e e e e [Music] [Music] [Music] welcome to all of you and good morning  Witchita we'll call the meeting to order   and with us today is Reverend Ben Staley  of Chapel Hill United Methodist Church   to provide our invocation following  that invocation we will ask to stand   to for the Pledge of Allegiance and  we invite invite you to join us for both let's pray together oh Lord we're thankful  for the coming of fall a new season we have   discovered that you are the one who is able  to make all things new as you watch over our   city make this to be a new season for us all a  new season of kindness and compassion for one   another a new season for our families and be with  our children and teachers and administrators and   guide them in this new school year may this be  a new season of comfort and hope for those in   our community who are not well who may be homeless  or poor guide workers and leaders who are dealing   with a strike today make knew our commitment to  justice for all no matter their race or gender   and help our city leaders to have wisdom and  moral courage to be able to lead our community   with values that are in keeping with your will  for our city and everyone in it and especially   lead us in this session today help us Lord that  by your grace we will have a new attitude of   thankfulness peace with one another and hope  through Jesus Christ in whose name we pray amen flag United States stand indivisible andice thank you Pastor Staley Madame clerk can you please call  the first item approve the minutes   of the regular meeting of September  24th 2024 are there any changes or corrections I see none I move to approve the  minutes for the September 24th 2024 meeting   second Motion in a second any further discussion  I see none Madame clerk please open the rle motion passes 70 Madame clerk please call the  next item Awards and proclamations today for   proclamations we have the building and  Managers Association day Junior League   of witcha appreciation week and domestic  violence Awareness Month may I please ask   the individuals with the building Bulma  day to please come forward at this time the proclamation reads the city of Witchita  Kansas founded in 1870 whereas the building   owners and Managers Association also  known as Bulma of wital Kansas has   been a Cornerstone of the city's commercial  real estate industry for 41 years Bulma has   demonstrated unwavering dedication to fostering  professional development promoting advocacy   and driving Community engagement within the  commercial real estate sector whereas bulma's   commitment to Excellence has significantly  contributed to the growth and prosperity of   witch's environment enhancing the quality  of life for residents and businesses alike   bma's commitment to sustainability and innovation  has led to the implementation of environmentally   responsible practices and cuttingedge Technologies  enhancing witch's reputation as a forward-thinking   and environmentally conscious City now therefore  be it resolved that I Lily woo mayor of the city   of wiah along with the Witchita city council  do hereby Proclaim October 16th 2024 as Bulma   day in the city of Witchita and encourage  all citizens to recognize and celebrate   the invaluable contributions of the building  owners and Managers Association to witch's [Applause] success thank you all for joining us today for  this significant occasion as we celebrate B Bulma   wishah Proclamation day this Proclamation is more  than just a recognition of our organization it's   a celebration of the work we do together  to strengthen the commercial real estate   industry in witch for years Bulma witto has been  committed to advancing the interest of property   owners managers and Professionals in the built  environment we are not only advocates for the   industry but also a community of leaders who are  dedicated to fostering growth sustainability and   Innovation within our city today's Proclamation  reinforces our role as a vital part of wiw's   Economic Development and underscores our  dedication to the long-term success of the   city's commercial real estate landscape this is  a moment to reflect on how we as Batman members   contribute to the fabric of the community ensuring  that the spaces we manage and maintain serve as   pillars of progress for businesses residents  and visitors alike I want to thank mayor Lily   woo and the city council for this honor and for  acknowledging the important role of Bulma witto   uh the important role Bulma wit plays in shaping  the future of our city this recognition encourages   us to continue our mission with even more passion  and commitment let's take this moment to celebrate   what we've accomplished together and look forward  to the exciting opportunities ahead thank you for   all being here today and thank you for your  continued support of BMA witto [Applause] may please ask the Junior League of  Witchita to please come forward at this time the proclamation reads the city of witto  Kansas founded in 1870 whereas Junior League   of witcha was established in 1925 and is an  organization of women committed to advancing   ing women's opportunities for leadership and  meaningful Community impact through volunteer   action collaboration and training whereas Junior  League of Witchita has been the driving force   behind Investments initiatives and institutions  that make Cedric County a healthier more Vibrant   Community including the pride of the ples  exhibit at the Cedric County Zoo revitalization   of Heritage Square Park establishment of the baby  mobile outreach program with the witcha Children's   Home and partnering in the expansion of the Child  Advocacy Center whereas Junior League of Witchita   is hosting the 19th annual holiday Galleria to  raise funds to fulfill their current initiative of   empowering women to be safe smart and successful  by offering assistance connecting women with   life-saving resources financial literacy  education providing scholarships to advanc   learning professional development opportunities  and mentorship whereas Junior League of witch's   core values of diversity collaboration Community  investment leadership respect and service enable   all women in Seda County to service catalysts  for lasting change within their Community now   therefore be it resolved that I Lily woo mayor of  the city of Witchita of along with the Witchita   city council do hereby Proclaim October 3rd to  6 2024 as Junior League of witcha appreciation   week in the city of Witchita and encourage  all citizens to express their appreciation by   supporting Junior League of Witchita by attending  the 2024 holiday Galleria held at Century 2 expo hall thank you mayor woo and Council it is our  pleasure to accept this Proclamation on behalf   of the Junior League of Witchita since Junior  League of witch's Inception in 1925 thousands   of women have served the greater witcha area as  volunteers these women represent all walks of life   with common goals of serving the community and  developing their potential as women our current   Mission voted on by members in April 2022 will  focus on how we can support women in every Walk   of Life the scope of this Focus area will allow  Junior League of witcha to support a variety of   initiatives that Empower women to be safe smart  and successful holiday Galleria a day of shopping   a year of giving is Junior League of witch's  annual upscale shopping event featuring 120   Regional and National Merchants the 19th annual  holiday Galleria is scheduled for this weekend   October 3rd through 6 2024 at Century 2 expo hall  the objective of holiday Galleria is to raise   funds to fulfill Junior League of witch's goal of  building a better Community we would like to thank   our sponsors both past and present who helped us  raise net proceeds of more than $1.9 million in   our first 18 years Junior League of witchta is  an organization of women committed to promoting   volunteerism developing the potential of women and  improving communities that effective or improving   communities through effective communication and  trained leadership um and our volunteers thank you   again for your consideration and support of our  mission and your time here this morning [Applause] may I please invite the witch sedu County   Community response team to  come forward at this time good the proclamation reads the city of  Witchita Kansas founded in 1870 whereas domestic   violence Awareness Month provides an important  opportunity for citizens to learn about domestic   violence and to show support for the numerous  organizations and individuals who are providing   advocacy efforts services and assistance to  domestic violence survivors and victims whereas   the sedric county wiah coordinated Community  response team are committed to taking a firm   position against domestic violence and will remain  focused on ensuring that victims are safe in their   homes and abusers are held accountable for  their crimes whereas domestic violence and   sexual assault result in victimization of adults  children and families throughout the world whereas   more than 6,000 cases of domestic violence are  reported each year in Witchita and the criminal   justice system dedicates tremendous resources to  arrest and prosecute perpetrators now therefore   be it resolved that I Lily woo mayor of the city  of Witchita along with the Witchita city council   do hereby proclaim the month of October 2024  as domestic violence awareness month in the   city of witchta and encourage all citizens  to promote healthy nonviolent relationships   for [Applause] all thank you mayor and City  Council on behalf of the witchta SED County   coordinated Community response team we accept this  with so much gratitude we have had a significant   increase in domestic violence cases in the city  of witcha for The Last 5 Years in the last year   we had over 7,800 cases in the city of witch Hall  alone that is more than 21 cases per day reported   to law enforcement we have a great team of  community leaders Advocates medical professionals   law enforcement and prosecutors dedicated to  reducing the number of domestic violence cases   we will continue to provide care and critical  services to survivors of domestic violence   we need to work towards building a culture where  domestic violence is not going to be tolerated our   community members should feel safe and respected  and live free from abuse thank [Applause] you for can we please invite our speaker for today thank  you good morning everyone my name is Pete Nara and   I'm the president and CEO of your United Way of  the Plains and I want to thank you for giving me   just a few minutes to address the Council on  behalf of of the citizens we support here in witch for 102 years the United Way of the  Plains has been a Force for good in this   community founded in 1922 by the local  business Community it was created as a   way for the community to pull all of its  resources into one organization so that   it could make a positive social impact in  the areas our community needed the most   today we still have challenges in strengthening  our community just like we did a hundred years   ago they may be different but they are just as  difficult to solve today as they were in 1922 in   community health our state was once ranked number  eight in the country but now it is ranked 29th due   to higher cost and limited access in education  over 70% of our third graders may not yet be   reading at efficient levels to ensure graduating  high school in the future in financial stability   we have data that shows us that 40% of our Working  Families are living paycheck to paycheck and uh   when basic costs like rent and child care  are rising much faster than inflation it's   making it tougher for everybody and in basic  needs we continue to address the affordable   housing crisis so that every neighbor can have a  stable roof over their head and and food on the table but I'm optimistic that we can and that  we are doing better over a century later we've   been working very hard with businesses and all  of you and local government to tackle these   complex Social Challenges so that we can foster  a community where everyone can Thrive for example   in health we now have a strong partnership with  Delta denl where we're able to provide care for   the uninsured in education we now have an army  of volunteers who Mentor over 300 children in   third grade for 30 minutes a week so that they  are on grade level when they enter fourth grade   in financial stability together we created a  coalition the first of its kind in the state of   Kansas to provide second chance banking for the  unbanked and the underbanked so that thousands   of families now can use secure banking systems and  not use predatory land lending practices that take   30% of their paycheck and in basic needs we have  partnered with the city and the county to form and   lead the coalition to end homelessness something  that each of you are actively involved with and   we appreciate your support by partnering with the  city we are also able to now provide free rides   for veterans to uh use public transportation to  use the worldclass VA Medical Center right here   so they can get the health care they need and  last year alone together we helped 60,000 rides   between vets and the VA so they can get the  health care they need and finally we operate   the 211 call center the social service hotline  that handles issues that 911 is not prepared   for these are calls to help people uh prevent  homelessness for calls to help people find food   to feed their family for calls for people to help  keep the heat on when uh winter approaches and so today we serve over 800,000 people in a 10  count service region around Witchita we are   the largest charity in South Central Kansas  and we take pride in being the backbone of a   charitable ecosystem called to provide a strong  social safety net to help those with a hand in   their time of need over the past five years the  United Way has mobilized resources to serve our   community and help others over 2.5 million times  it's by harnessing the collective power of many   that we are able to help so many especially two  years ago during the endover tornado something   we're still helping the citizens recover  from today or to help 12,000 kids now learn   to read before they enter kindergarten so that  they're not in crisis by third grade or how we   help 6,000 families get their tax return back  free every year not to mention the 91 other   causes we support and programs we fund last  year alone to help harness the caring power   of this community because of this economy of  scale we have become an exceptional Steward   of the donor dollar converting every donated  dollar into $237 of impact in our community   proving that when we all join the movement to  help others we are a powerful force for good [Music]   it's time to get up this is our moment to  be more a pledge to do more for something   far greater than yourself you are supposed  