Good morning, Witchaw, and good  morning to all of you. Thank you   for joining us for this morning's city  council meeting on April 28th. I call   this meeting to order. Can you please  stand for the pledge of allegiance? To the flag of the United States of  America and to the republic for it   stands one nation under God indivisible  with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all. Madame clerk,  please call the first item. approve the minutes of the regular  meeting April 14th, 2026 and April 21st,   2026. Council members, any items to be edited?  I see none. I move to approve the minutes for   the regular meetings for April 20 14th  and April 21st. Second. Motion second.   Discussion. See none. All those in  favor say I. I. All those opposed,   same sign. Motion passes. 70. Madame  clerk, please call the next item. Public agenda. We now come to public agenda.  The public agenda allows for up to five speakers   to have five minutes each to address the city  council. Please bear in mind that this is not a   period of dialogue with council or a question and  answer period. This is your opportunity to address   the city council with your concerns. I ask that  you address your remarks to the city council as   a body and not to any individual council member.  No action will be taken relative to items on the   public agenda other than referral to the city  manager for information as necessary. Speakers   will please speak into the microphone. Please  state their name and address for the record.   A time clock will display the speaker's  remaining time to speak. Order and rules   of decorum will be observed. The first speaker  is Brad Heekler. Flock camera implementation. Good morning, council members. I'm here  today to address the use of flock safety   uh license plate readers in our city. Uh  now, I'm not going to waste anybody's time   with the implementation side of this as we've  already gone well beyond that. Um, however,   while I acknowledge that their potential in aiding  law enforcement, uh, I'm deeply concerned about   the lack of strong oversight, uh, first, we have  to recognize the risk surface. These cameras are   network connected and deployed in public spaces,  which means any system like this is a potential   target. Their design, including external ports,  creates vulnerabilities that must be independently   audited. rather than relying solely on vendor  asurances. Second, au authentication is a   critical gap. Uh Flock doesn't currently require  multiffactor authentication and and network   credentials are hardcoded in an unencrypted  manner. Even if consumer accounts have stronger   safeguards, shouldn't our law enforcement at least  meet those standards, if not exceed them? Third,   we have to address the transparency and data  retention. Uh while it's claimed that not only   vehicle data is captured and stored briefly,  independent studies show that images of people   are sometimes stored longer, sometimes  even months. Uh without certainty on what   is collected and how long it's stored, we cannot  have public confidence in these systems. Finally,   we have already seen misuse in our own region.  Officers in Kichchi and Cedric have abused these   systems for personal reasons, proving this risk is  real, not theoretical. Even if these systems stay   in place, they must be governed by transparency,  accountability, and independent oversight. Without   that, we risk not only privacy, but also the  integrity of our justice system. Thank you. Thank you, Brad. We have space for  four other individuals who would like   to address the council. I see none. We'll  now move it back to the bench. With that,   I see no comments from council members.  Madame clerk, please call the next item. Consent agenda items 1 through 11.  Council members, any items to be pulled? I only have one item and I'm  only pulling it because of a   of a inaccuracy. That item  is agenda item number 10. With that, um I will go ahead and move to approve  consent agenda items 1 through 11. Second. Motion   second. Discussion. See none. All those in favor  say I. I. All those opposed, same sign. Motion   passes. 6. Uh item number 10 actually resides  in district number one, not district number   three. Um 828 North Popppler is in Council Member  Sheepard's district. I just want to highlight that   items 9101 are all housing items. uh all of these  properties were valued uh below the price that the   individuals paid for. So uh this is positive uh  as these properties are selling for more than what   they're appraised. Um just wanted to highlight  again item number 10. Uh this is a property built   in 1996 with three bedrooms and it was valued at  $69,000 and the uh buyer bought it for $78,000. So   again uh just want to highlight that uh people  are buying these affordable homes and under uh   $100,000. So again, uh, I see no further comments  regarding this item because I pulled it. That   allows for anyone in the public who would like to  speak on this item to speak on it. I see no one in   the public who would like to speak on this item.  I'm bringing it back to the bench. With that,   I go ahead and move to approve consent agenda  item number 10 with the correction that it's   in district number one. Second. Motion. Second.  Discussion. See none. All those in favor say I.   I. All those opposed, same sign. Motion passes.  70. Madame clerk, please call the next item. Board of bids and contracts. Good morning, mayors, city council members.  Jason Rob, Department of Finance Board of Bids   convened yesterday, uh, Monday, April  27th for the following bids. Justice for engineering, we have storm water drain  number 552, sewer sanitary improvements   for Cedar Village, second edition, rejecting all  bids. We have 2026 outsource payment preservation   program CIP ultra thin bonded overlay recommending  conspect inc businesses Kansas paving for2,538,47. We have 2026 W which police department parking lot  reconstruction recommending conspect inc business   Kansas paving for 136,000 for purchasing. We  have six 39,000 gross vehicle weight rating dump   trucks recommending Rush Truck Centers of Kansas  Incorporated for aggregate total of1,171,6308. We have 16,000 gross vehicle  weight 4x4 cabin chassis with   herbicide spray rig recommending opex  technologies and LLC for $171,225.50. 50s. We have tree and stump  removal recommending Shauny   Mission Tree Service Incorporated  for aggregate total of $148,575. We have three Pierce velocity pumper and  one Pierce Velocity Rescue fire engines   recommending Conrad fire equipment for 5,44,86827. We have Lucidity Asset Management  Software Renewal from June 8th,   2026 through June 7th, 2027 for Central  Square Technologies LLC for $118,36010. We have housing elite software annual housing  and maintenance renewal from January 1,   2026 through December 31st, 2026 for  emphasis computer solutions for $160,976. We have removal of mattresses and box  springsings for recycling change order   mid Kansas service LLC for an amount  of $120,000. We have liquid chlorine   bulk delivery change order REMAC Southwest  Incorporated a min amount of 3 million 513,24. We have ground maintenance service services for  production pumping change order asking to extend   this contract for choice industries. We have  identity verication subscription change order   onlineformational services incorporated  for an annual usage of $30,000. This is   how to become a vendor with the city of  red city of Witchah. These are current   uh business opportunities. We're working with  vendors through either small business that   we're either hosting or being a part of. This  is current uh opportunities we have out on the   street right now. And I recommend you approve the  recommendations and I'll stand for any questions. Council members, questions for staff. I just  have one regarding uh slide number five,   the parking lot reconstruction. Where is this  located? Um I'll let Captain Kie talk. Morning, mayor, city council. Jason Kulie, captain WPD.  Uh this is the central bureau parking lot. So   the building we just uh we we've been in it  for a while, but that we just purchased from   uh HUD and from housing. Uh the  parking lot needs to be taken down   um to the surface level and then built back up.  Thank you, Captain Kulie. Any other questions?   I see none. With that, I move to approve the  board of bids and contracts dated April 27th,   2026. Second. Motion second. Discussion. See none.  All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed,   same sign. Motion passes. 70. Madame  clerk, please call the next item. Petitions for public improvements. Good morning, mayor, city council members.  Paul Gonzelman, public works and utilities.   For the record, I have a few petitions  for your consideration this morning.   The signatures on the petitions represent 100% of  the improvement districts and the petitions are   valid per Kansas statute. New petitions craner  edition located in district 5. The project will   provide water and sanitary sewer improvements  required for a new residential development. Craner addition located five district 5. Again,  on September 5th, 2023, the city council approved   water and sewer improvements required for a  existing residential development. The developer   has submitted revised petitions with revised  improvement districts and the budgets remain as   previously approved. Northgate fifth edition. On  November 25th, 2025, city council approved water,   storm water, sewer, sanitary sewer, and  paving improvements for a new residential   development. The developer has submitted revised  petitions with revised improvement districts,   and the budget remains as previously  approved except for the sanitary sewer,   which has been revised. Reber second and third  edition located in district two. On May 20th,   2025, the city council approved drainage and  paving improvements required for an existing   residential development. The developer has  submitted revised petitions with revised   improvement districts and the budget remains  as previously approved. It is recommended   that the city council approve the new  and revised petitions and new budgets.   Adopt the new and amending resolutions  and authorize the necessary signatures.   I will stand for questions. Thank you. Questions  for staff? See none. Move to approve the petitions   for public improvements. Second. Motion second.  Discussion. See none. All those in favor say I.   I. All those opposed, same sign. Motion passes.  70. Madame clerk, please call the next item. Council member agenda. Council members, any  appointments? I see none. Council member,   any comments? I see none. We cannot adjourn this  meeting because we will have an executive session.   So at this time I will move to continue  with uh workshop and we will then proceed   with our executive session after city manager  Dennis Marstall. Thank you mayor and council.   We have a few items for you today workshop.  These have been um some of the items that you   all have had conversations about or want to have  more conversations about. So we have a host or a   variety of topics for you but we will start as we  have uh done in practice with the waterworks April   update. So we do our monthly update starting  with Gary Jansen our director of public works. Thank you Mr. Manager. Uh good morning mayor and  council members. Gary Jansen public works and   utilities. As we do each month we wanted to  provide you an update on where we're at with   Witchaw Waterworks our new water treatment plant.  uh work is progressing uh nicely on repairs to the   clarifiers. We've had uh lots of discussion,  weekly discussions about where we go next,   what's happening with performance testing once  the clarifiers have been repaired. Um we're   working closely with Witchaw Water Partners on a  variety of issues that we need to address prior to   um City of Witchaw taking over the plant. always  just like to remind you that the the facility is   still currently in the possession of Witto Water  Partners until we get to a point of the clarifiers   being repaired. Uh the appropriate performance  testing completed uh and a variety of other issues   that we've got to work through. Uh and we're going  to get there. We're making progress. We've had   some great conversations as of late. Um we feel  good about the repairs that are being made. So,   I'm going to let Ron Coker, as we've done in  the past, he's going to walk you through uh   some specifics on where we're at with the repairs  and what the schedule looks like going forward. Good morning, mayor, members of the council. Ron  Coker with Burns Mack. Um I'm going to skip a few   slides here and go down to one at the end that I  think it's easier to get the the bigger picture   and then we'll back up and walk walk through  each one. So, uh, we're working on all six of   the clarifiers currently. Uh, we've received the  materials for clarifiers one, two, one, excuse me,   1, three, four, and six. Uh, one, three, and and  four are com. The repairs are complete. We're just   down to coatings. Uh, repairs are currently  happening on six. And then, uh, clarifier 2,   the repair materials for clarifier 2 are expected  on site this week. Uh we'll start that one uh   as soon as they arrive. And then clarifier five,  which is the one that we're temporarily operating,   will be the last clarifier to be fixed. So sorry,  the order is a bit jumbled when we go through. So   1, three, four repairs are complete. We're down  to coding. Six repairs are underway. Two and   five repairs are still to be done. All right.  Okay. So we're just walking down through each   then. This is one. Uh it'll be the second repair  uh second clarifier completed. We're down to uh   coating work. Coating work since we're outside is  highly dependent upon weather. We've had a lot of   moisture in the air which is not good for coating.  Uh so uh if it dries up, we'll uh progress pretty   well. If it stays wet, uh the coating process  will take a little bit longer here for the next   uh 30 days or so as as we finish out the spring.  Uh SEC2 uh repairs are complete and we are working   on uh coding. Sorry, that's not correct. Uh we're  still doing rake arm repairs on SEC2. SEC3 will   be the first clarifier put back into operation. Uh  we are down to top coating applications this week.   Here's what that clarifier looks like with the  repaired upper draft tube. Uh looks much better   if you remember the pictures that I showed you  uh previously. uh much um I think much more stout   uh in its uh in its construction. So uh you  can see that it's uh comprised of 16 sections   uh that are that are connected together uh for  this repair. Remember that was four originally   and the reason they went to 16 from four was just  because there was so much equipment now around the   clarifier. It wasn't feasible to drop them in  those big uh those big four piece sections. Uh   but because the 16 have uh have a connection  on the edge of each, it actually makes them   stiffer. So it'll make that clarifier that upper  draft tube stiffer. Uh which is uh which was   what we were trying to get corrected from the  previous uh installation. Uh as I mentioned,   uh four is complete, repairs are complete, and  we're just working on uh coding uh for that   clarifier. Five is uh the clarifier that we're in  interim operations on. Remember, we modified this   clarifier to simulate uh the repairs. Uh but it's  still working with the old upper draft tube just   uh but it looks but it looks a lot like the new  one. Uh that data has been collected now gosh   for two months. Dan, uh the the thing I can tell  you is that the data trends uh look like they did   previously. That was one of the concerns, right?  Can can we depend on this new design to look   uh to to uh perform like the old design did? Uh  the data does trend with the pre-repaired SEC. Uh   we've had lots of great time for Witchaw operators  and support staff to be working on the plant and   training uh which is something that needed  to occur. So that's uh this is uh turned out   to be a blessing with respect to that element. Uh  we've seen significant improvement on the process   as well. So remember when we were shut down uh we  we had planned to do a uh optimization a chemical   optimization study uh after the city had taken  over when we had the failure and we shut down   we went ahead and did that chemical optimization  study uh which is really just looking at different   combinations of chemicals uh and how they might  treat uh the different uh water sources that you   have. So in while we've been running SEC5, we've  been testing those optimizations, different types   of optimization to see if they scale up from uh  a desktop test to a clarifier. Uh what we've seen   uh we've got some really good data I think on  several of those uh on several of those. So uh   that's again something the city would do over time  when they operate a water treatment plant. uh this   is just trying to put them in the best position,  their operators in the best position they can   be in when they start up the plant. Uh so we've  seen good performance there. Uh we're currently   testing an alternate polymer. Uh what that means  a polymer is essentially an aid to help pull the   to help the solids come out of the water. Uh and  they have there's different types of polymers that   uh that do that. Uh the city we've thus far we've  been testing exactly what the city uses on their   main water treatment plant. Uh this is an ultimate  polymer that uh that showed some promise when we   did jar testing during the optimization study.  Uh I think it's probably been less than optimal   in running maybe is the way to say it. Uh it's  not that there's not some good things in it but   I don't think it's way better than what the city  was uh what the city was previously using. So,   we will transition back to uh the the same polymer  that the city currently uses uh when we get ready   to start testing uh final uh performance testing  that Gary mentioned. Uh what you can see in this   is this is a good picture of the mixing zone and  then the clarification zone inside that solids   contact clarifier. So, um in the center where you  can't see is the mixer that we're repairing. Uh   what you see that outer edge is the outside of the  what I would call the skirt. Uh so inside that is   where the mixing takes place. Outside of that  skirt is where the clarification process where   the solids really fall out uh and the water and  the clean water goes onto the uh to the filter.   So good good example of uh what that should look  like. Uh in the process you want a clearly defined   mixing zone. Okay. Okay. And then SEC6, again,  this is one that we will be uh we'll be working   on. We're working on currently and we'll start  the upper draft tube installation this week. And   then this is the slide I told you previously. Any  any questions on any of that? Yes. Yeah. Sorry.   Um how long does it take for the coating to cure  out? Dan, what's the cure time on the coating? Yeah. So, so again, Dan Baker is our project  manager uh on the operations. So, the cure   time is 7 to 10 days depending on the weather.  Okay. Appreciate it. It's a slow process. It's   and it's and it's it's even slower when you're  doing it in place uh than when you're in a shop   and you can control all the variables uh around  uh the piece of equipment that you're coding. So,   we are very weather dependent. Remember the  schedule that we showed you to kick off had   no weather days in it. So, um, so we're we're  definitely, uh, we're definitely, I would guess,   out maybe 30 days from where we'd hoped to be  coding wise. Uh, but if we get good weather,   we can do things like go to a second shift  and and, uh, and try and pull that schedule   back forward. We're really just trying to wait  till we get to a good weather stretch to look at   those kinds of or to implement those kinds of  things. Okay. Appreciate it. Thank you. Other   questions? Just a quick one. So just high level,  when do you currently now with some weather days   expect this to be completed? Yeah, so we're  working with that with the city right now. Uh,   a lot of that depends on where we end up on a  testing regime after repairs are complete. Uh,   we I I think it's safe to say we would expect  the repairs to be complete this summer.   um probably early summer uh time frame and then  testing through the summer and then depending   on where we end up with the city uh on testing  and the test results, I would expect the fall uh   is probably the where the city should be thinking  about uh taking over operation of the plant. that   that could vary mayor from early fall to late fall  depending on how long it takes us to get through   the coding and then on on the testing protocols  and performance as well. Gary, I I didn't I wasn't   too optimistic in that was I I might add just  a little bit to that. Thank you, Ron. Mayor and   council, our we're targeting right now, our hope  uh if everything continues on the pace that it is   with the clarifier repairs and we can work through  uh testing protocols, we are looking at modifying   um the performance testing requirements from the  original contract. It makes sense at this point   um based on where we've been and try to get moving  towards how we're going to operate the plant. So,   working through all of that and some of the  other things I talked about, in an ideal world,   we would take this plant over somewhere around  September. Um, as I've talked about before,   our goal all along has been once we have the  plant in our possession is to we're planning   to need to operate for about six months  before we can go live to the system. Um,   and I so ideally if we can take over in September  and be ready to come online early next spring,   that's going to be a lot better than waiting  till summer when we're in peak demand, right? So,   um, the sooner we can be ready to go next spring,  we're going to be better off. But there is a lot   that has to fall in place between now and then. U,  obviously keep you updated as we go. There's a lot   of things happening behind the scenes with other  issues that we're working through. uh when all is   said and done, we still have to get a permit to  operate from KDHE, which is probably going to be   the easy part at that point. There is some work  I I would mention real quick again too, just so   that this all follows as we keep going. There  is some work that still has to be completed uh   right before we go to the system uh to connect the  dots. It has pump station. That's work that we've   known from the very beginning that was going to  continue basically past what we would call final   completion. All of that will be wrapped together  uh in one final package that we'll bring to the   council once we get through these next steps. So,  more to come, more details as we go, and we'll   keep filling in the dots, but we're targeting  September right now to take over the plant. Thank you, Gary and Ron. Okay, thanks. And I  I just might add when we get to next month,   I'll change the presentation up so  that you can see just what's left to   do versus what's been accomplished. I  think that'll make it a little easier   as we get to that point. Uh so  thank you very much for the time mayor. For our next item, we have information to  give you update on the ballpark district. We have   representatives from WBD here to talk about  the mixed juice. And so we have a PowerPoint   presentation. And Austin, if you want to  come forward, I appreciate you being here. Good morning, mayor, members of the council. Um  Austin Bradley with EPC Real Estate Group. Also,   uh here Justin El Corey with with  Murphin, part of the development team. So,   um appreciate the opportunity. I think  it's a great idea uh city manager had.   I think given some of the style of questions  we got over the last couple weeks at council,   we thought it would be helpful just to let's  break this thing apart. Let's go level by level   on this plan so we can understand where the pool  is, where the garage is, where the hotel is, all   those kind of things. probably very redundant from  some of you or for some of you I should say. So,   apologize for that, but I can kind of fly through  that and give you some updates, you know, relative   to dates um along the way if that works and and  happy to answer any questions along the way. So,   please please jump in. Um just high level  overview here. Of course, we're looking west,   you can see the baseball stadium, just getting  your bearings. Um right there at the the corner,   kind of that um more more purple color, if  you will, is the mixeduse building. And we'll   kind of break that apart here in a moment.  Um, right along the river in in blue, uh,   is the hotel. Um, site plan. Let's go ahead and  blow this thing up. Um, so you have Maple going,   uh, left to right there at the bottom of the page.  MLAN uh, going north to south. Uh, again, on the   right side of MLAN, we have the hotel. You can see  the riverfront improvements that are underway. Uh,   the drop off for the hotel. And then on the west  side of MLAN, between the street and the baseball   stadium, uh, the mixeduse uh, project, which  has the retail, the garage, and the apartments.   uh itself. Um starting there. Uh so we've rotated  north is right. Uh so on the left side of the page   you have Maple. Uh on the bottom going left to  right you have MLAN. Um this is the ground level.   You can see the garage um kind of right there in  the center of the page. Uh on the south side which   is left on the page you have apartments that clad  the garage. Access into that garage uh is there   on the top uh which would access from the existing  surface lot um as part of the baseball uh ballpark   I should say. And then along McLean at the bottom  and in orange you have the retail uh essentially   we have three retail uh spaces that make up that  10,000 ft. Uh in kind of sandwiched between retail   A and B is our primary entry point uh for the  apartments down there. We'd have leasing offices,   uh lobby, mail, package room, uh etc. um  breaking apart retail B and C is that existing   uh vehicular access point up to the concourse uh  of the ballpark which will bridge over. And as you   head right um we're introducing some uh two-story  walk up more kind of row home style apartments   uh which are labeled L1 there. That'll be between  Retail C and the uh existing team office building   and museum. We'll go ahead and kind of work our  way up to the second level here. You can see how   the apartments start stacking. Uh you can see that  vehicular access point. uh is is still in place.   That's a two-story uh pass through from uh MLAN  up to the ballpark concourse. Uh again, you're   going to see a lot of the stacking with these  apartments, how we're cladding the garage. Um   and and again, your uh your garage kind of in gray  there, right in the center of the page. I'll start   moving a little bit quicker here. Uh level three,  stack again. Uh level four, we stack. Level five,   this is where uh a few weeks ago at council, we  were talking about the uh pool sitting on top of   the garage. Uh this is the core amenity level uh  for the mixeduse project. Uh so in orange you can   see the clubhouse and the fitness uh which would  be right there on MLAN. Again, keep in mind you're   five floors in the air. Uh and you can see the  pool uh that sits on top of that garage. Um and   you're introducing some additional apartments  here. Um without getting into the details on on   how these stack, but this is where you're going  to get a lot of your density on levels five, six,   and seven of the apartment project. So those that  were asking questions about where does the pool   sit, again, the pool's right on top of the garage.  It'll overlook the uh the ballpark and the field   down below, which I'll show you here in just a  moment. Um but the main amenity level is is level   five here. And as we go forward, level six and  seven, again, the apartments continue to stack   uh as we round out the level plans. Um a few  uh renderings here. Uh again, there's a lot   more detail that that is forthcoming here, but  just to give you a sense of scale and context,   uh this is at Maple and Mlan looking northwest.  uh have that anchor restaurant right at the hard   corner. Uh to the right of that is your entry um  to the apartment lobby as you head left on Maple.   Uh you have twotory town homes that again will  will screen and clad that parking garage. A lot of   brick. Um you know, keeping with that a little bit  more uh industrial kind of gritty uh theme of of   Deleno as a whole. Um top left image here, kind of  work our way around the the four images here. The   top left is looking northwest. you get a little  bit of the hotel on the right in the foreground.   Um, again, that hard corner with the anchor  restaurant or retail. Um, and entry point to   the apartments. Um, on the top right, this is if  you're essentially hovering over the ballpark. Um,   you know, looking back, I guess that would be  southeast. Um, you can see how we're skinning that   garage, you know, with combination of landscaping  and trees, foliage, uh, and brick as well. Um, you   can see the amenity level on top of that garage.  It's a good viewpoint of that. Um bottom left   here, this is uh across the street, Maple looking  north. Uh so on the right side is is the retail   anchor restaurant. On the left, uh you'd start  to see some of the uh existing surface lot of the   ballpark. You're looking straight ahead at those  two-story row homes. Um and then on the right,   uh essentially if you're on MLAN looking south, uh  just give you a feel for the streetscape uh as the   hotel and the mixeduse project start to frame  that uh that street. Few other images here. Um   the top two are of that uh that pool deck amenity  level. Um the top left is looking back towards our   clubhouse which is on level five. Uh the top right  is if you're on the pool deck uh overlooking the   the ball field. So this would be some pretty  dynamic uh relationships and views, you know,   down onto the field itself. Uh you know, some of  those cabanas we're thinking, you know, by by day,   non-game day, it's obviously pool cabanas. Um you  know, potentially on on game days, they become   little like tailgate suites for the residents.  So a really unique amenity for us. Um on the   lower left, this is essentially if you're on the  main concourse looking back to the building. Uh   and then the bottom right, similar view to what we  already went over. Um few elevations here. Again,   these these certainly do not do the architecture  justice. Uh and we are making some additional   refinements based on some feedback we've gotten.  Um gives you a sense of scale. Uh that top one   is the east elevation. You can see that break  in the building. That's the vehicular access   point up onto the concourse. Um that lower  um is essentially Maple Street looking north.   