e e good City leadership for the city mayor  and council members and we pray for them   and all the leaders and First Responders  in our city we pray that we might make   wise decisions lead us all in ways that  demonstrate your love and grace toward   one another and making good decisions each new  day for every Challenge and we're thankful that   uh you love us enough to provide all the  we need in jesus' name guide this meeting amen I to the flag of the United States  of America and to the for it stands one   nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you Staley Madam Clerk please  call the first item approve   the minutes of the regular meeting of April 23rd 2024 we have approval of the minutes motion to improve the  minutes second Madam clerk please open it's frozen do a Voice vote all  those in favor say I I I all those   opposed say nay motion passes 70 Madam  clerk please call the next item we have   Awards and proclamations the proclamations  today are project access 25th anniversary   Provider Appreciation Day and bike month may  please ask council member Johnston to join may also ask project access members  to please join us at the front the proclamation reads the city of witto Kansas  founded in 1870 whereas project access provides   an effective way to serve lowincome individuals  who have no health insurance through a streamline   process built on the generosity of our medical  community which donates all care and treatment to   project access clients and whereas project access  has a network that includes eight hospitals six   40 Physicians 14 dentists and many other  medical professionals who yearly donate   millions of dollars in medical treatment to  those in need project access Partners with   local community health clinics including Guadalupe  Clinic Grace Med Hunter Health Mayflower clinic   and healthcore clinic and whereas project access  provides needed medication and durable Med the   clamation reads the city of witch Kansas  founded in 1870 whereas TL a d Learning   Academy and other organizations Nationwide  are recognizing recognizing licensed child   care providers on May 10th 2024 and whereas  Child Care provides a safe nurturing place   for the enrichment and development of millions  of children Nationwide and is a vital force   in our economy and whereas child care providers  are indispensable and are for the well-being   and economic security of Kansas's young children  families and communities and whereas our future   depends on the quality of the Early Childhood  experiences provided to young children today   support for highquality child care represents a  worthy commitment to our children's future 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 May 10th  2024 as Provider Appreciation Day in the city of   wiah and encourage all citizens to recognize  the efforts of licensed child care providers   and continue with the supportive commitment to our  children's future [Applause] I'm T Burger owner of   Tad Learning Academy on behalf of all family child  care providers centers across the United States we   thank you for acknowledging what we do day in and  day out even through crisis thank you [Applause] thank you ter may I please ask council  member Becky Tuttle to come down to the   front I will also like to ask the health  and wellness coalition to come forward the proclamation reads the city of Witchita Kansas  founded in 1870 whereas the health and wellness   Coalition of Witchita is teaming up with the city  and Community Partners to recognize National Bike   month in our community whereas for more than a  century the bicycle has been an important part   of the lives of many Americans and as a viable and  environmentally sound form of transportation and   an excellent form of recreation and exercise and  whereas the education of cyclists and motorists   as to the proper and safe operation of bicycles is  important to ensure the safety and comfort of all   users in efforts to reduce access accidents and  injuries and whereas creating bicycle friendly   communities has been shown to improve residents  health and well-being Quality of Life Community   spirit and reduction of pollution and congestion  now therefore be it resolved that I Lily woo mayor   of the city of Witchita Kansas along with the  Witchita city council to hereby Proclaim May   2024 as bike month ICT in the city of Witchita  and encourage all residents businesses and and   independent cyclists throughout our community to  support the implementation of the witw bicycle   master [Applause] plan thank you mayor woo and  members of the city council my name is Shelley   rich and I'm with the health and wellness  Coalition and I just want to encourage all   of you if you're looking for motivation to pull  your bicycle out of the garage visit bikon i.org   for a full list of events next week is Bike  to Work week so I challenge you to commute   to work by bike and you could win the golden  pedal award and then finally new this year   when you visit our website register for the  bike month raffle this is your chance to win   a new hybrid bicycle thanks to a collaboration  between the city of witchta air quality funds   be aware program Legacy Bank and Heartland  bicycle thank you and enjoy your rides this month for thank you thank you again to all of our  Proclamation recipients I would like to now   ask WSU Tech to uh come forward for the WSU Tech  Signing Day video and present with Dr Sher utash is it working today is national Signing Day here  at WC Tech Kennedy why don't you tell them what   we're doing we're giving away $1,000 scholarship  you just come sign get a picture with the big   check over there and have a great time are you  kidding me ,000 I'm here for the $1,000 hi my   name is Lauren and I go to Andover Central High  School my name is Blanca and I'm from South High   Carter and I go to school at Bishop Carol and I go  to Southeast High School Freedom Preparatory Derby   High School Manhattan High School and I go to NEO  High School after I graduate high school I'm going   to WC Tech I plan to attend WC tech for interior  design Aviation mechanics Information Technology   registered nurse bace Tech's Automotive program  Signing Day is important to get the students   really excited and explain the opportunities they  have ahead of them in our industry there is a huge   demand for new talent coming in it's important to  Lincoln Electric to be part of national Signing   Day because we get to see the future of our  industry today is all about honoring these   students choice to pursue a career in technical  education so whether that's Automotive it culinary   manufacturing today is the day where we are  celebrating those students and we are setting   them up for success to get $1,000 feels amazing  less money you have to pay for school $1,000 to   me means hope one step closer to completing my  education debt free if I could describe today in   one word it would be amazing fantastic thankful  blessed Joy awesome amazing I love today I got a   $1,000 scholarship here for the money baby show  me the money I just got $11,000 not bad for a   hard days of work that was fun can we do it again  I mean I want $1,000 again please let's do this [Applause] again so thank you so much for the  opportunity to be here this morning uh and to   share this uh about seven or eight years ago uh  the the uh Dean at wasburn Tech and I were um   having a a a happy hour at a conference we were  at and we were talking about how do you celebrate   Career Technical education and the decisions that  students are making so we decided to do something   very similar to what um College athletes get when  they um make those decisions to play sports at   different institutions and I went back to the  days of my youngest daughter when she signed to   play play volleyball um right out of high school  and so we started this um seven or eight years   ago I'm happy to say that this year's signing day  for us we had um almost 200 high school students   commit uh and received that scholarship of $1,000  I'm more excited to share though that this idea   that started here in Topeka Kansas and Witchita  Kansas has now span across the United States and   there was over 200 200 institutions across the  United States celebrating national Signing Day   uh and really celebrating the decisions that  young people are making uh when they make that   decision to begin their careers with a career  in technical education pathway um so super   exciting times um just to give you a little  bit of perspective uh five years ago we had   58 that that came this year we had almost 200 so  we're continuing to enroll those the other good   thing is out of those 200 um 101 enrolled on the  spot of new WSU Tech students for next year so   here's what happens they get a they they commit  they sign a letter of intent just like you do   they get a ball cap they get a $1,000 scholarship  they get pictures with their families they get you   know they bring all their families it's a really  great day of Celebration uh so we're super excited   about how this continues to grow um signing  day here in wiah but also Across the Nation   as we provide this most critical Talent Workforce  that's needed across our United States so thank [Applause] you thank you again to  Dr Sher utash and the team at WSU   tech for celebrating again Career and  Technical College and education for our   young kiddos uh we really appreciate that  that segment of our city council meeting   is about Awards and so congratulations to to  the 200 high school students who received a   $1,000 scholarship and congratulations  on graduating this year in 2024 Madame   clerk please call the next item public agenda  Gracie lamb ceasefire in Israel and Palestine good morning Council um my name is Gracie lamb  I'm a student at witch State University studying   political science in addition to my studies  I am also on the student Senate and recently   the witcha State student government passed  my resolution advocating for a ceasefire I   want to preface this by saying that this is not a  political issue with a side to take it's a people   issue major non-governmental organizations such  as Human Rights Watch and UN Human Rights Council   and Amnesty International has have called out  the Israel Palestine conflict as violating   international law and resulting in crimes against  humanity and human rights violation also Global   di diplomats have not come to a consensus that  there's a genocide occurring in Gaza amnesty   International's gen uh General Secretary Agnes  camard said that the threshold for genocide is   met and that holds a lot of weight if you took  a lot of interest in your history classes you   know the significance and importance of taking  human rights organizations seriously the reason   I'm here in front of the city council today is  because the United States is sending money and   lethal weapons to Israel continuing the war the  reason we at wsha state passed the ceasefire and   Gaza resolution was to use our platform as a  large public institution to advocate for peace   and to pressure L larger governments like this one  to pass something similar the city of witchta is   the largest city with a Libertarian mayor which is  a source of Pride for many of us so I'm sure you   understand the philosophy of Libertarians  that Advocates against the US uring itself   into foreign conflicts especially giving  American Dax dollars to foreign military   Powers Council the amount we spend in Israel is  no small amount we spend over $3 billion a year   estimated to be somewhere between 3.1 billion  and 3.8 billion which is more than we spend at   our own border and we recently passed to Bill to  give them $26 billion this makes us an accessory   to Major international law violation VI ations as  Israel continues to use their power to slaughter   Palestinians 70% of those who are already dead  are women and children mayor woo I saw in the   news that you recently visited Switzerland uh to  learn about the Swiss ideas and how to implement   them in a city government the Swiss are most  famous for their philosophy on peace the Swiss   began their strive to keep the peace in the  11th century after losing a couple Wars of   expansion which resulted in unnecessary deaths  I believe that we as the United States should   advocate for peace as well especially within  City governments there is absolutely no reason   for this many deaths to occur we have uh been to  a few City Council meetings already and received   quite a bit of support um and we are hoping  to uh enact a city ordinance similar to the   one passed in the student government at witcha  State basically saying that the city of witcha   does not support uh sending money to war or uh  support international human rights violations   such as violations of the Geneva Convention the  hay convention and the human rights declaration   which was proposed by the United States itself um  the technicalities of this ordinance I'm know you   guys are very busy so if that would be something  that we would need to write ourselves I am   familiar with how to write a bill I spent quite  a bit of time in TOA this last semester um I uh   could set up a a meeting with any one of you if  you'd be interested um thank you for your [Music] time thank you Gracie for speaking out this  morning I will just add one additional item I   really appreciate um your reference to peacemaking  um I did understand the concept and know that here   in witch child we are peace makers and just last  week during the National Day of Prayer we talked   about the importance of being peacemakers in  our own Community um so again thank you for   speaking out as a college student are there  is there any additional time or other public   comments oh Johnson uh council member Johnson  thanks mayor Gracie thank you for using your   voice and the work that you did with sgaa to  get that resolution passed and thank you for   standing on the right side of the issue caring  about people in life and this needless War and   the needless death of so many people over  there I just wanted to thank you for your work we will end public agenda items now consent agenda items 1 through 15 are there any items to be pulled see none is there a motion to approve I moved I mooved to  approve the consent agenda second vice mayor ballor seconded  any additional see none madam pleas if you want to do it by voice that would  be best because it keeps freezing on that okay   again we apologize for the technical difficulties  um all those in favor say I I I all those opposed say motion passes 70 Madam clerk please call the  next item board to bids and contracts dated May 6 2024 War mayor city council Josh lbert  Department of Finance the board of bids   and contracts convened May 6 2024 with the  following recommendations for engineering   we have the MacArthur waterline extension between   meridian and West Street phase one for me  Construction Incorporated in the amount of $195,200 LLC in the amount of 207,000  $200 we have the manholes inlet covers   Inlet frames excuse me and covers for DC andb  Supply Incorporated in the amount of $136,800 57 we have the background check  investigations for True view BS   I LLC for the rates listed with one year with  three onee options to renew we have the parts   for rotating assembly for Patterson  pump company in the amount of $5,385 back to the bench is there a motion to approve I move that the city council receive  and file receive and file report approve the   contracts and authorize the necessary  signatures second motion and a second   all those in favor say I I I all  those oppos sign motion passes 7   Madam clerk please call the next  item petitions for public improve improvements good morning mayor City  Council Members Paul gunsman Public Works   and utilities for the record this morning  I have three locations for petitions for   your consideration these signatures on the  petitions represent 100% of the Improvement   districts and the petitions are valid per  Kansas statute first one before you is swy   Farm Edition located in District 3 the  project will provide water improvements   storm water drain improvements sanitary sewer  improvements and Paving improvements for new   residential development the second item is South  cica States District 4 projects will provide water   improvements storm water drain improvements  sanitary sewer improvements and Paving improvements and the last item is Cypress Glenn's  second edition in District 5 the projects will   provide water sewer and Paving improvements  required for a new residential development the   developer will also construct their improvements  under private contract and to comply with State   Statute regarding the use of special assessment  funding the city must acquire the completed   projects it is recommend recommended that the  city council approve the new petitions and budgets   adopt a new resolutions and authorize necessary  signatures and