to be right here right now we going to Take   On The World In This Promise be United  to help unconditionally in times of need   time s of uncertainty and Times of Crisis  we need you the work isn't done stand we our we are here in downtown with breaking news when they are hungry when they  need shelter water care time love help   for them extend your hand this is Humanity  at its core to harness the caring power of   this community for in your words in your actions  lies the power for you to change the world so what   are you waiting for you are a Force for good you  are the United we're going to Take On The World so in closing I'd like to thank the mayor and  the city council members all here for choosing   to run for office I know it's something difficult  but it's a noble calling that you have chosen to   represent our community in an act of selflessness  and public service I also want to thank our city   manager Bob Leighton and the 3,000 people that  have chosen a career of Public Service to work for   the people of Witchita as a member of the city  government to fight for something larger than   themselves in advancing the common good in our  community and on behalf of the 800,000 people   that I represent here at the United Way I  want to thank everybody here for for what   they do on their own time to donate their time  and their talent and their treasure to invest   in the work that we are doing at their United  Way of the Plains I mean look any United Way is   only as strong as the community that supports  it so I'm very grateful for everyone here for   your leadership for your personal example and  for your support of the work we do to help our   neighbors and lift this community that we  call home right here in Witchita because   together we are a Force for good thank  [Applause] you thank you very much Pete   for giving us the opportunity to learn more  about the United Way of the Plains um and we   appreciate having these presentations that  will be forthcoming um next week we we will   have witcha public schools come forward and give a  presentation as well so thank you very much Madame   clerk can you please call the next item celestra  said 80th Liberation anniversary of Orlons France bonjour I am Celeste ret a witch native and  currently reside at 21st in Ridge this is a   heartfelt thank you to Mayor woo and you all city  council members for allowing four delegates from   the Witchita area sister cities to represent  the city of Witchita for the 80th Liberation   anniversary in oron France myself Kelly Harper  K Miller Lisa Burns represented you all because   you could not travel we understand that and we  paid our own travel expenses in case taxpayers   are wondering we um I want to say that this was  just truly an emotional Journey my father Vince   Bogart was an Army Air cor bomber and fighter  pilot in World War II and he visited oron as   witch mayor in 1964 so this was a particularly  special Journey for me attending 60 years later   so again Mercy the exuberance for wichon and oron  is actually unparallel we rode in a World War II   Jeep along a two-mile Parade route with joyous  crowds yelling bonjour and wiah oron folks were   waving us flags from the sidewalk and even up  on the balconies on the third floor stories of   buildings the military vehicles in the parade were  actually from World War II and included tanks and   armored vehicles General Patton's granddaughter  I got to meet her Helen Patton she laid flowers   on the memorial for Allied soldiers in the town  square and then again at the Memorial Plaza there   were US Army service men and women from stut  guard Germany as well as US military brass from   Kansas City the memorial ceremony was solemn and  respectful The Star Spangled Banner was performed   by the France military band on every occasion  we were there every 10 years oron celebrates   this Liberation with the highest regard for for  the state of Kansas why because on August 16th   1944 oron was liberated from Nazi occupation by  the Kansas Regiment of the 137th infantry of the   35th Army division since that day that very day  in 1944 Goodwill visits between the two cities   have continued President Eisenhower another Kansas  native made this sister city relationship formal   as a way to promote International friendship and  goodwi in 1970 Orleans gave Witchita a handcarved   stone statue of Jon of Arc wiah in turn gave  oron a miniature train for carrying children   around their Community Park in 1990 Witchita  gave a replica of blackbear bosen's Keeper of   the Plains which I saw Witchita shipped its Stone  Jon ofar figure to Rome where it was copied and   cast in bronze the bronze is one of only two  reproductions of a sculpture completed in 1836   that is currently located in Marble in the Palace  of versailes one of only two and I saw our sister   bronze statue in orle on this year this bronze is  displayed outside the former public library at 223   South Maine and two witch nonprofits care for the  flower beds surrounding the statue save Century 2   and Witchita area sister city please catch the  beauty of the mums and lavender that are now in   full bloom around the statue here in Witchita the  80th Liberation anniversary was celebrated with a   posting of colors and presentation in Sedwick  County Historic Museum this included a reading   of historical eyewitness accounts from the Army  servicemen present in 1944 during the liberation   of oron and several of you honored our program  by attending thank you mayor woo for speaking   at the anniversary event and to those of you were  present and I think it was hoisel and balard and   if I forgot anybody sorry but thank you for  coming because it's so important that we here   in Witchita also celebrate what our veterans and  servicemen did in World War II so thank you for   gracing our presentation there is so much more I  could say about this celebration but let me end by   asking for each of us to do our part to remember  the sacrifice 80 years ago in a Land of across   the ocean for a country whose language we did not  speak thank you for representing our relationship   and supporting us and next year in April nine  oron citizens will be coming here for a week   stay please help us reciprocate their hospitality  and to remember to brush up on your Fringe Mercy Boku thank you Celeste and now we  will open it up for individuals who   would like to speak during public  mayor we we have one more on the agenda we have Andrew crane access issue good morning this is uh Andrew cran guiding  pause uh ICT and uh I am here here today on behalf   of the access Advisory Board and uh wanting to  uh let you guys know that there was an article   in the KSN uh on disability access for downtown  witch um and the ranking that's uh got it is down   to zero um on access for the disabled Community  now we I the disability access Advisory board   has a question for uh city manager and Troy  Anderson on uh that article and also the city   council too so I I that that's my question um  and and seeing if we can get a representative   um city manager to come to the access Advisory  Board because a lot of dis disabled people are   not too happy that we are low on access in  downtown wiah and all over the place um even   today when I was walking over here um I  walked down uh Market to uh First Street   uh there was uh bar barricades up and uh I had an  issue of crossing the street and I had to cross   in the middle of the street and not very safe and  and that and there was also glass on the sidewalk   um too and uh and that so that's that's one of  the things that you guys need to be working on   and to make this city more accessible to  the Blind and low vision Community here   in wit all any questions vice mayor Ballard  thank you mayor my question is actually for Gary thank you Andrew you're welcome Gary I just  wondered if you could address some of Mr Crane's   concerns and I haven't had a chance to read the  article yet I just we just got in our email but   if you could address any of those concerns that  would be awesome uh sure mayor and council members   Gary Jansen Public Works and utilities so uh we  are aware of of the article that Andrew mentions   haven't had a chance to really dig in uh the next  access Advisory board meeting is on October 23rd   staff will be there to to help answer questions  one of our challenges right now is the reference   story is very broad um there's not a lot of  specifics in there it's really kind of hard to   tell even though there's some criteria listed  on how cities were ranked it really from what   I've seen so far it really doesn't dig into it  talks about uh a lot to do with development and   companies within a city not exactly sure how  that at ties to accessibility but we'll look   into it more um we work closely with the ACC uh  access Advisory Board and others we've got St   staff uh that's currently working with Federation  for the blind on some very specific accessibility   access accessibility issues within the community  including with traffic signals um the specific   area at first and Market that Andrew referenced is  part of our downtown streets conversion I happen   to be sitting at that intersection yesterday and  I know that there still is accessibility around   that area but we will double check that to make  sure anyway we're looking into this uh certainly   spend time with Andrews we often do uh to discuss  this further but right now I think it's been hard   for us to pull out much detail wise we'll have  to look into this a little bit more thank you   council member ho Heisel thank you mayor uh thank  you Andrew for bringing this to our attention um   I'm going through the study right now I I would  ask do you have a link to where it um to Gary's   point it might be a little more in depth I've  clicked on this and I'm kind of gazing through   some of the the metrics here but it doesn't  have like Gary said kind of a more thorough   response um so do you know if there there is one  or um is that something I need to look up on my   own time probably look up on your your own time  um and and that um because when when the access   advisor board got that uh we we saw that um  we were we were like when the heck you know   uh you know the city of wiah should be ranked uh  very very very high on accessibility and uh I know   Back in the Day 2017 uh we we actually filed with  the city and uh and that and uh we actually took   over one of the buses if you if you guys look  back back when um that that did get filed and   uh I think uh Mr Tom page and a few others um on  the access advisor board filed against the city   because the city hasn't done anything and that  it's time it's 2024 folks it's time to change   a couple of things yeah I I agree with you I I  really do I I'm just wondering like what can we   gain from the study or what can we glean from it  um the points that they make are um an issue with   our public transit system and then um wheelchair  accessibility especially with Grocery Stores um   those are some the two of the three things that  they're pointing out here so I just want to make   sure that we dig into it and and really understand  the other areas that we're falling behind as well   make sure we address those so are there any other  studies too that you could uh send us or make us   aware of that's done around which accessibility  I can I can I can definitely definitely do   that for you whole Heisel all right well I  appreciate that thank you all right thank you sir thank you Andrew we will now open it up for  individuals in the community who would like to speak good morning mayor and Council Twilight  Purity I live in District 1 and I'm coming back   again to talk about parking um even just today  I think I mentioned it last time when we spoke   about parking trying to come to City Hall um they  were still letting people in the parking system   letting people in folks were circling no parking  places uh City Vehicles were seen and there were   six spots uh protected by cones and I've seen  that and there was one spot with a city vehicle   still in it I say City I it looked like a truck  I think it had a city decal and a cone so folks   are protecting their spaces with cones and  we're just unable to find places to park a   couple times I've been here and I've seen uh I  don't know if you have motorcycle parking but   um motorcycles taking up Independent Car spaces  and so motorcycle parking might help with that   um but the other thing so I'm not opposed at all  to the new parking system that is being explored   by the city um I'm just my comments are really to  encourage thoughtful and thorough consideration on   how these are going to impact um those with fewer  resources um so a couple things I was visiting my   sister when we were in Kate May New Jersey and  there were signs for parking we're going to park   in that cool shopping area and they were all  in English so right there could be a problem   for some folks I learned yesterday that was some  of these Google translate you can take a picture   of something and'll translate for you now I  don't know if that requires internet but if   so and you can only use your phones on Wi-Fi then  you wouldn't be able to use that service perhaps   out in the community but we paid for two hours and  then we left early and then so someone else could   come in and if you do a meter I leave early and  then somebody can use my money and use that time   but under this system and I don't know how you  plan to use it here but you would potentially   be getting paid double or triple perhaps you know  for the same space and I don't know that that's   your intent um and then we were in Philadelphia  whoops we were in Philadelphia and there was um   h a radio uh program and they were talking about  a new lot in downtown Philadelphia that converted   from uh coin parking to this automated system I  wish I knew what it's called but anyway um there   was a man and he was clearly caught off guard  he didn't have a way to pay but he was always   had his coin so he could pay and one of the other  things that I thought I'd mention under their new   system and I don't know if it works with the  system um anticipated here but you can't back   into parking spaces and witchet tens love to back  into parking spaces and I know that because I pay   attention because I'm jealous I cannot back up  my pickup I just can't do it so anyway uh wions   love backing up and that might be an impact  um but the impact really uh is on the poor   and I don't know I mean I have a bank account  I have a credit card um but not everybody does   and if you haven't if you don't have this book  highly highly recommend it there's some amazing   statistics in here but one of them so if you have  to have a bank account um according to the FDIC   and this was in 2019 um let's see in let's see  um one and one and 19 us household had no bank   account in 2019 Black and Hispanic families were  nearly five times more likely to lack of bank   accounts