um you know the the mural on the bottom left  which is existing today on on the ballpark   um just gives you a sense of kind of where we're  at. Um so that that wraps up the mixed use. Um on   this one in particular, the team is uh working on  the updated footing and foundation package today   which will include the structural columns and  so that'll be part of going vertical here this   summer. Uh both projects will mobilize in June is  where we're at right now. Uh we will stagger this   um and create several packages. There'll probably  be uh anywhere between two and four different   packages from the design team submitted to MABCD.  Uh so it'll be uh important to work with them   diligently to streamline those reviews. Um but  from a timing standpoint, that's that's the misuse   component. Switching gears, I'll kind of Well,  do we have the hotel loaded in here as well? Oh,   it is. Okay. Yeah, we got some much better  images on the hotel. Is there any way to email? Can we take a five minute pause? opera presentation on the screen. Absolutely.  Okay. Um, moving on to hotel. Um, so before I get   into this, you know, there's been a lot of press  on this and we were not uh didn't have the liberty   to kind of talk about the brand pivot uh during  council a few weeks ago. So now uh you know, we're   officially pivoting away from what was originally  Dream Hotel Group. Um Hyatt acquired Dream Hotel   Group. Uh we've since uh terminated our agreement  with Hyatt and are now bringing on and have   brought on Marriott, which will be a tribute by  Marriott. Um there's a brand new tribute in in   Kansas City as part of the Country Club Plaza just  as a quick reference point called the Cascade. Uh   Joe Morrison, who's now on the EPC team, he he  really shephered that entire project. So just as   a if you want to get a sense of quality and scale  and what is this going to look like, um that'd be   a great reference point. um the tribute. What we  like about that is is it's everything that we've   been talking about relative to Dream Hotel Group  and that it's um very custom, very localized,   you know, high design, high quality, and we think  we can really leverage kind of what Deleno is   and what downtown Witchaw is, inject that. So,  this isn't a cookie cutter hotel, but it's also   got the horsepower of, you know, Marriott and the  Bonboy system behind you. So, we think it's a huge   um benefit um and and you know, much better  uh compared to kind of where we were. So,   we're super excited about that. It's been a ton  of our focus over the last few months, candidly.   Um so nonetheless you're going to start seeing  some Marriott uh references here throughout.   Um pivoting to the hotel. So similarly we'll go  through the level plans. Um north is left. Uh the   river is running left right here on the top of the  page. Uh MLAN Boulevard. Uh and the mixeduse piece   is just across the street. Uh we have our drop off  on the right which is south uh primary lobby. We   got some admin back house spaces. We know, you  know, to the Delena neighborhood, having some   transparency kind of through this ground level  floor and, you know, not having a big solid wall   is is critical and key and we totally agree. So,  it's always been at the forefront of designing   this main level. Um, we'll have a a really dynamic  bar, public bar kind of right off the riverfront   with expansive patios. So, think, you know, kind  of some soft seating and fire pits hitting right   right hovering above the water, uh, which would  be really unique, just a way to activate the river   that Witchaw's really not doing right now. Um,  and then towards the north end, we'll have some   event space and, you know, really kind of provide  some optionality on how we program that based on,   you know, game days or non-game days. That'll be  a rental space. It can be meeting space. Again,   that'll have that adjacency to the river. Um, and  then a covered patio here on the north. So, again,   on on game days, we can really activate the north  side. If it's a non-game day, maybe the attention   focus is back to the patio. So, the idea is really  leverage, you know, the riverfront adjacency. Um,   you know, I think there's a a ton of opportunity  here. Um, and then in gray, this is just some   of the back house space, just support the hotel  operations. Um, level plans. Uh, this will be kind   of your typical level plan, uh, for the hotel. Um,  it's now up to 160 keys. You know, through the,   uh, coordination with Marriott, we've optimized,  you know, these plans, been able to squeeze in two   more keys. It was previously 158 for reference.  Um, you know, for the most part, these are   standard suites. Um, you know, we do have, you  know, kind of a more call it a a party suite   for lack of a better term here on the south side  where you have its own patio. So, there's some uh   custom, you know, unique uh uh units in here, but  you know, for the most part, kind of your typical   um you know, key count, key mix, so to speak, you  know, based on the the Witchaw market performance.   Um, moving up to the top floor, which I think is,  you know, probably what we're most excited about.   Um, you know, on the on the south side is is more  event space. Uh so I think you know big big uh   ballroom if you will in pre-unction. Uh there'll  be an outdoor patio here. So I mean there's   there's a million different events that you know  this can be used for and that's the intent. Um   the elevator bank will be in the middle. Um you  know we'll have a dedicated uh elevator for the   public. So you know if you're saying hey after  game we want to come over and have a drink. Uh   you pop in you know right in the middle right off  MLAN Boulevard. You go in your certain elevator,   uh, which is, um, dedicated to the public, not not  not hotel patrons, if you will, who are staying   there. Um, jump up to the top floor. Um, you get  off your elevator. Uh, you have a host kind of   waiting for you there that ushers you into this  uh, the north side, which will be more of that   rooftop bar that we've been talking about. Um, I  think we're going to flip the bar uh to the, uh,   east side um, of the hotel itself. And so I think  you're sitting at the bar kind of overlooking   um the the river and the the skyline itself. You  know, you turn around, you got views down into the   ballpark. Um this north side will be that terrace.  Uh so it'll be out outside and and covered. Again,   you know, think fire pits and uh you a little  bit of green roof. Um again, just you know,   having views not only the skyline, but also, you  know, to the west across the ballpark. It'll be a   pretty pretty dynamic area. Um we got just kind  of your typical uh room layouts as part of this   presentation. probably not as uh not as relevant  to this conversation. Um some of the images here   uh which we're pretty excited about. Again,  this is complimentary architecture to not only   you know Deleno downtown Witchaw, but you know,  the mixeduse uh development across the street.   Um so on the top you got the river here in the  foreground. Um you know, a lot of metal panels,   a lot of glazing, a lot of glass. You know,  there's a really unique mural opportunity here   uh on the south side of the building. Uh you're  seeing all those public riverfront uh improvements   here uh in the foreground as well with those  trees and again that elevated patio. If you can   kind of track my my cursor here, that'll connect  uh some of the event space on the north, you know,   over to that public bar component uh towards the  south. Uh that'll provide that connectivity across   the board. Um lower left here, you know, this is  on the north end of the building. So, you know,   that existing um entry point and center field for  the ballpark. If you're looking back to the south,   um at the top here, you're seeing that covered  rooftop patio. um you know down at grade uh   you're you're seeing a uh at grade uh patio which  again is is more flex based based on you know the   event that's happening. Uh gives you a sense  of scale and how we're starting to frame that   streetscape. I mean MLAN's going to change a ton  in a great way you know once these buildings are   up. Um and then lastly on the right here this  is uh on the south side of the building you're   seeing this uh overhang you know and this drop off  for the the hotel lobby itself. Um and similarly   you're seeing how we're framing uh framing MLAN as  as you you stare north. You're seeing the Hyatt in   the uh off to the right here just as a a frame of  reference um gives you some context. So um this uh   similarly to the mixed use our footing foundation  package which will include the structural columns   on level one. This package should be going to  MABCD here in two weeks. Um and so the uh the   team is is on track to mobilize here in June on  the hotel. Uh as well terms of completion dates   both are on track to complete in Q2 of 28. You  know that that milestone is I think July 31st   to 28. So we got a little bit of buffer in there.  So both are on track from a completion standpoint,   which obviously is paramount in regard to this  conversation. So with that, happy to answer any   questions. I know it's a lot of information.  I thought it was just kind of relevant to walk   through this in detail and kind of share these  plans and kind of where this sits. Thank you very   much, Austin, for sharing both the apartments  as well as the hotel. Uh, one more time,   can you just share uh you mentioned that the  packages will be going to MABC really soon.   Um, so June 2026 is when we're uh expected to  see some of that footing. Kind of just explain   a little bit more. Yeah, so our contractors on  track to remobilize in June uh of this summer. Um,   in terms of completion, you know, both are on  track for Q2 of 2028. So the hotel itself should   take approximately 16 to 18 months. Uh, the multif  family should take somewhere in the 20 to 22 month   range. Um, and and both, like I said, will be  complete by that Q2. In terms of the packages,   the hotel footing and foundation package  is on track to to be submitted in early   May. Uh the mixed use uh that same footing  foundation package will trail by about 30   days. Um and so I think that's the the detail  you're looking for relative to those packages. I go okay just real quick. So the hotel's the  the first thing or the first project that's   going vertical potentially. We're still working  through the means and methods. the footing and   foundation package for the hotel is is um further  advanced than the mixed use footing and foundation   package at this point. They're within 30 days of  each other, so they're relatively similar. Okay,   appreciate that. And and we're still on track  for vertical by end of July. It's going to be   extremely tight, just to be candid with you. And  and that was intentional. We didn't build in much   of a buffer there, but yeah, we're on track right  now. Okay. I'd love to see that. Um, also the 60   keys to the hotel, how much was um how many rooms  in the um apartment building? Um, 192 apartments.   Yeah, thank you for asking that. Um, it previous  wasund uh I think it was 181 initially. We've   gotten that up to 192 and that was just based on  what's performing in the market, what we're seeing   up the street at our project at 225 Sycamore. Um,  the hotel went up to 160 keys from 158 keys. So,   both the program has increased on both fronts, I  guess. Um, any concern with additional parking?   Where where where are you guys looking for? No.  No, no concerns there. No. Okay. Appreciate it.   Let me question. Quick question. Um, I I maybe  I'm wrong, but I I thought the completion date   was going to be July 31 of 2027. Now you say it's  Q2 of 28. Yeah, it's it's always been July 31st of   28. Okay. Okay. Yeah. We'd love it for me to be in  July 22nd. When does our star bond payment begin? Good morning, council member. What's  your question? When does uh when's   our star bond payment on on phase  two of the star bonds? When does it   uh hit us. Probably the more relevant question  would be when does phase one expire? Phase one   is going to expire in March of 27. Uh so  there'll be a little bit of a lag period   before we generate the the additional revenue  in phase two. A little over a year then. Yeah,   we make payments in March and in September of each  year on our star bonds. So, you know, uh you know,   the September of 27 payment uh would be probably  the primary one that might occur during the   transitional period between phase one expiring  and and phase two gearing up. Okay. Even even   March of 28 if they're ready in Q2, there's a lag  time between collection and time you get it. So,   the March payment is interest only. So, the March  payments are the smaller ones. So, the March   payment 28 will be relatively small. Okay. How  will we fund that? Through general fund or Well,   there's several mechanisms. Our trustee does  hold some funds in reserve. Uh now, I cannot   tell you whether there'll be any funds held in  reserve for that payment. Uh but as you know,   the city in the past has pledged each year in  its operating budget to backs stop any shortfalls   in the Starbond district. And I would presume  that that pledge would be included in the 2028   proposed budget which you would develop a year  from now. And if that is the case, uh if the   trustee is short, then the city would have the  uh uh ability or obligation slashobligation to   provide funds to the trustee to help make that  interest payment. And what's that interest pay?   What's that September payment? Uh the September  payment is principal and interest. And I'm going   by memory. I'm thinking it's in the neighborhood  of about 2 and a half million in principal and   about 600,000 in interest. So somewhere in the  neighborhood of 3.1 million. The spring payment   is interest only which is in the neighborhood of  600,000. Okay. So So we're looking at almost 4   million. We have to back stop and then we'll gain  it on the back side. Right. Yes. That's right.   The district the district expires in 2038 and  it's just like a tiff district. Sometimes tiffs   underperform in earlier years as the development  ramps up and they typically overperform in the   out years. And so yes, the city will have the  ability to recover from the star bond district   any amounts that we have to front early on if we  do in fact have to front any amounts. Okay. Okay.   Thank you. Would that be something Mark we look  at potentially I know this is the buzzword here   recently but tapping into a reserve but then  filling that obligation so that way whenever   we do make it up on the back end it it will go  and replace that. Uh there's a variety of options   we're looking at in order to uh accomplish this  if this does in fact occur. Uh we'll probably be   presenting some of those to you during the budget  development process later on this year. Uh the   reason I'm being a little bit uh koi is there's  some legalities we need to work through. But yes,   I think we have a number of options if we if  we have to uh provide any funding uh in the   future for this. Okay. Because that'd be quite  a quite a blow to the go if we pull from that.   It' definitely be a challenge, but again,  we have some options. Okay, appreciate it. Mayor, if I may. Um, I just I don't know who  can answer this, and really this is just for   my awareness because this is one of the first  times I'm having the conversation. Um, but it   sounds like we are leveraging our financing tools  to support this project. Would that be correct? I heard starbond. So I just that's why I wanted  to clarify for those who may be not sure what   does that mean or the the star bond commitment  was made in 2018 when we launched ourselves down   this road which of course was what seven  years ago now. Uh now it was based on a   variety of projections at the time but uh the  pandemic didn't exactly help us out. We didn't   forecast a pandemic in our in our projections  when we issued the star bonds in 2018. Uh now,   so far the district has performed pretty well. In  fact, we've uh paid down over $10 million of our   debt. So, we're ahead of schedule. We're actually  like three years ahead of schedule on on paying   down the Starbond debt that we issued in 2018. Uh  our challenge is cash flows during this interim   period. you know, the timing didn't exactly  line up how we would have preferred, but again,   that's due to many many factors. Uh, you know,  we had some challenges originally in this area,   but uh, yeah, like I said, our our primary  challenge is just that some of our cash flows   aren't lining up as we originally expected, but  over time, to council member Johnston's point,   over time, we believe the district will have the  capacity to fully cover all its costs, just like   most tiffs typically do as well. So, thank you.  I appreciate you explaining that. Um, are there   any other financing tools that we're leveraging  or incentives that we're providing outside of   Starbonds? Uh, for the baseball uh stadium,  yes, we used for this particular project. Uh,   this project is important for us because it is in  the tiff district and is in the SID district and   those are resources that are being used to finance  the stadium. So, that's why this project's very   it's in the Starbond district too obviously. Yeah.  That's why this develop is important for the city   financially because it will generate significant  cash flows that will help us with the tiff and   the sid and the star that is integral to the  financing of the baseball stadium and some of the   other improvements in that area. Absolutely. Thank  you so much. I completely understand folks taking   um I guess advantage wouldn't be the right word  but tapping into the resource of the tools that   we have available. Um, with that though, I do  have the question about the particular uh housing   piece. Is are any of them dedicated for affordable  housing or any set aides at all? No. No, they're   not. So, with that being said, what would be the  average price of the rent? Uh, I don't have that   memorized to be honest with you, but happy to  share that with you. Would it be market value?   It'll be market. It'll be commensurate with  our project at 225 Sigmore. Okay. Yeah. Okay. and no opportunity to to think about any units  being dedicated to affordable housing at all.   It was that was not baked into the underwriting up  front when we asked for the incentive. So, I mean,   it's it's all a direct relationships, right? I  mean, we want a little bit of that. The incentive   request is going to go up, too. So, I mean, it's  I appreciate you sharing that. Thank you so much. I see no further questions. Again, thank  you very much for the presentation. Um,   and so we understand construction is uh commencing   June of this year. We're on track to  mobilize in June. Thank you very much. Don't go anywhere, Mark. You're next. And mayor, for our next topic, we're going to have  Mark come back up. We're going to start our kind   of kickoff a little bit about budget planning. Um  we're getting into a lot of the budget discussions   with departments. Um but we want to give you  the higher level about the CIP. So you see some   things about our CIP process as well as a cost  recovery model that has been implemented in the   past that Mark as our director of finance Manning  will highlight for you. Good morning. I'm Mark   Manning with the uh department of finance. Uh as  the manager said today we want to provide you with   an update on the budget process but we want to  take a little bit different twist today and update   you on several processes that are intricral to  the development of the budget and that is as the   manager mentioned the capital improvement program  and we'll also talk about two items that are   included in the strategic plan that you approved  last year in the budget which is our cost recovery   uh strategy and our centralization strategy.  Again both of those will be intertwined in our   budget development this year. Uh so I wanted to  spend a little bit of time today and drill down   on those so that you uh when you see those later  particularly probably at the May workshop you'll   have a better understanding of what we're trying  to accomplish. Now the capital improvement program   as you know is a 10-year plan for improvements for  our community. It's also a 10-year financial plan   on how we uh how we believe we can finance  those improvements for our community. And   that's developed alongside the operating budget.  There's a lot of ties to the operating budget.   They are very integrated and that's very important  to understand. Now the CIP in holistic view is is   designed based around two parameters. We want  to align it to our city strategic plan. Again   the linkage to the operating budget but we also  want to align it to the community investments plan   which some people call the comp plan. In the old  days we would call that the comp plan. That is the   20 to 25 year plan developed by the metropolitan  planning department that provides the longer term   vision for our community. Uh again, we want to  be aware of the operating impact of the capital   improvement program. And the final point I'd make  is recognize there's a variety of funding sources   in the CIP and I'll talk about those briefly in  just a second. So why is the community investment   plan very important for us? Because it outlines  three broad priorities for our capital improvement   plan. Priority number one is maintenance. We take  that very seriously. So that's where that that   comes from. The second priority is enhancement  and the third priority is expansion. So we're   going to tilt the CIP during the development phase  towards the maintenance side. Uh now we will have   some expansion and enhancement and we'll we'll  categorize all these for you but just recognize   this is what drives staff to develop the CIP  tilted towards the maintenance side. I also   mentioned it's very aligned to the operating  budget. That's because the operating budget   and the CIP basically have the same objective  to provide outcomes to our residents. One just   finances the capital side of that equation and  the other finances the operating side of that   equation. So one to use police for example, the  operating budget is going to finance the weekly or   bi-weekly salaries of police officers. The CIP is  going to fund the police stations that are going   to last for 50 years that our police officers are  going to use. So they're very heavily integrated.   So, I won't go through every source,  but I did uh pull out one pie slice,   and that is the geo at large pie slice. That's  probably the most important pie slice for a   couple reasons. That is the pie slice over which  you have the most discretion. Uh you can control   the revenues because it's property tax revenues.  So, uh we can set the mill levy at whatever is   the appropriate level. It's historically  been flat at about seven mills, but again,   you have that latitude. But more importantly, uh  it's much more discretionary in how you choose to   spend the geo at large. Now, traditionally, we've  used it for things like public safety and quality   of life and park projects and things of that  nature. Uh, but again, that slice is probably   the most important to you because it is by far the  most discretionary. For example, water and sewer,   $900 million, you're going to spend that for one  thing, water and sewer improvements. Local sales   tax, by your ordinance, you're going to spend on  roads, bridges, and freeways. Special assessments   is only going to be spent on petition projects.  And most of the grant funding is very specific for   specific projects. So again, you will hear us talk  primarily about GEO at large when we talk about   the CIP and that's because that's the one that is  most uh most uh funible and most discretionary. I   won't go through this. This is the traditional uh  areas. By the way, both these are from last year's   CIP. Generally, they look the same year toear  in proportion. So I haven't updated it yet. But   again, you're going to spend most of our geo uh  at large on heavy equipment, which is bulldozers   and dump trucks for public works. You're going to  spend it on park and recreation for the most part,   and you're going to spend it on public safety,  which by the way is over half of your go at   large is spent on the public safety area. And then  there's a little bit mixed into public facilities.   You'll see some money in there uh for libraries  and parks and things of that nature. So, we   determine what projects should be in the CIP and  we're going to align that again to our strategic   plan and our comp community investments plan. But  how do we determine how much of those projects we   can afford and in what year we can afford them?  Well, to do that, we look at the capacity of the   debt service fund over the 10-year period. And we  manage debt service fund around two parameters. We   want to maintain a stable fund balance within our  policy minimums, which is generally around 20%. We   want a lot of liquidity in the debt service fund.  That's important to our rating agencies. We also   want to target approximately 5050 on cash and debt  each year as we fund capital improvement projects.   Now, we've talked about that a lot. Uh I would  tell you that's a holistic measure. We don't fund   a single project 50% cash and 50% debt. We choose  certain projects that are more appropriate for   cash funding and we pay cash for them. And we'll  choose certain projects that maybe have longer   lifespans like buildings and we'll typically  debt finance. But the point is whenever we do   our financing each year, uh we are aiming for a  mixture of approximately 5050 on our debt and on   our cash. So that's what's going to tell us what  our capacity is and that's what's going to dictate   the recommendation on when projects are timed.  Yes, we'd like to do every project this year if we   could because we have a lot of needed improvements  in the capital improvement plan, but we don't have   the capacity and dev service fund. So when you  hear about project timing and why is this project   in 28 and this project's in 27, that's because  we're trying to prioritize important projects   within the uh scope of our uh financial capacity.  So that's kind of the challenge in in developing   the CIP. Hey Mark, is that considered um best  practices? Is that what most municipalities do   that 50/50 split? Well, actually the benchmark  that we use is 67%. Uh we study and this is a   little stale. We need to redo this. But several  years ago, we studied AAA cities. This before we   were actually AAA. And a lot of AAA cities will  go as high as 33% 67% 1/3 2/3 67% debt or cash.   They'll debt for twothirds of their projects.  Wow. Uh so technically that is our benchmark,   but our target is to be 5050. That gives you more  flexibility. The less you spend on debt service,   the more flexibility the governing body has and  the less risk you have. And that's better for   the bond ratings is the 5050 over the 6733.  Certainly provides a more favorable view the   lower our debt limits, our debt levels are. So  yeah, it helps us in that regard too. But yeah,   great point. 50/50 is our target. 67% is our  benchmark. So I mean it's your policy. So we   could in increase our leverage in the CIP, which  means we could accelerate projects. The downside   of that is you would have far less flexibility  and capacity in the out years. And we we try and   maintain a steady debt level. So if we went to  6733, we would still have that same debt level   that we're trying to fit in. So we would actually,  I think, maybe get less done. Fundamentally, yes,   you're correct. We we try to keep our debt levels  relatively stable. It's a challenge because we   have maturities occurring at different times,  but yes, conceptually, what you're saying is is   what we attempt to do. Okay, sir. Appreciate that.  Yeah. And I do want to jump in here and say that   I am impressed with the financial policies you've  all established and how Mark and the finance team   are managing it because in many jurisdictions you  do find a lot more debt and not cash payment as   we're doing here. Um but also when you look at  the what we call the debt service millage is a   lot of jurisdictions that's the only amount of  money they have to pay off their bonds is what   a millage is dedicated towards debt service. And  so it does fluctuate. Some years you can only do a   few projects, but when you roll some off, then you  have more money that you take on bigger projects.   Keeping it smooth or flat like we're doing here,  I think is a key for our overall program. And so I   you all should take comfort that we've got a good  CIP funding model here that I think speaks well.   But when you look across the country, you see  a lot more reliance on the debt, not the cash. The manager said that better than I tried to. He  said it much briefer but he's exactly right. You   have much greater flexibility uh if we only use  a modicon of debt which is approximately 5050.   It provides you as a governing body much greater  flexibility in the future. So let's talk about our   development. Uh so far the staff the development  of the capital improvement program has been at   the staff level. We've have a committee with all  the key players in the CIP which is public works,   airport, park, police, fire, library. Uh so we  go we actually literally review every single   project that's submitted. The committee provides  recommendations and ultimately they will help us   come up with a draft and then finance will get  involved and again as I noted try to adjust the   timing so that we can maintain within the  appropriate capacity and then when we are   done with that we will have a decent draft that we  will be prepared to share with the city manager's   office and the city council. that should be  forthcoming certainly by the May workshop.   But that's that'll be our responsibility to do  that between now and the May workshop. Uh so we   will have a deliverable where we we will have a  draft CIP. We will also provide you information   about all the projects that were requested but  that were not included in the draft CIP. And   then typically we update you on any fundamental  changes from the last CIP. I mean projects move   around a little bit each year for a variety of  reasons. Uh a lot of times that's logistical.   we just can't get them done. Sometimes they move  for financial, but we also update you on that. So,   that should be forthcoming within the next two or  three weeks. We're right at the process of being   prepared to do that. Uh, I will tell you though  that maintenance projects will be prioritized in   the draft that you will see from staff. There  will be some new projects. There probably some   new projects that are not included. Uh, a large  one, for example, is police requested, I believe,   $30 million for a downtown police headquarters.  