e e e e e e e e e great all right good morning city manager Leighton and  council members go ahead and take the floor   thank you all right good morning everybody um on  the first page you've got four proclamations and   uh the recognition of uh our employees that have  all received uh their Min MPA certificates and   then on the public agenda you have three people  and page two number one would approve the new   Cultural Arts strategic plan um that has been uh a  while in the making a lot of public participation   uh and there were some changes made after this  went to you in Workshop so when we went through   the last round and um Lindsay can we'll talk about  that and the Arts Council the Arts Council weighed   pretty heavily art the board number two would  approve the five-year Consolidated plan for the   use of federal funds from HUD and approve a a few  supporting documents as well um all you should all   um have received DB presentations or will  receive DB presentations on that on page   three number three uh would approve the use of  liquor tax funds for a contract uh with Deca for   uh impatient substance abuse treatment beds  and this is related to um the homeless this   is the one that was delayed this is yes exactly  yep two pardon me you said there's two beds no   there's more than two beds um 20 20 excellent yeah  thank you number four um would initiate a project   to repair uh the ponti Prairie Park shelter and  install security system there number five would   approve ordinance amendments to establish a  cons coordinated inspection and permitting   process for mobile food vendors in the region  not just in witto number six would approve a   community event permit for re Fest would do this  annually it's all I have on page three on page   four um number one would approve a community  unit Amendment for um land in uh District 4   there's a valid protest P petition so it would  require super majority number two clarification   that uh super majority six of seven for this  yes yes number two would approve a conditional   use in District Two Bob can you go back to that  and the agenda says five of seven I thought it   was six of seven Scott it is six of seven so it's  incorrect it should be five it's five to override the oh it does say okay sorry I  missed the top one my bet sorry   sorry thank you thank you number two  would approve a conditional condition   use in District 2 it's in front of you  because there was no dab recommendation   it was a 33 tie it's all I have on four  nothing on page five on page six number four let me see number four a approve an  amendment to the owner's representative   contract with Garver for the BNR project  this would reflect modifications to the   skada system and work that they're doing on  that uh for B would approve a contract for   the preparation of a preservation plan and  construction plan for the McAfee pool house   that's what all I have on page six on page seven  number eight would approve annual contract for   the provision of Regional Library Service uh  this year the contract from the state is for $237,000 that's all I have on page seven page  eight number 11 would extend the completion   deadline for a home funded housing uh single  family house that's being constructed by menite housing May that's all I have other than to  note there won't be a weekend report this   week um we're having technical difficulties  so that is the report yes I did see that uh   Communications just sent out a media advisory  regarding um our incident um with our cyber uh   security can shall it be R can it be just read or  would you like to address it um I'm not sure which   one you're referring to we sent something out to  our employees thanking them for all the work that   they've put in to adapting to the challenges that  we've had this week and also uh understanding that   there's concerns about payroll and we will believe  we'll be able to make payroll next week uh end of   next week also concerns about uh the breath of the  uh data breach and we're still in the discovery   phases of that so and then the other thing is that  our website has been updated as of yesterday uh   for more information on service impacts and I  think one of the bigger takeaways from that is   that we've had some difficulties with our Fair  boxes and so we're in a Transit free environment   or a fair free environment in transit right now  but um again I encourage everybody to look at   our website we're trying to do everything we can  to get information out on service impacts manager   that website is wi.gov alert yes thank you um  and I will just go ahead and read just this   portion because it was sent out to everyone at 10:  this morning uh so for those that didn't get it   I will just read um this portion it is an update  regarding the cyber security incident the city of   witchta values its constituents and Prides itself  on providing highquality services to its resid   we regret to report that certain online city  services may be unavailable as we thoroughly   review and assess an incident that affected  some of our computer systems as part of this   assessment we turned off our computer network this  decision was not made lightly but was necessary to   ensure that systems are securely vetted before  returning to service we will continue providing   updates on this matter at wi.gov alert and there  are several questions that people have asked and   there are answers to those questions uh  again that will be on the website wi.gov alert it's all I have council members I just  wanted to make a comment I know that the   manager and mayor committed to a municipal ID last  night it's my understanding that we haven't had a   followup since mayor Ripple had to pause this  plan because of the Kansas legislature banned   Municipal ID could we direct staff to get a  