e e e e e e e e well welcome to City Hall to many of you  here here in this room and good morning   witch we'll call the meeting to order  at this time with us today is Elder DNE   Maguire with the Ark Church to provide  our invocation following that invocation   we will have the Pledge of Allegiance  we ask that you please stand for both mayor woo and City Council Members as a lifelong  witchin thank you for the honor and privilege to   be able to open this council meeting in a word of  prayer this morning let's all pray together father   thank you for this day that you have given us we  invite you into this place and we ask for Godly   wisdom and guidance for this Council as issues  being discussed here this morning are important   to the EM betterment to the betterment of our  fine City your word teaches that you are a shield   our glory and the lifter of our head we need  your strength your peace and your love over   our city some in our community have suffered  terrible tragedy and senseless acts of violence   here in these past few days and we pray comfort  from the Holy Spirit over each and every one of   them we pray over our police our First Responders  those with mental health issues substance abusers   homelessness our orphans and Foster Care  our education systems and the safety of of   our children in their schoolroom classes this  morning let we the Church of Jesus Christ and   our city officials come together in unity and be  the hands and feet to make wital a better safer   more prosperous place to live in all facets  of Our Lives let everything done here today   be done with decency and order and we pray  this in the name of our Lord and savior The   Only Name by which men and women can be saved  the powerful and mighty name of Jesus Amen IED Al to the flag of the  United States of America and theice thank you very much Madam clerk can you  please call the first item approve the minutes   of the regular meeting of September 10th 20 24  are there any changes or corrections I see none   I move to approve the meet meeting minutes for  September 10th 2024 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 proclamations we have  Awards and proclamations today the proclam   ations are drug abuse and mental health  awareness day kmuw week Hispanic Heritage   Month and then for awards we have  a certificate of recognition for   Paris Fashion Week can we please ask AGC of  Kansas to come forward and all its members the proclamation reads the city of Witchita  Kansas founded in 1870 whereas the associated   general contractors AGC of Kansas the  Chamber of Commerce for the Kansas   construction industry representing 300 Kansas  commercial industrial and utility Construction   contractors and their 20,000 employees and  whereas AGC of Kansas is proud to partner   with the public and private sectors including  the Kansas construction industry US Department   of Labor OSHA and the Kansas Mental Health  Association to recognize the month of September   as opioid abuse and National Suicide Prevention  Mental Health Awareness Month whereas AGC of   Kansas and IT industry Partners created the  Kansas construction safety Network to provide   opioid Abuse and Mental Health Resources and  to bring attention to the critical challenges   associated with drug abuse and mental health in  our community whereas AGC of Kansas has worked   with its 300 Kansas construction firms to hold a  construction day stand up on their construction   job sites across Kansas to recognize drug  abuse mental health month now therefore be   it resolved that I Lily woo mayor of the city  of Witchita Kansas along with the Witchita   city council do hereby Proclaim September 17th  2024 as drug abuse and mental health awareness [Applause] day thank you mayor I'd like to recognize a  few of our leaders and uh our co-chairs of our   Safety Committee uh George delator with Hutton uh  Matt Lashley with Higgins group our president uh   in fact a fifth generation uh I want you to  think about that in business in general you   rarely see a first or second generation but this  is a fifth generation uh construction firm right   here in witto Kansas Raymond donlinger with  donlinger construction uh we also have uh Rob   kelp uh with Decker electric also our partners  with the uh US Department of Labor in OSHA uh   Randy Wilson and David McDonald and then within  the Kansas uh Department of Labor uh Shane etal   uh this partnership is has been put together  over the last couple years uh it's the first   of its kind uh we have a safety alliance with the  US Department of Labor uh the Kansas Department of   Labor the Kansas Mental Health Association and the  construction industry to address mental health uh   and and uh drug abuse uh one of the things that  we all know is that uh mental health is becoming   more and more of a challenge especially postco era  uh in addition our Safety Committee is committed   to all aspects of job site safety including uh  putting on quarterly uh Naran training associated   with uh with fentel uh which is infiltrating  all parts of this country in fact I was at a   national meeting not too long ago uh where we were  talking about the Narcan training that our Safety   Committee is putting on and one of the persons  said yall in the middle part of the country is   fentel that much of a challenge and I said it  touches everybody's lives every day so our Safety   Committee is is really proud of the work that  we're doing uh a lot of times the only time you   hear about our industry is through the media and  uh we have done a a Yan's job of telling the story   of what the construction industry does a lot of  men hours women hours uh and and money put into   job site safety to make sure our construction  workers which we represent over 20,000 uh   construction workers across the state go home  safe at night I tell people uh a lot of times   the general public uh doesn't fully understand  what construction contractors do but in order   for a contractor to bid work they have to have  insurance if they do not pay attention and and   invest in safety they don't get insurance  underwriting and as a result they're out   of business so there's a vested interest not  only from a business standpoint but being a   good corporate citizen to make sure that their  citizens and their Community are are working   as safe as possible I I visited with the mayor a  second ago uh this whole safety Focus ties back to   one of the largest Workforce Development programs  in in the country especially here in Kansas it's   called buildup Kansas in fact uh mayor and city  council uh I had left a brochure on this program   uh this this program is designed to attract the  younger generation into the construction industry   to pursue professional careers we're extremely  proud uh that the governor the lieutenant governor   and the legislature have partnered with AGC  to create the largest Workforce Development   program and resurrecting vocational CTE vocational  programming in into every High School across the   state of Kansas currently we have uh almost 150  high schools and 15 community colleges they're   using our training curriculum that equates to  over 9,000 students uh in construction trades   programs mayor city council I'm extremely proud  to announce that all nine USD 259 high schools   are online with construction trades those 9,000  students are included 21 % female and uh 12%   minority uh our goal next year is to have 25,000  students across the state in construction trades   uh the governor and lieutenant governor uh finally  understood along with the legislature that the key   to Economic Development and I know the mayor knows  this because in her former life we were talking   earlier uh she did two stories uh on AGC in the  construction industry in buildup Kansas a couple   three years ago out at the the segwick County  Zoo and interviewed a gentleman who graduated   from Bishop Carroll High School and uh now that  gentleman is making almost six figures in his mid   20s coming out of high school a lot of kids do not  have the wherewithal to go to college or cannot or   not interested we are committed to giving them a  life skill in high school and also with that life   skill give them an opportunity to get into the  construction industry or other Industries versus   leaving the state we consistently run 42nd to 45th  in the country for out migration of population a   lot of those kids feel like they have to move  somewhere else we give them a life skill early   on then they will have those credentials they  will work here in witch they'll meet their future   spouse and we'll start families in in witto  and we'll grow not only witto but Kansas but   the spark that really ignited this a few years  ago when the legislature approached AGC about a   partnership to resurrect CTE vocation programming  was the $5 billion Panasonic project and I know   we have an integer project that's coming but  the number one question that Panasonic ask   of the legislature in deciding whether to come to  Kansas or Oklahoma was can you build and Main our   maintain our facility and that required skilled  workers so we are committed to working with the   legislature working with our Educators across the  state to energize a pipeline of skilled workers   in order for our economic developers to do the  very best to attract and retain our businesses   and I know the city of witto the leadership up  here is constantly entertaining opportunities   for new business industry with the help of  Bob blon and his staff uh that will continue   to move forward because we will have that skilled  Workforce through these construction uh leaders up   here to deliver on that and we will provide the  younger generation with the necessary skills to   get those jobs those good paying jobs just like  that gentleman that mayor woo interviewed a few   years ago out at the seg W County uh Zoo so thank  you thank you thank you the construction industry   sometimes is viewed as not the sexy kid on  the Block but I can assure you we're the   biggest industry across the state of Kansas and  we provide longterm professional careers for a a   wide cross-section of of young women and men and  minorities in this state so thank you again for   your attention today and thank you mayor thank  you city council for your leadership [Applause] may I please ask kmuw public  radio to come forward at the time the proclamation reads the city of which  T Kansas founded in 1870 whereas kmuw public   radio is celebrating 75 years of community  service for Witchita and since South Central   Kansas kmuw creates a more informed and curious  public through deeper understanding of ideas   arts culture and Community whereas kmuw  strives to Be an Effective positive and   productive Community partner that resides that  residents can always count on including times   of Crisis through emergency alerts whereas  kmuw provides invaluable award-winning local   reporting of substantive issues and current  events through the support of individuals   and companies in the community whereas kmuw  tells the stories of the people and places   of wiah to witchin and to the world through  broadcasts and podcasts available to Millions   and is deeply rooted in the community and has  been licensed to Witchita State University since   1949 now therefore be it resolved that I Lily  woo mayor of the city of Witchita Kansas along   with the Witchita city council do hereby proclaim  the first week of September 2024 as kmuw week in   the city of Witchita and encourage all citizens to  recognize the contributions of public broadcasting [Applause]   I'll just say quickly that KW does take its  role in the community as a community service   very seriously and we believe that from arts and  culture to Science and Technology there are a   lot of good stories in this community and we think  they're all they all need to be told and thank you that's for may I please ask the Witchita Hispanic chamber of   commerce and all its Partners  to come forward at this time the proclamation reads the city of wiah Kansas  founded in 1870 whereas Latinos and Hispanics   have played a pivotal role in shaping the  social cultural and economic landscape of   Witchita contributing to every sector from Arts  to education business Civic leadership and Beyond   whereas the city of Witchita takes pride in its  strong partnership with the Hispanic chamber of   commerce which tirelessly advocates for  the economic advancement and empowerment   of Hispanic businesses fostering a more inclusive  and prosperous Community for all whereas Hispanic   heritage is an integral part of witch's  identity enhancing our community with unique   Traditions culinary Delights artistic expressions  and cultural celebrations thereby enriching the   lives of all residents whereas Witch is committed  to celebrating the contributions and achievements   of its Latino and Hispanic residents recognizing  their invaluable role in creating a vibrant   inclusive and dynamic city now therefore be it  resolved that I Lily woo mayor of the city of   Witchita Kansas along along with the Witchita  city council do hereby Proclaim September 15th   through October 15th 2024 as Hispanic Heritage  Month in the city of Witchita and encourage all   citizens to honor the contributions of the  Latino and Hispanic Community participate in   cultural events and join in celebrating the  rich diversity that makes our city unique [Applause] thank you thank you for this honor and for recognizing  the vital contributions of the Hispanic community   in our city of wiah on behalf of the wita  Hispanic chamber of commerce all of my friends   and the large Hispanic Community here in WIA I  am proud to accept this Proclamation WIA is home   to a vibrant diverse community where people from  many different backgrounds live work and together   we all contribute to the collective success of  our region today wi is home to more than 699,000   Hispanic making up over 17% of the population  ours is a story of opportunity and contribution   and it shows that the Hispanic Community is  not just a part of which it do present but   it's essential of its future our present is felt  in every in in every sector business culture Civic   leadership and education we are proud of the  strong working relationships among wi Hispanic   leaders which promote economic advancement  and create opportunities for all Hispanic   entrepreneurs businesses and Community leaders  are making a lasting impact on our on our on our   economy Hispanic households continue to invest in  the future with 50% % of these households raising   children showing our commitment to build to  building a strong foundation for the next   generation Our Traditions our language our values  are part of the rich fabric of this community we   are proud to call this place our home and we are  even prouder to continue growing and contributing   to its success let this Proclamation serve as  a reminder that the Hispanic Community is in is   integr to which it a success it is a testament  to the power of diversity and the strength that   comes from embracing the contributions of all  people together we will continue to build a   future where opportunity and collaboration  Thrive thank you much gracias [Applause] than may I invite um council member Glascock and may we please ask Hazel  Stabler to please come forward at this time this is a special recognition on the behalf of  the witcha city council in recognition of Hazel   Stabler this certificate of recognition reads  it is to highlight her rich contributions to   the Native American and Hispanic culture  through her designs and using her skills   and fashion to tell people's stories through ART  as she prepares to travel to Paris to represent   witch Kansas at the Paris fashion  week we thank Hazel for her leadership   and dedication to her craft and for her  willingness to teach others congratulations hazel good morning thank you for this  opportunity to be here today I'm excited   I'm leaving this Saturday and my show  will be on um September 27th I'm very   excited to represent Witchita and  this state of Kansas and my native   community and sharing my culture through  fashion and I thank you very [Applause] much Madame clerk please call the next item next we have the public agenda  the first speaker is Donna   Castillo Garcia proposal for inclusion  of health services in the multi- agency Center uh good morning city council I'm Donna  you guys may remember me from last spring when   I talked to you about a Medicaid expansion while  I'm back back I have another issue I'd like to   address today um I'd like to talk to you a little  bit about um healthcare services that are going to   be offered at the Mac the multi- agency uh Center  so as I'm sure all of you are aware but for those   who may not uh Sedwick county has a homelessness  task force um they uh work on mobilizing community   advocacy groups and streamlining services for uh  the witch tall area for homeless uh care a key   element that's being discussed right now is the  develop of a multi- agency Center are a Mac for   homelessness this provides uh essential Services  all in one place in a mall-like environment and a   significant component of this facility is going to  be the nurses Health station um it's designed to   provide basic uh first aid care to the clients at  the mac and the city has set an ambitious goal for   the Mac to be operational by Thanksgiving so that  means that um Renovations security installations   Furnishing um and uh service contracts  all have to be established in just a few   short months so I'd like to speak to you from  my experience at last year's emergency shelter   despite some of the initial challenges we were  very successful in developing processes um we   were able to increase the capacity of nurses to  see up to 35 patients in just a few hours uh we   streamlined intake processes we developed a clear  system that addressed the client's immediate needs   and we provide uh reliable referrals to Chronic  management and then most importantly we saved   lives um like administering Nar can during  overdose situations and calling EMS when the   situation um called for it so I can tell you what  works in healthcare uh operations um collaborating   with multiple entities to make sure that we  have supplies that are donated like medications   dressing supplies wound care um and first aid  equipment effective communication strategies   between the medical medical staff volunteers and  the organizations and standardized procedures   like intake and document processes that ensure  consistent and reliable care I can also tell you   what doesn't work and that's placing the burden  of Care on the client themselves uh poor planning   and reactive care models lead to burnout  and insufficiencies deploying inexperienced   volunteers without training or supervision relying  on passive efforts to recruit volunteers instead   of a proactive engagement model and overlooking  the specific Healthcare needs of homeless people   such as uh communicable disease chronic disease  substance use um and mental health support and I   wouldn't stand in front of you today without some  recommend commendations with all the problems so   I would advise um perhaps mobilizing the network  of independent volunteers that we already have   working the streets um they're familiar with  the clients um they know them by name uh and   they can really help with that transition uh we  can involve health science students who are eager   to gain hands-on experience with marginalized  populations and who need this trauma informed   care um experiences H we can Empower volunteers  and staff with the necessary supplies onboarding   processes um to provide effective care with the  resources they need and we can ensure that the   health station staff are at minimally aware of  what trauma informed care practices look like   to create welcoming and safe environments so the  nurses station will be critical in addressing the   immediate Healthcare needs of clients seeking help  at the mac and it's the importance of this project   cannot be understated this population is highly  vulnerable to abuse and neglect even from the most   well-meaning individuals if proper planning and  safety measures are not implemented um homeless   individuals may avoid the V the Mac altogether  if it becomes dangerous or inhospitable hastily   established shelters often suffer from inadequate  Staffing security utilities medical care supplies   making them feel more like prisons or psychiatric  Wards overcrowding unsanitary conditions uh staff   mistreatment and lack of safety can lead to  physical harm theft further marginalization   of these individuals that the faciliity is meant  to serve so by focusing on these strategies that   I talked about the nurses Health station at the  Mac can provide critical services that meet the   Urgent and ongoing Health Care needs of homeless  population of witch so thank you for your time and   your consideration and I'd be happy to stand for  any questions that you might have there's a whole   Board of questions so thank you so very much for  uh speaking today we'll begin with council member   John done Donna thank you very much for coming  I appreciate your interest and your your helping   last year and uh probably this year too so yes  just just to clarify the shelter will only be   open this winter the Mac will not be ready yet  okay so the Mac hopefully will be ready by next   summer spring summer and I I have been in contact  um with the individuals who are working on it with   the task force um and they did say that they are  planning to do the nurses station when they start   the um the the winter shelter um that's part of  the emergency services that they give and then   when the Mac does come open they intend to extend  those services to all year round that that is   correct yeah yeah and I'm I'm on the task force as  is Council Ballard um Hunter Health and Grace met   are very much involved yes and B Lupe Clinic to  a certain extent too so and I'm sure Health core   will be on on board also so all those agencies  can uh can help that effort to really care for   people that that are homeless and and get them  stabilized and get thank you for your your efforts   and thanks for your passion very much appreciate  it absolutely council member ho Heisel than sorry   thank you mayor um council member Johnson said  a lot of what I wanted to say first of all thank   you to every provider who had a stake in last  year and a stake going forward um you guys truly   are saving lives so from the bottom of my heart I  appreciate that um I guess my next question would   be for staff maybe Troy um how much input have we  gotten from other shelters pertaining to Medical   Care um and you've been on board this pretty much  this whole time helping to get this project off   the ground um could you just give a little bit of  an update as far as input we've gotten from other   other shelters around the nation yeah so uh staff  together with our development partner Petra um   hfg architecture macallen Gordon construction um  before and as part of the site selection process   and the site selection recommendation our team  has visited with uh a number of other facilities   Across the Nation um and glean from that some of  the industry standard best practices uh not only   with regards to uh shelter non- conre shelter  housing but also uh the healthare that will   and should be provided to uh those patrons who are  are frequent in these facilities and so absolutely   we've we've had a number of conversations with um  other facilities Across the Nation and tried to   understand uh better in