that project is going to be very large. So,   we'll probably need policy direction if the will  of the body is to include that. But that's just   one example of a large project that'll probably  be a challenge for us to include at least in the   initial draft. So, after we have a draft, our  next step will be considering the impact on   the operating budget. We talked about this at the  retreat. uh we will do a better job of disclosing   potential liabilities in the future that could  impact the long-term financial plan of the general   fund. One of those, as I believe we talked about  at the retreat, will be operating costs associated   with capital improvement projects. Uh so, and  there will be some, for example, I believe we   have a new fire station or two uh scheduled. So  we will uh do a better job of of giving you an   idea of what the impact on the operating budget  may be based on the capital improvement projects   that are included uh in the plan. Another thing  that will impact us just like the general fund   sess valuation we won't know that until June. Uh  so likely we'll make a tweak on on the capacity of   debt service fund in June which will you know  provide us another opportunity to reevaluate   things again. We'll continually look at what  should be included and when should it be timed   and that discussion will be revolving around your  feedback but also as as we continue to look at the   capacity of the debt service fund and manage  it based on the parameters that we mentioned   earlier. So that's a very high level overview  of the CIP. Again, I just wanted to prep you for   what will be coming up in the not too distant  future so you're prepared for it. And again,   we will do that between now and the May workshop.  And I'm sure we'll have a active discussion about   this at the May workshop. So in the remainder of  my time and I'll try to be brief because you've   got a long day here. I want to talk about two  strategies in the operating budget that we're   working on in the finance department and we're  super excited about. Uh one is centralization   which as you know we actually started in the 25  adopted budget and then we refined it in the 26   adopted budget. I want to give you an update on  that, tell you what you probably will see during   our budget development process this year. And  then I'll touch on cost recovery a little bit.   We've been talking about that for a while, so I'll  talk about that. Why are we doing centralization?   We believe we can achieve five objectives.  We believe we can enhance our organizational   efficiency. In fact, I think we have a  spending target reduction of about $850,000,   which we believe we're on track to reach. Uh we  believe this will increase accountability and   reduce risk both of which in my business are very  good things. Uh we also see a lot of opportunities   to enhance our cost accounting. Uh that should  be important to you because that will allow us   to give you better information so that you can  make better uh decisions that impact our finances.   So we're going to revamp uh we have opportunity  to revamp our cost accounting uh because of our   centralization initiative. And finally, we  believe this will significantly enhance our   customer service levels that we provide. Now, we  serve two customers. We serve internal customers,   which is our operating departments, but we also  serve external customers in our financial services   business. That's vendors, that's people that we  collect money from. It's a variety of people. We   believe that we can serve those customers much  better with a centralized approach. Uh these are   the components. We won't get all these done on  day one. We'll phase them in. You've heard a lot   about a lot of these in the past. Some of these  we've already made quite a bit of progress on.   Probably accounts receivable is the one we've  made the most progress on. Uh Shayla's done a   fantastic job there. She's been working on that  actually for about the last 12 to 14 months. So,   we've made great strides there. We've chose that  one because frankly that was probably one of the   less complex ones for us to take. Uh uh payroll uh  you know we implemented our electronic timekeeping   actually this week. Uh so we're we're in the  beginning stage of that. Uh we'll probably tackle   accounts payable next once we're appropriately  staffed for that and then we'll uh look at the   others. I mentioned internal audit down at the  bottom. Uh we are not going to centralize internal   audit. I put that on there because we work very  closely with the internal audit team and the city   manager's office and they are a very important  partner for us in the centralization initiative.   Uh so it's very important for us to include them  as a partner because a lot of what we're doing is   going to integrate with a lot of what they do. So  we'll have some excellent opportunities to partner   together which I think will strengthen uh them  as much as it'll strengthen us. So we're pretty   excited about that too. So I I threw them on this  slide. So just conceptually how are we going to   accomplish centralization? The first thing we need  to do is build our capacity internally primarily   in the finance department. uh and we'll be coming  with you uh to to you for proposals for that. We   cannot absorb all of the centralization load  without resources. As I noted, Shayla has done   some preliminary work. She was able to accomplish  that. But fundamentally, we need to establish   the capacity in the finance department. And then  we'll start transitioning dollars basically from   operating departments to the finance department  as their workload diminishes and our workload   increases and there'll be a net on that and that's  where we're going to generate most of our savings.   Uh we're also going to develop memorandums of  agreements orus with each department. We've   already drafted those in consult consultation  with departments. Basically theou says here's   what we do and here's what you do. And that's  important for a couple reasons. One it provides   clarity but secondly it provides a mechanism to  hold us accountable us in the finance department   because you will have a document that explicitly  says here's what you said you are going to do. So   that's important to us because a we want  to be held accountable but we also want   clarification on what our responsibility is  and what your responsibility is. You're being   a department and their responsibility is going  to be very limited which is the whole point of   our centralization initiative. Uh we take this  as an opportunity to examine all our procedures   and processes and finance. We love procedures. We  are procedurriven. We have many, many procedures,   but this provides a good opportunity for  us just to look under the hood again and   make sure everything we're doing is appropriate  and and uh doesn't need to be tweaked based on   centralization. And finally, the last one, as I  noted, likely in the budget preparation process,   you will see a new fund that we will propose uh  an internal service fund. And I won't go into   the weeds about that, but the objective is for us  to better cost account our administrative cost,   which again helps you hold me responsible because  you'll see exactly what we're spending. But more   importantly, it allows us to fully cost out our  costs of all our services. That's very important   to us because again, it'll help you make better  decisions. So that's why we're a big advocate of   doing that. Uh and I'm about to wind down here,  I think, so I'll try to accelerate the pace.   How are we going to determine how many positions  we need in finance and how many we can pull out   of departments? We used a consultant which you  approved I think in October, November last year,   McConnell Jones, we call them MJ. They've been  fantastic. They've studied our organization.   They studied 160 positions. They interviewed  staff, they interviewed supervisors, they got job   requirements, and they have made recommendations  guiding us through this process. So, they have   recommendations on where they think the savings  are and what they think our capacity will be.   We didn't stop there. We did our own analysis in  the finance department from a little bit different   tilt. We did ours more empirically because we  know every time somebody touches our system. So   we use that as a gauge to know who is active and  who is less active. And so we use that kind of as   a double check to MJ's where it basically came  out to a very similar place. But that approach   will guide our recommendation for resources for  finance and savings in operating departments.   Very empirical, very analytical. We've tried to  keep departments up to speed on this. I don't know   that we've shared all the details yet because we  haven't gotten our final recommendation from MJ,   but that is how we will make recommendations to  you for amounts that we would propose to save   in departments and that we would propose to staff  with finance. Just off the top of your head, Mark,   and I know it's speculation at this point, do you  view that as being um employee neutral? Um do you   think that there will be positions eliminated?  And would that be more by attrition as people   retire or we have openings that are uh essentially  eliminated that we haven't been able to backfill?   That's a great question. I do not believe it will  be employee neutral. I mean, in order for us to   generate the savings that we need to generate, uh  most likely it will involve displacements. I can't   tell you how many of those displacements will be.  We'll have that soon. But to your second point,   uh we have a long history here at the city  of always trying to place employees. Uh,   I cannot tell you today that every single  displaced employee will be placed somewhere else,   but I can tell you this. I think a lot of them  will be on the lower tier of the scale, which   makes it much easier to place them. We're talking  maybe about account clerks or administrative aids.   Those positions are relatively funible and they're  much easier to place. There may be some higher   level administrative positions uh which will not,  you know, be necessary in the future. Again, I   can't tell you that all of those will be placed. I  can tell you that it will be our policy to attempt   to place them. So, if that answers your question,  I'm just I'm trying to be as candid as I can. No,   I I appreciate that. Yeah, it's something I  guess we'll have to keep paying attention to   as this is developed. And again, we will work  with departments. Our objective is to give them   a spending target during the development of  the budget and have you incorporate that in   the operating budget. Our objective is not to tell  the department, okay, here's the three positions   you need to get rid of tomorrow. That's not the  route we're going to go. We're going to tell them   based on all our calculations, we estimate you  can save $142,000 or whatever. And we're going   to leave it to them to determine how they shrink  that out of their budget with the hope that that   will occur prior to the beginning of fiscal  27. But if there if there are positions that   open up in your department for this, it they  would move over essentially. Conceptually,   that's certainly possible. Uh again, I'm not going  to guarantee you that every displaced position is   going to find a home in our centralized model  for a couple reasons. The classifications may   be different. And secondly, uh we're going to  use it as a process to interview both internal   and external. But certainly, any displaced  person would be considered as a candidate   for those jobs. Yes, sir. But again, that's all  coming up. Uh we haven't got to that stage yet,   but certainly we probably will in a couple months.  So, uh, I'm gonna blast through the most of the   rest because I've I've talked long enough and  getting into a lot of accounting theory, but   just be aware that you may see a new fund. We'll  explain this to you during the budget process. Uh,   again, it'll just be primarily designed to account  for our uh, administrative costs so we can uh,   better uh, fully cost those operations, which we  think is a good thing. Cost recovery is another   thing uh, that's very important conceptually.  We've launched a concept we call the cost pyramid.   Uh this graphic is way too small probably for  you to see. But the concept of the cost pyramid   which we've used conceptually here for several  years is if it if we provide a service that is   a communitywide benefit i.e. the uh red color  down at the bottom there community benefit one   we generally do not believe that it's appropriate  to cost recover those benefits. That's provided to   everyone. So we're generally not going to seek to  recover those costs. at the very top, the uh dark   blue triangle at the very top. Those are highly  individualized benefits. Those are the types of   benefits based on the pyramid design that we feel  is most appropriate to fully recover our costs.   And then you can see there's a variety of layers  in between. And obviously all this is subjective,   but this is the concept that we believe will  guide our recommendations. Again, uh you know,   that's contingent upon you uh approving a policy  that will guide us in this direction. But that's   the concept. The greater the individual benefit,  the higher our cost recovery should be and vice   versa. So, we worked with staff last six months.  We've inventoried a variety of activities the   city has. We've worked with them to place them  conceptually on the cost pyramid. And you again   you can I'll try to blow this up and give you  a better version because it's hard to see. But   that's our objective is try to identify where  our various services align on our cost benefit   benefit pyramid because that will that will  direct our recommendations. We also have a fee   inventory now which is something we didn't have  much of in the past. We have an inventory of all   our fees or most of our fees. We know how they're  approved. We know what they're set at. And again,   that'll be very useful information as we come  to you with recommendations in the future. Now,   the good news is some of those fees are have  been updated periodically. The bad news is,   as the last bullet shows, there are some that  haven't been updated for many, many, many,   many years. Uh, so again, that'll drive some of  our recommendations. Mark, while you're at that   slide of 40 years of not looking at those costs,  does that mean that may maybe some of those fees   have not been um adequate to uh cost recovery?  I Yes, ma'am. Mayor, I think that's exactly what   that means. It means the city has been subsidizing  those services. Whether that's right or wrong   uh for many, many, many, many, many years, we will  provide you the information to determine if that   is still an appropriate strategy. I'll put it that  way. We won't necessarily tell you these fees need   to be increased, but we'll put them on the cost  pyramid. We'll align them to your policy guidance,   which will allow you to make an informed decision  as to whether it's appropriate to increase those   in the future. Uh yes, sir. Can you give can  you give us an example of maybe some of those   fees that have been I don't expect you to name  all 200 but like if you can give us three or two   examples because I think we often talk about the  city subsidizing things but I also think we have   to balance out what what it is folks are bringing  to our community that we need. I think we often   times speak about that from the development lens,  having finance tools to help provide development,   right? But there are some fees that I would  argue we we need to subsidize because it helps   with quality of life. So, I just want to paint  that picture for my colleagues as well. Yeah,   that's a great point. There's a lot of gray  in this area. We're trying to provide a policy   to you to provide us some guidance, but it is a  rather subjective process with some gray areas on   it. Uh you ask about some fees. Uh I'll give you  just a hodgepodge of some. Uh we have industrial   revenue bond fees each year. 2500 bucks. That  hasn't changed in many many years. To your point,   should it be more? Should it be less? Again,  that's a subjective policy question, but we'll   provide a policy mechanism for you to have that  discussion and provide us appropriate feedback.   Uh license fees, there's variety of license fees  that we've adjusted over time. Again, we'll have a   better mechanism to show you what the actual cost  of those licenses are. uh you know there's variety   of them for a variety of different purposes. You  know what should daycare license fees be? I don't   know what should massage therapist license fees  be. So there's many many many many decisions that   need to be made. Our objective is to provide  you with a mechanism to provide us that policy   feedback. I appreciate that and I and I hope  that we'll take into into consideration you use   childcare licensing fees. We also know we have a  child care shortage. Uh my colleague um council   member Tedle has been very passionate about that  and so I would hope as we're reflecting on some of   these fees that we're not making it more difficult  uh to help fill some of these critical gaps that   we have in our city. Mark, do we have a business  licensing permit fee? We do not. So we we're not   charging our businesses for opening. No, we do not  business license fee a specific business license   fee or I should say specific a generic business  license fee. We do not. But if that were the case,   could it be possible to look at um as those fees  come in, if we were to create fees, that they're   being allocated to particular things such as an  economic development tool to support minority or   small business entrepreneurs. Some of our fees  are allocated. For example, in my IRB example,   those go into the economic development fund and  they help finance our activities in that area. So,   a lot of our fees actually are for specific areas,  some are not. uh license fees for the most part   go into the general fund other than some of the  engineering fees that they charge. Uh so there's   a variety of different things to consider,  but again our objective is to provide you   with as much information as possible so you can  provide us policy direction and we will provide   you recommendations, but it's going to it's not  a it's not a black and white process. There's a   lot of gray and a lot of subjectivity and we will  follow your policy guidance. Thank you for naming   that. It's not black and white. There's a lot of  gray and we need to be thinking methodically about   that. Appreciate it. One quick followup to maybe  my colleagueu's question as well. If we don't   rely on a feebased structure for users of any  particular thing, so industrial revenue bond fee   for example, then that is going to be supplemented  by general tax dollars which come from property   tax dollars which come from residents. And so it's  coming either from the user of the system or it's   coming from the general resident through property  tax dollars. That is correct. And for example, in   that case, I would be very surprised if we recover  our costs for issuing IRBs based on our current   fee level. And you're right, the policy question  is should we who benefits from that? Is it an   individualized benefit, which would lead you to  believe it should be higher on the cost pyramid,   or is it a communitywide benefit? And you know,  you can argue both ways, but that's the kind of   discussion we'd like to have so we can make an  empirical decision on where those fees should   be set. Thank you. I appreciated the pyramid,  too. Uh that was the first time I'd seen that   in one of these presentations, and I think that's  a clear indicator. So, um, I'm very interested in   terms of, uh, advancement of that conversation  and thank you for your work on it. We'll try to   make the graphic a little read more readable next  time. It's it's hard to jam all that information   onto one page. So, uh, I think I'm going to try to  wrap up here really quick. By the way, our efforts   at full cost recovery will help you make your  determination on fees because it'll give you a   better idea of what we're actually spending to to  to provide some of this service. And our hope is   all this will get wrapped into our discussions  this fall and will drive recommendations in   the 2027 proposed budget. Uh second to last  slide here, just where we're at on process.   We're getting ready to bunch launch the budget  simulator. Uh it's going to be a little bit better   than last year. We made some modifications. Uh  so I I'll just tease that out there. But I think   it's a little bit more robust which will get us  better feedback. We're continuing the engagement   processes. We're visiting with the district  advisory boards. I think we've already visited   with district 3 and uh we have some more coming  up. Uh we'll continue to work on the CIP and at   some point we'll be ready to uh interface with the  manager's office and with you on the details of   the CIP. We continue to work through the operating  budget. Right now departments are meeting with the   city manager and when we're through with that  we'll have a list of the items that they have   requested for your consideration. We continue to  monitor revenues. I'm not even going to go there   today. I would just tell you two things. Interest  earnings we talk about every time. every time when   I think I know what's going to happen, something  happens and contrary rates are higher. Rates are   higher longer with the conflict in the Middle  East. Good for us. You know, I won't, you know,   probably not bad for society, but interest rates  are staying higher than what we thought. So, we   again on the short-term basis, we'll probably have  some recommendations there for you at some point,   too. Uh I see the governor vetoed uh the bill in  the legislature that would have mitigated some of   our property tax growth. So that'll probably  impact our forecast that we provide you at   some point. But again, we'll do all that in May.  We'll update all that in our May workshop. Uh and   I think I mentioned this already. So I'm going to  go right to the final slide and apologize for the   length. Uh just wanted to I probably get a little  wrapped up. Some of this stuff's super exciting to   us in the finance department. So I apologize if  I got a little uh a little wrapped up in it, but   happy to answer any questions. I just want to give  you big kudos to you, your team, Shaylin, also   uh internal audit team. Thank you for pointing  that out. Um I think sometimes we gloss over this   is the most important part. Um I really appreciate  um the consideration towards greater efficiency,   greater transparency and greater communication. Um  even when count vice mayor mentioned the pyramid   this is something that community um appreciate  seeing understanding that there are things that   are subsidized for all then there are things  that are not subsidized and are userbased   um and I think clearly communi communicating  um what those benefits are and who is paying   for what is important um and I think that I  just encourage you to continue communicating   about this you are not taking up uh time it is  very important important and critical. So, thank   you for doing that work. Thank you, Mayor Mark.  I I don't want to let you off the hook just yet,   but as the mayor mentioned, clearly communicating  so that people have accurate information. So,   just a couple of questions if you can say this  is accurate or not. So, the bulk of the CIP is it   u a line particularly the bulk for public works  meaning bridges, streets, heavy fleet equipment,   public facilities, water, sewer and storm water?  Uh yes, public works administers the vast majority   of the CIP. They run the water utilities, which  is a third of our CIP. They're responsible for   our freeways and streets. So if you try to align  the CIP by department, the vast majority of it   is public works, but having said that, public  works also serves internal customers. A lot   of the maintenance side they do, they do for  others. So we typically haven't allocated it by   department. Certainly, we could attempt to do that  if that's the desire, but uh the vast majority of   the CIP does is administered by the public works  department. there. And is this accurate that there   is money in there for park and recreation,  roughly around 5 million, 9 million for fire,   uh 5 million for police, and those departments  allocate where they want those CIP dollars to go?   Uh, sorry, council member, what was the beginning  part of your question? That there are dollars for   park and recreation for about 5 million, 9 million  for fire, and 5 million for police. Oh, yes. Yes,   sir. Uh, that's that's true. uh you can look at  it a 10 year or one-year basis but I I believe   if you look at 2026 yes sir that is approximately  correct those are the amounts that are allocated   to those departments okay and who determines the  projects that those dollars are to go departments   submit requests to the committee for example  park department will say here's all the things   we would like to spend money on and they'll  give us approximate years and police and fire   and everybody else will do that and then it's the  committee's job to evaluate those look at how they   integrate which public works is very helpful at  because they have a holistic view. So we'll try   to integrate them all and then in finance we'll  try to align them with the capacity of our debt   service funds. So those three things all intersect  integration department request financial capacity   and that kind of drives what projects are  included and where they're placed in the   CIP. So it's a data driven decision I'd say very  much so. Yes sir. So if there was a theory and or   a narrative that only one particular district  is being focused on in terms of CIP, it's fair   to say that these are data driven decisions and  not by preference or preferential treatment of a   particular district. Uh I would say that is our  desired outcome to be data driven. Thank you. Thank you Mark. Moving on to our next topic that we have for  you today. We're going to talk about   the sidewalk construction and maintenance  policy with our city engineer Paul Gunzelman. Thank you, manager. start uh with sidewalk. Um I know there's  been questions uh as I have presented on   projects regarding sidewalk especially on CIP  projects or arterial streets. So um I'll go   through some slides here um starting with uh  uh the first page from the ordinance that was   uh published in October of 1979. And then down  there at the bottom, I've highlighted at large   improvements per the ordinance, uh, sidewalk  improvements shall be installed by the city abuing   both sides of all arterial streets. And it goes  on to say, financing for such improvements shall   be provided by the city at large, state or federal  funds. Can you address in 1979 what was the um was   there a requirement or what was the norm regarding  the size of sidewalks? Boy, mayor, that is a tough   question. But I can say um just look at you know  pictures I've taken driving through part of the   city probably 4 foot at that time. Um and then I  know looking at um some digital files that we have   uh arterial streets since 2010. I know um 119th  Street from Kellogg to Maple um that constructed   a six-foot sidewalk on one side of the street  and a 10-ft multi-use path on the other. So,   I think we've been doing six foot sidewalks  at least since 2010. I didn't date back any   further than that, but and as I mentioned,  you know, this ordinance really needs to be   updated as it mentions the traffic commission  as well, which has been disbanded years ago   um when uh district advisory boards were put  into place. So, um it's more than just, you know,   the ordinance needs to be updated on various other  reasons as well. some of the design guidance from   the American ASHTTO American Association State  Highway and Transportation Officials ASHTTO   pedestrian facilities guide um urban collectors  and arterials. Sidewalk should be provided on   each side of the street along collectors and  arterials whenever frontage is developed. The   minimum clear width for a sidewalk is 4 feet  not including any attached curb. If sidewalk   is less than five feet wide, a passing space is  to be is to be provided at intervals not greater   than 200 feet and they recommend six to 8 foot  sidewalk width or rec along arterial streets.   The ADA guidelines also speak to a minimum  width of 36 in for wheelchair access. And   then and again, if an accessible route has less  than 60 in clear or 5 ft, then passing spaces at   least 5T by 5t shall be located at reasonable  inter intervals again not to exceed 200 feet.   The NACTO guidelines sidewalks have  a desired minimum through zone of six   feet and an absolute minimum of five feet. Where  sidewalk is directly adjacent to moving traffic,   the desired minimum is 8. Can I uh go back to that  last slide? Yes, sir. It says um ADA is 36 in. So,   so 3 feet on each side. That would be that would  be for like if there is a utility pole or a box   that might be located within the sidewalk. We  need to have a 36 inch minimum clearance space   and or downtown maybe where there's some  sidewalk outdoor sidewalk cafes outside   of that we need to maintain a 36 inch clearance  space for wheelchairs to pass by those obstacles and then again noto um again six feet absolute  minimum of five feet and then where it's   adjacent or directly to the back adjacent  or back a curb. The desired minimum is 8 ft,   which we also have been uh designing for  the 2014 pedestrian plan that was adopted or   um endorsed by the city council in November  of 2014. Some of the goals of that plan were   to provide a safe and welcoming pedestrian  network, improve community accessibility   and connections for pedestrians, and promote a  citywide culture of walking. Arterial streets,   it had mentioned uh providing sidewalks along  arterial streets and install missing sections   of sidewalk in conjunction with development,  redevelopment, and roadway construction projects. additional planning requirements.  Um, community unit development plans   uh typically ask for a pedestrian uh connection  from the buildings within the CUP to an arterial   sidewalk. And on the picture on the left that  shows some connections to the arterial sidewalk   along Maze Road and the rectangular boxes.  And then also um as an example on the east   side of town Green Witch Road, it also provided  some uh sidewalk connections to the arterial   street. Quick question. I'm confused by the  image on the left. What is What am I seeing   here? And how is that connectivity? Because you  have to walk. That's the This is along Yeah,   this is along the Green Witch Road. The left side.  Sorry. No. So this the Sorry, the left photo. Left   photo. Okay. This is along Maze Road. Yes. That  you actually have to like cross the street for the   connectivity to the sidewalk. No, it's a sidewalks  here and it leads into the parking lot. Oh,   the box is just extending over the entire street.  Extended. Yeah. Apologize. I You're good. I was   like that doesn't see connectivity. You have to  walk across road. So, just those connections.   