presentation of the research done on the ID   already and how staff plans to implement the  ID the ID now since we haven't done it yet   it's important but I want to make sure we aren't  making commitments that we can't keep and I'm a   little disappointed I have that we haven't done  it yet if we could have been doing it the whole   time in the last few weeks I've mentioned to the  mayor and city manager even at the last Workshop   that I'm tired of learning about plans  after the fact we need to do something   better to improve our communication maybe  during the weekly agenda review because   when things are told only to the mayor in  public meetings the uh Council can't follow along I understand that and we have  been talking about this for probably   at least a year uh mayor Whipple was  the one that brought it forward the uh   we had a staff committee that's been working on  it there were some complications from state law   but I did share with the council in February that  we were working on a library card with a picture   that was going to take the ID and unfortunately  the library board decided not to do that at it   in April so we're now in the process of looking  at an alternative the county has offered to be   part of that discussion but we thought we were  going to be able to get this done U through the   library and unfor Unfortunately they chose not  to go that direction well just to be clear I am   completely supportive of the idea and all of that  it was just a little shocked to be in the audience   with everybody with a commitment from you and the  mayor without us being part of that conversation   if things had changed with the library so I  mean I just think we need to be more clear about   making communic about communicating about things  that are really awesome and would be really good   for our community but I just want to make sure  when people are asking us or emailing us about   it and we aren't brought up to date on what the  status is that you know we can provide accurate information I will speak on that uh again I was  not here when this idea came to fruition um back   I guess last year and I received the notice  regarding um manager Leighton telling us that   there was a possible Municipal card through  libraries um but unfortunately that failed   through the board and when the Nehemiah assembly  the Justice together individuals uh came up with   their own uh ask they really asked for leadership  between city and county to come together and see   if there was a solution and I was really glad to  see that uh chairman batty and County Manager uh   staltz are wanting to be part of that solution  with uh a municipal card that may not just be   Witchita um I know that this idea is something  that Kansas City uh already has implemented they   began issuing their cards in January of this  year and they allow their cards to be uh for   residents of Kansas City Missouri um to receive  this Fountain card but their stipulations again   this is an ID card where applicants must submit  several in pieces of information and we're still   again in the gathering information phase our  commitment is to be at the table to talk about   a municipal card um and again the fountain card  itself up in Kansas City requires that you submit   proof of identification proof of residency a  completed application provided by the health   department and as you know our health department  is with Cedric County so again it does require um   conversations between the city and the county and  because we don't have anything from our end um it   is really a commitment that we will sit together  between city and county to talk about this um so   council members uh will know about what uh we  would like to do together as two two bodies uh   to help out with again uh the challenge that the  Nehemiah assembly has identified as homelessness   and mental health in our community Bob can  ask a question and I don't want to be labor   this or get in the weeds but it just seems like  an obvious question so the reason it was halted   I think before was because it the it was against  um Kansas statute was that correct no we had to   do some research because of the Kansas statute but  we just you just have to be careful how you design   the card so the issue has always been what's the  be best mechanism when we first talked about it   we talked I think we were too ambitious we were  talking about a card that would allow you to load   you know to to do Park and Recreation programming  through the card yeah like almost like a credit   card type of arrangement and so then with we  paired back and that's when uh the staff came   back and said we think the best way to get this  implemented is to try to piggyback with a system   that's in place right now and that's the library  system and also the fact that we have multiple   locations where people could get um IDs and so we  had a simplified approach to trying to get the IDS   but the library board just didn't feel comfortable  going that far so if I make a statement will you   tell me of course when I'm wrong but so my what I  what I hear you saying is it's not against Kansas   statute to pursue if we design it correctly  that's my understanding what is the what okay   it's for voting ID that's what their thing is  thank you that's correct you have to make it   clear that it's not El it cannot be used for a  voting identification so that might be something   to if we move down this path and again again I'm  don't want to get the Ms and make sausage here   but even to put on that card specifically there's  law the law requires you to put certain language   on council member H H referencing that as well  as we've talked about visiting with the election   commissioner to make sure that it doesn't look  anything like uh an ID that would be accepted   for voter ID