and then when it comes to credit you know  if you want to put it on a credit card um but as   Troublesome as bad credit is having no credit  score at all which is the case for 26 million   adults in the United States another 19 million  possess a credit history too thin or outdated to   be scored so consider that and then enforcement  is really kind of one of my uh concerns   who's going to set the amount of fees what fines  and uh fees and SE charges will be added what will   be the consequences if Their fines are unpaid  are you going to tow will there be more fines   are you going to suspend licenses uh what will be  the scope of the work of those enforcing parking   is it going to go beyond this will they be able  to find folks if their tag is expired are they   going to be able to go into neighborhoods and  look for illegal parking and then I just want   to encourage that you get really granular data  so that you can use it for decision making um   and if this is going to be ran by and profited  by um car park you know as an executive my job   is maximize shareholder wealth and that's going  to be if it's a for-profit company that's what   they're going to be looking for so just please  be thoughtful and thorough in all aspects so it   doesn't um negatively impact our U marginalized  folks here thank you thanks vice mayor Ballard   thank you mayor uh Twila thank you so much for  bringing up some of those topics um I believe   myself and the majority of the council if not all  is very sensitive to some of the things that you   brought up and in some of the conversations  that we've been having are having the first   hour or two um potentially free for anywhere that  you're parking and I think that could maybe help   with a duplicate you know paying for the two  hours and not utilizing the full two hours so   um I'm happy that we're looking or considering  something like that for the reason that you   suggested um and also knowing that you know maybe  sometimes in the evening or on the weekends uh it   would potentially be free um so I just appreciate  you bringing those up and I think most of us have   said the entire time that some type of hybrid is  going to be really important I was joke around   about my dad's always going to have coins in  his pocket and maybe not want to put the app   so I think certainly during any time of transition  uh we would need to have the QR code the app and a   place to feed the meter too so appreciate all of  your comments and sounds like we're on the right   track for some of the concerns council member  Johnson thanks mayor um I would just add to that   um we're finalizing a meeting for October 28th at  the advanced learning library to go over some more   specifics about the parking plan so once that  gets all done I'll let you know about that too thanks Twila would anyone  else from the audience like to speak good morning I'm Kelly Harper 1240 North  tand here in Witchita mayor woo city council I   am here to as a sister city member and also past  president and a very longtime member of our sister   city relationship five decades in fact I was in  the very first ambassadorial group to oron five   decades over five decades now so I have a very  deep relationship with these people with this   uh the reason for my presence here at the podium  is not to tell you just about who I am and why   I have this interest but I have a gift from the  city of oron from mayor guu the mayor of oron to   for me me to present to you Lily woo on behalf of  the city we had an absolutely incredible time for   the 80th anniversary of Liberation and I want to  make sure that that really sinks in 80 years I'm   repeating 80 years I certainly was not living 80  years ago and my father did not speak of the war   and his participation at Norman but I can tell you  that there are still people alive in the city of   oron that remember those Kansas men marching  into their warart torn city and specifically   are grateful to those witch men that pushed the  Nazis all the way out to the marginal line with   that be came this deep appreciation for the people  and not only those soldiers but the witchin that   then began to provide box after box after and  shipment after shipment of things to help the   people of oron um live in those War torn years  this book that Mar ruard is sending actually   it's a beautiful beautiful book and the very  front cover which I hope that will be displayed   somewhere is my favorite view of oron I I have  lived in oron myself for two years and during   those two years 47 years ago um people constantly  were thanking me I was 18 when I first went I was   20 when I went to live there for two years and  people were constantly thanking me for liberating   them and I thought I'm just a young person why  do they keep thanking me it was my father's word but it was the American people they wanted  to convey and what we saw in oron last month   for this 80th anniversary the throngs of  people that came out to cheer the parade   that went by still saying thank you  thank you and pounding their hearts   with gratitude we are a very special  sister city to them and while they have so many more sister cities than we  have here in Witchita we will always be   among their very top favored ones because of  what our soldiers did so this view my favorite   view is a view of the cathedral from across the  river this Cathedral has the story of Jonah VAR   in all of the stained glass windows and her  story of the hundred years War this is not   the first War World War I World War II were  not the first Wars they experienced but the   Hundred Years War and that that that fortitude  of Jonah VAR that pushed through and liberated   the city of oron she is their patron saint so  this church right here is very representative   of the city I'm almost out of second but I just  want to say thank you for allowing us to go   and represent the city of wiah and the city's  80th anniversary in oron mayor woo may I step forward council member hoisel thank you mayor and  um thank you both for the presentations today and   the descriptions of Orleans it really sounds like  a beautiful picturesque community and I think   um we should all take some time every  once in a while to pause and reflect on   what older Generations did not only abroad  but also here to help protect and defend   democracy and um ensure our freedoms that  we have nowadays so um I guess a special   thank you to anybody still alive from  World War II um any of the other Wars   as well um just we it's it's good to always  just reflect take time to reflect on this thank you again Kelly would any other  individual like to speak we have one more spot good morning mayor city council my  name is Haron basam I live in District 3   I'm going to Echo the uh one of the  previous speakers about the parking   that is available here at City Hall uh I spent  20 minutes trying to find a parking spot today   I wound up having to park somewhere else and  walk to City Hall there were 27 City Vehicles   parked in the surface parking that should be  for the public we are not allowed to park in   the parking garage which there were 80 plus spots  open there and we're not allowed to park in the   uh vacant law uh in at round and Porter where  there was more than enough parking to uh take   care of the city Vehicles I've been complaining  about this for six months now this is the third   time I've spoke and I would appreciate the issue  being resolved thank you council member ho Heisel   thank you mayor um Bob aren't we reviewing this  process uh Council yes we are okay and in fact   I visited with staff a few weeks ago about it  and waiting to get back a report okay thank you thank you again Harlen and I would like  to mention that city manager ass working   on it what he said last time nothing still  can we have a deadline for that um review process by the first meeting of November one  month from now we will report back thank you   um um city clerk can you please call the  next item consent agenda items 1 through 14 are there any items to be  pulled I would like to pull uh item 3A the member hoisel I'd like to pull item eight please 3 a and number eight I'd like  to pull item 3B so we have 3 a 3B and 8 I motion to approve the consent agenda  items without items 3 a 3B and 8 second   motion and a second any further discussion I  see none Madame clerk um please open the role   motion passes 70 we'll begin with item  3A chronologically thank you mayor and   I think yours is 3B is that correct 3A 3A so  could we have Gary Come forward to talk about 3A I guess my my concerns mayor are we spent half  million dollars on the design of a $600,000 bridge   and we're spending $200,000 on public art $600,000  Bridge so I mean for the bridge and everything but   it seems like a lot of money we're spending other  than construction uh Paul gunselman with public   works and utilities um to answer your question  council member we do um the uh $200,000 each   year as we go through the capital Improvement  Pro process we do meet with the design Council   they identify projects within the CIP for  special consideration and they assign an   amount of art for those projects to those um  they assign funding to those projects that are   selected for special consideration um we take  those recommendations from the design Council   and then we programmed those into the capital  Improvement program the uh you are correct it   is $200,000 that does include um the contract  with the Artist as well as installation of   the public art pieces and the design the  $600,000 I believe you are referencing is   for the design of the bridge itself we will  come back at a future date for construction funding I will also ask about 3B since you're  already here because it's uh the same question   I was going to pull 3A as well sure it was also in  consideration to public art can you talk about the   Redbud Trail uh overpass I believe it's $300,000  in public art for that one yes again we that   was another project they had selected the redbed  trail is approximately three and a half miles um   that is unimproved so we will make improvements  from woodlon to k96 and $300,000 was identified   for the project um we did go out and hired a  artist consultant for that work or an artist   and we took that to design Council um and they had  identified the Rock Road Bridge as the uh location   to concentrate the art funding for that project  council member Tuttle thank you and thank you for   that update um Paul I just wanted to add a little  bit more if that's okay um regarding the red bed   Trail this is a project that we have been working  with the community for several years now um we've   met with community members with key stakeholders  around this project and they have indicated that   especially because of the placement of the bridge  that they want to make sure that it is something   special and something that is aesthetically  pleasing because so many people Traverse Rock   Road we're doing the pedestrian bridge because of  safety we don't want people to walk bike stroller   um you know whatever scooter whatever it may  be across Rock Road for their safety purposes   and I don't consider this just to be public art  when we think of public art we also often think   of a statue or something but I liken this more  to uh East keog where it's public design it's   something that's incorporated into the project  and not just placed at the end um so just a final   couple thoughts not only is there funding in this  for this project in the CIP which was approved by   Council there's also been funding sought from  additional sources such as wo and we also have   potential public private Partnerships that we will  be seeking to make sure that this project comes to   fruition thank you council member Johnson thanks  mayor um I'll chime in on 3A um when you look at   that bridge this has actually been an effort um  that started before I was on Council regarding   the 15th Street Bridge um looking at replacing in  that there's been several Community meetings but   one of the things that we wanted to make sure was  special um with that bridge was that it plugged   into what we're seeing in the revitalization of  McAdams Park Carl G Brewer Center is going to be   incredible um when people see the artwork there  both the design of it and the artwork inside and   this bridge is happening at the same time this  bridge is going to be removed the vehicular   bridge and the pedestrian bridge being put back  and it adds to the overall beauty of the area   artistically functionally and it will be a  seamless thread of art throughout the the   park there make it pretty unique so it may seem  like a lot but you know the goal is to continue   to make that a destination Park a destination  place and something that the community can be   proud of so yep $200,000 is real money but it's a  permanent project that that bridge will last for   several decades as well as the Brewer Center  and it's definitely worth the investment city   manager Leighton mayor thank you um there has  been a lot of discussion about the public art   um uh policy over the last uh several months  and I wonder if you would consider an October   Workshop item that would be a presentation to  remind the Council of what the current policy   is which is pretty um uh comprehensive as it  was last adopted by the council and then maybe   you have a representative or two from the design  Council to give you their thoughts about what um   uh the their purposes and what uh why they make  the recommendations that they do because they do   have control over some of the recommendations to  you for public art and public design in projects   in a capital Improvement program council member  Tuttle thank you and thank you Bob I love that   idea I think it's really important for um us all  to understand you know it's not just public art   the word art often we think of a a a painting  that goes above a mantle we think of you know   sculptures whatever it may be but truly this  is public design it's Incorporated and maybe   it's the the way that a sidewalk is built or  maybe it's again like I mentioned East Kellog   um so I'm really trying to think about it being  public design when we talk about attracting and   retaining Talent we want our our community to be  vibrant we want it to be aesthetically pleasing   and I I think that we're really Forward Thinking  by having public design part of our process and   not an afterthought of trying to add art later  so I would really welcome that my other comment   is it might be a good opportunity to to invite  the Arts Council I'm a I'm a proud member of the   Arts Council board and they have a a really  great thoughts about this in this process so   that would be um a recommendation that I would  like to see thank you I will add one additional   comment to the October Workshop I think that's  a great idea I would like to see how much money   has been invested in public art uh break broken  down by District