Yeah. Thank you. And we must have had a pretty  large grade difference here along Green Witch   Road because we had to, you know, do a switch back  uh sidewalk connection to that development area. Additional um planning or subdivision  regulations and we have been working with   uh as some of you may know to uh Scott Wade with  planning has been leading an effort to update   the subdivision regulations. So, we have been  meeting with, you know, that includes planning,   public works, MABCD, and Witchto Fire have been  having regular meetings to review those. The,   uh, subdivision regulations, uh, speak to  sidewalk requirements. Um, and it refers to   the sidewalk ordinance. Again, as we go through,  you know, develop or updating the ordinance,   some of these items will be included  as well as the ordinance states. Now   um subdivision sidewalk is con required or  constructed on collector streets which are   designated at the time of platting on one side  of a continuous street which is platted to permit   48 48 or more dwelling units abuing the sides  intersecting with a collector arterial street.   So an example would be Cababella on either  side of culde-sac or loop streets when either   intersecting with collector or arterial streets  again when there's 48 dwelling units um along   that section or roadway. The ordinance really gets  kind of technical. We want to we've had discussion   is the 48 dwelling units the appropriate  amount with the um depending on what type   of residential units they are could be duplexes  etc. So maybe we're kind of looking at especially   on culde-sacs the length of the culde-sacs  as to when maybe sidewalk would be required. Oh, I'm sorry. Is this being enforced currently?  There are there waiverss that are granted in   some of these? Not that I'm aware of. Okay.  Appreciate that. And we're also looking at um   you know providing more connections uh within the  subdivisions such as you know these culde-sacs at   Willow Green Circle and uh Cababella Court.  Would it make sense to connect these with the   just the pedestrian access so that folks can  walk through to access the arterial street?   Does it make sense to provide a a a pedestrian  access from the culde-sac to the arterial street   so folks don't have to walk all the way through  the neighborhood to get to the arterial street?   Who would have to pay for that? that would be as  part of the special assessment cost. Um again,   this is this is located this is at the northwest  corner of the intersection of Pony and 127th   Street. Southeast High School is just south  of Panee. Um we do have um you know, again,   the subdivision regulations provide these  stubs to the arterial street so that they   can be connected when the arterial sidewalk  is constructed. The uh picture in the lower   right is the uh I happened to catch a student  that was uh walking down Terara Falls Street,   stopped across Ponyie and then he he um  went on to Southeast High School campus. Some design guidance on multi-use paths. The  again the ASHTTO guide for the design of bicycle   facilities um requires or minimum paved width  of a shared use path should be 10 feet may be   reduced to 8t for short distances and then  pathways with higher traffic are typically   14 feet which would be similar to what we  would be doing on the red trail as well as   the the lower level of the path along the river  corridor. I think we have 14 feet in those areas. As we uh design arterial streets, uh we do  refer back to the 2024 uh bicycle master plan.   And if if the roadway or the map uh includes  a roadway that is either on the priority bike   network or the long-term network, we look  at what type of facility, bicycle facility,   uh should that be? Well, we have space for and  then um if a multi-use path is recommended,   then that concept is presented to the  city council um including the 10-ft path. The next few slides, I'm going to compare a a any  sidewalk or multi-use path that we construct with   a capital improvement project versus any  standalone sidewalk that we've put in with   arterial um arterial uh sidewalk funding. So  looking at 135th Street from Central to 13th   Street that has been a recently bid uh project  and the table shows the quantity of the sidewalk   as well as and multi-use path down at the bottom  portion of the table as well as the unit price   that the the awarded contractor bid for that  project. and then equating that to a cost per   mile for both the sidewalk and the multi-use  path. As you notice, there is also a sidewalk   thickening line item. Um that is uh we typically  thicken the sidewalk adjacent to the back of curb,   that edge that's adjacent to the back of curb for  durability and to prevent that from uh settling   in the future. Paul, I have a quick question on  this slide. So, we're saying from going from a   six foot sidewalk to a 10-ft sidewalk for the same  length would cost us $129,000 more. Am I seeing   that correct? It would um you it probably council  member Glazak, I might um have you kind of look at   maybe the unit price bid um because you know the  the square footage is a little bit different. So,   um I I Is the square footage different because  it's wider? It is. A part of it the width and   part of is the multi-use paths we do an extra  thickness one inch. So a little bit wider.   Yeah. Sidewalks 4 in the multi-use path are 5  inch. It's a little bit thicker. So but still   saying that if we go from six foot sidewalk  to 10 foot multi-use same length it will cost   an additional $129,000. They well they bid per  this example they bid additional $2 per square   foot for the multi-use pass. So equating that  out you know it depends on you know they also   look at the unit cost that they bid which kind  of affects the price as well. So 40% higher   approximately for this for this project particular  project. Yes. So two options theoretically on the   table. When I hear from residents it's not  about the size of the sidewalks. It's that   there's not even a sidewalk there. That's  usually what I hear from people. Okay. So,   there's maybe two outcomes. One, we make wider  sidewalks in less number of areas. Or option two,   more sidewalks with a little bit a little bit less  wide. Those would be theoretically two could be   two options. And then, yeah, could be. However,  we still have the, you know, the other bicycle   master plan that we look at as well, which, you  know, again, if for routes along those segments,   we would do the 10-ft and or on street bicycle  lanes. Thank you for the clarification on this. I   have a follow-up question. So, obviously construct  more. I I'm in favor of sidewalks. I want people   utilizing sidewalks. However, I want to know,  is that the greatest demand from consumers or   residents? Is that what we hear the most,  sidewalks, or are they asking for more   repairs to streets? Uh, I think it's probably  pretty equal. We do get requests for sidewalks,   and I'll I'll show some examples that we've  had requests for later in the presentation. Um,   and then follow up, one more question. uh building  more sidewalks means maintaining more sidewalk. Is   that the responsibility of the city or is that  the responsibility of the residents who are   abudded next to that sidewalk within the within  the subdivisions? That would be the responsibility   of the residents abudding that sidewalk on the  arterial streets. Um it could be a combination   of both dependent on the situation. We have shared  in the cost of multi-use paths. We have we have um   maintained sidewalk. Um if it's along an arterial  street, the houses back up to that arterial street   and they have sidewalk in their front yard, they  would be assessed for the sidewalk repairs in   their front yard. We would we would repair the  sidewalk along the arterial street. And lastly,   we have 55 or say 5,000 lane miles of street to  maintain. How many uh lane miles of sidewalk does   the city have to maintain? I think I and boy,  I'd have to look at that number again, mayor.   I I I think I looked that up one time and if it  was 5 feet wide, if we did the square footage,   I think it was a little over 1,200 uh miles and  I think there's 30 miles within downtown. So, Again, this is the 135th Street from Central to  13th project that had recently bid. Um,   and we would be constructing a 10-ft multi-use  path on the west side of 135th Street with a   six-foot sidewalk on the east side. And  this would constructing these segments   would provide connectivity from just north of  Kellogg all the way up to 21st Street. Again,   um it would connect where the red circles  are. It would connect the existing sidewalk   that was built within the while during  the construction of the subdivision. Looking at another project that we had  recently um opened bids on was the 140   143rd Street project from Kellogg to Harry.  Um, looking at the square or unit prices,   you know, it's about $4.70. That was the  awarded contractor bid for 4 inch sidewalk,   $5 a square foot for the 10-ft multi-use path.  And then we have an additional bid item that   I accounted for within here um to construct  the sidewalk would be the sidewalk protection   curve that is needed um along a portion of  the project due to how grades uh work out. Comparing that to some standalone projects  that we constructed with arterial uh sidewalk   program funding. Um this 29th Street west of Green  Witch near the uh Striker uh complex. Um again,   six foot sidewalk, 4 in thick. The contractor  bid that at $7.50 a square foot. Um we did have   some tree removals or at least one tree  removal with them that project. We try   to work around the trees as much as possible  as we construct sidewalk in existing areas.   However, at times we just can't work around  them. So again, equating that cost per mile,   you know, is $7.50 per square foot,  uh, equates to approximately $261,000   per square mile. This is the location  of that sidewalk area as a reference.   and the contractor would have additional mob,  you know, they would have mobilization cost   on a standalone project whereas that mobilization  cost on a CIP project would be all tied together. A recently uh requested project that we had uh  constructed sidewalk was on uh North Meridian   north of 54th Street or north of 53rd. Um again,  sixoot sidewalk. Um and that was request from   area residents to be able to walk down to the  Walmart and other commercial development there   on the corner of 53rd and 53rd and Meridian. We  did have a retaining wall that was also needed for   this and eight tree removals as well. And again,  contractor bid this at $6 a square foot. And so   this was because it was next to an arterial, it  was city paid, not residents and specials. Is that   accurate? That's correct. Yes, that is accurate.  It was paid for by the arterial sidewalk program.   And this is a picture of the sidewalk that was  constructed along the west side and the retaining   wall that was required uh to be constructed due to  the burming in that area. So to wrap up those past   half a dozen slides as a comparison with the four  projects I spoke about the capital improvement you   know when sidewalk is constructed with the capital  improvement program we're we're getting um and   multi-use path we're getting bids approximately  three to $6 per square foot versus the when it's   completed with the standalone arterial sidewalk  program, we're looking at a little over $8 a   square foot due to the other existing conditions  that we have to work around trees, uh, protection   curb, mobilization, etc. So, would it be accurate  because I know that this came up because of,   um, some of the construction that will happen  on Web Road between Central and 13th Street. So,   would that be more on the $8 range or the $3  range? be more between the three and $5 range. There are exceptions within the sidewalk  ordinance and I want to mention that   um nothing in this I won't read it all but  it does say the first sentence nothing in   this policy shall be construed as requiring the  installation of sidewalk improvements when there   is a design constraint or impediment which would  render such installation impractical impractical. And then down below, further where sidewalk might  be required on both sides of a street and said   street is adjacent to a drainage way, freeway  or similar design constraint, sidewalks shall   be required on only one side of such street. And  I do have some examples of that on some uh past   projects. Uh the first example is 127th Street  from 13th to 21st Street. um sidewalk was only   constructed on the west side of 127th Street due  to the um branch of Four Mile Creek as shown on   the picture on the right. See the floodway goes up  to the street. So we we elected not to construct   sidewalk on that side of the street. However, the  uh 127th Street does have on street bike lanes to   accommodate cyclists for that stretch of roadway.  The other example is on East Harry Greenwich to   127th Street. Again, a similar uh situation where  the uh Spring Branch Creek located on the north   side of Harry uh and adjacent to Harry um was a  design constraint um in order to get sidewalk on   that side. We do have a 10-ft multi-use path on  the south side of Harry Street through that mile. The next few slides are some pictures that  I had taken within a few days on my way from   work to the East Y on the way home from  there out to Andover for an event. Um,   and just kind of drive around. It took me a couple  days to get these. Um, I won't make a good stalker   because it kind of made me feel uncomfortable  getting some of these, but we got them. So,   um the first picture is on Douglas Street West  in Lyndon. Um it's a six-foot sidewalk. This,   uh lady had been walking, um towards the east,  gets to the intersection of Lynden and Douglas and   then the sidewalk ends. So, she made the uh ef,  you know, conscious decision to walk down Douglas   Parkway in lie of walking in in Douglas. So, um,  we've had requests for sidewalk to or request,   yeah, to extend that sidewalk to web road, but  as you can see, there are quite a few trees that   u make that difficult to do. And that that's  a sixoot sidewalk she was utilizing. Um,   this gentleman was walking Douglas  east of Terra on a 4ft sidewalk. Um, a couple examples of a um on East  Terry, west of Cranbrook. This was a family   uh pushing a stroller um walking their dog  utilizing a 10-ft multi-use path which provided   um the ability for them to walk side by side as  opposed to the uh couple people there on the uh   right side of the screen um had to walk staggered  um due to the narrowness of the 4-foot walk.   So Paul, I'm I'm really glad that you shared this  because I had it written down as a question to   wait to ask at the end. Um but this is a great  example of what concerns me. Um, when we think   about which decision is best, thinking about one  our friends who are blind and visually impaired,   thinking about our friends with ADA and  accessibility needs, uh, and even the the   curb cutouts that we need. I mean, families who  have a stroller and they're walking with their   family instead of having to walk behind one  another, walking side by side. I'm assuming   this is something that needs to be taken into  consideration or you all take into consideration   when you decide which route to go. We I'm not sure  I understood that last question, but we do Well,   go ahead. I might need clarification. I mean,  that's that's the reason, you know, we do the   10 foot and the sixoot pathway on the arterial  streets and provide that comfortable. So, going   back to an earlier conversation about cost and is  this what folks are asking for? Are they asking   for street uh maintenance? I I just want to point  out I mean sometimes you just because your voices   are not in the majority of what you are asking for  doesn't mean that the need is not just as great.   And I think it makes a world of a difference in  the quality of life when a family can walk down   the street and not have to readjust or someone  who has a wheelchair or someone who's blind   and visually impaired doesn't have to readjust  because we have taken it upon us to incorporate   that into every decision. So I just want to make  that comment. I'd be interested in going to the   next slide that I think shows a 4ft sidewalk  with two people walking and again. Yep. So   this is a 4ft walk. Um again um you know ideally  you know they the minimums five foot required per   national guidelines otherwise you have to have a  passing space. But again these were some pictures   I taken with uh students accessing either USD259  bus stops or transit stops uh to get to school. This picture is a you know it's probably  not the greatest. I tried to, you know,   as I was taking these pictures, I didn't want  to take them as I was driving for sure. So,   I takes a little bit of time to get in  a good position, but there was a woman   um at the bus stop that had boarded this bus and  then by the time I turned around and came back,   it's the same bus and that gentleman  had gotten off the bus uh and then   was continuing walking west. So, um sidewalks  are utilized to get to transit stops as well.   I know in the past when I've a question  from the you know it's been asked you know   how often do people you know meet when they're  on the sidewalk. Um this was couple pictures I   had taken from a mom and daughter running um on  East Central on the sidewalk on the north side.   um they were running westbound and then there was  a gentleman walking his dog on the same side of   the street um as they were as he was walking  eastbound and they met there at that location. This picture, as you can tell by now, I live  on the southeast side of town with all these   locations, but this picture is on Web Road. Um,  just north of Harry, we had a a a man jogging   on the six-foot sidewalk on the east side of  Web Road with a family on the right uh picture   there um out, you know, pushing a stroller,  three kids on the little scooters and then had   um again you can see this gentleman running and  this is that same family on the other side of the   street. So again, they would have met as well if  they were on both sides of the street. Could that   happen with the 4 inch? I just I just know we went  back to view that 4 inch. I don't I'm not sure   what the point of that was, but could a family  be running and multiple activities happening   on a 4 inch in the same way on a 4ft sidewalk?  No. Somebody would have to step into the grass.   this uh young man. I had seen him and I've  seen him a couple times now after I've taken   this picture on various different days. He was  walking down on the uh west side of Edgemore   um in the grass. He gets to Douglas um utilizes  the push button on the north west corner,   crosses street and continues south. um you know  looking at how how could we add sidewalk to this   and look at the constraints that we have with  the existing trees. Um the picture on the left   is right there at the intersection looking back  north where you had seen this traffic equipment   in this area. And then driving further north  on Edgemore to second street you can see um you   know if sidewalk were to be extended it would  uh impact uh trees. So, there's a push button,   but there's no sidewalk. We need to address that  probably. Yes. Just wanting to You're observant.   I caught the same thing. So, yes, we have had um  a request for sidewalk along Cica uh down near   um Campus High School. Um Cica Street is improved  between 55th and and 63rd Street. However,   you can see in the pictures that the drainage  structure that was constructed with the project,   it was probably most likely a county project,  that drainage structure was only constructed   wide enough to accommodate the vehicular traffic.  So, um we do have this project uh in design um   and you know our design consultants looking at  you know what it would take to extend that box   in order to get sidewalk um within this area.  We are also looking for outside funding for   construction of this project and we have put in  an application through the uh WMO um in hopes to   get transportation alternative funding for this  uh section of sidewalk. The request was also   along 55th Street um west of Synica to I believe  it's Charles Street because then I think west of   there it connects up to sidewalk that leads into  Campus High. So, this is a request that we had   received in the past and we are trying to address  that concern and to provide a way for students to   walk to campus high school. And then the last few  slides I have are I found I again as I was driving   home I saw this gentleman in the wheel wheelchair.  I picked him up probably I saw him probably about   where that that line on the on the south end of  that picture is. He was traversing north on the   east side of the rock road along the sidewalk.  This gentleman was walking behind him quite a   ways. He did catch up to him and and continued  north. So they weren't together. The guy in the   wheelchair got up to the intersection of Funston  and Rock Road and he sat there waiting for a gap   in traffic and he did get a gap in traffic and he  continued across uh Rock Road um at Funston. I was   sitting in the parking lot there kind of. So then  I I left the park parking lot and found him again   and I think he continued north on that sidewalk.  went maybe on sidewalk along OC, but I did find   him again as he was traversing through the parking  lot and to his final destination. So, you know,   uh folks use sidewalk on each side of the street  and it also um you know, I think we're doing   a good thing as we design projects to include  midmile crossings as we have provided concepts   for along West Maple 19th Street. We would do  something similar there on Pawn Street near   Southeast High to um get, you know, folks um from  one side of the street to the other. And that is   my last slide of my presentation and I can stand  for questions. Thank you, Paul. Paul, I just I   have a few comments and then I have a question. Um  first of all, thank you for all your work on this   and thanks for meeting with me. When I knew this  was going to come up, I wanted to make sure that   I understood the ordinance. I understood what the  professional organizations um recommend. Um thank   you again for your not good stalking. Appreciate  that. Um I also want to thank Bike Witchah. I see   that Allan is here. I also met with you in advance  of this to make sure that I was hearing what   constituents are asking for especially for people  who are um maybe transit dependent but also just   want to be able to traverse around our community  in different ways. So, thank you for your time   and for being here today. Um, I also just want  to again applaud our community. It was something   I was involved in before I was in council and then  we revised it in 2024 24. But the master bicycle p   plan and the master pedestrian plan um those plans  were driven by community a community asking us to   be able to be forward thinking and to be strategic  in how we are developing the infrastructure.   Not everybody has a car. Not everybody wants a  car. Not everyone can afford a car. People may   have cars but they still want to traverse around  the community in different ways. So, I I really   appreciate the development of the master bicycle  plan and the master pedestrian plan and all your   work in trying to make those come to fruition.  My question is this last year in the legislative   session, one of the things that was passed was  allowing golf carts to be on sidewalks. And so,   um you know, a golf cart can't probably traverse  well on a six-foot sidewalk. Does that change at   the state um require I don't know what the word is  but will we be changing anything or thinking about   that when we're looking at new sidewalk projects  because of the possibility that now golf carts can   be on sidewalks. Thank you Paul. You know that's  a good question and I see Sharon sitting back   there. Sharon and I had a brief conversation about  something else and this this item did come up. So   I will be working with Sharon as we go through  this. So to I don't know that I have an answer   on that yet. You know what what are widths of golf  carts, what what needs to be accommodated by that,   but yes, I will have not to call her out, but  I will have discussions with her as we move   forward. And and the will of this body was to, you  know, to move forward with golf carts on sidewalks   and that's fine. But my fear is is if sidewalks  aren't wide enough, then it's going to make people   if they don't feel comfortable driving a golf  cart on a sidewalk because it's not wide enough,   they're going to be more inclined to go into the  street. And that's always been my fear is we don't   develop our streets for golf carts, right? So, um  I'm glad you're always one step ahead of me. So,   thank you. I can address that. Uh, council member,  um, the spirit of the golf carts to be able to get   the golf cart to the golf course. So, it may  be only a mile radius around the golf courses   and the the golf carts would have to yield  all pedestrian traffic and bicycle traffic,   wheelchairs, everything. Now, uh, the workaround  that residents have done now is not to go into the   streets. the workaround they are are now since  it's illegal it was illegal or still is illegal   in the city of Witchaw to go on the sidewalk they  are going on the grass so they're riding next to   the sidewalk where they could be riding instead  of doing that because the police pull them over   they go on the grass going over the public grass  so I don't think we want people doing that either   so but they have to they have to yield to all  pedestrians and that would be the spirit of the   ordinance would be yield to all pedestrians Yeah,  and I understand that and and I really appreciate   that. That's why I'm thinking the wider sidewalks  make sense because if I'm in a wheelchair or my   bike or walking and you know it's me in a golf  cart, they would have to go in the grass. But if   the sides sidewalk is wider, then they might not  have to, right? Because otherwise Yeah. It's kind   of like Yeah, we we probably can't retrofit those  sidewalks, Steve. No, no, no. I don't Hills. Thank   you for clarifying that. I'm not asking at all  to retrofit. But I'm just thinking about in the   future since a state law changed, does that mean  we also need to change our philosophy? Thank you   for clarifying. No, I wasn't at all implying  that we would retrofit past. So, thank you. I   appreciate that. No, it makes sense. So, I've also  got a couple comments and a and a request. Um,   comments. I was talking to a resident on 21st  Street, which you're well aware of, Paul, uh,   between 119th 135th. the resident one did not want  a sidewalk on the side of that street. And so we   pulled off into the to the grass area along that  street and he was advocating why there never he   never sees any bicycles on that bicycle path. And  and right then a family of six come riding their   bicycle against the traffic on the other side  of the street. And I point to him that oh yes,   apparently they do because there's a family right  there not riding. and he says, "Yes, but nobody   ever walks on on the in this area." And about 2  minutes later, I point out that well, there's a   couple walking on the street because there was  no sidewalk. So, there is a need for sidewalks   on on interior streets. My request is, and this is  personal, um the road, this is in in district six,   um the sidewalk along, is it called windmill road  from zoo to 21st to get to the river? Yes. I've   almost been hit on that a couple times because  people are on their stupid phones, not looking.   They weave into the bike path. Um I've almost had  to jump into the ditch once. Um, but is there I   know that's a highway there, 254. Is there is  there an option to put a sidewalk on that road?   I would bike path. I'm afraid I'd have to talk to  our friends from Cedric County because I believe   that is within Cedric County's jurisdiction of  that roadway. If I recall correctly, Windmill   Road is from zoo curving around to 13th Street.  I I'll double check that, but yeah. Yeah. As you   come from Cedric County Park, we go from Cedric  County Park, go along there. There's a narrow   sidewalk along that street. It's only 4 foot. It's  hard to ride on. Um, and then you get to that bike   path along the road, which is really dangerous to  get to the river and it's a nice stretch of river   to ride on, but it's very hard to get to. So, if  we could look into that, I' I'd appreciate it. So,   uh, just a couple of quick comments here as  well. Um, I appreciate Council Member Sheepard's   um observations. Uh, we have a diverse crowd that  lives with us throughout the entire city and we   need to make sure that we have accommodations for  everybody if we want to truly be inclusive. Um,   also safe routes to school. That's been  one of the things that I've really like to   um for us to focus on. Uh, we've done a good job  with WAMPO of identifying a lot of places. Uh some   of those we've already been forward thinking  like crosswalks by South High, um sidewalks by   South High. Um I I want to make sure that we have  these practices as far as safe routes to school   in the CIP and plans going forward wherever  we possibly can. Um we had the discussion not   too long ago about uh bus routes, taking kids  to school and hoping to normalize bus routes.   Um, one of the issues we have with um, just  like a congestion around pickup lines in school,   and I can account for this firsthand, the  frustration is um, the schools have expanded   their footprint so much. Uh, they used to be  neighborhood schools where kids could walk to   and from school easily. Um, that does not really  exist as much anymore. So, if we really want   to cut down on some of the dangers around the  pickup lines, um making those more efficient,   and I get a ton of those calls every year, I  do think that safe routes to and from schools,   um sidewalks in the neighborhoods is a must. And  again, get kids adapted to that so that way they   continue those healthy practices in the future.  Um, the main complaints I ever hear, actually the   only complaints about sidewalks is, uh, people  having to pay for those, the replacements. Um,   I would like to see if there's other avenues we  could explore to help with that. Um, I know one   of the things I do hear is city trees when the  roots start taking up sidewalk sections. Um, I   I I concur with a lot of my residents that that's  unfair, that they have to account for city trees.   um the messing up the sidewalk. So, I think of  everything with the sidewalks, that's probably   the main thing I hear from my residents and one  of my concerns as well is how do we pay or how do   we help them pay um to maintain those. I'm going  to echo on that um what council member Hohheisel   has said. It's basically infrastructure that's  already there, sidewalks that need repairing.   