like the state card thank you for  entertaining my questions yeah no thank you I   appreciate all the information this is exactly  what I'm looking for before before we make public   commitments like that so I'm totally supportive it  just I would have enjoyed this conversation before   that was made in front of a thousand people or  however many people it was so I super appreciate   it thanks I just want to remind everyone that  um as council members there can only be three   of us that have conversations before it becomes  a Kansas open meetings act violation and so um   we do not do anything beyond three individual ual  or one-on ones and it's opportunities like this   where we are able to talk and open and we want  to be this open and transparent um and again we   don't do anything behind closed doors we're just  trying to get things to a workable situation where   we can have discussions about things could we  potentially um maybe agree on a process as a   council that therefore if a commitment is made  then we just talk about it afterwards at Agenda   review and I only say that because as an activist  a group of us forced city manager and mayor Brewer   to commit to body cameras for law enforcement and  they were the only two up there and I know they   had conversations afterwards but if if a mayor  and a city manager were to make a commitment I   think if we had the process set up where we talk  about it at Agenda review later that way Council   was presented with the commitment that was made  and then we could discuss it and I only say that   because we we had some other actions in mind  if the commitment was not made and sometimes   that may be the case so if there's a commitment at  least made to sit down and talk about it then um   at a agenda review after said commitment is  made then to discuss that in detail that it   was made in front of this group this is what  it is and kind of going into to detail about   it could we have it before the commitment made  you want to make yeah you want to make a commit   want to discuss it before yeah cuz that was my  concern I'm like well what if we don't have what   if that commitment was made and like four of us  don't support it we just made this huge commitment   to the public that we don't have four votes on I  mean if the commitment if I'm not saying that's   the case I just don't want to get put ourselves in  a weird situation yeah I think if the commitment   is that you're going to do it um that's a little  different rather than work on it I will say   mayor Brewer said they were going to do it and it  ended up happening I think it just depends on the   wording but I would I would hate to box anybody in  to not committing to something to a group I mean   if even if it's an important issue that we care  about there's some things I care about I know   we don't have votes for um but I would commit  publicly to pushing for it I just maybe the   maybe the process is how do we work together at  Agenda review to talk about the commitments that   we've made and especially on a platform like last  night where there's more than a thousand people   which was awesome by the way yeah it's nice  to see that many people want to be part of the solution and I I think there is a point  to be made there as to are we making a   commitment or are we making a commitment  to pursue something and discuss something   so I do think maybe there's a distinction that  should be made maybe not in this particular case   or anything but just overall that we'll look  at this we'll work on it here are some ideas   and we'll run it by Council cuz uh vice  mayor is right we do need four votes for   any policy that we pursue and just making  sure that we actually have the you know   the backing to um adhere to any commitments  that are made sometimes five votes sometimes six well speaking of Kansas City I did challenge  mayor Lucas to come to Witchita and have Station   8 because it's better than everything in  Kansas City that's a big commitment right   there right well he responded and said  that he'll let us know when he's down here I love it thank you council members again  I appreciate this dialogue um and   I think that again um as a council we're  trying our very best uh to work together   and also make sure that it is open and  transparent so people can see how it   is um a lengthier process but one that  needs to happen in order for us to find   solutions that help the entire community  so thank you I think we have a report from Lindsay hello mayor council manager uh  Lindsay Baka director of arts and culture   services with the city manager's office  I'll be very brief and just pass it over   uh to introduce John hail our general manager  at Century 2 with ASM Global um as a reminder   for those who might be watching in ASM is our  our operating management company for Century 2   who've been on board just over two years they  came on board in early 2022 for operations uh   and this is kind of just an annual review  of what we learned in 23 how things are   going um and just some general updates  so with that I'll turn over to John Hill good morning mayor city council good morning Mr  manager uh I am uh happy to introduce myself I'm   John hail I'm the general manager for ASM at  Century 2 and I've got some exciting news to   present to you today about Century 2 and what's  been going on there over the last year we've been   happy to report that we now have a full staff  in the building we have our full compliment of   directors and uh all the folks that we need to run  the building and we are looking at our staffing   model consistently because as business increases  or decreases we can find ways to make sure that we   are addressing all of our issues uh the best  way we can for the city um our staff is also   dedicated to continued education and some