MAY - 2008

Commissioners seek applicants to serve on five advisory boards

The Johnson County Board of Commissioners is accepting applications from interested residents who would like to be considered for appointments to five advisory boards of county government.

The Board of Zoning Appeals and the South-Central Consolidated Zoning Board each have one vacant seat as representatives from the Sixth District. Both appointments will be made by Commissioner John Toplikar.

The other vacancies include:

• Third District representative to the Juvenile Corrections Advisory Board. The appointment will be made by Commissioner David Lindstrom;
  
• Fourth District representative to the Housing and Community Development Committee. The appointment will be made by Commissioner Ed Eilert; and,
  
• Chairman’s representative of a building code official to the Contractors Licensing Review Board with the appointment being made by Chairman Annabeth Surbaugh.

Johnson County residents interested in being considered for appointment to the advisory boards should submit their cover letter and current resume or curriculum vitae to the Board’s office at the following address:

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Attn: Appointments Clerk
County Administration Building, Suite 3300
111 South Cherry Street
Olathe, Kansas 66061-3486

Applications are available on the Board’s website at http://bocc.jocogov.org. For more information, residents should contact the Office of the Board of County Commissioners at (913) 715-0430.

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Preliminary public hearing planned on May 12 about FY 2009 Budget

A preliminary budget hearing is scheduled at 7 p.m. Monday, May 12, for public discussion of the proposed Fiscal Year 2009 budget for Johnson County Government.

The public meeting will take place in the Hearing Room of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners on the third floor of the Johnson County Administration Building, 111 South Cherry Street, in downtown Olathe.

Members of the Board of County Commissioners, county management, department and agency representatives, and staff from the Budget and Financial Planning Department will discuss the budget process, present an overview of the current FY 2008 budget totaling $735.3 million, and respond to questions.

“Residents are encouraged to attend this public hearing to learn more about the 2008 Budget and give input about county services and programs for the 2009 budget,” Chairman Annabeth Surbaugh said. “All citizens are always invited to be an active part of the county’s annual budget process.”

The proposed FY 2009 budget will be presented by County Manager Michael B. Press on June 4 and June 5.

The presentations will occur during afternoon sessions of the Board as a Committee of a Whole. No action will be taken by the Board.

A final public hearing on the new proposed budget, with changes and modifications supported by the Board of County Commissioners, will occur at 7 p.m. Monday, July 28, in the Board’s hearing room.

The Board is tentatively scheduled to adopt the new budget on August 14. By state law, the county must complete the FY 2009 budget by August 25.

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Election Office needs more workers for 2008 elections

Johnson County citizens like to vote. That fact keeps the Johnson County Election Office busy in normal election years and very, very busy in preparing for the upcoming 2008 Presidential Elections. That fact also means the Election Office needs more election workers on hand to man the polls and to assist voters.

While Election Commissioner Brian Newby fully expects the office to secure the 1,800 election workers needed for the August 5th Primary Elections and November 4th General Elections, the office is seeking at least 250-300 additional election workers to ensure adequate staffing at voting sites.

“We’re always recruiting,” Newby said. “Our county growth issues are measured in depth and breadth, so as more people come to Johnson County and the populated area sprawls, our need to expand and staff polling locations grows as well.”

According to the election commissioner, the problem is a growing nationwide concern as election officials are finding it harder and harder to recruit poll workers. The county now has more than 338,000 registered voters.

The Election Office estimates the county will have approximately 361,400 registered voters for the 2008 General Elections that will decide 2,109 elected positions at federal, state, county, and other local levels along with special ballot questions.

Registration for the August primary elections ends July 21. Voters have until October 20 to register to vote in the November general elections.

“Traditionally, voter turnout in a presidential election year averages about 75 percent,” Newby said. “We expect more than 270,000 voters in Johnson County will cast ballots in November.”

Johnson County has 285 polling places in 603 voting districts in 443 precincts. The Election Office has up to 1,881 touch-screen voting machines for use at both elections.

