e e [Music] [Music] welcome to all of you to City Hall and  good morning witch we would like to call   this meeting to order at this time with us  this morning is Pastor Jeff Ganon of Chapel   Hill United Methodist Church to provide  our invocation following that invocation   we'll have the Pledge of Allegiance and we  please ask that you stand for both Pastor Ganon let us pray we give you thanks and praise oh Lord Our  God for the the gift of this day that you have   made please help us to rejoice and to be glad in  it we pray oh God in deep gratitude for these your   elected officials their selfless service to the  people of this community help them oh God to honor   each one's dignity to maintain each one's Pride  as they seek the common good of all who live and   work here we pray in Thanksgiving for the many  who serve our city within this very building and   those who represent our city as police officers  firefighters Public Works employees and all the   various ways that they serve us bless them and  keep them we pray we are mindful today of the   family of firefighter tyo we pray that you would  give his family and his fellow firefighters your   strength and comfort as they grieve his loss  finally oh God we pray that you would Grant   this counsel your wisdom discernment and Prudence  as they make important decisions today we entrust   our lives and our city to you oh God and pray  that you would have your way Among Us amen and amen to the flag of the United States  of America and to the Republic for   which it stands one nation under God  indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you Pastor Ganon Madame clerk can you  please call the first item approve the minutes   of the regular meeting of August 13th 2024  are there any changes or corrections to those minutes I move to approve the minutes  for the August 13 2024 meeting second   motion and a second any further discussion  I see none Madam clerk please open the role motion passes 70 Madame clerk please call the  next item public agenda Bill Anderson ceasefire in Palestine as a reminder this is the public  agenda speakers have five minutes at the   podium and according to these rules  you had to sign up one week in advance can everybody hear me hi my name is Bill Anderson I live in  Maggie's District good District first of   all I want to thank the city for its annual  neighborhood cleanup program this past Saturday   our Jefferson lar nebor neighborhood had another  successful cleanup yes we get rid of a lot of   stuff this was one of more than 20 we've had in  the past two decades a very much needed program   thank you very very much and please continue  with it it's very important on the reason I'm   here today I brought an example of a ceasefire  resolution passed in Olympia Washington thanks   to Janet Janice and Tim I think they're here  they're the ones that provided it and also a   copy of a resolution from The Carter sensor  released in last October but I realize we   need more information from you I was thinking  of an an old cartoon from civic's class how a   bill becomes law do you remember that there was  a thing wrapped up in its Bill and he climbs up   to steps and it shows all the the process of  becoming a law well I was thinking of that   cartoon this morning at about 3:00 a.m. how  does the idea of a ceasefire in Gaza become a resolution what is the process specifically  how do we get from where we are now   to the council's having a public discussion  about a ceasefire resolution and a subsequent   vote what must happen what must happen for  that to happen what's the process it's not   clear to me after spending a lot of time here  with these proposals okay so what what must   happen for that to happen what must happen  to break the silence to move forward I would   really appreciate the courtesy of an answer  and and in and in anticipation of that thank   you and the slaughter free free Palestine  thank you now if somebody I I know that   we we don't have a back and forth but if  somebody up here could explain the process   to us so we're not wasting your time and not  wasting ours okay thank you vice mayor Ballard   thank you mayor uh this might be a question  for um legal or Bob what can you just talk   about what the process would look like if that's  something that Mr Anderson would like to PS keep pursuing morning vice mayor I'm Jennifer  mg Law Department um the process is however   Council directs it you can direct it through  a formal vote um or we can just be staff can   be directed outside of the meeting to begin  working on a resolution resolution would be   drafted for your consideration and it would be  an agenda item at some council meeting if chose   to pursue that route so it would be driven by  the council it would be an agenda item and it   would be um a vote up for repu absolutely okay  thank you Mr Anderson does that help yeah could   you repeat it my hearing is sure she basically  said it needs to be driven by the council so   someone from the council needs to either direct  staff if that is uh the route that is chosen and   it would become an agenda item and it would be  put up for a vote so that's that's the process   thank you Madame clerk please call the  next item consent agenda items 1 through   19 are there items to be pulled  from the consent agenda 1 through 19 vice mayor Ballard thank you thank  you mayor I would like to pull item 12 council member Glascock thank you mayor I  have I have no interest in pulling anything   but I was wondering if we could because it's on  the consent item the second read ordinances if   we can just briefly talk about the updated  was it updated on the website from when we   originally posted it U for second reads to now  with what 12 second reads that correct yes okay   sounds good thank you jie so I will pull items  number 12 and 15 any further items to be pulled vice mayor Ballard thank you  mayor I'd also like to pull 14 for discussion we have items 14 15 and 12 that  will be pulled I will motion to approve all   items except for the three mentioned  second Motion in a second any further discussion Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 70 we'll start  with consent agenda item number 12 thank you mayor um I had just uh received  a couple emails asking um about selling the   property or the parcel for $1,000 if we could  just get a little bit of information about that um mayor I'm not sure um which staff  member should be addressing that but   if you'll notice we have several Parcels  um in that area sorry um we have several   Parcels in that area um that are Remnant  pieces adjacent to residential property   and really not useful to anybody other than  the adjacent property owner we have sold a   few of those already for $1,000 doll so  this is the going rate for those they're   basically picking it up for additional yard  space and can you sit tell what area this is yeah I've got the address  I'm sorry it's in District Five um thank you 765 looks I just wanted to um address that just um I  received a few emails about it and saw a little   bit of conversation about it seeming very low in  price and so um just wanted to have a conversation   about it I'm supportive I just wanted to  address those concerns so thank you thank you item number 14 we have a correction it was not item number   14 it was supposed to be item number  nine which is the multimodal transit Hub can we have someone from staff speak to us   item number nine yes thank you  mayor we've got someone Carri I mean Paul good morning mayor I have a brief presentation to go  through um I'm Paul gunsman of Public Works and utilities a little bit of  background on this project   in November of 2019 the city of witd received  a Federal Transit Authority Grant um for 14, 232,000 for a total budget of $99.58 million   for the project in May of 2021 the city  council approved a design contract with   trans systems to develop 30% plans and in  November of 2022 the city council approve   funding to complete the design construction and  project management of the multimodal facility   the Hub in March of 2024 the city council  approved a revised budget of 2012, 281,000 Point almost $2.7 million through witto area  Metropolitan planning Organization for the project bids for the construction of the  Hub were received on June 21st of 2024 with   all bids exceeding the engineers estimate  staff met with contractors to discuss the   proposed to discuss the project and specific  specifications on Friday June 28th and and   based on the feedback from the contractors  ready mix suppliers clarifications were made   and specifications modified to address their  expressed concerns project has been advertised   again for rebid in early August and we have  a bid opening date set for August 30th of 2024 the existing budget as I mentioned  before was 22 m281 th000 the um 2025 through   28 Transportation Improvement program amendment  number one through the witto area Metropolitan   planning organization wampo includes an additional  $2,435 190 of federal funding for this project in   addition $2 million has been added from a in cash  funded Capital project established in 2018 for   Transit improvements um from the Hyatt proceeds  so now the total revised budget will be 26,32 5,519 and I can stand for questions questions  for staff beginning with vice mayor Valor thank   you mayor um how much did you say we're  over approximately 20% is what the bids   were over the estimate 20% 20% were what  the bids were over the estimate approxim and when we're downsizing it or downscaling it  we've already taken off one floor correct we   did we did so we still have that was through our  value Engineering Process after we received 30%   plans um we still have approximately 400 parking  spaces available that will be within the parking   structure okay um I would just say it's more of  a comment I just want to make sure that I know   we need to be sensitive with the dollars that we  have to spend but I also want to make sure that   we're not scaling it back so much that you know  it doesn't it's not the complete purpose that   we're looking for to utilize that space so and  that is true we have been carefully working or   we have been working with in conjunction with  the FTA to make sure that we are still within   the scope that was originally set out to be so  we still have the transit offices the security   office um 12 bus Bays Etc so the so we're still  within their their scope of services that we   had um do you have any concerns about the like  Sycamore Texas um I can't think what the other   street is right there are you concerned at all  about the buses and the extra traffic being on   those side streets that probably weren't intended  in the beginning to be for that kind of traffic   we aren't um the buses will enter from the south  um probably off of Sycamore off of Burton Street   which is south of the facility and they'll exit  onto Texas Street um we might have to remove some   parking off of some of those streets to allow  for the bus turning movements so that they can   get in and out and then we are increasing some  of the radiuses at the intersections to allow   for those bus turning movements so we are making  some improvements but as far as the condition and   how the streets were built we're comfortable  with that not to bring up a sour subject   but for the parking that you would be removing the  street side parking that you would be removing uh   for the buses to turn with that potentially be  some of the free parking spaces it yeah we don't   have any parking restrictions on them now um with  the number of so the facility on the ground floor   where the buses will be there will be three aisles  for the buses to enter they'll have 12 um spaces   for them to park to load and unload passengers  um with that many approaches on the north side of   Burton and on the south side of Texas there's not  going to be room for vehicle parking there anyway   so we'd just be looking at removing the parking  off the north side of Texas and maybe the south   side of Burt okay maybe we could just try to find  I don't know another area when we might be able to   offer to make up for those spaces that we going  to be free so anyway thank you several questions   I see that obviously L um if we could go to slide  number five the new proposed budget is 26 million   it started at 19.5 million back in 2020 um and  I know that now we have additional funds through   wo thanks to wampo and the Hyatt uh sale um have  we considered number one uh if the scope of this   project um takes into consideration maintenance  moving forward if if so what bucket does that come   from in terms of dollars because this is another  parking structure and we just had a conversation   about parking so part of the to answer your  question the um regarding maintenance the   type of garage that has been designed is a cast  in place regarding in Li of pre-cast and a cast   in place garage um has less maintenance in the  future um so we had taken that into consideration   as we were designing the project and again back  in December of 2020 was it also 400 parking spots   or was it it was we had an additional um we had  an additional level to the garage as the vice   mayor had mentioned and it had approximately 100  spaces on that level so we reduced from 500 to 400 so so I'm very concerned about that and  I understand the increases in costs obviously   inflation most of the folks here understand  that so December of 2020 we had 500 spots and   the projected budget was 19.5 million now  it's August 2024 400 spots so a reduction   of 100 but an increase in the budget of 26 to  26.3 million it concerns me a lot um and again   and I was not part of that Council when we moved  forward with this but it concerns me knowing the   increases of of this specific project um so  I'm not comfortable moving forward but again   I'm just one person um and I know that this is  just to approve the increase in the budget so   that you can put it out to bid again um so I  will abstain from that vote but if you want to   chime in you can anyone if not um I know that we  still have one more item to speak about so we'll   vote oh council member Johnston mayor thank you  uh technically we've already approved it number   nine so we approved it except for 12 14 and  15 so nine has actually already been approved 70 that is correct so can I move can I move  to I had the wrong number I asked count vice   mayor Ballard what number that was and it  was initially 14 is that right so it was   nine so how do we mayor if you wish to um  do that you can make a motion to reconsider   it number n okay I would like to motion to  reconsider consent agenda item number nine motion second I have no second so I will let  that be on the record that I tried to pull   number nine in the minutes um and again it's  due to the concern of the rising cost of this project so consent agenda item number 12 which uh   vice mayor Ballard pulled  do we have a vote on this I I move to approve consent agend agenda item  number 12 I motion to uh second so a motion   and a second any further discussion I  see none Madam clerk please open the role now to item number 15 in the  consent agenda excuse me mayor I   believe we pulled 14 also and needed to  vote on that vice mayor Ballard number 14   yes uh could we just talk a little  bit about what the grp covers for kop hi good morning Penny f with sha  Transit this is an annual operating grant   that we received from the Kansas Department  transportation it covers operators wages in   fuel for the most part just general  operating costs awesome thank you so much council member hoisel thank you mayor uh  Penny real quick um is this the expected amount   is it pretty stable that we know um about  what we could expect every year from this   particular Grant this one is pretty consistent  we haven't seen large swings okay thank you   one more question um this is according to the  fin Financial consideration there's no local   match oftentimes when we see these grants where  there are no local matches we are elated because   again we won't have to use taxpayer dollars  to try to match the dollars that we need in   order to accept a grant are we how often  are we um looking at these types of Grants   out there so that not only in our department  but in other departments that we also being   mindful of that so for whicha Transit you're  right this is a a pretty um unique rant that   there is no match most of the grants from the  FTA the federal grants do require either a 10   to 20 to 30% Grant match um so we are keeping  an eye out for those opportunities both at the   state and local level you know with Wii area  Metropolitan um planning organization to find   other grants that may not have a match um but it  is something that we do incorporate in our daily   activities as far as seeking out grants thank you  very much for pursuing again those types of Grants   as our community often really appreciates any  Department that looks for uh grants that don't   require local matches um but again uh anytime we  do have a local match we have to be mindful that   we have to talk about it here as then we will  have to absorb it into the budget so thank you   very much um do I have a motion I have a motion  to approve consent agenda item number 14 second   Motion in a second any further discussion  I see none Madame clerk please open the rooll motion passes 70 now to item number 15  in the consent agenda U mayor pretty simple   answer the reason it was taken off of the second  readings here is because this was actually it's   on the agenda twice and the 12 items that were  appearing on the um second reading on number 15   are actually included in your approval of the  budget and so that's appropriate that's where   it should be and especially because of the RNR  requirements you don't want to approve this in   advance of the RNR vote so will this come back on  a second read at a subsequent meeting no you'll   actually be approving second reading as part of  your action on the budget and if you look at the   very end of that uh staff report it lists all of  those ordinances which are given to you in second   reading okay I have uh further questions regarding  the second ordinances so this in particular um is   very difficult for some individuals in our  community to read so I would like to direct   staff from now on to please also include a plain  description of each consent item on second reading   so the public will have a better understanding  of each item in the consent agenda second read reading I motion to approve second  readings second motion and a second   any further discussion I see none Madame  clerk please open the rooll motion passes   70 Madame clerk please call the next  item report of bids and contracts in   witcha Airport Authority Board of bids  and contracts dated August 19th 2024 morning mayor city council Josh lber  Department of Finance the board of   bids and contracts convened on August 19th 2024  for the following items for engineering we have   the biological nutrient replacement cow skin  air release vals and lift station improvements   for utility maintenance Contractors LLC in the  amount of $494,500 pending your authorization   of a new engineer's estimate in budget  authorization we have the Central and 135th   Street West signalization for Philips Southern  Electric Company Incorporated in the amount of $51,988 to, $320 we have soda ash bulk delivery for deis  chemicals Incorporated in the amount of $119,800 for airport we have the colonel James Jabara  airport taxiway A1 south construction for   Pearson Construction LLC in the amount of 1,475 72525 this is how to become a vendor with  the city these are request for proposals   out on the street today and I'd be happy to  try to answer any your questions I recommend   your approval questions for staff beginning  with vice mayor Ballard thank you mayor Kai   Josh just have a quick question about slide 11  there's just a very large discrepancy and just   kind of curious if you know why it's four and a  half million dollar difference I don't um to be   honest it had the appropriate B in terms of  the the quantities quoted um there wasn't a   discrepancy in in how they quoted um it was  just an outlier that was different couldn't   explain thank you so much yeah any further  questions for staff I see none I motion to   approve the board of bids second Motion in a  second any further discussion I see none Madame   clerk please open the r motion passes 70 Madame  clerk please call the First new Council business item Revenue neutral rate self-supported  Municipal Improvement District budget good morning mayor members of the city  council I'm Mark Manning with the Department of   Finance so today is the day uh that we will  review and consider adoption of the 2025 uh   budget for the city of witto uh but before  we do that uh based on State Statute first   we have to talk about the revenue neutral rate  again everything that we'll do today is based   uh primarily on State Statute and uh the next two  items will determine the amount of Revenue that   you will have available when you actually consider  the uh budget item which is item number three so   again you set today's date as the public hearing  for this item on July 16th uh the first item is   only relative to the revenue new rate for the  self-supporting Municipal improvement district   or the Schmid which is in downtown witto that's  a very small taxing district basically from AR   Kansas River to Washington from Central to Kellogg  and again that's a taxing district that was set up   I think in 2001 uh for the support of downtown  witto uh that Revenue that is derived from that   taxing district is provided based on contract  to the witto Downtown Development Corporation   uh who then again uses it for the benefit of  downtown witto each year they present a budget   to uh staff and to the city council I believe  that was provided somewhere in May I think   May 12th uh the proposed budget uh that you'll  hear about in a few minutes is again based on   that request uh it would include a stable Mill  Levy rate in this District uh however it would   exceed the RNR uh if uh the decision is made  not to exceed the RNR in this taxing district   uh that would amount to shade over $100,000 in  uh uh Revenue that would be uh reduced uh from   the proposed budget so this slide here shows you  the impact of the RNR again uh in 2024 the M Levy   rate again just in this taxing district was about  6.8 Ms uh we levied somewhere in the neighborhood   of $790,000 in taxes uh if we keep the mill Levy  flat which is what the proposed budget would do   uh you can see how much we would Levy there and  if we adhere to the revenue neutral rate the the   M Levy rate would actually decrease about 8/10 of  a mill so if you choose uh to exceed the revenue   neutral rate there's three things again based on  State Statute that we need to do uh first we need   to have a set a hearing date and advertise that  hearing date which we have done and uh second   item that we need to do is have a hearing on  the revenue neutral rate before we discuss the   budget which is what we're doing right now and the  third thing that would need to happen if you chose   to exceed the revenue neutral rate would be to  adopt a resol solution which I think is attached   to your agenda report and by State Statute we  have to do that by a roll call vote again uh   to be consistent with the 2025 proposed budget  that was presented by staff uh would require a u   a resolution to exceed the revenue neutral rate  and with that mayor I'd be happy to answer any questions do we have uh the individuals who  represent the Smith who would like to come up good morning mayor vice mayor city council  city manager uh Jeff lure uh president of downtown   witch 505 East Douglas Avenue uh this morning I  also am joined by members of the downtown witch   executive committee we have Joe Schumer who is  the vice chair Mark Smalley who is the treasur   and then Joel Kelly the immediate P chair Natalie  gosh the chair uh was going to be here but had a   last minute conflict but she sends her regrets of  not being able to be here this morning we're also   pleased to have with us the new executive director  of downtown wital Heather Schroeder who you will   be hearing from a lot uh in the future about  how we continue to move our downtown forward   uh Heather started a week ago yesterday uh and  we've already been throughout downtown looking   at things that we can be working on to make it  a even more vibrant area uh on behalf of the   downtown Witch Board and The smidth Advisory Board  we do appreciate your favorable consideration of   the request before you today as described the  Smo funds are collected from a geographically   defined area and they are not General funds  uh the downtown W organization has a 28 member   board and also a 12 member ex officio board to  help us manage the resources that you're talking   about today and also the further development of  our downtown the downtown witw organization is   charged with marketing downtown we also provide  real critical research around residential   development commercial commcial hospitality and  Retail so part of the of the resources that we   have is to make sure we have relevant information  to help Drive development uh we also partner with   you on a number of things uh we are right now  partnering with you to update the master plan   project downtown that has driven over 1.7 billion  of investment in our downtown the pipeline is the   greatest it's ever been at over three4 of a  billion and again that work is underway as we   speak in the proposed 2025 budget uh these boards  do wish to maintain a consistent Mill Levy but   also realize that the increased valuation that we  have the opportunity to potentially collect today   uh as you know the downtown witch organization  will leverage These funds uh as you've heard   Mark say it's about $100,000 and what we want to  do is continue certainly key things one is the   continued beautification of Douglas Avenue this  is our signature Street in our downtown often   known throughout our community and so how is it  we continue to increase the vibrancy of people   wanting to walk literally from Oldtown to deleno  with without thinking about it Cindy carahan has   been an incredible partner with the flowers on  Douglas uh she has raised actually in the time   that she's been working with us over a half a  million dollars in private sector funds from   across the city to see those type of improvements  we want to continue that type of increased   vibrancy along Douglas Avenue the activation of  public spaces one of the things that we had the   opportunity to partner this summer is with the  parks department on concerts in NASCAR Park uh   we also see opportunities to continue to activate  Gallery alley uh Chester i Lewis is another great   area that we need to be activating more and we  want to be able to do that uh These funds will   help us in sort to be able to do that as well  placemaking initiatives one of the things that   we're so excited about with Heather her ideas  are just uh just incredible about how is it we   continue to activate you know one of the blessings  that we see in our downtown is growth uh with the   osteopathic School the new uh biomedical Center  but also companies like Cargill IMA PEC are all   growing in our downtown so how is it we continue  to increase the walkability of the entire downtown   district is extremely important the other  thing is that how is it we continue to Market   our downtown uh we're blessed with a number of  great restaurants specialty retail we've got some   incredible opportunities coming up with us figure  skating uh in January that visit wital has landed   for this community but also the NCAA tournament  is coming back so how is it we leverage these   moments to really help further develop and the  vibrancy of our restaurants uh our retail which   again is unique to our community so we be working  there as well and lastly is that as Heather and   I was walking yesterday we need to do more weed  control in our downtown and so one of the things   that we want to do is actually supplement some of  the city services on how do we make sure we have   the weed control that we want U the litter pickup  and so again very important aspect of our downtown   as well so again we appreciate that partnership  with you uh we also appreciate your consideration   of this request before you today thank you thank  you Jeff thank you may I ask you a few questions   yes ma'am um I wanted to hear about some of the  challenges you're facing downtown and how the smid   can help out with some of those uh challenges  sure one that certainly this Council has been   working on is the Mac uh homelessness um ask how  do we address that in our community mental health   those who need the services uh it's while the Mac  is not actually located within the smid if you   will it's important that we have a really strong  solution to that uh so downtown Witch is working   with the city on there's private funding that  needs to be a part of what you are working on   so actually a few weeks ago uh we hosted a meeting  in our office with private philanthropy along with   a public sector to talk through where are we in  the process uh what are the things that we need   to be thinking about from the private sector  to help fund the Mac so that it operates from   day one in the way that we want it to see happen  so that's one area mayor the other is is that we   continue to we've been talking about parking uh  we want to be a partner with you on that because   that might not be in some Minds it may be a  challenge Others May see as an opportunity as   how is it we continue to leverage that asset to  fully I think support our downtown so we want to   work with you to continue to do that uh we also  I mentioned just recently the cleanliness of our   downtown the safety of downtown I think as we go  forward Heather one of the things that we really   were impressed with her resume and experience is  how she has worked with systems uh in Syracuse New   York on such things as we're talking about right  now as far as the clean and safe of a downtown we   are in a great place now that we have more than  more and more people are living down downtown   they're working downtown visiting as more and  more do that we have to pay attention to those   things and that's really kind of the fine-tuning  of our downtown so those areas of opportunity as   well mayor that we want to work with the city  uh and others and making sure we move those   forward the increase in the smid obviously if we  increase RNR uh the additional $100,000 or so um   would there be opportunities to help with some  of these challenges yes ma'am and and that's the   things that I was just noting are areas of  of Focus if you will now what we'll do with   the additional $100,000 is work with Heather  as she comes on our team and gets more aware   of opportunities to leverage one of the things  too I think we were talking about grants earlier   with Transit uh if you go back to the original  downtown master plan we utiliz an FTA Grant of   about $50,000 because we had funding that was  raised privately but also working through the   public sector we were able to to leverage some of  those I think there's opportunities with Heather   as well she has a very strong track record uh one  of the things that we see as an opportunities like   the National Endowment for the Arts uh we worked  with the city to secure the first one that did the   front porches of our downtown that really helped  as we were coming out of covid there were still   restrictions sometimes with indoor spaces we  created the the front porches with the city all   those are opportunities that we feel like every  dollar we bring in mayor we feel like we should   leverage it that should be our responsibility to  the taxpayers in downtown that are saying we will   self-impose this this Mill Levy so that we make  a better downtown not only for downtown but the   community at large so we will our commitment  is to leverage each dollar that is raised here   again the boundaries of this smid are from  the Aransas River to Washington from Central   to Kellogg that's correct and so it's only  these individuals in this Square yes ma'am   um that contribute to the smid so very specific  yes ma'am any further questions for staff or jet   I see none okay thank you thank you very much we  will now open it up for public comment are there   any individuals who would like to speak on this  specific matter please state your name and your address right I see none  we'll bring it back to the bench I believe the smid encompasses several   council members districts would any of  those council members like to speak up council member Johnson thanks mayor thank you Jeff  appreciate everyone in the downtown group welcome   to witch Heather hope you're enjoying it so far  Jeff will give you a great tour of our city um   I appreciate all the work that downtown witch  does and am supportive uh of the smid as well   so with that I would move that the city council  close the public hearing hearing record approved   the resolution to exceed the revenue neutral  rate for the self-supported municipal Improv   improvement district and conclude the public  hearing second motion and a second any further   discussion I see none Madame clerk please open  the rooll motion passes 70 Madame clerk please   call the next item Revenue neutral rate city of  wit time proposed budget good morning again Mark   Manning with the Department of Finance uh today  or the second item today is to present to you   the revenue neutral rate consideration uh for the  city of witchta operating budget uh I'll go into   a little bit more detail on this presentation  since the order of magnitude is a little bit   more significant again uh today is the day we set  for the hearing uh we set that date back on July   16th uh again the revenue neutral rate will set  the level of funding that we have available to   address Community priorities in the city budget  and again the revenue neutral rate hearing is   required before we discuss the budget budget so  let me talk about the revenue neutral rate just   a little bit and I'll tell you about some of the  things that the some of the limitations in the   state's Revenue neutral rate the revenue neutral  rate allows for no growth in property tax revenue   zero growth uh not $1 worth of growth it would  freeze our property tax revenue to the exact   same level as the year before that's the way the  statute is is written uh the RNR also does not   allow the city to receive any additional property  tax Reven revenue from things that expand the tax   base things like construction new construction  annexation change in use or even expiring tax   abatements and those all are contributors to  our assessed valuation base and finally the   RNR has no Provisions in it to uh allow for any  increases or allocations of additional funding   uh for the governing body to specifically address  any Community priorities or to address inflation   for that matter uh previous tax Lids prior to the  RNR head ex exemptions for things like that but   the RNR which I believe was passed three years  ago removed all of those exemptions so there's   no provision for any of these items in the RNR so  let's talk about property tax briefly uh property   tax is the largest revenue source for our general  fund uh and it's also the largest uh Revenue   source for our debt service fund uh both of those  funds are very important uh in our city budget   and we fund a variety of priorities Community  priorities from both of those funds uh the manager   when he's presented budget information in the  past always shows you pie charts and I wouldn't   be surprised if he has the same pie charts here  in a few minutes and on those pie charts you'll   notice that property taxes is the largest  pie slice uh for the most part in the general fund so let's talk about the impact of RNR on  a Homeowner's uh city property taxes that are   home owners in the city of witto pay there's  two things that determine the amount of taxes   that a homeowner in the city of witto pays to the  city of witto two variables one variable is the   value of their home as determined by the County  Appraiser again the city witto does not play   a role in that process statutorily that is the  function of the County Appraiser uh the second   item that determines the property taxes that a  taxpayer in witto pays to the city of witto is   the mil Levy rate that rate estimated rate is  established by the witto city council so the   city council controls one of the two variables  that impact uh property taxes paid to the city   of witto by a homeowner in the city of witto  now I should point out that there are other   taxing jurisdictions within the city namely the  county and the school district who also Levy taxes   and again I'm only focusing on the city portion  because that's the portion that the city has some   uh control over so let's look at the variable  which is under the control of the city council and   again that is the M Levy rate this shows the M ly  rate for the past 31 years and I think a takeaway   on this slide is that it's been very stable and  it's also relatively low compared to our peers   we are a first class City obviously which is a  large city in Kansas there are 25 other large   cities in Kansas total of 26 our M Levy rate  is the 19th lowest of those 26 cities cities   uh however we do not have a local sales tax which  you're well aware of course we are the lowest Mill   Levy in the state of Kansas for cities that do  not have a local sales tax the other variable as   I mentioned is assessed valuation this is a very  busy chart so I won't spend much time on it uh but   the takeaway is assessed valuation is volatile  it goes up it goes down we've had years where   assessed valuation is actually negative we've had  prolonged periods where cess valuation is flat uh   and we have had periods where ESS valuation uh  grows significantly again based on a number of   variables uh based on uh determination by the  County Appraiser the Takeaway on the red line   there is to highlight the point that assessed  evaluation growth is more than just reappraisal   on individual homes it's new construction it's  expiration of tax uh abatements it's annexation   its change of use and that's what the red  line there represents so let's talk about   the RNR specific to the city of witto we levied  about 100 52 million if you'll allow me to round   last year that was based on a M Levy rate of 32.7  43 the proposed budget uh that the city manager   has presented to you uh is based on a M Levy  rate that is exactly the same as 2024 which is 32.749941 an additional property  tax revenue over what we uh expect   to collect in 2024 and again that Revenue will  be available if we exceed the revenue neutral rate uh so again the proposed budget includes  that some of the reasons why the proposed budget   includes that uh is it has again spending funded  uh spending aligned to our community priorities   particularly Public Safety uh We've invested in  some additional equipment for Public Safety uh   We've also addressed some wage increase challenges  in order to help our Recruitment and Retention   again particularly with the police department  but also uh with our service employees and and   others and finally as I mentioned the property  tax funds a lot of CIP improvements and you'll   recall that there's a variety of improvements in  the CIP aligned to Public Safety particularly and   to some of our other priority areas uh finally  I thought I'd give you a little perspective on   what other jurisdictions in the state of Kansas  do uh again I've just looked at the three largest   counties in Kansas uh this is obviously a year old  because I don't have any data on what everybody's   doing now because generally they're operating  concurrently with us uh but you can see here   that in sedu County last year two cities chose  not to exceed the revenue neutral rate uh one of   which was Viola and I don't recall the other  City it was one of the smaller cities in the   county and you can see that experience is fairly  similar to what has happened in our other large   counties in the state of Kansas so again uh if  you choose to exceed the revenue neutral rate   and again that action is required if we're going  to spend any if we're going to Levy any more than   the 151 million or so that we levied last year  uh we must meet the notification requirement   which we have done we must hold the hearing  which we are doing right now and the last item   is to approve a resolution by roll call vote  uh if the if the decision is made to exceed   uh the revenue neutral rate again that action  would be aligned with the 2025 proposed budget   that the city manager has proposed back in July  and with that I'd be happy to answer any questions   thank you for real all your work Mark um we begin  with council member H hoisel thank you mayor uh   mark thank you for the presentation could you walk  us through the process like let's say we don't go   with um to exceed the RNR this year what does that  look like next year does that lower our Mill Levy   and we would have to vote to raise it again next  year or just walk us through that process please   uh yes sir a very good question if you do not  vote to exceed the RNR when we have our budget   discussions which would be the next item uh the  first thing we would do is amend the ordinance   that the manager mentioned is on special  reading and we would lower the taxes levied   in that ordinance to last year's level that would  impact our estimated Mill Levy it would reduce it   by approximately two and a half Mills to somewhere  in the neighborhood of just a little bit more than   30 MS uh the next thing that we would need to do  is determine how what the policy Direction was on   reducing the 2025 proposed budget by that1 million  doll or so that we would no longer have in revenue   and we'd seek policy Direction on that there's a  variety of ways to do that uh but to your point uh   we like to engage in long-term financial planning  that's very important to us it's very important   to a lot of external agencies that monitor the  city uh so it would not be statutorily required   uh but policy Direction on what the long-term View  related to the RNR would certainly be uh desirable   and to your point uh if we choose to not exceed  the RNR for only one year again the mid Levy would   drop for about two and a half Mills for 2025 but  presumably it would increase by two and a half   Mills for 2026 if that was a policy direction of  the body okay so it would it would go back up uh   next year on its own without having us to vote no  we'd have toot no it would require Council action   to increase it next year to increase the mill Levy  back to where is currently yes sir okay thank you   Mark council member Glascock thank you mayor uh  Mark I already know the answer to this question   but just s uh for the public the state currently  exempts himself from revenue neutral requirement   Revenue neutral requirement correct yes sir okay  you Mark um I asked this question last week and   you were able to provide this for me can you give  us the scenario if we only captured inflation   so if you only captured inflation which is about  3% what would that look like because even if we   exceeded RNR by $1 that's an you exceeded it  um but right now what we're capturing is $12   million the full RNR right if we only captured  inflation how much would that be uh yes ma'am if   we set the taxes Levy to only uh capture  inflation and if we Define the inflation   rate at approximately 3% which is uh what it is  nowadays I think uh that would mean that we would   reduce our M Levy to about 31.2 Mills or about  1 point five lower than what we are right now   and it would mean that we would need to reduce  our budget by in the neighborhood of about $7.8 million and remind us again the current  proposed budget that we're going to vote   on in the next vote does not take into account  uh any reductions it's just a full exceeding   of the RNR at the full value yes ma'am it's  based on a stable Mill Levy and capturing all   the growth and assess valuation yes ma'am so  I'm looking at um I don't know which slide it   was but in our packet um most of the increased  valuation was due to reappraisal which was about   309 million and then new construction which was  60.8 Million yes ma'am so does that mean that   if we only captured say 3% in inflation and new  construction so that you're not punishing those   who have a home and their valuation of their home  has increased um sometimes not even accurately um   as some folks have been appealing that process  saying my house is actually not worth 250,000   my house is actually worth XYZ um so it's only is  it 16% is that right just for new construction uh   uh new construction our growth in assess valuation  from 2024 to 2025 was approximately 88.1% of that   8.1% if my memory is serving me correctly I think  1.4% of that growth was due to new construction   and annexation in other words reappraisal growth  was somewhere in the neighborhood of uh 6.4 6.5% and I know you mentioned this  um but it would be a nice reminder   the city does not value value your home uh  can you remind us of that uh yes ma'am based   on State Statute the County Appraiser has the  responsibility to do that the count the city   has absolutely nothing to do with the property  valuation process that is a a duty uh statutorily   provided to the county araer so the options we  have currently are to capture the full RNR um so   keep the M Levy the same but but get more money  to $12.4 million more than last year we could   another option to only increase it to the rate of  inflation uh which then would leave us in a$ 7.8   million deficit correct it would based off of the  require us to adjust the budget yes ma'am or we   could reduce the mill Levy to be exactly the same  uh captured value as last year which would be a   reduction in the M Levy to 30 30 3.28 if my memory  is correct so those are our three options is that   right uh those are three options available  to you yes ma'am thank you I appreciate uh   all the detail work that you have provided us um  throughout the many weeks that we've been talking   about this so thank you Mark I see no further  questions for staff so at this time we will   now open it up for public comment regarding the  revenue neutral and exceeding the revenue neutral rate I see one individual coming forward please state your name and your address thank you mayor members of city council my name  is David Fram I live at 7103 East Chelsea Street   here in the city of wiah um I want to encourage  you to uh accept the full ex to accept exceeding   RNR by the full amount my family makes use of  a number of city services that I have concerned   would be impacted by any reduction in the budget  specifically uh Library services and services of   parks and wreck we have a 5-year-old daughter  as well as another child on the way we make   good use of these Services I have concerns of  them being impacted I want them to still be as   useful if not more useful than they presently  are uh and I worry that any reduction of the   budget would cause impact there that would  put more burden on my family than increasing   that uh increasing the M Levy rate to match uh to  accept the full exceeding of of RNR so thank you any more individuals who would like to speak on  this matter if not we will bring it back to the   bench and close public comment we'll begin with  council member Glasco thank you mayor I know that   this has been something that we've talked about  for months now and so I'll just briefly share some   comments before my vote um I did I pulled up my  notice uh that I got and in terms of um the city   evalu valuation including the state evaluation  the county and the school district my taxes on   my property would increase about $124 66 cents  a year based on all taxing jurisdictions if they   would exceed revenue neutral um food prices are  up 21% on average across the country energy pric   is up 32% shelter costs up 21.6 but we also have a  duty up here to make sure that the basic functions   that government are met and that we're offering  the services that our community expects of us   I think it's very telling that the state also  exempts himself from the revenue neutral hearing   when they are also planning to exceed it this year  um as well and so I will be supporting the full   capture of Revenue neutral um with a caveat that I  will be proposing some potential cost savings that   we're facing or that we could address over the  next uh year I believe these cost savings don't   affect service levels for the city I think they're  innovative ways um that we're making sure that we   can mitigate uh challenges we face in 6 27 and  28 that don't um that are not affecting service   levels for our community that are not affecting  Staffing decisions for the city and its government   being more efficient and more effective and so  again I will support full capture um with savings   uh hopefully to help mitigate uh challenges in  26 27 and 28 and then using any other savings uh   for cash debt servicing um I know this is a tough  decision uh from this body but um I believe it's   the right decision to make sure that we're uph  holding our commitments to our community as well   council member Johnston thank you mayor I just  want the public to have a clear understanding   that if we do not capture the full 12.3 million  whatever that is there is not 12.3 million in   cost Savings in the city budget we've looked at  it and there there's uh several million councilman   Glascock uh thinks we can capture but if you're  going to get that full 12. million you're going   to be cutting police fire Public Work SL roads  so just to be clear if people don't want us to do   that they're going to have to accept less service  to police fire and Roads thank you council member   tutle thank you um thank you to staff and I'll  have more Kudos during the next presentation   but Mark this is a complicated process and and I I  really appreciate the way that you always distill   it down for us so that we can understand and the  community can understand I also want to thank   council member Glascock I know in the next agenda  item we'll be hearing some ideas that have come   to us from from staff recommendations and I think  he's done a great job of of championing those and   and seeing which ones can become viable um I also  wanted to go on record the last two years I did   vote to not exceed the RNR and the rationale  for me doing that is because we had a budget   surplus this year we do not have a budget surplus  and if we do not capture the RNR we are going to   have to cut as my colleagues have mentioned 122.4  million out of this budget the speaker who came   today thank you very much for coming down to City  Hall thank you for sharing your thoughts many of   the services that we would have to consider  cutting are what the most vulnerable in our   population and our community rely on um especially  I always worry about our veterans I worry about   the Aged and so I am going to be supportive of  exceeding the revenue neutral rate this year   with the caveat that I know additional budget  cuts will be discussed in the next item thank you I see no further folks on the  board at the moment um before a   motion uh gets asked to be approved I'm  going to share a couple of comments um   I've been looking at my emails specifically this  email right here this is from one of our neighbors   her name is wanetta wanetta is uh 63 years old  she reached out to me and she wanted to share   her story wetta had to stop working due to health  issues she's now on disability she understands   that inflation is hurting everyone including our  city but she's also scared of the rising cost of   Insurance upkeep and property taxes that may force  her out of her home if we could limit the increase   of the RNR to simply just inflation of 3% I could  get behind that 75% of our budget is people it's   personnel and our 3,000 employees deserve wages  that keep Pace with inflation but anything over   that is an increase in taxes and I just cannot  support that if you look back to June of this   year our 2026 deficit was over $12 million today  it's less than 4 million while I am proud that   this Council and I have accomplished in getting  us down to less than $4 million deficit in 2026 I   was elected to stand up for ordinary citizens who  hav't had a voice I'm not going to turn my back on   wetta or the thousands of individuals who cannot  make it to our City Council meetings so I realize   I will be in the minority but I wanted to explain  why I will not be exceeding the revenue neutral   rate today council member hoisel thank you mayor  um Miss wetta we did pass um last year I believe   um some uh property tax rebates for people who are  are struggling and qualify for some things such as   the the homestead tax on the uh state level so I  would be glad to look into seeing if Miss wetta uh   qualifies for that to actually ease the burden  a little bit and I agree with you on the basic   services but again that's what we're talking about  here is the 12 million gap and I don't I don't   see how we could cut 12 million out of the budget  without starting to seriously affect um people's   day-to-day lives on this process so I just wanted  to add my two cents and again miss wetta we're   very mindful of that I hope she qualifies for the  rebate program um so please send the information   down the line and see if we can help her council  member Johnson thanks mayor um I appreciate that   story as well mayor much like um the speaker that  we had I am supporting the full increase of the   revenue neutral rate because I know the work that  our city staff does with community and I know that   she may be in a position not only where council  member hoisel can talk about the property tax   rebate but all the other services that we provide  our community as well it is folks on fixed income   that need help and when I think about our Housing  and Community Services Department when I think   about the things that we can do even through  Parks just the activities that we have it's   those types of things that really help our quality  of life and making sure that we don't cut um the   revenue neutral rate out because that's a lot of  money even a portion of it means that our service   delivery would be the same and so folks like uh  the lady who emailed our mayor and our speaker   would suffer because we are not funding those at  a level that we should so I am fully supportive of   exceeding the revenue neutral rate I will continue  to be because the services that we provide are   Stellar for our community and I think that we  should continue to do so vice mayor Ballard   thank you mayor um I just want to Echo some of the  comments that some of my colleagues have made and   mayor I also appreciate you sharing sharing uh  the story from your neighbor I think those are   really important for us to share with the public  too we get tons and tons of emails all the time   but obviously the public doesn't doesn't know  about those but I will also be fully supporting   the revenue neutral rate um I don't think I've  ever received an email that says I want less road   maintenance less fire less police less anything  we unfortunately need as many dollars as possible   and there's lots of room for improvement so um  appreciate staff's uh work on helping us uh get   to where we are but um I will be fully supportive  thank you council member Johnston thank you mayor   I will point out our inflation rate now is 3%  however we've had catchup to do with our service   uh employees which basically got an 88.5% raise uh  our police uh double digit raise fire double digit   raise so the cost for the city has gone up way  more than than 3% also point out that uh when   had and I I I know people in the same similar  situation um and I I direct them to some social   service agencies in town one which I was board  share of uh and that's the Center of Hope and   if people need a one time one year for during a  one-ear period if they need one-time help with   rent or house payment or electric bill car bill  whatever it is they they can go to Center of Hope   and there's probably a 98% chance they're going  to get approved for it so uh there's another uh   vehicle people can use to stay in their home so I  hope people uh look into that also council member   tutle thank you I just wanted to make one more  comment so I I appreciate the opportunity um I   often reflect back when I'm making my decisions  for the city not just on the budget which as I   always say is the most important um decision we  make all year but even every week and and not   just here at the bench but what I'm doing every  day in the community and our mission for the city   of witw is to be an exceptionally well-run City  and there are four pillars that we use for that   it's to keep Witchita safe to grow our economy to  build and maintain Dependable infrastructure and   provide conditions for living well and I do think  by exceeding the RNR this year it will help us to   accommodate the city's growth we all want our city  to grow um I'm looking at Jeff Flur one of our   favorite witchin and one of the things that we're  most excited about are things such as the biomed   Center coming downtown I'm not only going to bring  more people downtown but I bet it's going to bring   more people to our city and this allows us the  opportunity to make sure that we're meeting our   City's mission of being the exceptional welln  City that we all want to be thank you thank you council member Johnson thanks mayor um I  didn't see anybody else on the board um I'm   happy to make a motion all right I would move  that the city council close the public hearing   hearing record approve the resolution to  exceed the revenue neutral rate for the   city of witto and conclude the public hearing  second Motion in a second any further discussion   I see none Madame clerk please open the RO motion passes 6 to one madame clerk please  call the next item 2025 annual operating budget   and 2025 to 2034 Capital Improvement program  good morning mayor members of council um I'm   happy to say that this is your uh last hearing  on the budget uh before I get started I want   want to offer some thanks first of all I want to  thank all of you you have been actively involved   probably as much as any Council since January  working on the budget the may I reference Some   Cuts that have been made already for 2026 which  is not even under consideration today formally but   you're positioning us well for the future and  some uh concerns that we have so I appreciate   that heavy lifting I want to thought thank Mark  Manning for all the work that he's put into the   budget process Elizabeth goldry and all of her  staff members with the budget team and of course   all the Department directors and their teams  who put together the original recommendations   for you to consider and have also responded to a  number of uh challenges you presented US during   the budget process so with that I'd like to go  ahead and uh go through my last presentation   on the 2526 proposed budget oops sorry um the  2025 proposed budget is uh is balanced which   is important uh financially as well as uh uh in  or to comply with state law uh the 20 as Mark   uh mentioned the 2025 estimated M Levy rate will  be unchanged and this will be I believe our 32nd   year of adopting the M Levy from the previous  year um I won't go into all the other details   regarding how we compare with other cities in  Kansas because I think Mark did a wonderful job   of explaining that the budget reflects over $1  million and adjustments not just uh for 25 but   more importantly for 26 and 27 that will help  again position us uh and uh for the future and   those were uh approved by or directed by  the council during all of your workshops   and the meetings that we've had subsequently  and of course this budget reflects Community priorities I won't go through all the elements of  uh public engagement but this is again probably   one of the most um robust engagement processes  that we've had um in the last 10 years we started   with the community survey which really helped  shape the direction for this uh coming budget for   the 2025 budget uh I mentioned you've had number  of workshops we had budget roundtables we had   social media Town Hall events we met with the dabs  and we had the budget simulator which provided   some interesting information and then finally  we've had three public hearings uh including today this budget will be remembered for  this Matrix uh um and the direction that   the public gave us through the citizen  survey and as you know our Focus has   been primarily in the magenta area but we've  also been very focused on the orange area as   well maintaining high quality services U  that are valued by the community reminder   of the four priorities that came out of  the survey and have shaped this budget   crime prevention pavement maintenance Economic  Development and addressing housing insecurity there's about $45 million in the recommended  budget to address crime prevention activities uh   just a reminder that that's not just enforcement  work that's done on the street but it also   includes prevention as well as Rehabilitation  work the area of pavement maintenance there's   $20 million for a concrete Street maintenance  program there is a pavement maintenance uh tenure   uh investment of $149 million in existing streets  and $39 million has been allocated for dirt street   Paving