of the  training that we've received over the past year   has taken place at the Academy for venue Safety  and Security the ASM Global Marketing meeting   as well as asm's guest experience conference and  this this training is critical to ensure that we   running a safe and efficient venue for you and  our guests we're working very hard to maximize   the utilization of the building and our goal is  to host multiple events without having any kind   of adverse effect happening with those different  events and an example of what we're trying to   achieve actually happened on October 19th of last  year where we had two sold out performances of   Matt R in concert hall with 4,000 attendees at  the same time that we were having a fully plated   banquet in exhibition Hall and a trade show  in Expo H our staff worked very hard to make   sure that all three of these events were distinct  events and that there was no interference between   all of them and they were successful and these  are the kind of things that we're trying to do   to help grow the business in the future for  you guys Sentry 2 is a busy building as you   can see in uh 2022 we had 545 Event Rental days  in 20123 we actually had 600 event days that is   a 10% increase in the amount of days that the  building was rented our actual event days where   we had customers coming into the building Rose  from 282 up to 295 so we are uh looking at ways to   increase this by adding more uh flexibility to our  venues like convention hall and exhibition Hall so   that we can actually increase those rental days  and bring in more business to the building this   slide uh it reflects some of the the things that I  think are the most important about what we've been   doing um one of our biggest successes this year  was the interplay between Witchita River Festival   American Theater Guild and ASM Global we were  able to finally bring in the Hamilton to Century   2 which is one of the largest uh grossing events  that we've had at Century 2 it was challenging   but after a couple of of really important meetings  with the the the folks the players atg and river   fessel we found that we could find ways to make  those events happen happen all at once and it was   a challenge but working with these organizations  was something I'm proud of and it was important   to show that we could have both River Festival  and a major uh event like Hamilton happened in   the building our events team also worked really  really hard uh during some of these events like   Matt R uh during the Matt R event where we had  two shows back to back we were concerned about   how we were going to get clients in and out of  the building we created a space out side of the   concert hall where the jester statue is we called  it the jester Courtyard and we created a area   where people could have drinks entertainment cell  we had some yard games there so people who came   to the second show weren't just sitting in line  outside waiting to come into the show they could   actually entertain themselves and then come in  and it was really successful and then other things   that our marketing department is doing is you can  see the letters that we have uh for people to pose   in front of we have a chalkboard and a bunch of  interactive things that allow people to have more   of an experience an immersive experience with the  shows rather than just I'm coming to the show and   then I leave and I go home trying to build a a  way to make these people have a a good memory   of coming to Century 2 our concession stands  also have been upgraded in the way they look   and the equipment that we are currently using  First Impressions really matter when our guests   approach a well-designed and Visually appealing  concession stand it creates a positive impression   for them clean modern and inviting space is signal  that we care for our guests customers not only   enjoy the surroundings more but they also perceive  the quality of the services to be greater so when   we're hosting an event at Century 2 we're really  cognizant about the fact that we're representing   not only you but also all the citizens of Witchita  so we do our best to make sure that quality is in   everything that we do to summarize investing  in the Aesthetics of century 2 the paint the   finishes all of that is super important to making  sure that we have a a good place for folks to come   additionally we have invested in more points  of sale we have an a very aggressive number   of sales positions so that when our clients come  and our guests are there they're not waiting in   line for a long time to get a beverage or a  food item they can get in and out makes the   experience a lot better for them our tenant  organizations continue to be a centerpiece at   centry to they're both both of them are attracting  Lively audiences uh it seems like the the crowds   are coming back to the shows uh wi at a symphony  had a very impressive season last year and lots   of uh guest artists came into town as well as the  local at musicians who are very talented as well   Music Theater continues to present some of the  best Broadway series shows in the US so we're   very happy to have them also both of these  organizations are very very deeply involved   in local arts for the Youth of our community  so very important for us that when we look at   ticketing and our Revenue the building I want  to point out three really really uh important   events that we hosted at Century 2 in 2023 I  spoke earlier about atg and Hamilton coming it   is was a long time in coming to Century 2 we had  to reschedule because of the pandemic but when   they finally got here it was very successful  we had 17 shows 26,000 patrons came to see the   show and it is the highest grossing show at  Century 2 since ASM has taken over management   Live Nation brought