Good morning, Witchah, and good morning  to all of you. Welcome to City Hall.   We'll call this meeting to order. With  us this morning is Pastor Philip Moore   of Eden Fellowship Ministries to provide  our invocation. Following that invocation,   we will have the pledge of allegiance.  And we ask that you please stand for both. Good morning to the mayor and the city council  members and the citizens of Witchah. Let's bow   our heads in prayer. Eternal God in heaven, we  praise you and we thank you for this day, for the   gift of life and for the opportunity to serve our  community. We ask for your guidance as the Witchah   City Council convenes and at that every dis  discussion, decision, and action be led by wisdom,   integrity, and the heart for the people. Grant  our leaders discernment to seek justice, fairness,   and the common good. May they have patience,  understanding, and courage to make decisions that   uplift our city and protect all of its citizens.  Bless the citizens of Witchah with safety, peace,   and opportunity. We pray for unity, collaboration,  and respect in this chamber. that the work done   here reflects your will for the good of all. In  your mighty and matchless name we pray. Amen.   Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the  United States of America and to the republic   for which it stands, one nation under God,  indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Pastor Moore. Madame clerk, can  you please call the first item? Approve the   minutes of the regular meeting August 7th,  2025. Council members, any corrections to   those minutes? I see none. I move to approve  the minutes for August 7th, 2025. Second.   Motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. We'll do a voice vote for this. All those in favor   say I. I. All those opposed,  same sign. Motion passes. 70. Madame clerk, can you please call the next item?  Awards and proclamations. Proclamations. St.   Paul African Episcopal Church 150th anniversary  day and self-awareness month. Please ask the   individuals from the St. Paul amme church  to please come forward at this time. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. The proclamation reads, "The  city of Witchah, Kansas, founded in 1870.   Whereas churches are the cornerstone of every  community, providing guidance, fellowship,   counseling, support, and concern for families and  individuals within their congregations and through   ministry to those outside their congregations.  Whereas Witchah's oldest African-American church,   St. Paul AM is celebrating its 150th anniversary  with the theme proclaim the year of jubilee and   the amme church is celebrating 209 years  on Sunday August 24th 2025. Whereas this   celebration promoting community inclusion in our  neighborhoods through participating in fellowship   is a unique opportunity for the church and the  congregation to share information, worship,   and fellowship with family and friends. Whereas  the city of Witchah shares the pride of the St.   Paul AM Church promoting community inclusion in  our neighborhoods through participative fellowship   under the leadership of the Reverend Dr. Pamela M.  Hughes, pastor. The Reverend Dr. Carla J. Cooper,   President of the Elder Midwest South District, and  the Wright Reverend Francine A. Brookens Brookens,   Esquire, presiding prelate of the fifth  Episcopal district. And now, therefore,   be it resolved that the Witchah City  Council does hereby proclaim August 24th,   2025 as St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal  Church 150th anniversary day. [Applause]   On behalf of the St. Paul family, we are waiting  and expecting an awesome celebration this week.   So, we thank God for our mayor and our  city council honoring us on this day   because truly we come to what do we come to  do? Proclaim the year of Jubilee. Thank you. May I please ask council member Brandon  Johnson, who's part of the congregation,   to please come forward and  take this picture as well. [Laughter] Here they come, y'all. Here  they come. Here they come. two. [Applause] Sunday. Thank you. Thank you again to the St. Paul AM  Church. May I please ask Miss Junth   and her supporters to come forward at this time? May I also ask Council Member Brandon  Johnson to come forward at this time? Hi. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. The proclamation reads, "The city  of Witchah, Kansas, founded in 1870.   Whereas self-awareness month emphasizes the  importance of understanding oneself, including   one's mental state as a foundation of well-being.  Whereas it is important to encourage state, local,   and community-based organizations,  faith leaders, health care providers,   and individuals to educate their communities  about mental health stigmas. Whereas mental health   stigma is a characterized by unfair attitudes  or beliefs about individuals experiencing mental   health challenges. The stigma can manifest  in various forms including stereotypes,   discrimination and social exclusion. Whereas,  it is important to encourage the community to   donate to and to volunteer for mental health  organizations that support self-awareness and   provide access to resources needed for good  mental health. Now, therefore, be it resolved   that the Witchaw City Council does hereby proclaim  the month of August 2025 as selfawareness month. Um, I just want to thank everybody for coming  out today. Um, and I'm so elated to be here   standing as an advocate for mental health and  not only for mental health, um, for all the   black youth out there. Um, we always get painted  in a negative light. So, just to be that positive   light means so much to me. So, thank you all for  coming out and I will do as much as I can to make   sure I advocate for not only young people,  for the black community as well. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank  you, Miss Junth and her supporters. May I please now ask Roy Moy III and any of his   supporters to come forward  with the STEM music project. Today is National Aviation Day 2025. With  that, I want to introduce Roy Moy III,   a local community partner, uh, an engineer  in aerospace, and an artist who has created   an amazing video to help showcase the  aviation industry in our community,   the importance of the air capital of  the world, and the importance of steam.   The Arts Partners STEM Music Project received  a $25,000 grant to create a bilingual album   for kids by reaching artists and Roy Moy III  with several community partners were part of   that project. The intent is to promote steam  and career opportunities in spaces right here   in Witchah. Let's watch a portion of that music  video. Aerospace industry lives here. It's Kansas   to be very clear. Air capital of the world. Air  capital of the world. Air capital of the world.   Air capital of the world. 1920 started something  new. A trio got together with a dream to pursue.   A disagreement happened out the trio. Then they  add to the crew of the aviation pioneers arrive.   The industry of aerospace came alive. Aircraft  like doc B29. So many airplanes took to the sky.   Let's air capital of the world. Air capital of the  world. Air capital of the world. Air capital of   the world. ICT says it's everything. Air capital  of the world we sing. ICT says it's everything.   Air capital of the world. Air capital of the  world of the world. Air capital of the world. And to celebrate National Aviation Day, Roy Moy  III. Thank you so much. Thank you. Um, thanks to   Mayor Liy Woo, city council, the city of Witchah,  um, and Ella from Arts Partners. Um, you know,   it always starts with a dream. I had a vision. I,  you know, majored in aerospace engineering, been   loving planes since I was a little kid and, um,  also singer songwriter and created STEM music, my   small business, and had an idea for an album. We  saw the Arts Thrive grant and said, "Oh my gosh,   we have to apply for this." Um, I'm a teaching  artist with Arts Partners, a nonprofit here in   town that does incredible work uh, with art um,  you know, students and people in the community.   And so with this camp, we had from we started  June 2nd ended July 19th and they the students   worked with me to songwrite to make beats with uh  Corey Ralph u my producer in town. Uh we filmed   music videos with dream to reality, France judges  um and other you know partners. They got to make   digital art murals in the city. Um created songs  uh got to record and so so much went into this.   In this particular song we wanted to celebrate  the city. The new album that will be coming out   next year is called Stim Music Takes Flight.  And I I couldn't be a son, an adopted son of   the city of Witchah and not put a song about Air  Capital of the World on that project. And so this   celebrates our city. It's out now on YouTube on  Facebook. So go watch the full thing later today   um showing love. And I think one thing I would  love to say is um this program employed students   through the way to work program that got to be  a part of this camp. So students were getting   paid and learning actual skill sets that they can  take with them. And two, those two rappers, those   students you saw in the video, they made their own  song post camp and they shot a music video. They   were DMing me like, "Roy, look at us. Look at our  music videos." So they learn stuff in this camp   that they're actually now putting into practice.  And I think it's something when we think about   our youth in the city of Witchah, how do we keep  them engaged? How do we inspire them with steam,   which is science, technology, engineering,  art, and math? and how do we make sure that   the the future is bright in this city with the  youth that we support. So, I'm really excited.   I'm hoping that we can continue to partner in  the future to do more youth um apprenticeships   in art and how that really transforms our  city. We even did something with League 42,   a mural there as well. Um and so um I leave  you with this. Never forget we are air capital   of the world. Air capital of the world. Air  capital of the world. Air capital of the world. God bless you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you again to all of our proclamation  recipients and Roy Moy as well as the STEM   music project and arts partners this morning.  Madame clerk, can you please call the next item?   Public agenda. The public agenda allows for up to  five speakers to have five minutes each to address   the council. No action will be taken relative  to the items on the public agenda other than   referral to the city manager for information as  necessary. Speakers will 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.  This first speaker is Arthur Stokes Black Mold. Good morning everyone. Mayor Woo and staff.  I'm Arthur Stokes Jr. I live at uh I reside   at 2614 South Topeka in uh Witchah, Kansas.  And uh I I've been talking about black mode,   but I also is a part of uh that topic. I've been  doing the Titanic and talking about standards,   you know, in dealing with our city uh situation  with with black mold is it's a big topic. I'm   starting to hear more and more of it, you know,  getting into the dwellings. It's a problem.   You know, I've I've been having a real rough  time trying to uh I've always been able to adapt   to some some situations, but this has really been  rough uh in dealing with the Titanic. The biggest   secrets I'm just going to round it up on this  meeting. The biggest secrets with Titanic was   that the steel when they built the Titanic and  it was unsinkable. That steel at that time would   not have helped the Titanic when it hit that  iceberg because uh of the sulfur in it. And   uh Blasco, they did the experiment. They went down  and they they they took a piece of it. They took a   sample of it and I didn't know what it a coupon  was, but it was a script from the Titanic. They   had to go down there under 30 feet of uh dirt and  uh sand to retrieve this. And basically the paint   was still almost intact from when it was down  there. But they they did the experiment with   the modern piece of steel and what happened was  it bent. It was it it made a Vshape. It it never   broke. But when they did it, they used like uh a  pendulum. And when the pendulum finally struck it,   the Titanic just that piece just kind of like  shattered it. It went every different direction   and that was due to it was not suitable for the  condition. They also they they set the condition,   you know, in their experiment just like it was  when it hit the iceberg and the temperature out   there. I think they use alcohol or something to  get that temperature to that level, you know. So,   you have to have standards. It uh it should have  never been there. They'd have been better off by   hitting the iceberg head home. They would have  lost two tears. They wouldn't have lost all of   the tears that they lost. They'd have been  able to save more lives. See, and you know,   that's that's one of the biggest major secrets  that they came up with that situation. And you   know, I relate to my situation. You know, I've  been sick a lot lately with uh I'm just about   to get ulcers. So, you know, trying to adapt  to that. I don't know how that is for me but   it's you know it's it's a challenge every day you  know I I have to change uh a lot of my agendas you   know stress you know I try to just take every day  and you know I do the best I can with it you know   uh somewhere in me trying to help families and  myself and I wear my wristband loosely family   matters you know I don't have a whole bunch the  supposed ra me on up here. But this is a situation   that if the wolf don't bite you today, he going to  bite you tomorrow. You know, this is a situation   that it happens just like everything else happens.  You know, nothing's made to last forever. But,   uh, lately, I'm I'm getting ready to go and see,  uh, gastrologist. Uh, my menu has changed. A lot   of the foods that I've been changed has been  like crazy. I've been kicking and screaming and   ra rolling. I can't even have watermelon, man. I'm  like, "Oh my god." I mean, that's that's one of my   perfect foods, you know? I throw I I and and even  all of the perfect stuff like uh avocados, stuff   that I normally thought was healthy in this game  here is totally different when you get sick from   uh black mold and and trying to I guess basically  recover back how much of your life that you can. Thank you, Mr. Stokes. I believe there  are council members that want to speak.   Council member Hohisel. Thank you, Mayor. Um Bob,   do we have any idea when the property maintenance  ordinances will be coming before council? Council member, we have one more dab presentation  to make and so we're shooting sometime in   September or October depending on how we take all  that feedback and put it together for you. Okay.   Thank you. I would love to know when that is in  participate if it's Low's will for me to to be in   with uh with that, you know, so I can uh see how  y'all organize it. Yes, sir. We'll make sure to   get you an invite to that one. All right. Thank  you, Mr. Stokes. All right. Any any questions? Thank you again. All right. Appreciate it. Madame  Clerk, can you please call the next individual, John Desaro, the value of continued investment  in the Witchah Public Library System. Good morning, council members. My name  is John Deserero. I live in District 1   at 7507 East Norfolk Circle, and I'm here to  discuss the library system. I'm the son of a   USD 259 eighth grade English teacher who taught  at Trudell Middle School for many years. As she   did in the classroom, at home, my mom stressed the  value of an education and instilled in me a love   of reading. This is something my wife and I have  passed on to our children and our library systems   a big reason that they've grown to be avid readers  and exemplary students. The advanced learning   library in particular unlocked their imaginations.  This is one of the reasons I serve as a volunteer   board member on the Witchaw Library Foundation.  You know, the advanced library learning library   is a shining example of what is possible through  a com combination of committed investments by the   city and impassion fundraising by the foundation.  This responsible collaboration takes a library   beyond a place to check out books to being a  valued educational and cultural community hub.   I'm here to remind you of the important role  the city plays and how fulfilling that role   enables the work of the foundation. Here's the  recipe for success. One, the city council and   city of Witchto commits to the foundational  funding to maintain library facilities,   keep them adequately staffed by trained librarians  and support personnel and filled with a wide   variety of materials for use by all Witchins  across age, ability, and interest levels. Two,   the library foundation then leverages those  investments to fund impact initiatives,   innovative services, and valuable programming. We  often call this the margin of excellence, which   is engaging the philanthropic community to ensure  that the library continues to evolve to meet the   changing needs of our citizens. It's important  to know that the margin of excellence for the   foundation is future-f facing, not filling gaps of  underinvestment in the library's core functions.   Together, we make the library a vital community  resource for tackling literacy literacy challenges   for people of all ages, creating measurable impact  throughout the library programs. Public library   services contribute to the type of vibrancy that  help us attract and retain talent. Libraries also   play a role in our public safety. Short-term,  they're neighborhood gathering places during   after school hours and summertime with spaces  for programming and activities that build skills   and confidence, keeping at risk kids safe  and occupied. Long-term libraries support   childhood literacy, setting young witchtons  down a path toward education and employment,   reducing the likelihood of incarceration during  their life. The library is uniquely positioned to   make a lasting impact. And with no private  sector alternatives to what they deliver,   it's critical that the collaboration between the  city and the foundation continues. So what does   success look like? It looks like the reimagination  of the West Link and Maya Angelou branches where   the city's commitment has been leveraged to garner  philanthropic support and create transformative   places with usage statistics that are higher  than ever. It looks like the book bus made   possible when the foundation secured a $50,000  grant from the Kansas Health Foundation and the   city contributed both a decommissioned transit  bus and a family family literacy coordinator   position. Since hitting the ignition in 2023,  the book bus has reached over 50,000 residents,   delivering library resources to underserved areas  of the city. Just this summer, the program served   6,427 people through events and neighborhood  stops. Success looks like a partnership with   the United Way that resulted in 35 young readers  receiving 162 one-on-one reading sessions with a   volunteer reading coach. In just eight weeks, half  of the parents surveyed reported that their child   demonstrated improved reading confidence and more  interest in reading at home. All of the parents   reported that their child was more confident and  asked to visit the library more. Success looks   like a summer reading program operated by a small  staff on a tight budget through which 3,934 young   readers reach their personal reading goals.  The program delivered 6,500 community member   engagements and 4,860 minutes of literacy skill  practice. With more funding, staff, and outreach   capacity, imagine what the library could do for  literacy rates in our community. So, here are my   asks of you. Please continue the city's investment  in the foundational elements of our library   system, which is a living and dynamic system that  must continue to adapt. Please strive to meet the   staffing commitments laid out in the current  master plan so that there are adequate staff to   meet the demand for services. Please include the  library as a key stakeholder in the development of   the next capital improvement plan so that library  maintenance is proactively planned for. This work   is underway through a memorandum of understanding  with the foundation that will result in $200,000   from the foundation to ensure maintenance of  our beautiful buildings. Please consider the   library fully in your upcoming comprehensive plan  revision or commit today to a plan to improve   library resources and staffing levels. Without  this commitment, there will be an immediate   erosion to the branch master plan we have made  together. Your serious attention to these matters   will enable the foundation to share the inspiring  story of our public libraries and acquire new   donors. Your investment will be amplified and be  a win for every witchin. Thank you. Thank you,   John. We have questions or comments from council  members. Council member Johnson. Thank you,   Mayor. Thank you, John, for being here. Um the  data you shared and your support of the library,   I think it's very important uh that not only we  keep up support of the library, but everything   that you mentioned, seeing the revitalization of  the branch libraries has been truly awesome. Um,   I'm especially excited for my Angelou Branch  Library and I think that sign is still coming   and then everything else that we're doing in the  system. Um, some of the data you shared I think   is really important. I don't always tell this  story and I think I'm far enough removed where   I shouldn't get in trouble for it, but I worked at  a group home one time and as we talk about these   investments in quality of life, library is also  so much crime prevention. and a young man that   had decided to join a gang only did so because he  couldn't read. And he told me that he got tired   of being bullied. So, he started fighting and  then he found family and the gang life and that   was kind of his thing. And he just at that point  started to spiral. And it really just came from   not being able to read. Um he told me that in the  moment that we were talking about life choices. So   I think about that all the time and investment  in the public library means more opportunities   for young people to have a love of reading, learn  how to read, have volunteers to to help them and   maybe it shifts their life path in a different  way. So I appreciate your words. I think about   that young person all the time and I'm always  committed to supporting libraries as a council   member and even when I'm off the council finding  ways to do so because they have so much impact in   our community. So thank you. Thank you Councilman.  Thank you again, John. I'll just ask city manager   Leighton, can you tell us what the budget is  for libraries and how that has fluctuated from   24 to 25 26 and then projected? If not, I can I  have the numbers if you'd like me to read them. Just so happens I have my budget terms of our uh support for the library. The 2024 actuals for library operations was  11.7 million. The 2025 adopted is 9.8. However,   the revised is expected to come in at  12.2 million. 2026 has a 12.2 million   uh allocated and 2027 at 12.2. Thank  you very much. Thank you. Thank you,   John. Madame Clerk, can you please  call the next individual? Faith Martin,   share information about the racial profiling  citizens advisory board annual workshop. Hello, Faith Martin, vice chair of the Witchaw  Racial Profiling Advisory Board. Um, for those   that don't know, the Racial Profiling Advisory  Board in Witchah was formed in 2000. And in 2004,   this board drafted the Kansas Racial Profiling  Statutes, which were passed into law in 2005. Our   board consists of elected officials, uh, people  that work in the judicial branch and members of   the community that advocate for, uh, elimination  of racial profiling. Our board's mission is to   is focused on improving relationships between law  enforcement and the community by working with law   enforcement to change policies to eliminate racial  bias. We work to encourage elected officials   to advocate and pass stronger legislation that  creates greater accountability for law enforcement   as well as preventing any officer from using their  bias to profile drivers. Today, I'm here to talk   about the last of our mission, which is striving  to increase knowledge and awareness in our   citizens regarding their constitutional rights and  responsibilities. We do that every year by putting   on multiple workshops. This year we're combining  workshops and we're having a large one instead   uh where we have multiple partners come. Uh  we have city of Witchaw's warp office which   uh was put into place after the racial profiling  board lobbyed heavily at the Kansas legislature   to update and change laws around uh driver's  license suspensions for failure to pay and drivers   revocation for failure to pay. Uh so it's created  a path and the city of Witchaw wisely invested in   that and created the Warp Office. They'll be there  on hand. People can find out the status of their   driver's license and next steps. Uh we'll also  have um the Sedick County Jail will be there to   talk about the score program, which um if you or  a loved one have been recently released from the   Sedick County Jail. It tells you about all of the  resources uh and ways to get back into society,   help you get documents you need, they have quite  a bit of services for people that are in jail.   And a reminder to people, just because you're  in jail doesn't mean that you've been convicted   of any crimes. Sometimes people are just in jail  while they're awaiting also for failure to pay.   So the score will help family members find out  what resources are available to them as well.   We also have Seduk County elections will be on  site to get people registered to vote. So we   have another election coming up in November. And  then lastly, the ACLU was going to be there to   uh talk about felon restoring felon voting rights  in the state of Kansas. Once everyone has served   uh their sentence and all of the things that  go along with that sentence, they're allowed by   Kansas law to reclaim their right to vote. A lot  of felons don't know that and we uh since county   elections will be there and ACU will be there  giving people the tools they need to get back   uh where they need to go. We are uh cordially  inviting all of our city council members to   attend. It's August 30th from 10 to 1. It's a  drop-in event because all of our partners will   just be working with people as they come in. So  there's no set program. Uh it's a drop-in program   so that anyone uh schedules they can kind of fit  in there. It'll be at the WSU Metroplex which   is 5015 East 29th Street North. And again uh we  would uh encourage you to like and share. I'll be   following up with an email of the flyer so that  you can send it out to people in your district   uh that may take advantage of this workshop that  we put on every year. And this is also thanks to a   grant from uh WSU. We get a lot of grant funds to  help us with our workshop. So, thank you so much   and I'll stand for any questions. Thank you,  Faith. Several comments from council members   beginning with council member Johnson. Thank you,  mayor. Thank you, Faith. Appreciate all the work   that you all do um on your on your resources.  Do you have any of the health clinics there? Uh,   no. We've our focus has been on justice involved  individuals and that's that may be a future way   that we go. Right now, there's still uh thousands  and thousands of people that have had their   driver's license suspended or revoked for failure  to pay. And uh the ACLU is a great partner and   felon voting rights is also really important to  us. But that could be something that we look on   in the future. Yeah, if you do let me know. I used  to um pre- pandemic. It's weird to say that now.   Pre- pandemic, we used to have some of the folks,  returning citizens that were coming into 214,   208 or 219 meet over at Atwater. Um, and we'd  have the health clinics there and some of the   resources you're talking about, but just to make  sure they also stayed healthy. Perfect. Thinking   about going to the doctor. So, if you want to  let me know. Yeah, that's great. Thank you. Okay.   Council member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor Faith.  Thanks for being here. Would you mind emailing   us the information um about the event on the 30th?  Yeah, absolutely. I'll follow up with the Facebook   link and the actual flyer. That'd be great. Thank  you, Council Member Tuttle. Thank you. Thank you,   Faith, for being here and thank you for serving on  my district advisory board. Um I was trying to get   the information down. So, if you mentioned this,  I'm sorry, but you had asked if you could present   at my district advisory board. Is that something  that the racial profiling board is trying to do   is to go to every district advisory board? Yes.  Um the what I was talking about with the citizens   review board. Oh, my bad. But that's okay.  You're in a lot. So, I'm sorry. Um but actually,   yes. Uh the racial profiling board has come to  district meetings before. I think I presented at   uh Councilman Hohheisle's district before, but  we try to talk about issues that are important to   the racial profiling board, whether it's helping  provide feedback around budget or FOP contracts or   uh getting the residents connected with the  services that city and county provide. Um so   we will be doing that again over this year, but  this workshop has been a lot. Okay. Thank you,   Vice Mayor Johnston. Thank you, Mayor Faith. Thank  you very much. I just will like to mention that   uh Guadalupe Clinic had a driver's license.  The Kansas Legal Service, Kansas Legal Clinic,   uh Topeka had a at a a get your driver's license  back. Uh which the city of Witto participated and   and also the state of Kansas participated. Um  but 20 attorneys from Ko Industries and Stinson   Law Firm came to the clinic and helped over 90  people get their licenses back. We're going to do   it again and write this date down September 17th  and this time instead of doing it from 10 to 4,   they're going to do it so we can go in  the evening. So they're going to do it   from tentatively from noon until 7. So at  Guadalupe Clinic, 9:40 South St. Francis,   uh, Kansas Legal Clinic, uh, September 17th. If  you could reply back to the email that I sent you,   we have other organizations that'll be  providing flyers for upcoming events. Um,   since it's we had like 300 people come  to the last workshop we did. So, uh,   we're hoping that we can spread information  about other events exactly like that. Good. We   appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you, Faith. And  one more thing, uh, a plug for tonight. District 1   has a town hall. That's right. uh with the police  chief and so it would be good information to pass   out about your workshop um at that event. All  right. Thank you so much, Faith. Madame Clerk,   can you please call the next individual? Twila  Purity Fire Department Wellness Initiative. Good morning, council and mayor. It's a privilege  to be up here again this morning. Uh my name is   Twilight Purity. I live in Polo Club. I am a proud  member of District 1. Um, speaking of District 1,   we had an amazing August breakfast and  Chief Snow went into detail about the   uh health initiative for the health initiative for  the fire department. I I learned a lot and then   uh uh Council Member Tuttle reached out to  me and gave me a little more information   uh on this initiative and what you're finding. I  I don't I'm not going to recap it here because you   all know what's going on about that. Um but at  the neighborhood night out, the fire department   was well represented at many of our events. I got  to sit in a fire engine. It was so exciting. But   anyway, while I was talking to them, I asked  what that health initiative meant to them. And   um and I talked about how in general they look  like a pretty fit group. And one of the things I   learned was that they hold theirelves accountable  for fitness within their um I don't know what   little fire department groups are, but within  their whatever it's called, but anyway, they they   hold each other accountable to fitness. If they  see somebody's, you know, getting a little pawn,   they'll mention it. But he also made a comment  about, you know, that there are fitness standards   when folks join the department. And then it  made me think about something that I've kind   of observed and that's with our police department.  Hopefully this program can come to them. You know,   the wellness initiatives or initiatives. I  understand that it's expensive, but if you look   in general, and this is probably anyway, a lot of  our police officers could use help with fitness. It's a win for everybody. It's a win for the  officers if they're healthy. Obviously, it's a win   for their families. If health and fitness becomes  an um a priority for the family, it's a win for   the city because if they're healthier or more  fit, then they'll lose uh use less resources in   health care and so forth. And it's a win for our  community as well, which is also very important.   There's a simple way in my view and I just want to  share it a simple way and maybe a less expensive   way. So because of these standards when they  have to come into themmies, right? Why don't   aren't they held accountable to maintaining  these fitness standards going forward? People   pay attention to what's measured. I've said that  here before. If I come in and I'm um wonderfully   fit and then six months later if I know that I'm  going to have that measurement again of fitness   then it will become a priority for me because  it's important at my job. It's it's a simple   uh a simple solution or a simple start. If you  just start holding holding folks accountable   to their fitness from academy going forward  you'll save money in the long term. The city   deserves this. with the highest paid police  department in the state. We should have fit,   healthy officers for all the reasons I mentioned  above. So, um that's just a simple thing. I don't   know if it makes sense. Um okay, good. I have a  minute and a half. We had an encounter. Um one   of our sons made a real dumb move and got himself  arrested uh a week ago. The officers involved were   so professional, so kind. We had ICT1 was there  as well. I mean, everything's going to work out   well. But my husband and I were blown away and we  thanked them. They waited for us to get there so   we could pick up our son's car, but it was beyond  it went beyond our expectations as an encounter   with local law enforcement. So, I thought you  might want to hear that. Thank you for your time.   I stand for questions. Thank you, Twyla. Council  member Ho Heisel. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you,   Twila. Um, first off, I'm glad to hear that we  have a high expectation for our men and women in   blue. And to the chief's credit, he holds them  to the same standards. And I I think we really   do have a top flight um police force here  in Witchah. We still, like everybody else,   we still have room that we can improve in all  areas. council members as well. Uh maybe we should   do the fitness thing for council members as well.  It'd be hard for them to actually keep up to my   uh physical standards here, I think. Um I also  did want to take this opportunity to thank   um Ted Bush, Chief Snow, and uh Council Member  Tuttle for their work on the health initiative,   the cancer screenings. Um you guys are saving  lives out there, and I really do appreciate the   work. Um, we still have a number of other things  we can do to show our firefighters appreciation   as well. So, we're kind of in discussions with  that now, but um, they deserve all the help and   support that we can possibly give them, all of our  first responders, too. So, thank you for coming   up and chatting with us today. Sure. Council  member Tuttle, thank you. Thank you, Twilight,   for being here. Really appreciate it. Um, it was  great chatting with you on on Friday and I was   glad to see your name on the agenda. I I just and  thank you Mike, excuse me, Council Member Hole for   your kind words. Um, I do want to thank Chief Snow  who is with us today and also President Bush. Um,   out of all of the initiatives I've worked on,  not just on council, but my career, this may be   the one that I'm the most proud of. And you are  exactly right. We are not just impacting lives,   we are literally saving them with the number of  cancers that we've already identified from these   screenings. I also want to thank Chief Sullivan  and give him a happy birthday shout out um because   he is also embracing this and we through the help  of the Kansas Health Foundation. So it's a public   private partnership and ascension via Christi we  are now developing the same concept of creating a   culture of wellness within our police department  and we will be focusing on cardiovascular health   which is the number one cause of death among um  police across the nation and then also mental and   behavioral health which is a huge issue for our  police department. They see so much trauma every   day. Um, and so extremely grateful for everyone  involved, especially for the leadership in our   police and fire department. We need to make sure  that those who take care of us are taken care of.   So, thank you again for bringing this highlight  and I'll continue to provide updates to my my   colleagues on council in the community. Thank you,  Council Member Johnson. Thanks, Mayor. Thank you,   Twyla. Um, I was going to say since you had  such a great experience, Yes. you should get   with Captain Moses in the back and let him know  the officer's names and then they can get like a   compliment filed for them. That's something that  I know that they appreciate and I don't know if   they're ever told that they get that, but makes it  good for them. It's good motivation. I would love   that. I don't have their names, but I bet we can  figure it out if I get with him like the location   and date. Yeah, it was extraordinary. It really  was. Well, and I forgot to mention for folks   who may not know, my son's a young black man,  right? And so then you're heightened anyway. So   um it was f fantastic. Thank you. You're  welcome. We have space for one more individual. This is my poor man's uh briefcase. uh  when we're out in Andover can't afford   a briefcase with with the taxes out there. Um but I just wanted to say also uh Twyla uh the speed  limit is 30 miles away from here. So when you   leave in 30 m an hour after what you said about  the police officers and their weight. Uh you might   want to just make sure you do the speed limit. All  right. Um, next next uh week is are we having the   um uh well, hold on a minute. Mayor, vice  mayor, city council, city manager, city legal   um is next week the uh the um workshop on animal  ser is not next week. Okay. All right. All right.   Well, whenever it is. Um, uh, is it next month  then? Is it in September? We're trying to figure   that out. We have a pretty busy schedule for  workshops going forward to the end of the   year. So, we're trying to figure out which when  we're going to put it in. Okay. All right. Well,   some people had wanted to make sure that they  could talk, too. I mean, I know a lot of times   on the workshop they can't, but anyhow, I just  handed you all a city of Witchah community service   booklet. The city is making citizens jump through  hoops about illegal vehicles and yet you have and   had a booklet all along. We as a city are looking  dumb. Shifting gears now. I'm asking that we start   a citizens board to hold MABCD's feet to the  fire on some slowm moving cases through the   system. Ordinances need to be tweaked or changed.  altogether there are problem properties that   aren't progressing swiftly enough ISIL you know I  am a very passionate person and even if you agree   with me wholeheartedly please don't acknowledge  me if I show this mayor this city council and   the city of Witchah such disrespect and won't  sit down when nicely told to do. So agree,   you could agree to that. Thank you. The chief  maybe in Jest had as one of his costcutting   measures is to take animal services from the  police department. You guys may have heard of   that. I think it was in Jest, but maybe not. Talk  about passing the buck. Someone has to add it to   their budget. If you take it from the police's  budget, it's all the city of Witchah's budget. So,   we're not gaining anything. If you take  a nickel over here and put it over here,   they got a nickel. So, in in closing, I want to  I want to say that I show people this picture and I ask them I ask them, "Does it look like  this guy doesn't like me or I don't like this   guy?" And they all say, "No, looks like you  guys like each other." Well, I want to tell   Bob right here that Bob, I've always liked  you. I I have and I and I appreciate you. So,   I know sometimes you feel like I come  at you a little bit, but this picture   speaks volumes. I appreciate you and I've  always liked you and I still do. Thank you. Thank you, George. Council member Hoheisel. Thank  you, Mayor. Uh thank you, George. It's always a   good time to see you up here. Um you didn't  let me know this time. This was a surprise.   Um, I do believe we are looking at adding many of  these into our ordinances. Um, I think that might   be one of the year end of the year things that  we do to kind of sweep up and tidy up some of our   ordinances. Um, in regards to animal control and  all our talks with county, I would be interested   in looking to combine. Um, that might be one  of the areas that shared services makes sense   because county does have an animal control and  we already do work with them quite a bit. Um,   and then in regards to the workshops, I  think this might be the time to ask. Um,   we do have a ordinance drafted, a couple of  ordinances regarding the hotels and motel,   um, licensing them and also, um, increasing the  nuisance laws on those. And I haven't been able   to talk to every council member, but the ones  I have talked to have asked that it does get   presented to our district advisory boards. So, is  that something that we can do before September's   uh DAB meetings and potentially get that on  workshop for the end of September? Mayor,   we'll try if we're going to circle back to DABS.  I'm also trying to get industry input so that we   don't have a lot of surprises for some for the  hotels. Um, and so we'll keep moving diligently   that way. If I can get it on September, we  will, but I got a lot of process. Okay. Yeah,   I appreciate that. If possible, I'd like to move  forward with this one. And I think a month and a   half anyways would be a sufficient time for the  businesses to look at their the ordinance and   uh express their their thoughts on  it. So, I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Madame clerk, can you please  call the next item? Consent agenda items   1 through 31. Council members, are there  any items to be discussed and pulled? I   see none. I move to approve the consent  agenda items 1 through 31. 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? Board of bids   contracts dated August 18th, 2025. Good  morning, mayor, city council. Josh Lober,   Department of Finance. Uh the board of  bids and contracts convened yesterday,   August 18th, for the following  items. We're purchasing. We have   the Teleahandler 8,000 lb rated capacity  for Allaround Access LLC for 132,895. We have the grinding tree debris  at Brooks Landfill for Evergreen   Recycle LLC for group one for an  annual estimated usage of $357,600. We have the Broaddart Mcnotton book  leasing subscription for Broadart   Company for a 5-year aggregate total of $111,900. This is how to become a vendor with the city. This  is our purchasing calendar of events, including   the one going on right now with EverG Connect, uh,  that the city is hosting or participating in. And   this is our calendar of open public opportunities  of items on the street today. and I'd be happy to   try to answer any questions and I recommend your  approval. Thanks, Josh. Any questions for staff?   I see none. I move to approve the board of bids  and contracts dated August 18th, 2025. 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? Petitions for public improvements. Good morning, mayor, city council members. Paul  Gman, public works and utilities. For the record,   I have some new petitions for  your consideration this morning. The signatures on the petitions  represent 100% of the improvement   district and the petitions  are valid per Kansas statute.   Cedar View Village second edition located in  district two. The project will provide storm   water drain and sanitary sewer improvements  required for a new residential development. Shares Point Edition located in district 4. The  project will provide water, storm water drain,   sanitary sewer, and paving improvements required  for a new residential development and Regency Park   addition located in district 2. The project  will provide water improvements required for   a new residential development. It is recommended  that the city council approve the new petitions   and budgets, adopt the new resolutions,  and authorize the necessary signatures,   and I will stand for questions. Thank you,  Paul. Any questions for staff? I see none.   I move to approve the petitions for public  improvements. Second. Motion and a second. Any   further discussion? I see none. Madame clerk,  can you please open the role? Motion passes.   70. Madame clerk, please call the next item.  Design contract for Plane View Community Center. Morning again, Mayor. Uh Paul Gman, public  works and utilities. For the record,   the Kovven Neighborhood Resource Center was  constructed in the 1970s and is attached to   Kovven Elementary School in the Plane View  neighborhood. The approximately 3,000 square   feet building primary primarily consists of the  office space is functionally challenged and not   adequate for the office of community services  operations, the department of park and recreation   programming or the needs of the community. A  key challenge is the lack of infrastructure   for technology and resource engagement  which limits the programming opportunities. There is a critical need need for a  facility that provides a functional,   safe and engaging environment for a  diverse collection of programming and   activities that will serve to increase  the quality of life in the neighborhood.   Planned programming will focus on technology,  educational services, health and fitness,   outdoor amenities, and other community  programs. To accommodate these programs,   a new computer lab, gymnasium, meeting  space, and training rooms are needed. In March of 2024, the city council or I'm sorry,  the city of Witchaw staff began to evaluate   Jardine Middle School as a potential home for the  new Plane View Community Center. And in May 2024,   Jardine closed to all current and future USD 259  school operations. And through the summer of 2024,   an evaluation of existing Jardine Middle School  was completed. Haney and Associates architects   conducted an on-site architectural evaluation.  