in addition the operating budget has $18  million annually for the ongoing maintenance   of our street system in the general fund uh  you would transfer $1 million to The Economic   Development Fund to help a number of initiatives  but primarily to help fund the downtown witch   Plan update as well as a number of small business  initiatives that we have started um and then uh   you've already talked a little bit about the  smid and uh how those dollars are used in downtown earlier the council approved $5 million  in arpa funds for affordable housing U as you   probably know we have solicited proposals for  redevelopment of former public housing units and   money will be allocated uh to developers to help  uh bring those uh properties up to uh appropriate   standards and more importantly to make sure  that they uh remain affordable housing for our   residents and then maybe one of the most important  initiatives that you've included in this budget is   the development of the multi-agency center to  provide a comprehensive approach to tackling   our homelessness issue uh in the operating budget  in the housing specifical housing budget you have   $500,000 annually for operations and there's  8 million dollars in the capital Improvement   program to F Finance the capital needs for the  establishing to the center as Mark referenced   I have to have my pie charts this is for the  entire budget which is about 764 million I   will not bore you with all of the uh slices of  the pie just remind you that when we're looking   at the entire budget charges for services and  property taxes are the two major funding sources   and salaries and benefits are the top uh use of  those dollars and the general fund um property tax   again as Mark referenced is the number one Revenue  Source followed by franchise fees and sales tax   and I believe the mayor referenced this earlier  75% of our uh costs are tied to salaries and benefits and sticking with the theme  about the importance of Public Safety   and Public Works about 74% of our  general fund is committed to those functions several references have been made  made to the challenges that we're facing um   somewhat in 25 but more importantly in 26 27  and 28 U there are two major factors that are   contribut contributing to those challenges  first of all uh we anticipate a significant   decline in interest earnings over the next few  years and that has been a significant Revenue   source for us in the general fund for the past  few years and then we've also seen an increase   in our U wage costs as uh referen From the  Bench but especially in the area of Public Safety when we were doing uh the  original forecasting with you we   talked about our deficits over the next  few years reaching the $22 million level   based on work the council has done we've  been able to reduce that already by $ 11   million significant work still needs to be  done and I do know that there'll be some   discussion uh from the bank regarding uh  getting a running start on some of those modifications some of the things that we  have been considering and that we intend   to implement I believe there'll be some direction  about the timing of that implementation here soon   uh we're talking about uh centralizing our  financial services working on a a more cost   recovery and an improved model for cost  recovery evaluating our Fleet looking at   areas where we've had high vacancy rates  and determining whether or not we need to   do something to rightsize those operations also  look at our employee compensation and benefits   uh meeting as we as we look at that we'll  be working closely with all of our U labor groups let me move from the operating budget to  the capital Improvement program it's consistent   with the community investments plan which  is extremely important because that's a   comprehensive plan for our community it's  Guided by Community priorities and it is   built to be sustain stainable here's the are the  revenue sources of the $3 billion for the 10-year CIP here's how those dollars  would be spent over the next 10 years just a reminder that in 2025 we're  recommending a mill Levy rate for The Debt   Service fund of 7.7 Ms that is a temporary  transfer of 7 Ms to help cash fund some of   our capital Improvement projects to  reduce ongoing debt expenses in the future um just some of the highlights I've already  talked about the street uh improvements that are   included in the CIP we have 164 million dollar  planned for Public Safety infrastructure and   over one half of the CIP uh is designated for  maintenance which includes $33 million in the   maintenance of cultural facilities and another 32  million for other facili facilities and by the way   I highlight that because that's probably one of  the last categories of our Capital Improvement   program or our infrastructure uh where we have  actually applied our uh models so that we have   a predictable funding for the maintenance of our  city facilities we did that early for our streets   we then brought that along for our utilities  um including water and sewer and storm water uh   now we're on board in terms of our facilities  sizable investment made in those facilities and   we want to make sure that we maintain those  appropriately and the other reminder is the   CIP is probably most impacted by our growth in  property valuations in the future as well as sales tax so today as you're considering um oh  excuse me I want to reflect what you did   last week uh and that that has been included  into the recommended document that you'll be   considered in today first of all there was  a inclusion of a golf CIP uh element which   includes $9 million over a fiveyear period it  will be funded with user fee adjustments golf   operating savings and allocations from  the general fund and then $5,000 will   be shifted from the 21st Street project  to the Northwest bypass RightWay project there are a number of actions that we're asking  you to take today the first is to adopt the 2025   proposed budget as adjusted and approve the second  reading of the necessary budget ordinances council   member Glascock that's what we referenced in  in your question second is to approve amending   the 2024 budget for the community improvement  district and the tourism business improvement   district funds third action is to adopt the 2025  2020 excuse me 2034 proposed Capital Improvement   program as adjusted uh the fourth is to authorize  staff to take the necessary steps to implement   the budget and the fifth is to approve the use  of local funds derived from property within the   corporate limits for the Witchita State University  Board of Trustees um if uh if you like you can   approve the first four together or you can vote  on each of them we ask that you have a single   vote on this last item if you decide to to Bunch  the others mayor with that I am glad to answer   any questions council member tutle thank you thank  you Bob for the presentation and I'll have more um   appropriate Kudos here when we get to the comment  section um during this process lots of community   engagement lots of emails from folks who are very  passionate about our city which I appreciate um   one theme was from the art community wanting us  to show their support the other was regarding the   Mac the multi- agency Center and homelessness  the one thing that I've been very um proud of   um during this last year how many months is that  we have all consistently had homelessness and the   multi- agency Center as our number one priority  here in Topeka um and it and it's something that   I hear about every day from constituents and  from community members who really care about   our most vulnerable are homeless um because of  that and I know on slide 49 if you'd like to   please go back to it can you just make sure that  we assure the community that in this budget and   when and also using our American Rescue plan act  dollars that we are doing everything that we can   to to address the homelessness issue through the  multi-agency center the question that I've been   getting is consistently in the emails and probably  my colleagues as well is there money for for the   Mac is the Mac a priority in this budget so I I  would love to have your comments so that we can   reassure our community of that sure thank you yes  thank you a great question uh first on the Capital   side there's $8 million set aside for uh multiple  projects associated with the Mac the first project   will be the creation of the emergency shelter for  this winter and that will be accomplished uh we   actually have a plan for moving forward quickly  on that and then the second piece is to then   bring the rest of the facility up to speed this is  the old Park Elementary uh we'll do a remodeling   of that which will include shelter space as well  as and probably just as importantly space space   for agencies that will help us move people out  of homelessness and again just a reminder the   model is to take people that are currently in  um either on the street or in shelter and move   them into a permanent housing Arrangement and  make them self-sufficient provide the resources   necessary so that will be we're trying to do  the physical piece which is uh early shelter   but also we've applied for tax credits so that we  can build affordable housing units so that people   can transition from shelter into an affordable  housing situation but it won't work unless we have   the soft services and that primarily is to bring  um social workers or um others uh in the industry   alongside case workers excuse me alongside  those that are homeless and to address any   issues that are providing impediments for them to  become self-sufficient and and productive members   of the community we have $500,000 built in all  years that we projected out starting 2025 also   we're expecting to continue that out that will  be the first piece of um the of the subsidy we   may also have some additional housing dollars that  will be available to supplement that U so that if   I remember right that could be another ballpark  $300,000 but what I really want to emphasize and   I've I've told many people uh this as we talk  about this budget this is a community project   city of Witchita has come forward and said we  have to do something different and we have to do   something maybe a little different than most other  communities that's why this affordable housing   piece sponsored by the city is so important  because it that shows that we're all in in terms   of a permanent solution but we need help from  others in the community and that uh challenge   goes to other government jurisdictions it goes to  the nonprofits that are in this space it applies   to in my opinion the faith-based community and  it applies to the private sector Jeff mentioned   that he's already started some initiatives some  discussions with the private sector about coming   forward with their piece of this U so when this is  all completed I think we'll have the community of   wiah that will have um said we're behind the mac  and we're showing that in terms of our financial   support and our volunteer support which will be  just as important um as we have to feed folks uh   in shelter and provide other services thank  you council member hoisel thank you mayor um   but what's the Gap that we have currently for um  fully funding the services to the ma you talked   about in terms of the annual budget yes sir  um council member that's a little difficult   to understand at this point and the only reason  I say that is we have a budget we've identified   working with uh the nonprofits that are in this  space and just in full transparency that budget   is about four to four and a half million however  we know that many of those costs will be offset by   Services provided by existing providers and  by commare with the county so we're hoping   to bring that budget down just me speaking not  anybody else that's involved in this process I'm   hoping we get down to about a two million gap  with us picking up a half million of that and   then hopefully then the community coming forward  with the other another million and a half but that   that's ambitious because that means that the  the providers and other Service uh other folks   involved in this space would be coming up with  close to $25 million dollar of in kind services   or services to help offset cost thank you thank  you council member Johnston thank you mayor I was   just going to point that out between two million  and four and a half million and services provided   uh I think we I agree with you I think we can get  down to two million but I want people to know how   much work has gone into this on the homelessness  task force especially the provider committee   um they haven't always been Pleasant and easy  meetings um very confrontational at times but   everyone is is is getting there and we have a  detailed budget worked out with a little bit of   disagreement on it still but we have a detailed  budget of what it's going to cost to run the mac   and and we have different scenarios uh a way to  fund it so which includes obviously the city's   portion hopefully the county gets on board um uh  relig sector hopefully gets on board and then uh   business and nonprofits so we we can get there  we will get there we will have a comprehensive   solution that is Witchita not San Antonio not  Bergen County not Colorado Springs it'll be a   Witchita solution one that fits our community  so and we will get there so I appreciate all   the help uh from everybody um including Justice  together um homeless tax task force provider   task force all the different uh people who have  been working on this very D diligently so thank   you uh vice mayor Ballard uh thank you mayor um  Bob could you give an example of potentially um   ways to bring down that budget like I would assume  like if an organization provided food that would   bring the $4 million down can you give any other  examples of for anybody that might be listening   that might be able to help fill the gap or put  those fillers out on some other like tangible   things that we could be looking for to partner or  collaborate to help bring the cost sure um great   question vice mayor the food is a great example  uh by the way we may have an arrangement for the   food but we're still going to need distribution of  that food for three meals a day so if people are   looking for volunteer opportunities that will be  a way of offsetting some of that need case workers   um I this model doesn't work without significant  case worker presence there are agencies that we're   working with that want to have a presence in the  Mac that will in all likelihood will provide case   workers we're moving our Housing Department case  workers over um hot will have a presence there   um in terms of security we have an agency that's  in the space that's very close to Park Elementary   that said they may want to split security cost or  share security costs with us those are the kinds   of things that we're looking at those are some  examples thank you thank you a couple questions   regarding the Mac um so in our handout regarding  the 2025 proposed budget uh follow-up issues page   number five specifically States how Capital  dollars are being spent here the 2025 2034   proposed CIP 6 million in general obligation Bond  funding that was initially approved by the council   October of 2021 for the South Lakes Park pickle  ball project that funding will be retitled in this   new CIP which will increase it to $8 million for  the Mac can you I think we have some confusion in   community regarding the pickle ball and how these  dollars are now re being directed to a priority   that all seven of us have said we want to work  towards a solution as a council with community   and that's how some of these dollars are actually  uh being allocated now right actually mayor you   just described it really well I um the um I  I think when we hit pause on pickle ball the   council had some concerns about that as a priority  but more importantly knew that we had this urgent   need for um addressing uh the homeless business  issue in the community and really were behind   the Mac concept and we were struggling to make  sure that we had enough Capital dollars we have   some limitations on the use of federal funds  for the pieces of that Mac and so the council   reallocating that money from pickle ball to the  Mac allows this project to be uh possible thank   you thank you and thank you to council member  block for that leadership council member h   thank you mayor I couldn't let you off too easy  Bob um what are some contingency plans if we don't   fill that Gap in time I think we've come pretty  far to give up on on that the U the we want as I   think Jeff Flor had mentioned that we want to get  this off the ground H with the full model because   we believe that's the most effective way of of  addressing the concerns of our homeless population   if for for some reason we have a shortfall that we  can't make up in year one we probably would scale   back some of the services that are available in  that facility in order to get a balanced budget   but I believe that everyone that's at the table  is committed to making this work so I'm probably   overly optimistic but I believe that we can do  it and that when we open the doors and April of   next year after the emergency shelter um is um is  uh down then we'll go to to get a 247 Mac going   forward I believe that we'll have commitments  for the dollars that are necessary right thank   you thank you council member Tuttle thank you  Bob one last question and this will be an easy   one I think um I am monitoring the comments  online thanks to the folks who are watching   who couldn't be with us today one of the questions  is is there a Mac budget online anywhere people   are curious about some of the things that we  discussed I noticed this PowerPoint isn't yet   up on our website but I imagine it will be right  after the council meeting and it'll give some of   the information but and I know we don't have the  operating budget all figured out but even for the   capital budget for this portion of it where can  folks who are interested and and want to learn   more find it Well if you if you remember we have  a development partner uh that is working on the   construction piece of this and I think we should  be able in the near future to be able to provide   that budget information on the operating budget  um what I'd like to do is wait until we know   what the offsets are so that when we provide the  community with our budget we'll show how much the   total budget is what has been committed by the  community and then what the deficit or the Gap   will be and I think that will be more enlightening  for everyone so what I hear you saying is as of   right now the the capital budget for the actual  Mac isn't online or available yet but will be   coming we should be yes uh I I think they're  still refining some of it okay I I will tell   you it's a little soft on the back end because all  of the effort right now is getting the emergency   shelter up and running so the developers spending  their time primarily on finalizing those plans   and getting their U subcontractor contracts  in in place so they can move forward sure and   if any Community member wants to meet with their  council member individually we can certainly have   an opportunity to do that thank you I know that  council member Tuttle brought this up so I wanted   to make sure that there were some um facts and  figures shared can you explain uh where Cultural   Arts uh was in 2020 4 versus 2025 and according  to our budget Cultural Arts received funding in   2023 of $5.2 million in 2024 it increased to 6.4  million and in this new proposed budget there's   an increase again to $6.79 one million mayor uh  good question and Mark correct me if I'm wrong   but I believe that the additional cultural funding  is primarily a result of its tie to the mill Levy   and so it reflects the increase in valuation and  right now under our contracts with the agencies   you remember we have a number of agencies that  are receiving annual funding from us to maintain   their Collections and their facilities they're in  City buildings there are are probably our largest   museums and then in addition to that um we have a  pretty robust grant program Lindsay Baka has been   expanding that and getting additional dollars out  into the community um so uh there is no actually   there's no freezing of cultural arts um expenses  which I've kind of heard people talk about and   no cuts that are repres in included in the 2025  budget thank you for that clarification are there   any further questions I have one last one for  you Bob um city manager can you let us know do   we have a budget deficit and tell us again explain  to community do we actually have a budget deficit   sure um again because of the work done by the  council uh in 2025 you have a balanced budget   so you do not have a budget deficit in 2025  however we are projecting deficits starting in   2026 um Mark I don't have that in front of me if  I remember correctly it's somewhere between three   and4 million in 2026 and then I believe it gets  into 10 about10 million roughly 10 to 11 million   after that in 27 and in 28 so the answer to that  question one more time is we are facing a budget   deficit because that we have to make decisions not  just for today but really for the future of this   community and so are we having a budget deficit  yes mayor again it's great clarification um as   I've shown in slides through all my presentations  starting in 2026 our expenditures out Pace   revenues and and that's a structural deficit  it's not because of um the fact that we're in a   a recession or anything like that it's just simply  because of the cost of government especially in to   be competitive in wages our Public Safety expenses  are outpacing our Revenue sources whether that's   property tax or sales tax um or interest earnings  which have been really important to us franchise   fees another U uh Revenue uh uh source that were  concerned about council member Tuttle thank you   and and I asked this question of Mark a few weeks  ago but for the new folks who are joining us today   um and I made this comment I've been in this bench  since 2019 and every year we've made cuts and I   think every year when we look at Future budgets  we always I I think we're extremely cautious which   is great and predict as best that we can what our  deficit will be I don't think I've ever been here   where we didn't say there's going to be a deficit  in forthcoming years and and usually we're able   to get that down um a lot of it and please always  correct me with I'm when I'm wrong Bob or Mark or   anyone else but we can do an exceptional job  of predicting our expenditures but we can't   always do the exceptional job of predicting  our revenues because you know we don't know   about franchise fees we don't know about interest  earnings all those kind of things so um you know   just a comment that you know I'm really proud of  this Council that we have a balanced budget for   2025 but we're already thinking ahead to 2026 and  for future years so um just kind of want to remind   the community that we are cognizant of that and  we're already looking at it and and I'm confident   with the staff that we have the council that we  have in community input will also have balanced   budgets because we're required to in future years  and hopefully with not eliminating services that   are essential thank you if if I could I I do need  to brag a little bit about our finance staff and   Mark specifically our Revenue Source our Revenue  projections have probably been close to like 98%   accurate uh and so I mean I apologize for giving  a little extra different information but um it's   what we don't which what is hard is to predict  what happens in sales tax especially if there's   a change in the economy it it changes sales tax  revenue so quickly and there are other things   that are outside of our control you're right that  are unpredictable but um I it's that's one area   where I think our department especially shines  I love to be wrong when it's good so thank you   thank you mayor if I can i g it gave some thank  yous at the very beginning of this but I think   I forgot maybe the most important thank you and  that is to the public that has come out to this   support this process we have had a lot of feedback  it's at the three hearings we had you know in the   evening meeting we had so many people but also  you're all receiving emails that help um give you   information about people's priorities so I want to  thank everybody for uh participating hope that as   we get into next year's budget discussions which  will start early again that uh the community will   respond and help us all understand better what  their priorities are with that thank you vice   mayor Ballard oops thank you mayor I just have um  one more question and I know that it won't be in   this year's budget but it's definitely something  that I would like staff to look at um for us to   consider next time is in the Forestry Department  um it was mentioned last week that we were 2,580   work orders behind and especially in my district  I can speak for um we have a lot of Aging trees   that have been you know needed to be slated to be  removed for quite some time and um I would just   like to see potentially what our options are what  does that look like to try to get caught up does   that mean we I know we're like 20 staff down and  we have been for quite a while but um going out to   the same house several times to clean up another  limb from a windstorm for a tree that was supposed   to be removed two years ago is not effective um  or efficient um so I'd like to take a a deep dive   into um of course I you know Contracting it out is  not my favorite thing to do we have plenty of work   for our own staff but um I do think it's important  that we try to make that some type of initiative   um because it's it's a safety issue also sure we  we'll put something together we we'll have a lot   of work to do this fall we'll add that to the  list of projects sorry kind of thank you thank   you we'll have further comments the mention  thank you we will now start public comment   regarding the proposed 2025 budget please  come forward state your name and your address thank you mayor woo and hello this morning  this afternoon to um the city council my name   is Elizabeth Bishop my address is 8518 East  Long Lake Street and Southeast Witchita I'm   here to represent the city's Urban Tree canopy I  recognize that this is late in the process but a   number of things have happened recently that  have really been like blows to the effort to   maintain and expand the tree canopy we have been  losing trees at an astounding rate for a number   of years and our mission is to expand the tree  canopy on public lands on business lands corporate   lands and uh helping homeowners to expand our tree  canopy there are budgeting is an ongoing process   and I know that there will be changes made and  um an examination of issues ongoing we want to   hold up trees they reduce air pollution they cool  down the neighborhood by providing valuable shade   in some neighborhoods more than others and that  was the point point of the NASA study that that   um analyzed the the heat islands in the city and  the park Department fashioned a plan to begin to   address that and of course partly because of  budget considerations and a large part because   of the drought all that has come to a halt we  want to hold that up as something that we get   back to as soon as we get rain over the Cheney  Reservoir they they provide clean water because   trees grasses and and tree roots especially  filter the toxins out of um run storm water   runoff they affect the wildlife in our cities  and I have a few fun facts I'll run through   really fast more than 20% of the world's bird  species live in cities the total population of   birds in the world has been plummeting ever  since 1970 an acre of trees produces enough   oxygen for 18 people every single day one healthy  tree can store 13 pounds of carbon annually trees   providing shade to buildings can reduce the need  for air conditioning thus saving energy I know   this has been a long process and I I have watched  the city go about it extremely deliberatively   deliberatively and with great Civic engagement  and I commend you for that and I would also like   to thank you for your service I know that the  park Department forestry division is extremely   valuable and does important work I think one of  the reasons you don't have more people come and   talk with you about this is because we tend tend  to take trees for granted they're just there we   can't take them for granted much longer we need  help and we would like to be partners helpers I   would like we would like to meet with any of  you and discuss this further and we need more   attention paid to our City's valuable economically  valuable tree canopy thank you for your attention council member hois thank you mayor um  thank you Elizabeth for coming up um my   former representative Elizabeth Bishop um I hope  Daryl's doing well at home um we I I agree I mean   we had a nice momentum going and then the drought  just kind of slapped us upside the head here so   um I I think we fully intend to get back to um  doing the tree canopy the plans I know there's   still plans for um at additional trees along  the K15 Corridor and the the study that we're   doing currently about redoing that Corridor so I  I I think we're going to get back to um pushing   along on the tree canopy as soon as we possibly  can and I know vice mayor balor's been working on   this to some ideas as far as what to do with  the saplings that we already have and we're   waiting to plant can't really plant it right now  if we can't water them they'll die so we are very   aware of the issues and um like I said Maggie's  doing a good job there trying to to figure some   things out with it but we fully intend to get  back to it as soon as we possibly can thank you good morning my name is Lori Mills and  I actually am not a resident of the city of   witchta my address is 1418 Shelly drive it's in m  in Kansas but I'm here this morning representing   my Parish which is St Bartholomew's parish  and it's located in Southwest Witchita and   also representing Justice together and  Justice together as you know is a multi   uh Faith Justice Ministry organization it's made  up of 36 congregations and Faith organizations   throughout the county and it's United uh by its  deep commit commitment to answering God's call   to Justice the past year the number of people  experiencing homelessness in Sid County slightly   dis decreased and it's standing now at somewhere  around 691 individuals and families well this is   progress there is a reality that is pretty  grave and that is