the proclamation reads "The city of Witchah  Kansas founded in 1870 whereas the city of   Witchah encourages environmental stewardship  and the creation of a more sustainable community   by increasing the urban canopy which is a more  cost-effective way to combat urban heat islands   whereas the global pandemic has increased an  appreciation for trees and outdoor spaces to   assist with the physical and mental health  of our community whereas advocates say trees   in the city increase property values enhance  the economic vitality of business districts   and beautify the community whereas the city of  Witchah recognizes the daily benefits of trees   and generational legacy of planting trees now  therefore be it resolved that the Witchah City   Council does hereby proclaim April 25th 2025 as  Arbor Day in the city of Witchah and encourage all   citizens to join in promoting the urban canopy  by planting trees in your area of influence good morning uh my name is John Bacon i'm  the arborist for the city of Witchah first   I'd like to take a moment and invite uh the  representatives from ICT Trees to join us up   here to uh receive this proclamation  ict Trees has been an annual partner   during our Arbor Day celebration and  we want to recognize them as well it is an honor to stand before you today  as we celebrate Arbor Day and all that the   trees represent for our community and our  world i would like to begin by expressing   my sincere gratitude to Mayor Woo and to the  city council for this Arbor Day proclamation   and for recognizing the critical role trees play  in the health and well-being of our environment   trees are more than just a part of our landscape  they are an essential resource that sustains life   they give us oxygen reduce pollination reduce  pollution provide shelter to wildlife and   enhance the beauty of our neighborhoods today  as we come together to honor Arbor Day we are   also reminding ourselves of the responsibility  that we have to protect and care for the natural   world around us the simple act of planting  a tree is a powerful symbol of hope it's a   gesture to the commitment to the future to a  healthy environment and to a sustainable world   it's about investing in the next generation  by ensuring that they inherit a planet that   is full of vibrant life like the one that  we have today i am incredibly proud of the   efforts of our community that our community  has put into tree planting and conservation   from schools to local organizations like ICT  trees to volunteers and environmental advocates   everyone has a role to play in making  Arbor Day more than just a one-day event   it is about creating a lasting impact that will be  felt for generations as we continue to plant trees   let us remember that we are not just adding to the  beauty of our landscape we are creating a legacy   a living breathing testament to our commitment  to the earth and to all who share it thank you   once again for this proclamation and thank you  to everyone who continues to make our community   greener and more sustainable together let's keep  planting growing and nurturing the future thank you may I please invite our council members who   would like to be part of  the Arbor Day proclamation and as a quick reminder we are unfortunately still  in stage two of the drought which means there are   some water restrictions and you can follow  those restrictions at save witchahawater.com may I please ask the US Small  Business Administration and   its supporters to please come forward at this time the proclamation reads "The city of Witchah  Kansas founded in 1870 whereas small businesses   are the engine of the American economy and the  foundation of a free and prosperous nation built   by men and women who work hard take risks and  believe in the power of the American dream   whereas small businesses make up more than  99% of all private sector employers and   create nearly two out of every three new jobs  in America fueling opportunity and driving local   economies across every c corner of the country  whereas in recent years small business owners   have faced unprecedented challenges from record  high inflation to reckless federal spending and   burdensome regulations yet have remained resilient  in their commitment to delivering for America's   communities whereas National Small Business Week  has been proclaimed by the President of the United   States since 1963 honoring the vital role of small  business in creating jobs growing the economy   and anchoring our communities now therefore be it  resolved that the Witchah City Council does hereby   proclaim May 4th through the 10th 2025 as National  Small Business Week in the city of Witchah   and encourage all citizens to support small  business and celebrate their many achievements good morning and thank you Mayor Woo and members  of city council it's great to be with you this   morning certainly our uh city manager as well we  are honored to receive the proclamation from the   city of Witchah to recognize National Small  Business Week and again it is the first week   of May every year since 1963 the president  proclaims National Small Business Week which   recognizes the critical contributions of  our nation's entrepreneurs small business   owners and these individuals they account for  more than half of Americans of American jobs   uh either uh they own or work in a small business  and they create about two out of every new jobs   uh in the country annually so today  we're going to recognize the Kansas   small business persons of the year but before  we get there I'm joined today and I'd like to   introduce the regional administrator for  SBA region 7 the Great Plains region Mr   bradley Zhan or Brad Zh and by the way uh he's  has a special connection to Witchah and our city   mayor se city manager as Mr brad Zhan at one time  was the mayor of Urbandale Iowa and our own city   manager was his city manager back in Iowa so Mr  brad Zan SBA's region 7 regional administrator Well on a personal note I want to thank  the mayor Woo for the warm welcome and   certainly got to meet a lot of the  council and I want the citizens of   Witch Witchaw to know this bob Leighton  is the best city manager in the United   States of America and he has done  some great things down here as well so but the real celebration today is our  award winners uh both Kang and Tuan and   their success story and I'm very proud to be  a part of this uh on behalf of President Trump   uh and administrator Kelly Leler i am here to  be a part of this special day and congratulate   you all i appreciate everything you do as  a small business person matching social   security for your employees i've read a bio  about your company and all you've done for   the community uh the all the benefits you  provide so this is the American dream and   I'm really really excited to be here  so congratulations to you all thank you all right so now I want to recognize Mr kang  Fu and Mr tuan Lie of Quicktech Manufacturing   LLC they are SBA's 2025 Kansas small business  persons of the year let's give them a round of applause so a little bit about the award  the business was evaluated on sales growth   and employment staying power response to  adversity and contributions to the community   the nomination was submitted by Wayne Simmons  president of Frontier Financial Partners a   certified development company out of Emporia  Kansas and I'd like to just take a second to   recognize Wayne Simmons where are you Wayne all  right good to see you thank you for being here all right so Mr fu and Mr lie were selected among  a competitive field of nominations here's a quick   summary of their story tuan Lie came to the US  in 1979 as a 14-year-old boy with his brother and   sister after the Vietnam conflict his parents were  not able to immigrate with them tuan attended a   technical college and went to work as a machinist  kangfu came to the US from Vietnam in 1990   tuan was one of those who greeted him and he got  off the plane as he got off the plane in Witchah   after graduating high school Kang joined the Navy  eventually he returned to Kansas and worked with   Tuan in a machine shop as a programmer tuan and  Kang took a chance and started Quicktech Manu   Quicktech Machining LLC in 2008 tuan shared this  with us he said 'I always said if we work hard do   the right things and live right we'll get what we  deserve and we'll get what we get after starting   out in a 7,000 square foot facility the business  outgrew its space pretty quickly in 2013 the team   obtained an SBA504 loan to finance the purchase of  a 28,000q foot facility the company grew further   in 2022 by adding another 39,000 square feet  and in 2024 they purchased a 40,000 square foot facility and that facility was intended  for their processing plant operation   so the SBA also they utilized SBA   uh and SBA provided needed financial support  during the pandemic they received a co idol loan and today QuickTech continues to grow they  actually have 15 employees so pretty amazing story   uh wonderful wonderful small business  success story so please join me in   congratulating Mr kang Fu and Mr tuan Lie  SBA's Kansas Small Business Persons of the Year we have this It seems they're a little shy you all want  to say anything about your business please hello my name is Kang Fu uh I would like to say  thank you to SBA for this incredible honor um   this is not just for us but for the amazing team  at QuickTech Machining um our supportive family   and friends uh thank you the city of Witchaw for  allowing us here to chase our dreams thank you yes good may I now ask the realtors of South Central Kansas  and all its supporters to come forward at this time hello Tracy all right the proclamation reads "The city of  Witchaw Kansas founded in 1870 whereas the Fair   Housing Act enacted on April 11th 1968 enshrined  into federal law the goal of eliminating racial   segregation and ending housing discrimination  based on race color religion sex familial status   national origin and disability and commits  recipients of federal funding to affirmatively   further fair housing in their communities whereas  the city of Witchah is committed to the mission   and intent of Congress to provide fair and  equal housing opportunities for all as our   social fabric the economy health and environment  are strengthened through diverse and inclusive   communities whereas acts of housing discrimination  and barriers to equal housing opportunity are   unacceptable to a common sense of decency and  fairness whereas fair housing is integral to the   ethical commitment of members of the realtors  of South Central Kansas and is critical to   the ability of all housing professionals to  serve their clients customers and communities   now therefore be it resolved that the  Witchaw City Council does hereby proclaim   April 2025 as Fair Housing Month in the city  of Witchah encouraging an inclusive community   committed to fair housing and promoting appre  appropriate activities by private and public   entities intended to provide or advocate  for equal housing opportunities for all thank you mayor and thank you Witchaw City Council  for the opportunity to be here today i didn't   bring my notes with me but fortunately I think  that our huge amount of people here today speaks   uh for us um as the Realtors of South  Central Kansas and representatives we   are proud to be here upholding and  affirming our commitment to fair   housing in Witchah and all the counties  that we represent thank you so much everyone see Thank you may I please ask all the council  members to come forward at this   time as we will be providing a special  recognition to a witchin this morning at this moment can I also please  ask JOTC and Cadet 9 House to come forward you guys Mr and Mrs ninehouse this is a special recognition  for Cadet Aiden Ninehouse for performing   a voluntary and heroic act he assisted in  saving the life of a woman who had fallen   more than 30 feet at Canopoulos Lake State  Park his swift and decisive actions were   pivotal in ensuring her safety and well-being  cadet 9inhouses's bravery and quick thinking   reflect the core values of the JOTC program  integrity responsibility and commitment to   service his actions also exemplify the values  that make our community strong and he serves   as an inspiration to others in Witchah  and beyond congratulations Cadet Aiden Ninehouse uh just glad I could be here  today um thankful that the Lord put me   at the right place at the right time uh  thankful that he gave me my instructors   and my parents to raise me up right  and be able to take action quickly would Colonel like to say a few words about  JOTC master Sergeant but okay um thanks for   the promotion uh I I'll take I'll take the pay  with that but not necessarily responsibility   i'm Master Sergeant Eric Agger i'm the uh  aerospace science instructor on behalf of   um Witchah JRTC jrtc is a citizenship  leadership course uh we do not recruit   for the military our goal our mission is  uh develop citizens of character and uh   we do that in many different ways we have many  activities and cadet irin house is an epitome of   um the goal of JRTC he has a strong foundation  with his parents and uh we just hopefully   add a little bit to that so thank you for the  recognition Mayor Woo appreciate that thank you Thank you very much for everyone who is  here for the proclamations and award mr   clerk can you please call the next item  public agenda the public agenda allows   for up to five speakers to have five  minutes each to address the council   no action will be taken relative to items on  the public agenda other than referral to the   city manager for information as necessary speakers  will please state their name and address for the   record a time clock will display the speaker's  remaining time to speak order and rules of   decorum will be observed the first speaker  is Arthur Stokes advocating for black mold morning good morning everybody i'm Arthur Stokes  and I'm what's left of them uh I'm glad to have   the opportunity to speak to you all this morning  on uh the topic of black mold if I would have had   to speak last week at this time I wouldn't have  been able to do it because I had to go to the   emergency room about 8 that morning uh my stomach  start killing me and when it get like that you   know I just go to the emergency room uh I'm on to  talk about black mold and uh symptoms that deals   with it this is a very vast uh sophisticated uh  topic you know uh I'm dealing with public housing   uh the the topic of uh the starchy barkus  which is more or less microtoxins in in dealing   with mold is a very complex everybody immune  system in here is different mine is different   uh soon as this stuff starts operating on  me the the last time I immediately start   uh having uh vertigo that morning that  night so I was at the emergency room twice   uh it's kind of like it's kind of like uh when you  take a a mushroom you ever watch the mushroom grow   and it keeps growing and growing and growing  and that's how uh mold black mold operates it   it keeps growing uh I had like 17 and a half%  central toxin that uh laboratory found in my   system at my last dwelling and 16% okra toxins is  which where I'm at now that's a very high volume   that's why it's operates on me a lot differently  than it would y'all i'm an ex athlete also too   see I uh I played OJ Simpson's protege Tyrone  Young back in uh Florida for uh our inner city   who's who so my system is going to operate  different but it it still operates on your   uh immune system as it continuously to grow  and here is some of the uh items that