addition to that we've  also engaged local stakeholders who are in the   health care space in fact um even even as recently  as late last week right our development partner is   having conversations with these Community Partners  to understand exactly what it means means for   providing those healthcare related services at  the at the Mac yeah thank you and I appreciate   all the work you've done on it and Donna same  with you and everybody who has a stake in this   um is doing great work and let's make this thing  as U efficient and uh as high quality as possible   thank you council member Johnson thank you mayor  thank you Donna for being here again and your   continued advocacy um you brought up a kind of a  dis Trust and that's something I heard from some   of the unhoused community last year do you have  any suggestions I always ask folks if you have   suggestions on how to build trust to encourage  them to come into facilities um so consistency   of Provider care has been shown um is the most  effective way to build trust over time um and   having that transparency so we're we're talking  to them about what's going on we're we're asking   for input from people um experiencing homelessness  on what works best for them and um we have several   small groups our church groups their independent  Facebook Facebook groups these are the individuals   those independent volunteers that I had mentioned  um they're the ones they've been doing this for   10 years so they know who's missing they know  everyone by name they know what their health   conditions are they know what you know substances  they use and if we can open communication and   maybe recruit some of these individuals to  spend volunteer time serving meals if they um   have the lure to do uh um uh nursing station  maybe just as greeters that's going to make   it so much more welcoming and that's going to um  sort of collaborate this whole untapped resource   um and then also having you know the the students  come in I I think would also benefit as well vice   mayor Ballard thank you mayor Donna thank you so  much for coming back we appreciate it um I think   it's really important to hear from people that are  actually the boots on the ground doing the work um   I know know that um some of the outcomes of the  shelter last winter were less than perfect so   um I appreciate you letting us know what we could  focus on to do better so that we don't repeat the   same mistakes so thank you so much for all you  do and um if you think of anything else please   email us or call us absolutely thank you very much  okay thank you madam clerk can you please call the   next name representative Ford Carr requests  of an activity pad to be placed in Riverside Park good morning mayor city council members  uh as stated I am representative Fort car I   represent the 84th District in Witchita uh however  I'm not here in that um official capacity uh today   um I'm here as serving as the executive director  of a local nonprofit organization um called USD   doing us um part of our core values with us  doing us is community and family building uh   and uh under that Mantra we have an event that  that's been that's taken place for the past six   years in Central Riverside Park uh it's it's a  community building event um it's uh it's it's   grown in size uh and and and I believe it to be an  exceptional event for our community uh my request   today is that um that we partner with the city  and have the City come out and provide uh an   activity platform uh which is basically a 30x30  concrete pad that allows the participants um uh   in that event uh to come down and dance  um and and and and any other activity   that might take place um in Riverside Park of  course it wouldn't be exclusive um to uh to   uh just us doing us uh for that Sunday event um  that event is officially called Riverside Sundays   in the park um that platform would be there for  um the general use of the community at any time   um our organization just normally rents that or  for the past six years we've rented that portion   of Riverside Park um between uh Memorial Day and  Labor Day um and every summer uh I presented last   week to the um district 6 uh dab board uh there  were uh quite a myriad of questions that that   were asked but the main one that stands out with  me is uh the question was asked why Riverside and   that answer is simple um as I look around the room  I would I would venture to say that uh there's not   anyone here that has lived as long as the history  of Riverside Park Reigns in um the community that   I serve uh in the African-American Community I  can remember um going there uh as a young child   and um certainly I'm probably not the eldest  in the room uh however um my sister's tell me   stories about when they went as young children  um to Riverside Park it was a place where um   our community met if you check the history of the  city and you go back many years that was actually   the park that was closest to what would have been  the African-American community at that time based   on some things that took place some um Redlin  in an imminent domain and things of that nature   uh the African-American Community subsequently  was pushed out of what was considered the um   downtown area or or there closest to um uh into  the predominantly north side of of Witchita and   that's how we that's how we got um in that  part of the city however uh you don't always   have an opportunity to write a wrong and in my  opinion this would be writing a previous wrong um I took the liberty of uh emailing each one  of you a copy of um what was the highest bid um   and the highest bid I listed that just to show  that we could get it um under that um $15,000   Mark uh that I had a brief conversation  with the mayor who was gracious enough   to come out um and dance with us um one  Sunday um this platform mayor would allow   you to dance and not get those pretty white  shoes dirty um with that uh I'll stand for any questions just had one question I know you said  this is a nonprofit um called us doing us were   you planning to raise funds to provide um for  whatever improvements you were asking for uh   we were certainly looking at fundraising but we  want the city to to to partner with us with this   as well so that would be some conversation that  we we could have council member hoisel thank you   mayor um thank you representative for coming up  here today um sometimes my people send emails to   my sister-in-law M hoisel so I'm looking through  my email here I I don't see anything um could you   just uh how much was the the price so I sent that  from a personal email address would read fcar 21   uh but the um uh the figure that we had discussed  previously when I say we I mean um myself and the   mayor was to try to get it to fall under $15,000  I actually got um uh three different bids um each   one of them were below the $115,000 but I sent  you the most expensive bid I understand the   city's got their own bidding process so I wasn't  going to try to circumvent that um but that was   just just uh to show that that we can certainly  do it have it done um by someone uh that is and   they're actually a a a license contractor for the  city so um that's the reason I sent that bid okay   appreciate it thank you council member Glascock  thank you representative I just went through my   email I also did not get that email so um if you  could for that over I would appreciate it uh I   let me ask this question because I sent it to I  sent it through the email system at the city so   possibly there is a hangup there I don't know um  but um before I leave then I'll be certain and get   each one of your individual email addresses  and that way I can be certain that you have it council member hoisel uh thank you mayor  um yeah we had we've had some email issues   over the past month or so with um some spam  emails coming in so it may have just gotten   caught up in that process so apologies if  that's what it was but yeah uh love to see   it love to see the the pricing on thisk conern  representative Carr it actually came from your   us doing us email and I'm forwarding it now  to all the council members I think I sent you   two separate um emails mayor so you probably  did get one from us doing us uh for whatever   reason uh and it may have been some of the the  uh the glitches that um uh councilman HOAs was   speaking of I couldn't get the city's  email to take that email address as a   from so I had to change the email address  so that it would um be accessible through Outlook coun sorry representative car can you  tell us a little bit more about the event how   many people come out to the event I obviously  came out um on one of those Sundays and had a   good time meeting with some of the small business  owners that were selling food and appreciated   that and I enjoyed meeting uh residents  in our community I love community events   and so um can you tell us a little bit more about  the number of folks that come out sure uh mayor   I'm glad you ask um that number's grown uh from  the from the uh initial time we began that event   uh you know our numbers were um you know you  probably could have counted them on on your   fingers and toes um however at this time uh I I I  I sometimes try to attempt to to count the numbers   of people there but but certainly um uh there were  several hundred people that that that show up uh   at that um weekly event on Sundays um one of the  things that that we um pride ourselves on uh and   uh quick shout out to um police chief Sullivan he  came out uh additionally and introduced himself   um to some of the participants and uh I'd ask  the chief um earlier uh that if we if we could   try not to have such a strong um police presence  um obviously sometimes the relationships between   the African-American community and and the police  department aren't the greatest not just in this   city but um in a lot of places and oftentimes  because of past behaviors um fortunately we have   a police chief that was willing to work with us  and and he told me he said representative as long   as there aren't any problems we we won't come in  the park on Sundays during that time and to his   credit um with the exception of of of the uh last  event of the year um we really haven't seen them   we kind of work on the premise that we're going  to police ourselves and we do um and and and I'd   like to also give uh you know what I consider a  shout out to those individuals that um are parked   on the street and assist me in uh in keeping  the traffic moving properly um and and making   certain that we don't have any issues you know  I would venture to say that there's probably not   very many places um in the city that can uh that  have had as long of a run as we've had um with the   numbers of people that we have there and certainly  um the diversity of the group and we haven't had   a single issue um that required the um police to  intervene so um I think that that's a marvelous   thing um not only for uh the community but for  the city as well um you know and possibly uh I   should get the police department in the city  to kind of partner with me on how we do that   because it doesn't seem to happen in in many  other places and I'm certainly open for those conversations no further questions thank  you very much representative car thank you Madame clerk can you please call the next item mayor we've only used about  nine minutes of the public agenda   if you'd like to open it up we have  nine minutes left in public agenda   which means anyone from the audience may  come forward and speak uh and address the council 15 minutes left I apologize  please state your name and your address yes I apologize everybody for not getting on the  agenda this is my first time I wasn't sure exactly   how this worked I am glad the podium spins around  I was a little worried how that was going to work   um so um again I'm Brad marakan uh I live in  East Witchita uh I've actually spoken with a   number of you Becky you've helped me on a totally  unrelated matter which I really appreciate Dalton   I've spoke to you JV I really appreciate talking  to you you came to meet with me one time uh at my   YMCA group and Mike I appreciate it I appreciate  how responsive you all have been um uh I'm here   today uh because I wanted to talk a little bit  about uh some homeless problems um I run along   the arc hsas River a couple times a week uh over  my lunch break I work downtown and my route starts   at the senica river crossing uh the the flyer I  gave you all uh or those materials actually has   little map so you can see what I'm talking about  I go down to the Sena River Crossing and I turn uh   I turn let's see I think it's West along the north  side uh of the river kind of that little path that   goes by Cow Town I go down to the pedestrian  bridge uh near the intersection of central   McLean and then I turn around I take the Southside  Trail back and just kind of do a little Loop so   at last count there's at least eight homeless  camps uh along this stretch of the river and when   I say camps I'm not talking about just a little  tent I'm talking cook fires canopies uh clothes   lines one guy the other day had an entertainment  system set up I I I not it's it's quite Advanced   actually um and I brought pictures for you it's  been getting worse over the summer uh I've called   the homeless Outreach team a couple of times but  otherwise have just put up with it I mean I'm kind   of annoyed with how trashy it looks but I mean  look I'm a guy I you know I I wouldn't want my   girlfriend running down there I wouldn't want my  kids down there but I feel reasonably safe or at   least I have but recently I was on a run uh and  um these three dogs come Boling out of one of the   camps right for me and look to be totally honest  I don't know their intentions okay I wasn't going   to stick around to find out they could have been  perfectly friendly all I saw was three dogs come   running at me out of one of the the homeless  camps I don't know what their situation is I   don't know if they've had their shots so that was  basically uh the last straw for me uh I called the   police I was told that they'd be sending Animal  Control now respectfully at its root this is not   an animal control issue this is a homeless issue  and I don't think the city's doing enough uh to   clear the homeless camps from the riverfront when  I've spoken to the homeless Outreach team I've   been told they lack the resources to adequately  Patrol the river um when I talked to the officer   who arrived at the dog instant he's very polite  very professional he said they're very busy um   said they can post a sticker at the camps and  eventually clean up the camps that's about all   they can do says they're powerless to actually  remove the camps uh that the homeless from the   camps to the shelters they're powerless to issue  citations when we talked about the recent Supreme   Court case his answer was well that hasn't  gotten here yet um Supreme Court case was   about four months ago I guess he means we don't  have a camping ordinance in place yet I don't   know now look if I were to take my kids camping at  any state park and I didn't buy a permit I'd get a   ticket but apparently that doesn't apply to these  homeless camps and I don't think that's right I   don't think it's safe um I don't think it's safe  for women I don't think it's safe for children   it's not really safe for anybody uh anymore  along the river and really it's not safe for   the homeless either you know I have sympathy for  their plight um again member Johnson graciously   accepted my invitation to speak on these issues to  my YMCA men's group which I really appreciate but   I don't think it's Humane to not be relocating  these people to the care and the shelter that   they require I think they're suffering from mental  illness I think they're suffering from drug issues   I do think there is room at the local shelters  they just don't want to be there now there's   been a lot of discussion about this Mac but I  don't think that waiting months for the Mac to   open is an acceptable solution this problem has  been festering all summer long we are not San   Francisco we are not Portland we are not Seattle  we're Witchita we're supposed to be the Bastion of   common sense right and I'm asking for the city  to take clear and decisive action now I don't   think occasionally posting a stick or sweeping  up trash I don't think that's enough I think if   there isn't a camping ordinance I think one needs  to be in place I think citations need to be issued   I think the camps need to be disbanded and  simply waiting for a Mac to be open that's   better facilities but I think I hope we all know  from other cities experience that simply building   better facilities isn't going to be a solution in  and of itself there has to be more enforcement so   with that my time's up I'll take any questions  y'all have otherwise I'll get back to work and   you guys can uh you guys can call me later if you  want to discuss but I sure would appreciate your   help with this thanks rad I have a whole Board  of uh individuals who want to speak speak we'll   start with vice mayor Ballard thank you mayor  I'm sorry that we haven't gotten to connect yet   um Mike and I were going to call you together  and I didn't get to make that call but I really   appreciate you coming and visiting I know the  dogs that you're talking about specifically um   my dad and I have gone to clean up the river um  because many people feel the same way that you   do and rather than waiting for the contractor  sometimes my dad and I just went and loaded up   his truck with some trash and then last weekend  or two weeks ago um I organized a river cleanup   um exactly we met at the pedestrian bridge and  did both sides and we collected so much trash   and honestly you probably can't even tell that  we were there today there's so much trash so um   I don't to speak too much for the city but I would  say that we haven't um implemented the enforcement   for the camps as much over the summer because we  don't have a shelter um we did the shelters that   we do have are for domestic violence or um Union  Rescue Mission is only taking maybe 30 men where   they used to take nearly 90 or 100 um and we just  don't have this space so that is why the Mac is   so important because right now we're not able to  offer them a bed to enforce the camps it's just   kind of Shifting people around and I would also  mention that um at the end of October the contract   will be up for renewal for the um third party  um contracting company that cleans up the encamp   ments and um we're looking at bringing that back  in house so that we don't sometimes have to wait   up until the to the 14 days that the um contract  allows so I think if we were able to bring it   inhouse and uh we would be able to get to it a  little bit quicker um I think it would be more   cheap would be cheaper because we're spending a  lot of money for somebody else to go kind of just   um move the people around different places on the  river because we don't have them a bed to offer I   would I do agree not every single person is going  to want to go to the Mac but I do think without   even having an option right now um you know that's  why many of them are unfortunately sleeping on the   river and I don't disagree that is that is not  okay um and and which is better than that so it's   something that we're all working really hard on  and I appreciate you taking the time to come up   here and I'll give you a call a little bit later  to continue our conversation thank you council   member hoisel thank you mayor I appreciate  you coming up here and speaking on this um   just a couple of things um I do believe we are  going to be beefing our hot team up a little bit   when uh the recruiting class gets through there um  on the street training here in a couple of months   so that should help us um address some of these  a little quicker um we haven't we're not where   we need to be yet but we are getting there we're  on the path there as far as providing options for   mental health um services and Addiction Services  we did recently Al at funding for um some beds   with Deca for addictions uh counseling we also  have the mental health hospital that's going in   right now they're going through the process down  on Meridian and MacArthur that more of a county   thing and we're working with comare too um to  provide some additional services for some of these   things uh the underlying causes for homelessness  um so I appreciate that uh just one point I would   like to emphasize I know it's not great to have  it along Ong the river but if you bust up a lot   of camps along the river they start popping  up in the middle of neighborhoods um this is   something that's prevalent in my district and we  have options to go to the river or not currently   um if it's next door to you in an abandoned lot  an empty lot like in my district where it happens   quite a bit that's in the middle of a neighbor so  sometimes we have to use discretion and exactly   what camps do we take down and when they do go  into the neighborhoods you're going from one   campsite or seven or eight like you're saying to a  smattering of them in the middle of neighborhoods   so there is a little bit of discretion that we  do need to use sometimes as far as whether or   not we'll be doing doing the public uh good by by  removing some of these campsites but as the M gets   open we are going to focus more on enforcement  coming up um so yeah it's it's it's just one of   those situations we're doing the best we can with  it so I I do appreciate you coming up and chatting   well I appreciate that and I I I know this is not  a debate or anything like that but I will say that   there are hundreds of people that live right  along that riverfront in fact there's an entire   development down there I consider that to be a  neighborhood I mean the issue we're talking about   is less than half a mile from this building where  we're standing right now um I understand it's   completely like kind of like playing whack-a-mole  I know that's a bad analogy obviously not talking   about whacking anybody but yeah you're going to  move them and they're going to move somewhere else   and it's kind of kind of be kind of moving around  but unfortunately that doesn't mean enforcement   isn't necessary enforcement is essential uh as to  capacity I mean I've talked to a couple homeless   shelters the last time I called them they did have  beds available so I don't know if I'm not being   told the right information or not but um I wonder  if anybody on the homeless Outreach team has even   asked those people hey would you please would you  please go to a shelter have they said no there's   no room in the shelters I just don't I don't think  they're there on the river I think we all know   they're not there on the river because there isn't  room they don't want to be in the shelters right   so I I I think that's kind of beside the point  let's let's build you know a new facility I I'm in   favor of the new facility it's great it's not the  solution though without enforcement council member   Glasco thank you Brad I enjoyed our conversation  um and thank you mayor I uh live downtown   I go to church Downtown I work downtown I run  downtown and I see this every single day I Echo   that it gets worse every single week and every  single week I see more encampments I sent an email   uh this weekend I was running along the river at  about 8:30 on Saturday there was eight encampments   and when I say encampments they were homesteading  encampments they were not just encampments between   the