that's EX [Music] good morning Witchita and welcome to  all of you present here this morning   we'll call this meeting to order and with  us today is Reverend Donna gri of St Paul's   United Methodist Church to provide our  invocation following that invocation we   we will have the Pledge of Allegiance  and we ask you can please stand for both if you'll pleased be in in an attitude of  graciousness Holy One how unique and wonderful   are the many neighborhoods that weave together  the fabric of Witchita how unique and valued   are the various commercial and Industrial  neighborhoods yes sometimes Lord we forget   to call them neighborhoods that support our  community's well-being our council members we   are grateful they are elected from within these  neighborhoods both residential and Commercial and   they listen to their voices we are grateful and  our staff provides guidance to the council also   listening to the many and VAR voices and we thank  you for the staff's wisdom we give thanks also   that the council and the staff are listening to  the voices of the ones without a good place to   live and have been providing New Hope for them  guide the city council today to continue helping   this city to grow in a way where it is a vibrant  place that is desired to be called home because of   the ability of its citizens to live well work well  and play well well and to rest we give thanks for   the council and we give thanks for the important  decisions that they will be guided to make today amen I Al to the flag of the United  States of America and to the stands   one nation under God indivisible liy Justice for thank you Reverend goldry Madame clerk can you please call  the first item approve the minutes of the   regular meeting of October 8th  2024 do we have any changes or corrections I see none I move to approve the  minutes for the regular meeting of October   8th 2024 second motion and second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open   the roll motion passes 70 Madame clerk  please call the next item proclamations   today's proclamations Are Family Promise  week lights on after school and youth action month can we please ask Family Promise of  Greater witcha to come forward at this time good morning to all of you I thought I would read  a quote from uh your director of USIC who said we   and homelessness every day for thousands  of people but for every person house more   lose their home to make progress towards ending  homeless lessness as we know it we must close this   revolving door and stop homelessness before  it starts so it is my pleasure to represent   the city council in reading the proclamation  that reads the city of witto Kansas founded in   1870 whereas Family Promise of Greater witcha  began operations in October 2016 dedicated to   help the most vulnerable Among Us children and  families who are facing homelessness and house   in insecurity whereas Family Promise of Greater  Witchita collaborates with Community Partners and   donors to provide rental assistance to families to  prevent homelessness saving our community members   from unnecessary trauma and our community as a  whole from additional obligations and expenses   whereas believing that every child deserves a  home Family Promise of Greater Witchita and its   more than 1,000 volunteers and Empower families in  their transition from homelessness to sustainable   Independence whereas the past eight years Family  Promise of Greater Witchita has served more   than 3,000 individuals including more than 2,000  children on their path to Safe stable housing and   continues to expand its programs and serve more  children and families every year now therefore   be it resolved that I Lily Wood mayor of the  city of Witchita Kansas along with the Witchita   city council do hereby Proclaim October 21st to  25th 2024 as Family Promise week in the city of   Witchita and encourage all to recognize and raise  awareness of the issues facing homelessness in our community hey Randy it's Mike Gro how are you no thank you mayor woo and the city council for  helping us recognize and celebrate Family Promise   week in our community we work daily to provide  shelter for families with children who do not   have a home we work daily to Pro help hundreds  of families stay in the home that they're at and   we do this through a vast community of volunteers  Faith congregations and collaboration partners and   we just want to next week week raise awareness  on the issue of family homelessness um it is a   growing and hidden sector in our community so  please follow us on Facebook and help us um   celebrate and figure out what you can do to help  thank you so much for having us thanks [Applause] may I please ask wiah Public Schools   usd259 stealth to please come  forward at this time [Music] the proclamation reads the city of Witchita Kansas  founded in 1870 whereas the city of witcha stands   firmly committed to Quality after school programs  and opportunities to provide critical support for   the academic growth and well-being of Youth and  offer enriching experiences that help young people   learn and grow whereas the witcha public  school's stealth after school program has   provided significant leadership in the area of  community involvement in educating youth grounded   in the principle that quality Afterschool programs  are key to helping children become successful   adults whereas nearly 25 million families report  that they would enroll their child in an after   school program if one was available and for for  every child in a program four are waiting to get   in whereas many after school programs across  the country are facing operating challenges   forcing them to consider closing their doors  and turning off their lights now therefore be   it resolved that I Lily woo mayor of the city  of Witchita Kansas along with the Witchita city   council to hereby Proclaim October 24th 2024  as lights on after school 2024 in the city of   Witchita and encourage all citizens to ensure  that every child has access to a safe engaging   place where the lights are on after school and  promote the