For presidential elections, each voting place in Johnson County requires a minimum of one supervising judge and four election workers.

Although the general goal is to have at least 1,800 workers on hand for the 2008 voting, the Election Office is always looking for new people and extra poll workers for backup use, if needed.

Newby said extra numbers are needed to fill last-minute vacancies caused by sickness, family emergencies or other issues that might prevent assigned workers from fulfilling their duties.

The general duties of election workers include assisting the supervising judge and sharing responsibility for the operation of the polling site.

Election workers greet voters, assist at the registration book and card encoder machine, and accompany each voter to a voting machine. They also verify voter receipt information, collect voter cards, and issue “I Voted” stickers to voters as they leave.

The requirements to be an election worker are not complicated. There are only four qualifications, including:

• Be a resident of Johnson County;
  
• Be registered to vote at their current address;
  
• Be able to complete three hours of training; and,
  
• Be available to work a complete election day.
  

Election workers are paid $15 for completion of their training session, which is being scheduled in early July. On each election day that they work, election workers receive $110 and supervising judges are paid $135.

The Student Election Worker Program again will offer hands-on opportunities to Johnson County high school students to learn about elections before they are old enough to vote. The program is based on a Kansas law which allows a maximum of one student between the ages of 16 and 18 to be an election worker at each polling place.

Participating students, like election workers, are paid for training and their work on election day.

The day for an election worker is long. Normally, election day polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but the November 4th Presidential Election polls will open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. All election workers will report to their assigned work session at least one hour before the opening of their assigned voting site.

Following the closing of polls on both election days, all election workers will assist the supervising judge in closing down the poll site after the voting ends at 7 p.m.

Interested individuals are asked to complete the “Election Worker Response Form.” Students may apply by completing the “Student Election Worker Form.” Either completed form can be mailed or faxed to the Johnson County Election Office, 2101 East Kansas City Road, Olathe, KS 66061. The fax number is (913) 791-1753.

More information is available by calling the Election Office at (913) 782-3441 or visiting its website at www.jocoelection.org/workers/for_workers.htm.

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County Planning Department employee receives ‘Member of the Year Award’

The Johnson County Planning, Codes, and Development Department has bragging rights when it comes to “Member of the Year Award” recipients by the Heart off America Chapter of the International Code Council.

A department employee has received the award for the second straight year. The 2008 recipient is Janie Gordon, a resident of Olathe. A Johnson County employee since July 2001, she serves as the department’s permit administrator.

Gordon received the award for her untiring work and dedication to professional building code enforcement and her promotion of the image of building code professionals throughout Kansas. She also was re-elected the chapter’s secretary for her fourth term of service.

“I’m not surprised at all. Janie is a great ambassador for our department as well as for our codes division and she’s always thoroughly professional in all that she does,” Dean Palos, director of the department, said.

The award was presented to her on May 1 during the organization’s 2008 annual business meeting in Wichita.

The “Member of the Year Award” is the highest level of recognition for chapter and public service offered by the Heart of America Chapter of the ICC, which is the professional association representing Kansas building officials, building inspectors, plan reviewers, and permit technicians.

Jerry Mallory, building official for the department, was the first recipient of the chapter’s award in 2007.

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Office of Financial Management receives 20th consecutive award for financial reporting

The Johnson County Office of Financial Management has kept its string intact in being the annual recipient of a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada.

It has received 20 national honors in as many years from the GFOA.

The 20th award was ceremonially presented Thursday, May 8, to Thomas Franzen, director of the department, by Annabeth Surbaugh, chairman of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners, during the Board’s weekly business session.

The honor is in recognition of the office’s comprehensive annual financial report for 2006.

“This award is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting,” Franzen said.

He said attainment of the award represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management, noting that only three other of the 105 counties in Kansas received the award. The award was presented to only 37 municipal governments, such as cities, counties, school districts and universities, and water districts, in the state. Additionally, only 500 counties nationwide received the award.