I had   to get and I had to pay for a doctor uh the  the medicine these kit this kit cost me like $700 just this stuff here with the the little  cylinder that I use to uh operate this stuff   and this powder it wasn't as good as it is now  this the first batch was so gross but I had to   take it to try to get well and it cames with  this little syringe and it had like a little   pump that I put the liquid in and after about  six times the pump quit on me i don't have the   pump because I think I threw it away i mean you  know when it's life or death for me and trying to   get well and that pump stopped operating you know  it it even quit penetrating in my nose so this is   uh all I can say is I researched some  of the the people like uh Ed Mcman   uh the Ballard family they had like a $4 million  lawsuit this stuff just gets expensive you know   there was like seven families one family  was awarded like $48 million i got this   stuff right out of the internet so all of you can  you know research it and uh do more this just so   vast of a topic for me to talk about comments  thoughts questions thank you Arthur council   member Hohheisle thank you Mayor uh thank you Mr  stokes um I I really do appreciate you pursuing   and sticking on this issue because it is a  very important one um we are drawing up some   ordinances right now that will crack down a little  more um here in a sec maybe I'll see if our city   or assistant city manager can give an update as  far as we are with the timeline uh some of these   issues also especially getting into some of these  units to to inspect um we are kind of handcuffed   by some state regulations as well and we've been  working with some of our state legislators to try   and um find some workarounds and some improved  legislation so that's another topic I would like   to discuss with you is how we can advocate to  the state as far as being able to get in and   inspect a lot of these units sweet yeah um Troy  can we get a maybe just a timeline as far as any   of the new ordinances what we're looking at here  council member Holheisle Troy Anderson um yes in   fact we're working through the process right now  um you may recall a workshop we had about a year   or so ago um we're in the process right now of uh  making amendments coming up with a draft ordinance   we're actually going to have a workshop next  month bringing back to you all what that draft   ordinance looks like talk to you about some policy  sort of decisions and guidance that you can then   help us finalize uh where we need to go with some  of those revisions we'll come alongside that with   kind of an overhaul of our policy procedures  uh standard operating procedures in regards   to enforcement around those codes and ordinances  but look to see a workshop as soon as next month   so so end of next month Mr stokes I'll make  sure I do have your email i'll make sure to   uh shoot you an email with the the time and  date of that workshop and if you'd like to   attend we don't usually open it up to the public  but but at least get informed and then chat with   us afterwards and see what your thoughts are  pertaining to um some of the proposed ordinances   that we have all right thanks all right thank you  sir all right Council Member Johnson thanks Mayor   council member Hohisel stole everything I was  going to say so I'll just say that I appreciate   uh you continuing to come up here and talk about  this issue it's something that we continue to hear   about and like council member Hoisel said we'll  definitely be looking to have the discussion and   hopefully take some action to to address that  there's too many people being impacted by black   mold and some of us have seen that in person and I  always tell the story about council member Ballard   and I go into an apartment complex and that lady  having to go to the emergency room again because   of black mold after we had left so um we have  to do something it's not fair for people to be   living in conditions like that and we intend  to have that discussion and take some action that's not right either so  we we got a lot of work to do mr clerk please call the next individual  chief ES Lewis negative culture negative behavior peace be with you the Holy Kingdom of  Judah extends gratitude and respect to the city   of Witchah its city officials and its honorable  council never has there been such a horrific   chapter in human history as the triangular  trade which involved the forc transportation   of millions of Judahites across the Atlantic  Ocean to the Americas for enslavement primarily   by Masonic America the triangular slave trade  which victimized the royal house of Judah has   been declared a crime against humanity therefore  the Holy Kingdom of Judah is entitled to the   recognition of our sovereignty restoration of our  kingdom and the right to self-determination the   Holy Kingdom of Judah commends the great city  of Witchah for recognizing these truths and   establishing the city of Witchah Judah Restoration  Committee the American government must continue to   take steps to create and protect to restore and  protect the holy kingdom of Judah's identity and   reputation our trib's national identity and  respect respected commands are crucial for   fostering unity promoting social cohesion and  facilitating international relations ultimately   contributing to our tribe stability and  well-being during the triangular trade   the royal house of Judah's majestic identity  was intentionally removed by bad actors and   replaced by false defamatory identifiers the  most utilized of these defamatory identifiers   include black negro and the n-word black the  word black means unholy ungodly evil wicked to   black and to blacken means to defame defamation  is not constitutionally protected and may lead   to both civil and or criminal charges many expert  linguists across the country are now of the same   opinion black negro and nword as identifiers  defame the reputation of the holy kingdom of   Judah expert linguists are utilized by judges for  language interpretation text analysis and forensic   linguistics to provide specialized knowledge and  insights that aid in legal decisionmaking one such   expert with over 40 years of judicial service  rights in an official report Judites did not   speak Latin Portuguese or Spanish and would not  have utilized negro to self-identify the doctor   goes on to state "It is my expert opinion that the  use of black negro and the n-word when describing   a Judahite is not only highly offensive and not  used by Judites when describing themselves but   in this case inaccurate." Are black negro and the  n-word also defamatory against the holy kingdom of   Judah law.com defines defamation in part as  follows the act of making untrue statements   about another which damages his/ her reputation if  the defamatory statement is printed or broadcast   over the media it is liel and if only oral it  is slander this may apply to black negro and   the nword when describing a judahite these words  are imposed names not statements but their use or   their use in statements may convey or perpetuate  contempt hatred ridicule oblique or or scorn in a   respectable and considerable part of the community  thus would be considered a defamation of the Holy   Kingdom of Judah's reputation the Holy Kingdom  of Judah request this city council establish a   resolution banning the N-word in all its forms  within the full reach of his jurisdiction the   Holy Kingdom of Judah will continue to work with  local state and federal governments to rectify   the wrongs perpetrated perpetu perpetrated  against our tribe so that Judah will may   be fully reestablished and so that America may  finally heal and its reputation as a nation of   law justice and freedom be restored thank you  for your time and attention peace be with you thank you Chief Lewis i agree with you that the  n-word should be banned um but unfortunately   uh we do have the ability to have free speech  and so we cannot do a resolution regarding that well I say defamation is not not covered by  con constit constitutionally by protected   by constitutions that's still defamation so  peace be with you with you mr clerk can you   please call the next item or next individual  janet Johnson City Council Nonpartisan Body good morning Mayor and City Council janet Johnson  523 West Carile District 3 the Witchaw City   Council as a nonpartisan body is the last bastion  of hope for residents who expect their elected   officials to listen and to vote for what is best  for their districts and the city as a whole and   now like many other traditions it has fallen under  attack as a woman I am watching my rights as a   United States citizen being removed one by one and  these are rights that our mothers our grandmothers   and beyond fought for women were not granted  the same rights as men or I should say white   men because our brothers and sisters of color had  to fight for these same rights and more women have   had to fight for the right to vote to own property  in our own name to have a bank account and a line   of credit in our own name to file for divorce to  have a shot at gaining meaningful employment in   a good old boy world to receive equal pay for  equal work and to make our own medical choices   and have control over our rep reproductive rights  these rights were not automatically given to us   the women who came before us had to fight for  them and each victory was a hard fought hallelujah   today we are seeing the rights that we fought  for taken away the federal government has removed   opportunities for equal employment the state  continues to try to take away our medical rights   and even though voters sent a clear message in  2022 now the government is trying to pass the Save   Act which would prevent US citizens from being  able to register to vote without jumping through   hoops if your current name doesn't match the one  on your birth birth certificate if the Save Act   passes it will impact 84% of women and now one of  our female council members is under attack we have   witnessed male members of the GOP fraudulently get  COVID funding which is a crime accept major gifts   in return for awarding contracts and projects  encourage and condone their spouse in violating   election laws which that's also a crime engage  in inappropriate public outbursts in a church   at a candidate forum form LLC's in other states  in order to hide money in an attempt to sabotage   a political opponent by spreading fabricated  slanderous stories and threaten another person   on the state house floor regarding the topic  of racism were any of these men censured by the   Republican party if so we haven't heard about it  and yet the local GOP wants to censure a woman in   their party because they don't like how she votes  as a member of a nonpartisan governing authority   the Witchah City Council this is a direct attack  on all women using threats and intimidation and   it's a tactic straight out of the Trump playbook  i have to surmise that the actions I noted by male   members align with the GOP values but a woman  who votes the way her constituents want her to   is a violation of their moral code and regarding  morals each of us unless you're a sociopath has a   moral compass i have male friends who are members  of the Republican party and on an ini individual   basis they would never do anything to undermine  the rights of their wives their daughters their   sisters or their mothers but as a collective they  seem to have no problem doing it i simply can't   wrap my head around that kind of mindset anyone  who is willing to sell their moral compass and   their very soul to a political party and I include  all political parties is in a sad state women and   the men who support them cannot afford to do  nothing i am calling upon all Witchans to do   the just and moral thing and stand behind Council  Member Becky Tuttle and her right to vote in a   nonpartisan manner for her constituents and the  residents of Witchaw thank you Council Member   Hohheisle thank you Mayor um I'd just like  to say I stand behind Council Member Tuttle   council Member Johnson thanks Mayor Jan it's  always good to see you i agree with you and I   also would like to say for the record I stand  behind Council Member Tuttle council Member   Ballard thank you Janet always good to see you  um I agree i stand with Council Member Tuttle thank you Janet i will just read you an email  that was sent to me by a man transphobic racist   B you're done go back to Guatemala where  you f belong don't you ever run for mayor   again cuz you may be deported hey here  comes Ice Ice Baby love peace hope and happiness council member Glascock thank you Mayor  Janet i believe that every person from this bench   has the ability to conscience they're elected  by their individual const constituencies they're   accountable to their constituencies and I would  say that for Councilman Tuttle as ever as well as   any on this bench Council Member Ho Heisel thank  you Mayor um and speaking on your email that is   absolutely horrible that is horrendous and that  kind of language has no space in our community   and especially with public dialogue so  um that's horrible and I hate to hear   that and please stay strong and push  back against that kind of dialogue thank you Mr clerk can you please call the next  individual andrew Crane public access crosswalks uh good morning city council and mayor um  I don't know if you uh read the article   that was in the Witchah Eagle um about the uh  crosswalks and uh curb cuts and that need to   be upgraded in downtown Witchah and the also  the one-way streets uh crosswalks that need   to be upgraded um and and that and the access  advisory board has been saying this for years   um and I don't know why it hasn't got up to the  chain of the city manager um to uh to make it   uh that we need to get this done as as a big-time  city and to make it accessible to the blind and   low vision and to the disa disability community  um and I I I would like to encourage you guys to   uh step out of your offices and walk uh the  city streets because I walk these streets every   single day folks and uh it's it's time that  we need to uh get get some work done here and   uh make our city accessible to the disability  community and the blind community i am I am a   citizen of of Witchah been here for uh 30 uh going  on 37 years so um I I wanted you guys to encourage   you guys to read that article and to to get back  with the access advisory board and uh because   the the blind community is raising some big uh  raising some uh questions here to the city of Witchah i would like to hear from council Thank  you Andrew and mayor council member Hoheisle hey   Andrew um when is the next access advisory  board meeting they they meet uh I believe   uh it is going to be uh the last week in uh April  last on uh Wednesday 10 o'clock envision is it a   monthly meeting it is a monthly meeting all right  I'm going to try and make the next meeting council   member Glascock thank you Mayor Andrew i know  we spoke on the phone yesterday we'll be meeting   hopefully in the next couple weeks about this as  well i thank you for bringing it to our attention   and also I think the article for bringing it to  our attention as well and thank you for continuing   to be an advocate for flight fighting specifically  for blind and visually impaired individuals andrew thank you again for your advocacy i know  that the access advisory board is the group that   tells the council their opinion regarding  some of the changes or any improvements so   my question will now be directed to staff uh  