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John “Jack” Helin
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TAB 5
The Chieftain (Bonner Springs, KS)
August 29, 2012
Council Expresses Frustrations with 7-K, Google
By Caroline Boyer
The Bonner Springs City Council expressed its frustrations with two regional issues: the state’s
continued fumbling in plans for Kansas Highway 7, and the expansion of Google Fiber — or
lack thereof — for southwest Wyandotte County.
After quickly approving all items on its regular agenda, the council moved on to the discussion
of the regional items as John “Jack” Helin, city manager, gave his bi-weekly update. They
discussed some recent discoveries about the general plan to turn Kansas Highway 7 into a
freeway and a lack of communication about the possibility of Google Fiber moving to Bonner
Springs or Edwardsville.
Helin told the council that he and council members Tom Stephens and Rodger Shannon attended
a meeting for Wyandotte County about a five-county transportation study sponsored by the
Kansas Department of Transportation. The study’s results, he said, support the city’s stance that
freeway interchanges are not necessary at each K-7 interchange. He said the gist of the report is
that the state should look at alternative means of creating additional traffic flow rather than
making large freeways.
Shannon and Stephens added that the engineer consultants who conducted the study, which
considered five other highways in addition to K-7, hadn’t even been informed about Bonner
Springs’ concerns and suggestions for alternatives. Stephens said he found it interesting that the
study consultants thought the K-7 freeway plan was only beneficial to cities on the north end of
the highway. Shannon said the fact that the study consultants had no idea about Bonner’s
concerns showed that the city had to remain on top of the issues. “Gang, we have got to fight for
our town — we have got to fight,” Shannon said.
Helin said he met with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., to
see if they would support the city. The study consultants have been invited to meet with the
council in the future, Helin said, and he will provide the council with a summary of the study
results.
The council then turned its discussion to Google Fiber, which has announced it will expand into
Kansas City, Mo., and some northeastern portions of Johnson County, but it remains to be seen
when, and if, it will come to Bonner or Edwardsville. Mayor Clausie Smith said that he and
Edwardsville Mayor John “Tiny” McTaggart had written letters to Google with no response. He
said because Kansas City, Kan., and the Unified Government landed the original deal for Google
Fiber, the rest of the county deserved consideration.
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