D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 um so that it   shows the representation of where public art  dollars are being spent and how much by each district in addition um I would also like  to know if in that Workshop or maybe in uh   future we can also um I really appreciate that  McAdams Park um is what council member called   a destination Park and place so we've made  intentional investments into specific Parks   I'd like to see how much of that intentional  investment is actually made um so cumulative   so we can have a show of how much money is  spent on each of these destination parks and then agenda consent agenda item number eight good morning mayor and councel  Penny Fe would shall Transit hey Penny   um appreciate you coming up here appreciate  all the work you've done in the couple of   months you've been up here um as head of our  Transit department so thank you for that um   just a couple of quick questions um one um is  this going to affect anybody's job no uh the   reason for this contract is we currently have  a 50% vacancy in our mechanic group and so this   uh is just going to help us supplement um the  work that we can't do due to that vacancy rate   okay so it's not about cost savings or anything  it's more convenience making sure we can get to   the um the vehicles in a timely manner yeah  I I would say more than convenience is an   necessity because we have FTA guidelines  to meet as far as the number of prevented   maintenance activities we need to do each month  and because we're currently unable to meet that   um we have to get outsourced um assistance my  preference would be to not use uh outsourced   labor and we're also um currently putting together  recruitment plans so we can get those positions   filled because that's what we would prefer  to do okay so the other 50% that is um that   the employees are in their positions they'll  still be doing what they're normally doing in   correct okay okay yep just wanted to double check  on that before we pass it all right thank you absolutely would you like to motion to approve  the three items together or separately um yes   ma'am I'll go ahead and um if there's no  objection I'll just group them all together   so I move that we approve item 3A 3B and 8 of  the consent agenda vice mayor Ballard yes sorry   thank you mayor I just had a question on your  direction for staff to um give some type of log   for what public art is in each district about  what you're looking for I mean I don't think   that I feel like district one is very different  than District Two where we represent the core I   just am curious I don't have a problem with that  I'm just curious what your goal is for kind of   itemizing what public art is in each district  just want to see I think public wants to know   how much intentional investment we're making  in each of the districts I think it's a fair   question to ask how much of an investment we're  making in specific parks in specific public art   I would like a broken down for everything but I'm  being very specific to public Arts since that is   going to be the workshop in October council  member Johnson second and um I think datawise   I don't know what the data is going to show on the  report like that but um I think we also have to   be mindful of each council member and some of us  have um put more effort into certain Parks so if   there looks like there is a discrepancy it could  be that you know District 3 council member hoisel   really wants to see clap Park happen there may be  some investment there numbers might be a little   different so I think to go along with the data is  also was their uh efforts to make something happen   in in a specific District at a specific time  Pony Prairie Park got a million dollars there   was a council member who specifically wanted to  do something there so I I think we can look at the   data but also look at was there something that a  particular council member was trying to accomplish   with fellow council members in a certain area  as well council member Tuttle thank you and and   if I missed this part I'm sorry was there a time  frame given for how how far back we're going to   look for the investment in each district the the  mayor did not we're going to try to keep it at   a manageable either you probably no farther back  than 10 years but we'll we'll do a five or 10 year   period whatever's you know we can get together  and it's reliable data right and and that's my   point for asking that question is exactly what  council member Johnson said you know like in   District 2 um you know we redid the dog park in  and Harris but we haven't had other new projects   such as clap so I just am curious and concerned  that the data I'm I'm not sure how it'll be   used or um with again you know what but um  it's not always just comparing Apples to   Apples there's a lot of oranges in there too  thank you and we'll wind up probably showing   multiple funding sources as well um for instance  you know there's been a sizable investment   in Striker Shields or Shield Striker complex  excuse me um but most of that is star bond funds so we have a motion in a second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open the roll motion passes 61 Madame clerk please call the next item board  to bids and contracts dated September 30th 2024 morning mayor city council Josh laber  Department of Finance uh the board of bids   and contracts convened yesterday  September 30th for the following   items for purchasing we have the 6,800 gross  vehicle weight restriction two wheel drive   Police Package SUV we're rejecting all bids to  look at a bid at a later date uh costic soda   for Bren tag Southwest Incorporated in the  amount of an estimated annual usage of 18, 834 we have the repairs and upgrades to  the landfill wheel loader for fley indust   is Incorporated in the amount of $50,605 33 we have the sewage treatment Vortex  grit separator for westtech engineering   Incorporated in the amount of $4,618.00 with the city these are open public  opportunities out on the street today I'd be happy to try to answer  in your questions recommend your approval a motion to approve the  board of bids second motion and   a second any further discussion I see  none Madame clerk please open the RO Mo council member passes 70 Madame clerk  please call the next item petitions for   public improvements good morning Paul gunsman  Public Works and utilities for the record I have   new and revised petitions for your consideration  this morning signatures on the petitions represent   100% of the improvement district and the  petitions are valid per Kansas statute   Bridger at pawy Edition located in  District 4 project will provide water   storm water drain sanitary sewer and Paving  improvements required for a new residential development and revised petition maridian  53 second edition located in district 6 on   February 27th 2024 city council approved  sewer improvements required for a new   commercial development the developer  has submitted revised petitions and   revised budgets to reflect current market  conditions it is it is recommended that   city council approve the new and revised  petitions and budgets adopt the new and   and amending resolutions and authorized  necessary signatures I will stand for questions see no questions for staff  I motion to approve the petition for   public improvements second Motion in  a second any further discussion I see   none Madam clerk please open the rooll motion  passes 70 Madame clerk please call the next item resolution stting a public  hearing for consideration of an   amendment to the center city  south Redevelopment District plan good morning mayor member city council uh  Mark gelder with development services uh today   is just a request to set a public hearing that  would be on November 5th for consideration of   uh the requested action um want to do a little  bit of background just because we have some new   members Since U we've had any TI action um but  tax increment financing is a a very valuable   Redevelopment tool used for rev revitalization  of designated areas um but what it does is it   does protect the existing tax base uh but only the  portion of the new tax revenue uh is what we call   the increment is what's used to pay for eligible  Redevelopment cost but it does not increase sales   tax or property tax rates um this uh we like to  use it's one of the most basic models of how tax   increment financing Works where you can see the  orange there with the existing tax base and then   with a tiff you that incremental taxes and the  triangles kind of what are used to fund those tax   income and financing projects and at the end of  the term of a tiff district and project uh is when   you have the new tax base that's uh been increased  by that investment um so for the action that's   been uh set to discuss today um I want to talk  about how Tiff happens in two parts so the first   step is a district plan um that's the overall  uh plan of Redevelopment for an area um so it's   kind of more of a general uh description of what  is planned to happen there um so it may contain   actually multiple project areas but also sets the  overall rules if you want to put any limitations   on a projects within that District uh the second  step is uh we actually have a project plan for   specific areas within the district um now those  areas may contain multiple development projects   but you only have one plan for each project  area but those project plans are restricted by   uh anything you put in District plan um and then  they have anything more specific to the actual   development of that project area um so today um  I'm I'm going to show you this map here we're   talking about the center SE South Redevelopment  District in downtown and the area in that red   hash is what was called the original Center  City South adopted in 2007 in 2008 that area   is expanded to all all that rest area to U support  projects that would uh support the uh new Interest   Bank aren as well as any other development  happening kind of south of Douglas in uh downtown but with the expansion that uh uh that  project area there were certain limitations that   were enacted within the expanded area only so  that redash area has no additional restrictions it   follows the state statute but the 2008 expansion  does actually have um restrictions that were in   place first would be a cap of 70% of the revenue  so any of the increment from that expanded area   70% goes to pay for uh Tiff eligible costs 30%  goes back to the tax and jurisdictions there   are also limitations to the eligible improvements  where was uh really spec specific to um straight   improvements with in the area as well as a  cap on how much could be used for parking   improvements um but what we've seen is there  is a a challenge for those projects happening   south of the uh Douglas Corridor uh that really  made it challenging for development to occur in that um and so what the proposed uh changes  to the the district plan so again this is only   talking the district level would be to remove  that cap but what it does do is it places a   $370,000 increment that will still be  distributed so basically that caps the   rate today that's distributed to the tax  jurisdictions will continue on for the   remainder of the district but uh 100% of any  increment beyond that will be distributed to   those uh projects and project areas um but  then it also takes those uh restrictions on   the eligible expenses moves them back  to what's authorized under the state statute and again I also want to reiterate  that although it's doing that the district   plan any project that comes forward still has  to go through the city council's approval so   although it moves the restrictions back to what's  allowed under the state any project that comes   forward within that expanded area still comes  before the city council for consideration at   that time you can also um give directive on  how you would like to see those projects to   occur um but at this time I would uh just like  to reiterate that this is a request to have a   hearing on November 5th for consideration  of this but I do stand for any questions questions for staff beginning with council member  Glascock thank you very much mayor um I do have a   few questions if we could go back to the slide  regarding um the location itself the map okay   so when we're looking at this map how does this  compare in size to other Tiff districts City in   size um this is one of larger ones because it  was a plan for development of downtown um it's   most comparable to the other ones near here like  with the river uh so you have the East bank and   the West Bank in size um so with that those are  probably the three largest districts we do have   in the city out of this area which projects  have capitalized on this so out of you know   this map what has actually been done in terms of  Redevelopment correct so we have had projects in   um project area 2 um that was The Exchange Place  um project area 3B where we did the uh Chester   Lewis Park project area five which was the block  one where the Ambassador uh hotel as well as um   the city's project was the block one garage there  in the Southeast corner and then um project Area   11 was where we did the Redevelopment of Navar  Park so a lot of okay sense yeah but again they're   all kind of centralized right there on that  Douglas Corridor one of the questions I have in   terms of what are the risks of the taxpayers if we  don't get the full projection captur property tax   so if we stay with what is today um the challenge  is um we we probably will um have some projects   that are in consideration that would not occur  so it's really just considering to hamper any   Redevelopment that occur south of that Douglas  Corridor as the veggas hamper so we're losing   any new kind of tax generation for the future Mark  if I could reframe the question what protections   do we place in our Tiff agreements um so that  the city isn't on the hook for debt that oh   thank you yeah AB abely um yes so um with that  we have we basically put in Productions to uh   protect the whatever the increment is in that  project so the two ways that we generally do   that are if it is a uh Tiff project with uh the  developer we either have a pay you go so basically   the developer will fund those improvements up  front and then re be reimbursed only by what   increment is uh generated within that project  the other one would be the personal guarantees   the developer so if there is a request for um City  bonding the developer would personally guarantee   those uh any shortfalls on that Bond debt um  but generally speaking that pay as you go is   the way that that goes um mayor if I could just  to supplement that the only element of risk um   beyond that would be for a city project a city  constructed project such as a parking garage   and there obviously there's no other developer  so that we don't have a GU guarantee or pay as   you go approach that makes sense in terms of  most of