importance of quality after school programs thank you mayor woo and city council  members for honoring our stealth after school   program with this Proclamation stealth after  school benefits more than 500 K through five   students in witch all public schools many  of these students are from disadvantaged   backgrounds yet they statistically perform  better on state standards they miss less   school and they have fewer behavior issues than  their onlevel peers due to their involvement in   stealth lights on after school is a night  where we invite our families and Community   to celebrate the positive things happening  after school to show why it's so important   that we keep the lights on for after  school programs stealth works and it   works thanks to our phenomenal teaching  staff and through the support of so many   great Community Partners like everyone in  the council and mayor woo thank you again [Applause] may I please ask destination Innovation  to please come forward at this time good morning good morning good morning good morning good morning the proclamation reads the  city of witcha Kansas founded in 1870 whereas   the Youth of Kansas represent the bright future of  our state and Nation holding the potential to lead   with resilience vision and Innovation whereas  every young person regardless of background   race or circumstances deserves the opportunity  to grow Thrive and reach their full potential   Kansas has taken the steps towards reforming its  Juvenile Justice systems to reduce the Reliance   on detention and incarceration whereas a high  amount of Youth in Kansas particularly youth of   color and those with disabilities face countless  justice system uh issues threaten to derail their   Futures and exclude them from particularly fully  participating fully rather in society whereas   during youth Justice action month we reaffirm our  commitment to reimagining the way we serve and   support young people across Kansas by advocating  for a system that prioritizes is Rehabilitation   dignity and justice for all now therefore be it  resolved that I Lily woo mayor of the city of   wiah Kansas along with the Witchita city council  do hereby Proclaim October 2024 as youth action   month in the city of Witchita and encourage  all citizens to support activities and promote   fairness equality an opportunity for every young  person to feel valued and empowered [Applause]   uh thank you mayor and the City of wiah my  name is Desmond Bryan I am the manager of   progy Kansas which is a program of destination  Innovation destination Innovation is a hub of   Youth enrichment that provides young people  with the tools and resources to be successful   no matter the background so we stand here today  and we just want to invite the city of witch to   support us in youth Justice action month so I  have a question for you you what are you doing   this month to support those that need the support  the most last week we went to jdf and really got   to speak to some of the young people that we  typically ignore and I believe that all young   people deserve leadership all young people deserve  education and all young people deserve Freedom so   we stand Here We Stand today in the gap of the  young people that couldn't be here and we would   like to invite everybody out to our block party  at the Atwater Center on Thursday as well as our   youth Symposium next month on November 21st where  we'll be having 50 young people and 50 decision   makers so it's vital that our leaders show up  in that space and let their voices be heard as   we allow our youth to allow their voices to be  authentically heard as well thank you [Applause] Madame clerk please call the next mayor we have no one signed up to speak on the  public agenda so it is open we have five open   positions for anyone who would like to speak would  anyone from the audience like to address the city council I see none we will bring it back to  our clerk Madame clerk please call the next   item consent agenda items 1 through  11 are there any items to be pulled   to for discussion mayor I would like to pull threee 3E any additional event agenda items I have three 3 a 3 C and 4 A 3 a 3 c 3 e and 4 a any other items I see none I move to approve  consent agenda items without 3 a 3 c 3 e and   4 a second motion and a second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 70 we'll begin with 3A for regarding 3A can we talk about the um  cost saving of proactive measures versus   these reactive measures and how much dredging  would cost at chinii Reservoir we sure can uh   mayor council members Gary Jansen Public Works  and utilities um we this program's been in place   since 1993 uh it's done a lot for protection  of for Watershed protection for establishing   of best best management pra practices to limit  sedimentation and phosphorus in particular uh   from getting into the reservoir what it also does  too is allows certain nutrients to stay in place   by limiting that sedimentation which helps save  costs on treatment and energy for creating ozone   which is for Taste and odor when those certain  nutrients make it into the reservoir uh bottom   line is we think uh over that period of time we've  saved almost $7 million in in in what would be   an equal amount of dredging had this program not  been in place Uh current budget for this through   our production and pumping operating budget is  285,000 a year so we think it's been a really   good value um I will tell you real quick I'll take  this opportunity because this has been something   that's been part of a lot of public conversations  and folks asking during this drought why we're   not considering dredging cheny there are 24  Federal reservoirs across the state that provide   two-thirds of the water to all Kansas of the 20  largest reservoirs uh the most recent studies that   were done to look at sedimentation cheni Reservoir  was third or fourth lowest and amount of sediment   ation so we're in a really good place uh right now  the estimate is somewhere between 3 and 5% of lost   volume uh from sedimentation which is pretty  remarkable if you look