So, so it goes back to this very conversation  as we build more sidewalk. And again, I think   um reasonleness is the six-foot sidewalks. I  I'm looking right now at our consent agenda   and consent agenda items 6A and 6B. 6A is going  to construct a 6-foot and a 10-ft. 6B is going   to construct a six-foot on both sides. So, I think  that there's a reasonleness to building sidewalks,   but my main um I guess uh concern from residents  is maintenance of current sidewalks. How do they   pay for them? And when I tell them if it it's if  it's a budget to your home, you have to pay for it   and they believe that that it should be the city.  However, can you just maybe law just explain the   sidewalk ordinance and whose responsibility it is  because we do have a lot of sidewalk. Uh I think   you mentioned 1,200 miles of sidewalk that's city  maintained. That doesn't include the ones from   neighborhoods and what people maintain. Sorry,  that was all the sidewalk. Yep. Sorry. Total. Yep.   Yep. Can you break that down? Uh I'd like to see  how much of the 1,200 miles of sidewalk the city   has to maintain versus community has to maintain  through their uh properties. Mayor and council,   I'm sorry to jump in. And I know Paul can handle  this and and I never want to step in front of our   city attorney, but I might put a little bit of a  fine point on this question because we've had a   lot of discussion over the years and and I I know  you know this, but just as a reminder and and I'll   jump to the last question you asked, mayor,  and we can separate that out. There are very   few miles that the city maintains. Uh with our  current sidewalk maintenance program, what we set   aside is basically intersections. anything with  what we would consider within the confines of an   intersection which we would consider as everyone.  So the ramps, the connections there, those are   generally funded by the program. Everything  else is assessed to adjacent property owners.   This is a charter ordinance has been in place for  many, many years. This is supported by state law.   We are not unique. Most communities around the  state uh for what it's worth uh have the exact   same program in place. I will grant you it is not  popular. uh over my course of time when I was in   Paul's position for 10 or 11 years and even now in  this position we hear a lot of concerns and I get   that in the absence of making a wholesale change  um this is where we're at. This is the program we   have. I will tell you the city of Kansas City  made a decision several years ago to take on   all sidewalk maintenance. I'm not offering that  we're comparable to Kansas City. Their current   budget includes over $30 million a year dedicated  just to sidewalks. That that's what we're we're   talking about on on the level for a bigger city.  Right now, our current budget authority is around   a million dollars a year uh to be able to make  repairs. Again, this is uh on a reporting system   only. We don't go out and inspect sidewalks. We  hear from those that are using them. Uh we have   criteria that's established by ordinance of what  a trip hazard is. We offer the opportunity for   them to make repairs or by economy of scale, we  can usually do it cheaper with our contractor.   I'll I'll mention one more quick thing without  going too far into the weeds and the deal about   city trees. This has always been a challenge and  and I I get it. I get it. So, we we all know and   and just as a reminder, trees that are in public  rightway are the responsibility of the city to   maintain. And I'm not going to speak for our park  department. Uh but if pruning is needed, if a tree   is dead, it's their responsibility. They will take  care of that. Um here's what I have encountered   for many, many years. And and this is with all  due respect to property owners and the process.   Uh nobody wants that city tree removed. Absolutely  not. They talk about the value it brings to their   property. They talk about what they want for  shade. Nobody has ever asked to remove a city tree   unless it was dead, at least in my experience.  So, there's been this challenge with us of if a   city tree roots cause issues with the sidewalk  to buckle, which we've seen happen. Uh, I paid   for sidewalk assessment for that very reason.  For what it's worth, those things unfortunately   happen. I didn't want that city tree coming out.  No way. Nor did I want those tree roots damaged.   I'll take that on again. That's just me. But  I've never had anybody say that. In fact,   um uh because of the value that those city trees  bring, that's where it's been a hard challenge   for us to we have examined and evaluated the idea  of of maybe trying to participate with costs. Um   it starts to add up. Um so far we haven't gone to  that point, but if that's something we would like   to look at in a future discussion that we can.  Um, I think there's a a a big emphasis put on   the fact that it's a city tree. Uh, when there is  so much value for those city trees and and I know   you have all heard it. Uh, we've had I've been a  part of these discussions. I've heard you discuss   it about the desire to put in more trees within  the rideway which starts to compound this issue.   I'm not sure what the fair balance is of that. Uh  but I would just tell you again there's uh we had   a discussion with some folks in a neighborhood an  older neighborhood a couple of years ago uh about   the impact of city trees on sidewalk. Once they  figured out that likely to take care of the issue,   a lot of those trees would come out. They said  never mind forget that we said anything and we're   good. I only mention that again because I just  don't think it's so easy as to say it's a city   tree and so the city taxpayers at large should be  responsible for that cost whether anybody likes   the program or not. I know it's not popular. I  think we just need to be very careful about where   we go with that whole part of the city tree issue.  So well I I guess thank you for letting me but in   maybe maybe here's the the thought and the concern  here. Um it's mostly I I can I'm with you. I can   afford to take care of sidewalk replacement, put  it on the specials or I pay for it upfront. Uh the   concern is for people who can't. Namely, in a lot  of these areas there are elderly people who have   lived in their homes for so long, limited income.  Finding a way to help with that cost. Um, also I   I'm unaware part of the reason we do um put that  burden on people is in a lot of cases they don't   take care of the sidewalk. Um I'm unaware of any  way to maintain a sidewalk with a city tree where   the roots are getting in to where the property  owner can actually address that in a proactive   situation without um it eventually getting to the  place it is. So that's I guess that's my thoughts   on the city trees is if we put a city tree there,  yes, it adds to their property value and it helps   them with energy costs and whatnot, but there's  not really a proactive way to address those issues   to where they can actually maintain that sidewalk  without the root system eventually destroying that   sidewalk. Great point. Uh and not all trees do.  Uh we've obviously worked with uh park department   Paul and his staff do a great job with it on  arterial street projects now and looking at the   species and the variety and the size and the  impact uh and spacing within the ride ofway.   One more thing I'll mention if we even if we kind  of set aside trees for a moment just the overall   program uh we do allow a special assessment over  the period of five years for sidewalks um which I   hope helps um and there is a hardship deferral  program just like with any special assessment   um it's it's a pretty low threshold that has  to be met for household income but there is   uh the same program that's in place for all  special assessments is in place for sidewalks also   for those who meet the the bottom of that income  threshold. Is is that with the um the home loan   program or is that separate? It's separate from  that, but it's similar to to everything else that   we apply across special assessment because I know  that cost for sidewalk repair is eligible under   the home loan program. is just such a low priority  that essentially nobody who puts in for sidewalk   repair will ever get um a part of the home loan  for that. So that might be something else we   take a look at. Sure. We can continue to do that.  Okay. Appreciate it. I just want to hop in as we   kind of close out conversation as well regarding  um sidewalks and we talk about the city will pay   for it. That is the general taxpayer dollars will  pay for it through property taxes. That's the   transition that we have. In addition, when we're  talking about maintenance of sidewalks and we're   talking about neighbors, especially when it comes  to trees, I'm thinking of the project on Douglas   where neighbors did not want expansion on the  sidewalk because of the trees and it's a 4-foot   sidewalk. I'm a runner. I run up and down that  road every single day. I have maybe had one time   that I ever crossed a human when I have ran down  Maple. So, we're talking about crossing. There are   areas of the city that we do cross a lot. When you  think of Oldtown, you think of downtown, you think   of Deleno, one of residential areas, there's far  less. I just pulled up I've had the privilege to   travel a lot. And I pulled up some of the cities  that I know are the most walkable cities I've   ever been to. And looking at the average clear  walking zone for those sidewalks, New York City   6 1/2 ft. Uh Brooklyn 6 feet. London 8T. Paris  8T. Barcelona is higher at 10 feet. Um Seoul 8t.   Madrid 8 feet. And I'm thinking of the density and  the number of people that are actually using those   sidewalks. We have far less people that are going  to be using those sidewalks than in every single   place that I've visited with the average clear and  walking zone. And so there's always a trade-off   in this job. And the trade-off is we build 10ft  sidewalks and we get less number of sidewalks. We   build sixoot sidewalks, we get more sidewalks.  And when I hear from residents, they want more   sidewalks. They want sidewalks maintained as well,  but they also want more sidewalks. And I think   there's the image over there of the gentleman  trying to cross the street where there's not   even a sidewalk possible. I'm sure he would love a  6ft sidewalk rather than a 10-ft sidewalk just be   able to cross the street. There are areas that 10  foot makes sense. I voted from this bench for 10ft   sidewalks where it makes sense. I voted against I  think we had a 12ft sidewalk come back. Um at one   point it was a very small I think it was a mile  but it was 12 feet. Um, and so I just want to   recognize that there is a trade-off in this rule  of we can get more if we build them a little bit   uh less wide or we can get less. And when I  hear from residents is that they want more and   they want more accessibility. And I want more  walkability in this city. That's why I live in   Deleno. It's because I walk down that street every  single day. And so I'm a fan of walkability and   sidewalks. But there is a a happy medium that  we can have to be able to encourage this in   our community. I'm just curious what what's what's  our data? I mean, we talk a lot about what we hear   from constituents. What's the data say in terms  of what the residents want? Do you have that data?   I'm going to give you a quick comment and I'll let  Paul jump back in here from a couple things that   I've heard. And to a point that Council Member  Johnston made, we we it's interesting when we   hear from folks that say, "I've never seen anybody  walk here." Well, the reason why you haven't is   because there's no sidewalk. And I think a lot  of us can come to that conclusion pretty quick.   we see along the sides of the road what we call  a cow path. It's an old term, right, where you   can see people have been walking trying to get  off the street. Um the the question was asked   multiple times about do we hear about sidewalks,  do we hear about street maintenance? The answer is   all of the above. Uh and you know we I I think  we do a great job, of course I'm partial to it   and would tell you that I think we do a really  good job with u preservation of our streets with   the resources that we have. Um, we're not unlike  other communities. We're at about $16 million this   year in direct spending for outsourced pavement  preservation. Uh, I think we could spend $und00   million this year and still hear a lot of those  same complaints. Honestly, it's just it's just the   nature of of of a larger city uh and what we're  trying to do with our streets. We also hear a   lot of requests for sidewalk. And if we set aside  the width for a moment, um, one of the benefits,   real benefits of building the sidewalk with these  arterial street projects is we can fund that   through LST, which is a big value. And, and the  other even bigger benefit is everything that Paul   talked about and the cost factor later, and having  to come back and deal with building retaining   walls with existing trees. Uh so hopefully we  we can all recognize that there's real value to   get these done up front. Paul showed a picture  of Pawne earlier out east towards 127th Street   when Southeast High School was built. Uh phones  blew up and and council member Tuttle can attest   to this and council member Miser at the time  about what are you going to do to get sidewalks   to high school? We still don't have sidewalks to  that school because we've got roads with ditches.   there's nowhere to build the sidewalk. And so  there's so much value when we improve these roads,   put those sidewalks in. Sounds like we need  to still keep talking about what width makes   sense. But we're getting these built. Um I don't  think that we're horribly in a bad place as far   as saying from resource perspective, we can't  get them built. We've had a um line item in   the CIP for many years that Paul talked about to  to build sidewalk on arterial streets and those   are generally based on request. As we've annexed  streets over the years that were in the county,   generally they there was either no sidewalk or  it was put on one side and it's invariable that   we end up hearing from the people on the other  side saying we want sidewalk too and then we're   left with that challenge of how do we get it in?  Now, there is last thing I'll say real quick. Not   that you need to hear any more examples, but I'm  just making the pitch to make sure we try to keep   sidewalks in these new projects, especially,  and I think we're doing a pretty good job of   covering it all if we can decide on what makes  most sense width widthwise. There's a bridge   in Council Member Ballard's district on 37th  Street of the Little Ark River where the big   floodway comes through. It's a long bridge. We get  asked once a year to put sidewalk on that bridge   through that neighborhood. Just to put sidewalk on  that bridge alone is over a million dollars just   to connect it to the bridge, let alone through the  neighborhood. I I mention that for the very reason   we've got to stay ahead of this and we need to get  sidewalk built now when we're making improvements   in these areas because it's just so haunting to us  later. And we are hearing back to your question,   I don't have the data, but but I can tell you  and when I get out into the public, the things   we hear about is speeding, sidewalks, and street  maintenance. Uh, and those things are not going   to change. And this the reason I also mentioned  the speeding part is people don't want to have to   walk on the streets. They want to be able to get  off of there, especially in areas where there are   no sidewalk because those two go hand in hand.  So, thank you. Sorry for the extra. Nope. You're   you're fine, Gary. Thank you for that. I just I  think it's important as we say, I don't like when   we speak for the collective because if we don't  have the data to back that up, back that up, then   it's a dangerous thing to do. And I too believe in  walkable walkability. I ran on walkability. I live   downtown. And the reality is as you look at Jeff  Specs, walkable cities, Jeff Speck also mentions   that you build a walkable city for everyone.  not just those who are physically able to walk,   but those who need ADA accessibility, those who  have children, those who have families. And so,   as we often talk about um the intellectual  interest that we have as individuals and so we go   and we learn and we read, I think, you know, Jeff  Spec is very clear about what it is that's being   asked of us. And I know that you can get more with  6-in sidewalks, but more doesn't always mean that   it's equitable in where we are putting those  sidewalks or who we are building the sidewalks   for. I would also argue that Bikewalk Witchaw has  a blog and they do a lot of research and in fact   my district is the district that is probably the  most walkable by Dr. Glende Park but does not have   sidewalks. Right. And then also you all know this.  I connected you all with the resident who was hit   with a $900 assessment to fix a sidewalk because  it resulted in someone trying to use a wheelchair   and it was not maintained for that person in a  wheelchair. Um, and so it's important for us to   think about this from a holistic point of view  and not just what is always costefficient. Are   there any questions? Oh, I just wanted to make  sure you all didn't have any questions because   I heard some commentary. Okay, thank you. You  don't have any Oh, I just heard. You sure? Okay. You know, play that. Thank you. Okay. So, if you're ready to move on, uh I know  it's been a long morning for you. I'm sure we   can get through parking discussion in a matter  of minutes. So, I'm going to kick this off and   and let Stephanie So, we're going to start  with talking about uh backhand parking. Um,   and and this is not unique to Witchah. And  Stephanie is going to provide some details. I   know some of you have had uh concerns expressed  about because with what we have moving forward   with our parking program now and what's in place  with car park uh and and how they're helping uh   monitor and and effectively oversee and run our  our holistic parking program. Uh it's been illegal   to back into parking stalls on uh in the city  for many many years. And and we'll talk about   that some more and Stephanie will get to that.  I'm not going to go into the details right now.   There's some reasons why it it we hope that we can  continue moving forward with this. For right now,   we have put a hold on issuing any citations until  we could have this discussion with you. Um we've   had some discussions with Police Department  that Stephanie will talk about. Uh but there's   uh a couple things that happened that  I'll just hit on at a high level.   um is the efficiency of the license plate reading  and how how much that means for our program and   the effectiveness going forward. That's the same  in other cities. You can see that a lot of folks   do this and they use the same technology and so  so it makes sense to not allow backend parking.   Stephanie's also going to show you some pictures  and I've been directly involved in this quite a   bit with our facilities group. We've seen a lot  of damage over the years, especially in areas   like Oldtown from backend parking backing into  fences, uh, concrete pillars, planters, whatever   it might be. That's been a real challenge for us  and has really started add up cost. And generally,   we can see it is from people backing in. And  newer vehicles have cameras, but I'm still not   sure that that keeps people from doing that.  So, we're going to start with this part. Uh,   and then we'll talk about city hall parking.  But I would I would just mention something   to to I'd hope for all of us to keep in mind and  Mark's timing was tremendous on his cost recovery   pyramid. So I'm going to capitalize on that real  quick. Our goal uh with our parking program and   you know we just started implementation of it  last summer. So we're not even a year in but we're   seeing progress. I had the opportunity to talk  to some business owners this sat Saturday when we   were down there for the downtown cleanup about how  things are going. hear some of the same messaging   about we need to improve signage. Uh we need to  keep communications out there, but we're seeing   progress. We're seeing an an increase in revenue.  We're seeing people that are parking uh downtown.   U but but we continue the communications. I had  some over the weekend through several council   members. Just a few nuances here and there that I  think we're working through, but to the point of   the cost recovery pyramid, we are trying to create  uh an enterprise fund. We are trying to create uh   through with the parking program and the parking  fund one that is similar to what you saw with the   landfill with the utility. We're we hope in time  to recover all necessary costs from the users of   the parking program through those fees uh would  allow us to operate the program which includes   Stephanie's position which has been a huge value  to us to get to where we are now. But what I   really want to hit on is the maintenance of the  system because that a lot of things have not been   happening. She's going to show you some pictures  even just related to city hall parking lot. On   the second item, we need a sustainable fund so  that we can maintain the system. We can maintain   the assets so we can provide, you heard Troy talk  about it a lot, clean and safe. We need security   for uh our all of our parking assets all over  downtown that are part of the parking program.   Right now, all we're doing is paying the bills  at best, and we're not able to look ahead and   develop a long-term maintenance plan. We want  to get to that point. We hope to get there,   but the only way to do that is to make this be a  sustainable fund and a sustainable program through   fees. And I just tell you that because both the  items we're going to talk about are very dependent   on making sure that we have the ability to recover  the fees for the parking fund. So, with that,   I'm going to let Stephanie talk about backend  parking first and then we'll hit on city hall. So, Gary did an awesome job. I'm not sure where  to go from here. So, but let's focus first on   uh back in parking um across the downtown area  here in Witchah. The first slide um Gary touched   on just a little bit. Making sure that we were all  on the same page with understanding the purpose of   our parking program that we were that we're  we're putting in place. Three bullet points   here. We could probably add another couple, but  primarily we want to capture our user revenue to   create a self-supporting enterprise system that  covers all of our expenses. The maintenance,   the security, the cleaning, the operations, uh  the billing, and the admin support to do that.   The other key part of our parking program is  to pro maintain parking infrastructure through   preventative maintenance programs. And it's  preventative maintenance programs, yes, for   the garage, but also for our surface lots and our  on street parking. All three of those components   make up our parking system the way we know it now.  And there has not been enough ongoing dedicated   maintenance uh money to help with that. And then  finally, because we're going to be creating this   self-supporting enterprise system, that will  decrease our reliance on general fund money and   property taxes. Specifically, getting into backing  into parking stalls. The first bullet point here   talks about what does the uh ordinance say about  what you can do and what you can't do. 11.52.02   number 29. It's unlawful for any person to park  in a parking stall with a vehicle backed into   the parking space. Vehicle shall be p parked with  the front of the vehicle headed toward the front   of the parking stall. On the research that we've  been able to do, this ordinance has been in place   since around 2008. The difference is now there's  enforcement going on right now through car park. Um we have existing signage scattered throughout  um the downtown area and here are some examples.   Specifically on the 401 South water that is the  surface lot south of the Hyatt there are uh four   or five different signs scattered throughout the  uh street light posts that are there right now.   In terms of how many citations have been issued,  um I went back um these numbers are from municipal   court and you can see starting in the year 2015 we  have citations issued for chapter 11. Technically   it's 11.20 that deals with parking. And you  can see how those numbers have decreased over   the years until you get to 2024. 2024 was the  year that section 29 was added to the municipal   court system and we could actually count how  many citations were issued specifically for   backing in rather than just the generic chapter  11.2 and this data I got from municipal court and   it seems to kind of fall in line with people's  knowledge and historical memories of how ticket   citations went through here at city hall. So  hold on. Yeah, I'm sorry. During during CO,   there was 161 citations for backing in 2020.  That's 2026. That's for 2026. Sorry, those numbers   are on the right for that other call. Oh, 202.  Okay. Yeah. Okay. A lot of data up there. Okay.   I probably didn't structure the two different  Okay. It's confusing, but Okay. Thank you. So, oh yeah, sorry. Toward me. Microphone lessons  today, too. Thanks, Mr. Manager. The other   thing uh that is interesting uh in the year 2025  which is when car park started writing citations   um out in the community they wrote 120 citations  for backing into parking stalls and PD didn't   write any. And then so far this year um till about  two or three weeks ago car park had written 161   citations for backing in. And the numbers from  municipal quart are showing that PD um wrote 17. Was there um quick question when it  was starting to be enforced? Was there   communication regarding this? Um I have uh worked  with communications team to develop a pretty good   website parkwitchah.com and I've used that  website as the key communications method   uh that that we have and and so has our  communications department. If you're asking,   was there a specific news release that talked  about parking, uh, not being able to park through   a news release or anything, we didn't do that.  Um, we didn't do a Facebook post or anything   like that. I think probably the reason it didn't  happen is because there are so many parking rules   that you could remind people what to do and what  not to do. It's a little overwhelming and if,   you know, we had known this was going  to be a bigger issue than it was,   we probably would have done it differently. some  of the lessons learned um in implementing a new   system. One of my favorite sayings is everybody's  learning how to park, pay to park in Witchah,   and that includes staff learning the tricks  and how to implement a whole new brand system. Um this slide tries to convey um how how well  let's just read the slide. Um the current revenue   projections are based on the use of electronic  license plate readers. That's what Car Park uses   is they drive by. They uh have a tool kind of  like a a gun that they shine on license plates   on on cars. Here in Kansas, we only have plates  on the rear um of our cars. We don't have license   plate on both front and rear of our cars. These uh  license plate readers allow parking enforcement to   cover a lot more area per person on a day while  they can stay in their vehicle. They don't have   to get out and they Yes, they do get out to write  citations, but primarily everybody does a good job   of following the parking rule so they can stay in  their vehicle and just cover more ground. We also   know that the more times a person gets in and  out of a car to write tickets, they just lose   efficiency. uh they lose uh time if they have to  get in and out of their car frequently to go get   out, walk around to the back of a vehicle and  do the license plate reading and then write a   citation. If we have reduced revenue and we  realize a reduced revenue through the number   of citations being uh written, we know that that  will be a concern when we start to put together   our self-sufficient funds. we would have to figure  out another way to make up that revenue if there   was a big decrease in revenue from these kinds  of citations through all citations just not being   able to write so many. And we also know that there  are locations now that if a car backs up, you   can't get behind the car to even read the license  plate number because there's an obstruction that's   in the way. a number of obstructions, be they  wiggy walls or another car or, you know, trash   corral or signage or whatever the case may be.  There's just times and places if a car backs up,   you just can't get to the rear tag to look  at it in the first place. We also know that   um if allow a car is allowed, a vehicle is allowed  to back up into parking spots, we're probably   going to see more damage to city property. Gary  gave the example of planters and decorative walls   in Oldtown. There's also signage. Uh people run  into signs. People don't know how to back up,   hit other vehicles. That's not the city's, you  know, issue if somebody hits another vehicle,   but we do get damage on our city properties. Some  examples in Oldtown. You can see damage here to   the decorative fences and the fencing. Um, pretty  major damage going on there in those PE pictures. Uh, yes. Oh, just whenever you're done with  this. Sorry. Want me to go back one? No, no,   you're good. You're good. I just jumped the gun  aside. Sorry. So part of the staff recommendations   on how to move this issue forward or to help  concerns throughout the comm uh community is   to be able is to ask car park to start to issue  warning citations for the first time offenders   if someone's parked in the stall incorrectly.  Just issue a a courtesy warning a warning and   there is a way that their automated system can  keep track of those license plate numbers that   have been issued a warning. And so the second time  they could get issued um a standalone ticket. And   then also we will continue to figure out ways to  add signage throughout the community or do more   communications, do different communications, do  better communications on this topic as well as any   other topic that we may have. Okay. Thank you. Um  just a couple of thoughts here. I I don't foresee   um an increase in damage because quite frankly  nobody it seems like Mu or has taken don't back   into parking or pull through seriously. So I I  don't know that if we allowed it there would be   an increase in it. I think it would just kind  of maintain the status quo. Um also you guys   point out Oldtown quite a bit even though we don't  have the car park going through Oldtown quite yet.   Um the main places I've heard about this has been  around um Century 2. So I don't know if there is   signage there or do we need to increase signage at  Century 2 to help address some of these concerns.   Um is mostly like trailer shows, gun shows, and  whatnot. Um and then also here's here's a thought   kind of a question. Um is there an option for um  owner car owners to get two plates from the state   so that way if they do have a plate in the front  they would be able to back in. I'm sure it'd be an   added cost to them through the state. I'm just not  sure if that's um an option that we could explore. I have no idea if that is a feas if that's  possible or not for individual car owners   to buy a second plate for their vehicle.  