Mayor's July Newsletter

Mission Woods Mayor’s Newsletter

June 15, 2023

 

Dear Mission Woods Residents - 

 

I hope you are enjoying a beautiful start to the summer. We had a great time visiting with residents at the Food Truck earlier this month. Thanks to Barbara Haviland for always organizing such terrific events for the City. Here’s what’s happening in Mission Woods. 

New city attorney

A search committee nominated, and the City Council approved, Lauber Municipal Law to represent the city in legal matters. Attorney Jeff Deane will serve as our primary City Attorney. The firm was founded in 2011 by Joe Lauber and only serves city clients on matters of municipal law. While most of the 75 cities they serve are in Missouri, the firm is expanding its Kansas practice and is currently engaged as City Attorney and Prosecutor for the City of Osawatomie, Kansas and Special Counsel for the City of Overland Park, Kansas and the City of Louisburg, Kansas. Jeff also served as the City Attorney for Fort Scott, Kansas from 2019-2021 as well as Special Counsel on land use matters for the City of Lansing.

 

Thanks again to Erica Hartley, Robert Tietze and Bill Sanders for their help on the search, as well as Mauer Law Firm, and particularly Alex Felzien, for his long-term service to Mission Woods.

Large item pickup day

Waste Management will make the rounds in Mission Woods on Saturday, June 24. Here are guidelines, provided by them, on what you can put out:

  • All items must be able to be lifted by 2 people      

  • Items over 6ft should be cut in half; nothing longer than 6ft.

Example Items that will be collected include:

  • Small appliances (All appliance doors MUST be secured shut) - No freon 

  • Box springs – wrapped in plastic to prevent possible bed bug exposure

  • Mattresses- wrapped in plastic to prevent possible bed bug exposure

  • Basketball goals (cut in half and & concrete/sand/base removed/separated) 

  • BBQ grill (propane tank removed and disassembled if possible) 

  • Carpet (up to 4’ length, rolled & tied) 

  • Small electronics- (no CRT monitors). Many electronics are recyclable w/3rd parties. 

  • Furniture item- Consider donating at 2nd use store, if possible.

  • Push mower (gas/oil removed) 

Unacceptable items include:

  • Hazardous Waste material (Residents can dispose of this at the Johnson County Household Hazardous Waste Facility.)

  • Freon items 

  • Yard waste or organics 

  • Additional bags of household trash 

  • Anything with compressed gasses

  • Anything flammable. 

  • Dead animals.

  • Liquids

  • Tires

Tree Maintenance

Many of the trees within Mission Woods were planted by the City decades ago and are one of the contributors to the quality of life here. It is the city’s responsibility to maintain all trees within 7’ of the curb. Unfortunately, that has led to us having to remove a large tree with root rot on Mission Woods Road.

Beyond that, we do a trim of all trees within the city right-of-way every few years. We are currently working with two companies on bids. We should know soon which company we will work with – be going with and the trimming schedule for the work.

The city also continues to offer a reimbursement for trees planted in front yards. As a reminder, you can receive up to $250 for planting a new hardwood tree. You can send a copy of your receipt to me at MWMayor@missionwoods-ks.org to have the City issue a check. 

Mission Woods is also a participant in Johnson County’s “Contain the Rain” program, which offers reimbursement for native plants and trees, rain gardens and rain barrels. We’ve just had an initial conversation about the program and will pass on more information about how the program will be administered with Mission Woods when we have it.

Budget Priorities

In the June City Council meeting, John Martin gave the council a primer on the terminology and timing of setting the City budget for 2024. In the July meeting, the council will decide whether to exceed the “Revenue Neutral Rate” – essentially the amount of revenue the City will gather via property tax. John reiterated that the City is in solid shape financially and the main motivation for going beyond the Revenue Neutral Rate would be if the City anticipated large expenditures in 2024.

Mission Woods trivia question: What is the average home value in Mission Woods?

 

Online Ordering

Don’t forget to specify Mission Woods when you are making online orders, as the City receives tax revenue this way. If you use Mission, or Shawnee Mission as the city, that tax revenue won’t make it back to us. Often, “Mission” automatically populates, so it’s important to correct that.

Streetlights Update

Bob Tietze reported back to the Council that the three new streetlights would be installed on Mission Woods Road and Terrace within 60 days. There appears to have been a slight delay by Evergy in ordering the lights.

 

What Do You Think?

We had 25 responses when I linked to this survey last month. To truly represent resident views, we’d really like to get more of you to weigh in, so I’ve left the survey open. We’ I’d like to hear what you think about streetlights, license plate readers and other topics. If you haven’t yet,  please take this 2-minute survey, as it will be very helpful for me and the council members. You have the option of remaining anonymous.

 

Quiz answers

According to Zillow, the average home price in Mission Woods is $789,050, a .8% increase over the past year. The average home price in Johnson County is $412,689, but home prices have gone up 1.8% in the past year.     

The next Council meeting is Tuesday, July 11 at 7 p.m. Please feel free to attend.

 

-Mayor Keith Mays