city manager can you address how the access   advisory board was consulted before the  roads changed from one ways to two ways mayor um our city in or excuse me our director of   uh public works in um utilities is the  city's representative and has been for a   period of time with the access advisory  board i'll let him address that issue good morning mayor and council members gary Jansen  public works and utilities so uh our coordination   and collaboration with the access advisory board  has been ongoing for many many years and will   continue on everything that we do uh under the  guise of the federal laws related to ADA uh one   thing I just wanted to make clear the fact that we  converted downtown streets from one way to two-way   doesn't create anything different a different  situation than than anything we deal with on   a regular basis on any of our street projects on  any of our improvements anything we do related to   infrastructure still follows the same guidelines  the same rules uh this was not a special   circumstance it was not a special situation having  said that I can't tell you uh that I know for sure   that this work that we're doing for conversion of  the downtown streets was specifically discussed   with the access advisory board i think I mean  as far as us presenting a project to them i'm   confident there was a discussion uh at some point  in time with the board uh about what it was that   we were doing but it was again um presented in a  way that these are the guidelines that we follow   this is what we do asking for their input um the  some of the things that are at question here in   particular to the accessibility of the traffic  signals is not a federal requirement at this time   i'll just tell you real quick and I've got some  information that that all the council members   will see yet today in regards to this specific  issue um in the past the access advisory board   actually advised against utilizing accessible  pedestrian signals in the downtown area uh it's an   environment that creates challenges for noise uh  ambient noise with traffic with the buildings it   makes them hard to hear uh there were challenges  with maintaining those accessible signals in the   past we heard concerns from residents there's  a variety of things that went into this   we've worked closely with Envision also and the  local chapter of the National Federation of the   Blind to look very strategically at specific  intersections that make sense to consider for   accessible pedestrian signals um secondary to  all of this there's a very significant cost   associated with implementation of these signals  and they have been very unreliable in trying to   maintain having said all of that I think we've  done a really good job of collaborating with the   access advisory board with other groups again  Envision has got multiple clients they come to   us they ask us to look at accessible routes uh  I'm confident that the communication we've had   with the board has been what's needed and we will  continue that going forward thank you Gary and for   those that want to participate or watch the access  advisory board meets fourth Wednesday of the month   at 10:00 a.m at the Envision building at 610 North  Main Street the next meeting will be held on April   23rd 2025 council member Ballard thank you Mayor  um oh there's Gary um so I've had several people   reach out uh since the article came out and I know  we talked about it a little bit about my dab but   it seems like the visually impaired community  thinks that this is kind of coming out of left   field like they didn't they didn't realize that  this was not happening i think some of them were   under the impression that we were getting some of  the signaling and I mean can you speak to a little   bit I know you did a little bit but it seems  like there's some communication gaps somewhere   and I want to make sure that personally I know  everything comes with a price tag but they're a   big part of our community too and I want to make  sure that we're not getting caught up on price   and figuring out a way to make things easier for  them as well i hope that makes sense it does and   I appreciate that and I I don't want anybody to  think we're getting caught up on price i'll set   that part aside it is it is significant uh but but  if we'll set that part aside I will tell you that   going forward installation of all new traffic  signals will include accessible the accessible   pedestrian signals because it is heading towards  federal law requiring that and so uh here soon   it's something that we'll have to do and it'll be  part of the budget for new projects going forward   retrofitting of existing signals especially in a  downtown environment becomes extremely challenging   and it actually can add additional infrastructure  because of proximity to intersections and back to   your original question um I can't find or see  anywhere that we ever committed to doing what's   being requested what I'm confident in is that we  have had very robust and engaging conversations   with the access advisory board uh I would just  mention again I can go back about somewhere in   the last 10 to 15 years we actually had direction  from the access advisory board to not implement   accessible pedestrian signals so audible signals  in the downtown area because they were actually   creating more confusion than not so having said  that we continue to work with them federation of   the Blind uh uh staff uh local chapter Envision  has been a great uh partnership for us because   they work directly with the blind and visually  impaired community we had not made that commitment   uh I think that came from somewhere else i've  heard a comment made about curb cuts and sidewalks   and everything else so far the best I can tell is  that's an anecdotal comment because we can't get   any details we've asked questions and have seen  no proof that there's any issues related to that   so until we've got more specific information I  don't know where else to address that so thank you thank you Gary and thank you Andrew mr clerk  are there any more individuals there are not   this means that anyone from the public who would  like to speak can take that spot please state your   name and your district hi good morning bill Stout  District 5 most of you know me i was going to save   this for unfinished business but I've sat here and  watched staff members play on their phones while   people while people speak and it just drives  home my point the issue that was brought up   last week about the question of a mayor versus a  city manager actually came to head in Witchaw 30   years ago 1995 Bob Knight became the first person  elected mayor in over 70 years in our city that   wasn't his first term as mayor he'd served five  one year at a time as an honorary position and   during those years he worked diligently to get an  elected mayor back on the ballot the intention as   a voting public was make believe was that within  four to five years with an elected mayor we'd no   longer need a paid city manager well here we are  30 years later we have both most people in the   city have no idea what the difference is between  the two but I will tell you what we do know we   pay the mayor please no offense $131,000 a year  and we elected you so I accept that we pay the   city manager over $250,000 a year that does not  include benefits and he has zero accountability to   the voters you know I grow tired of watching the  endless stream of bureaucrats paraded in here as   members of the city manager's office as they make  deals that smell like rotting fish at the expense   of the taxpayer with no accountability in 1995  when we voted for an elected mayor we were a city   of just over 300,000 people and we as a voters  decided it was time for an accountable government   now we have over 400,000 the only thing we've done  is grow bureaucracy grow a question of who's in   charge and a bloated and confusing system with a  higher price tag we either need an elected mayor   or a city manager it's time for our government  to actually be transparent to those who pay the   bills because to be brutally honest right now the  city the people of the city have no idea who's in   charge it's clear as mud considering some of the  outrageous expenditures that we've had to live   with recently like the artwork at the new water  facility by the way that's still not operational   and the $250,000 toilets at parks it might be time  for a Doge style audit top to bottom of our city   i I understand that local government structure  and change is a difficult topic i know it's a   short time frame that's not the fault of the  taxpayers nevertheless we deserve better than   another 30 years of confusion and wasting  more money and yes I said wasting on another   outofstate consultant to tell us how to  run our own city i find that ridiculous   we the people of the city of Witchah deserve  and expect and demand better stewardship of our   money because at the end of the day the  city doesn't have a product it collects   taxes that's our money it It's really simple  comes down to this we want a government that   operates at the will of the voters rather  than the desire of bureaucrats thank you   thank you Bill council member Glascock mayor  thank you bill I know that we'll have a lot more   uh conversations about forms of government over  the coming months however I two things I wanted   to address this two of the spending projects  you worked on were voted on by this council   they're not voted on by the manager they're not  implemented solely by the manager they were voted   on by this body of government and this body of  government should be held accountable for the   votes that we take i will also defend our staff  i have sent three emails for staff members to   staff in this room that have responded to emails  regarding whether that be some public comment   whether that be a question I had regarding about  something on the agenda and so I can't speak for   all the staff but many of the staff in this if  they're on their phones it's because they're   responding maybe to questions that we have they're  responding to followup regarding things and so   just because they're on their phones does not  mean they're working they're paying attention   just like we are up here and I will defend our  staff because they're incredibly responsive and I   have reached out to them particularly the ones in  this room right now and I understand that you also council member Johnson thanks Mayor ditto  to council member Glascock and just for   the record for everybody watching there are  no $250,000 toilets in the city of Witchah city Manager Leighton can you address um  where the status of the outdoor restrooms   i did see that the outdoor restrooms were  installed um by the river uh can you tell   us again the cost of these bathrooms  and the status of these bathrooms mayor and council members Gary Jansen again  uh current status of the restrooms the one   at a price woodard park is has been installed  is effectively complete working on the one at   um Natsker Park now we're shooting for midayish  to open both of them at the same time uh we've   got everything ready from an operation  standpoint and cleaning standpoint ready   to go uh my best recollection total cost all  in which includes uh everything for water and   sewer service uh there's concrete flat work  associated with these for full installation   was was right around $500,000 for both um I don't  remember how that breaks down for the the facility   itself but again there's a lot of ancillary work  things tied to it that have to be done to make   these operational thank you very much Gary i  see no further comments from council members   uh we will be talking about next week's  council meeting at the end of the new   business so if anyone wants to speak at that  time that will be your opportunity city m   uh city clerk can you please call the next  item consent agenda items 1 through 20 council members are there any items to be pulled i see none i move to approve consent  agenda items 1 through 20 second motion   and a second any further discussion  i see none mr clerk please open the role motion i motion passes 70 mr clerk please call   the next item board of bids and  contracts dated April 14th 2025 good morning Mayor City Council Josh Lober  Department of Finance uh the board of bids   and contracts convened yesterday April 14th 2025  for the following items for engineering we have   the list lift station 56 improvements for Wildcat  Construction Company Incorporated in the amount of $347,50 we have the storm water sewer  number 813 Lincoln Street Dam repairs for   Don Lingerren Suns Construction Company  Incorporated in the amount of $235,35 we have the water distribution  system storm water system number   796 and sanitary sewer phase one to serve  Meridian 53rd second edition for Wildcat   Construction Company Incorporated for  an aggregate bid total of $443,42.80 for purchasing we have the mowing edging  and trim scattered sites and vacant lots   for housing for Getting It Done  Enterprises Incorporated for an   estimated annual use of 48,000 we had the  combination high-pressure sewer cleaner and   vacuum debris removal truck for Kirby Smith  machinery for an aggregate total of $673,171 we have the Cisco Catalyst switches  for Logicalis Incorporated for $28,63924 we have the traffic signs  contract change order for Vulcan   Incorporated doing business as Vulcan  signs for an estimated annual usage of $294,934.92 amended um this item I'm  pulling i need to bring back to you   uh there was a clerical error technical  error in the contract draft so this will   be coming back shortly for airport we  have the airport east perimeter fence   phase 1 for Ready Fence LLC doing  business as Aerof Fence Company for $234,525.75 this is how to  become a vendor with the city   this is a purchasing calendar of small business  opportunities that the city is hosting or   participating with our small business resource  partners these are open public opportunities today and I'd be happy to try to answer any  questions and I recommend your approval with   exception of liquid chlorine thank you Josh  questions for staff i will go to slide number   eight please sure can you talk about this um  we've had questions from community regarding   vacant lots and the responsibility where it lies  um can you talk maybe you or someone from staff   um regarding these vacant lots how the city will  come and uh do that work but it will then be the   responsibility of the property owner sure i don't  know if we had somebody from housing thank you good morning mayor members of council sally  staying with the housing department um this   particular bid is only for mowing and edging  of the public housing properties those that   are vacant um and up for sale it takes some time  to get through that process those properties have   to be mowed and can you address why the lowest  bid was not taken for this one sure thank you   tag team um so this is the lowest bid it looks  it looks um deceptive in the fact that Robin   Hood Industries LLC only bidded one group or group  two there were two groups requested so two groups   combined and the aggregate is 48,000 is a low  bid thank you very much Josh and can you go to   slide number 15 really quick certainly since we  just had a proclamation regarding small business   um this is a reminder can you address how you're  really reaching out to small businesses in our   community so that they can bid for these city jobs  sure i always love that question that's a whole   topic in itself so um one thing that