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Johnson County Square Phase 2 construction project begins March 20

New enhancements to the popular and historic Johnson County Square in downtown Olathe are coming soon.

On Monday, March 20, phase two of construction will begin and will continue throughout the summer.

Fencing will go up around the project area just north of the Johnson County Administration Building at 111 S. Cherry St., Olathe. Sidewalks may be effected during times when materials are being delivered. No street closures are expected during construction.

Enhancements to the square in phase 2 include:

• The multi-purpose platform and an art garden play area at the northern end.
• The historical plaza near the Children of the Trails Fountain at the southern end near the Johnson County Administration Building.
• A new tree grove with seating at the southeast corner.

The large community green space will remain the centerpiece of the square for use by the public and scheduled concerts, events and other activities. The total cost of the project will not exceed $2.9 million. The cost will be evenly split between Johnson County and the city of Olathe. The city of Olathe will oversee programming for activities in the square, such as public events and concerts. Johnson County will be responsible for the maintenance of the property.

Tony Barron begins roles as director of facilities on March 20 

Tony Barron will join Johnson County Government on Monday, March 20 as the director of facilities. More than twenty years of Tony’s career has been spent working in facilities management and maintenance.

Tony comes to Johnson County from the Blue Valley School District, where he has worked as the project and grounds coordinator for the last two years. In that role, he led a crew of 22 in maintaining and improving some of the best athletic facilities and school grounds in the Midwest region. Prior to that, Tony worked for Lawrence Public Schools. He began there in 2013 as the director of facilities and operations and was promoted to executive director of facilities and operations four years later. Over the course of eight years at LPS, Tony executed owner operations for 27 bond construction projects.

Tony possesses strong leadership skills which he credits to training with the Kansas Leadership Center which embraces multiple and diverse perspectives to bridge the gap from where an organization is and where they want to be. Tony has also attended the Latinx Summit, Tomorrow’s Leaders – Kansas Park and Recreation Professional Development Institute and Occupational Health and Safety training. Tony received a bachelor’s degree, in park resource management from Kansas State University in Manhattan.

Tony is a native of Winfield in south central Kansas. He and his wife currently reside in Eudora.  

KC Corporate Challenge participants to find out which events they'll participate in soon

We want to thank Johnson County athletes for showing interest in representing JOCO in the KC Corporate Challenge games!

It’s time to start assigning competitors to events.

The KC Corporate Challenge Team is hard at work getting each event filled. Participants should be on the look out for an email letting them know which events they are assigned to.

Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to kickoff, which is 29 days away.

A kickoff walk takes place Friday, April 7 at the Truman Sports Complex from 4-7:30 p.m.

Spouses are welcome to join in on the fun and earn wellness points at the same time! Spouses interested in volunteering should email Joel Johnson at joel.johnson@jocogov.org. Spouses interested in participating in the walk must sign a KCCC wavier and return it to kristen.cunningham@jocogov.org

A volunteer update will be announced after March 24.  

Let’s get excited to test our limits! Visit the KCCC informational page on InsideJoCo to learn more.

Feed the Need Canstruction in progress, potato bar coming up

There are a variety of ways to support Feed the Need this time of year, with donations benefitting seven local food pantries.

The Department of Health and Environment is hosting a baked potato bar to support Feed the Need. It takes place Thursday, March 23 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sunset Drive Office Building.

Also, Canstruction is in progress. If you registered your department/division, remember the deadline to build your creation is Friday, March 31. View a full list of guidelines.

One grand prize winner will receive a trophy. Donated cans will go toward your department/division’s 2023 Feed the Need total.

In addition to canned goods, Feed the Need also encourages donation of boxed food. View a list of most-needed items.

Employees can also donate to Feed the Need by completing a payroll deduction authorization form through Financial Management and Administration. 

Attend Voya’s live Webinar, 10 steps on your journey to retirement

This webinar on April 13 at 3 p.m. will focus on the roadmap to retirement and the steps you can take now to plan for your tomorrow.

You’ll learn how to get started, set goals, check your progress, take actions to improve your situation, and more. 

Learn more about the webinar, how to sign up and receive 5 wellness points with your attendance here.

Silver Dollar City Discounts

Headed to Branson? 

Johnson County Employees save up to 15% off tickets to Silver Dollar City, the Branson Belle Showboat and White Water on www.silverdollarcity.com/save with our exclusive code. 

View the flyer.

BOCC recap

Today's Board of County Commissioners meeting included the following:

• Approved Resolution No. 020-23. to amend the official meeting calendar for the Board of County Commissioners by adding Sept. 21 to the list of no meetings for 2023.

In the weekly manager memo, Assistant County Manager Joe Waters detailed Johnson County Library’s partnership with the Johnson County Genealogical Society in establishing the Do-It-Yourself Memory Lab for library patrons beginning April 3.

As a special 50th anniversary project, the society is providing the equipment to digitize photos, negatives, slides, movies and documents and to transfer them to digital formats. The scanning equipment is housed and can be used in the genealogy area of the Central Resource Library. The project is funded by the Johnson County Library Foundation. Appointments are required and can be made online. No drop-ins will be allowed. Volunteers will be available to assist Memory Lab users. For more information visit jcgsks.org or email info@jcgsks.org. 

More information on these and other items from today’s meeting is available at boccmeetings.jocogov.org.