Heat. Heat. Good evening, Witchita, and good evening to  all of you. Thank you for joining us for this   week's council meeting. I call this meeting to  order. With us today is Pastor Marsha Haney of   St. Mark United Methodist Church to provide  our invocation. Following the invocation,   we will have the pledge of allegiance and  we ask that you please stand for both. Let us begin an attitude of prayer. Our Father,  who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy   kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it  is in heaven. Today, God, we lift up the mayor,   all of the city council, all of the employees, and  God, I just want to thank you for all the families   that make up the city of Witchah and surrounding  towns, towns. God, we ask for your divine wisdom,   integrity. God, we ask for strategy to move our  city forward that it may continue to prosper and   grow that we may attract more businesses and more  families. God, we pray tonight for the agenda and   that you will help us to come up with the best  ideas. We ask these blessings in your name. Amen. To the flag of the United States of  America and to the republic for it   stands one nation under God indivisible  with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Pastor Haney. Madame  clerk, can you please call the   first item? Approve the minutes of the  regular meeting of February 3rd, 2026. Council members, are there any items to be  corrected? I see none. I move to approve   the minutes for the regular meeting of  February 3rd, 2026. Second. Motion and   a second. Any further discussion? I see  none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk, please call the  next item. Awards and proclamations. Today's   proclamations are WSU Barton School  of Business Centennial Day, 211 day,   and Alpha Kappa Sorority  Incorporated Founders Day.   May I please ask any supporters of Witchah  State University, including council members,   to come forward along with the Witchah  State University Barton School of Business. The proclamation reads, "The city of Witchah,  Kansas, founded in 1870, whereas the W. Frank   Barton School of Business at Witchah State  University has provided excellence in business   education, leadership development, and services  to students and the Witchaw community for 100   years. Whereas the Barton School of Business has  played a pivotal role in advancing the economic   and social vitality of Witchah by preparing  generations of business leaders, entrepreneurs,   and professionals. Whereas the Barton School  Centennial celebration brings together alumni,   faculty, students, and community partners to honor  the school's legacy, recognize the diligent work   of the Centennial Committee, and celebrate its  ongoing contributions to the city's growth and   prosperity. Whereas the centennial serves as  an inspiration for future generations to pursue   education, leadership, and service in support  of Witchah's continued success. Now therefore,   be it resolved that the Witchah City  Council does hereby proclaim February 10th,   2026 as Witchah State University Barton  School of Business Centennial Day. As a point of privilege, I will just say  that I'm a proud Witchaw State University   Barton School of Business alum with  my international business degree. So,   I would like to welcome the dean  of the Barton School of Business. Thank you. We're very grateful for this  recognition. and we have our centennial chair,   Rachel Douglas, to share a few remarks. Thank  you. Thank you, Dean Jennen, and thank you all   for being here. As Dean mentioned, my name is  Rachel Douglas, and I'm honored to serve as the   Barton School of Business Centennial Chair, and  I'm joined up here today by alumni, students,   faculty, staff, and community partners  who are excited about our centennial,   which we'll be celebrating throughout 2026. For  the past 100 years, the Barton School of Business   and Witchaw State University success has been  inextricably linked to this community and the   prosperity of Witchah. And so, as we look forward  to the next run 100 years, we're excited about   what that means for not only the Barton School of  Business students, but also our local community,   our state, and our nation. So, thank you so  much for allowing us to be here. And go Shocks. I was trying to help Valentine. I should. Thank you again to the WSU Barton School of  Business. May I please ask the United Way of   the Plains and any of our council members who  would like to present the 211 proclamation. The proclamation reads, "The city of  Witchah, Kansas founded in 1870. Whereas,   United Way 211 is a free confidential service  that connects canons to a variety of health   and human services across the state and is  celebrating 20 years of serving canons in 2026.   Whereas United Way 211 leverages a comprehensive  database to connect canons in crisis to locally   available programs and resources complementing 911  for emergencies and 988 for mental health support.   Whereas in 2024, canons accessed United Way  211 153,1 times via calls, texts, online chats,   and website searches. Whereas the top requested  needs in 2024 included utility assistance, tax   filing assistance, rent assistance, food pantries,  and homeless shelter services. Now therefore,   be it resolved that the Witchah City Council does  hereby proclaim February 11th, 2026 as 211 day. Thank you, mayor, and thank you to the entire city  council for proclaiming February 11th as 211 day   here in Witchah and for standing with United Way  of the Plains and supporting our neighbors. As you   just heard in the proclamation, United Way's  211 information and referral service is free,   it's confidential, and it's available to anyone  who needs help with social services. With me today   is Michelle Grim. She is the director of our  211 system and leads our team of compassionate   resource navigators from hello to help. Uh  Michelle and her resource navigators don't   just point people in the right direction, they  help bring hope and stability so families stay on   their feet during very difficult moments. I find  it very timely that this proclamation comes just   weeks before our city's special election on March  3rd, where our community will decide on whether   we should create a new revenue stream to support  homelessness and affordable housing. Last year,   I can tell you, as you heard from the mayor's  proclamation, the top four reasons that people   living here in Witchah and Cedric County, why they  call 211, access to homeless shelter, access to   rent assistance to prevent eviction, access to  utility assistance, and access to the local food   pantry. These are all things that 211 does that  911 and 988 are not equipped to do. they're not   supposed to do. This is the valuable resource  we believe we bring to the community. And guess   what? Your neighbors called that line 30,000 times  last year here in Cedric County alone. Proof why   I think we're moving in the right direction with  this proposal on March 3rd. This day is a reminder   that awareness saves time. It reduces crisis and  it changes lives. We encourage everyone in Witchah   to remember this number. Share it with a friend,  a co-orker, a neighbor, or anyone who feels   overwhelmed. As 211 marks its 20th anniversary,  having served over 1.7 million connections in   our state alone, this proclamation reinforces  Witchah's commitment to making sure no one has   to face tough moments alone. On behalf of the  United Way of the Plains, and the 800,000 people   we serve, I want to thank you for helping Witchah,  keeping Witchah strong, informed, and connected.   And together, let's make sure every neighbor knows  that help is just three digits away. Thank you. Thank you to the United Way of  the Plains. may please ask Alpha   Kappa Alpha Incorporated to come  forward and any of its supporters. The proclamation reads, "The city of Witchah,  Kansas, founded in 1870. Whereas Alpha Alpha   Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated was founded on  the campus of Howard University in Washington DC   in 1908, making it the oldest Greek letter  organization established by African-American   college educated women whose members trailblazed  significant advances in human relations in the   United States during the 20th century. Whereas  the founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority   Incorporated, just one generation removed from  slavery, organized with a deep awareness of their   privileged position as college educated women  of color, and were resolute in ensuring their   collegiate experience was meaningful, purposeful,  and impactful. Whereas Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority   Incorporated cuts across racial, international,  physical, and social barriers to promote   constructive relations and uplift individuals and  communities through high ethical standards and a   commitment to education, service, and friendship.  Whereas the city of Witchah has benefited from   the long-standing service of Alpha Kappa Alpha  Sorority Incorporated through the Beta Kappa Omega   Chapter since 1935 and the Epsilon Alpha Chapter  since 1967 and proudly celebrates their enduring   contributions and accomplishments. Now therefore,  be it resolved that the Witchah City Council does   hereby proclaim February 10th, 2026 as Alpha  Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated Founders Day to the Honorable Lily Woo, the city council  members assembled, and especially we want to   recognize one of our 50-year members, former  Former Council Member Lavanta Williams, we are honored to receive this proclamation. I'm  Crystal Johnson Turner. I'm the president of the   chapter and we are a 100 members strong and as  she said, we've been in the Witchaw community   for over 90 years. We just don't want to  make light of this. Um we celebrate our   founders day and we are always constantly re  recommitting ourselves to service, sisterhood   and impact in this community and beyond. And we  thank you for this re uh proclamation. Sorry. Thank you to the three recipients of proclamations  today. Madame clerk, can you please call the next   item? Public agenda. We now come to the public  agenda. The public agenda allows for up to five   speakers to have m five minutes each to address  the council. Please bear in mind that this is not   a period of dialogue with council or a question  and answer period. This is your opportunity to   address the city council with your concerns.  I ask that you address your remarks to the   city council as a body and not to any individual  council member. No action will be taken relatives   to items on the public agenda other than referral  to the city manager for information as necessary.   Speakers will please speak into the microphone.  Please state their name and address for the   record. A time clock will display the speaker's  remaining time to speak. Order and rules of   decorum will be observed. The first speaker  for today is Christina first. Paid parking   in relation to volunteer river cleanup group.  Before you begin, Mayor Council Mayor Council,   just a reminder that in the event that members  of the public do speak about matters involving   pending or potential litigation out of respect for  the judicial process, you may receive comment but   um should refrain from commenting. Thank you. My  name is Christina First. I live 120 East First   Street North, Apartment 6K. Uh, good evening,  Mayor Woo and city council members. My name   is Christina First, and I run a volunteer group  called Witchaw Riverwalk Cleanup Crew. Since 2017,   every month, we have met up at a different  portion of the river to pick up trash.   I am here today to talk about how our downtown  parking plan has interrupted our cleanups at one   vital location and my solutions to the situation  in hopes that perhaps we can push more quickly   to get something figured out for volunteer groups  like ours. I started my river cleanup group after   becoming frustrated at the amount of trash that  I saw collecting along the river as I was taking   walks. I reached out to the city and was told that  we didn't have the money to pay people to go out   and pick up the trash or empty the many trash cans  that were along the river a couple times a week. I   realized at that point that if I wanted something  to get done, I had to do it myself. Uh these days,   it is not unheard of for us to have 20 to 30  people out there picking up trash. On the days   that we have our cleanups, we provide supplies  using our own funding and the volunteers provide   us with the manpower to pick up this trash. Since  I started keeping track in January of 2019, our   group has picked up 2,791 bags of trash and other  items. On average, our volunteers pick up about   two bags of trash an hour. And for every hour that  we are out there, um, using that number and the   city's, um, minimum wage of $15 per hour, uh, that  means that our group has saved the city $20,932. That is $20,932 worth of free labor that  our volunteers have provided to keep our   most vital asset looking beautiful for our  citizens as well as visitors to our city.   Uh we pick up trash from many locations along the  river between Central and Mlan and the Lincoln   Street Dam. Each month a different location based  on need. Right now the segment between Maple   Street and the Lincoln Street Dam uh is the area  that needs picked up most badly. Uh but we are   currently not picking up this section of the river  because the parking that we have long used um to   host that cleanup is no longer available for us to  park at for free. Uh the parking lot just south of   Kings of Freight under Kellogg where the boat  ramp is is the parking lot that I am referring   to. Uh since the start of 2019, we have picked up  trash in that location 21 times. 697 bags worth of   trash have been picked up at those at those  cleanups in that location. That is 5,227.50 worth of free labor that we have provided for  you. and now you want to charge us to pick up   the trash that the city is not willing to pick  up themselves. If I have 25 volunteers out there,   uh there will likely be somewhere around 15 cars  in that parking lot uh for two hours. That is $30   in parking fees uh that you will receive. And in  a year, we might pick up at that location three   to four times. Uh so that's $120 in parking fees.  You will also receive approximately $1,200 worth   of free labor from our volunteer group. Uh it  does not seem fair that the volunteers who are   picking up our city parks and rivers should  have to pay for parking for the privilege to   do so. I have two solutions um that I'd like to  entertain here. One, we give you dates for four   Saturday mornings a year and from 9:00 a.m. till  noon, you just don't ticket at that parking lot.   Uh two, you give us a specific uh special event  tag for volunteers to put in their car windows   that is valid for only the date and the time  listed. Any volunteer group, not just ours,   uh that would like to submit a request um could  do so online through a portal. Um and when these   are approved, uh tags will be given for free  parking for that event. the quicker you come   up with a solution for us, the quicker we can  return to the banks uh to pick up that trash.   Uh this area is an area that um citizens have  started to complain about. Uh in January, there   was a report done by KWCH um complaining about  this. I understand the reason for the downtown   paid parking plan. Uh even if I don't didn't  really like it. Um what I don't understand is why   considerations haven't been given to groups like  ours. I know for a fact that the city sponsored   cleanup happening this spring is facing the same  problems that we are. Uh in closing, I would just   like to say that volunteer groups like Rocha  Riverwalk cleanup crew are out here to do the   things that the city won't do. And it would seem  reasonable for the city to help us out by coming   to a solution for paid parking lots and volunteer  events that are helping our city out. Thank you. Council member Hohisel. Thank you, Mayor. Um,  know we're trying to keep the comments brief,   but I do want to express just gratitude on  behalf of the city for everything that you   and your organization has done for us. Um,  we'll be in touch. Thank you. Madame Clerk,   please call the next individual. Dina  Bolain, Government Accountability. Good evening, Mayor Woo and and the council. My  name is Dina Bolan and I'm a District 3 resident.   The big question is how do we trust the  government? The trust has been broken between the   people and their government. I believe the answer  is accountability. American taxpayers have become   discouraged and outraged. We've seen so many  stories lately about fraud and pocket lining in   every level of government. So if you want the the  people of Witchah to trust their government again,   then the law must apply to everyone equally. Trust  in government is not automatic. It is earned.   Recently, Judge Toby Krauss cut through all the  decades of red tape that blocked our progress.   Kansas now has a clear path to take our power  back. Now it's time to join the 19 other states   in calling for a conviction of states. We need to  impose term limits on Congress to stop the insider   training and re in the out of control federal  spending. Remind DC that they work for us, not   the other way around. I want this council know we  need this council to fix what has been broken. You   can start by backing these two measures. Support  SB 313, ban our state legislators from trading   stock while they're in session, and urge our  delegation about SCR1617 to pass the convention   of states resolution. The turnaround date is  February 19th. that no more delays, no more   studies. It's time for action. It's time to vote.  Let Topeka know that Witchah will be watching. We   look forward to having our leaders choosing  their people over the red tape. Thank you. Thank you, Madame Clerk. Madame Clerk,  can you please call the next individual?   Chief ES Lewis, Community Safety and  Violence Reduction in District 1. Peace be with you. My name is Chief  ES Lewis of the Royal Holy Kingdom   of Judah. My address of the office  is 1741 North Popppler. council. Gun violence affects families, officers, and  communities alike and calls for trustbased   cooperation and effective coordination to reduce  it. the Witchah Judah Restoration Committee, an   informed committee established through cooperation  with the mayor and District 1 atwater center for   discussion on the restoration of the tribe of  Judah is the proper and lawful space for this   next phase of violence reduction coordination.  Through the committee, the tribal council of   chiefs met with Chief Sullivan and Captain Moses  to define the tribal council gun buyback program.   Councilman Shepard has affirmed continuity and  we now request not only not only continuity but   focused coordination with the tribal council of  chiefs. The Holy Kingdom of Judah stands ready to   continue working with the city council police and  the Witchah Judah Restoration Committee to advance   this initiative responsibly, transparently,  and in a manner that protects public safety.   The tribal council of chiefs respectfully  requests that a council member sponsor a   motion to include gun buyback coordination as  an agenda item at the next District 1 Witchah   Judah restoration committee meeting.  The focus would be on community- based   initiatives including restoration, re-education,  rehabilitation, and firearm surrender programs.   Given the planned March 30th event, this  coordination is requested to occur within   the February 11th through March 25th window.  This request does not authorize any event,   allocate funding, or approve operational  activity. It simply ensures council stays   informed and continue these important discussions  while maintaining public safety. Thank you. Thank you. Madame Clerk, can you  please call the next individual? Helen Riker, Witchah Police Department. Hello. Um, my name doesn't matter. I'm here  to talk about DeAndre Hill. Uh, DeAndre Hill   was a resident Thank you. of District 1 until he  was killed on January 20th by the Witchaw Police   Department. I'm going to do my best to stick to  the five minutes, but DeAndre Hill and his loved   ones deserve more than five minutes of your time.  This is not some public comment on a silly sales   tax. This is about an arm of our local government  taking the life of a citizen unjustly. Everyone in   this room should be fighting to get justice  for DeAndre Hill. First, I want you to know   that you've all been emailed information about  a community uh information meeting on March 1st.   It's simply an opportunity to come and observe and  listen. You don't have to say anything, so don't   worry. If you don't uh receive it, I have flyers  and I'm happy to share them. The main reason I'm   here today, though, is to correct the portrait  of DeAndre Hill the Sheriff Jeff Easter painted   in his press conference. I finally understand the  meaning when they say, sorry, meaning of say his   name. DeAndre Hill was not a suspect. The sheriff  called him a suspect seven times in his image.   He said he was a suspect five times and he said  his name once when he was shown a mug shot from   some petty misdemeanor that had nothing to do  with anything. Uh he wasn't a suspect. He was a   man in his own home enjoying his night having a  loud boisterous conversation possibly listening   to music when he heard a knock nearly at 1:00  a.m. The knock sounded like any other knock. We   all know what how police knock and that was not  a cop knock. They're the only ones that actually   have their own name for a knock. I looked it  up. We also know how police announce themselves   and that was not it. Dandre Hill only knew that  someone had knocked on his door at 1:00 in the   morning. He asked them to stand in front of the  peepphole. Instead, officers drew their guns, took   tactical positions, and hid in a narrow, dimly lit  apartment hallway. When no one appeared, DeAndre   Hill retrieved his legally owned firearm to  investigate. He stepped out slowly and cautiously.   5 seconds later, nine shots were fired and DeAndre  Hill was dead. Say his name. DeAndre Hill did not   even have time to realize the danger outside his  door was the three Witchaw police officers. I   wonder if he knew when the first bullet struck his  body. DeAndre Hill definitely knew by bullet two,   bullet three, bullet four, bullet five, bullet  six, bullet seven, bullet eight, bullet nine.   Deandre Hill was a son, a brother, a friend of  many. He was an incredibly talented music artist,   genuinely funny and full of love. He was so deeply  loved by his co-workers and manager at Planet   Fitness that the location shut down for 36 hours  so they could mourn. DeAndre Hill was a good man,   someone I wish I had known, but I will never get  that chance because DeAndre Hill is dead. Killed   by Witchaw Police Department officers, so you  need to say his name. Police had no reason to be   knocking on Deandre Hill's door. The first mistake  in a series that showed a blatant disregard for   WPD training and policies on deescalation and  the use of lethal force causing DeAndre Hill's   unnecessary death. I have emailed you all a 20page  in-depth analysis, the case and additional copies   I have here. If you want one, the family and the  community need the truth. They need all the body   cam footage from all three officers, all police  reports related to the incident, every 911 call   leading up to it, and the training histories of  all three officers. The family needs the truth.   Dragging this out only prolongs their pain. We  all know the information will come out eventually,   and they will get justice for DeAndre Hill.  You say body cameras exist for transparency and   accountability to the public. What good are they  if we don't get to see the footage? If they're   only used to spin a false narrative, they fail in  their purpose. If it truly could not be released,   then none of it should have been released. Once  that line has been crossed, the false narrative   takes a life on its own before the truth comes  out. The version of events presented at the   press conference and repeated by the media without  independent investigation is now being treated as   fact online. As a result, everyone who loves  DeAndre Hill is being forced into impossible   position of defending his character and the  facts of the case without even having access to   the truth themselves. Watching the public post  comments like FFO, you point a gun at a cop,   you're going to die. That hug, that thug  deserved to get shot for trying to shoot   a cop. Any POS that will point a gun at a cop  deserves to die. It's not just heartbreaking,   it's retraumatizing that. These statements  compound the family's grief and pile unnecessary   cruelty onto people who are already devastated  in searching for justice for DeAndre Hill. This   brings up the city leaders and officials and  your role in compounding this family's grief.   When someone is killed by the police, silenced  from leadership is not neutral. It is a choice.   Saying you cannot comment online is a bold-faced  lie. You can and you choose not to. The mayor   and the city council are elected officials, not  employees bound by contracts. Nothing in the city,   Witchaw Charter, Kansas law, or the US or Kansas  constitution requires neutrality, proh criticism   of the police, or bars public statement during  an investigation. Political speech, including   criticism of government agencies, and expressions  of outrage or solidarity with families, is a core   constitutional right repeatedly upheld by  the courts. Your silence is not the city,   the Witchah Police Department. Your time is up.  I'm almost done, Lily. Ma'am, it's five minutes   and it's out of respect for everyone in this  room. I have one more line. I have one more   thing to say. I have one more paragraph, please.  Waw leaders have a legal authority and constitute   protection and the moral space to speak. When  they choose not to, the absence becomes its   own statement. In moments like this, leadership  is not measured by restraint. It is measured by   whether anyone is willing to stand up and say  the wrong, this is wrong, and refuse to look   away. Every single one of you has been weighed,  measured, and found wanting. Thank you very much. I will just remind this community  again, there are a lot of heated   um debates that are about to happen and out  of decorum, we ask that you don't clap so   that we can continue with decorum inside  the city council chambers. Madame clerk,   can you please call the next individual?  