I will stand for questions any   questions for staff Ione any public comments  I see none is there a motion to approve motion   to approve the new petitions and budgets adopt  the new resolutions and authorize the necessary   second motion and second all those in favor  say I I all those oppos passes 7 pleas call the next Amendment to the real estate agreement  for the sale of 2220 East 21st Street North good morning city council Jerry Ford with  development services uh this item I bring before   you today is an amendment to a real estate  agreement that was previously approved on ail   April 9th um the real estate agreement for  2220 East 21st Street was approved on April   9th for a sale to Habitat for Humanity  after the approval of the agreement it   was discovered that a portion of section 13  which was in references future use and the   introductory portion of section 14 in notices  was inadvertently dropped from the agreement   section 14 future you states that the buyer  commits to the ownership of the management of   and the maintenance of the property as the habitat  headquarters for a minimum of two years that   part missing from the April 9th agreement is a  paragraph that states that the buyer will not be   bound to be required to enforce the terms of the  section if the buyer is no longer in ownership of   the property however both parties do agree to the  deed restrictions that are set forth in section   12 section 14 is about notices and is missing  the introduction to the section which is an   information about how the part the parties agreed  to inform each other on April 23rd the amendment   to include these missing sections of the original  agreement were presented to City Council on the   consent agenda it was at that time that city  council requested additional language be added   to the use provision of section 13 detailing how  the property could be repurchased in the event of   a nonuse the item was deferred to today May 7th  if habitat were to violate the two year occupancy   and use guarantee the buyer has they have agreed  to additional language in the in this amendment   before you today that empowers the city a option  to P repurchase the property at the original   sale price or at a lesser amount should habitat  agreed to a sale price for less than what they   paid habitat subsequently request an extension  of their due diligence period which extends the   due diligence period from June 88th to June 20th  there are no Financial considerations or no impact   as a result of the proposed changes and it is  recommended that the city council approve the   amendment to the real estate agreement dated April  9th and authorize the necessary signatures and I   stand for any questions any questions for staff  I see none we'll open it up for public comment mayor city council my name is Lori Walker I'm the  program director at Witchita Habitat for Humanity   I want to First tell you that we're grateful to  the city council for voting to approve Witchita   habitat's purchase of the building at uh  on 21st Street at your April 9th meeting   and before addressing the specifics of the agenda  item before you I want to speak to the commitment   we've demonstrated to the community where we plan  to move our headquarters witch habitat has been   working in the area since 2014 it is referred to  and you might have heard the name Rock The Block   neighborhood we see the purchase of this building  and moving our operations as a way to solidify our   commitment to this once very neglected part of our  community this move will impact 22 staff members   making it a major undertaking for our entire  team something we do not plan to do again for   many years to come while we enjoy tax exempt  status our endeavors significantly contribute   to the growth of the tax base and I would ask  you to consider these these figures since 2014   we've constructed 116 new homes most of which  are in an area that was mostly in Phil Lots in   the Rock The Block neighborhood we've completed  13 Renovations enabling 129 families to achieve   home ownership these homes are homes to 317  children and 196 adults the homeowners have   collectively contributed $636,000 in property  taxes since they've purchased their homes   by transforming vacant and blighted lots into  vibrant residential spaces we generate far more   Revenue than would otherwise be possible thereby  alleviating burden for taxpayers furthermore   homeowners of properties built or rehabilitated  by witch Habitat for Humanity contribute over   $350,000 annually to the property tax roles we  also have completed repairs on 17 homes for home   buyers or homeowners who would not otherwise  be able to take care of those issues on their   homes due to limited income we've invested a  little over $15 million in this neighborhood   since we started working there it has taken us  many years of hard work to earn the trust of   the rock the block neighborhood we would  not do anything to jeopardize that for   any reason whatsoever in short our commitment to  Witchita extends Beyond mere housing construction   we actively seek to revitalize communities and  stimulate economic growth our plan to consolidate   our program office and construction and now home  repair um operations has been under discussion   for more than eight years it is included in our  strategic plan and Our Hope was to get that done   by the end of this year this building will make  that possible and we're thrilled to have the opportunity after confirming that the  property would meet our needs we did a lot   of due diligence to make sure that we would  be able to use this property for many years   years to come our offer of $682,500 is based on  the 2023 valuation or County Appraisal at the time   the proposal was written which was $910,000  the offer took into consideration our plan   to invest 300,000 in renovating the building  so it would meet our needs for the long term   we did not ask to lease the building with an  option to purchase at some point in the future   but tendered a cash offer to buy it outright we  do not need to do a capital campaign to raise   the funds to purchase this building because  Witchita Habitat for Humanity was blessed   alongside 84 other habitat Affiliates that's of  the 1500 Affiliates in the United States with   funds unrestricted dollars from Mackenzie Scott  the RFP stated specifically that the successful   bidder must remain in the building for two years  we acknowledged that requirement in our proposal   in section 13 of the agreement which we've  all signed addresses that commitment that said   Witchita Habitat for Humanity has in good faith  agreed to the addition of language giving the   city the option to purchase the building back at  the lesser of the purchase price or in amount any   amount we might be offered for the property if we  fail to own manage and maintain the property for   two years this is in spite of the fact that we're  going to invest $300,000 in that building when we   choose a space to invest in you can see and feel  the difference no different than the communities   we've identified to invest in this headquarters  will serve that same purpose thank you for your time any additional I see none we'll bring it back to the  bench council member John St thank you hapat for   manity I I appreciate your your patience and the  process of of uh contracts and things um I think   we've got it right now I wish you all the best do  an absolutely great work and uh look forward to   many more years of uh helping people thank you  council member johnon thank you mayor due to a   personal conflict of interest I'll be abstaining  from this vote council member Glascock yeah I want   to Echo councilman John sten's comments I think  this is a strengthened agreement thank you for   being a flexible in this process often sometimes  government isn't the easiest uh to work with but   I'm thankful for you doing this and I think  this is a precedent moving forward that we're   going to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars  and also encourage your investment as well so   thank you for investing in the community um I'm  glad that you mentioned uh again the statistic   about $636 ,000 invested uh back in the tax rules  and that's a huge benefit that habitat has that a   lot of nonprofits in the community don't invest  um uh back on the tax rules in terms of that so   thank you for that work um and I'm very excited to  support this as presented today vice mayor Balor   thank you mayor Jerry I'm sorry I have one quick  question for you um is the new language something   that we have ever added in contracts before or was  this just an oversight that we forgot to put on   there uh no that language is is typical language  that we would put in real estate contracts um okay there were just some conversations  on social media saying that um this was   maybe unusual so I just wanted to  um clarify that for the public no   the the sections that we're missing are  standard SE standard language for the   city to have in its contracts or real  estate contracts okay thank you you're welcome you see no further comments is there  a motion to approve a motion to approve uh   the amendment to the real estate agreement as  presented by staff second all those in favor   say I I I all those opposed sign and one  exension motion passes 60 with one exion   Adam clerk please call the next item public  hearing and tax exemption request Lee Aerospace good morning mayor and City Council Members I'm  Tim good pasture with the city manager's office   of development services the item before you today  is a request for a tax exemption for Lee Aerospace   Lee Aerospace was founded in 1989 it designs  and manufactures aircraft windows aerostructure   assemblies and composite parts for the Aerospace  industry it is proposing that it would renovate a   building at 9413 East 34th Street North which  is just west of 34th Street and web road the   renovation will create a clean room a layup room  and a sputter chamber which will be utilized to   apply thin layers of material to aircraft windows  the company will be investing a million dollars   in Real Property improvements and an additional $1  million in new machinery and equipment for a total   investment of $2 million the company currently  employs 154 employees in Witchita and projects   as a result of this project that it will add 15  new employees over five years with wages in excess   of $54,000 the project qualifies for a 90% tax  abatement under the current economic development   guidelines uh based on capital investment  it qualifies for 40% based on job creation   an additional 30% being in a regional growth  plan sector which is Advanced manufacturing an   additional 10% and by us utilizing state of Kansas  incentives it qualifies for an additional 10% no   land will be abated as part of this project  the economic development exemption uh under   which this company qualifies for a property tax  abatement is a state of Kansas program that is   not utilized very often because it's very limited  in the types of companies that can utilize it uh   for a company to qualify they have to be in  one industry one of three industry sectors   uh in the state of Kansas that being manufacturing  warehousing and distribution or research and   development all with products utilized in  interstate commerce there will be no sales   tax exemption as part of the edx program the  estimated value of a 90% abatement uh of the   $1 million investment is approximately $27,700  with the city's share being approximately $736 there will be a payment in Le of taxes put  in place for this project because this is an   existing building that is generating taxes  so the existing taxes today again that $ 67,2 will remain in place for the 10 years of the  property tax abatement so all taxing jurisdictions   will continue to receive what they are getting  today the abatement will be only on any increased   value based on the investment that the company is  making a cost benefit analysis was conducted by   the center for economic development and business  research at witto State University which showed   an overall ratio of benefits to costs of 2.73  to1 for the city with the city's general fund   at 2.55 to1 and the city's Debt Service fund at  3.13 to1 therefore it is staff's recommendation   that the city council close the public hearing and  place on first reading the ordinance authorizing   the execution and delivery of documents for  the Economic Development exemption for Lee   Aerospace Incorporated and authorize the necessary  signatures Michael alberty who is a vice president   and general manager for Lee Aerospace is here and  can answer any questions specific to the company   and I would be happy to answer any questions as  well questions for staff council member tutle   thank you thank you Tim for the presentation I  always say by the time something gets to here   to the V she put in a lot of time and effort so  I always appreciate that um could you go back to   slide 38 please I think I asked this this every  time but just for those who may be watching or I   don't know if anybody's watching or they go back  and watch it later anyone in the audience can you   please explain what this slide means and then also  the significance of the 2.73 to1 absolutely so in   whenever there's a tax abatement uh completed  in the state of Kansas the state requires a   cost benefit analysis to be completed to show the  impact to all taxing jurisdictions the state does   not require that there be any specific ratio of  what that looks like 1:1 1.3 to1 which the city   used to have as a ratio it could be below one  it it the state doesn't require there to be   any specific ratio it just requires that you  run an analysis and the City of Witchita has   as part of its Economic Development guidelines  a requirement that the project is at least a 1:1   ratio so when we're looking at something that  is a 2.73 to1 we're well above the one:1 ratio   and that is a very high return on investment for  the city for every dollar that is invested in the   tax abatement we are receiving back $273  great great great for the city um also is   there any risk to the city with this T there's  absolutely no risk there's no taxpayer dollars   again we're protecting the existing taxes  that are being generated we're only abating   any increase in value based on the investment  that the company is making thank you very much any further questions for staff I  see none we'll open it up for public comment well bring it back to the bench at this   moment any further questions I  see none is there a motion to approve I I'd like to just make a quick District  uh number two thank you um I just want to   thank staff Ken for all your hard work on  this I also want to thank Lee Aerospace for   investing in our community um one of the pillars  of our mission is to grow our economy and and um   initiatives just like that or how that's going  to happen excited about the 15 new jobs that   it's also going to bring at a really nice wage  so thank you to everyone who's been involved   but a special thank you to Lee Aerospace so with  that I would move that the city council close the   public hearing and place on first reading  the board the bond ordinance authorizing   the execution and delivery of documents for the  economic development expansion of Lee Aerospace   Incorporated and authorized the necessary  signatures second motion and a second all   those in favor say I I I all those oppos same  sign motion passes 70 Madam clerk please call   the next item request for letter of intent to  issue industrial revenue bonds 212 North Market   again mayor and council members Tim good pasture  with City manager's office of development services   the next item before you is a request for a letter  of intent to issue industrial revenue bonds for   212 North Market 212 North Market Street LLC is  a real estate holding entity that was created   recently to acquire the building at 212 North  Market in downtown Witchita near First Street   North and Market to develop into an affordable  housing project it is requesting a letter of   intent to issue multif family housing revenue  bonds in an amount not to exceed $21 million   the company is requesting a sales tax exemption  with an estimated value of $540,000 the city's   share of which is approximately 42,000 and is  requesting a tax abatement only on any increase   in value uh over the current valuation of the  property uh like the last project a payment in   Le of taxes will be put in place equal to $2,112  which are the current taxes that are being paid so   no taxing jurisdiction will be uh out any dollars  that it is currently receiving it will only be an   abatement on any increase in value based on the  investment that developers are making 212 North   Market is currently utilized as an office building  and it will be redeveloped into 51 one-bedroom and   23 two-bedroom units the estimated value of a 