we're doing  is uh we have a emerging disadvantaged business   enterprise program um we have a gentleman that  oversees that program and part of his strategic   plan document is he's outreaching to a certain  number of v vendors with the state of Kansas   Department of Commerce uh minority and women  business um and exporting that data of who's   registered with the state uh contacting within  that spreadsheet based on zip codes start with   city start with South Central Kansas then work the  entire state we've basically gotten to the point   after a year of the entire state and now we're  just refreshing the list we're also working with   the city's emerging business enterprise program  um sending out a I think 10 vendors per week um   where we're notifying them hey make sure you not  you register with the city of Witchah um this is   um how you can do business with with us i notice  that you don't have commodities or what types of   goods and services you offer um highly recommend  you put that so you're in you're the first in   the know um we also are completing a monthly  newsletter um a emerging and disadvantaged   business enterprise newsletter that will have  this calendar and we'll have tidbits or tips   um we're also uh completing uh strategic events  where we're doing education bonding typically   comes up insurance comes up um we'll work with  uh the Small Business Administration um we'll   also work with the McConnell Air Force Base we'll  also work with other purchasing agencies in the   in the area as a lead typically given our size  and our volume um we're doing a lot um I would   be remiss to say that I am aware of other agencies  that that in procurement are doing these types of   activities so I'm I'm very proud of the staff we  have and I'm very appreciative of any opportunity   to talk about the inroads that we're making  um anytime that we can work with departments   um we're in a unique position where we're  advocating for vendors and we're also advocating   for the city and the taxpayer and our dollars to  make sure that how do we find a good hybrid of   both where in theory I could get you a really  good price on a huge economies of scale or do   I need to have tracked bidding do I need to have  lump lump sums of different locations where small   business opportunities are made available so it's  a constant process and constant development thank   you Josh i will move uh to approve the board of  bids and contracts for April 14th 2025 second   motion and a second any further discussion  i see none mr clerk please open the role i motion passes 70 mr clerk please call the  next item petitions for public improvements good morning mayor city council  members paul Gunsman public works and   utilities for the record I have one location  for your consideration this morning the s the   signatures on the petition represent 100% of  the improvement district and the petition is   valid per Kansas statute pegasus edition and  Pegasus' second edition located in district two   the project will provide sewer improvements  required for a new residential development   it is recommended that the city council approved  a new petition and budget adopt a new resolution   and authorize necessary signatures and I  will stand for questions thank you Paul   any questions for staff i see none i move to  approve the petitions for public improvements   second motion and a second any further discussion  i see none mr clerk please open the role all right motion passes 70 mr clerk please call the next  item public hearing in request by Commonwealth   Development Corporation for approval of a letter  of intent to issue multifamily housing revenue   bonds honorable mayor members of council Troy  Anderson assistant city manager uh so this item   is a request for approval of an issuance of uh  revenue bonds the project is a project that was   brought to us by Commonwealth Development  Corporation uh you'll hear me refer to them   as Commonwealth throughout they're actually a  national leader in developing affordable housing   we're really excited about um bringing a new  developer and new builder to town um Commonwealth   is requesting issuance of revenue bonds in an  amount of approximately 9.2 2 million what they   want to do is develop a 42 unit multif family  residential low-income housing project uh in   addition to the revenue bonds they're also going  through the process right now of applying for 9%   low-income uh housing tax credits this request  is for sales tax exemption only the approximate   value of the sales tax exemption is about $345,000  city share of which is a little more than $26,000 uh again revenue bonds are a mechanism for  achieving a sales tax exemption and property   tax abate and/or property tax abatement in this  case again this is just for sales tax exemption   uh in a transaction the city's not lending  any money bears no risk company's required   to acquire all of its own financing there are no  taxpayer dollars at risk all costs are borne by   the company requesting the use of the bonds in  this case Commonwealth agrees to pay all costs   of issuing the bonds and also agrees to pay any  annual origination fees bonds will be purchased   by Commonwealth or a related entity actual bond  documents uh that will be part of the issuance   will be prepared by outside bond council uh  and then ultimately city's law department   will review and approve the final form prior to  the issuance of any bonds with that being said   staff's recommend recommendation is that city  council adopt the resolution and authorize the   necessary signatures uh I'm under the impression  we do have representatives here from Commonwealth   today that might be able to answer any questions  directly to uh the developer but otherwise I'll   stand for questions thank you Troy questions for  staff beginning with council member Ho Heisel   thank you Troy um the the LITC part of this  is the is a representative here that we know Good morning my name is Liz Peterson i'm a  development manager with Commonwealth Development   so thank you for having me well good morning  welcome um now you you you guys I'm sure you're   familiar with some of the recent legislation  regarding the LITC tax credits uh correct with   the state um credit yes ma'am um are you still  intent on pursuing despite the the obstacles that   kind of are laid at our feet now with it yeah I  think um it is so important to note so we will be   applying for the credits both federal and state  in May and we expect which hasn't been cut yet   right so uh yes 2025 um the decision on that will  be around July so we expect you know if the award   is in our favor which again the local support the  support from the city of Witchah is very critical   um both in the form of the IRBs um as well as um  we have been presenting to the affordable housing   review board and so um it's just very important  to us to have this uh city support so if we do   receive the um tax credit award we expect to close  on our construction loan at the end of 2025 and we   expect about a 14-month construction duration and  so that would put us in the spring of 2027 we'll   be welcoming those 42 units um to the community  yeah and you still even if you don't get the litec   you still plan on going through with the project  that's correct we would um you know plan to uh   hopefully renew our option to purchase the land  um and find a you know a way to uh find financing   for a further round okay thank you thank you liz  I have a couple questions for you um you're a new   developer into Witchah from Wisconsin can you  share why you decided to come to Witchah and um   are there other opportunities for more affordable  housing sure thank you for your question so   again Commonwealth is a national developer uh we  really look for communities that have a need for   affordable housing we know that the need is great  here um we see you know that there's about 30,000   households um according to HUD's um comprehensive  community survey so those 30,000 households you   know those are the most vulnerable um people  within our community and I think you know we   have our expertise um which is bringing affordable  housing to communities and um you know we've been   working with the city of Witchah again um Sally  Stang um with the housing department you know been   working to get the recommendation for our project  um from the affordable housing review board so   yeah really just our intention to um reach out to  all stakeholders within the project and again just   identify that community need you Liz I have  a couple questions for Troy uh this is more   in regards to over the last year and a few months  we've had several of these types of proposals for   affordable housing is there a database of the  number of units that are coming online because   they did receive a litec um or maybe did not  get the litec and that's the reason why we're   not getting the units is there a running total  of these um that we can share with community uh   because I know that there's a big development on  in council member Tuttles's district uh regarding   senior citizens and affordable housing so is there  a list where we can look at all those units that   are getting either federal state as well as uh  local uh incentives so I'm going to answer at a   really really high level and then I might turn to  our housing uh expert uh KHRC manages the database   of all the projects that are awarded um and will  identify the number of units and pro but again I   might call on Sally Stang our housing director  or she might have a a more articulate answer thank you mayor members of council sally  staying for the record again um I do have   a a spreadsheet of awards and allocations  back to 2017 it's a little bit challenging   because the way KHRC releases that data is not  consistent between the 4%s and the 9%s and so   um oftentimes we're not able to see the number  of units but we can see the dollars in i am happy   to share that with you after the meeting that  would be great Sally thank you i see no further   questions for staff or the developer thank you  very much we will now open it up for public comment i see none we'll bring it back to the  bench this resides in Council Member Hoheisel's   district thank you Mayor um we all know that  there's a definite need for more affordable   housing in our community and I think the old  saying is you take down an elephant one bite   at a time um this this looks like a pretty decent  bite right here uh we need more of this definitely   but um it is uh my honor to be able to um move  that the city council close the public hearing   adopt the resolution and authorize the necessary  signatures second motion and a second any further   discussion i see none mr clerk please open the  role i motion passes 70 mr clerk please call the   next item public hearing and request by Lang  Gen Y LLC for approval of a letter of intent   to issue industrial revenue bonds honorable  mayor members of council again Troy Anderson   assistant city manager uh this one along the same  lines uh requesting the issuance of revenue bonds   um unfortunately this one's not for affordable  housing units but this is for uh a project uh   that we are really excited about it's a somewhat  of an adaptive reuse to a former building more   specifically Lang Gen Y LLC um I'll I'll refer to  them as Lang throughout is a real estate holding   company that will lease to lay companies sort of  their corporate uh office uh corporate user the   subject property they're requesting the issuance  of revenue bonds in the amount of about $3 million   uh and this again is the renovation of the former  Royal Caribbean call center building into their   new corporate headquarters renovations include a  complete exterior refresh redesigned front entry   and lobby second floor remodel which will really  be sort of the space that's dedicated to their   their corporate headquarters and uh ultimately  basement facilities and facilities throughout that   uh they'll be able to utilize to uh attract talent  um and u provide them with the amenities amenities   that they need for a true corporate headquarters  construction will begin immediately and be   completed by the end of the year this request like  the previous request is for sales tax exemption   only approximate value of the sales tax exemptions  $112,000 city share of which is approximately um   $8,700 we'll kind of run through the the prepared  statement again revenue bonds are a mechanism for   achieving a sales tax exemption and or property  tax abatement in this case sales tax exemption   only uh in a revenue bond transaction city's not  lending any money and bears no risk the company's   required to acquire all of its own financing  there are no taxpayer dollars at risk here all   costs are borne by the company requesting the use  of the bonds in this case laying agrees to pay all   costs of issuing the bonds and agrees to pay any  annual origination fees bonds will be purchased   by laying or related entity bond documents will  be prepared by outside council but ultimately law   department will review and approve final form of  any bond documents prior to the issuance and with   that being said staff recommends city council  adopt the resolution authorize the necessary   signatures we do have a representative from Lang  which may actually be a familiar face to you all   uh to answer any questions that you may have but  otherwise I'll stand for questions thank you Troy   questions for staff beginning with Council Member  Glascock okay thank you Mayor a few questions um   at the end of the especially the green sheet  says IRBs are a mechanism for achieving sales   tax exemption property tax abatement for companies  that are expanding and maybe hiring new employees   is hiring new employees with this restructure  i'll let the representative speak to that good morning and Mark Elder with Lang  Development um Lang is uh and most of   this is going to be relocating but we are  going to be expanding offices to be able to   hire additional employees into the future i don't  have a count on that but um you know as we expand   we'll be we're going to have opportunities to  have that growth within the offices is that the   justification for only seeking the sales tax  exemption and not the property tax abatement   that's part of the reason why at this time we're  not uh seeking the property tax abatement um we're   ready to go on the project and so we need we're  seeking that sales tax exemption in order to move   forward to with that construction and start  the expansion okay and the total expansion   efforts are approximately about $3 million uh  uh correct as far as the construction FFN um   the land acquisition has occurred but it's not  part of this because it's um it's not applicable   for the exemption this might be a question  for Troy so Troy given that they're making   $3 million investment to the property um likely  the property taxes will increase on this property   do we know what they're currently paying and  what maybe the subsequent investment will be   i do not have those in I do not have that  information available to me at this moment   i can certainly get that information and  give you some estimates of what we think   the property tax obligation would be thereafter  even an estimate so let's say we have current   property tax rules because of the investment  will we the the city be or when will the city   see the full return of $8,770 in terms of the  tax revenue back because property tax adjustment i I I' I'd be remissed if I even started kind of  guessing right um let me get you some information   