Hannah Hudson, the effects of AI. Hello, I am Hannah Hudson, a sophomore  in high school. I recently have made   an eight question form asking for people's  experiences and opinions on AI. I got over   50 responses. Almost all of them think  that AI needs to have more regulations.   The majority of the majority of people do not  know what how AI is made and how it affects the   environment. It takes a complex process to make  the chip itself. It takes highowered hardware,   massive data sets, specialized software and uh  sorry and rare physical materials like gallium,   cobalt and lithium. To get those rare materials,  they are mined for globally. They are then refined   using energyintensive chemical heavy process  to create AI. The process of mining for those   rare materials causes massive water pollution  and scarcity. Mining requires immense amounts   of water for processing. Mining causes  deforestation and biodiversity loss,   open pit mining and construction of infrastructure  to support it results in widespread destruction   of forest and fragile ecosystems and mining and  results of soil degradation by the disposal of   our overburdened fundamentally altered soil  composition. Mining isn't the only thing AI   uses water for. AI indirectly consumes massive  amounts of water primarily through electricity   generation and manufacturing of semiconductors,  servers, and hardwares. Beyond direct cooling,   AI uses water to maintain precise humidity levels  in server rooms. To prevent equipment damage,   water is used in a cooling tower that relies on  evaporation to remove heat, which means that water   is consumed rather than recycled. Not only is the  environment affected by a AI, but so are people.   AI is something that is trained. It is trained  by feeding massive data sets into algorithms,   allowing it to identify patterns, learn, and make  predictions. The process of training allows AI to   learn from biased, unrepresentative, or toxic  internet data. AI then internalizes it what   it learns and amplifies it. For example,  AI can internalize homophobia, racism,   and sexism. But that's just a few. People are also  being affected by AI because it allows people to   generate defakes. Deficit image of someone like  a celebrity, but they can even be of children.   These are there are laws against them in place,  but they're not completely stopping them. I see   it everywhere. They're happening in schools  and in local communities. Because of all this,   I have taken initiative by spreading awareness  online and creating a petition to regulate AI.   For all those listening, change starts  with you. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Council Member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor Hannah.  Thank you so much for being here. I know that you   reached out and I invited you to come and speak  and uh you did not hesitate to come and speak.   I think that young people like you deserve a seat  at the table, not as a transactional um action,   but as a transformational one. You're clearly  living proof that young people have a voice,   they have opinions, and I think it's  time for our city to start including   them in the policy process so we can create a  future with you there. So 10 years from now,   it's a city that you want to live, work,  learn, and play in. Thank you for being here. Madame Clerk, can you please call the next  item? Consent agenda items 1 through 12.   Council members, are there any items to be pulled?  I'm going to pull consent agenda item number nine. I see no other items to be  pulled from council members.   I will move to approve consent agenda items  1 through 12 without item number nine. Second   motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Consent agenda item number  nine is in regards to funding for web road from   central to 13th street north in district 2. This  item was uh reviewed at the January 6th meeting.   Um and I had questions regarding this project.  So um I would like to see if anyone from public   works can just reiterate uh high level what  this project will entail at $ 8.8 million. Thank you. Mayor Paul Gunelman, public  works and utilities. For the record,   uh the project will consist of widening um Web  Road um from Central to 13th Street. Um it will   be a five lane roadway for a portion of it, then  narrow down to four lanes. Um and then reintroduce   the fifth lane um northbound, specifically left  turn lane into the collegiate driveway entrance.   and then it will continue the fifth lane  north to tie into the left turn lane at   13th Street. The project will also  include sidewalk on each side of the   roadway. It will include crosswalk improvement,  signalized crosswalk improvement at the Minahal   school. There's an existing pedestrian  crosswalk there. It will be replaced and Just a second. And then also we are working with collegiate  uh school district or collegiate high school   um regarding a traffic signal  at their entrance as well.   This uh project is um includes safety improvements  which includes a sidewalk to provide space for   pedestrians or cyclists to travel as well as  reduce crashes at the intersection of Collegiate   Drive and Web Road. Thank you, Paul. I have a  couple questions regarding this. Number one,   uh the private school collegiate, will  they be paying for the traffic signal?   Yes, that is our common practice for private  drives that they would um be assessed for that   cost. And the second question is in regards to  sidewalks. I have been very adamant that uh this   stretch of the road does not require two sidewalks  both on the west and on the east side of Web Road.   Um the justification being that there's a lake  that is actually I believe Cedric County owned   uh property or Cedric County um area. So this  is not even a city of Witchah um area. Can you   address how and why there is a need for two  sidewalks? First um the web road um they're   adjacent to Beach Lake. Um the web road uh street  ride ofway has been annexed. It is within the city   of Witchah. Um, so we do have jurisdiction  over that right ofway and excuse me and per um the sidewalk ordinance um sidewalk improvements  shall be installed um by the city on both sides of   arterial streets. I want to just state for the  record um my disagreement that there should be   two sidewalks, especially at this stretch of the  road. Um I said that at the January 6 meeting and   the reason why I'm pulling it again is because I'm  not in favor of adding an additional sidewalk at   the lake that currently has no sidewalk. Um and  so again, I will state that for the record. Um   and so I don't see any further questions for  staff. So, thank you, Paul, for reiterating   this $ 8.8 million project. This now will have  public comment. Would anyone in the public like   to address the council regarding Web Road from  Central to 13th Street? I you may come up. Please   state your name, your address, or district.  And you have five minutes. Jason Wood. Um, District 4. Um, I'm going talk for about 30  seconds. Um, Mayor Woo, I'm grateful for you   and the concern about tax dollars. 100,000  here, 500,000 here, a million here adds up.   And I'm grateful for your concern. I agree with  you. There shouldn't be a sidewalk on the east   side. I think existing ordinance um could that  be rewarded to say a council vote could possibly   not have a sidewalk on one side. Um, but there's  no need for a sidewalk on that in that area. Um,   and I'm glad there's always issues getting in  and out of Collegiant there. That time of day,   I'm through there quite a bit. That is a dangerous  area. I'm glad to see that there's a light going   in there and five lanes of traffic going um  in there. That will make things safer. That's   all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wood. I  see you may come up and address the council. Hi, council. My name is Max Timsaw. Uh I live in  district 2 and I'm the vice mayor of the Witchaw   Mayor's Youth Council. I am also a current junior  at Witchah Collegiate School. Uh which is a very   uh prominent uh place that is perched right where  this discussion is kind of going to affect. Uh,   and I would just like to say that I do agree  with Mayor Woo and I know that the fellow   students that go to my school on the council  and the students who are just on my school   that I talk to on a daily basis agree that there  should not be a sidewalk put in place there. And   the reason why is because as uh the other person  who just came up here to give public comment said,   it's a really dangerous and precarious situation  trying to get out of school every day coming back   in through that web road entrance and putting  a sidewalk across from there. I don't see it as   safe. Um, and I think it would encourage people to  be walking in an area where there is a high volume   of traffic incidents. Um, and I don't think that  it's something that would benefit us and I don't   think that the use of tax dollars there is safe  or necessary. Um, but that's everything. Thank   you. Thank you, Max. I'm going to use my point of  privilege and just recognize that that the mayor's   youth council and its 20 members are present in  the room right now. So, thank you for your service   as young leaders in our community. I see no one  else who would like to address the council. I will   bring it back to the bench and ask one question uh  to the city manager. I want to know what would it   take to change the ordinance regarding requiring  two sidewalks on each side of the road? A council   vote. we can bring that forward on a future agenda  item. And so if there's a will of the council to   have that conversation, we can place it on a  future agenda item. I am interested in seeing   a possible um change to the ordinance, one that  would need to be discussed amongst the council,   but I would like to see something drafted to  make sure that again in areas that it does not   make sense to have two sidewalks that we can  have that discretion. Council member Tuttle.   Thank you. Um Paul, our city engineer, um could  you please join us for a moment at the podium? Paul, I know you've been with  us for more than three decades,   so thank you for your service to our  community. Can you please explain the   rationale for having a city ordinance for why  we have sidewalks on both sides of the street?   Well, that it's it's quite a um an ordinance has  been in place since uh well before I was started   with the city. I think it was in place in 1979.  Um I do agree that there needs to be some updates   to the ordinance um just for um various other  reasons, but um sidewalk on both sides of the   street does allow for residents on either side of  the street to utilize um that sidewalk adjacent   to their properties and uh walk around the mile  if they want to or get to other um neighborhood   um places to eat, shop, etc. So, so would I be  accurate in saying having a sidewalk on both sides   of the street, especially in that intersection,  would keep people from from having to cross   potentially one of the most traverse arterials in  our city? It could. Yes, that's exactly right. So,   having sidewalks on both sides of the street  increases the safety of people who are walking,   biking, scootering, strolling to get where they  need to go. Yes. without crossing an arterial or   or it gets them to the intersections where most  arterial intersections are signalized so they   could cross safely. Thank you. Any further  questions for staff or comments? I will not   be moving this item. Council member Tuttle.  Thank you. Um I just want to say thank you to   Paul. Thank you to Gary. We've talked about this  intersection, this corridor for quite a while. Um,   we have had four accidents, serious car  accidents at Collegiate with parents, faculty,   staff, students since August. This has been  something that Collegiate has met with Paul and   I several times about. I've had communication with  Collegiate, um, the HOAs surrounding Collegiate.   This has been a serious safety issue and it's  something that I'm quite proud that we are going   to address. As I mentioned, we've had meetings  with the schools. There's been several accidents.   We have a very clear reason for why we're doing  this and I'm glad that Collegiate has been an   outstanding partner with us. That's why we're  going to do the study for the signalization and   they have agreed that they would work with us with  paying for that if it happens. The other thing is   we've been trying to do education with parents,  with faculty, with staff, and with students   to make sure that they can be safe as they're  coming to work in school until we can get these   improvements taken care of. So, I am quite proud  of this and I will enthusiastically move that the   Witchah City Council approve the revised budget,  adopt the amending resolution, and authorize the   necessary signatures. Thank you. Motion and a  second. Any further discussion? I will just add   my comments of why I'm voting against this. It is  not because I'm not in favor of making sure that   it's safer. However, I am opposed to having two  sidewalks when especially right now on one side   of the street, which is the east side, there's a  lake, and there does not need to be justification   to have two sidewalks on this stretch of  Web Road from 13th to Central. So again,   I will be voting not in favor of this. Council  member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor, and I appreciate   the discussion that we're having here today. I  specifically want to thank Max for being out and   sharing your thoughts. Um, you're going to see me  not vote in favor of what you desire, but it does   not mean that your voice doesn't make a difference  and it does not mean that your perspective is not   taken into consideration. Um, I think one of the  things we need to do a better job, especially   when it comes to young people, um, who have, uh,  make a really big difference in our community,   is mobilizing our opinion. So, you don't think  that we're against you. Um, I'm for bike ability.   I'm for walkability. I think there are a lot  of people who don't have access to a car. Um,   but a bike is a great means of transportation  and it helps our environment, too. And in order   to do that and protect them and ensure their  safety and security, installing sidewalks is   a step in the right direction to do that. So  again, I just wanted to say thank you for being   here. You're an amazing, incredible young leader.  And if you ever want to chat more about how we   can do better job with hearing your voice, let me  know. Council member Ho Heisel. Thank you, Mayor.   Appreciate it. Uh I just want to point out that  on the southeast side of this uh district here   or this uh stretch of road, there is a bunch of  residential houses. Um it's always nice to have uh   residences being able to walk to and from parks to  and from um some of the the businesses that they   have along web there as well. So I just wanted  to bring that up. I think that's lost in this   conversation as well. I see no further discussion.  Madame clerk, can you please open the role? Motion passes 61. Madame clerk,  please call the next item.   Board of Bids and Contracts  dated February 9th, 2026. Good evening, Mayor, City Council, Josh Lober,  Department of Finance. The February 9th,   2026 board of bids and contracts  is as follows. For engineering,   we have the Blue Lake Street to  serve Blue Lake third edition phase   2 for Apac Kansas Incorporated Cheers  Division in the amount of $332,121.75. For purchasing, we have the ARC  GIS Enterprise Advantage Program   three-year item for Environmental Systems Research   Institute doing business as Ezri for the  aggregate three-year total of 726,000.   We have the Witchaw Fire Department Uniform  and Uniform Equipment Accessories Management   Program change order for Gauls LLC for  the estimated annual usage of $36,88857. We have the Witchaw Police Department uniform  and uniform equipment accessories management   program change order for Gauls LLC for the  estimated annual usage of 1,240,711.80. And we have the welding gas exchange  order for Lampton Welding Supply Company   Incorporated for an aggregate total  estimated annual usage of $49,47.80. This is how to become a vendor with the  city. This is our purchasing calendar of   small business resource partner events that  the city's hosting or participating in. And   these are open public opportunities out on the  street today. And I'd be happy to try to answer   your questions and recommend your approval.  Thank you, Josh. Questions for staff? I see   none. I move to approve the board of bids and  contracts dated February 9th, 2026. Second.   Motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes. 70. Madame clerk, please  call the next item. Petitions for public   improvements. Good evening, mayor,  city council members. Paul Gonzelman,   public works and utilities. For the record, I have  new and revised petitions for your consideration   tonight. The signatures on the petitions represent  100% of the improvement districts. The petitions   are valid per Kansas statute. Arveda second  edition located in district 5. The project   will provide water and sewer improvements  required for a new residential development.   and Shereice Point Edition located in district 4.  On August 19th, 2025, the city council approved   water improvements required for a new residential  development. The developer has submitted a revised   petition with revised budget to reflect current  market conditions. It is recommended the city   council approve the new and revised petitions and  budgets, adopt the new and amending resolutions,   and authorize the necessary signatures. and I will  stand for questions. Thank you, Paul. Questions   for staff? I see none. I move to approve the  board uh petitions for public improvements. Second   motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk, please  call the next item. Resolutions regarding   administrative administration of sales  tax proceeds and establishment of sales   tax relief and Witchaw Homestead  property tax relief programs. Good evening, Mayor Woo and council members. It's  a pleasure to be with you this evening. As you   have in front of you on your agenda item tonight,  we have a series of referendums that reflect   ongoing conversation from the mayor and council  basically over the last two months as you've   considered the 1% sales tax referendum that will  be put on the ballot for voters on March 3rd. This   is um as we think about it from the staff side,  what I would consider the implementation plan.   How will this um ballot initiative be implemented  if passed? Um, but what we have in front of you   are eight resolutions for you to consider. They  reflect different conversations that we've heard   from council members. It's kind of a uh pick and  choose the terms of how much you want to have for   guard rails on the different initiatives if the uh  sales tax passes. And so what you see is there are   five initiatives in there related to property  tax relief, housing and homeless initiatives,   capital improvements for public safety, as well  as investment in convention center, century 2,   and the performing arts center. The establishment  of these resolutions will set in place the   guidelines that this council wants to see should  the referendum move forward in what we call the   guard rails. How will we administer the funds?  how will they have um parameters around them?   But also there's a conversation on the third  bullet there. Is there some type of sales tax   relief that we can provide from the city side if  there is an increase in the local sales tax? And   one of those specifically relates to what we're  calling the Witchaw Homestead property tax relief   program. Um, as we highlighted, um, we do have  different resolutions in there. And number 29,   as we call 26049, does talk about some of  the tax use and oversight, a general one. Um,   but it does highlight that the, um, ordinance does  call for a up to 15 member oversight committee.   It does have parameters, one from each council  district and a mayoral appointment. What this   resolution would further clarify is that you would  have other stipulated representation for those   who are members or representatives of continuum  of care related to some of our housing issues,   the affordable housing community as well as the  public safety community. We do have in there   already established from the um ordinance that  they will review the expenditures again with the   adopted guard rails which does include at least  one fiscal audit each year. This um proposal to   re um refresh everyone is a 7-year proposal that  is anticipated to generate $850 million. The um   proposal will be um terminated at the conclusion  of the seven years or the raising of $850 million,   whatever occurs first should it pass. Um also  there is um an opportunity for the committee to   recommend different actions over the course of the  seven years um should this pass. And then again,   it also has some specific um opportunity to  weigh in on the maintenance and operations   of a performing arts center. If you go through  and what I'd like to do is go through the entire   presentation tonight. I know we said we have eight  different resolutions for your consideration.   I'll go through the high level, some of the  differences of those and then let you have   the conversation about what guard rails council  wants to put in place for each of the initiatives.   Um also part of this this resolution does  outline we will maintain a digital dashboard   about revenues generated how revenues were  expended. We'll have public and transparent   documents on the city website as we do for  other funds currently. We will also continue   to highlight that all the funds can be invested  and will be invested through the city's existing   pool fund investment policy that we currently  have in place. And then also we will use   um our existing city purchasing um policies and  processes for all the projects or initiatives   within the sales tax. So again our same processes  will continue and apply to those initiatives if   supported by the sales tax. We do have again also  another consideration for you as um is proposed   in some of the information that's on the agenda  item tonight. There are two approaches. staff was   um suggesting that as money comes in that the  money be attributed or deposited into each of   the five initiatives based upon the different  amounts to be raised for each initiative.   There's been conversation among council about  prioritizing the five initiatives, specifically   the three initiatives to get the first 300 million  of the 850 million proposed with the sales tax   saying that you want to see the funds directed  first to homeless and housing public safety and   property tax relief. Um so the um revenue would  be allocated um according to the ballot language   um that 850 will go to all of those um five  different projects, but you can stipulate the   first 300 going to these priority areas if you so  choose. Um also you will highlight again that we   are lobbying the state for an exemption of the  sales tax on the grocery tax. We do not have an   answer on that and we may not have an answer on  that this year or even next year. But based upon   your feedback and your efforts in Topeka, staff  will continue to work with our lobbying and our   legislative delegation to see if we can get that  grocery tax exemption should this pass. If not,   we also say council was um open to exploring sales  tax relief options and we have those available   for you tonight. Um, as we're talking about  the first 300 million, um, as of now, we want   to make sure people understand how the revenues  flow. If this is um, adopted by voters in March,   the sales tax will be implemented on July 1, and  that will start being charged to all goods and   services purchased within the city limits starting  July 1. there's a lag time with the collections   and those first stream of revenues would not  be received by the city until approximately   November of 2026. And so staff has outlined the  revenue projections by year showing that we only   have half a year collection even less in 2026 is  why you see the 37.7 million is the anticipated   revenue. But then you see based upon some prior  performance of the sales tax, we can anticipate or   are projecting that the revenues will grow about  3% a year. And so you can see how that is factored   in in 2027. We'd estimate 116 million would come  in and then on to 120 million in 28 and so on.   Um if you do divide the um funding by priority,  if you want to fund 300 million as the first money   into the property tax, public safety, and homeless  housing initiative, that means basically in 2026,   we'd be able to deposit roughly 12.6 million  into each of those three priority areas if you   so choose. I know there's some other conversation  about ensuring that there is a property tax relief   and we can come back to this slide during that  conversation where we have some other numbers   there about the 20 the 8.8 and 8.8 but um this  does reflect in this slide right here that you   would generate the 100 million in each of the  three buckets for property tax, public safety and   homelessness and housing generally by 2029. And so  that would be the first 300 million and the other   priorities of the convention center and performing  arts would not start receiving funding until 2029   as projected on that slide. If you choose not  to do a prioritization of the different five   initiatives, the money would just go in based  upon the amount anticipated or expected to be   raised for each of the five initiatives. If you  look at the total amount, the sales tax proposal   that voters will be considering would generate 150  million on the far right column for property tax,   225 million for public safety, 250 million for  the convention center, 75 million for perform   performing arts center, and then 150 million for  the homelessness housing coming for the total of   850 million over the 7-year program. looking at um  specifically resolution 2605. Now there's option   one about the performing arts. It does incorporate  language regarding compliance with all procurement   processes, but it also says that none of the sales  tax proceeds will be expended until a minimum of   $50 million of private funds have been pledged  or collected for the new downtown Performing   Arts Center. That is a clarifying language that  council can determine if you'd like to include   in the resolution. If you look, there's a second  option for you for resolution 2650. Option two,   it doesn't have that minimum of 50 million to be  raised by the private sector. So, council gets to   determine if you're comfortable using the sales  tax proceeds first in conjunction or afterwards   is really the question with um those that uh two  resolutions as it relates to private fundraising.   