Here’s when this longtime leader in JoCo’s economic development scene will retire

Blake Schreck, a longtime fixture in Johnson County’s economic development scene, says he will retire in February 2023.

Schreck has been CEO and director of economic development at the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce since 1999, but previously led the Olathe chamber for three years and worked a decade at the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce.

“I was fortunate to bring Blake into the chamber and economic development world in the mid-’80s,” Mary Birch, former Overland Park chamber president, said in a news release. “He became one of the best economic development leaders in the country and leaves a legacy of major capital investment and thousands of new jobs that will continue to have a positive impact on Lenexa, Johnson County, the Kansas City region and the state for many years to come.”

Schreck has been involved with corporate headquarters expansions and relocations including the Sprint campus, Black & Veatch, Perceptive Software, Kiewit Power and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Schreck has served as a director on a number of boards and commissions, including the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission, ArtsKC, the Greater Kansas City Foreign Trade Zone and the Johnson County Charter Commission.

He also helped Kansas negotiate a truce in the economic “border war” with Missouri, where the states agreed to quit offering incentives for companies just o move jobs a few miles across the state line in Greater Kansas City.

Olathe alters water rate structure

Starting in January, Olathe is changing the way it bills customers for water so that rates go up more steeply as consumption increases.

“This change improves affordability and equitability for basic resident water needs,” the city said in a news release. “Most families who use water for basic needs will experience a small decrease or increase, while those who irrigate heavily will experience larger increases.

“The hope is the new block structure will change behaviors by encouraging residents to water efficiently and conserve water when possible, which protects capacities of our system.”

Overall the City Council approved a 6% increase in water and sewer rates for 2023, but the water rate will go down for the first 600 cubic feet consumed per month, from $3.25 to $3.02 per 100 cubic feet. A cubic foot is just under 7.5 gallons, and 600 cubic feet serves the basic needs of many families.

For those who irrigate their lawns, the city is encouraging conservation measures such as watering in the morning to reduce evaporation and adjusting usage downward in shady areas.

Lenexa tunnel now open

Lenexa has opened a new tunnel that will give walkers, runners, cyclists and skaters a safer, shorter connection between the Little Mill Creek Trail and Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park.

Before the tunnel was built, the Little Mill Creek Trail ended at 87th Street Parkway, forcing walkers and cyclists to climb four flights of stairs and cross busy 87th Street Parkway before continuing south into the park.

The tunnel, which lies under 87th Street Parkway just east of the Greenway Lane entrance to Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park, features an emergency call box, round-the-clock lighting and security cameras. The city listed several benefits:

▪ Residents north of 87th get direct access to Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park, plus an easier connection to the Bois D’Arc Pickleball Complex and Old Town Lenexa.

▪ Residents to the south get safer access to the north-south Little Mill Creek Trail network and several parks lining the trail. They’ll also be able to travel to Ad Astra Pool more easily when the aquatic center at Sar-Ko-Par Trails closes next year for renovations.

▪ Cyclists enjoy an uninterrupted trail system.

Lenexa closed 87th Street Parkway in August so crews, in only five days, could cut a trench in the road, install the precast concrete tunnel and rebuild the road. Subsequent work did not keep traffic from moving on 87th.

A $1.1 million state grant helped Lenexa pay for the project.

Survey begins on Leawood dog ordinance

Leawood is surveying about 2,500 households on whether it should continue to ban pit bulls and related breeds from being kept within city limits. The surveys were expected in mailboxes during the week of Nov. 7.

The feedback will guide city leaders as they consider whether to join the movement away from so-called “breed-specific legislation” aimed at keeping dangerous animals from attacking people and pets.

The city currently defines dangerous animals to include pit-bull-type dogs like Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers or American Pit Bull Terriers, or dogs that have the appearance and characteristics of being predominantly those breeds.

Opponents of such breed-specific legislation, including the ASPCA, say the laws are difficult to enforce and discriminate against well-behaved animals, and their owners, just because they may meet a vague definition that happen to meet the vague definition of certain breeds.

The ETC Institute, which is conducting the survey, will deliver a report to the City Council in the next few months.

Approximately 2,500 Leawood households will receive the survey during the week of Nov. 7, 2022. The survey will ask respondents if the City should allow pit bull dogs or continue to ban them. ETC Institute will deliver a final report to the governing body in the next few months. For more information, contact Stephen Powell, City Clerk, at 913-663-9103 or spowell@leawood.org.

Tax base continues its ascent

The official numbers are in, and Johnson County’s property tax base has increased 9.93% over the past year.

The total tax base was nearly $13.5 billion as of Oct. 31, when the mill levies were set for various taxing jurisdictions. Last year’s figure was about $12.3 million.

The real estate valuation, which constitutes almost all of the tax base, increased 10.12%. The value of personal property, which includes vehicle was down 12.93%. State assessed utilities increased 7.63%.

Roeland Park seeks signature art

By the end of next year, motorists entering north Johnson County can expect to see a significant sculpture commissioned by the city of Roeland Park.

The city’s Arts Advisory Committee has set a Feb. 1 deadline for Missouri and Kansas artists to submit proposals for the $100,000 installation on the north end of Roe Boulevard. The winning submission will be selected in March, and the work is to be finished by Dec. 30, 2023.

“The commissioned art will be an important welcoming feature to Roeland Park,” the city said. “It is expected the art will have a year‐round visual impact and complement the city’s vision through a visible, dynamic and engaging work of public art symbolic of the values of RP. “

Ohio fire disrupts waste collection

Because of a fire at a processing facility in Ohio, the Johnson County Household Hazardous Waste facility will stop accepting many items until further notice.

Those include pesticides, herbicides, yard chemicals and other poisons, as well as oxidizers, pool chemicals and bleach.

The county made the decision because the Household Hazardous Waste facility, at 5901 Jim Bills Road in Mission, has no more room to store the materials. Residents are encouraged to use these items up, see if someone else can use them or hold on to them until the county can begin taking the materials again.

De Soto schools get $25,000 from Panasonic

The De Soto School District received a $25,000 donation from Panasonic when the company broke ground Nov. 2 on a $4 billion facility that will manufacture lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

The district said it will use the money for academic programming in the areas of career & technical education, real world learning and career development.

Panasonic is building the plant, described as the largest economic development project ever in Kansas, at the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant. The land has been annexed by the city of De Soto.