uh Kellogg bridge and Lincoln Street Bridge  you're looking at maybe2 miles and there's eight   mass encampments and so every single one  of these photos is not someone en camping   it's not someone just sleeping under a bridge  this is homesteading where people are building   structures in these facilities and I would say  that I see this every single day at somewhere   along the river so I Echo your frustrations it's  the number one frustration that I have from this   position I've expressed this in every single  meeting to the manager I've expressed this from   the bench multiple times this is the number one  call I get from people and I don't believe that   that you're actively doing enough now I know that  we're working towards a solution and I'm hopeful   for that but I think that we must be implementing  our ordinances now and we need to make sure this   is the number one priority because this is the  number one priority I hear from citizens so I   just want to say thank you for coming here I Echo  your concerns I think we are moving in the right   direction it's not as quick as I want it's not as  quick as I think the citizens deserve either yeah   I appreciate that council member John ston Brad  thank you and I I enjoyed talking to your tce   Man Group um about about this issue and we are  working on it it will be a comprehensive plan   uh as you say the Mac is only part of it that is  definitely true there's a comprehensive plan and   then the backside of that plan is we're going to  have to enforce our ordinances to your point I   ride my bike along that River and I see same thing  you see trash and people camping all the time my   wife will not go with me because she doesn't feel  safe um so I I get it and uh we are addressing it   and everything in government takes a little more  time than hope it does but we're going to get   there so thank you oh I appreciate it and I'm just  here talking to you all because hey I got youall   in one room so uh but uh I I do know you guys are  putting some effort into this so thank you council   member Johnson thank you mayor and thank you for  being here I just had one question for you so   as we look at these encampments if you have a  individual or multiple individuals who don't want   to go to shelter maybe don't feel safe in shelter  but we take away their encampment and all their   belongings and all of that what would you suggest  we do with them if they won't go to shelter I   honestly don't have a good answer to that uh the  um I don't think that throwing up our hands is the   solution I think that if we clean the trash which  I apologize if people take that as a pejorative   term one man's trash is another man's treasure  I suppose but it's trash um and if we take the   trash I don't think that they're going to want to  stay there anymore um I don't think that we can   just throw up our hands and just say well they'll  just go somewhere else that is what leads to San   Francisco Seattle Portland Boulder all of these  places wiah is not there yet witchat is on its way   there unless we take some action we can be Humane  about this but we can still enforce our laws in a   Humane fashion unfortunately that's the best I can  answer your question because I understand it's not   an easy thing to do to enforce laws especially  when it comes to dispossessing people um and   telling them to move along but that is what the  city needs to do I I appreciate that but I think   you just articulated the the challenge here so  again if you have individuals along the river like   council member hoisel said there they're going to  go somewhere else so again someone else would come   up here and the solution that we've actually been  working on which I know you don't want to wait on   and going towards a multi- agency Center where  there's multiple resources there where we can   build trust where we can say this is a great place  for you to come to get the help while it may be   months away that is a more humane way to deal with  this than to just start taking possessions I would   argue if you clean up trash that doesn't make  someone want to move that just means there's a   clean place for them to continue living and having  conversations with them there are encampments in   multiple parks around neighborhoods where some  of them have trft some of them do not but until   there is a place where folks feel safe going that  doesn't mean there may not be beds available right   now but if they don't feel safe or want to be in  that space we can't leave legally make them stay   there so they're just going to be outside and  again where we are right now all of us working   towards that one solution while it is some months  away is a little more Humane than just breaking up   camps and taking things and throwing in away and  pushing them to somewhere else in the city yeah   and all I would say again is that um many larger  cities have tried the approach of let's build   new facilities and it'll fix the problem and it  doesn't we know it doesn't it requires enforcement   and I'll bet you lunch councilman that once that  Mac is built without enforcement it's not going   to change anything on the river it's not going  to change anything anywhere without enforcement   because there are just certain people because of  mental illness and drug issues that don't want to   be in shelters period yeah I think we are kind  of talking about same thing in a little bit in   circles because when the Mac is done then there  would be enforcement right there would be a way   to get folks into that facility we don't have a  Mac right now so we're talking about a situation   that we're actually working to improve without  the actual solution being done yet but I I I hear   you we always use those same cities as examples  but there's multiple cities where things have   been built and it's it's been successful I mean  we visited some of those places as well but our   witch solution I believe is one that will work  and and we'll see I might take you up on that   lunch council member tutle thank you thank you for  being here I appreciate your time and thank you   for the information and for sharing your concerns  I I wish Nate with officer Nate with's Outreach   team was here but Bob I think I know the answer to  this question but just to clarify regarding camps   and and essentially breaking up people's camps  and their possessions there's laws about what   we can do and what we cannot do is that correct  don't we have to post um give them notice so that   they have time to get their possessions and and  things such as that I just want to to make sure   that I have the most accurate information and as  does the the uh community and the speaker here   today thank you again always say I didn't go to  law school she did um I um it's my understanding   that that the laws are changing based on the  Supreme Court decision at the direction of   the council we are preparing two ordinances that  will recognize um the the changes U will be more   aggressive in terms of encampments on public  property as well as use of sidewalks and the   ordinance as it's in draft form now clearly  indicates what the definition of valuables is   and what's then considered to be junk or inval or  not valuable uh property and also notification and   storage uh time frames are all in the ordinance  as well so um I can't speak to when that'll be   coming to you but I I think we're at least in the  second or third draft of that document right now so there are some action steps that we'll be  coming forward Brad um thank you so very much   for addressing the council this is the exact  reason why we opened up public comment for any   individual to come and address their grievances or  ideas with the council um so I appreciate that you   took that opportunity um and wanted to speak  about this topic um I will correct the record   really quickly because I did contact Union Rescue  Mission and they said they have 60 shelter beds   60 beds for men in programs 25 apartments  for men in transitional housing right now   they will shrink to 30 to 40 beds in the second  phase of construction to begin in mid November   construction will be completed by April 1st of  next year um that is just one of the many uh   emergency Sheltering opportunities in witow right  now humankind Ministries also provides emergency   uh Sheltering uh all times of the year so not just  winter um and I know that there are multiple um   nonprofit organizations like the Salvation Army  that have now switched to a more long-term format   to help individuals who are facing drug uh and  substance abuse uh problems and so everyone's   trying uh their small part in this really  challenging um sphere of homelessness and I   appreciate you and also Donna uh for addressing  us regarding um just not just homelessness but   the multi-agency center and I want to be clear  that uh the multi- agency Center will provide   Emer emergency Sheltering which will be temporary  and then people will then connect to resources to   go into transitional housing or uh affordable  housing which is subsidized housing and the   end goal really is to get people to Independence  Freedom Liberty um at the very end where they can   support themselves at when they are healthy and  so that's the Spectrum where we want people to   navigate uh to and from and so that is just one  part of the solution which is Sheltering people   but the other piece will be enforcement and um as  you just heard from city manager Leighton we are   working uh towards having some sort of Draft come  up before the council uh so that we can review   that that and um I encourage you as well as any  Resident in our community when these topics come   up email us show up to the city council meetings  and help us uh really help these individuals who   are facing a challenge in their life um really  change and transform their lives uh this weekend   I went and saw uh one of the church groups help  out by giving lunches or dinners to individuals   as well as some clothing but once this multi-  agency Center opens up the idea is to have these   churches these wonderful individuals that want  to help individuals um with homelessness truly   transform their lives and so efforts will have  to be centralized to this multi-agency Center   and there won't be as uh council member Johnston  once said From the Bench 60 different locations   where you can find food instead we want all the  efforts to come to one place where we can really   connect the individuals to the right resource that  will help that specific individual truly transform   their lives and not continue to have this cycle  of homelessness um and we want them to really   truly realize their full potential um by breaking  out of that cycle so thank you so very much for   being here today and just know that as a council  we are working on not just enforcement but also   a solution to Breaking people out of that cycle  yeah thank you again for your time I'm going to   head back to work you all just give me a call if  you want to talk about anything let's please not   wait until this winter to clean the river would  really appreciate it thanks guys thank you uh   one last thing for staff can we make sure that uh  the homeless Outreach team does go by the river   and knows about the eight locations that were  mentioned by council member John uh sorry council   member Glascock as well as our speaker Brad  thank you mad clerk can you please call the next item do we still have time yes you still  have time you've only used 14 minutes   of the public agenda portion we have now  further public agenda items uh if anyone   would like to speak please state your name  your address and you will have five minutes hi I'm Susie Cunningham I live in historic Midtown  district 6 I also live on the river just so you   know I worked for the park board for 12 years so  I love all of the parks in town um I also attended   the meeting that Mr Carr presented at the dab and  since you're having some email glitches did you   all get plenty of email emails did you get plenty  of emails you got them all okay um I don't recall   anyone asking him white Riverside however at the  end of his um speech he did say that one of the   reasons he liked that area was because there was  so much room to park there and the only room to   park there is on the grass um the other thing that  the the thing that really bothers me is taking a   meeting and working out a handshake deal with the  chief of police so that they can self- police um I   think that should be done in a more formal process  when a police chief allows people to park in a   No Parking Zone also I talked to a friend of mine  that's a retired arborist and he said that driving   and parking in the root zone of shade trees is  called the silent tree killer in his circles so   I really don't want the police chief making  decisions about the care and maintenance of our   Parks when we're not he said a drought season is  really bad because it prevents the the soil gets   so compacted it can't receive water or air and  he said if there's enough of it going on in two   years you won't see those trees so um the other  thing is is that this this organization has had   wonderful events for six years and nobody's  complained but this year they added a show   car rally with streaming Vehicles they took over  the street it was kind of unsafe um the DJ said   that 400 people were there it seems to me that Mr  Carr has done such a great job growing his event   that he's outgrown the park and I'm also worried  about how many things can you put in that Park   if you count up all the things that are in that  Park will it continue to be a park plus I don't   know if you noticed or not but there's a really  nice gazebo that's about 40 feet in diameter with   a roof lights electricity Ada sidewalks to it  um I really don't think we need that and what   if that slab and later Pavilion um helps his  event grow even further right now it runs from   uh the Murdoch roundabout all the way to the NIMS  roundabout it is not just a little section in the   park that he gets a permit on so um I think if we  need to increase use in other areas we might look   into other Parks um that are bigger but I also  think cars should be parked I went to I went to   a car show the American Legion car show this this  weekend and they had Parks lined up or they had   cars parked lined up with the with the hoods open  sitting there with flyers and they were so proud   of each one of them were proud of their cars and I  took my brother he drives a 42 Chevy they weren't   just running around and around and around cruising  around like it's Douglas because it's not Douglas   but anyway um I really I really think that there  are other places in the park there's a Bandstand   right across the street from where it's ending up  um just to the west of the zoo there's Park Villa   where they could be indoors and Outdoors and a  big and a big parking lot manissa shelter has   two giant parking lots um but no matter where it  goes the noise will have to be calm down because   when the crowd gets big it gets really loud and  when you're on the river the sound intensifies it   it amplifies I live around two bins um and I can  still hear it I don't mind it because it's muffled   but I can tell you from where I live a block south  of uh North High I can hear the football players   call their plays when they're practicing at North  High so let me tell you it does get on that flat   water and go so uh I guess that's all I have to  say uh this isn't a a plan to kill a wonderful   event it's maybe just put some parameters on it  so thank you council member hoisel thank you mayor   hey Susie yes um do you know if the the car show  you're talking about right um was it a onetime   thing or is it a every Saturday is no they have't  in I think it's annually it's held in hazeville   at the antique vicer station the historic marker  I'm talking the one in Riverside every suay it's   every they've been doing show theyve joined in  several maybe last year but it it's become a   part of it I think because um s that last Sunday  fell on Labor Day it might have been more but yeah   the cars the cars are a part of it it's been  that way for quite a while okay and so and it   is every Sunday yeah okay so the actual car show  was there like an actual car show or is it just no   it's just it's it's just the Cruisers with their  with their fancy cars um uh Mr Carr described it   at the dab meeting they they clean up their cars  they come and they want to cruise they want to   show it off just like they just like we all did  on Douglas but it's not Douglas and it is every   week so okay appreciate it thank you all right  thank you council member Johnson thanks mayor   um not an opinion either way just clarifying  culturally um it it's every Sunday but what   we like to do is show off the vehicles we have so  the rims we get them all shined up tires play the   music tined Windows all that drive real slow so  everybody can see you just showing off so it's not   car show it's just part of the event that he's  doing but we we tend to do that wherever we at thank you uh my name is Claire willenberg and  I live at 1402 North Garland I happen to be   Association president for our neighborhood and  the other surrounding neighborhoods Midtown in   Riverside our presidents have all spoken we  tend to get a lot of comments and complaints   and positive comments on this event because they  think we can do something I guess but it's not a   question of why Riverside every group should be  welcome in our public parks and this is a I've   heard nothing but positive comments about the  type of event the community building it's that   it's too loud grown too big too much parking  on the grass I wonder as I walk through if we   can't have a conversation and relocate Parts  where they are now congregating it's a fairly   steep nasty drop down to the proposed platform  it's accessed by gravel Park uh sidewalk if you   have ever tried to push a wheelchair this  event is multi-generational that's one of   the great things from babies and strollers to  great grandparents in wheelchairs to everybody   in between who might have a back or ankle  or knee injury it would be a hobble to get   down there gravel pathways are not the best  it's not accessible could we move it perhaps   by the Bandstand across on onto the West there is  a curb cut it's got a big parking lot that could   be used for line dancing or if possible make  it a stationary look at my car and have some   of them parked there um the cruising I get but  it's not very safe we have toddlers running in   and out it come completely blocks a roadway it's  not safe for the participants and if there needs   to be an emergency vehicle there's no way to get  down there safely so I'm I'm suggesting and what   I hear from the other two Association presidents  who also hear from a lot of people we want the   event we appreciate the event it's a great place  to have it in in north in Central Riverside   but it needs to abide by regulations no parking  on the grass keep the Debs down keep the Music   lyrics appropriate for young people because  this is a multi-generational thing and did I   say keep off the grass I hear that over and  over so if they would move you would have an   ADA wide concrete sidewalk up toward the the  Bandstand if you need more space put a small   slab there open up the restrooms you have the  Comfort station Clos you have a big parking lot   that you could either use for dancing or parking  we just need the congestion down thank you any question thank you thank you very much much appreciate everyone  who spoke during public comment Madam clerk can   you please call the next item consent agenda  items 1 through 17 are there items to be pulled I have several so I will start with  pulling consent agenda item number nine   Presbyterian manners I'll also pull number 10  simply to highlight and I will also pull coun   uh consent agenda item number four which is in  regards to a private utility uh striking a sewer pipe all right do I have a motion to I will motion  to approve all consent agenda items mine is four 9   and 10 second motion and a second any further  discussion I see none Madam clerk please open   the roll motion passes 70 I'll go in order can  we start with consent agenda item number four   regarding the 21st Street and Topeka sewer repairs  good morning Gary can you tell us about this and   also the estimated $60,000 in repairs that are  projected good morning mayor and council members   Gary Jansen Public Works and utilities uh we're  expecting to have final cost from our contractor   in the next two weeks that is an estimate at  this time um we are working with Law Department   and will'll be filing a claim for reimbursement  as soon as we can after that we have reason to   believe that we've got a good cause for claim uh  based on the information we have and what led up   to that point if I had to guess right now I'd say  we'd hope to have to know more in 60 days probably   to hear back from them whether that means the  final answer or not I think it'll take a little   bit of time process the claim to submit that and  hear hear back from their side so we'll continue   pushing on that again I think we've got good  information we've got good backing for this um   that we estimate that we've got a good probability  of of receiving reimbursement on this claim thank   you Gary and again this is the probable um cause  of this was a private U fac striking the sewer   pipe is that correct correct it was done probably  about six months ago unbeknownst to us over the   course of time it opened up a section of the pipe  some of the rains that we had believe it or not   it has rained the last time that it rained uh it  started to create some failure within the pavement   there which is what brought it to our attention so  we'll continue to pursue it you Gary any questions   I see none I'll move to consent agenda item number  nine this is in regards to the $90 million um in irbs morning mayor and council members I'm Tim  good pasture with the city manager's office uh   the uh item with industrial revenue bonds the  issuance of industrial revenue bonds takes uh   primarily two actions from the city council  the first is an approval of a resolution of   intent which sets a not to exceed amount for the  industrial revenue bonds this was accomplished in   a public hearing on September 3D uh with a vote  of 70 to approve the reol resolution of intent uh   and that again was a public hearing then that is  followed up secondarily with a the actual issuance   of bonds which is done on a consent agenda  in an amount at or below whatever the not to   exceed amount was and in this case we're asking  for the bonds to be issued in the $90 million   amount so today's action is just to issue the  bonds and Tim can you just remind folks about   irbs this is not a loan by the city of wit  that is correct the Presbyterian Manor has   already achieved its own financing through uh  BC Ziggler company out of Chicago they will be   underwriting the bonds uh there's no taxpayer  dollars in this there's no taxpayer dollars at   risk and there is no money being transferred to  the company from the city thank you very much   very much Tim and then last uh consent agenda  item number 10 this is second readings um if   Jamie can explain what the changes now have been  so that folks can better understand second reading ordinances yes mayor um you had uh directed staff  um couple weeks ago to add additional language on   the actual listing seconding ordinances which we  did just kind of simpler terms and then um at the   agenda review