If you look then on the public safety resolution  51, again it does incorporate language regarding   compliance with all the city procurement. It also  highlights that the public safety question is   specific to capital improvement talking about  facilities, equipment, buildings, different   things. Um, and it will not be used for personnel  costs. So it's just a guard rail or a restatement   that it will not be used for operating or  personnel costs. If you look at option two there,   the key difference between the two resolutions  is a third bullet. It requires that maintenance   projects will be given the funding priority.  As you think about the capital needs for the   um both police and fire and public safety, that  will be a focus. And if you choose to use that um   resolution option two, if you look at the Century  2 renovation, I want to highlight again a guard   rail there. Again, city procurement processes  will of course be followed, but the second bullet   refers to city council policy 38. This requires  advisory election prior prior to any demolition   of Century 2. There's no plans for that. Um, that  has not been a discussion, but again, there are   some in the community who have raised concerns  about what might happen to Century 2. This again   is just a restated guard rail that there is no  intent to do that but should there be something   that evolves over the seven years it would take  an advisory election. Also um that highlights   there the third bullet is doing a parking study  would be conducted with or before the expansion   of the convention center to make sure we factor  in parking needs for that initiative. Property   tax oversight. Um you'll see option one if the  revenues do not equal or exceed the 20 million   um it will be proportionally leveled levied  I'm sorry and then option two stipulates that   there will be a four mill reduction shall be  provided is the language. So council um will   have a conversation if you want to guarantee four  mills every year starting in 26 27 and beyond. Um   that will be for your discussion tonight when you  look at resolutions 2653 1 and two. Looking at   resolution 26054 we have our housing and homeless  assistance fund. As one resolution highlights   we would do a gradual increase in operational  funding for the low barrier homeless shelter.   um right now currently is second light where  we would start with a limited amount of funding   in 2026 to supplement federal funding at the  690,000 level that would be expended but then   would rise to 2.7 million in 2027. It also would  use additional funds of the 150 to be generated   over the seven years for wraparound services,  but also the overall function is to create an   endowed fund to generate operating funds for  our homeless shelter needs going forward. Um,   and certainly it does stipulate that all  interest will be in a separate account and   reinvested into the housing and homeless fund. Um  the difference here is that there's a stipulation   on option number two that no more than 5 million  of the principal may be expended annually for any   of the priority expenditures. So the council  discussion can focus around a dollar amount if   you want to cap or max or have a minimum. You can  have that conversation but again it would be to   use operating expenses for low barrier homeless  shelter and then again the interest would be   reinvested. This is uh hard to see, I know, but  we did want to show on the housing and homeless   initiative that 150 million is stipulated on the  ballot to be generated over the seven years. And   based upon if we can uh change our investment  strategy and reach some investment tools or   instruments that would generate 5% in investment  income versus what we're calling our standard 3%.   There is a funding scenario that after seven years  121 almost 122 million would be generated as the   principal or what we call the corpus amount to  generate interest then to fund the operational   needs for housing and homeless services for an  ongoing basis. So the question is 150 is to be   generated. The plan is to use some of that 150  for operational expenses over the seven years,   but to end the seven years with approximately  121 million. And then um again for council's   consideration, if you want to relieve some of the  city taxpayers or offset some of the sales tax   um revenue for those who are property tax owners,  there are two suggestions in here that we can   adopt our equivalent of a local low-income  energy assistance program. Um this would   mirror the federal energy assistance program  which does have a 55 per year per household   um offset for taxes paid on food and groceries. Um  in the past there were 9,720 WTO households that   did receive the federal utility assistance in what  we call the winter months 2425 and so that was   534,600 that was returned to Witchdaw taxpayers.  If you want to do something similar, that would be   a $534,000 um incumbrance that we would have  to charge to the general fund to offset the   sales tax. Um then we also have for you what um is  also been a state program, the homestead refund.   Um another opportunity to use from state income  tax returns. We did a similar program to what the   state was doing in 2024. We had 522 taxpayers  who did receive assistance from that program.   Um but it actually um from that state program  they're really kind of three different related   programs. So I want to make sure it's not a one  for one program. The state had three programs that   had 522 taxpayers receiving assistance for about  $89,000 or $171 for each taxpayer that received   the benefit. And again, this would come from the  city's general fund. And then lastly, um, as you   go through the different resolutions tonight, this  really again is for you to set the guard rails for   you to communicate what you want as a council by  majority vote to let voters know if they go to the   polls in the referendum. Again, how you'd instruct  staff kind of as the implementation for the sales   tax should it pass on March 3rd. So, um, I do  want to highlight certainly the work of city staff   on this, particularly our legal law team, Sharon  Degraph. um spent a lot of time on the resolutions   and can certainly help walk you through if you  want to make some amendments. Um but we have   had everyone from our budget and finance team,  certainly our city management team and office   communications and everyone working on this. And I  do want to highlight for the citizens, we do have   uh this information and the draft resolutions  are on the city website witchah.govback ballot question. So happy to take questions  and we can walk through any suggestions   uh to the resolutions. Thank you. Thank you,  city manager. Questions for staff beginning   with council member Glasscop. Thank you, mayor.  Given that sometimes our questions up here are   long- winded and it's an evening meeting and we  have a lot of people that want to speak, I would   make a motion that we hold our questions given  that there are probably going to be questions   from the public as well and that we would move to  public comment. I would support that second. Yeah.   motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. This means that we will start  with public comment first. Please state your name,   the district that you reside, and you will  have five minutes to address the council. George Theo Harris, 2115, South Chiakqua.  As you can see, I have the scales of justice   here. Almost didn't get him in. I think they  thought I was going to impale someone with him,   and that would be a sad thing with that. But  uh anyhow, I was at the DAB meeting and I told   uh that the DAB that if this passes, if this  passes um that I would not come here and talk   to you guys anymore, but my dad used to watch  wrestling and they would have a I quit match   and then they would quit if they lost. But two  or three years later, they'll come back. So,   if it passes, I'll meet be back in two or three  years. But what I wanted to say is I I think and   a lot of the people in here will probably say the  same thing. I think you guys almost cut off your   fa your nose to spite your face. And why I say  that is because um I really believe myself and   all of you by August could have made people  understand uh how how this would have worked.   Um I I have the scales of justice and here's  the one set this this represents the one cent   sales tax. It's just a penny. I know it's not a  penny. It's one cent sales uh one cent sales tax,   but you can see it's already swaying. This is  the $170,000 we paid for the extra election it   represented. Of course, it's not 170,000,  but what I wanted to say is if you would   have waited till August, I think all the money  that we would have saved for all these programs. Well, it outweighs it outweighs it outweighs  the the penny and 70 170 cents. I must   have spent some of that money cuz it  was doing it earlier. But but anyhow,   so all I'm wanting to say is this is a shirt. So,  I don't think you guys know. I have like five five   uh voices in my head and two of them are  saying yes and two are saying no. So,   I guess we'll have to just wait and see on March  3rd. But um thank you and um I will go now. And no one got in paid. That's much easier to follow than a few speakers  ago. I think. Good evening, mayor and city council   members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak  tonight. I'm Kent Miracle and I live in District   2. I'm here as a citizen, a business leader, and  someone who cares deeply about Witchah's future.   You're weighing five major initiatives tied  to the proposed 1% sales tax. All five matter:   public safety, infrastructure, economic vitality,  quality of life. They're all necessary investments   that strengthen every resident and position  Witchah for long-term success. But one stands   out. one stands out as the most immediate and  imperative, addressing homelessness. Because while   all five strengthen our city broadly, this one  determines how we treat those most in need today,   our homeless neighbors. 17 years ago, I got sober.  Before that, I endured five years of onagain,   off-again homelessness. During that time, I wasn't  contributing to the tax base. I was drawing from   it. ER visits, hospital beds, arrests, jail,  and state funded, which means taxpayerf funded   treatment facilities. I wasn't a bad person. I  was just a broken one. What changed my life was   structure and accessible services together. And  now, thanks to Second Light, for the first time,   those services are under one roof. Today, I'm  sober. I work. I pay taxes. I give back. I serve   on the boards of Second Light and the Coalition  to End Homelessness. So, I get to see firsthand   the measurable progress being made and how much  more quickly we could help many more people with   stable funding. Second Light, it's an innovative  communitydriven model Witchah has never undertaken   before. It combines low barrier shelter with  partners and nonprofits that provide coordinated   on-site services to stabilize individuals and  move them toward housing and self-sufficiency. All   toward the goal of functional zero homelessness.  This model is already proven in other markets   and here in Witchah, it is already working. We're  serving more people. We're seeing people move into   housing. Guests are telling us this is different.  And we're seeing this during partial operations   under emergency winter shelter conditions. For the  first time, we are not just managing homelessness.   We are reducing it. When something works, the  next step isn't hesitation. It's acceleration.   Acceleration requires funding. And funding Second  Light is not just compassion. It's sound fiscal   policy. Witchah bears spiraling costs through  emergency rooms, police calls, fire response,   and overextended service providers. Study after  study shows it costs far more to leave someone   on the street than to provide structured shelter  and services that move them towards stability.   Second light is infrastructure. It lowers public  costs. It improves public safety. It strengthens   neighborhoods. And it restores dignity. Witchah  is a compassionate city. We care too much to   leave people on sidewalks when we have a proven  solution. All five of these initiatives matter,   but this one determines whether we continue paying  the highest price for homelessness or invest in   a solution that reduces suffering and reduces  costs at the same time. I urge you to support the   1% sales tax and ensure Second Life Shelter Plus  Services receives the funding necessary to scale   what is already succeeding. When Witchah invests  in stability for our most vulnerable citizens,   all of Witchah wins. Thank you so much for  your time and your service and God bless you. Council member Hoheisle. Thank you, Mayor.  Um Kent, thank you for sharing your story.   Irregardless of anybody's  position on the sales tax,   please continue to share your story because it  it means a lot to people who are fighting on   the streets and fighting those demons and it  matters a lot to those of us who have people   that we care about and it gives us hope that  maybe a turnaround is around the corner. So,   thank you for sharing, sir. Council  member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor Kent.   Congratulations on 17 years of sobriety  and thank you also for sharing your story. Good evening. Thank you mayor and council  for this opportunity to speak. I'm Jennifer   Zambbecki from District 6. I not only want  to thank you for this opportunity to speak,   I want to thank everyone here for engaging in  civic discourse. It is a joy and a privilege to   have this freedom to speak like this and speak out  and I don't take it for granted. I don't take any   of you for granted and I am grateful for everyone  here and for this opportunity. I want to express   my support to you all for the guard rails that  you have facilitated and for whatever decision   that you make this evening. I trust you and I  think any plan for progress is better than no   plan. I was unable to make the last couple of  meetings. And so for just a couple of minutes,   I want to speak more broadly to the plan. When  I think about this initiative, I think back and   I think forward and I think up. I think back to  all of the uh attempts that Witchah has made to   make big plans. I think about visionering Witchah  and master planning and more. And I've been a part   of many of those groups. And I'm grateful to the  Witchah Forward group who pulled together ideas   from the last 30 years to bring a proposal forward  for progress. Then I think forward in time,   seven years. It's 2033. Everybody adds seven  years to your age. Everybody adds seven years   to your oldest child's age. And everybody think  about 2033. There will be a different council   and no one's going to remember this campaign.  Instead, we're going to be celebrating fire   and police capital improvements. We're going to  be celebrating sustainable funding for Second   Light. We're going to be celebrating improved  facilities at Century 2. I would love to go to   the bathroom without freezing my tail off at a  winter event at Century 2. That sounds amazing   and I'm for it. And we're going to be celebrating  a world-class performing arts center our symphony   and music theater can be proud of. I strongly  believe that we will be passing our next sales   tax in seven years because like every other large  city that dared greatly to propose a bold plan,   we're going to find that this one is great for  Witchah. So then I think up or more accurately I   think about Witchah from far above the earth  where Witchah is in view along with Tulsa,   Oklahoma City, Kansas City and Omaha. all cities  with sales taxes along with property taxes and   fees. They have a stable three-legged stool  and as of now Witchah does not. I think about   all the progress of those cities and I want that  progress for Witchaw too. So every direction I   look I see a plan that ultimately helps Witchah  win. Thank you again for the opportunity. Good evening. Uh my name is Pete Nara and I'm the  president and CEO of your United Way of the Plains   here in Witchah. We're headquartered at 245 North  Water Street, uh District 6 under the leadership   of Maggie Ballard. Um and so we're thank you for  allowing me to speak today. I think uh many of you   know my background. Um I'm a student of public  service. I've been educated in public service.   I've spent four decades in public service and  so um what I'm about to say I mean from the   heart while others might be skeptical but I want  to thank the city council for the work you've   been doing on this special election and the work  you're going to do tonight to put in a thoughtful   structure on how to manage a new funding stream  that would be created on March 3rd should the vote   pass. I want to applaud your efforts for providing  more transparency to the process, for being   thoughtful on prioritization, for strengthening  accountability, and for incorporating citizen   oversight every step of the way. The work in  this regard should give us all more confidence in   um your stewardship of taxpayer dollars and I  applaud the steps you're taking to strengthen   civic trust in public institutions like local  government. This proposal on March 3 is worth the   effort and should it pass, the benefits will be  measured for decades in a safer community in more   productive citizens with a solid roof over their  head and with a growing local economy powered   in a very new way with the help of taxes paid by  visitors who don't live here but want to be here.   For those who are skeptical, I hope they take  note of these resolutions that will help ensure we   will get what we are voting for and that it will  give them the confidence to bet on ourselves to   create the community we desire and to uh have the  future we all hope for. Of the many benefits uh   this proposal will bring, a yes vote in particular  would strengthen the complex multi-layer system we   have in place now to achieve functional homeless  zero homelessness by appropriately resourcing   second light shelter which is critical to our  full spectrum of services in Witchah uh from   street outreach all the way to affordable housing.  We are on the verge of being only the 15th city in   the nation to achieve functional zero homelessness  in our veteran population. And a revenue stream   that funds Second Light will bring us even closer  to this goal. It would even expedite it and would   allow us to expand more quickly to address  homelessness of women and families of foster   children aging out of the system, the disabled,  seniors, and the chronically homeless with   mental health and addiction challenges. Just this  afternoon, I attended another thoughtful lunchon   to learn more about the special election on March  3rd and the investments we can make in the future   of our city if we vote yes. And it is not hard  to see how other thriving communities across the   Midwest are succeeding in this exact same way and  how a yes vote will pave the way for a safer and   more prosperous Witchah for all. Over the past few  weeks and thanks to the hard work of this council,   the ongoing community conversation has brought  life to a vision we can all benefit from for   decades to come. And together, a yes vote  can unlock the potential of our community   and foster the conditions where we can all  thrive. It's a chance to bet on ourselves   and with our own grit and determination, bring  our future forward and make our city great. Now,   March 3rd is our generational opportunity to  make a better tomorrow for our children and   our grandchildren. And together, we can  make it so. Thank you for your efforts. Hello, my name is Kian Cala and I live in District  6. I did not come with a five-page essay. Um,   this is actually the very first council meeting  I've ever been to. Um, and I thank you for the   opportunity to speak. I have a lot of doubts  about any benefit that will happen from this   tax bill. As much as we have heard a lot  of grandiose and large speaking about what   is going to happen with the money that is  going to be allocated to different funds,   I heard tonight that the Century 2 funding  is not going to be happening until 2029.   which is as an employee of Century 2 and  working there often I have seen the decay   of that building from the inside. There are  whole sections that cannot be accessed due to   asbestous still. Um there are have been a lot  of more safety regulations that have been put   in in that building to keep employees safe like  me as we have been navigating that as the union   um the uh IATI group that is there local 190 um is  very on top of things. But the fact of the matter   is is that that that building needs funding  way sooner than 2029. It is already in really   bad shape. Um, beyond that, as a person who has  been frequently and on the edge of homelessness,   funding one shelter and allocating that money  to one place is not keeping as many people out   of homelessness as it could be. As good as Second  Light is, I have never benefited from it. And as   many people as have, I don't want to, you know,  say that that's bad. It is great that we are   sending money there, but one place is not going  to fix all of the people who are constantly on   the edge of losing their housing. I am a part  of the tenants union, the ICT tenants union,   and we have been trying to get more eyes on the  fact that even me have had moments where we're not   able to pay our rent and have to ask the community  to make sure we don't end up on the street.   My wife and I have lived in like four different  cities in the past year because we cannot find   stable housing and it is hard to access both as a  queer person and as a trans person. I have faced   a lot of discrimination even in this city where  people will say that it's not because we're trans   or it's not because we're queer, but it definitely  is. All of that being said, the 1% sales tax is   reductive. It does not feel like it is going to  do much for our lowincome people and a lot of us   are going to end up paying it while the people  at the top do not. So the poor, the lowincome   are going to be paying more to fund the things  that are supposed to help them. That does not   make sense to me and to a lot of people. I would  also like to know more about Witchah Forward and   how they are going to benefit from all of this as  not a whole lot has been said tonight about the   three people who have brought up the sales tax  in the first place as the past meetings I can't   say anything about that yeah this is my first  time but all of that being said I appreciate the   opinion the place to make my opinions heard and  I thank you for your time council member Hohisel   thank you mayor I appreciate you coming up. Um  that is an interesting point on Century 2. Um   that is something I think maybe we can bring up in  discussion here in a bit. Um I would also mention   it's not all going to Second Light. There's also  funding the city's affordable housing plan. Um   $10 million a year that would go into that.  We've had some pretty big cuts from the feds   in the state here lately as far as um programs  such as emergency shelter vouchers that have been   cut from Congress that we can actually use some  of this affordable housing funding to help them   as well and hopefully get more affordable housing  units built um quality housing as well. And and   also to one of your points that you made, if you  do feel like you've been discriminated against,   uh we do have our non-discrimination ordinance.  Um so please feel free to reach out to any of   your council members um and talk about that  process going through that if again if you feel   like you have been uh discriminated against.  So I appreciate you. You did a great job for   uh your first time here and just feeling like just  standing up and saying what you what you feel. So,   I do appreciate that, Council Member Shepard.  Thank you, Mayor Gian. Uh, you were a force at the   institution and you're a force still today. Um,  I'm proud of you as a former student of mine. Um,   but also as a resident and a young person who  continues to share your lived experiences boldly.   I want to affirm and validate what you've said  as an LGBTQ member myself that discrimination   does exist and not just for our community, but  for other communities as well. So, I want to   take the time to validate your experience. I also  understand that you don't have trust and I would   be foolish to not affirm that there are a lot of  people who feel that way. But I'm committed to   earning your trust. I'm committed to earning the  trust of people who feel that we've not done a   good job. And I know that all of my colleagues are  ready and willing to do that as well. So no matter   how this turns out on March 3rd, March 4th, let's  wake up and let's reconcile and build a stronger   city together for everybody and not just some of  us. I have a question for the city manager or law.   Uh there are two resolution there's one resolution  with two options that would be resolution 26-049 that is pertaining to the use and oversight of  the sales tax proceeds. I want to make sure that   one of the guard rails I had proposed which  is no special favors to individuals who are   part of the yes or the no campaigns uh is  codified in those resolutions and I believe   uh law can tell me is that option number for both  items option one and two it's item number 11 is   that accurate yes can you read item number 11  for Yes, we need to stand up. So, this is great. Uh, Sharon Degraph, city law department. Um,  number 11 reads that all contracts will be   awarded following compliance with the city's  purchasing and procurement processes unless   approved by vote of the city council. No  bid or sole source contracts should be are   permitted should be are not permitted. Um  no special treatment will be given to any   business entity or organization  in the awarding of any contract.   Thank you. And that is in both options.  Correct. Yes. Thank you. We will proceed. My name is Brad Jeff. I'm in District 6.  I've recently came back home after spending   12 years in Oklahoma City. Um, while my time in  Oklahoma City, I became aware of a maps program,   metropolitan area projects. From what I've seen of  that, that is the best road map that we could use   in order to get this sales tax through right now.  Uh, the way that the sales tax is being presented,   I'm not sure I'm 100% behind it. Um what we don't  have is a detailed statement of work of what is   going to be done, what areas are going to get this  money within these broad uh bullets. In Oklahoma,   they have all this spelled out. This is where this  amount of dollars are going to go. This gets that   amount of dollars, but we don't have that here.  