the num that the number of   deaths among our homeless brothers and sisters  has quadrupled in recent years and this isn't   just a statistic but this is a cry for help and  a moral imperative for us all in Micah chapter 6   verse 8 we are reminded of our duty to act justly  and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God   our faith calls us to be a beacon of justice and  compassion particularly for those who are the most   vulnerable and that is my pretty much my my job  description as a deacon at the recent Nehemiah   assembly we celebrated the strong commitment from  mayor woo and and city manager Leighton as well   as County leaders to address this pressing issue  by supporting the proposed multi-agent Center or   the Mac however in our recent discussions we've  learned that there's a shortfall in the projected   budget for the multi- agency Center and we want  you to know that we are truly grateful for the   $500,000 annual commitment from the city of witcha  this amount though is fall short of meeting the   full financial needs of the center in Proverbs  chapter 31 verses 8-9 we're instructed to speak   up for those who cannot speak for themselves for  the rights of all who are destitute speak up and   judge fairly defend the rights of the poor  and needy and we believe that supporting the   multi- agency Center is a tangible way to heed  this Divine call providing crucial support and   dignity to those who are struggling as both the  city of witchta and Sedwick County government   prepare to finalize their budgets for the coming  year we urge you to remember your commitment to a   fully funded and operational multi- agency Center  this is not merely an allocation of resources but   is also a reflection of our Collective values  and our faith in action we call upon you to   demonstrate that witch to's heart and soul are  in alignment with the principles of justice and   mercy let us come together to ensure that the  multi- agency Center becomes a full reality   a place where hope is renewed and lives are  transformed so I'd like to thank you all this   morning for your attention and I know you have  a hard job and we just appreciate your service   and uh to the city of wiah but let's make this a  more compassionate just Community for us all thank you good morning mayor and members of the witch  city council my name is Reverend Jill sander   chalii I'm the senior pastor at College Hill  United Methodist Church um my church is a member   of uh the a a faith community of the Justice  together group I do live in Witchita my address   is 11105 East Funston Street and my pronouns are  she her so we come before you today um inspired   by our faith and committed to to addressing this  pressing moral issue within our community um as   you've already heard this p last year there has  been a slight decrease in the number of people   who are experiencing homelessness in Sedwick  County just over that 691 um individuals and   families currently experiencing homelessness  however um the situation remains dire and that   decrease in numbers is not actually something  to celebrate when we correlate it with that   quadrupling in the number of deaths among those  without homes um when I think of these numbers   you that's really startling right these are  more than statistics they're a stark reminder   of the urgent need for action and compassion  and it breaks my heart to think um that we   could distance ourselves from that number um  because unhoused people are human beings and   their lives matter and their deaths matter I'm  a Christian I'm a follower of Jesus I'm also a   teacher of Jesus's love and compassion and my  Christian faith teaches us that our actions   should reflect our values a scripture from Isaiah  chapter 1 verse 17 instructs us to learn to do   right to seek Justice to defend the oppressed to  take up the cause of the the parentless to plead   the case of the Widow and these words guide us  to act with Justice and mercy particularly toward   those who are most vulnerable it is my faith  compels me to stand before you and to speak   today um we are grateful that at the recent  Nehemiah assembly held by Justice together we   were encouraged by the commitment from our city  and county leaders um to uh support the proposed   multi- agency Center which we've heard a lot  about today and we know that what we're doing   now is inadequate I've heard that from you I  also know this personally um my congregation   is located in an area where we often find unhoused  people sleeping against our building um sleeping   on the bench by our garden and sleeping  in the tunnel on our playground and it's heartbreaking um so uh we we have already named  that even with the commitments at the Nehemiah   assembly we're we're facing a challenge of of  of falling short of that goal of a fully funded   multi-agency Center we are so grateful for the  $500,000 that has been committed annually by the   city of of witch and I do just want to name that  we also know that's insufficient and so I urge um   of you all as we approach the finalization of the  city of wiah and the Sedwick County governments   for the coming year to recognize how vital it  is to close that Gap um to uh to stand with our   unhoused population um I stand uh representing my  congregation and also Justice together which is a   large network of people of faith and so we urge  you to continue uh focusing on that commitment   to fully fund the multi- agency Center I believe  that by doing so we affirm our shared values of   compassion and Justice which transforms our budget  into a powerful statement of our commitment um to   every member of our community Community both the  ones with houses and the ones without so I want   to thank you for your attention I want to thank  you for your dedication for making Witchita a   place where all individuals have the opportunity  to find Hope and support we do look forward to   continuing this conversation with you um as a  Justice together organization and meeting on   Thursday September 12th um at 10: a.m. to follow  up about your commitment um God bless you and God   bless the work that you do to make our community  a place where all find shelter and dignity thank you good morning mayor councel thank you for  allowing us to be here today my name is Chad   langon I live at 6912 is Odesa Court which is  actually belir but I serve as the pastor of   Christ Lutheran Church which is on the north  side um right across the street from Heights   High School I currently serve as a secretary of  Justice together and I'm here today representing   the work that we do justice together is a growing  organization of nearly 40 different congregations   of different faiths but with the common value  of loving our neighbors and working for justice   on their behalf over the last year we have been  working hard to move the needle on Justice for   people with mental illness and for people who  struggle with homelessness hundreds of people   within our organization have worked very hard to  make progress on these issues as Faith communities   and as Faith leaders we feel like we are doing  our part in the community feeding clothing paying   utility bills caring for Spiritual needs we call  these acts of mercy and our congregations are   equipped to do this work and we do so faithfully  and we are on board but there are things that we   cannot do alone that we as congregations and as  people of faith Faith do not have the power to do   on our own there are things that only you our city  leaders can do and that we have asked you to do as   you represent us and our values on this Council  on May 9th just three and a half months ago 1,400   people from our congregations gathered together  at Century 2 with Community leaders County leaders   some of you including mayor woo and to request  some promises and commitments for a fully funded   Mac I was on stage when County Commissioner Ryan  batty and mayor woo both agreed to fully to to   fill the gaps and fully fund the operations of  the multi-agency center for this coming year I'm   not sure what has changed in the last few months  but as an officer of Justice together I encourage   you to think critically and imaginatively about  this budget and about making good on the promises   that you have made this Council has the power  to fully fund the Mac it may cost something   it may take money away from some other programs  or need to have revenue generated in some other   ways that you have not been willing to do but  as a person of faith and representing other   people of faith we long to see our city value  the lives of the most vulnerable among us our   neighbors and F make the multi- agency Center  a fully funded reality as promised thank you give a hi uh twia Purity I live in Polo Club I'm  on the district one Advisory Board and hey   congratulations all of you you got 2025 balanced  well done it's a lot of work um so my comments are   really about the future and the future deficits  that were um that the city is um um facing you   know I made my career on some pretty simple  Concepts um you know Pennywise pound foolish   take care of the Small Things the big things  take care of themselves and so certainly our   budget reality now is there's more Community needs  um than there are resources like we all know that   so um one way then to maybe address that is  appropriate management of the resources that   we have right um I would recommend and encourage  um really digging in to see how things are being   how how things within every Department are being  done um are there things that have value or that   no longer have value that are being done so one  of the concepts and I may have mentioned it here   before if I have it's a long time entropy it is a  law of natur of nature so with without continuous   pressure things will devolve to chaos that happens  house cleaning right I mean it happens everywhere   it happens every H aspect of our life and I found  it in my businesses you think things are in place   and going well and then good well-intended people  it starts going out of the way and going out of   the way and you have to keep bringing pressure  are we doing the things we're supposed to do is   it being done the way we're supposed to do it  if you start digging into things I'm confident   you will find that um there's things that are  being done oh we've always done it that way but   they no longer have value these this mindset of  digging in and then also bringing everything back   where it needs to be it will result in savings  because it does everywhere it's it's worked for me   throughout my entire career and then that kind of  brings me to then one area where um you may want   to think about and that's Contracting you know  there have been some issues with contracts you   know the ice rink comes to mind is their benefit  in reviewing all of the contracts that the city   currently has in place to make sure that they're  in compliance is one idea um the WSU uh contract   for the citizens review board strategic plan  what was sold is one thing what is happening is   something entirely different now that could have  been helped with stronger Contracting language um   perhaps develop a checklist if there isn't one  that every contract has terms and that there's   consequences for non-compliance ideally Financial  consequences right I mean there's more money   that's going to come in um so that's that's kind  of the Contracting thing you guys have a lot to do   I hate that you're fulltime or part-time and  paid part-time I don't know if there's any um   appetite for having city council be full-time  paid full-time with so much work in the way the   city's going and future deficits it's something  to consider and then I just uh on transparency   you we talk about the budget there's a lot  of um Community involvement I've heard that   but there's areas that were not being able to  be uh to respond to and those are things that   are not transparent to the community um how  much money does the city spend settling and   defending lawsuits I think that the citizens  should know that and know that by Department   the community I represent would like to know how  much the city spends on defending and settling   lawsuits against the police department how much  revenue is the city getting from civil asset for   for those who don't know law enforcement  can take your assets cars homes money that   they find if it's used in uh committing a  crime you don't have to be convicted and   those funds are very very difficult to get  back so how much is the city gaining from   that I thank you I appreciate every one of  you and I don't know have a great rest your day good morning my name is Lance carther I'm  I'm a retired clergy I'm one of those fortunate   ones that uh has a Derby post office address but  live in uh councilman hoisel district and I live   at 3105 Sunflower Drive I also represent Justice  together um Justice together in May of this year   brought 1400 people of Faith together representing  55 houses of worship in our community and I know   mayor woo and and manager Leighton uh you met  those 1,400 folks uh at Century 2 that evening   in May and it was then that we were bringing  to light some of the most pressing problems   that face our community problems that if we  don't address them uh continue to devastate   our community we all every one of us that live  here work here uh we all are beneficiaries of   tackling these great issues and the greatest of  these is the homelessness problem here in Witchita   um we asked for and received commitments from  uh mayor woo uh city manager Leighton as well as   representatives from the county of Cedric County  and the state to work collaboratively on a braided   funding approach for the proposed Mac and yet we  learn there is still a significant Gap perhaps as   much as four4 and5 million perhaps as little as $2  million and while we are grateful for the $500,000   in operations that the city has earmarked for the  operation of the Mac we recognize that that still   Falls far short of Bridging the financial gap that  is needed to fully operationalize this critical   Center there's been some comments today about how  the hope is that in addition to public funds from   the city and county there might be private  investment and investment from the faith   community let me remind you that um many of  the Direct Services and support services that   are offered in our community are already broadly  financially supported by the faith communities   of this city and this County I'm talking about  Lord's Diner open door humankind some of those   very agencies that you're looking at to perhaps be  housed at the Mac are already funded by the faith   communities in our city and so we really  are asking asking you um to use your your   influence your resources to help come up with  a winnable solution to fully fund and make the   multi- agency Center operational thank you and as  one of my colleagues mentioned we look forward uh   to following up with you at our meeting that is  scheduled on Thursday today September 12th thank you hello my name is Marquita Atkins Woods I'm  the founder and executive director of destination   Innovation Inc um I didn't plan to speak today  um but I think it's very important as a reminder   we always have this saying that wiah is beautiful  in all its parts I sit on the houseless committee   I'm a board member of harvester Arts I'm a founder  of the nonprofit that actually was a part of the lwuit everything that we do we do we think about  how we need to create healthier communities how   we need to create a healthier space for the Youth  in our community I think that we should support   the budget when we talk about investment  and divestment we're still taken away from   somebody and usually it's our most vulnerable  that we're taking it away from in retrospect   when we take away from our most vulnerable  then you get the news articles about crime   rates going up then you get the news rates  or you get this past article that talks about   these new super criminals that are growing up  and they're talking about little kids you get   the negative things that start to happen we have  to be proactive instead of reactive to situations   that are happening in our community and we  need to invest aggressively in our community   wiah is beautiful in all this parts and one  thing I see from doing the work that I do in   different facets when it comes to Arts when  it comes to social justice when it comes to entrepreneurship those skills are transferable  when you interrupt violence and you invest and   you transfer those skills over those same people  reinvest in their Community instead of reining   I've been a person that advocated for houseless  because I've had youth that are transitioning out   of the system that did not have a place to go and  desperately look for them to find housing do you   know how hard that was it is so imperative that  we don't talk around the fact that we are in a   critical time right now not just in the city but  in this country and it's super important that we   start making the necessary Investments and not be  afraid because one thing wiah is is resilient and   we will recover no matter what when you invest in  community community reciprocates and invest back   and I have the saying that our youth are the most  important investment we can make that yields the   best returns and I'll transfer that and say our  community is one of the best investments we can   make that will yield the best returns so I hope  you guys make the right decision and invest in our communities hi I'm Janine Shin I reside at 1707  floberta Street and I am here uh on behalf of   Arts funding I am uh glad that the 2025 budget  is balanced but going forward for the future of   Witchita we do need to do continued investment  in the arts and culture of witch I moved here   in 2017 to go to college at WSU I didn't  know what I was going to do after college uh   but all of the opportunities afforded to me  by the vibrant Arts community of Witchita   enabled me to continue to stay here and see  a future for myself if Arts is divested in   Witchita people like me you'll be seeing us  move and leave and go to other places where   Arts is heavily invested in and supported  by the community um I'm a city employee   with city arts I work for Harvester arts  and the Kansas Health Foundation artists   are working and we heavily contribute to  our economy uh the vibrancy of the city and   I think that the continued investment will  benefit the future of wiah as a whole thank you uh good morning coach Tracy uh CD Boxing Club  255 East 9th Street condition heart discipline is   what uh CD stands for uh couple of things  struck me um um my understanding is that   the city and county is not on on the same uh wave  link when it comes down to the mac and if I'm not   mistaken that's what I heard um what what what  what is bridging what's stopping you all from   so I have really some three questions what's  stopping you all from bridging that Gap to work   together collaborative because that's what I heard  when campaigning was going around and two I heard   pickle ball was allocated $8 million and now some  money some funds is being allocated towards the   Mac if I'm not mistaken I heard that um what's  stopping the full 8 million being allocated for   the M was um the last I check pickle ball is not  really affecting the houseless community someone   first of all I deal with houseless uh communities  directly as far as the minimum I can do is provide   a something of substance to them to eat perhaps  some shelter or something like that so it's   something that touches me near and dear on the  ninth and Grove area I see many houseless people   and I was concerned when I heard $8 million pickle  ball South Lake um I've been in that area and it's   a vast area it has a lot of land and space and my  concern is the 8 million for that and how does it   get shifted all the way to 8 million towards  the Mac uh I I don't see I see pickle ball   being able to be picked up later in the future  but as far as right now there's going to be a   need for the houseless community to have places  to get out of the the rain the snow but the wind   um right now today it's raining outside maybe  but it's raining earlier uh and I just want to   understand did I hear correctly when I heard the  city in the county is not collaborating on this   that's a question I would really like answered  maybe I misheard it maybe it was misspoken and   that $8 million is supposed to be allocated for  the pickle ball how much is that going to be   shifted over to this m council member glasa thank  you coach Tracy I'm I'll answer your questions   very quickly us at this Council and the county are  working very well together working collaboratively   and there's Buy in from the county and the city  every single person up here every single County   Commissioner is committed to this and we're all  moving in the same direction to answer your second   question regarding uh pickle ball allocation the 6  million that was directed towards pickle ball has   been fully allocated towards investment and the  mac and so that was a commitment of this Council   to prioritize the multi-agency center over the  pickle ball or the proposed pickle ball complex   and so all six million has been advocated over  so two quick answers to two quick questions thank you are there any further comments from the public I see none we will close public comment and bring  it back to the bench oh did okay we will bring   it back to the bench council member Glascock  thank you mayor um I appreciate I appreciate   the discussion and meeting with all my colleagues  over the last couple weeks especially through all   the work that we've done for this um I believe  that we should get a running start on addressing   some of the pending um deficits that we're facing  but I also believe that we shouldn't be cutting   from essential servic I don't believe we should  be cutting service levels that we're providing   the community but I do believe there's ways that  we can find efficiencies in government and that   we can recoup um some cost recovery without  hurting service levels and I believe that   is committed to centralizing um certain services  in the city and also innovating and this doesn't   provide any drastic Cuts this doesn't provide any  service level cuts and these were I want to thank   staff for presenting uh different options that  we could accelerate implementation some of these   are things that we're looking at implementing  in 26 27 and 28 we're just accelerating those to   reflect those in the budget I think that's good  governance this still allows us to capture the   full um uh Revenue neutral increase and I believe  that we could use some of those cost savings to   set us ourselves up better for 26 27 and 28 I  know every person on this Council I spent hours   and hours and hours reading through the budget of  more than 600 pages and going line item by line   item and I don't believe that there is um vast  waste in city government I believe that we are   spending money effectively and appropriately but  I believe there's also efficiencies that we can do   just like any um level of government and uh really  any system and I think um twia had mentioned that   as well that there are efficiencies that can  happen um but we're not wasting money at City   Hall I think we're through staff and through the  manager leadership are spending money efficiently   but I think we can do a little bit better as  well so I know I've talked to all my colleagues   about this so I'm not bringing anything on but I  believe that there's cost savings um that we can   universally agree uh between 2.5 and 3 million  that again is not hurting service levels so I'll   go go line item by line item on some of those  items um but to preface that I believe that   the savings from these following items and this  will be my subsequent motion at some point um   that the identified savings would be allocated to  a transfer of capital project line items to R to   reduce future borrowing needs and set ourself up  better for the future and including the transfer   of 700,000 to an electronic timekeeping system  which is going to better set us up for 27 28 or   26 27 and 28 so I'll go line item by line item I  know I've hopefully not springing uh anything on   you so um I will go kind of uh list by list and  I know this is for the packet but I'll say it   to the public too so there's item two in terms of  acceleration of implementation items uh number two   was naming rights at parks and cultural  facilities which would be a cost Savings   of 500,000 this is not naming every single park  or every single facility in this uh City this   actually is projected in 26 27 28 to be 500,000  500,000 500,000 and so this is just accelerating   in 2025 that we can find $500,000 worth of  naming rights which I think is possible when   you're looking at a combined over the next four  years of 2 million so with that um actually this   might be a more efficient way way of doing this  and then we can go item by item what I'll do is   I'll make a motion for all of these and if there  is a substitute motion to remove certain ones then   we could do line item by line item and so I'll  have two two different ones there's the tier   one and tier two concepts which is one category  and there's tier three concepts which is another   category those will be two separate motions  so I'll do tier one and tier two in terms of   a motion if there's a subsequent motion to remove  things then we could vote on bulk and then I will   be happy to remove line item by line item that  makes sense you want to just go by okay I'm happy   to do line item by Lem so let's do item two first  uh which is 500,000 in terms of cost recovery for   naming rights at parks and cultural facilities and  move up the implementation from 26 to 25 second motion so we have a motion in a second for item  number two oh we have questions now council member   hoisel thank you mayor um I I'm not necessarily  against this um but we still hav't met with the   the group that we had um we have taken a look at  this so my my thought on this one is I'm again   I'm not against it we can bring it back because I  believe we rescheduled the meetings for later this   month um so I I would just like to see exactly  what the proposals are and how we can work within   it before we necessarily um get going on this one  but I I support it in general I just want to make   sure you know a few things like you know city  of wah provided by Carles Jr you know we need   to avoid that the best we can and um so without  the details I I would just ask that we pause that   for just a council member Tuttle thank you um I  I was going to ask the same thing we I I didn't   know if we could implement it by 2025 because we  you know have even had the opportunity to meet   with the consultant and things and then um I have  another question to add on to that um many of the   items that we're going to be discussing are things  that we are going to cut this is one of the rare   ones that it's something that we're going to add  and after um working for a long time to develop a   robust relationship with shields I was able to  secure the shields Striker multiports complex   500 ,000 a year every year for four years is  ambitious and I hope we can do it what if we   don't then we have to go back and consider what  we're going to cut is there is there I'm assuming   there's thought to that but that's certainly this  item worries is too strong of a word but you know   it's not like something you're cutting you're  anticipating you're going to get Revenue that   you can't guarantee you're going to get so Bob  I'd love to answer those two questions thank you um ongoing I understand the concern and that's  something we'll have to adjust as we go forward   however in 2025 it's been pointed out from the  bench I think we're going to miss an opportunity   with the ice center if we don't get additional  sponsorship in advance of the Nationals because   that will be the practice facility I think we  have a rare opportunity to sell that space I   not quite sure what the objection is to Carl's Jr  because I'm all for that um but um I do believe   that we can get $500,000 in 2025 in a way that  would the council would be comfortable I think   as we go forward maybe you know they'll the  council will have to provide us guidance on   what's appropriate on what kind of facilities what  kind of guidelines do we want the Consultants are   very familiar with that and if you for some reason  say you want to go forward with another consultant   I still believe this is the right thing to do  we're talking about being Innovative trying to   to get additional Revenue sources that don't put a  burden on property taxpayers again I think Striker   is a great example of it takes a lot of hard work  and that's why we want to bring somebody in who   knows how to package sponsorships because it's not  necessarily one facility you may offer something   that crosses over multiple facilities and the  sponsor wants to have that exposure in three   or four city-owned buildings so it's a package  maybe tougher on the later years but I think in   the first year or two um there are I think a  lot of opportunities that would not make the   council uncomfortable or the public uncomfortable  I again it's ambitious and I like that um and and   you and I have talked about this and as we get  with the consultant I do want to just make sure   that as we're you know seeking new Partnerships  and new folks to help with our initiatives that   we make sure that we have an escape Clause um  just in case the naming opportunity needs to   Sease and that that'll get in the weeds later  but thank you I will add a follow um Direction   before I continue um again we have not met with  the proposed company but I'm going to actually   challenge uh staff to look Beyond just that one  contractor I think we um council member Tuttle   just brought up a really great example she worked  really hard uh to develop a relationship with   shields um I don't think she got a commission out  of that um so she helped develop a relationship   and so I think that there might be opportunities  even before we sign a contract with any company to   see what opportunities there may be as we just  mentioned this is a rare opportunity that us   figure skating is coming in January and we're not  selling off the building it's the naming right so   again we're not selling off anything um so I would  challenge staff to also consider other options   Beyond just signing a contract with a group again  we're open to the methodology I will point out   that naming rights are not always easy we still  have a ballpark that doesn't have naming rights   and they've been working diligently for three  years in order to sell those naming rights and   so