100%  of apent is approximately 640,000 if the appraiser   were to increase the value by $21 million the  city's share of which is approximately $172,000   again a payment and Le of taxes will put in place  uh in excess of $21,000 which are what the current   uh property taxes are being generated a cost  benefit analysis was completed by the center   for economic development and business research  at witto State University which shows an overall   ratio of benefits to costs of 1.69 to one uh the  city's general fund ratio benefits to cost of 1.65   to1 and the city's Debt Service fund of 1.80 to  one uh the company is applying for uh tax credits   through the state of Kansas through the Kansas  Housing Resource corporation uh the deadline is   May the 10th uh this project with an approved  sales tax will help the project receive extra   points in scoring in terms of trying to get more  projects in witchta that are affordable housing   projects therefore it is staff's recommendation  that the city council close the public hearing   adopt the resolution of intent and authorize the  necessary signatures the developer is based in   Denver Colorado and given our technological issues  was not able to join us today otherwise would have   been available so I will be happy to try to answer  any questions I can questions for staff beginning   with vice mayor Ballard thank you mayor Tim great  job um I've been really excited about this project   so I just have some um questions for you just  to explain um parts of the project to the public um the developer told me he was telling me  that 16% of the units would be reserved for   um affordable for people making 30% of the Ami  and an additional 30% will be reserved for people   making less than 40% of Ami you explain what that  means so the area median income is what a lot of   the affordable housing projects are based on  the developer can set what percentage of the   area median income that they want to Target  for their project obviously the the lower the   area median income that they're targeting  the more beneficial it is from a scoring   standpoint with the state of Kansas if you're  targeting people who have very low income uh   that's a good thing because there aren't a lot of  projects that do that and so with this developer   where they're targeting I believe it's 30 40 and  60% uh the tiers in terms of what they're looking   at at area median income the area median income  for households in 2022 I believe was $65,625 of the area median income so that's less than  $40,000 a year that they're looking at for fam   that would qualify to rent in this facility okay  awesome thank you for that they also mentioned   that all the units would be offered below HUD  defined fair market value um which is below   the affordability threshold for people making the  60% so um do you have any idea um what potentially   these rates could be unfortunately off the top  of my head I do not have that information so   I know affordability means different things to  different people people but this project seems   to be actually affordable for a population that a  lot of people are still not addressing the housing   issue for so I'm really excited um about that  another question um is how can we be certain or   what is put in place to make sure that they stay  these rates that they're telling us and the public   so when a project utilizes lowincome housing  tax credits through Kansas Housing Resource   Corporation there are all kinds of regulations  they have to follow and there are all kinds of   audits that the developer will have to make  sure that the developer is is qualifying the   individuals or families that are renting in their  facility by paycheck by whatever means it is to   verify what their income is uh the Kansas Housing  Resource Corporation is constantly auditing those   companies and they have to provide all kinds  of information in terms of reporting back to   the state to show that they are uh qualifying all  the tenants uh the affordability is in place for a   minimum of 15 years and it is a complicated deal  structure in terms of the tax credit purchaser   that's involved and winds up having to be in  the deal for 15 years as well as other parties   that are involved so it's a very complicated  transaction that has a lot of oversight and so   it is not undertaken lightly to pursue low-income  housing tax credits so there's multiple layers of   people doing checks and balances correct okay  last question is and I'm sorry I don't know all   the ins and outs of this I know the litec um  paperwork is due on the 10th correct correct   okay so what happens if they don't get um the so  if they so we have multiple uh developers that are   submitting by the May 10th date uh there's two  levels of tax credits 4% and 99% the 9% credits   uh are only reviewed once a year so this may 10th  deadline is the only deadline this year so if they   don't get an application in by May 10th obviously  they don't get the credits there's not a second   uh time to make an application now if they get  their application in by May the 10th that does   not guarantee that they are getting tax credits  these tax credits are highly competitive the 9%   tax credits we're actually going to be reviewing  this on a later item the 9% tax credits normally   generate about 70% of the equity in a project  today the state of Kansas is matching the 9%   credits so that's providing about 85% of the  equity in a project so as you could understand   if you're able to get 85% of your project funded  through tax credits you really want to do that and   so this is a super super competitive situation  so they could apply and still not receive the   credits because again this whole scoring situ  situation they're looking at there's people all   around the state that are doing everything they  can to get as many points on their application so   that Garden City or Hayes or Emporia or Kansas  City or Overland Park that they can get their   projects approved so um everyone is trying to get  as many points as they can to get their projects   in by this May 10th deadline but if they don't  if they're not chosen they can wait and they can   reapply next year so the state of Kansas opened  up uh the 9% tax credit scenario in January where   companies could come in and present their project  and the state could say well you can do these   extra things to try to get extra points and so  developers have been working to do those things to   get the extra points to try to get the best score  they can possibly get so if they apply and are not   chosen through this particular 9% consideration  which they'll find out in in July whether they   were selected than if the seller of the property  is willing to wait with them until next year they   could reapply next year vice mayor I think  the short answer to your question is that the   developers indicated they can't go forward without  the credits okay great thank you both very much   really appreciate it council member glassock thank  you mayor uh Vice M vice mayor Ballard's question   sparked two more questions of mine um first off we  had talked about if they are't awarded this year   they have to reapply subsequent years our passage  of this today and the passage of the RB how long   is that how long does that last does have come  before Council again so it would have to if they   did not get approved this year then they would  have to come back next year and ask for another   IRB uh approval for next year okay fantastic  thank you for that uh Second to that and I don't   project this to be a problem um this is just  more for future projects too so they guarantee   that certain percentage of the apartments will  be or the apartments will be B based on the Ami   um for that family for some reason let's say they  can't find an applicant that fits that definition   um that's applying for an apartment there what  happens they can't lease that unit so they have   to have people that meet these income guidelines  it is a very strict deal that the state monitors   on a regular basis so they absolutely have to  find tenants that fit that a timeline of hey we   have to wait six months and then we're open able  to open it they just can't rent that apartment   correct okay thank you and then this would be I a  question so I know item five we're talking about   further ways that we can enhance our ability for  um these credits here in Witchita moving forward   would this retroactively be able to happen would  they have to come back to so let's say item five   passes today would they have to come back as  part of our ability to Abate further tax credit   or what would happen with item five today so item  five is a uh separate but very important component   of this same situation the same application  what item five is going to address in terms   of the waiver of fees is they get five or even  10 points depending upon the dollar amount   of the fees that are waved and so again just  like this getting a sales tax exemption gets   certain points in their application the waiver  of fees gets them additional points so it's all   based on this whole point schedule where the  more benefits we can offer as a community the   more points they get the better chance we have of  getting an affordable housing project in which it   all so let's say we were to passed this today and  then we were to pass item five their application   is due on the 10th so we wouldn't have another  chance to come back before this body to be able to   do the fee waver council member if I could address  that all of this fall as I understand it falls in   one category and I'd like Troy Anderson to maybe  talk give you a little preview of the next item   because this project as we're recommending it  would probably not receive the waivers because   they'll get full credit for the sales tax  and property tax abatement but like Troy to   address that okay thank you some council member  to City manager's Point yes this category you can   and get up to 20 points right so as um as Tim was  referring to the fee waiver later on depending on   how large the project is the size scale scope of  the project you might see $40,000 in permit fees   wave that might get you Five Points so for this  particular project from what we understand if an   applicant gets a sales tax exemption that's  worth 10 points if you get the property tax   abatement that's worth 20 uh 10 10 points so you  will have maximized your 20 points anyway so the   fee waiver doesn't necessarily improve your score  any right so but on the other projects right that   um are submitting where they're not applying for  a property tax abatement so for example um couple   weeks ago you all heard a request for two projects  for sales tax exemption only right so they might   get the 10 points for the sales tax exemption and  then they get might get the five or the 10 points   for the fee waiver project again maximum of 20  points points but there's various ways you can   get to that 20 points okay I just want to make  sure they're capitalizing on everything so thank you council member hois thank you mayor  um appreciate the presentation uh a lot   of good things here I'm I'm psyched that  we actually get some affordable housing uh   downtown a couple of quick questions  um what what are what's the boundary   of the area median income so the area  median income that I was referring to is   County okay appreciate it and then um so would  future rent increases be dependent on increases   in the um area of median income they could look at  um the income the rents rather would remain stable   if the income increases then obviously that  changes what the percentage when you look at   the percentage when you apply the percentage  to an individual or a family what their in   could be to qualify under the affordable housing  uh guidelines okay all right appreciate it council   member Tuttle thank you Tim again great job always  appreciate all your efforts um I won't to have you   go back to the slide but just wanted to highlight  that the return on investment was one to 1.69 so a   great investment for the a great partnership  with the city is there any risk to the city   in this initiative there is no risk at all no  taxpayer dollars are involved in this thank you Tim one last question y sorry nope uh wanted  to know how many have applied for 9% litech   so I believe from uh in terms of projects that  are in the city of Witchita I want to say that   we're aware that there are maybe six projects that  are applying for the 9% credits and a community   can only receive four maximum if we were lucky  enough to receive four and traditionally well   historically how many have we received so  over the last seven years and I'm going   to get to this with our next presentation  but off the top of my head I want to say   over the last seven years in the state  of Kansas there have been 85 projects   that have uh applied for 9% credits and I  believe there's been only seven in witch all thank you uh Council M Johnston thank you  very much Tim appreciate it um I think this is   very good anytime we can get affordable housing  especially in downtown is tremendous also we've   got several hundred we will have several hundred  medical students in downtown and traditionally   medical students don't have a lot of money so  it's a great option for them actually I had a   son that utilized this in another building  he's a med school here so nice it's a great thing thank you Tim I see no further questions  for staff we'll open it up for public coms good morning my name is Twila Purity uh I live in  the Polo Club I'm on District Advisory Board one   and I just uh have a few questions on this project  now I understand the de developer is from out of   state is that right okay and then the de developer  will also be leasing the units is that right right   okay and then I know the city well I've kind of  heard um that the city has had problems with out   estate landlords and they become slum Lords I  mean that's going pretty far right from all the   way to slumlord but what are the protections if  historically the city has had problems with out   estate landlords how is this project going to be  protected from what could happen in the future if   they really don't maintain the building which  should be hard to maintain a good building and   get a nice return on investment if the rents are  relatively low and I guess the followup to that   would be has this developer done similar projects  and has the community or are those communities   happy with how the landlord is acting with towards  their tenants you still have five minutes so we'll   wait until you're done with five minut I'm done  I just was looking for we'll ask that during   they'll respond any other public comment I see none we'll bring it back to the  bench Tim could you please come forward can you   address whether there will be a Witchita manager  uh managing this specific property they will have   a management company selected locally they have  not selected one yet but they will have a local   management company uh there are apartment comp  lexes all throughout the city that are owned by   developers that are out of town um it it happens  all the time uh in particular when you look at   low-income housing tax credit projects because  of the complication of them when uh companies   get involved in them and they become experts  in that area they will typically do them in   their region or throughout the country uh  because they learn how the process works   and they learn what the reporting requirements  are and they usually do a really good job of Mak   maintaining their properties uh because they're  very involved in these kinds of projects and so   uh we don't typically see that low income  housing tax credit projects whether it's a   local developer or someone from out of state uh  are operating in a capacity where they let the   properties run down and oftentimes we actually  see them come back and maybe we have a a project   Brentwood apartments near haran Wood lawn where  the developer who's owned the project since the   80s has come back and is applying again for a  round of tax credits to rehab their project so   uh they often come back and try to do what they  can to continue to maintain the affordability as   well as the maintenance of the property council  member John Sun thank you mayor no questions Tim   just excited about this project we always say  the downtown is everyone's backyard and now   there's more opportunity for people to afford to  live in that backyard so I am happy to see this   project and I'm hoping that we can see uh even  more affordable units downtown I'm just grateful   that the uh applicant is looking to do this work  council member tutle thank you and Tim just if   we could invite you back up we're going to make  you jump up and down a lot today um regarding the   Community member thank you for coming today we  always appreciate Community engagement and