The county’s 2006 comprehensive annual financial report, or CAFR, was judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program, including demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR.

Franzen said his staff plans to submit the FY 2007 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report in June to GFOA in pursuit of a 21st consecutive award.

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 16,000 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

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New Park Master Plan Meetings on three properties set for early June in De Soto and Olathe

Members of the public are invited to attend two workshops meant to provide opportunities for input on new master plans for Sunflower Nature Park in Edgerton, as well as two relatively large future park properties owned by the Johnson County Park and Recreation District in Olathe and De Soto.

The first workshop will concern the District's existing 57-acre Sunflower Nature Park in Eudora as well as a 465-acre site just west of the De Soto City limits known as the Rieke Lake Site. This workshop will take place from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, June 2, at the De Soto Senior Center, 32905 W. 84th St., De Soto. The second workshop will concern a 900-acre site in western Olathe currently known as the Cedar Niles Property, and will take place from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 4, at the Ernie Miller Nature Center, 909 North Kansas 7 Highway, Olathe. Descriptions of the park properties are below.

Formulating new plans for existing and future parks was a recommendation of the District's 20-year Master Action Plan, MAP 2020, which was put into place in 2001. MAP 2020 recognized a need to update development and renovation plans for various district parks as a guide for the next 20 years.

In March, the District hired Bowman, Bowman and Novick of Kansas City, Mo., to prepare master plans for the three sites. This firm previously worked with the District in 2002 and early 2003 to prepare a master plan for Antioch Park, of which two phases have now been implemented.

In addition to the firm's own staff, the planning team for this project will include several others who have successfully worked together on previous projects. These include: the SK Design Group, which will provide civil engineering; Randall Root and Dennis Haag of Burns & McDonnell, who bring expertise in the areas of wildlife biology and environmental planning; and the Public Relations and Communications firm of Jane Mobley Associates.

Each workshop will include a review of the site's current conditions and facilities, if applicable, and a discussion of the master plan process. Following this review, the members of the public are invited to comment on park features they would like to implemented.

Individuals who are unable to attend the public meetings are encouraged to submit in writing their thoughts on the master plan update process of any of the three site in which they have an interest. Comments can be sent to JCPRDcomments@bbnarchitects.com.

Due to the nature of the properties, it is anticipated the master plans for the future park sites will call primarily for passive uses such as trails and shelters. The Rieke and Cedar Niles properties could also potentially accommodate some sports fields, which is why public input on the properties' future use will be especially important.

Sunflower Nature Park is located at 36915 W. 103rd St, just south of K-10 near Edgerton Road. The park currently features two ball fields, one picnic shelter, two restroom buildings, a paved one-mile loop trail, a small fishing lake, and two parking lots. The park was first dedicated in 1984 and was visited by 46,289 people during 2007.

The Rieke Lake site is located just west of the De Soto and is located east of Edgerton Road, west of Sunflower Road, and north of K-10. The site includes a 30-acre lake previously used for fishing as well as a mix of woodlands, forest, and open areas in various forms of agricultural use.

The Cedar Niles site is located west of Kansas 7 Highway adjacent to Lake Olathe and The Prairie Center natural prairie area. The northern property boundary is 119th Street and the south boundary is one-half mile south of 135th Street, just east of The Prairie Center. Cedar Creek runs through the site, which is predominantly mixed woodlands with areas of open space. Among other issues, the master plan process will consider the property's connection with The Prairie Center and with nearby Lake Olathe, which is owned by the City of Olathe.

It is anticipated development of the master plans for Sunflower Park and the two future park sites will take place this summer and early fall with two additional public workshops in mid-July and a preliminary presentation to the District Board during it's Aug. 16 regular meeting. A final presentation of the completed plan to the District Board is anticipated on Oct. 3. Suggesting permanent names for the two future park sites in accordance with an internal District policy will be part of the process. Final naming of the sites will be subject to Board approval.