I just came to mind just just now. So,   I'm sorry I didn't prepare or anything. And as I think through an implementation of how  that would work, I'm trying to picture the signs   that would come into the city limits of Witchah.  Welcome to Witchah. You need two license plates. I   don't know if you want to back in. I mean, that's  the thing is it's specifically if you want to be   able to back into a parking spot, you have to have  a front facing facing plate. So, just a thought. Any other questions? You still haven't  answered the question about Sentry 2   parking and signage. Um, so at Century 2 on  that surface lot south of south of the Hyatt. Um, is that what you're talking about?  Um, I agree. There is no signage there   that says you can't back in the lot south  of the Hyatt. There is four or five signs   there already. So signage placement is  very sporadic. I would agree with that. I'm concerned for residents that did not  get good communication from this city. Um,   and you've already alluded to we would have  done it differently end quote from you. So,   I I think that it's back to communication. Um, for  a long time this was not being enforced and then   all of a sudden in 2024 when chapter 29 was added  and I understand you said that there were lots of   things that got added. Well, I would hope that  now the lesson here is I'd like to know what got   added. Uh residents probably want to know besides  the backing in um what in 29 was added and really   clearly communicate this is being enforced. Um  because again for a long period of time there was   no enforcement of it. Therefore, residents assumed  or did not know. And we do have a lot of new   residents in our community, by the way. And so,  I would appreciate communication uh from the city   side to residents. Um, and so it does go back to  council member Hohheisel's question about signage,   especially at the lot that gets utilized often,  which is the one abunded century 2. And I think   that's where we got a lot of um our emails of  people upset um that they did not think that that   was being enforced and then all of a sudden it  was being enforced. And so we're we're on behalf   of residents bringing up these issues that are of  concern. I use the Google real quick, Stephanie,   and Council Member Holisil, just FYI. Um, per  state law, you can only get one license plate   per passenger vehicle and it must be displayed in  the rear. So, thank you for your brainstorm. I'm   putting JB on that one. Oh, he's gone. So,  he's had success, probably the only success   in getting the state to do anything for us. So,  hey. Hey, wateries. Wateries. I keep forgetting.   I also have a concern about a certain um verbiage  that was used and and I like efficiency. Um   however, you said something about um well then  they won't be able to issue citations or cover   more ground fast enough. What is the purpose of  this parking plan then? Is it to encourage people   to pay for parking because they're utilizing that  um road, that space, or is it to find people? So,   a managed parking plan includes a lot of different  forms of revenue and all of those combined make a   sustainable uh parking fund. That revenue can come  from leasing stalls like in our parking garages   um on a long-term basis or a short-term basis.  Some of that revenue comes from uh paying to   park on the street and in the surface lots. You  know, just a different variation of of paying   to use the system. Another source of revenue  that's a piece of it is event parking which   we'll be talking about in the future. Um and and a  continuation of that program that's been in place   since the arena opened and how does that change  now that we're further along the line. And then   um citations is a piece of the puzzle also. So all  of the revenue streams that we have uh all make up   the pie that we have to figure out how the right  way to spend it is. Sorry, I'm gonna add one quick   comment and and I think Stephanie explained that  well, but mayor to your question, I would tell you   our emphasis is on the former. Uh our goal is for  everybody to understand what the rules are. We're   not we're not here to find people. Um it it does  become a part of of the overall program. We're not   counting on revenue from fines. We in a perfect  world, we want everybody to understand what the   rules are so we can have again a self-supporting  sustainable fund from the fees that are paid to   park legally. Um, we do I I don't want to overplay  it uh because there's no way to project it,   but we we were going to lose efficiencies if  there's a lot of people backed in and and just   making sure that people have a parking session  started, that they've paid for parking. That's   the goal first and foremost, not to find people  because they backed in. It gets in the way of us   uh creating that efficient program that everybody  understands. So the we missed the communication   on when we when we knew that we were going to  start enforcing back-end parking. In hindsight,   if we could go back, we would have done a lot  more then. And I can tell you going forward,   working with Comm's team, not only on back-end  parking, but we're going to make sure there's   nothing else we're missing here. We're going to be  very loud and clear about this, that it's anywhere   and everywhere, not just signage, but with public  outreach and communications, uh, because it's   important that everybody understands the rules.  And our intent wasn't just to start putting the   hammer on folks when in areas like Century 2,  it's really no signage out there for you to   know. We can and will make improvements on that.  There's no doubt. Um, I don't think that there's   going to be too many other things that jump out  at us right now. You know, I mentioned that we   started uh really with the implementation of the  parking program back in July. There's still some   growing pains. We're getting there. Um these are  steps that we've got to take. I'm not portraying   that as meaning that it's ideal and I I I don't  assume that we want to have a few other things   to deal with along the way. Uh, I was thinking  about this the other day and even though the the   cost factor is not the same, I remember when we  were first going into watering restrictions for   the drought and there was a lot of growing pains  and there was a lot of concerns from citizens and   folks about how do we make adjustments? How  does this uh how does this tie to HOAs and we   got there it took some time. We got there we kept  the communication open. We kept the outreach open.   I'm confident the same thing will happen with  this parking program and I think we're making   progress but these conversations are wonderful  to have and we've seen a lot of places where we   can make improvements already. I have a question  about data. Um back to the slide 127. Um and this   goes back to what Gary you just said. The goal  here is for people to pay for their session. So,   be a user if you're a user of the system to pay  for the um spot. Um, however, I wanted to know of   the 120 people who backed in and got a ticket and  of the 161 of the individuals who got a ticket,   did they start a session? So, do you know if they  had paid for parking, so did they pay number one,   did they comply? You said that the number one  thing you want is people to comply to pay for a   session. So, if these are people that paid for  a session but didn't know that backing into a   spot was a problem, I guess I would like to see  more data on these 120 and 161. If they started   a session, that means they paid for parking yet  they still got a ticket for yes, there was a new   or new enforcement that was um happening. I'd  like to see the numbers of the 120 and 161. So,   I can answer that right now. The very first  thing that Park Park looks for is did you start   a parking session? So if you started a parking  session, great. Then they go on to the rest of the   rest of their enforcement checklist that of the  ordinances that they're approved to enforce. So   we already we know that um all these people paid  to park. They didn't get a ticket for that. They   got a ticket for backing in. But they could have  just I think to the mayor's question they they did   all pay for parking then is that the answer? Yes,  they all paid to park. Okay. So out of the 161   um in that So does that mean that they weren't  enforcing I I'm confused of how do we have 100% how do we have 100% of they they get  a ticket for paying or not backing in   but they paid for parking. So does that mean we  had nobody back in that didn't pay for parking? Yeah, at that point. So, let me I want to ask  you because that doesn't seem accurate because I   think maybe I heard what you said, but let me ask  for clarification here. If if someone's backed in   and car park finds that they haven't paid for  parking session, will they site them just for   the no parking and let go of the or do they get  two tickets? They don't get two they don't get   two citations. Maybe I I was assuming what I heard  you say was that if they haven't started a parking   session, it stops right there. Yeah, that that's  the citation they would get. I think that's what   I you superseding citation over the other one.  Does it? So, which one would come first? So,   let's say you back into the no parking session  would come first. That would come first. And so,   you don't get an additional one. Correct. You  would not get both. Okay. not get both because   you pay to park. So let's say you did pay to  park though and you backed in. Yeah. You get   you're going to get a citation for backing in  for that. Okay. So maybe the data that's missing   is how many folks got backed into a parking spot  but did not pay for a session. I'm going to have   to Yes. So that's the data that's missing.  If you're saying that, we'll have to see if   they even kept track of that because it stops  there. If you don't have a parking session,   that citation takes precedent is what I think  I'm hearing. But we'll check. We'll check. I   think again it's data matters because I  I'm going to read this email because I   do believe that that's part of the reason why  there's frustration. I attended an event today   on April 14th at the Kansas Leadership  Center pertaining to my duties with the   Kansas Department of Corrections and I parked  my vehicle at a designated parking stall near   the KLC building. I paid for 8 hours to attend  my training as and as the day ended I came back   to find a citation on my windshield. I opened the  envelope and saw that I was given a citation for   $50. This would have been good knowledge to to  me to have had a sign being posted and I would   have lawfully followed this order talking about  1152.02. I took photographs of the area to protest   no sign warning me that this was illegal. I would  like to request a warning for this incident as a   firsttime offender. If I need to go through legal  proceedings and face an additional $81 fine,   I will follow those directives. My hope is that  this message is received and signs are posted in   downtown to ensure citizens are aware that this is  a violation. I was unaware of this ordinance when   the day began and it would have been financially  beneficial for me had there been a sign and this   was sent to all of us on April 14th. So again, I  appreciate you're saying that this has been halted   for the time being. But again, this is where  the frustration with community has been rising.   um if they are complying with doing what I  think Gary said was number one compliance of   paying for a session um I guess my question I  know is in hindsight now but these 120 and 161   people who did do what you're asking them to  do which was number one pay for your session   I guess what communication can be given  to these now 200 81 people. You mean the   people that have already received a citation  this year and last year? One of those. So that process is if you want to appeal your  citation, there is a phone number on each   of the citations to municipal court. That's  the only phone number that's on the citation.   And then if you then you call the number  and the customer service representative   tells you you need to send an e email to the city  prosecutor's office, provide proof of payment,   and provide your citation photos of those  citations. That process goes through what   I call an administrative review through  the city prosecutor's office. That whole   process that I just described shows up on both the  parkwitch.com website and municipal court website. Thank you for that response to the resident who  emailed all of us. So then my question now will be   to legal. Of the 120 and 161 who have been given  citations, what's the percentage of individuals   who have uh gone through the process of  asking that that be omitted? Mayor, I'd   have to check on how many have challenged their  tickets. We've prosecuted them consistently. Um,   but I'd have to check to see how many. Maybe  Sharon knows off the top of her head if she's   here. But just Yeah, I don't think we know. We  would just have to check with municipal court. Again, I think it goes back to if we're a  very datadriven organization. I appreciate   this information, but there's missing  information that tells the whole story.   And that's why residents who reach out to  us who are frustrated, I'm speaking on their   behalf because they can't be at these meetings  and workshops are really for council members   to raise these concerns. And so I'm speaking  really on behalf of 281 people who have been   issued a citation. What communication are we  giving to them? Um so that's really because   that's this is a resident 414. Um, I need  to give a response to her. I can tell you   that on parkwitch.com right now there's a  whole series of numbers of of information   uh performance from each month that says  the total number of citations issued and the   total number of citations that were dismissed  through one form or another being dismissed.   It doesn't break the dismissals down between  all of the different kinds of citations. It's   just a a big number. So, I mean, that's already  out there on the website. But we absolutely can   find out these back in citations. We can and  and I just would recommit and then say, mayor,   I just want to make sure you understand. Message  received loud and clear. And we not to diminish   your question about the data related to these  what what I will commit to you and and I spoke I   reached out to the reference to the one you talked  about. I'll just add a quick nuance and I only say   this because we're there's not a perfect answer  to everything. Uh that person backed into an on   street parking stall. I don't think I've ever  seen somebody back into an on street parking   stall. It's fine. I'm not questioning that.  I don't know that we would have ever thought   to put up signs behind the curb for on street  parking saying no back in because no one backs   in. That's I'm just mentioning that because we're  here's what our commitment is going forward. Uh   and and already that that we've been working on.  First and foremost, working with our comm's team,   my belief is is we're going to really get the word  out there. You cannot back into a parking stall.   That's where I think we're going to have the most  impact. We're going to work on signage as quick as   we can. You saw that there is signage in a lot of  parking lots already. Um whether it's Oldtown and   some of the others, you saw in some of the garages  on the pillars, there are signs that says you   cannot back in. I've seen people literally back  in right next to the sign. And I don't know if   that's out of defiance or that they just knew it  wasn't enforced, but to that point, in fairness,   we were not trying to surprise anybody here, catch  anybody off guard. we can make uh I'm confident we   can make this work going forward. I'm confident  that we can provide uh communications. Um I think   the warning by itself should take care of this  issue because everybody uh going forward if we   stay the path when they back in they're going to  get a warning. They're not going to get a citation   or going to get a warning that says you cannot  back into a parking stall. If they choose to do   it again I don't know what to say for anybody.  That part alone I think really theoretically   solves this issue when everybody gets a warning.  And I just want to follow up Gary and I also want   to thank you and thank you Stephanie. Um when  I received the email also I forward it to you   and I know that you had multiple communications  with the person who received the warning and um   they sent more pictures and and all the things. So  that that one email I know was brought up today,   but it was also I I think maybe four or five  interactions with you responding to them. So   um I do applaud staff for trying to make sure  that you know in this process that we're trying   to not only communicate with residents upfront um  so they know what the new guidelines are, but then   also when they have an issue, we're trying to be  responsive and demonstrate great customer service.   I do also want to say thank you for bringing  up the analogy of the drought last year because   as district 2 probably got the majority of the  complaints about the water restrictions, the exact   same customer service was applied to them and  that's how we were able to get more compliance is,   you know, people maybe didn't know the rule, they  didn't understand the rule, maybe they just didn't   like the rule, but we communicated with them  the reason why, the rationale for why we're   doing it. And oftentimes it would come to people  understanding maybe still not liking it but saying   okay you know I understand now why we're doing  what we're doing. So again, just a kudos to staff   for trying to communicate with our residents  before something happens and then if it does. I'm the one that brought this up,  so um I'm going to I don't know if   there's even an appetite. Um but I would  like to see this ordinance removed. So,   I want to know if any of my colleagues would  like to see this ordinance removed. Sure. That's   a solution if we find a reasonable way to enact  it. And that's why I was asking about the state. I'd probably keep it in place just because  the damage to to signs and structures.   I think that the warning will be a great thing to  if you get a warning, then if they do it, that's   their own fault. So, I I think I' I'd prefer to  keep it in place. Where are we at with the signage   that I know that we have been asking about? Not  to derail from the conversation, but weren't we   talking about putting signage up for just general  awareness in regards to the times that you have   to pay for parking and different things of that  nature? So is that already in pro process? What   we have done so far is have changed the messaging  that comes across the mobile apps. Okay. The park   mobile and the pay by phone. The pay by phone  messaging hasn't been complete yet, but I expect   that to be done in the next couple of days. Okay.  Um, also, um, on the pay station that you walk up   to to pay, um, that's been programmed so that it  no longer accepts money after the enforcement hour   stop. Awesome. Um, and that was done I want to say  about a week ago. Progress. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.   Now, now up here it says has the vast majority  those are car park. Are there plans for WPD to   increase enforcement as well, like in a Dylan's  parking lot when you pull through so it's easier   to pull out or So that specific example is a  private parking lot and PD doesn't enforce on   private parking lots. Car park wouldn't either.  These this is all about public parking. Um if   you're asking is PD going to increase enforcement  on public parking areas? I have not had that kind   of conversation with PD. Maybe other people have,  but I have not had that. Okay. Appreciate that. I'd be more interested in terms of the education  aspect and just how are we educating people on it.   Um, I see justifications for keeping it, but  I also see that we probably just need to do a   better job at educating. Are there barriers  to doing this? I'm I'm sorry. I feel like   we weren't talking about the particulars towards  the solution of what the mayor is asking for and   I'm again I am supportive of eliminating the  um backing into the parking stall. Are there   barriers to like what that would mean for the  parking company who manages that? like would   they have to get out of their car and check the  license plate instead of being able to drive   through and scan the license plate? I'm just  trying to think of the logistical barriers. So,   if uh backing into a parking style was  now legal here in city limits of Witchah,   it would absolutely impact the efficiency of  parking enforcement. they would have to physically   get out of their car, walk around to the back  of the parked car, read the license plate,   um, and then issue whatever citation may be in  place at that time, but or at least to verify   whether they've started a parking session. Right.  And I'll tell you real quick, too, and start it.   No, you're fine. And and I might go uh and I'm  sorry, council member, if we I wanted to hit   on this again real quick because this slide does  talk about your to you the core of your question.   Um we I've looked to see what other communities  do and and the the no the prohibition on backing   in is a lot of it's in place for this very reason  for the efficiency of reading license plates. Um,   we're again the goal of our program isn't to  to find people and find those people backing   in. It's to be able to get through all of our  parking assets, make sure people are paying to   park as that is the revenue we need to maintain  these resources. That's what's important. There   are places in our parking lots that people just  for what it's worth that you could park right now   and there is no chance to see the license plate.  It doesn't matter if you get out or not. There are   places that you cannot get to the license plate if  people are backed in. It starts to really becomes   an issue. It's no different in garages. Uh garages  in particular, you want to back up far enough,   you could back into a garage all day long and  never pay. Uh because you're not going to see   the license plates. You can back up all the way  to the wall. And and I'm not assuming people are   going to take advantage of it. That's not  the point. But there are a lot of reasons   why and a lot of barriers what I see. uh against  removing the prohibition on backend parking. Well,   given that given that I really appreciate it and  that's why I asked uh because again I said, "Yeah,   this sounds great. It's let's make it easier for  people to park, but I also think it's important   to consider the barriers. And I don't want to do  that because I think if we if we make it difficult   for the folks who are, you know, enforcing  that to get the parking revenue that we need,   which we know we've not been doing that, which  is part of the reason why we're here now. Um,   it defeats the purpose. So, what I would say is  my colleagues have already said this about the   education piece. I appreciate that. I would be  supportive of that. In the meantime, um to help   support the mayor's desire, I think it would  be important if there would be an opportunity   to outline what those barriers were so that as  we are engaging with constituents, we can at   least respond to them and say, "We've looked into  this. Here's what makes it difficult." I I would   be supportive of that solution moving forward just  so we're able to mobilize the decision of why we   are not changing the ordinance right now. I agree.  And you know, our hope uh I don't want to overplay   this, but I just think the whole warning thing  is so important and makes a lot of sense. I mean,   that's the first thing we thought of is how  do you get the word out to everybody? Well,   you do that by giving everybody warning. That  doesn't mean everyone's going to agree with it,   but I I personally don't know that we have to give  anybody the right to back into a parking stall.   We've heard from some folks that say they think  it's safer. It's certainly safer when you pull   out. Um, but there's uh there's other issues  associated with back-end parking and safety   within parking lots. If you've ever uh and I'm not  trying to give you more excuses, but or reasons,   I shouldn't say excuses, but but I do want to talk  about one real quick. If you've I think we've all   probably experienced following somebody behind  somebody in a parking lot and all of a sudden   their backup lights come on because they drove  past the open stall and they're going to start to   back in. You can see some communities have really  hung their hat on that because of the higher   incident of accidents and efficiency and then you  got everybody trying to back up. It doesn't work.   Uh and that's a lot of the reason why people do  front-end parking also. So, we would need to say   we'd like to see it stay in place. There's a lot  of things that we can do going forward right now.   The warning is a great tool. Uh additional signage  will help. Working with our comm's team. You know,   I appreciate the comment about we want to make  sure the public understands why we're doing this,   too. This isn't just to be difficult. This isn't  to create an undue burden. There are reasons,   especially outlined right here, why this makes  sense. The damage to our assets is real. And   sometimes uh we we've seen some really expensive  fixes in certain areas, especially depending on   what's there for landscaping, fence improvements,  uh specialized materials, and the costs and and   we don't know necessarily who did it either.  So, I'm just going to add one quick, I guess,   maybe question. in parking garages. Are there  no longer the arms then at our parking garages,   which then don't you have to pay to get in there?  So, the parking garages do have parking arms. Real   similar to what we have here at city hall. You  pull a ticket, the arm goes up, and you pull in   to park. Um, and then when you leave, you insert  your ticket and it calculates how much you pay.   You pay, the second arm goes up, and you exit.  Sorry, mayor. Bad example. Thank you. After I   said that, the the my point about backing in in a  parking garage is not relevant in this case. No,   we get a lot of people that back into our parking  garages. We do. You'd be surprised. Well, but   to the mayor's point, we're not reading license  plates and parking garage. True. Thank you. You   caught that. So, would a compromise be or a step  to eliminate it in the parking garages, but not   for on street? with that. I didn't hear the first  part of that. I'm sorry. I think his question is   maybe maybe for the reason that the mayor brought  up. We're not reading license plates in parking   garages. Could we allow backin parking in garages?  So, one of the reasons we're not reading license   plate in parking garages is because car park  is not currently authorized by municipal code   to do that. We're going to have a series of code  adjustments that come in front of you that kind   of clarify some of these weird things now that  we've got a parking program with enforcement. I   will wait and I I I think we all should wait  then. Thank you to that question and maybe I   missed this in the entire presentation out. Can  we go back to how many citations were offered?   Um how many of those were in garages verse  street? None. None because car park doesn't auth I don't know the answer to that. I would  assume PD is authorized to issue citations   in parking garages but I've never had  whether or not they're doing it or not.   Okay. Thank you. Um thank you. I would really  like to see what was um all of the changes in   uh chapter 11. Okay. 29. That'll take some time.  Yes. Because I think that will be again helpful   as communications will start have having to have a  strategic plan on communicating this information. Mayor, as we move into our next topic  on this one, I want to make sure I'm   uh caught up on different information requests if  they're still standing. On this one, for instance,   um as we said, going forward, there will be  no more citations, only warnings issued from   Car Park. WPD can still issue some if warranted.  And again, some of the questions we do got to dig   a little bit more in that data about if it was  pulled from the court system, the parking code,   was it the actual backend in that the citation was  for or something else? But um for the purposes of   going forward, we're talking about 160 tickets  that um we know were issued by car park. Some   have been appealed. We don't know how many,  whatever. But looking forward, we are doing   the warnings. So that's our process going forward.  So my question to you is, is everyone comfortable?   Is there any other data you need going forward?  There will be no citations for backing in from   car park. Correct, manager. Just to clarify. So  correct. That's a correct that that's the first   time only. The first time. Right. Right. Right.  Right. Correct. For first time after the first   time we they would be issuing citations. Sorry.  I just want to be very clear about that. So, but   then also going back to the sidewalk conversation,  I thought there was some requests for information   about sidewalks as well. I got to be sensitive  to the different questions or different requests   piling up here if there are. So, if there's  no requests for parking for more information,   check. Okay. there, but I want to make sure  we're we're capturing if there's some follow-up   requested from any of our topics so far. Mayor, I  I have that you wanted municipal court data on how   many cases had been challenged. I see Nathan Emery  here. I don't know if you're able to speak to that   yet or just here to share anecdotally. Nathan, I  see you here. I don't want to put you on the spot,   but maybe you have some thoughts on that.  I think he was just wanting to duck out of   the office for a little bit and enjoy our company  down here. I don't have that information with me,   but I can certainly get that. Uh, we haven't had  a whole lot of cases challenged to date uh out   of the car park tunch of of of citations.  Uh, but uh I can certainly pull that data. So, we can get data on how many citations  have gone through an administrative approval   um and been dismissed. And then there's another  number that Nathan can get in terms of how many   citations have gone through in front of the  municipal judge related only to backing in.   Related only to backing in. Okay. And then  anything back to the sidewalk conversation.   Was there any request? Okay. Just making sure.  Now we've got another parking topic for you.   