Schaefer Architecture supplied prior facility   evaluation per performed by USD 259. Paradigm  group performed hazardous material inspection   evaluation and tours of the pre premises  were completed by multi-depal city Witchaw   staff to examine conditions and layout for  plan programmatic needs and possibilities. This is an aerial view of the project site that  includes to the left center um north of East   Ross Parkway, the existing Jardine Middle  School. And then as you move to the right,   the Coven Neighborhood Resource Center as  well as Co Kind Elementary School is there   to the to the right of the screen. And  I also want to bring to your attention   to the very right of the screen the uh  square um box. Those are existing tennis   courts and that will be the is the future  location of the plane view community center. This is the existing footprint of Jardine  Middle School and that in the color is the   uh approximately 40,000 square feet that was  evaluated of the 114,000 total square feet. The uh   Jardine middle school space would be rolled into  the project which would be more than double the   size necessary for programming needs. structural  layout of the lo and location of the mechanical,   electrical, and plumbing equipment that is  located in the red um box limits how the   building can be parcled out. In the center there,  there is the auditorium approximately 8,000 which   includes 8,000 square feet of 40,000 square  feet um which would limit programming space.   Addition additionally, interior interior remodel  is required for planned renovation areas. Building   modifications will be needed to meet current fire  and ADA um codes. hazardous material remediation   would be needed and roof replacement is necessary.  The recommendation also included a new entry for   administrative office space that would be proposed  to be constructed there to the right of the screen   and that would be uh adjacent to the parking  lot providing better access to the facility. This is the uh location of the proposed  new uh proposed facility which is uh   again those existing tenant courts which  I had uh pointed out in previous slides.   Um this would be directly northeast of  the Kulvin neighborhood resource center.   Um, it is also in close proximity  to Culvin Elementary School,   allowing students to walk to the facility  for before and after school programs. The This is the proposed layout of the new  facility. This layout provides space for all   current and existing programming including  computer lab for digital skill building and   workforce development. classrooms for before and  after school programs and summer activity camp and   office space. Additional room for expanded  services include community meeting spaces,   a permanent food pantry, open gym space, and  flexible multi-purpose rooms to utilize for   recreation programming. In addition  to the community partner programming,   the cost evaluation that was completed, the  existing building space is approximately   40 40,000 square feet. As mentioned before,  the uh new facility would be $17,000 square   feet. New construction cost for the lobby,  new entryway is estimated be $2 million.   The new uh facility is um approximately $9.9  million. Deferred maintenance of the existing   facility for the 40,000 square ft is estimated to  be $8 million and properties acquisition and demo   cost which would be um as proposed USD259. Um  so total estimate cost for renovating Jardine   Middle School is $11 million. and the new  facility just under 10 million. Annual   operating costs for both the 40,000 square feet  is estimated to be $250,800 as opposed to $81,900. In February of 2025, a request for qualifications  for architectural services was issued to design   the new facility. Four proposals were received.  SFS architecture was recommended by the staff   screening and selection committee based on  presentation understanding of project objectives,   qualifications and experience of value  engineering and interview performance.   The design fee is $820,565 and funding is available within  the existing budget of 9,937,399 which was approved by city council on January 2nd,  2024 and is funded by general obligation bonds.   And it is recommended that the city council  approve the design contract and authorize the   necess signatures and I will stand for questions.  Thank you, Paul. We'll begin with council member   Hoheisle. Thank you, Mayor. Uh Paul, can we go  back to the slide with uh the cost? Um yeah,   this slide right here. Now, it says 1 million  for property acquisition and building demo costs   estimated. Can you delve into that a little more?  So, our proposal was that I think the existing   building is um on the market for $2.9 million for  the $114,000 square feet, which equates to $25   per square foot approximately. Um we we multiplied  that by the 40,000 square feet that we would need   and then we would also uh so that would be our  offer to USD 259 as well as offer uh them to demo   the remaining of the building. So that's what the  expected here the section we're interested in and   then we rely on USD259 to demo the rest of the  building. Correct. Yes. Okay. I just wanted to   make sure that's clear here. Thank you, Council  Member Johnson. Thanks, Mayor Paul. On slide 31,   the um out lay of the building, I wanted to  know what J is right under the family restroom. Is that like a lactation space? You're fine.  It's a janitor's closet. Becca Johnson from   the Office of Community Services for the  record. Okay. I didn't see one in here.   Love seeing the family restroom. Um but  also, is there any space that could be   used open to the public for a lactation space  so someone wouldn't have to go into a bathroom? It is on our list of uses that we would like to  see in the building um once we are in the actual   design process instead of conceptual design.  Awesome. Thank you, Council Member Tuttle.   Thank you. Um thank you for the presentation.  I appreciate it. Thank you to Council Member   Hullheisle for all of your work on this. I know  it's been um a couple years coming. Um, can   you maybe explain Paul or perhaps Becca or even  council member Holheisel, how has the community   been engaged in this process of determining  what the needs are, what the facility should   be like? Um, discussions regarding because what I  think is happening is we're just trying to decide   today if we move forward with the design work  for the new concept or we consider jardine. So,   can you just give a little background on on how  the community has been engaged and and what they   they told us? Absolutely, Council Member Tuttle.  Uh, well before my time at the city, the last   three generations of CSRs in District 3 have been  continuously asked for expanded programming in   Plane View at the Neighborhood Resource Center.  Specifically looking for spaces for our youth to   be more involved in so they are not roaming  Plain View. uh as well as more technical job   skill building. We when Mike and I both came on  board were engaged in many conversations with the   Plane View Neighborhood Association. They were  really the leaders of what uh services and and   specific items in the building we were looking  for. They put together um a video also with   help from the city of Witchah advocating for this  specific build. um in in specifically making sure   a gymnasium was included for youth space that they  could do digital skill building and have continued   classrooms for more more skills for job um prep.  We have engaged the district advisory board DAB 3   several times about this as well as the plane  view community um in smaller sects as and the   different stakeholders who do a lot of work in  plain view. Um that includes Chapel Hill. They've   been a really big advocate. They were trying to  donate space specifically to see this happen.   Um and we're kind of the the group that got the  ball rolling for us to eventually have a community   center conversation at all. Is there anything  else you would like? No, that's great. I have two   more questions, but they're probably for Paul.  Okay. Paul, if you could advance to slide 32. Thank you. I just want to make sure I understood  this because I I heard something that council   member Wholeheisle said, but something's not  clicking with me. So, under property acquisition   and building demo cost, the cost of the the  property right now from 259 is listed at 2.9   million. Is that correct? That is correct. Yes.  So, in this estimate, we're assuming that we're   going to get a really good deal of going from 2.9  million to 1 million, and we're going to ask them   to scrape part of the building and remove it. That  would be our offer to SD259. Yes. Okay. So, not   only are we asking for a $1.9 million reduction in  the cost of the property, but then we're assuming   that they would then assume the responsibility  of paying for the scraping of the portion of the   building we don't want. Correct. everything that  is left of which it begins at twotory of this   uh colored portion that we and do we have any sort  of tenative memorandum of understanding with 259   that they would be willing to do that because it's  a $ 1.9 million reduction in the cost but then   also asking them to scrape and remove part of the  building could I don't even have a clue how much   that could cost but substantial correct yes and  we do not that I'm aware of okay so it's it's just   a a speculation that Okay. My last question is  something that's really important to me that you   mentioned and I appreciate it um is that they'd be  be before and after school programming for kiddos.   Um the gymnasium, but then also computer classes,  tutoring, ESL. That's what I heard correct. And   part of the reason that this location is selected  is because the Kulvin students could walk to the   new location. Is that accurate? That is correct.  Instead of Yes. instead of being transported to   the existing Jardine Middle School, could they  walk from Jardine? I think we had looked at that.   That is approximately a half a mile and it's  probably a 10-minute walk, which with students   probably longer, but Okay. Okay. Thanks so much.  Appreciate it. Council member Glasco, thank you,   Mayor. Uh Paul, just a few quick questions and  we may have to bring in the city manager or   somebody from the CSR department, too. What  are the number of rec centers or community   centers per district right now? I would need  to reach out to probably read you on that. So currently there are three in district 1, uh  one in district three, uh one in district 6,   uh one in district 4, and one in district  two. Awesome. Thank you. Few additional   questions. I know Kovven's right across the  street. if we can go back to that image. Okay, so we're looking at the far right part  of the image. Kulvin, from what I could find,   has a gym located there just directly across  the street. So, let's say we build a neighbor or   build a community center aspect of it, but have a  shared gym space that's probably often not used in   the evenings of an elementary school. Have we had  conversations specifically with USD259 just about   the rental space of a gym or the use of a gym in  the evening that we don't maybe need the rest of   the office space but just the gym portion of it?  Sorry, there were existing partnerships with 259   in the past for the NRC to use the neighborhood  resource center to use the gym for open gym space   for youth. Um that was ended and they have  not been open to renegotiating that program.   Is that with the district specifically or  with the school? The district. It's with   the district. Okay. Um, two other questions. So,  looking at the budget allocation, it's $9,937,299 exactly. The exact construction cost estimated  is 9,937,299. That comes out to $584 per square   foot for the facility, which is seemingly  pretty high in new construction cost. While   the Jardan middle school portion comes  out to 275 per square foot. Can you just   talk about the discrepancy of what is  the average cost per square foot of a   new build verse reconstruction? And 584  just sounds pretty high for new build. So, have there been multiple bids, multiple  construction estimates yet? I I think that was   the budget that we probably put in there, Council  Member Glascock. Um, we would pro we would need to   get it designed and then have the uh actual cost  come out. So, that was the budgeted number I put   in that slide. What is our average per square foot  for a new build? I don't know that I have that. I would have to get back with  you on that, council member.   I may have additional questions, but that's  probably my biggest question right now. I have multiple questions. So, um I think I should  probably give some background. Um thank you,   Council Member Johnson, for mentioning the  lactation uh room because I actually was   looking at the minutes from the January 2nd, 2024  meeting um when this was discussed and passed.   and you did ask about the J for janitorial and  you asked about lactation. So, I'm appreciative   that you keep bringing that uh topic up. Um,  however, as I was looking at these minutes,   uh, this was the meeting right before,  uh, a new council came into office and,   uh, in that meeting, uh, the vote was 61 with  council member then Fry voting against it. and   he did raise some questions that I wanted  to bring back up because I I'm just curious   where we're at when it comes to um the deferred  maintenance and the park m maintenance system   because this was I guess money that was then  transferred over to create this new rec center   uh from park maintenance. So where  are we at on park maintenance first? So, mayor, I want to make sure I understand your  question. Uh, specifically, are you referring to   existing facilities that we're working on and  the dollars that we have allocated there? Uh,   so during the January 2nd, 2024 meeting,  council member Fry asked specifically   uh because that agenda item showed  that deferred um by doing this project,   the community center, there would be an  impact to the park maintenance system.   So, I wanted to know has has that changed or is  that still as is? Does anyone know? If I can help,   I believe that the discussion was about building a  second maintenance facility out west if I remember   correctly. And we had that originally in the  CIP at that time in 2031 for design and 2033 for   construction. And and I would defer to the manager  on that that was preceded me being in this role.   Um, council member uh, Ven Fry also asked about  um, making sure that there was a rec center master   plan. I know that we're undergoing a park master  plan at this current moment. Can you address a rec   center master plan? So, uh, what we were referring  to on there, the master plan is the overall plan   that we actually do for all of our amenities and  everything that we do in in the system itself. And   that's what we're currently going through now.  what he may be have been referring to as our   recreation master plan that we do with the type  of programs that we offer in the community. So,   this will be consistent with that with the type  of programs that we offer to serve that community   where there's a need. Thank you, Reggie. Um,  since I am looking at the recreation center   budgets operating, can we go back to the slide  regarding the operating costs between Jardine and   uh a new build? Can you provide uh the work behind  those two numbers? Uh this is really for Paul   regarding the operating budget because I'm looking  right now at the wreck operating budget for Brewer   uh at 13,864 square ft but it will increase to  30,000 by this November. And that operating budget   is $230,000. Whereas also Edgemore has 14,925  square feet and the operating budget is 261,662. And so those two square footages are below the  new build which is 17,000 and the operating   budget is 80 something,000. So we had mayor we had  looked at um existing facilities that we have for   maintenance costs is what we based the number  on. Um I think part of those operating costs   that you have include staff as well. So these  were just maintenance costs of the building. So   it was a we took the average of what we have  in 2025 for operational maintenance cost of   existing facilities. um we use that as a square  foot basis and then we increased the existing   um approximately 30% for existing space per  square foot. So it was just maintenance cost   of the square footage. It did not include um staff  time because we believe that staff would probably   be equal in both either Jardine renovated space  or the new facility. same amount of staff for   either space, 40,000 or 17,000. Also, um, in the  January 2nd minutes, um, and also what was passed   was an 18,000 ft building and now we're talking  about 17,000. Has that now been reduced in size? No, I think it's Yeah, I think I had  approximately 17,000 square feet,   but So, which one should I work off  of? The one from January 2nd, 2024,   which says 18,000 square ft, or this  new one that says 17,000 square ft? I'm trying to see if there was square  footage on this. Mayor, apologize. I would sorry I would work off the 17 square  feet 17,000 square feet as it is today.   Thank you. So, I have a follow-up question to  Council Member uh GlassCox's question. Uh sorry,   I'm correct. It is 18,400. I see it down at  the bottom of the sheet now. Apologize. So,   our green sheet is incorrect.  Correct based on this. Yes.   This is starting to frustrate me seeing  that green sheets are inaccurate. Um, so I would just like to make sure that  when we're comparing apples to apples   in this situation, we're actually  talking about a specific amount.   The reason why I'm asking is because  I have a question specifically to the   square footage. So now it's 18,000  square feet. Um, so the question was per square foot. I think council member uh Glasco  asked this but I want you to calculate it so that   we have it accurately on a new build. What is per  square foot for either Jardine or the new build? I believe jardine would remain the same as the uh  renovation space because that square footage is   not changing. I do not have the estimated dollar  per square foot for new to multiply that out by   the 18,400. if you don't mind going back to that  slide so that we're There we go. Thank you. Um so   for Jardine 11 million divided by 40,000. Um so  that one would be approximately $275 per square   foot. Okay. And then Jardine, it is inaccurate.  17,000 is incorrect. We'll go with 18,000. Um so   18,000 would be 555 per square foot. Can you just  tell me just based off of the cost of the space,   why would I guess the recommendation  is new build, but the square footage   per square foot is actually lower at Jardine  versus at a new build. Again, this 9,937,299 that was the budgeted amount that we  have for within the budget right now. So,   I did not have a estimated construction cost at  this time based on we do not have it completely   designed. I have several more questions. Um,  the contract itself with SFS architecture   actually says new build is going to be $7.87  million, but again our green sheet says 9.9.   Can you break that down for me? Which one is  accurate? And does 9.9 include furnishings? Oh, sorry. I can't speak to the first half, but  9.9 does include furnishings and technology and AV 9.9 will include furnishings and technology  as well as the new build and design. So,   all-encompassing 9.9. Is that accurate? So I I believe this uh you're right. I  see this uh project understanding and   budget that's you do have the construction  budget of 7.87 million. Um design costs are approximately $1.12 million. So that  that does leave the uh um from the budget   approximately $8 million for construction.  Thank you, Council Member Glascock. I have   several questions left. I just have one. So the  total budget amount is 9,9379 without construction   estimates. Correct. So that's just our budgeted  amount. That's her budgeting amount. And if you   take off So taking it's $540 per square foot. The  advanced learning library granted before COVID was   $333 per square foot. So what is the incentive  for staff to be able to go under budget on this   project and not go to the full capacity of $540  per square foot, which seems above market value?   What is the incentive for us to  go under budget on this project? So, let me back up just a minute. Council member   Glascock. So if we have the $9.9  million budget as you mentioned and we have approximately $1.2 million in  design costs leaves $ 8.7 million of the   budget for construction cost. If we divided  that by the 18,400, that's approximately   $474 per square foot. Um, but that's those are  estimates at this time without final design. So,   I guess this would be more of a policy question  for Bob. What is the incentive for us to try to   save money on this project? Because I don't  most projects that come before this body have   not been under budget. they've at sometimes we've  exceeded budget allocations for it or had it come   for additional allocations. So 474 still seems  probably above market value but I know doing the   cost of government is a little bit more expensive  than the private sector. What is the incentive?   Do we have any incentive to not capitalize on a  total $9,937,000 budget? I can talk about what   it's taken to get to this point. Um we have tried  to fix the budget, get a target amount and then   have reduced programming in order to try to bring  that within the estimate. Um there was discussion   about add alternates in order to be able to get  some of that programming back. But right now   we've already done some of that. We always have  the ability in working with the architect to do   um um some cost analysis and um sorry I'm  blank on the term value engineering. Yeah,   value engineering to bring the cost down and  we will do that frequently with architects.   Okay. So you don't expect and during the  construction we're going to come back and   have to increase this budget at all from the  9,937,000. We'll continue to look if if if the   estimates come in significantly higher than  that, we will regroup and talk about re again   reprogramming how to fit within this budget.  That that's our goal, right? Okay. Thank you, Vice Mayor Johnston. Thank you, Mayor Paul.  I think you said the actual building cost   was 7.8 million plus the design cost. If you  take the 7.8 8 million divided by 184 square   18,400 square feet. I think it's $424 a square  foot. Yeah, I took the 9.937 minus the the   uh our total budget minus the design cost.  Yeah, there's some furniture fixtures in there   too though. Correct. Yeah, I think you said 7  million. So to C Councilman Glascock's point,   I think that's in line. Postcoid I think you're  seeing a 25 30% increase in building cost. So   I'm comfortable with that. I have a couple  council member Tuttle. Sorry about that. Um   I just have a question and it's probably for  legal or maybe for city manager but we have   the green sheet right and then I just want  to make sure I understand this. We have the   contract for design services and it's with SFS  architecture and it was on August 7th of 2025.   So a couple weeks ago and it's already signed.  So was that signed be I I guess if you could just   maybe help me understand have we already signed an  agreement with them and is it too late to go back? Um, checking on that. I thought this was  to approve the agreement. I'm not sure why   that is signed and attached. It was I believe  this was originally scheduled for the consent   agenda on August 7th at that time. So, I guess  my question then, and I I'm asking a question   I obviously don't know the answer to. If the  agreement's already been signed, is it I mean,   no. No, mayor. That's an error. I don't know how  it got into the mayor's signature folder, but that   should not go to the that it's not valid until  it's approved by the council. Okay. Thank you. I have several more questions. So, I'm looking  at the green sheet and 40,000 square feet is   obviously more than the allotted 18,400 for a new  build. Um, and it says, quote, more than double   the size necessary for programming needs.  And that may be true, but then I'm confused   because the following sentences say approximately  8,000 of the 40,000 square feet is auditorium,   which then limits programmable space. So even  if you took away the 8,000 in the auditorium,   that's about 32,000. Isn't that more programmable  space than the new build? It would be. I think the   what we were trying to get at is this how  we can parcel up this building to meet our   needs and with the location of the mechanical  electrical and plumbing um room there in red   which is to the left you know it's uh that  space has to be included because it serves   um you know the building all of the building  um so we can't cut that out and unfortunately   the auditorium space is kind of right in the  middle of the of the whole 40,000 square feet. So,   but to your point, yeah, 32,000 would  still be um usable, but again, you know,   it's the it's difficult to parse it out look  knowing where the mechanical electrical plumbing   room is. Thank you. And I also have a question  regarding the entrance, the new entrance that   would be proposed in this Jardine uh redraw.  My question then is there are two purple   uh rooms that are where the auditorium is located.  I believe those are classroom size or office size.   Why was that not considered as the front door to  the center? And why would a new build have to be   uh constructed over there when you literally  have No, you can go back to that drawing.   Um, wh why was the front door currently  not being considered as the front door to   to the new community center? And mayor, I I I  skipped over to this uh drawing because that is   uh as you can see that the um the proposed  expansion is adjacent to the existing parking lot providing better access to If you look at the Jardine school here over to  the left of the screen, the expansion would be   to the norththeast of it adjacent to the parking  lot instead of folks parking and then having to   walk around the building into the existing  entrance. Isn't that what people currently   do? And it's okay to they do. We just walk around.  We thought this would be a better experience. So,   in other words, not necessary, but this so  this red area is necessary or you could modify   the current front door to the facility with  those two purple rooms that could be offices   or classroom space. You could modify that  space. The reason the entrance was relocated   is we serve different populations. Jardine  Middle School serves middle school students   um most of whom are able-bodied. The neighborhood  resource center serves a vastly elderly and   disabled population, so giving them clearer  access to a front door was seen as important. Thank you. And then I know that  someone mentioned transportation.   Um it is actually point4 miles um from  Jardine to Culvin and it is a 10-minute   walk. Um and so I just wanted to know  um when I was talking to some community   members um community would like to be helpful  in any ideas. Have we thought about maybe even   activating churches or even groups that have  vans um that are nonprofit organizations and   helping transport the little kids whereas  the older kids can walk to this location. And one of the challenges with that is  because we are a licensed child care   facility. So anyone that's there has to  go through FBI uh fingerprint background   check uh port to be able to transport  to be in the same space where the kids   are. And sometime that can be a challenge  with working with some community groups. And then wanted to know um what  other community partners have   decided that they're going to  lease space in the new build. We have made no uh decisions on who will be leased  in the new build. We are going to go through an   RFQ process for that based on community needs and  what they want to see in their community center.   And so the city would still be a a a property  owner that then would have tenants. Is that   correct? With a new build, neighborhood resource  centers don't really lease. We share space because   we are not allowed to make money um on CDBG funded  specific buildings. Uh housing can get more into   that than I can, but we we typically just share  partners and haveous, but we would still go   through an RFQ process for that. city manager. Any  other buildings um have similar arrangements? Uh   Evergreen is a great example. Um we also have  partners in um the Atwater Center as well. And then lastly, can you go back to um just  the drawing of Jardine? There we go. Thank you.   Um, so I I've walked around this space  multiple times now and for full disclosure,   um, again, you provided background. Council  member Hohisel has been really great at trying   to make this work. Um, and unfortunately, it seems  like there's multiple barriers every single time.   Um, my big thing is I don't want to see a blighted  building in that neighborhood which is within   walking distance of a new community center  that we're about to build. So, I know that   council member Hohheisle has a reasoning why we  need to move forward with this. Can you tell me   again why Jardine just does not work? Uh, there's  a number of reasons. Uh we did pause the project   for 8 months to do due diligence. Um and in that  time cost did rise as well. Uh costs continue   to rise on materials. That's why I'm hesitant to  delay this any further because then our footprint   gets smaller and our ability to actually have  the full build that we have planned continues   to decrease. Uh there's a number of issues. If  we do buy Jardine, it would be like buying the   downtown library with all the deferred maintenance  that we would be responsible for further down the   line. That's also relying on a number of things.  The proposal that we had USD 259 coming down 2/3   on the price, agreeing to demo, finding suitable  partners who would want to come in and be able to   actually do the maintenance as well. We have the  heating and cooling costs for the entire building.   We have responsibilities also for grace who is  on the campus as well that we would inherit from   um USD259 for this uh this it it's just if we  go back to the ongoing cost as well the ongoing   maintenance that would happen. This is something  that was very painful for me to accept. I tried   to look every possible way of making this work  and I just think we owe it to the taxpayers to   not get into a boondoggle that would affect us  further down the line with ongoing cost every   single year. Um, our estimates match USD  259 as well. So, this isn't us trying to   um overestimate the actual rehab that we have to  go into this building. I I love this building. I   would love nothing more for us to be able to go in  and program it. It's too big of a bite of an apple   for us to really get into at this time. Thank  you, Council Member Hohisel. And I know that he   has been working hard with his community service  representative Becca on trying to see if Jardine   could work. And I have again walked through this  space three times. The entire building is 110,000   square feet and we don't need that much space  and 40,000 is more than the current 18,400 new   build. And so I just want to make sure that we've  looked at all of our options and so I want to know   um so the options right now on the table  are just new build and buy Jardine and   have a portion of it demolished by USD 259.  Are there any other options, city manager? Well, I think the the only thing that we did  look at, mayor, that you mentioned was buying   the entire facility and of course that comes  with significant investment into the building   and then you'd have to find community partners  who probably will not cover the operating cost.   So that was the biggest concern we had. When we  analyzed the building, it's, as you mentioned,   it's over 100,000 square feet of space,  significant deferred maintenance. That's   one of the reasons why the school board um voted  to close it down. We believe it would take about   $20 million to deal with the deferred maintenance  um with additional money required going forward.   So, I'm not sure the I think the most viable  options are the ones that are in front of you   today and that would be a new facility or uh  trying to make the 40,000 square feet work.   Council member Ho Heisel. Thank you, Mayor. Um  can we go to the slide with the new build, please? We we have had contact with a couple of  organizations who was interested at the   front of this project at the front end of this  project as well. Um funding has dried up for them   as well over the past year or so with budget cuts  and uh federal grants disappearing and whatnot.   They have still expressed interest in helping  out with this. uh you'll see new attachments,   future editions on this as well. We are setting  this up so that way in the future if more funding   does become available, if other partners want to  come in and put some of their resources towards   this as well, uh we could build onto this in  the future and partner with them. So that way   we do have shared space and they wouldn't  have to do a new build themselves as well.   So we are trying to be respectful um and mindful  of the partners who want to come in. We want to   support these partners as much as we can. Uh and  we want to do it responsibly for the community and   for the shareholders as the taxpayers as well. So  um one of the major ones expressed again interest   in partnering with us further down the road. Uh  we met with them earlier this year and this is um   kind of what they were telling us after they found  out we were not going into Jardine and they said   they did not have the capital to actually help out  with ongoing maintenance costs and investing in   the building as well. Council member Tuttle, thank  you. Um this is a question for legal. Um going to   put you to work today, Jennifer. Sorry. So I just  want something I said earlier and then I heard it   repeated again and I just want to make sure that  I have a good understanding. So the recommended   action right now is that we approve the design  contract. Correct. That is the recommended   action. Yeah. So the vote today is yes for the  design contract or no for the design contract.   That doesn't necessarily mean we move forward with  Jardine because that's a whole new agenda item and   we have a council policy that says any new agenda  items will be put on the agenda the Thursday prior   to the meeting because it's not one or the other.  It's approving the contract or not approving the   contract and then we'd have to decide how to  proceed. Correct? That's how I would interpret   it. Okay. Because I I said it before and I'll I'll  just say it again. Um, my concern, I have lots of   concerns, but I in this real estate market,  I'm just not confident that USD259 is going   to accept $1.9 million less and agree to scrape  part of the building. So, um, I that's what's   resonating in my mind right now. So, thank you for  the clarification, Jennifer. Thank you, Council   Member Hisel. No. Um I have one more question.  Uh this is more about programming the space.   So I'm looking at various uh community centers  and uh revenue that's coming into those centers   is meeting room rental. So we charge for some of  that space. Maybe I'll ask Reggie that question.   Um, how are these rec centers? Do they generate  any any revenue? They do. We actually have uh uh   set rental rates for each of the spaces there. And  we have a standard rate and then we also have a   25% discount for nonprofits that are actually use  it. But we also partner with community groups like   neighborhood associations who host music meetings  there on site that there may not be a cost for   those type of organizations uh that use the space.  And also I see that so meeting room rentals is a   revenue generator and another one is lessons  and classes. Can you address that? Would this   rec center also have lessons and classes? That's  correct. So part of what we do with it as well,   we go out to the community and get feedback on  what type of programs and services they want   to see offered at the site and then we look at  options either through grant funding or through   other funding opportunities to offset some of that  cost so it's affordable for the community to take   advantage of. Can you also address if anywhere in  our park and recck system do we have an auditorium   an indoor auditorium besides the city council  chambers? Uh we do not have an indoor auditorium   area. So would that be a uh revenue possible  revenue generator to rent out the space in that   auditorium if Jardine was one of the uh locations?  To my knowledge, we haven't received any requests   for auditorium space for usage from the community.  Uh so I wouldn't be able to give uh accurate   assessment if that would be something that would  generate revenue. So as of right now, no need   for auditorium space in the city of Witchah. Not  with our rec programmings that we currently offer. Thank you very much. With that, I see no  further questions. We will now open it up for   public comment. Anyone from the public can state  their name and you have five minutes to speak. Well, good morning, uh, Chuck Nolles,  uh, 1945 North Meridian. Uh, thank you,   mayor and council members, uh, for the  opportunity to share our perspectives as we,   uh, look at a multi-million dollar building.  Um, as a taxpayer, I believe it's essential   to evaluate not only the financial cost of a  new building, but also the broader perspective   uh of how it will impact or the impact  it'll have on our community. Uh,   a building is more than brick and mortar. It can  be a vessible a vessel for programs, services,   and opportunities to shape lives. I would like  to ask that we consider how this investment will   enhance the well-being of all who call this  community home. I'm the founder and CEO of   McAdams Academy. McAdams serves high-risisk youth  expelled from school or youth who are unable to   function in traditional school settings due to  behavioral issues. Most citizens do not know   or believe that uh when students are expelled  from school, they have no educational options   during their expulsion. McAdams steps in to  fill that gap, offering not just academic but   behavioral and behavioral intervention and uh  support their families. Uh for over a decade,   McAdams staff and volunteers have helped transform  the lives of these neglected youth. Last year,   uh, while expelled from school, instead  of sending it home on or in the streets,   uh, 14 young people at McAdams completed enough  credits to earn a Kansas high school diploma,   and one even earned a dual high school and, uh,  college credits. We also provide daily mentorship,   uh, counseling, tutoring, a GED program  for students and parents, life skills,   and job readiness training. Each student has  an individualized behavioral and academic   plan that allows them to continue earning high  school credits while addressing their behavior   uh that continues to negatively uh impact their  lives. For the past three years, McAdams has been   looking at for a permanent home to bring together  under one roof city and community-based programs   uh other 501c3 organizations and businesses that  have uh day-to-day contact within our economically   disadvantaged communities and know their real uh  day-to-day needs. The reason I'm speaking this   morning is that over the past year, McAdams along  with other organizations has been exploring the   possibility of transforming Jardine Middle School  into a collaboration center dedicated to meeting   the practical needs of our struggling youth  and the neighborhoods they come from. Uh for   that reason, I've submitted a letter of intent to  purchase Jardine Middle School. Jardine would be a   great collaboration center that could immediately  start addressing the needs of the plain view area   without spending millions of dollars and waiting  18 to 24 months for a new building. Uh there are   areas within Jardine that have been updated to  meet current safety requirements and building   codes. And uh keep in mind that children were  attending classes in Jardine during the 2324   school year. Uh last school year was the first  year the city uh the the school sat empty. A   thriving community understands the value of a  strong working relationship between local city   government and community-based organizations. Uh  no matter what role we play in that partnership,   we must continue asking ourselves, are we helping  neighbors towards success or are we unknowingly   setting them up for failure? uh spending several  uh millions of dollars on a new building is not   necessarily wrong, but bricks and mortar alone  do not change lives. It's the relationships,   the accessibility, and the collaboration within  that space uh that create uh real transformation   within individuals. So, I appreciate the  opportunity to come and speak and I would be   uh open to any questions you might have. Thank  you, Chuck. Council member Ho Heisel. Thank you,   Mayor, and thank you, Chuck, for coming and  meeting again today with us. Um, I believe in   your mission. I believe in what you do. I believe  there's definitely a need in the community. Um,   I would like to continue to support you. I have  written a letter of support. Uh, I have also,   um, indicated our willingness to to look at having  you guys in the new community center as well.   Um, this building is if it was right sized, it  would be perfect for a collaboration. If it wasn't   so far behind in some of the maintenance issues  and when it does transfer hands, we are held to   a different set of standards, HUD standards, as  far as what we have to invest in the building. So,   I do appreciate you coming forward and um ch  talking it just pushing the message out there   because it's something I do want more people to  be aware of. Again, I do support you guys. Yep.   I appreciate that and I want to make sure and  again um we talked about future editions. We   talked about some of the programming in our  building. Um and I would be more than happy   to have you guys in there helping us out. The  difficult thing with um with McAdams is that   our our children once they're expelled, they're  not allowed on uh public school uh grounds. So,   I'm not sure our kids could go to a building or  we could lease space, new spa, you know, in in a   building you would build. Uh uh so that that's a  big uh hurdle to jump. I I appreciate it. I think   um you wouldn't have to because we are exchanging  land with the school district for the parking   lot. So, I don't think there would have to be any  part of you guys actually being on school property   um after this project is through. Thank you.  It's good information. Yes, sir. Council member   Hohheisle, you mentioned exchanging land with the  school district with the new build. There's still   an exchange there. The current Culvin Center,  which is maybe a third of the size of this room,   if not less, um would be exchanged for um  additional parking space at the end of their   parking lot. Becca, could you clarify that one a  little more? We're still on talks with that one. There is a small strip at the very back of  the playground fields for Culvin Elementary   that are not utilized that we would be putting  a uh small road on that you could access the   parking lot for the new facility without having  to cut through the existing Culing parking lot.   Thank you. So there are opportunities. Um  I know that council member Tuttle mentioned   uh it would be a hope that 259 would do some of  the things that had been um discussed coun before   I ask further questions to McAdams. City manager,  can you address what have conversations been like   over the last year with USD 259? I know that uh  the city of Witchah was very fortunate in getting   a collaboration with USD259 with Park Elementary  School and we're very grateful that they wanted   to be a partner in helping address homelessness  in our community by having a shuttered school in   Midtown now become the Second Light campus.  How is the This is obviously different. This   is a community center. Can you address where  conversations have been with USD 259? Thank you,   Mayor. Um com I have had conversations with the  superintendent. They have been just preliminary   conversations, no negotiations. He indicated  that uh the school board looks at this building   differently than they did Park Elementary. Um and  that they um would they they are still trying to   recover they'd like to recover something close  to what they deem to be fair market value on   the property. Doesn't mean necessarily it would be  2.9 million, but that is the asking price and it's   listed with a broker as you know. Um I have uh so  so we've had discussions. He confirmed that their   estimates for uh upgrade and addressing deferred  maintenance are similar to ours. So he knows the   amount of money that we would have to put into the  building over time. He um so he hasn't given me a   number but he believes it has to be much closer to  the 2.9 if we were to buy the whole building. I on   Friday I did tell him that we were having this  discussion uh today and indicated that we were   going to at least broach the the concept of paying  the same square foot cost for a reduced footprint   and that we would then ask the sup the uh district  to um uh demolish the remainder of the building.   He appreciated knowing that. Didn't agree or  disagree. just simply at that point we I wanted   to make sure he wasn't surprised and he knew the  concept that we were exploring with the council   and so if we were to move in that direction  we would have to have much more discussion   with them regarding what the fair value of the  building would be and the responsibilities um   for the remainder of Jardine if we only purchased  a portion of it. Thank you Vice Mayor Johnston. Thank you Mayor Chuck. Thanks for coming  today. You bet. Uh we talked yesterday.   Um had a nice conversation. Always appreciate  that. Uh can you give an update on where you   are with your fundraising? How much you have  in the bank? How much you have committed? Um where I'm at in the fundraising. I mean, it's  How much do you have in the bank right now?   That's that's ongoing. Um but uh uh my my  fundraising dollar amount is like 1.2 is   what what we've raised to uh buy a building.  We've been going at this for three years. Had   have had several disappointments.  Uh but uh that's about where we're   at. That's cash and commitments. Pledges.  Yeah. Pledges. Okay. Thank you. Um I also   suggested the idea of you possibly adding  on building on to a new rec center. So,   and I know you have a board meeting tonight.  Yes. Okay. So, I hope you bring that forward   to them. I think that might be a good option.  