on Friday you staff to also add it  on the agenda itself which we did um I am working   on trying to get the link um you ask for a link  to be added as well I'm working on that it's a   little tricky with conversion to the PDF but um  we'll see what we can do thank you very much uh   Jamie for that again these were suggestions from  community members to make it more transparent um   and easily understood when it comes to Second  reading of ordinances uh in addition to an   easy link so that you can see uh where the first  discussion and first reading took place so again   thank you for those changes I will move to approve  consent agenda items number four n and 10 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  Board of bids and contracts dated September 16th 2024 good morning mayor city council  Josh lber Department of Finance uh the   board of bids and contracts convened  yesterday September 16th 2024 for the   following items we have for you for  engineering Ridge Road widening for   Pearson Construction LLC in the amount of  95,9 57.50 we have the 2024 dirt streets   Paving tide for APAC Kansas Incorporated  shears division in the amount of $424,500 Construction Incorporated in the amount of $97,400 we have the downtown two-way street conversion  surfacing for conspec Incorporated DBA Kansas   Paving in the amount of 1,200,000 negotiated  within the engineers estimate requested   above the original bid for purchasing we  have the trash containers and collection   Services various we are requesting your  authority to extend this for a period of   of 60 days ending November 30th 2024 we have  one caterpillar caterpillar model excuse me D4   bulldozer for fulley Industries in the amount  of 294,000 and we have the integrated library   system service agreement renewal for Innovative  interfaces Incorporated in the amount of 78,79 740 this is how to become a vendor with the city   these are our open public opportunities out on the  street today and I'd be happy to try to answering   your questions I recommend your approval thank  you Josh um I will start off with this slide   since it is up uh just wanted to REM remind the  community that the winter shelter RFP went out   on Friday and as you can see it closes on October  4th we're asking nonprofit organizations or any   entity that can help help run the emergency winter  shelter starting November 28th through March 31st   to police apply uh through uh purchasing and  again that RFP is open at this moment I will   now ask you to move to uh slide number six if you  don't mind y can you tell us again which downtown   streets these are and also um how this the  original bid being 1 million versus 1.2 sure um Paul good morning mayor Paul gun Public Works and  utilities the streets that will be converted to   two-way will be Maine market empor and Topeka  um between Kellogg and Murdoch some of those   are partially converted already but we'll finish  those conversions as well as English street from   Main to to Emporia and the difference between  the uh 1,21,000 that uh Kansas pavement of bid   versus are um negotiating to the engineers's  estimate at 1.2 million as we do these uh it's   we're treating it like an outsourced pavement  program project that um we'll go in and do   some base repair to the street and then do an  overlay and occasionally once we get into the   project we'll find out that more base repair  is needed than but we had quantities for so   it gives us a little bit of room to do some  additional work and when is this expected   to begin and end we are anticipating the  work to begin um next month and we want to   um we as we get into the U this phase of the  project um we'll begin as soon as we can and   get it done before the winter weather sets in  cold weather this is a portion of the overall   downtown two-way street conversion we also have  some traffic signal work that will be beginning   and we are um targeting and get it all completed  before the NCAA tournament in March PA Paul just   to clarify the 1.2 million is maximum we'll  actually pay on a unit as unit prices yes what   we have yes correct council member John Sten Paul  maybe you can answer this maybe B you can answer   this but what was the the reasoning to change  those from one way to two-way I'm old enough to   remember when they were two-way one way back and  forth back and forth what was the reasoning it   has and that's part of the uh downtown master  plan that has been completed um we have um as   you know Main Street has been partially converted  we converted Emporia um few years ago William has   also been uh converted to two-way in years past  so this is as part of that downtown master plan there was a lot of discussion about that um  a lot of Citizen feedback and especially a   feeling that um the one-way Street system  is difficult for those who don't come   downtown frequently or for visitors and uh  I think there was business support as well   as community support for those changes the  only thing that was controversial was some   changes proposed for Douglas and those are  I think somewhat on hold yes okay thank you   thank you very much any further questions for  staff I see none I move to approve the board   of bids 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 petitions for public improvements Paul   Gman Public Works and utilities um I have a few  new and revised petitions for your consideration   this morning the signatures on the petitions  represent 100% of the Improvement districts and   the petitions are valid per Kansas statute nrd  Edition located in District 2 the project will   provide water and Paving improvements required  for a new residential development that is for   phase three revised petition NR D Edition  District 2 again on June 1st 2021 the city   council approved water and Paving improvements  required for a new residential development the   developer has submitted revised petitions  and revised budgets to reflect current Arc conditions revised petition for Dugan West  Kellogg commercial Third Edition located in   District 4 on July 13th 2021 the city council  approved Paving improvements required for a new   residential development the developer has  submitted a revised petition with revised   budget to meet current market conditions and to  cover the cost of a private bid and Cottonwood   Creek Estates again located in District 4 on  December 26 2023 the city council approved a   drainage approve drainage improvements required  for a new residential development a developer   has submitted a new petition with a  revised budget to meet current market conditions and it is recommended that the city  council approve the new and revised petitions   and budgets adopt the new and amending resolutions  and authoriz the necessary signatures I'll stand   for questions thank you Paul any questions  for staff I see none a motion to approve   the petition for public improvements second  Motion in a second any further discussion I see   Madame clerk please open the roll  motion passes 70 Madame clerk please   call the next item change orders number  three and four for the witw Waterworks project good morning mayor and council members  Gary Jansen Public Works and utilities uh the item   before you this morning is a request for approval  of change orders number three and four for wit to   Water Works are new water treatment plant that is  scheduled to come online next April uh I'll start   off with some background on budget history and  change orders to date so back in 2019 was when   the original design build contract and GMP were  developed just under $500 million since that   time we've had two change orders totaling about 2  point just actually just under $2 million uh for   a current contract amount just over $500 million  in March of this year the city council approved   a revised project budget adding six adding $16  million for a current um project budget total   just shy of $570 million within that item and  the discussion we had that day uh included the   expectation of these two change orders coming  forward at this time and so the funding would   be in place to cover these two so I'll talk about  details then starting with change order number   three so we had multiple items I'll get to each  one individually uh total cost for this change   order is 1.27 million it includes multiple items  that we were at at the point in time when the GMP   was developed as things moved forward as large  complex project not unlike uh what we saw with   change order number two there were some things  that came to light additional work that needed   to be done uh to make sure that everything was  done right when we get to the point of operating   the plant uh so there's some there's it there's  four different items I'll talk about again with   a total cost of $1.27 million first item is  an extension of the lime residual Line This   Is Our lime farm at 29th in West street where  the lime residuals from the treatment process   the water softening part of the process goes to  uh the red line you see was the original plan we   made a decision uh after further evaluation again  during design that we would extend the line as you   see in blue at a better protected Lagoon system  provides better solids distribution uh reduces   dredging dredging and maintenance in issues  in the future and it's really essential for   maintaining the current lime Lagoon so this will  be a big benefit for us going forward uh the next   item there's a lot of information especially  on this drawing but this was something that   uh we talked about a little bit with change order  number two we have an existing 64in diameter pipe   that currently brings raw water to our current  water treatment plant that line will be converted   to a finished water line as our new treatment  plant will continue pumping water through house   Pump Station uh there's a lot of that goes into  preparing that 64in diameter pipe to be ready for   finished water that's a plan that we're working  on now with kdhe to get that pipe ready to go   uh there's some pressure testing needs to be done  it's got to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected   there's got to be a place for that processed water  uh that'll be produced to be disposed of what you   see here this connection to the existing storm  sewer and a reconstruction of some of that storm   sewer will be utilized for dis disposal of that  water we will also use this in the future when   that pipeline needs to be cleaned or maintained  this is all on the hes campus uh again as we   moved forward originally with the project during  development of the GMP this was something that   was kind of hard to see at the time uh but came  to light as we as we move through the design and   build process this is a very uh fairly minor item  but also part of change order number three uh some   of the piping work around the existing plant uh  getting us to house Pump Station resulted in a   realignment of Pine Street we had to relocate  some of the fence this will provide better   access around the site for staff the last part of  this uh this is a pretty busy picture but this is   just west of our current treatment plant between  that and Botanica we had a scope uh within the   original scope was to put a liner pipe inside  the existing pipe having some leak issues uh   age history of it we knew we need to upgrade  that pipe so that was part of the contract we   found that that pipe was not in the shape that  we thought it was there were some deflections   that were unknown at the time of design and  development so only a portion of that project   of that part of the project could be completed  um which to water Partners completed that work   we made a determination that the rest of it  could not be done at this time at 250 ft section   uh we had decided to just remove that from the  contract there was some additional cost for the   part of the pipe that was lined because of the  deflections because of some additional open uh   cutting and excavation that was needed staff made  a decision working together both parties decided   that the additional costs associated with the work  that was done would be considered compensation for   not finishing the project this part of the project  the 250 ft so there's no cost associated with this   on this part of the change order we were trading  out the additional costs that for the work that   got done or the pipe work that wasn't done in the  meantime uh ciptech came forward with a proposal   to the city uh to line This section of pipe with  their internal liner process that is a contract   that the city council approved on April 16th  of 2024 for them to move forward at no cost to   the city that work is planned to begin in October  uh that's really not a part of this change order   obviously but wanted to let you know what was  going to happen with that 250 ft of pipe that   we were unable to get completed with this project  there was a lot of information on one p piece of   this but I just want to let you know how that  came about and why there's no cost associated   with this plus or minus uh but it needed to be  included in the change order moving on to change   order number four again we talked about this back  in March uh but I I wanted to kind of start from   scratch again where we're at on this this is a  critical part of the project right now for us   to be able to finish everything that we started  uh when it comes to commissioning and startup and   performance testing which is a very important  part of the process and where we're at making   sure this plant's going to do what we need it to  do and be able to bring it online in April so the   original contract when it was um all put together  in 2019 we contemplated between both parties uh   completing all the testing at 30 million gallons  per day we did that for a variety of reasons to   try to save water at the time um to be able to  get done sooner so that we could be done by now   the original completion date was actually today  September 17 2024 as we moved through the design   again very complex project we started looking at  the processes uh associated with the testing both   parties agreed that we needed to provide some  testing at a higher level the capacity of this   plant is 120 million gallons per day we made  the decision again between both parties that   we really need to complete some of the testing  at half of that capacity so that we could prove   out the redundancy part of this um so that we  could uh lower our risk that would be there   with 30 million gallon per day testing everybody  decided at that point that we should move forward   with testing at 60 million gallons per day the  challenge with that drought aside is we cannot   provide that capacity of test water this time  of year right our use months during the hotter Seasons uh leads to moving everything  shifting everything into starting the   testing in November through March we see a  lot less water use during those times the   cost you see before you today there's  two parts of it that I'll talk about   uh are for moving the uh commissioning and startup  plan performance testing kind of use those terms   together all in the same to start in November  complete in March and April that c the first cost   you see uh just under $4.1 million is for extended  Staffing ongoing maintenance between substantial   completion and final completion continued training  extended bonds and insurance and financing for   extension of some level of retainage so we've got  retainage on the project as we go through uh with   um partial acceptance uh being issued today  that retainage will be reduced to an amount   that uh correlates the amount of work that's left  which is primarily the commissioning and startup   there is a deduct within that $4.1 million for  some of the commissioning and startup that was   originally planned within the contract as that  will not be done at this time that cost is set   the second part of this is we've got warranties  associated with over 200 subcontractors thousands   of pieces of equipment lots of processes very  large facility um a lot of different things   minor components to major components and so we had  to figure out a best way to move the warranties   forward also the 1.75 million dollar you see  is suggested to be an allowance what that does   is we would plan to start all warranties today  so at a minimum all warranties would extend to   September 17th 2026 construction of the facility  and most functional testing is complete uh as I   mentioned substantial completion is recommended  for issuance September 17th today the original   contract completion date with final completion on  April 1st of 2025 we did evaluate multiple options   for completion of the performance testing uh to  be done after today including the starting period   for the two-year warranties and reducing the  retainage child so what we did was look at ways   to best minimi minimize our risk versus the value  that comes with those this became necessary when   we decided to move forward recommend that we move  forward for testing at 60 million gallons per day   we've got to keep those warranties in place one  option we looked at was a a delay of the project   to April 1st the challenge with that is that puts  a lot of risk on a lot of uh subcontractors and   on the vendor themselves and creates a situation  where they've got to take a guess at costs that   are going to be extremely high the other option is  to have all warranties just extend two years from   today uh the challenge with that is we've still  got this testing to do and everything to prove   out this plant through April so we think there's  value in being able to evaluate what all of these   warranties look like for potential extension for  another seven months past April 1st when the plant   will be online by creating this allowance for  these warranties uh which which all water Partners   will do is they will gather costs from all of  their vendors all of their subs again there's   over 200 subcontractors on this project bring  those to us within 60 days we can evaluate those   we can make a decision uh based on our risk moving  forward whether we think it's worth the value to   add another seven months of warranty past April  1st give you a quick example uh whether this is   one or not this is one that we've talked about uh  this is a large facility you've been out and seen   it we've got multiple buildings compared to what  we have now there's a lot of doors and hardware we   will have a warranty associated with those it's  likely whatever that cost is it's probably not   worth extending that another seven months we would  probably uh make make a recommendation decision   for that to just be two years past today not the  best example but that's a good idea of something   that we would look at by doing this as allowance  again uh this gives us this flexibility as opposed   to locking in this price so that $1.75 million is  an estimated cost any excess cost for warranties   if we were to go above that would be returned to  the city council for consideration approval any   unused portion of the allowance will acre to the  city's benefit I might mention quick before I move   on from the slide that we have uh contemplated  this extension of the commissioning and startup   for some time we started looking at this in  early 2023 at the time we had asked uh which   saw water Partners to start considering what the  schedule looks like and what the cost looks like   and during that conversation we came to realize  that trying to establish costs at that time would   add considerable risk and ultimately more costs  not knowing exactly where we were going to be   at at this point and what that would look like so  there's value in waiting until now we know exactly   what we need they know the people that are needed  we have been able to spend additional time looking   at all of the scenarios for testing uh that goes  into this project and so these numbers are I'm   confident are a lot better today than they would  have been at that time but this has been something   we've been contemplating for quite some time as  you can imagine everything that goes into this   project everything that we've talked about over  over time it's been a considerable effort to get   to this point I think uh everything we're looking  at today with this change order number four does   minimize our risk those of the public it'll allow  us to keep warranties in place it allows us to get   the testing done at a time that's going to have  the least amount of impact on our water supply as   you know is being impacted by the drought not the  vest timing for us to be doing this but one of the   benefits of continuing to move forward and bring  this plan online just a quick reminder is this   new plant will be able to treat groundwater unlike  we can do now our current plant is limited on the   amount of groundwater that can treat uh ultimately  as we bring the new plant online and we shift uh   to where we can treat more groundwater that is  going to provide more drought resiliency for us   and and provide a better ability to respond to the  drought so we've got to keep moving forward um and   we're going to do everything we can to minimize  that water use during the testing the proposed   change order brings a total contract amount to  just over $59 million and again the funding is   available in an existing project budget of just  under $570 million that the council approved on   March 5th proposed change orders to date total  $8.9 million or 1.8% of the original contract   amount um I mention this every single time  and I appreciate you bearing with me but but I   really applaud the efforts of so many people and I  think it's a testament to the approach the design   progressive design build approach it's pretty  remarkable to be at this point in the project   and be at less than 2% of the contract amount for  change orders if you look at projects like this   across the country whether this this big or not uh  it's it's pretty unheard of to see that so we're   excited to be here at this point uh and ready to  move forward last thing I wanted to show you is uh   I had to break this up in two slides we have since  uh mid year when we had a discussion about the OTS   contract and Operational Support uh Mary you had  requested to make sure that we had information   out there for the public to see what this project  looks like uh from a cost perspective everything   we're doing financing this it's the top half of  a sheet this is included on our website right now   uh under under where the project is included  on our website it shows everything that we've   got in this project for costs as well as budget if  you look right about in the middle of that you'll   see these two change orders the costs associated  with that you'll see the current contract amount   we talked about of just over $59 Million by  going to the next slide this is the bottom half   of that sheet you'll recall there's a lot of costs  within this project budget that are outside of the   contract itself we had the ever substation we've  got the art and Aesthetics uh land acquisition   hus Pump Station piping for a total project budget  of just under $570 million as with some of these   projects we've also got some operating costs uh  what would be outside the capital budget if you   will uh that includes some things associated with  wifia financing um outside Council and then that   commissioning and startup support so now we are  currently at total all-in project budget of 500   just under $574 million with that staff recommend  city council approv changeovers number three and   four and authorizing