There's also no um on the public safety. There's   no um comprehensive plan on how we're going to  maintain these buildings or these improvements   that they're going to make. Um there's no  preventive maintenance program called out a budget   for that. Um I'm hearing that Witchaw has a lot of  deferred maintenance that hasn't been taken care   of. How's that going going to be addressed? U that  was be would be something that needs to be in this   plan. Um Century 2 versus the new performing arts  building. As a teenager, I was a stage hand at   uh Century 2 at Kansas Coliseum. Uh Century 2  at the time was state of art facility. Still   could be. I've gone to a Broadway show in in New  York. I've gone to Broadway shows in Chicago,   Oklahoma City. Last time I was in one here.  The facility was on par with what u what I   had seen elsewhere. Now, today I contacted the  city manager's office and they provided me a   uh study that was done approximately 10 years ago  on improvements that need to be made to Century   2. That should be a road map because we really  don't need duplicated facilities. There is a   great theater inside that building. It just needs  to be repaired and brought up to speed. Otherwise,   if you're going to build this performing  arts center, tear Century 2 down and come   up with something else. It doesn't make any sense  having two facilities. Um, as far as the homeless,   I learned something tonight that, uh, I'm  proud Witchah is doing. The gentleman came   up and spoke about it. I didn't know about  that here in Oklahoma. I did some volunteer   work and my experience with the homeless. They  were either addicted or they were mentally   ill and they didn't have a whole lot to fall back  on down there. Where's our money going to go here?   What facilities? What hospitals? How's that money  going to be spent? If you want my vote for yes,   you need to spell that out. And then the last  thing is um the property tax. $150 million over   seven years. How's that going to break out into  savings for each taxpayer, each homeowner? To me,   it doesn't look like that's going to be that big  of a savings. And if it isn't going to be that big   of a savings, put that money to use elsewhere. So,  that's my put on it. And uh yeah, any questions? Thank you, Council Member Hoheisle. Thank you, Mayor. Uh,  just one point, sir. I would point you towards   um the Haven for Hope in San Antonio. That is  the model that our shelter is built off of. So,   it has supportive services there. Um, addiction  counseling, addiction therapy, um, mental health,   calm care will be in the building. um our housing  department as well. So that's the model that we're   going after to have uh essentially whatever  the reason is that you are homeless to be able   to have it addressed in one space. Yeah, I was  glad to hear that uh that we have this facility,   this volunteer facility. Like I said, down there  in Oklahoma, we didn't. And what we found was the   near homeless uh are people that didn't have the  life skills. Nobody ever taught them how to make   to do a budget. Nobody taught them uh what they  need to sign a lease, what's a good lease, what's   a bad lease. You know, they they just didn't have  the life skills for whatever reason. Yep. We're   trying to get it all. That's something else uh  would be nice to be covered. I appreciate that.   Thank you, sir. City Manager, can you go to slide  number 37 regarding the property tax oversight? Oh, sorry. The the property tax slide is number  13 on Mills. There we go. Thank you. Number 36.   uh can you just reiterate option number two and  what that would spell out regarding property tax?   So as of now the plan is if the initia passes  we would take the sales tax generated um it is   to generate 150 million over the seven years but  on an annual basis we had how the funding stream   would come in um depending upon how you might  prioritize or not in 26 but certainly in 27 and   on and beyond. Um to get a four mill reduction  we need to have at least $20 million generated   every year. And so $20 million would help lower  the current sales tax I think from roughly 36   mills by four mills or would be 12%. So it' be a  12% reduction in the property tax if you reduce   it by four mills. A correction the current mill  is 32 mills. Thank you. Um if it gets reduced   by four ms that would be 28 ms. Uh, so is it  accurate to say that a 4 mil reduction is a   12% reduction Yes. in property taxes? Yes, I have  the percentage right, not the number. Yes, 12%. We'll proceed with public comment. Good evening. Landa Daser, District One. Proud  member of District 1. And I'm starting to feel   like a broken record, but I'm going to keep saying  this until we actually have our vote. So, we going   to lead off with earning trust. I think everybody  around us all agree housing is important. The   homeless community are important. The fire  departments are important. All of those things   are important. But the thing that's missing, the  earning the trust part, is that it was rushed.   It was not detailed and outlined how we will  expend the funds even talking about the property   tax after seven years if it's built up x amount.  So does that mean that as a homeowner I get relief   in seven years? What what does that even mean as  a homeowner? I have a daughter that has an amazing   job. It's still hard to find a place to live. And  so we talk about helping the ones that, you know,   that don't actually have a place, but the people  that work hard every day, they're struggling as   well. And they won't qualify for any of these  breaks that we're talking about because they   have a job, but we all know the wage in Witchah  is not booming like we wanted to. And so people   that work hard every day, they're struggling as  well. And so we talk about our housing program.   What does that actually mean for the people that  work hard every day and still can't find a place   to live that they can afford? And then there's  other things that we wouldn't talk to about.   Child care is killing our our people that are  working. 250 a week per child is hurting a lot   of people. That could have been one of the things  one of the measures that we were voting on is a   um helping again people that work hard get some  type of relief so they can feel okay. Um, we talk   about prioritization. Again, citizens were not  asked what our priorities were. Some, you know,   we said it was a bad joke. A banker, uh, you know,  those three people walk into city hall and say,   "This is what we need." But we didn't ask the  everyday workingass person, "What is that we   need to actually move Witchah forward?" And so,  earning trust, we could have taken a step back.   We still can take a step back, outline these  things because we all know a ordinance that is   derived in this city hall can be changed on any  given day. Any day the ordinance can be changed,   but the what we vote on March 3rd is the law.  And so again, talk about earning trust. There   is no trust when it can be changed whenever at the  will of anybody. And as a matter of fact, when we   just heard the um what we talked about who can get  services, it said in there, if I heard correctly,   unless the city council votes on it. So that means  there's still a caveat for somebody to get in   that you all just said won't get in. So again,  it's still too too many too much wiggle room,   too many uh maybe. So even our our our guardrails  that we're talking about tonight are not strong   guard rails. And so again, we talk about earning  trust. We all want these things for Witchah. We   all do want to move forward, but we want it  to make sense. And we all know that have been   paying attention. Our police department has been  funded pretty well over the years. They even got   bonuses to stay and I don't even know how many  left. Got the $5,000 and hit it. So, we've done a   lot of things to uphold and uplift our our police  department. So, I think we should have separated   public safety. Fire should have been separate from  police because fire is the ones that have been   neglected. And so, again, and then also, I'm going  keep saying this, the p the um budget for public   safety WPD has been padded by $32 million. that  equals six months of taxes that was put in this   measure that was not in the CIP fund. So again, we  talk about earning trust. We need to back it up,   do it over, and that's really earn the trust of  the citizens. And as a representative, District 1,   there's nothing in there that helps uplift the the  heart of District 1 that has been neglected over   and over again. There's no infrastructure. There's  there's nothing that actually builds up that   community. So anyway, let's really earn the trust.  Let's dial it back. Let's do it over and let's   make it Witchita really move forward. Thank you,  Council Member, Vice Mayor Glascock. Thank you,   Mayor. I just want to call Sally up to answer a  specific question. If you have the ordinance in   front of me, the previous speaker had talked about  there's nothing to help people at the margins,   specifically renters or homeowners. on resolution  2654 specifically page two item E and F. Could you   talk more about those two items? Sure. So the  plan does include it if option one were to be   selected funding outside of not just for Second  Light, excuse me. Um, additionally the, you know,   a million dollars towards other homeless services,  but then t a $10 million a year investment,   not all from the sales tax, right? About 31,000  31 million coming through the sales tax over seven   years, but um leveraging other funds to be able  to invest $10 million a year towards affordable   housing development. And that is development um  at the would be at 80% of area median income. Um,   so for a family of four, so you can make  $75,000 a year and benefit from programs   like that. So that's down payment assistance,  development assistance. It can be set up for   um rent assistance or utility assistance. It  really depends. Uh it was written in a way so that   uh RFPs would be done annually to address needs  on an annual basis. Awesome. Thank you. Can can   you go to slide number 39? That is actually the  one that shows the breakdown. I know it's really   hard to read. The wrong way. Yes. Is this what  you were referring to? Correct. Can you just kind   of one more time highlight just because there's  now a visual aid to correspond with what you're   saying? Sure. So um this the breakdown on this  does assume prioritization meaning that that the   housing and homeless fund would get uh funding  up to 100 million in the first three years that   helps to create this reserve fund or endowment  as people are calling it. Um what is presented   here shows quarterly funding that would come into  the endowment and then expenditures going out. So,   um, you'll see, for example, in the second  line, you see a reduction of $3,750,000. That   is $2,750,000 for Second Light, and a million  dollars for other wraparound services related   to homelessness. In that year, we have other  funding, including public housing sales proceeds,   home funds, CDBG funds that would be invested in  housing services. And then, as you go year after   year, 3.8 8 million the next year. That includes  that increase for Second Light. And then when we   get down further under the co housing column  in 2029, we'd actually have to draw from the   corpus of the reserve fund to reach that  $10 million investment in that year. So,   it's not all here because all you're seeing is  the sales tax dollars, but there's another $38   million we're trying to leverage from other  resources. Council member Shepard. Thank you,   Mayor Sally. We had a meeting um earlier this week  I believe and um we talked about this many of many   of the things in which the the previous speaker  Lwanda who serves on our district advisory board   um is concerned about and I am too and when I  mentioned the United Ways Alice report and how   we are incorporating that data to to serve exactly  who she spoke to the workingclass families who are   living probably paycheck to paycheck or in that  middle. You shared that a lot of the folks who   benefit from the housing services are in that  category. Is that correct? That is correct.   Okay. And and I also want to mention that um we  talked about this on Tuesday, but again also very   concerned about those who are on the margins and  particularly not just those who are vulnerable   that we can serve through federal grants, but  what we do know is that sometimes receiving   the federal grants tie our hands and who we can  serve. Yes. But should this pass um and we do get   that 70 million, we would be able to serve even  more vulnerable populations that a lot of people   may not be considering, such as those who were  formerly incarcerated, reintegrating back into   society. Maybe those who are exiting foster care  and on the brink of homelessness. Those who may be   going through situations that we're not accounting  for that when we're telling the story of who our   unhoused neighbors are, um often not considered.  Can you speak just very briefly to that so we   can try to mobilize that thought and that work  that you all are doing? Absolutely. So as you   mentioned all of the different pro programs that  we administer from the federal government do have   specific guard rails whether that's income where  you know all of those qualifying criteria. Um when   there is a source of funding that's outside of  that that federal requirement gives the community   um the ability through the advisory boards etc to  be able to prioritize perhaps other populations   that get missed and there is a concerted effort  to try and bring resources to fill those gaps   but it can be very challenging when we have to  abide by the federal regulations. Yes. You're   welcome. Council member Johnston. Thank you,  Mayor. Sally, you're very good at numbers. Um,   there's a lot of misinformation on numbers going  around on all five items, uh, including this one.   And just reiterate at the bottom of that chart  right there, it's nearly 6 point after seven years   on the eighth year, there would be 6.1 million  available to draw without touching the principal.   Correct? Corct. Is that correct? That is correct.  So if I take the uh the number going to the   homeless shelters 4,50,000, the next year if it  increases by 50,000, it's what you did every year,   it'd be $4.1 million. So if I take 6.1 million  minus 4.1 million, you still got $2 million extra.   Correct. For housing. Correct. Is that correct?  That is correct. Granted, that's making sure that   we hit that 5% interest. Yeah. and and the and  it could be more. If we're if interest is good,   it could be more. If it's not as good, it could  be less. The S&P has gone up seven or eight%   over the last 30 years. So, I don't think 5%  is unreasonable at all. So, thank you for your   work. I appreciate it. I just want to make sure  people know that that money will be in there in   perpetuity. Correct. So to permanently fund it so  that second light doesn't come back to the city or   the county or the state want more money every  year that it's going to be there every single   year with additional money for housing. Yes, sir.  Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Sally. We'll continue. Hello. My name is Paul Katniss. I'm from District  1 and I didn't have a prepared speech necessarily,   but just wanted to uh remind people about the  last time that the 1% sales tax was collected   to get the arena going and how that money went to  a private company and uh there was the benefit for   a good number of years of really big shows coming  to Witchah, but then once the staff changed in   that that it kind of died off and the real benefit  of bringing people in from afar uh isn't really as   prevalent anymore. We have good shows and stuff,  but it just died off. And that a percentage   sales tax uh impacts everybody, including the  poorest people in the city. And so maybe doing   a fundraiser, asking for a specific thing, a  private like specific fundraisers might be a   better way to do it than a sales tax increase.  But yeah, that's all I had to say. Thank you. Good evening, Margaret Shabbaz with all the  pizzazz. District 6 here. Um, I'm just coming   up here really quick because I just slide 45.  I'm lying. I don't know what slide it was,   but real honest. Um, it was about property tax  relief and it was showing options. Not this slide,   it's after, but it's talking about $55.  Um, I want to Yep. Right there. Okay. So,   I just want to make sure I'm understanding this  correctly. Um, if we pick this, if you guys,   not us, sorry. If you guys pick this option,  then this will give people an extra $55 a year. That's what that means potentially. Okay.  So then, but it's going to come out at the   general fund for 534. I'm just making sure I  understand and highlighting this for everybody   so we all understand that you guys are going  to get $55 a year. But so then the next slide, Miss Chavez, this could you address  your account? Yes. Sorry about that. So,   this slide here, this is saying we'll get  $171 if um if you guys pick this option. I I'm asking the city manager, so I'm I'm  sorry, mayor. This is the opportunity for   council to hear your we can talk afterwards, but  these are for people who would qualify. Okay,   for who would qualify. Okay, so that's all I just  wanted to highlight and make sure we understood   those two slides. Thank you. Council member  Ho Heisel. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, thank you,   Margaret. Always a pleasure to see you up here.  Um, just two things. Um, one, the $55 leap. Uh,   that is the the average that um, somebody would  spend on uh, groceries uh, within certain economic   um, barriers on this the one cent sales tax.  So, that's the amount of tax dollars that would   go for groceries to offset um any potential um  payments there. Um the homestead tax is geared for   uh senior citizens who make under $41,000 a year  to forgive property taxes. Uh for them, the city's   share of property taxes. I know seniors in my  district, this is definitely something that is   um they're interested in because as v everything  else goes up, food goes up, um property taxes go   up, um their cola, their cost of living increases  with social security is not going up. So we have   a lot of seniors who are being priced out of  their homes. Um, so that's to target seniors   that we could actually have an impact on keeping  them in their homes and giving them some property   tax relief as well. Just um just a little more  background on those two slides. So, thank you. Hello, Faith Martin, District 2. Um, I don't  want to repeat a lot of comments I've already   said. This is my fifth time speaking on this. Um,  I also don't want to rehash anything anyone else   said. I just You can end this right now with a  vote anytime, just like councils can overturn   previous things that have been done. Um, I don't  think that you will. It seems like this council   is really sold on this issue and that's fine.  Uh my concern is that we people that are on   the vote no side because they don't like it for  whatever reason have been vilified, communist,   uh you hate the homeless, everything in between. I  think it's pretty clear that people care about our   communities. A lot of us would give the shirt  off our back and the money out of our wallet   to someone that was struggling. Our neighbors  struggling, we help them. What we don't like is   being told that we have to do it. Um, a lot of us  donate a lot of our earnings every year to issues   that we care about. Um, I spoke publicly on the  fact that, um, if I worked at a nonprofit that   didn't sell enough Girl Scout cookies, we wouldn't  ask city council to do a sales tax to fund that   nonprofit. I have not seen anything that shows  this is how we're going to fund this. We knew   we were running out of these ARPA dollars. What's  next? And we're being asked to fund that. And when   it comes to housing, I love Sally Stang so much.  I think she's amazing and has done great things   for the city. What we haven't talked about is how  we've had years and years to focus on prevention.   And we do the federallymandated minimum on  prevention when we allocate those federal tax   dollars. We don't focus on prevention. We're still  not focusing on prevention. Homeless prevention is   something where we're looking at creative ideas  to do infill when we're giving tax credits. It's   based on um not whether they're building giant  apartment buildings and single family home   complexes, but whether they can do things that hit  that low income. And low income now doesn't mean   what it used to be. Uh $2 million, sir, that's  like six houses. Like, you can't do much with $2   million anymore, especially if we're waiting till  2029 for $2 million. Um, I live in a small house   and the sales t or the property tax relief, it's  not going to help me very much. It's not going to   help any of my friends or their kids that live in  apartments. They're not going to see any relief.   They're going to see extra sales tax and they  work so they don't qualify for LEAP and they don't   qualify for that $177. So, we're talking about  a lot of people that are not going to benefit   from this. And I've said it over and over, but if  for some reason Witchah decides, you know what,   we want two convention centers or two art centers,  then I don't like the concept, and I've said this   before, for the oversight committee. I think it  should mirror maps where there are 15 people that   are not connected to any of the issues that do  the oversight and then subcommittees based on   initiatives that have the experts in them. If it's  a housing subcommittee, it should have developers,   builders, people that are in the continuum of  care. If it's a um I don't know, public safety,   I echo the comments of a previous speaker that  says, "What does public safety look like?" Other   things could mean anything. There's things in  the CIP that don't get funded that we say are   priority, and then there's things in the CIP that  do get funded because we say it's a priority.   So just having this big bucket doesn't let us know  what exactly is going to be funded. I would prefer   to see it broken down into five votes. I've said  that previously. I really wish we could have a   vote on each issue. But defining public safety  has been a misstep of this count of this body,   not of necessarily all of you. But public  safety doesn't always mean police. Public   safety can mean street lights. Public safety  can mean libraries. Public safety can mean a   lot of things. Sidewalks. So, we always think  that public safety definitely means police,   definitely means fire. Not necessarily. I echo  the comments of another speaker that said,   "Ask us what we think. Ask us what we want." I  haven't seen that. Um I Let's see. Public safety,   homeless prevention, uh recovering property  tax relief. H renters. Yeah, I've said a lot   of this over and over. I don't think I'm going  to change any of your minds today, but I would   just like you to think that um for for $55, I  can get half a bag of groceries at Aldi. So,   $55 isn't as much as you think it is. Please be  thinking of the hundreds of thousands of Witchaw   residents that are not going to be benefiting  from this, but will be hurting. Thank you, Council Member Shepard. Thank you, mayor. Um I  appreciate the previous speaker and the thoughts.   A couple things I wanted to affirm. Um I've said  them before as well, but the first thing is,   you know, um I I think the previous speaker  is right. This didn't happen overnight,   and yet I'm not concerned about who's responsible.  I'm concerned that I'm here now. And I think   that's what leadership is. Um, and I I choose  to operate in the spirit of the folks who once   set up here did the best that they could with  the information, the resources that they had,   and that now is my responsibility to do the  same thing alongside my colleagues. Um, so I'm   trying to do the best thing that I can. Um, and  though folks may not agree with it, that's okay.   Uh the second thing is um when we talk about how  or how did we engage the community, I would argue   that the conversations regarding these things have  been discussed for decades and we're still talking   about them. And we also do a community survey  every year to ask residents what are their most   pressing concerns and priorities and among them  public safety and homelessness rise to the top.   And so if we look at the data that we received  from that, I mean that that is something that   is included in this plan. Um and then finally, I I  just I don't want to miss the opportunity to say,   as I've always said, I don't think name calling  is the way to go, and I've seen it on both sides.   I've seen businesses being boycotted because of  the owners right to express what they believe in   this and support what they believe in this. And  I've seen terrible things said about, you know,   individuals who don't want to support this. And we  had a discussion earlier today online. And I think   the question is, what does psychological safety  look like for all of us to be able to operate in   this democracy freely where we can live, think,  believe, vote, love the way we wish without the   fear that we're walking into harm because we  don't agree with our neighbor. Um, so how do we   again on March 4th, regardless of how this turns  out, come and have the real conversations about   the hurt that this community is feeling due to  mistrust that has happened over time and what does   it look like to move forward? And I give you my  word, I'm committed, but I've heard every single   one of my colleagues up here, and we don't agree  on everything. We have a very diverse council,   but we all are committed to to figuring out how we  rebuild that trust. And I hope this is one step in   the right direction regardless of what happens on  the fourth or the third. Council member Ho Heisel.   Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Faith. Always a  pleasure to see you up here. Um, I just wanted to   make a couple of quick points. Um, one is part of  that affordable housing fund is going to go help   cover the cost. So, it would not be a total build  um for units or homes or anything. Uh right now   there's anywhere from a $40 to $80,000 gap when  a developer or somebody is trying to build a new   home uh because of the price of materials and the  ability to keep it affordable. So sometimes there   are subsidies that go in there that help cover  that gap and then we get a 15-year guarantee   that they will be um keeping it affordable. So  it's not just a straight up and down, you know,   we're building six houses or you should see  the cost of my home. It's not definitely not a   $500,000 house. Um part of that is also low-income  housing tax credits which the state cut and   um the feds have been looking at cutting as well.  