on how quickly sort of that return on that  investment would be yeah I'd be interested just   the ROI if it's you know next year or if it's 10  years or it's 20 years like when will we see the   full return of our embaitment sales tax on the  property tax portion of it yeah we'll go back   we'll evaluate what the property tax obligation  is today as it's broken out to the various taxing   jurisdictions we'll have to do some comps with  regards to other sort of office buildings in and   around that area we'll make some projections on  what we think that what that $3 million impact   will be on the future tax obligation and yeah  let me do let me do some some uh calculations   uh some analysis and let me get back with you may  Yep i'm going to follow up really quick before I   pass it to a council member can you find that out  before we actually vote for this i just want to   know what the property taxes are right now on this  current property and that should be someone that   can find that can you let us know currently what  the property taxes are for that location council   member Hohheisle thank you Mayor um yeah you guys  that's one of the things I was going to ask about   is usually we have an ROI return on investment  attached with these and don't have one here um   if I if I can't the ROI normally is done when you  have a property tax exemption i don't believe we   calculate one when there's just solely a sales tax  okay well I appreciate that i'm still am curious   about that as well though um the other taxing  jurisdictions when do they hear this and what   is their part in the process um school district  USD 259 kind of specifically but also county so so during the process right we rely on the  the city's economic development guidelines as   the the guidelines for bringing applications  such as the such as these to city council   so as projects are brought before the city and  ultimately city council we use those guidelines   which were ultimately agreed upon by at least city  and county right that's why they are called the   city of Witchto Sedick County economic development  guidelines those rules and regulations around   incentive programs that are being brought before  city council have all been mutually agreed upon   right um we engage the school district on uh on  occasion right but for all intents and purposes   there is not a review by all of the other taxing  jurisdictions as part of every application the   framework for incentives was was kind of set  forth years ago in the guidelines that's the   best way I can probably answer that question today  so do they ever vote on any of these no they don't   it's it just comes down to the city and whether  we want to take that action that's correct yep   okay appreciate it council member Glascock thank  you Mayor i'd be interested to see if there's any   public comment um I'd like the hard numbers on it  and so if we can't get those today I'm likely to   table i know maybe an ROI isn't customary for  this but it also is adding no new jobs and so   when we're looking at baiting from the city's  perspective 8,770 in terms of investment and a   full sales tax exemption of 1,12 I could justify  that if we were adding jobs to the property not   just relocating from one location to another  without an ROI because I think that would be   the return in terms of jobs and so we're not  taking a risk but the city is taking a loss   by an individual purchasing it with no new jobs  and then abating sales tax exemption from it so   I would be interested in just when will we get an  RAI in terms of property tax abatement so we're   made whole with trying to help leverage maybe  the assets for the original $3,000 investment   so I want to hear more conversation but that's  my initial thoughts i'm actually looking at the   city of Witchaw's website um when you click  on departments and then economic development   uh this is the area where we talk about IRBs  and since we're specifically talking for a   for-profit company it does say for-profit  companies may be considered for IRBs if   they are investing capital to develop new  facilities add machinery and equipment and   create new jobs so there's an and there the  following paragraph says to qualify companies   must generate the majority of the revenue from  outside of Cedric County and wages for the new   jobs must meet certain standards so my question  now will be to Mark Elder who represents Lang   is a majority of the revenue coming from  outside of Cedric County for your company i do not have the actual calculation  in front of us but um Redbox ships   containers throughout the world so um this is  actually just one of several u manufacturing   facilities but we manufacture and ship not  only throughout the US but throughout the world try okay so in response to your question  um and again really high level need to do a   deep dive just to make sure but pulling  up the property tax role property tax   uh record for this in 2023 the property  tax uh obligation was um valued at bear with me for just a second   was valued at $1.8 million um and as a result the  obligation was approximately $200,000 a year so if   that again back of napkin math that was the entire  tax obligation $200,000 for a $1.8 million project   if they add $3 million in capex you probably won't  see that full $3 million added to property value   you might see 65 75% of that so let's say that  doubled right and now all of a sudden the property   value and the assessed value was double that so  1.8 $3.6 million the general tax obligation that   would be paid would arguably sort of double right  and so that obligation would jump from probably   $200,000 a year to almost $400,000 a year that  would get made up arguably in very short order we can get you some better exact numbers but  that's backup napkin type of And again I want   to make sure um Mark Elders representing Lane will  you guys be coming back for property tax abatement um we actually have several expansion  projects going on at this time um I I   have not been informed on whether we'd be  coming back for property tax abatement at   the at this time i am aware that we are coming  forward for the sales tax exemption so no I at   this time I have not been told that we  are asking for uh property tax abatement   so this is only for sales tax and we won't  come back in a few months and ask for property   tax abatement is that correct it's it's  my understanding that we're we're asking   for the sales tax exemption i I haven't been  g given a directive that we would be coming   back for property tax abatement thank you  Council Member John Sten thank you Mayor i   also pulled it up on the county's website  and Troy is correct uh last year it was $1,816,000 which is a 3%  decrease from the year before of 1,874,000 change which is a 73% decrease from  when it was occupied when it was occupied   it was a little over $7 million so now the  building is occupied will be occupied again   i would expect that uh value to be somewhere  in the $7 million range and the property taxes   will go up significantly that would be our  expectation as well correct so I I'm I'm more   than comfortable with it with voting for it  thank you Vice Mayor Johnston council member   Hohheisel uh actually I will save this for  discussion at the bench i'm sorry thank you   i see no further questions for staff or the  developer we will now open it up for public comment good morning mayor and members of the  Witchaw City Council my name is John Todd i   live at 1559 North Pane in district 4 council  member Ballard's district is it six excuse me   i thought I may be moved overnight i speak as  a private citizen for myself and not for any   other group uh I'm going to make this short  i am no fan of property t any type of tax   abatements for select businesses they're not  fair to other businesses or to the taxpayers   if you're going to offer tax abatements for  property or sales tax your general policy   should be to offer to everyone and not just select  businesses because it isn't fair it doesn't pay   it doesn't it's not a level playing field and on  issues that do impact the taxes for other gentle   units like the school district and the county  I really believe that they they should have a   right to weigh in on these type of decisions  i do applaud the developer for doing the fine   project for Delano i I strongly support that  but I don't support the the tax abatement thank   you thank you John anyone else from the  community who would like to speak on this topic i see none i'll bring it back to the bench  council member Blasco i'll acquies to Councilman   Hisle all comments council member Hohheisle  thank you Mayor um I just had a question maybe   for Council Member Johnston who has a little more  knowledge on this does property value really go   down if a building that that much if a building  is unoccupied it does i have personal personal   experience for that so to the to the detriment  of my bal bottom line okay it does it does go   down and I I might add just there is correct that  the property taxes were two almost 203,000 in 23   uh 24 it was a little less than 54,000 so it  drops considerably when when it's empty it's   just not not worth as much when was the last  time that building was occupied on March two   years ago two years ago and then it does it just  naturally depreciate like that or is that a you   ask for maybe a reassessment you you you sometimes  you have to ask for it yes that is true you have   to ask for it and properties valued on on the the  location the building itself and income obviously   if there's no income that the building value  will significantly drop and decrease therefore   the county appraiser will drop the value of  that building okay thank you Council Member   Glascock thank you Mayor um I think this might  be the first one that's come before I've been   here where no jobs were added with an exemption  um I could stand corrected but this feels unique   compared to some of the other ones i appreciate  Troy the back of the napkin math i think that's   very helpful and I would just like to see that  maybe a little bit more solidified it was and I'm   thankful you can do math that quickly and add it  on there was a little messy but if we could just   have a quick solidification of that so when it  comes that we can see an ROI that's panned out   pretty quickly we have a council meeting now  that we're going to be adding on April 22nd   and I would feel comfortable just tableabling  this for a week to be able to get those hard   numbers to be able to come back i'm supportive of  the project i think it could be a great project   uh especially for Southwest Witchah um I've been  out to the facility i've talked to the applicant   previously about it um and I'm thankful they're  bringing jobs and investing very heavily in South   Witchon industry and so I would I this would be a  question for Jennifer we haven't officially taken   the council agenda item but we're adding the  22nd to our meeting but we're doing that later   in this meeting to add next week can I add this  to the agenda you can you can say subject to the   motion subsequent being approved to schedule  that April 22nd meeting i don't think a week   should probably hurt the project or delay  the project and so seeing there's nobody   else on the agenda I would make a motion that  we hear this public hearing on the request by   Lang Jen Y LLC with approval of letter of intent  subject to a subsequent motion to add April 22nd   uh council agenda to add this to the council  agenda if that pre motion is prevailing later   i'll just suggest that's a motion to defer this  motion to defer thank you i second that we have   a motion and a second for a delay dependent  upon passing of an additional council meeting   which would be next week on Tuesday any further  discussion i see none mr clerk please open the role motion passes 70 mr clerk  please call the next item 2025 Witchaw River Festival  Memorandum of Understanding good morning Mayor Council Lindsey Baka Arts  and Cultural Services with the City Manager's   Office believe it or not it's Riverfest time so  I'm here to present the city's annual with uh   Witchaw Festivals Inc a little bit of background  that we've been partnering with Witchaw Festivals   uh to produce this event multi- multi-day  community event since 1972 the event attracts   local attendees and regional tourists alike  uh the event completes an the city's community   event application in addition to thisou  process and historically we've had anou   uh to account for the incind services and general  sponsorship notable updates to theou this year are   really based in the security section on section  three uh we included language at the request of   WPD to clarify the payment structure to WPD uh  and his historically uh festival had contracted   police officers directly and we're now moving  into where they the department scheduled it   and then the festival pays uh PD directly  versus individual officers it's just a lot   uh a lot easier for both parties to to streamline  that process we also have add additional language   regarding incident command post and emergency  preparedness over the last couple years we've   added in a reporting section to theou uh you'll  see in your agenda packet that you have the 2024   annual report from Riverfest and I will just note  that the report is very similar to what we have in   all of our cultural arts contractual agreements  for funding the MOU identifies our inind support   which includes various parks and recreation levels  of support including picnic tables and uh trash   um trash services uh usage of the festival area  street closure and traffic engineering support   additional sweet street sweeping that takes place  uh before and after the event and additional   public safety support the sponsorship benefits are  pretty standard year-over-year includes city logo   and on print and digital media recognition and  public announcements sponsor recognition events   framed and signed Riverfest uh posters excuse me  that should be 2025 um commemorative sponsorship   plaque and buttons for city staff who are assigned  to work the event according to Witchdaw Festivals   they report uh the following economic impact for  the the event uh over 27 million annually back   into our community uh the volunteer contribution  of time is worth $2.5 million uh button food   and beverage revenue of approximately $1  million annually uh vendor support at $1   million sponsorship support of $750,000 plus and  various inind sponsorships at 250,000 financial   considerations for thisou include $40,000 in cash  sponsorship for the event itself and an additional   up to $40,000 for a special emphasis event um  and approximately $130,000 for inkind WPD related   expenditures and staff recommend approving theou  and authorizing the necessary signatures i do not   know that there are few representatives from  Riverfest and in attendance if you have direct   questions for them as well thank you Lindsay  questions for staff i will ask Briana to come   forward and just share about River Festival uh  this will be an opportunity for community to   gather as we just did with Open Streets ICT uh my  question really is regarding the $27 million back   to the community and economic impact um can you  Briana talk about uh what are some things that you   continue to uh change or make uh better enhance  for this upcoming Riverfest so that it does become   a communitywide event absolutely thank you council  and everyone present for allowing me to speak   today in regards to Riverfest i will do an initial  introduction