Could still share spaces, could share the gym,   u maybe some other meeting rooms also. So, just  as a possibility. One of our unique positions is   that as a 501c3 and plus what we do, believe it  or not, is not real popular. It's it's always a   challenge to get people to understand the real  need of of our students and their families and   uh so um I'm looking for different revenues  of income or or streams of re uh income and so   part of it is we can start small in Jardine and  then we will uh there are several organizations   that are already are interested in leasing space  from us and so that's how we plan to continue uh   to slowly expand. We don't have to come in and uh  demolish everything. Uh and so budget-wise and the   way we have designed the concept, I think we're  it'll be a challenge, but at least our kids will   have a permanent home uh for our school. Yeah, I I  believe in what you're doing. Yeah, thank you. You   did a great job. I appreciate it very much. years  ago, uh, Willard Elementary used to do that for   259 and they closed it a long time ago and so now  you've picked that up. So, it's much needed and I   I really appreciate you doing it. Well, thank you  for your encouragement, Chuck. Thank you again   um for not just what you do, but also trying to  see how you can better invest in District 3. Um,   I really appreciate you saying that what you want  is the vision is a collaboration center. Yes. So   my question then is would we be in competition  with you if we built a city community center with   collaborators and you would too and two separate  gyms one at your location and a gym point4 miles   from you. Are we in direct competition with you?  Well I would hope not. Um the problem with most   organizations is they become inward-looking  and become selfish and I hope that we could   not do that. My concern is is uh our students  and their families. You can change students   uh you can change families. Ultimately we need to  change the community and that's how we do this.   Uh but uh I I think there are so many advantages  uh partnering with the city and finding out what   our real strengths are. Uh being a a 501c3, our  hands are not restricted and tied as much as a   city organization. So I I don't see that. Um  uh I see it as a positive and and especially   with as much support as as a council uh has  for me. I I think it's a it's a win-win. So,   and I appreciate that there is more flexibility  with a 501c3 than here with city of Witchah HUD   dollars. Can you So I see right now obviously  we have an opportunity to build a new building.   That's option one. Option two is renovate a  portion of Jardine possibly. That's option two.   Option three again the city of Witchaw owning this  former middle school and then possibly leasing out   space to others. That's option three possibly.  Yeah. And then what you've also mentioned now   is option four which is you want to buy Jardine.  So my question then is has that been explored if   we became the the tenant instead of the owner of  the space? Uh mayor good question. If for that   to work, the owner would have to be able to make  improvements, the improvements that we anticipate   to the 40,000 square foot space or some space so  it would be usable for us. Um, we could not invest   in that because it's owned by someone else. So,  we'd be investing in their leaseold interest. So,   that would have to be they'd have to incur  those expenses and then that would be reflected   in ongoing lease. difficulty in that uh is that  those a lease payment will be operating budget.   So we'd have to come up with operating funds  on an annual basis versus capital improvement   funds which are designated right now um that  we could put in the front end of the project   probably 50% cash 50% debt um funded at least  that initially is what our target would be. So   that would that's the downside to that. somebody  would have to make that space um usable for us and   and our estimate today is $11 million is maybe if  someone could do it uh at a different price um you   know that that would be factored into what they  would charge us for rent which I imagine would   pretty substantial because they'd want to recover  that over I don't know a 10 or 20 year period.   So if if the city So what I'm hearing I guess  right now is possibly McAdams buying this property   and if we were to lease they would have to make  all the improvements. Correct. We wouldn't want to   invest our dollars into somebody else's building  and and not know how we would recover that. Thank   you, city manager. And thank you again, Chuck.  Thank you. We'll continue with public comment. Good morning. Um, might be afternoon by now, but  um, I'm the resident district 3 under my co-hisel.   So, um, I'm Genevie Howard. Um, I'm very excited  about the prospect of this, um, community center,   District 3. It's a huge consideration and  we desperately need some investment in that   district. So, um the idea of an updated community  center is exciting for everyone. They are friends   that I have. Um it's a great idea. So, um the need  is clear. Residents in that area um we have higher   levels higher levels of poverty and limited  access to youth and educational programs. So,   the center would truly change lives. Um, but  that said, there have been a lot of questions   today and proposals and I believe it's our duty  to make sure that this project is handled with   care and financial responsibility. So, I  want to thank everyone, especially you,   for all the time that you've spent on this. And  I would respectfully request that the council   consider holding off on approving this budget,  this design contract today, and take additional   time to allow any of the questions that were  asked today. Um, just resolve some of those,   and then we can review the projected plans, the  cost, the and evaluate all available options. Uh,   District 3 deserves not just an updated facility,  but also the confidence that this project was   managed with full transparency and financial  accountability. So, I'm truly excited about the   future of this center and District 3 desperately  needs this investment. So, I look forward to   seeing it grow our community. Uh but before moving  ahead, I urge you to ensure that all options have   been explored and give this project one more  careful review so when we do move forward,   it can be so do so with confidence. So thank you.  Thank you, Genevieve. Council member Hohheisel.   Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Jenna, for coming  up and uh giving your perspective today. I agree.   This is something that we need to have happen for  the good of our constituents and our neighbors in   district 3. It has been um quite a while since we  have invested in basic amenities in our district   like that. Um we did just delay this for a couple  of weeks to get additional information out there.   Um and to be completely honest, the clock  is ticking. Um, I think we are already uh   losing some ground as far as the delay originally,  six-month delay to uh look into the feasibility of   going into Jardine. Um, prices continue to go up.  We have tariffs just around the corner. Sometimes   you hear that, sometimes it gets delayed even  longer. Um, I I do feel like we have been open and   transparent and looked at um all the scenarios of  possibilities with it so far. So, I do appreciate   you coming up and um giving your support to  the project overall. Um I I do feel like we   have exercised transparency and our due diligence  so far with this. So, thank you again. Thank you,   Council Member Hohheisle. I will address this.  Thank you for um delaying it for two weeks,   a week and a half or so. Uh this was delayed  from the August 4th evening meeting to today. Um,   and so it did allow for more time for discussion,  but I want to make mention that during that   consent agenda item on August the 4th, it did not  have any information regarding Jardine. So, uh,   with that, I think that this is new information  and I agree with council member Tuttle. You know,   we have a lot of, um, things that still need  answered. Um, and so my question then to the   staff and city manager is according to uh council  member Hohheisle, the clock is ticking. Can you   address what a delay of another week, what a delay  of a month before coming back to the council would   mean in terms of any finan additional costs  or um any obligations that we would have? Mayor, I don't in terms of obligations, I don't  think there are any obligations that we have   um that would be impacted. Um I this is a we're  in a different time now and I think the the only   wild card in all of this is what will happen  with construction cost and and the impact of   tariffs. those are pretty been those it seems  as if those are pretty well established although   they continue to move that target moves. Um you  know I it's I can't tell you for sure that it's   um that a oneweek delay is going to make any  difference in that regard. Uh the further we   go the later our design is and then you  know do we miss a construction season? I   don't know. We'd have to plot all of that out.  Um, but it's always the will of the council in   terms of the direction you want to go. Maybe  this question is more for Paul then. Uh,   what is that construction timeline? So,  this specific agenda item is for $820,565 just for the design, not for the build, just  the design. Can you address the timeline it   would take as of right now for once design is  complete for construction time frame? Can you   give some timeline measurements for instance how  long it would take for design when construction   would approximately be when construction would  commence and end and when actual individuals   could be inside a new facility. So I think um per  the contract I think they're estimating design to   take approximately 28 weeks which is six months or  so. Um my guess is construction would probably be   maybe a year would be my guess. So this really  would not even have individuals until 2027 at this time. Yeah, that'd be Yes. So, in the  meantime, we have a lot of space in a current   building. They even have a gym. My my question  really is about how to best utilize taxpayer   dollars. And I understand that USD259 uh gets  taxpayer dollars for that building different   than the city of Witchah and our tax dollars,  but they are the same tax taxed individuals,   so property tax owners. I guess I'm asking there  are so many options here at the table that still   haven't been fully flushed out and the only delay  would be delaying more design work which will   take another six months anyways. Why cannot we de  pause this for another month to really flush out   some of these ideas? Um I guess that's my question  really to council member Hohheisle. Just a delay,   especially a delay of a month to flush out some of  these ideas. I I would say that we would have over   we have $8 million that would have to be rehabbed  in the current building. So it's not movein ready.   it would probably be a full year anyways to  get that construction done before the building   would be able to be open and operating. Um, and  again, we've we've delayed this. We've ran the   traps. We've talked to the partners who have been  interested. Uh, we've reached out repeatedly. Uh,   we've delayed this project already. Um, we  can still have conversations and there are   still opportunities to work with partners coming  in on this project. Um I again I also have uh   consternation about um transporting kids from the  center to the new center from school to the new   center. Um ongoing maintenance costs. Uh this is  this is the responsible move to the taxpayers in   my opinion is to make sure we don't have ongoing  costs. Again, this would be like putting the   downtown library attached to a community center.  With the ongoing maintenance cost, we are already   having trouble just trying to find people who  can't go into the downtown library and do the   necessary maintenance upgrades on that one as  is. So, I I don't foresee this happening. Again,   we've reached out um to multiple organizations  looking for the feasibility of going in and even   before the budget cuts, we only had a certain  few responses. I think this is just continuing to   uh delay a project that we can move forward  in and that we have done due diligence in.   Thank you for bringing up the former central  library and it's a prime example of why I always   say if there's something currently there, how can  you make that possible? Um the current central   library is still doesn't have a use right now and  we have not prioritized that. Uh so it continues   to deteriorate. However, a new roof was put in  place uh this year. And so I appreciate that   at least some of the deferred maintenance is  getting addressed. But again, this is a prime   example of another building. While we don't own  the former Jardine Middle School, that is USD259,   we do have a a former central library that the  city of Witchah does own, and we have not talked   about that yet. We're about to build something  new. So it it just to me seems like we're not   being prudent with taxpayer dollars right now. And  so that's why I'm asking can we have another delay   and this delay would be to flush out some of these  ideas to see what community partners I have also   heard from some micro schools that are interested  in space. I've heard from other nonprofits also   that would like to utilize some of this space but  maybe it shouldn't be the city of Witchah owning   it. maybe the city of Witchaw should be a lead a  tenant instead. And so I'd like to explore those   ideas. So I'm just one person on this council and  my thought on this is halting this or delaying   this for just a little bit longer is the prudent  thing to do for taxpayers. But again, we're still   continuing with public comment and we'll come back  to some of this uh further in conversation. But   again, it just makes common sense that we would  be asking there's a current vacant building not   utilized. It has a gym, multiple classrooms.  It could be right now activated with some small   improvements. I mean, kids were there just last  year in May before it shut shuttered down and I   believe the um boiler um system was upgraded  last year as well. So there are there have   been improvements made to that building as well.  And so I'm I'm thinking that this has not been   flushed out fully. So we'll continue with public  comment, but I have at this moment in time I still   have a major concern of pausing this for another  month. We'll continue with public comment. Oh,   sorry. Council member Ballard or Council Member  Thank you. Uh, is there anyone here from 259? We're talking an awful lot about a property that  is not ours and I wish there was someone here from   USD 259 that would maybe be able to answer some of  these questions. Thank you. That is a great point,   Council Member Ballard, which is why I think  having a pause would be necessary so that there   would be some responses. This was really thrown at  them. If again the consent agenda, if you look at   it on August 4th, did not even talk about Jardine  Middle School. Had it not been for the pause,   we would not have had this information  in public record. That's a problem. So,   I do believe having a pause is the most prudent  and responsible thing to do, especially because   we're asking questions about 259 and they're  not here. Council member Johnson. Thanks,   Mayor. I I was trying to wait until we got done  with public agenda, but I do want to address that.   Um I don't believe staff had that in the agenda  packet because it's not feasible. The option is   to build new. Um with all the work that council  member Hohheisle had been doing with Becca and   also talking to 259, it just is not a feasible  option. um we can say it's an option but also   the recommendation was the best option which is  to build something new and something that plane   view deserves. So I think that's probably why  you didn't see Jarine. The delay was let's talk   about the things that we've already talked about  the things we've already looked into. Um but I   believe that's kind of where we are today. Many  in the community knew about it. Council member   Hoisel's been talking about this for quite  some time. I've been to a plane view meeting   with him. He talked to the neighborhood  about it. So, it it's been talked about,   especially in the area. Um, I think it just may  be new to folks to see that we're actually moving   forward with actually doing something now rather  than just the conversation that we were having a   couple years ago. Council member Hoheisel. Thank  you, Mayor. And on the track, um, 8.6 million,   those aren't small improvements. I know it might  sound that way, but if you work in the trade,   that's there's going to be some time behind  that. and also 259. We've been the day that   I heard Jardine was closing was the first day  that we reached out to them about Jardine. So,   we have been in contact with 259. I think there  was a last stitch effort on behalf of people who   saw that this was coming up and they wanted  to try again to um explore the possibility of   getting in there. But we've done our diligence.  We've done six six months worth of look at it,   tried to make it work. You can talk to the  city manager. I even kind of threw a fit   that we weren't going in there uh when we first  did it. But again, we have to be responsible to   the taxpayers and I don't see any way that that  would be feasible going into the current building. We'll continue with public comment. I see none. We'll bring it back to the bench. Council member Glasco. Thank you, Mayor. I just  have some brief comments before we vote. Um,   I will be supportive of this today. Um, I do want  to express concerns I have about um, it's not an   often pattern, but it does happen where there's  inaccuracies in our green sheet. And if we're set   to vote on the documents presented to us before  us, it um creates an impediment for us to go back   decades old and look at documents that we should  be relying on staff to also provide us accurate   information. So that's something that I just want  to change for the future and that's happened a few   times from the bench. Regardless of that, um I do  believe that we do need to do community service or   community centers differently in the future. Um,  we need to partner schools in the evenings and   USD259 has talked about partnerships. They want  this sort of been a moment to step up and figure   out how to engage differently. I'm thankful for  their partnership at Park Elementary, but we just   recently had an onbunk about how we can partner  better together and I hope we can continue those   conversations as well. Often people aren't using  community centers. But in this neighborhood,   people will benefit from community centers.  If there's one spot in our community that it   makes sense to have a community center and these  resources for kids and families in this area, it   is in Plane View. And I'm thankful for the work,  Councilman Hohheisle. I do think we've explored   all options. Um, and I look forward to supporting  this project and uh seeing hopefully the lives   that are changed as a result of it. Council  member Tuttle, thank you very much. I just wanted   to highlight a few things from the green sheet  um that you know if you're in the audience or   you're viewing you may not see but 40 almost 44%  of the households within um plain view has someone   with a disability and 18% of the population is  without health insurance. Also almost 34% of   the population are 18 years or younger and half  of those of the age of 18. 14% lack high school   educa diploma highlighting the need for education  and programming. Um it goes on to tell you more   about the average cost of a home. The average cost  of a home in Witchaw's $270,000. Here I think it's   less than 70,000. So there's more crime in this  area than almost any other part of the city. So   this is a high need area. Um, I think it's an  area that council member Holheisil represents   well and he continually reminds us of the need in  this area. And so by offering classes, um, English   as second language classes, youth programming to  help with middle school and afterchool students,   all the things again, health care programming that  are listed, it helps to address the needs of our   residents. And I feel like we've reached out to  the residents and we asked them what they wanted.   We asked them what we they need. We say from this  bench consistently, our job is to listen to our   residents. They've told us what they wanted. They  told us what they needed. They didn't tell us   another option. They said, this is how we want  to move forward. Um, thank you for letting me   share all of that. My last comment is there's just  too many ifs and delaying this. Uh, I think that   this has been going on since 2023. Um, so it's  it's certainly been um thoroughly thought out,   discussed. Um, we could just keep kicking the can  down the street, but I think we're going to come   back to this option because it is the least  expensive option. If we look at the hope that   we'll get it for a million dollars and the hope  that they'll scrape it for free, it's still more   than a million dollars more than a new build. A  new build is cheaper even under the best options.   So, um, with that, I'm going to be supportive.  Vice Mayor Johnston. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, I did   walk through this also with the mayor and one of  her three times. Um, when when Mr. Martin said it   was 2.9 million, might have looked at him like  he was crazy and he said, "JV, we got to start   somewhere. You know, probably not going to get  that." So, 2.9 is way too high for that building.   But that being said, I think it has been fully  vetted. I think I think Council Member Hohisel   has done a great job of that. Uh the need is  there. I spent couple hours plus down with my CSR,   Teresa Visi, uh was covering down there and we  had a meeting and and uh it took over two hours.   a 30-minute meeting took over two hours because  you kept getting interrupted by the high number   of traffic in that in that uh community center  and there were were nine and 10 year old kids   on their own. Um people computers were busy the  whole time I was there. Tremendous need for that   this community. Um also grew up not too far from  that community. We used to ride our bikes down   there so I know it well. and we have a a clinic  just really close there on hillside. So, I do   know it well. It does need it. Um, I am concerned  about taxpayers and I do think that the new build   is the best option for taxpayers. Uh, it will  cost less as Councilman uh Tuttle said. Um, but   even more than that, the initial cost, I think the  ongoing maintenance cost or what we really need to   look at and they'll be far less in a new build  than at Jardine. So, that being said, I I will   be supportive of this and uh I appreciate all the  efforts been put into it. Council member Johnson.   Thanks, Mayor. I too will be supportive of this.  Um I believe it has been vetted to the fullest   extent and I don't always share frustrations, but  even council member Hoheisle remembers me bugging   him about pushing forward with a new building  as he continued to look through if Jordan was   going to be feasible. Um, so I'll be supportive  for those reasons. I think it is right to invest   new in Plane View. Plain View deserves this type  of investment. I remember the comments from the   meetings that we attended, even the neighborhood  cleanup I just went to. Um, the the need is there   and this will provide a great opportunity  for the folks in Plane View for programming,   for collaboration, for everything. But we heard a  lot of good news today. So we don't own Jordine.   USD259 does. So what we're hearing today is we  can move forward with a new center for plane view   that can provide all those opportunities and we  even have nonprofits looking to purchase Jardine.   That's a win for the community because now the  nonprofits can work with the school district   to acquire that space, renovate it, and the city  will have this facility there. And I will say I   don't feel that there cannot be too much help in  Plane View. There's a lot of need in Plane View.   Um and us building a community center is going to  be great. and these nonprofit partners taking over   Jardine if they can would be even better for  that community and the community surrounding   it. Even looking at proximity a little further  away to Oakan. There's a lot of need there and I   think there should be that type of investment both  from the city and a new center and from nonprofits   or whoever in the private sector might want to  look into Jardine. So today I think there's an   opportunity for a win-win and I'll be supportive  of this item. Council member Hoheisle. Thank you,   Mayor. Um, this has been a long project, but this  is one that you do because you see the need in   the community. Um, I always think about the kids,  watching them out there at summer camp, watching   them out there walking to and from school, a lot  of the needs that they have in the community,   the seniors there, um, refugees that live there.  Just it's it's a beautiful community. Um, it's   multicultural there. there's so much need there,  but there's so much opportunity there. Um, and   it's it's all about the residents. It's all about  the people that we can help. And that extends   across to other partners who are looking to get in  there as well. I'd love to help out as much as I   can to anybody who wants to do work in Plane View.  Um, we have a number of groups that we brought in   there already. um violence interruptors. Wall is  doing spay and neuter clinics and we are going to   uh help with some support for them here shortly as  well. Um there's just a number of groups that are   already doing the work down there that we want to  support. There's going to be great opportunities   for other collaborations as well, whether it be in  our building or whether it be in Jardine trying to   get people in there to utilize that as well. I've  always had the concern about Jardine being used   um being laying vacant there. Again, that's  why the first day that I heard it was closing,   that's what we started exploring. Um I also have  to maintain um the trust of the taxpayers that   were using their funds to intelligently to the  best of our ability. So, uh again, this has been   a passion project because I see the real need and  I see the real opportunities to help people who   need it. This will also stem crime not only in  the community but it'll also extend crime that   begins in plain view and spreads throughout the  community. Um same thing with poverty as well. So   uh this is this again this has been a while that  we've been working on this. This is a passion   project and so I will recommend that city council  approve the design contract and authorize the   necessary signatures. Second motion and a second.  Any discussion? I will put my two cents in on why   I will be voting no for this. First and foremost,  um I do believe that it's important to look at all   options and I understand that there has been  months of consideration regarding Jardine.   However, I do believe that community partners  were not at the table at the same time talking   about these. And if the whole purpose is  to have a community collaboration space,   whether at Jardine or at the new build, I don't  want to see competition with one another. And   especially when there is a building right now  with a gym and space that could technically start   moving into with very few renovations in some  parts of this building. Kids can start having that   activity right now or by the end of this year. And  again, that's why I said pausing and delaying so   that we can explore op all options is something  that we should do for taxpayers to be prudent   with a major investment of nearly $10 million.  And as I've been told from the bench today,   it will go no more than $9.9 million. And I'm very  glad to hear that uh that that budget will be set   and it will not go any higher. Um, again, I think  that putting a pause for an additional month to   explore more options was not a nonprudent idea,  but actually a more prudent idea, especially as   we're talking about taxpayer dollars. And so,  my vote no is not because I don't believe that   Plain View and Southeast Witchah deserve this,  because they do. I know the resources that are   needed and I'm very grateful that council member  Hohheisel has made this his passion project   um because this will take until 2027 before it's  even realized. However, I think that there is a   building right now that is currently shuttered.  And while I hope that McAdams uh Academy is able   to get this building and get it activated as soon  as possible, I also think that it would make for a   great community center right now with literally  a gym available at this current moment. And so,   uh, with that, I I will be voting no. And I  also don't um like seeing design contracts in   the amount that this has been brought to us. I  feel like these design contracts always are over   uh in estimates $820,000 not for construction  but simply for design. So this is what we're   approving a design contract for $820,000.  And so uh with that I will be voting no. And   I see that we already started voting. Um but  u madame clerk can you please open the role? Motion passes 61. Madame clerk  can you please call the next item. 2026 annual operating budget and 2026  through 2035 capital improvement program. Good morning. My name is Elizabeth Goldry. I work  in the finance department in the budget office and   I'm here today to present this item. Um today is  the third of four public hearings about the 2026   proposed budget in the CIP. Um this meeting is  an opportunity for residents to come and provide   feedback. And also as a reminder, ordinarily at  this meeting, if there's any feedback from the   city council um about the proposed budget  um we generally receive it at this time. Um the development of the proposed budget in the  CIP was guided by contributions from residents,   the city council and employees. Um resident  engagement included the community survey last   fall to have meetings in May um and creating  budgets in the online simulator as well as   public hearings like this one today. Um the  city council was engaged in the budget process   um in monthly workshops since January.  And then finally, employees were engaged   in developing tactics that will result in  imple implementation of the strategic plan. Um the community survey is one that is conducted  annually as I mentioned that happened last fall.   The topline results are summarized in this matrix  which plots quality on the Y or left side and then   importance on the X or the bottom part of the  matrix. This visualization has guided strategic   planning as well as development of the budget  and the CIP. This slide zooms in on the lower   right hand side of the the matrix. Um this and  um so you can better see the labels for items   that residents rated as being the most important  but they also rate as being of lower quality in   the community survey. Um there's a variety  of strategies and tactics across departments   and most of them are interdep departmental to  address these topics and is um so the online   budget simulator I'm going to go into a little  more detail on that today. Um it was launched in   May at the same time as the DAB meetings that  we attended and it's available through today.   We'll be closing it this evening. Um, at this  point we have nearly, when I checked yesterday,   we had nearly 900 responses. So, we got about  a hundred more since the last city council   meeting. The increases and decreases are based  on priorities and also the financial impact. And I like to bring that up because  if you go back to the citizen survey,   there's no dollars attached to it. But  on this one, the increases and decreases,   um, the objective here is for people who are  participating to balance the budget. The largest   average increases across the services have been in  street repair, um, city parks and public library   services. As a reminder, unlike the community  survey, the results from the sim simulator are not   scientific. This is a voluntary activity. Um, we  posted on social media and it was reposted um to   lots of other groups around Witchah of concerned  people. Um and then also as a reminder, not every   possible budget item is included in the budget  simulator. For example, one of the comments which   was great feedback is water, you know, drinking  water is rated as a really high um is very high   importance in the survey. Why is this not in  the simulator? And that's because the simulator   um is only for general fund services. Um so so yes  so it's been shared a lot in the community and we   see that in the number of responses we've seen and  just also in the feedback that we've received as   well. When I went out to the DAB meetings in  May I told people I'm like even if you don't   like what it takes to balance a budget please um  please provide us comments at the end and we'll   get to that in a little bit. We received a lot of  comments. So this table here reports on the most   common services selected in each increase and  decrease option. So the five options that were   available on the for services on the right side of  the community survey were plus 10% plus 5% zero.   So no change five and -10. Then for services on  the left side the only options were 0g 5 and -10.   So, I've also included the expenditures on  here just to give you a frame of reference. So,   to increase something that's in maybe the one  two3 million um range doesn't have as great of an   impact as to increase something that's costs more.  And the converse is true to decrease something   that's two or three million doesn't have as great  of an impact as um the alternative would be. Um,   so just as a reminder, um, if you haven't been  into the simulator lately or you've forgotten, um,   the options for fire service were to increase or  decrease staffing levels. The five plus 5% option   was to add staff for an additional fire station,  whereas the negative five option was to shed half   of the 42 positions that had formally been funded  by SAFER that are included in this budget. So just   gives you a little bit of context on that one. Um  and then municipal court is interesting because   it is in the lower importance category but 706  people of all and that's there's a around 880   budget. 706 people held that one at zero. So that  is noteworthy. Um, and as a reminder, we've talked   about municipal court a lot in this budget, and  there's a lot of changes related to efficiency and   um, levels of service in that department, but the  concepts presented in this were more about service   levels rather than efficiency. Um, on police  services, um, that was the most common item   to have a decrease of 10%. um if one were in the  simulator and attempting to balance their budget,   that would be a relatively easy way to do that and  that's like a reason why it was probably chosen   pretty often. And as a reminder, the option for  that one was to eliminate 47 unfilled positions   at this time, which was based on um was about  twothirds of the vacancies they had at the time   that the simulator was created. So, we'll have  more information once we close the simulator   and create a report. So, about the comments, as  I said, I encourage people to provide comments   um because by definition, balancing a budget's  kind of frustrating and difficult. Um about   100 people provided comments after their budgets  were finished. Um and there were some main themes   um that we use the data to extract some main  themes of the comments. And you can see it adds up   to more than a hundred because many times people  hit all of these themes in one comment or several   of them. Um, a big one is the police budget. A lot  of people provided feedback that they feel that   the police budget is large and it can consumes  too much of the resources. And I'm just reading   I'm just summarizing these comments. These are  not my opinions. These are the comments from the   simulator. Many suggestions include cutting vacant  positions, reallocating funds to social services,   or restructuring police responsibilities. A  minority defended the need for police funding and   um a lot there was also feedback about tying it  to public safety and crime control. The second   big category was fiscal responsibility. there was  a strong resistance um a lot of comments about in   um resistance to tax increases particularly  regarding property taxes which many said were   already too high. Um there was an interest in  cutting wasteful spending as well as advocacy   for raising revenue differently like sales  tax for public safety, taxing businesses or   non-reents and sponsorships for recreation. The  third big category um which isn't is um roads and   infrastructure. There was persistent frustration  voiced about street conditions, flooding and   bridges. Um and this was open when there was a lot  of flooding that took place in the late spring,   criticism of patch fixes, um and significant  advocacy for public transportation expansion.   And then the last category for which there were a  lot of comments was what was grouped together as   quality of life and community services. There  was a desire for investments in libraries,   parks, arts, and cultural programs as drivers of  long-term community well-being. There were calls   for mental health services, youth programs,  and rehabilitation rather than punitive   approaches to crime. And then some people  emphasized homelessness present prevention,   affordable housing and blight reduction as higher  return investments on crime prevention. So again   to as I noted this was shared with a lot of  groups. It was a lot of people participated it in   it just from already following city of Witchah  channels, but we feel that it it represented   um a lot of different voices in the community,  but again it is not statistically valid. I feel the room is incredibly quiet right  now. Um the next item I'm I'll move into is   just an overview of strategic planning for  anyone who's joined us today for the first   time. Strategic planning was a focus of budget  workshops in January, April and May. Um each of   these workshops resulted in different layers of  the strategic plan and of as I mentioned before   they guided development of the budget and the  strategic plan and these different layers are   shown here in the slide. In the interest of time,  I won't dive into them, but um generally each   meeting um each month um we work a different  layer of the strategic plan was addressed. Um so the city of Witchah budget is  inclusive of 36 different funds. Um we   focus a lot on the general fund, but there  are 35 more funds that make up the general   um make up the all fund summary. Um in total  um net of interfund transfers the budgets   um about $776 million this year. Um on the  left side when it comes to revenue charges   for services are a large slice because  of water sewer and storm water utilities. Um so the general fund is what most  of the time is spent focusing on.   Um the largest slice of general fund revenue  is property tax and then that's followed by   franchise fees and then the countywide sales  tax. Um these two pie charts are different ways   of looking at expenditures. So police, fire  and public works comprise about a little over   twothirds of the general fund budget. And then  on this on the other pie chart, this is how the   funds are spent or the type of expenditure.  And salaries and benefits are about again   I said twothirds on the other side. Police,  fire, and public works are three4s. Um, and   then on salaries and benefits are three4s of the  budget. So, if you kind of smash those together,   um, police wages are about a third of the general  fund budget and fire wages are about a fifth. Um, this slide here, um, shows the mil  levy change between 2025 and 2026. Um,   property tax again is the largest source  of revenue for the general fund. It's   split between the general fund and the debt  service fund. Overall, it will be one half   mil lower in 2026 than it is in 2025. As  a reminder, at the meeting on July 15th,   so about a month ago, that set the maximum  taxes to be levied for each of these funds.   So it set the bottom line maximum taxes  and then for also for each of the funds. This feels like success to me because this table  is displaying correctly this time. Um this is a   five-year forecast of the general fund. Um and  so the general fund is balanced in 2026 and   2027 as a result of adjustments to the budget.  Those include research topics that we shared.   I think that was in February. Um things that  we worked through in May and June. Um a lot of   different changes that were made along the way.  Um due to the uncertainty in the remainder of   the planning period, a deficit is projected in  2028 in 2029. As always, the fundamental reason   for this is growth in wages that is expected to  outpace revenue growth. And as I mentioned before,   wages is three4s of the general fund budget.  revenue growth is hampered by an anticipated   decrease in interest earnings during the  planning period. Um we continue to update   projections as information is made available. So  um we'll be back together again early next year   and we typically provide a updated forecast  each year as we kick off the budget process. So, as a reminder, there were research  topics that were presented in February,   the budget options in May. Um, generally  items that were included in this budget   do not result in public safety service level  changes. Um, there are a lot of things that   are focused on efficiency and also help  us achieve tactics in the strategic plan. And here is a summary of those changes.   most of the work was done in  2025 um and impacts also 2027. So that is what I have today for the  general fund overview and then I have   a few slides on the self-supported  municipal improvement district. It is a special district which is located  downtown. Um, so each year the downtown   Witchah Schmidt advisory board provides  a formal budget request to the city of   Witchah and this year they requested a budget  funded with 10 mills. That being the case,   the mill levy would increase from 6.807  to 10 and it would be used to implement   the clean and save program. So that and and  that action to the maximum taxes to be levied   um and the notification and all of that action  occurred at the meeting of July 15th. So that's   an overview on the Schmidt budget. And there's  more information about the dollars um in the   agenda report. So the final element for today is  the CIP. It has a variety of funding sources. Um   it's a 10-year plan. and it's over $3 billion.  Most of the devel during the development of the   CIP like the general like the operating budgets  focus very much on the general fund. Most of the   most of the budget during CIP development is  on geo at large and local sales tax funding where the expenditures go in the budget.  Um in the expenditure side of the CIP   um because of their funding sources,  most of the focus is generally the   GEO projects are in public facilities,  park and wreck um and heavy equipment. As a reminder, in 2026, the G debt service  fund mill levy rate is set at seven with.17   mills shifted to the general fund in 2027 and  beyond. The seven was um the maximum taxes to   be levied that was approved on July 15th. the  um lesser amount in 2027 is modeled at this   point and adopting the budget does not change  the millennia yet for 2027. That's an action   you would take. Then um the CIP is guided by  the community investments plan and an update   um for you all is we presented the CIP at the MAPC  meeting on August 14th and they affirmed it's in   conformance with the community investments plan.  Um and then it also um was guided by the strategic   plan and fund balances for each of the funds  that fund the CIP are within appropriate levels. So um at the end of this month,  next week is when we are scheduled   um for the final public hearing. It was poach p  sorry published in the witchah eagle and online   in mid July that that would be the date. So  today is this budget hearing and the budget   simulator closes and we will work on a report  for your consideration. And then on August 26th   there will actually be three items. The first  will be related to the RNR for the Schmid. The   second being the RNR for the city of Witchah and  then the third is um approval of the operating   budget in the capital improvement program.  With that that concludes my presentation.   um here to answer any questions or we can open  it up for residents. Any questions from the   council? Hearing none, we'll open it up for public  improvement. Is that okay, Mayor? Public comment.   Yes. Improvement comment. Would anyone from  the public like to speak on the budget or CIP? Good morning, Celeste. I'll be brief. Um,  just real quick, I appreciate that we had   a chance to be a citizen-ledd bipartisan  committee to look for savings in the budget,   and I it looks like some of them have  already been taken into account. So,   I appreciate that. Two questions for the budget  that was just presented. Um, the budget simulator,   did they account for multiple IP address  submissions on the survey because that   could sway your results? I know we did. When  we did a survey, we allowed two per IP address. Yeah, the budget simulator is set up in such  a way that it's completely anonymous. We don't   collect any personally identifiable information  and people can submit budgets from the same IP   address multiple times. So, as I mentioned, it is  not um it's not statistically valid and we don't   purport it to be. So, it's um it's a learning  tool. It's also an opportunity for feedback.   Okay. Thank you. The only thing I would say  in response to her's answer is it can sway   the results of the survey for people who feel  a certain way. Just wanted to point that out.   Um, the other comment I wanted to make is I know  that sometimes I wish we had a little bit more   information when we publish like what you're  spending in streets repair because actually   when you look at how Witchaw has expanded, you  should do streets repair per mile of street   because we've added new subdivisions throughout  northwest, east, south around Witchaw. That's   part of the street repair. So even though we're  spending more, if you look at per mile of street,   it could actually be declining. So the the numbers  can be misleading too. So I just wanted to point   that out. With the CIP, I know that um going into  the adopted budget for this year, we had budgeted   $400 million for a new convention facility. What's  been budgeted this year? Uh that's a question. And   then the other thing I wanted to point out,  well actually two more and then I'll stop.   