glad   that you're interested in care so thank you  for being here and asking a question I just   want to kind of re-emphasize too because of the  potential for the low-income housing tax credit   the state will be involved correct and so there  will be additional oversight monitoring of this   project to ensure the living livable conditions  for for the tenants Etc would that be a good   assumption to make that's correct okay and  then you kind of mentioned it but there's   been precedent for us doing this before correct  absolutely and we have we had any concerns with   out of state um you know purchasers in the past  no we have not okay thank you I see no further   questions this resides in vice mayor Ballard's  District thank you mayor um like I said I am very   excited about this project um they will be having  a local management company um just a few blocks   away from the property so that's really good news  because as Miss pury mentioned we have heard in   the past um sometimes at ofate developers that  aren't here to drive by every day um don't take as   good of care of our properties so really excited  to hear about that um and just excited for someone   to actually tackle the affordability piece that  so many um members in our community are really   struggling to find um housing so very excited  about this um and with that I would like to I   move to take the recommended action to close the  public hearing adopt the resolution of intent and   authorize an necessary signatures second motion  and a second any further discussion been none um   all those in favor say I I I all those oppose  same sign motion passes 70 Madam clerk please   call the next item public hearing on proposed  assessments for 37 Paving project projects 30   water projects 24 sewer projects and 21 storm  sewer projects in September 2024 Bond sales   series 834 good morning again mayor City Council  Members Paul gunsman Public Works and utilities   for the record the item before you this morning is  a public hearing on proposed assessments for 112 projects there will there are 37 Paving  projects 30 water projects 24 sanitary   sewer projects and 21 storm sewer  projects for a total of 33 Mill 640,000 notice of hearing letters were published March 1st  2024 for all 112 projects all effective property   owners have been notified in writing and and  the Department of Finance and Public Works step   held a virtual informal hearing on March 18th  2024 there were four citizens and attendance   of that meeting and staff felt they were able  to effectively answer any of their questions at   that time or by follow-up conversations as  I sought additional information during the hearing Financial considerations statements  of special assessments will be mailed to the   property owners on May 17 2024 pending city  council approval today property owners have   30 days from the date of the statement  to pay the assessment and avoid paying   interest the assessment not paid during this  period will be in the September 2024 Bond sale   and the interest added to the principal  amount will be determined by the rate at   which bonds sell principal and interest will  then be spread and placed on the 2025 tax rule within this there is all single family  property assessments within this group of   projects will be for a period of 20 years  based on the two-year trial approved by   the city council on June 7th 2022 of the 112  total projects 74 are single family or mix or   a mixture of single family multifam zoning  and will be assessed over a 20-year period   the remaining 38 projects are either all multif  family or commercial zoning and will be assessed   over a 15-year period it is recommended that  city council close public hearing approve the   proposed assessments and place the ordinances  on first reading I will stand for questions any questions I see none we'll open it up for public I see none'll turn it back to the bench is there a motion to approve I would move that the city council  close the public hearing approve the prop   propos assessments place the ordinances on  first reading and authorize the necessary   signatures second Motion in a second any  further discussion I see none all those   in favor say I I I all those oppose same  sign motion passes 70 Madam clerk please   call the next item tourism business  improvement district 2025 scope of services just going to check the slides real  quick wonderful good morning mayor council   Lindsay Baka with the city's City manager's  Office Division of Arts and Cultural Services   uh today's presentation is what we affectionally  call the t-bid uh the tourism business improvement   district uh the scope of services and budget for  2025 a little bit of background about the t-bid   uh visit witchta receives annual funding from  from the city of witchta via the t-bid and the   trans guest tax uh for a promotion of Tourism  and Convention activities in 2014 the t-bid was   created to provide additional f fing to promote  tourism uh the funding had experienced previously   had experienced limited growth uh in the Years  prior which uh uh was the reason the tbit was   created um to ensure that we were in competition  for tourists and uh conventions um afterwards the   scope of services for 2025 outlines strategies  and budget allocations for leisure marketing   and group sales activities uh to drive tourism to  witto visit witto is helping lead local marketing   efforts uh and critically Main maintains the  the growing wit to's growing travel industry   and providing dollars back into the local economy  this is a five-year kind of forast of the Ted fund   noting that we don't really track 2020 because  it wasn't a great year for a lot of things uh   the proposed budget for 2025 is as follows the  estimated uh Revenue 4.1 million the proposed   Leisure marketing expenses at 2.36 million  uh the proposed group marketing expenses at   $ 750,00 and product development at2 ,000 and  uh General expenses for operations at 790,000   there are carryover funds anticipated with  with this budget which it from 2023 totaled to kind of talk about what this fund  does and all the great work that they're doing good morning mayor vice mayor council  member Susie Santo visit witto 515 South Main   it's a pleasure to be here today thank you so  so much Lindsay um and as we mark it our whole   our whole mission is to bring more visitors here  and we look at three distinct groups of potential   visitors that we Market to our Leisure visitors  they're going to come and spend the weekend   Sports bringing sporting events and meetings and  conventions and I going to take a quick look and   I've only got a few minutes but I'm going to  share a little bit about our Leisure campaign   as you can see in your packet every dollar we  spent drove $88 back in direct spending we do   this um by looking at our potential Drive Market  we are out there every day of the year on digital   advertising social advertising and also in the  summer commercials so I thought I'd play for you   our uh commercial we tested this before we've run  it it's been running this will be our third summer   and it has been producing outstanding results so  let's take a look something happening in Witchita   excitement movement A vibe a city that offers  amazing experiences delivered with heart from   Arts to attractions nightlife to sports you feel  the energy at every turn a little fancy a little   funky but always friendly come see the place  we love we think you'll love it too discover   more at visit witch a.com so that's just an  example of one of the commercials we have out   there playing and they'll start up again this  summer as we encourage those Leisure visitors   to come in into Witchita um when we think about  our group Market that's meetings conventions and   sporting events and this is a picture of a booth  that we have at one of our trade shows when our   sales managers go and take over a 100 appointments  with they're meeting with Meeting Planners and um   rights holders to hold sporting events and they  really develop that relationship and so much about   what the team does is build relationships to be  able to bring events here and I have to give a   shout out to Josh how on our team he's our vice  president of of Sports Development the entire   team is awesome I should name them all but Josh  um again an outstanding relationship that he buil   with us figure skating allowed us to have a really  exciting announcement that we made just a couple   of weeks ago um and before I show that video  I I do want to thank our partners at Interest   Bank Arena AJ beleski and his team amazing and  and SED County for keeping that facility always   looking um outstanding and all of you up here  at city council and your commitment to the ice   rink um and keeping those sheets of ice going  that played a vital role in us being able to   host sporting uh host figure skating events  over the last several years we successfully   hosted four of them now and that led to the  big one and let me play a quick video for you ahahahahahahahahah [Music] does that not get you pumped I am so excited and  we are so thrilled that to get to announce that   figure skating chose witchata to host the prevan  US vure skating championships in Witchita first   time ever in Kansas first time ever obviously  in Witchita coming next January um and this   would not have been possible without tours and  business improvement district and the investment   we have made over the last many years in  bringing Sports and groups and meetings   and all of that but producing outstanding uh  events in the past has led us to this um we   get to Showcase to not all the nation's best  athletes here in Witchita but it's um televised   Prime Time NBC it's streamed on peacock so all  over the US they're going to be tuning in and   seeing Witchita um and we put that on the map  so I hope all of you and everybody watching   will put this on your calendar I'm going to  wrap up by just talking a little bit more   about sports over the last several many years  with tbit as we've continued to invest build   those relationships our Sports Market has just  been booming and I wanted to share just a little   bit about what's happening in sports in Witchita  we started this year in January hosting again the   US figure skating uh synchronized championships  and again do the success of Hosting that led to   the big one with the Nationals um we were out  uh at striker actually we're out at striker   today hosting the USA lacrosse women's Collegiate  Championship we'll have 32 teams in from across   the country playing lacrosse out at Shield  Striker which is awesome we hope wrestling   with the ni men's wrestling and D2 wrestling back  in February and March in June we'll be hosting uh   pro softball for the month out at WSU so you  want to get out there also in June at Century   2 we're hosting USA boxing Junior Olympic we've  got um last year we up and I talked a lot about   the president cup they're coming back we've got  over a hundred teams soccer teams from around the   country coming in out to shill Striker for a week  that is a huge event and we're thrilled we'll be   back out at Shield Striker again with soccer with  in NC Jaa and ni men's soccer championships this   leads us to January we're hosting the big one  for us figure skating and let's not forget next   march we are hosting the D1 Men's Basketball  Championships round one and two does that not   sound like an exciting lineup so not only are  sporting events bringing those visitors and   tens and millions of dollars in economic impact  but this is great for our residents something fun   to do in your own backyard so I want to thank the  tbit advisory uh Council um for their work and uh   helping us continue to I think produce great work  thank you and the council for supporting uh the   tourism business improvement district so we're  able to bring visitors and guests and dollars   into our community and introduce them to what an  incredible place this is we call home so thank you questions for staff or or visit witch council  member ho Heisel thank you mayor um just one real   quick here it seems like we didn't do as well  as we had hoped in Springfield and Lincoln so   we're cutting off the funding there are we going  to reinvest that and increase um advertising in   other places or is that savings that we can spend  in another area we are thank you so much for the   question you know we tested last year three new  Mark Springfield Lincoln and Omaha and I'll tell   you Springfield did not produce so we found that  Springfield had absolutely no lift so we tested   it didn't work we're not investing again Lincoln  we found it it wasn't worth the the opportunity   and what it returned same thing so we've actually  taken dollars and moved more into Omaha so you're   going to see a bigger presence in Omaha thank you  thank you vice mayor Ballard sorry thank you mayor   I just want to thank you for being here this is  super awesome and I don't remember in a really   long time when we've had this much cool stuff  coming and I'm a big sports fan so um I know   that's not everybody's cup of tea but I know you  work really hard to find something for everybody   so uh super appreciate all of your hard work and  thanks for being here thank you so much and I   just have to give a shout out to the team I get to  stand before all of you but we've got incredible   individuals back in the office working every day  to do this so thank you so much we'll tell them   thank you too uh couple questions from my end so  that $4.1 million in Revenue you expected for25   um I see that 2.36 will be for leisure marketing  and then 750,000 for group can you talk about how   that is um divied up when it comes to sports uh  where does that fall does that just fall under   Leisure or does that also fall under group yeah  a couple of things um when you look at leisure   Leisure is what we showed the commercials the  digital and that's on our Drive Market because   we know the vast majority they're coming and  spending the night that are coming for leisure   are in that drive market so that is what you see  out hitting everybody we call that Leisure the   group Market uh and the sports that's going to be  our meetings conventions those are our trade shows   all of that comes out of there and then you also  see the Strategic event funds um those are those   dollars that we put away for future events that  are coming into town and that's the bulk of those   really go to the meetings and conventions but  the bulk of those go to sports the question the   follow-up question to that is does it look  like because Leisure we spend 2.36 million   and the economic impact is about 180 million  versus the smaller amount which is 750,000 for   group that may generate economic impact of 100  or 16 million is there any strategy to continue   putting more or reallocating some towards U more  of that sports that we can see is really exciting   and can really make Wich maybe a sports Capital  well you know and I will tell you amongst our   peers and amongst the trade shows we witcha is  becoming that sports city and so we have again   that's back to Josh and his team that we have  built that that um reputation so we're constantly   looking at the balance between how much we need  to spend and we start on that and we're actually   I project even coming down a little bit on that  Leisure to open it up the good news is on that   strategic event fund we have the dollars there  if need be for those future events and we also   with the council have the ability to go back if  we feel like we're missing something but right   now we feel like this is the right balance for  where we are in the market both from a Leisure   and a group perspective counil member Glock um  first off the ROI is just I mean incredible 88   for a dollar and I love the goal of hundred for a  dollar I think that's a fine objective um I have   a quick question regarding group performance  because we lump in Sports and Convention and   group performance and the total Roi for that is  25 to1 yes and goal is 20 to one is that correct   I think so yeah that was 2023 results and 2025  group performance measurements out of that have   we separated Sports Roi vers convention Roi  you know what we I don't really necessarily   look at that I look at the group we sure can and  I can follow back up with you but I tend to look   at it holistically I just don't know if we had  that information if the sports uh component had a   better return on investment than the convention  side I would probably believe it would but I   didn't know if we had that and there's no need  to yeah I don't we don't look at that right okay   sounds good thank you council member Johnson  thanks mayor thank you for the presentation   uh I just wanted to throw my pitch out there  can we go after the NFL draft would that not   be awesome it would be we'll put that on our  list thank you very much and again just