at some of the others   Tuttle Creek Reservoir in Manhattan is currently  well over 40% volume loss from sedimentation which   is starting to cause some real issues in that  area so we're in a great place a lot of it can   be owed to this program uh and I think it's  been helpful it's been in place for such a   long period of time so dredging is ex is extremely  expensive and something we want to avoid getting to and I see that $90,000 will be for  education and administration can you   discuss the education piece that is through  uh a lot of that happens with the cheny lake   Watershed group that we are partner with uh  they work especially with local farmers on   on agricultural practices that also help  limit sedimentation into the reservoir and again this would avoid the costly dredging  that would be the worst case scenario it it would   that's certainly an alternative correct um and  it's doing again it's doing a lot for Watershed   protection and keeping that sediment where it  needs to stay mayor we I just wanted to mention   that we have a very strong partnership with the  farmers in the Watershed and uh previous councils   have actually toured the area and met with farmers  as well as those in charge of Education this   Council would like to do that we'd be more than  happy to set up a a tour um they always want to   cook lunch for you too so they're great group  of people I know that I would I would also like that several council members would be interested  as well so that could be a followup thank you   very much agenda item consent agenda  item item three C would be the next one can you please explain the history of why  we have a local air quality program and why is   there a local match in addition to how much  is in the environmental health general fund   operating budget sure so um this was established  by the EPA and the Clean Air Act and has been in   place in since 1972 uh so this grant allows one  full-time staff to help manage our air quality   program for witon Sedwick County that includes  things like Outreach and education emissions   tracking modeling reduction strategies technical  support on air quality conditions forecast Public   Safety and any health issues related to air  quality um it this position is very important   for maintaining positive relationships with  kdhe and EPA we work closely with the kdhe on   air quality issues within the region um some  of our air quality can be owed to what comes   from Oklahoma and Texas but it's a reality  of who we are we still have to be cognizant   of what's going on uh this position manages a  rebate program that's been highly successful   this year with a rebate program we ran out of  money with before the first month was even over   that rebate program focuses on replacing uh gas  engine lawn mowers weed eaters any type of lawn   equipment with electric equipment it's been highly  successful that comes uh within our overall annual   program we've got some contingencies built in  for this very reason because of the unknowns the   streets in particular happen to mostly be out east  Southeast Boulevard from Harry to wasel Lincoln   Woodland to rock armor Lincoln to orm Douglas  Oliver to woodl and Central I 35 to Hillside   so we see this quite often every year I think we  probably have some cost overruns particularly on   these composite type streets uh but we're doing  the right thing in the long term and fixing what   we need to while we're there and the amount  for that change order is um it is sorry i l   that again just under $600,000 $589,000 and when  would construction begin this work is already been   completed um these quantities until again until  we get the asphalt taken off and we start doing   the base repair work all the base repair work has  now been completed this change orders to finalize   what we call those final measured quantities of  work so it's all of it's already done thank you   we will out council member hoisel I thought you  got away hun Gary could you list those streets   again real quick please Southeast Boulevard Harry  to wasel Lincoln Woodland to rock armor Lincoln   to orm Douglas Oliver to woodlon and Central 135  to Hillside okay yeah um in the subject up here   on our Green Sheet it doesn't list District 3 so  just a note on that one um how much contingency   has written into the op3 for um situations like  this um it kind of varies from year to year on   what the program is projected to do I don't have  that number but I could get that for you we we try   to make sure that we get as much work as can done  as we can without overloading that contingency but   by nature of the work and and wanting to make sure  we get everything done right these locations that   we're at it it makes a lot of sense to have that  I can let you know what that is though yeah and   so when we get through um with our contingency any  leftover money carries over to the next year or do   we try and spend it down on road repair it can be  a little bit of both depending on what we've seen   during that year we have some things that come  up I I can tell you from talking to all of you   during in the course of a year we may have some  things come up that were unexpected and if we have   that ability to we can use some of that at that  point in time we'll also look at the next year's   program so there's not a perfect answer to that  but we try to balance that and not keep a lot of   we're not trying to keep a lot of cash on hand or  contingency we want to be able to use that and get   the work done okay appreciate it thank you Gary  we will um I will move to approv consent agenda   item 3A second motion and a second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open the rooll I move to approve consent agenda item 3C  second motion and a second any further discussion   I see none Madame clerk please open the roll  motion passes 70 consent agenda item I move to   approve consent agenda item 3 e second motion and  a second any further discussion I see none Madame   clerk please open the roll motion passes 70 and  I move to approve consent agenda item 4 a second   motion