Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:56 p.m. Nov. 3 to correct an error. KERAMIDA representatives only flew in once to give a presentation to the Prairie Village City Council on Oct. 20, not twice as was stated in an earlier version of this story.
The Prairie Village City Council is moving ahead with considering adoption of a citywide community climate action guide and another item related to the city’s public art master plan at this coming Monday’s meeting.
Those items will be on the agenda following a lengthy discussion at a city council meeting earlier this month over whether the items should wait until after the Nov. 4 election.
At that meeting on Oct. 20, the city council ultimately decided to put the climate action guide — not the public art master plan item — back on its Nov. 3 agenda after a back-and-forth that one councilmember described as “dysfunctional.”
Part of that discussion centered around whether to delay a vote on the two issues until after six new councilmembers are seated following Tuesday’s election.
This year’s city council races, similar to two years ago, have been contentious in Prairie Village, with much of the campaign this year focused on whether the city should forge ahead with a new city hall and approve a ballot item “abandoning” city government.
While unrelated to those election issues, the Oct. 20 discussion over what items should be on a city council agenda again laid bare the tensions simmering in the city.
Motion to remove items from earlier council meeting agenda
The two items appeared on the Oct. 20 agenda, but Councilmember Nick Reddell motioned to amend the agenda to remove them, reasoning that it would be proper to allow the new city council to vote on them after the Nov. 4 election.
“I have nothing against either one of them [the agenda items], however, I think it is more appropriate that they be handled by the council that is sitting here in a month,” Reddell said at the Oct. 20 meeting.
The public art master plan — which calls for transient guest taxes to supplement paying for its implementation — was removed entirely from the Oct. 20 agenda.
While the city council did not take a vote on the climate action guide on Oct. 20, they did hear a presentation from KERAMIDA representatives who flew in from Indianapolis.
The climate action guide is part of Prairie Village’s commitment to the Cities Race to Zero, which calls for the city to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Now, both items for the moment are back on the city council’s Nov. 3 agenda, which will be the day before the election.
“That is dysfunctional”
After Reddell on Oct. 20 motioned to amend the agenda to remove the public arts master plan and delay any vote on the climate action guide, Mayor Eric Mikkelson said punting those items until after the upcoming election “sounds like a political consideration.”
As Mikkelson spoke, Reddell began to respond, saying “Before you attack me…,” but Mikkelson cut his microphone for speaking out of order.
After a tense city council discussion about the proposed changes to that night’s agenda, the city council in a 6-5 vote approved removing the public arts plan from the agenda and taking no action on the climate guide.
Councilmembers Greg Shelton, Ron Nelson, Dave Robinson, Ian Graves and Cole Robinson cast the dissenting votes. Councilmember Chi Nguyen was absent for the vote on changing the agenda. (She later joined the meeting online.)
Still, city staff and representatives from KERAMIDA presented the climate action guide to the city council later that evening.
After hearing the presentation, Graves motioned to approve adoption of the climate action guide that night. Shelton seconded the motion. (Shelton is the husband of Post publisher Jay Senter’s sister.)
That drew legal concerns from City Attorney Alex Aggen, who said it would be improper to push through the agenda item without reconsidering the agenda itself. Aggen, at one point, said he was researching the issue in real time.
Mikkelson suggested the city council take action on Graves’ motion and let Aggen determine whether there was a need to reconsider the vote on it at a later time. He also pointed out that it was unclear how Nguyen would have voted on the motion to change the agenda since she was absent at that point in the meeting.
Some, like councilmembers Terry O’Toole and Inga Selders, said the city council needed to stand by the revised agenda that had been approved earlier that evening.
Selders said pushing the item forward “looks very political at this point” and would lead to more chaos in Prairie Village.
“Let’s just move on instead of now bringing our attorney into this to decide if we can vote on this later on,” Selders said. “That is dysfunctional.”
The city council in an 8-4 vote ultimately approved placing the climate action guide on the Nov. 3 agenda. Councilmembers Tyler Agniel, Lori Sharp, Selders and Reddell cast the dissenting votes.
Council to consider these items on Nov. 3
Both the climate action guide and public art master plan are now on Monday’s agenda.
The representatives from KERAMIDA presented the climate action guide to the city council on Oct. 20. That guide suggests Prairie Village residents take small steps like adjusting thermostats or cleaning and replacing air filters to help reduce the community’s greenhouse gas emissions.
This climate action guide for the community is the second part of KERAMIDA’s work with the city. The first part of the Indianapolis-based company’s work with Prairie Village resulted in a municipal climate action plan.
The public art item is a request from the city’s arts council to use transient guest tax funding to help pay for a public arts master plan.
A public arts master plan helps cities develop a public art program, similar to what the city of Merriam recently worked on.
Councilmembers Cole Robinson and Ian Graves, the arts council chair, requested the public art master plan go on the Nov. 3 agenda, according to city documents.
Next steps:
- The city council meets at 6 p.m. on Nov. 3 at city hall, 7700 Mission Road.
- Changes can still be made to city council agendas from the dais at the beginning of the meeting, similar to what happened on Oct. 20.
- The city council, like other governing bodies across the county, requires a quorum, or the least amount of officials that can show up and still legally host a meeting. (Prairie Village canceled two meetings in 2025 due to lack of quorum, including one earlier this month.)
- In Prairie Village, the quorum number is eight out of 12 councilmembers.