as a   reminder can you uh just reiterate that this is  really generated the the revenue is generated   when we have more people coming to wiah if they  sleep in our hotel rooms that's how we get this   Revenue that's exactly right visitors generate  the fund that we use to produce more visitors   this all comes through uh the hotels and if we  don't collect it we don't spend it thank you very   much Susie thank you I see no further questions  from staff we will now open it up for public comment I see no public comment we'll bring it  back to the bench council member Tuttle thank you   thank you Lindsay for your presentation and thank  you also Susie for your presentation um Susie and   I have a chance to work together significantly  because of the shield Striker multisports complex   and I always appreciate everything that you and  your team do and you're always very generous   to thank your team but every team needs a good  leader so thank you for being that good leader um   I also want to just have a little competition here  because I see the goal for 2025 is 180 million and   I know when we did our last ap6 that Arts has 189  million economic impact in 2023 so let's see what   we can do here um no but seriously also when we  met last week you gave me this handout and I was   reviewing it in prep preparation for the meeting  there's 22 different sporting events in 2024 alone   and I was trying to count up the potential number  of nights and just kind of gave up but um as we   mentioned that's how we get the revenue right so  um and all of these are Regional National events   that are bringing people to our great City  who are not only just spending the night in   a hotel but they're eating and hopefully they're  shopping and they're visiting other attractions   such as arts and culture and and hopefully just  getting a love for Witchita like we we all have   and then finally um the spring summer 2024 visual  visitors guide is out that you produce and this is   a fantastic document um I think that I know a lot  about witcha but I even learned some things that   I want to put on my to-do list for this summer so  thank you for producing this as well but most of   all just thank you for all you do Susie and visit  which appreciated is there a motion to approve mayor with a motion to approve the tourism  business improvement district 2025 scope   of services and budget second motion a second  discussion none all those in favor say I I I all   those oppos same sign motion passes 70 Madam clerk  please call the next item lowi income housing   tax credit fee waiver incentive again mayor and  council members Tim good past the City manager's   office of development services the next item  before you is a request for low-income housing   tax credit fee waiver incentive according to the  office of policy development and research at the   Department of Housing and Urban Development  or HUD the low-income housing tax credit or   litech program is the most important resource  for creating affordable housing in the United   States the lch program in Kansas is administered  by the Kansas Housing Resource Corporation khrc   has two levels of programs a 9% tax credit and  a 4% tax credit the 9% tax credits are for new   construction and Rehabilitation of competitive  tax credit projects and typically can deliver   up to a 70% subsidy the 4% credits are for  projects utilizing at least 50% in federally   tax exempt Bond financing and can deliver up to  30% tax subsidy the state of Kansas is currently   matching the federal Awards dollar for dollars  which bumps the 9% projects to an 85% subsidy and   4% projects to a 50% subsidy which makes both of  the programs extraordinarily competitive to Mayor   to your question you asked me earlier how many  projects were awarded 9% uh projects over the last   seven years I had stated seven it's actually Four  that were awarded in the city of Witchita over the   last seven years that were awarded 9% credits  last year five were submitted from Witchita and   none scored high enough to receive an award those  projects indicated that they did not score well in   the other support category which is a specific  category in the application the other support   category can receive points for the following  land donation from local government historic tax   uh historic Rehabilitation tax credits a sales  tax exemption and a fee waiver based upon the   unit size the number of units in the project the  projects can be awarded five points or 10 points   based upon the dollar amount of the fee waivers  on the schedule you can see on this slide so we're   going to take an example of a 36 unit project  that is approximately $4 million investment   and the reason we selected 36 units is that over  the last seven years of those projects that have   been applying to the state the average has been  36 units with an investment of approximately 14   million that includes uh a a scale of 9 and a  half to an 11 A5 million in construction costs   in terms of the investment therefore extrapolating  from that uh construction cost the building and   construction fees are somewhere between 41,000  and approximately 48,000 uh for those projects   Metropolitan counties can only receive up  to 4 four Awards so in this scenario if the   city of Witchita were to receive four Awards the  maximum total fee waiver would be approximately $190,000 also if four awards were given to the  city of Witchita with an average of 36 units   and again that range of investment we would be  seeing 144 new affordable housing units valued   at $56 million in terms of the investment in  those projects 9% tax credit projects are only   awarded once a year May 10th is the deadline for  2024 uh the fee waiver that we are requesting   the incentive for the 9% projects is only for the  current applicants for the 2024 process therefore   it is staff's recommendation that the city council  approve a fee waiver incentive for projects   awarded 9% lowincome housing tax credits in the  2024 application process and I would be happy to   stand for any questions questions questions for  staff starting with council member Tuttle thank   you Tim thank you for the presentation this is  certainly not my area of content expertise so   I'm I'm certainly trying to learn um something  that's vitally important as we're all trying to   address affordable housing and our homelessness  issue and our community um and we have to be more   competitive because other communities are facing  the same and are also going to be seeking these   right so what I heard you say is that other  support is the category that we we need to   bolster up so that we can be more competitive  is that correct that is correct and and just   for someone who's I would say a novice in this  area like myself or other people in the community   who may be here or watching or listening later  explain just really you know neighbor at your   mailbox kind of conversation how this will help  with the other support category so that we can be   more competitive so as as Troy said earlier and  and we've alluded to Here by approving the fee   waivers projects can gain an additional five or 10  points depending upon the level of fees that are   involved in the project uh again these are only  for the projects that are applying now uh and just   because they this if if the fee waver incentive is  approved doesn't mean it's nor necessarily granted   they would have to receive the tax credits in  order to receive the fee waiver incentive okay   thank you then my next question just a followup  is this is one strategy to help us stronger in the   other support category correct that is correct are  there other strategies that we're looking at so   that we can continue to be more competitive there  aren't today though uh with the city uh with the   state of Kansas rather matching the federal  tax credits uh we have seen a huge interest   in low-income housing tax credit projects and uh  it is certainly something that we in housing are   talking about how can we find ways to be more  competitive and support programs like this so   that we can see more affordable housing projects  in the city of wiah okay great you do great work   and our our Department of Housing and Community  Services does amazing work so I'm confident that   you'll be able to collaborate together to help us  be more successful in the future thank you council   member Glascock yeah a few questions we're doing  this for the 9% not the 4% because the 9% is due   in three days that's correct so all the applicants  how many do we have submitted right now from the   city wi so my understanding is that there are  six projects in the city of Witchita that that   are applying for 9% tax credits so this would go  to all six of those units just for 2024 as kind   of a pilot to see if this helps it would go to a  maximum of four communities can only be awarded   a maximum of four projects so if we were to if  all six were approved we could only we could only   provide this for four of them and the how would we  make that determination well I think honestly the   there's there's probably three or four of them  that are are probably the strongest cont Enders   based upon what we know about what their points  are um a couple of weeks ago you all approved a   sales tax exemption for a couple of projects you  approved another one today uh that makes some   of those the strongest ones in the city of wiah  so what are the strongest projects right now so   there is one that is down at 55th Street South and  Broadway uh there's 22 North Market and the third   one I'm going to draw a blank on off the top of  my head so this doesn't have a negative effect on   mbc's budget just because if we're reward the  projects they're projects that are likely not   going to happen unless they're awarded the the tax  credit tax so it could have an impact obviously up   to if we were looking at the the dollar amounts  that we're looking at it could be if we had four   projects awarded it could have an impact on mabcd  not being able to receive the 190,000 uh the odds   are realistically it's something less than that  based upon what projects are are approved by uh   Kansas Housing Resource Corporation for the 9%  credits and what's the the most that we've ever   been awarded in one year you said there's been  seven in the past five years there's been four   in the past seven years in wiah so it's been a  pretty low number okay fantastic and so this will   retroactively um wave the fees for the projects  that are currently in application correct thank   you council member hois thank you mayor uh have  any of those fees been paid yet no okay now this   is um so this is essentially just a a break for  the next couple of days till we get the people   into the the 9% application correct and this  would only have an impact in all likelihood in   next year's budget because most of these projects  even if they get awarded they will get awarded in   July most of them won't get started because they  don't have full architectural plans and all that   they wouldn't likely happen until next year Okay  so remind me again next fall would be the next   time the 9% litech credits will be up for so next  May will be the next yeah a year from now would   be the next round of 9% credits is this going to  impact any of the plans between now and then if   they say hey we applied for it in October of 2024  when this program was still verified by us here   today is that going to have any impact in 2025 in  any applications no we'd have to come back to you   and request another round of fee waver incentive  if we were going to look at something in 25 okay   um just one little kind of off-the-wall question  how how often are the 4% tax credits reviewed   those are given out I believe twice a year twice  a year yeah when's the next round of that the next   round of that I want to say is July I think  is the next round of 4% tax credits is there anything how often are witch projects  approved for the 4% so over the last   several years um we've had six or seven projects  but with the state of Kansas matching the federal   tax credits um that has driven more interest in  affordable housing projects so we're seeing more   people looking at them than we have in the past  uh I've been with the city over 13 years and in   the first eight or nine of those we did maybe  a handful of projects at best and we've seen   probably eight or 10 in the last few years okay  is there anything we're looking at to help that   process along or do we feel pretty good about  where we are with that one yeah we're working   with housing uh just given the interest that  we've seen we were working with Housing and   Community Services to see what ways we can partner  up and making sure that we're uh making developers   aware of all of the uh programs that Housing and  Community Services has in addition to what the   state has in terms of the low income housing tax  credit programs okay I appreciate it thanks yep   vice mayor Ballard thank you mayor uh Tim I  just want to make sure that I understand so   this is basically a tool in the toolbx that we  can offer to encourage someone maybe to do one   of these projects or apply but if their project  doesn't get selected it's over I mean it didn't   cost us anything or we not that so it's just  to encourage an incentive um for people to um   apply for the yeah normally when I'm coming to  you with projects it's a project that's going   to occur in this scenario with this fee waver  incentive program we're helping them with their   application to score better by offering this so  there's no guarantee that any of these projects   will be selected by khrc sure okay great thanks  council member Glasco one L the last question so   out of the applicants from Witchita that apply  for lch credits how many of them have continued   a project if they didn't receive the credits  I don't think any of the projects would move   forward if they don't receive the tax credits  because they're just not financially viable   okay thank you Tim I have several questions for  you okay um of the four that have received litech   credit over the last seven years can you tell  us who those four are I cannot tell you off the   top of my head who those are um I think uh in  terms of some of the 9% versus 4% I don't know   that I could break that out there's a developer  out of Denver Colorado called steel properties   that has applied I believe typically for the  4% tax credits they're on their fifth project   in Witchita over the last six or seven years um  uh I I I couldn't tell you the other ones off   the top of my head the reason why I asked that  question is obviously they received it so they   got past the hurdle I wanted to see what you have  learned from them in regards to how they got over   um that hurdle of actually receiving litech credit  because as of last year we had a total of five who   submitted from our area and zero got awarded  correct so I wanted to see what lessons have   been learned in order for us to now hopefully be  competitive enough so that we can max out and get   the four that we can maximum have yeah and that's  where what we've learned from them is this other   support category in the application is the area  that uh Kansas Housing Resource Corporation has   told those projects that they did not score well  because we didn't have a fee waiver agreement they   may not have gotten a sales tax exemption and  so we're looking at those things to try to do   what we can uh in advance of their applications  being in to make sure that we are doing what we   can to give them the maximum points and can you  uh go over the applic a process in regards to the   number of points so you can get up to 20 points  if you get a sales tax exemption and a property   tax exemption and this would be a maximum point  of 10 points um if we do this fee waiver so what   are other point systems that you get applications  there are a variety of things these applications   are pretty massive applications in terms of what  they put in and they get graded on the uh how   affordable they are what the target market is in  terms of the area median income we were talking   about 212 North Market and that they've broken it  up into tiers where they have 30% of area median   income 40% of area median income and then 60% of  area median income being the maximum income that   they would accept in terms of the tenants in  their facilities so the more affordable they   are the the the better they score there's a  huge range of things that that that they get   scored on I believe there's a total of 100 points  that they can get up to based upon the various categories I would like to follow up on the four  that I've received over the last seven years sure   I will send it once you send it to me I'll send  it to the council too thank you we will close   the bench portion for this moment and give it uh  to the public any questions from the public I see   none we'll