necessary signatures I know  that was a lot of information so I'm happy to   answer any questions thank you Gary the board is  lit up so you have multiple questions beginning   with council member hoisel all right thank you  mayor uh thank you Gary you guys have been working   on this hard for quite a few years and it's good  to see us coming up on the completion of here um   what's the expected life of the new lines the  storm sewer line and the lime line are those   do we have to switch those out every 25 years or  uh I don't think so I think with uh probably the   material we're using I mean like anything else  it's going to uh require ongoing maintenance   uh but I think with the the lime lines that we  have now we've been able to keep those maintained   without significant cost for replacement over time  appreciate that um everything else went fine with   the slip lining I've been just kind of curious  about how that's working out up until where we   got the the king in the line I suppose yeah so  when a line's that old over time a lot of repairs   are made to it sometimes our our documentation  of the work that's been done is not ideal and so   until you start exposing things and seeing what's  happened uh it's hard to know so it doesn't take   much of an offset when you're trying to slip  one pipe inside of an old pipe if something   has moved much out of place you can't get it to  go through so again we had made the decision got   as far as we could with additional costs incurred  before taking any more on we decided we'll find a   better way to take on the rest of the 250 ft not  knowing at the time or even thinking about the   zptech approach but once they came to us I think  it really made sense for for the rest of the work   to be done that way yeah I'm going to be curious  to see how that that works out we expect the work   to start in late October um how many days are we  going to be testing at 60 million gallons a day   so the right now the estimation for testing at 60  MGD is only five days uh throughout the course of   being probably over the last 18 months certainly  the last 12 months there has been significant   effort between staff our owners rep Garver and  witto water Partners really grinding through   the testing scenarios especially looking at um  amounts of water and when those would be needed   60 MGD is expected for 5 days 45 MGD somewhere  in there would be about 3 weeks that's not   necessarily every day all day long but during  that course of time uh overall testing period   is approximately 15 weeks that includes some  pre-testing up to the point where we're actually   starting to run the plant uh everything beyond the  5 days the three weeks at 45 MGD everything beyond   that will be 30 million gallons a day or less okay  I appreciate that yeah unfortunate it's in the   middle of a drought like it is but I know we got  to make sure that the plant's ready to go we owe   it to the taxpayers there um how confident are you  in the 1.75 million um the estimate back on slide 33 I think based on our conversations uh with  witw water Partners I I feel confident that   that's going to be we won't see a number higher  than that uh again there's a lot of parts here   there's a lot of people involved and a lot of  contractors um we I just would mention again   we started looking at this earlier but we ran  the risk of some big numbers being thrown at   this if we if we took this on too soon not  knowing where we were going to be exactly at   this point so I think we by issuing substantial  completion today by reducing the retainage on   the project what that does is it should give uh  subcontractors a level of comfort of where we're   at that we're committed to moving forward with  the project and we believe that that's going   to bring these prices in even better than we had  anticipated so there's some subcontractors that   have been done on this project for some time and  in absence of doing what we're recommending today   they still have to hang on to the project  if you will with bonds and insurance and   everything else they tie up their capacity to  be able to go work on other projects which we   think is very important uh but all of that  said coming together really should give us   the best chance to stay under 1.75 million okay  um last question here uh do we have any other   examples of the large scale projects are talking  about that come in over the 1.8% that sounds   like a really good number um I just wonder  if we have any examples we can point to as   far as uh change orders there so the last time I  heard the largest uh one of the largest projects   in the country is a 1.2 billion dollar plant  um in Texas and the last I had heard was they   were around 10 to 12% on change order so larger  scale project a lot more going on you could have   more but we' hope most of the time by kind of a  scale the bigger a project gets the the smaller   it would be but that's not necessarily true so  I can get you some more data but that's the one   that I have right now okay yeah I'd appreciate  that and push it out to the public just to let   them know uh that we're looking out the best we  can for the use of the taxpayers funds sure and I   appreciate that all right thank you vice mayor  Ballard thank you Mayor Mike stole most of my questions anyways um um when you talked about  the operating budget that has been that's the   operating budget that we've been knowing was  coming the whole time that's not not a new expense   correct uh the $4,000 or the $4 million correct  the within the confines of our overall rate   structure uh within that proforma uh as we talked  about before that was contemplated to be included   within our operating budget correct okay great um  and I know that we've Ted talked about it a little   bit but um knowing that we're in the middle of a  drought and testing that much water and dumping it   can you talk a little bit about what the plan will  be after you've tested the water thank you I meant   to mention that so I appreciate you asking um I  reached out to our team our staff our owner rep   and which saww water Partners again uh late last  week to ask them to dig in one more time and see   if we can find a way uh to utilize some of that  test water as of right now the test water would   would go to the floodway it's right by the plant  um and we're not burning it off uh it's going to   end up back down stream uh which is I realize is  not the point of your question what we've asked I   what we've asked them to look at give you an  example at uh what we've talked about before   at the Water Center where we have treatment for  Gilbert Moses North indes Corridor contamination   that treated water gray water goes to the river  we have a standpipe there that Park Department   can hook their trucks up to fill their trucks up  and go water Trees and Landscaping we're going to   look at maybe some option like that right now  we have some challenges with access uh even   though construction is mostly done with what's  going to be happening with testing testing and   commissioning and startup it's going to be hard  to get other people in there however uh we've   talked about this before I've asked the team to to  really dig in one more time and see if we've got   any options at all what the cost looks like what  the return on investment would be uh whether it's   temporary now or whether ideally it's something  that can be done now and into the future we don't   expect over the course of time once this plan  is operating that we're going to be dumping a   lot of water but there will be times because of  the redundancy built into this plant allows us   the ability to shut more parts of the system down  from for maintenance for testing we will have test   water uh at that time disposal water at that time  so the finished that thought I'm working on it and   hope to know more in the coming weeks awesome  I think um just with the conversations that   I've had with people in the public knowing that  this is going to be coming on and that obviously   we need to test it even the fire department has  some hoses that need to be tested there's a lot   of things that are just normal practices for us  that you know probably we take from for granted   and and haven't had to worry about too much in  the past so I think just being um conscious and   if there's any opportunity for someone to fill  up their rain barrel or whatever they would like   to do if we could make a point to try to figure  something out I think the public would appreciate   it I'll make sure to let uh everyone know what  we come up with hopefully we can I don't know I   I don't know we go canoeing or kayaking or tubing  or something it's even even with what feels like a   lot of water it's going to be pretty negligible  compared to the size of the floodway I don't   think most people would even notice uh when it's  happening but but regardless of that we'll keep   working on it and we'll let you know if we come up  with something that's viable I think the push back   is just going to be that we're trying to encourage  people to regulate when they're using water and   even though this is something that we have to do  just the Optics of it is maybe not the best but I   I understand I probably we couldn't have any worse  timing in that regard of trying to bring this new   water treatment plan online but I would I would  just mention one more time and I'm I'm sorry to   belabor this but there is so much value in in our  drought response plan and our drought resiliency   to have this plant up and running so we got to  push through and I know you know that we'll keep   looking at what we can do with that test water  and I'll let you know thank you council member   Tuttle thank you um Gary thank you very much for  the presentation thank you to you and all of your   team um council member H will also sto my question  so um might kind of flip it a little bit more   into a couple comments but um we we had had some  prior discussions about this and there's over 200   subcontractors is that what you said correct yeah  and I know council member H Heisel asked that you   know this would be beneficial for them to be able  to you know not have to continue their contract   with us but just wanted to make the Highlight  that many of them and we've tried and it's   been a very conscious effort can't say many but  we've certainly focused on women owned businesses   minority owned business and small businesses  correct correct so this would be the most   beneficial for our partners on this project our  subcontractors it it would I would mention again   uh there's a lot of things that happen starting  today with uh substantial completion being issued   reduction of the retainage and allowing a lot of  those businesses to kind of free some things up   including cost capacity resources the ability to  move on there's smaller contractors only have so   much bonding capacity and if they've still got it  tied up in this project for six and a half months   that really puts a damp on what they're able  to do okay thank you and then I was so proud   of myself math is hard for me but I did the 1.8%  for the change orders and then I saw it in your   presentation but just to highlight it was 0 4%  before this so I just think that's amazing and   I was going to ask two Across the Nation you know  how do we Fair um that just shows the the quality   of work that you your team and our partners have  done in this project and while I'll be in office   this may be one of the projects that I'm the most  proud to be a part of got to see it from dirt to   done so it's going to be really exciting in a  couple weeks when we do the ribbon cutting so   thank you for all your hard work thank you council  member Johnston thank you mayor G I still have   some heartburn about the extended warranties so  if you did not extend the warranties would those   200 contractor subcontractors get the retain AG  I guess tomorrow uh that's plausible sure we not   all of them because we still have to complete the  performance and acceptance testing through April   there's still warranty that has to hang on as part  of that so all the contractors that are involved   with that are still going to be on the hook till  April some of them uh depending on it's possible   that they could and and they still will now uh  what I would mention to real quick for for us   and again we're going to do everything we can to  try to make sure that number comes in at a good   place I think this approach is really a good one  and allows a lot of flexibility for us to be able   to balance risk versus value um in my mind on  this nearly $600 million project $1.75 million   is a really good insurance policy since we've  come this far and to make sure if that's where   we end up that we get a full two years of warranty  p P April 1st when all of the testing is complete   we know this plan is running and doing what we  need it to do okay just to be clear that's April   1st of 2026 that's April 1st of 2025 at final  acceptance right the extended warranty would the   extended warranties we would look to go to April  1st of 2027 two years past next April all of the   warranties bending your recommendation today and  approval of this item all of the warranties will   start today this item for $1.75 million would be  utilize to see which warranties we want to extend   for two years past April 1st 2025 to April 1st  2027 some warranties maybe a lot of them would   be an additional seven months effectively 31  months okay so right now if we don't extend it   we'll still get one year two years we'll still  get 24 months of warranty from today with all   warranties at a minimum two years at a minimum  all warranties will go to September 17 2026 so   the extra warrant is on the back end the extra  warrant is on the back end I I have a problem that   usually if something goes wrong goes wrong in the  beginning first year and a half first year so I   don't I can tell you with my history of working on  projects Just For What It's Worth council member   I agree if that's something I buy at home that'll  happen hopefully that happens uh I can't tell you   how many time we have a two-year warranty it's  pretty standard on most of our projects you'd   be amazed how many things go wrong on month 26  or 28 and I'm not trying to talk you into it I   just don't know that we've necessarily seen that  it could very well happen after we get through   two years of running the plant things are going  well so it's it's something we need to balance   that's why we've offered this approach to the  flexibility for that additional seven months okay   thank you thank you Gary I have several questions  I'll start with um you mentioned that the schedule   back in 2023 for testing that's when you guys  started talking about when should we do testing   at what point did we figure out that we would  not hit the September 17th 2024 Mark of actually   finishing the project well and just so it would  be clear this this was probably contemplated   back even before 2023 looking at the idea  of can we provide when we made the decision   uh probably some point designed I would guess it  was before 2023 for sure that the redundancy that   we're building into this plant which we don't  have now which means that we can be a lot more   resilient uh to any issues that might come up we  can keep the plant running uh if something goes   down for maintenance we made a decision that to  truly test that out we needed to be at the half   of the capacity to plant 60 million gallons a day  even though it may only be for 5 days we realized   we could not provide that kind of water drought  excluded during that leading up to September 17   so I just want to be clear that this is not an  issue of not being able to finish this became   all about water availability during that period of  time uh we've known since early 2023 this is what   we wanted to do it's just taken uh a lot to get to  this point and and the main reason I would mention   again why we didn't resolve it then is because  trying to take a a stab at Cost uh 18 months ago   of what it looks like right now we would have  added significant cost to what we're looking at   today so this is a a matter of Shifting uh and  I just wanted to be very clear that it it was   that we couldn't make this work we would have had  to have stuck with testing at 30 million gallons   per day we think that introduce way too much  risk for us to be able to make a decision of   how this plan is truly working before we bring  it online so my question then followup to that   would be when original plans back in 2019 was  30 million gallons per day when it was that   industry standard 30 million gallons per day and  then now we've decided it's 6 million gallons I   think that was probably part of the discussion I  wasn't involved at that time but the discussions   I've had since then uh based on the timing of  when we were starting and I can also tell you   to the way some of these projects go especially  when they're going to be a long duration as we   moved forward and the wiffy of funding and the  srf funding we've talked about the timing was   right then we had to move forward uh we also were  looking at as we started moving forward dealing   with the impacts of the pandemic what that would  do for costs inflationary impact supply chain it   was necessary to move forward on a timeline that  would wrap up now but we also thought looking at   industry standards looking at what we thought we  knew best on both sides that we could test at 30   million gallons a day in an effort to save water  and also be able to complete by September you know   in hindsight if we went back in time we probably  would have started off with this whole notion   of testing at 60 MGD and everything we're  talking about today would have been included in   the contract and it would have completed in April  and I think it's likely that the cost would have   been higher because we would have been trying  to contemplate a cost for that five years ago   hopefully that helped to answer your question I'm  just trying to give a community I guess some sort   of timeline um and if we met or not we if which  water Partners met their expectation or their   deadline um or was it just again we're not fully  operational until April 1st of 2025 what did we   promise Community back when we broke ground as  a city was what did we say it was going to be   I think back when the project started we talked  about late 2024 but it acknowledged that it's a   long time frame there's a lot to be done here as  we've gone through the course of the project um   at least I we've tried with our messaging to to  talk about that that may shift some and we started   talking about in early 2023 what this water  availability impact looks like so I can't tell   you that we've had everything out there that says  April 1 I can tell you for the last six months and   anything that I've been on the speaking tour for  the drought and uh we've talked about that being   April 1 so I think we've got a lot of information  out there to the community that does talk about   this shift and last question question is really  about the treating of groundwater um I think   that this is really important to make mention of  why this new water treatment plant is unique and   will be much more helpful can you talk about the  current uh method of treating groundwater versus   the future method of treating groundwater capacity  as well as the Equis beds how full they are and   how that will be impacted sure so our current  treatment plant being built in 1939 the technology   at the time even the upgrades since then we are  limited on the amount of groundw that we can   treat um historically our blend of water is 55%  from cheny surface water 45% from The Equis beds   uh I would try to explain the technical stuff to  you but I wouldn't get it right so I'll just tell   you this uh because of how our plant was built the  way it's designed the treatment process if we try   to run to more groundwater than that through our  current plant we will run into problems with our   filters and particular and we could ultimately  face issues that could lead to a boiled water   advisory because of the impact of water quality  don't want to do that and that's not been an issue   for us because we've been able to keep that blend  with this new plant theoretically at some point in   time if we needed to based on water availability  late term uh late years of a drought we could   treat 100% groundwater we won't start out that  way we will start out probably a similar blend   that we have now 5050 spend some time seeing how  that works and especially depending on where the   drought is at you know in a perfect world we'd  balance that right our water rights are about   the same from both sources but as we move forward  especially if the drought continues we will move   towards treating more groundwater new technology  uh within this plant treatment processes allows   us to do that without any risk introduced the Eis  beds is currently 94% full which is really really   good so you hear about groundwater issues across  the state especially in the ogalala and Western   Kansas has been uh struggling for a long time  due to lack of precipitation over appropriation   Eis beds is more naturally recharging than a lot  of the groundwater across the state uh as far as   the aquafers are concerned so we're really  fortunate in that regards most importantly   is our aquafer storage and Recovery project ASR  and what it has done for the overall health of   the aquafer over time with this drought we  haven't seen a lot of uh high water in the   little AR Kansas River but every time there is  we capture that water we treat it we put it back   into the ground that is helping keep that aquafer  almost full and we will continue to do that so the   aquafer is in great shape uh for us to be able  to start taking more water from there as we move forward thank you Gary we see no further questions  for staff we will now open it up for public comment I see no individuals coming forward  for public comment we will bring it back to the bench any individual who is passionate  about this that wants to make a motion   I move to approve the change order number three   and four and you authorize the necessary  signatures second council member John ston thank you mayor I would like  to make a substitute motion to to   approve change order number three  and number four with the exception   of the extended warranties  allowance of up to 1.75 million we have a motion is there a second can we again have Gary come up for just one  second to remind us um what that could have been   versus what it is right now with the 1.7 and if  it is not all utilized how it will be recaptured   whether into the project or back to the city  budget I think you mentioned a little bit about   it but not right if it's not spent uh just to  be clear in the event that we would happen to   exceed the $1.75 million which I do not think  is likely we would have to come back to the   city council for approval of any cost above that  anything that uh underneath that amount uh that   we decide is not worth the cost versus the risk  moving mov forward it effectively stays within   the project budget it's just uh it's just  encumbered back to the city if you will it's unused and can you tell us if the warranties were  not accept or the 1.7 million for the warranty   extension um if they're not approved right now  what is the risk to the city and taxpayers so   right now effectively if that part does not  move forward all warranties most of all of the   warranties except for the part associated with uh  