Matt r a comedian who hit it  really big on the internet during the pandemic   and his shows uh sold out very quickly his first  show sold out in less than a minute and then his   remaining show which we added a second show sold  out in just about I think it was like six or seven   minutes and it was sold out as well so he did  a really good job bringing in that and that is   with our partner Live Nation who we reached out  with with ASM ASM Global also has a partnership   and a relationship with Outback Productions who  brought us Leanne Morgan her show was uh very   well received and we we were happy to have that  because those are kind of the windfall events   that help us have events in between the time where  our long-term clients are are utilizing the space   they're very fast to get in we can have a lot of  people come and see the show have a good economic   value and also uh still maintain our relationship  with our clients Like Music Theater and Symphony this slide reflects our convention trade show and  consumer show segment here our business continues   to be strong we actually had over a million  dollars with a revenue coming from these this   this segment last year these events not only bring  dollars into the facility itself but shows like   the witch area Builders Association home show is  a catalyst for the construction industry in town   a lot of their their vendors find that they get  a good percentage of their business for the rest   of the Year from the show that we present at  centry 2 cars for Charities holiday Galleria   which is presented by the Junior League of witcha  the Kansas sunflower swap meat all raise money to   support local charities in witch and Cedric  County Consumer shows like the ICT ComicCon   brickfest women's Fair are all events that  enhance the lifestyle and culture in which   it do so we're very happy to have those in the  building let's talk a little bit more about uh   the Matt R effect that we had Not only was Matt r  really successful show ticketing wise but we were   also able to do the uh benefit from the the  concession sales if if you take a look at the   numbers almost 10% of our annual concession sales  were credited to the Matt R show that was because   we were able to activate those Extra Spaces and  create those environments around the building to   pull in uh folks a little early before the show  they could get there have a drink socialize with   people then after the show they could also hang  out talk about the show it's really a great way   to create this environment where you build  these memories and and encourage people to   come back to the building saver which actually  started working for us at the beginning or at   the end of last year right in the last quarter  did pretty well and we're looking to increase   the amount of food and caterings that we offer at  centry 2 the staff at sa is really well-versed in   uh doing the convention work so we're happy to  have that but not not only are we looking at um   how we can sell tickets but we're also looking  at how we can help our clients sell tickets um   I want to stress that the success of our building  depends on the success of our clients at Century 2   we've moved beyond the walls of our facility in an  effort to attract and retain the attention of our   guests we've actually worked hard in the in the  world of social media to to make that happen and   we believe that social media is a very important  Avenue for helping our guests because social media   become has become a really critical component in  the way people purchase things engaging with our   guests in social media allows us to Market events  it allows us to issue special announcements and   promote behind the scenes content we are also able  to reach a broader a broader Market social media   really reaches out to a younger demographic that  we have normally not been able to bring into the   building and we're trying to encourage folks to  look at the art to look at the convention and look   at the the things that we've been building and our  audience's ability to post reviews voice concerns   and complaints is invaluable for improving our  programming and creating a space that's really   inclusive for everyone and all of our guests more  traditionally we've moved to about $119,000 worth   of uh Grassroots and uh billboard traditional  type of advertising we've been reaching out to   a lot of our our clients and asking them if they'  like us to do marketing buys and assisting them   with that which has worked out pretty well our  work on Facebook has been really effective we've   seen a good growth in Facebook Facebook and an  Instagram because we've been engaging consistently   with both Instagram and Facebook uh platforms  and those are places where we're finding that   we're getting a good return on investment for for  those Investments that we're making also we are   using our eblasts to send out special packages and  discount codes to folks we track those codes and   you can see that we we we received about 5,700 uh  replies from those each one of those replies from   that those kind of interactions about $66 worth of  value so almost $400,000 in Revenue that we made   from eblasts alone so working to really really  uh leverage that kind of social marketing I know   you've all heard about parking at Century 2  at least once um we were able to implement   paid parking last year there was uh a little bit  of resistance to the program but throughout the   year through a lot of really good communication  and information some help from from our social   media folks and our marketing folks we actually  had about 32,000 interactions with our parking   which resulted in a nice little Revenue stream  for the building um we are currently working   to install a kiosk that will allow people to pay  with cash