these TI project correct and so this   was approved in 2007 correct amended in 2008  which means that the full project end 2027 so8   that's a great question so with with the way Tiff  works is you have going back to that step one and   step two if you have the the district and then  the project area so the district District um is   active for two more years so basically that  just means we well 2027 so roughly about two   years within that time is when we are limited on  when you can adopt any new projects so any project   can have its own 20-year life but what this  is basically saying is you don't the district   life began in 07 so it expired in 27 so that  is the limit we have for any new projects to   actually occur in that District okay so this  doesn't extend at another 20 years correct council member ho Heisel thank you mayor uh  thank you council member you covered a couple   of my questions there um and this isn't um this  is we're still basing the tax base off of 2007   numbers right correct the district is what  sets the the base valuation okay yeah just   make it sure we're not bumping that um is  there so the $370,000 that we're capturing   and the County's going to disperse it was that  part of an agreement with County do they have   to validate this Tiff as well the uh following  the public hearing on November 5th there is a   30-day period in which the count uh the county is  allowed to take an action on that so we have been   in communication with them and that's where they  felt that's great for all the taxing jurisdictions   to retain what's been uh distributed to date  uh going forward okay and I think that's all   I have on this one okay you know no further  questions for staff thank you very much Mark   we will now open it up for public comment any  individuals who would like to speak on this matter none we'll bring it back to the bench this is in district one and in District Six I'll make a motion move that the council  adopt the resolution setting a public hearing   on November 5th 2024 for consideration  of an amendment to the center city south   Redevelopment district and authorize  the necessary signatures second motion   and a second any further discussion I  see none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 70 Madame clerk please call  the next item cheny Dam repairs phases 1 and two good morning mayor council members Gary Jansen  Public Works and utilities we spent a lot of   time recently talking about uh cheny Dam and  particular to what's happening with our drought   response uh and responding to the challenges  so the item before you this morning is to take   the opportunity while the water level is down to  make needed repairs to the dam so the item I have   for you this morning uh has several parts of the  request one is for funding to move forward with   the project the other is to for an alternative  project delivery uh so that we can expedite   the repairs find the best way to get this done  the most effectively so I'll talk through those   details here in just a moment so in 1961 the city  contracted with the Department of interior for   construction operation and maintenance of the  dam and Reservoir Chi Reservoir was built at   the time solely for the purpose for providing  water supply to witto and the witto region uh   we currently get about 60% of the city's  daily water demands from cheni Reservoir the main what we would call the main portion  of the dam uh so the dam itself is nearly three   miles long about half of that uh is armored if  if you will with a soil cement phas what would be   considered the main part of the dam the Earth and  core of the dam is protected by a cement treated   soil uh erosion over time from freeze thaw  ice loading wind and waves as you can imagine   uh and I've got a few more pictures to show  you what this looks like in some different   areas an inspection by the department of interior  recommends a 10-year interval for inspections and   repairs were last done in 2000 needless to say  one of our biggest challenges uh with trying   to make repairs to this dam is you got to lower  the reservoir and that's not something we ever   want to do so again that's why we're taking that  opportunity now based on where the current water   levels are the report from the Department of  interior also identified October as the best   period if we needed to lower the reservoir to  perform repair so it's a good time of the year to   be doing this uh and with our proposed project  delivery method we're going to do everything   we can to to make that as short as schedule as  possible so we can get this done expeditiously   staff and our consultant in 2017 in 2018 uh  developed this heat map I won't spend a lot of   time on this but what this did was look at current  elevations uh compared to former uh when the dam   was originally built if you will so the hotter  colors red and yellow is where the more repairs   are needed but this helped really inform our plans  uh moving forward and and what we would go forward   with design is complete has now been approved uh  by the Bureau of Reclamation we've got all the   permitting in place that we need to move forward  to construction this is just a picture showing   some more current conditions again there's about  a mile and a half of the soil cement portion of   this Dam you can see what's happened with some  of the erosion and and the need to get in and   make repairs now uh will certainly uh put us in a  better spot what happens in the future if we don't   take advantage of making repairs now is it's quite  possible uh that the Bureau of Reclamation or the   core of engineers could tell us that we need to  make repairs at some point in time we don't want   to be in a situation where the reservoirs come  back to normal pool and have to lower it again   this uh what this picture shows in the Orange is  basically how we would rebuild the steps the soil   cement Dam face has been again I mentioned has  seen significant erosion Decay concrete repairs   will be done in a step stairstep pattern starting  at the lowest uh elevation to be constructed first   uh the manager mentioned this on Friday during  our agender review and I think it's a really good   point to make is that obviously we go in and start  at the lowest level we start buying ourselves in   time if we can expedite that construction first  get even further up from the current water level   just in case we do get some precipitation at some  point in time hopefully we will we want to be able   to keep working and making improvements going  further up the phase this provides a strong base   for each step to build on uh extending the life  of the concrete and further protecting the inner   core of the dam and as I mentioned the bureau has  provided recommendation on the repair method and   has approved the plans so I I've mentioned this  already but I'll just hit on this again real real   quick if there's any Silver Lining to this drought  at all it's the abil to go in and make these   repairs now the current water level is uh almost  a foot and a half below where the proposed uh   repairs begin uh and certainly considerably lower  than the conservation pool which we're still about   8 feet down right now as you know in early August  the city entered into drought stage two uh due to   the lower Waters of the reservoir we can now make  these repairs without any additional lowering of   the water level uh and during construction we're  going to use use some Innovative technology with   a wave break system to protect the orc area from  wave action and and minimize additional lowering   so just on the chance uh when you get wind action  during construction if the water level starts to   come up we will do things to minimize the impact  of construction to make sure that we can keep   moving forward specific to project delivery  especially compared to uh if we were to look   at a the typical or more of a standard design  bid build approach for constru construction the   design is now complete again it's something we  started working on some years ago to make sure   we were prepared if this opportunity ever arose  like this without having to lower the reservoir   staff recommends a construction manager R risk  project delivery method this approach provides   the opportunity for an expedited construction  timeline increased project coordination and risk   mitigation up front the contract will include  a separation clause or contract cancellation   terms in the event precipitation cost AR rise  in the Reservoir level what we need to do got   a mile and a half long Dam uh time is of the  essence we're going to need to get multiple   contractors in here at the same time working  on the most critical areas first again starting   at the bottom there's a lot of coordination that  has to happen for us to be able to do that witha   traditional delivery methods would require us  bidding multiple projects and while we've done   this before and are pretty good at coordinating  things it would be really difficult uh for us to   be able to negotiate uh some of the risk issues  that we're dealing with the timing factors so by   doing this with a construction manager at risk  we've got one uh person we work with one firm   we work with who ends up hiring the contractors  they also do that by low bid so that we can be   the most cost effective here but they can manage  all of those Logistics multiple contracts working   together at the same time it's really going to  mitigate our risk up front and and I'll mention   again we'll work with them so that we have some  type of Separation Clause contract cancellation   if for some if for some reason if we get into  construction and we happen to start getting   some larger rain events and the reservoir starts  to come back up we most likely would contemplate   not moving forward I think the last thing any of  us want to do is get under construction have the   reservoir come up and then lower it again so it's  something that we'll work into this contract give   ourselves the best options uh to be able will  work our way out of that a firm will be chosen   through a request for qualifications with proposed  selection criteria you can see here not unlike   what we've done on design build projects fairly  similar approach project understanding approach   and experience of the proposer the two highest  weights are on proposed schedule and cost uh   because we do want to make sure that we can get  as much done as we can within the existing budget   and then as always we want to uh incentivize and  promote uh the use of emerging and disadvantaged businesses so I I talked about two phases  and the reason why this is split out in the   capital Improvement program is we thought  at one time we might be able to take on   part of this uh it's kind of a quick hit  project get part get the worst Parts taken   care of that's why this was a split out  because of where we're at with current   Reservoir levels and the ability to take  all of this on we're just combining those   two budgets in the CIP and requesting all that  funding at this time for a total of 13, 850,000 with that staff recommend city council approve  the budget approve the use of the semar project   delivery approve the RFQ criteria for that  same process adopt the resolution and authorize   necessary signatures pending your approval today  we do have the uh proposal almost ready to go out   the door we would hope to have a uh seamar in  place within 60 days and starting construction   soon after there should not be uh a lot of lead  time on material delivery or other procurements   so our hope is that construction could begin soon  after that and we can take advantage as much as   we can of the water level still being down I'd be  happy to answer any questions questions for staff   I see none I have one question um items four and  five actually showed the project will be funded by   specific funding streams but in this item that  was missing in the Green Sheet can you explain   how the project will be funded not just from the  CIP but uh the funding sources and thank you for   asking that mayor and what this item should have  indicated the same as items four and five we just   didn't get that on there for whatever reason  but it'll be funded by either future revenue   bonds or cash reserves just as the any of our  other utility projects would be on the capital side thank you Gary we will open it up for public comment I see none we'll bring it back  to the bench I see none so I will be   the one that motions to approve  uh the staff recommended action   that the city that we approve the budget  approve the use of a CM project delivery   approve the RFQ criteria adopt the resolution  and authorize the necessary signatures second   motion and a second any further discussion I see  none Madame clerk please open the rooll motion   passes 70 Madame clerk please call the next item  funding for 2024 railroad crossing improvements good morning again Paul gunman  Public Works and utilities for   the record this morning presentation  for funding for 2024 railroad crossing   improvements there are approximately  185 railroad crossing within the city   capital Improvement program includes  funding each year to help improve the crossings this is a photo of Harry and orient at  a location that had been completed in previous   years these improvements require coordination  with following railroads Burlington Northern   Santa Fe BNSF Union Pacific Railroad up Kansas  and Oklahoma Railroad and Witchita terminal Association most of the improvements are made  by the railroads and a portion of the costs are   paid by the city the city's funding is typically  utilized to upgrade railroad crossing materials   improve approach pavement and bring sidewalk  Crossings to current standards some maintenance   work such as minor improvements to Crossing  approaches and drainage improvements may also   be completed one of the locations that  is on the list to be completed in 2024   is May at Southwest Boulevard Crossing  improvements each year are determined by   railroad performing scheduled maintenance  and the opportunity to do the repairs   railroad approaches at the same time we also  take citizen complaint of rough crossings   that prompt us to discuss the railroad to  have it improved both the crossing surface   and the railroad approaches as needed and each  location is evaluated by engineering staff and   the respective railroad to determine the most  effective treatment to improv the crossing the   capital Improvement program includes $200,000 in  24 funded by General obligation bonds for railroad   crossing improvements staff recommends initiating  the full 2024 funding at this time questions for   staff beginning with council member hoisel thank  you mayor uh thank you Paul for the presentation   and your work on this um now uh we have at least  one Corridor in my district where they have the   Wayside signals is that something that um we can  work into a program like this cuz I know