bring it back to the bench any further  questions from the bench May mayor I will say I   I'm speculating and we will get confirmation but  I'm going to guess that at least some of the four   were projects that Council had approved sales tax  and property tax abatement for so they received   the scores in this category many projects however  do not want to go forward with sales tax property   tax abatement and that's why the fee waivers  are coming forward but we'll get confirmation   of that council member Glascock yeah I just want  to thank staff for being Innovative for this and   especially it's a 2024 application let's see if  it works doesn't work don't do we don't do it   in 2025 so I appreciate of you guys thinking  a way to expand and make us more competitive state is there a motion to approve with a motion mayor um I move  that we approve a fee waer incentive   projects awarded the 99% low income housing  tax credit in the 2024 application process   second motion and a second any  further discussion I see none all   those in favor say I I I all those oppos  sign motion passes 7 Madame clerk please   call the next item Westlink Branch Library  automated Material Handling system contract good morning everyone I'm Jamie Nicks with the  witch Public Library here to talk with you about   some further progress with our wesling Branch  project um you all authorized um the funds for the   expansion in December of 2023 and then we also um  brought forward an with the witcho public library   Foundation to be able to work in Partnership um  for them to do a capital campaign for $2 million   to provide a margin of Excellence for both west  or actually all of wesling Rockwell Angelo and   Alford um we know that the West Witchita readers  are just voracious um they were circulating um 43%   of our Branch circulation before we um began the  remodel project and as such we're really looking   for some opportunities to improve workflows um  and provide staff more capacity in direct Public   Service rather than Material Handling um as part  of this too we were able to use innovation funds   to transition our entire million items in  our physical collection to RFID and so um   as a result of this project we'll be able to even  um move materials faster so our Advanced learning   library has an automated Material Handling system  if you have been there you've seen it as you walk   in the door um this has really proved to be an  incredible staff timesaver um as it checks in   sorts and kind of does the prep work for our staff  who then are returning materials to the shelves   um our foundation's Capital campaign includes the  funds for this automated Material Handling system   and so this would be leveraging thatou um for  us to be able to integrate it into the project   we've worked with our architect and  Tech logic who is the provider of the   technology at the advanced learning library  and keeping with that ensures that we have   um continuity of service and um maintenance  so um there's a city code that allowed us   to um kind of build out our existing amh  system with tech logic our LW departments   approved and signed the contract and the  amount that the foundation would pay is 281,000 be really strategic about how we're  navigating square footage um this will just   really improve our return to the shelf  of materials okay Caster council member   Johnston Jamie thank you very much presentation  did a great job uh just like to point out that   uh West witcha appears to read a lot yeah  because uh it's up to 43% of all branches   are checked out the w library so thank you  for the good work work and obviously it's   much needed there yeah we're excited to expand  the physical um material collection as well as   technology there to be able to support thank you  any further questions for staff I see none other   than I do want to ask you Jamie when will  construction be completed the LA well we're   in the throws of it and I would be happy once  a little bit more significant um construction   has completed to give you all tours um we're  looking at the December January um of this year so thanks we open it up for public comment I see none bring it back to the bench any  further questions or comments the Westlink resides   in council member Johnston's District would you  like to motion I would probably like the motion   I'd like to make a motion to approve the tech  logic contract to purchase automated Material   Handling system for the West link braner library  and authorize and necessary signatures second   motion and a second any further questions see  none all those in favor say I I all those opposing   sign motion passes 70 Madam clerk please call the  next item property and evidence fire suppression good morning mayor and uh Council uh this I'm  captain Casey Slaughter with witd property   crimes and Technical Services those are the two  sections I am in charge of uh WPD uses space in   the rounds and Porter building directly to our  West for property and evidence uh the Police   lab digital forensics and Laton prints on March  16th 2021 city council approved a $ 1.25 million   um fund uh in the general Bond Bond funding for  fire suppression the plan fire suppression at that   point uh was mostly for dry chemical and some  water uh for fire suppression uh p& stores uh   sensitive materials that are obviously susceptible  to water damage so this was uh obviously changed   and I'll talk about that in a minute the pro  project includes fire Life Safety uh electrical   system improvements and fire suppression  installation uh the there are three floors   in p& this is going to cover floors one and two  uh for the fire suppression and suppression was   planned originally for 2021 as I mentioned earlier  but the pandemic significantly changed and altered   that timeline and so the cost increases from the  original 1.25 million to the estimated 2 million   are because of the inflationary pressures since  that point and then the original budget uh with   some water has now changed to all dry chemical  and that's based on our auditor as well and the   recommendations there so some of the financial  considerations uh on this are uh the uh Public   Works has received estimates between 1.7 and  $2.1 million from uh outside vendors and in   the 2024 to 2023 2033 adopted CIP this  includes an additional 750,000 in general   obligation bonds for fire suppression within  the ongoing projects uh port and that brings   the total to $2 million so our recommendation  is the city council approve the project adopt   the amending bonding resolution and authorize  the necessary signatures and I'll stand for questions questions for staff starting  with councelor Bri glas thank you Captain   Slaughter for being here first question do we  not have anything now there's currently no fire   suppression uh whatsoever other than we have  some fire extinguishers in there so this is a   project long overdue um and then you said floors  one and two one and two why not three so three   uh it's been determined by an outside architect  and Public Works can speak to this as well uh   that three is not necessary at this point uh the  auditor has apparently agreed as well in my side   conversations with Public Works that floor three  is not necessary at this time okay I'll trust them   thank you any other questions for staff I see  none we'll open it up for public comment any   question questions or comments from the com from  the public I see none we'll bring it back to the bench this resides in vice mayor Ballard's District thank you mayor um thank you for coming  to share all the information with you I was hoping   I was going to have about 40 questions for you but  you did a great job so I don't have any but thanks   for being here um I move to it is recommended  that the city council approve the project adopt   the amending bonding resolution and authorize  the necessary signatures second motion and a   second any further comments see none all those in  favor say I I I all those opposed same sign motion   passes 70 Madam clerk please call the next item  loan agreement for the witto Waterworks project good morning mayor and council members Gary Jansen  Public Works and utilities uh the item before you   this morning is Project Finance project financing  for which to Water Works and specifically request   for approval of the fourth and final srf loan  agreement uh just some quick background on   a few things uh as you know our water treatment  facility which Water Works is nearing completion   of construction we will have an annual update  on Wednesday hopefully you all can make that   you hear more about it um and as such we're trying  to wrap up things is on the final installment of   the srf loan project financing overall wiffy  is providing wiy loans providing 49% srf is   47% I'll show you a breakdown of that in a moment  with the balance being in water utility cash and   revenue bonds the wiffy of credit agreement which  was approved by the city council in April of 2020   provides almost $281 million in loan funding plus  capitalized interest interest the srf financing   is provided in a series of loans which I'll  show some details in a second it's a different   interest rates for each loan all all other terms  are the same the aggregate total including the   capitalized interest is just over $267 million UTI  utilization of this funding results in a estimated   Savings of $83 million compared to traditional  revenue bonds I won't spend a lot of time on   this uh but the city council first approved  the first loan installment loan number one in   November of 2020 since that time there's been  two others obviously we're here today for the   fourth and final loan agreement uh you can see  that the interest rates are very favorable for   srf uh is providing the best financing that we've  we've been able to identify for both this project   and BNR the estimated savings for each uh loan is  shown at the bottom resulting in that $83 million   the insurance cost for a loan forward as part  of the item for today a request to move forward   with that payment which needs to be made by the  17th so we can move forward and close this loan   the estimated savings overall for WTO Waterworks  with wifia was $97 million I mentioned it's 83   million for srf for a total estimated Savings  of $180 million overall for the financing of   the entire project compared to traditional  revenue bonds the savings are estimated in   comparison again to traditional revenue bonds and  these are estimates that we received from both   EPA uh and uh through the F through the state  and local government series uh rate table for srf the rates will not be impacted you've seen  this before it should look uh familiar to you   on the water side the annual debt payments  estimated by kdh year in line with those   previous estimates there would be no changes to  the projected future rate adjustment ments uh   that's been shared with the council since 2019  as a result of this loan staff recommends city   council approved the loan agreement authorize  the required insurance payment to be paid out   of the Water Utility Fund operating budget and  authorize the necessary signatures and I'd be   happy to stand for any questions questions for  staff starting with vice mayor Ballard thank   you mayor uh thanks Gary uh can you explain srf  uh srf is a state revolving Loan Fund available   through kdhe and it's Federal money that comes  down through uh kdh but we've been able to use   that to fund almost half of each of our major  projects which do Water Works and BNR uh and   what it does again the interest rates are are  the most competitive they're generally about   60% of market rate so balancing that with  wifia and and a small amount of traditional   financing is is what's allowed us to smooth the  rates out over period time which was previously   discussed with Council and provide um again  the best overall financing at the best cost   for the rate payers to have the least amount  of impact on the rates themselves okay awesome   thanks I just want to make sure everybody knows  what the acronym stands for because sometimes   they can be a lot yes thank you and I should  have mentioned appreciate that thank you so much any further questions for staff thank you  Gary we'll open it up for public comment any   comments or questions from the public I see none  we'll bring it back to the bench council member   Johnson thanks mayor um Gary I don't I don't  know if you still have that but I think when   this comes up next year if you have that price  or great chart from when we first got the um srf   that would be helpful I don't hear a lot of  questions about it but when folks talk about   the increase in water rates when we do that and  I highlight without these we would have been at   12 to 15% instead of the five but I think it  would just be helpful next time if that was   in the presentation just to point it out I  think that's a great idea and we'll we'll do that believe this resides bance thank thank you I move that the city council approve the srf  loan agreement authorized the required insurance   payment to be paid out of the Water Utility Fund  operating budget and authorize the necessary   signatures second motion and a second any further  comments I see none all those in favor say I I   I all those opposed same sign motion passes  70 Madame clerk call the second construction   agreement for biological nutrient removal plant 2  package 3 structure and ultraviolent disinfection   improvements good morning mayor city council Don  Henry Public Works and utilities item before you   at the moment um would approve a construction  a contract for construction services for plant   two package three under the uh City's biological  nutrient Reduction Program um just a little bit   of background here the main the primary driver  for this project are emerging um requirements for   nutrient reduction on the plant to um discharge  into the Aransas River um we're required to   be compliant for reduction in um phosphorus and  nitrogen by January 1 of 20128 this also provides   opportunities to address needed Odor Control  Pro improvements at both plant one and plant   two which will greatly in improve conditions  within the neighborhood around those facilities   uh this also allows us to renew and Rehab aging  and failing assets and then where it's feasible   configure the project in such a way that we can  accommodate future growth capacity as well as   other um emerging um permanent conditions uh the  table in front of you here lays out the individual   packages uh for the program and the two columns  on the right show the timeline including uh the   date of uh Council authorization for each package  and then the target completion date I think the   the important thing to see here is that we're  still on on target with each individual package   uh to finish in time for permanent compliance  uh the packages include Engineering Services   for both design and the owner's representative  then improvements to uh plant one six individual   packages for plant two and then a package that  will rehab the cowskin Force main this is a a   force main line that delivers um influent from  the Western portion of the Basin to plant to   today's item is package three and it includes  the um biological nutrient removal treatment   works for the nitrogen and phosphorus as I  mentioned this is kind of the heart and soul   of the project um it's a really a uh you can't  describe uh what this is going to look like it's   a massive structure that's larger than a football  field multiple Chambers a total depth of about 20   ft and it includes a state-of-the-art hydrocyclone  sledge separation fa facility to ensure the best   environment for the favorable bacteria to grow in  that provides the treatment that we need to knock   the nutrients down uh we'll also modify existing  basins provide additional um zones for treatment   and um this will all work together to um to to  get the proper levels of phosphorus and nitrogen   that we need in the effluent this ALS this pack  is also includes improvements to the disinfection   system which uses Ultraviolet light to make sure  there are no actively growing bacteria in the   affluent before it's discharged into the river  there are portions of s um sensitive equipment   that are below the base flood elevation so we'll  need to raise that up and then we're also adding   additional capacity for redundancy and for future  growth the base bid package was very favorable and   this allowed us to include some bid alternates  including replacement of the final clarifier   scum pumps and piping as well as replacement  of some severe deteriorated asphalt on the   plant and then much needed improvements  to the failing hbag system in the admin building we uh utilized a value based approach  to um procurement uh for this package and it was   a a competitive seal proposal which uses  a combination of fee and most qualified   um