Those in the past have gone to help cover some of   those those gaps. Um yeah, it's it's it's tricky.  It's definitely tricky. I also don't think because   ballots have gone out that we are able to repeal  or put a stop to this anymore. um if I'm mistaken   could legal correct that one. We we we cannot stop  it. Ballots have already been mailed out. Okay.   Yeah, we can't stop it at this point. So that  last special meeting was the last gasp to do that   because military and overseas ballots have already  gone out. So thank you. I appreciate you coming up   and speaking. Council member Johnston. Thank you,  Mayor. I concur with what Councilman Hisel said,   several of those points. And also Faith, you made  a comment that there's not much being done uh for   homeless prevention. I'll take issue to with that.  Uh the Center of Hope does a lot for pay people's   rent. Um it's a great organization. It's a private  organization start by started by the ASC Sisters,   A Doors of Blood of Christ out west. They do  wonderful work in keeping people in their in   their homes and and paying rent for them or  cars. So I I think that's should be should be   uh brought out. Um the oversight committee I  think is exactly what you think what you said it   should be. It's what I envision it being was with  different experts from different areas. So I think   that's that will happen. Um and and the public  safety, you're right, it could be street lights,   it could be libraries, all that's important for  public safety. But I think what these three guys   did was take the capital cost from our CIP. They  didn't want wages or anything in it. They just   wanted capital cost. And how do we how do they  pay for those capital costs instead of putting   them on bonds and paying interest on it? How  do we move that and pay cash for it and save   25 or$26 million in interest? So I think that  was the uh their intent anyway. So thank you. Uh, my name is Tabitha Robertson. I live  in District 1 and my voice is probably   going to waver a lot. Um, but I have just  a few points that I want to go over. Um,   I probably don't understand all of them, but um, Um, I can't see. Um, for me, uh, personally,  it doesn't exactly make a lot of sense,   um, to have a sales tax. If people  who live on paycheck to paycheck um pay a lot of that and they already might  not have quite enough money to pay for that. Um uh theater is something that is very uh dear to  me because of support from friends and teachers at at school. Um, and I feel like C sentry 2 is  something that is um historical to the city and renovation is probably something that needs  to be done. um probably a lot sooner than um 2029,   but I don't feel like sales tax is the way to  go. Um because people of low income who might be   um affected by this sales tax more might not  um use the the Century 2 and the things that   it hosts quite as often because of um work  schedules, stress, um any other factors like   that. Um and like somebody else said, maintenance.  Um, I've heard a lot of things that uh the city in   and of itself doesn't have a very good record of  keeping things like up to date and taken care of.   Um, and in the thing that is being voted  on, I don't exactly know what, but um,   I've heard that it doesn't have a very specific  budget, and that worries a lot of people. Um and uh misappropriation of funds is also like a  an issue in multiple places. Um and just the   sales tax I feel is not the best way to go  about getting the funds for the things that   are very important. Um, but like a fundraiser of  private funds is a is a better way to do it. Um, and of course there's a lot of other issues, but yeah, thank you. Thank you for speaking, Council  Member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor. If the speaker   can come back, you're amazing. You're just that  good. That's right. Um, I just want to thank   you. And there's a saying that, you know, speak  your truth even if your voice trembles a little   bit. My voice trembles a lot even still today.  So, never feel that you have to apologize for   speaking your truth because your truth matters.  Your age does not define if you can lead or not.   You are doing something that many people my age  and older still get nervous about. The people   who spoke before you would tell you that too. I  also want to tell you another secret that a lot   of people don't know. Uh but the arts mean a lot  to me too. The arts saved my life and that was my   major before I was told by my father that I should  just go and be an attorney. Um so I encourage you   to stick with it. Stick with your passion. stick  with your love. And then the final thing I can   tell you is I'm concerned about working-class  families and the poor, too. It's a major part   of my story. I was once homeless. And when I think  about what we have to do and the decisions that we   make today, it frustrates me. Frustrates me that  we're here now. We have these competing values.   But my promise to you is that no matter how this  vote goes, I will fight fight really really hard   to make sure families like yours, families like  mine are not expendable because you deserve   that. You deserve somebody who will fight for you  and see you no matter the money in your pocket,   no matter the love in your heart. and I  can't wait to see you sitting up here one   day and using your voice to change this  community for the better. So, thank you. We'll continue with public comment. Hi, my name is Nicole Brown. I'm also nervous.  Uh first time speaking in front of council and I   appreciate the opportunity to do so. Um I am under  my co-hisel in district 3. Um and to keep it short   um I just I echo a lot of the voices that um  have already spoken today. Um and I I really   appreciate all the guardrails that have been  um worked hard on going with this vote. Um,   I still will be voting no um at this time and  I really hope that if the nos do win out on   the third that this is not the end of this  conversation. Um, like many of you have said   um that you know there there's no reason that  the conversation should should end here. Um   there's no reason that a no vote means that  we cannot find these funds in other ways. Um,   I know that a lot of people have pushed for it  to be separate and that we can't do that now,   but I do think that there are other ways to find  funds for these things. And it is very frustrating   to me and to a lot of people that are voting  now. Um, that there's a lot of fear-mongering   that seems to be taking place around this vote  and that the only way to help those most in   need is to also tax those most in need. Um, it it  breaks my heart that this is, you know, presented   in this way or at least is perceived presented in  this way in and to many people. Um, and it breaks   my heart that so often nonprofits are kind of  put at the front line to defend those in need   um in the city instead of the city finding ways  to help those people in need. Um, yeah. I hope   that this is not the end of the conversation. Um,  should the nose went out on the third. Thank you. Mayor, city council Vince Hancock from Dalton's  district. Dalton and I are in a unique situation.   He serves me as my council member. I serve  him as his neighbor association president.   And in that role, I've done my best to, as  Lily and I were trained back in the day,   to maintain a journalist's attitude towards  making sure that I've got people in our   neighborhood on both sides of this. Number one,  get registered. Oops, today's the deadline. So,   we hopefully had everybody get in there,  get out there and vote because if you don't,   you've got no right to complain. And be part of  the conversation in a civil way. Just because   we disagree on something doesn't mean we get to  shoot people. uh our nation needs to understand   how to civily disprove each other. I want to  bring out something that we talk about a lot   in our neighborhood. I don't have a crystal  ball and I don't have a flux capacitor. So if   I go back in time, Dalton's mentioned this several  times. He was eight years old when one particular   bad decision was arguably made by a previous  city council. You guys all know the hit list   of things that people aren't happy with that none  of you had anything directly to do with. I don't   think anybody's going to hold you to account for  that. But I do think that we are asking to build   that trust is you need to learn the lessons from  those previous lessons. I do believe you will be   reading every single word of every single contract  looking for three-year clawback clauses that that   will never happen in this town again. Most of you  know about the tales of the Minnesota boys. So,   we're not trying to hold the past over your heads.  We're saying, "Let's learn from our mistakes." So,   we want to make sure you do that. Now, as I move  forward into the crystal ball, none of us know   how this vote will go. I And with my background in  communications, I've actually tried to encourage   people, uh, more information is better. Don't  just tell everybody, oh, every information you   need is available on the website. That's not going  to fly in this town. So, I really hope some people   can get their communications lines fixed so  that they've got a more even chance at it.   My question with the crystal ball is what do  we do on the fourth if this does not pass.   Now I've heard you mention from this bench before  contingency whether this passes if this does pass   you guys are working on the guardrails today.  I think it is irresponsible to wait until the   fourth if this does not pass to say uh now what do  we do? So I think a little bit of time and effort   should be put towards if this does not pass how do  we take care of the fire stations that have been   neglected for way too long. How do we take care? I  know we already have some CIP money for Century 2,   but how do we get working on that as well? So,  I want us to be prepared for both eventualities.   Let's use our crystal ball in the right way,  which is saying we don't know how it'll turn out,   but let's not be waiting because my math says if  this does if this vote does not pass, Second Light   will be without funds for about six months. Our  director has said that would not be comfortable,   but he's confident he could reach out to the  compassion in this community and find a way   to do six months of funding. In my opinion, if  this were to fail, we could get together a group,   lots of people, heads in the right space, this  could come back in November with a different plan   that would have a lot more public support because  it would have time for open discussion. So, that's   a possibility. And if I could be in any way part  of leading that. Uh many of you know leadership is   not a position, it's an activity. And I appreciate  all of you for doing that. And what I meant to say   first, but I'm going to end with thank you for  having evening meetings that allow people who   normally are putting that at least 40hour work in  to take care of their family. I really appreciate   you guys allowing the public to participate  a lot more. Thank you all. Any questions? Council member Hohisel. Thank Thank you,  Vincent. Um I will just say one thing about   our budget coming up. There's some state  legislation that we have to pay attention   to. Um particularly constitutional  amendments and whatnot that might   wreck some havoc with our budget moving  forward. So, uh March 4th, irregardless,   I think there's going to be potentially some  discussions further down the line. um you guys   can go and look into it and see what the state has  cooking for us. Um it'll be a challenge, but I I   do appreciate you speaking and uh irregardless  of what happens March 4th, we'll have to come   back together as a community and keep discussing  these issues moving forward. So, appreciate you chapel from District 6. Hi Maggie, I'm very glad  you folks are holding this meeting tonight. On   the schedule, normally you would be here at nine  o'clock in the morning, right? But you've honored   us enough to say, "Look, we'd like to hear from  the public and give them a chance to come in and   share some ideas now." I have respect for each and  every one of you. I know you personally. I know   and respect you and know that you're in a bind.  I've been in your position many times as a board   member where staff will come in with an idea.  You've got wants and needs and this particular   bill that you're bringing forward right now to say  to the public, look, give us 850 million and we'll   figure out how to spend it. You're you're you got  a plane in the air and you're trying to build it   tonight. You're trying to build a plane that's  already in flight with a place to land supposedly   on March 3rd. Ain't going to happen. You got a  lot of folks that are smart enough to see that the   money is not going to go where we hoped it would  go. It's not going to help the people we hope it   will help. And in fact, what we're going to end  up with is a lot of folks that are supposedly   going to get tax relief from property tax. If  they're renters, they won't see a dime of it,   will they? But they're going to be paying through  the nose an additional sales tax on everything   they buy in this city. So, it's regressive. We  all know that it's not helping those folks that   are supposedly going to benefit. Except the people  that are building the buildings, the folks that   want to build new fire stations, the ones that  will build a new police station, the people that   want to build a new performing arts center. How  about that? We don't even know where it's going to   be. We have no idea what it'll actually cost. But  there's a figure out there who say, "Well, we're   going to have certain amount of money they're  going to be able to get from sales tax to do that   job." Now, I really respect what you're trying  to do tonight with guard rails. The fact is this   should have been done months before you ever put  this on the ballot. This is cart before the horse.   You can't possibly do a good job of negotiating  what needs to be done, what are the priorities,   how are we going to spend it to have the greatest  impact for the people of Witchah by coming forward   at this late date and say, "Okay, less than a  month away from the time we're going to vote   on this. The public's going to be informed."  You're not informed. You're just hearing it   for the first time, some of you tonight. That's no  way to run a business. So, I really am concerned   about where you are right now. You're in a bind.  I understand that you want to save some face,   and I get that. But it's also important for all  of us to be very straight up and honest. We don't   necessarily need a performing arts center when  we got sentry 2. We have the Park City Arena,   don't we? We have Catillion. We have the Oreium.  We have many places that people can perform and   do great work and share their talents without  building a a building someplace here downtown.   We don't even know where or how much it'll cost.  The same way with housing. We got how many houses   that the city already owns that are boarded  up? Housing first has been the objective all   along for all these years. Every task force  that's come together from the city, they've   all come to the same conclusions. You need housing  first. You don't need essential places for a bunch   of people sit around and say, "Well, you should  go over here. Go over there. Here's a voucher."   We need to bring the cost of housing down. We  need to be able to free up the houses the city   already owns and let people buy them or move into  them and make sure that those spaces are used.   We cannot say on one hand we're going to help the  homeless and we don't provide the homes or the   opportunities for them to bring their costs down  so they can afford to stay in a home. So I really   hope that you tonight will take your input. You'll  come up with some guidelines, some guard rails,   but it finally end on March 4th is the time for  every one of us to sit back down and work with   you to come up with some solutions that will  actually make some sense. Thank you very much, Council Member. Thank you, Mayor. I know I'm  single-handedly extending this meeting an extra   hour, I think, but um uh just a couple points. The  city homes that we own, we actually are putting   those on the market. Um we are giving the owners  or the occupiers of the homes first dibs. So,   it's a lot of people who this is their first time  owning a home. they have the opportunity to buy   those homes with credit counseling. So that way  they can pass on that generational wealth. Uh the   money that we are taking from selling those  homes because they were ineligible to uh for   ARPA funds to be used to actually rehab them,  we are putting into affordable housing units   and transitional housing units. That's the 75  um additional units built on the campus that's   being built right now for uh Second Light  for transitional housing. Uh the other point   um I agree with you on housing first. Um the  issue with that that we've seen in studies with   uh communities that do housing first is you  still have to come through with supportive   services. Just simply having housing first often  times doesn't work because we're not addressing   the underlying cause for them to be out on the  streets. So uh that's what we're trying to do   here is make sure that we do housing first but  also have those support services to continue to   come alongside them. So, uh, those are just two  points I make. Always good to see a wall. Um,   and you're right, uh, March 4th, regardless,  you regardless of what happens, we'll have   to come back together as a community and and  continue to move forward. So, I appreciate you. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, city council  members, city manager. Uh, Jeff Flure,   president of the Greywood Salt Partnership,  505 East Douglas Avenue. Uh we have voiced the   partnership support previously uh but we would  like to add to that support this evening our   appreciation for the work you're doing tonight  on the guardrails uh that will help guide the   implementation of the sales tax revenue. Um as we  have noted we do believe this referendum is very   important to how we move our community forward.  We do have opportunities before us. Uh but for   those opportunities to become reality we must  invest in ourselves. And the great thing about   that is that we when we do do that, we create  new opportunities along the way. Certainly,   ensuring Witchaw has the resources to support  residents, the businesses uh in our in our   future is very much imperative. Uh we really  do believe this is our time to take significant   steps forward. Uh Councilman Shepard mentioned  some of these things have been in discussion   for a long time. Melissa and I moved our family  here in 2008. And when I put that number down,   I realized we're we're coming up on 20 years in  Witchah. Some of these things were discussed.   I remember when we came into the city. And so I  think probably we looked maybe even predates 2008   on some of the things that we're talking about.  So we do really believe that this is the moment   that we can take some incredible steps forward as  a community. We do believe truly this is Witchah's   window of opportunity and I think going forward  the sales tax allows us to maybe even extend   that opportunity so that again we create a lot of  opportunities for people who want them uh in our   community and also be able to attract people to  this great city. So thanks again for the work that   you're doing tonight uh and also for the support  of our community and what you do daily. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Woo and council members, city  manager. My name is Breen Morell. I'm the interim   president and CEO for the Witchaw Regional  Chamber of Commerce 350 Douglas. Uh following   a vote from our board of directors last month,  the chamber has officially endorsed a proposed   1% sales tax that will appear on the ballot in the  March 3rd special election. The chamber supports   this proposal because we believe the investments  outlined in the ballot language will strengthen   Witchaw's economic competitiveness and create  long-term value for the business community.   The proposal focuses on infrastructure, public  safety, housing, and downtown development among   a list of other initiatives. These areas  directly influence the quality of place,   which is essential to attracting and retaining  talent, supporting employers, and sustaining   business growth. For businesses deciding where  to invest and expand, these fundamentals matter.   Communities that make strategic investments in  these areas are better positioned to compete and   grow over time. This endorsement was made after  careful consideration and reflects the chamers's   responsibility to evaluate issues baked on east  economic impact, not politics. We recognize that   members and residents may hold differing views and  we remain committed to representing the interest   of the business community. Thank you for the  opportunity to share the chamber's perspective. Hey council, Joseph Tex Doer, District 1. I wasn't  planning on speaking tonight, but one of the first   speakers said something who was in support about  how Witchah Ford had learned um from the last vote   in 2014 and that the future councils might not  even remember this. I think that's an important   thing to segue off of in that we're discussing  guardrails that are not in the ballot language.   And that matters because at any one point in  time, these guardrails can be changed with a   vote of four. And ballots are already going out to  folks who will review the ballot language without   even knowing what guardrails and the work you've  doing here and you've done. And the map speaker,   very good point. Um wish forward said they modeled  this off of maps. Um, maps is a single sentence   ordinance that voters vote yes or no on. And  that ordinance includes all the guardrails,   all the stipulations, staffing, uh, com uh,  commentary on debt, on interest. Just the   prior week there was a there's a misunderstanding  on the council on earnings from the from the fund   homeless fund of interest uh, in the language. So,  we have to be we I I started mentioning guardrails   at first and second reading with others um so  that there was a chance to get it into the ballot   language and I understand there was a push to rush  this but the idea that just a couple months prior   when we had language impacting all the landlords  in our city and it was important enough to bring   it to the dabs where I wouldn't even be here um  being able to contribute and and and and share my   experience and thoughts with the council member on  things that could go into the ballot language to   codify good guardrails. the idea that we deferred  that for the landlords because it affects so many   wishins but we can't defer this issue and then we  back it saying it's because of second light when   the council did not budget for second light and  then at first reading the council saying we have   a gap in the budget to take care of this when  we didn't even have a discussion that day about   unlike Witchaw Ford saying that if the city's  broke we're not broke you know we we've we have   90 million in reserve and if there's there's an  emergency situation where we are balancing public   input and public trust and also addressing those  neediest in our community. We should probably have   a discussion of uh delaying the election or not  having an election for a full year of conversation   like maps and so many other cities did. Um and to  be able to then also address at the same time the   short-term need. We should not justify a million  $2 million short-term gap for an $850 million tax.   Um, so yeah, I think that the worst travesty  is that the clarity is not there in the ballot   language and that's what matters at the end  of the day. And I understand we have to plant   trees for our grandchildren to have shade. And  I understand we all want to see Witchah win. And   so I do hope that if this does get voted down, we  don't have to wait another decade because in 2014,   the voters said they didn't want bundles on  a sales tax proposal. Why? Why couldn't Why   wasn't that lesson learned? Does the voters have  to now say it again at the cost to their own money   and their own pocketbook to have this election?  Well, I hope we don't have to wait another decade   to put our priorities in place to sequence. And  there's a lot of gaps and a lot of questions.   I I understand for folks to be I understand why  folks are skeptical. Even with the public safety,   you got um 28 million more than what's approved in  the 10-year CIP. Uh is there is there a question   of if supplanting will we free up the CIP and  will that debt and cash then allow the city to   go invest in other not yet defined programs?  I understand why someone might say that on   paper looks like a lesson for the council to use.  And just like we've added uh at second reading,   if you're serious about these buckets,  you also need to put in minimums, floors. So, I I just I've been frustrated because I  I had no plans to be speaking this much to   y'all. Um but yeah, it's just the idea that  there was there we I can't understand why it   was rushed and why it was justified the way it  was. And I would like I would like I appreciate   y'all putting in the guardrails as you're doing  now, but maybe we're not worried about y'all. We   don't know what a future council or mayor has  in store and that matters. And so I think it   puts a lot of people in a tough position that  even if they care about certain these buckets,   even if they want a sales tax, they just say  that this is not a good deal. So I appreciate   the time you're you're doing and taking  for this, but the fact that ballots are   already out and voters then won't even know what  guardrails are voting on specifically. And last   week there was even some misunderstandings  on the language with legal and a 50-50   tossup on what things meant. I appreciate  y'all's time and your service. Thank you. Council Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor.  I know that the election commissioner   is not present to answer this question,  but Jennifer may be able to answer this.   Ballots actually go out tomorrow. Is that  correct? Via mail. Oh, I'm sorry. I do not   know that answer. I'm sorry. I will answer  that question. Yes. Oh, okay. Thank you. Good evening. Um Corey Swagger, District 2.  