes to it since then, but none of them have been major. The document serves as a guideline for development and redevelopment projects in regards to “health, safety and welfare,” said Mayor Melanie Hepperly, and city staff use the document on a daily basis to determine whether building plans meet the city’s standards.

(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County)

Merriam has taken the next steps to transfer ownership of property on the new community center campus to the Johnson County Library as part of the library’s plans to locate the Antioch library branch on site.

The property conveyance agreement approved by the city of Merriam this week outlines the following:

• An anticipated timeline for construction and opening
• Permission for Merriam to use the property as open space until library construction begins
• Shared maintenance and ongoing use of shared infrastructure on site (plaza area between buildings, parking structure, internal access roads)

(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County)

Each week we provide a member of the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners the opportunity to share an update on what issues are catching their attention. This week, we have a column from 3rd District Commissioner Steve Klika. He’s co-authored the following with Pam Shernuk, vice-chair of the Johnson County Commission on Aging.

Earlier this year the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) identified three strategic priorities for 2019-2020:

• 1. Complete/advance existing projects approved by voters and the Board of County Commissioners with efficiency and effectiveness.
• 2. Strengthen and finance the appropriate level of service to meet the needs of the county’s vulnerable populations, pursuing innovative strategies.
• 3. Develop a creative and innovative vision for a transit plan that is financially sustainable.

For the purpose of this article, we are going to focus on priorities two and three.

(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County)

Information presented at the first meeting of the district’s new Facilities Task Force on Tuesday suggested Pawnee, Rushton and John Diemer Elementaries could all be slated for demolition and reconstruction in the coming few years.

The task force is fleshing out a detailed analysis of the district’s current facilities, and developing a plan for what projects could be funded by a new bond issue if it were to be approved by district voters.

At present, the district is considering a possible $177 million bond issue in 2020. An issuance at that level would not require an increase in the tax rate needed to pay off the bonds using local option budget funds. Under Kansas law, such locally raised funds cannot be allocated to “in the classroom” expenses like teacher salaries, and can only be used on capital expenditures like facilities projects.

(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County)

Mission and Roeland Park are struggling to resolve a conflict over the terms to switch ownership of seven-tenths of an acre along a shared border of the two cities. But out of an effort to value the two cities’ history of working together on other issues, the cities have agreed to revisit negotiations on those terms in the next several days.

The plot of land in question is located on the northeast corner of Johnson Drive and Roe Boulevard. Both cities agree that under a deannexation agreement, Roeland Park would take over half of the financial responsibility for the traffic signal at Johnson and Roe, and Roeland Park would pay for expenses incurred in the deannexation process.

(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County)