firm uh 80% of the consideration was  for the fee and then the remaining 20%   was based upon the proposers experience on  similar projects uh their staff capacity   experience local participation of businesses  and then Ebe and dbe participation the selection   process followed administrative regulations in  the standard procurement process um two firms   were uh interviewed by the staff screening and  selection committee Garney Construction and Don   linger Wildcat biological nutrient reduction  um BP P3 LLC uh both were interviewed by the   steering committee and Don linger Wildcat being  rbp3 LLC was selected as the most uh qualified   firm uh Financial considerations include the  proposed base fee for construction of 144 m126009 m58 7,000 funding is available in the BNR  program budget as approved by Council and amended   on March 5th 2024 I UMD like to recommend that  city council approve the contract for BNR package   3 construction and authorize the necessary  signatures and I'll stand for any questions   that you have questions for staff beginning  with council member hois thank you mayor um I   appreciate your work on this Don this has been a a  huge project the second largest one in the city uh   we're not here to talk about voter control today  even though I appreciate all the work work on that   uh can you talk a little bit about how uh we're  configured for future requirements that may come   down the pipeline um I know there's a lot of talk  now about forever chemicals and making sure that   we're not putting those in the water supply but um  just in general just what ideas do we have how is   it set up for future requirements and improvements  you bet so so what we're looking at is the type of   technology that we're using for for f nutrient  reduction knowing that um in the future future   uh there's there's a methodology called enhanc  enhanced nutrient reduction so there will be   another step to knock nutrients down sometime in  the future 15 20 years out something like that so   we wanted to make sure that we were using a a  technology that would D dovetail with that and   then configure that in such a way that when that  has to be built that we limit our cost and then   we're also looking at um at at growth right and  capacity uh so that when we uh increase our our   our um permit the volume that that we're able to  accommodate that affordably um as far as the the   forever chemicals that's down the line alwayss um  this process really wouldn't affect that treatment   but it is something that we are looking at in  the future and are engaged with kdhe and taking   a look at our effluent what that's looking like  and the conditions of the river and everything   else yeah thank you bet any further questions  for staff I see none we'll open it up for public comment none we'll bring it back to the bench  this resides in council member hoisel district   member T thank you um I just wanted to make two  quick comments I have the pleasure of serving on   the BNR steering committee with council member  H Heisel and and Don I just want to thank you   and your team and and council member H has kind  of beat me to it that this is the second largest   project the city's ever seen and it's not as  visible necessarily or maybe as kind of fancy   as the water treatment plant but equally is  important so thank you for all you and I know   there's been some staff changes and different  things but from the loan process application   all the way to where we are just incredible  work from you and your team and then I want   to thank council member H Isel um I've learned  a lot from you about this process and serving   on the steering committee with you and thank  you for just being a champion for something that   is really important to not just the residents  in your District but the entire city so thank you just a as a reminder since we both had  a water and a BNR project in the last two   items it's a reminder to community that the  city of Witchita is making big investments   in infrastructure in water alone it's $494  million and in BNR it's $357 million so major   Investments um again into infrastructure so  I will allow council member hoisel thank you   mayor um and before that I would be remiss  if I didn't thank uh council member Tuttle   for her hard work and securing the wfia  funding which is saving Witchita taxpayers   a considerable amount of money over the uh  length of these two projects so thank you for   that council member title um so I would like to  move that the city council approved the package   three agreement with Don linger Wildcat  BNR pbo3 LLC and authorize the necessary signatures Motion in a second any  further comments I see none all   those in favor say I I all those oppose  same sign motion passes 70 Madame clerk   please call the next item adoption  of the national electrical code 2023 Edition good morning mayor council members  Chris labor metro area building and construction   Department uh item before you today is just as  stated the adoption of the national electrical   code it's the 2023 Edition with local amendments  so uh the NEC is article four within our unified   building and trade code uh as stated this updates  the national code as well well as our local   amendments to that code uh this is published by  the National Fire Protection Agency it's NFPA 70   uh it does nest and is designed to nest with the  International Code Council codes that we use we do   have one uniform code which is the plumbing code  but electrical and plumbing really do not uh or   are the two codes that really do not uh have a lot  of coordination involved uh our codes our trades   codes specifically are revised every three years  we try to keep those updated with the national   standards that's how of often those are released  in order to remain current with the industry and   in this case we see so many technological changes  and advances between code Cycles we want to be   able to stay up with that and allow that for  our local industry so the other codes that uh   we coordinate with are listed here uh again the  remaining codes that uh we uh work with and to   include the fire code uh the latest adoption of  uh the NEC was in September of 2020 uh that is   currently the code that we are working under which  is the 2020 version with 27 local amendments this   moves us to the 2023 with 20 local amendments  so we're happy to be able to reduce those uh   one thing that we're uh very uh happy about  with that is it's an indicator that some of our   amendments are being picked up in the National  code uh absolving the need for those so we're   always uh glad to see that take place uh and uh of  course to streamline our requirements you will see   as we get into some of the details that we have  two items that by the design of the NEC they are   putting the accommodations for the code in place  but they are uh extending the requirement date for   those uh we have actually even further extended  the required date in our Amendment and we've also   given ourselves an option for exclusion with those  items and again I'll I'll explain that as we as we   get into some specifics uh we also then have two  areas that we uh that we did exclude items from   the national code that we'll explain so this was  presented uh last week at uh um the uh Board of   excuse me County Commissioners for sedick County  uh at a public hearing so the public hearing is   held on the county side uh we did have a handful  of members from the public attend that most of   them were in Industry Representatives only one  individual spoke um he did speak in support of   the code uh the county did not pass it unanimously  I want to point out so one commissioner was absent   uh who had though voice support for the code one  commissioner did Express and does Express concern   over two of the um amendments that we have were  actually a lack of amendment that we have in the   code there two new items in the code that um he  was is remains concerned about so again we'll   discuss those in detail at that point uh so the  vote I guess to sorry to finish my thought there   the vote was 3 to one with the Commissioners who  were uh in place so uh though there was a great   deal of discussion about those items in the end  the commissioner did not recommend to keep the   public hearing open and did not recommend to defer  uh adoption of the code uh just indicated his lack   of support for those two items uh the use of  this code of course uh is unincorporated SED   County as well of the as the city of Witchita and  then also the 18 smaller cities that utilize us   for support in their areas will at least in some  form use and adopt this code we also assist suar   County and Butler County uh in a few areas so  they will also at least to some extent um be   covered by this code uh since the last adoption in  our last few Cycles our contractors and Community   have been very Cooperative with the code uh  it's been uh it it has worked very well so   we've seen very good staff and Industry support  we have not had any safety or major management   issues anything that has come up has been very  easily solved and again even though there is uh   a fair amount of discussion with a few of these  items the amendments are actually very Rel uh   very uh minimal uh for this code so it's it's a  relatively minimal change and Amendment uh that   to ensure that we explain the process so this  was led by the board of electrical appeals uh   staff obviously very involved with that uh but  we gave them oversight uh of the code review   and adoption was coordinated with the industry  Association specifically the national electrical   contractors Association and the Independent  Electrical Contractors both of those organizations   also have training agencies and some sub agencies  that were involved in this of course both of our   fire departments in the SED in SED County and  Witchita are key elements to that review as   well as the electrical suppliers since a lot of  the code does cover equipment that is coming into   the uh industry and then um we always coordinate  with the witch area Builders Association with our   trades codes that all kind of depends on how much  is there and what the changes are you will see   as we go into the Amendments here that the those  with any significance uh do impact the residential   market so with that uh we'll get into those and  this uh the first one that we will explain and   these are of course not all of the Amendments  but ones that we certainly wanted to see make   sure that the public saw in the public forum  uh the first and this one did uh gain a great   deal of discussion and is one of the ones that our  commissioner is concerned about uh but simply what   this does is allows for a lower amperage circuit  breaker on certain items in the home uh as well as   a reduced uh level of wiring for those so uh light  switches bathroom exhaust fans and gas uh gas   fireplace for example very low amperage a very  low draw on power especially with LED technology   that's in place now so the code is allowing  a reduction for those circuits only to go to   a 10 amp circuit breaker and the item that  created some concern is that it also allows   for an aluminum wire that is copper clad to be  in place based again on that low draw so there   is some concern about what the safety of that  wire could be uh we know that those are being   nationally tested Ted they will be released after  testing in the laboratory so the interesting part   of this is that those uh products are not on  the market yet so staff's recommendation and   the board's recommendation that we have stuck  with is we do not want to amend that out of the   code at this point because that would prohibit us  from having a chance to use those uh we do know   that we will still have more to come with this  we'll have to take a look at those as they come   to Market if we have a concern at that point we  would then readdress that both in our inspection   practices a as well as through the code if if that  became a requirements so we as staff do not see a   safety issue or a safety concern with this again  we still have monitor monitoring to do but the   code has accommodated this in in order to allow  those components to come to Market and we feel   that we should support that and allow that to to  play out so to speak uh then another item which   uh has not been controversial in the adoption at  all but that there was a great deal of discussion   just to ensure that we did this correctly was  with h power on island countertops in homes so   uh we did have a lot and I was very happy to see  how this went had a lot of discussion over a few   different meetings with uh the builders and  actually uh Mr Nordic uh as as our main staff   representative our chief electrician as well  as the Bea actually uh put language in that   was a a little bit less restrictive than what the  builders initially recommended that that that they   would support given what the C the code stated so  previously the code required electricity be put to   a kitchen Island an island countertop and that was  to prohibit someone or to reduce someone doing the   electricity in correctly later on and of course  causing a a great safety issue there so the new   code no longer requires it's less restrictive  than in that it no longer requires power to be   at the countertop but if power is at an island  countertop it is more restrictive in how it is   there specifically that we are no longer allowing  Outlets Outlet receptacles on the outside of the   countertop there were uh numerous it's listed  on the slide there were 9,700 plus accidents   with children that were documented over the last  cycle of few cycles of the code where they have   uh grabbed the that electrical cord that hangs  over the side of the counter and pulled a hot   item off resulting in some level of injury so  the new stipulation of the code states that um   again note an a receptacle would not be allowed  on the side of an island countertop or a peninsula   countertop if it is on the countertop it has to be  a popup or there has to be a backsplash involved   so that is against a back wall so that that  will regulate that change that um and then it   also requires that the power must the countertop  must be available for power so in the case of a   basement or a crawl space there's access to that  Peninsula so that power can be uh placed later   uh in the case of a slab home there has to be a  Raceway uh conduit installed uh in the foundation   which that's pretty common practice anyway uh the  only difference now is the it would be between   the Builder and the consumer as to whether they  go ahead and put the wiring in or as to whether   they just leave the conduit there so wiring  could be pulled later and then again it will be   completely up to the Builder and the customer as  to whether they even want power at the island at all uh another one that now it comes in two  pieces but this one uh did uh create some   of the concern and that is with surge protection  on buildings so to begin with this one addresses   commercial buildings as a generally speaking  commercial buildings already have sech protection   on associated with the building uh that has been  expanded in the 2023 code to include that area's   uh any dwelling type area in a commercial  building so our multifam especially uh at   the smaller multif family buildings are built to  a lot of residential standards so they're kind   of a mix of commercial and residential so this  ensures that sech protection is Incorporated in   any multif family apartment type uh bu building  it also protects the feeder areas that would be   in going to a dorm area or where patient care  or anything like that is taking place where   people are residing and sleeping so it expands a  little bit the requirements for surge protection   on a building uh associated with with these  commercial living areas uh the second one and   this is specifically what our commissioner uh did  has questioned and continues to question a great   deal and that is also a requirement to provide  search protection for residential homes so in   the last cycle this was in the code we looked at  it as as more of insurance or protection of the   devices in the home the electronics in the home  and less of a life safety issue and therefore we   amended it out of the code at in 2020 we were  not the only jurisdiction to do that uh the   National Fire Protection Agency has informed  all of us who did that that was not their in   intent they specifically released with their  commentary on this cycle that this is designed   as a safety protection due to the number  of items such as fire alarms ground fault   protection arc fault protection Etc that now  have circuit chips in them and a surge can   damage that chip and damage the protection  or uh reduce the the protection provided by   those devices so uh our board did a lot of  research a lot of background look in that   