they I think there is going to be professional  expertise we need at some point but I'm not asking   you to approve the con I'm asking approve the  concept not necessarily the the way that we'll get   there we do believe that there's an opportunity  for additional Revenue here council member hois thank you mayor um so if we did vote for this  today and we did allow this today what would   be the process would The Taming rights have  to come before Council because some of them   I I don't think would be appropriate like we in  indicated earlier um also I see some places like   cow toown on the list um that may not be something  that makes sense or it has to be Tastefully done   I guess I would say if if we do pursue that so if  we did vote for this today any naming rights would   come before us for approval that is correct  but I I would remind you worst case scenario   we don't realize the 500,000 and we have less  money we transfer to projects um it's you know   again this is to get a running start for the 25  or the 26 budget with Savings in 25 but yes the   council will have ultimate Authority on how we  approach this and what the naming rights will   be for buildings council member Johnson thanks  mayor I I didn't press my button fast enough but   I just wanted to suggest maybe you'd be more  comfortable with what a facility sponsored by waterburger if Pat Mahomes is okay with it yeah  we'll vice mayor Ballard okay moving on thank you   mayor um just a quick question um I see that it  says in our little packet um for private sector   Partners I like the idea of naming places  after people that have done great things um   I know this a little bit more difficult to get  maybe um a financial contribution or whatever   but is it just strictly for um businesses that's  a great qu question for the consultant I I think   can package it any way I just want  to make sure we're not elimin we're   not I want it to be equal opportunity for  everybody and not just who has the deepest   Pockets so okay we could make sure that we  include everybody that would be great thank you so we have a motion and a second  regarding again just approval of the   concept not the contract regarding uh  naming rights at parks and and cultural   facilities any further discussion I  see none Madame clerk please open the rooll motion passes 70 council member glass thank you mayor sorry  you're going to get tired of me talking today   um number item three is planning cost recovery  uh which is projected at 25,000 in 26 27 and   28 it actually is 150,000 so this is kind of  a stair step model towards cost recovery um   and this would be planning service receives  revenues for services when applications are   filed and so this would just be an increasing  revenues that reduces subsidy required from   the city of won cedra County uh for these  um fees um we believe the annual increase   would bolster cost recovery so that uh motion  25,000 to Pro rejected in the 25 26 propos budget second we have a motion and a second any   further discussion I see none  Madame clerk please open the rooll motion passes 70 member glas thank you  mayor the next item is for animal control dog   licensing this is as a result of the council's  decision last week to um uh with regarding   licensing requirements for animal control this  would increase revenues from that projected   at 880,000 again 26 27 28 is projecting a  higher amount at 162,000 so this would be   stair stepping into our budget model so with a  motion uh that we uh reallocate the 80,000 and   believe that's increased revenues for tier one and  tier two for 2025 202 six proposed budget second   Motion in a second any further discussion  I see none Madame clerk please open the rooll motion passes 70 council member Glascock  thank you mayor um item number five is accounts   payable centralize and automate the process and  that is at an estimated of $70,000 um we look the   purpose of the counts pay as will make payments  to vendors um and it has to do with um making   sure that the process is centralized so with the  motion to include that in the 2025 2026 proposed   budget second motion and a second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 70 council member Glasco  thank you mayor item number seven is Public   Works and utilities Fleet evaluate vehicles  and maintenance Approach at 150,000 again 26   27 28 is projected at 300,000 and so this is to  stair step us into that in terms of justification   for that um the quote that I'm going to take out  from staff's recommendation is that reducing the   size of the flea for these operations to match  Staffing levels um would reduce this cost so   move to implement that in the 2025 2026 proposed  budget council member hoisel thank you mayor um   what all Fleet are we talking about here I I don't  think we're talking about First Responders I want   to double check and make sure that's the case um  so what what what's the rest of the fleet that   we're looking at we're primarily looking at the  maintenance operations that have been short staff   for a period of time and determining whether  or not we're oversized with our Fleet right   right now it's going to take some analysis that's  why the uh 300,000 is out in the future why we do   the study this year but we believe that there are  there's kind of some lwh hanging fruit on vehicles   uh in our Prim primarily Public Works that we  believe can be um uh that are no longer needed   or that um uh we don't have uh we don't use on a  regular basis in our operations so that's 300,000   for 26 26 50 in two in 2025 and we're pretty  confident on that the 300 we won't know until   we study we do a more detailed study when's that  study coming out it'll be this fall most of these   that are being offered in 25 are the start before  we finish before we do the detailed study work and   the idea was to get a running start on some of the  things we believe we actually will realize in Easy savings okay I I guess I'd like to see the study  before we move on this one my own personal opinion   just to know exactly what we're looking at  cutting um I know we have some tree removal   vehicles I want to make sure that's not on the  list because we need to get moving after that   so my own personal opinion here I'd like to  just see what the study comes back and says   as far as what we're cutting before we enact  this one council member Tuttle thank you and   I apologize if this is a silly question but  so it says and I've read this several times   because I'm still trying to completely understand  it but it says for maintenance of Fleet right so   we're going to save $150,000 next year by not  maintaining some of our Fleet so we're or is   the cost or shedding some of the fleet or that's  what I was going to ask or is it sale of some of   the fleet because it doesn't make any sense to me  to just kind of shutter vehicles or you know part   of our Fleet in a building and just leave them  there well actually you could do some of that   because I mean if let's say we're 20% down in a a  maintenance operation but at some point we think   we're going to ramp back up we could mothball the  vehicles and then basically all you're doing is   just keeping them so that you know they're not  just completely we're keeping them operational   correct so it's not zero maintenance it's a  reduced maintenance correct I do have a bit   of a concern too about you know doing we do the  study first and then decide how to move forward   because potentially with the study we could even  find there's more cost savings I mean I I don't   know that um until we see it so um yeah I can  see the benefits of both Bob you were going to   make a comment you may be also seeing shifting I  mean we've talked about an ongoing concern about   hiring uh trained staff in forestry it may be that  at some point we have to recognize that in order   to meet the forestry burden maintenance burden  that we're going to have to do a mix of City Crews   and contract and so you would free up dollars  from equipment and the vacant positions to be   able to then supplement that some of that so you  could have some savings and some just shifting of   resources in order to get the work done okay and  you know Gary jansen's doing such amazing job as   Public Works director we may fill all of those  positions in the near future right that's our hope we have a motion and I  will second um any further   discussion I see none Madam clerk please open the rooll motion passes 5-2 council member glov thank  you mayor item number eight is Century 2 reduce   the subsidy of century 2 of $100,000 um context a  subsidy for Century 2 has decreased its management   of the facility was transitioned to an outside  provider which we've seen success in um and so   the subsidy expected be lowered in 2025 in 2024  so part of the 2025 proposed 26 proposed budget   is to accelerate the implementation that  we're projecting 100,000 Savings in 26 27 28 thank you council member Johnson  we have a motion in a second I have   a question for uh city manager Leighton can you   um also talk about the CIP Investments  that we're already putting into Century 2 so we have about $10 million I believe  in capital projects that are earmarked   for improvements at Century 2 upgrades  plus we have the $ three and a half   million dollar for the prominade um to  help again um encourage more convention business motion and a second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 61 council member Glascock  thank you mayor the next item is number nine   Finance accounts receivable improvements  uh just improvements to the system 25,000   projected in 2026 27 28 it's actually 100,000  each subsequent year and increasing slightly   to be 25,000 to accelerate some of those cost  savings with the motion sorry second Motion   in a second any further discussion  I see none mam clerk please open the roll motion passes 70 council member Glascock  thank you mayor like item number eight um the   next one would be ice rink reduce the subsidy  100,000 again projected 26 27 and 28 is also   100,000 um due to effective management system as  well council member hoisel thank you mayor uh Bob   what goes into the subsidy what do they normally  use it on is just operating cost it's to offset   any deficit that they have and remember we had  pretty extensive discussion with them regarding   their projections going forward and they are  projecting to get into the black okay thank you   city manager Leon also have the question about CIP  regarding the Ice Center can you explain that too uh yes mam mayor we do have improvements  included in the uh in the uh CIP for the   Ice Center uh if you bear with me I'll  identify them here I think they're in the   out years and I think they're fairly  sizable it looks like we have in uh I don't have my ruler with me here if I could get back to you in just  one second I let me get my ruler out and   I'll see if I can find him here would that be  listed under project listing for the Witchita   there thank you it's under W for witch saw I  Center not I for ice ice rank my my mistake yes   ma'am looks like we have a grant total of about  $2.3 million now it is in the out years it's uh   scheduled in 2033 to 2034 but we do have a fairly  sizable amount there to handle our maintenance needs I will second so we have a  motion and a second any further discussion none Madam clerk please open the r motion passes 60 council member Glasco thank you mayor uh  that's all I had for tier one um and tier   two concepts included in the proposed budget  so between all of those votes we just looked   at about a one um1 milon 50,000 in savings that  we can redirect towards also uh the timekeeping   aspect that we're going to look at which is  700,000 a second so moving on it's a few pages   after this is Concepts not currently included in  the 2025 proposed budget tier 3B as recommended   by staff um number 11 is municipal court process  improvements at $125,000 Cost savings we look at   2026 27 and 28 and each one of those is actually  projected at 250,000 uh the justification for   this as though a new court uh record system  has been implemented process for imp entering   documents have not been and so um we believe  that there's a cost savings about 125,000 to   be seen in 2025 2026 proposed budget so with a  motion uh to includ that council member Johnston   thank you mayor apparently getting up at 5:30  and going for a long bike ride and drinking   a lot of water is not a good thing um would it  be possible I vote affirmative on the last vote is that appropriate I think Council  the mayor can recognize that vote in   your discretion if you choose  to Mayor that's that's fine I   will recognize that vote in the  affirmative so it is now 70 thank you I will second that motion so we have a  motion and a second any further discussion   I see none Madam clerk please open the roll motion passes 61 council member Las thank you  mayor I promise I'm almost done there's only a few   more um item SE uh 17 um is facilities maintain  existing staff levels and three uh in facilities   maintenance that's 350,000 projected savings 26 27  28 is actually 925,000 um I think there's somewhat   misleading in terms of the title that this isn't  um current existing Staffing levels because that's   projected further out manager Leon could you give  some clarification mayor if I could um items uh   17 20 and 22 all have the same concept and that  is we've been running about 20% vacancy rate in   all of these maintenance operations this just  simply recognizes that it's going to be hard to   fill all of those positions in 2025 we we're going  to study later this year what the right sizing for   those maintenance operations should be but this  is not a deliberate attempt to try to eliminate   positions freeze positions necessarily this is  just recognizing that it's an uphill battle to   try to get to full Staffing so while we're doing  the study we it'll be difficult for us to be able   to fill these positions so it recognizes that  savings that plan savings council member hoisel   thank you mayor um again I just like to voice I'd  like to see the positions that were freezing or   eliminating before I vote on this one recognizing  that yeah there's again we're not doing that we're   not eliminating or freezing any positions we're  just not able to fill these positions at this time   okay yeah you will get a much more detailed review  and Analysis when we do our study of each of   these operations to determine what's realistic in  the future um in terms of how we should staff what   and what are we may have to reclassify positions  I have no idea what it'll look like okay let me   rephrase I guess then uh eliminating the open  positions we have I'd like to necessarily see   that list before we we move on this one totally  C member Tuttle I I'm kind of thinking along the   same lines and one of my questions was unless  I miss understood and again please correct me   when I'm wrong that we said for example with  forestry that maybe there could be some sort of   hybrid method where we have our staff but then we  contract with outside vendors to help us correct   was that did I totally mess that up or is that  that will be part of the study okay so then the   money that we would use to pay for a contractor an  outside contractor would be redirected for money   that's allocated to staff to that so there  really wouldn't be a savings it would just   be a a different instead of it being our own  internal staff it would be a contractual basis   with an outside vendor it's a more complicated  analysis than that because we're going to look at   outcomes you know we've we've been at this vacancy  rate for multiple years and so the question is   what are the desired outcomes and service levels  and this is the perfect time to look at it since   we're having difficulty filling those positions  so that will be part of the long-term study I'm   just saying shortterm we're not going to be  we're probably not going to make that decision   on making the pivot to private a public private  uh match until after we've gone through a much   more exhaustive search so I'm just all we were  offering is what we know is going to be savings   because we're not gonna be able to fully fill  all the positions doesn't mean we won't fill   half of them but we just aren't getting qualified  candidates for the way we're set up today okay   thank you council member glass theoretically even  if we fill half of them we're not even looking   at half in terms of projected budget 26 so even  if we fill half of the vacant positions there's   still the cost savings here that's correct and  again if something happens and we're successful   in filling more positions and we believe there's  a need to do that it just it reduces the amount   of money being transferred to projects in 2025 to  help reduce the budget I will second that we have   a motion and a second any further discussion  I see none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes four to three Madam clerk uh  sorry council member CL thank you mayor the   item uh number 20 is the exact same just  in terms of Park maintenance as the last   one of facilities um but it's the exact  same it's actually the title on page 20   is miscellaneous says maintain existing service  levels it should be maintain existing Staffing   levels similar to what 17 is but just in a  different department this is only 250,000   out of what projected in 26 27 28 of 1.5 million  this is not even half this is significantly less   than that second Motion in a second any further  discussion see none Madam clerk please open the role motion passes 4 to three council  member Glascock thank you mayor um item   number 22 Public Works and utilities um Street  Maintenance maintain existing Staffing levels   the exact same as the past two motions  this is a $650,000 cost savings when 26   27 28 we're actually looking at 1, 720,000  so again significantly less than half second   Motion in a second any further discussion  I see none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 4 to three council member  Glascock thank you mayor only two more to go   number item 24 is actually very different so I'm  just going to have the manager speak to I think   there's maybe some misconceptions at the previous  meeting so manager will you talk about the health   insurance plan redesign that this actually is just  the cost savings we're going to realize anyway yes   mayor um that's that's correct I think the title  U is not appropriate for the 2025 category um the   2025 budget that we presented to you today showed  a 6% increase in health insurance we just recently   met with our health insurance consultant they've  received bids and will actually come in at 5% no   change in benefits no change in our plan at all  we're just because of our um the the provider that   we're using as well as our loss history we have a  more favorable uh loss history for this past year   so we'll have a 5% rate that's good for us and  it's also good for our employees because their uh   increases will be uh smaller than anticipated for  next year council member tutle thank you um and   thank you for that information and I specifically  this is one of the the items that I was the most   concerned about the 3100 employees within our  organization are the backbone of the city of   wias a municipality and and certainly for police  and fire and public works and libraries and all of   the organizations across our great um our great  city of witto one question that I did hear from   some some staff is that they feel and I'm asking  Bob you know to maybe dispel the myth or provide   more context that the health benefits are not  the same and that specifically the mental health   benefits are not the same and not covered so I  don't know if that's just you know then those   are antidotal stories that I've heard people  say so I was just curious and yeah I'm not sure   there may be different interpretations we I don't  believe we changed any major elements of the plan   document when we switch providers um I do know  uh that we introduced uh some more discounts on   generic drugs Mark I can't remember there's some  other things that we ENT that we entered into   that save both the employee and the City money  but they're not significant changes in the plan   that I'm aware of now again doesn't mean there  isn't some interpretation issue as claims are   filed and and that happens every time we change  a provider we don't necessarily change the plan   but it's interpreted differently in times we have  to work through those details okay I just want to   make sure that we you know reassure our employees  but we know we can't be competitive with salary   in the to the private sector so benefits is one  of the ways that we can help attract and retain   our employees and just want to make sure that  our employees rest assured that we have their   best interest we're trying everything that  we can through a Ben a good benefit package   design to make sure that their needs are being  met so um no cuts are going to be taking place   for employee health insurance benefits not under  this that's not anticipated at all thank you vice   mayor Ballard thank you I would just like to  Echo council member Tuttle um I've heard the   same thing about mental health and I want to make  sure that our employees are able to go and get   the services that they need so we can even if  it doesn't have anything to do with a specific   line item it's just a good opportunity to make  sure that we're able to take care of our own as well having heard from city  manager Leighton again one more   reiteration to that message there are no changes  to the benefits uh to the 3,000 plus employees   again we understand uh and value our 3,000 plus  city of witcha workers um not through not just   through wages but also through benefits um that  are paid for Again by taxpayers so again we're   just trying to be mindful that we are wanting to  be respectful of how to capture uh dollars that   will not change services for employees but how  we can uh try to recover some costs um through   realizations of the budget so thank you again  I will second that so we have a motion and a second any further discussion I see  none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 4 to three council member  Glasco than thank you mayor I only have one   more in terms of this and then I'll have a  generic Motion in terms of how to reallocate   the savings that we have item number 34 is  flat organization um Equitable management   model uh the cost savings realized is 250,000  in 2025 projected out to 26 27 and 28 that's a   savings of 864,000 and subsequently increasing  after that and justification of that um it's   that there around 130 positions in management  level range there's been a growth in these   type of positions the past decade um and manager  would you like to talk a little bit more about   this thank you may um we had a deliberate  uh initiative several years ago to collapse   our organization and um to rightsize our middle  management what we found is that in downturns we   were quick to reduce field positions and not  quick to re do a corresponding reduction in   management positions so we were topheavy a as we  did the analysis so when we were in the recession   we did everything we could to protect as much as  possible protect the field positions and this is   where we made some adjustments what we found is  since that time there has been there have been   some additional positions but we're also seeing  a number of reclassifications so positions are   moving in through reclassification into to middle  management taking on additional responsibilities   we want a chance to look at that what's happened  to the organization to see if we if we're out of   balance again the initial thought is we may be a  little bit uh but at the same time we don't want   to stretch our middle manager so much that they're  not effective in in supervising our operations so   it's going to take some time to look at it but we  believe that we can achieve the $250,000 Savings   in 25 through an initial review which will conduct  this fall council member hoisel thank you mayor um   do you have any of the information already as  far as positions that might be ID identified Mark council member H council member I'm  sorry I'm gonna learn to pronounce your   name while you're still here council member  Mike um yes sir we constantly review our many   structure as the manager mentioned we're aware  that it's uh evolves over time we're aware of   some departments that we look at ratios some of  the department ratios are a little out of whack   we haven't specifically identified any positions  yet as the manager said we'd like to study that   but we are aware of some areas where we may  be a little out of alignment with what we've   traditionally been and with what peer are so okay  so this will be another study that'll come before   us again later um will we have to pass this again  vote on this again to eliminate those positions or   is it just a budgetary administrative thing uh  more than likely positions that we identify we   just wouldn't fill and then we would eliminate  them the next year in the budget cycle and we   would have already captured the savings based  on the action that you're taking today so if   those positions go still go unfilled anyways  we'll still realize those savings right yes   sir y okay again I I feel like this is putting  the cart before the horse I'd like to see what   we're voting on and see what positions cutting  before we necessarily vote on it so um again my   my perspective here council member Johnston thank  you mayor this happens in every organization to   the growth of the organization uh it's just  natural tendencies to add middle managers and   uh you'll you hear a lot in Private Industry is  restructuring um I think there's always some lwh   hanging fruit you can identify just immediately  and the rest of it you need to study so I think   this is the long hanging fruit I'm very much in  favor of thank you I will second it so motion   and a second any further discussion I  see none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 4 to three council member glot  thank you mayor uh with a final motion and I'm   appreciative of all my colleagues um collectively  uh unanimously we just realized about $800,000   dollars in Savings in the 2025 budget and even  though not unanimously we just realized about3   million 50,000 in the budget which I think is a  huge step towards efficiency in government again   without cutting any service to the general public  and so I'm very appreciative of all my colleagues   on that so with that I move that the savings from  the following items discussed would be included   in the 2025 budget and that the identified  savings be allocated to a transfer to Capital   projects a line item and to reduce future  borrow needs including the transfer of   $700,000 to an electronic timekeeping system  to better prepare us for 26 27 and 28 second   motion and a second any further discussion  I see none Madame clerk please open the RO motion passes 70 does anyone want to bring any further changes to  the 2025 proposed budget council member Glascock   sorry uh thank you mayor I have one last one that  I think we'll probably have robust discussion um   in talking to my colleagues I've tried to work  on a compromise um solution for our dirt streets   program uh for the city and so I know that we had  discussion about this previously I imagine we're   have a little bit more discussion but the uh  staff's recommendation is that by reallocating   a portion of the dirt streets program uh we  could pave more than 14,000 Lane miles or uh   rehabilitate more than 14,000 Lane miles which  is pretty substantial uh for our community but I   also want to protect parts of the program that I  think are very effective um and that are wise uh   good stewards uh taxpayer dollars and so that is  4,289 76 $65 that would pave every dirt street in   the vicinity of schools that would be completed  by 2026 I also think talking with my colleagues   um that there's another addition that I would be  interested in making too is that I've talked to   individuals who live on dirt streets that want  to continue to live on dirt streets um and what   I think would be a good uh solution and I think  that there's will from this body is that there's   a petition to be added to the dirt streets program  so we' maintain the 4, 289,000 and some change um   to pave around dirt streets in addition to that  residents could petition to be added to the dirt   streets program and seeing that there's sometimes  that one neighbor may be difficult that it would   only take 80% of the residents to uh sign a  petition to be added to this program so that   people could voluntarily enter this I think that  would put the edimus on us from this bench as well   that if there are dirt streets in the city that we  arear concerns about that we EMP power residents   to be able to uh petition the city council to be  added to the program so I want to hear discussion   before I make a motion so I'll hold on my motion  but I want to hear discussion first council member   hoisel thank you mayor um that 177,000 was that  with the the long-term plan that was I think 20   Gary you I think you might want to go ahead and  start stepping up here sir um was that the um the   long-term plan the first plan that we saw the the  realiz the how many years out was that first plan   that we looked at mayor and council members Gary  Jansen so the reference to the 14,000 additional   uh Lane mile years that's remaining actual  service life that is actually through 2062   that's a projection of our 40-year model for  entire pavement network uh and that includes   the amount of funding that's in the dirt street  program moving into the op3 that's the added   benefit we we are estimate for at least the first  10 years of the CIP is if that funding were to be   as part of the op3 we would add about a 100 Lane  miles a year that we could treat above and beyond   what the program does now and trade when you  talk about trade what are you looking at that's   not repaving it's not it would still it would  still will be all a part of that same decision   support tool everything that's considered with the  overall network uh based on 60% preservation 40%   mitigation funding that's in there for concrete  streets we can't fully predict we just know based   on averages over the years that amount of funding  would allow us to do something to an additional   100 L miles per year it's all going to depend  on uh what what we need at that point in time   what the model projects okay so yeah just make  sure it's clear it's not repaving people's roads   or anything like that it's no it's not okay um  we currently have an opt out on on a dirt road   program right like if people are living along  the side of the