City Hall parking. Stephanie, if that went good  enough, I'm going to start this off again really   fast and then get out of the way. Sorry. I  appreciate you letting us tag team this. Um,   one of the things I want to mention about this  topic, and there's a lot to discuss, I'm going   let Stephanie get to it, is to keep in mind what I  mentioned before about our overall parking program   and our parking system. All of this plays  together. um whatever we decide to do with   city hall parking and the revenue we need from  city hall parking to maintain the assets that's   not just for this lot that's not just for this  garage it goes into the overall parking program   um you know I'd mention it because Austin was here  and talked about the ballpark development and you   previously had discussions about what would be the  new garage there the the the revenue from that new   garage doesn't go just into that new garage. Um,  it is part of the overall system and the revenues   we need uh based on our estimates to to maintain  safe clean to maintain the assets for our parking   program and our parking system. I just wanted to  mention that again real quick uh as a matter of   perspective. So, so even looking at again fees  that we charge here aren't just to take care of   this. Stephanie is going to show you where we need  revenue specific to these parking assets. But that   doesn't mean we capture that only from the people  who park here. Uh wherever that ends up, it is a   systemwide program. We want it to be an enterprise  program. We want it to support itself uh at the   top of that uh pyramid for cost recovery. So with  that, I'll let her talk about where we've been and   and I'm sure we'll have lots of questions. I'm  sure. Okay. Um, city hall parking, the equipment   and the signage that we've installed here at  city hall has been consistent with all of the   other locations throughout downtown for surface  lots. It's been the same payment methods in   terms of credit and debit and cash. It's the same  enforcement hours Monday through Thursday 8 to 6,   Friday, Saturday 8 to nine, free on Sunday. The  rates are all the same as all the other surface   lots. It's a dollar an hour, $5 a day max. And  as Gary um has mentioned, the user fees that   are collected here are needed for maintenance,  security, and cleaning um of our assets. In terms   of activation, we came up and developed some  processes for validation. Those processes that   we're using were required to meet our internal  compliance rules for using city purchasing cards   and the processes for visitors and how they  pay for parking. The mobile apps crash credit   refunds have have been established. Uh so  those are working and are in place right now.   departments. Um when we were working with the  individual departments, they um who whomever   the departments are who have elected to validate  parking have for their visitors and guests. They   have already received their validation code and  are using those right now and they've had those   since April the 1. So almost a month now. the  soft opening as it next bullet point here is the   soft opening phase began on April the 2nd. Um and  we've we're allowing several months here to let   departments get used to how to use the validation  codes and make sure they've got their proper   people identified and trained up. Since April the  2nd, I have only received one notification from   any of the departments that a validation code  wasn't working. Um, and between myself and Car   Park, we were able to get that fixed and working  basically the next day. And so we called them up   and did a quick turnaround on that. Our current  target date for full opening here at city hall um   is July 1. Have you got time for a quick question?  What if somebody pays cash? Do they get a refund?   Does a department give them a cash refund or  if you can hang on, I applied for that. Okay, here are is a quick description of how all of  these different payment methods work and payment   processes. If you use a Park mobile app, which  means you're using a credit or a debit card when   you download the app, those next several bullet  points explain how you how you do that. Um,   the pay station, there's bullet points there  to describe if you walk up to the pay station,   pay with a credit or a debit card. This is how you  do that. Um, validations um are explained in here   also, and I can spend a lot more time on this if  you would like me to, but there's a lot of info   here. Um, pay station if paying with cash. There's  the bullet points on how you do that and how you   get your validation code from the department. If  you are choosing to pay cash, um you're working   with a department and go past the first floor  express office and you can get reimbursed with   your cash that way. And we even came up with a  process in case a visitor came to city hall and   they got here and kind of figured out at the  last minute they're they made a mistake and   they didn't want to be here at city hall, we're  just giving a straight reimbursement and there's   a process just to do a straight reimbursement  through our first floor express office that way.   um kind of a quick slide to help understand  what kind of expenses we see here at city   hall. And this is just city hall, but you  can see annually how much the city hall   uh surface and garage pay for electricity and  for our elevator inspections, our snow removal,   water, internet. We need a 247 answering service  because of the elevators. That's what we're able   to pay for right now. um out of the parking  fund. What we're not able to parking pay for   out of the parking fund are a lot of different  maintenance items. We are not able to pay for   pavement markings or clear storm water drainage uh  and the drainage inlets. We're not able to do any   type of asphalt or concrete maintenance, change  out a lot of lighting infrastructure. Um get a   lot of concerns about how dark the parking garage  is right now and tree trimming and landscaping.   were not able to pay for out of the parking fund.  We call on other departments for assistance on   that. So, different pictures here at city  hall and that's condition of our surface   lot. It'd be awesome to be able to help fix  that up. Um, in these several locations here,   our employee garage has some concerning rust  starting between the rebar and the concrete. uh   not able to do that type of maintenance to prevent  that from happening. Um and then the stairways and   uh some concrete major concrete spalling above one  of our sliding doors in our employee garage. Also, when we look at uh the surface  lot that's out there right now,   um we think to the best of our ability, uh in  2025, we lost revenue from validations of around   $182,000. Um some of the lost revenue we can't  really account because the gates were lifted up   so people couldn't even register that they had a  validation sticker. It was just free free exiting   without documentation basically. Um we also know  that there were individual validations. The cost   of how of these validation tickets range between  25 cents and $6. the whole gamut of how much the   city validated parking for. And a quick little  summary here of yeartoate 2026 revenue for here   at city hall. Those are our different funding  sources right now. Um we have leases um at the   rounds and porter and in our garage. The city hall  metered lot that was how much money we gathered   before the meters went away uh earlier this year.  Um, south of the employee garage this year in   January and February, we collected around $2,200.  The employee parking garage, we have revenue of   around 31,000 so far this year, and that's from  employee uh taking money out of employee paychecks   every every every paycheck. So, that number  will increase too. Um the slide here tries to   summarize all sorts of options to move forward.  I know there's been concerns about whether or not   we want to continue to collect revenue, pay for  parking here. Um these were the ideas that I had   heard when putting together um this slideshow.  I had heard an option maybe is to provide free   parking on Tuesdays, to provide free parking on  Saturdays to go and correspond with our already   free parking on Sundays. And then the last option  uh is to do a transfer from the general fund of   about $168,000 and not even have people pay to  park at all here at city hall. I if I may, why do   we have free parking on Sundays and why would we  have it on Saturdays if city hall's not open? So   the free parking on Sunday is consistent with all  the other slots when when the hours were set up   um about a year ago. There was no parking paid  parking anywhere on Sundays. Okay. Yeah. I I I'm   not sure on the Saturday one because that if we're  not open, they're not coming to do business at the   city. So, so there are several departments that  are open 247. Uh police department being the main   uh department that's open 247. Um I could probably  come up with another one if I thought real hard,   but it was a lot of police police action going.  Okay. All right. That makes sense. One of the   challenges we've heard uh throughout this is from  departments and the stresses on their budgets,   right? And it's something we've talked to the  manager about. You've heard us discuss and   revenue got to come from somewhere. This isn't  just folks coming to city hall. It is a lot of   us. It's vendors. It's uh I know police has folks  that are in the lot sat on Saturdays. Um and that   was something that had come from them. And so  this was just a thought as we've walked through   this of considering different places we might  go ideally for us to be able to maintain this   system. So you've heard me play that a lot. The  revenue needs to come from somewhere. We're just   trying to figure out what makes the most sense  here. So, does the the funds that we do the   funds that we get from the employees parking in  the parking garage, does that cover maintenance   cost for city hall parking lot and the parking  garage? No. No. No. How what's that gap? Because if we've collected $31,000 the first quarter of  2026, you take that number times four. So 125ish.   We we're also not doing other maintenance items  here. So there's that. But then also remember   we're looking at a systemwide Well, I'm not  talking about the system. I mean, that's that's   where I'm getting at is we're asking people to  pay to come and petition their government to cover   costs outside of the maintenance for city hall  parking. So, I I guess that's kind of an issue   that I have there. The Could we go back to the  other slide you were on a second ago? Yeah. No,   one more maybe. Okay. So, this one item number  3B is theoretically what's happening now in   terms of the general fund is covering the cost  currently. So asis would be 3B, but taking that   and making sure it's in the parking fund. So it's  at least making the parking fund whole, taking out   the general fund, realizing, hey, these are the  costs of the general taxpayers, but because the   building, if the building's free, the general tax  dollars are still paying for it's just not a user   fee to be able to pay for it's just the general  tax dollars paying for it to come to the building.   So item 3B would do what we do now, but making  the parking fund whole. Correct. The concern   I would have just the only concern I would have  with that would be if I go out there right now,   I can guarantee you I find maybe 20 spots that  are employees parking or city vehicles parking in   our lot. So, when you look at the total number of  parking stalls, I would either want a crackdown on   the number of city vehicles being in there because  I don't think that should be paid by that fund.   And so, and I know we haven't necessarily done a  good job at keeping city vehicles out of the lot,   especially now that it's completely open as well.  So, that would just be one concern I would have   3B. If that could be mitigated where we don't have  city cars parked out there, I would be open to a   3B as just the simplest solution, but also still  making the parking fund whole, which is really   what the objective is for both of you is just  how do we make this fund whole. I don't think   you guys care where it comes from as long as the  parking fund is made whole in the process of that. Yes, I care to some extent because it may depend  on how difficult it is to make number 3B happen   in reality. And I don't know if I've really kind  of understood what would be required to do that   either of city employees or of the county. We have  lease agreements with the county that works over   at the Ronald Reagan building to park in our  city lots and and some of those are official   vehicles. Okay. Yeah. My concern would be the  official vehicles right now. And so item 3B   theor theoretically would have to be part of the  manager's budget. Correct. Uh it wouldn't just be   able to be a a policy decision from here without  us budgeting it from the general fund. It'd be   included in the budget as a proposal. That was  the way. What I would worry about that is if I'm   a city employee, do I pay $20 a month to park  in the garage or just go park out in this lot   for free? Yeah, that was my concern. I mean,  it'll fill up. The mitigation of making sure   that we don't have city cars out there would be my  concern with 3B. So, if that can't be mitigated,   then I think 3B is fruitless because you're going  to have that happen. I think it's going to fill up   with city employees and save 20 bucks. Does the  168,000 cover every like every day of the week?   168,000 is for 280 stalls at 6 that $600.  Yes. That's for a year. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,   we charge for parking now. Mhm. So, I would  agree. I would not be in favor of that. Um my my   my concern has always been on Tuesdays and I think  the mayor has during her time as mayor has opened   the gates specifically when we knew that there  were hot topic issues and I think that that's   important because to council member Hohheisel's  point we don't want to create barriers for   people's voices to be heard. You already have the  time barrier. you there are just so many barriers.   So I I don't know what that what it looks like to  look at opening the gate on so many times a year   or or what that could look like. And especially  for those who are coming to visit WPD, I actually   had a a constituent who um serves on one of the  citizens review boards or police standard bureau   investigations and works with our WPD. And and you  can't estimate how much time that always will take   um and felt very overwhelmed with the idea of like  pulling out your phone in a meeting and where your   phone shouldn't necessarily be out and having to  increase that parking. So I just I would really   like to see particular departments in the media  WPD have some sort of validation code where it's   not coming from their budget because we should  be supporting those victims who are coming in   and already you know wrestling with the tough  time. not making it difficult for the media to   get information out about what's happening  in the people's building to the public and   figuring out how we create a cadence where city  council meeting days are free. Um I know that um   communications has distributed validation codes  to the media pretty much effective April the 2nd.   Now, I haven't reached out to communications  to see how well it's working from their end,   but I do know that they've not contacted me  with their questions or their concerns about   how that is working. So, I do know that.  Um, are they paying that from their budget,   though? They are paying for it from somebody's  budget. I assume it's theirs. You made me laugh,   which was good. The city manager's office, you  know, I don't know that. Um there are also uh   the police department has they they've been one  of the biggest users in the past of validation   codes for all sorts of witnesses that come in  to give testimony and taking statements and that   sort of thing. I again I've not heard from PD with  questions um or things that aren't working well.   They've been able to figure it out. Municipal  court sends out subpoenas. uh they have a fund if   you come to if you're subpoenaed to come to city  hall they have a fund that's set up through court   fines that they pay from also yeah I'd be curious  to hear from my colleagues what thoughts they have   but I appreciate you being here and answering  all the questions I might suggest a number four   um that maybe make free parking at rounds and  porter right now the sign says permit required for   that lot um have signs at these lots to say paid  parking but free parking available at Rounds and   Porter. It's only 100 yards more walk and we can  make that free and still charge for parking here. I just solution and if it doesn't work, we  can come back and revisit that too. You know,   we could I mean, but there's spots available  over there. I would propose an option five. Um   if if you if you do that, you just make rounds in  Porter for employee parking the park the employees   that are parking out of here with vehicles and  just make it far more directive so people they   can park over there. So when somebody comes in and  they're just coming into city hall for 5 minutes,   adding a distance may be a challenge. But staff  that are going to be here for theoretically 5   hours or let's say they come in for a couple  hours, it makes sense for them to park around   support. And maybe that's what's supposed to  be happening right now and they're just not   doing it. Um that could be the challenge. I just  want as simple as possible. We just as simple as   possible and to make the parking uh fund whole.  Those are my two objectives. Make it simple for   residents. Make sure they feel like this is their  building that they can come into. And then also   just try to make sure we make it whole. So, as  long as we hit those objectives, I think there's   wiggle room for me. The employees are parking in  rounds in Porter now that don't want to pay $20,   which would be me. I would walk the extra  not to pay $20, but uh I I think we need   a I think we do need a free option for people. I  do think we need a free Council Member Johnston,   I would be very supportive of your suggestion. I  think that's a happy medium. It's a compromise and   and I I think we heard we can at least use it as a  trial period to see what's going well, what's not   going well and adjust as we need to and leave it  to staff to report back. But I would be supportive   of that. And I would suggest that a a trial period  is a number of months because it'll take take some   time to get some signage updated out there as well  as people changing habits takes some time too with   even with internal communication and and all that  and and signage. Habit changing takes a while.   And on that when we talk about free options, um I  think the the one area that specifically needs to   be addressed and focused on is for uh victims  working with PD to make sure that that parking   is available and easy as possible. Um many of the  victims have issues with uh being able to pay um   issues with maybe some mobility issues. So, just  making sure that they have options as close to the   building as possible. Yeah, I'll find out what  their plan is and what they've been doing and   what's been working for them. I have a question  actually for city manager. If we went with option   three or anything beyond that where uh general  fund would have to come and kick in, where would   you find the dollars? As of now, we would look a  couple different ways within budgets because we do   assign it to department budgets, but we will have  the conversation about projected revenue. And so,   we've got money programmed in for what we  think revenues will be. We'll do that. Again,   it depends upon how much assessed value council  wants to quote unquote capture from the sales or   from the property tax um growth. So that will be  part of our conversation with overall revenue to   the general fund. So and on that note, that's  not a requirement. That's kind of a projection   that we put together as to what we want to take in  for parking, but we are not beholden to that. So,   I'd like to remind my fellow council  members that that number it might be a goal,   but if we want to use that money elsewhere and  the parking fund suffers a little bit from that,   that's something we've dealt with for years  anyway. So, just keep that in mind. I will tag   along with that conversation and say that's why  we are in this position though because the parking   fund has not been made whole. the users that have  been using the system have not been fully paying   their fair share. Therefore, we are in this hole.  Uh so that is a reminder that kicking the can down   the road. We are at the road, end of the road  right now. We're here. And so I guess that's why   I asked that question more poignantly to the city  manager. Where are you going to find 168,000? Um,   and I think your answer is one that we'll have  to wrestle with because assessed valuations have   continued to be a source of contention from many  of our residents who have told us that they don't   want to see their property taxes go up. Well, this  is where the rubber meets the road and we're going   to have that conversation. Um, and I guess I  just want to point that out that that's where   we're going to either take in full assessments  uh as they have been increasing. And then the   city manager will have more flexibility with those  dollars or we answer to many of residents who've   told us that they don't want us to increase their  taxes. And so that will be we're only a portion of   their property taxes. Again, about a quarter of  property taxes are city. So, we get a quarter of   that say coming up in the next few months. Yeah.  But there's also other options that we're still   exploring. Um other areas that we need to kind of  cross that bridge, other avenues to actually take   in more money for the parking fund. Um I know  we're still looking at what are we doing with   Oldtown, what are we doing with Deleno? Um holding  some of those businesses to increasing their fees   uh for their parking spots they have they have  designated. So, this is still a work in progress   here. Um, again, I just wanted to remind council  that that number is not something that's going to   affect our credit rating, for example, or anything  like that. So, we just need to keep that in mind   as we work through this. Yeah. I think Council  Member Johnson's recommendation is a great one   for the meantime, and I agree. Let's not make any  financial decisions right now and go from there.   And maybe that could be a trial period. Six  months. Yep. It'll probably take that to really   get a good feel for how things are reacting to  these changes. It really How soon would it get   take to get signs up to direct people to the free  parking and say free parking? That pro that part   won't take very long. Taking down signs won't take  very long. Changing some communications won't take   very long. It's some of the other means. Yeah.  Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Okay. Thank you. It was a good reminder. I'd like to know when  are we going to have the conversation about   the rest of the parking system? I think council  member Johnson just mentioned it. I think coun oh   sorry council member Shepard and council member  Hohheisel both mentioned it. Um because right   now it's just downtown and I think that there's  supposed to be other conversations. We bring that   back. Yeah, we're gonna I think that probably  would work. We've got We're coming back to   Oldtown soon with the manager. In fact, we've got  a meeting tomorrow to talk about that some things   so we can figure out what's happening in Oldtown.  And then we'll I think May could probably work. We   we will have item coming to council at some point  to talk about uh parking garage support biomed.   And so that'll provide an opportunity to discuss  more of the overall system too. So, uh, along with   event fees, we've got to talk about at some point  in time, too. So, more to come soon. I just want   to go on record saying I think we have enough  parking garages. I've heard that from residents   consistently since we approved the last one. Um,  I know city staff promised a parking garage to   biomed. I don't think with a council approval  or cons consultation that I've heard of. Um,   I don't think that's right. Um, we have unutilized  parking garages that have been promised to people   who are not using them and I think we need to work  through those options before we do any parking   garage. And we our transit system can be more  robust. I know it's going to cost but the young   people they like transit, they want transit and  that's a lot of people who are going to be using   that biomid center. That's just my opinion. I'm  only one and that'll be part of that discussion.   We do have data related to our existing garages.  Uh and and just to one quick point, we'll talk   we'll talk about this when we bring that forward.  U the whole notion you mentioned of we have spaces   under contract that may not being used. That's a  tough one to overcome. That's a really tough one   to overcome. Uh to consider throwing people out  to say even though you're paying, you're not using   it. I don't even know how we would begin that  conversation because right now just to finish that   thought real quick and so we can move on to the  next part. Um because that's a good point. Um our   our what I would call our primary garages in the  core area uh that would support biomed are all but   full based on current contracts. Well, there's 200  spaces available at the Emporia garage and I asked   for data from our city auditor on that and all has  listed is business one, business two, business.   We're compiling additional data and I know you  would request it. We don't have that right now.   I I appreciate we'll we'll have that information  when we come forward. Uh and I don't want to to   beat that point too much. 200 spots is less than  25% of the agreement we have to provide. There's   another 100 another spots or the the center coming  down forward when we when we talk about the the   proposal for possibly additional we've got 400  spots coming at our new transit center and lots   of options. Thank you. I agree with mainly  of council member Johnston's points there. Okay. All right. Thank you for the input on  that. We'll come back with you in May with   some more definition on that. And now for our  last topic of the day after before executive   session. Um we have some options about your  proclamation process. So Shana Workine has   been working on this for a while. She's a lead on  some of this of late and she'll walk you through   our current process and then some options for your  consideration. Shana. Okay. Thank you, Dennis. So,   I have some proposed revisions to the proclamation  approval and presentation process. Why now? Um,   several of you have asked for this. We are  starting to have longer meetings and this   is an opportunity to perhaps cut down the time  in some of our meetings. We do have a new staff   member who is being hired in the city council  office. And this process has grown over 88% in   three years. So, it's just really not become  sustainable with our current practices. Um,   given the number of the amount of staff  time, the meeting time, and the risk of   error, it is time that we need some more clear  policy guard rails. So, our goal today is to   help streamline the administration and  address the city council meeting links   uh through better managing our proclamations.  Going to run through this really quickly because I   think it's something you've probably seen before.  This is information straight from our website. Um,   these are the guidelines and information provided  to those interested in submitting a proclamation.   Um, I want to point out that the proclamation  should have meaningful relevance to the submitter.   This should be a time that's really exciting and  meaningful and educational to the submitter. Uh,   this may be one of their first times ever  attending a council meeting and getting   civically engaged. So this is something that is  important. It is exciting. Um and we also need   to remember that they are honorary. They don't  constitute or imply an endorsement of anyone.   This is something special essentially for the  submitter. More information from our website.   Um proclamations aren't guaranteed right now.  According to um MUN code, they must be approved   by a quorum. we can decline them for basically  any reason and we do edit the proclamations. Now,   this is something that's changed a little bit over  time. Um, at one point we were factchecking. We   were almost rewriting proclamations um because  of some grammar issues or length. Um, right now   we have actually added a little clause to the end  of a proclamation that states that this is how it   was submitted by the group on what date and time.  So that helps reduce our need to fact check the   proclamations which has saved probably at least  20 minutes on some of our proclamations if not   even um an hour or more depending on how lengthy  those proclamations are. Again, from our website,   proclamations can recognize a day, a week, or a  month. They're only supposed to come in once per   calendar year. And this is even if a proclamation  comes in from two different entities. So, I know   for Pride Month, that has been an issue the past  couple of years. We've had multiple um submissions   for the same topic, and those are reviewed on a  first come first-s serve basis. If the first one   is approved, the second one is automatically  declined. Um there are always exceptions. So   um the third one here, proclamations will not  be issued to honor individuals. There are times   that there's a significant individual from our  community that we do want to honor and at that   point then it would be the will of the council  to be able to go ahead and make that exception. Another fairly new um requirement is that  submissions for the current year may be   requested beginning January 1st. It's fascinating  to me that we already have proclamation requests   for proclamations that will be issued in  November or December of this year. In the past,   we started receiving those in June, July of last  year. And so we did put this requirement that   please hold on to your things until January 1st  and then begin submitting for the current year.   One of the things that I want to point out with  all of this information, it's probably too much   information really. You don't need to know all  of this behind the scenes except again we could   get proclamations a year in advance. They must  be submitted four weeks in advance. However,   sometimes they're not. um if they come in  all the way down to two weeks in advance,   we want people to have their moment in the sun. We  want to honor them. We want to accommodate them,   but there's just a lot of administration  that occurs. So, we're a little waffly on   some of our dates here. One of the guidelines  that I know we've discussed earlier this year   is this last bullet. Um we need to define what  um this means. An alternative to this statement   very well could be proclamations will not be  issued to promote a commercial business. Again,   we need some definition around what does  that mean? We have accepted proclamations for   associations and for churches celebrating  their anniversaries, for instance. Um,   there are some national months that are  applicable to businesses. So thinking about   what guidelines might be around that last one  is probably something that we need to consider. There is an ordinance regarding proclamations.  