and a second any further discussion  see none Madame clerk please open the rooll   motion passes 70 Madame clerk please call the next  item board bids and contracts dated October 14th 2024 good morning mayor city council Josh  lber Department of Finance uh the board   of bids convened yesterday October 14th  for the following items for engineering   we have the storm water drain number  521 improvements to serve Cottonwood   Creek Estates addition for Allen's Excavating  Incorporated in the amount of $ 53,723 186   we have the sanitary sewer improvements to  serve Pegasus first in second edition for Noak   Construction Company Incorporated in the amount  of 1,317 2895 subject to your approval of a new   engineer estimate in budget authorization we have  the 2024 Outsource Paving preservation program CIP   localized Street repair for conspec Incorporated  DBA Kansas Paving in the amount of 60,000 awarded   underneath the engineer's estimate we have  for purchasing the rout control herbicide   rebid for duk's Route Control Incorporated  in the amount of 46294 per foot and we have   the aquarium cleaning and Creek maintenance for  integrated aquatic Management LLC in the amount   of $ 23,796 per year for three years we have the  contract change order for our Pebble quick line   bulk delivery contract for us lime company  St Clair for a new amended price of $389 per ton this is how to become a vendor with the city  and these are our open public opportunities out   on the street today and I'd be happy to try  to answer your questions and I recommend your   approval any questions for staff I see none I I  move to approve the board of bids and contracts   second motion and a second any further discussion  I see none Madame clerk please open the r motion   passes 70 Madame clerk please call the next item  k96 Improvement project a Minimus impact finding good morning mayor council Gary Jansen Public  Works and utilities again I promise I'm not   trying to wear you out but I do still have another  item after this at some point uh we talked about   this month ago maybe uh and I'll just cut right  to it so K I think as all of you are aware kot's   been uh working on proposed improvements to  k96 from 135 to 21st Street as part of that   the design would have some impact on on a few  of the parks k96 fishing lake area through there   Chism Creek Park um all that stuff in that same  area we have now heard from Kat that they're not   sure what their schedule is moving forward um  so this came about in a time and this is part   of their formal process for the overall what they  call environmental clearance the NEPA process for   the project and to identify that there's minimal  impact to these park properties and some of the   mitigation process that happens with that but  because kot has now indicated they're not sure   if and when the Project's even moving forward  we've been waiting on additional information   we have not received including what happens with  potential RightWay acquisition construction we've   got nothing to go off of we are recommending the  city council just defer this item indefinitely   we not talk about any details today and we'll  just come back to it at a later date if and when   we have more information from K we've been told  that they will be scheduling a meeting soon with   staff to discuss this more which will include  both Public Works and park but really we've   got nothing else to discuss with you today our  recommendation is to defer this item indefinitely   council member Tuttle thank you Gary thank you  for the information um I just wanted to kind of   add on to that a little bit um as the chair of the  witto area Metropolitan planning organization I   worked with you and Paul and we ask K do to give  a presentation or just an update last week and   they confirmed the the same thing in in further  conversations with Kat they have um indicated to   me and I believe they have to you as well that  as soon as they have time frame or information   available they'll provide it so I would be fully  supportive based on what we learned last week   at wo and then conversations with K dot of just  deferring this until we know more because I don't   think we can make a good decision right now so  thank you for all your work on this I agree thank you I don't see any questions for  staff thank thank you we'll open it   up for public comment I see no public  comment we'll bring it back to the bench Jennifer thank you parliamentary  procedure wise may I make a suggestion   that the motion be to table the item  and that does take it off the agenda indefinitely I motion to table  this item indefinitely second   Motion in a second any further discussion  I see none Madame clerk please open the   roll motion passes 70 Madam clerk  please call the next item public   hearing and requests for letter of intent  for industrial revenue bonds Market Center Apartments good morning mayor and council  members I'm Tim good pasture with the city   manager's office of development services the item  before you today is a request for a multif family   housing Revenue Bond letter of intent for Market  Center Apartments a witto opco LLC is a real   estate holding entity that was created for the  acquisition and renovation of 155 North Market   or the Market Center office building they are  requesting a letter of intent to issue multif   family housing revenue bonds in an amount not  to exceed $30 million this aerial shows Douglas   running from left to right along along the bottom  of the aerial and First Street roughly from left   to right on the top of the aerial the area  outlined in red is 155 North Market which is   the southwest corner of Market Street and First  Street in downtown Witchita the project will be   developed into 114 units for affordable housing  the project has already been awarded 4% lowincome   housing tax credits through the Kansas Housing  Resource corporation which requires the use of   tax exempt Bond financing there will be no tax  abatement granted as part of this project the   units will be Studio one bedroom and two-bedroom  units 20% of the