Crystal Prairie Park, you've heard me speak about  that. But I think before we do any new parks,   we ought to take care of the parks we currently  have. And Price Water Park is deplorable. Even   though we did a lot of work in that park and used  Lowe's Heroes project, we're still waiting for the   irrigation to get turned on and all those plants  have basically a lot of them have died. Trees have   been cut. It's a hot zone now with no water in  the ponds. So, I'd say before we do a new park   that's going to cost 2 and a.5 million per the  budget for the pathways and then another seven   for the park itself, we need to take care of what  we have. And park facility maintenance for this   year's budget was actually less about the same as  the new bike path for Crystal Perry Park. And that   just seems completely unbalanced for me. I would  let the developer pay for his own park. That's   all I wanted to comment. Thanks so much. Thank  you, Celeste. I will ask those two questions to   the city manager. Number one, regarding the $400  million new construction of a convention center,   mayor, we have the um I believe the convention  center is in as a placeholder for discussion,   but there are is that correct? Yeah. Right. Yeah.  But there is no funding source identified. So,   it's simply there for planning purposes and  to recognize a need. But the council's not   um done anything at this point to designate any  hard dollars for that project. I have a followup   question to that and that is another adjacent  property which is the former central library.   Are there any dollars in the CIP to assist with  getting that building back up to at least some   functionality? Mayor, the only dollars that  would be available would be from our public   facilities maintenance budget. We do not have  anything earmarked for the old library itself.   Uh I think I've mentioned previously that we are  having ongoing discussions with the management   firm for C2 to see if there is some repurposing  in that building that could be done with minimal   improvements uh that would not require the full  breath of improvements that have been outlined   by our architects. Where would those dollars  come from if those conversations are being had?   uh we would have to again it depends on the scope  mayor if it's a small amount of money which we   hope um then we would be able to accommodate that  uh through our public facilities budget. If it's   going to be significant improvements for instance  an elevator or some other significant changes in   the building then we would have to program those.  And when you say small amount what is small?   Well, probably anything a million or lower um  would be able to be accommodated with existing   um I would like to see the former central  library be operational again. I I know that I   had mentioned at one point this year um regarding  police, but if that's not the space for it,   it still needs to be activated. Um, my concern  with the previous item was also about an   abandoned building or a building that has been  shuttered. This is the same topic really, but   just a different building and one that the city  actually owns. So, I would like to see emphasis   on trying to get it back up to at least some  functionality so that it doesn't become just a   blighted building. Yes. Thank you, Council Member  Hoheisel. Thank you, Mayor. uh Celeste to just one   of your points about the road construction.  Um that would also there's a little bit of   um nuance there as well because it also depends  on whether or not you're spending money on more   on asphalt roads during that period or concrete  roads. The concrete roads like we see in the   core are almost twice as much as the asphalt  road. So if we did ex you know expand on the   information we put out there that would have to  be taken into consideration too. maybe splitting   it up between what we spend on asphalt roads as  opposed to concrete roads. So, appreciate that.   Council member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor Bob. Can  you please talk about Gersel Prairie Lake? I feel   like there's some confusion about maybe what plans  might have been decades ago or years ago. Um,   and what is in the current CIP, what the  current plans are, and where we are. Thank you,   council member. Thank you for the question. The  CIP right now over the 10-year period includes   $2,250,000. And those uh allocations are it starts  with 750,000 in 2028 and then every other year,   not the next year, but the following year  has 500,000. Those are basically anticipating   um pave or excuse me um path improvements. no  development cost uh that would be consistent with   the master plan. So there's not $7 million in the  CIP at this point anticipating changes in Crystal   Prairie Lake. And what are the current plans that  were as far as the little gravel parking lot in   um the match that that work has been designed  and is uh is anticipated to be completed I think   before the end of the year if I remember correctly  which is providing a small gravel parking lot   and then a path and a path to tie under 96.  That's correct. That will tie then back to um   the Segre County Park. Thank you. If mayor, if I  could just go back to pavement maintenance. Uh,   two comments. First of all, a majority of our  pavement uh uh improvement work is in the S   capital improvement program, not in the operating  budget. Um, so it's a little misleading when   we show you a number in the operating budget  because that doesn't represent a majority of   what we're spending. But if you look at our road  rehabilitation expenditures on a per capita basis,   they are increasing u during this budget period.  Uh right now we estimated that actually we know   that last year it was $38 roughly per  person or per capita. This year it'll   be 3931. The following year 2026 the budget  you're considering it'll go up to $40.37. But if you do it on a per lane uh or pavelane  mile as um Mi M Ret talked about those numbers   are going up as well from 2,800 last year,  2,900 this year uh and 3,000 next year. So   we are putting that that's a council priority and  we are putting those dollars in um in either way   that you decide to to measure that performance.  Thank you. We'll continue with public comment. I see no one from the public. We'll bring  it back to the bench. Council members, I see none. I will go ahead and move that  the city council receive public comment   on the 2026 proposed budget and the 2026  2035 proposed capital improvement program.   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. Public hearing and request by WG Radiation LLC  doing business as Advanced Cancer Therapies   for approval of a letter of intent to issue  industrial revenue bonds. Honorable mayor,   members of council, Troy Anderson, assistant city  manager. This is a request that came to us from   the Witchaw Urology Group Radiation LLC. You'll  hear me refer to them as WUG or WUG Radiation, an   affiliate of Advanced Cancer Therapies. Uh they're  an outpatient cancer center treatment located   uh at 2077 North Web Road um again which Advanced  Cancer Therapies occupies. Over the last year,   they've seen experienced rapid growth in the  number of patients. Uh again, serving a population   even outside of the Witchaw metropolitan area. Uh  they estimate more than 30% of their patients are   even outside the Witchaw metropolitan area.  Due to this rapid growth, they're looking to   expand their facility. This particular expansion  project consists of a 2,000 square foot expansion   uh and also includes acquisition installation of  a linear accelerator. Wug's requesting a letter   of intent to issue industrial revenue bonds to  not exceed $6 million. Uh includes a 10-year   property tax abatement and sales tax exemption.  So, under our guidelines, the project qualifies   for a 10-year 90% property tax abatement broken  down as follows. For uh capital investment,   between five and $10 million, 50% abatement,  uh the creation of five new jobs, 30% and being   located within a regional growth plan sector,  uh an additional 10%. The estimated 90% of the   abatement for the first full year is about $55,000  a year broken down as follows on the screen in   front of you. These numbers are also provided  in the green sheet. Projects also eligible for   sales tax exemption. The approximate sales tax  exemptions about 350,000 city share being about   27,000. Uh cost benefit analysis was performed.  Uh the following ratios uh of benefits to cost   uh have been provided additionally in the green  sheet but are on the screen here in front of you. Standard disclaimer around revenue bonds. Revenue  bonds are a mechanism for achieving a sales tax   exemption andor property tax abatement only in a  revenue bond transaction. The city is not lending   any money. Bears no risk. The owner developers  required to achieve all of their own financing.   No taxpayer dollars are at risk. So financial  considerations before you today. WG Wug Radiation   agrees to pay all costs of issuing the bonds and  agrees to pay the annual obligation fees. Bonds   will be purchased by WG or related entity. The  actual bond documents uh required for the issuance   uh of the bonds will be prepared by outside  bond council but ultimately law department will   review and approve all final form. That being  said, it's recommended the city council hold   a public hearing, ultimately close a public  hearing, adopt the resolution, authorize the   necessary signatures, and otherwise I'll stand for  questions. Thank you, Troy. Council member Glasco.   Thank you, Mayor. Troy, I have a few questions  regarding the 90 90% property tax uh for the   first full year or the 90% property tax abatement.  Does that cover their existing tax obligations? I   don't see anything in here about a pilot. No, the  existing tax base continues to pay uh to be paid.   Um and so this is on just the capital investment,  not only for the um physical expansion, but also   any furniture, fixture, and equipment that in  that is included in that. Just want to make   sure that was the case. Um, in addition regarding  the ROI, the city uh general fund is one to one,   which is right at our policy. I don't think we've  approved anything since I'm in here that's exactly   at 101 uh one. Can you give the rationale for that  because it's very close to not being I just want   to make sure we're not adjusting the numbers that  it's actually 0.99 to1 and we figure out a way   to get it to one just so it can be presented  before council. Yeah. So, uh, appreciate the   opportunity to kind of lean into this a little  bit. That is, um, just looking at the general   fund cost benefit return. Um, the overall city  of Witchah is the 1.12. But something else to   take into consideration is that only looks at the  10-year period as well, right? Uh I don't have the   costbenefit analysis in front of me, but years  ago we started also looking at uh kind of the   20-year impact as well, knowing and understanding  that these properties are uh maybe abated over   that first 10-year period. If those properties are  abated over that first 10-year period and you're   only looking at sort of the return on investment  or the costbenefit analysis for that same term,   uh then obviously you're immediately going to  start in the red and then you start looking at   things like job creation and those kind of things.  We all know that then too once it comes back on   the tax ro we've seen an a significant capital  investment and ad valerum taxes that will be added   to the tax ro in year 11 through 20. And so we've  also started looking at sort of that 20-year cost   benefit. Now again I don't have the numbers in  front of me today but this is just looking at that   10-year return based on the period that it um that  the taxes are going to be abated. You're right. It   is one to one. That does meet our guidelines, but  it is in the future. I'd be interested of the 20-y   year. I know, you know, we had a meeting yesterday  that the 20-year was discussed and I think it   shows a clearer picture of what the capital  investment does. And so, just including that,   I think would give a better idea to the community  of, hey, this is just when we're abating some of   the property tax. This is also investment after.  I think that's helpful information for people. Um,   there was one question I had uh in the green  sheet. said it's anticipated that the expansion   will result in shorter wait times for patients.  It doesn't talk about more patients coming into   the community, more outside investment from people  engaging. Can you maybe elaborate more or maybe   the applicant could elaborate more? Yep. Thank  you so much. We do have representatives from the   applicant here that can probably answer that  question. Thank you. Hello. Hi. Good morning.   Well, afternoon. I made it to the afternoon. U  my name is Alicia Sanger. I'm the director of   operations at Witchaw Urology. Um, so right now  we're treating about 55 patients per day, which   they're there from 7:00 a.m. Our our uh therapists  are there from 7:00 a.m. till 9:00 p.m. So, um,   with this, we'll be able to treat more throughout  the day. So, we will draw in more patients,   um, from the outside communities and all of that.  So, Okay. Yeah. So, you will draw in more patients   and shorter weight times, not just shorter weight  times as presented here. So, be Yeah. And and   because of that, because they're in conjunction  there, we'll be able to treat more patients. So   So you're not limiting the number of patients at  the current capacity. Yep. Thank you. Any further   questions for Alicia first? I have one. Uh this  says that this will create five new jobs. Yes.   What's the salary for these types of jobs? Um  most of them will be radiation therapists, so   they're paid pretty high. Um, so they'll generally  be around a h 100,000 to I mean we're also looking   for possibly another office manager over there. So  that could be around 100,000 as well. Thank you,   Alicia. Council member Hoheisle. Thank you,  Mayor. Um, Council Member Glass took a number of   my questions there actually. Uh, so Troy, I I did  notice you talked about um kind of this being an   appropriate employment field as far as qualifying  for some of these um exemptions here. Could you   delve into that one a little more? Because if  there's one area that I think we can all agree on,   uh, cancer therapy is one area to look at every  option to give them all the opportunity that we   can. So yeah, if you could just touch on that  point just a little bit more and clarify that   for us. Yeah. So I'll uh pull it up here. There  are six um categories under the regional growth   plan sector. Um and so I'll just read those  off here. Actually there's seven. I apologize.   uh advanced manufacturing and materials uh  aerospace, agriculture, energy, healthc care,   IT systems and support and transportation and  logistics. Okay. So that does that qualify them   for um a greater percentage of the tax abatement  or how how does that necessarily work? Yes. So   that's the additional 10% under the um if the the  scope of work is a project that is located as part   of one of the regional growth plan sectors. Yes.  Okay. Thank you. Y I have a couple questions, but   they actually stem from um a meeting that was held  back in June of 2021. So June 1st of 2021, there   was a similar project that came before the then  council. uh it was regarding the plastic surgery   center and at that point there were multiple  questions regarding a plastic surgery center   or a medical facility getting uh tax abatement. Uh  what has been done since that conversation because   there were multiple points that council member  Fry brought up um and was worried about including   council member blue. um what has been what has  changed from 2021 to 2025 because I believe this   is the first time a medical facility is asking for  incentives. So I don't know about the June 2021 I   I know that Waw Urology Group um and again I took  some notes. I think these are the right dates but   again I'd have to go back and just confirm this.  I think back in June of 2020, there was a letter   of intent uh for a 26,300 ft facility. It was  about a $10.7 million capital investment. They   were to create 22 new jobs as part of that. Uh in  December of 2021, the projects was complete. The   actual bonds were issued. And so at the end of  this year, um, so 22, 23, 24, 25, actually 26,   at the end of next year, we will do the five-year  review on that. So, uh, I I'd have to get together   with, um, the urology group. I I don't have  information on kind of exactly how well they're   performing on satisfying the five-year review of  that today. A follow-up question. It actually is   June 1st of 2021, that specific item. I'm looking  at the agenda and the minutes. June 1st, 2021. Um,   I would like to see I know that there's five-year  reviews including that one that will be coming up   next year. I think it would be um responsible for  the community and transparent to put that on our   um transparency portal or in the economic  development uh tab on these five-year reviews if   they have performed um what they promised. If they  have not, it should be very easy for people to see   um why tax abatement or an incentive was necessary  and if they fulfilled their promise. Um I think   we need to have a a more uh accessible way  to see uh these companies that are getting   tax abatements. So I would like to see that um  really for the community to be able to see these   uh incentives more easily. Uh then my next  question is about um Oh, I apologize. Nope,   I'm good. Council member Tuttle wanted to speak.  I'm good. Okay. um wanted to know I know that this   is one of the quote regional growth plan sectors  and it only gets 10% tax abatement um but in   accumulation it gets 90% tax abatement because  they're putting more capital and creating jobs   and then regional growth plan. My concern then is  about the property tax abatement. So, they're not   only getting a sales tax abatement of $349,000,  but in addition to are also getting a property tax   abatement. Can you uh again tell us why in this  situation they got the and instead of the or? So, the and is part of our economic development  guidelines, right? that that projects can qualify   for a whole host of tools in the toolbox, so  to speak, right? Whether it's tax increment   financing, whether that's a community improvement  district sales tax, or whether that's the use of,   um, revenue bonds, uh, which include both a  property tax abatement and sales tax exemption.   The the the tool allows for both. Our economic  development guidelines allow for both. So,   we're simply processing these applications as the  economic development guidelines have been written   and adopted today. May Mayor, I think this is  opening up a floodgate of individuals then coming   to city council asking for more tax abatements.  So, I'm very concerned about this because again,   since we've been on this council for a  year and a half, this this current council,   we have not had a medical facility asking for this  type of abatement. Um whereas it was discussed in   2021 and there were questions because there were  at least two council members that were concerned   about what this would this be a slippery slope and  so I'm concerned about voting for this especially   on the property tax abatement. Uh go ahead city  manager. Thank you mayor. Um you're going to have   an opportunity to dive deep much deeper into this  in September during the September workshop. That's   I think the you all asked to bring the guidelines  back for refinement recognizing there's a   uh I think an evolution in terms of our thoughts  on uh property tax abatement as well as sales   tax and and other uh incentives and so I'm I'm  going to get we'll introduce it in September. I'm   not sure you'll all want to reach you'll reach  consensus but these are the kinds of issues to   talk about and I think with the opening of the  biomed center the question is what should our   role be in the medical field and where do you draw  those distinctions and is it something that's more   geared towards research and development and other  uh services that would be support of supportive   of that biomed mission or is it the medical field  overall because it's one of our growing right now   our plan recognizes as a growing sector and  one that we want to encourage and that's why   the incentives are written the way they are.  But that was after a lot of discussion by the   council to refine what we were doing previously  to put a finer point on it. That's when we went   to this scoring system. It used to be almost an  all or nothing approach where it was if you got   a property tax abatement. I think it was 100%.  And now the council said we're not comfortable   with that. You're going to have to check some  boxes to determine exactly how if you're going   to get property tax, what that looks like and how  much. So more than happy to have that discussion   about refining that that even more and I know  others in the community want to be involved in   that discussion as well. And then looking at this  green sheet, just one quick question regarding the   green sheet. So this is a $6 million investment.  However, the actual property is only $2.5 million   of the $6 million. It's the equipment is 3.5  million. So 58% of the $6 million project cost   is a piece of equipment. Um I am having trouble  seeing this as something that we as a council   should be incentivizing. I know I know other  doctors that have made investments in their   facilities without coming to city council and  asking for a handout. So I have a major concern   regarding this. Um, but I'll leave my comments  for further uh discussion. Council member Johnson.   Thanks, Mayor. I appreciate you, Troy. Um, just  to give a little more insight on 2021, uh, the   council at the time and council prior was looking  to change the economic development guidelines   because we had only really been incentivizing  larger companies. So, you had to create 50 to   100 jobs. you had to make I think at least 25 or  $30 million in investment. It it was just really   high and smaller business was not getting any type  of help from the city of Witchah. So changes were   made to economic development guidelines at that  point to allow smaller businesses to use the same   economic development tools. We see one today.  We saw one then that you were referring to,   Mayor. Um and we've seen some other ones. And  again, the goal was to support small business and   not just our larger businesses in the community.  I think the September conversation is a good time   for this council to have those discussions and  find out ways we can continue to support small   business and not just larger businesses because  there's a lot of folks in Witchah who may want   to make some investments and expand and I think  they should have access to the same tools as we   allow our larger businesses. Um, so welcome that  discussion. just a little insight on where that   happened in 21. Thank you, Council Member Johnson.  Council member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor. Uh Troy,   thanks for the presentation. Um my comment is for  Bob. Uh you and I have spoke a little bit about   talking more about the gaps. Um if that's I don't  know if this is the appropriate time for that,   but I definitely want to make sure that that is  included in the workshop or the conversation in   September. based on the conversation we've had  already talked to Troy about introducing that into   the discussion and about whether uh a financial  gap needs to be present in order for the city to   bring some type of incentive to the table that's  not applied right now to IRBs. Council member   Glascott. Thank you, Mayor. I'm trying to review  the meeting or the meeting minutes from June 1st,   2021 um and have that pulled up as well. One  of the points of discussion looks like and that   vote did pass 7 to0 even after the conversation  but one of the points of discussion regarding   um the last project was they had stated 30% of  their patients from outside the community. That's   our current economic guideline. Correct. There  is not a requirement that a percentage of that   be served outside it. It leans into the fact that  it's not just uh serving the Witchaw population,   but it's serving a larger regional area. Did that  policy change from 2021 to now? I'd have to go   back and confirm that. Okay. If the policy didn't  change, the green sheet in 2021 was inaccurate   where it says the current economic development  guidelines require medical groups to derive at   least 30% of their participants from outside  of the Cedric County. I'd have to go back and   confirm that. Okay. I'd be interested if that is  a requirement of our current economic guidelines   now or if that's just an accuracy from back  then because looking at the green sheet as well   currently they're exceeding 30% of the patients.  The argument in 2021 had to do with increasing   that uh PSC who had come before um the council  previously estimates that 50% of its patients   would come from outside of Cedric County and so  they actually saw an increase. I don't see an   increase of patients from outside the community in  this proposed um uh application and so I would be   interested what our guidelines are now um to if it  is 30% how are we measuring the 30% as well or do   we just say 30% because that might have been in  the guidelines previously um because that would   be very interesting if it's that 30% of their  patients seek exactly 30% of their patients seek   it and then our guideline is 30% that would just  be a unique happen stance. So, yeah, I' I'd have   to go back and verify that. Okay. I would probably  need that information before I feel comfortable   voting to make sure it seeks our guidelines. So,  Council Member Tuttle. Just as a as a followup,   um other than this caveat, which I don't remember  that ever being a requirement that they had to   have 30% from outside of the city or the region,  but yeah, that's my old memory. But um based on   the application, has the applicant met all of  the criteria that we we require? Yes. And I've   said this from the bench before and I'm super  glad we're having an economic development tool   workshop in the future. But if they have met all  of the criteria for the application at this time,   I don't think it's fair for us to inject new rules  that we want to see happen in the future. Now,   um, we've done that a couple times and that's  really uncomfortable for me because the applicant   or anybody else who's applying is playing by the  rules and then we change the rules so people don't   know what the rules are. So I I just want to to  confirm the applicant at this point has completed   all the requirements that we have set forth to  be eligible for economic development tools. Is   that correct? Yes. Thank you. So can you answer  council member GlassCox's question? Yes. in in IRB   um section of the guidelines, it talks about  professional services which this falls under and   that 30% or more of revenues must be derived from  transactions originating outside Sedu County. So   that is in the existing guidelines. So they just  happen to have exactly 30% of their revenues from   outside of the community when that just is our  guideline. That's I don't know if they are measure   I don't know if this is a statement that they meet  the 30% and that they exceed a representative from   the company would have to speak to that. Okay.  But it is in your guidelines. I'd be interested   in hearing from a representative of the company.  I'm sorry. It's also under healthcare. There's a   separate section on healthcare as well. regional  medical centers and specialty hospitals considered   likely to attract at least 30% of patients  from outside the county. Thank you. So,   we did pull our data and um we pulled by zip code  obviously and it did come out to I mean it was   actually just above 30% of the patients that we've  treated in the past year have come from outside   um outside zip codes and all of that from  Witchah. So, that that data is accurate   um to that number. Do you expect that to increase?  Um, I mean, so with with um not being able to   treat patients timely, they're seeking care other  places. So if they're like closer to Colorado or,   you know, Oklahoma, they'll go there. So yes, we  can now treat those patients sooner instead of   them waiting and seeking care elsewhere here in  Witchah. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate. I see no   further questions for staff or the applicant.  We will now open it up for public comment. Hello uh Twilight Purity. I live in Polo Club.  I was the CEO for Witchaw Urology for 11 years   and I personally pulled the data um when we were  uh working on the surgery center. So let me give   you a little bit of background on Witchah urology  and it may make some of this data maybe a little   more believable or palatable. So Witchah Urology  is right now the only urology practice in Witchah.   They're very large. Now things have changed  perhaps since I retired nearly two years ago.   But think about it like this. You have  cancer. Your loved one has cancer. You   could go to a medical oncologist where they had  the responsibility of dealing with over a hundred   different types of cancers. But if you have a  specific GU cancer, let's say prostate cancer,   which is pretty prevalent, would you rather be  treated by a medical oncologist who has to know   a little bit about a wide range of cancers  or a specialist who knows a lot about your   special type of cancer as in prostate cancer? I  would super proud of the expertise and knowledge   of which urology and how they treat cancer. um  that group is their physicians are nationally   known. One of them travels the country speaking  on treatment of prostate cancer. So circling back   um you have a loved one who has cancer, you  want to see the specialist, the physicians,   your primary care is will send you to the  best provider for that. So I have no qualms   in believing that there's a large number of  patients coming from outside of Witchita.   That was our case when we built the surgery  center and I believe it's probably more. When   we built a surgery center a couple years ago,  there was another urology group in Witchah and   that has changed right now. It's this only one.  So I'm very much support this. They do good work and they have the reputation in the pra in the   community to support this work. Uh when  we were working on the surgery center,   um council member Tuttle came out to see us and  talked with us. I I just highly recommend that you   go ahead and support this for them. I stand for  questions. I'm going to steal somebody's pen. No,   I'll leave it. Thank you, Tyler.  We'll continue with public comment. Celeste Celeste Retat and I'll be speaking again when  we come up on economic development for the new   community improvement districts because I've seen  a lot of problems with economic development not   being fully staffed, not being compliant. So,  I'm going to start with this one. When I talk   about economic development, yes, Witchto Urology  Group is a great group. I also have had with my   family personal experience with their expertise.  But the question I'll put out to you is did we   pay for the cyber knife at St. Francis Hospital?  And if not, why not? So when we open this up and   say this medical piece of equipment, the new  linear accelerator must receive abatements,   sales tax exemptions and property tax abatements.  was to prevent a new cyber knife coming to St.   Francis or some other new piece of equipment  that's specialized because as we know in the   medical profession and I was married to a  surgeon you're going to get more and more   advanced technology. So is this opening up the  floodgate now for any new piece of technology or   equipment coming to us? And I really have problems  with back in 2021 plastic surgery getting a tax   abatement or getting any kind of special treatment  for their facility because plastic surgery the   majority of the time is elective surgery can be  elective surgery and that could open up again I'm   thinking of there's been other anesthetic types of  treatment that involve Botox that involve plastic   surgery. You really have to be careful when you  look at your guidelines. And here's one thing   I'm going to bring up that wasn't mentioned.  We talked briefly about how these are supposed   to be reviewed. And I've got the policy right  here. And yes, it's supposed to bring more than   30% under health services and professional. But  one thing I bet we're not doing, though I'd love   to be corrected. Tax abatements on real property  will be reviewed after initial term of five years.   Continued abatement is subject to review and  approval by the city council. And yet when I look   at some of the properties that have received tax  abatements, we already have Witchaw Urology Group,   we already have the plastic surgery group, and  we have several parking lots on North Emporia.   And I'm just so curious, where is the five-year  review of these properties that justified the   tax abatements? Especially when we're talking  about budget and we're talking about property   tax increases for the individual taxpayers  of Witchah. Seeing these special incentives,   I would like to know if the um five-year reviews  are done, get them posted on the city's website.   And I would also like to know what kind of  discounted value is used in the costbenefit   analysis for the 1:1 ratio. That's my questions.  My concern is we're opening up a baywick. It's   not clearly defined in the policy. The follow-up's  not there for me to see that we're staying on top   of these. So I have severe questions uh concerns  about this. Thank you. Thank you, Celeste. I will   ask city manager to address. Again, as I mentioned  earlier, I would like to see the five-year review   easily accessible for anyone in the community  to see what has been promised and when what has   been delivered within the 5-year time frame and  then obviously during the 10-year um end of that   agreement. Thank you, mayor. And we will put that  on our economic development page, the results of   those. I just want to point out to you that you  approved on the consent agenda today of second   five-year reports for four different projects.  Um we have had a little bit of a staff shortage   in the department. So we're a little behind on  those reviews, but we will continue to bring   those forward on all of those that have reached  the end of their 5-year period. Um and those that   do not meet the target will be on regular agenda,  not on consent, so the council can discuss that.   Thank you, city manager. Council member Glasco.  Thank you. Quick followup to that. Do we expect   any to come before us this year that did  not meet the obligations? I I believe it's   possible. Okay. And they should come at some  point in the renovation. Yes. Thank you. Thank   you. We will continue with public comment. I  see none. We'll bring it back to the bench. I know this resides in council member  Tuttles's district, but I would like   to add a couple comments before that. Um I  know that council member Tuttle will move   this item. Um as I mentioned earlier,  my concern is that we're not just doing   um a sales tax abatement, which sales taxes are  for uh the construction cost of a new build.   That sales tax exemption is 349,000. And  then this property tax abatement is 90%   of the property tax newly generated in that  area. And right now that would be estimated   in the first full year to be about $55,000.  The city's portion of that would be $17,800. So again, I don't mind um seeing I really  love seeing development and I appreciate   when people want to invest in our community and  I'm very grateful to the Witchaw Urology Group   for what you do for our community and really for  canons. However, I'm uncomfortable with property   tax abatement uh for a portion of this request,  especially when I see that 58% of that request is   for a piece of equipment. If this were housing or  a material number of jobs, I would feel much more   different about this. Um, I just feel like this  opens up the floodgates and it's a slippery slope   of more individuals coming to city council and  asking for tax abatements. I have seen a lot of   improvements in multiple areas of this community  without people asking us for tax incentives. And   so I am very worried that again this is a slippery  slope which is why I'm grateful that there's going   to be a discussion specifically on tax abatements  and there will be more transparency on holding   people accountable to their promises. Um so  with that I will not be voting in favor of this   um because I do believe that this will generate  more individuals asking for more tax abatements   and then it becomes a slippery slope. Council  member Glascon. Thank you. chair. Um I agree with   council member Tuttle um that as long as they met  the existing guidelines as required by the staff   that we should likely move forward with this, but  I do have challenges with the existing guidelines.   I believe that we should need stricter guidelines.  Mr. Manager, do you know when we're having the   Ecodo presentation? I know we've talked about  it. Is it that the one? Okay, fantastic. Well,   I look forward to having that. believe that we  should have stricter guidelines increasing the   number of out of state if they're already at 30%  how do we encourage more people from outside the   community to come I think that should be um topic  of consideration and then I think to one point   um and I this is not um an attack on anybody  that's in staff right now we have to know the   current guidelines the current guidelines were not  in this I had to look at a proposal from 2021 to   find out that one of our guidelines was was 30%  % and it's not included in here. So, I just want   to make sure that the reports that we're getting  again are comprehensive when we're examining what   our current guidelines are. Um, and so I will  be supportive of this um because they meet it,   but I believe that we should change um how we're  offering incentives in the future. Council member   Tuttle. Thank you. And thank you, Council Member  Glascock. I concur with everything you say. Um,   I agree. If we want to look at the the and I've  said this from the bench, like I said three or   four times because we've done this before to other  applicants and I find it completely unfair that if   we want to change our guidelines, we should change  our guidelines. But if people come to us with an   application and they meet all of the guidelines  that we require, it's incredibly unfair for us   to change the game rules in the middle of the  game. Um, no one will trust the city if we do   that and we continue to do that. So, I I just  want to thank Troy and your team. I know that   you work incredibly hard to find opportunities for  our community to grow. This is one of our seven   sectors that we focus on. As our city manager  mentioned, with the biomed center, I anticipate   even more of these coming to us. And so, I'm  going to go into the workshop not thinking that we   shouldn't have these. We need to refine it, right?  But we don't want to miss opportunities that could   come to us. Um, I do want to thank Twilight too  for helping to remind us and it was a a great   process to go with you through you back then and  and I learned a lot about this organization and   and how respected it is in the medical community.  Um, I do agree too that other entities haven't   come and asked us for these incentives, but  they could have and they didn't. So, because   this group did doesn't mean we should, you know,  not move forward because other groups didn't. That   was their choice. So I personally want to thank  the Witchah Urology Group. Thank you for being a   part of our community. Thank you for growing and  expanding. Thank you for providing conditional ser   additional services not only to our residents but  also probably the region and across the state for   um people who need who need health care and and  come to Witchaw because we are the largest city in   the state of Kansas. Um finally I just wanted to  mention that I have had no exparte communication   with the applicant. Um, so this is the first time  that I've had the opportunity to thank you. So,   thank you in person. With that, I will move that  the Witchaw City Council close the public hearing,   adopt the resolution, and authorize the  necessary signatures. Second. Motion and   a second. Any further discussion? Madame  Clerk, can you please open the role? Motion passes 6 to 1. It is 12:38  right now and I've been asked to   uh have a break. So I will ask if we can  have a 15minute break and return at 12:55.   It will give us a little bit more time. So  we will just break until 12:55. Thank you. number 10. Um, so my motion is to start with  first part of public comment now. I'll second   motion and a second. All those in favor?  Uh, madame clerk, can you open the role? Motion passes 4 to2. We will now have  public comment, first half of public   comment regarding water restrictions. If  you would like to address the council,   please state your name, your address,  and you have five minutes to speak. Good afternoon, Mayor Woo, and uh  members of Witchaw City or the Yeah,   the Witchaw City Council. Uh my name is Jim Bina.  I am the mayor of Bair, Kansas, and I live at 4437   Rushwood Court in Bair. But uh I thank you for  accommodating uh this. I do have a meeting coming   up this afternoon. I need to attend. So I wanted  to take some time to just go over the proposed   uh permanent water restrictions that uh we just  learned that these were being proposed to be   adopted today uh yesterday. So this is kind  of news to us. I mean, we knew there was some   talk about this, but the the talk sounded more  like it was a something Witchaw would do for   Witchaw residents, but now we're seeing you're  wanting to do it. The proposal is to do it for   the wholesale water customers. And so, um, this  is a is a concern because, uh, as you may know,   um, our contract with Witchaw and I think all the  contracts with Witchaw require us to have our own   water conservation plans and we've worked a lot  to do that and we have that water conservation   in place and and we've actually got done a lot of  work this last year to revising those plans uh,   in response to some of the recent debt drought  issues. um to change that again suddenly like   this is is a major deal uh for us and I'm and I'm  not sure that it's uh beneficial. Uh I think that   and I don't want you to misunderstand we're very  concerned about water and conservation of water.   Uh, Bel Air has we we I I I am the chair of the  Chis Creek Utility Authority, which uh provides   uh water to uh B Air and to Park City. Um and  and we also do wastewater treatment for those   two cities as well. And we we already send sewer  effluent to the Willow Creek Willow Bend uh golf   course. So we we're already doing some things on  on trying to conserve water and been doing that   for a number of years and I've also talked with uh  Gary Jansen just just uh idea not discussion not   total discussion about uh maybe doing some pilot  project on making sewer affluent potable water   uh which would be a uh that's a significant  step. it is done in some other states. There's   currently nobody in Kansas doing that. But it's  so so we know that there's an issue with water,   but we just think that uh we need to have a a  bigger discussion among the communities that   especially the the uh cities that have contracts  with Witchaw for water so that uh we put something   in place that really makes sense for those  communities as well as Witchaw. Uh I'm not opposed   to putting some permanent restrictions in. and  I'm just uh want to make sure we have a good clear   discussion about it. So my only uh request of you  is to table this item and let's bring those those   uh those different stakeholders into a discussion  and that would be uh Bair, Park City, um Andover   I I know there are other communities. I know a lot  I think Goddard also buys water from from Witchaw   but I I don't know all the numbers but I I know  that that that is known and uh have a uh just have   a a discussion a meeting a hour or two of of those  stakeholders and making sure that we put something   together that makes sense for the wholesale water  users and then and then we maybe make you make an   appropriate ordinance with regard to that. Uh, and  that's really the main thing I was just trying to   point out. I sent each of you an email yesterday  uh after I learned about this because it was kind   of a big surprise to us and so I appreciate you  taking the time and I'll stand for questions.   Thank you, Mayor Bage, Council Member Hoheisle.  Thank you, Mayor. This is more a question for Gary   and and the mayor. uh how I noticed in your email  that you had talked about um how you guys enforce   and you don't enforce on the weekends and that's  one of the problems you have with this. Um Gary   is that do we go based off of reporting there as  well? Do we rely on um them to have public works   or I don't know who would go out and actually  check on this? How how is that process done   with um some of the surrounding communities that  rely on our water? So, thank you for the question,   Council Member Mayor and Council Members Gary  Jansen. Sorry, I was a little late getting back   down here. Um, one of the things I failed to  mention in my most recent correspondence with   wholesale customers, which was anything but the  first time they've heard about all of this because   we've been in discussions of looking at long-term  watering restrictions literally for months since   late last year. Uh but to your point specifically  and I can come back to that. Uh one of the things   I failed to mention this is no different than when  we went into uh watering restrictions for one day   a week within the wholesale water agreements that  we have with our 11 wholesale water customers.   That's eight neighboring cities, three rural rural  water districts. They are required to follow same   conservation requirements that Witchaw puts in  place. Um, when we went to one day a week watering   restrictions, they were required to limit watering  to one day a week. They could do that however they   wanted. The enforcement is up to them. The penalty  penalty schedule is up to them. The information I   sent out to the wholesale customers just gave an  example of what we're planning to do, what the   proposal is today for three days a week. That's  up to wholesale customers. They can do whatever   three days a week that they want. We pending our  discussion and if the council so chooses to move   forward with long-term watering restrictions to  three days a week, all wholesale customers by way   of their wholesale water agreement with the city  will be required to limit watering to three days   a week. They can do that however they want,  whenever they want. Enforcement's up to them.   