some   sometimes the rail companies will also um throw  in and donate or uh pay for a good chunk of the   Wayside signals as well and we want to make sure  we have safety first but after we get through some   of the safety concerns and upkeep on the the uh  Crossings I was just curious what the opportunity   would to expand it to Wayside signals as well  we do continue to look at that there are some   criteria to uh that we have to meet to do that  but yes we we continue to to look at that okay   appreciate it yes vice mayor Ballard thank you  mayor with these railroad improvements does that   come with weight times too not just kidding just  kidding not for these not really B just kidding   sorry okay any further questions for staff  I do have one question um are the overpasses   for the railroads for instance on uh Douglas  are they the responsibility of the city or the e some necessary signatures thank you and  all stand for any questions thank you Don   I see no questions for staff we'll open  it up for public comment I see none I'll   bring it back to the bench a motion to  approve the budget adopt the resolution   and authorize the necessary signatures  second motion and a second any further   discussion I see none Madame clerk please open  the r motion pass 70 Madame clerk please call   the next item reconnecting community's  discretionary pilot Grant agreement and funding Paul gunsman Public Works and utilities  I believe this is my last item for today   reconnecting communities discretionary pilot Grant  agreement and funding as part of the reconnecting   communities discretionary pilot grant program $1  billion has been programmed over the next 5 years   for planning and construction on October 11th 2022  the city council approv submission for a grant   application to be submitted for the 21st Street  Corridor as part of the bipartisan infrastructure   a notice of funding opportunity for communities  to submit a Grant application to reconnect   communities on March 1st 2023 city of Witchita  was notified the grant was awarded and it's been   a long time coming been back and forth with the  USD but on September 4th 2024 the United States   farmer Transportation approved the final version  of the grant agreement and authorized staff to proceed attached is a picture of the study  area um the 21st Street Corridor between   Broadway and i135 lies between two distinct  culturally rich neighborhoods to the West   lies to the west of the corridor lies witch's  North End the Hispanic Community with Mexican   and other Latin American immigrants and families  to the east of the corridor lies Northeast witcha   including Northeast M neighborhood and the  power neighborhood one mile Corridor between   the two neighborhoods includes multiple  sets of railroad tracks that are frequently   blocked by trains causing motorists to wait  extended period of time or avoid the corridor   altogether the estimated daily train movements  throughout the corridor is approximately 75 the grant will allow for the city to hire  a consultant to complete a planning study for   the corridor to find solutions to lessen the  impacts of train traffic hopefully decreased   times vice mayor the study will include an  in-depth analysis of the railroad traffic   including frequency of trains duration of trains  and how trains interact with adjacent rail Spurs   to serve local businesses and its yards as  part of the study I would like the consultant   to look at the railroad operations to see if  there's anything that they can do to help um   decrease the amount of time Motors weit at  The Crossings possible solutions would be   recommended to lessen the impacts the trains  have to the motorists traveling along 21st Street the amount of funding awarded by usdot  is $1 million the capital Improvement program   includes $250,000 identified for the local match  for this project it is recommended to initiate   $50,000 at this time to begin the solicitation  process to hire a consultant and then I will be   back in front of city council once a consultant  is uh selected for contract approval if approved   today it is recommended that city council approve  the budget EX acceptance of the grant approve the   agreement adopt the resolution and authorize  its signatures and I will stand for questions   questions for staff beginning with council member  ho Heisel thank you mayor and again thank you Paul   um all your work on this and I know Maggie's uh  really excited to get this one going um there's   a number of places I think 21st and Broadway  is probably the the most uh problematic spot   in the city um there are some other spots as  well so um could you give me just a little   bit of a background on this grant um how this  particular area got chosen for this Grant and   then also potential other opportunities for other  grants to look at some of the other problem spots   so this this uh location was selected due to  the you know it has been studied before um I   think there was a one of the recommendations was  a vehicular overpass um that wasn't moved forward   due to cutting access off to the local businesses  um what we have found as we were going through the   Grant application um and meeting with um Property  Owners adjacent businesses in the area um what we   had found were folks it's not necessarily the BNSF  line adjacent to Broadway that Train's usually   moving as it goes through there it's further to  the east with the up um where are switching trains   building trains Etc and some folks get stopped  up to 35 to 40 minutes while that's happening   occasionally Vehicles will get stopped between two  trains as well so we're hoping that this location   that we can find something um working with the  railroad it's being redeveloped getting more   Folks up there um that we can minimize or at least  decrease the amount of time people are stopped at   trains again with some of the businesses we talked  talked with up there um as a business owner they   you know they like the trains because it helps  their businesses get products in and out but   as employers they don't like to wait for them  either um and some of the businesses that are   going there are trying to hire um the workforce  that are in the adjacent um communities for   that so we're trying to um Transit doesn't go up  there now so if we can be more predictable when   the trains are then we can hopefully get more  people to and from that area and when you talk   about past plans is that the same plan that they  had when they did the uh Douglas Street overpass   as well I think it was after that um we had you  know there was some thought of rerouting some of   the trains moving BNSF tracks over towards the  east to you know get closer to up but um it's   difficult there with you know close proximity to  their yards so it's not moving the tracks isn't   an easy Prospect okay all right thank you vice  mayor Ballard thank you mayor thank you Paul I   know you've been working really hard on this for  almost two years so um but I am curious what does   the timeline look like moving forward I have the  um the request for qualifications almost written   so with approval today we'll get that out here  in the next couple weeks um I would like to have   a consultant on board by January 1st and then  how long will the study take um 16 to 18 months   is what we have for just to get all the public  Improvement the problem is Right Now understand   Chase yeah yeah so to get public input and working  with your railroads to see if there's anything   with their operations that we can work through  okay yes I will have a follow-up question to that   since this has been studied before and I think a  lot of folks know what the problems are what how   will this be different I think we'll probably in  my mind I think we need to work with again when we   we had heard um from some of the area residents as  we were putting this Grant application together um   some of the comments we had heard were even from  the railroads that they were stopped waiting in   to get into the yard I don't know if that's the  yard of their you know where they build trains or   if what they were talking about was the central  rail Corridor that we have kind of talked about   a little bit with Douglas Central 13th Street to  get those over so you know there's limited number   of tracks over that Corridor so they might  be staging north of there in order to enter   onto those tracks so I think that's some of the  information that we need to have the consultant   gather and understand railroad operations to see  if we can make any improvements to what they're doing I'll have one more question to that  obviously um a lot of folks do travel on   13th Street because there is that overpass  um and that is one of the major complaints   uh that we get regarding 21st and Broadway how  much was how much more was it back when they   were building the overpasses to build the 21st  Street one when they decided it was too costly   and how much will it be now I don't know the true  answer to that I would have to research that and   I don't know if it was too costly or again to if  it's elevated to get them back down into their   yards with the grade separation I think that was  part of it as well because there a lot of their   yard is up right up there north of 29th Street  where they have multiple tracks going over 29 or   at 29 great Crossing thank you I see no further  questions for staff we'll open it up for public comment see none we br bring it  back to the bench this resides   in council member Johnson and vice mayor Ballard's districts thank you mayor thank you  Council M Johnson um I'd like to take   the recommended action that the city council  approve the budget accept the grant approve   the agreement adopt the resolution and  authorize the necessary signatures second   motion and a second any further discussion  I see none Madame clerk please open the role   motion passes 70 Madame clerk please call the next  item 2025 Federal burn State Crisis Intervention   Program grants good morning mayor and city council  I'm captain Aaron Moses the executive officer of   the witch toop Police Department here to discuss  the 2025 Federal burn State Crisis Intervention   Program Grant application uh I think we're all  aware of what the integrated care teams or ICT   team model is but just for some background  as a team combined of professionals from law   enforcement social care and medical care we  currently have two separate models operating   within our city which is ic1 a true co-responder  level unit which includes a police officer um C   Care staff and a paramedic last year uh working  with the city manager's office and Sedwick County   uh leadership we expanded that model to go  through ICT 2 through five the ICT 2 through   five teams were structured differently so the two  through five teams include a comare master's level   employee and then a b a bachelor's level uh care  specialist they do not include a law enforcement   officer or a paramedic uh I know the vice mayor  and I attended a a community meeting where uh   questions were asked about that and we wanted  to evaluate the two through five model versus   the ict1 model to see the impact to our calls for  service and whether the additional law enforcement   staff would be needed in the future uh we are  very happy with the way the ICT 2 through 5   teams are functioning uh now but we do see some  opportunity for enhancement by adding in embedded   Law Enforcement Officers to more teams uh to  that end we identified the 2025 Federal burn   burn State Crisis Intervention Program Grant skip  for short um this grant does not have a match uh   and we do believe these funds would be available  to staff true integrated care teams to allow   for more than just ict1 this is a one-year  Grant and Our intention is is to apply for $496,500 for equipment for the ICT teams that  equipment includes radios for our civilian   staff uh and uh ballistic protection for the  civilian staff uh when we identified this grant   Chief solivan made it a priority to meet with  Malachi Winters uh who unfortunately couldn't   be here today but he is the manager of the uh  ICT teams from the county side uh so we had an   in-depth conversation with him about how he thinks  These funds would best suit the the partnership   and we landed on the full-time law enforcement  personnel as well as the ballistic protection   for civilian staff the total amount that we  apply we we intend to apply for is $538,500 model adding an embedded law enforcement officer  allows for a quicker response by ICT teams and   enhanced communication uh the current process for  ICT 2 through five involves two at at minimum two   police officers being dispatched to a call for  service upfront they will get there identify   this is an opportunity for an ICT team to respond  work with 911 to send a page to those ICT teams   and then communicate directly with the uh non-law  enforcement Personnel about what they have at the   call that they're at and why it's an ICT call and  then coordinate that response um our ICT teams   have uh learned radio etiquette very quickly uh  and work well with our officers on the radio but   having an embedded law enforcement officer does  cut out some of that middle man communication and   it will also allow for us to directly divert calls  from uh the commission police officers responding   initially because there will be a commissioned  officer embedded on more of these teams uh this   will allow Patrol officers to remain available for  other calls for service and there is a desire from   the clinicians that we've spoken with on our  teams to have embedded law enforcement on the   teams just for some context on the ict1 success  rate for treating in place it these are stat   statistics from March May June July and August  were missing April but in those months the T ict1   averaged 56.75 per treat in place which means they  responded and the person experiencing a mental   health crisis did not have to go somewhere else  be it uh a hospital C care or uh in the worst case   scenario jail for committing a crime uh our goal  is to see about 50% so we're exceeding that goal   with the ict1 model uh and in those months they  responded to 329 calls for service the recommended   actions to authorize the application for the 2025  Federal burn State Crisis Intervention Program   skip Grant uh and I happy to stand for questions  questions for staff beginning with Council hois   thank you mayor and thank you Captain appreciate  the work and the expansion on this this uh program   um definitely needed um so um was there concern  coming from ICT 2 through five they feel more   comfortable with an officer out um going with them  uh I wouldn't call it concern uh because with the   current model there are officers that remain on  scene with the two non-commission staff from the   ICT two through five teams there was a desire  to have an embedded law enforcement officer to   Quicken that response and then reduce the