Implementation of the new master plans will be subject to fund availability and approval of the District Board, but current tentative Capital Improvement Plans call for development to begin at the future park sites in 2009 and at Sunflower Park in 2012.

This new planning effort follows planning processes for a number of other District parks including: Antioch Park, Shawnee Mission Park, Heritage Park, Ernie Miller Park, and Thomas S. Stoll Memorial Park.

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Special meeting planned for June 2 on petition to incorporate the City of Stilwell

The Johnson County Board of Commissioners has scheduled a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 2, to consider a petition to incorporate portions of Aubry and Oxford Townships into the proposed City of Stilwell in southeast Johnson County.

The special meeting will take place in the Board’s Hearing Room on the third floor of the Johnson County Administration Building, 111 South Cherry Street, in downtown Olathe. The Board will discuss the proposed incorporation at its Committee of the Whole afternoon work session on Thursday, May 29, and is expected to vote on the petition at the special meeting on June 2.

By state law, approval of the incorporation of a new city within five miles of an existing city requires a unanimous vote by the Board of County Commissioners. The proposed City of Stilwell is within five miles of several cities in Johnson County, so a unanimous vote of the Board would be required to create the city. Johnson County currently has 20 incorporated cities in whole or in part within its boundaries.

On April 14, the Board conducted a public hearing at Blue Valley High School, 6001 West 159th Street, Stilwell, and heard a presentation from Stilwell petitioners and other public comments.

The petition for the requested Stilwell incorporation was filed with the Board on February 4, 2008. As originally filed, the petition proposed to incorporate the City of Stilwell from the remaining unincorporated portion of Oxford Township, roughly located between 154th and 167th streets and east of Mission Road to State Line Road, and from the unincorporated portion of Aubry Township east of Antioch Road to State Line Road and south of 167th Street to 215th Street, the boundary between Johnson and Miami Counties.

The proposed incorporation now omits a section of land roughly between 183rd and 204th streets and Antioch Road to U.S. 69 Highway. That area was recently annexed by the city of Overland Park.

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Meeting planned to conclude South Metro Connector study

The South Metro Connection study may reach its conclusion during a public meeting scheduled at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 5, by the Johnson County Board of Commissioners.

The meeting will take place in the Board’s Hearing Room located on the third floor of the Johnson County Administration Building, 111 South Cherry, in downtown Olathe. Anyone planning to attend the meeting should use the entrance from Cherry Street located on the east side of the building.

Members of the county’s Public Works and Infrastructure Department, Planning and Development Department, and South Metro Connector Study Team will be on hand to present final recommendations for the proposed roadway and to answer questions.

Members of the public will have an opportunity to comment during the meeting.

The proposed South Metro Connection in southeastern Johnson County, Kansas and northwestern Cass County, Missouri is a study started in 2006 to identify a preferred alignment and corridor needed for road construction that is not anticipated to begin for at least 10-15 years. The route was proposed to connect the planned North Cass Parkway at Holmes Road in Missouri to U.S. 69 Highway in Johnson County. The project was originally proposed as a four-lane parkway-type roadway.

The current recommendation from the study team is for a two-lane parkway with restrictive access management policies toward efficient traffic flow and a 45 mph posted speed limit.

At the meeting, the Board will consider three viable options in concluding the South Metro Connector study:

• Adopt the study team’s recommendation and preferred alignment for a two-lane parkway between U.S. 69 and the North Cass Parkway;
  
• Direct staff to modify the county’s Comprehensive Arterial Road Network Plan (CARNP) by removing the “corridor to be determined” (future study area) designation and leaving the current CARNP designations unchanged; or,
  
• Direct staff to modify CARNP, again removing the “corridor to be determined” designation and leaving the current designations unchanged, but modifying the plan by adding a Type 1 designation to extend a two-lane roadway at 179th Street between Metcalf and Nall avenues.
  