road don't want the road paved   there's an opt out process for it I don't believe  that we ever formalized that when this program   was approved we had talked about that um I don't  know that the state statute probably helps us in   that regard because it is set up for those who  want to have their streets paved uh but I think   that's something we we haven't come to yet I do  remember that discussion I don't recall that we   ever perfected that or what that might look like  okay appreciate it vice mayor Ballard thank you   mayor um I appreciate you um Glascock trying to  think of a way um to kind of alter the the program   but still keep it within the means um personally I  think this is a a commitment that we have made um   to the community and I know that we've all talked  about this but just for the people in the audience   we have 5,234 paved Lane miles and 154 of those  are still unpaved and district 6 which is what I   represent has about 40% % of the unpaved roads in  the city so I have 62.8 miles of dirt streets and   I represent the core the middle of the city and it  still just blows my mind that we still have that   many um dirt roads um especially in the middle  of the city so um it's a big deal to me it's a   big deal to my to my district my constituents um  we know that it's expensive but I I believe that   it's a quality of life issue and um Everybody  deserves uh to live on a a pav Street um unless   they opt out I suppose um I haven't heard  of anybody um personally in my district   that doesn't want a paved Road um so those are  just kind of my thoughts um i' be curious to   see where the rest of the conversation goes  but I absolutely believe that we've made a   commitment especially to the people that are  now looking forward to um getting their streets   paved um and I think it's important to for us  to stand by our word council member Johnson   thanks mayor I also want to thank council member  Glascock for um working toward compromise my my   position is still that um I think we maintain what  we agreed to with Community um if we had to change   um you know there would be some things I would  support as far as neighborhood concrete roads   but I think from the planning that um and people  looking forward to getting their roads paved that   we should maintain our course of action council  member glov mayor I'll propose my motion um that   we reallocate money from the dirt streets program  with the exception of $ 4,289 76 or 765 that would   uh complete the dirt streets in the vicinity of  schools by the end of 2026 that the cost savings   allocation would be redirected to the op3 program  the understanding that individuals could petition   to be added to the program which would seek 80% of  residents on a road to be added an petition to the program second motion and a second any  further discussion I seen up council   member tutle sorry I'm prob just needing a  break but what was the last part of that it   was a very long motion and I'm I have to to  see it so I'm sorry can can you repeat and   explained the last part of that that residents  could petition to be added to the program if   they seek 80% of the residents that live street  so if we're redirecting the funds let's say that   I live on tle Street we'll say tle way it's the  tle way and 80% of my folks come together and   say yep we want this then where's the money come  from because we're redirecting it to op3 manager   how could we classify it where we would still  allocate those that petition versus all of it   being redirected to op3 we'd have to do some kind  of deadline process so that we would pull it out   of op3 to move it to the dirt street if they  file a petition by a certain date that way we   don't contract out uh and double count that money  I think which I think is your issue so then my   followup question is are we going to contact all  the people who live on dirt streets and tell them   that they have a deadline they have to M meet to  be able to be because they may not they wouldn't   even how would they even know that right I I  think the body can say that um for from here   and we can let people know that that could be the  program but then I think it puts the impediment   on every one of us individually to reach out to  residents on dirt streets in our community and   let them know about the program and so for terms  of a deadline um we could project the deadline I   would feel comfortable with it that they would  have uh by the end of 2026 when we complete the   school program to make a decision of whether or  not they will move forward um the dirt streets program followup question really quick to city  manager how were individuals contacted when the   previous body decided to do dirt streets was  every residents contacted back then no mayor   I don't believe that we did we we would have  to put a communication program together again   the council I don't think the council policy  is being changed in terms of eligibility for   the program and so the streets that are in  26 27 28 are based on income and those areas   are most disadvantaged are the ones that are early  on if the council were to modify the program as is   in this motion I would anticipate that we'd want  to do some communication to at least the first   year or two worth of streets that were in our  program indicating that they would be eligible   for this benefit if they submit a petition by  a certain date and I I would probably like the   opp if you again if you go in this direction I'd  want the opportunity to talk about what that date   would would be annually um because I don't I don't  think you want somebody to sign up for three years   from now I mean I feel comfortable council member  ho Heisel thank you mayor um yeah i' just like to   agree with that last point that uh a couple of  years out is kind of tough for some people to   follow along they may not even live there you may  have a whole group of other people that live there   by that point so um if that does go through it's  I I feel like it's definitely got to be a moving   moving date every year yeah I feel comfortable  with that so we can take out the dates out of   the motion and then leave that to the session of  Staff it's all you that as a friendly Amendment   we have a motion and a second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 4 to three council members I'm G bring up the CIP really quick I want us to I want to bring attention to  a few things um that are very concerning to me um   on page 68 of our CIP uh in particular is Pony  Prairie Park facility improvements I was told   that the majority of this CIP um or what started  this was really because there was a lot of damage   that means vandalism and a lot of damage to the  shelter can can we please reiterate um that these   are investments that we as a council whether  past or current do page 68 of the CIP um we   make investments to the young people who were  here to the adults that are here when we make   improvements to Parks um when they're vandalized  we have to find the dollars to repair and um I   wanted to hear from count uh from city manager  Leighton regarding um some of these damages that   have happened over the years that continue to  put um some of our rec centers and parks in the   CIP mayor that's a really good point and one that  has been frustrating for us especially the last   few years significant vandalism and damage to uh  not in this case but in others to new Investments   we've had damage at pools at splash pads um  council member H Heisel and I talked at the   beginning of the Season that we probably had  a quarter to a third of our assets that were   not operating including two facilities I think in  his district because of vandalism and maintenance   issues um and so it is an ongoing problem uh we  are putting in more security equipment including   cameras and those will be monitored um and we're  making sure we have the right equipment there   we already have done that in some facilities I  will tell you that ponti Prairie Park presents   an unusual problem for us because it is out of  the way there isn't a lot of traffic there and   so we actually mayor are looking at pivoting that  project uh our police mounted unit is interested   in moving to that area and so um we're going  to continue to explore that it may be that we   wind up demolishing this facility that's been so  hard to keep um in any kind of condition that can   be used and we may want up putting a stable  facility there that would be great because   we'd have a police presence in a very large our  most significant Park um and it is a park that   accommodates equestrian use and we they think it  would be great because they could do programming   with uh youth uh in the community as well as not  just have a stable operation there so I think it   could be a win-win that doesn't mean that we  don't have a problem there as we do in other   facilities can you also explain um right now in  the CIP just for 2025 we will make an investment   of $6.7 million in Parks and Recreation and one  of those line items is actually the park master   plan can you again explain the reasoning behind  a park master plan as we move forward thank you   mayor it's been a number of years since we've uh  had an up-to-date Park master plan uh we have all   recognized that the last two plans um did not  fully account uh for our financial position   going forward and therefore created some uh  expectations and some projects that were probably   not going to be achievable so we like to get what  we would call a more realistic plan one that also   recognizes changes in the community and the way  the community wants to receive services from us   in Park and Recreation and we want to be able to  identify options and that's the whole idea for   the park board um the council and the community  to look at options and uh and what our future   parks system should look like um and that's uh  right now we're working on a scope of services   the council will review that before it goes out  on the street which is why I'm supportive of a   park master plan um what concerns me is even in  on page 68 and 69 uh the park parking lots will   get according to our CIP $4.8 million um a lot  of it is deferred maintenance um and we've had a   robust conversation on just Downtown parking  let alone parks parking um so we think it's   really important to have a park master plan to  really evaluate all of our assets really have a   realistic um Viewpoint of how our parks are doing  the assets the buildings the parking lots the   equipment um and then having a again back to the  conversation about vandalism reminding community   that these are faithful in Investments that we  make to community for quality of life and we want   people to take care of them um so again I'm going  to be supportive of the park master plan um CIP dollars council member glas if there are no  other comments I'm happy to make a motion um   seeing if anybody pops up on the board but that  no one is uh legal Jennifer would you like me   to read the recommended action as described on  the back okay um so I move that the city council   number one adopt the 2025 proposed budget with  the adjustments considered by the city council   on August 13 2024 and today August 20th 2024  approve the second reading of the necessary   budget ordinances including those for the tax  increment financing districts and the smid number   two approve amending the 2024 budget for the CID  and TBI tbid funds number three authorize staff to   take the necessary steps to implement the budget  including budget adjustments expenditure control   levels budget Administration uh Administration  procedures and adjustments outlined in the agenda   report and to make any technical adjustments  necessary to complete and submit the state   certification forms and number for adopt the 2025  to 2034 proposed Capital Improvement program with   the adjustments considered by the city council  on August 13th 2024 and August 20th 2024 okay   motion and a second any further discussion I will  add um a couple of comments uh before taking this   vote as I reiterate the same message that  I did regarding the revenue neutral I am   really mindful uh that we have to respect and  protect taxpayer dollars every council member   on this Council as well as the 3,000 plus city  of witch employees are all paid for by taxpayer   dollars and so I really am very appreciative of  the wonderful work of the city of witcha Staff   uh Finance has done a great job over the months  really years in getting us to this position where   we can have have robust conversations about  how to continue being efficient with taxpayer   dollars it's not about cutting it's about being  responsible and I think what you saw was a lengthy   process that uh required multiple votes and you  probably have not seen that in recent years but   it's so that we can have a true conversation about  how to be more efficient with local government   and my commitment to our community has always  been that I was going to be a watchful eye on   the budget on the dollars that taxpayers give  us to utilize uh whether it was in the seats   over there as a reporter or now here in this  seat as a mayor I'm simply one person and one   vote so my one vote is what I'm responsible for  and having seen our council members here really   talk through each of the multiple items to get  us to a position where we know we're going to   face a budget deficit in 2026 but how can we get  into a better position so we're not having to cut   staff that's where we're wanting to be because  I do value all the individuals that do the hard   work day in and day out in our community but I'm  also mindful of the individuals who may not be   able to come to our City Council meetings and  share their voice and their voice has told me   that that they have seen a lot of increases over  the years inflation the cost of repairing their   homes to their property taxes and they just don't  want to see any more of it but they also want to   see similar services or same services or better  quality services so I think twia said it well   there are so many wants that our community  has but we only have so many limited dollars   that we have to be very responsible with them  and so I know I'll be in the minority in this   but it does not reflect my gratitude to this  Council or to our finance staff and all of our   uh city of which staff members because I will  not be able to support this budget as I said I   believe that we need to continue asking the tough  questions so that we can get to a position where   we don't have to come back and apologize to folks  and say we can't continue raising uh the budget   for this department or this department we just  again have to be mindful that they're not our   dollars they're taxpayer dollars so um coun so  again I'm very appreciative of this Council vice   mayor Ballard thank you mayor I'm just curious  with the 2025 budget it is balance so I'm just   curious what would get you to yes to support the  budget I know that um there were several Cuts made   today I wasn't supportive of some of them I just  feel like it's a little early um and I'd like to   learn more about the positions before cutting  them um our employees are our greatest asset   um and I'm super appreciative of all of the tax  um dollars that we do receive um we do have some   hard questions and um hard decisions to make but  um I don't mean to put you on the spot I'm just   curious since we do have it balanced and some  of you have chosen to Make Some Cuts moving   forward why you still wouldn't um thank you for  that question vice mayor valard again I think   I reiterated this message in the RNR I would  have been comfortable voting yes to exceed RN   are if it was to keep up with inflation which is  what many of your our families are doing keeping   up with inflation um in addition to knowing that  we have new construction and so that's new tax   dollars coming into um our role I would want  to capture all of that but existing homeowners   continue to have increases in taxes year and year  in and year out and so I have challenged staff   to remind us that when we get a booklet like the  the 2025 proposed budget it is only based off of a   full value full capturing of the RNR but I would  have loved to see a budget that did not capture   the full RNR but captured some of the RNR and I  don't think um I'm able to vote Yes when I don't   have all the options laid out if I could have seen  a budget that also showed an incre increase in the   RNR not by the full amount but by some of the  amount capturing the con the new construction   capturing inflation um I I would have been more  comfortable voting yes because I could give a   reason back to our residents like wetta that I'm  not trying to increase her taxes but I'm trying   to keep levels the same while also being mindful  that the cost of doing business does keep going up   and so keeping up with inflation is something we  need to be minding of so if I would have had two   choices versus just one budget book that captured  the full Revenue neutral at its full amount of   122.4 million I would have been more comfortable  voting yes thank you council member Johnston thank   you mayor you you keep talking about 3% inflation  however our employees were way behind the curve   we couldn't fill spots for Public Works um if we  gave him a 3% raise that still wouldn't fill the   spots so we gave him eight and basically eight and  a half% this year and eight and a half% next year   for 177% to get them up to where we can fill those  spots so the inflation and and the fire department   police department double digit increases just to  get them up to where we can fill spots constantly   when I went when I went door too for the campaign  people said we want more police officers on the   street that's what we want we w not getting them  with the pay that we were propos that we had U   the pay for Quick Trip security offer was more  than a being beginning police officer the pay   at communities around us were more than the witch  Police Department generally considering the wall   Police Department is is a harder job a tougher  job so those pay increases are not 3% they double   jitting increases that's what we're accounting for  at this budget so I really don't understand it is   a balanced budget I don't understand what I'd like  to hear some ideas what you would cut that's what   I would challenge staff to provide prior to  giving us just one book that realizes a full   capturing of all of the 122.4 million if we would  have even captured 10 million okay we didn't even   have those options I want to see more options  I think you have heard me from this bench say   we should have recommendations from staff that  are more than just one just like the Downtown   parking plan you ask for more options so then we  can have an informed decision moving forward and   we can say we choose a versus we choose B versus  we choose C but when I'm only given a choice a   and there has not been thoughtful because again  it is a quick turnaround when we found out that   in June we were going to face a 12 million dollar  deficit in 2026 we were able to reduce it down to   just over three million3 to4 million for 2026 we  have been doing the work and I'm very appreciative   but it has required us to keep on challenging  staff to say please give us not just a balanced   budget but instead of capturing full amounts  give us other options too and I think that   that's what I'm asking I'm asking for more options  so that Community can say please choose a versus B   because right now you don't even get to see A  or B you just get to see a and so I think that   Community wants us to know what are you giving up  here to do this because there are limited dollars   and I am so grateful that Community has emailed us  saying please put more money in a well then where   am I going to get money to give more money to a  well I'll have to take it from B but where is B I   need more options so Community can see that we are  making conscious decisions of how we're utilizing   those dollars and so that's where I would be more  comfortable next year so what I hear you saying   is you want to see a a a dollar amount do you  want to cut the library by half million dollars   do you want to cut parks by a million dollars do  you want to cut police by five positions do you   want to cut Fire by five positions because that  that's we've already done the first and second   one Council M Glascock I think I've been very to  this community that police fire and infrastructure   are the core Services of local government police  and fire I have already asked city manager not to   touch so if we're not going to touch those and  we're going to save we have to find other ways   infrastructure we've made nearly a billion dollars  in investment for a new water treatment plant and   a new BNR plant both of those are critical  for our community they're not the most uh   talked about from this bench but they're the  most critical they're the core Services of   local government streets are core Services which  why which is why I'm so appreciative that we were   able to vote to help increase maintenance  of streets in our community so I believe   that Community has asked us to focus on those  core Services make them better so that we can   have community members say you're doing a great  job on the things that you should be great at   and so I am not asking for reductions on core  Services of local government well you know that's   74% of the budget so you've only got 26% of the  budget to find $12 million so libraries Parks   those type things so okay council member Johnson  thanks mayor um I just want to highlight I am   supportive of this budget there are some things um  that I may have done um but uh overall this makes   the Investments necessary that I think we need to  make as a community and I hope that people begin   to understand when we look at crime prevention  so much of the investment that we're making in   this budget is that whether it's the programming  and opportunities from Parks the programming and   opportunities from libraries the help that our  Housing and Community Services Department has   and especially from all the folks who continue  to reach out to me with um problems with their   living situations how much mabcd is important  uh to our community and that's just a few of   our um departments that we have as a city each  of our departments is important and when we look   at those who have needs in our community those  who know me I'm always one who cares about the   Working Poor middle class and poor folk in our  community this city does serve them well we can   do better if we have more funds and that's why I  continue to talk about next year we need to look   at an increase in the mid Levy as we talk about  multiple options there isn't enough dollars that   we have it sounds like it but as we continue to  potentially make cuts to some of the programs   that people believe are low hanging fruit we  heard a speaker earlier in Marquita uh speak   to what that really does for us long term when we  look at crime prevention we can point no further   than the 90s when the federal government funded  weed and seed when that funding dried up and we   weren't able to continue hiring the officers when  we didn't have the same typ type of community   programs that were funded then we began to see  things change in this community we have to have   those opportunities for folks and for young folks  as well so I'm excited about the Investments that   we are looking to make and hopefully um this  passes but again as we go forward we're going   to have to do more work and as we talk about folks  tightening budgets um I understand that but many   of the folks who are looking at tightening budgets  also need a lot of help from this city and if we   don't have the ability to help them um then  it's just going to get worse um we talk about   inflation we talk about Revenue neutral there's  multiple taxing jurisdiction so even if we were   to do something different folks are still going  to be paying a little bit more they need help   and we can help them and I'm hoping that you  know as we continue to go forward we look at   ways that we can continue to improve that but I  think this budget right here will help support   our staff but we're going to have to make some  tough decisions going forward um and one of those   and I'm going to keep saying it is looking  at a potential increase in our meal ly next year council member tutle thank you um as  always I want to thank staff for all your   hard work thank the community who are involved  in this um we've been working on this for eight   months so you know this has been a marathon and  during any portion of the last eight months when   we've had monthly workshops and meetings with  staff um options could have been brought to the   table um we can look at this budget any way we  want to we can make suggestions I've asked Bob   and Mark for different suggestions time on their  calendar to help me better understand things   that's an option for anyone um the community does  a budget simulator where they get to look at the   budget and say I want a little more here and I  want a little less here and then how's that going   to all work out and and I've taken the budget  simulator as a council member just to be able to   understand the city process and and to learn more  myself so um I'm going to be brave and vote for   this budget today I think the community deserves  it I Echo the things that my colleagues have said   regarding times are challenging right now and I  know people who use the library so that they can   apply for a job and be gainfully employed and  have a higher quality of life I know people in   this community who the only place they can take  their kiddos for a vacation this summer was to   our parks and splash pads and so it means  a lot to me that not only we tout Public   Safety and infrastructure which is crucially  important but for some in our our community   other services that we provide are essential so  I will be supporting this budget today thank you   council member hoisel thank you mayor um just a  little bit of my opinion I guess into this whole   process especially regarding uh RNR and um not  taking in the full amount if you're working 40   hours a week and you're starting to have budget  issues uh the like the best plan is not to say   okay I'm just going to work 37 hours a week and  deal with the new budget that I have so um I hope   going forward that we can continue to talk through  this process um we got to be mindful of people's   property taxes that's always um something that  we should keep in mind as well but uh EO council   member tuttle's uh thoughts that if if economic  development is one of our um biggest challenges   and biggest goals here uh study after study comes  back and talks about quality of life attracting   businesses to a city so we need to make sure  that we have a a city that really reflects   that a great quality of life um do what the  best we can to keep cost of living down so   um I am supportive of this budget again it's  never going to be perfect you're never going   to get a perfect budget when you even get  two people together trying to figure it out   let alone seven let alone a whole city  so um I will be supportive with this as well have a motion and a second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 6 to one Madam oh sorry  council member Glock uh mayor just with the   second recommended action from legal uh issue  uh number five or item number five I move that   we approve the use of local funds derived  from property within the corporate limits   for the witto State University Board of trust  the interlocal agreement from the city and the   County council member tutle I'm sorry I probably  pushed to you can get a second and then I'll make   a comment second Motion in a second council member  totle thank you do a to a conflict of interest I   will be abstaining from this vote and thank you  to my colleagues for allowing this vote to be a   separate vote I will ask a question of legal  um due to being a board member that does not   get any dollars by one of the entities which is  WSU Tech do I need to abstain from this vote if   so I will do so um I'm not an employee of WSU  Tech uh like council member Tuttle that there   is a disclosure form that you disclose substantial  interests on and that board membership is likely   disclosed um the state does not define conflict  not receiving compensation don't believe have a because I'm not gaining or uh any any  substantial financial gain by being a   WSU tech board member I am allowed to  vote correct that's correct I mean I   think with you know prudence and caution  would be as a board member you could   abstain and maybe you should consider  that just to be cautious city manager mayor you're representing the  city on that board are you not does that change well there are a number  of you that serve on boards um throughout the   community that where you fill a seat for the  city maybe at some point we'll need the Law   Department to review that regarding matters that  come forward if you want to be prudent the most   prudent thing to do is abstain um and then we can  sort through that um because that is a question   that should be resolved I agree um Staff Law can  you please draft up um some verbage where we can   bring it back up to new Council business business  regarding any of the seven uh individuals that   serve on boards so that we are not in Conflict  absolutely may I will abstain from this vote   as well we have a motion and a second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 5 to0 with two extensions Madame clerk please call the next item amendments to section 2.04 one90 of the  code of the city of witw regarding city council   public agenda council member tutle thank you I  would request um that we consider taking just a   short break so that we can maybe stand up and  refresh so that way these next agenda items   that deserve our full attention received  them I agree with council member Tuttle   may we take a 10 or five minute  break according to council member   glassock anybody else how about 10  10 minute break we will return at 12:51 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e as a request from the bench from  a couple months ago it would   amend an ordinance adopted in 2008 that  governs many of your meeting procedures   So currently the city codee allows 30 minutes for  the beginning of City Council meetings for public   agenda on comments from the public um individuals  are provided five minutes to speak and must   provide written requests one week in advance and  are the slots are filled on our first come first   serve basis um currently matters pertaining  to Personnel quasi judicial cases litigation   and violations of laws and ordinance are excluded  