Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County

The Kansas League of Municipalities last month gave the city of Merriam its Inspire-Create-Innovate Community Award in recognition of efforts to engage residents through three specific programs. Merriam undertook three grant programs aimed at improving economic development: the exterior home improvement grant, the block party grant and the neighborhood island grant. “Our residents have really taken advantage of the three grant programs we started last year to help spur economic development in Merriam,” said Mayor Ken Sissom. “It’s exciting and an honor to see these grant programs recognized at the state level.” (Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and [...]

The Merriam city council on Monday evening approved art pieces and hours of operation for the new Merriam Community Center at Vavra Park. The community center will include three pieces of art, one on the parking garage and two in the courtyard, and the hours of operation will be as follows: Monday through Thursday: 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday: 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County)

Frustration boiled over Monday as a half dozen residents of the Nall Hills neighborhood approached the Overland Park planning commission with complaints about traffic, the flood plain, a portable toilet at Nall Park and the nearby Top Golf driving range. The addition of a QuikTrip to the mix proved to be the final straw for some, who put in impassioned objections to the convenience store and gas station that has been requested for the northeast corner of 107th Street and Nall Avenue, in the Highlands Village development. (Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County)

A group of Rotary Club members in Leawood have made a successful push to have the municipality designated as the first Purple Heart city in Johnson County. The designation serves as a continual recognition of the 1.6 million Americans who have received a Purple Heart medal, which is awarded to members of the armed forces who are wounded or killed in action. More than 900 cities across the country have taken the step to declare themselves Purple Heart cities. (Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County)

Lenexa City Center may become the first place in the country to showcase the real-world application of major smart infrastructure technologies. Integrated Roadways, a Kansas City, Missouri-based supplier of smart pavement materials and transportation technology, posed the idea to the Lenexa city council Tuesday night. The company has a similar but smaller-scale project on Brighton Boulevard in Denver, but if Lenexa city leaders agree to allow the company to install smart pavement at City Center, then the city would become the first to host a large-scale smart pavement project in a live-traffic environment. (Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news [...]

The already limited county fixed-route bus system is about to get even more so next year, with the elimination or downsizing of several fixed routes. County commissioners voiced approval for route changes that could amount to $1.2 million to $1.4 million savings on some of the least-used routes. At the same time they delayed decisions on whether to beef up other routes, saying they want more information. Instead most commissioners enthusiastically embraced expansion of a micro transit system that resembles Uber as the mass transit of the future. Micro transit riders would likely pay a higher fare than the base $1.50 [...]

The USD 232 Board of Education has approved a master site plan for the campus of De Soto High School. The plan includes a configuration of new projects behind the high school as well as additional parking and a new access road from 87th Street. In a presentation Monday night before the school board, Steve Deghand, director of facilities for the district, said the goal in creating a master site plan was to plan ahead and create a comprehensive layout of all future projects on the campus that would make efficient use of available space. Milburn Civil Engineering of De Soto [...]

The Shawnee planning commission last night affirmed that Stag’s Spring, a $16.1 million proposed luxury housing project downtown, conforms to the city’s comprehensive plan. Doug Allmon, community development director for Shawnee, said the commission was tasked with determining if the project plan conforms to the intent of the city’s comprehensive plan. This step takes place before a public hearing on TIF funds for Stag’s Spring can take place. The developer, Kevin Tubbesing, has requested $3.1 million of public funds for the project in the form of tax increment financing. (Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast [...]

Despite reservations from some members, the Shawnee planning commission last night agreed that a revised, scaled down plan for Westbrooke Green, a multimillion-dollar mixed-use project on the northeast corner of 75th and Quivira, still generally conforms to the intent of the city’s comprehensive plan. The planning commission had agreed in November 2017 that the project was consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan. Representatives with MP Westbrooke North LLC, the developer, said they have been working on plans that fit the site; they have found the revised plans would better suit the character of the neighborhood. Westbrooke Green is one of a [...]

The Johnson County Commission is not on board with possible new efforts to expand the list of voters who can get ballots in the mail automatically every election. Commissioners made a last-minute addition to their legislative agenda Thursday that implied disapproval of what Election Commissioner Ronnie Metsker said is likely to be a push to allow more of the automatic mailings. The legislative agenda is a list of positions taken by commissioners every year on issues likely to come up in the next session. The commission originally considered writing a platform plank that would “oppose” any changes, but changed it to [...]