The South Metro Connector study is a cooperative effort led by the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) in partnership with Johnson and Cass counties; the cities of Overland Park and Olathe along with Belton, Mo.; the Kansas and Missouri Departments of Transportation; and the Federal Highway Administration. These agencies form the study team which conducted the study. HNTB is the engineering consultant working for the study team.

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County deputy retires after 27 years

The 27-year law enforcement career of Lt. Calvin Hayden of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office is coming to an end with the start of June. A reception in his honor is scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday, June 5, in the
Operations Building (second floor) at the Fred Allenbrand Criminal Justice Complex, 27747 West 159th Street, New Century AirCenter. His retirement becomes effective that day.

When Hayden joined the Sheriff’s Office in 1981, Kim Carnes was America’s singing idol with “Bette Davis Eyes” as best song of the year, “Chariots of Fire” was Best Picture, and Ronald Reagan was in the White House with George H.W. Bush as his vice president. The price of gas was $1.38.

When Hayden began work as a new deputy, the Johnson County Jail was located on the fourth floor of the Johnson County Courthouse in downtown Olathe. Born in Gardner and raised in De Soto, he returned to Johnson County after beginning his law enforcement career in 1980 as a detention officer at the Summit
County Sheriff’s Office in Breckenridge, Colorado.

“I wouldn’t trade a second of it for anything in the world,”

Hayden said of his career. “It has been a ball. I have worked for some law enforcement legends and a great team of professionals. It’s been fun.”

He has served under four sheriffs, including longtime Sheriff Fred Allenbrand, who headed the department for more than three decades, and current Sheriff Frank Denning.

Hayden completed his training requirements for Johnson County deputy sheriff from the Johnson County Regional Police Academy in 1982. In June 1984, he was moved to the City-County Investigative Squad and assigned to narcotic investigations.

Two years later, he was transferred to the Patrol Unit where he served until 1988, when he was promoted to sergeant and joined the staff at the newly-opened Adult Detention Center in downtown Olathe.

In March 1996, Hayden was transferred to the Communications Unit and was promoted to lieutenant a year later. He was instrumental in helping establish the mobile computing system, using computers and new technology directly in patrol vehicles to assist field deputies and better serve and protect the public.

A highlight of his career also occurred in 1996. Hayden, along with Sergeant Stuart Burton, saved the Remple family, consisting of a married couple, by breaking out a rear door and assisting them out of their burning home near 175th Street and Renner Road. Both officers received the Award of Valor for their lifesaving efforts.

“We came upon the burning home after working an accident,” he said. “We were basically in the right place at the right time.”

Hayden returned to the Patrol Unit in 1998. His final transfer occurred in 2004 when he was assigned to his current duties of shift commander at the AirCenter’s Adult Detention Center after completion of the Certified Public Managers program.

In 2005, Hayden was deployed to assist in the Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort to the Gulf Coast states, working in Mississippi. He was among the sheriff’s personnel who volunteered for deployment last year to assist in the flooding of counties in Southeast Kansas, working in Coffeyville.

A resident of De Soto and a 1975 graduate from De Soto High School, Hayden and his wife, Kelly, have two sons, Chris and Chad. He also has three stepchildren: Kyle, Chris, and Julie. Prior to his law enforcement career, he served in the U.S. Army Reserves for five years and in the Coast Guard Reserves for four years.

Hayden said his interest in law enforcement began in junior high school when he, Scott Atwell, and Andy Everson saw a Johnson County Sheriff’s deputy patrolling the streets of De Soto. All three became deputies with the department. Atwell is now a detective; Everson retired last year after 26 years of service.

“I have lived the dream,” Hayden said with a smile.

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Corrections receives high scores in professional audits

The Johnson County Department of Corrections has received high scores in its re-accreditation of juvenile corrections programs by the American Correctional Association (ACA).