Okay. and and the restrictions that we're planning  to put in would become active in October probably   whenever we move from stage two to stage one  of the drought. Well, I guess it depends on how   far you want me to go into that because we're a  little bit backwards here. That's all part of the   presentation I'm going to make here at some point,  but I I I can go ahead and start with that. Our   recommendation today for the information that's  in the agenda item was for these new watering   restrictions to go into place when we get to back  to stage one. So when we get to 70% uh on the   12-month running average, which right now we're  predicting to be October. Okay. Thank you, Gary.   Just uh two follow-up questions. wanted to know  has there been a table discussion or a gathering   of wholesale customers uh including the rural  districts regarding these restrictions? There has   there I I won't say that there's been a specific  direct conversation focused only on this. Probably   within the last few months, we invited all  wholesale customers. Uh Beller city manager was   there to our new water treatment plant. I think  almost all wholesale customers were represented.   We talked about where we were at with our drought  response plan. It was very clear that we expected   to move forward uh with some type of alternate day  watering plan for long-term watering restrictions.   Uh so we had that discussion there, got a lot of  feedback. I went out and made presentations to the   Beller City Council, to the Andover City Council,  to the Valley Center city council, numerous other   groups talking about this plan moving forward. It  didn't have the kind of detail at that point that   you will see today. Uh, but we've been having  this conversation since last fall with all of   our wholesale customers. May I also ask one more  question? Um, you mentioned several neighboring   communities get witchaw water. Can you name  them off for those that may be watching? So,   I'm going to see if I can get all eight of them  right. It's Benton, Bentley, Park City, Belair,   Kchi, Valley Center, Derby, Rose Hill. That's  eight. rural water districts 1, three, and five. Thank you very much, Gary. Thank you, Mayor Bage.  Can one little quick followup if I could. Um,   and and I'm sorry, we we don't allow  for further comments. I just want to   respect our council members process.  We appreciate your comments and again,   appreciate you putting that under the public  record. Uh we will continue with public comment   from I think several individuals that still want  to talk. Very good. Thank you. Appreciate it. Good afternoon. Uh my name is Robert Foster. I'm  at 14220 East Gilbert Circle and I'm in District   2. Um Witchah's drought plan does not work and I'm  not sure if it has ever has worked. When the plan   uh was set, its only action was to change the  status from no stage to stage one. And if I   understand that correctly, that changed us from  unlimited watering to unlimited watering. But   please try to conserve. Uh when the water level  dropped in Cheni in late May of 2024, we dropped   to 69%. The plan did nothing. The 12-month rolling  average was too slow to keep up. In August, after   the action, after no action, the city council  intervened and changed us to stage two. when the   uh level continued to drop to 51%. The city  council was um planning again to prepare for   stage three. Now, fortunately, we received plenty  of rain and stage three never happened. We are now   at the conservation pool, but the 12-month rolling  average is too slow to keep up, and we're once   again waiting council intervention to fix it. The  plan does not fix it. The council does the D the   drought plan is not being protected by I'm sorry  the drought plan is not protected protecting our   water supply. The city council and their inter  and their interventions are protecting the water   supply. There is an inherent flaw with any plan  that endorses odd evening or uh days of the week   watering. If we move to three days a week, I can  install a putting green in my yard. I'll merely   set the timer to activate at 12:01 a.m. and then  again at 11:30 p.m. I can water six I can wake up   six mornings in a row and have a a watered yard  and I'm still completely compliant. This loophole   cannot be closed, but it can be controlled. To  control it, the loophole needs to be embraced   and accounted for. We then limit the frequency in  which that loophole can be exploited. Therefore,   I recommend we move to two days a week instead  of three. We all want the same thing. We want a   simple plan that is effective and flexible. I'll  give you an example of what I perceive as simple,   flexible, and effective. April to October  is considered our watering season. Um,   I propose that on April 1st, we look at the level  of cheni and the level of cheni determines our   watering level. For example, if we're above 100%,  three times a a week. If we're 70 to 100, two   times a week. If we're 50 to 70, one time a week.  On July 1st, we take a look at it again. That is   after our spring rains. We will know did we have  high rains or a drought and we re-evaluate. Do   we need to loosen the restrictions, tighten them  or leave them the same? We run through the rest   of the year at that same um watering level. If  you want to continue to water past October 31st,   that's fine. One day a week with a tiered  plan. I am now armed with incredibly important   information. I now know what what the watering  will be and what to expect in future. So when   I'm making decisions on receding my yard, planting  trees, anything, I will know to plant um climate   appropriate um landscaping. Also, every box store,  nursery, hardware store, everyone else will know   the watering plan. they will then be able to give  better advice for climate appropriate planting. With a flexible plan, the August 2024 intervention  would not have been um uh necessary because on   July 1st, the plan would have auto automatically  caught it. We're now here again to have the   council fix the plan. And if we were on a tiered  system this last July, it would have moved us up.   We would not have this conversation. Please  scrap the current drought plan and replace it   with a simple, effective, and flexible plan that  adapts to our changing conditions. Anyone have   any questions? Thank you, Robert. Council member  Tuttle, thank you so much. Thank you for being   here. Um, I appreciate your comments. I like you  would wish we would go to watering twice a week.   Um, I think it's more than enough. There are some  communities I know that think that, you know,   using treated water for irrigation just shouldn't  happen at all. And I'm really proud of our   community. Um, want to applaud um, public works,  our director, Gary Jansen, as we're thinking about   water reuse. We're trying to be forward thinking.  We're trying to think about conservation. Water   is the most precious resource that we have,  right? And and I've said this a million times.   I'll say it a million in one. um not only for  us as residents, but if we're thinking about   economic development, if we are trying to attract  business and industry to come here and they look   at infrastructure and utilities and they see  that we are in drought at any time and we're   not aggressively addressing it, they will assume  that we're going to raise our water rates and it   may prohibit from us attracting new business and  industry. So, thank you for your comments. I would   invite um public works director Gary Jansen to  come. You talked about the potential loophole. I'm   not sure I exactly understand what you're saying.  It's been a long meeting, so I'm sorry, but Gary,   could you maybe help me understand and maybe  anyone else who maybe didn't catch it all? Well,   I'll start by saying I don't understand how  3 days becomes six days because 3 days is   three days just like two days is two days. We  went to one day a week watering restrictions.   Uh, if the council chooses to move forward  today with our recommendation of three days,   that is literally three 24-hour days. I'm not sure  there's a loophole of getting out of that, but I'd   be happy to talk more about that to make sure  we're not missing something. I don't think that   we are. We've looked at what uh other communities  do. I was just actually in a conversation with   somebody from Aurora, Colorado last week who's  been on three-day watering for quite some time and   it works well for them and they've seen a definite  uh savings of water uh for the future. Uh I would   go back to the start and say that uh number one I  agree wholeheartedly that the city council mayor   and city council have done a wonderful job working  with us and collaborating through what has been a   truly adaptive challenge. This is the first time  we've uh activated a drought response plan since   2013. Coming off the heels of that we suffered  truly through a historic drought the last four   years. Uh the impacts that we've never seen  before. Last November, Cheni Reservoir was at   all-time low since it was built in the early  1960s. This drought response plan 1,00% did   exactly what it needed to do and it worked and it  could not have worked any better. Had it not been   for our drought response plan and the timing  of our drought response plan, you'll recall I   talked before about our drought response plan was  designed to carry us through an 8-year drought,   a 1% dust bowl type drought. It's not easy. It was  starting to get hard as we were going through the   one day a week watering. The comment was made. We  were getting very close to going into stage three.   Nothing would have helped at that point to have  to have looked at flexibility and to start coming   out of that. It would have just gotten worse a lot  quicker. We were very fortunate uh that we've got   record rains in June. And I might repeat that  again. We got record rains in June. That's not   stability. That's not something that we can count  on. had we not had that, we did. Uh that's just   not something we can count on long term and into  the future. This is why we're here today to talk   about long-term outdoor watering restrictions.  Um and I'll talk a little bit more later about   how we came about with three days, why we think  that's the optimal approach. I've had other people   reach out to and talk about two days. We think  that's going to create some real challenges that   one additional day uh to be able to properly  maintain landscaping and lawn. So, thank you,   Gary, and thank you, Robert. And I can expand on  the if you'd like. You can talk to Gary. Okay.   Thank you. Thank you very much. We'll continue  with public comment regarding water restrictions. Sorry. Uh, Vice Mayor Johnston. Yeah, I I can help  explain it. What he's saying is if you watered   Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you could water at  12:01 a.m. That would count for Monday. Then you   could water again at 11:30 p.m. for Tuesday. So  then do the same thing on Wednesday, 12:01, 11:30   p.m. Then Friday, 12. So you could water six. He  what he's saying is you could water actually water   six times in only three days a week. Yeah, I don't  think that's still true. With all due respect,   Vice Mayor, that's still three 24-hour periods.  Even if they happen to span over the course of two   days, that's not six days. That's not what he's  saying, though. He's saying he can water six times   essentially taking care of every day, watering  before every day. That's what he's saying,   right? And so, if that's the case, then  we'll make sure that the ordinance is   very clear because that's not the intent.  We're not interested in in in there being a   loophole to that. I understand. And I don't think  people are going to do that. Okay. Thank you. You may come forward. Afternoon everybody. Uh  Damen Vosberg. My address is 500 Southeast 12.   Say your name. Oh, I'm Damian Vossberg. Um I've  been a landscape owner operator for 13 years.   I've worked in Witchaw for about 25 years in the  landscape industry. Um just a couple things. Uh   this we went into phase two I believe back in  2016 2017. Uh the difference between then and   now is new lawns were tax or uh water exempt  back then. So you could still put in a new lawn   uh water it accordingly and then go down to your  uh regulated watering. Um, just a few things that   maybe you guys don't know. Uh, warm season grass  grasses that we have, Bermuda, Zoya, Buffalo,   those are our three main ones that grow well  here in Witchto. Uh, we're just far enough south   where those grasses do do well. Uh, but if any of  you, and I'm sure a lot of you guys are in here,   ladies, too, uh, golf, you saw last uh, 2024,  um, we had a bad winter kill. A lot of the golf   courses just got destroyed. uh cost uh somebody  buys a home uh they're young, whoever it is,   not and not everybody's rich. Uh cost warm season  grasses versus fescue, roughly three times the   cost. Uh if you buy a home and uh you want to put  a yard in uh short of doing like Arizona where   you just put pearl in, uh it's going to be very  expensive and a lot of people can't afford it. So,   uh, next thing would be, uh, Better Homes and  Gardens, April 2025, uh, had a deal from, uh,   uh, Texas University out of Arlington did  a study that said, uh, curb appeal, uh,   Witchah, just in general. You're talking about  the businesses, the earlier with the the proposed,   uh, recreational center. I noticed that there was  a lot of green on that. I assume that that has   to be some sort of turf. Um, you're not going to  do that. It's going to look horrible. Uh, if you   try to water three times a week, uh, with any new  lawn, it will perish, whether it's warm season or   fescue. Um, 7% loss from curb appeal according to  Better Homes and Garden. Um, he was talking about   a four-year drought. It was a horrible drought.  um and versus record rain. Uh we've been on water   water restrictions since uh well last year almost  13 13 days from today and uh immediately within   the first three days I lost over 30 jobs and I  had to return deposits. Um I'm here today because   I am completely out of work. My phone has not  called uh rang. Um it's the decision to do this   is going to be very big. Uh it's going to put a  lot of people out of business. Um I employ three   people. I'm not a super big company, but uh feel  like we do a pretty good job and I've taken a lot   of pride in the work that we've done in Witchah  uh to improve it. So uh with that being said,   I'll leave you with that. Thank you very much  for your time. Thank you, Damian, and thank you   for being a small business owner. Can you provide  your address so we know which district you reside? Which district do you reside in? Oh, um, county.  I'm on the county line. County line. Thank you   very much, Damian. Uh, there are several council  members who want to speak. Council member Tuttle, Vice Mayor Johnston, also from before. Okay.   Nobody wants to speak. Uh we will  continue with public comment. Afternoon everybody. Uh my name is Jeremy Coer.  I'm the general manager of the Sod Shop. We're   located at 3601 North Hillside. Um just to go  upon what pretty much everybody else has said,   obviously water restrictions affect our business  uh quite a bit. Um, what we would like to do and   is kind of work hand in hand to try to change the  narrative. Um, let's get it to the water. Let's   not I'm going to get up here and talk to you about  the grasses and the benefits of fescue versus warm   seasons or anything like that, but uh water is the  deal. I like to drink water just like everybody   else. Um, perhaps we could uh promote the uh  watering how many how much people water their   lawns the same way that uh like my my father when  I was a kid if we left one light on in the house,   you know, he would get really angry at us, maybe a  smack on the head, you know, and if you left that   light on all day, you're talking about 30 cents,  you know, or something like that, something cheap.   I would like to get that uh concept into people  about watering as well, you know. Um, I I uh have   my own uh well for my lawn. My lawn looks great.  It's bad advertising if I don't have a nice lawn,   but it still drives me crazy. Every morning  when I back out of my house and see people   that do have even have a a well and they're  watering and it's actively raining outside. So   my thing is just maybe we promote incentives  you know for possibly getting rain gauges,   people that are going to put in uh um sprinkler  systems um and just make it uh you know during the   bad times we are doing uh fines for people that  are watering um more than one day a week. Maybe   we do that when times are good. You know if you  see people that are watering when it's raining or   something like that uh just to promote the water.  Let's talk about the water part and not so much   about the the the grass. That's all going to take  care of itself. But um yeah, get mad at people   for watering when they shouldn't shouldn't be  watering. You know, don't just set your clock at   the beginning of the season to water three, four,  four times a day, every day from, like I said,   beginning of April to October. You don't need  to do that. I have ran my system uh probably   a total of 15 times this whole season because of  how much rain we've had. So, anyways, that's it.   I appreciate your time and would love to talk to  you guys about like I said promoting watering and   correct watering as opposed to uh having no grass  at all. So, thank you Jeremy. I do have one quick   question before I uh have more council members  speak. Can you address do you water between   uh the high evaporation times because the proposal  is no watering between 10:00 a.m. and 6 pm. Do you   water with your well water during those times? It  depends on what the temperatures are. I mean, yes,   sometimes yes. Um, you know, it's something  if I'll notice I stressing out or whatever,   I'll do it, you know, during the day if I know  it's not going to be real windy, but I mean,   if it's 95 or 100 degrees, it's not really a  good idea. No. Um, but like I said, the amount   of rain we've had this year, even with the one day  water restrictions, um, you could look at our the   front of our business, the the the grass front  is stressed and like the edges around the the   uh curbs are, you know, getting some weeds and  stuff like that because the grass is just weaker,   you know, but uh, you know, if we if we go to  three days, um, obviously it'll be a lot better,   you know. Um, so but like I said, let's promote  uh correct watering and and start with that before   we go too drastic one day a week to where it's  really impossible. And also, like I said, people   uh wanting to put in a new lawn, possibly giving  us symptoms for uh rain sensors, you know, smart   clocks and stuff like that to stop the it's April,  I'm going to turn my sprinkler system on. It's   going to run three, four times a day, every day,  you know, no matter what. So that's it. Thank you,   Jeremy. I had several council members who want to  speak. Council member Glasco. Thank you, Jeremy.   I don't have a question for you. Have a question  for Gary real fast. Um and this has to do with the   last two speakers question regarding new lawns.  Um what is our general consensus of people will   have to plant new lawns at some point? So these  are permanent restrictions and it's three days a   week. How are we accommodating that long term? or  is our argument that lawns can survive three days   a week underdue planting? How do we accommodate  that if these are permanent in the future? Good   question. Thank you. And if we get to the point  of of being able to make this whole presentation,   you'll see. But I'll tell you again here right  now, we do have a variance process in place uh   that I'll hit on again here in a little bit. But  we we you know, we want to try to get back to some   semblance of normal, right? Uh you've heard me  talk before about uh some years as much as 20%   of our water consumption is outdoor discretionary  water use. That's where we can do the most for   long-term conservation. Uh three days a week uh  we still think is optimal. But to that point,   we are going to allow variances for new  yards for establishment of seated yards,   sold yards. We're going to be as flexible as we  can. Oklahoma City's had a a similar process in   place since 2013. We talked to them. They think  they've got a really successful variance program   and and we're going to be open and willing to  talk. I've already talked to one uh citizen   about this in fact in advance of this who was in a  really tough situation and and we're going to try   to work with them. So we we great points uh we we  are going to provide variances for that. I think   we can make that work and it's understandable and  we know the impact that that has. I've heard that   from the realtors association. Uh we want to make  sure everybody's working with us. uh but we will   provide variances and I might provide one more  quick comment if you don't mind to one of the   uh the last comments. I could not agree more about  education fe educating folks on proper watering.   We have been doing this very robustly since  January of 2023. Save witchawwater.com has got   tons of information about proper watering. We've  had KState extension. They were at the July 22nd   workshop talking about proper watering. We have  said all along this was not about finding people.   It was not about being punitive. It was about  being educational and collaborative. Best case   is for everybody to get on board. We don't have  the resources to go out and enforce this. Nobody   wants to rat out their neighbor. We want people to  get on board and recognize the value for long-term   water resilience for our region. Uh but we've  talked to businesses about promoting education   with us. We think that makes sense. One quick last  comment. Those businesses whose economic activity   revolves around water use, sod shops, these  exemptions do not apply. They still can water   if it's part of their business and they don't have  to uh go to the three days a week. Thank you. To   those that may be attending for the first time or  those listening online for the first time, we're   going out of order today. So, normally we would  have a presentation to maybe answer a lot of these   questions and so apologize if Gary's presentation  is going to be having this information in a little   bit. Um, but this is just backwards to a normal  process. Council member Tuttle, thank you so much.   Um, and I want to thank the speaker certainly for  coming today. And one of the things Gary and I   um are have been on a road show for the last  several months. Um, we've probably made two   dozen presentations talking about drought and  and talking about water reuse. And thank you to   Council Member Holheisle for sitting on the water  reuse task force with me. I really appreciate it.   And one of the things that I think I said every  day since we went into stage two of drought is we   don't want to go into stage three because we will  literally put small businesses out of business.   Right. So, thank you for coming here today and to  share your concerns. Gary, I hate to make you keep   jumping up and down, but I'd just like to ask one  more question. I appreciate your comments. Could   you maybe and you said it, I think a little bit  before, but just maybe reiterate um us working   with the builders, with the realtors, with WABA  to try and maybe rethink, not mandate, but rethink   how we um do grass, for example, to not promote  Bermuda, to think about fescue or to the other way   around. We want to not think always about fescue,  but think about Bermuda or Buffalo grass. And then   also, how have we engaged and partnered and gotten  feedback from the landscaping companies even   before we went into stage two of drought? If you  could just let the community know and our guests   here today know, we're trying to be good partners  in trying to get community engagement. Thank you.   Thank you. So on the first part, we have engaged  the witch builders association and the development   community uh really looking for their input on on  how we can go forward. Uh we're not unlike many   communities. A lot of new housing developments.  Fescue sad's being put in place and we're going on   down the road. Fescue obviously takes more water  even if you get past the establishment period, but   people want fescue yards. You know, we've heard  the talk about uh property value sellability.   We've heard that. I heard that from the realtor's  association also. I've challenged the the builders   association and development community to see  what they think could be done in the future.   uh to to take off in a different direction. One  of the challenges we faced when we went into   watering restrictions was HOA covenants. And  you've heard me talk about this before. Now,   HOA covenants do not take president over local  ordinance. So, the question was initially,   I'm going to get fined because my yard's not green  enough. What am I supposed to do? We advised them   that they needed to follow local ordinance. But we  did what we did more than anything was spend time   considerable time uh with as many HOAs as we could  we could connect with. So HOA management company   here in Witchah they have oversight of two or 300  HOAs across the community. So it was really good   to talk to them focused with them. They realized  uh the situation we were in, what we were dealing   with, and they started looking for ways to change  how they were enforcing. Uh they were encouraging   conservation within their neighborhoods. I don't  know that I saw any of them actually make a change   to say you can do something other than fescue  grass, but they started talking about different   watering techniques. We saw uh numerous homeowners  associations in their commons areas that they did   trade out fescue for zeroscape type landscaping,  something that was more water tolerant and some   have talked about going to a different grass  type. So, we're going to keep that communication   going. We're going to keep talking to them. The  landscape companies, the nurseries play right   into that. As we were contemplating going into  stage two, uh I heard from numerous companies,   most of them that said, "Don't do it. It's  going to have a big impact on us." We did   not take that lightly, knowing where we needed to  be to pro protect our long-term water supply. Uh   we did things and I we didn't see as many people  take advantage of it as we wish they would have,   but we were offering free water at the water  center at Herman Hill Park to anybody who can   take water. Landscape contractors, they could  take as much water as they want at no cost.   uh to be able to put landscaping in. Um we  encouraged landscape companies, nurseries,   those to look at uh a better way to landscape.  Uh one of the local companies as we went into   stage one put out a flyer which I think made a  lot of sense. Not trying to dictate how folks   should do business, but it said we can get you  through the drought. We'll work with you on more   drought tolerant plants. That seems to make a lot  of sense to me. We would hope that others would   do that too. So as we move forward, we'll continue  those conversations, continue talking. That's real   and and that's been our concern. When the drought  response plan was developed in 2013, the goal was   have as little impact on businesses as possible  and that's why there's the exemptions that they   are. The challenge that you face is just because  a landscape company can still grow solder trees,   what do you do when the property owner can't use  their irrigation system? Going forward with the   plan that we're talking about today, there are  going to be we will have the ability to overcome   that. I hope that answered your question.  Thank you, Gary. Council member Glasco,   Council Member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor. I just  have a couple comments. Um Gary, thank you for all   your comments and thank you to the speakers. Um  I just want to say thank you for the common sense   approach. I just can't believe how many people  still don't know that we've been in a drought   and are irresponsibly watering. Um so I just  appreciate some of your uh suggestions. Um it's   definitely I feel personally feel like a culture  shift and you don't have to water every day. This   is just how we've always done it and so people  are really in this routine. Um, and there is a   better way and more responsible way for people to  water. So, appreciate you guys hanging in there   um through this long meeting, but uh water is  really important to me and conservation and we   need to continue to shift the message that this  is we're in this for the long game and not just   um because people want a beautiful on tomorrow. We  need to be thinking about for years to come. So,   appreciate all of your comments. Thank you. Do  I see any other individuals who would like to   address the council during the first half of this  public comment time? I see none. I want to just   halt public comment until we actually listen to  item number 10. We're actually going to be in item   number three next. So, I appreciate uh the council  for voting in favor of allowing public comment to   come ahead of time. Uh a lot of the questions that  Gary will uh address yet again will be when it's   presented as item number 10. But again, we're at  item number three still. So, thank you again for   uh the four individuals who came forward to  just give some uh comments ahead of time at   this moment. Oh, do we have one more? Council  member Ballard. Okay, it just didn't clear. Um   we will now ask the city clerk, can you please  call the next item? Public hearing and request   by the Douglas Apartments LLC for approval of  a letter of intent to issue industrial revenue   bonds. Honorable mayor, members of council,  Troy Anderson, assistant city manager. Um,   this is a request that we received from a group,  Douglas Apartments LLC. Uh, there's specifically a   Kansas limited liability company that was formed  for the purposes of developing and constructing   uh this project, which includes two three-story  buildings. uh with 18 units in each building for   a total of about 36 units. Douglas Apartments is  requesting the issuance of about $3.2 million in   revenue bonds to finance the project. Uh currently  the property at 1301 West Douglas is vacant,   undeveloped. And so this project will be built  with workforce housing in mind, offering rents   that are below market rate. According to the  economic development guidelines, the project   qualifies for a 40% property tax abatement based  on their new capital investment between a million   and $5 million. The estimated 40% property tax  abatement uh for the first full year is about   $34,000. The project is also eligible for a  sales tax exemption. The approximate sales   tax exemptions valued at about $17,000 with the  city share being uh just a little over $9,000.   A costbenefit analysis was performed um and  those ratios have been provided to you not   only in the green sheet but on the screen in  front of you here today. I won't read through   those standard disclaimer revenue bonds are a  mechanism for achieving a sales tax exemption   andor a property tax abatement in a revenue bond  transaction. The city's not lending any money   bears no risk. The owner developer is required to  achieve its own financing and again no taxpayer   dollars are at risk. Douglas Apartments agrees to  pay all the costs of issuing the bonds and agrees   to pay the annual origination fee. The bonds  will be purchased by Douglas Apartments or a   related entity. Bond documents will be prepared  by outside bond bond council, but ultimately law   department will re review and approve the final  form. With that being said, it's recommended the   city council hold a public hearing, close  the public hearing, adopt the resolution,   and authorize the necessary signatures. We do have  a representative from the applicant here to answer   any questions you might have. Otherwise, I'll  stand for questions. Thank you, Troy. Questions   for staff. I just have a couple uh just to give it  a contrast to the previous item that got 90% tax   abatement. This one is getting 40% tax abatement.  Um the green sheet talks about um the first full   year of tax abatement would be 34,000. Is that  based off of already improved because this will   now have buildings? Um, is that the amount of  post improvements or is this pre-improvements?   So that's post improvements. So the cost benefit  analysis analyzes the capital investment that is   made and then makes those projections based on the  uh investment that's already made. as previously   um brought up, you know, the payment in live  taxes, the base value that exists today will   be continued to be paid. It's only on the capital  investment um and the future value of those tax   obligation that's being abated. And is this a  10-year abatement? Yes. Yes. It didn't say that   on the green sheet. That's why I'm asking. I  apologize. It it is a 10-year abatement. Um,   in this one there is no uh job creation, right?  And so it becomes a little bit nuanced. Again,   we're going to try to hope hope hopefully clarify  this in the next round of guidelines, right? But   um because this is entirely based on the capital  investment, we'll know that the capital investment   is made at the time that the bonds are issued.  So in essence, this one doesn't necessarily need   a five-year review um because there's no job  creation. We'll know whether or not the capital   investment was made at the time that we actually  issue the bonds, but again, we'll we're going to   kind of hope to clarify some of that stuff when  the new guidelines come out. But this one is not   projected to sort of have a five-year review. I  would like to see that. Okay. I think it would be   important for community to know that this is  a 10-year abatement. While it doesn't have a   job creation component, they may hire somebody.  Um, and so I'm just I would like to make sure   that when we're giving these 10-year abatements,  there's always an opportunity to come back and   look uh a look back uh or look forward, I guess.  Um, and so I would like to see that, especially   in our presentation in September, that that be  added. Um, I would like to see that these agree   a agreements have a performance measurement. And  again, I think Twila mentioned what gets measured   gets um, you know, recorded. And so I really would  like to see more measurements and more plainly   uh visible measurements that are on our website.  So again, any 10-year abatements should have a   five-year look back and show community there was  an investment made. And I think that that again   provides transparency and and people want to see  more housing. I think that's what I heard from   this entire council last week. We want to see more  housing and I'm looking forward to more housing.   Um but I think it would be helpful. Council  member Hohheisel. Thank you, Mayor. Um now   here they talks about um below market rents. Um  is that part of the requirement here? No. Again,   this is just the developers um intent that by  utilizing this incentive uh they can make the   units more affordable. they're going to pass  that cost savings on to uh their tenants in the   form of rent reductions to be more competitive  into the workforce housing market. Um but no,   there's not a requirement that they do it. Okay.  Thank you. Just wanted to clarify that. Yep.   Council member Tuttle. Thank you. And I was just  going to emphasize workforce housing. First time   I ever heard it was the other project from the  applicant. So greatly appreciate that. Regarding   the five-year um adding in the five-year when  we don't have to. I'm fine with having that   discussion. Um I think that's another thing  that we can add to when we have our workshop   on our economic incentives in in um September. Um  I think it would be a little trickier when there   isn't job. Um but I just wanted to emphasize that  that's something that won't be tied to this vote   today. That's something that's aspirational that  we'll be talking about when we have our workshop   in September. Thank you. I would like to add one  more thing to council member Tuttle's discussion   for the September workshop and that is clawbacks.  I want to know that if um a company receives any   type of IRB, will there be a um a a more uh I I  would like to see the development happen as soon   as they've gotten the green light. I know that  there are some projects that have been stalled and   there's nothing for us to say, hey, hey, you need  to continue with the project. You got approved by   the council. Are there opportunities to put that  in the workshop? Um maybe some clawbacks or some   performance measurements uh to really encourage  them to move ahead with their development versus   stall for another two years or three years.  I know that in district number two in council   member Tuttles's district there's a project that  did not get any city incentives but it's been   stalled and a lot of residents have been upset  and so if you're getting city incentives there   could be something where we could say you need  to move along with the development. Yeah, we can   absolutely uh introduce some of these concepts,  right? Um clawbacks traditionally as that has   been used in the context of economic development  is to sort of claw back some sort of dollar or   benefit that went to a project, right? if it's not  satisfied. Again, if we're going to shift all of   the risk on to the owner developer for performance  and it's pay as you go and the city's not putting   any taxpayer dollars into the project, uh there's  probably not much to claw back, so to speak. But   yes, you're right. Reduce the amount of property  tax. So for instance, if you get 40% not in this   project, but if you were to get 40% approved by  this council, but if you don't start developing   within the one-year time frame and you've now  waited three years, instead of 40% abatement,   you get a 30% abatement. So that would encourage  that developer to move a little bit faster. So   those are the types of clawbacks that I would  like to see because again, we had this long   discussion last week about stalled development.  Um and we've seen those around our community and   people expect that if you're getting some city  incentives that you're going to move along. Yeah,   absolutely. We can introduce some expirations of  the offering and those kind of things. Absolutely.   Thank you. I see no further questions. So, I will  just ask the applicant to come forward and just   um share the importance of this workforce  housing. And I know that council member   Hohheisle asked about the below market rates.  Could you address some of those rates? Yeah,   sure. So, we uh this is the third of a similar  project that we've uh undertaken. The first one   was uh in district one by uh Central Standard  Brewing on hydraulic. The second one was on   Hillside just south of Douglas. Uh this  one's on Douglas just next to uh Los Pinos,   my favorite Mexican restaurant in town. And uh so  what we've done is we've found ways that we can   uh consolidate all the value in our construction  costs to uh the units themselves. So the units   are going to be uh receiving 100% of the value  or most of the value of the construction costs,   meaning they're going to be luxurious units.  Um but we save costs on things like uh exterior   siding. We don't do uh any sort of amenity.  I mean, everybody's got a gym membership. Uh   we're locating these in areas that are walkable.  There's a lot of great restaurants and and bars   and things to do, retailers nearby. So, uh you  know, if we add amenities, that just gets passed   on to the tenant. Um and so by removing that,  we're able to save costs. And then tax abatement   is another thing that we're able to take the the  cost savings of that and pass it on to the tenant.   We've imposed a kind of a a goal and we're  holding ourselves to this goal of the blended   average rent rate being below $1,000 a month.  Um, and that is about $200 to $400 below market. Thank you very much again for your focus on  workforce housing. Um, out of full disclosure, I   got to uh visit one of those locations, your very  first project, District 1, just south of Central   Standard Brewery. And, um, I think that the de  development is moving along really well. And the,   uh, location is great, as you mentioned, it  is walkable. There are amenities already in   that neighborhood, and so, you won't have to add  those costs into your project, but you're just   taking advantage of the things that are in those  neighborhoods. And so I'm very appreciative that   there are local developers really thinking about  workforce housing and the opportunity to be in   neighborhoods like district 1 and district 4 in  this situation. And so I am encouraged to see that   uh you guys are continuing to do more workforce  housing. That is exactly what we need. Oh,   thank you. I see no further questions for staff  or the applicant. We will now open it up for   public comment. I see no one from the public  coming forward. I will now close public com   comment and bring it back to the bench. This  resides in council member Dalton Glascock's   district. Thank you, mayor. Seeing nobody on the  board. Thank you for investing in Witchaw. I'm   excited for this project. Laspinas is also my  favorite restaurant. Um and so as a neighbor,   I'm excited to welcome you to the neighborhood.  And with that, I move that we close the public   hearing and adopt the resolution and authorize  the necessary signatures. 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. public hearing and request to approve a  development agreement, create a community   improvement district, approve a letter of  intent to issue industrial revenue bonds,   and adopt a redevelopment project plan for a  full scope hotel located at 229 East William. Honorable may, members of council,  Troy Anderson, assistant city manager,   um stand before you today with another request.  Uh, this one's fairly complicated involved,   but I'll I'll try to break this down as easily  as I can. Um, there are a couple of different   public hearings, but obviously we're just going  to have one, right, public hearing, but it does   satisfy the requirements for the multiple public  hearings that are going to be uh required as part   of each one of these. But uh this in part is uh an  approval of a development agreement, but it lays   out all of these other things such as establishing  a CD district. Uh there's an ordinance associated   with that in your packets. Uh there's a letter  of intent to issue industrial revenue bonds.   There's a resolution included in your packets. And  then there's also an adoption of a redevelopment   project plan. There's an ordinance in your packet  for that. but they all kind of roll up under this   umbrella of this development agreement all  for a fullervice hotel. More specifically,   um there are two LLC's, Mlullen Hotel 1923 LLC and  Petroleum Building 1923 LLC. You'll kind of hear   me refer to them as Mlullen and Petroleum, but for  all intents and purposes, they are one in the same   organizational structure. Uh they are the owners  of several lots located at the southwest corner of   East William Street and South Broadway Avenue. Um  these buildings are currently vacant, abandoned,   um underutilized for years. And so this is a  really exciting um adaptive reuse of a couple of   these vacant abandoned buildings. Both Mlullen and  Petroleum wish to renovate the existing buildings   into a full-ervice hotel to include 110 rooms,  4,000 square feet of commercial retail space,   and associated parking improvements. You'll hear  me refer to that as the project. So, with that   being said, the owner developer uh will pay all  construction costs associated with the project.   It's the increment from the community improvement  district sales tax and from the tax increment   financing revenues that will be then used  to reimburse the owner developer for certain   eligible expenses. This is all based on a pay  as you go basis. The owner developer assumes   all risk. There's no risk to the taxpayer. There  are no taxpayer dollars going into this project.   Really high level. The project costs are estimated  at just under $44 million. And so in order to   differentiate between the incentives and the  eligible expenses, um we've established some   what we call cost caps. So the maximum eligible  amount for reimbursement to the developer by   the CI sales tax is 2.5 million. That's based on a  projected 2% sales tax revenue for up to 22 years.   The redevelopment project costs eligible for  tax increment financing reimbursement. Uh and   the TIFF proceeds total about $4.7 million.  And then the IRB is being used as a sales   tax exemption only. Obviously, we can't uh  layer sort of property tax abatement with   TIF because can't abate property taxes  that you then need to rebate back for   uh the purposes of the uh covering the  eligible expenses. So the approximate   value of the sales tax exemptions about 1.5  million, the city share being about $115,000. So the financial considerations before you  today, uh the owner developers requested the   use of CAD and TF on a pay as you go basis. City  will not issue any debt for this project. All   pro all proceeds will be held by the city and  dispersed pursuant to a development agreement   until the maximum amounts identified in the  development agreement have been reimbursed.   This is that cost cap I was referring to.  Owner developer agrees to pay all costs   of issuing any bonds. Agrees to pay the  city's $2,500 annual origination fee. And   then the bonds will be purchased by Mlullen  Petroleum or related entity. Law departments   reviewed and approved the development agreement  ordinances and resolutions all as to form. Again,   bond documents will be prepared by outside  council, but law department will review and   approve final form. With that being said, it's  recommended city council hold public hearing,   close the public hearings, approve the development  agreement, place the ordinances on first reading,   adopt the resolution, and authorize  the necessary signatures. We do have   representatives from the applicant available  here today to answer any questions. Otherwise,   I'll stand for questions. Thank you, Troy. We'll  begin with council member Hoheisel. Thank you,   Mayor. Um, this is a pre-existing tiff district.  That's correct. When does this district close?   