as well um if you have not met me my   name is Briana Monk and I am the president and  CEO of Witchah Festivals what we have continued   to do is to continue to innovate Witchah festivals  the Riverfest has always been a place for families   to gather for people to gather in the community  and show togetherness for over 53 years we've   been able to do so um some of the things that we  are continuing to bring in we have our children's   entrepreneurship network who will bring in over  100 children's entrepreneurship booths that will   line Douglas and wrap around to Main Street where  the kids will actually be able to uh present their   crafts present their different uh businesses and  things that they have to offer and I think that is   one of the neatest things that we absolutely  have uh some of the other things that we are   bringing into um our uh Riverfest this year are  not only our concerts but also we have different   tournaments we are partnering in with ESPN Witchah  we are also doing uh a variety of partnerships   in with um with uh schools and educational  organizations we have our future fest which used   to be called Steam City to basically continue to  move forward and what that looks like uh for for   science and technology and different things that  will wrap around for the children uh we also have   uh big movie nights our military night is also  one of our big nights that we have that'll be   on Wednesday and as we continue to move forward  we are building the cornerstones that are going   to show in year overyear for what we can bring  into the community those are just our basic ways   of how we are continuing to build in and bring  more and more revenue into the Witchah community   can you remind us the dates again absolutely may  30th through June 7th are the dates of Riverfest   this year so it's nine days nine days of fun and  exciting activities for you and your families and   can you talk about the buttons um right now  there's a discounted rate is that correct you   are 100% correct we have our early bird buttons  uh that is going on from April 11th through April   26th the buttons will be $15 so for right now you  can get the button for $5 less after that come   in April 27th the buttons will go up $5 and they  will be $20 this year thank you very much Briana   and the entire team at Riverfest and the hundreds  of volunteers that you have uh nine days of fun   for $15 right now which is a $166 or so per day  per day so um encouraging people to buy those uh   buttons now right absolutely if you want to get in  this is the best time to get in on those awesome   specials that we continue to have you won't find  anywhere around the states that will allow you to   come and celebrate and have fun for $166 thank  you Council Member Glascock thank you Mayor uh   thank you for unveiling your concert lineup as  well last year I had an incredible time going to   all the concerts and I will say for the record  I'm most excited about Fluorida coming and uh   we'll plan on attending the um concert I imagine  with some of my colleagues so it'll be a lot of   fun thank you wonderful thank you very much and I  just have one more note i would like to sincerely   thank you to the city of Witchah and to the  council for your continued support of Riverfest   rufest is a notfor-profit organization that we  actually look forward to sponsorships and private   donors just to make sure that we operate and  continue to function within this city and because   of your support we'll be able to do so this year  and years to come so thank you to all of you you   Briana we will now open it up for public comment  i see none i'll bring it back to the bench uh this   resides in multiple districts so I will be I'll  take the honor of doing this motion and for full   disclosure I was a schooner mate for Riverfest and  know the value of Riverfest of bringing community   together and I'm a big advocate for communitywide  events that truly are intergenerational and bring   community together um but also knowing that  this is a big economic impact also for the city   uh that supports small businesses as well as those  young entrepreneurs that are uh in the making   right here in our community and I appreciate  that you continue to innovate the festival   um and we'll continue to encourage people to  volunteer as well for Riverfest and uh all the   different events that you guys put on throughout  the year so with that I will move to approve the   memorandum of understanding between the city of  Witchah and Witchah Festivals Inc for the 2025   Witchah River Festival which includes $40,000  for a cash sponsorship $40,000 for a special   program and inind services provided by the city of  Witchah and authorized necessary signatures second   motion and a second any further discussion  i see none mr clerk please open the role motion passes 70 mr clerk please call the next  item design concept supplemental design agreement   number one and funding for Harry Street from  127th Street East to 143rd Street West good   morning again mayor city council members Paul  Gunsman public works and utilities for the record   um the item before you is design concept and  supplemental agreement for Harry Street from   127th to 143rd Street East this is a uh picture  of the location of the project um to the south   of the screen is Harry Street and 127th 143rd  on February 6 2024 the city council approved   funding for concept design of Harry Street East  improvements on July 16th 2024 the city council   approved an agreement with JEO for a design  concept and on February 10th 2025 the bicycle   and pedestrian advisory board as well as district  2 advisory board approved the design concept   harry Street from 127th East to  143rd Street East is currently a   two-lane street with the ditches and  no sidewalk as shown in the following pictures and we will along Spring Hollow  there as we go through design we will try to   um keep those existing trees along the fence  the proposed concept for the project is a   three-lane roadway with one lane in each  direction with center two-way left turn   lane with raised medians where they fit we  will also construct right turn del lanes into   um to serve some of the residential streets  such as triple ground we will also construct   a 10-ft multi-use path on the south side of the  road with a six-foot sidewalk on the north side   of Harry Street and we are also proposing to  install a midblock crosswalk um with a raised   median at that location to provide a refuge for  pedestrians as they cross cross Harry Street   this is towards the east end of the project  and we have uh Crystal Mclliff School there   along 143rd south of Harry between Harry and  Panee as well as Southeast High School down   at Ponyie and 127th Street the design service  fee to date is $184,000 which was approved by   city council on July 16th 2024 the cost of  supplemental design agreement number one is   $315,000 which brings the total design fee to just  under $500,000 the existing budget of $385,000 was   approved by city council on February 6 2024 funded  by local sales tax and it staff is recommending   initiating $750,000 from the adopted 2025 through  2034 capital improvement program in programmed   in 2025 for a total revised budget of $1.135  million and we anticipate construction begin with that it is recommended that the  city council approve the design concept   and supplemental design agreement number one  and adopt the amending resolution and I will   stand for questions thank you Paul we'll  begin with Council Member Johnson thanks   Mayor appreciate the presentation Paul just  real quick on the pedestrian crossing will   there be those flashing lights to show someone  going across the street we have not gotten that   far into design but that would be you know  under consideration as we move forward okay u Vice Mayor Johnston paul I noticed this  has that that crosswalk is is raised we   talked about that a little bit last week slow  down traffic do you anticipate that will slow   down traffic and EMS and stuff okay with that  i don't we haven't uh really gotten that far   into design um Vice Mayor as we have shown  it in the concept plan it's just the mark   crosswalk at this time we're not proposing  to raise it so right correct okay thank you   thank you Paul i see no further questions  for you we'll open it up for public comment i see none i'll bring it back to the bench this  resides in Council Member Tuttles's district thank   you thank you Paul for the presentation great  job as always thank you for your team when this   item came to my district advisory board we had  some road bus discussion we had a quite a few   um residents who just had questions about the  size of the sidewalk but I think your staff   just did an outstanding job of explaining  why it is so wide so we can have people   accessibility if they need wheelchairs or  you know strollers and all the things so   with that said I move that the city council  approve the design concept and supplemental   design agreement number one adopt the  amending resolution and authorize the   necessary signatures second motion and a second  any further discussion i see none mr clerk please   open the role zero mr clerk please call the  next item 2024 Witchaw Land Bank annual report hello Mayor and City Council my name  is Carmen Hoffine i'm the real property   section manager for the Department of  Housing and Community Services and I'm   here today to present the Witchaw  Land Bank 2024 annual report oops okay for a little bit of background the Witchaw  Land Bank was established in 2021 the land bank   may acquire hold manage and convey property to  convert to productive use primary activity of   the land bank will be in neighborhoods within the  established central area in Witchah additional   focus is underutilized or distressed properties  the land bank was recommended in the 2019 places   for people plan the land bank is required to make  an informal and unodudited annual report to the   city council on or before April 15 of each year  this report includes receipts and dispersements   from all funds under its control all property  transactions occurring each year inventory of   all property held by the land bank and the report  must be pub published in the city newspaper the   2024 Witchaw Land Bank annual report includes the  approval of proposal to purchases of two parcels   at 9inth and Ash no disposition of properties  no receipts or dispersements from funds under   the Witchaw Land Bank control for the analysis in  2024 the Witchaw Land Bank Board of Trustees and   staff conducted the following parcel reviews  a potential donation located on 39 3981 East   Whitney this was not acquired due to demolition  and maintenance costs and the lack of interested   buyers due to the location of the property another  potential donation of a 23 unit multifamily   apartment complex this was not acquired due to  the substantial debt structural repairs and HUD   regulations prohibiting the city from managing  properties where it holds tenant vouchers the   Witchaw Land Bank currently remains in pilot phase  in 2024 three key challenges have continued the   three challenges are funding source limitations  tax sale challenges and staff capacity limitations   regarding the funding source limitations the  projects using community development block   grant funds can be tailored to community needs  activities must meet eligible national objectives   the Witchaw Land Bank must only acquire properties  which an eligible outcome can be anticipated   title work and prel pre preliminary processes  must link to eligible outcomes other resources   are needed to effectively do preliminary review  of potential land bank acquisitions or to pilot   opportunities or CDBG eligible outcomes are  not assured regarding the tax sale challenges   Cedric County interprets tax foreclosure statutes  differently than other Kansas Land Bank models   bidding on properties begins at a dollar not  delinquent amount owed currently participation   by the land bank will require authorization for  staff to bid at sale using city resources the   board of trustees has recommended legislative  advocacy at the state level regarding tax sale procedures sta regarding staff capacity  limitations currently there are two staff   members are dedicated to piloting the land  bank affordable housing fund projects and   home projects administration of affordable  housing fund has significantly impacted   staff capacity available to support the  land bank pilot efforts these challenges   have prompted conversations  regarding regular operations   on March 13 2024 the Witchaw Land Bank Board  of Trustees voted to suspend portion of bylaws   governing established regular meetings and  conducting at least nine meetings annually the   board will continue to meet at least three times  annually regular meeting dates and times will be   set but may be cancelled for lack of business this  suspension will continue through December 31st   of 2025 in alignment with staff capacity being  redeployed to deliver the affordable housing fund for financial considerations the Witchaw Land Bank  had no receipts or dispersements from funds under   its control in 2024 $650 was spent from housing  and community services community development block   grant administrative funding for the grounds  maintenance on 1011 North Ash and 2046 East 9th regarding legal considerations this  report fulfills the Witchaw Land Bank's   duty to present an informal and unawudited  annual report of the prior year's activities   on or before April 15th of each year the report  will also be published in the official city newspaper staff recommendation is to receive  and file the 2024 Witchaw Land Bank annual   report and I'll stand for questions thank  you Carmen we'll begin with council member   Hohheisel thank you Mayor thank you Carmen  for the presentation the Now I know this is   received files so there's not a lot of action  we can take right now but I do have a number of   questions um how much money from CDBG goes into  the land bank running the land bank every year so regard Sally has this question thank you  Sally thank you good morning again mayor and   council sally staying for the record um CDBG  funds in order for us to expend CDBG funds we   have to have a known qualifying eligible activity  at the end and so last year we only spent $650,000   or $650 in mowing on the Ninth and Ash properties  that do have a qualifying um activity doesn't we   didn't sell until 2025 but that was an eligible  expense under CDBG in 2024 because we knew we'd   have an eligible activity in 2025 so at this  point um previously we had about $227,000 in   allocated CDBG funds um in to be able to acquire  potential properties but we haven't had any come   forward where we had interest from an end buyer  where we could guarantee um an eligible activity   if we were to expend CDBG funds and not have an  eligible CDBG ending activity the city be on the   hook to repay HUD from general fund so it's not  a steady ongoing cost that we take out every year   it's just it is incident by incident correct okay  um that helps a little um would increasing funding   do any good in the present model or is it just  since we don't have the eligible properties coming   down the pipeline that it's funding wouldn't put  a dent in it if we had um the federalized funding   to do additional title work could be um could be  beneficial if we had properties coming forward   for us to evaluate the challenge is we really  haven't had many and when we have we have done   our due diligence to try and determine if