number  of officers that have to remain on scene we had   a discussion with Mr Winters about expanding ICT  325 staff the civilian staff uh they are having   challenges filling some of those positions already  due to the hours and the lack of the embedded uh   law enforcement officer so we as a group decided  that this would be the best way to utilize these   funds okay so no paramedics added to the uh not  at this time it would be a law enforcement officer   obviously the addition of paramedics would have  to be a decision made by Cedric County okay I I   know there are some concerns from people in the  community sorry um that having a uniformed officer   out there can exacerbate you know maybe somebody  triggers somebody um have we seen anything like   that with ict1 or any of the other circumstances  no and and I would challenge that assertion to   say in these situations when ICT 2 through 5  is responding there's actually more officers   generally there than when we utilize ict1 like  I said many of these calls are an automatic two   officer response those two officers respond to  the call they render the situation safe and then   they will call for an ICT team which would be the  civilian staff but they remain on scene with that   ICT staff um so there's already going to be  at least two officers there with the ICT one   one model there is one officer in the vehicle  that responds with the clinician um so there's   a reduction actually in the number of officers  on scene to maintain the safety of the situation   okay I appreciate that um last question um I know  there's some concern um about funding um employees   with grants so um what happens if and I I see that  we're going to try and apply for this grant for at   least two more years 26 and 27 um and probably  whenever it's available beyond that so what what   happens if um the grants run dry what would be our  contingency there it's a great question and it's   something that we evaluated and essentially the  need for these teams is so important that we   would absorb those into our current Staffing okay  all right thank you appreciate it council member   tutle thank you Captain and I just was gonna ask  the exact same thing anytime I see staff funded in   a grant it makes me worry right um but it sounds  like you have a solid plan that if funding weren't   allocated from other grants for for additional  funding that it would be absorbed in the budget   right so we wouldn't lose the positions  correct so our current authorized Staffing   is 707 commissioned officers this would Elevate  that to 711 if the grant were not to be renewed   or we were not able to get it in the future we  would go back to 707 but those four officers   would remain in the ICT teams okay thank you and  just as a side note to council member Johnson and   I had the pleasure of voting on ict1 and then two  through five so just glad to see that this pilot   project is really worked so thank you for all you  do I see no further questions thank you Captain   we will open it up for public comments you may come to the microphone  please state your name and your address mayor councilman and councilwomen  my name is Matt Foley I live in in a very   challenged neighborhood and I also indulge in  listening to broadcast and our dispatch and   Mental Health crisis in this city is a very  crucial issue I think we have now P 170,000   police signed cases so far this year the city is  in a state of meltdown mental health being able   to address mental health problems in the city is  a matter of extreme importance today also happens   to be the anniversary of Cedric lofton's death  while having a mental health crisis in custody   in a Cedric County Juvenile Detention Facility  so from a personal perspective and a longtime   activist in this city this sounds like it could be  quite beneficial to the future of this city and to   the children of this city because they need  a brighter happier future thank you for your time thank you Mr Foley we'll continue with public comment Twilight Purity District 1 um I am  for the this um but I do have some questions   so it's nearly $500,000 for four officers  will these officers only be available for   just one shift per day or is it two sh two  people two shifts I I I don't know how that's   envisioned so that's something that's curiosity  uh and the other thing is I mean hopefully you   will encourage the police department to gather  data on this you know I've um commented before   that there's not transparency on litigation  but perhaps you know you could see a change   in litigation or or suits filed by using  these uh additional folks uh in these crisis   teams but encourage the people to get the  data so that you know so that you'll have   it it could be really great news for WPD  but without the data you don't know thank you any further questions or sorry any further  individuals who would like to speak before the   council um Captain Moses uh I would just in  response to the to the last speaker we do   track uh detailed statistics related to all of  our ICT teams that includes ICT 235 currently   and ict1 and that will continue as far as  um number of calls responded to there's a   whole a whole Litany of of data points that uh  Malachi keeps track of for the ICT teams and we   will absolutely continue that I will ask one  follow-up question to that um are you looking   for any Partners I know that um you mentioned  equipment um are you looking also for individuals   or organizations to help out with uh equipment uh  we always welcome the opportunity for for Private   Industry obviously to invest in our city and and  partners to help us uh fund and support these opportunities thank you I see no oh council  member Johnson thanks mayor um council member   hoisel took all of my questions so the the  last one um though I can't remember the last   time we had a workshop on this I think it  was ICT one so could we potentially have a   workshop in the spring like no rush on it but  getting that data together and looking at the   impact I think that would be beneficial for  everyone cuz the workshop on ict1 was pretty   awesome just looking at how it's worked and  I think something with this sometime in the   spring like halfway through the grant would  be something that could benefit the community   yeah I wouldn't see an issue with that and  we also I think intend to cover some of this   information in our onbon on public safety  with with the county that's coming up okay   thank you thank you I will close public  comment and bring it back to the bench I will motion to approve the application for  the 2025 Federal burn State Crisis Intervention   Program Grant second motion and a second any  further discussion I see none Madame clerk please   open the RO motion passes 70 thank you Madame  clerk please call the next item Bond and note sale good morning mayor members of the city council  Mark Manning with the Department of Finance uh   today I want to present to you the results of  our most recent Bond and note sale uh just a   reminder we issue notes and bonds to finance  Capital Improvement projects notes are very   short-term instruments typically with a maturity  of about six months or to a year a year in this   case uh we typically use those to finance projects  that are in progress and then when a project is   completed uh we're either going to take those  notes out and pay pay cash to take them out or   we're going to issue bonds to replace those notes  so that's why we issue bonds our bonds typically   mature anywhere from 10 to 20 years depending on  the type of the bonds and and the financing of   those so just a reminder you actually approved  this sale on August 20th uh the sale occurred   on September 19th about two weeks ago uh we come  to you at the next available council meeting and   ask for your ratification of those sales results  so that's why I'm here today on October 1st first   and then we actually closed the bond sale on SE  on October 15th or in about two weeks so how do we   know whether we had a attractive sale we look at  a variety of metrics we look at whether the sale   was competitive and by competitive we Define that  as the number of biders we actually had a record   number of biders for this sale so we feel really  good about that we also like to see a really tight   spread between the highest and the lowest bidder  that tells us that the market views our debt as   attractive and there's not a lot of variant and  the spreads actually were very narrow this time   as well and then finally we'll compare it to  what other peers are selling for what some of   the indexes uh have interest rates at for recent  sales and again we compared very attractively to   those metrics as well so our results we view  as very very good uh we sold at one series of   notes series 318 uh this was about $81 Million  worth of notes about 45 million of those were   for special assessment projects and then about  36 million for were for General obligation at   large projects again we received seven bids I  think the previous we've we've received seven   before so this wasn't a record on the notes uh we  awarded the TD Securities and our interest rate is 2.84% we also sold a series of 835 bonds these are  GE at large they're about 26 million these bonds   will be used to finance West Bank improvements  we received nine bids the most we' received   previous to this in any sale at least as far as I  my records go back were seven so it was very very   competitive which is very good uh we uh awarded  the bid to Robert be and Company at an interest   rate of 3.37% I should mention these actually  have a maturity of 15 years most of our GE   typically has a maturity of 10 but we stretch the  maturity on these to 15 finally we sold a series   of special assessment bonds these are series 834  we sold about $33 million of these bonds uh these   are paid off by special assessments assess to  property and benefit districts we received 15   bids uh the most I had ever seen previously I  think was 10 so these were for whatever reason   these were very attractive in the marketplace  very tight spread uh we awarded the bid to UBS   Financial Services at a rate of 3.47% these are  20 year 15 and 20 depends on the special but some   of the maturities are 15 and some are 20 in this  uh series uh so the recommended action today is   that you ratify the award of the bids uh which the  city manager approved after the sale uh that you   adopt the bond ordinances on an emergency basis  that you adopt the bond and note resolutions and   that you authorize the necessary signatures and  I'd be happy to answer any questions if there are   any questions for staff thank you Mark I do have  a question um regarding the series 835 you just   mentioned this is for West Bank improvements yes  Ma'am why is it 15E maturity and not 10 uh those   are financed out of Tiff and Sid revenues  generated in the West Bank and typically we   like to match the maturity schedule with the uh  viability of the of the Tiff and the SIDS we're   trying to match our inflows with our outflows  and those two financing Arrangements have a   life longer lifespan so we stretch the debt  to match the lifespan of those two uh areas I see no further questions thank you Mark  we'll open it up for public comment I see none   I'll bring it back to the bench I will motion to  approve uh sorry I will motion to ratify the award   of the bids by the city manager for each series  of bonds and notes adopt the bond ordinance on a   declaration of emergency basis adopt the bond and  note resolutions and authorize the necessary sign   second motion and a second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk   please open the rle motion passes  70 Madame clerk please call the next item airport hotel LLC supplemental agreement  number two wiah Dwight D Eisenhower National   Airport good morning mayor council members Jesse  rmo director of airports for WI report Authority   good to be here this morning with you talk  about a good project that just needs a little   bit of time in background December 2021 airport  hotel entered into a concession lease agreement   with the airport authority to develop a hotel  at Eisenhower the address there is just North   of the Hampton Inn if you're familiar right  off of eisar Parkway the agreement required   a minimum of investment of 15 million of private  funds they are going to construct a dual brandit   hotel that has both Hilton Garden in and uh  Homewood Suites the agreement contained an   initial construction schedule that dictated a  construction start date and allow termination   of the agreement if a final certificate  of occupancy was not issued by June 1 of 2024 during 2022 there were several delays  many of them were outside of the developer   Direct Control that led to their request to  extend the construction schedule and its uh   related deadlines by six months we evaluated  and we concurred with the uh extension we saw   progress was being made and in early 2023  under the authority afforded me in the   agreement we approved the extension of the uh  certificate of occupany issuance to 121 of 2024   this time extension did not impact the rent  schedule which went into effect on February   1st of 2023 so since that point they have been  paying and continued to pay us land rent each month airport hotel has provided quarterly  construction status updates to us throughout   this year we have in turn shared that with  our airport Advisory board at each of their   meetings and in September we finally came to  a point where they said they needed additional   time and requested a six-month extension to the  project completion so the issuance of the final   certificate of occupancy would be moved another  six months weather and supply chain issues were   among the main drivers of project delay I  just wanted to share with you some pictures   of progress uh the first one left to right was  taken March uh late April and then early June and   then this past Friday I was driving around and got  pictures of what the site looks like currently and   so we can see a lot of progress has been made uh  externally you'll notice a lot of vehicles and and   contractors are present What You Won't See is all  the activity that is inside the building going on currently there are no changes to term  or financial arraignments to this uh   agreement the initial term is 30 years with  two 10year options the annual land rent of   73,000 remains in effect until the end of 2025  starting January 26 they're either going to   pay us a commission of defined total annual  gross revenue or 73,000 whichever is greater   and those commissions are called to increase at  different increments in different years 3.5% in   2050 4.5% in 2058 5.5% in 2063 all those things  remain intact so there is no Financial impact   to the airport Authority with this extension  with that said it's recommended that we do   approve the supplemental agreement authorized  necessary signatures I am happy to stand for   any