Results of the professional review were shared Thursday, May 22, with the Johnson County Board of Commissioners during its weekly business session by Deputy County Manager Hannes Zacharias.

“To obtain accreditation is quite an achievement, but to do so with such high scores is simply outstanding and verifies the quality of work delivered daily by our Corrections Department employees to the residents of Johnson County. The department deserves to be very proud of these results,” he said.

The ACA’s Commission on Accreditation for Corrections audited all juvenile services programs provided by the department in mid-May. The programs were:

• the Juvenile Detention Center in Olathe;
  
• the Juvenile House Arrest (electronic monitoring) program located at the detention center, and,
  
• the Juvenile Field Services Programs (juvenile intensive supervision program and juvenile case management) located in downtown Olathe.
  

The Juvenile Detention Center was found to be in 100 percent compliance with 28 applicable mandatory standards, and received a score of 97.4 percent in applicable non-mandatory standards, meeting 368 out of 378 standards.

The department’s Juvenile Electronic Monitoring Program met all of the 123 applicable standards and Juvenile Field Services was in full compliance with all 194 applicable standards for overall scores of 100 percent.

Betsy Gillespie, director of Corrections, credits the staff in the Juvenile Division for the successful audits.

“It goes without saying that I am extremely proud of our staff in the Juvenile Divisions and the audit results,” she said. “We are very proud of what we have been able to accomplish. The success reflects their professionalism and dedication to be the best we can be.”

The ACA, with its national headquarters in Lanham, Maryland, conducts its audits of the juvenile services every three years. It was the third re-accreditation audits for each Johnson County program since their original accreditation in 1999.

The audits involved measuring the county’s juvenile corrections programs against more than 700 national standards for all four programs.

Gillespie said the ACA audit process is very thorough. It scrutinizes all programs and facilities to ensure compliance with established national standards governing the treatment, safety, and quality of life of offenders under supervision or being detained.

According to the corrections director, the auditors praised the staff in each of the programs and were impressed with many facets of each program, including the cleanliness of the facilities.

“The auditors were most impressed with the very strong and unified staff approach to changing the behavior of offenders,” Gillespie said, adding that the auditors noted that “this approach was clear” in virtually every area they visited.

Accredited programs generally are considered by the professional organization as operating more efficiently and smoothly, and are considered extremely safe and productive programs by the ACA.

The reports and scores of the auditors will be presented to the ACA’s Commission on Accreditation for Corrections for final action. Each of Johnson County’s programs will be awarded their official re-accreditation certificates in August during the 138th Congress of Corrections in New Orleans.

Johnson County Corrections remains the juvenile services program in Kansas that’s fully accredited by the ACA.

Gillespie said the professional audits benefit the county by allowing staff the opportunity to evaluate local operations against national standards, and help to identify and remedy deficiencies and upgrade the quality of services and programs being provided to offenders.

“It allows us to benchmark our programs with what’s going on across the nation,” she said. “We believe our juvenile corrections programs are some of the best in the country, and our audit scores are certainly an indication of that.”

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County to curtail roadside weeds at less cost, fuel, environmental impact

Johnson County is going “green” in the way it curtails roadside weeds. By mowing less often and using an environmental friendly herbicide, the county should realize savings in time, labor, and fuel.

The Seed Head Suppression Program, a part of the 2008 Annual Noxious Weed Management Plan, was approved Thursday, May 22, by the Johnson County Board of Commissioners.

James Hoge, noxious weed director for the Johnson County Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, thinks the program will nip unwanted vegetation along county roadsides in the bud. In doing so, he hopes to trim the department’s normal summer mowing schedule in half.

Mowing more than necessary means higher costs, especially in fuel, and added risks for county crews. He said work performed by the vegetation crew is extremely labor intensive and the risk of accidents while performing in the roadway is high.

Failing to mow, as needed, also can be equally problematic – resulting in overgrown roadsides and possible blind intersections that pose a danger to drivers.