there  is an eligible activity whether it would be um in   our an advantage for us to take control of that  property staff spent a lot of time um in the two   previous tax sales doing outreach to um property  owners ahead of the tax sale to try and get owners   who were going to be subject to that tax sale to  donate we did not get much traction out of that   every once in a while we'd get an owner that would  you know continue to talk with us and then all of   a sudden ghost us and go silent and so even that  method we weren't successful in in being able to   um acquire properties that we thought we would  have an eligible activity thereafter yes so   is so is is the main thing that's holding us  back from this being a successful enterprise   um kind of the way Cedric County interprets Yes  and no i mean most of the most of the land banks   throughout the state of Kansas the the majority  of their properties come from that tax sale we're   not limited to that and we do and that's why we  were trying to get ahead of it we've done outreach   to you know vacant parcels just haven't we can't  force anybody to donate their property or sell it   to the land bank um but in other communities the  majority of their properties do come from the tax   sale either by ha u the taxing authority pushes  all uh parcels that don't sell as part of the tax   sale into the land bank i don't know that that's  actually an avenue we would actually want because   you don't know what you're getting out of that  remnants and pieces that you can't necessarily do   then we have other um land banks in in the state  who use a credit bid with a taxing authority and   and they're able to pick which parcels they think  they can convert for an eligible use or a desired   use and uh use a credit bid against it it's not  something that's available to us here now and that   does make it challenging those pretty much all  the other land banks i know Pittsburgh has one   i think Wandot Wandot has one do they add the the  specials and the debt they keep that with it with   the property during the tax sales well the by  state law the whatever is due that current year   gets repaid anything that was due from a previous  year is wiped under the tax sale and then anything   that remains for future specials would continue to  the new owner okay so it's only just the one year   that that it's still Okay has that been challenged  in court to your knowledge not that I am aware of   i know that Park City also has a land bank um but  they've used it only in limited circumstances um   to deal with a uh a development that was started  during the housing bubble that failed and they   used it in that method my understanding is they  haven't really done anything else with it there   are a couple of other really small ones um that  we found throughout the state but I'm not aware   of anybody challenging it legally we have been you  know try working with law and trying to evaluate   whether or not there is another methodology  for applying the specials rel related to either   um parcel cleanup demolition because those all  get deployed when they happen and then often then   they get wiped because they it doesn't come to  tax sale immediately and it's considered a prior   year special assessment so we continue to try and  evaluate those things um the board of trustees   uh is understanding of the challenges and  are doing a little bit of homework themselves   um around you know how can we keep this tool in  our toolbox um but yet still not have it be too   much of a drain on capacity yeah last question  along those lines um do we have any idea i know   there were some numbers bounded about um how much  do we lose to the tax sales not bringing the the   debt alongside per year you know there we did  a report about 18 months ago i will dig it up   and resend it to all of you if you like where  we did an analysis we actually had to go um we   were unable to get the the information directly  from the treasur's office so we actually had to   go to the court and pull every filing and did u  a five-year look back to see at what percentage   um you know what percentage of the taxes owed were  actually being rec collected during the sale i can   dig that up and resend it out please do and and  that's the taxes as a whole not just the past year   correct okay i appreciate that yeah I've heard a  couple of numbers and I just want to get refreshed   on that so all right i appreciate it council  member Glascock thank you mayor i plan to vote   for receipt and file so this isn't contingent on  any vote uh but I do have a few questions so the   land bank was established in 2021 how many winds  have we had since 2021 or how many projects have   went through by land bank process sure just the  properties at 9inth and Ash is the only properties   that have flowed through the through the land  bank just two since 2021 correct and they were   actually already owned by the city purchased  with CDBG um nearly 20 years ago um and CDBG   was used to demolish the church that was formerly  on that site and so th that pro those properties   were transferred from the office of real estate  to the land bank because it already had a CDBG   um regulations tied to it and then we were able to  put that out and the council approved the sale of   that property to Habitat for Humanity okay so we  talked about page or slide number 79 talked about   dedicated employee you subsequently said that  a lot of the time is spent on the affordable   housing fund which I think of our time costwise  i know we may not have the exact amount but how   much staff time and resources do we spend on this  so we saw the 650 how much staff time do we divert   to focus on this in 2024 it was very reduced when  the the board of trustees voted to reduce it down   to you we were holding monthly um board meetings  staff was spending probably 15 to 20 hours a week   um do working trying to get in contact with owners  evaluating um their the target area identified by   the board of trustees that really scaled back  in in March of 2024 when the board of trustees   um voted to really res reduce the activity  happening with the land bank and at that point   it was that activity to further engage with  the county to look at you know other options   because they recognized we were spinning our  wheels given that the county is likely to   not change their policy we've had discussions  and given that we haven't added anything the   land since 2020 property have there been internal  discussions in housing i know we've briefly talked   about the land bank at some of our workshops  but has there been discussion among housing of   just getting rid of the land bank because it's  nonoperable i wouldn't consider the this is not   anything on housing staff this situation but I  don't consider this program successful in 2021 if   we haven't we absolutely had had that conversation  about would it make the most sense to sunset the   land bank um I'm I'm a believer to try and keep  whatever tools we have if there's a way to keep   them in our toolbox because we don't know maybe an  opportunity that may come if we can keep keep the   the the cost down um and keeping it alive because  you know if someone wants to donate something in   the next six months I would have hated to have  dissolved the land bank which gave us that   um the statuto authority to be able to take  those programs forgive all of those back taxes   because that's what it does at running through  the land bank in order to to move it forward   uh mayor if I could if you remember council member  we did have a discussion about uh this during the   last budget season uh there are some members of  the land bankank board that would like us to keep   this going um as long as they are meeting on a  infrequent basis and I think it I'd like them to   work with staff to so they can present you their  case for keeping the tool and maybe just for the   reasons um identified by Sally and we not a lot  of active staff time devoted to it until we find   a project that seems to be tailor fit for the land  bank it's similar to what we had uh for a number   of years with our u um it was our public building  commission and uh didn't need it until we needed   it and didn't devote a lot of resources but it  did come in handy in financing some projects in   Oldtown um and uh once we got past all of that  we w up eliminating ours because we the county   had a similar tool and we could use the counties  when we needed to so anyway long answer to your   question but I I think the board would like us to  at least they'd like to make a case for keeping   it open to help in the future i'd like to hear  the case is there a way that maybe we can look   at the boards are only meeting three times a  year right now and that's and they can cancel   those even if they don't business the way that the  the adjustment to the bylaws was that we'd meet   three times a year we do schedule the monthly  meeting and then cancel for lack of business   i'd be interested and this is maybe an  offline conversation of how this could   happen but I mean if they're only meeting three  times we have plenty of boards and commissions   that are actively engaged and maybe there's  under something else uh so that their time   um is well spent and not just coming minimum  three times to be able to engage um that their   time is well spent maybe under a subsequent type  of structure we we have looked at that and have   some preliminary thoughts about that okay when can  we expect that conversation uh after the budget   mayor thank you city manager um I have a couple  questions Sally um can you go to slide number 75 yes um so the very first property  um 3981 East Whitney is that in   plain view is that correct correct  um and so this specific property i know we've heard from community wanting more  housing um and so can you explain again why this   one was not accepted as um a property sure so  when this was a potential uh property for the   land bank to take on we actually reached  out to our affordable housing development   partners to determine whether any of them would  be interested in the parcel had we took ownership   it was a property it needed to be uh the the  structure on the property was to be demolished   it would be then at that point a semi- vacant  parcel um our developer partners declined stating   one unit in one neighborhood they don't get the  economies of scale the margins are already thin   to build affordable housing and so our partners  tend to want to be able to do several units in a   small geographic area so that they can stage their  you know their expenses and get economies of scale   this oneoff we had nobody interested and then  the second location u the 23 unit apartment can   you explain this debt because I'm very confused i  remember we had a a small conversation about this   yes and is it still operational right now it is  still operational the owner is still looking to   um offload this particular pro uh property  we're having conversations with a nonprofit   uh right now about potentially stepping into that  role um to acquire the property from the current   owner the debt this was complicated um this the  debt on this project is about $300,000 in home   funds from the 1990s um what complicated it was  back in the 90s the city allocated the funding to   uh a community housing development organization  called Sonichcho at the time who then granted   the money to this particular owner soncho  it went uh defunct about 15 years ago and   the debt on the property was still owed to the  the the n the community development organization   our law office was able to take that to court  and get that debt transferred back to the city   um because it did originate as home funds but  it is $300,000 on the property uh two of those   loans it's in three loans um one was due in 2028  the other two would be at the time of transfer   this is an item that could potentially come  back to you um should uh somebody choose to   buy this property and they may ask for it to be  forgiven but at this time it still stands as debt and you said that there is a nonprofit that  may be stepping up yes so I know that we're   still looking for affordable housing in our  community and since this debt is now owed to   the city through the now defunct Sancho Group yes  um how would that process work of trying to um   forgive that loan to the nonprofit sure um really  it would be an item brought back to a request by   the potential buyer back to the council um to  forgive that debt this debt is more is beyond   the 15-year HUD affordability period it would be  entirely a a council decision whether or not they   wanted to you wanted to forgive that debt and the  property does need some significant renovation it   hasn't been renovated since the 1990s um so we're  we do know they're likely to come um back looking   also for additional potentially home funds for  renovations in order to keep this property viable   for the years to come it is currently entirely um  occupied it's just it it's seen its wear and tear   and it it needs a renovation to keep it thank  you Sally both of these are in district number   three and I think council member Hohheisle  wanted to say something um no I I do believe   we are looking at additional ways to take some  properties um like this um I know that is this   one the one that we're acting on as far as we  actually accepted it not through the land bank   but possibly or is that the one on South Market  this one's the one on South Market okay yeah all   right yep that was just we're we're finding other  avenues to work with this one so yeah all right   thanks thank you very much thanks Sally and thank  you Carmen i see no further questions for staff we   will now open it up for public comment i see none  we'll bring it back to the bench um since this is   uh not associated to one district I'm just going  to add a couple of points really quickly i look   forward to having the budget conversation and then  after the budget conversation talking about boards   um I currently have some vacancies and I'm looking  for people to fill those vacancies among them it's   the land bank and this conversation is very uh  timely as now um we can see that you guys are   not meeting monthly as there's no new business and  so um this is a an opportunity for us to look at   uh consolidating some of those boards because the  staff time is so critical uh for other functions   and so I look forward to the conversation  when the city manager will bring it back   uh to the council regarding consolidation  of some of those boards and staff time so   with that I will move to receive and file the  2024 Witchah Land Bank annual report second   motion and a second any further discussion  i see none mr clerk please open the role motion passes 70 mr clerk please call the  next item establish the April 22nd 2025   meeting of the Witchaw City Council as a  regular meeting there's no report mayor   Council Jennifer Magna city attorney this  item come comes before you in response to   last week's direction from the bench to um  move the consent meeting to a regular meeting   to allow for the voting on of a new business  item and so this item would simply set that   meeting as a regular meeting authority to do so  recommend your consideration i will add that uh   that recommendation should al also show that  the meeting will be held here at the council chambers any questions for staff i see none  we'll now open it up for public comment   regarding creating a regular meeting instead of a  workshop meeting next week on Tuesday i see none   we'll bring it back to the bench