Pool Prices

I realized after I read my own e-mail this morning that I hadn't answered this question.

This doesn't affect those who buy full season pool passes and it was only passed for the remainder of the season -- which at the time was essentially a little of July and all of August -- but it's another good cautionary tale illustrating my borrowed (from whom, I don't know) motto "Things are run by those who show-up"

The Council voted to lower prices for patrons paying single-day fee from $5 to $3 for those entering after 5:30. A single person from the PV Parks and Rec Committee was apparently able to sway the rest of the members that individuals that begin their pool visit around 5:30pm "have only 3 hours" to use the facility before it closes, while others who come at say, 1:00pm have "all day". Parks and Rec passed their recommendation to the council and the vote passed 5-4 or something like that; it was just a one vote margin. I was not in favor of this change and when we have our annual discussion regarding pool prices, I will be ready to argue that this discount should end.

1. It's a rip-off of other pool patrons. How many people stay "all day"? I would speculate that most people only want to stay of a few hours anyway. Do you usually spend more than 3 hours at the pool?
2. The people of Prairie Village already substantially subsidize the PV pool -- it operates at a financial loss every year but we feel it's worth it to balance the costs of operating the pool versus making sure it's as affordable as possible for all Prairie Village residents. We don't need to further discount this service for a relatively small number of patrons.
3. If we were to go an entire year with this plan, we would have to increase our after-5:30 volume enormously or this measure would add to the loss that we already sustain. If after-5:30 volume stayed the same, we would lose several thousand dollars over the course of the pool season.

Mission Should Open As Soon As It's Striped

Mission Road from 71st to 75th should be open any day. I think it just needs to be striped but weather could get in the way.......

Just a reminder: Your feedback and questions help and inform your fellow residents.

Rights of Way

I got a very interesting question to a complicated issue a few weeks ago about rights of way. At this point, the way I understand our city’s right-of-way is – at least on our residential streets – the area essentially 20-25 feet from the center of the street up into our yard. So if you measured 20-25 feet (depending on how the area was platted) from the center of your street up into your lawn, the area within is a city right-of-way. It is considered our property in that we must maintain it although we do not pay property taxes on that land.

Usually the issue of rights-of-way arises when landscaping on your property needs maintenance. The bottom line is that we as homeowners must maintain the trees and shrubs on our property that are next to sidewalks and the roadway. Things that would obstruct the sidewalk for walkers or be dangerous to bicyclers, like a low-hanging branches or overgrown shrubs need to be cut back by the homeowner. Likewise, if a shrub at a corner or intersection gets too wide or tall and obstructs the view of traffic making it difficult or dangerous to turn, you must cut the shrub or tree back so that drivers can see traffic.

Although we’ve got maintain trees and shrubs, we must have permission from the city to completely remove a shrub or cut down a tree.

Don't Miss the Next Village Vision Meetings!!

This is another chance to participate in the Prairie Village comprehensive planning process. Click the link in this blog's sidebar "Village Vision" and go to the webpage for details.

In short, Prairie Village is a fantastic city with a unique character. However, "first tier" or "inner ring" suburbs -- communities that are right on the edge of the central city -- including PV are shrinking for a variety of reasons. To keep the Village a vibrant place to live and work, we need a plan that reflects the desires and vision of it's residents.

So far, we've had the community idea sessions where hopefully you and about 250 of your neighbors came to various sites around the city and gave input to strengths and weaknesses in several categories of city life and structure. The Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee has taken every single idea and developed themes and goals directed toward the plan.

We have engaged the nationally recognized planning firm, ACP, to facilitate this community driven process. See where the themes and goals stand now, ask questions of the planning team, submit your input to the ongoing process.

What's Up with Mission Road

Now who knows what weather has done to the schedule but...... (as a matter of fact, let me find out and I'll post an update) but here's what was planned.

No promises, but this is what should, should, should happen:

Mission Road between 71st and 75th

Mission Road (71st to 75th) is part of this year's CARS program. CARS stands for County Assistance Road program, which means that Johnson County pay for some of the costs. It should be finished in early September.

71st Street intersection

Currently at 71st Street/Mission, we are replacing underground drainage pipe across Mission, east on 71st Street to a creek. The existing pipe was in bad shape and misaligned. We ran into high voltage lines. We knew they were there but not at what depth. It’s right on top of the drainage pipe. There is also gas main in the way.

We have contacted both utilities and told them we plan to go under their lines but extra costs will be involved. They do not have to relocate their lines but we are still asking that they share in these additional costs.

Another question that a friend of ours posed to Janie was, “What’s up with the bricks in the crosswalks?”