Uh the tiff district I believe closes in two or  three years. So okay. So if the project I assume   would be done by then the construction costs would  be paid off through that tiff by then. So does   that tiff keep going if all the the cost recouped  are not paid off? So in Kansas, the tiff district   has sort of that 20-year shot clock in which  you can create a project plan, right? So this   is creating that project plan. The project plan  for the project plan area survives for 20 years   because that's the proforma for that project plan  and that project plan area. But once the district   term expires, you can no longer create any new  project plans within the district. So it's really   more of you're establishing a district and that  20-year shot clock for the purposes of when you   can approve project plans, but just making sure  we're saying the same thing. Okay, I appreciate   that. Also, uh, Council Member Glascock and  I had discussions, uh, when we did chat with   the applicants about making sure that the CIS,  um, the signs are posted in a visible area and   that we do collect on those. So, I just wanted  to make that a public note that we have been,   um, talking about that and doing our due diligence  on the CIS. Yes. Thank you, Troy. Y and again a   followup to that, the C signs would show the 2%  sales tax additional that would be charged in that   area. That's correct. Um a follow-up question.  Sorry, council member Ballard. One follow-up   question. Uh so the shot clock for the district  still has two to three years, but this project   once it commences, it still has its 20 years. Is  that correct? That's correct. Y that was a point   of clarification. And then the other one was um  the develop redevelopment project costs eligible   for TIFF reimbursements total 4.7 million. Can you  address what are the TIFF eligible expenses? Man,   I do not have those in front of me. Primarily,  it's the acquisition costs. Uh I think there's   some other ancillary sort of infrastructure  related improvements, but primarily tax increment   financing. tax income and financing under state  law is much more restricted in the eligible   expenses that you can use primarily horizontal  improvements uh demolition renovation those kind   of things. Uh so primarily and we can let the  applicant speak to it but primarily it's for the   acquisition costs. I would like to hear from the  applicant regarding those tiff eligible expenses. I'm Randy Fenberg. with crane development.  So the tiff eligible expenses are as Troy   mentioned mostly the acquisition of the  properties as well as garage improvements,   horizontal utility work and  uh parking lot improvements. Should be noted too that we uh that portions of  design um engineering architecture can be also   tiff eligible. Um we've excluded those. May I ask  Troy the question, why are parking lots getting   property tax abatement? Is that because state law?  Can you address that? So under statute, it talks   about horizontal improvements. There are generally  cap captioned around public. When they say public,   it's the users, the guests, the patrons, client  of the usage. So when he says parking lots,   it's actually the existing parking lot and the  renovations because there will be no parking   lots as part of the final product, right? It's  the there is on the back side of the petroleum   building, there is parking within the petroleum  building. And so it's those public amenities   to the users of the project. It's those eligible  expenses under state law. So that's there there's   no public there's no parking lot per se, but there  is an existing public parking lot that not public,   it's a private parking lot that will need  to be demolished in order to satisfy the   project. So those are the eligible expenses.  Since you brought up parking really quickly,   uh you mentioned that there is parking behind  the petroleum building. Will that be enough   for this hotel development? Yeah, the the  interesting fact the petroleum building   has a structured parking garage. That was the very  first structured parking garage built in the city,   which is kind of an interesting historical fact  that was free. Um it holds it was built for 105   parking stalls. Uh we'll be doing valet parking  through our hotel. So as you know valet you can   stack and rack those however you need to. Uh so we  do have adequate parking with the garage and with   a little bit of existing surface level. Thank you  Andy. Council member Ballard. Thank you mayor. Uh   thank you for the presentation Troy. So I have  a couple questions. First of all um I really   appreciate that you guys are all local. I made  that um point the other day. makes me really happy   that someone local is investing in some really  incredible buildings that we have um in our old   town to preserve some of that history. Um the only  question I have is so the AC hotel just opened up.   Um we're building the hotel on the river and then  adding this one additionally. I know there is so   much momentum going into the biomed area and I'm  sure that we will need all of these spots, but the   information that I got from Visit Witchaw is that  we're at 65.2 2% occupancy. I just want to make   sure that um with the other one just now opening  and it's not really having much data and the and   then the one on the river not opening yet. I just  want to make sure that we're not kind of putting   the cart before the horse. So, and if I may, um  we did reach out as part of the downtown master   plan update that we're going through right now.  A full demand study from our replanning research   this fall has been conducted. Um yes, there are  a number of hotel rooms already operating in the   study area. The study talks about in addition to  the pipeline noted above. Over the next 10 years,   the hotel market is expected to support 430  to 560 new hotel rooms in the core. Would that   be including like the new hotel AC and then the  additional rooms for the one that we're building   on the river? I'm totally supportive. I just I  just want to talk about this. So now I guess in   addition to the AC Marriott hotel that is coming  online based on I'm just reading from the study   that based on in addition to the 1,279 rooms that  are operating in the study area today and the 119   rooms coming online with AC Marriott hotel, there  is still an additional 430 to 560 new hotel rooms   anticipated over the next 10 years that the market  will be able to absorb. Okay, thank you very much. One last question for the applicant. Andy,  can you um obviously this is literally right   next door to the new $300 million Witchaw Biomed  campus. Can you address um why you guys chose to   have that location as your next hotel? Um, and  again, uh, I think I share the same concern as   council member Ballard, making sure that we're  not, um, over, uh, producing these hotel rooms,   that there's actually going to be, uh, demand for  these hotel rooms. I understand that the study   says it still would allow for about 400 plus more  rooms in the next 10 years. Um, so can you address   why you guys chose that location? Yeah, first of  all, just with the with the buildings themselves,   we purchased these buildings uh along with the  Crest building in uh December of 23. Um and the   intent there was uh between Crane Development  and Shelonburgg Development, we wanted to be   involved in what's happening downtown in  the core with the biomed coming on board,   etc. So, we saw the opportunities uh with these  buildings. We didn't know what we were going to   do with them when we b when we bought them. We  just knew that they were in a great location. So,   we went through just about every highest and  best use scenario that you can go through   uh underwriting each one proformas talking about  projects. We started out with multif family ideas,   but the efficiency in these buildings just doesn't  lay out very well for for apartments. Uh we we   talked about using keeping them as a commercial  use building um and letting that corridor kind of   develop and and just kind of wait. Um feasibly  you you know you just can't buy a property and   sit on it for however long that's going to take.  There's too many unknowns. Um ultimately um we   uh were introduced to the thought of a hotel. We  consulted with Leximma Hospitality, John Canelli   and his group, another Witchaw local group that  who will be managing the hotel for us. Uh we   did through their help and through our own third  party market study, it was determined that there   was plenty of demand even as it exists today for  downtown uh especially for the Hotel Indigo brand   because it's a little bit higher end. Um, and  so that's really what ultimately got us to this   point. And you know, just adding to that demand  factor, like I said, we did the third party study   uh that that helped aid us. I think I think  it came out to a need of 350 rooms roughly   um even today. So, thank you Andy. And one more  question for you. Sure. I know that this hotel   has other amenities that you guys are planning  to have. Can you just address those? Uh again,   you will have some competition nearby, but what  makes yours different? Yeah. Well, we like to   think that um our our architects and interior  designers are doing a fantastic job for us,   and they they really are. Uh Sheldon Architect  is leading our architecture group. Um we have a   really um unique situation with we call it the  Mlullen building. It's uh some people refer to   it as the ORO building. Um, but it started out  originally in the 20s as a hotel and it with it   situated right there on the corner, it's got a  really cool corner vibe to it and what used to   be a restaurant. Um, so we're taking that piece  of it and turning into hopefully what we're going   to create is a is a destination restaurant and  bar, not just another hotel restaurant and bar.   We feel like with the location directly across  from the school, uh there's a lot of students,   a lot of professionals that um could utilize  those facilities creates a new restaurant in   the area. Um and so that's a big part of our plan.  We're creating a um if you've seen the renderings,   there's a portico entrance that connects the two  buildings. Um and and it's going to be a really   good meeting place, just gathering place. Um, and  we'll have, you know, kind of the usual. The fifth   floor of the petroleum will be uh will have a um a  fitness center. Um, and just kind of some of these   normal hotel amenities. Thank you very much, Andy.  I see no further comments from this bench. Again,   thank you, Troy, and thank you, Andy. We  will now open it up for public comment. I see no public comment. We will now bring it back  to the bench. Council member Tuttle. Thank you. I   just wanted to state for the record that I've  had exparte communication with the applicant.   Thank you. This resides in council member  Johnson's district. Yep. Thank you, Mayor.   Um before I make a motion, I just appreciate the  investment in Witchah and downtown. Um appreciated   the presentations at the partnership meetings.  So very informational. Love the renderings and   looking forward to this coming online. With that,  I would move that the city council close the   public hearing, approve the agreement, place the  ordinances on first reading, adopt the resolution,   and authorize the necessary signatures. Second  motion and a second. I am so sorry, but I do   have one last question and that is for Troy. Can  you just address how much in property taxes this   this current location produces? or maybe Andy  has that. Um, just so that we know that that area   currently has some property taxes that um, it's  not on our sheet. So, that's why I want to know. Uh, I don't have the information. I I apologize.  The suggest was maybe 50 to $70,000 a year. But this is not getting property tax abatement.  That's correct. That's the reason why I wanted   to know the amount because I know people have  asked that question before and I just want to   make sure that that is on the record as they  are going to be paying their property taxes   that currently are levied uh on that area.  Oh, sorry, Vice Mayor Johnston. Thank you,   Mayor. I just want to publicly say  thank you very much for investing over   $40 million in downtown. So, huge investment.  I know you got to be a little bit nervous,   but uh thank you very much and wish you the best  of luck. When will it open? By summer. By summer   of 2027. Uh the applicant just said that's when it  will open. Thank you very much. With that, we have   a 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. Amendments to title   4.08 of the code of the city of  Witchah relating to the creation   of a common consumption area for  the consumption of alcoholic liquor. Good afternoon, Sharon Dick City  Law Department. I'm here today to   present some additional amendments to the city's  ordinances relating to common consumption areas.   As you recall, I was here in early July. Uh the  council amended uh ordinances relating to common   consumption area and allow the city to be a  CCA permit holder. Um the ordinance at that   time provided that that permits were to be issued  for less than a year in length with the idea that   there would be a six-month trial period and then  after that um the permits would all be a year in   length. Following consultation with the ABC, the  following amendments are recommended. CCA permits   uh will be issued for one year. Um the ABC would  not recognize permits that were issued for less   than one year. Um staff will report to the city  manager any criminal or alcoholrelated issues   at the six-month period of the initial CCA.  The ordinances also establish a participant   CAA permit to allow license establishments to  participate in the CAA. Um the proposal is that   the permit would be for one year and has a fee of  $250. Um additionally, from a safety standpoint,   um we have recommending that the chief of police  have the power to do an immediate suspension of a   CCA if there is an emergency that occurs. um CCA  requirements in other cities. Um the ABC website   indicates that there are about 50 CCA permits  issued throughout the state. Um several cities do   not require an additional participant license um  but rely on the state issued participant permits.   Um other cities that do require local participant  permits um have fees ranging from $100 to $250.   um financial and legal considerations. As a permit  holder, the city's responsible for insurance and   any signage or barrier costs. Um the estimate on  insurance um remains at $25,000 per year. Um risk   management has completed an insurance application.  We have not gotten any more definite information.   Um, an alternative option would be if the city  did not want to obtain insurance coverage,   um, that it could rely on the torque claims  liability limitations of a $500,000 cap. Um,   public work estimates that signage for  these areas will be about $300 a sign. Um,   ABC regulations require that  there be a sign or some sort   of demarcation for every entry and exit  point. Um Reggie is going to participo CCA. Um estimates for those signs are  about $22,000 because of the size of   um the proposed CCA. Uh the city would be legally  responsible for any liquor violations occurring   within that common consumption area. Um it  is recommended that the city council approve   the proposed ordinance and place it on first  reading and authorize the necessary signatures.   um these changes would not authorize the  Delano CCA. That is the next item that's   going to be presented. And I would  stand for any questions. Thank you,   Sharon. Are there any questions from the bench?  I see no questions from the bench. Thank you. We   will now open it up for public comment. I see  no public comment. We'll bring it back to the   bench. Council member Glasco. Thank you, Mayor.  Um Sharon, thank you for the updates to this. Uh   I know that we've already voted. This is um  on a lot of these uh rules and regulations,   so this is just making sure we're in compliance  with state law. So with that, I move that the city   council place the ordinance on first reading  to authorize the necessary signatures. 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. Designation of common consumption   area authorizing possession and consumption of  alcoholic liquor. Public hearing and resolution. Good morning, mayor, council. Reggie Davidson from  parks and wreck. Uh gonna follow up as Sharon said   about looking at option for a common consumption  area for the Deleno uh district. So, a little   bit of background on this. In 2017, the Kansas  legislator authorized cities to establish one or   more common consumption areas uh CCA by ordinance  or resolution to designate the boundaries of any   CCA and prescribe the times during which alcoholic  liquor may be consumed. In January 20 January 18,   the city council adopted an orders creating uh  chapter 4.08 of the code the city council which   allows to establish the CCAs within the city  by resolution which uh Sharon just uh mentioned   earlier. A little bit more background. The city of  Witchah has requested an annual CCA in the Deleno   area to begin on uh Friday, February uh September  the 5th, 2025. Possession of alcohol or liquor   will be allowed within the boundaries of the CCA  on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 10   p.m. daily. Here's a u a map that kind of shows  the area that's designated for the CCA. You'll see   that the stars are for the point of sale sites for  that uh location. And then you'll see the squares,   which is where the entry and exit signs will  be placed, uh letting the community know   where they when they're entering or exiting  that particular area that's been designated. So, the financial considerations for that, uh,  as Sharon mentioned earlier, the cost for annual   insurance coverage for the cover alcohol, uh,  insurance is approximately $25,000 annually,   which would give a $1 million in liability  coverage. And then, state law requires signage   with enter and exit the CCA. Uh, signs will  be required with estimated cost of $22,000. Uh the recommendation is to adopt a  resolution authorizing the destination   of a common consumption area and allowing  the consumption of alcoholic liquor on   property not otherwise subject  to a license issue pursuant to   the Kansas Liquor Control Act of the  Club and Drink and Establishment Act. And I'll stand for any questions. Thank  you, Reggie. We'll begin with Council   Member Glasco. Thank you, Mayor. I just  have one quick question regarding the map.   We go back to the point of sale map real  fast. The one with the stars. Um though   we're starting our application for one year.  Let's say a business moves in or let's say a   current business wants to be able and they go  through the process with ABC to offer the sale   of alcohol. Can they opt into this without  waiting until a next application period?   So let's say two months from now somebody  wants to join into this. Are they able to? details. Yes, we can actually add them in later on.  Same with special events. If there's any   special events that would be be fully within the  common consumption area, we can add them in for   a temporary time as well. Okay. Thank you.  A couple of questions on this map. Does this   include um some of that walkway along the river?  That is the intention. Yes, because there's not a   sidewalk on the west side of MLAN. Thank you. And  then last question is about the 60 to 70 signs. Is   that excessive? Um because I feel like uh when  I went to Topeka, they had uh on the sidewalk   permanent paint that they basically that was their  signage. Can we not do that? Uh we did have those   discussions internally. Uh for now it was that  was seen as much more of a permanent where it   was with a sign we can easily change it or remove  it as needed. Uh we have discussed paint. That is   an option. Uh but the state requires it to there  to be some form of signage entering and exiting   at all points. So that would basically be any  sidewalk that's entering into the footprint. So all the yellow markings are the various signs  that you're expecting to have. Correct. And each   one of those locations there would be both an  entering and an exiting sign. Could we find a more   cost effective me? method and also not littering  so much of this area with a lot of signs. Yes,   we can look into paint further, but there does  have to be some sort of a barrier at those   locations. Council member Glass, thank you. When  we had said, so I counted on this map and it's 30   31. I think it's 30 on here. Um though I think the  application says 70 signs. So are we not seeing   that as just like front and back? Can we just not  do a front and back sign? We did talk about those,   but uh public works said that with the type  of the post that they may have to install,   it's not going to be one where you can have a  double-sided uh sign because there'll be a sign   on either side of the pole is how I understood it  at least. Okay. Because I think that's also what I   saw in a couple of the other common consumption  areas is a front and back sign which would cut   down half of the install that we need. So, if  we can explore that, I don't know if by passing   I I want to move forward with this today, but if  we can maybe explore some of the other options,   I don't know if that has to take a motion from  the bench, but if we're able to do front and   back sign, that could cut down on the number  of signs we're doing by half. Okay, I'll talk   to public works and report back. Thank you. Any  other comments from the bench? I see none. Thank   you very much for the presentation. We will now  open it up for public comment on this item. I   see no public comment. We'll bring it back to the  bench. Council member Glascock. Thank you. I don't   see any other my colleagues on the board. So given  that they uh have no other comments, um I'll move   forward with the motion. First, I want to thank  staff uh for moving on this. Um I think this is   going to be exciting for the Deleno district. Um  I've heard very positive response from individuals   and I think this just adds a different uh  vibrancy to the area and capitalizes on the   history of Delane. I want to thank my colleagues  for the support. Um I know I've talked to all my   colleagues multiple times about this project. Um  and I hope that uh this is just the start of you   know weekends if uh Waw can be responsible in this  usage. Maybe we can expand this um and maybe we   can look at other opportunities to add quality  of life amenities in this area. So with that,   I move that the city council close the public  hearing, adopt the resolution authorizing the   designation of common consumption area and allow  the consumption of alcohol liquor on the date at   the location and during the time set forth therein  and authorize the necessary signatures. 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. Lincoln Park renaming. Good afternoon, mayor and city council members.  Josh Navaro, management fellow and project manager   for this project. Today I will be presenting on  the Lincoln Park renaming. For some background,   Lincoln Park is located near the intersection of  Lincoln and Broadway. It has been a public park   since the year 1900. The Kansas Firefighters  Museum and Fallen Firefighters Memorial are   located within the park. The fire department is  currently working with the state to designate   the memorial as the official Kansas Fallen  Firefighters Memorial for the state of Kansas.   For analysis, the fire department and the Witchaw  Local Fire Union approached the Department of Park   and Recreation with the idea of redeveloping  Lincoln Park as a memorial park for fallen   firefighters. The redevelopment would include an  expanded memorial for firefighters who fell in the   line of duty, security improvements, elements  to educate about firefighting, and firefighter   themed playground features, art, and splash pad.  The board of park commissioners on September 9th,   2024 supported the idea and recommended proceeding  with further exploration. On July 17th, 2025,   the board of park commissioners recommended  that the city council rename Lincoln Park as   the Kansas Fallen Firefighters Memorial Park.  As per city council policy 13 on naming of   public facilities and/or land, the board of park  commissioners is acting as the naming committee   in considering the proposal to the park. And the  name recommendation identifies the location of   the park by historical and geographical landmarks  associated with the Kansas Firefighters Museum.   The name Lincoln Park was chosen due to proximity  to Lincoln Street and there is no other nostalgic   or meaningful association with the current name  of the park. And here is a current rendering of   planned park improvements and enhancements.  And in the northwest corner, you can see   the Kansas Firefighters Museum, as well as a  proposed additional display building in order   for the museum to be able to house additional  fire trucks and historic memorabilia that the   um the museum cannot currently display.  There is also planned improvements to   the fallen firefighters memorial plaza. And  so that includes an expanded memorial wall,   new plaza and memorial lighting, and then a tree  grove as well. There is also a new splash pad,   a fire themed playground, and refurbished  plaza as part of this um rendering. And so in terms of financial considerations,  the financial impact of renaming the park is   limited to the cost of installing new signage.  The fire department will coordinate with the   police and fire foundation, Witchaw Parks  Foundation, and other groups in order to   raise funds for the park improvements, which  will include the cost of new signage. The sign   replacement will not come out of the park and  recreation budget. And for recommended action,   it is recommended that the city council approve  the renaming of the park as the Kansas Fallen   Firefighters Memorial Park. And with that,  I can stand for questions. Thank you, Josh,   for the presentation. Questions for staff? I just  have one. Can you go to slide number 118? Yes. In   the gazebo, I know that that's highly utilized  um for a lot of individuals. Will that remain? Let's I will lean to Reggie for that. I will have to confirm, but I believe it will  be because of that purpose, because it is used   by a lot of the community. Thank you very much.  I see no further questions for staff. Thank you,   Josh and Reggie. We will now open it up for public  comment. I see no one from the public. This is in   Council Member Hoheisel's district. Thank you,  Mayor. Um, first I do want to give thanks to uh   Chief Snow and the fire department. Um, Ted with  the fire union who also expressed earlier before   he had to leave. Uh, a lot of appreciation towards  city staff were working on this. Uh, Reggie and   the parks department um the neighborhood, we did  engage with the neighborhood. They were fine with   um the renaming. They they are more interested  in the improvements. uh Representative Kesler   who helped get this through uh his committee on  the state level, Representative Hohheisle who   has done a lot of work to to help with this. Um  just a little bit of background as well. Um there   is some funding opportunities from the state to  actually work on the actual firefighter memorial.   Uh the rest of this we are planning to fund raise  around for the improvements. Um it seems like the   governor will be down in October. Those are  the tentative plans. And to anybody listening,   there is a memorial service uh the first Sunday  of October. Uh it's a real solemn ceremony. They   play the bag pipes. They read the names off  of the memorial and give the due respect to   the firefighters who have given their lives for  us. So I I would encourage people to come down.   It sometimes it can get warm. It's at 1:30.  Um but it is definitely something to behold.   Um, also we're looking at fencing it off, having  those discussions as well to make sure we protect   any investments that we have down there. So,  uh, this is a this is a another good project,   another amenity in district 3. We're coming  for district 6 as far as the park system   goes. I think we're already there,  but this will definitely cap it off.   Um, so I I do appreciate everybody who's worked  on this um over the past year and uh let's keep   the momentum up and um show the firefighters  the respect that they deserve. And with that,   I will move that the city council approve  the renaming of the park as Kansas Fallen   Firefighters Memorial Park. Second. Motion in  the second. Further discussion. Council member   Tuttle. Thank you. And I'll be extremely brief.  I just wanted to say thank you to Council Member   Hoisel. I have watched you work quietly. Um, use  the connections, brothers, if you need to, to make   this happen. I know it's something that you're  quite proud of and you should be. I'm really   proud of this council and how we're really trying  to embrace how we work with our first responders,   right? Making sure they're healthy, police and  fire, and then also, as you so eloquently mention,   giving them the respect that they deserve. You  so just a heartfelt thank you to you. I also want   to say congratulations to Josh. I know you were  nervous. You did a great job. Thank you for being   one of our two magnificent management fellows. Um  your partner in crime was serving as clerk earlier   today, but it's been a pleasure to get to know and  work with you. So, great job today. Thank you. And   the only comment is to add to council member  Hohheisle. Thank you again for your leadership   in this. Um and the date for that memorial is  Sunday, October 5th. Sunday, October 5th at   the soontobe renamed Kansas Fallen Firefighters  Memorial Park when it gets approved. We have a   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. State   revolving fund loan to agreement for  the biological nutrient removal program. Good afternoon, mayor and council members.  Gary Jansen, public works and utilities.   The item before you this afternoon is the  second installment of a loan agreement for   the biological nutrient removal program. Uh  the BNR project program is a group of upgrade   projects to our wastewater treatment plants one  and two in a portion of the uh sewer collection   system. The upgrades are needed to comply with  new regulations regarding nitrogen and phosphorus   removal as well as to provide substantial odor  control improvements. Project financing overall   was wifia funding through EPA for 49% SRF funding  which we're here to talk about today uh through   KDH for 47% and the balance is revenue bonds. The  overall BNR program is broken into six separate   construction packages. Uh there's only one project  left to bid that we're expecting to bid here in   September. Um substantial completion of the  overall project is still in November of 2027.   Uh for the WIFIA part, I'll just hit on that real  quick. The WIFIA credit agreement was approved in   March of 2023. Maximum principal is just over  $191 million. Uh what's left out of that so far   that we will still be pursuing at some point as  the project moves along is almost 117 million.   So for the item today, each SRF loan has has a  specific interest rate, but all other terms are   the same across all loans in the series.  Uh the first loan agreement was approved   in July of 2023. And then as I mentioned,  the second agreement is provided today for   the city council's consideration. Total is $185  million maximum principal including capitalized   interest assistance offered through a series of  three loans as I mentioned interest rates to be   set with each loan calculated as a percentage of  the average bond buyer index rate 20-year terms   plan for all loans estimated cost of required  loan insurance is sorry one quarter of 1% total   debt service cost. So just comparing where we  are between first loan installment and second,   we do realize a savings over uh standard financing  of revenue bonds because there was a difference in   interest rates. You can see the 2.13% in July  of 2023 compared to 2.91% now. We end up with   uh almost $2.1 million more in estimated service  fees, a little bit higher insurance cost, and   because revenue bond interest rates are a little  bit lower right now. That's where you see the   difference between the $19 million savings in 2023  and the $9 million savings today. Overall, again,   brought real value to this project. Same thing we  did with our new water treatment plant utilizing   Whiffy and SRF loans uh to be able to save on  financing costs overall. Future rate adjustments   are not impacted. This just shows and and this  is the same thing we've looked at since 2024,   the impact to rates for these loans themselves.  Uh still within those same projections. What is   required now uh for the steps to close the SRF  loan uh assuming city council approval today.   August 26th is final passage of the ordinance  on second reading. August 29th is publication   of ordinance in a local newspaper and also signing  of required exhibits and certificates and payment   of the insurance premium honor before that  date. Following these steps, the documents   be forwarded to KDH for signature. The loan is  considered closed once it is signed by KDH and   the insurance payment is made. Uh with that, staff  recommend city council approve the loan agreement,   place the ordinance on first reading, authorize  the required insurance payment, and authorize   necessary signatures. And I'd be happy to stand  for any questions. Thank you, Gary. Questions for   staff? I see none. We'll move to public comment.  I see none. We'll bring it back to the bench. This   is in council member Mike Hohisel's district and  he has been pivotal in this project. Thank you,   Mayor. Yeah, this is a district three day here.  Um, also thank you to Council Member Tuttle. She   served on the BNR steering committee. um they  were instrumental in getting the WIFIA funds   um loans before I was on council. So, I did want  to give a shout out to you and public works and   Gary for all your guys' work on this. Um it's  great seeing savings, taxpayer savings here.   That also helps um with the fee adjustments coming  up that we don't have to hit people over the head   quite so hard with this to pay this project off.  So, uh, with that, um, I recommend that the city   council approve the SRF loan agreement, authorize  the required insurance payment, and authorize the   necessary signatures. Second motion and a second.  Any further discussion? Vice Mayor Johnston. Thank   you, Mayor. I just want to tell JT, thank you for  sitting through a long, long meeting, for being   here. J, if you don't know JT, he is absolutely  great speaker. He is probably the premier bond   council in the state. So, thanks for being here  and sitting through our meeting and thanks for   all the work you do for the city. A dynamic bond  council. Never thought I'd hear that. Exciting   stuff according to him. Thank you, Vice Mayor,  and thank you, Council Member Hoheisle. We have   a 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. Concept and progressive design build   amendment number one for first street bridge  over the R Kansas River. Good afternoon, mayor,   city council members, Paul Gonzman, public works  and utilities for the record. Uh this afternoon,   I will be um asking approval of the design uh  lane configuration concept for this project.   Um slide before you shows the uh project location  um on First Street over the R Kansas River there   between Waco and Mlan B Boulevard boulevard. On  October 8th, 2024, the city council approved the   initial budget for capital multiple capital  improvement program projects including the   first street bridge. On December 10th, 2024, the  city council approved use of a progressive design   build project delivery method for this project.  And in May of 2025, the city council approved   the selection of and project development agreement  with Doninger and Suns Construction for refinement   of the project scope. On August 11th, 2025, the  project was presented to the district advisory   board 6 as well as Witchtop bicycle and pedestrian  advisory board and they reviewed the concept,   provided concepts and approved. The initial PD  PDB agreement provided a design discovery phase   to refine the scope for a bridge repair  or replacement project. Traffic volume,   structural condition, and cost benefit analysis  were evaluated to develop a concept and scope for   amendment number one of the PDB agreement using  engineers joint contract documentation document   committee format. The discovery phase showed  that the replacement of the bridge rather than   rehabilitation is the most cost-effective option  and provides for the longest service life. The   project will include a new three-lane bridge and  approximately 14 feet wide multi-use space on each   side of the bridge, including connections  to the bike paths along our Kansas River.   slide before you shows in orange the uh the deck  um 100% of the deck would need to be removed and   rehabilitated. The the outside beams um  as well as well as the elevated sidewalk   portions shown on the left and right of the  bridge itself would all need to be replaced.   a few photos of the existing conditions. The  photo on the um right shows the outside beam   um with some of the concrete that could spall  and fall down on the pathway. And the left shows   what's on um left picture shows the underneath  side of the outside beam as well as the walkway. In addition to that, here's a couple a  picture of the um first pier there. Um   peers one and six on the outside of the bridge  structure would also need to be replaced. And   taking into all of that into consideration  that approximately 60% of this superructure   would need to be removed and replaced leading  us to the decision to replace the bridge. Bridge rehabilitation was estimated to  be four and a half to5 million dollars   with an expected service life of 15  years and then we would need to be   back in the same position and probably  recommend a new bridge at that time. The   new bridge we are estimating to be 9 to10  million and get 75 years of service life. During the first phase uh Don Langer had done  some investigation of the bridge as well as   utilities. um they had reduced um first street  bridge down to one lane each direction as they   did that investigative work. Um during that  time we had asked them to do a traffic study.   Um we had left uh the traffic control up  for approximately three weeks. Um while   that study was going on early in the  morning or the morning peak there are   um there is a heavy southbound to eastbound left  turn movement to get uh folks from the northwest   part of the city into downtown in the morning  showing that 247 uh vehicles per hour and then   that return trip um the 167 vehicles is a PM peak  um our turn movement that is the uh right turns   westbound right to go back to northwest part of  town in the evening. Um so we felt comfortable   as we uh as the traffic control was set up um and  they they monitored that um looked at video and we   feel comfortable that three lanes is needed for to  to um accommodate that do a left turn southbound   um to get them across the bridge. um as they were  monitoring that the the weave pattern um to weave   back into one lane was a little dicey. So we  are recommending two lanes um eastbound with one   lane westbound um for this uh replacement of the  bridge. We believe that will accommodate traffic.   The other thing we looked at, there's two options  and I'll go over these a little bit. the we talked   to the uh presented these to the Witchaw Bicycle  and Pedestrian Advisory Board. One of the options   um shows a 14 foot wide path. But let me back up.  So the uh the magenta color are the connections we   would make to the um paths. We need to coordinate  with Exploration Place with their current work   going on to make sure that we can get that path  in the correct place. So let me go to this slide.   So this shows a 14T um of the multi-use space  for pedestrians and cyclists and it would be   separated for motor vehicle traffic. Again the  two lanes eastbound and one lane westbound. The other option that we had provided to the  bicycle and pedestrian advisory board is a   separated space for the cyclist. Um adjacent to  the traveling uh the motorist. Um we would like   to we've got a few after listening to the bike  ped advisory board. We're gonna modify this a   little bit um to probably have um some on street  uh cyclists who want to continue on street going   through the um continuing east or west and try  to widen the space um for the you know if they   don't feel comfortable in riding out in the  lane of traffic to widen the space there where   they could share that with bicycles or with  pedestrians. So, um, if you were traveling   from the east going westbound where they have the  green there towards the right end of the screen,   cyclists would be there. They could continue  across the bridge without getting into that   um space where the psych or pedestrians are.  So, we want to do a modification. We plan to   go back to the bike pit advisory board most  likely in September with a little bit of a   modification to this um to accommodate both types  of users, those that commute as well as those. During construction, we would plan a detour  route. Southbound on MLAN, east on Douglas,   back north on Waco or vice versa, southbound Waco,  west on Douglas, northwest on MLAN Boulevard. Some   of the comments that we received at the district  advisory board is that maybe we would need to   consider restriping MLAN Boulevard between Second  and Douglas. as it's striped one. Right now,   we have one lane southbound with uh parking one  way both directions with parking on each side of   the roadway. Um their recommendation was maybe at  least look at the southbound and restripe that two   lanes to accommodate that heavy left turn movement  um in the mornings. So, we will look at that as   we go further into design. The design fee to date  is 3607 $360,700. Cost of amendment number one is   $957,000 for a total design fee of $1.3 million.  Funding is available within the existing budget   of $ 1.5 million, which was approved by the city  council in October of 2024 and is funded by local   sales tax. The proposed 2026 through 2035 capital  improvement program includes $ 1.5 million in   2025, $ 8.4 4 million in 2027 and $4.2 million in  2028 for a total program budget of $14.1 million,   of which $600,000 of that is for public art  and is funded by general obligation funds.   Construction is projected to start in late 2025.  The project will return to the city council for   final approval of design and construction  budget later this year. And with that,   it is recommended that the city council approve  the lane configuration, two lanes eastbound, one   lane westbound concept and amendment number one,  and authorize the necessary signatures. And I will   stand for questions. Thank you, Paul. We'll begin  with Council Member Glascock. Thank you, Mayor   Paul. I think we have a full board, so there's  probably a lot of questions. Could we go back   to slide 137 real fast and I'll walk through all  the things. One, I'm supportive of this today. Um,   I don't know if it was providential. I was running  underneath this bridge and part of the bridge fell   on my head. It was only a little bit, so it didn't  hurt, but I think it's providential and it shows   that development is needed um at this location. If  we go to item 138, um is that so on the left side,   is that a result of fire or I think it's just uh  over time um you know, water getting down there   and just uh delaminating concrete and exposing  the steel. Um we go to page 145 or 141. I thought   this was just fun, but uh that image looks very  different now that Exploration Place has started   um going vertical on all of their playground  equipment. Uh, so if people haven't, it would   be great to go out there. Uh, page or slide  143. Okay. Um, this is where I have a little   more substantive questions. How wide right now are  the pedestrian paths on uh Douglas uh the Douglas   Street Bridge and right now the Douglas Street  Bridge as a good example. I don't know that I have   the width for you, council member, because I think  there's also some um there's some spaces that   widens even more for folks to kind of congregate  on that bridge, but I don't have that. I can get   that for you. Okay. It just seems like it would be  a similar traffic pattern um with pedestrians and   also with people walking. Um I don't know if it's  14. I think there's definitely parts of it that   are wider than 14 like you said of congregation  areas but I don't know if that's 14 all the way   down or not. Yeah, ideally we try to get 12 ft of  space but we we want to you know cyclists and or   you know pedestrians won't work walk right next to  the rail or the corral rail. So that 14th gives a   little bit of shy distance. Okay. So between slide  143 and then 145 want to flip over to that one   real fast. Is there a substantial price difference  in delineating the road with this type of pattern   verse page 143? I don't know that there is at this  time um where that corral we need some type of   corral rail safety barrier between the motorists  you know um but we we're looking at maybe even a   hate to attach much to the bridge but we're kind  of looking at you know protect protecting the   cyclist in their own space whether that be five  or six feet wide um and then have a separate space   for the pedestrians and or those folks that maybe  not feel comfortable riding in the roadway. So,   the outside portion of this bridge, um, we're  trying to really kind of look at, you know,   based on comments we heard from the bike pet  advisory board. So, again, we want to go back   there to that board in September and then,  as I mentioned before, we we will be back   um hopefully in November. I will be um presenting  you know this project to the city council and we   we hopefully have some more refinement at that  time and final design. I I don't know what my   opinion is between items 143 and 145 yet. I'd be  interested in bike ped also bikewalk witchah. Um   I rarely bike down first street. Uh, I usually go  down Douglas, but my only concern would be right   now if we move forward with this design, you have  a protected level right there, but as soon as they   get off the bridge, it's unprotected again. So,  I don't know if there's any benefit necessarily,   just have it protected for if it's a huge uh or  significant cost burden, too. Yeah. And then the,   you know, the other thing we were looking at, you  know, if you take the whole network, um, and look   at the whole thing, you know, how it, if they were  riding across a bridge in the lane of traffic, how   do they get up and navigate the other pathways in  the area? So, we're looking at that as well. So,   okay, last two questions. Um, how long uh would  construction be? So, we are the our projected   schedule now is again I would provide a support  today, approval today. Um, Don Linger, GFT would   move forward with the design. I would be back  here in November to present the uh final design,   construction budget, and then Don Linger's plan  would be to lower the river shortly thereafter   and construction probably take a year. So, the  river would be lowered during that entire year. I   know we're trying to work with people that use the  river often to accommodate that because that some   of them have businesses along the river that use  the river. Yes. Um, and then last question, design   elements. Will that come back to us at some point?  