questions thank you Jesse question for staff  I see none I'll just ask one question obviously   anytime development happens on Airport property  it still belongs to the airport Authority so can   you explain that one more time folks sure thing  uh the fa puts upon us to control property and   land use and typically when you're working with  an airport you're either going to the airport   authori is either going to own properties on  the front end or the back end of a deal the   back end we call a reversion clause which comes  back to us typically what we see uh with all of   our agreements there's very minor exceptions  and that's for a couple uh government related   properties but we own everything on the front  end so this hotel that is being constructed   is owned by the witto Airport Authority  on the front end of this agreement thank   you sure I see no further questions for staff  thank you Jesse we'll open it up for public comment yeah ex twiler Purity district one um  so in my career as a Healthcare Executive I did   several construction projects and I negotiated  a lot of construction contracts and dealt with contractors so some of the questions about the  delays one of them is I saw how the city was   going to get additional Revenue when the hotel  is open but I didn't see in the presentation what   Revenue has been lost by giving in to these  delays uh when contracts are strongly worded   when there's penalties for delays typically  contractors find a way to get the work done   um the two delays I guess are just really U  A Cause um of concern for for me is it just   because the city's you know easygo and say yeah  that's fine um or have other hotels or other other   construction projects not just here but have  they all been delayed this number of months   I I just think you're there's the potential that  you're leaving um money on the table when perhaps   we're being a little too lenient with folks that  you've uh contracted to do their job thank you mayor if I can yeah thank you I'll start and if  Jesse wants to supplement my comments he'd be   welcome to um this agreement um was crafted based  on some experience we had with this developer on   another project and what uh was just mentioned  was an issue on that previous project uh delays   in completion of the project which also then  delayed us in terms of the revenue we would   receive from the project and that is why uh the  airport Authority staff negotiated a base rent   for the land from the beginning of the project so  um we may be out some commission Revenue but we   are we've established a floor U and that continues  into the future to make sure that we're protected   and we have a revenue stream throughout the  construction process even if that process is   delayed so um want to say that we learned from  a previous problem and and uh and put in some safeguards if I could just elaborate a little bit  on that too and and clarify there is absolutely   no loss of Revenue to the airport Authority the  way the agreement was structured we do get that   land rent as the city manager pointed out which  already went into effect and they started to pay   on that there are already triggers and timelines  established for commission we are not at that   point yet so the only thing that this impacts  is actually the tenant's ability to operate   the uh hotel and so that timeline has shifted a  little bit on their end by a couple months but   it does not impact our Revenue collections of  it and the city manager is absolutely correct   there were uh a lot of safeguards put in place  there were deposits put down that they had to   hit certain Milestones like roof completion and  um there was there's still actually some money   and escrow to address any other outstanding  issues along with all the bonds uh that we   have for construction that protect the airport  Authority so again no loss of Revenue at all   all those timelines the rent schedule and  all those fees remain in place and they are   current and paying those on a monthly basis I  also will note that there is an incentive to   the developer to complete this project because  they are paying rent to us without any Revenue   coming in from the project and that's why  we implemented the process the way we did council member Johnson thanks mayor um there  was also I can't remember the amount that was   put in escrow to guarantee that this project  would happen too there was $250,000 put into   an escrow account to address any outstanding  issues there was also a $2 million um deposit   that was made that one was a little bit more  abnormal and that um was triggered when roof   completion was done so we went through a  certification process process to make sure   work was done inspected it and release those  funds but the 250,000 remains in NCR thank you we will close public comment and bring it  back to the bench this resides in Council District   mayor with a motion to approve as presented  second motion and a second any further discussion   I see none Madame clerk please open the role Mo motion passes 70 Madame clerk please  call the next item approval of travel for   council member Glascock to attend the American  Council of young political leaders in the United   States Department of State in Malaysia and  the Philippines December 5th through 20th   2024 council member glassock thank you mayor just  wanted to speak to this briefly uh the American   Coalition of young political leaders um manages  the US Department of States funded exchange uh   for American leaders to travel internationally so  I'll be part of a delegation um 79 leaders uh who   are elected or appointed in government public  policy or business um and all exchanges start   in Washington DC uh we're going to be meeting with  elected officials political party Representatives   policy experts and members of the business  community in both Malaysia and the Philippines   I do plan to attend uh remotely the City Council  meetings I think it's 2: am um in the Far East so   that will be a fun experience for me and this  is fully funded by the United States uh United   States state department uh there's no cost to  taxpayers council member hoisel thank you mayor   um what's the cut off for young political leaders  just curious so according to the definition   it's 25 to 41 41 man I I got four months here or  so to squeeze in under that one council member   Johnson thanks mayor um council member what is  your form of travel are you swimming or uh I   need to work out a little bit more for that I  motion to approve the travel second Motion in   a second any further discussion I see none Madam  clerk please open the rooll motion passes 60 with   one abstention Madame clerk please call the next  item approval of travel for mayor woo to attend   the 2024 mayor Summit against anti semitism in  Beverly Hills California December 11th through 13   2024 I will add some context to that um this is an  event hosted by the combat anti-Semitism movement   in partnership with the city of Beverly Hills  there will be no taxpayer dollars to uh for   this travel travel meals and accommodations are  uh Prov covered by the combat hate Foundation   which is a 501c3 uh this is an invitation to  Mayors um and and have been approved by Mayors   in New York Kansas City Colombia New Orleans Las  Vegas Miami Albany Rochester and other cities second with a motion to approve Motion in  a second any further discussion I see none   Madam clerk please open the role motion passes 60  with one exstension madame clerk please call the   next item approval of travel for council member  tutle to attend the national business Aviation   Association inless V Vegas Nevada October  21st through 24th 2024 council member Tuttle   thank you um I was invited by the greater witto  partnership as well as our economic development   team to attend I've attended in the past and um  I'm excited to go and make sure that we represent   the city of witow well um we are the AA capital  of the world and make sure that we need to have   a presence there um the registration for the the  booth if you will the exhibition is covered by   the great witto partnership but the rest of  my travel we come from economic development   team I would just like to make a caveat based  on an earlier discussion that we've had today   it seems like the work I was going to join  remotely for the workshop um but now that the   workshop topic has been defined and um something  that I'm pretty interested in I will be working   with Troy to see if maybe my travel needs to be  flexed so legal I have two questions for you if   we do change the date and maybe I don't go out  until Tuesday would we bring this item back to   us what you could do was just have the motion  be um subject to scheduling needs okay offer   those alternative dates in the motion okay and  then my other question is just really logistical   parliamentary procedure if you will um the whole  time I've been here no one's ever abstained from   their travel before and two have today um I  wasn't planning on abstaining can you just   provide some clarification so I know what to do  and if and if we're supposed to have been doing   it wrong for five years and nine months there's  no world guidance on this specific travel item   our policy doesn't require that you abstain  from voting on travel it's thank you thank you council member Johnson thanks mayor  um before I move on the Travel their round   building is digital could you bring back some  help for our round building I move to approve   the travel second Motion in a second any further  discussion I see none Madam clerk please open the   rooll motion passes 70 Madame clerk please call  the next item council member appointments and   comments are there any appointments I see none  we will move to comments are there any comments   council member Tuttle thank you um I am a proud  graduate of leadership witto class of 2015 the   best class ever um and now I'm serve on the Board  of Trustees and on Friday leadership wit held our   government day which is local government day  which is an opportunity for the 34 participants   in leadership wiah who are you know leaders and  and really just exceptional professionals who   represent our city well to learn more about the  functionality of the city of which Taswell is   Cedric County um and from the city we had Dante  Martin assistant city manager Troy Anderson   assistant city manager Jamie Nicks director of  Library Gary Jansen director of Public Works and   utilities and Penny director of Transportation all  give presentations um just really um and I'm sorry   Mark Manning with Director of Finance as well um  just did a fantastic job of representing the city   of Witchita I had so many positive comments from  participants saying how much they learned about   the city the most important comment that I think  that was made as a participant in the class said   that she earnestly felt like the city of WI wants  their feedback and and cedri County as well but   it was discussing the city so just couldn't  have been more proud of our team so thank you   for representing us so well at leadership which  saw last Friday um and then also just a a comment um oh wait um just a comment  about North Carolina and if   we can please keep them in our hearts thank you Miss mayor Ballard thank you mayor um I don't  know if this is a question for Bob or for legal   there seems to be a lot of conversations lately  happening about Council travel and I wasn't here   when the ordinance um I believe was um moved  forward so I'm just curious most people are not   going to watch the meeting to see um who's paying  for Council so I don't know if that's something   that we add from what I understand in the past  it's been put in the agenda for transparency but   I think it's a little misleading when we're  approving it if we're if someone doesn't say   who's paying for it I don't know it just seems  to get a little bit messy and um I don't know   if you have any context or can clarify any of  that it looks like the taxpayers are paying   for it sometimes unless you watch the meeting um  and or ask somebody so um I don't have a problem   I just want to make sure that um it's a little  a little more clear maybe for the public mayor   what the ordinance does requires approval of  travel at a cost of the city over $500 so when   other organizations are paying for it do those  not need to be on there or I believe it's been   just past practice and somebody you correct me if  I'm wrong I think it's um just been been done as   a practice council member Glascock I think the  clarification for that though would be based on   the ethics ordinance um that we passed previously  if we receive a gift then it would have to be from   the bench so I think that would probably be the  additional context is if somebody's paying for   it then we'd have to have it from the bench it  be approved by Council would that be a correct understanding I think so yeah I mean I think  it's it's just to clarify that it's a gift or   not a gift so then those would end up on their  um gift list or any of our gift lists if another   organization is p for the trip that is to the  definition of of gift and gift is defined in the   ordinance so it's not that I can say every time  it would be considered a gift I mean gift is is   actually defined I can't say that each time would  be considered a gift council member Glascock thank   you and for I I know I had that question when we  were talking about the um ethics ordinance the   understanding that uh Kathy seon had said that if  it's approved From the Bench then it doesn't have   to be in the into your report because it's already  publicly declared From the Bench was her answer to   that question too thank you for that reminder I  just did not recall thank you the council member   Tuttle yeah I was just going to highlight that too  um I have not ever claimed it and most of the time   when I am traveling it's because I've been asked  to referen the city and to present and so then I   don't really consider it as much of a gift when  I'm going there to work so thank you so member   glass thank you last comment I have about the I  I think Vice ballor or balor's question comes up   because of a conversation her and I had about um  Myers traveled Oklahoma City and that we didn't   say from the bench that there weren't uh taxpayer  um funds being used for it and so um there were   no taxpayer funds used for it so I'll put that  on the record when we traveled to Oklahoma City   the mayor and I taxpayer funds were not used but  we didn't say that from the bench so that was I   think the vice mayor's comments and we had a good  conversation about it that we'll do I'll be much   more intentional especially when we have these  conversations From the Bench clarifying that for   the record as well any further comments I see  none I motion to adjourn this meeting second   Motion in a second any further discussion I see  none Madame clerk please open the r motion passes 61 have a great day for