Uh thanks for uh to have me up here again.   You all know that I would have preferred you  delayed the um the vote, but uh the horse is   out of the barn and uh and yesterday I got my  election supervising training in order. So,   um, I'll be helping voters vote. And I want  to remind people that it's not just March   3rd. There's early voting starting next week,  right around the corner at the Cedric County,   um, um, the old Cedric County Courthouse. And then  after that, I'm over at East Minister um, being   supervising judge there. We'll have and other  places around the city will have early voting   as well. Um, the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday  before March 3rd. So, um um everybody, uh don't   delay. Uh don't wait till March 3rd. Get out and  vote. Um that's my public service announcement.   Um but I um you know but but I did want to support  um the idea of you know if we're going to pass   this thing having these guard rails and I really  like the idea of funding the uh prioritizing   funding the the 100 million um um funding toward  the the homelessness and for the u safety and the   the property tax. I like uh what uh um uh Council  Member Johnson put forward um a couple weeks ago,   the idea of maybe not a h 100red million, maybe  50 million so that the money is not just sitting   there and uh justifying. And from what I've heard  tonight, we could use the money um now to help uh   um get maintenance done on Sentry 2. So maybe some  of that other 50 million could be prioritized for   Sentry 2. So, I just want to put that out there  as you discuss how you're going to do these guard   rails. Um, that's it. Thank you, Vice Mayor Glass.  Thank you, Jennifer. Sorry for putting you on the   spot in there. I pulled up all the dates and so  I'll just read those for public record as well.   Registration actually closes tonight at 11:59 p.m.  So, if you're not registered, you're still at a   register until 11:59 p.m. The ballots will begin  to go out um after we vote on these ordinances,   which were presented last week for the first  time. Um, tomorrow the the first day of early   inerson voting is February 17th at the Central  County Election Office, 8 to 5:00. The last   day to submit an advance by mail application for  the Witchaw sales tax election is February 24th.   Early in-person voting is available at satellite  locations from February 26th to February 27th from   10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Um, additional day  of in-person voting at satellite locations   on February 28th from 9 to 1. additional day  of early inerson voting at the Cedric County   Election Office from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  And then on March 3rd, the Witchaw sales tax   election election day voting will be held from  7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. assigned voting locations, Mayor Woo, Council members, Carl Peter John,  District 5. For the record, I have three part   comments and I want to provide some things that  I have not heard in any of the public discussion   and I think you all at least ought to know about  as we proceed down this path. And I first part   I'm going to introduce a little bit of things  because we've got a new council member and a   new city manager who weren't here when last time  I spoke and I don't want to be too repetitious,   but I want to make sure you all know that there's  a long history. My first election when I moved to   Witchita in the summer of 1978, there was a sales  tax issue on the ballot. It went down kind of   like the Titanic. Um, subsequent sales tax votes  have not gone well 95 I believe it was 95 96 and   the only one that passed albeit very narrowly was  the interest bank arena. Now the second part that   I want to get into and uh I want to cover both  um is the scale. This is a penny verd discussed   one cent just one cent increase. You all need to  consider how much one cent can be. I know this   is going to be obsolete shortly supposedly,  but a one cent sales tax. You've talked about   $20 million can provide four mills. But let's  just hypothetically put this in a different   perspective. Let's say all the money generated  by 1 cent was used for property tax relief. Well,   850 million divided by 7 is a little bit over  120 million. If I get off wrong, city finance,   please correct me. If one mill generates $5  million, you could take 24 mills off the city's   property tax if all that 1 cent supposedly just  the one cent sales tax was used for property tax   relief. Now, that shows you the scale, the size,  and the impact that a one cent sales tax has.   I think that's important to keep in place and  because whether you're buying a new refrigerator   or just groceries or albeit you're lucky enough  to buy a new car that one that little one cent   can become three, four, $600 depending on where  you are in terms of the purchase. So you all need   to keep this in mind I think as we go forward and  just think of this bright shiny penny when you do.   So, now we've talked about guard rails here  tonight and I have not heard it discussed,   but as a person who has been well, I called  myself a third class witchin the last time   I was here because of having been sued for  petitioning city hall three times. Most recently,   albeit it was a different city council in 2020  when we did the petition to save Century 2.   But there are guard rails in place that if we did  this properly are in article 12 section 5 of the   Kansas constitution, the provision called the home  rule which has been in place for a little over 65   years. And that provision would allow you with a  charter ordinance would take five votes to pass,   but it would also take five votes to repeal.  And the public would be able to have a say,   too. And I'm sure city legal, Jennifer is very  competent in that regard, can fill you in on all   the all the rules and provisions on that. But  if you want a real effective guard rail now,   it's too late. This whole thing has been the cart  before the horse. Too huge, too rushed, too vague   in so many ways. But you have to consider the  fact that there are some tools, guard rails   that are already established. I haven't heard this  discussed at all during this entire process. Well,   I'll grant you that because it's been so  rushed, it's easy to have it overlooked,   but I think it's incumbent how we go forward that  existing constitutional as well as statutory tools   are considered so that we get the cart in front  of the horse the next time. And so those three   quick points I'd like to provide as a starting  point because the mistakes that have occurred   by rushing this election I think are having a lot  of difficulties and I will prep my comments up.   I not only urge that everyone in this room get  out and vote on or before March 3rd but anyone   who can hear the sound of my voice. Appreciate  the council's time and attention. Thank you. Would anyone else from the  community like to speak? Good evening. My name is Heather Schroeder. Um, I  live at 701 East 1st Street North and I serve as   uh, so I'm a downtown resident and I also serve  as executive director of downtown Witchaw located   at 505 East Douglas A. Um, I wanted to  take the opportunity tonight to say to   the good people of Goddard, you're welcome. Um,  we had a planting event in downtown Witchaw and   uh we had a a group of volunteers from the  Sedwick County Department of Corrections that   said we would love to have a volunteer day. Um, we  have a new clean team downtown, so we don't have   as much litter to pick up anymore for volunteer  groups. Um, so I was racking my brain thinking,   well, what can we do, you know, to have a  meaningful experience for these volunteers?   And um I heard about a planting event that  Botanica was planning on me street in Oldtown   with the Oldtown Association um and they were  planning to to um plant tulip bulbs in the fall.   So I reached out to our friends at Botanica um  across the river and I said, "Hey, can you tell   me what kind of tul tulips you're planting? I  would love to replicate that on Mosley Street   with my volunteer group." So they very kindly gave  me the description. these beautiful double tulips   with 18inch long stems that would really pop in  the springtime. And I said, "That's great. I will   find some." And so I went online and um you know,  I found that Walmart carries these tulips and they   had them on in stock. But the only Walmart that  had them in stock was in God. So I got in my car.   Um as you know, I'm loathed to do. I live and I  work in downtown. I try to leave the carp in the   garage and and use it as infrequently as I can.  Um, you know, I I ate the gas money and I drove   out to the Walmart in Goddard and I spent $183  on tulip bulbs for this volunteering event. Um,   and so to the good people of Goddard, you are  welcome for that $183 that came from your 1%   sales tax um when I bought the bags of tulips  uh for downtown beautifification efforts. Um,   I didn't I didn't notice the tax. I didn't miss  it. It didn't make an impact on my purchase. Um,   it was a negligible amount um and worth it for  the impact that these bulbs will have. I'm happy   to report that they are already coming up um in  planters along Oldtown Plaza and in the planting   beds along Mosley Street. Um, Botanica's planting  with Oldtown is already coming up on Me Street as   well. Um my point here is that these costs  are often absorbed um with minimal effect on   the purchaser. Um, somebody told me recently  that um the Target at uh on the east side is   um is in a CD and I looked it up and sure enough  um we pay an extra sales tax on any purchases at   that Target because it's uh in a CD that helped um  develop the Cabelas uh in that same plaza as well   as the infrastructure project at the Greenwich and  96 exchange. Um, I live halfway between the east   side and the west side target. Whichever one, you  know, I'm wherever I am in my travels that day,   I'll pick the east side or the westside one.  Um, that sales tax has never prevented me from,   you know, getting the sandwich fixings that I  need to feed my family. Um, I understand that   we're all concerned about hardship in taxes and I  appreciate the effort um to mitigate any negative   impact on our on our families that are facing  the greatest need um through a reimbursement   program. I think that's brilliant. I hope it goes  through. I hope the state exempts groceries. Um,   I moved here from a state that had a a sales tax  exemption on necessities, including groceries, and   it u it makes for a lot more livable community.  Um, however, I I do see the collective impact of   everybody contributing. Um my family went down to  uh Derby and we visited Firstman Brewing and sat   outside at a picnic table and looked across at a  beautiful city park uh where seniors were taking   their prom photos and I thought, "Wow, Derby has  really nice parks." And then I learned that their   1% sales tax on my pine of beer, you know, that  extra eight cents um went to those city parks.   And so I think collectively we can achieve so much  if we all give a little bit every day. Thank you. My Acriman, uh, District 1. I don't have comment  as much as questions. Did you know about this,   Mr. Shephard, when you ran for office,  Ballard, Mr. Huhisle, did you know about   this when you ran for reelection? When did  you find out about this? The city manager,   was he hired when this was in in uh to be  discussed? No. All of this has come up in   two months time. You say we have guard rails.  When is the first time you read or saw these   guard rails? Is this the first time the public  has had an opportunity to see them? If it is,   I'm deeply disappointed in you. That would give  us three weeks and no amount of effort to reverse   what you're doing tonight. Now, I've like Carl,  I've worked on previous sales tax initiatives.   They suffer from the same thing that this  one does. The four points were public safety,   transportation. I for honestly I forget the third,  but there were three things. Everyone in the city,   well, a majority would have voted for those three  things. The fourth thing was an unspecified fund,   a slush fund to those of us who don't trust  government taxation. Now, all of you say,   "Well, we weren't here when those mistakes  were made in the past." And that's great. And   I'm glad that we have a change in city manager  because I think our previous city manager was   complicit if not ignorant about all of the  transgressions that were going on. Now then I look at this. You're giving away your guidance  or giving away your your role to committees. You   will appoint some of the people on the committee,  but will the committee's actions be brought before   the council where we can hear why are we spending  $25 million on Century 2? Through my some of my   work, I interact with uh different groups that  come to Century 2. This this well this fall,   this and then this winter. I have heard  marvelous things about how great Century   2 is because right now we present a pretty face.  If you talk to the people who work in Century 2,   there's a lot of stuff behind the scenes  that needs to be fixed. But were they   consulted? Did they provide any input as to  where you were going to spend this money?   I doubt it because I know from talking to people  what they need and what they'll get in following   previous council's actions. They never get what  they're told. And I it just it really irritates   me as a taxpayer. At best, I think I had three  days. These would have been published Friday,   I think. I don't know if I don't I'm not aware  if they were passed presented before then, but   for my knowledge, this is the first time I have  seen your guard rails. We're already committed to   an election. I would suggest table this resolution  for one more week so that the public has a chance   to review your guard rails to give input in the  next week as to those guard rails. And I would if   you wouldn't say, "Oh, well, you know, it's too  late." It's not too late. The election is on.   Nothing will change in the election, but if  people don't have a chance to to comment to re   recommend adjustments, you're just you've already  committed us to something. And then you say, "Oh,   Alice, you're you're committed." Well, here are  the guard rails. Give it a week for us to look   at it because a banker, a baker, and a builder  come into city hall and you want to give them   $850 million. You didn't put the cart before the  horse. You put the load of manure before the cart. Council member Glasco. Thank you, Mayor. to the  previous speaker's point. I just read wanted   to read something from resolution number 2649  subsection 5. Quote, the C committee may make   recommendations but does not direct operations  or expenditures. That would come from a vote   of the council. Um in addition uh there was a  few other points that I wanted to correct but   um one in particular I could ask the manager uh  the previous speaker had said that we would give   a separate entity funds who would be receiving um  the funds as derived from the sales tax. As we've   outlined in several of the resolutions, it would  follow our procurement and purchasing policies   with bids to be had and city council will approve  all contracts related to sales tax funds. Thank   you. And was it January 27th at what was going to  be a workshop and then became a council meeting   that these ordinances were originally published?  Obviously, the council suggested edits to this,   but that the public had the opportunity at  the February 27th meeting and then also the   February 3rd meeting if they wanted during  public comment. Was it the 27th meeting? Yes,   there was. This has been agenda item on  at least four different council agendas   um in the new year. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Manager.  Council member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor. And uh   following my colleagues remarks, uh want to make  sure that the previous speaker's concerns are   um addressed in the resolution um regarding the  guard rails, specifically the oversight committee,   resolution 26049. Um it we actually made an  amendment um supported by the mayor during that   time uh to ensure that in addition to the advisory  functions. The committee shall have authority to   review the expenditures for compliance with  the adopted guar rails. They will also have   the authority to flag any deviations for the  council. So they will come before the council   um for review. Um they also have the  autonomy to recommend corrective actions,   pauses or audits when warranted. And I I do want  to just say, you know, we're having conversations   about the guardrails because the people really  wanted to have conversations about guardrails.   That's what we heard overwhelmingly. Um we sat  and listened. We did listening sessions in the   community. I had them at a brewery. I've had  them online. Um we tried to do our due diligence   to reach as many people as possible. Um could  we do more? Absolutely. I'm not I'm not going   to knock you on that. Um, I I just want you to  know that an effort has been made and that an   effort will continue to be made to meet people  where they are. Thanks for being here, Myin. I have terrible stage fright. My heart's going  crazy. Um, and I wasn't planning on speaking   because I hadn't heard all the guardrails. They  just came out. That was my main concern of voting   no because it's too open-ended. We don't know  what's going to be decided. And I appreciate what   somebody said. It may be years down the road when  you guys aren't even here and you start off with   the best of intentions and someone else comes and  sidetracks you. But one question I haven't heard   answered tonight is what if the economy tanks, the  country goes sour, and you don't get $850 million?   Are there any guard rails for that? Are there any  thoughts about what if everything can't get paid   for? How do you stagger your projects? Are you  going to do one and finish it and then do another   and finish it? Are you going to start all five at  one time and hope you can get them done and they   all end up partially finished? What if 850 million  isn't enough to finish them because of inflation?   Any any other unexpected things? What what is  the order of service? what is the priority? Um,   those are some things that I have big questions  about. And if this one didn't get finished,   I know I think you have a kind of a guardrail that  you won't take from one to the other, but I'm not   sure if that some of it's kind of left floating  around in the air somewhere. But those are some   of the guardrails that I would like to have heard  about. um and some guarantees. Another thing is   um the city is really good at building new things  and fun things. I take my grandchildren to a lot   of them. I appreciate the free days that we get.  Um but that all costs money and we have things   like the interest arena now that's out of money  and it's got to be funded somehow. Where's that   money coming from? That's not part of this.  But is the performing arts center someday   going to be like interest and the ballpark,  the zoo exploration place, the ball field,   the water treatment plant. There's a never-  ending list of things that we've run out of   money for and are not funding themselves. And now  we've got one more to fund. And that worries me.   I'd like to see us get to the point where we're  funding things and the community supports them   and they pay for themselves, but that doesn't  seem to be working. And whatever that happened   with that ball diamond thing was a disaster. And  now we've got well, you all know what it is. And   it's a mess. I don't want this end up being  another mess. I don't want unfinished projects   or find out later that dirty deals were being  done behind the scenes. And it's partly because   there's no guardrails or not enough guardrails.  So that's my thought. Thank you. Can you provide   your name for the city clerk and your district?  Karen Brillette and I'm in Dalton's district.   Thank you. Council member Hoisen. Thank you,  Mayor. Thank you, Karen. Um to your first point,   we will be having those discussions later as far  as priorities um just in case, like you said,   the economy tanks and whatnot. So, pay  attention to that. Um your second point,   a few of those things you had named are um such  as the arena and the zoo. Those are county. Um so,   um I encourage everybody here to take all  the anger they have at the city and go direct   it at the county a little bit. that we've uh  we've we've had our our fill here lately. So,   um but yeah, just um I I do appreciate  you coming up and speaking. Thank you. Good evening, mayor and council members. I'm Susie  Santo, president and CEO of Visit Witchaw. We are   the convention and visitors bureau and just thank  you so much for the opportunity to be here this   evening and speak in support of the one sales tax  initiative. We have studied the convention center   needs for over a decade. And y'all have heard me  talk about how our current facilities are putting   us at a competitive disadvantage. And over the  past month, I've shared uh or the past month,   I've shared our economic impact from our recent  study. And I'm always happy to talk about that,   but I won't repeat that data tonight. This is  an important moment for Witchah. We have the   opportunity to invest thoughtfully in our future  and in the kind of city we want to be. The 1- cent   sales tax is a long-term investment for a stronger  community for residents and visitors alike. This   plan prioritizes what matters most. Supporting  first responders, strengthening public safety,   and addressing homelessness with solutions rooted  in compassion and responsibility. A city that   feels safe and welcoming for our residents is  also a city that attracts visitors, events,   and investment. The 1 cent sales tax invests  in the assets that help our city compete.   Modern convention facilities and a performing  arts center worthy of the extraordinary talent   that we have right here in Witchah. These are  not just amenities. They signal that Witchah   believes in itself and is willing to invest  in quality of life, culture, and economic   vitality. I want to thank the council. I want to  thank you for the time, the care, and the effort   you've given this conversation over the past  what six weeks or so. The work is not easy,   but really nothing meaningful ever is. I trust the  guard rails you will approve this evening and I   trust that they will help Witchans feel confident  in this plan. I'd simply like to end with this.   We have watched peer cities move ahead of  Witchah. We've watched in population growth,   in momentum, and in quality of life amenities  that attract families, visitors, businesses,   and investment. This is our moment. This is our  moment to come together and believe in Witchah.   This is our moment to believe and to invest in  our city and to build a place that our children   want to return to and a city confident enough in  itself to invest in itself. This is our moment.   Witchah, I thank you all for your time and your  consideration and your leadership. Thanks, guys. Would anyone else from the public like to speak?  I see none. I want to say thank you to the 23   speakers who spoke during public comment. Uh  we did this out of order uh due to a vote so   that public comment could come before the council  actually has discussion. normal protocol is we get   staff presentations and then the council asks  questions of staff and then we open it up for   public comment and then return back to the council  for further comments and votes. Uh so again,   thank you for the 23 individuals um who spoke.  Uh a large majority of them spoke not in favor.   There were seven who spoke in favor and I  am grateful to all of you for having that   open dialogue. This city council always has the  opportunity to hear from citizens of our community   and the concerns of citizens and these council  members are all accessible via email in person and   at these council meetings. So, I highly encourage  the continued engagement that we have seen so far,   whether it's this specific guardrail conversation  or the guardrail conversation on January 27th or   the guardrail conversation on December 23rd. Um,  I encourage again each of you to contact your   council members with your feedback. Um but now we  will return to the council for questions to staff   in addition to voting on some of these uh options  that have been presented um since the January 27th   meeting. So with that um I will start um I was  the one who was very much in favor of having   further clarity and detail uh regarding these five  initiatives. And so with that uh the very first   one that I want to deal with is property tax uh  relief. So those would be the resolutions numbers resolution 26-053 option one or option two.  So with that um I actually would like to move   that option two um and again I think it would  be helpful if we can track along with um the   presentation. So if I can ask the city manager  to please provide the slide regarding resolution   26-053 on property taxes. Mayor, did you make a  motion? Yes, I will be. I'm waiting. The motion   is to approve option two of resolution 26-053 with  an edit. That edit is after an initial, this is on   number five, the finance director shall annually  provide to the city council reports which indicate   the amount of property tax revenues offset by by  sales tax revenues collected. The edit is after an   initial $20 million is provided for property  relief. If such tax revenues equal or exceed   exceed 20 million in sales tax collections, a mill  levy reduction not less than four mills shall be   provided to property taxpayers or included in the  proposed budget for the subsequent year. Again,   this is to make sure that in fiscal year 2027, the  budget that we will be discussing in the coming   months has a 4 mil reduction immediately  because the first 20 million would go to   property tax relief. Second motion and a second.  Discussion. Council member Hohheisle. Thank you,   Mayor. Um, a mill right now will not be  the same value as a mill in 7 years. So,   if we did this and we locked ourselves into a 4  mil reduction, if a mill goes up a half a million,   um, $20 million of tax relief could cover  four mills now, but it would be $22 million   that would have to be pulled out in order to  cover 4% or a 4 mil reduction in the future.   