from this public agenda um the proposed amendment   before you would allow requests to speak made 24  hours prior to the council meeting or by noon on   Friday preceding a meeting if Monday is a holiday  um the proposed amendment would adjust the portion   of the meetings to 25 minutes and would allow  for non-scheduled speakers to speak if the 25   minute limit has not been reached um this proposed  amendment would also remove the restrictions of   certain categories that were named before um the  uh potential outcome of this ordinance if approved   would likely allow more citizens potentially  to speak on the public agenda portion of the   meeting this amendment did not does not affect the  public comment on individual agenda items um that   come up through the meeting um this just talks  about the public agenda portion of the meeting   um this amendment would shorten the Advanced Sign  up time and uh the process would still operate on   a first come first serve basis so this item  is uh for your consideration recommendation   is for Council to consider this proposed  ordinance Amendment happy to answer questions   Jennifer council member Glock thank you mayor I  think this is a great plan very supportive I just   have one quick question can we and this might  be a question for Jamie collect names of those   that are also speaking if they feel comfortable  because there sometimes I would like to follow up   with presenters as well but sometimes they don't  have their contact information so I don't know   if that's possible maybe I don't think it has to  be ordinance changes and possible maybe we have   a signup sheet in the back if somebody wants to  provide their information then we can do followup   yeah if that can be done if maybe a sign up here  at the bench or um however you want to propose   that could be done council member hois thank you  mayor is there still the one month length of time   that you have to wait between scheduled speakers  and this would this would seem to take that away   if someone wants to just show up on an agenda  um it's up to you whether you want to be firm   on that or not but I think you could allow people  to still speak more often than one month once per   month what so does this change it as far as people  signing up or is that only apply to people who   show up at every meeting you know it doesn't  address that so maybe we could consider that   if you want it does not address that currently we  were okay I'd be interested to hear my colleagues   thoughts on that one we just want to make sure  that one or two or a certain couple of people aren   going to hijack this and make sure that everybody  has a chance to have their voice heard vice mayor   Ballard thank you mayor Jamie do you still receive  the pieces of of paper that we used to get the   packets that had like the phone number and um and  all of that yes um for the public agenda they have   to sign up for it so we get their name their phone  number email if they have it if they want to give   it to us I can't make them due to First Amendment  rights if they don't want to give it to me um but   yes we do still collect that for the public agenda  portion so that would just be something you could   continue to pass to us okay yes great council  member Tuttle thank you um and my question   Jennifer thank you for the presentation and your  work on this um my question was along the line of   council member whole highle where literally if  I'm a very active in Community member I could   go ahead and fill out 50 of these or you know 49  meetings a year so that's just a concern for me   that we wouldn't get a a wider scope of being able  to hear so could could we say this new system but   still only once a month I mean it does still say  that in the ordinance that no speaker okay shall   be allowed to appear more frequently than once at  fourth meeting I mean it does say that I don't I   just think we we can clarify from Mis understood  I thought you said that wasn't there it wasn't   addressed as a change it wasn't addressed as a  change no no I wasn't clear and so I think we   can just rely on that to say that it still does  say no more than once per month even if it is   an unscheduled speaker I think we can count that  toward the once per month if that's the will of   the council and that's the direction you'd like  to take vice mayor Ballard sorry mayor thank you   um Jennifer quick question um does this address  being able to speak to consent items or council   member items it does not it does not it does not  this is just the public agenda portion of that   meeting um at the beginning of the meeting so it  does not I'd like to hear um more about um the I   think it's slide 73 the topics that will still be  allowed versus not allowed can you talk about the   ones that we currently exclude but with this new  ordinance change that would and void currently it   does exclude these topics from the public agenda  portion um I suggested to be more in line with   the First Amendment rights of speakers that you  have invited here be to speak in public forum   that you um remove those restrictions I do think  you could probably continue to restrict quasa   judicial cases because there's an interest in the  city having those cases heard specifically um at   the Planning Commission and then hearing your  those planning items separately without public   input in in the beginning of the meeting um but I  think it's appropriate under the First Amendment   if you're going to have a public agenda to allow  for those other topics to be allowed I would AG   any further questions for staff I see  none we will now open it up for public comment hello Twilight Purity Polo Club um since  I speak here quite a bit my request would be and   I get that there's probably some frequent flyers  that you don't want here all the time but perhaps   well certainly just once a month um because  I know I have several topics I would like to   address the city council on and they're very  unrelated so maybe a person can only speak on   the same topic once per month because if I  want to talk about water or talk about crb   talk about the um Jensen Hughes dashboard I  mean that's many months before I could come   back to something else so I would just ask that  you might reconsider further Define for folks   who really want to engage that they're not limited  to just once per month other ways around it thank you any further comments from the community  I see none we'll bring it back to the bench I'll start with um maybe there's a  compromise there about departments   so the topic of a department um can only be  brought up by that individual once per month   so if the individual wants to talk about Parks  today um they would have to wait until a month   from now to speak yet again on that specific  Department would that be a compromise that   the council would be willing to make council  member Johnson thanks mayor um just being up   here for a while I don't I think people  would just sign up for a different topic   and then to start speaking to whatever they  want to anyway I don't think it'd be a way   to really change that um and we've seen that  a few times folks have come up here and said   they were talking about something and then the  whole five minutes was about a different subject council member Johnston thank you mayor I I agree  council member Johnson and I don't think Twilight   we're talking about the first very first part of  the council meeting not after agenda item that   would not be affected so I don't think there's  any period of time when you would you would have   uh Gone against this ordinance so I think you  would you would have been to speak anytime you   wanted to in the past so I think you'd be all  right council member hoisel thank you mayor   I agree with the other two council members um  Ty you're great you always come up here you're   informed you're knowledgeable um everybody  should get a right to to air their grievances   to the government especially us but um I also  see where that could be abused and where other   people would just take advantage and show up every  single week to reel against this or that or this   or that and just switch around the department so  I understand your perspective I just um I think   it's better to just make sure everybody has an  opportunity thank you council member tutle thank   you sometimes when you beat a dead horse it's  just time to Dismount so I won't say anymore   but I will just concur with all my colleagues  but I do think this is also an opportunity when   it comes to public comment and thank you council  member Glascock for bringing this to our attention   more than um you know having more people speak  speak or you know whatever I hear that we need   to be more consistent with the timek keeping and  so that's something because then if I get to speak   and I get to go on and I don't get cut off then  you get favorable treatment um I hear more people   have that as an issue so while we're on this  topic and we don't get to discuss this very   often I just like to say I think a very important  element is being consistent with the eping thank you is there an opportunity um um when it  comes to timekeeping I know that we have   it on both screens now this is something that  is new fairly new it has not been a regular   practice over the years um I was very mindful  that it's difficult for a speaker to know how   long they've been really speaking unless they  just look at their monitor up here so this   also allows for the community um are there any  other opportunities to remind Community other   than from the bench that they only have five  minutes such as the mic cutting off well we   probably want to avoid the mic cutting off is a  lot to monitor I mean I guess you could set up a   separate timer of some type um a timer that  you know goes off um with a sound if that's   option that Council wants to consider I  can't think of anything else other than that there's a motion to approve this motion  second and a second any further discussion   I see none Madame clerk please open the role  motion passes 70 thank you Jennifer Madame clerk   please call the next item an ordinance creating  section 3.4.0 five5 amending sections 3.4.3 and   3.4.1 70 pertaining to short-term rental property  licensing and creating section 4 4.030 pertaining   to unlawful hosting of minors consuming  alcoholic liquor in chapter 5.08 pertaining   to nuisance parties at short-term rentals good  afternoon Sharon dickr City Law Department I'm   here today to talk about short-term rental uh  for many of you this is the first opportunity   you've had to uh examine this topic uh last year  in September the city council passed a licensing   structure for short-term rentals and also amended  the zoning code to allow short-term rentals in   residential areas that was following several years  of community input and uh hearings before the dabs   and uh planning commissions currently the process  for licensing is going fairly smoothly and there's   been 124 zoning administrative permits issued 97  short-term license applications have been received   and 34 short-term rental licenses have been issued  um the current licensing ordinance gave Folks up   to a year to get the licenses in effect because  some of the licenses required some changes um   in the zoning the city has contracted with a  vendor to provide for online short-term rental   monitoring um the system is active and they have  identified 526 short-term rentals and notices have   been sent out um to a majority of those units at  this time uh the history of short-term rentals   um this started with a shooting at a short-term  rental there's also been issues with um properties   being rented um specifically for to have parties  um for individuals under 21 there is a state law   that prohibits hosting of of parties for minors  consuming alcohol uh that's at any type of   residence not just short-term rentals uh the city  has not previously chosen to pass that ordinance   um in September of last year an ordinance  regarding party houses was presented to   the city council um it was uh at that time  deferred for staff to continue to look at   this issue staff is bringing that ordinance back  for Council consideration at this point the party   ordinance is limited to short-term rentals only  not all Residential Properties um the ordinance   is geared or focused on the types of nuisance  activities uh you would want to prevent at a   party house um consumption of alcohol noise  um crimes uh you defecation or urination um   criminal damage to property indecent exposure  illegal fireworks discharging Firearms um those   types of activities um the ordinance allows law  enforcement to uh order that the party cease and   participants disperse um if individuals  do not disperse a citation may be issued   um to the individuals who are present as well as  the property owner um the property owner would   only be cited if there were some indications that  he knew that the property had been rented or that   he had been contacted by law enforcement on that  occasion and not taken appropriate steps to make   sure that the party did not resume itself um the  ordinance does not uh replace processes regarding   the police department's nuisances based on  excessive police calls um upon conviction   um and I'm sorry this slide is incorrect the  the fines for this conviction are up to $500   for a first offense second or subsequent  offenses are $1,000 to $2,500 and up to a   year in jail um the court May if the lense is  the defendant suspend the license for a period   not to exceed 10 days and again the licensing  can only be held responsible if there is some   evidence to show that they failed to take  steps new knew that the party activities   were planned or had been previously contacted  by law enforcement officer regarding issues   at the location um the the proposed changes  also amends the licensing ordinances to place   UH responsibilities on short-term renters um the  licensing ordinance that was passed in September   um was really one-sided it was more toward the  manager and the owners of the properties not   necessarily the folks that are renting them uh so  these present responsibilities of the renters um   no loud music or amplification after 10 o'clock  can't be rented for the purposes of a party or   some sort of activities for individuals under  18 unless the renter is present um the renter   is responsible to making sure that the Gathering  sizes in the ordinances are not uh exceeded and   that there is not consumption or alcohol or drugs  on the premises uh the unlawful hosting of miners   is a separate ordinance uh it mirrors State  Statute it applies to any residential property   um the penalties are set forth in state state  law that is a minimum fine of $1,000 and up   to a fine of $2,500 and one year in jail there  are several options to the city council uh the   council can place the ordinance on first reading  they can not adopt them they can adopt some and   I would stand for any questions council member  hoisel thank you mayor here um in regards to um   hosting underage drinking parties um currently  what's the process for that since it's only in   the state statute does that go across the street  to County the da looks at it um I I and I think   the police department's here but it it is unlikely  that that case is going to be taken to in District   Court I would imagine that the officer would  go out they would make a complaint if there   were juveniles on scene those juvenil would be  referred to juvenile court for any type of minor   in possession of alcohol or drugs um the owner  mayor may not be cited that decision would then   be left up to the district attorney's office this  would allow us to um charge the property owner or   the owner and then if there's juveniles those  would still have to go through juvenile court   okay thank you vice mayor Ballard thank you mayor  thank you Sharon um I'm sorry if I missed this how   many short-term rentals do we have we have 500  and sorry no you're good um we have identified 526 and we know owners and addresses  of 81% and I'm going to look at Jr   they're shaking their heads yes that's that's correct and they are literally spread all over  town which interested me when I saw the map yeah   and are they able to be on the same street like  I mean can you have several in one block I we had   talked about that there are not distances required  between short-term rentals at this point okay   thank you I will bring up just one concern uh it's  number two a citation issued to the property owner   if the individuals do not disperse well if the  property owner is renting it out to a renter the   property owner may not be there obviously how how  does how do you enforce that we we would have to   prove some sort of knowledge and and that would be  limited to the situations where the the officers   are there the officers have notified the property  owner or the the owner has had prior notifications   that there's issues with the property um and  they failed to take some sort of steps so it's   not a strict liability that there was a party  and it didn't end I mean the police are going   to have to have some sort of active involvement  with that owner in order to to issue a citation   and those citations would all be evaluated by  our office before it would be filed in municipal court and again the changes um really strengthen I  guess the placing the responsibility on the renter   correct the the majority of the changes do um  Place more responsibilities on the renter um   and the party house ordinance at LW also allows  um the police department some additional tools   in dealing with problem properties um  properties that are short-term rentals   that are rented um maybe multiple times  for different Parties By by different groups thank you I see no further questions  for staff we'll open it up for public comment   are there any individuals who would  like to speak regarding short-term rentals I see none we'll  bring it back to the bench council member glascott thank you I'll just give  I know there's probably a motion coming I don't   feel comfortable with issuing the citation  of the property owner um just in terms of um   holding them accountable for something that they  may not be there for so I'm going to vote against   um this uh that would be one concern I have I'm  comfortable with everything else regarding um with   the exception that the citation may be issued to  the property owner even if there was a requirement   they had to post a notice in the home I'm  comfortable with that um but in terms of issuing   a citation for something as long as they post the  notice that these things are restricted I don't   feel comfortable that vice mayor Ballard thank  you mayor um just happened to be over the weekend   there was a post on the Riverside Neighborhood  page and there's a lot of um airbnbs or short-term   rentals it seems to be um I know they're all  over the city but there's some clustered kind   of together and there was a lot of concern and  really interesting um questions and concerns so I   appreciate that we are um trying to eliminate any  you know problems that we can within our reach but   um I'm kind of with council member Glascock I'm a  little worried about punishing the property owner   um maybe sometimes they know maybe sometimes they  don't I know some of the conversations that that   we've had over um in Riverside they have like a  ring or whatever so they would be able to see if   there was you know a bunch of nonsense going on  but they also live um in the area also so they   could come over and try to address it or call the  cops but uh yeah I'm a little nervous about that   is there any way that we kidar sorry is there  what would another alternative be I mean I know   you'd have to prove that the property owner knew  about it but you you would have to prove that the   property owner knew or should have known that that  something happen and and if that's a concern for   the council um the council could not pass the the  party section 5.08 and pass the remaining sections   the unlawful hosting and the amendments to 3.40  which present or or require more responsibility   on the part of the renters which which may frankly  get the council to where they want to get anyway   okay thank you council member tutle um I should  have probably hit withdraw speak same thing I   just and and Bob and I had talked about this  that you know you may have an owner who lives   in the other side of town in another state and and  just doesn't know it so I wouldn't want them to be   if they do if they knew it then you know  of course that's a different thing so I'm   not sure if the best course of action is  to kind of try and make some sausage for   the Venture ask if it can come back I know  next week's con consent um do so I'm I'm open   for suggestions but I think I don't think it's  quite right yet but we're getting closer thank you on some Bri GL could I make a  motion that we would defer this for   uh providing that option so we don't just again  make sausage From the Bench as Becky said or as   councilman um tutle said sorry about that uh so  it' be September that we'd bring this back up   at our regular meeting on September 3D yeah I  so that would be my motion second okay Council   sorry motion and a second now discussion  council member Johnson thanks mayor um I   only heard concerns about one part of this  so I would make a substitute motion that we   place the um an ordinance created section 3.4.0  five5 which is the first one uh amending section 3.4.3 and 3.4 0.170 per turnning into the  short-term rental property licensing and   creating section 4.04 .030 pertaining to  the unlawful hosting of miners actually   that's both I withdraw that and make a motion  to only defer the nuisance party short-term   rental ordinance to September 3rd and approve the  other ordinance which is the first one that amends 3.4.3 council member Glascock so clarification  from legal W that address the concerns the   councilman tutle and vice mayor Balor have myself  well that is just a um it differs or the item so   it can be addressed between now and then that's  all in 5.0 only concerns were in 5.08 so it   doesn't take action on 5.08 today the areas where  you had concern right there there was nothing in   3.4 or the hosting that dealt with necessarily  charging the owner and unless they were present   the changes to the short-term rental licensing  sections were all based on renter conduct not   owner conduct so so the owner being charged  was really in 5.08 I mean there are existing   Provisions in the licensing ordinance that places  duties on owners to be responsible for their   property but not necessarily a strict liability  type thing like like I think your concern is okay   I mean I would second Council Johnson's motion so  we're substitute motion substitute motion so we   have a substitute motion and a second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open the rle motion passes 70 now back to  item 5.08 to defer to September 3rd   does that need a vote I believe  that motion included a motion   defer 5.08 Madam clerk please call the  next item funding for 20124 salt storage facility good afternoon mayy and council  members Gary janon Public Works and   utilities uh even though we are still seeing  temperatures in a triple digits it won't be   long before we'll be thinking about um  gearing up for snow and ice operations   coming this winter with that uh the item before  you this afternoon is a request for funding for   a salt storage facility to be able to add to  our inventory and I'll talk about the specific   reasons why so Across the Nation to demand for  rock salt can exceed Supply during active winter   seasons we all know we never know what a winter  is going to be like we've seen some a lot worse   than others but we believe in being prepared  is really our best way to to approach that so   Nationwide shortage most recently had a  significant adverse impact on wit snow   response operations during the 2013 and 14 winter  season prior to that we had guarded against   potential shortages by utilizing a 5050 salt sand  treatment mixture it's something that we still do   we do have some emergency inventory but we've  kind of hopped around on available facilities   sites locations the reason for being here today  is to create a situation that we think is much   more stable for us going forward as we do need an  ample supply of emergency storage beginning in the   fall of 2014 uh our longstanding approach again  is a 5050 salt and sand mix was supplemented by   an additional 4,000 tons of straight salt held in  emergency Reserves at the former Michaels building   on East Kellogg it was available at that time  from rideway Acquisitions for proposed Kellogg   improvements and eventually would go away uh  in the fall of the following year um a location   on Wellington Place became available it was a  facility that the city took over in an effort to   uh mitigate groundwater contamination so between  the two we had about 8,000 tons of emergency   storage that uh changed up again when the Michaels  building was demolished and so we moved as much as   we could to Wellington Place once the Michaels  uh building was demolished a new 10,000 ton   storage facility was completed at the city's West  substation as you see here that brought our total   emergency reserves to 17,500 tons we think that's  a good place to be uh based on looking at usage   over time and what puts us in a good place um for  having that emergency storage when needed uh just   quickly on on the Wellington Place facility  I mentioned that the city had acquired out an   effort to uh clean up groundwater contamination  by early 2023 the conditions of the building a   deteriorative point it was no longer safe for use  and an estimate to repair it in the same uh was in   the order of $500,000 so in response to that um  staff recommended programming this funding into   the CIP for a new facility and we have since drawn  down the reserves from Wellington the top picture   on the right shows our Northeast substation at k96  and Hillside at the West end of that would be the   proposed site for the new facility um the if you  see the bottom left again is our newest facility   for storage of 10,000 tons at the West substation  the picture just of the right of that is another   type of facility actually has a fabric roof on it  we think that would uh serve our purposes fine and   could be done we could be built at a lesser cost  so that's something we would be looking at a new   for storage facility is anticipated to restore  and enhan total salt Reserve to an estimated   20,000 tons this would allow pursuit of wholesale  straight salt treatment when conditions warrant   reducing the amount of sand we currently utilize  salt only in the downtown core area one of the   reasons why we do that is because of the shade  created by the buildings and the melting effect   uh the impact on the melting effect so straight  salt works better we had found it in the past   if we hadn't done that it creates some pretty  challenging situations especially for pedestrians   in the core area um I think as all of you are  aware we take two months out of each year to clean   up sand uh as a result of snow and ice operations  we're still getting the streets swept while we're   doing that but it is taking away from our normal  plan uh to try to get through the city once every   year we've got to focus just on those emergency  routes at that time so having enough uh salt   emergency storage could allow us to start moving  towards a plan that would use a lot less sand each   year and change up how we do that but that would  only be possible I think if we had this additional   storage also allowing pursuit of off this also  uh this additional emergency storage would allow   pursuit of all offseason salt purchasing which we  anticipate would reduce both Financial volatility   and unit cost needless to say if you can go out  and buy salt when you don't need it in the debt   of winter we're going to get a better deal on it  at that time the adopted CIP includes $1.2 million   in general obligation funding for construction  of assault storage facility um potentially could   be done late this year most likely it would be  into the first half of 2025 staff recommends that   the full amount be initiated at this time and  with that staff recommends city council approve   the project adopt the resolution and authorize  necessary signatures on behal you stand for any   questions questions for staff I see none thank  you Gary we'll open it up for public comments anyone from the public I see none we'll bring it  back to the bench council member to thank you I   just want to thank staff for being so proactive  um I am anticipating fall right now but I'm not at   all thinking about winter so good on you for doing  that my only concern is if I go to the grocery   store before before a potential blizzard then it  doesn't snow so I hope this doesn't jinx us that   we don't get snow because we desperately need it  with the drought situation so I'm hoping that we   will desperately need all of the salt because we  get lots of moisture during the winter which is   needed but in in um just thank you so much for for  all you do for this initiative people don't even   think about like I learned something today that  downtown Salt works better because the buildings   in the shades I didn't even know that so thanks  for all you and your team do it's much appreciated   council member Johnson this is in your District  thanks mayor um I'm a little salty about this but   I knew knew I had to you like that I move that  the city council approve the project adopt the   binding resolution and authorize the necessary  signatures second Motion in a second any further   discussion I see none Madame clerk please open  the role motion passes 70 Madame clerk please   call the next item funding and supplemental design  agreement number one for Riverbank improvements good afternoon mayor City Council Members Paul  gunman Public Works and utilities for the record   um the item before you is funding and supplemental  agreement supplemental design agreement number one   for River Bank improvements in October of  2022 the city council approved acceptance   of a building a stronger economy base Grant of  $5 million from the state strengthening people   and re by delaying Kansas task force the base  Grant was awarded for Riverbank improvements near   Riverfront stadium with oversight by the Kansas  Department of Commerce on December 30th 2022   Kansas Department of Commerce Advanced payment  of $2.5 million of the $5 million base grant   for this project in January 2024 the city council  approved a contract with LK architecture to design   improvements to the West Bank of the river between  Douglas and Waterman the uh aial before you shows   