i will move to  approve the changing of the city council meeting   schedule adding a regular meeting in place of  a consent agenda workshop meeting at 9:00 a.m   on April 22nd 2025 here at the council chambers  and authorize the necessary signatures second   motion and a second any further discussion i see  none mr clerk please open the role motion passes   70 mr clerk please call the next item cup 20255  CUP amendment to community unit plan DP280 to   permit warehouse self-service storage as a use  and exclude architectural controls on parcel 4   and a waiver of supplementary use regulation 3D.26  26 Y17 generally located one quarter mile west of   North Ridge Road and within 1 half mile north of  West 37th Street North good morning scott Wadel   from the planning department so for this case  uh the applicant is requesting the following   amendments to the community unit plan which  applies to this property they are requesting   to permit warehouse self- storage as a permitted  use on the particular parcel outlined in blue   here they are also requesting to exclude that  same parcel from architectural controls which   are set forth in the cup and then third they are  requesting a waiver of the unified zoning code   supplementary use regulation requiring an on-site  resident manager for self storage uh if it is in   the in the LC zoning district so in this case  we're dealing with a cup so it's a it's another   layer of zoning over the base zoning so  this item is being heard today because the   DAB and the planning commission have different  recommendations for approval and I'll get more   into depth than that in just a moment in terms of  the requests the applicant has indicated they're   requesting the amendments so they can develop the  site for warehouse self storage they've indicated   it's their intention to have them for sale as  garage condos or otherwise known as man caves   in terms of this property the site is generally  located to the north and west of Ridge Road   and 37th Street the property consists of one  ownership parcel is approximately 4.26 acres   in size zoned LC limited commercial located within  a community unit plan and is currently undeveloped   the existing community unit plan includes the  subject site and multiple properties to the   north and to the east properties to the north are  zoned LC flip to the zoning map here uh are within   the same CUP some are developed and some are uh  undeveloped those that are developed are developed   with medical services property to the east is  zoned LC within the same CUP and developed with   medical services property to the south is zoned  LC in a different cup and is in the process of   being developed for multifamily property to the  west is zoned SF5 within a different CUP and is   reserved D of the North Ridge Valley edition and  is currently in use with uh floodway and ponds   in terms of the staff report the staff report  provides information about architectural controls   landscaping signage and parking in terms of review  on March 3rd the district advisory board heard the   request and recommended approval that vote was  7 to1 their recommendation was similar to the   MAPC recommendation but with the exclusion of the  AR architectural control so they recommended it   to you in a way that the owner would be able  to uh do something different than what would   normally be required in terms of architecture and  design on March 13th the planning commission held   a public hearing for this item and recommended  approval 9 to2 subject to the conditions listed   in the staff report the MAPC vote uh denied the  exclusion recommends denial of the exclusion of   the architectural control so in that case if you  go with the MAPC recommendation they would have to   comply with those design standards that are in the  CUP at the MAPC meeting one member of the public   who is also a property owner within the CUP spoke  in opposition to the request expressing opposition   to the exclusion of the architectural controls  but indicated they are okay with the proposed use   despite it not But despite their concerns that the  use would not be what was originally planned for   the development in terms of protest one protest  petition was received against the application   the protest petition is within the calculation  area and equaled less than 1% of the protest   area since it does not exceed the state threshold  of 20% the request may be approved with a simple   majority vote in terms of recommendations it's  recommended the city council adopt the findings of   the planning commission approve the cup amendment  and waiver adopt the resolution authorize the   necessary signatures and instruct the city clerk  to publish a resolution after approval it simply   requires four of seven votes alternatives  include the following you can override the   planning commission adopt alternative findings  and approve the CUP amendment as recommended by   the DAB that would require five of seven because  it's an override you can override the MAPC adopt   alternative findings and deny the request that  would require a five of seven because it's an   override or as always you can return it to the  MAPC for additional consideration which requires   just a simple majority four of seven terms of  process city council policy that the public   hearing occurs at the planning commission meeting  and according to the policy city council does not   typically receive public comments on zoning items  so with that I'll take you through some of the   graphic scenarios so here's the subject site  here's the zoning map you can see it's zoned   LC here's the map from comprehensive plan showing  a residential and employment mix recommended in   the area here's a site plan that was submitted uh  by the applicant you can see the buildings that   are outlined there uh and just how the individual  units would be divided up here's the cup graphic   so it shows all the properties that are in this  same cup so you can see its properties to the east   and to the north primarily here is the protest  map and notification area you can see the one   protest just there that blue and red property and  here are uh graphics that were submitted of the design and then photos of the site and  surrounding area this is looking to the south looking to the north to the south and with  that I'll stand for any questions thank you Scott   questions for staff i see none this does not get  public comment so I will pass it to Vice Mayor   Johnston thank you Mayor Scott thanks for the  presentation thanks for the update everything   you do i appreciate that um when when our district  advisory board heard this case it was before the   MAPC hearing i think it would have changed their  opinion on it they had known the MAPC hearing they   decided um I think honestly I think they like  the drawings of it uh they did not get to see   the drawings of the buildings around it so I  am sensitive to that and uh I'd also like to   ask the city manager if I've been trying to get an  answer for about a month on there to the east of   this is a is a new street that will service uh the  apartments to the south and the same owners that   are concerned about this are concerned that they  are being assessed specials for this street um I   don't think that's fair that street just serves uh  those apartments to get to this Circle Drive which   there is a light going out there and like to know  how those specials were assessed and and how how   it how it was determined specials they were so if  we can get an answer on that same uh owners would   like to know why they think they're being assessed  for it so um why that is so with that I will move   to adopt the findings of the MAPC approve the  requested CUP amendments and waiver adopt the   resolution authorize authorize the necessary  signatures and instruct the city clerk to   publish the publish the resolution after approval  second motion and a second any further discussion   i see none mr clerk please open the role motion  passes 70 mr clerk please call the next item approve to exceed the gift limit established by  the ethics ordinance for council member Tuttle   to accept travel and expenses to attend the  South Carolina Spring National Conference in   Columbia South Carolina April 22nd to 25th for  the purpose of representing the city of Witchah   the South Carolina Spring National Conference  is hosted by the Community Leaders of America   South Carolina Forum for the purpose  of education and collaboration the   estimated gift amount for travel hotel  and meals is $1,348 not to exceed $1,500 council member Tuttle thank you um thank  you for this request um considering this   request I just wanted to mention that the  community leaders of America is paying   for my flight my hotel and my meals so there  will be no cost to the city for this travel i move to approve the travel  second motion and a second any   further discussion i see none Mr  council Member Tuttle um Mo motion   and a second any further discussion  i see none mr clerk please open the role motion passes 70 mr clerk please call  the next item council member appointments   and comments we'll begin with appointments  council member Hohheisel thank you Mayor   i'd like to appoint Tim Mcquaryy to citizen  review board he has passed his background check   and Vanessa Christopherson to uh the district  advisory board motion oh sorry any other   board appointments i see none i will move to  approve those board appointments second motion   and a second any further discussion  i see none mr clerk please open the role motion passes 70 council member comments member Hohisel thank you Mayor um I'd just like  to say um just give everybody a little bit of a   heads up april 28th at 10:00 a.m at the Advanced  Learning Library we are holding a neighborhood   workshop um so neighborhood association leaders  or members of um the city across the city that'd   like to come and have a conversation about ways  that we can strengthen neighborhood associations   and community partners uh we'll have some special  learning sessions we'll be talking with each other   about things that work in particular parts of  the city and things we can improve on um one of   the main topics will be how to bring younger  people into the fold um cuz if you go around   to the neighborhood association meetings you  definitely see one demographic coming out so   um that's uh 10:00 a.m at the Advanced Learning  Library please go to um look it up online i'm not   exactly sure where the link is but um enroll  for it make sure you enroll and register for   it it's free to everybody um so it should be a  really informative and um hopefully impactful   meeting um and then the second thing April 15th  don't have the man coming after you make sure   you uh file your taxes today i was actually  responsible this year and got mine done about   two weeks ago so I'm not cutting the last minute  like I usually do that's Council Member Johnson   thanks Mayor council member Hayo aren't you  a part of the man now as an elected official   i'm taking down the man from inside um I just  wanted to highlight misinformation is something   that's really important to me and I was privately  asked by email to issue an apology to someone who   spoke today um who didn't understand my correction  so one of our public speakers said we have   $250,000 toilets um specifically a toilet so  I look at words being used i am not aware of   the city of Witchah ever paying $250,000 for a  toilet we do have public bathrooms that cost about   $250,000 with installation costs that was why I  made the correction we do not pay $250,000 for   toilets so I hope the gentleman who spoke earlier  who sent the email can see the clarification as he   indicated we paid that much for a toilet that is  in fact not true we do have two public restrooms   that include a toilet handwashing station  actually stays warm in the winter down to   30° um has a lot of other features to it but that  is what I was referring to that is accurate and   when staff was asked they did refer to restrooms  and not toilets so that was my comments happy to   always break down my comments for anyone who asked  thank you Council Member Ballard thank you Mayor   i would just like to invite and encourage anyone  to join me for uh the river cleanup on Saturday   from 8 to noon i'll be there oh cool um we're  meeting at the red pedestrian bridge i have all   the details um on my Facebook pages uh so please  check that out and then I also wanted to take a   second to thank the fire department i was about  a block away when the fire happened um next to   the orpheium and it was terrifying it seemed like  every firefighter in town showed up uh with the   quickness and and got all of that taken care of  so very impressive um just wanted to say thank   you and um glad that the surrounding buildings  are are okay council member Tuttle thank you and   I misspoke i'm sorry council member Ballard i'm  going to be at the downtown cleanup on Saturday   there's so many cleanups which is all good and  it's so good to see so many people volunteering i   just wanted to highlight that this um Saturday  for I think the third or fourth year in a   row um I will be the MC at the 2025 week of the  Young Child Impact Awards which brings together   several hundred child care providers and we get  to honor and celebrate them as entrepreneurs that   they are and small business owners if it weren't  for child care providers in our community people   couldn't go to work and it would have a grave  impact on our economy so child care providers   help build our workforce within this city so  it's my pleasure and honor to be their advocate   and I'm happy to celebrate them with them on  Saturday council member Hoheisel thank you   Mayor since we brought up cleanups I have one as  well on Saturday at 1:00 at Lincoln Park um we're   going to get the park ready for um an Easter egg  hunt on Sunday so we want to make sure that it's   um looking pretty good for the kiddos out there  so anybody out there in the district that wants   to come over or outside the district we'll be out  there at 1:00 thank you thank you i will just add   a quick comment uh thank you to everyone who  attended Open Streets ICT this past weekend at   the WSU and Shocker neighborhood area on Sunday  in district number one Council Member Johnson's   district there are two more opportunities for Open  Streets ICT so mark your calendars for the Nomar   one which will be held Sunday May 4th 12 to 4 p.m  and the last one which is Open Streets ICT Douglas   it will be held on Sunday September 28th from noon  to 5:00 pm and we cannot adjourn i am so sorry uh   mayor before you make your motion I do apologize  there's a typo on the motion um when you read the   motion read number one disregard item two on the  front page and read number two in the second thank   you very much uh so I will read this uh executive  session i move that the city council recess into   executive session for 30 minutes to receive  information on several lawsuits pursuant to KSA75-4319B2 for legal consultation with the city  attorney which would be deemed privileged in the   attorney client relationship pending litigation  legal advice second hold on the executive session   is required to protect attorney client privilege  and the public interest the executive session   will begin at 12:50 a.m uh sorry 11:50 a.m  and will conclude at uh 12:20 p.m um and   we'll resume the city council meeting inside the  chambers second motion and a second any further   discussion i see none mr clerk please open the  role motion passes 70 we will return at 12:20 p.m