Boehm touts city's growth in State of the City Address
By Aaron Cedeño / staff writer

Mayor Mike Boehm gave his annual State of the City address at the Feb. 20 meeting of the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce.

After recognizing several individuals for their service, including members of the City Council and city staff, Boehm's speech focused on elements of Lenexa's continued growth and expansion during the last year. City Center was featured prominently, as Boehm outlined the projected development at all four corners of 87th Street Parkway and Renner Boulevard.

"Full build-out of City Center depends on the market conditions, and could take 15 to 20 years," he said. "With projects now under construction, or in the planning stages for all four corners, we are making great headway on our community's dream of a truly special, pedestrian-friendly gathering destination."

Boehm pointed to City Center's origins in the Vision 2020 planning process of a decade ago and spoke briefly on its present-day follow-up, Vision 2030. The community-led project, he said, would help determine the city's direction into the future.

At the council meeting Feb. 19, the ETC Institute of Olathe presented the results of its latest DirectionFinder survey. It was the fourth time since 2000 that the city had contracted the firm to gauge Lenexa residents' satisfaction with city services.

The results indicated that Lenexa residents remain, on the whole, pleased with the level of support from the city, and Boehm referenced them in his speech.

"The survey also tells us what we need to work on, and we will use this input as a guide for improvement in those areas," Boehm said. "The results serve to strengthen our commitment to providing the best quality of life for our citizens."

Boehm closed the address with comments on another product of the Feb. 19 council meeting: a three-eighths-of-a-cent sales tax increase, which the council voted unanimously to put to the voters via a May 7 mail-in ballot. Funds obtained through the tax increase would be put to a variety of uses, he said, including the construction of a new civic center component of the City Center development.

"As our community continues to grow and age at the same time, we are challenged with retaining high-quality roads and parks and providing new cultural amenities you expect and deserve," Boehm said.

For a complete transcript of the address, visit the city's Web site at www.ci.lenexa.ks.us.