because we do know that this adds an expense to  um the cost of a house that expense is relatively   minimal in the grand scheme uh anywhere from about  $100 to $700 depending on the size of the house so   we're seeing an average of 100 to$ 250 dollar  in added expense on the houses that are being   built in the jurisdiction now we actually  have um our Builders and electricians are   installing these on about a third of the houses  that are being constructed today as they see   they see the same issue they see it as a safety  issue as well as a consumer protection issue   if items are being damaged in the house so this  uh is not lightning protection or anything like   that it will not it's not designed to protect  from a major event it's designed to protect   if something creates an electrical surge into the  home that could again D damage not only your high   dollar appliances but also your safety devices uh  based on on the cards Etc that are in those so in   the end and after a great deal of discussion staff  did did and does recommend this enough of a safety   item that it should remain in the code and I I  want to emphasize with all of these or each of   these described that it is not something we are  putting in the code this is the National Standard   and the national code we are electing to not um  amend those and but wanting to ensure since we   have amend Ed these in the past um and then since  we are of course aware of that impact wanting to   make sure that we fully explain those uh the last  one that we have on this is a little bit simpler   uh something that's been coming for a while  and that's physical protection and agricultural   buildings so this is of course mainly going to  be an issue in the county but uh where you've   got anytime you have a building that is housing  livestock um a lot of problems with rodents uh   chewing on the wires so those wires have to either  be sheathed so so they are protected from that   or in a conduit again uh if if the wire is not  exposed if it's in a wall where it's uh not able   to be accessed not able to be seen then it has  to be protected in order to uh avoid that level   of damage uh and then a few uh last Provisions  to uh to point out um uh as far as as stated   earlier those the provisions that we had removed  from the code so um in 2020 the code included   requirements for field testing of ground fault and  Arc energy performance on commercial buildings we   went we left that in the code at the time what we  found is that these are very expensive tests that   have not yet revealed any issues uh their time  consuming they're expensive and there's also a   requirement for the manufacturer to perform this  testing before those components are released so   we see that as excessive at this point and we  do not see that as a safety concern so we are   removing that field testing requirement only  from the code would still have to be tested   prior to um purchase and installation but uh we  we will no longer require those tests of our in   our commercial projects um one thing that we've  had in our local amendments for many years is   a stipulation that uh in a new home uh when you  installed a your circuit panel you had to leave   at least four extra spaces for future growth  it's a smart thing to do it's a safe thing to   do we still recommend that everybody plans for  the future but um we do see that as we don't see   any reason to continue regulating that uh most  people do that anyway and then again for the   sake of ensuring that we're not overly burdensome  we won't tell you how many Extra Spaces to put in   your house or how much to plan for the future  we'll just continue to recommend that you do uh   the the last two it's been kind of interesting  to see the uh the code uh work with these the   way they did and and there's a desire through  the national agency to put ground fault uh ground   fault circuit Interruption protection in the  higher level circuits so your 250 volt circuits   which are going to be your of course your air  conditioners uh in a commercial setting something   like a welder or Machinery the these devices do  not work very well they continue to not work very   well and we also do not see them providing a very  high level of prot protection so that is why the   code is allowing them but not requiring them even  at the national level and uh and stating that they   will begin requiring this in the next cycle so in  in one aspect we are maintaining that if someone   wants to install these we have the criteria to  inspect them we'll allow that we won't prohibit   it but we are not requiring it and we are also  stating that we will even if the code requires   this next cycle we will not adopt that right away  we will wait at least a year to ensure that the   newer products are have fixed the problems that we  see currently before we'll be willing to evaluate   this for any potential or future adoption so  with all of that um we will of course gladly   stand for questions I've got electrical Chief  Chris Nordic here with me uh again the public   hearing was conducted at the bccc but we would  fully expect that of course like with with other   items that we would accept any public comment here  and at the end of that is staff's recommendation   that City Council Place the ordinance on  first reading and authorize the necessary signatures Chris questions for staff beginning  with Council thank you mayor um so who's going   to look at potential changes if the uh the  low the low amp aluminum wiring does have   issues is that going to include people from The  Building Trades as well yes yes sir it will so um   our our Board of electrical appeals also has  electrical suppliers on that in context so we'll   main we will maintain that contact as these  come to Market so that Mr Nordic is able to   be involved in that okay so do we have any idea  when the when the the recommendations might come   out from people looking at it now we we don't  at this point we're starting to see the circuit   breakers themselves come out but we have not seen  anything on the wiring yet okay appreciate it council member Tuttle thank you thank you  Chris for your presentation and all the   work on this and I was really glad to see  that you um engaged the electrical trade   organizations to be involved just to clarify  because I heard about what happened with our   friends at the county and and the one  thing that I didn't I don't know if I   got um solved in my head is one commissioner had  a specific issue with Article 2 3.67 correct so   the the group the electrical professionals who  reviewed these made recommendations worked with   you what was their stance on that specific  article that it should remain in the code   and actually those individuals we did meet  with that commissioner um a few different   times and discussed that um and in in the end  we held our uh held held our recommendation um   and and that's and went forward with the code  as as you've seen it here today thank you very much I see no further questions for staff  thank you we will open it up for public   comment any com from the public we see we'll  bring it back to the bench is there a motion to approve I'll go ahead and make the recommendation  that the city council place on first reading the   ordinance to amend article 4 section a article  4 section 1 and article 4 section 2 of the   wiah Cedric County unified building and trade  code and authorize the necessary signatures second second and a second any further discussion  I see none we'll open it uh sorry uh we'll have a   Voice vote all those in favor say I I I all those  oppose same sign motion passes 70 Madam clerk   please call the next item z202 24-13 zone change  requests in the city from tf32 family residential   district to be multif family residential district  to construct a multif family property generally   located on the east side of North Lorraine  Avenue within 550 ft north of East 2 Street North good morning Scott wle from the planning  department here to present this item in this case   as you heard the applicant is requesting to change  the zoning from tf32 family to be multifamily the   item is being heard today for a couple of reasons  first because the district Advisory Board vote was   tied and second because there was a protest that  was re received against the application I'll talk   more about that later but it's uh important to  note that that was outside of the protest area   in terms of the request the applicant has  indicated they're requesting a zone change so   that they can build a multifamily building on the  site the site is currently vacant as you can see   here it is generally located to the north and west  of Second Street in Hillside Avenue it consists of   one parcel is Zone tf3 and is currently vacant uh  according to our records a house was last present   on the site sometime around 1983 in terms of  context properties to the north and west are Zone   of three and developed with single family homes  property to the South is Zone B and developed   with an apartment complex which is also owned by  the applicant property to the east is zone go that   green color and developed with a medical office  the staff report provides additional information   about property development standards screening  landscaping and parking in terms of review on   March 28th the Planning Commission held the  public hearing for this item they recommended   approval 9 to zero so it was unanimous five  members of the public spoke in opposition to   the request of zone change with concerns about  safety noise increased density increased traffic   and possible damage to Brick streets during the  construction on April 1st the district the dab   meeting uh considered dab considered this item and  had no recommendation they had a tied vote three   to three several members of the public spoken  opposition with many of the same uh concerns as   had been voiced at the Planning Commission meeting  one protest petition was received against the case   and it was located outside the protest area  so therefore the protest did not exceed the   20% threshold in terms of recommendation it has  recommended the city council adopt the findings   of the Planning Commission approve the requested  zone change place the ordinance on the first   reading authorize the necessary signatures and  instruct the city clerk to publish the ordinance   after approval on the second reading that would  require a simple majority of four of seven votes   in terms of Alternatives you can override the  Planning Commission adopt alternative findings   and deny the requested zone change that would  require five of seven votes or as always you   can return the case to the Planning Commission  for additional consideration which would require   a simple majority in terms of process just a  quick note the city council policiy that the   public hearing or planning items occurs at the  Planning Commission meeting according to that   policy city council does not typically receive  public comments on zoning items so with that I'll   take you through some of the images and photos  so here's the site I identified in red here's   the Zoning for the area as was described this  is from the comp plan showing new residentials   recommended in the area here's a photo of the site  which is currently vacant there's an apartment   building to the South which is owned by the same  owner this is looking to the north looking to the   South across the street so with that I'll stand  for any questions questions for staff I see none   open up we will not open no because this is  a planning item sorry we'll stay at the bench   this resides in council member Johnson thank you  mayor um at the district Advisory Board we had   four members who were not sworn in at that  time um and I would like to know an actual   position from the district Advisory board so  I would like to defer this item until Tuesday   May 14th and send it back to the district  Advisory Board which will be meeting Monday May 13th second Motion in a second any further  comments I see none all those in favor say I   I I all those opposed same sign motion passes  70 Madam clerk please call the next approval   of travel for council member Tuttle  to attend the community leaders of   America conference in Colorado  Springs Colorado May 15 through 17th question of council member  title and I'm sorry I'm trying to   push request to speak and it won't work so  I I apologize for that but I just wanted   to make the comment that I've been invited  to attend the community leaders of America   their guest and there will be no  expense to the city of wichon thank you a motion to approve that travel second  motion and a second any further comments   I see none all those in favor say I I I all  those o opposed same sign motion passes 70 oh   uh Madam clerk please call the next item  council member appointments and comments we start with appointments any sorry the  system's not working council member hoisel   thank you mayor um I would like to appoint Jack  silver to the affordable housing revieww board   and Kurt Oswalt to the library board  council member Johnson thanks mayor I   would like to appoint Andre and bule Jr to the  cultural funding committee Emily Taylor to the   historical preservation board and reappoint John  Williams Bay to mapc and bza council member tutle   thank you I would like to appoint Alicia  Sanchez to the airport Advisory board thank you no further board appointments I move  to approve the board appointments second   Motion in a second any further discussion  you see none all those in favor say I   I all those opposing sign motion passes 70 it  is now time for council member common beginning   with council member Glascock thank you mayor  um today during public agenda I did not extend   public comment as I have done for the past five  meetings but I would like um to direct staff to   draft an ordinance that would codify that um so it  doesn't have to be done every single meeting uh to   extend public comment to a period of 30 minutes  if we have open spots so let's say there's five   people there only speak two minutes there's still  open spots so public comment to extending a period   of 30 minutes with a time limit of five minutes  per person so someone shows up and they don't   have prepared remarks they want to give remarks  I think they should be given the opportunity to   do so so instead of making a motion every single  meeting I would like to codify That Into You vice   mayor Ballard thank you mayor I would just just  invite everyone to come out on Friday to the new   um Fitness Court park at 25th in Wellington Place  we're doing a ribbon cutting on Friday at 1 p.m.   and it is so cool if you haven't seen it you need  to come check it out if you can't make it Friday   highly recommend stopping by council member hoisel  thank you mayor um I just want to invite everybody   out this Saturday at Lincoln Park we are going to  have the second annual neighborfest from 9:00 to   11:00 uh free pancakes uh breakfast you know how  we do it down in the Third District always had   the best food um and then also uh tours of the  um firefighter museum that's out there too so   please come on down it's going to be a good  uh gathering with uh some of the locals and   always a good time to to meet with people that  9:00 to 11 o' thank you council member Johnson   thanks mayor I think District 3 gets the food  good because it's the folks from district one   to come down and cook I just wanted to uh shout  out everybody that participated in the prairie   fire um Marathon my colleagues peer pressured me  into to running and I actually made it and lived   through it so I'm was happy about that but it  was a good experience love to see everybody out   there having a good time I did get passed by 266  people so I am definitely out of shape vice mayor   Ballard sorry uh I just wanted to say thanks to  everybody that came out to um open streets noar   unfortunately I was not able to attend but  um speaking from social media it looked like   everybody had an incredible time so I appreciate  staff and all of our partners that made it happen further comments um I will just  remind folks to please mark it on your   calendars Sunday October 13th is the next open  streets um ICT in on Douglas Street as well as   the prairie fire Marathon so October 13th is  the next opportunity and again thank you for   everyone including um council member Glascock  who did the half marathon and council member   Johnson and I who did the 5K along with Norma  from our office so um really would appreciate   if people would either participate or come and  cheer uh your community members who are part   of the running Community thank you again I will  move that we adjourn this meeting second Motion   in a second any further comments I see none all  those in favor say I I all those oppose same   sign I okay motion passess 61 council member  Johnson would like to stay behind thank you