performance testing starting today would continue   through April SE sorry September 17th 2026 two  years the uh with approval of the estimated   $11.75 million the allowance that would extend  could extend the warranties that we so choosed   to go through April 1st of 2027 which would be two  years from final completion on April 1st of 2025   we think we need to evaluate all of the warranties  and see which one there are some that I'm certain   need to move forward uh major components uh larger  parts of the plant we're not going to be done   testing this plant uh and making sure it's doing  everything we need it to do and making Speck water   until April 1st when we bring it online there's a  lot of value and start and having those warranties   continue two years from that point in our opinion  even if that means the full cost of $1.75 million   it's a small insurance policy on a $600 million  project at this point council member tutle thank   you um this is for the clerk um I noticed on the  board it says that uh counc member Johnston made   the motion and then I seconded I just want to  make sure that everyone's where I did not second   that motion I seconded the original motion  correct there's no second to council member   Johnston's motion thank you one more follow-up  question again can you just be very clear in   saying what is the risk to taxpayers if this  warranty possible warranty is not extended as   you just said this is a small insurance policy  so again what is the risk to the taxpayer   without the uh $1.75 million added in and the  ability to extend warranties to April 1st of   2027 the risk is uh come September 17th 2026 we  will only have had uh everything to do with this   plant under warranty for 17 months we think uh  it's an industry standard it's something that   we think works well it's there for a reason  that two years years it makes a lot of sense   to get to the end of performance testing make  sure the plant's operating and running the way   we need it to um plants built and constructed  we've done some functional testing there's a   lot that's going to happen between here and April  to prove out this plant and make sure it's going   to provide what we need uh for many generations  to come I think there's a lot of value and having   the opportunity to extend that additional seven  months what that really does is gives us a full   two years past the completion of performance  testing Gary to help address the mayor's question   can you identify one of the more complex systems  and how much that could cost us if there was a   malfunction during the uh outside the warranty  period I don't know if I can give you a specific   number but if you look at uh things like our  solids contact clarifiers the large tanks under   13 ft in diameter some of the largest in the  country The Operators associated with those um   we've done some functional testing with but but we  need uh on something like that uh we need to make   sure that we have utilized that that we've run it  through its Paces that we're operating the plant   you know I think you could uh on larger components  if we don't have a warranty on them and something   goes wrong as big as this plant is and complex  as it is you could probably get to half a million   dollar million dollars pretty quick on any one  component depending on what it is I wish we   could fully identify the risk of knowing what  happens between 24 months and 31 months there   are so many parts and pieces to this it's almost  impossible we believe that $11.75 million is well   worth it to get us two years past performance and  acceptance testing I see council member Johnston   thank you mayor uh keep in mind that it's going  to be taxpayers water users that going to pay that   1.75 million um as Gary said if something goes  wrong could cost up to half million dollars well   we don't spend 1.75 we got that three times that  half million dollars to fix three things could   break a half million dollars each so that that's  why I'm going to be voting against this uh I'm   for everything I think they've done a great job  with the water treatment plant putting it together   I'm just not for extending the warranty another  6 and a half months basically it's from just to   remind you uh it's from September 17 2026 to  April 1st of 2027 we still have majority of   that three4 of that warranty enforce so that  that's why I'm going to be voting against it   thank you council member Glascock thank you Mayor  Gary I know that this would be a request two years   so try to this um but if we were to move forward  with the original motion I'd be interested in a   recap of when we had to implement warranties  when we had to utilize warranties as well cost   benefites so I know it's many years in future  but I think that would just be helpful for future   conversations and then to that end I know this is  one of the largest projects or the largest project   we've had in the city's history have there been  other large projects where we have Implement and   utilize them up to their full length and that may  be more a question for other departments that may   not be yours but I can tell you based on U just  even my history of dealing with infrastructure   projects we absolutely have uh this two-year  warranty again is an industry standard it makes   a lot of sense when you evaluate infrastructure  uh it's it's quite possible uh to council member   Johnston's point if something's going to go wrong  wrong you would expect it to happen within the   first two years whether that happens between month  17 and month 24 is hard to say but I can tell you   uh over the course of my even on smaller projects  we've had to go to the bonding company uh to call   on the bond for the full warranty for projects  we've had contractors this isn't going to be the   case here so it's not the best example we've have  contractors that have defaulted and gone out of   business uh but we but we've we've had defects on  projects where the warranty came into play where   we had to go to the bonding company uh I will tell  you what happens in those situations it is not   good for a contractor to have their bond called  on so if we have to go to that point it's pretty   amazing how quick contractors move at that point  to correct a defect knowing that we have reached   out to the bonding company also so that provides  some additional leverage and lowers our risk just   in and of itself okay thank you vice mayor Ballard  thank you Mayor Gary I appreciate you explaining   all that my personal opinion is I think it's  irresponsible to not extend the warranties this   is a half a billion dollar project and it would  be the one time that we don't extend it I think   um I do realize that it's taxpayer dollars but  I could also see it going the other way too and   I think um all the safety nets are incredibly  important for a project of this size so I will   be supporting it I see no further uh individuals  wanting to speak so we have a motion but no second   so that motion fails uh we're back to the  original motion motion by vice mayor Ballard   a second by council member Tuttle any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 61 can we take a 10-minute break and return at  11:40 a.m. oh city manager um is it possible   that we could do it at 11:45 is because we'd have  a reason then okay okay uh we are continuing with   the council meeting um Madame clerk please  call the next role please call the next item   2024 public art maintenance good morning mayor council I'll try  to go fast so you can get to this break uh Lindsay   Baka director of Arts and Cultural services with  the city manager's office um here with uh a couple   different projects that fall under our public art  maintenance projects a little bit of background   um the tenor CIP program uh contains a project  line item that addresses the art maintenance   specifically for our public art art collection uh  included but not limited to repairs restoration   treatments and preventative maintenance Works  uh to artworks within the collection our design   Council which oversees uh the perent for  art program uh has designated $160,000 in   art maintenance for 2024's Budget uh pursuant  to the public art ordinance uh that stipulates   specifically the ordinance uh has a cap at 10% of  that fund to be used for uh art maintenance the   $160,000 that was allocated this year is that Max  10% cap a little bit more background past matters   Incorporated is our conservation Service uh that  provides an assessment an annual maintenance for   collection and they've been our um conservator  since 2019 and we recently renewed their contract   with us uh they've performed assessments and they  submitted a priority Matrix for maintenance to the   division staff in Fall of 2022 that was kind of  a pivotal point for us as we had recently hired   our firsttime a public art manager and we've since  done a full assessment and collection uh archive   uh to really make sure we know what we have and  making a plan for maintenance of those Works um   and in that report that we received at the end  of 2022 there are 15 works of art identified for   repair and restoration treatment beyond what  the annual maintenance could accommodate uh a   summary of the condition assessments of the the  selection of the artworks that we're looking at   for today's agenda item um are included in your  packet including uh four specific projects that   we're hoping to address uh one of those projects  is Prairie trans transs which is located just   outside of City Hall um this is a core tin sizable  sculpture of Steel um and it has uh a variety of   uh metal deformations that we're trying to U work  on and remediate there's there's some suspect of   water damage that we're trying to get a hold of  and trying to get to the bottom of um but we're   looking at doing some conservation work to make  sure that that that piece that's been installed   it was installed in 1977 uh that we can keep  it for another 40 or so years the next uh work   that we're trying to assess in this project is  Heritage pole uh this is the totem pole that's   found outside of the mid America all Indian museum  uh there's some extensive uh cracking and wood rot   um within the totem pole itself that we're trying  to work on uh there is some records of from 2010   when last restoration work was done um and it's  since received some significant weathering that   we would like to address as well the next project  is uh lotus flowers these uh we have eight of   these steel structures that are currently in  storage right now uh these are floating Lotus   sculptures they're quite sizable and 4 to eight  feet in diameter that used to reside in Riverside   Parks Pond um they were since pulled from uh  from the pond because the flotation devices   failed um after a course of several years of being  float floating so we're working with the original   fabricator on this who has had um a test lotus  in a pool somewhere in witw for the last year   making sure that that uh flotation device is now  working in full order and they're very confident   that they've they've remediated uh what the  initial failure was uh and we're hoping to   get those restored and back into the ponds um  this year and then the fourth project is the   flower uh floral Mosaic water wall right across  from Ambassador Hotel there's a series of these   Mosaic uh murals uh around the the parking garage  it was part of a beautification uh project uh many   years ago uh but the water wall itself has had  some significant tile loss we're estimating about   thousand tiles they are very very small tiles uh  have fallen off due to um some some different uh   conditions and the grout has worn away uh so  artist Tina Morano uh is the original artist   for this project uh we're hoping to put her back  on contract to get these back to where they need   to be and finally some analysis of where we are  um art maintenance including repairs restoration   and preventative maintenance are required to  prevent further damage and deterioration uh   to permanently cited works and artworks currently  in storage requiring maintenance for reciting we   are really aggressively trying to make sure that  anything that's in storage we have a maintenance   and sighting plan to to get it back into the  public lens um the original artist and fabricator   uh has been uh we are hoping to contract with them  in today's agenda item to repair the lotus flowers   and the floral Mosaic water wall uh industry  standard is uh there's a first right of refusal   or um I would say a a sole source when you have  the original artists who's still alive and able   to work on the project their industry standard  is to to contract with them to do the work um and   division staff are in consultation with P matters  Inc on the restoration efforts um at Heritage   pole and Prairie transitions both of those have  some specialty sides of it um our conservator is   actually here right now in which toop performing  our annual maintenance um and is available for   questions if you have any for her um but she's  going to guide us through those projects that if   the projects come back at over the $50,000 range  we'll be bringing them back to you for Contracting   but she's here in town helping to advise us on  uh what the best approach is to to for those   Restorations of those two works for financial  considerations um again it was uh included in   the CIP project for the 10-year analysis of uh  with $160,000 in general obligation Bond funding   for art maintenance for 2024 legal considerations  the law department has reviewed and approved the   bonding resolution and contracts asked to form  and staff recommend uh approval of the project   adopt the bonding resolution approve the resol the  selection of Morano Studios and Atwood Studios and   authorize the necessary signatures and with that  I stand our questions thank you very much Lindsay   I have multiple questions but I don't see any  from the council so I will start um first and   foremost I wanted to start with the 10% of the CIP  art funds may be allocated for art maintenance can   that be increased um without an ordinance change  I don't believe it can so for me I feel like we   have a lot of really beautiful public art pieces  um I saw many of them uh in storage right now and   I I believe that they are for the public good and  so the public should be able to uh see them and U   feel good that it's an investment the city made  so um I would like to ask city manager how to   move forward with if we already have allocated  funds in the CIP for Arts but only 10% can be   used for maintenance how can we what's what's the  next step in order to actually take care of what   we have which is maintenance uh instead of always  considering something new sure Council um mayor   uh you have two options one is to revise your  policy in that regard you probably take it back   to the design council with your concerns and ask  them to review that issue um the other would be   to Simply have a new CIP project that you would  put into the CIP in the future to allocate more   dollars for maintenance if I may also add we do  have some general maintenance funding within our   general operating budget for division staff um  those that's it's a much smaller amount but we   do tackle regular maintenance on a routine  basis out of our general operating fund as well council member Johnson thanks mayor I was  waiting till you got done but I just want to go on   record to advocate for a new CIP line item rather  than take away the dollar for new art we've seen   some beautiful additions to our city and I'd hate  to see that go away we do need to maintain what   we have but I think that could be a CIP item  council member tutle I concur thank you very much okay so now slide number 43 I believe  so this would be the Prairie transitions um   it says here that metal deformation was due  to to freeze and thaw um maybe this is more   of a staff or a recommended action or a staff um  Direction when we think about public art can we   take that into consideration our um harsh climate  sometimes the freezing the thawing can be very um   different for public art pieces uh so moving  forward I know that this piece was built in   1977 but moving forward making sure that that  is a consideration um because of our the type   of weather we have Absolutely I'll just offer  ctin is an extremely durable uh material to   work with and it's very commonly used in lots of  climates the water damage that we're suspect is   due to Landscaping The Chronic uh sprinklers  that are hitting it we want to make sure that   we're working with our Landscaping to make sure  it's not hitting it on a routine basis but the   general freeze and thaw that we see throughout  the year we're going to see it over time um   1977 to now we've had a good longevity out of  it but we want to make sure we're maintaining   it routinely so that we prevent further Decay  and further um deterioration but we are working   with the landscaping around it to make sure that  uh if water does seep in uh that one it's sealed   appropriately so it can handle that water but if  we can redirect the water from hitting it we we   want to do that so that's something that we're  looking at with Landscaping slide number 45 the   lotus flowers um I did get to see them at Century  2 the basement of century 2 um and you said that   there are eight of them again where will they be  housed and is is it a permanent place that it has   to be at Riverside Pond um that's a great question  we've definitely been exploring that internally   uh there are eight of them they are quite large  you can kind of see in the the background of this   picture even the amount of space that they take up  um the intent would be to put them back in their   original location um but the design Council who  they could advise us to recite things elsewhere   uh We've explored some different options along  the river with what Exploration Place has going   on there's a reflection pool there that could be  really cool um I think we always try to follow   original intent whenever we can that's usually the  the priority but our design council could advise   us otherwise right now our priority is getting  them back in the public lens first and foremost   but if there are recommendations for where they  should be cited or if we want to break them up we   would definitely entertain those I think they're  very beautiful and again I appreciate that they're   now getting restored um the reason why I brought  that up was because the amphitheater is opening up   this weekend at Exploration Place and there the  focal point is going to be uh The Keeper of the   Plains so many eyes are going to be on the river  and I just thought um if the location was already   set in stone I won't touch it I just wanted  to make sure that consideration for another   location was also available absolutely  and then the last one is slide number 46   uh the waterfall given that we're in a drought  right now um can we be very cognizant that   moving forward any public art takes that into  consideration we have some fountains that are   also beautiful but have not been operational since  2023 um because of the drought and I don't believe   that it's um responsible uh to have um public art  that doesn't take the drought into consideration   even if the rout um gets eliminated and we have  plentiful water I think it's um something that   vice mayor Ballard has always um advocated for  conservation and so if that can be a consideration   moving forward that public art that doesn't  require water um would be prudent sure that   could definitely be advised by uh or relate to the  design Council who ultimately makes our public art   decisions just to reiterate something you just  said is our our decorative Fountains of which   this would be considered one have not been  operational throughout the duration of the   drought and then sorry one last thing uh also  in the storage uh one of our community members   mentioned the Joan of Ark statue which is the  second one there's one in front of the former   Central Library the second one is still in storage  where does that stand in terms of um maintenance   and bring it it back to the public eye sure um so  the the one you're referencing that's in storage   is actually the original donation the one that's  on display currently front of the former library   is the replica um the original um was determined  to not be good for our outdoor harsh weather   conditions so it was pulled and we put a a a  replica um out out front of the library um so   that piece is still in storage it requires some  minimal maintenance of which our conservators in   town right now it'll be completed within the next  30 days um we are looking at options for reciting   it in the interior of aity facility we do need  to figure out a plinth or kind of a a pedestal   to put it on to make sure it's safely but we hope  to do that by the end of this year thank you very   much Lindsay and thank you for your entire team  in evaluating and I would love to see the 15   pieces in that Matrix if you could send that to  us yeah I'd be happy to I will say about half of   them have been completed we were able to address  them through regular maintenance U but would be   happy to thank you I see no further questions for  staff we will now open it up for public public comment I see no public comment we'll  bring it back to the bench I will move   to approve the 2024 public art  maintenance second motion and a   second any further discussion I see  none Madame clerk please open the rooll motion passes 70 we will now take the 10-minute break  five minutes okay we will wait till noon uh   Madame clerk can you please call the next item  2025 Group Health vision and dental insurance premiums good morning mayor and city council  I'm Heather St Pierre Department of Finance   I'm here to discuss a proposed group Health  vision and dental insurance premiums for 2025 little bit of background our employee group  health plans are self-insured by the city of witto   prescription and vision coverage are included  in group health and those are funded by both   employees and the city itself Dental however  is 100% employee funded annually we do come   before city council and ask for your approval  of the premium rates for all of our programs good news is the city's group plan  remains highly efficient actual   membership claims costs represent 95%  of our total program expenses stoploss   premiums and administrative  costs make up the remaining 5% IMA is the city's contracted benefits  consultant and they work closely with staff   and the health insurance advisory committee  to analyze data and set our premium rates   industrywide exp expenditure Trends are increasing  anywhere from 6% to 9% but a 5% premium increases   recommended for 2025 Group Health rates for the  city of witchta with rates for dental remaining flat staff collaborates with employee  Representatives on the health insurance   advisory committee or Hayak to review the proposed  premiums again this year haak reviewed the group   plan recommendations and supports the  rate proposal of a 5% increase they   are also recommending adding implant  coverage to the traditional dental plan our membership that is on a family  health plan can expect increases varying   from $672 to $21.30 per month members on  a single plan will be seeing increases of   $224 to $712 per month Dental monthly  premiums will remain the same for 2025 staff recommends approval of the 2025 Health  vision and dental Impe premiums along with the   inclusion of implant coverage on the traditional  dental plan and with