Apr 8, 2024

SHAWNEE CITY COUNCIL MEETING

April 8, 2024


You can stream the full City Council meeting at the link below! If you don't have time to watch, here's my quick recap. 

Tonight’s meeting opened with a 22-minute presentation from Ray Erlichman during Business from the Floor. Typically these comments are limited to 5 minutes, but Ray obtained 10 signatures to form a Citizen Interest Group, meaning he was allowed to speak uninterrupted for up to 30 minutes. He listed his many grievances about the city’s delegation to the recent National League of Cities conference, complaining that they did not report back on the activities they did there despite them giving a full report at the last city council meeting. Erlichman suggested that the councilmembers and staff who attended treated the trip as a vacation on the taxpayer’s dime rather than attending the conference sessions and that that is why they did not report back (even though, again, they did.)

The governing body also discussed a rezoning ordinance for XPO, a logistics trucking facility on 43rd Street. The council originally remanded this item back to the planning commission, who approved it again, so the applicant came back with a presentation addressing those previous concerns. Eight members of a nearby neighborhood spoke in opposition to the project, citing the usual concerns of traffic, noise, light, and environmental impact. While XPO Logistics had already addressed most of those issues, the governing body felt more information was needed specifically on the noise piece and tabled this item until they receive more information about the noise impact to the area. There were also concerns about who would pay for needed improvements to Lakecrest Street right in front of this project, but that is not related to the rezoning so it will be hashed out during the development agreement process.

Finally, the governing body reviewed two SEED Agreements (a program where the city government covers a portion of the costs to start new businesses downtown,) one for Gilda’s Restaurant and one for Franklin General Store. One member of the public (former councilmember Eric Jenkins) spoke in favor of these SEED agreements, seeing them as a way to expand the city’s tax base and provide additional revenue for essential infrastructure projects. Councilmembers Kemmling, Stiens, and Walters all said they would not be voting yes on SEED agreements moving forward, believing that money should go towards improving pipes, curbs and gutters in the city. Councilmembers Whitted, Murphy, and Burchfield supported these projects as investments in Shawnee’s community and tax base. Councilmember Knappen expressed some “SEED fatigue” and advised that moving forward the governing body should be careful about what SEED agreements they approve--making sure it's a good investment and that the businesses are also making their fair share of the contribution. Councilmember Gillette supported the SEED agreement for Gilda’s Restaurant but not for Franklin General Store, believing the latter to not be part of what he considered the “core downtown” area. Ultimately, both SEED agreements passed; Gilda’s passed 5-3 with Kemmling, Stiens, and Walters in dissent, while Franklin passed 4-4 with Gillette, Kemmling, Stiens, and Walters in dissent and Mayor Sandifer breaking the tie. 


Additionally, the Council considered the following:


At Council Committee, the committee heard an informational presentation on the city’s pre-audited 2023 financials. There was some minor discussion from councilmembers that provided some insight into what this year’s budget process might be like (the conservative members seem to be getting ready for another big push to cut costs,) but nothing major to report.

City Council Meeting: 

https://cityofshawnee.civicweb.net/document/297131/?splitscreen=true&media=true 

Council Committee Meeting: 

https://cityofshawnee.civicweb.net/document/297134/?splitscreen=true&media=true 


Recap by: Alex Welch Blattner