So with that and that uncertainty, I will not  be supportive of this motion and I would be   open to voting for option two. Mo option  one. I apologize. Option one. Motion and   a second. Any further discussion? I see  none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 4 to two. Again the re reiteration  is 4 to three rather sorry resolution 26-053   will now have a 4 mil reduction in property taxes  beginning fiscal year 2027. Guard rail number two   um I would like to talk about the overall uh  guard rails. So that would be resolution 26-049. This is in regards to prioritization. I'm in  favor of moving resolution 26-049 option one   with this in particular. Um, after voting  on the previous, this specifically states   that the four mil reduction, which is $20  million or 12% property tax reduction,   uh, will go into effect immediately in fiscal  year 2027. That includes in section one, the first   $300 million in sales tax proceed proceeds shall  be allocated as follow. 100 million to homeless   and housing, 100 million to public safety, and  100 million to property tax relief. Thereafter,   all initiatives shall be funded on a PR rata  basis in accordance with the ballot language   up to each initiative maximum revenue amount. Is  that a motion? Mo, that's my motion for resolution   26-049 option one. Second. Motion and a second.  Discussion. Council member Hohheisel. Thank you,   Mayor. Um, I would like to have a discussion  amongst council. I know some of us have talked   about we don't necessarily need the um property  tax relief to fill up that fast and we heard some   um comments from the public earlier about putting  money um in the front end towards Century 2 to   be able to hop on some of um those improvements  immediately. So, I would just like to hear from   my colleagues if there's any interest in perhaps  splitting the property tax relief in half um   with the the potential um convention center to be  able to put that in a century too. Council member   Johnston. Thank you, Mayor. Councilman Hohisel.  I I did propose that 50 million earlier. Um I   I would be okay with the hundred million right  now uh just to make sure that property tax does   get funded. It's very important. Um it would also  provide some interest on the back end to make up   for some things. For instance, the 4 mil reduction  if it is 22 million, we would have some money on   the back end to make up for that if we so choose.  So um that's what the interest income from that.   As you know, the interest income will be at the  end of the uh at least I would expect it to be at   the end and we can we can make up for some buckets  that uh aren't quite filled yet. Obviously, that's   not the case on the second light and housing,  which that bucket has to stay in there. So,   but it does give us the opportunity to to do  that and to to balance things out at the end. motion and a second. Any further discussion?  Madam, can I ask for clarification? Josh, back   that up one since I'm the drafter. Um, by by the  previous resolution, if if the will of the council   is that there be a four mill that first year,  you're going to have to frontload property tax.   So, and and if that's the will and that's what I'm  supposed to draft, I just need some clarification   because the the motion right now and the proposed  resolution option one does not frontload property   tax. So, so and the the slide that I think what  you want done is for in 2026 there would be 20   million for property tax, 8.8 for public safety,  8.8 for homelessness. You would go along until you   meet reach that one mill 100 million for those  three. That is accurate. How can I codify that? The first 20 million in sales tax proceeds  will be allocated to property tax relief.   The next 280 million will be allocated to  property tax relief, homeless and housing   and public safety until each receives  100 million. Thereafter, all initi all   initiatives shall be funded on a pro-rated  basis in accordance with the ballot language   up to each initiative's minimum I'm sorry,  maximum revenue amount. Would you like a copy? Thank you, Sharon. Thank you, Sharon. We still have the motion and a second with  this alternative language. You said will I   want to say so. Any further discussion?  Council member Ballard. Thank you. Could   you read the motion one more time with your  um changes, please? Absolutely. Thank you. I   move that I move to approve sales tax resolution  26-049 option one with the alternative language.   The first $20 million in sales tax proceeds  shall be allocated to property tax relief.   The next 280 million shall be allocated to  property tax relief, homeless and housing,   and public safety until each receives $100  million. Thereafter, all initiatives shall be   funded on a Pratta basis in accordance with  the ballot language up to each initiative's   maximum revenue amount. Second motion and a  second. Discussion. I see none. Madame Clerk,   please open. Sorry, Council Member Hoheisle.  Sorry for for just sneaking in again. Um,   so we're we're locked in four mil a year.  Um, a four one mill today is $5 million,   $5.4 million. So, does that mean in order for that  means if we do $20 million next year, that's 3   683 mills. So, does that mean that we have to go  through and pay down the 20 million plus? Because   if we're locked into four mills, it's not going  to be just what we see here. So, I I I support   prioritizing. I think us voting for the four mil a  year locks us in um in a way that is going to push   back even further. the um the homeless services  and public safety in this next year's budget. So,   I don't I don't believe these figures will  be totally accurate with with our plans here. Council member Shepard. Thank you,  Mayor. I fully agree with my colleague,   Council Member Hohisel, which was my  initial concern regarding our first vote. Council uh city manager uh Dennis, can you  please address uh the intention on the $20   million on property tax relief is to make  sure that 4 mil reduction is presented in   the fiscal year 2027 budget. So right now  the mill levy is 32 mills. A reduction of   four mills would be 28 mills. Can you make  sure that the $20 million that is being   allocated right now for property tax would be  a reduction of four mills in property taxes? If the the intention of the council from your  last resolution is to generate enough to have   a four mil decrease. So I think either way and  we'll ask our budget director um if she wants   to address that. I'll let her address it and I  got another thought for you. Yeah, of course.   So um currently the value of a mill is one mill  is about $5 million. So I think that's the idea   and you've been talking about four mills. So that  first year the $20 million collections. I think   that's is that the question that you're asking?  It's sufficient. Are you asking if it's sufficient   to cover the four mill? Yeah, the only challenge  will be that the tax in 2026, the bud budget   development happens in the middle of the year and  I think the tax collections will start later. So,   um there's fewer months of tax collections  in 2026. So, it would be based on forecasted   revenue. So, that'd be an issue. But otherwise,  I think that the math is there. For four mills,   $20 million, $5 a mill. That's what you're  looking for. I don't understand the part   about $28 million, though. I didn't bring up 20.  Okay. I heard that. There's a lot going on. So,   I just want to make sure that $20 million  allocated to property tax relief equals a   4 mil reduction in property taxes. Therefore,  currently Witchah's leving of mills for the   city is 32 mil point a specific amount. I  want to make sure it reduces to four mills   from that which then would be 28 mills and it's  $20 million enough for a 4 mil reduction which   is again a 12% reduction in property tax. And  mayor, if I may, I would suggest if you want to   uh alter your language or your amendment where  you start out to contribute 20 million or an   amount sufficient to achieve a formal reduction  and the remaining 280 or amount remaining. I   think that's how you can address it to ensure  that you first state the initial 20 million   we think is sufficient to achieve your four mill  goal. But if you want to make sure crystal clear   for everybody that you say initial 20 million  or an amount sufficient to achieve the formal   goal. There's further discussion but I will alter  my motion once again. The sales I move that the   sales tax resolution 26-049 option one with the  alternative language the first $20 million or an   amount sufficient for a 4 mil reduction starting  in budget year 2027 in sales tax proceeds shall   be allocated to property tax relief. The next $280  million shall be allocated to property tax relief,   homeless and housing, and public safety  until each receives 100 million. Thereafter,   all initiatives shall be funded on a Pratta basis  in accordance with the ballot language up to each   initiative's maximum revenue amount. Second motion  and a second. Discussion. Council member Hoheisle.   Thank you, Mayor. Um, Elizabeth, where'd you go?  Uh what is the exact value of a mill? Is it 5.4 5.429 um and it's it's included in the financial  plan in the budget book, but that's the final   valuation is posted in mid November and we go to  print before then. But what would you say? Um,   yes it that's correct. It's about 5.4 5.4  mil. Well, it's the the value of a mill is 5.4   million. Okay. Say the amount again, Elizabeth.  The value of a mill is about currently in 20,   you know, for the 2026 budget, the  value of one mill is 5.4 million. That's all subject to how any changes to  how valuation is calculated. But for this   current budget, yes. And the motion I just had a  second has again an amount sufficient for a 4 mil   reduction starting in fiscal year 2027. Council  member J. Johnston. Thank you, Mayor. I was gonna   ask city attorney Jennifer since there's already  one motion that was seconded. Yes, we can't redo   the motion. I have a request to speak. Um, we  would just ask that you for the parliamentary,   you know, cleanup to to withdraw if the mayor  would withdraw her prior motions and so we can   just vote on this one because there was a  couple other motions out there. Okay. I was   going to make an alternative alternate motion.  Could we first withdraw mayor? Could we first   withdraw the the motions that Okay. Okay. Or not  in play. Just And then you could make an al you   can make a substitution or an amended motion.  I may just suggest I'll let mayor do that, but   I may suggest putting some hard numbers to it. Uh  I would suggest putting uh $21.7 million towards   property tax relief, 8 million towards public  safety, and then 8 million towards homelessness   and housing. That'll give 5.4 4 million * 4 is  21.6 million. That'll give us $100,000 extra   in case it's more than that. So that'll give  hard numbers to what Councilman Hohisel said   of 5.4. And then your same language of up to 100  million. I think the way it's currently worded   captures that, but I I will I'm just trying  to appease Yeah. Council member Hazel, too.   Let me go to council member tunnel. And  I was thinking along the lines of council   member Johnston, but can we reread the new  new new motion? And and then at the same time,   if you could withdraw prior motions, Mayor, I will  do that. Uh, Council Member Shepard. Thank you,   Mayor. I just want to clarify. I I we've heard a  lot of people speak throughout the past month in   regards to this and I think overwhelmingly what we  have heard is that there's a collective interest   in making sure Second Light is a priority and  funded and I just want to make sure that that   that is what I would like to see as the priority  and that's more important to me than property tax   relief. Not to say property tax relief is not  important. It is real. Um, and the situation   regarding our unhoused neighbors is is I believe  something that should be the priority and I think   the collective community might agree. And thank  you, Council Member Shepard. Uh, I know that on   our screens you can't see this, but on the screens  here at city hall, you can see the amounts. The   only change would be instead of 20, it's going  to be 21.7. And so then you would reduce the 8.8   eights to the appropriate amounts. Uh, Second  Light will be funded in this situation right away. So, Council Member Johnston, I was just going  to make that same point. They're going to need   6.7 in the first year and they'll be getting  8 million. So, it will be funded that first   year. Then it'll dramatically increase after  that. So, council member Ho Heisel. Thank you,   Mayor. So, just double checking here. So  that would be 2027. It would be 21.7. Mhm. Up to 21% that amount 21.7 the mill the value of a  mill is 4.5.4 but that assumes that the valuation   for next year would be the same as it has been for  this year which is an open question at this point.   So, so it' have to be 22 million then. Well,  it just Yeah. Well, but the the reverse could   be true too based on legislation, legislative  action valuation could go down as well. There's   some proposals in which that would be the case.  So, council member Tuttle, thank you. In the five   different categories, there's lots of discussion,  right? and people have lots of prioritization,   but homelessness and housing seems to  rise to the top for almost everyone. Um,   I just want to make sure I heard what Elizabeth  said correctly or city manager, you can confirm.   We're not going to put money for homelessness,  affordable housing in jeopardy with the motion   that's on that's going to be reread to us again,  please. All motions that have been offered so   far would allow us to do the funding schedule  for housing and homelessness. I would say the   minimum 8.8 is sufficient will meet the needs of  the plan identified for funding second light and   other wraparound supportive services for housing  and homeless. Okay. Thank you. I will uh withdraw   all motions to start over another time. I move  that the sales tax resolution 26-049 option one   alternative language the first $21 million or an  amount sufficient for a 4 mil reduction starting   in fiscal year 2027 in sales tax proceeds shall  be allocated to property tax relief. The next   280 million shall be allocated to property tax  relief, homeless and housing, and public safety   until each receives 100 million. Thereafter,  all initiatives shall be funded on a PR rata   basis in accordance with the ballot language  up to each initiative's maximum revenue amount.   Second motion and a second. I see no further  discussion. And mayor, would you clarify that   first number again? Did you say 21 21 million?  I'm not adding the.7 so that it does cover the   or an amount sufficient for a 4 mil reduction  starting in fiscal year 2027. Is that appropriate?   Okay. Um motion second. Any other discussion?  I see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70 m. Uh now I would  like to move resolution 26-051 which   is regarding public safety. There are two  options. Can we have those on the screen? Good job. I will move resolution 26-051  public safety option number two with an   amendment to item number six annually as part of  the capital improvement program. The city council   will recommend a prioritized list of projects  to be funded with sales tax proceeds. Projects   involving deferred maintenance at existing  public safety facilities will be prioritized   in the capital improvement plan, excluding the  construction of the new southwest witchah and   northwest witchah fire stations and the new west  patrol police station. Clarification. Mayor,   what was the resolution number that you were  reading? Resolution 26-051 option two. Second   motion and a second. Discussion. Council member  Tuttle. Thank you. It would have been helpful to   have these amendments maybe in advance so we could  have like processed them a little bit more. But   um with that said, so what I I want to make sure  I'm interpreting what you're what you're amending.   So the the fire stations police stations new  build priority number one. Then you're saying   deferred maintenance for facilities is the  next priority and then other things like maybe   um equipment apparatus is after that. It's  what's appropriate on the CIP and I believe   that the experts in those two fields are this  um city manager staff who can look at that fire   and police because those are two of the public  safety uh components. Um, and again, I want to   make sure the intention is that we have deferred  maintenance in 20 22 fire stations that the city   currently operates and the intention is to make  sure that deferred maintenance is a top priority.   However, I understand that districts four and five  will be getting a new fire station and those have   been promised for multiple years, but they keep  getting delayed. The last fire station that was   built in the city of Witchah was 2009. And the  expansion in West Witchah has created a need for   a fire station in southwest Witchah and Northwest  Witchah that also covers Council Member Ballard's   district in number six. So again, the intention is  to make sure that deferred maintenance is still a   priority without injuring the two projects that  are going to be new, the new Southwest Witchah,   Northwest Witchaw fire stations and the new  West Patrol Police Station. I don't disagree   with anything you said. I'm not arguing that. I'm  just asking the question of is your intention of   what you're adding that the three new builds  will be the first priority and then deferred   maintenance will come after that but what about  apparatus or equipment or other things that were   part of the CIP that were also taken out are  they we first we build the three builds then   we do all the deferred maintenance then we do  the equipment and apparatus because maybe we   need the equipment and apparatus before we need uh  deferred maintenance. Does does this make sense? I   will ask the city manager to maybe ask his staff.  Does it make sense? Well, I'll say we do have,   as we've said before, we do have a plan. We have  a capital improvement plan for our facilities,   equipment, and other capital needs for police and  fire. And so, we have proided that list with prior   agenda items. So, we will take that list and I  think as uh council member Tuttles outlined based   upon this resolution and where we'd land um on a  vote that yes, we would prioritize the facilities   that have been mentioned specifically. Then we  would go through the capital improvement list that   currently exists, look for the what we'd consider  to be the prioritized deferred maintenance items,   and then we would get to apparatus equipment  and other things within the confined list of the   existing CIP. I just want to make sure that we're  not tying the hands of our police chief or our   fire chief that if they think that they need an,  you know, there could be a deferred maintenance   project that's minor and it's not something  that's huge and they would rather have apparatus   or equipment over a deferred maintenance. I I  trust our our police and fire chiefs. I trust   our staff. Um I understand the priority for the  new builds completely agree. I do think deferred   maintenance is an issue, but I just don't want  to tie the hands of staff or future councils that   they can't get new apparatus or equipment if it's  needed as a higher priority than maybe making a   repair in a fire station. So, I'm not going to die  on this sword, but I just think that if maybe even   it's like could be the intention or priority shall  instead of will. Um, I just, like I said, I don't   I don't want it to be where we need apparatus and  now we can't do it until we fix something in fire   station 18. I'm just making that up. I will take  that friendly amendment of shall instead of will.   Second. Thank you. Uh, council, Vice Mayor John,  Vice Mayor Glascock, Council Member Hoheisel.   Uh I thank you, mayor. Um I agree with council  member Tuttle on um just giving the chiefs we   the chiefs will know kind of what the priority  is and I do think deferred maintenance will take   precedence with them. Um so I would like to offer  a substitute motion to go with option uh one. Second motion and a second. Uh, councel Jennifer  Magna. Thank you. I was just gonna say on the   the wording shall and will, I I think those  are kind of inter interchangeable. I mean,   maybe the I don't know if the word the the word  may is appropriate if you wanted something less   restrictive than shall. I don't I'm just  throwing that out because shall is strong   language. I hear the word may instead.  Would that be more appropriate? Council, council member Tuttle, I was just going  to ask then if we can reread the motion   again. I know you made a substitute motion and  now how is this going to play into it? Sorry,   I'm very logistical. I would just like to know  exactly what I'm voting for. Thank you. Thank   you. Um, so my current motion, there is also  a substitute motion and in terms of procedure,   the substitute motion will get the vote first.  However, I'm reading the original motion with the   edit resolution 26-051. I move uh option two with  item number six edited annually. As part of the   capital improvement program, the city council will  recommend a prioritized list of projects to be   funded with sales tax proceeds. Projects involving  deferred maintenance at existing public safety   facilities may be prioritized in the capital  improvement plan excluding the construction of   the new southwest and northwest fire stations and  the new west patrol police station. Second. Still   a motion and a second. Council member Tuttle.  Council member Johnston. Thank you, Mayor. Uh,   with the new language, I really don't see much  difference between one and two. I think they're   pretty similar. It just mentions maintenance, but  it leaves it up to the fire chief, which number   one already leaves it up to the fire chief. I  think it clearly states the deferred maintenance.   That is what we have heard from community  members saying that the 22 fire stations,   some have had deferred maintenance. I actually  toured one of them last week with major problems   to the concrete or asphalt uh leading up to  the fire station. And so these are things again   that need to be prioritized. What we currently  have must be maintained and I do believe that   it is still important to go ahead with the two  new fire stations and the new police station.   However, deferred maintenance has to be  a priority and I like it spelled out,   which is why I will be voting in favor of option  two. However, we do have option one available at   the current moment because there's a substitute  motion. Council member Ho Heisel. Thank you,   Mayor. Um, I was going to ask Jennifer  if my motion's still on the floor. Um,   the reason the substitute motion is on the floor.  Okay. And and the reason um for wanting to really   focus on some of the stations and apparatus new  builds is because I want to get out ahead of   um some of the improvements that we need at some  of the fire stations. Um, you know, firefighter   cancer is definitely an issue that we're all  becoming more aware of. And being able to have   stations that are built that have um cleaners  for the bunker gears, cleaning apparatuses   for their bunker gear could help um curb uh  cancer rates, not only for the firefighters,   but for their families, too, that have a a  higher rate of cancer further down the road.   Um, so I I'm kind of curious too what the um  the language the difference is now with the   change to May. Does that lock in the chiefs for  deferred maintenance or does that still give them   um the ability to um prioritize based off of  some of the needs that they see with it's my   opinion that we're the may provides discretion.  May provides discretion. Then I will withdraw my   motion. Thank you. Council member Hohheisle. We're  back to the original motion that I moved with Vice   Mayor Glascock seconding. Any further discussion?  I see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. We will now move to  performing arts. Those are resolutions 26-050. I move resolution 26-050 option one. Second  motion and a second. Any further discussion? I   see council member Johnston. Mayor, respectfully,  being a fundraiser and having capital campaigns,   the last 20% of any campaign is the hardest.  And if we're only going to allow $50 million,   what's to say they can raise that extra  $15 million? I I would make a substitute   motion to do option number one, but require $75  million of private funds be pledged, raised,   or pledged after being utilized for the project. I will take that amendment if you would like since  I have a motion. We could do it as amendment or a   substitute motion. Either way, would you I think  to make it clean uh withdraw my substitute motion.   I if you make an amendment, I would be happy  to move the 75 million instead of 50 million. I   withdraw my second. I will second it. Okay, let's  make it clean. So, I read a motion. I'll read it   again. uh in this time uh with the language I move  resolution 26-050 option one uh for the community   to understand it says incorporates language  regarding compliance with all city procurement   processes. The resolution requires that 75 million  of private funds be pledged or collected prior to   city funds being utilized for the project. Second  motion and a second. With a substitute motion,   I would move as a substitute motion the city  council approve resolution number 260550 with   the wording as detailed in the ordinance. Which  option? Option one as detailed in the ordinance.   Motion and a second. Discussion. Council member  Johnston. Again, I will reiterate my experience   as a fundraiser in this field. I do feel like  I'm somewhat of an expert and the last 20% is   the hardest to raise and I want to make sure they  can raise the full 75 million and that will give   them the great incentive to get to the 75 million.  Council member Tuttle, thank you. I just have a a   question I want to make sure I understand. Okay.  So, we have said that the community would raise 75   million and then 75 million from property tax  would be raised would be utilized. Sales tax.   Sales tax. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. So, instead  of 50 million, we're saying that in this public   private partnership all 75 has to be committed  before we move forward. That's correct. Okay. And   then council vice mayor glask did somebody made  another substitute or an amendment. What so what's   the final my substitute is the original option  one resolution 26050 as presented uh before us   with 50 million and not 75. I just wanted to make  sure we all know exactly what we're voting on. So,   the next item that we vote on, unless somebody  throws something else on the table, is going to be   for 50 million has to be pledged or raised. What  we've always talked about and talked about in the   community, correct? Thank you so much, Vice Mayor.  