that I'm happy to answer any   questions thank you heather council member hoisel  thank you mayor um thank you heather I appreciate   the the info here um where do you can we go back  to slide 57 please sure oops sorry I'll put you   under the gun here it's okay here we go okay  58 I I 58 sure okay um I I see the $7 a month   um expected increase where do we get that $21 a  month expected on the family health plan it should is it under the [Music] premium okay under the  premium okay yes yes okay I appreciate that um   sure this went before the employees board  yes the health insurance advisory committee   it is comprised of a membership from Fraternal  Order of Police Lodge five the International   Association of firefighters local 135 the  service employees international local 513   a Teamsters Union Local 795 a membership from  employees Council pension management staff Human   Resources staff and finance staff okay uh what  was the vote I hire everybody was in agreement   with the 5% increase good unanimous okay thank you  you're welcome I just have a couple of comments   sure I'll start off with thank you for providing  that implant coverage um my father had to get   implants himself and I know how cost c l they  can be uh especially for our older citizens so   thank you for adding that for our employees sure  um I wanted to just highlight uh the benefits of   working for the city can you just talk about  um can you I know that not everyone has this   except for the council members but can you break  down the city's cost versus the employees cost   so that um people understand the investment  we make in each of the 3,000 employees who   who work for the city of wiah absolutely  um currently the city's cost for a single   premium um individual is $585 74 per month  per member per month on the family that's $1,747 198 per member per  month on the select it is $57.79 and again on the family it's $1,724 6 um the employee cost currently on  the single premium is $42.39 on the family   it is $426 and10 on the select for a single it is  $44.92 and on the family it is $134 48 per month   um the city proposed 2025 rate for the single  will go up to $615 and2 per member per month on   the family $1,835 38 per month on the select with  for the single in 2025 the city's cost will be   $599 32 and on a family $1,787 58 the employees  proposed rates for the premium single will be $149.4 for the family it will be $447 40 and  on the select for a single it will be $478   and on the family for the employee it will be  $141 and20 per month and maybe this is more   a question for the city manager to address um  the city of witch invests in benefits and one   of the biggest uh selling points of working  for the city is its benefits can you share I   know that um Heather went line item by line item  but the type of investment that the city makes   in benefits to employees thank you mayor I'm hope  I don't mix or mess this up but um not only do we   make the Investments That Heather just described  on health insurance we also have pretty robust   pension system and uh that um the city contributes  significantly to that for all of our employees we   have multiple pension systems uh we also have I  think fairly um um liberal leave policies U that   provide vacation especially based on seniority um  and of course um any overtime which any employer   would have um what else am I missing um those are  the major benefits that we have for our employees   I'm sure I'm missing something yeah we also have  a a Deferred Comp uh program where we'll provide   some match for deferred compensation thank you  very much and again wichita.gov jobs uh is the   place where if people want to work for the  city of Witchita and work for the citizens   of Wichita uh it's an opportunity for them and  thank you again Heather for taking care of the   benefit side um of uh the compensation package  of course I'm a proud third generation city of   w employee council member tutle thank you um I  also just wanted to highlight um city manager   that we also have impact which is a program for  our employees to be able to receive mental health   behavioral health services if they need it so I  think that's something that's really important   for the community to highlight um Heather  thank you for your presentation thank you to   for being a great partner with us we appreciate  it I wanted to thank the health insurance advisory   committee um also staff and finance and HR this  is extremely important as we mentioned as a   recruitment and retention tool for our employees  we can't always pay them what the industry   standard would be in the private sector but this  is one way that we can help ensure that we're   taking care of our team members and then finally  um just for my colleagues who have been here for a   bit and for the community I can vote on this item  this year so I will be able to vote for the first   time in five years thank you mayor if I can also  build on what council member tutle said um in this   competitive environment that we have we do want  to be an employer of choice and part of that of   that uh equation comes in terms of the benefits  that we provide as well as competitive wages and   hopefully a good work culture so thank you very  much thank you we will now open it up for public comment no one from the public so  I will motion to approve the group   health vision and dental premium  rates for 2025 second Motion in a   second any further discussion I see  none Madame clerk please open the rooll motion passes 70 we will now  take a break mayor if one favor if   you don't mind the library board starts  their meeting at noon and so the library   director has asked if you could to take  item number nine and then I think it would   be a great time to take a break after  that yes we will take item number nine thank um vice mayor I think you need a motion  to take the item um out of that is correct   thank you manager we would need a motion  to take the item out of order if you could   make that motion vice mayor I move to take the  item out of order second I have a motion in a second oh clerk open the roll thank you okay so the next item is guaranteed maximum  price Amendment Alford Maya Angelou and Rockwell   Library Renovations thank you so much for  your graciousness I'm Jamie Nicks with the   witcha public library on June 18th of 24 Council  approved a design build agreement with Hutton to   engage in um project Renovations for Alford  myangelo Rockwell Branch libraries it's a   design and construct project the first phase  um of design is complete and we've approved   um the plants for Rockwell Alfred and Angelo  prior to moving forward with the construction   phase however um we have a guaranteed maximum  price amendment that needs to be established   so that the project does not exceed the GMP  the dates of substantial completion and final   acceptance and it confirms the city's desire to  proceed with the project so this chart includes   the location the GMP the maximum price for the  project um the substantial completion date and   the final acceptance stes the guaranteed  maximum price for these projects is 5,980 5,359 that includes construction Furniture  fixtures equipment public art and signage   we have a bunch of funding sources  thankfully with um um incredible   support from our community and  the total amount of 6 million 627,000 contract with Hutton  Corporation and authorize the necessary signatures any questions any questions for staff I see none we will open it up for public  comment I see no one from the audience wanting to   speak we'll bring it back to the bench and I'll  uh just say that I'm really happy that we had   a report from you last week on Friday and  I like that we're doing um intentional   investments into district one through ma  Maya Angelo another district one Rockwell   and District Four in Alford so thank you  I will motion to approve the guaranteed   maximum price amendment to original design  build agreement second motion and a second   any further discussion I see none Madame  clerk please open the role motion passes 70 Madam clerk please call the next item may you can just recall a recess of this   meeting we'll call a recess  of 10 minutes we'll return at 12:10 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Madame clerk can you please call the next  item Patrol East police station equipment morning mayor and city council this on I'm  captain coie with the witcha police department   um we have the witto patrol East Building the  new Patrol East Building it was a 10.5 roughly   project 9.2 of arpa a million dollars in Geo  funds and 375 of public art now the station   officially opened April 15th of this year and it  replaced the uh obsolete station at Kellogg and Edgemore here's the old patroli station the lobby   they're on the left where citizens had  to go in three chairs and wait that is   that door is a holding cell um in the  picture on the right is the old Squad room the picture on the left is one of the  officer workroom the only officers work room   they had for three seats picture on the right is  the old locker room um the finished project at   the new Patrol East station that's pictures  of the ribbon cutting these are some of the   pictures of the interior on the right is the  is the new Lobby where citizens can wait and   contact officers the bottom picture is the officer  work room top picture is the new Squad room that's   actually a community uh event being housed  there um by some of the community members and   then uh the picture on the left is some of the  soft after seating we placed in there for the officers uh to maximize the utility of the station  and accommodate for technology modifications and   advancement additional funding is being requested  building access control and cameras to enhance   transparency and safety of the officers in the  public the radio signal repeater to improve   connectivity and communication capacity that's  in the new holding cell which we also doubled   as our FEMA shelter Fe shelter is what's causing  the radio communication issues uh the additional   administrative cost and transitioning to a less  water invasive landscape due to the drought uh so   each year there's funding provided for maintenance  for police facilities there's a total of 400,000   remaining in the 21 22 and 23 uh CIP funds  uh there's an additional 250 initiated this   year and then an additional uh 3 million over the  course from now until till 2034 we are asking for   the adoption of the amended bonding resolution to  initiate the 2122 and 23 CIP maintenance funds to   finish the $400,000 project at the new patroli  station and authorize the necessary signatures   and with that I will stand for questions thank  you Captain coie we'll begin with council member   hoisel uh thank you mayor uh thank you Captain I  always appreciate your your hard work on a lot of   these ISS issues um just one quick question um  it seems like we're moving the whole department   towards axon correct is that correct okay yeah  so it is important that we go ahead and make   this change at Patrol lease and I'm sure it's  figured into uh the future patrol stations as   well so yes all right just wanted to check on  it thank you sir no vice mayor Ballard thank you   mayor thank you Captain kie I just had a question  are these just things that you guys learned after   you opened like or did you know that these items  were coming for the upgrades so the one of them   was axon um moving that infrastructure towards  that at City Hall um we got two floors here of   axon we've got our uh children's unit that we  just moved to axon uh so it was only fitting   that we move the patrol bureaus in that direction  as well so it's all one accountant can log in that   came after that wave of moving things to axon came  after um so that's part of the it technology ology   axon as part of that um some of the other stuff  came afterwards we had to work with the internet   provider for the area uh there was only one and  they had to reconstruct and re-engineer specific   things for the area uh for that building um so  that came afterwards um the turf modification   came from the size of the lot and moving into  stage two right at the end of transitioning   into the building uh so we didn't think it was  fitting to plant Fescue and and water a city   facility when we're asking other people to not  water so um we wanted to transition to a buffalo   grass that required less water so I guess the  short answer is these all came after well into   the project awesome I appreciate that um and so  are you thinking these things will be implemented   at the new West Sub Station as well correct yes  awesome thank you just a couple of follow-up   questions Captain [ __ ] um regarding the grass  this is maybe more directed at the city manager   moving forward all projects can we make sure that  buffalo grass is the preferred versus the second   choice um mayor there are a number of drought  tolerant grasses Buffalo is one we're going to   we'll do it on a situational basis depending on  the building and the neighborhood we're going   into but the idea is to be is to be the model  right for others to follow so that as well as   drought tolerant Other M material materials that  we plant and then planting at the right times um   so yes and I think you know we're also looking  at subdivision requirements and whether or not   we can do some things that will allow developers  to actually encourage developers to use these   same kind of materials instead of Fescue and and  other um materials uh other plants that require   a lot of water thank you and then lastly uh you  showed a photo of the community utilizing that   community space uh just wanted to ask if U how  community members if they have a nonprofit group   or a neighborhood association how can they get in  contact with uh Patrol e to utilize that space so   on the website Captain Beard's uh information is  listed on there he runs that Patrol Bureau and   can organize that with them thank you any further  questions for sta I see none thank you Captain kie   we'll open it up for public comment there's no one  from the public here and we'll bring it back to   the bench um I motion to approve the initiation of  additional Project funding and adopt the amending   bonding second motion and a second any further  discussion I see none Madam clerk please open   the RO motion passes 70 Madam cler please please  call the next item police protective equipment project good afternoon again it's Council and  mayor I got several items so I apologize some   of them I could have condensed but I did um I  I I sent them forward as I was completing the   projects so bear with me for the next four  items here uh so this is in regards to the   uh CIP fund for the uh police uh protective  equipment um the witto police department used   a variety of protective equipment to protect  staff this includes body armor helmet shields   uh breaching devices and other equipment in  2018 a replacement plan was developed uh for   the entry equipment through the uh Capital  Improvement program and the adopted CI   budget CIP budget was $200,000 in goo bonds the  recommended action is to approve uh the project and with that I'll stand for questions any  questions for staff we'll start with council   member hoisel thank you mayor I'm the one who  drags these meetings out I think with all the   questions so apologies for that um so we do this  every five years we replace the equipment yes okay   um what happens to the old equipment serous so  some of it gets utilized in training uh different   types of training out at the uh range um but  it is only warrantied for five years so we're   very cautious with handing it off or anything  like that we don't don't pass on the liability   to another agency but some of uh for example the  uh Shields or bunkers same term uh some of those   are still uh we still house them uh as backup  bunkers or Shields if need be even though they're   out of warranty they're better than nothing um  but they do all have a fiveyear lifespan okay   appreciate it I see no further questions for  staff we'll open it up for public comment   would anyone from the public like to speak there  are more people now in the room uh we'll bring   it back to the bench I motion to approve the  project and adopt the bonding resolution second   Motion in a second any further discussion I  see none Madame clerk please open the role   motion passes 70 Madame clerk please  call the next item police entry equipment project thank you again uh this one is  uh reference to very similar items as the   protective equipment um the entry equipment uh  again is utilized it's the body armor helmets   Shields breaching devices and other equipment  and uh again in 2018 the same plan was was   adopted through the CIP program uh however  this funding for the CIP was $100,000 in Geo obligations now the staff recommendation is  to approve the project and that I'll stand   for questions questions for staff I see none  we'll open it up for public comment and I don't   see anyone we'll bring it back to the bench  and I will motion to approve the project and   adopt the bonding resolution second Motion in a  second any further discussion I see none Madame   clerk please open the RO motion passes 770  Madame clerk please call the next item Police radios this is my last one Council and mayor I  promise so again I'm captain [ __ ] uh this one   is in regards to uh the police portable radios  uh the portable radios are a critical piece of   equipment for the officers uh they periodically  need replaced with more current technology um the   plan is to adopt the CIP budget to include six  600,000 in general obligation uh this is roughly   uh each radio is about $5,500 uh a lapel mic a  microphone for it about a 100 bucks a batteries   about 115 uh plus with the encryption technology  that's coming uh anytime soon 2028 roughly maybe   uh or sooner um our uh Spider who you runs  our tags runs people for warrants and things   that's housed here in City Hall has big piece  of radio equipment um that's 200 Grand or just   less of that um so that is where the $600 figure  comes from in the CIP uh fund that we're asking   uh so the recommended action is to approve  the project with that I'll stand for question e e e e e e activity um next we want to highlight  um performan is of the home program   and so again for 2023 2024 uh the home  program expenditures totaled uh 1,343 122   and so the two activities um we wanted to  highlight are the down payment and closing   cost our home 80 program we had nine home  buyers that were able to um utilize that   program and the affordable housing development  um nine single family homes um were constructed   and if you look at the next slide here  it kind of gives a breakdown um we had 67327212 um that are provided for the  construction of those nine single family   homes um the partners are listed our  partners are listed below U minite   housing rehabilitation services wall  Habitat for Humanity and residential   Housing Solutions um make up those nine  um single family homes and also we had uh construction uh financing and lastly we wanted to point out  and highlight um ESG performances um 202 2023   24 ESG expenditures totaled 241,000 and and  the activities there include the overnight   shelters um which saw family crisis center uh  Catholic Charities Harbor House Catholic Chari   St Anthony's Family Shelter uh which child  Children's Home and humankind in and you'll   see there we had about 1,571 homeless persons that  were recorded um standing at those shelters um the   day shelter services at United methodus Open Door  uh 1,451 homeless persons and then the rent and   utility assistance couple different lines there  th that first set of numbers the 53 persons SL 18   households that's with our homeless prevention  uh program there so um that's funds that are   directly trying to prevent people from becoming  homeless so that's with rent utility assistance   uh Center of Hope Salvation Army um and then that  second set of numbers um 100 persons 53 households   that's through our rapid rehousing program and  so as a reminder the rapid rehousing program is   there to offer temporary housing assistance  for up to three months for those that are   um in homelessness and so those individuals  that are um approved for Rapid re housing   they do also have a way to sustain their  housing after that three months worth of   assistance is utilized um so again that  was 100 persons 53 households with rapid rehousing moving on to citizen participation um  citizen participation is a huge um part of our   Consolidated plan programs and activities um  the city's required to provide an opportunity   for citizens to review and comment on the Caper  prior to us submitting it to HUD um so to uh make   this available to the public we were able to get  this distributed to all the neighborhood Resource   Centers um we had a a copy in our department we  had a copy here also um in City Hall U we had a   copy oh we posted on the website and we provided  it for all at all the branches of the library and we published on August 29th in the E Eagle  advising the public that they would get be able   to um submit comments beginning August 30th and  that would run through September 16th comments   can also be made today at the hearing Financial  considerations there is no impact to the general   fund legal considerations um we are required  to submit the caper to within 90 days of the   um close of the program year so um that that  program you're closed on June 30th so we have   90 days from June 30th recommendation um is for  the city council to close the public hearing um   approve the Consolidated annual performance and  evaluation report and authorize submission to the   US Department of Housing and Urban Development and  at this time we'll take any questions or offer any   um clarifications on anything you guys might have  thank thank you we'll begin with council member   ohis thank you mayor um just two quick questions  here um and I appreciate all your guys' work your   guys' department you might be the most stressed  out overw work department in the city I know   it's I know there's a lot of competition there but  you guys are up there um I I I like where we went   with some of the changes to the Home Improvement  funds I think it's going to be a stronger more   effective program going forward because of  the changes um what what happened to any of   the money that we had allotted for that this year  did we move it to training or move it to another fund Logan Bradshaw assistant director so we  actually can spend those funds up to six years   from the time they are allocated so we're actually  still currently spending down on the funds that we   had for Home Improvement and we'll continue to in  the future okay well I appreciate that thank you   um the other question is um pertaining to funding  um our csrs um funding our csrs almost totally I   think three of our csrs are wholly funded by this  program uh we have been looking at some changes to   allow the csrs to Branch out so that way they  can also um engage in other other activities   such as um Civic engagement Academy and whatnot  are we still moving forward with that um just   diversifying their how we fund them yes um yes  in response to some concerns expressed by the   staff as well as council members there was money  in the 2025 operating budget that will allow for   them to work on non cdbg eligible projects uh  and um constituent work okay appreciate that   thank you vice mayor Ballard thank you mayor  uh just a quick question on the home repairs   program is that the