Because, you know, we kind of have a similar   design element already um down the river. I don't  know if we're going to replicate what we already   do on Douglas Street to be able to match that or  if we're looking at different design elements.   It would. Yes, we are. And that's part of the  uh contract would be to hire an artist and get   them on board as soon as possible to develop some  of those aesthetic. We are looking at replicating   it or we're looking at different That has not  been determined yet. We'll leave that up to the   artist. Thank you. I have a follow-up question  before we move on to that very um comment that   was just made. So both Douglas Street Bridge and  I believe what's south of there? Maple Street. The   Maple Street Bridge have um public art elements  that are incorporated into the bridge. Is that   what's expected of First bridge or not? We would  incorporate some type of elements into the bridge,   but whether they match those or complement those,  that has not been determined yet. There's also,   you know, other elements along river corridor, you  know, artistic elements and we are have, as you   know, council member Glascock artistic elements  there in front of the West Bank stage. So, how   do we or West Bank there across from Equity Bank  Park? How do we incorporate all of that within   this project? I would be curious as a followup  how much the public art cost on Douglas and Maple   Street because those bridges do have is it wind  elements or a a type of public art that is the   same and then if first bridge is going to have its  own art I just would like to know the cost. Thank   you council member Hoheisel. Thank you mayor.  Um thank you Paul. Just one comment and then   one question. Um, just a warning, a little bit of  of a warning here. I still still hear people all   the time howling about the Hairy Street Bridge  and how it's a three-lane bridge. So, um, seeing   this design here, it's kind of, you know, buy or  beware, but um, I do like the the physical barrier   for the bike lanes. Is that something that we plan  on including in all bridge designs moving forward?   Um that is something that we will look at on all  all projects as we you know look at implementing   the 2024 bicycle plan on any capital improvement  programs. We do if there is an identified bicycle   route then we do look at options to buffer those  protect those cyclists from travel traveling   vehicles. Okay. Thank you council member Ballard.  Uh, thank you, mayor. I just have a couple   um comments and questions. I know that thank you  for the presentation. Um, like Mike that the two   and one makes me a little nervous, but uh you guys  are the professionals. So, um, change is hard,   but uh, if it's, you know, what you guys feel  like is the best, then that's what we should do.   Um, I know you heard at the DAB several concerns  about the detour um on MLAN, so I'm glad that you   addressed that. I'm sorry if I missed this, but  did you say bike ped was leaning more towards   splitting the path or they were a little bit all  over the place? But, uh, they do, but I think we   are well, there was some that, you know, one of  them, um, I think is a commuter commuter. Um,   you know, I think his position was, you know,  if we don't start now, we'll never get it done.   Um some others were, you know, as we went through  the 2024 uh bicycle plan update. Um one of the   things that we heard was that to make the any new  facilities um safe for all users. So, you know,   I think it's a balance there. I think with the we  had had um some additional conversations with GFT   earlier this week. I think we can come up with a  a kind of a hybrid model that I think will serve   both commuters as well as recreational cyclists  as we kind of so I I I think when I come back in   November I think we'll have that plan that's  you go back to the slide that shows where if   you wanted to cross the bridge you'd have to  go to Waco or just for my colleagues I think   it's important for us to try to make the best  decision here because I I feel like um maybe   even myself included might not always go all the  way to MLAN if I wanted to cross over, especially   if you're going um underneath the bridge. So, I  appreciate you showing us the options here, but   um I would lean into, as Council Member Glascock  said, Bikewalk Witchaw and Bike Ped to see what   they feel like would be the best option.  Um, also I know I mentioned this at the DAB,   but during this construction, we won't have any  other big construction detours that would create   any problems. I know I mentioned the Menacea  Bridge, and I think we're still a little bit   away from that, but I certainly don't want  any big main thorough affairs construction   going on at the same time if at all possible  cuz all the fun bridges are in district six,   I feel like. Yes. or the ones that need replaced.  Um, and the other, um, two questions really quick   about the bike path. The one that goes under, will  that be closed or rerouted during construction?   I'm glad you brought that up because I I failed  to mention that. So, um, it will be closed. Um,   whether it's rerouted, I don't know. We need  to, as you know, um the path is closed south of   Douglas right now with the West Bank improvements.  So, um all of that. So, so I think the West Bank   improvements um I think that path will be closed  through 2026 with the um development of the hotel.   I'm not sure that they'll be done with that.  Um, so you know, it's closed south of there.   This will close this. So, probably timing wise,  it might be good to have both of these under   construction at the same time through 2026. Okay.  So, it'll just be closed like not reroute. I mean,   I don't know how we would reroute. Yeah, I  we'd have to look at a detour route for that if   um we probably have to pull them off out back at  Synica, but we'd have to look at that. We we'll   put that task on GFT. Okay. And then um will I  know you mentioned obviously we have to lower the   river. Will that be for the entire year? Most  likely. Yes. And we have been in contact with   folks. Okay. Thank you. Vice Mayor Johnston. Thank  you. Mayor Paul. How old is that bridge? I think   it was constructed in 1970s if I recall right. 70  55 years. Uh let me here see if I have that handy. I can double check that for you.  That same question was asked at   district six the advisory board and  I think that's what that answer was it's cut off here so I can't can't get  that for you right now. Okay. The new   one you expect to last 75 years though. Yes.  Longer. Um in your analysis of replacing or not   you said it was nine nine to 10 million  to replace it but you're at 14 million.   we are um as we were going through the  the programming of the CIP, you know,   we didn't have we didn't know at the time whether  this would be a rehabilitation or replacement. So,   I had asked for some additional funding  to be put in the CIP in case it was needed   for replacement. It was a it was a ballpark  guess. Now, as we get into further design,   um whether or not we need to address um the,  you know, I spoke to the MLAN intersection um   if there's any improvements that might be needed  there as we coordinate this bridge that, you know,   that might add some additional costs as well.  Okay. I have one more request. I use this bridge   when my wife and I go bike. We go down one side  of the river, take this bridge across and go down   the other side of the river. And so we'll come  by exploration place, cross over to to the east,   which that is only about four feet wide right now.  It's very it's very dangerous. So I appreciate the   wider, but but when you go back on the far east  side there, that path, there's a hairpin turn to   get back on the bike path. And the only reason  for it is I think there's a planter right there   or something. Can can can we look at taking that  out and just making that path a little smoother to   get back on the bike path heading uh heading  north. We will we will look at that. Okay. I   don't know if that's Yeah, we'll look at that. My  wife's about wrecked a couple times on there. So, I see no further questions from the bench.  We'll open it up for public comment. I see no   public comment on this item. I'll just chime  in really quick um because this resides in   Council Member Ballard's district. Um I'm just  glad to understand more of the need for a full   replacement rather than just a rehab. Um, as  a lot of folks have traveled underneath that   bridge through park run or just walking and  biking around that area, we know it needs   major repair. So, knowing that it's going to be a  full replacement so that it can last much longer,   um, I think is the mo is the wisest decision.  Um, and so I appreciate that staff has spent a   lot of time on this. And so with that, I'm going  to pass it to Council Member Ballard. Thank you,   Mayor. That is the same thing that we ran into  with the Amiden street bridge uh looking at a   replacement versus just a rehab and it was still  significantly better investment to go ahead and   replace it. So uh with that I would like to take  the uh it is recommended that the city council   approve the concept and amendment number one  and authorize the necessary signatures. 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. Permanent  watering restrictions ordinance. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council members.  Gary Jansen, public works and utilities. Again,   this feels a bit anticlimactic at this point, but  I'm happy to discuss permanent water conservation   measures with you. we got a head start on this,  but I want to make sure that we cover all of our   bases. So, uh, just to take us back to where we  were, um, we talked earlier about the impacts of   this historic drought because of the levels of  Cheni Reservoir and the impact on our surface   water supply. So, in January of 2023, we activated  stage one of the drought response plan, first time   we had done so since the plan was in place, coming  off the heels of the drought that ended in 2013.   Uh that was triggered when we got to a 12-month  moving average between 70 and 89%. That called for   voluntary water conservation measures across the  community uh incentives and rebates to encourage   indoor and outdoor water conservation. We had  already had the water rebate program in place,   but we kind of stepped up some things there and  added some funding to it. And then the city of   Witchaw internal conservation plan was enacted,  which we've talked before about spanned across   the entire organization. All departments were  engaged. Uh we did a lot uh for conservation   for the organization. That's something we're going  to continue going forward which we'll talk about   more in just a moment. As a result of uh Cheni  reservoir level continuing to drop, we activated   stage two of the drought response plan August 5th  of 2024. Kind of lost sight of the fact that we   passed that year mark here not too long ago. That  was triggered when we got to 69% of the 12-month   running average. And what that called for is  mandatory water conservation restricting outdoor   water usage to one day per week, prohibiting all  customers from using outdoor water between 10:00   a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Uh, keep in mind, I mentioned  before, but I wanted to mention again, we were   headed towards stage three. We were eyeballing  stage three. We saw it. Uh luckily we were   fortunate to get the rains that we did. I want to  talk a little bit about that impact here shortly.   Uh but it's not a recipe for stability. That's  why we're here today to talk about what do we do   in the future to make sure that we're smarter and  continuing to protect our long-term water supply.   Uh I mentioned this before, I want to mention it  again. Up to 20% of our annual water consumption   is discretionary outdoor irrigation use. This is  why the drought response plan focused on outdoor   water usage, particularly for irrigation.  Um, and that's what we think long-term water   conservation measures should do. Uh, the last part  of information on this slide showed that it worked   and and it did. It had an impact between if we  look at August from August of 2023 to August 2024,   compare that to the same period of time from 24 to  25. uh we used almost two billion gallons less of   water during that same uh period of one year.  Going into this, we didn't know exactly where   we would end up being at. We had hoped for 10%  savings. That ended up being pretty close. I will   tell you that I think the water used in 23 to 24  was probably less than we would have seen because   we were already within stage one. So, if we look  at historically, it would have been even more than   that. But either way, the plan worked. It did what  we needed it to do. Luckily, we got rains at the   right time. Looking at Cheney levels right now,  the 12-month running average as of August 4th was   just under 66%. I expect that's higher at this  point. Uh Cheney Lake level on August 4th was   effectively 100%. I looked this morning and it's  now at 0.09, so effectively onetenth of one foot,   which is about an inch. Uh we've held on. So even  after the June rains uh and and we luckily we got   rain in July that I don't think anybody would  have expected. We made it through July. We made   it through half of August and we're still at 100%.  So that's a good sign for us. Uh the reservoir is   never going to lower as quick as it fills back  up historically and I'll show you um a depiction   of that in just a moment. But we're still in a  good place. We have remained in stage two of the   drought response plan. uh once a week. Watering  restrictions per the drought response plan uh   which calls for removing restrictions uh when we  get back to 90% is what the ordinance talks about   of the 12-month running average. That right now  is not projected until early next year. Just to   hit real quick on our other raw water supply with  our groundwater supply at the equs. The equipment   level as of last week, last two weeks is still  at 90% full. We are fortunate that our aquafer is   u self-recharging to some extent compared  to what happens in western Kansas with the   Ogalala. Uh but also we can uh lend a lot to our  efforts and investments over the years with our   aquifer storage and recovery project. It's done  a lot to keep the aquafer healthy, to keep the   groundwater at a higher level. been a real benefit  for us. Um otherwise we would have been in a lot   different position with where compared to where  we were with the surface water. You saw this   slide before in July when we talked about this at  the workshop. I just wanted to hit on this again.   This uh shows the surface level at Cheney starting  back in 2009. The first big low point you get to   is was the drought of 2011 to 2013. Luckily we got  some major rain events that brought us out of that   drought. We move forward with a drought response  plan. everything in between there. 2019 is the   highest point. 2019 overall was one of our wetest  years on record. Uh and that's why you see that   it got way above flood stage uh for some period of  time. What happened then starting in 2020 to 2021,   we had four summers in a row. Uh the a  combination of evaporation due to heat   uh and uh atmospheric conditions along with lower  than normal precipitation and effectively no   runoff into the reservoir led to a historic low  elevation in November of 2024 all the way back   to when Cheni Reservoir was built in early 1960s.  So, it takes time, but over the course of three or   four summers, we got more than 8 feet low, which  obviously has put us into our stage two drought   restrictions. Luckily, in November of last year,  we actually had a record November. Wasn't a lot of   rain, but for November, it was helped stabilize  us because we were really heading towards stage   three at that point. Started looking at that  again. Uh and in June, as you know, what we saw,   uh there was a weak period of time there where  we went from one day talking about drought   response to flooding within a 48 hour period.  So, we were not fortunate for the flooding,   but fortunate for the rain. Again, this is not a  recipe for stability. It's not something that we   can count on. We don't know uh we can't control  the weather. We can't control what's going to   happen with the impact of our surface water at  Cheni Reservoir. So we need to look at making   changes long term really change the culture of  what we're going to do for our water supply. So typically we will see at 10 inches or more of  evaporation each month in the summer. I mentioned   dry conditions dating back to 2021. Uh we were  almost 2 feet below normal precipitation back   to that point. And so it's affected the entire  watershed in the basin that feeds into China   reservoir which is the north fork of the Nuska.  Uh the USGS measures inflow to the reservoir and   even earlier this year was the lowest inflow  they had seen in almost 60 years which goes   all the way back again to when it was built. So we  were dealing with uh truly extreme uh conditions   and historic drought. But we really have to keep  this to the front of our minds as we move forward.   I talked about the extremely wet months and how  much we gained uh particularly in June of almost   5 and a half feet. So, as we've gone through  this, we've had a lot of discussions uh with   the public uh with numerous organizations, with  our wholesale customers. We've explored options,   looked at things that we could do. We will always  continue to do that. You've heard me talk about   the questions came up about dredging Cheni. Uh  due to our efforts, due to uh the foresight of the   city council over time and the investments made in  watershed protection measures, the sedimentation   into Buchini has been very minimal. Uh so there's  no really return on that investment there. We've   talked about Elorado Reservoir a lot. Um you've  heard me mention that the the water availability   is really not there for Elorado when we need it.  We've had questions about why don't you build   another reservoir. Our best estimate uh to build  another reservoir is probably a half a billion   dollars. That's if you can find the land to do it.  There's water rights issues that have to be worked   around. Still dependent on the weather, still  dependent on precipitation, still dependent on   the same issues we've had with our surface water  supply. Not a good plan long term. We are working   on our water reuse effort that you've heard me  talk about. It is moving forward. We're doing a   lot of good things. Working towards a pilot uh  program this year. We've started conversations   with our state legislative delegation that I we're  going to continue working on. Uh but we got a lot   of things happening there. That's going to take  some time. I have faith that we're going to get   there someday with reuse, but that's going to  take some time. So, what do we do next to make   sure that we can keep looking forward? Uh and  that would be to look at permanent watering   restrictions. uh instead of going back to where we  were. I think in 2013, likely within several weeks   after the drought broke and we got massive rains,  I think most people forgot we were ever even in a   drought. Went back to watering seven days a week.  So, you've heard us talk about over the last year   and a half the value of education. You heard  it the earlier today about making sure people   understand what it takes to properly water. We've  looked at what other communities have done. We   started with Oklahoma City, which I'll show you.  uh something related to them in just a moment and   they had alternate day watering. We started  with that uh and talking to our experts and   evaluating what we think makes sense. We came to  a point that we think three days a week uh really   is the optimal place to be. It gives us one day  a week uh with no watering at all. Uh so we get   some additional conservation to that. This would  apply to all lawn watering sprinkler devices what   we call spray irrigation. These are automatic and  manual sprinkler systems, including those attached   to hoses. So, there's a lot of information  here. I just want to qualify real quick. Uh,   if the city council decides to move forward with  this plan today, we will have a lot of engagement   with the public uh working with our comm's team to  make sure folks understand the details. Our focus   right now is to limit outdoor watering. It is not  to, you know, we talked earlier and I'm going to   talk about variances in just a moment and accept  exemptions to this. We do want to work with folks.   We do want to help with getting lawns established.  We want to make sure we can get trees planted and   get them properly watered. Uh just going to  three days a week is going to be really make   a big difference. So, here's where we started.  And I actually have a thought about changing this   in this last week, uh, that I don't want to make  extra work here for you, but I'll walk you through   this and then come right back to it. We started  with if you're on the odd side of the street,   you water Monday, Wednesday, Friday. If you're on  the even side of the street, you water Tuesday,   Thursday, Saturday. Just in even talking to staff  and a few people we've heard from the public,   there was a little bit of concern about that. It's  kind of nice to water on the weekends. Some people   get Saturday, some people get no weekend today at  all. Our suggestion is to alter this. And again,   sorry to add more information to you, but what we  we think what we ought to do is change the first   one to say water Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.  The second one would still be Tuesday, Thursday,   Thursday, Saturday, and no watering on Mondays.  Because what that also does for us, you heard me   say before, we still don't have the resources  to go out and police this. We're not going to   change that. We're hoping that people will get  on board and do this. We're going to allow the   public to report. We've got our construction and  housing inspector folks out keeping an eye on it.   We can obviously watch for irrigation on Monday  a lot easier than we can on Saturday or Sunday.   That's not the reason. Sole reason was we want  everybody to have at least one weekend day. So,   if we as we get towards the end of this, I'll  repeat that part, but we would like to suggest   changing that to Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, no  watering on Mondays. Time restrictions will remain   in place. We are changing this. We were 10 a.m.  to 8:00 p.m. We think 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. makes the   most sense. We've seen that in other communities.  It's kind of an industry standard. No watering of   any kind from 10:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. It doesn't  matter what time of the year it is. There's so   little value in doing that. Uh, and there's so  much potential for water loss during the warmer   months. So, no watering from 10 a.m. to 6 pm of  any kind, including hand watering. Our estimated   conservation, if we go back to what our normal  years used to be, is 10 to 15% less than normal,   which should end up in a conservation of almost a  billion gallons a year. This does not take place   of our drought response plan stages. Stage one  of our drought response plan, we kind of have   to figure out how that fits in with this. Some of  the things within stage one, including internal   conservation plan, are going to be in place in  perpetuity. Stage two of our drought response plan   would still be in effect. Uh once we move forward  here and we basically reset our 12 month at Cheni,   we're going to start down that path again. If  we get to that point of 69% at Cheney, we will   activate. We would plan to recommend activating  stage two going back to once a week watering.   Hopefully with this long-term water restrictions,  this gives us the opportunity to stay further away   from that obviously than we would have gotten  to otherwise. Uh Oklahoma City, I mentioned,   has been successful with a similar similar policy  and I want to show you what their results look   like here. Uh you also saw this at the workshop.  The where the blue box is is 2013 where they went   to mandatory uh watering restrictions on odd and  even days. The blue lines, all the blue lines you   can see is uh precipitation. You can see that's  up and down just like it is here. The black is   uh correlating water use and water consumption.  So you can see from left of the line to the right   of the line, they have seen fairly considerable  conservation and less consumption of water since   2013. We also spoke to, and I mentioned this  earlier, uh someone from Aurora, Colorado,   very similar size to Witchah. They have been on  three-day a week watering for some time. They   said they've had good success with it. It's  worked well from a conservation perspective,   and people have gotten on board. So, other parts  of this plan, um variances are mentioned in the   ordinance revision, but not the details. We  wanted to give ourselves flexibility. This is   something that we would be detailing again through  communications uh with the public going forward,   but it would be by online request. We do want to  work with folks on variances. I followed one of   the landscapers out after the earlier session.  Uh and the biggest concern was establishment of   yards. We'd like to get back to be able to allow  doing that. uh as a place to start. We think we   would allow up to 30 days of daily watering for  receding, 21 days for soldering soding. There   could be special circumstances we're willing to  work through, but we're asking folks to do this   through an application process. We've got staff  who will vet those and we're going to try to work   with folks. Um really though, keeping in mind  three days a week is more than enough water to   keep a yard alive, to keep landscaping alive. Once  they're established, we're still going to go back   to the three days a week. Exceptions that do not  require a variance are handwatering. You can hand   water at any time except for 10 to six any day  of the week. Irrigation uses non-potable sources,   including wells, which I'll come back to  in just a minute, and reclaimed water are   allowed. Exemptions outlined in stage two  for businesses that generate their core   economic activity from the use of outdoor water  would still apply. So, here's what that means.   banks, retail centers, gas stations, all those I  had a question when I left here earlier. Anybody   that's using irrigation to water their yard,  they can lawn, even if it's commercial business,   even if it's a massive retail center, they can  only water three days a week. These are the folks   that use water for their core economic activity.  Same exemptions apply for sod farms, nurseries,   golf courses, car washes, those types of things.  We're willing to discuss that use with businesses   and see what makes sense. They would not be held  to the three days a week. Enforcement is still   not our focus. Education and collaboration is,  but the penalty schedule would be the same as a   drought response plan. Report a drought violation  and through again through an education focus.   This was, I thought, kind of a good display  that just shows where permanent restrictions   apply to irrigation devices, where they do not  apply for hand watering, even if you've got a   hose. What we see historically, that happens. I  was guilty of it in the past when I didn't have   an irrigation system and put a sprinkler out on  a hose and forgot that it was out there. That's   really easy to do if you don't have a timer.  Most people in the industry talks about this,   they're not going to stand out there for hours  on end holding a hose with a nozzle on it. So,   it's safe to say that that conservation kind of  takes care of itself. We tried to work with folks   even through the last two years on filling  pools, uh, being able to use power washers   for their houses. Those types of things we want to  allow happen. The one thing I will mention to you,   we do plan to get the city fountains going again.  uh we think that makes sense to do so. Probably   would not happen this year regardless of the  timing of when we decide to do this. If we fired   up the fountains now, we just have to turn around  and winterize them. So, it would be next spring   when we'd bring our fountains back online. Well  users, uh I'll hit on this again real quick. We've   talked about this in the past. Currently, any  restrictions as part of our drought response plan   do not apply to well users. Uh in the state of  Kansas, each property owner has the rights to the   water and other property up to two acres. Since  2022, just for some perspective, we've had over   2,000 domestic wells have been permitted nearly  all for irrigation. The local aquifer, the water   under our community, if you will, has no impact  on the groundwater supply in the equipeds aquifer,   which again is still at 90% full. There have been  some communities, Salina and Hayes in particular,   they were able to show that domestic well usage  did impact their groundwater supply because of the   proximity and they did ban or restrict well use.  Uh the local aquifer here where domestic wells   draw their water from is naturally recharged by  the big ark river. So there's usually no problems.   Throughout the last couple years, there's been  some folks in West Witchaw that were struggling   to get water because everything's going down, but  it's not from that. Uh, in good years when Cheni   reservoirs in a good place, we were actually  better off with more domestic wells. However,   I will qualify that because the comment came up  earlier. We still encourage those with wells to   be conservation-minded and to use as little water  as they can because it just makes sense overall.   hit on our uh rebate program real quick. Uh  what we plan to revise here, I think you're   pretty well aware of what's in the program now.  Rain barrels, rain sensor shut offs, hose faucet,   smart irrigation controllers, toilet repair kits,  um toilets themselves, washers, dishwashers.   We want to expand the rebate program to include  drought tolerant grass seed for converting lawns.   So, we're not going to give a rebate for fescue  seed. We are going to consider giving a rebate   for warm season grasses for those folks who  want to convert their lawns. We looked at   other communities who had done rebate programs for  actually changing out yards and it gets expensive   really really quick to make any impact on a  yard. It's thousands and thousands of dollars per   property. But in talking through this and council  member Johnson actually suggested this one day and   I thought was a really good idea was let's see  if we can start doing something with seeds. So I   think that's a good idea. We'll also maybe look at  uh shrubs that are more drought tolerant so we can   work towards zero escaping. We want to be flexible  there too and always continue up our discussion on   resources. So moving forward, these measures would  not replace the drought response plan I mentioned   earlier, but instead serve as a permanent baseline  for water conservation actions with the same   enforcement process of stage two restrictions.  Three days per week watering restrictions. Our   proposal today would begin when stage two  restrictions are lifted and we reenter stage   one. That is projected for October because we're  still holding. Uh we may beat that but right now   we're projecting that to be in October. Internal  conservation measures and the water conservation   rebate program will be made permanent. Water  rebate program already was but everything that   we do the organization itself is going to stay  permanent. Everybody's in the in the mode. I   think it's working well. All the things that we've  done across all the departments is working well.   We will continue to do that. Education and  outreach will continue for permanent conservation,   proper lawn care and landscaping guidance.  That's very important. We talked earlier about   staying engaged with uh the community, with the  businesses, with the landscaping folks following   the lifting of stage two restrictions. We do want  to re-evaluate the drought response plan to ensure   alignment with permanent watering restrictions  mostly with stage one. uh in a roundabout way.   We're going to kind of perpetually stay in stage  one here as far as what happens during stage one.   Not so much the level of the reservoir, but  those things related to internal conservation,   it's just going to add to the benefit of where  we're headed. Um so just as we talked about before   with watering uh once a week uh going to watering  three days a week expecting less consumption water   utility revenues are expected to decrease from  normal levels because of this ordinance. We   don't know what the impact of future water rates  will be at this time but they'll be evaluated as   additional information becomes available when we  start have the discussion in November for water   rates next year. This would be a part of that  discussion. We're hanging on so far for 2025.   Don't really have the year- end projections just  yet, but we really need to see how this plays out,   I think, before we know what will happen or could  happen uh with the with the rates going forward.   Having said all of that, staff is uh recommend  city council place the ordinance on first reading   and authorizes necessary signatures. I'd be happy  to stand for any questions. Thank you very much,   Gary. questions for staff beginning  with Vice Mayor Johnston. Thank you,   Mayor Gary. Thank you for all the work, everything  you did on this. I have had a couple residents,   up to your last point, reach out and say, "Well,  if they sell less water, they're going to have to   raise our rates." So, it sounds like that may  be the case. We're going to look at everything   we can uh within our rate model. We've we've  had to do that already this year. Uh there's   a whole host of things that we look at. uh we  we can't gut the capital side of what we do,   but we look at how we capitalize costs. We have  talked to other communities about what they have   done um as far as at some point in time looking  at search charges, but our goal is to smooth   things out as much as we can to make sure we're  looking ahead. I'll tell you real quick, too. Uh   we mentioned this before, but this is a good thing  for long-term conservation, but it also becomes   part of the equation. Derby and Valley Center  are both building water treatment plants. Uh that   they're going to utilize a lot of their own water  resources, which is great for conservation, but   at that point, that's two or three years out. So,  we're looking ahead. We're going to sell even less   water then. So, we're looking as far ahead as we  can. We'll be ready to discuss more in November.   If I can, council a number of years ago  changed the rate structure to make us less   um um reliant on water use. In other words, what  we went through over the last four years would   have had a much more significant impact on our  revenue had we not changed our rate structure. And   um it there there are a lot of nuances that  went into that, but and a lot of study to get   us to that point. But as Gary said, after  a a significant drought and then permanent   conservation, it's going to be hard to be able  to maintain without some kind of rate adjustment.   But it will not be as drastic as it would have  been if we were under the old rate structure.   The other thing that's kind of complicated, and  we'll talk about that in November, is some of   this isn't about the revenues needed to operate.  It's a matter of what our debt coverage ratios are   uh for our revenue bonds that have supported our  all of the improvements that we've put in place.   And so it may look like we're still sitting on  a good amount of cash, but we have pledged to   um our bond holders that we would keep a certain  coverage ratio uh on that debt. So that rate   structure changed from a flat rate to tier one,  tier two, tier tier three. is that I think we made   adjustments in the tiers if I remember correctly.  I'd have to go back and uh go through I can't I   can't remember all the methodology but we did and  we also reevaluated our base rate charge. There's   a base rate on every customer so that it's not  entirely dependent on on just the consumption the   amount of water used either. Thank you, Council  Member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you,   Gary. None of my stuff is going to be very  popular, but I just have some questions. Um,   so I've heard um that the best time to plant a new  yard is in September, which happens to be a little   bit before you're wanting to potential or when you  think that we might be hitting that 70% which you   would set in is potentially in October, right?  Correct. I mean, when it hits 70%, like what   does that look like rolling into making changes?  Do you just pick a day or do you wait until it's   70% and then pick a day? Like what does that look  like? Well, that's a good question. This is a bit   of new territory for us. Um, I think what we would  try to do, assuming that we're hanging on and you   know there's some forecast for some rain next  week even, uh, I think we probably can project   a date pretty safely in October and not just wait  till the day and say, "Okay, we're here." Uh,   that way we are we can allow ourselves the ability  to let folks know when it's coming and try to   start planning ahead. Okay. also is that also  when you would decide that we can plant trees. So yes, as part of our I was thinking through  our our variances, but sure. Um, you know,   I think from what we've talked about, and I didn't  get into it here, uh, probably with even the new   watering uh, measures in place will support new  trees, uh, especially because we're allowing   handwatering. And so I think that probably as  soon as this goes into effect, things will be   fine with planting trees. Okay. And my last um  question is probably already know the answer,   but have we considered putting these types of uh  watering days on wells also? We have not for the   reasons that I talked about. Um, I think we would  be challenged with what the state provides for,   you know, a domestic well permit up to two acres  is permitted through our staff, but state of   Kansas is still involved in that and it's under  the laws of the state. Uh, that's a an investment   that well owners have made. I don't think we  have the ability to restrict that unless we can   show that it is impacting our groundwater supply  which we at this point we can't. I still would   encourage it for what it's worth. We talk about it  anytime I go out in the public and talk about it.   We encourage well users to follow the same and  do the same. Right now I don't see how we can   put any restriction on them. Okay? Because I know  I've asked before if we saw any type of uptick and   people digging wells rather than using um we did  uh starting particularly in 2022 and three I think   but not really since the drought. No, I think this  last year has been fairly steady. I wouldn't say   it's been a ton and also too as I mentioned it's  not because of using those wells but because of   what we went through everything is lower than it  was. So, there are some people with wells that   currently don't have water in them, and we heard  from a few folks that didn't want to have to put   a well in even deeper because of the added cost.  So, I think they were going to wait. Thank you,   Council Member Ho Heisel. Thank you, Mayor. Um,  and thank you for the work. I know the change   in the Sunday, that's a small change, but it  does give everybody a chance to enjoy it on the   weekend. Um, so we touched on this a little bit  earlier. The surrounding cities and our customers   are beholden to this as well. Um, so they just  have to go to three days a week as well. Yes,   thank you. And I meant to mention that again.  So I appreciate you coming back to that. Um,   as we did with the once a week watering, uh,  and through the conditions of the wholesale   water agreements, they have to provide a plan  that shows they'll water three days a week and   that they have some way to enforce that. That's  all we asked for. I've got a copy of a plan from   all of our wholesale customers when we went to one  day. I It's kind of interesting to see how some   folks got pretty creative, but we're not going to  dictate that. Okay. So, there's is there going to   be a grace period? Uh when when does that kick  in officially? Well, from a timing perspective,   I think that's why we I think we need to find  figure out what the date looks like. And I   think we can be close enough if we stay to uh the  idea that we're going to wait till we're at 70%,   I think we can get a solid projection of when that  is so that everybody can know what we're looking   at for a date because we will need some time. In  that same vein into to the other question that   was asked, we're not going to be able to do this  from one day to the next. Okay. And then the last   thing, uh just a point to hit on, every year  when it comes up with water in rate increases,   sewer rate increases, I always emphasize uh making  sure that we take the burden off the lower tier,   the lowest tier. So just moving forward, I know if  we're going to have to try and make it up, I don't   want to make it up on the backs of people who can  barely afford it, who are barely making it as is.   So understood. The uh you know, our hope is with  our tiered structure, which we've talked quite   a bit about in the last year and a half, is that  is an incentive for conservation. And that's why   we've looked at those tiered rates. And we even  during the workshop I talked a little bit about   the idea of how we set average winter consumption  and we're still thinking about that some and may   discuss that more in November because I think  we've got an idea that really still puts the onus   on those who are using discretionary water for  outdoor watering which is where we really need to   cut back the most and it wouldn't have the impact  that that you're discussing. It shouldn't. Okay.   Thank you council member Tuttle. Thank you. Um,  Gary, thank you and your team for all your work on   this for the water reuse task force. Um, I think  I've said it a million times. Um, I get it and   and I understand. I would be perfectly happy to  stay exactly where we are with one day a week. Um,   I think people have the appetite for that. Two  days a week. Okay. I mean, I'll probably be   supportive of this just because I know it's it's  what we're hearing. But I've said before if we   tell people we're in drought and then that we're  out of drought and then we unfortunately have to   go back to drought. It's just a lot of mixed  messaging. And there's part of me that says,   "Well, people have the appetite for watering one  day a week. Just stay with it." The question that   I did get, somebody texted me because they're  watching and they said they just want to make   sure they understand and I want to make sure I  I have it correct, too. So, we have our drought   response plan, right? And it says that if we have  a one-year rolling average above, you know, is   it 79% 80% then we're back in stage one. Correct.  Correct. Are we actually changing the plan to say   to now it's not a one-year average? No, we're not.  Uh but I will here's what I will tell you. The   drought response plan, again, this is not a place  we've been before. The drought response plan says   we will come out of drought when we get to 90%  for the for the 12-month average. We have there's   language that was put in the drought response plan  that was meant to provide flexibility if needed or   if we so chose uh because there's so many factors.  I mentioned earlier that we're surprisingly Cheni   Reservoir is still 100%. here in the middle of  August having gone through July. I would not   have expected that. Again, the reservoir lowers  a lot slower than it ever goes up. I would not   have expected to be standing here today on August  19th and still be 100%. So, that to me is a fairly   considerable factor to think about going forward  as we start heading towards we all know we can   still get plenty of hot temperatures including  September. October is historically one of our   wetest months. It wasn't last year so can't always  hang our hat on that but we're headed towards what   we would think likely to be better times. So our  recommendation of going to this new conservation   once we get back to stage one is a variance from  the the way we interpret the plan. Uh but I also   think there's some flexibility in there taking all  factors into consideration and I appreciate that.   I'm just going to editorialize for a second. Um,  District 2 not having wells and, you know, having   a higher propensity of people who really really  care about their yards. I'm still remembering last   August and September. And I just I remember people  saying, "Y'all don't know what you're doing. You   should have done this sooner." All those things.  Um, and and so I like I said, I just don't want   the public's trust in us to erode over being able  to irrigate their lawn with treated water. So,   I'm just kind of stating that for the public  record. I appreciate you as the content expert   and your team as the content expert making this  recommendation and and I will be supportive, but   um I just, as I mentioned, wanted to go on record  saying water is our most precious resource. Um,   I just I wish we could even have a compromise of  two days and not three, but I understand. Thank   you. Thank you, Vice Mayor Johnston. Thank you,  Mayor Gary. We heard from a couple speakers in the   first version of the water talk. Um, from Damian  and Jeremy, I think still here. Um, I have a heart   for the small business guy. It's going to be hard  for them to schedule any s sort of landscaping or   reeding if they don't have a date. Um, you just  can't instantly buy seed, buy sod, and go out   and start doing it and have jobs lined up. Um,  I I call Mark Matany at Treetop, Mark Mckenry   at Hillside, Brady Nursery, Peter Samron from  Pestal Landscapes. They all they it they ranged   from September 1st to the end of October, but they  all agreed that the sweet spot was September 15th   to October 15th to recede a yard. Um a lot of army  worms in West Witchah that destroyed yards. Um is   there any way we we could well I will make  a motion that we start at September 15th.   uh have that date to have the water restrictions  just like you said, but have it starting September   15th. Um just so these businesses can can have a  chance to plan and organized and and the customers   can plan and organized too to get their yards  receded or sorted or whatever it might be. Um you think that'd be a problem or I think so. So,  I've been a proponent of of hanging on as long as   we can. Uh, and trying to be true to the intent  of where we've come from. Uh, but I will tell you   that I think we're in a lot better shape than  we thought we would be at this point. I think   there means a lot that Cheni Reservoir is full on  August 19th. Um, my opinion is that we're probably   not going to see much difference if we aim for an  October date where we're projecting 70% and and   we can do a pretty good job. Our projections are  based on effectively it's staying where it's at.   