Mostly, it’s aesthetic. Prior to my time on the Council, it was decided that we would install the paver crosswalks to create a nicer, more distinctive-looking intersection. In the big picture, lots of small touches like this help to enhance the “village character” of Prairie Village. In the little picture, the pavers -- if installed correctly -- last as long as the street around it and is compliant with the requirements of the American with Disabilities Act. Yes, there have been some issues with the bricks south on Mission and we are working with the contractor who is financially responsible for doing it correctly. They take a little longer to install because they need a concrete base and a 1-foot concrete border. The intersection gets closed because doing the base and border one lane at a time creates more seams in the concrete, which probably results in a shorter life of the project.

I know that Mission has seemed to be under construction constantly but one thing that you can say about the infrastructure in PV is that is aesthetically and structurally excellent. It’s because we spend a lot of money and time on it. It pays benefits cosmetically as people drive through the city and structurally because when they’re done correctly in the first place, they last longer. When I look at the streets and curbs in neighboring cities, I understand why it costs us so much. It’s easier, cheaper and faster to do a lower quality job, that’s just not what Prairie Villagers will settle for.

Speed Zone Boosters Pass Ordinance

Unfortunately, in the last couple of months, the KC Star lost a decent reporter to an area non-profit. The interim freelancer has made a hash out of one meeting and the new permanent reporter didn't even attend the last meeting and got her report from our City Administrator Barb Vernon. Frankly, a reporter can't report unless she’s at the event and the summary of the meeting in the Star's Neighborhood News was terrible.

At the council meeting on Aug 15th, by a vote of 8-2, the Prairie Village City Council passed an ordinance that will make it illegal to disobey the speed zones that will be popping up on Mission Road in the next couple of months. The ordinance was mostly a forgone conclusion but was symbolic as the last step in the hasty road to a huge change in the way traffic travels through a major artery in PV.

If you know me very well, you know that I was one of the dissenting votes. If you don’t know me very well you might think that a vote against the School Speed Zones was some kind of anti-safety, anti-child madness. It was not. Below is essentially a transcript of my comments prior to the vote. Loads more information is available, just let me know if you want to see it. The bottom line is that it is not a good idea for the city. I think my fellow council members – most of whom I respect immensely for their intellect, experience and tireless volunteer efforts for the good of PV -- were cowed by a small group of parents (most of whom I think were from Leawood). The “statistics” revealed by the parents -- who I think gave themselves the over-blown name of "Safety Committee" -- were basically garbage to anyone who looked beyond the surface and by the time I had completed my work with the Kansas Department of Transportation to obtain real pedestrian accident stats, council members who supported the speed zones would have looked bad if they changed their minds. Frankly, losing a little face with a bunch of Leawood residents would have been better for PV.

“According to city financial reports, the City historically utilizes only $250K of the amount budgeted in the Contingency fund. We have authorized nearly THREE-HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS, on a single project: school zones that are not needed and will not reduce risk to our children. This expenditure is the main reason that we may either be forced to amend the budget or cut programs because the Contingency fund may not make it to the end of the fiscal year.

Even taking city population into account, KS Dept of Transportation statistics rank Prairie Village near the bottom of auto accidents with injuries in the state OR county. That Means regardless of size, Prairie Village is one of the safest cities in the state.

Per vehicle mile traveled, which is to quote KDOT, “the best available measure of exposure to harm”, Roeland Park is the only Johnson County city that sees fewer accidents or injury accidents.

It is fact, not opinion, that PRIOR TO the speed zones, Prairie Village is among the safest cities in Kansas AND Johnson County to walk or drive.

The council has not paid any heed to the opinion of the professional engineer and the police in that speed zones will likely result in more risk to children as drivers take residential streets to bypass the speed zones.

Not only has the council has ignored statistics that testify to the relative safety of PV streets, metrics to measure the success of the school zones have been completely ignored, so not only do we not care if we need them or not, we also do not care to measure if they are working or not.

I incessantly stand against this project because, YES. this horse has already left the barn, but the barn door is still partially my responsibility.”

Don’t forget as well that PV is hiring 3 new officers and buying vehicles for the new PV Traffic Unit. This was supposed to be a "budget neutral" expansion because the officers would be writing enough tickets to produce revenue that would cover the expense of their hiring.

Although the Chief of Police (the best in the state, as far as I am concerned) would never put the expectation on the police force (the best in the state as well) to pay for itself, the new Traffice Unit will have to write 50% more tickets than in the last two or three years!!!!

Yes you read it correctly: We have averaged about 7100 traffic tickets per year over the past few years and in the first year of a fully staffed Traffic Unit, Prairie Villagers should expect to see over 10,000 tickets!!!!

And there is no reason to think that we've reduced the chances that a child will get hit by a car. And there is no way to measure if they are working or not.

If you want the stats let me know.