one that had um that used to  be like $5,000 projects and then you bumped it up   so what's the maximum now 25,000 okay great thank  you and you said 19 people used it yeah during   this past program here was it like I mean closer  to the $25,000 range or did you have a what like   were the projects bigger projects or did they  just continue to do the smaller ones we we saw   some bigger bigger projects from great yeah thank  you followup question to that is slide number 90   I think is where uh the 19 councils you mentioned  there was a compliance issue can you explain what   the compliance issue was it was in uh relations  to the uh environmental review process that we   that we had and so had pointed that out to us  and so when they when they point something out   we need to need to address that obviously so  that's why um it was it was shut down and we we   um got into compliance with all that now there  are processes forward to be in compliance yes   thank you I see no further questions for  staff we'll open it up for public comment   public who would like to speak we'll bring  it back to the bench council member Johnson   thanks mayor due to a personal conflict  of interest I'll be abstaining from this item I will move to close the public hearing  approve the Consolidated annual performance and   evaluation report and authorized submission  to the US Department of Housing and Urban   Development second motion and a second any  further discussion I see none Madam clerk   please open the RO motion passes 60 with one  extension Madame clerk please call the next item 2025 payment standards housing Choice  Voucher Program good afternoon je crer with   that I'm with the uh program manager for the  housing Choice voucher program and today I'm   going to talk about the 2025 payment standard  uh standard for the housing Choice voucher   program so a little bit of background in 1998  the quality housing and work responsibility   act required housing authorities to establish a  housing Choice voucher payment standard between   90 and 110% of the fair market rents published by  Hud so HUD sets the the the fair market rents and   then the Housing Authority sets their payment  standards based on 90 to 100 10% of those fair   market rents so the payment standard is used to  calculate the amount of the monthly subsidy paid   to landlords and includes allowance for tenant  paid utilities so that payment standard includes   rent plus anticipated Utilities in November 2016  had published a final rule entitled establishing a   more effective fair market rent system using small  area fair market rents known as sa fmrs so small   area fmr regulation sets the fair market rents  at the ZIP code l level versus the Metropolitan   level where we are at today in 2018 the small area  fmrs were mandated by 24 housing authorities and   required that hod make new designations every five  years guess what happened in August so in August   of of this year HUD published a notice of the  small area fmr for 2025 and included the Witchita   area jurisdiction which includes Cedric Butler  and Harvey counties except for the city of Newton the 2025 payment standards are consistent with the  city's comprehensive housing policy specifically   the components related to affordability  availability and neighborhood stability the   payment standards are also in accordance  with the departmental goal to increase   and preserve supply of housing to maintain  affordability for residents earning 50% or   less of the area meeting income the area meeting  income for a family of four is currently $91,500 so our current payment standard the 2024  payment standards are calculated for all   units within the witcha area jurisdiction and  are set at varying percentages between 100.1%   and 109.5 per of the 2024 fmr based on bedroom  size participant successes and leasing units   on different bedroom sizes and again I previous  Slide the um HUD sets the fmrs and the Housing   Authority can set our payments standards based  on 90 to 110% and we chose to do 100.1 to 10   19.5% so small area uh fmrs are designed to  provide parent families the ability to lease   units in higher opportunity areas with higher  payment standards and higher opportunity areas   as opposed to One Flat payment standard for the  entire jurisdiction again that's what we're doing   today and the goal is to provide a more accurate  uh to more accurate rent subsidies based on local   costs higher opportunity areas are defined  by Freddy Mac and opportunity 360 as areas   that provide housing stability Education  Health and well-being Economic Security   and Mobility these areas often have higher costs  of living so on the next few slides uh we have   83 zip coats and there's a different payment  standard for Studios up through six bedrooms   and if you do your math that's 581 price points  so these are the proposed uh payment standards HUD provided multiple tools as well as eight  hours of technical assistance to assist us in   evaluating the impact of the small area fmrs on  the W housing uh Choice Voucher Program setting   payment standards at the ZIP code level at 100%  of the small area fmr will increase the payment   standard in 31 zip codes and decrease the payment  standard in 52 zip codes so in accordance to the   which Housing Authority approved administrative  P plan payment standard decreases will not repeat   will not be implemented on existing housing  assistant payments or ha contracts and will   only apply to new hap contracts starting after  the effective date of the new payment standard   schedule so if someone's in a zip code where the  payment standard decreases that decrease will not   be implemented if they're in an existing housing  assistant uh payment contract hopefully that makes sense there's no impact to the general  fund analysis demonstrates that setting   payment standards at 100% of the safmr  will reduce the overall per unit costs   by 1.6% however as more households move to  higher opportunity areas the per unit cost   will increase which will reduce the number  of families of program funding will serve legal considerations this is mandatory  establishment of the payment standards   uh based on the small area fmrs is mandatory for  the witto Housing Authority effect of January 1st 2025 the recommendation is to approve the 2025  payment standard schedule for the housing Choice   voucher program to be effective on January  1 2025 for all housing assistant payments   contracts effective thereafter can I stand for  questions thank you for the presentation we have   several questions beginning with council member  Glascock oh thank you mayor I meant to remove my   name um you had answer my question regarding the  mandatory nature of it so we don't really have an   option from this bench not to do it set by Hud  correct correct council member ho Heisel thank   you mayor uh we may not have a choice but boy it's  staming me up to be completely honest because a   majority of our ZIP codes now are going to have L  to work with and there's just not an availability   of a lot of affordable housing in a lot of these  other places as well so it's like certain families   are going to be asking or being asked to do more  with less essentially coming up especially with a   lot of the affordable housing options are $1700 a  month duplexes that seem to be going up left and   right um but I um so if somebody has a contract um  do the contracts have to be renewed if they have a   contract for the use of some of these funds okay  so the only time a new ha contractor is required   is if there's some sort of major change to the  contract such as hey the landlord was paying for   water now they want the the the client to pay for  the water but if it's a simple rent increase no   that's not necessary they don't need unless they  sign a brand new lease there is no need to sign   a new hap contract and that's going to be part of  our education campaign making sure that landlords   are aware that they don't need to sign a new hap  contract if they're just raising the rent okay so   so if it is something like an adjustment then they  would lose the current funding that they have and   they would if they're in a lower income zip code  they would be they would have a a less uh funding   to work such that's true and and keep in mind  that we do this way ahead of time it's not like   like somebody has 30 days or less than 30 days  to make a decision um rent increases have to be   submitted 60 days in advance and we get right back  with everybody to make sure everybody understands   the financial impact and what it's going to do  to them so if they decide hey I don't want to   stay here this is going to be too much of a rent  burden we can get them a voucher they can relocate   um this isn't going to be easy uh there's going  to be people that it's going to work out great   for it's going to be some people it's not going  to work out great for but know that for 40 years   we've been dealing with this very complicated  program and this adds to it but we will continue   to do that and work diligently with um the most  vulnerable people here in Witchita to make sure   they understand um what they can do and how we can  help them um not be R rent burdened yeah is this   something when we go to DC in March we can get an  appointment with HUD and express this and some of   our other concerns this is um you know something  I've been looking at the last couple of times   we've been going there just making sure because  we have a lot of concerns going going on in the   housing department with some of Hud's regulations  and standards so um I'd love to be able to set   something up to where when we're in DC we can go  and um present ahead a lot of our concerns around   this program and some others with that I I see  my time vice mayor Ballard thank you mayor thank   you so much I know that um we exchanged some  questions back and forth um what do you think   was the most motivator for this change like it  seems like it will be a lot more work I'm really   happy to hear that it won't affect anybody that is  currently in the program but moving forward um can   you just help me understand it just seems really  complicated even more complicated than it already   is and like what that might mean for landlords  like do you think they will start searching for   homes like in an area where they might be able to  get more rent or I'm just I'm just worried about   all of it that's a lot of questions hopefully I  so if I if I miss something just please let me   know so I think the motivation is giving people  the opportunity uh to move to other areas of   opportunity so for instance if a realtor sells a  two-bedroom home in 67214 same exact home in 67205   are they going to list for the same amount they're  not are they going to sell for the same amount   they're not and I think that's the same thought  process so right now one bedroom the the the   uh payment standard is $815 under this new so if  somebody is in six we'll take my my area my my zip   67212 payment standards $815 but if that person  wants to move and relocate to 67205 the payment   standard is $1,140 so more money to give them that  opportunity if they want and if they don't want to   move they don't have to their payment standard  will not change if they're they're in the same   uh contract the same half contract so I don't  know if that helps so if you were applying and   you were accepted and you were looking and I don't  I understand how it works kind of but if like how   would you know where you're going to live you just  like pick an area that and that's the money that   you're allowed or you have to be approved and then  they start giving you that money or what if you   do want to move to a different zip code like what  does that look like so there's a couple things and   I hopefully this will help you one of the things  that we're going to have and this is really uh   important for us to be able to launch this is  a a web tool Tool uh modeled after the Boston   um housing authorities tool where landlords or  clients or you or anybody else can go in and they   can put in their annual income they know what  their annual income is and put in the zip code   where they they they're looking they can put in uh  the utilities that they're going to be responsible   for whether it's gas or electric and it'll  automatically tell them whether it's affordable   or not and what their portion will be and I  think this is going to be very very important   because this you're right it is complicated it  it's everything we do is complicated but but we   can definitely make it work there'll be bumps  in the road people will get confused but as we   always have we're we're we're going to take the  time and we're going to meet with people we're   going to make sure they understand and they  understand in writing so I think this tool   will really really help with understanding of this  complex topic yes awesome thank you so much you're   welcome council member Johnson thank you mayor  um I appreciate the presentation um when these   things come up I always think about the landlords  who don't have good motives just because of stuff   I receive from people so you answered part of this  but a new lease during the new standard year would   then reduce a payment if if they were in area  like 67214 MH so if a landlord wanted to force   someone to sign a new lease that then would change  the amount of money they have available for a unit okay um without getting into detail there was an  individual who was not happy with their   landlord and made several complaints about things  that needed to be repaired the landlord wanted   them to sign a new lease to get it repaired and  try to lock them in this wasn't in effect so it   didn't what it mattered but it didn't but if that  were to happen next year I just see that as a tool   to get people out cuz now you don't have as much  money and if you're income doesn't change when   the payment is reduced now you can't afford to  be there unless you move into one of these other   areas and then my next concern because we haven't  done this yet is source of income discrimination   because in some of the other areas there may be  folks who say I don't want you because you have a   housing Choice voucher and I've been hearing that  too um I just think this leads I mean we can't   do anything about it except advocating DC but I  just don't see a lot of good coming from that I   I think along those same lines to add to council  member hoisel in DC when we go love to work with   you all about any ideas you might have to improve  the process so we can Advocate on behalf of the   city with those thoughts since you all deal with  this day in and day out but I just have a lot of   concerns about some of the folks it's not every  landlord there are some people who try to use some   of the rules and regulations against the tenants  in ways that just aren't Humane in my opinion I   wanted encourage you and all of you if you have  concerned uh clients of ours that are dealing   with that bring those to us you can bring them  to me I'll be happy to investigate and address   those and and and I've not been unsuccessful in  helping help our people I mean they're they're my   people they they pay for my salary so um I take  that incredibly serious that's very serious to   me um making sure that our program is effective  and they're helping people the way it should be   helping them so if a landlord does want to force  them to sign a new lease remember they're going to   get their amount of subsidy payment is going to go  down too I don't know that they would necessarily   want to do that but I would absolutely want to be  engaged in something like that to see what I can   do to help and assist help make the right decision  and we're constantly doing landlord Outreach I   just had one last Thursday we want to make sure  that we have good landlords out there we we want   it we don't want the bad landlords I mean I'm not  saying that we have them but we've got we've got   some folks out there who are good who will not  do like what you're what you're talking about   so please please bring those to me allow me to get  engage with you and engage with the client and the   landlord to see what we can do to make things work  for the better good yeah I'll definitely do that   um just the example I was thinking of although it  would reduce the landlord's payment they'll know   this is coming but if there's a tenant who like  me and uh vice mayor Ballard and council member   hois will get a lot of the folks reaching out so  if it's somebody who's just really blowing us up   about it and then we reach out to staff and  staff goes out there and that landlord knows   that's an active tenant reaching out to the local  government then they may say well let's sign this   new lease knowing that that rate would be reduced  and that person now has to move so it's an it's   a legal way to evict them and then you can try at  that point to get around our retaliatory eviction   ordinance because it was just a new lease and  you changed the rate so yeah no matter what   we do I mean people are going to find ways to  get around it I mean no matter what we do yeah   I mean that's unfortunate and that that makes  me upset but it it's going to happen it it will   definitely most most definitely happen but allow  us to engage and see what we can do to prevent   things from happening we do council member  hoisel thank you mayor I thought you were done   with me right yeah uh just a quick question  popped in my mind um did HUD have a comment   period uh before these changes or did they just  kind of come down and catch everybody by surprise   yeah I'm not aware of any comment period they  did uh put the rule into effect in 2016 and   then they didn't implement it until 2018 so I  guess that was our chance okay thank you vice   mayor Ballard just have one more quick question  in your professional opinion do you think that   this is a good move or whatever you want to  call it I think I yes I do I mean of course   I'm an optimist so yes I I do I I do hope that  it will help people move to areas of opportunity   so yes and it it seems to be working because uh  they already had the first round of 24 mandated   uh phas that had to move to it and now we're in  the second phase so it seems to be working great   that's encouraging thank you very much and no also  know that we're pulling data every single day or   you know and monthly and we're keeping a really  close eye on what this is doing and how it's   affecting affecting um our ww housing authorities  to know that we're all over this I appreciate this   is more of an overall question can you tell  us how much money is coming into the housing   Choice voucher program a year approximately  and does has that been fluctuating up down yeah 18 million I was I was just  checking uh with Logan but yeah 18 million that been increasing  decreasing staying about the same and for the folks that may not know how the  program works can you just briefly overview that   for folks maybe not familiar with the program  it's a very broad question so I'm not really   sure where to start with that um so we have only  so many vouchers uh and the money doesn't always   work the same so we have 3,460 vouchers and we  currently have 3,14 people that are utilizing   it and we've used almost all of the money because  not everyone's going to go for a one bedroom right   so when people get on to the program um I mean  basically that's what we have and so in order   to to issue vouchers somebody's got to leave the  program to get somebody new on I don't know if   that's what you're what you're looking for or  not so that's how it works so it's all about   the number of vouchers the amount of money you  have and trying to make sure that we're balancing   out we're not over leasing because we definitely  don't want to go into shortfall shortfall is when   you're overspending does that we had a weight  list in the past that's why I'm asking that   question yes we definitely have a weit weit list  we definitely do and we're we're kind of Lucky   other metropolitan areas uh that are our size  are maybe a little larger have weight lists that   are over 10 maybe 15 years long ours is there's  no way to gauge but it's probably two two and a   half your weight currently and that's just a guess  thank you very much I see no further questions for   staff we'll open it up for public comment I see  no one from the public we'll bring it back to the bench vice mayor Ballard you  pulled this item would you like to motion sorry the Wi-Fi kicked me off um I move  that the wital Housing Authority board approve   the 2025 payment standard schedule for the housing  tourist voucher program to be effective on January   1st 2025 and all housing assistance payments  contracts effective thereafter 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 approval   of travel for council member Tuttle to  attend the governor's conference on the   future of water in Kansas in Manhattan  Kansas November 13th through 14th 2024 council member tutle thank you um I was asked  to attend the conference as a member of the um   water treatment uh steering committee and also be  our steering committee um I'm the leaone between   both and so excited to go since the city of wit  has a sponsor of the con of the conference um my   registration will be covered so and I probably  will travel with staff from public works so just   hotel and perdum potentially mileage will  be needed thank you for your consideration a motion to approve the travel for council member  tutle second motion and a second any further   discussion I see none Madame clerk please open  the rooll motion passes 7 Z Madame clerk please   call the next item council member appointments  and comments are there appointments from Council   Members we'll begin with council member Johnson  thank you mayor I would like to appoint Mia ocean   to the ACT ACC Advisory Board and Amry Smith  to the csbg board private sector for district   one and I motion sorry and I uh recommend Pamela  Hughes to the emergency communications Community   Advisory Board any further appointments I see none  I motion to approve the board appointments second   motion on a second any further discussion I  see none Madame clerk please open the rooll motion passes 70 we will  have council member comments now vice mayor Ballard thank you I would just like  to thank everyone for coming out to Unity in the   community for district 6 it was largely a success  and I certainly appreciate everybody coming out   and all of the um different departments that made  that happen um also this Saturday is Latin Fest   um at the Oldtown Square from 11:00 a.m.  to 11:00 p.m. and um this Friday is the   VA homeless standown um at Hyde Park so that  is from 10:00 a.m. to 3: and would encourage   you all to check it out council member Johnson  thanks mayor um since council member hoel said   he's the one extending the meetings can  we vote to every time he wants to talk um I'll just add one quick comment I forgot to  mention this during the appointments uh really   encourage the community to apply to become  a volunteer board advisory member for any of   the open slots there are vacancies right now  you can check them out online um again this   is an opportunity for you to help us um shape  a agendas as well as policies so uh please be   engaged and uh apply for one of these positions  thank you all very much I motion to adjourn second   motion and a second any further discussion  you see none Madame clerk please open the   role there's one n 61 council member Johnson  would like to stay behind have a great week