“It’s killing two birds with one stone by eliminating or inhibiting the growth rate of nuisance weeds and cutting operating costs,” he said. “It is our long-term goal for the Seed Head Suppression Program to increase road worker and motorist safety and to reduce our footprint on the environment in Johnson County.”

Hoge plans to manage the juggling act among vegetation control, program cost, and worker and driver safety through the Seed Head Suppression Program.

In the past, the department’s roadside vegetation management crew had to clear vegetation surrounding guide rails, signs, and bridges and mow the county’s roadsides an average of three to five times a year. They used four to six mowing tractors, consuming more than 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel ( roughly 148 barrels of crude oil) and requiring about 600 man hours. Total area of mowing was about 650 acres at a cost of $56 per acre, or $37,000 per cut.

Through the Seed Head Suppression Program, Hoge estimated the cost per acre at $35 since one application of the herbicide can reduce the number of cuttings per year. He placed the total labor at less than 150 man hours and fuel consumption at approximately 150 gallons of diesel fuel, or roughly 18 gallons of crude oil.

“Total costs for seed head suppression are slightly more than $22,000,” Hoge said. “Depending upon prevailing moisture and temperatures, one application can replace one to three cuttings per year. Our goal is to make one cut in the spring and another in the fall.”

The program is new to Johnson County and also unique to the Kansas City region. Hoge is not aware of any other metro county using seed head suppression to control roadside vegetation. The Missouri Department of Transportation has a program in operation for its interstates, but the Kansas Department of Transportation does not.

He plans to use Plateau herbicide in the Seed Head Suppression Program, describing it as a “smart herbicide” because it controls unwanted vegetative growth without harming other species – both man and beast – or the environment.

“The active ingredient in Plateau inhibits an enzyme found only in plants. People, pets, and wildlife, including amphibians and reptiles, are virtually unaffected by the herbicide,” he said.

According to Hoge, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency describes the herbicide as “relatively non-toxic” to non-target organisms at rates as high as 12 ounces per acre. The county plans to apply the herbicide at a rate of 4 ounces per acre.

He estimates the program will result in a decrease of 15 to 20 tons in carbon dioxide emissions per year from less roadside mowing.

The Seed Head Suppression Program will require no new equipment. The Public Works Department, with operations at 1800 West 56 Highway, Olathe, has modified an existing truck to accept the removable spraying apparatus for less than $12,000. All trucks in its fleet are equipped with GPS tracking and mapping capabilities so that daily records can be maintained on what roadsides were treated and other information in tracking the results of the effort.

The unwanted vegetation in roadway rights-of-way is part of the estimated 10,000 acres of noxious weeds indicated in the 2008 Annual Noxious Weed Management Plan. The acreage includes both private and public land.

The infestations in Johnson County involved five of the 14 noxious weeds now identified by the Kansas Legislature. The state began identifying and eradicating certain prevalent noxious weeds under a law passed in 1937. According to the report, musk thistle remains the main noxious weed in Johnson County followed by Johnson grass, field bindweed, sericea lespedeza, and a small dash of quackgrass.

“By definition, a noxious weed is a plant that is considered to have a negative impact on agriculture, the environment, or the economy,” Hoge explained.

Efforts to manage, control, and eradicate noxious weeds usually begin in early-to-mid-spring before the growing season of the plants and last until late August and early fall to inhibit seeding from the unwanted vegetation.

Hoge said the department performed a pilot project of the herbicide in 2007 to test its effectiveness. In the areas treated with the chemical, the targeted vegetation was 8 inches tall eight weeks after treatment. In untreated areas, unwanted vegetation approached 26 inches in height.

“Sight distance complaints at intersections were reduced due to the slow grass growth and an unexpected benefit of increased native plant growth was noted by mid-July,” he said. “Warm season grasses and wildflowers appeared on the roadsides, no doubt in part to the decreased mowing. It’s a win-win situation that even nature seems to like.”

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