Getting normal precipitation, getting normal  evaporation kind of balances each other out.   Right now we I think we've got through kind of  a tough spot. Hopefully, we don't see next 30   days of 100 degrees and no rain, but even then  it drops slowly. So, so to not I wasn't trying   to dance around that vice mayor. I think uh with  the position that we're in, we I we would support   doing that recognizing that this is I talked  before about this being an adaptive challenge.   I think there's a lot of conditions that we  need to weigh. Uh value obviously the input   of all of you and I think this is a I think this  is a decision I'd like to see a decision that we   could all try to make together and I wouldn't have  a problem with looking at September 15th. Okay. I   I appreciate that. By the way, rain is headed at  Cheni right now. It's raining over Cheni right   now. Even better. Yeah. Just looked at the radar.  So I appreciate that. Thank you. I I do believe I   would just add to that real quick. We we've been  through a lot. Uh this went on longer than anybody   would have expected. I remember in the fall,  not to glamorize it, but in the fall of 2024,   I heard from numerous people that said, "Don't  do it. It's going to rain. We know it's going   to rain." And it didn't rain. This was not normal,  even by normal standards. And so, we're fortunate   we did what we did. But it's been tough. And  I get it. And I hear from a lot of people   uh who had nice yards that are burn up. I'd kind  of hate to see us wait till October 15th without   much gain when we could potentially lose that  very important 30 days in there. I think there's   some real value to that. Okay. I appreciate that.  Council member Ho Heisel. Thank you, Mayor. Uh can   we go back a couple slides to where we talk about  the um the exemptions for businesses and whatnot? Yeah. I mean, is is it that we could start  possibly this immediately and the rest of   the restrictions wait, or is that too complicated? I suppose that's possible. I think we're probably  better off moving forward with everything at the   same time. Okay. Thank you. I have just a couple  of questions. Um you mentioned that let's see   slide number 154 the equis beds are at 90%. What  were they last year uh when we went into stage two   around 92%. Can you address the dip? So as much  as anything our recharge efforts our ASR project   counts on high water levels in the little ark  river. When the water levels get high enough we   pull water off of the river. We treat it through  our surface water treatment plant. We inject it   into the ground. As we were experiencing this  regional drought, the ark river flows were low.   So, we had very little recharge for almost a  year there. And then there's some impacts from   uh farming and atrizine impacts. Usually what  happens in the spring is we get a real good flush   of the river that takes care of some of those  things and we didn't. So some of the big rains   we got in June, we weren't even able to capitalize  on uh recharge because of the water quality. So   we had to wait. So it it's been a result of  the same drought of and and our inability to   um utilize ASR. And one of the concerns that was  brought up during the first half of the public   comments were regarding those wholesale water  users. I understand that they have been engaged   in the conversation but not everyone has. Um are  there opportunities for wholesale customers like   a Belair um not just their electeds but also their  city managers or administrators to have some sort   of big town hall because I think part of it was  um what you said earlier is how they carry out the   restrictions would be up to each municipality,  right? Um, so would there be an appetite for   something like a um a convening for them? I do  not mind doing that at all. Um, we have been able   to handle this through general communications  by email and otherwise even going into stage   two. But if sure if that helps. I' we've spent a  lot of time talking to these folks over the last   since January of 2023 and I think they in my in my  opinion the ones I've talked to I think they have   a pretty good feel for how this works and where  we're at. I if if that helps I don't mind. Um I   I'd reached out to all of them the other day to  remind them this was coming this discussion was   coming today. I've heard back from a few who just  had some uh questions of clarification but that's   been about it. So, we can do whatever needs to be  done. I we're supplying the water to the region.   Um, I think if the city council decides to  move forward with a plan that allows three   day a week watering, that needs to stay in place  for all wholesale customers. It is very clear in   the wholesale water agreements. I don't want to  say that meaning that I don't want to listen to   wholesale customers, but that part would not be  up for debate. It would just be about specifics   and the specifics are up to them. I'm happy  to talk to him about what might work for them,   but they can figure out whatever plan works  better than we can. And then my next question   is about public engagement. Um, obviously  this was presented during a workshop. Um,   and workshops are an opportunity for the council  to really give direction to staff, but no public   comment is taken during workshop regarding this  proposal. So my question then is what have you   heard from the public u regarding these permanent  restrictions? So I don't offer this as a way to   try to sell anybody on anything, but the folks  I've heard from have said don't make it any more   than three days. Most people I've heard from said  stay with one day, go to two days. I've heard that   quite a bit, but that's from some of the same  ones we've heard from over the course of time   that really value conservation and that's good. I  don't know that I've heard from anybody that said,   "Don't do it. Go back. Let us do what we wanted to  do." Because I think I've talked to a few people   directly and they do realize that three days a  week can work and it does well. We've talked so   much about education. I could continue to belabor  that. There were so many folks that watered seven   days a week that weren't doing anything for the  health of their yard and so this is going to be a   good thing anyway. But public input I've heard so  far has been good. If I could jump in on that too,   mayor Gary, I think you'll agree with me based on  our conversations. I think all of our education   efforts have made a difference. I a lot of  the calls and people that stop me and talk   to me about it are actually concerned about people  they see watering outside of the cycle or watering   in the middle of the day or watering during  rainstorms, which one of the speakers talked   about. And so I I think more and more people are  upset about the lack of proper conservation by us   by residents and businesses. And in fact, I've  had people urging me to get more uh aggressive   and enforcement of restrictions. So I appreciate  that. Um I think Gary mentioned this is about   education and collaboration over enforcement.  So you're not going to add additional staff to   enforce this. Can you address since the stage  two restrictions to one day a week uh watering   how much uh you have fined individuals? I can  if you give me a second I have that information. In uh 2024 we had 535 warning letters that were  sent out 16 violations for a total of $800.   2025 197 warning letters sent six violations for  a total of $300. So all in 22 violations $1,100 and I would assume that this would continue in  terms of enforcement being very low on the list   but really more about education and really  focusing the effort on encouraging people   to please do the three days. I'm a bit concerned  though um when it comes to going somewhere very   permanent. Um I feel like that conversation,  there are only two or maybe a couple more   individuals left here talking about this item. And  so it always worries me when um public comment,   especially on a topic that will uh codify this  into an ordinance, which would be much more   restrictive than what it currently what what would  have been prior to stage two, which was you could   water whenever you'd like. Um I'm concerned that  we don't have enough public comment back. That's   what I'm worried about. Um I know you said that a  majority of your public comment that you've heard   from folks is we want restriction. Well, um I I  find that uh concerning. Um, I think encouragement   and education are very important, but I really  think that again we need more conversation on this   and I don't even think that we've had a town hall  regarding this very topic of just water. We had   how many town halls regarding uh, Second Light,  which was the former multi- agency center. And   I'm I'm just a little worried that again we're not  getting enough public comment on this. So, I might   offer and thank you for that, mayor. I might offer  up just a little bit more context on the things   that we have done, especially since even prior to  going into stage two. So, I counted it up. Council   member Tuttle mentioned this, but since last  summer, and I don't ask me why I have this list,   mostly it was just to keep track of my schedule,  but I have presented to almost 35 different public   groups. This includes Rotary clubs, district  advisory boards, neighborhood associations,   large groups. Uh we have videos that we have had  on social media channels that talk about these   very specific issues that talk about Elorado,  that talk about long-term water restrictions that   are constantly on a loop out on social media. Uh  not quite the same as you were getting at, mayor,   as far as a town hall, but I I think we've done  an amazing job. not not me, but I've just been out   there saying the words. But I think we've done  a really good job of being out there really as   much as possible and talking to folks. We went  I went to uh the spring whatever lawn and garden   show and I talked to people non-stop for four  hours. Uh and there were some that were in favor   of some that weren't, but I heard a lot of ideas  about conservation shortterm and long term. So,   uh, I think and we've kind of been doing this  on on a thread, um, on a loop here since we   started this of continuing this conversation. I  I believe that's why we're in a better place now,   and that's probably because we hear some of  what we do. You know, honestly, I've heard   from some people that said they're just tired  of hearing about it and ready to move on. But   I think they've come to value what we've talked  about all along is changing our culture uh making   it about education and finding the right way to  move forward. And we've seen a lot of creativity   from folks. We've heard a lot of responses about  finding better ways to use water. So always game   uh to do anything we need to for public engagement  going forward. depending on what's decided today.   We're going to jump in with Comm's team and start  getting the word out as quick as we can of when   this is going to happen, what this means, what can  be done so that everybody knows what's next. Thank   you, Gary. Vice Mayor Johnston. Thank you, Mayor.  In response to that, Mayor too, I think we we all   have a district. I know your district's the whole  city, but we all have a district and they reach   out to us and I have had many many people reach  out on the water issue expressing their opinion.   uh probably maybe as many as that come to the town  hall just from district five. So I think there has   been a lot of engagement, a lot of publicity.  Appreciate Gary's efforts of getting out. Um he   he done a lot of extra time in doing all these  things. So I I think there has been a lot of   public engagement maybe as much as anything. So  I think we're okay. Council member Tuttle. Thank   you. I'm I'm just going to say one more one more  thing. I think truly if we went and had a town   hall or we asked for more public engagement,  people would say keep it at one day or two   days a week. Um because people are in conservation  mode right now. So um the more public engagement   the better of course, but um I I I'm not exactly  sure that everybody would agree that with what the   results of what we got. Um, so I think this is  probably where we are right now. The best place   to start as long as we make sure that, you know,  there's the expression of keeping one eye on the   microscope and one eye on the telescope. We just  can't ever, you know, we need to make sure that   we're being vigilant of monitoring this so that if  we have to go back to one day a week, we certainly   do it quickly so that people, as I mentioned, the  public trust doesn't erode that we don't know how   to handle this situation. So, thank you. I would  have one more comment to that then. I would really   like to see a town hall regarding this. I think  that if we have made two at least two town halls   regarding um homelessness and the multi- agency  center now called Second Light, then I think this   deserves its own town hall since this is permanent  restrictions. And again, I I think that it would   warrant that opportunity. Um, I also understand  vice mayor's uh concerns about having some sort   of finality so that uh small businesses can move  forward as well as have that conversation. And I   don't really see from this bench um an agreement  of moving forward with what what council member   Tuttle has believes is also important, which is  the town hall. I don't know if we have enough   people that want to have that prior to this. Um,  I don't see any nods. Yep. So, I don't see any   nods. So, what I would ask then is for staff to  still create a town hall because people will need   to know about these new restrictions as it seems  like the rest of the council is in favor of this   that then we need to hear from community what are  I I know earlier it was mentioned there are some   loopholes. Well, that was good that you brought  that forward because then now um Gary can address   the 24 hours versus this is uh when you can  water. So, I think that again a town hall would be   um advised and I would like to see one uh one  where it's not during the daytime but rather   in the evening time so that uh plenty of folks  from all over the community can chime in. Um,   and if again this passes, I still want to see  that um, going forward with a community town hall. I see no further questions or comments from this   bench. We will now open it up for the  second half of the public comments if   there are any individuals who have  not spoken about this very topic. Looks like nobody wants to speak on this anymore.  Uh so again, I want to say do you want You already   spoke though. I'm so sorry. Um, I appreciate  again for um this council and allowing me to   uh have public comment regarding this item ahead  of this uh topic because I knew that there were   people that wanted to speak and I want to make  sure that when someone wants to make the effort to   come to city hall and make their voice heard that  their voice is heard and so um I appreciate that   we were able to do public comment ahead of time  plus public comment during the actual item. So,   thank you, council members. Uh, with that,  um, I know that there are probably comments.   If there are no comments, mayor, I have one quick  caveat. Sorry. Let me take a quick step back on   this recommended action. So, I I do want to maybe  Jennifer can make sure I get this right. This is   part of the ordinance that's before you. So we  would recommend city council place the ordinance   on first reading and authorize necessary  signatures with the change that addresses   ending in an odd number can water on Wednesday,  Friday and Sunday. Even number stays as Tuesday,   Thursday, Saturday. No watering on Monday.  That would be our recommendation. Is that   good enough? If whoever makes the motion will  just incorporate that. That will be perfect. I saw council member Ballard. Thank you,  mayor. So, just to make this really easy,   Gary, that's the only changes is we're going from  one day a week to three days a week depending on   your address. Well, it is, but also in the  ordinance allows for the variances that we   talked about, which is really critical part  of this. Okay. And just some clarifications   on things like handwatering can be done  anytime outside 10 to 6. Vice Mayor John Oh,   Vice Mayor Johnston. Thank you. Also,  Gary, I would like to add if the council   agrees to begin this on se Monday,  September the 15th as a as a start date for for the water restrictions and everything  as you said, three days a week. So So is that   a motion? I I can make the motion. Um, I'd  like to motion that we place the ordinance   on the first reading and change it to Monday,  Wednesday, and Friday for addresses ending at   odd numbers. Sorry. Monday, Monday, Wednesday,  and Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. Wednesday,   Friday, and Sunday. Yes, sir. Okay. And  no watering on Monday. Wednesday, Friday,   and Sunday for odd. Tuesday, Thursday, and  Saturday for even, no watering on Monday.   Uh the watering uh restriction plan would  begin uh Monday, September 15th. Second motion and a second and there's a lot of comments.  So we'll start with council member Ballard. Council member Hisel. Thank you mayor. Uh what  does that do to the outreach to the uh water   customers? Does that put the onus on them to get  their policies in line before the 15th uh for   the wholesale wash water customers? Yes, sir. It  would. Yes, we would. If this moves forward today,   we'll be contacting them by morning to let  them know the action that was taken and that   we need to have a plan in place by September 15th.  Okay. Thank you, Council Member Johnson. Thanks,   Mayor Gary. Appreciate the presentation. Um, now  that this motion is grouped, I am supportive of   the ordinance and all the efforts being made. I  am not supportive of starting on the 15th just   on principle because we're not at the metrics at  this point. However, I will reluctantly support   it because I do support the overall ordinance. Um,  but I do think since we had set some standards in   place, we really should adhere to those. But um  in this case, I will vote for this this time. Um   but I would just hope in the future we adhere to  the things that we have voted on and don't change   them based on that. Again, if before September  15th we have a lot of hot days and Cheney drops,   then we're kind of in a weird spot with this. So  I will support it. But I do have those concerns.   Further comments? I will just add this. I will not  be voting in favor. Not because I don't support   conservation because I do support conservation.  However, I want to hold staff accountable to a   town hall that I will attend um along with public  works and I want to hold staff accountable to a   convening with the wholesale users so that they're  aware of what is happening and I want to hear   their feedback. Um, and I really appreciate  um, when people reach out to us and they want   more engagement so that they understand what the  rules are. Um, I want to make sure that everyone   understands it. So, I'm going to be voting no  to hold so that we can hold staff accountable   to a town hall and a convening for the wholesale  users. Council member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor. This is hard. Um, I'm a little reluctant to agree  to the September 15th. I can get behind the 3 days   a week reluctantly, but I'm a little nervous to  make that look so rushed for September 15th. Um,   so just sharing those comments. Council member  Glas, thank you. I'm always in favor of more   public engagement. I have brought this before  my dab. I lot I know probably a lot of members   of this body have brought it before their dab and  that's often our experience to have a town hall.   We can host a town hall. We can invite people.  But I do want to say that engagement has been   made in district 4. I would probably echo that for  my colleagues as well. Whether that be town halls,   whether that be breakfast, I know this is brought  up at every single neighborhood association I go   to, every single meeting I go to. So I do think  there's been substantive engagement. I'll support   a town hall. I'll come to a town hall as well.  But I do want to say that I'm thankful for staff   who have come to meetings that I've had,  breakfastes that I've had, town halls that   I've had to engage about this policy as well.  Thank you, Vice Mayor Johnston. Thank you. I I   appreciate the concerns about not following it,  but we do have a full water supply right now.   Um, I think it's up to council to to make those  determinations when we should follow it to the   letter law and when we should adjust it for small  business owners like like Damian. He spent all day   here instead of working uh because he didn't have  any jobs. Um, so he can start lining up jobs for   uh for September 15th. I think I think that's  important that all these small businesses   that rely on on water and planting can can make  plans. So I I think that's really important and   uh we are in a good good shape now. What was  done was done very well. I think the plan's   done very well. I think it's I think it's very  good. I see no reason to delay it because we   do have a full water source uh right now. So  thank you, Council Member Tuttle. Oh, sorry,   Council Member Johnson. I apologize. Thanks,  Mayor. Um just one quick question on this as   I'm still hesitant. So, if we lock in on  September 15th and the situation changes,   but council has mandated that September 15th  we go ahead with this, what happens? Do we   need to come back to another council meeting  to discuss that or so if it helps um and this   isn't going to be the same, but I was going  to offer this up as a point of clarification. If we move forward uh with this on September 15th,  our 12-month average resets at whatever the level   is on September 15th. Okay. That helps some to  your concern. I think if we get really bad things   going on for the next almost 30 days, we would  reset the 12 month to what it is right at that   point. So that it does give us some head start on  where we need to be there, if that makes sense.   Yeah. Thank you, Council Member Tuttle. Thank  you. I just want to make the comment that I also   support small businesses. I support all business  and that's why I've been in such conservation mode   because if we would have gone to stage one, we  would have hurt many business and industries,   not just, you know, folks in certain industries.  So on the record, almost all of the rationale for   the decisions I've made regarding drought have  been because I'm supportive of business. I I'm   reluctant about the three days. I've  said that at nauseium and I'm sorry,   but I'm even more reluctant about the September  15th only because we're getting ready. We are in   the two hottest months. We have half of August and  we'd have half of September left. And you know,   as I say, every day, water is our most precious  re resource. Being in conservation mode every day   is not a bad thing. I think it's the future of how  we need to be thinking of water so we can protect   generations to come for our community. So, um,  I'll I'll be curious to see where the votes go.   But if the September 15th doesn't and we go back  to the original proposed, I'll more than likely   be supportive of that. But again, thank you for  the discussion from my colleagues. I appreciate   it. This is a really important decision. And I've  told people, and I mean this earnestly in the two,   you've done 35. I think I've done 23. I counted  or something. I don't know if there's a more   important topic in our community right now than  water. I mean, I can't imagine. I mean, everything   we do, of course, is important, but if we don't  have water, I mean, that's a a deal breakaker   for everything in our community, and there have  been communities in this nation who have had to   deal with that situation, and I don't want us  to get any closer to this than we've already   been. Thank you, Vice Mayor Johnston. Gary, if  if it didn't rain another drop till the 15th,   what would be the And it's 100 degrees every day.  What would the the evaporation rate be? At Cheney,   we his we historically have lost approximately 10  inches of elevation a month during the hottest,   driest months with no inflow. So we would be  approaching a foot below normal. Foot below   normal. Okay. I think I think that eases the angst  about starting on the 15th. We're still going to   be pretty full. And and if you look at your radar  right now, it's red right over the Cheni Basin.   It's pouring down rain right there now. So, uh  my wife called me and texted me and she says,   "Are you getting heavy rain?" I said, "I don't  know. I'm telling a meeting. I haven't seen the   outside yet." So, there is heavy rain right  over Cheney right now. And if the most we can   lose at the worst conditions is 10 inches, I I  think we're okay. So, I appreciate it. Council   member Ho Heisel. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I wonder  if my colleagues, it would ease some of their   concern if we set a limit such as if it's still  above 95% on September 15th, then it'll kick in   on September 15th. And if not, then it would go  as planned, as scheduled. I don't know if that's if that's possible, if that's doable.  I think from a legal perspective,   it'll be a little tricky for the ordinance to be  triggered by an event that we won't know until   that date. I I I think if you take 10 inches  off there, we're going to be at 95%. Right.   I was trying to remember what the elevation  correlation was to percentage. It's pretty   close. It probably is. It's pretty close.  So, I I think I think we've got it covered.   I really do. Yeah. I mean, I'm just throwing  it out there to see if that helps ease some of   the concerns. I think we're I think we're  okay, but Council Member Johnson. Thanks,   Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Hohisel. Um  I think that would get a little complicated.   I'm going to support this. Um I just know I'll be  watching elevations around that time and weather   patterns up until then. I'm hopeful that this  all works out, but just stating my concerns. Council member Tuttle. Sorry. And just  to go back. Sorry, Carrie. All right. So,   Johnson, Council Member Johnson brought this  up earlier. If extremely dry, extremely hot,   lots of evaporation on the 15th, is is  there an And if I missed it, I'm sorry,   but is there a way to amend it? So then  we don't do it and we stay where we are. We don't know that. I don't know that. Yep.  Worst case scenario is 10 inches in a month   and we're less than four weeks away. So  if it goes down 10 inches, we're still   at 95ish%. But I'm asking a question that I  think is fair to be answered. Right. I think   the this has been a little bit of a complicated  concept to for us to figure out how this works,   not having been at this point before. I think  where we do help ourselves is the comment I   made earlier is if you get what would be  considered a a big drop in that one month,   we're going to reset and start over on the  12-month average at that elevation. So that's   moving forward. That's considered the 12 month if  that makes sense. So it'd be as if the previous   12 months were at that elevation. That does give  us a head start of going back to where we need   to be within the drought response plan. And if  we happen to see dry conditions beyond that,   we'll get back to stage two in a lot quicker order  than we would have otherwise. If I know that's a   little bit of a a different concept, but I think  that part helps. I think that helps us by by going   that that becomes our new 12 month if we do have  that problem within that period of time. I'm not   sure what else we set the the gauge at other than  staying with saying that we go to stage one is   ultimately what lifts it with and that would stay  with the current 12 month when it gets to 70%. So it looks like we have a motion  and a second. Any further discussion?   I see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes four to three. Thank  you. Thank you. Madame clerk,   can you please call the next item?  Ancillary employee benefits selection. Good afternoon, mayor, city council. I'm  Heather St. Pierre, Department of Finance,   and we have made it to agenda item number  11, the 2026 ancillary employee benefits   program. The city's ancillary benefit  program includes self-funded dental,   flexible spending account administration,  and self-funded vision. IMA assists the   city by monitoring programs and providing vendor  selection assistance as well as rate analysis. The   health health insurance advisory committee  or HYAK serves as the staff screening and   selection committee for our benefit programs. Hyak  membership includes representatives from the FOP,   the IAFF, SEIU, and the Transit Teamsters  Union. Membership also includes employees   council as well as staff from law department, city  manager's office, human resources and finance. On March 17, 2025 in coordination with  IMA, a request for proposals was issued   for vision and dental benefits as well as flex  spending account administration. Two dental,   three vision, and 10 flex spendable. Flex  spendable flexible spending administration   responses were received. The staff screening  and selection committee interviewed   the potential vendors and recommended  Delta Dental of Kansas VSSP Insurancec. They recommended Delta Dental due  to their expansive provider network,   customer service capabilities,  and low administration fee.   The committee valued VSSP's municipal  experience, history of employee satisfaction,   and affordable rates. Shar's 24-hour customer  service capabilities, performance guarantees,   and rate guarantee were all appreciated. The  vision program is paid with city contributions   of not less than 80% and employee contributions  of not more than 20%. The city pays the fees for   the flexible spending account administration.  The dental program is employee paid. Contracts   and policies will of course be subject to review  and approval as to form by the law department.   It is recommended that the city council accept  the recommendations of the screening committee   and approve Delta Dental of Kansas VSP insurance  as well as authorize staff to negotiate contracts   with the proposed vendors and authorize the  necessary signatures. And with that, I'm happy to   answer questions. Thank you for the presentation.  Questions for staff? Uh, Vice Mayor Johnston,   thank you for the presentation. I appreciate it.  Just one question. Has the city considered an HSA   health savings account instead of a flexible  spending account? There have been some um   conversations around HSA health savings accounts.  Those may or may not be required to be tied to a   high deductible health plan which we I don't think  so. No. Okay. I'm thinking of the other one then.   But yes, those are ongoing conversations. Okay. It  the advantage of that is it can go flow from year   to year to year, right? Right. And if you don't  use it at the end of your life, you can actually   get the money back, right? Instead of having to  spend it every year. Yeah. So I I would like to   see maybe look into that. Absolutely. I I would  do that. I won't do the flexible spending because   may not need it. Right. So So thank you. Yeah.  Absolutely. I see no further questions for staff.   We'll open it up for public comment. I see no  public comment. We'll bring it back to the bench.   I will go ahead and move that the city council  approve Delta Dental of Kansas VSP Insurancey as   the providers for dental vision and flexible  spending administration authorize staff to   negotiate contracts with the proposed vendors  and authorize the necessary signatures. 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. Public   housing recovery agreement status report. Good afternoon, honorable mayor, members  of council. Sally staying with the housing   and community services department. For the  record, I have for you our August update to   our HUD recovery agreement. Just a reminder, in  January of this year, we entered into a recovery   agreement related to the public housing  score under the public housing assessment   s system that was low due to our disposition of  those public housing assets. That agrievement   includes actions related to improving physical  condition of occupied units, repositioning the   remaining public housing properties, and providing  an update on capital fund projects. Improving the   physical condition of occupied units. All of  our required maintenance plans, inspections,   and work order information is uploaded to the HUD  portal um monthly. We had our real est HUD real   estate assessment center inspections in uh May  of this year and we finally have final scores for   those. Um and we scored 100% and 903% respectively  for our two groupings of properties. Additionally,   we had inspire national standard for the physical  inspection of real estate inspections contracted   with Namay and Associates. Those were completed in  July of 2025, resulting in no life-threatening or   severe deficiencies in any occupied properties.  To date, repositioning public housing, we have   a 20.8% occupancy rate because obviously we're  not re uh leasing units as they vacate. We have   approval of all of the disposition applications  as of June 20th. As of the 4th of August,   and this number changes absolutely every day.  We had closed on 180 properties as of that date   and had 32 pending sale. We've only had three  properties that did not sell once we listed them   with a listing agent and we'll be turning those  over to uh McCertie Real Estate and auction to   be auctioned at no less than appraised value and  the detailed disposition report was attached to   the agenda report which includes the status on  every single property. So, our strategies for   the remaining um units include with the update  last week of the affordable housing fund plan,   we'll be moving forward with uh the sale of  seven units in South City that will be sold   with affordable housing fund subsidies as occupied  units because we have very large families in those   units and know they'll be challenged to find  units in the in the open marketplace. uh we'll   we'll prioritize units within the flood plane,  units with environmental environmental mitigation   needs and those with other market challenges for  those affordable housing funds. Um we are issuing   requests for proposals without subsidy for the  Arnold and uh country acres clusters. Actually,   I reviewed the Arnold RFP just today and we  should be getting that out in the next week or so.   Um and then the remaining units will be sold on  the open market staggered not to flood the market   or alter our real estate market um after occupied  units relocate. So occ the occupants have until   September 30th to vacate those units to meet their  the regulatory 90-day notice for vacating capital   fund projects. We've received additional capital  funds for for 2025. That wasn't expected. And we   are work moving forward with 25 roof and governor  replacements. Those that is out for bid with those   bids expected back by August 29th. We're going to  every dollar they give us, we want to make sure   we're investing back in these properties before  we put them back out to the market. The previous   roof replacement project for 10 units is complete.  Renovation of seven units at Country Acres is 20%   complete. and renovation of seven units in South  City is about 95% complete. We did have a fire on   uh August 7th on a property that the renovations  were 95% complete. So unfortunate. Um it is being   investigated as arson. Here are some pictures from  that fire. Um the we are working with our insur we   have outside insurance for the public housing  properties. We're working with the insurance   company and they believe as this is a brick  structure that we will be able to um re make the   renovations necessary with our insurance proceeds.  At this point that's all the entire update. There   is no impact to the general fund. The monthly  update to the Witchaw Housing Authority Board   is required as part of the recovery plan. And it  is recommended that the Witchaw Housing Authority   Board receive and file the recovery plan status  update report for August 2025. And I stand for   any questions. Thank you, Sally. Questions for  staff? I just have a couple. Um, I wanted to know   uh slide 182. It was mentioned that there that  you all received additional funds. Can you   explain those additional funds? So, when you have  public housing, we receive operating funds and we   receive capital funds. We did not expect we'd be  receiving additional capital funds in 2025 because   we most of our units were approved had approved  disposition applications, but we did receive   additional $1.3 million in additional funds. So,  we will be bringing further contracts forward. It   may slow down our our sales because like I said,  as we're putting these properties back out onto   the market, we want to be make sure that we spend  every dollar that HUD has given us and they'll be   in better uh condition at the point we go to sell  them. So, yep. My other question is uh in the   consent agenda, there were multiple uh properties  that again sold for above appraisal price. Can you   just address um has that been going that way all  along? Nothing has come below or nothing has come   below. Um we actually can't sell them for below  the appraised value and you know it really there   have been some um time that has elapsed from the  time the appraisals had happened. It took a long   time to um approve some of those applications and  we're seeing market rates changing in different   neighborhoods ac across the community. We lean  on our um listing agent to make recommendations   as to what to put those units, what price to set  for those. They've they've been pretty good. Um   every once in a while we have to bring them down  a little bit closer to appraised. Uh but we work   handinhand with the broker. Those additional  dollars above the appraisal price. How is that   being utilized within the department? So, all  of the proceeds from the sales of these homes   have to be used and invested in future affordable  housing with section 8 um rent restrictions. So,   that's that source of funds that we'll be putting  into the housing we're building at at the Second   Light campus. And then there'll be additional  funds um that we'll be able to invest in future   development. Thank you very much, Sally. And I  know that uh city manager Leighton, I think it was   last week or the week before, we're going to have  a presentation regarding Second Light coming up.   Do you know when that will happen? No, not yet.  So, thank you for your efforts, Sally. With that,   I see no further comments from this bench. Anyone  from the public who would like to speak on this   topic? I see no one. I'll bring it back to the  bench. I will go ahead and move that the Witchaw   Housing Authority Board receive and file the  HUD recovery agreement status update and public   housing disposition update report. 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 agenda approve that pursuant  to section 2.04.090 090. Council member Glascock's   travel expenses as estimated on the travel  authorization and expense form to attend the   AFCI task force awards in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma  August 26th through 27th for the purpose of   representing the city of Witchaw consistent with  AR3.1 be approved upon return from travel. Actual   expenses shall be reported to the controllers's  office. Council member Glascar. Thank you, Mayor.   the board is frozen. So, I'll just uh briefly  uh mention I was talking to Captain Slaughter   about the great work that the property uh task  force, property crimes task force is doing,   and they're getting an award in Oklahoma City. Uh  and so I will be going to congratulate them and   represent the city down in Oklahoma. Thank you  for representing us, Council Member Glascock,   and congratulations to the task force that has  recovered over $6 million um in property that has   been stolen. So, thank you very very much. With  that, I will move to approve that travel. Second   motion and a second. Any further discussion? I see  none. Madame clerk, can you please open the role? Motion passes 70. Uh I have one agenda item off  the cuff. Um however, it is not uh something that   uh is for the council. It's really more for uh  law department. I wanted to know if the mayor   is allowed to create a committee specifically to  America's 250th anniversary which will be held   next year. So I wanted to know if if the mayor  can just create a committee if that is do I need   approval from this I'll check but I think the  ordinance is silent on that but let me follow   up with you on that. Thanks. So I appreciate uh  that we'll get a response at some point. Uh again,   Kansas has a committee for America's 250th headed  by Representative Estus. And so I wanted to make   sure that we also had a committee here in Witchah  appointed or gathered convened by the mayor. I   know that visit Witchah is also taking a lead on  a similar effort. Um but there have not been a lot   of movement regarding that. Um so I really wanted  to make sure that it's top of mind as the end of   the year is coming. Council member Tuttle, thank  you. Um, a couple weeks ago, maybe a month ago,   I think we had a discussion at the end of  the meeting regarding this and I thought,   and I could be completely wrong because, you  know, it's been a bit, but that we would all   appoint someone and then the committee res would  reside in park and wreck. That's my recollection,   but if I'm wrong, I apologize, but if not, I  think that would be a good way to proceed. Um,   and perhaps the mayor can have, you know, se like  if there's seven of us and the mayor has three or   I don't know. But I think it would be great  to have representation from all the different   districts just because every district's a little  bit different. Um, and you know, it would be   interesting to see if we wanted to do something  in all the districts or just downtown. So,   um, that would be my recommendation, but just  a thought from the discussion we had prior.   Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Tuttle. I  think that discussion in particular was about   the selection of a new uh city manager and so I  I think uh law has some comments. Thank you for   the moment Mayor. Um I did check the ordinance.  There is an ordinance that provides that the mayor   may appoint special committees as directed or  approved by majority of the council. Such special   committees shall conduct activities and report  as directed by the majority of the council. Such   committees shall serve at the pleasure of the  majority. So it says again, may it be appointed   by the mayor as directed or approved by a majority  of council. So maybe this is further discussion,   but when I was thinking of a committee, I was  really more talking about convening other groups   such as Cedric County, USD 259, McConnell Air  Force Base. These are other entities that should   be activated regarding America's 250 including  the Veterans Memorial Park Board um and Dole   VA hospital just to name a few. So I just I was  curious if that's even the same because I'm not   necessarily asking for I think that's different.  You're you're convening community groups. It's not   an appointment. I think that the administrative  matter mayor, if you'd let us look at it because   we have had some past practice um regarding  the mayor appointing a special committee. Um   I can think of one that council member or mayor  Longwell put together. So let me talk to the city   attorney. Let's work through that. Okay. Thank  you, Council Member Hoheisel. Uh no comment.   I just I had the same recollections that we had  had that discussion about an appointment each but   um curious to see where this discussion goes  and we'll let them come back with uh some of   the past practices. Thank you. Thank you. And one  more question for law. I just wanted to make sure   um that I'm following protocol here. Um if  I wanted to put something on the agenda,   according to the ordinance, the mayor cannot  be the only one that puts it on the agenda.   It has to be voted on by this council.  Is that correct? That's That's correct,   Mayor. Thank you. I know that um at some point  I may be bringing up a a discussion item uh but   it would need to be voted on. The mayor cannot  just simply put something on the agenda. Thank   you. Except for recognition. So, a recognition is  different. Thank you very much. Um madame clerk,   can you please call the next item? Council  member appointments and comments. Council   member appointments. I see none. Council member  comments. Council member Johnson. Thanks,   Mayor. I just wanted to encourage those in the  city to keep the family of Bishop Mark Gilkkey   in your prayers. He passed this morning. Uh  he was a tremendous leader in the community,   head of the ministerial league, did a lot of great  work for us and worked closely with the council on   unity in the community last year. Uh unfortunately  his health did not allow him to participate in   every event but uh he was a a strong supporter did  a lot of great work in this community and showed   um the love of God through his actions. So  just want to keep the ministerial league and   his family uh in our prayers. They're going to  announce uh his services here in the next few   days but definitely wanted to mention that we lost  a wonderful uh human. My condolences to the family   as well. Any further comments from this bench?  Unfortunately, we cannot leave yet. Um, we have a   special session. Uh, so I will now ask um and move  I move that the city council recess into executive   session for 30 minutes to receive information  from city staff pursuant to KSA75-4319B2 to discuss employer employee negotiations whether  or not in consultation with the representative or   representatives of the public body or agency.  The executive session is required to protect   the city's right to the confidentiality of its  negotiating position and the public interest.   It is 4:32 at this moment. Let's take a quick  3minut break. So 4:35 uh and come back in 30   minutes. Will that work? So 505 we will return  from executive session. Thank you. Oh, sorry.   Motion second and a second. Madame  clerk, can you please open the roll? All those in favor say I. I. I. All those opposed,   same sign. Motion passes 70. We will  go into executive session at 4:35.