A resident’s lawsuit that aimed to block construction of Prairie Village’s new $30 million municipal complex has been formally dismissed, ending a drawn-out legal battle over the project.
Prairie Village resident Marc Vianello and the city of Prairie Village jointly agreed to dismiss Vianello’s federal lawsuit, which was originally filed last July.
A dismissal order from the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, reads, “The Stipulation indicates that the parties have agreed to dismiss this appeal with prejudice, and that each party will bear its own costs related to this appeal.”
With his lawsuit, Vianello hoped to stop the city from moving forward with the project without a public vote.
The city is now set to begin work on the $30 million project to build a new city hall on Mission Road and expand the police department at the current city hall building.
Fritz Edmunds, Vianello’s attorney, did not respond to the Post’s request for comment for this story.
In response to a request for comment, Prairie Village Mayor Eric Mikkelson said residents made their decision in last year’s general election by voting for candidates who supported the city hall project.
“Prairie Villagers rendered their decisive verdict months ago by embracing this project and turning the page on costly, frivolous, divisive, political drama,” Mikkelson said in a text statement to the Post. “It’s better late than never for (the) plaintiff and his lawyer to also now have done the right thing.”
In case you missed it
In June, after the Prairie Village City Council approved moving ahead with the new city hall and laid out a timeline to issue bonds for the $30 million project, Vianello filed a lawsuit in Johnson County District Court.
Weeks later, Vianello voluntarily dismissed that lawsuit in order to refile it at the federal level.
A federal judge later dismissed the lawsuit on the eve of the city’s critical general election. All six candidates who won their races supported the municipal complex project.
In early December, following the dismissal of the lawsuit and the seating of the new city council, Prairie Village approved the issuance of bonds for the project.
That same day, Vianello appealed the federal judge’s dismissal of his lawsuit. It’s unclear what led Vianello to agree to dismiss the lawsuit this month.
Prairie Village has since issued $25.6 million in bonds for the project following the early December vote.
A look at the project
The project calls for a new city hall directly south of the current city hall, at 7820 Mission Road, site of the Mission Road Bible Church.
New council chambers, larger staff office space, a new art gallery and more are planned for the inside of the new city hall. Including the cost of acquiring and demolishing the church, as well as site work, the new city hall is expected to cost the city $23 million.
The existing city hall and police department will be renovated for the police department and municipal court staff to expand.
The renovation will provide a new property room for illicit drugs and other evidence, space for the K-9 unit to have its own office and new interview rooms.
The renovation for the expanded police department and municipal court is set to cost about $7 million.
Next steps:
- This spring, Prairie Village anticipates starting asbestos remediation and demolition prep of the church building at 7820 Mission Road.
- For a full timeline, read the Post’s previous coverage here. The city plans to release an updated timeline in March.
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