Feb 9, 2026

SHAWNEE CITY COUNCIL MEETING

February 9, 2026

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, the governing body conducted their annual review of the Achieve Shawnee Comprehensive Plan and accepted a few recommended changes from the planning commission. That doesn’t mean this land is rezoned, just that the recommended use of that land in the comprehensive plan is changing. Their three recommendations were: adding the option for attached residential housing  at 77th and Renner, add the option for mixed residential housing at 75th and K7, and changing from regional commercial to mixed-use on a property west of K7 between Clear Creek and Oak Valley.

They also discussed bids for the Midland Drive project. The actual lowest bid from McAnany Construction was considered a “nonresponsive” bid because the bid was submitted with missing signatures which were not provided until after the deadline. Awarding the bid to a nonresponsive bidder jeopardizes the 4m of grant funding expected for this project, so the council also considered the next lowest bid from Superior Bowen that was submitted correctly but was over $400k higher. McAnany’s owner and attorney spoke in defense of their bid, believing their bid should be accepted anyway or that the project should be re-bid. A representative of Superior Bowen also spoke, asking the city to adhere to their established bidding procedure and accept their bid to avoid the delays and increased costs associated with re-bidding. The governing body accepted Superior Bowen’s bid unanimously, since they submitted their bid correctly and they didn’t want to risk losing $4m in federal funding to save $400k.

The council meeting concluded with an executive session regarding the city manager’s contract which is not open to the public. The executive session was followed by the governing body voting to approve an addendum to his employment contract.

Additionally, the Council considered the following:

• Passed consent agenda (unanimous)

• Approved slate of appointees to various boards and commissions (unanimous)

• Accepted the 2025 CDBG report (unanimous)

• Approved agreement with Johnson County for the transit route for the World Cup (unanimous)

• Raised the Transient Guest Tax to 9% (5-1, Knappen in dissent)

• Authorized bidding for the 2026 Mill and Overlay Project (unanimous)

• Approved contract for inspection and material testing for the Midland Drive Project (unanimous)

• Approved final change order for the 2025 Mill and Overlay Project, $65k under budget (unanimous)

• Ratified semimonthly claims (unanimous)

During Council Committee, the governing body received updates on the Hickok-Zarah TIF district. The district is currently bringing in more revenue than expenditures, but future road projects in the area  depend on KDOT priority among other factors.

Live Stream Meeting Link: 

https://cityofshawnee.civicweb.net/document/316481/?splitscreen=true&media=true 

Recap by: Alex Welch Blattner