instead of having to use their credit   cards and their phones which will help us address  one of the major issues that folks had with the parking regarding building improvements so you  guys last year approved a 10-year plan uh to   to start working on some issues in the building  and we have started working with Public Works uh   to get a lot of those things going um expo  hall has a HVAC system that's been plagued   with problems for a couple years and that  has been one of our major focuses on this   we've inspected and and addressed issues with  every single air conditioning unit on expo hall   and we are currently in the process of replacing  four of them completely should be done by the end   of July uh previously mentioned we have a lot of  improvements to our catering and our concessions   that has made us more efficient and more appealing  to our clients we are adding options in exhibition   and convention hall to upgrade and modify those  rooms so that they're uh suitable for a greater   variety of shows allowing us to book more  events into the building and in response to   client feedback about the Wi-Fi at centry 2 we are  actually quadrupling the number of access points   and increasing the bandwidth into the building so  that folks can use their phones in that building   and and and do some some more more interaction on  the internet in the building uh one of the things   that uh was a a request from clients as well  was to upgrade the carpet and Concert Hall I   last time any of you were in concert hall it was  getting a little dingy we are in the process of   that and that should be complete by the end of  June so we're pretty happy what isn't listed on   here is actually a project that was managed by uh  the public works department that's the the roof   completion um I want to thank public works for all  the work that they did on the roof project they   did a great job and it was completed and it's  it's a beautiful thing so all righty Financial   subsidy so I'm happy to report that last year we  requested $980,000 uh in subsidy because of the   windfall of the Matt R show and the lean Morgan  and the some of the the Great Performances that   we had and the over performance on those things  we were actually able to return $112,000 of that   subsidy back to the city so we didn't use that  um I'll caution you that that is not something   that I can guarantee will happen every year we  will do our best to make sure that that happens   but depending on whether or not we have a Big  Show or not during the year there may be some   adjustments to the subs that need to happen but we  are very happy to be able to do that in our second   year with you guys finally challenges about  Century 2 it's no surprise that we continue   to find problems with the Aging infrastructure in  Century 2 um steps are being taken to update and   replace aging equipment but more and more we're  finding things that are broken farther down the   line than we thought and having to spend some time  working on those um because they've either failed   or need to be replaced um we also continue to have  encounter the inability to provide space for our   new clients due to the long-term relationships  that we have with our existing clients it's a   difficult issue to resolve because we value  our existing clients but we do need to expand   our book of business and bring in new business to  be competitive so we continue to work with visit   wichan Susie Santo and her folks and our clients  on a booking policy that will address the needs   of our long-term clients providing them with  space that they need as well as still having   opportunities to bring in new business one  of our issues is a concert hall it is limited   in the amount of days that we have available we  have two tenants that utilize the hall very very   extensively and so we're working with them to find  ways to activate convention hall next door and to   use the hall that in concert hall when they're  not using it so really good cooperation there   amongst a lot of groups trying to make uh these  these limitations work and as always we're going   to continue to find ways to decrease our costs  to increase our efficiencies we've been able to   create some new revenue streams the parking our  concessions has been doing really well but there   will come a time when we will run out of room in  there so we have done some market research and it   our research shows that we are still on the low  end of rental rates and that it may be something   in the future where we consider actually raising  the rent on the building I stand for any questions well not a question but a comment I do  appreciate the work for the new kiosk um   yeah parking that's got to be one of the top  five um email Gathering issues that I've had   in my time on Council so I do appreciate that  and that just reflects our you know our desire   to really kind of work with the constituency that  we have out there many of whom are elderly don't   trust technology after this last week I trust  technology even less than I did before so um   I I do appreciate that aspect of it absolutely  John your subsid has been decreasing year after   year what do you expect it to be or what  did you ask for this year uh this year we   actually asked for an increase over last year  of about $130,000 more than last year because   we do not have a a big Blockbuster show like  Hamilton on our schedule at this point in time   okay so a little over a million yeah this  year is a little over a million okay thank you I do think the key number on that chart  is what our subsidy was before ASM took over yeah all right thank you John thank  you AJ thank you for the work um   definitely working to make it a more  userfriendly custom customer friendly space that's all we have  there thank you I almost said