And that's just to clarify that's section six of   the ordinance. You're referring to that lang.  Section six. Yes. Thank you. Unchanged. Council   member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted  to mobilize my opinion as to why I um seconded   Vice Mayor GlassCox's um alternative motion and  that is because um I think it's important to be   a good partner and I think when we talk about a  sales tax when we talk about what what is driving   uh a sales tax partially is tourism and I think um  our performing arts center and our performing arts   industry does an amazing job with helping out with  that and so when we think about the generation of   2,900 jobs, an economic impact of 184.7 million  annually, um 108 million in income to residents.   Um it's really important for us to recognize the  work that's being done in in terms of the tourism   that is going to draw people from out of the area  and the region to contribute and um I think asking   them to to raise a full amount when we have an  opportunity to at least acknowledge their hard   work and efforts that they're going to contribute  to this um I think this is the right way to go and   being a good partner. Council member Johnston.  Thank you. Mayor, may I ask Council Member   Sheepard and Council Member Glascock, what if  they uh only raise they get all these plans,   they raise 50 million, so they can go ahead and  do plans. They can purchase the land. They can   get the plans all ready to go. So, they spent a  significant amount of money. They only raised $60   million. What do you do then? Do they come back  to the city and want $15 million more to get to   75 million? You don't raise the money. Well, it's  it's it's in the sales tax though that it will be   raised or close to it. Anyway, it's moving.  So, there's a substitute motion. I would call   the question. I agree. There's a substitute  motion by Vice Mayor Glascock, seconded by   Council Member Shepard. Any further discussion?  I see none. Madame Clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 61. Madame uh sorry  I will now move resolution 26-052   regarding Sentry 2. Second. I move the  option as presented. Second motion and   a second. Any further discussion? I see  none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. We're now at  resolution 26-054 regarding housing   and homeless assistance funds. This is  something that mayor with the motion.   Council member Hohisel motion.  Uh Vice Mayor Glasco. Thank you,   Mayor. I would move that we move forward  with option one, resolution number 26054. I will second it. Um, if I get a guarantee  from city manager that there will be at least   $120 million going into the endowment  that will then you will only utilize   the proceeds of that endowment.  moving forward after seven years for operations of the homeless shelter and  any additional services. I would love to   state that remember though that plan is  dependent upon income interest generated   on the corpus. So I cannot guarantee the  return on investment to get to that 120   million. So I want to make sure that's  predicated off of that growing based upon   our investment income. I can't guarantee  our investment return in five years.   I will be supportive of this only if I hear  from the city manager or from housing that   the endowment moving forward after 7 years will go  towards making sure that in perpetuity a shelter   in Witchah at the second light facility  will be able to be funded operationally through the endowment earnings.   moving forward after seven years. Yeah, I think  I can't give you a dollar number, but the plan as   identified, yes, they're this is for an operating  in perpetuity amount of funding to support a low   barrier shelter. Um what that dollar amount will  end up in seven years. And again, we've committed   that we will even adjust our investment policy  to get a higher return on investment interest   to help bolster this endowment fund. But again,  I can't give you a dollar amount tonight. But   our plan does outline with a 5% investment. If  we can achieve those returns, we will have over   120 million for uh endowed fund in perpetuity to  support the operations of not only a low barrier   shelter, but also other support wraparound  services for homeless and housing. Council   member Johnston. Thank you, Mayor. I just want  to clarify under our present investment policy,   it'll be projected to be hundred million. If  council I think it takes council approval to   change the investment policy. If if council elects  to change that just for that one fund, uh there is   a good possibility we could get a 5% return and  get that higher uh higher amount of 120 million. Council member Tuttle. Thank you. I'm famous for  offering my unsolicited advice, so I'll do it one   more time. I don't think that we tonight from the  bench can say we're going to pass option one with   the pinky promise from the city manager that we're  going to do whatever. Um, with all due respect,   we hope you're here for a very long time, but  you could win the lottery and go away and at   some point all of us are going to term out.  And so I think that we need to be extremely   um surgical in what we want it to be. Even if it's  not the dollar amount, even if it's percentages,   and I'm not saying this has to happen, but if we  need to take a two or three minute recess and let   legal and finance and whoever huddle, but I  don't think we can pass this saying option   one and a guarantee from the manager. Whatever  we say we want better be in the motion that is   voted on this evening. That's my advice. And  for clarification, that's not any guarantees   not on my motion. The motion is simply the  resolution number 26054 option one that's   presented before us. Second motion and a second.  Discussion. Council member Hohheisle. I withdraw. I will not be in favor of this if again there's  no guarantee that at least a hundred to $120   million will be in an endowment that will live on  in perpetuity to be able to fund the operational   cost of a low barrier shelter with wraparound  services. So I will not be in favor of this   item if this moves forward. Um, Council Member  Johnston, I I'll remind the mayor that there is   no guarantee on any investment return. Um, it's  just the fact that there option one does say   there will be an investment and an endowment.  There's just no guarantee on the amount. So,   I think it's very clear that there will be an  endowment that will fund it in perpetuity. We   just don't know what that amount is and no one  can guarantee that. The guarantee I would like to   see is that at least 100 million to 120 million  according to the 5% projection would be stated   in the ordinance. So I'm going to ask if I could  have a friendly amendment to the current motion.   I second it my motion with full confidence. I'll  lean to my colleague to see if he'd be willing to   change. What is your request? My request is that  in writing I I would have legal make sure there's   a portion within this resolution that makes  sure that the endowment that will live on in   perpetuity specifically states that there will  be operational funds for a low barrier shelter   with wraparound services using the proceeds of  an endowment that at least has $und00 million. Council member Johnston again if you do  that and the the return is not three and   a three three and a half% if it's  less than that you would be taking   funds from housing to fund that to fund  that. Now, that's probably won't happen,   but you cannot guarantee an amount in endowment  in seven years. Just can't do it. I will not be   in favor of this item. Council member Glascock,  there's a motion to call a question. Motion and   a second. Any further discussion? I see  none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes. 61. We are now at the property tax relief or sales  tax relief. Um, can we go to the slide regarding   the LEAP program? City manager, I have a question  regarding how we will pay for these funds. Again,   the sales tax is specific that you cannot use  the sales tax funds for anything other than   the five initiatives. This would be something  to help individuals who are facing barriers   um and are lowincome um residents who are part of  the program. Um can you again state how much this   would co possibly cost the city in the general  fund and where we could find those dollars within   the general fund? So, as uh presented from mayor  and council input, there was an interest, as you   just stated, to maybe do some type of offset  of the sales tax increase if passed to somehow   reduce some property tax expenses within the city.  There are limited areas where we can do offsets,   rebates, or whatever it may be um considered a  reductions. So looking at some of the existing   um state statutes, there are two areas where we've  identified where we could we've done in the past.   Um if you we have the federal we could mirror the  federal low-inccome energy assistance program. We   do know from some of that data and records um  that we had 9,720 um households qualify for   that. Again, that was uh estimated at 534,600. Um  we don't know how many people would apply for it,   how many will be eligible next year. So  again, that just gives us a snapshot in   time. Um it would have to come from the general  fund. That would simply be a budget decision.   If we see um revenue projections increase with our  financial projections for the budget, whether new   um revenue growth or whatever it may be, that  would just have to be factored into our overall   budget conversation. But um we do want you to  have the understanding there would be a general   fund impact if you do this type of program to  have a sales or have a uh relief program related   to this. and then the second one. So we presented  these as two options. Um but again you can do one,   you can do both, you can do neither. It depends  on how um again you can do them and if the food   tax goes away um you can do another item to  reconsider. Um there's just a lot of options. So,   these are two that we've identified. And I want to  make sure on the next slide where we call it the   Witchita um yeah, this one. Um again, if you want  to base it off of the Homestead refund program,   again, we did do a program. We have a history on  this um as a city in 2024. So, we do know those   numbers. It actually did encompass three different  relief type of programs. Um but we could have up   to 522 taxpayers eligible. Again, don't know who  will apply. Don't know who will be ineligible in   year 1, year two, or year three. But those are the  numbers that we know from a past experience. Now,   I would also suggest do not underestimate the cost  of administering a program. Not only is there the   actual reduction in revenue to the general fund  if we offer these two different programs, but   we haven't talked about to administer that. Would  that be a staff member in our finance department?   How much time? Again, it depends on how many  taxpayers. If you have 9,000 to 10,000 taxpayers   uh going for this credit, that's a position  to help try to go through and administer this   program. One promotion, two execution, and three  distribution. So there would be an additional   impact to the general fund depending upon how we  would have to um administer one or both programs.   Council member Tuttle. Thank you. Um, I'm going  to ask a question and I everybody knows I have an   adversion to to doing this from the bench,  but um, and I'm sorry I didn't ask prior,   but it's just kind of coming to me now. Couple  weeks ago when we talked about all of this and the   175,000 $170,000 for the special election, I asked  if we could use interest earnings to pay for that.   Is there any way that we will use could use  interest earnings to pay for this so that it to   to reimburse ourselves out of the general fund?  I'm just asking a question. It's a brainstorm. Yeah. The endowment. Oh, yeah. You're right. Yeah. Well, in transfer,  I think what you're asking is if interest earnings   are more favorable than projected, could we  increase expenditures to offset the the cost of   this program? And then in the case of the property  tax relief program, the last time we treated it   actually as negative revenue um whereas the energy  one I think would be considered an expenditure.   So, if that were the case, you could go that  route. Um, just as a caution, after the discussion   about the value of a mill, I'm afraid that the the  item that had the if there's $20 million, the mill   levy gets reduced by five could put us behind.  Does that make sense? So, you're already So,   we're already just very very high level. Um the  2027 adopt the 20 the 2026 and 2027 budgets are   both balanced in the financial plan. We're talking  about 27 27 we anticipated using $3 million in the   stabilization reserve to balance that year. And so  then with this 20 million, it's very prescriptive.   The 20 million is four mills. But if the value of  a mill is more than five, you're already behind a   little bit more. And then this could be I mean  the usage of the program was about $90,000 last   year and we used about $20,000 just in marketing  plus probably about a third of an FTE. Um so it's   not a huge amount of money but it would just  it's going to start to add up. So what I hear   you saying is no. Well, I mean, I think the other  thing too is just looking back at the resolution,   the 531 after the second one happened after  that. I feel like the this the one that was   taken after that one very much defined um the will  of the council regarding the mil levy reduction.   and one of they they seem to kind of contradict  each other. But anyhow, just from a financial   standpoint, but should I mean um things point  to interest earnings being stronger in 2026 than   we had initially planned, but this is a program  for 2027. And let me um see if I can clarify in   terms of is it appropriate to take the sales tax  interest earned and use it to support the rebate   or the tax relief programs. The answer is that's  a permissible. She's saying no. Well, make sure we   understand the difference. Yeah. I don't think  she's saying permissible. I think she's saying   might not be feasible. There's a difference. It's  not it's not outside the lines. I mean, I'm not   asking to do anything that's not appropriate, but  she's just saying she doesn't think the money was   there. But let's say that, you know, things went  so well. I mean, I just I'm throwing it out there   as an option to help us so that it doesn't have  as big of an impact to the to the general budget.   I mean I mean you know you you've been through  the process like there's priorities every year   and we somehow manage to incorporate as many  as we can in the CIP and the budget and come   up with a 10-year plan for the CIP and balance  the budget. So um if this is a priority we would   we'd be able to integrate that. But um based on  I mean it's a real possibility that something   else that was a lower priority would need to be  deemphasized in the budget. Um so and then as   far as pulled funds investment earnings using you  know increased revenue to pay for other you know   having an offsetting expenditure. Um currently  all pool funds investment earnings go to the   general fund but then for this sales tax program  it seems like they'll be going into the sales tax   program as well. So that's the plan there. So,  it's just would be and it would be something too   that we would incorporate in the budget process  as we start to meet about that regarding 2027.   Thank you, Elizabeth. And that's why you do your  job so well. Council member Ballard. Thank you,   Mayor. My question is maybe for Sally, maybe as  a lead question for you. I feel like in a past   council um meeting there were significant more  participants in LEAP. Is this kind of this 9,000   number is that kind of low? Um I think what you're  referencing is in the previous meeting before we   had gotten the data from the state on how many  people actually applied and received the benefit.   We took a look at the uh census data and the  number of households whose income would fall   below the threshold to qualify. Okay. And that's  where you're seeing that difference in the   numbers. Okay. So, there's still opportunity for  people to apply for it to use in the future years.   Correct. That that application period opens every  year and so that 9,720 was just We redo it every   year. Every year. Okay. Wonderful. Thank you for  clarifying. No problem. Council member Ho Heisel.   Thank you, Mayor. Um, I move that the city council  adopt resolutions to establish implementation   guard rails and review proposed resolutions  for sales tax and property tax relief. Second   motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk, can you please call the next item? I'm just double checking that both.  Vice Mayor Glasco, that was my second. request to set public hearings for  assistance for Mammoth Clubhouse. Honorable mayor, members of council,  Troy Anderson, assistant city manager,   uh stand here before you uh with request first  and foremost. Uh the action item tonight is   simply to set the public hearing. Uh I'll touch  on that towards the end with recommendations,   but just sort of tampering some expectations.  is a um I'll walk through the proposal. Uh the   applicant is not here this evening. Not really  sure when we were going to get to the item. Um but   there will be a full presentation. We will have a  representative uh from the applicant at the public   hearing on March 10th. Uh so again, I'll just kind  of breeze through this. I know it's getting late.   Um, I'll try to expound a little bit on some areas  I've been asked to maybe expound on a little bit,   but otherwise, Superfast, Mammoth Golf,  Witchah, you'll hear me refer referred   to them as Mammoth throughout on property near  1010 North Web. Uh, they proposed to construct   a multi-purpose commercial golf, sports, and  entertainment venue. uh they've requested the   use of a community improvement district to  assist in the development and construction   of the project as well as an industrial revenue  bond for sales tax exemption only. It's because   of the CI and the public hearing that is required  uh with the CI that we're here tonight setting   that public hearing. Otherwise, you'll hear more  about the industrial revenue bond and the sales   tax exemption during that public hearing when  we'll talk about both of those on March 10th.   uh C petition was signed by 100% of the  land owners. The estimated investment in   the projects about 12.8 million. Maximum eligible  amount, you'll hear refer to that as the cost cap   uh to be reimbursed by the developer. It's about  $2 million. I'm going to pause here for just a   second and just remind folks kind of how CD works,  right? Um city is not giving the owner developer   $2 million. It's a CID sales tax that is added  to uh the retail sales at the facility. So,   uh the developer owner developer has to make  the initial investment. They have to open up   for business. They then charge that additional  sales tax on top of goods and services. Those   sales taxes are then collected, remitted to  the state, returned to the taxing jurisdiction,   and then we rebate those proceeds back to that  additional uh up to 2% sales tax back to the   developer up to the $2 million cost cap um  based on a review and analysis and audit   of those eligible expenses under the C act and  under the C law. So again, city's not advancing   $2 million to the project. project has to be fully  funded, constructed, open for business, collect   additional sales tax. If those sales tax are not  realized, obviously, uh the owner and developer is   at risk. I'll touch on that in my kind of standard  comments here in just a second, but otherwise,   uh again, it is a 2% up to 22 years. It is pay as  you go. Uh there are no taxpayer dollars at risk.   To establish the CD, council must first adopt a  resolution uh stating that the city council is   considering the establishment of the CD, setting a  date for the public hearing on the matter. That's   what we're doing this evening. Public hearing  is currently slated for March 10th. Again,   developer pays all construction costs. City will  not issue debt for this project. Proceeds will   be held by the city and dispersed pursuant to a  development agreement until the maximum amount   identified in the petition, about $2 million, has  been reimbursed or the 22-year term has expired,   whichever is earlier. Law departments reviewed  and approved the petition and resolution out   in the form, recommended city council accept  the petition, adopt the resolution setting the   public hearing for March 10th, and uh considering  the establishment of the community improvement   district, and authorize the necessary signatures.  With that being said, I'll stand for questions.   Thank you, Troy. Questions for staff, beginning  with Council Member Hohheisle. Thank you,   Mayor. Uh, real quick, have they identified the  uh public interest pro the 10% that goes for   uh public interest? Have they identified that  project yet? Uh, no, they have not yet. Okay. So,   we'll make sure that we'll uh get the applicant  and the council district representative together   to make sure that they uh identify those public.  Okay. Appreciate it. We're good. Uh question for   you, Troy, really quickly. Um can you go back to  slide number 46 on CIDs? Yep. Um there was some   confusion from folks regarding TIFFs. This is not  a TIFF. Can you just explain TIFFs versus CIDs?   Correct. Um, similar to CID, a CID is a sales  tax rebate program, right? Whereby sales taxes   are collected uh and then based on that audit  analysis of eligible expenses rebated back,   right? TIFF operates similarly, right? It's the  property tax that is generated as a result of the   project and the investment. Those property  taxes are then paid and then subsequently   returned or rebated back. The portion above the  base value is then rebated back to uh the owner   developer for those in that case tiff eligible  expenses. So structurally they're the they're   they're modeled very similar to each other sort of  structurally. C is based on sales tax revenue. TIF   is based on property tax that is generated as  a result of the capital investment. Thank you,   Troy. Any further questions for staff? I see none.  We'll open it up for public comment. I see no   one in the public who would like to speak. We'll  bring it back to the bench. Council member Tuttle,   this is in your district. Thank you very much. Um  the mayor and I had an opportunity to meet with   them. Very excited about this project. Excited to  see this uh corridor. Um, lots happening tonight   on Web Road between 13th and Central and excited  to see this corridor revitalized. So, with that,   I would move that the city council accept the  petition and adopt the resolution setting the   public hearing for consideration of the  establishment of a CD and authorize the   necessary signatures. And I did get to forget to  say Troy, thank you to you and your team. Second   motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk,   please call the next item. Council member  appointments and comments. Council members,   are there any items or individuals to  be appointed? Council member Shepard. I don't have any appointments. I'm sorry, I had a  comment. No problem. Any other appointments? Um I   do want to make mention that we will be talking  about boards um at a workshop in March. Um and   a lot of uh expired terms or soon to be expired  terms are coming up. Um but city manager will be   doing a workshop regarding boards at the uh  March workshop. We will now move to council   member comments. Council member Shepard. Thank you  mayor. very briefly, but I did promise that every   week I'd try to give a black history month uh  fact that is relevant to the city of Witchaw. So,   um for folks who don't know, Witchaw's historic  black business district was centered around 9inth   Street in Cleveland Street in the McAdams area and  thrived during the early to mid 20th century uh   with businesses, churches, and the Dunar Theater.  The district unfortunately declined due to urban   renewal, highway construction, and economic  shifts, which not only displaced residents,   but it closed many of those blackowned businesses.  Today, efforts are focused on preserving the   history, honoring its legacy as the cultural and  economic heart of Witchaw's black community. I   want to give a major shout out to create campaign  that does phenomenal job with building minority   entrepreneurs, not just in the former location of  the black business district, but all across the   city of Witchah. And on February the 28th, there  is a black business tour happening. So you can   visit the community voice website, sign up for the  black business tour, support black business, and   celebrate the history of a thriving black business  district. Thank you, mayor. Any further comments   from council members? I just want to um ask uh  city manager and his staff to make sure that   witchah.gov/ballotquest GV/Ballot question will  now have the appropriately approved uh guard rails   in a new presentation so it's easy for people to  understand what just passed u without option one   option two but rather what has passed and I think  it's appropriate to have the votes also reflective   of what has passed um again I appreciate people  who are still watching there's 89 individ   individuals still watching on our YouTube channel.  Um, and I appreciate not just the individuals who   spoke, but people who have reached out to myself  and this council as well as those who are making   comments. Um, the way that our local government  works again is through a council that discusses   in public um and has that engagement with staff um  so that we can make decisions from this bench. And   so I appreciate the staff who have been working  very hard and late today to make sure that we   have this city council meeting that is accessible  to the community. I heard multiple times people   saying thank you for having an evening time  meeting. As you all know in 2024 we passed   four evening meetings meaning one per quarter and  that started in 2024 and continued. This actually   happens to be the fifth evening meeting for 2026.  This was an impromptu evening meeting so that we   could have engagement regarding the sales tax  ballot question during a 6pm meeting. So again,   you can look at all the um scheduled city council  meetings on the website witchah.gov/city councsil.   With that, I move to adjourn. Second. Motion  second. Madame clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 70. Have a good evening. Thank you.