Lenexa residents could watch city council meetings live online as soon as Tuesday, Oct. 20.

The Lenexa City Council voted 7-0 on Oct. 6 to amend its Rules of Procedure and authorize livestreaming of council meetings on the city's website, reported by the Johnson County Post. Councilmember Bill Nicks was absent.

Lenexa joins other Johnson County cities that provide live online access to council meetings. Olathe, Overland Park, Leawood, Prairie Village and Shawnee already livestream theirs, along with smaller cities such as Fairway and Mission.

Lenexa has recorded council meetings and posted them online the next day since January 2023. The city pays about $23,000 per year for recording, indexing and archiving through Swagit, the same video service that will handle the livestream at no additional cost.

The same Oct. 6 vote also set a new three-minute time limit per person for public comment.

Residents had pushed for the change. At a Sept. 1 council meeting, Gaylene Van Horn said she was disappointed that people at home could not watch a budget discussion in real time.

"It certainly is taking a long time to get those into place," Van Horn said, according to the Johnson County Post.

City Manager Beccy Yocham raised the topic at an April Committee of the Whole meeting. Yocham said residents had consistently requested recordings of Planning Commission meetings. Those meetings were not previously captured on video.

Planning Commission livestreaming is planned to begin in January 2027 at an additional cost of about $7,400 per year, city spokesperson Denise Rendina told the Johnson County Post. Committee of the Whole meetings will still not be livestreamed or recorded.

Mayor Julie Sayers said the council decided to keep its "Business From The Floor" public comment section at the end of meetings rather than move it to the beginning, as some residents had requested. The structure lets staff address agenda items first, then opens the floor for other topics, Sayers said.

Replays of livestreamed meetings will be available on the city's website the next day and archived for at least two years.

The first livestream is tentatively set for Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. at Lenexa City Hall, 17101 W. 87th St. Pkwy.