Riverfront stadium and the improvements will be  made on the east side of mlan to the river bank's edge here are some photos of the existing  conditions we do have the uh bike path along   the River's Edge we have an old fountain that will  be taken out that has not worked for a number of   years and we will make some other improvements  to straighten The River's Edge out this is a   previous project um that adjacent to River Vista  that was completed a few years back and we are   looking at a similar design um for the area under  your consideration today again the uh closer view   of the Improvement area the uh towards the  right of the screen there on the east side   of mlan it does show the proposed Hotel that's  a big gray rectangular box we are coordinating   any improvements with that and I will get some  other concepts for your view so this uh on the   left side of the screen is a bird's eyee view um  looking to the north from the Waterman Bridge you   can see the hotel there there drop off site and  then we do have the path along the River's Edge   as well as some other paths leading from  from the upper prominade down to the lower prominade uh some additional pictures uh  down on the bottom of the screen more at   a pedestrian level um View and then as  we kind of work south of the proposed Hotel the photo on the upper left is looking from  the Douglas uh you know Bridge kind of looking   back to the South um with some improvements  and then the what is on the lower pictures   um really in this phase the first phase is what  we want to construct is the seaw wall where the   contractor would put sheet piling in straighten  The River's Edge and then pour a concrete cap um   we want to move forward with that phase as we  can lower the river we're in the time frame uh   beginning September 1st as to when we can lower  the River due to some of the species IES that   spawn in the spring so we would plan to lower  it and then have it raised back up in time for that Riverbank project was an identified project  in the capital Improvement program to receive   art funding LK has contracted with CNL projects  CNL art Consulting to act as the art consultant   for the public art portion of the project CNL  was selected through a competitive process the   supplemental agreement has been prepared for LK  to coordinate the design of the riverfront with   the art consultant and artist selected for the  project phase two of the project will include   retaining walls pedestrian walkways sight  amenities lighting landscaping and public   art and I will present that to the city council  at a future date the concepts i' showed you on   previous slides will be um changing a little bit  we had um met with LK and the park department and   we'll probably scale back the Landscaping a little  bit put more ledge rock in ETC so we can save on water the design fee to date is $325,000  the cost of supplemental design agreement   number one is $92,500 for a total design fee of  just over $417,000 funded within the base Grant   the current project budget is the $2.5 million  of the base Grant the 2024 through 2033 Capital   Improvement program includes $3.5 million for  River Riverbank improvements in 2024 the now   adopted 2025 through 2034 CIP includes $240,000  for Riverbank improvements art in 2025 staff   recommends initiating the $3.5 million in 2024  for construction of river bank improvements and   project management and also recommends initiating  the $240,000 public art improvements bring a total   project budget of $6.24 million which is is funded  by the base Grant and general obligation bonds   it is recommended that city council approve  the budget and supplemental design agreement   number one adopt the resolution and authorize  the signatures and I will stand for questions   vice mayor Ballard thank you mayor um could you  go back to 110 or 111 oh yeah this one so the   design fee for this is 4 177,000 total yes total  yes that includes art and um that sounds like a   lot is that normal it for this project yes it  does include um today is a $5 million project   it's uh we have additional funding in the C in  later year so we're thinking about probably a $10   million project overall to do with this design is  for all of it this design is for the full project   limits from Waterman bridge to Douglas and then  yes it's for the full project and um I'm sorry if   I missed it who is the designer LK architecture  okay um okay and last question is um I know you   and Gary are probably hearing me talk about this  but I want to make sure that we're mindful of   um shocker rowing and when we're lowering we're  lowering the river for the people that do utilize   access the river I just want to make sure that um  I mean I keep in contact with them but as things   change and you guys more fine-tune the timeline  that we make sure that we're communicating with   yes we will reach out to Calvin yes thank you I  appreciate it yes you're welcome council member ho   Heisel thank you mayor um so this is $2.5 million  of a $5 million Grant did we already use the other   25 million or is it still out there as an option  that is still out there as an option they only   fronted us half of the funding we've been in close  contract with or contact with the Department of   Commerce to receive the remaining funding but we  are um we have the two and a half at this time so   where would that other two and a half go to still  we we would still um this this first phase we are   estimating that it will utilize that full two and  a half million that's why I'm I'm asking for the   the uh 3.5 million so and then the additional  phases we'll use that two and a half as well   once we get that okay and this is if we don't  utilize it on this project are we likely to lose   this grant no we will I mean we will utilize  it on this project yeah okay so if we didn't   pass this today would we lose the grant yes okay  thank you council member Johnston thank you Paul   does this extend in front of the where were you  doing the in front of the science center no this   uh this stops south of Douglas uh Science Center  is north of Second Street yeah is it needs some   work it needs some work there too are there plans  to re Revitalize that area we don't have plans at   this time the the previous project there at River  Vista improved those if we're talking the same   area so just north of the bridge just north of the  bridge is the science center yeah north of that   bridge to the Science Center needs some more not  very not sure if that's in there I think that's   within their plan itself is it for yes for their  yes that's in their site plan good and just two   more things uh encourage using native grasses we  have had that discussion with the park Department   yeah that would be good and secondly using minimal  areas of mulch bushes because they look good for   about a year then then weeds grow up in them  and they look terrible so we could minimize   that maybe use more grass that would be we have  talked about that and even though we raised that   bike path of foot there's still some of this area  is still prone to flooding so we are going to be   um you know make sure that materials that place  where it could flood would be yeah I you I know   Landscape Architects like these beds and stuff but  a couple years later they don't look yeah thank   you council member Johnson thanks mayor I just  wanted to confirm uh Exploration Place has a lot   of significant investment happening north of there  so it's going to look a lot different here pretty soon Paul I have a few questions so um the  this specific item before us is about CNL art   Consulting as well which is an Illinois company  is that correct I believe that's correct and yes   it is part with them yes um so looking at the  renderings now um of this area it looks like we   will have $700,000 for public Arts that's part  of the budget and eating some of that public   art budget are these design fees and Consulting  fees which is I think what vice mayor Ballard   was alluding to um it's actually just n 92,000  for professional fees so does that mean that all   the remaining dollars will go for public art  in that area and if so where it yes to answer   your first first question yes remaining of these  700,000 from the 92,000 will go to artist fees   as well as their art pieces we are getting um  the artist consultant on board now and we have   not identified the locations of where the art  will be we have talked about um some of you   know being on some of the retaining walls but  that is why we want to get her under contract   now to begin working with LK architecture  identify locations um and those locations   would be presented to design Council and then  after that you know we'd get artists on board   create their Concepts and U we' return that  back to city council once we have those in place council member Tuttle thank you and and  Gary you alluded sorry Paul it's been a long   day so sorry you alluded to this a little bit but  I just want to expand um I I almost wish we would   stop saying public art and say public design  because sometimes I think when we say public   art people think we're just going to put a statue  here or you know art is a mural that's hanging   above your fireplace that you don't touch you  just look at and so in projects like this I can   see many art elements that most people probably  wouldn't even consider art like the change in   the sidewalk with to Brick or whatever so it's  really about how it's designed and that's those   are elements that have to be done very early  on in the project correct because you can't   just stick it on at the end for design correct  we want to integrate it as much as possible okay improvements any further questions for staff  I see none we'll open it up for public comment good afternoon mayor and city council thank  you for this opportunity uh my name is Brian   fry 3109 North ridgeport District Five thank  you for all the questions I'm going to address   several of those today um back in the early  1970s the city of witchta took a bold step   on a small piece of riverfront property at  the time it was a storage yard for public   works on the Eastern tip was the Confluence  of Two Rivers today we know this site to be   the home of The Keeper of the Plains dedicated  on May 18th 1974 The Keeper of the Plains has   become witch's most photographed icon and  recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary   the sculpture itself was commissioned to  Mark the United States Bicentennial in 1976   why is this relevant because in less than  two years our nation will celebrate its   semiquincentennial our 250th birthday and the land  you're discussing today specifically the portion   of the West Bank between Douglas and the future  EPC hotel is the last remaining undeveloped public   space on the West Bank from the cica Street  bridge to the Waterman Bridge in spirit it's   a site that can be the bookend to the keeper this  is a once in a lifetime opportunity so did I come   here with ideas proposals Plans cost estimat and  answers to all your questions I most certainly did   not it's way too soon for that my ask is simply  for you to think about this site and what the   potential it has to be the potential it has to  be a bold Beacon signal signaling the heart of   our city a signature Landmark rising from the  riverbank a destination for locals and visitors   a welcoming invitation a connector of people  and places personally I support the design art   consultant and the money for public improvements  but as a community both public and private let's   not limit ourselves and stop there let's really  open the discussion and see where it might lead   a lifetime ago there was a desire to combine  the omnisphere and the children's museum with   vision grit and determination that eventually  became expiration place thanks to many public   and private Partners so you've all heard this  before make no little plans they have no magic   to durman's blood and probably themselves will not  be realized it's from Daniel Burnham a a Chicago   architect but do you know the rest of the quote  he goes on to say make big plans aim high in Hope   and work remembering that a noble logical diagram  once recorded will never die but long after we are   gone we it will be a living thing asserting  itself with every ever growing insistency   remember that our sons daughters grandsons and  granddaughters are going to do things that would   stagger us let your watchword be order and your  beacon Beauty think big so now you're probably   thinking it's a pretty small site what can really  be done there well for comparison the island that   the keeper sits on is roughly the same size as  that far northwest corner seen in slide 119 so   maybe we dream Beyond witto has shown a great  Resurgence in Community Pride over the last 10   years why slow down now maybe it's time we take  it to another level and do more I look forward   to the community conversation and what we might  become if we let ourselves think big thank you any additional individuals who would like to   speak on this specific item I see  none we'll bring it back to the bench we have a motion by council member Glascock mayor with the motion to approve um the  supplemental design agreement number one adop the   resolution authorize the necessary signatures  second any further discussion I will just ask   staff um to again be mindful I know that you  mentioned that this whole project will be$   10 million and today we're only approving the  total of it for the $6.24 million um I think   it was it would be help if Community could see  all the different um initiatives that will be   happening including these renderings um I think  they would appreciate seeing uh the vision and   what other Investments have been made along  that area not just public dollars but I guess   some private dollars that are also expected um  so if we can I'm just asking staff to give more   so that Community can see that vice mayor Ballard  thank you here Bob what does the what does it look   like for potentially an idea like Brian's talking  about how would how would that incorporate with I   know it doesn't have anything to do with this  project but um I think he said that we already   own that piece of land that he's talking about  but um what do that process look like normally   when someone brings a project forward an idea  staff will meet with them and if it looks like   something that has some Merit and especially if  there's appropriate funding with it um we would   bring that to the council to consider probably  start with informal discussions at the council   mayor and Council level and and then um kind of  develop the concept from there okay thank you we   have a motion and a second any further discussion  I see none Madam clerk please open the role motion   passes 70 Madame clerk please call the next item  quarterly Financial reports for the period ended   March 31st 2024 and June 30th 2024 good afternoon  mayor members of city council Mark Manning with   the Department of Finance today I want to present  to you the first and second quarter reports uh for   2024 uh I'll be brief today uh it's late in the  afternoon but more importantly a lot of what I'm   presenting to you today uh We've basically been  talking about for the last three or four months   and that is our financial Outlook and what our  Trends are uh those were the discussions that were   Incorporated in the budget that you adopted this  morning so to avoid being completely redundant   I'll give you a more brief overview today of some  of the stuff that we've talked about uh reminder   this is unaudited information that we include in  our quarterly reports again we're going to use   this for comparisons to our forecasts uh typically  We compare it to the adopted budget we're in that   time of year where it's usually more appropriate  to shift to the budget that you adopted today so   I I'll give you a perspective on that and also  we're going to use it to identify any future   areas to address that we might be concerned about  so both revenues and expenditures are consistent   with the financial projections in the budget that  you just adopted earlier today again that's what   you should expect because we spent a lot of time  on those uh on that information uh reminder the   trends interest earnings are increasing and our  you can see that in our results so far salaries   and wage costs are also increasing uh for example  in the in Q two we're up about $14 million uh over   last year which I realize didn't provide you much  perspective but what I want to tell you is about   11 million of that is in police and fire so in  other words our wage base in public safety is   expanding which again is exactly what we expected  to happen uh we still continue to expect a modest   Surplus at year end which is consistent with  the guidance that we provided you regarding this   year for the last three or four months a couple  areas of concern you know we're always looking   for things that don't exactly align to what we  expect we're seeing some softness in sales tax   again we expected that in fact we reduced our  Revenue estimate considerably in the 24 revised   budget but it's a little even softer than what we  expected so we'll keep an eye on that uh sales tax   is very volatile the way the county collects it so  we're not going to get too concerned yet but just   suffice to say that we're keeping an eye on sales  tax collections Court revenues is the other area   would point out that is a little lower than what  we would expect so again we'll continue to keep   an eye on that as far as performance again we're  still seeing vacancies and park and public works   I think we kind of talked about that a little bit  earlier today and that's you can kind of see that   in our expenditure Trends a little bit so far to  to date so what do I expect in the future again we   expect interest earnings to continue to increase  throughout the year but then we're going to begin   a slow descent into the future we believe uh  we'll know a lot more about that actually I   think chairman pal was supposed to speak uh this  Friday so we'll be interesting to hear what he has   to say on Friday uh we're also expecting wages  to continue to increase again for some of the   reasons we noted before and we're already seeing  signs of that so basically everything is occurring   pretty much as we expected uh left let me shift  to our debt real quick I always like to show you   this little chart here uh that is our total debt  bonded debt and Loans we include loans now because   a lot of our debt on the on the water treatment  plan is considered a loan so I can't C bonded   debt anymore so it's bonded debt and Loans same  principle we're up to about 1.38 billion almost   all our growth is in water uh we're it's a capital  intensity business and we're borrowing money to   complete a lot of Capital Improvements which is  exactly what we expected to happen and you can   see that in this chart our general obligation debt  is actually shrinking our LST debt is shrinking   our go debt is fairly consistent so that's what's  happening so what we would expect to continue to   happen by the way the go debt is paid back by  property taxes 4% of our total debt uh let me   finish up with arpa uh we have completed our uh q1  and Q2 arpa reports which are available online for   anybody that's interested and we've submitted  those to US Treasury as required uh we spent   another 8.3 million through those two quarters  our cumulative total is up to about 32 million   you may recall that we got a little bit north  of 72 million you may also recall that we have   to have that spent or encumbered by December 31st  we've got a little bit of work to do there now we   do have incumbrances it's not reflected in this  number here but we'll continue to monitor that   and I have a feeling we'll probably be returning  at some point this fall to maybe provide some   options to restructure arpa spending to ensure  that we can get it all spent and encumbered by   the deadline so mayor I think that is the end  of my presentation and I'd be happy to answer   any questions questions for staff I have a few  um wanted to know if you could tell us regarding   arpa dollars what how much is remaining in the  arpa dollar fund I know the grand total was 72   million it has to be spent but in addition too um  does that account uh the Mac multi- agency Center   how does that play yeah good question we've spent  about 32 million we have about another 11 million   or so that is encumbered that's not reflected  into that that gets you up to about $43 million   most of the amounts that we have not spent or  encumbered are in capital Improvement projects   which are exactly the ones that you have indicated  those are the ones that we need to bring to you   this fall and and get encumbered and the mac's a  perfect example that any arpa that'll go into the   Mac we need to get that encumbered by December  uh 31st the library ones that were approved uh   last week I guess I'm losing track of week so I  think it was last week for example we'll get those   encumbered those aren't that reflected in here uh  Patrol West substation is another one that is in   progress that we need to get encumbered so yeah  you'll see those come and once we get construction   contracts for we'll try to get those encumbered  council member Johnston mayor uh Mark questions   about the water and uh sewer Utility Fund yes sir  it appears to be prey profitable eight eight eight   and a half% yes is is including The Debt Service  debt servic is about 55 million looks like the   revised budget and the and the oper original  budget is about $11 million positive and for   the sewer about 6 million to positive is that  is that normal or I don't know if I'd call it   normal but I would tell you it's strategic uh  you may recall that when we started the water   treatment plant project three or four or five  years ago when we started planning for that we   knew that the debt s Service would be an enormous  load on the Water Utility and we didn't want to   just keep rates relatively constant and then have  a rate Spike whenever The Debt Service hit so we   have strategically been incrementally increasing  inreasing rates for the past three or four years   in anticipation of having a base high enough when  The Debt Service does hit so because of that yes   we have been running an operating Surplus in the  water utility for last three or four five years   again we've did that on purpose we've also been  building the fund balance which you can see in   the in the act for again on purpose we need that  for coverage ratios but so yes I would agree with   you we have we are operating a very attractive  Surplus but again we've done that strategically to   so that that that fund that extra money goes into  the general operating fund uh goes into the water   utility which we will then use water utility we  need for two reasons uh without getting too much   into detail we have to have coverage ratios yeah  Mark if you could I was just going to say mayor   if you don't mind if in Easy language if you could  explain coverage because that really complicates   the finances for the utility yeah uh when I go  borrow money for a house they're going to say okay   Mark your house payment is going to be $1,000 doll  a month we want you to make at least two times   that or $2,000 a month that's a coverage ratio  exact same principle in the water utility except   it's in our bond covenants uh and in that case  the ratio is basically 125% so our bond holders   require us to have at least 1.25% in Revenue each  year more than what our debt service payments are   now we typically have been a lot higher than that  again we've done that strategically but that is   going to erode in the future as our debt service  starts to increase associated with the treatment   plant again we've anticipated all that but that  ratio is very very important it's very important   that we comply when does The Debt Service hit its  Max the plant's about done now so it should be   pretty close well it's going to layer on because  each one of our loans for the for the treatment   plant were done in tranches and I think we had  four on the uh State revolving loan and those   all start if my memory is correct proportional  to when we receive re the loan so Debt Service   is going to continue to ramp up for several  years after the treatment plan is completed   I could find a more precise answer I just don't  have it on my head but that's generally how to   work okay thank you council member poisel thank  you mayor um how much is the how much are the   tips is eventually going to owe that that service  fund by the end of this year how much is the who   the the tiffs oh the tiffs yes great question  uh that is on uh page uh we have a page on that 21 I don't think how about 24 page 24 uh this page  shows the amount of debt that we've issued for our   tiffs it shows whether they're behind or in front  of the amount that they owe The Debt Service fund   and it shows the remainder uh that they owe  uh you can see on here that uh we originally   issued about $60 million in the four tiffs that  we have debt on uh you can see that the Tiff   have paid about 31 million of that debt back uh so  they have a balance right now of about $27 million   that's the debt that they owe uh they've uh  they're behind right now if you only use that term   AAR is the term we would use cumulatively they're  behind about $9 million right now again that's not   out of the norm because T typically underperform  in the early years and then overperform in the out   years East Bank by the way if you want to know  is a prime example of that the East bank right   now is about $65 million behind on what it does  The Debt Service fund debt on that is going to   end I believe at the end of this year and they are  going to rapidly repay us so there that is going   to decline very greatly in in 25 and 26 then it'll  hit zero that's pretty common okay so we we make a   payment once a year to from the tiffs to The Debt  Service fund yes sir at the end of the year you'll   see us transfer wa if in in Q4 yes all those  transfers occur in Q4 okay and how much are we   bring over for the tips to cover that this year  do you think uh you can see the adopted budget   column which will be pretty similar looks like uh  uh East Bank will pay about two million West Bank   about a million Center City about 1.3 million  that's what uh 4.3 I'm going to say four and a   half million okay and nothing's coming out of Geo  to cover any of that uh no Geo tax do no geo geo   funds would only support a tiff if it does not  fully reimburse The Debt Service fund before the   Tiff expires okay so we we're good on that so  far that has not happened with any Tiff that we   have okay thank you any further questions for  staff I had one final question for you Mark um   can you talk about the reserve really quick um and  how healthy that is right now um I think I asked   this question previously but um what is a healthy  reserve for a the hour size our growth yeah good   question uh difficult to answer there's a lot  of different opinions uh our policy of course is   15% in the general fund uh a lot of people would  tell you two months which is basically about 17%   or pretty close to where we're at uh some cities  you'll see they consider 30% to be the absolute   minimum so there's no real really good answer  uh generally depends on your perspective rating   agencies would tell you more is better right uh  Finance directors will probably tell you more as   better for that matter uh but from a cash flow  standpoint to cover emergencies if you in the   15 to 177% range you're in pretty good shape and  that's about where we are right now again I think   I I think we've talked about this earlier what's  probably more important is the direction your   reserves are heading if they're being eroded that  tends to be a warning flag to rating agencies if   they're maintained or being added to that tends to  be a good thing again we did not add any this year   uh we probably will add a little bit this year yes  ma'am uh based on our policy based on city council   policy 40 we'll move into the general fund Reserve  an out am an amount to get it to 15% so I would   guess that we're going to be in the position to do  that that's probably about a million million two probably thank you Mark yes ma'am I see no  further questions I'll now open it up for   public comment I see none we'll bring it back to  the bench right I will actually motion this one   um I motion to receive and file the quarterly  Financial reports for the periods ending March   31st and June 30th Motion in a second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open the   rle motion passes 70 Madam clerk please call  the next item council member appointments and comments council member hoisel thank you mayor  um if I could get just like two minutes to pull   up my the name of one of my appointees  here real quick I got to log back in my   me too email so we'll go backwards how  about comments first then appointments   council member Johnson thanks mayor I should  have said on the last item but didn't want to   hold it up uh we used to do those reports  on where we were with e dbe numbers at the quarterly hadn't seen one in a while I know I've   talked to staff about it but those  were always good for the council meeting vice mayor Ballard thank you mayor  I would just like to share that on August   24th is National overdose day and the Indian  museum is doing a an event um from noon to 3 council member hoisel thank you mayor  if we are ready to move into appointments   I would like to nominate Jared hul for  um access Advisory board I will also add   two appointments uh for the diversity  inclusion and civil rights Advisory   Board Shelley Anderson and to the Witchita  cedra County access Advisory board court wages do I have a motion to approve second motion  to approve so Motion in a second any further   discussion I see none Madame clerk please open  the rle motion passes 70 we now have executive   session so I will read the motion I move that  the city council recess into executive session   for 25 minutes to receive information on two  civil actions pursuant to KSA 75- 4319 B2 for   legal consultation with the city attorney which  would be deemed pending litig would be deemed   privileged in the attorney client privilege uh  relationship rather uh pending litigation and   legal advice the executive session is required to  protect attorney client privilege and the public   interest uh so we will start start at 2:15  since it'll take time to go over there and return we'll take a quick little break and then go  into executive session so we will return at 2:40 PM Motion in the second second  um Madame clerk please open the r   motion passes 70 we'll return at 2:40 p.m. e