However, this absolutely needs to be updated. Um   it talks about providing your fax number if you  would like a proclamation issued. And currently   our practice does not mirror the ordinance.  So this absolutely needs to be revised.   If you look at the back of your packet, the  ordinance is there in a little bit larger font.   And then there's also a redlinined document.  Um the red lines are the items that truly must   be updated. The highlighted are decision points  that need to be made regarding this ordinance. So for our current submission process, you've  read all the rules and you're ready. You're   going to submit your proclamation. There is  a proclamation request form. I'm going to pop   over to that briefly so that you can see what  that is. Um, over time we have done a lot of   work on this proclamation form. Um, really  trying to explain to our residents what a   proclamation is and how to write it. Um, we have  examples on this form telling them this is what a   where whereas clause is. This is an example of  how you might write that and trying to get all   of the details from the get-go. Um, that will  help us streamline the proclamation process. Excuse me. So, once we receive that proclamation  request form, we review the submission.   Um, there's oftent times some back and forth  that occurs at this point. Oh, you didn't put   this information in or this isn't clear or it's  come across garbled. Can you better explain? So,   there's some back and forth emails that occur. Um,  the information is placed in an email for council   to vote and then your votes start coming in. So,  all we need is a quorum. All we need is four. But   who doesn't want a 70 proclamation? I mean, people  want a 70 proclamation, and we like to say this is   passed 70. So, once we receive our four votes um  in favor, then we'll start processing. That being   said, we're still tracking the rest of the votes  as they come in. That means we need to color code   our documentation. And there's a lot that goes  on just administratively. You don't really need   to know the process other than to know there  is a lot of administration that happens in the   background. We communicate with the submitter.  We schedule it. We communicate with the clerk.   We get things an agenda report of the votes.  We do some editing of the proclamation. We   process it for printing. We send out reminders.  We coordinate the date that they will show up. Um,   minimally each proclamation takes one to  two hours of interrupted staff time. So,   you don't sit down and focus on a proclamation.  You get a vote, you record it. You get a vote,   you record it. You get edits, you record  them. So, there's a lot of interrupted   staff time that occurs. Before presented,  a proclamation touches at least 13 hands. Again, this is just a little bit of a backside  of what this administrative process looks like.   These are very real proclamations that have  been submitted for this year um in April, May,   June, July, and we do already have proclamations  submitted all the way until December. We schedule   the date. Sometimes it is not the date that  they've requested. Um sometimes they're just   pickup, no presentation. We track by yes votes, no  votes, abstensions, and then who hasn't voted. Um,   I'm not sure in the past how much how  many reminders were sent out. Again,   I think it's nice when we have a 70 vote. Um, but  again, that's your personal preference. We won't   always. Um, but I'll I'll normally remind you if  I haven't received your vote. Um, we then notify   the recipient that it's passed. We schedule  it and we send our votes to the clerk. Again,   the key here really is just there's a lot of back  and forth. Um, and sometimes we have folks who   um have a certain date that they want their  proclamation. We've already got three on that   date. So, at that point, then a request is made  of the mayor. Would you like to add a fourth?   And I think she generally wants to accommodate  because again, this is a a positive thing. Um,   on top of all this, sometimes they're picked up,  sometimes there is a presentation that occurs   elsewhere. So, it's not always happening  just at the council meeting as well.   This gives you a little bit of a look as to  proclamations presented by year 21 and 20 lower   numbers partially attributed to CO 19 growth over  time from 22 to 25 that's 126 proclamations an 88%   increase in the number of proclamations we're  issuing a year. 26 where we're at already on   pace. We have 30 presented this year thus far.  maybe actually a few more since this was put   together. Um, an additional 22 requests currently  in process and that changes daily. Have have the   number of requests gone up as well or has that  been relatively static? They have gone up as well.   We don't often decline them, but we do sometimes  decline them as well. So, yes, I would say equally   on track. I also before 2020 and you may not have  this information to obviously 2020 was different.   People probably weren't wanting celebratory  proclamations during that time and probably   even in 2021. Were 2019 numbers higher 2018 was it  more reflective of what we're seeing now or was it   closer to that maybe 44 67 mark? We definitely  had a dip in 20 and 21 but they were not we we   weren't at 126. So you're looking probably more  like the 67 80 range, right? Uh probably closer   40 to 60 range. Okay. I think some of this is  people are more aware of the process. Um I think   too we do have repeat proclamations, folks that  are coming in every single year. So once they've   done it once, oh that was great. I'd love to do it  again and they resubmit. Okay. Thank you. So you   full well know our current process. Um, we have  Tuesday presentations, three approval required   for a fourth. Um, right now we read the full  proclamations. The submitter has an opportunity   to speak. We take their photo. You could have your  proclamation read offsite. Um, this does require a   little bit more work on the part of the submitter.  They do require we do require a public appearance   request form to be completed and then we um manage  the date and location. And as I said before,   some are printed and mailed and picked up.  Again, from the administrative side, we are   happy to accommodate, but these are all different  processes. So, it creates some administrative work   on the back end depending on which type of  presentation occurs. So we did look at some   of our peer cities and the way other folks other  places do proclamations for Seduit County. The big   thing to note here is essentially the commission  votes from the bench and they vote to receive and   file. So they're not approving a proclamation.  All they're doing is saying got it filing it. Um   so the vote is not necessarily topical or  anything else. it's receive and file. Um,   other places the proclamations would be issued by  the mayor's office as a courtesy. The mayor would   make the final decision and proclamations are read  from the bench. Um, in Lawrence, the presenter,   the submitter actually comes to the mic, they  have one minute, they speak for a minute, and   then the proclamation is read from the bench. Um,  there are all kinds of ways that this can occur.   I like that Austin um basically mostly mails their  proclamations out. However, if there are some that   are of particular interest or um significance,  then they would be presented in a council meeting. These are the challenges that we're really facing  right now. We do have some manual vote counting.   Um we've talked several times about the time  consuming process. Um vote delays or requests for   clarity sometimes take some extra back and forth  and time. Um the desire for that 70 uh versus the   quorum adds some complexity. Capacity bottleneck  when we have people wanting a certain date we're   bumping them back. Um creates some challenges  here. Um the submission timeline variances   again not very good about just sticking to our  guns on the timeline. um the meeting time impact   uh regarding the meetings, the business meetings  that you all sit through, proclamations alone can   add 45 minutes to even an hour to your business  meetings. Off-site coordination is a challenge and   because of all the administrative work, there's  some accuracy risk that we face. So really what   we're looking for is an updated MUN code that  will reflect the practice and a streamlined   uh process um with these proclamations. If I can  stop you real quick here. Yep. Yep. what what all   of this of these um challenges or the suggestions  you have would help you guys and staff because I   think that's one of my main concerns is the amount  of time that you guys have to spend on this as   opposed to I mean I don't want to add me time onto  our meetings but yeah that's a lesser concern to   me than trying to help you guys out. Sure. I've  got all kinds of options and suggestions for   you. So the first one, these are I guess the three  areas where decisions could be made and the first   one is the approval model that would most likely  help us administratively the most um council   member. So these are the three areas and I'll get  into them. I have other on here too because I'm   certain you all have some additional ideas that  may help. So the first options that go with how   we're approving. Um, one option would be, uh, the  topics are on the consent agenda. If you're a no,   what you're voting on is receiving and filing.  So, you may not be well, with a proclamation,   you're never endorsing the topic. All you're  doing really is receiving and filing. So,   we could put an agenda report together that  has the requests, and your vote would be to   receive and file. Once received and filed, then  we would move forward and we would schedule the   presentation for a future meeting. We could bring  up every single proclamation as a bench vote. Um,   that way there aren't the emails going back and  forth. It would simply be a a bench vote. I know   that you all have talked about sponsorship. Um,  one thing that we could do with our form is we   could have folks request their particular  mayor or council member they would like   the proclamation to go to. You would then decide  if you would like to be the sponsor or not once   you choose to sponsor it. That is the approval  needed to get onto the agenda and it would be   received and filed by everyone else. So, those  are some thoughts as to how we could change the   um current vote tracking process that would  save um some back and forth on the vote delays,   the extra process layers, the bottleneck,  manual tracking, and the timelines. So,   if we did not want to vote for that proclamation  or if we had an issue with that proclamation,   how would we go about voting no or nay on that?  Yeah, it depends on which one you want. If you're   doing consent agenda, you pull it off of the  consent agenda. If you're doing a bench vote,   you vote no. If you're doing a sponsorship, you're  voting to receive and file. And so, um, you know,   you will be receiving it. We will be filing  it. But if you wanted to say no, you could. Um,   the actual onus of it would be the council member  or mayor who is sponsoring that proclamation. Does   that make sense? Thank you. Okay. So, this is I  guess option two or something else to think about.   This one really gets a little bit more to meeting  time and um I appreciate that you said you know we   want to give these it's not our time is certainly  valuable um but you're willing to spend the time   for this kind of thing. Um it is also staff time  who are spent in the meetings. So I think that   um your generosity is fa fabulous. It does also  take away from others ability to get things done   during that that time. So, one possible suggestion  is no longer reading the entire proclamation. You   would read a summary only. And that's what this  next page is kind of showing. On the left is a   full proclamation that is currently read. On  the right, and obviously the font sizes are   much different, basically says the same thing.  You're not reading the where's you're basically   reading a two to three sentence um summary of the  proclamation. So that would be one suggestion. Um,   another would be we do have the clocks in every  single space. You could limit your submitter   speaking time. You could set the clock and have  them speak. You know, Lawrence does one minute.   We do five minutes for um addressing the council.  Perhaps for proclamations, you limit it to two,   maybe three. So you significantly reduce the  amount of time. Right now they have no limit.   And I think we have seen several people  present on a proclamation um beyond five   minutes. Another option would be presenting  all the proclamations at once. If you do this,   there is no limit to the number of proclamations  you could issue. Essentially, you bring all the   submitters up front and it is stated today we  would like to recognize women in sports day. We   would like to recognize uh breast cancer awareness  month. We would like to recognize yada yada yada.   You list all of the proclamations off. Thank you  for being here. You hand them their proclamations   and we move on. One of the great things about  that is you do announce the month, week, day. Um,   and they have their moment in the sun. They still  receive their proclamation and it does away with   the bottlenecks alto together. Uh because again  you could do as many as we could fit on that front   row. We could do proclamations at alternate  venues. I will say administratively this does   create a little bit more organization planning um  to be able to get people to the proper venue for   the uh presentation, but certainly an option. You  could say your uh council meetings are business   meetings and you could do your proclamations  earlier 8 am to 9:00 am or 8:30 to 9:00 am.   This creates a little bit of a challenge in terms  of who goes, who has to be there, who's presenting   them. Um you could say that we're only going to  present proclamations once. We have quite a few   proclamations that are presented both onsite at a  venue and at a council meeting. uh we could say,   you know, we're we're going to present once. And  then finally, if a proclamation was presented the   year prior, um it could be issued. We could give  them a nice printed copy of their proclamation,   but we will not read it again. And we could set  whatever parameter you want. If that's every other   year, every five years, um that would dramatically  cut down on the number red. We can still issue   them, but it would cut down on the number red. All  right, I've got one more page of proposed options. So, this is our volume management.  Um, this is if we want to do four,   we do four. We're just doing it. Um, that would  be an ordinance change. Um, or we could say no,   we're never doing a fourth or very, very rarely.  Um, we could adhere strictly to timelines and   limits. Essentially, what this does is I start  to tell people, "No, more often. I'm sorry. You   submitted this within a month of it. We're not  going to accommodate you. We can't. We must stick   directly to the timelines." Um, and again, as  I just said, just cutting down on the number of   proclamations by only doing them every other  year, every five years, something like that. There are a couple of, I guess, other  things that we can consider. Um,   photos. Maybe we take those prior to the city  council meeting and then proclamations are read   from the bench. Maybe we don't take photos  at all. I actually watched quite a few other   uh meetings and it's kind of rare that people come  off the bench to have a photo taken. Although,   I will say I think it's nice for  the folks that are there as well. This is really what we need to do at this point.  Administrative procedures, I mean, we can change   with uh some direction and your thoughts. Uh we  would make a website update. We would very likely   grandfather in those who've already submitted. Um  and then we could change that presentation format   or, you know, we don't even have to grandfather  folks in. we could just let them know our our   process has changed. Now, the ordinance does  need to be changed at a city council meeting   since it's an ordinance. So, we um would need  to submit that as well. Basically, we could   implement administrative changes immediately. We  could update the website and the submission form   pretty much immediately and then the ordinance  revisions could be brought to you by midmay. So that is what I have for you today. What  questions do you have? There is um this is if   if I were to say I think this would make the most  difference overall. This is these are the three   recommendations I would make. Moving it to consent  agenda. What you're agreeing to is receiving and   filing. You're not endorsing. You're not accepting  the content. You're receiving and filing.   Um the if if for some reason I I know at one point  we had a proclamation submitted on proclamations   and that was one that you know it it really  doesn't meet our guidelines. So those types   of proclamation requests those would never come  to you. Those would never appear on the consent   agenda. there would still be a stop gap at the  beginning um to where I guess things that are con   um that that might have some um issue to  them would never appear on the consent   agenda. The presentation um I personally like  the summary reading and a one to three minute   presentation by the submitter, the photos, the  reading from the bench. It would cut time. It   also probably cuts into how meaningful the  presentation might be to the submitter. Um,   and then capacity, just making sure that we do  enforce the timelines and limit repeats. I think   this helps administratively and it helps with  the amount of time that we spend at meetings. I'll hop in first. I want to thank Council Member  Shepard for bringing this up. This is something   a conversation we had last year and I think it  was a good conversation. and I'm glad that he's   leading the charge this year on it. I love a lot  of your suggestions. Um I think consent agenda   makes sense. Perhaps if we kept the current um  way to vote, maybe if it gets 7 to0, that's what's   read from the bench. Uh so then elevate certain  proclamations be read from the branch. Otherwise,   I like the consent agenda uh perspective. I'm  still a big fan of sponsors. I think we're really   the only entity of government that doesn't have  somebody sponsor something beforehand. And so I'd   be very interested in the sponsorship aspect. Um  one minute for presentations for people I think is   will suffice maybe two minutes just to be able to  do an intro. Um because sometimes after one minute   it's hard to intro yourself. I like the if it's  on-site don't do off-site. One thing I thought   might be really interesting is I I like the 8 to9  and how can we maybe do that where we just host   like an informal coffee with hey if you're going  to be rec recognized by the city council we just   want to say thank you. they can be involved  in the community. We just have like coffee in   here and whatever council members can attend can  attend. If you can't attend I remember last year   uh young professionals of Witchdaw hosted one and  that was a great uh time and it was a conversation   and maybe we just we host it. We invite people in  and say hey thank you this we're announcing your   proclamation from the bench today and we just  want to say thank you. We could do photo ops in   here beforehand. Whoever can make it can make  it. Whoever doesn't doesn't and they can still   get their photo. They can still get interaction.  But I think that might be a way to cut down on the   staff time, also cut down on the presentation uh  before the council, still go out to the community,   and then still provide like a thank you in some  way. So, I don't know if that hopefully doesn't   add more burden. Maybe putting up coffee uh might  be the only additional burden. Um but I think that   might be a way to wrap all this in a bow, but I'd  be interested in hearing my colleagues ideas as   well. Um, Council Member Glass Clock, one of the  things we do right now is we ask folks to make   it to city hall by 8:30 and we offer coffee and  water in the council office. So, essentially that   practice is somewhat in place already. Wouldn't  add extra labor. Yeah. We could just come over   and invite us to go and hang out and talk to them  for a little bit, too. Yeah. And that I mean, and   that's anybody that has any city business, too.  I think there's just something uh positive about,   let's say they're coming to talk about parking  later in the meeting. if they want to come and   they can have a conversation with us one-on-one  as well. They can still come and speak before the   bench, but they can also have that one-on-one  conversation with us individually beforehand,   which I think is uh super helpful and accessible  to the public. I'll jump in real quick. Um,   thank you Shana and and I want to thank you not  just for today's presentation but for filling the   gap and then out there in the world the past folks  who staff who have worked on this because I don't   think I realized how cumbersome it had begun  become until recently. Um, so I I'm going to   disagree a little bit. I I worry because I think  y'all are going to get probably well now there's   one less of us but six different you know move  forward with this but I like doing them during   the meeting. I really do as a count as a community  member who used to receive proclamations. It was   an education awareness experience. It meant a lot  to our organization. So um having it beforehand I   think kind of diminishes that. Um I like having  three. we get three and you know unless there's   an extremely rare rare situation that puts some  of the accountability back on the folks who were   who who want the proclamation. Um I think having  anything that means less staff time is crucial. My   other thing is I would like to see every council  member have to vote on every proclamation. So if   that means doing it from the bench, I'm totally  fine with that. Um, I also have a concern,   um, when there was an recently an abstension from  a proclamation, and I've talked to Jennifer about   this. You abstain when there's a conflict of  interest. And if it is just a receive and file,   then it should be up or down. And I know when you  send us the emails, you say yes, no, or abstain.   And I always think, why would you abstain? I mean,  there's there's not a conflict of interest because   it's a receiving file. So, I think that needs to  be cleaned up. And then um I had asked uh city   manager Marshall a couple months ago because  a proclamation came through and it was for a   business who was trying to sell something and in  our policy. So when we're cleaning all this up,   this is an additional cleanup opportunity in  and it says it on the website and it's in the   ordinance that if you are using your company name  or trying to sell something, it has to be approved   by communications, which to me didn't make any  sense at all. It should just be no. You cannot   use a proclamation to sell a product or a good. I  also last week we had somebody who came before us   and they had great comments, but they prefaced it  by uh stating their political ambitions and that   they were going to run for a campaign. I think  this is a good time to clean that up too and   say that you cannot, you know, use our city hall  proclamation time, our public comment time to run   for a public office. So, um, less staff. Yay.  Everyone votes. Yay. Can't abstain. Yay. Let's   clean it up with the selling products and running  for office. Thanks. And I I I would like to just   clarify a little bit. In our current process, you  are not receiving and filing. You are approving to   go onto the agenda. So that would be a difference  between our current process and future process.   Um at least in my mind. Gotcha. Thank you.  Thank you for clarifying. I appreciate that.   Standing corrected. Yes. No. And and I think um  I apologize if I didn't make that clear. I think   that this you're absolutely correct needs to be I  don't know why communications needs to be involved   in this process at all. If it's clearly a  business interest then you know we should   not be uh having that as a proclamation. Again  there's some clarity there. So churches are they   okay for their 90th birthday? Is an association  okay for their 75th birthday? um you know that   that is something to consider. The last piece  that you mentioned regarding the abstensions,   that is my way of hearing from everyone so that  I'm not continuing to chase votes. So that's where   I come from on the abstension and I appreciate  the clarity on you know why somebody may or may   not abstain. Yeah, I think that's important to  continue to discuss. So de facto no used to be   just ignore it, right? And you want to hear  from people. Well, if I don't hear from you,   I'm assuming that I'm sending you seven emails  a day and you may have missed it. And so, it's   just my way of saying, "Hey, did you miss this?"  You know, yes, no, abstain. And if you abstain,   I'm going to quit chasing you. I know  that you're not just ignoring it. Yeah. Well, I'll jump in. Um, I'm okay with  the consent agenda. That would be fine.   I think it only should be read if it's 70.  I agree with that. There'd only be a few.   I think the response time has gotten out of  hand. I think some people are going five to   seven minutes and talking about everything  under the sun. So, I think a one minute,   maybe a two-minute response time would be  adequate. Uh I'm not in favor of 8 to nine.   And and honestly, I have a breakfast meeting at  Tuesday mornings with a large group. Um 50 60   people and I would miss that every Tuesday. So  I like that group. I like going. So it doesn't   get over till 8:30. So by the time I get here,  it's 8:40. So I would I would not be for that. Um yeah, that's about it. So yeah, we need to clean  it up. I want to clean up staff time to doesn't   take so much time. I want to clean up time during  the meeting, too. I mean, our meeting time is also   staff time. You we have a number of staff sitting  out there listening to this the whole time. And   it's take it's we never get we rarely get started  before 10 o'clock on our meeting. So it's usually   an hour by time you get five minutes people  talking five people for five minutes talking   you get all the proclamations read the responses  read it's usually 9:55 10:00 before we even get   started with the meeting and uh I just I'd rather  get started with our meeting and get to the the   meat of the business what we should be talking  about. So could could you all talk I'm sorry. No,   go ahead Sam. Well, I'm I'm curious about the  reading a summary versus reading the whole or   presenting to all at once based on what the  title is. If we go 70, there wouldn't be as   many. So either way is fine with me. And that's  if we keep the current voting system. If we   go to just a consent agenda, I'd be just fine  with the, hey, it is, you know, I don't know,   whatever proclamation we offer and then just  one big presentation. I I would be for that,   too. Just list each one, have them all stand up  there. Would be on the website. The full language   would be on the website. People go read it if  they'd like. And if they want individual photos,   then if we had like an 8:30 just coffee with  people beforehand, they could grab individual   photos of whatever council people are here right  before we go into the meeting. I I just wanted   to jump in super quick. I don't think it should  be a 70. We don't do anything else within this   body that it has to be a 70 to be able to pass.  And so I I that's that's an issue for me. Again,   I do like having them during the meeting. I know  we're not all going to get everything that we want   obviously, but the 70 part really bothers me  because nothing else requires 70 vote and I I   I agree with council member Tuttle. That's what  I was going to say is maybe a super majority is   in order for those to be read. I would only  say the seven no if it's actually the whole   proclamation is read. You know, four four votes to  have the proclamation. and they go up, stand up,   get the proclamation for the, you know, dog day  or whatever it is, you know, but you don't read   the whole proclamation. So either way is fine  with me. Okay, that gives me some, I think,   direction and ideas I can put together for  either further discussion or for making the   final decision on process. Um, and then we can  work on the ordinance as well. Thank you so much.   So, as we uh wind down the meeting, um make sure  I hear on that last one, too. Would you rather   us come back again and may or bring you ordinance  change proposal at a at a meeting? I would prefer   that you bring us an ordinance change proposal to  consider. Um, my intention on bringing this up was   really watching staff go through the process and  as I was responding to emails, I was just like,   my god, how how this is not a good use of their  time and touching 13 hands is way too much. Um,   so I trust them to propose the best solution  possible incorporating the thoughts from the   council that they heard today. Okay. I I think  the city manager I think we don't need another   workshop. I think you can clo kind of get those  votes. We'll craft a draft. When you get to four,   then you know it's it's good. So, sounds good. We  will take it forward to bring you back a draft to   consider at a coming May council meeting. Um,  that concludes our workshop topics today. We   have one executive session left for the regular  meeting and our attorney or mayor want to read   that. Thank you to everyone who presented today.  I know that there were seven presentations. So,   I appreciate the staff time it took for  the research and then for allowing the   discussion amongst the council members  to provide direction to staff. With that,   I move that the city council recess into  executive session for 20 minutes to receive   information about a construction  project pursuant to KSA75-4319B2 for legal consultation with the city  attorney which would be deemed privileged   in the attorney client relationship.  potential litigation and legal advice. The executive session is required to protect  attorney client privilege and the public   interest. This executive session will begin.  Do you want to begin immediately after? How   about at 1:45? We could eat lunch while we do it.  Yes. Eat lunch while we do this as well. Maybe we   start at 1:45 just so we can get organized.  Okay. 1:45 p.m. and 20 minutes. So, 2:05. Thank you. We will return at 2:5.