Leawood council approves county license at Fire Station, Iron Horse driving-range contract; accepts monthly police and fire reports

The Leawood City Council voted unanimously to approve several agreements and to accept departmental monthly reports during its September meeting.

Council members approved a 10-year license agreement with the Board of County Commissioners of Johnson County for partial use of Fire Station 2, authorized execution of a contract to build a driving range at Iron Horse Golf Course and accepted the police and fire departments’ monthly activity reports.

The license agreement with Johnson County is for $440,968 and covers county use of parts of Fire Station 2 for a decade. Councilmember Kane, who moved the resolution, called the agreement “terrific,” saying she appreciated that the county will now share facility costs the city previously bore alone. The motion carried unanimously.

The governing body also authorized an agreement with Mid America Golf & Landscape Inc. not to exceed $730,361.91 for the Iron Horse driving-range project (project 4PRK49144C). Councilmember Larson praised Parks & Recreation and Troon for coming “in $100,000 under budget” on the project and moved approval; the resolution passed unanimously.

On departmental reporting, the council accepted the police department monthly report. Councilmember Larson noted a sharp drop in theft-from-vehicle reports, from 133 to 31 year-to-date, and called the department’s public-education efforts “very effective.” The police chief credited expanded communications and regional investigative work: “It’s just truly been a team effort,” the chief said. The report also showed an uptick in mental-health-related calls.

The fire department’s monthly report was accepted after Chief Colin Fitzgerald described a year-to-date spike in total incidents and structure fires. Fitzgerald said the department had handled more mutual-aid and automatic-aid incidents than in prior years and that increased construction and electrical work could be factors. He told council that the department is operating at historically high incident volumes and that automatic aid is essential for larger fires.

Council also accepted a planning applicant’s request to withdraw a special-use-permit application for Leawood Commons Daycare (planning case 84-25); the withdrawal was recorded without objection.

Votes at a glance - License agreement with Board of County Commissioners of Johnson County (Fire Station 2): mover Councilmember Kane; seconder Councilmember Sippel; amount $440,968; outcome: adopted unanimously. - Agreement with Mid America Golf & Landscape Inc. (Iron Horse driving range, project 4PRK49144C): mover Councilmember Larson; seconder Councilmember Harrison; amount not to exceed $730,361.91; outcome: adopted unanimously. - Police department monthly report (August): motion to accept (Dr. Koester); outcome: accepted unanimously. - Fire department monthly report (August): mover Councilmember Sippel; seconder Councilmember Philip; outcome: accepted unanimously. - Planning case 84-25 — applicant request to withdraw special-use-permit (Leawood Commons Daycare): mover Councilmember Villa; seconder Councilmember Sunkel; outcome: withdrawal accepted unanimously.

What the votes mean The county license spreads costs of joint emergency operations by permitting med-act personnel to stage from Fire Station 2 under a 10-year license; the council described the agreement as shifting some operational costs to the county. The Iron Horse contract moves a long‑planned parks project toward construction while saving about $100,000 versus the project estimate, according to council remarks. Acceptance of department reports places the month’s activity on record and prompted further staff follow-up about rising mental-health and emergency call volumes.

Council members asked staff to continue tracking year-over-year trends and to report back if fire or EMS incident rates keep rising, and they thanked police and fire staff for response work and community outreach.