units will be leased to tenants   making 40% of the area median income and 80% will  be leased to tenants making 60% of the area median   income the project will include replacement of all  of the windows a new roof brick tuck pointing on   the exterior a community room a fitness center  a Business Center a bike storage area stainless   steel appliance packages granite countertops and  inunit washer and dryers among other improvements   the bonds will be placed privately with Sterling  Bank irbs are a mechanism for achieving a sales   tax exemption and or a property tax abatement  for companies or developments that are expanding   and maybe hiring new employees the city is not  lending any money and bears no risk the company   is required to achieve achieve its own financing  which it has there are no taxpayer dollars at risk   all of the costs associated with the issuance of  bonds are born by the company requesting the use   of bonds irbs are utilized for a wide variety  of Industries including for-profit companies   not for-profit companies universities medical  facilities and affordable housing projects like   this therefore to staff's recommendation that  the city council close the public hearing adopt   the resolution of intent and authorize the necess  NE AR signatures I believe the owner David Roose   as well as Katie lowski are on teams as well  as a consultant Mike grou for the owner and   they can answer any questions specific to the  project and I would be happy to stand for any   questions as well questions for staff beginning  with council member ho Heisel thank you mayor uh   thank you Tim for the presentation um so 100%  of these units are going to be for affordable   housing correct okay um and it's from six 6 $59  to $1,041 rent that would be the monthly rents   correct that that sounds awesome um how long  do the the lowincome qualifications last how   long are they going to be beholden to minimum  of 15 years minimum of 15 years and since they   qualified for the F 4% um low-income tax credits  can you remind us again what the oversight is that   they are um that they're they're going along  with the program that doing what they need   to do as far as the affordable rent there sure  so they will be audited on an annual basis to   verify that they are verifying the income of the  individuals that are coming in to make sure that   they are qualifying with the 60% or 40% of the  area median income and they will have to keep   strict records uh on an ongoing basis to verify  that all of the tenants qualify in that capacity   and that the tenants don't uh for instance get  a new job that throws them out of the qualific   where they're making more money than what uh  the qualifying uh limits should be so there's a   very strict uh ongoing uh compliance that they  have to go through in terms of auditing okay   thank you uhuh council member Glascock thank you  mayor um to council ho is's last point so let's   say they increase their income which is a great  thing are they kicked out like how long do they   have to leave there will be some time frame within  which they would have to to relocate to somewhere   else it's not like that they would immediately be  kicked out but they would have a time frame within   which and and I don't know that I could tell you  exactly what that time frame is but they would   have a time frame within which they would have to  relocate to uh a complex that was uh not it was a   market rate complex I'd be interested if we know  the timeline I would just hate if somebody's in   the apartment they get a new job they have a month  to leave and then we create another problem not be   able to find another housing if it's outside of  that so the 40% to 60% of the area mediate income   what is that quantifiable so for uh sing so it's  one people two people three people it's defined   by Family status so I'll just give you one person  uh 60% of the area median income is $ 38,46 and   40% is $2,640 okay thank you I think that's more  helpful to the public in terms of numbers instead   of just percentages um you had said uh irbs are  for sales tax exemption or property tax exemptions   which of the two are they're looking for in this  case so in this one they are actually the primary   driving force is the tax exempt Bond financing  that they are required to do with the 4% credits   so they can do that through the state at the  Kansas development Finance Authority or they can   do that through the city uh we certainly prefer  to do it one because we like to know who's doing   business in our city and we hope that they have a  good experience and come back and do more business   within the city uh but then the second is they  do get the sales tax exemption uh along with that   as they are doing a bond issue but there is no  property tax abatement no property tax abatement   just the sales tax abatement for improvements  okay and then I think that probably answers   my next question see I had um when we excuse me  when we talk about the 4% litech credits they've   already been awarded the litech credits Cor in the  application stage they've already been awarded how   many applicants from witto been awarded the 4%  lch credits so uh we had this summer um we had   the 9% tax credits were approved and we had  one the Timbers on East 21st near Oliver we   had I believe for the 9% credits I believe there  were four projects from the city of Witchita that   applied and like I say one received it uh the 4%  credits were there was a second allocation they   do 9% credits once a year in July the 4% credits  they do twice a year and they had a second round   in Late July due that have not yet been awarded  okay and then last question I have and this may be   so for them to receive the litech credits they  have to receive um IRB from us correct they have   to do a tax exempt Bond financing either through  us or through the Kansas development Finance   Authority okay thank you that's all my questions  I appreciate it council member Johnson thanks   mayor thanks Tim U I might have missed this but  um are they also taking housing Choice vouchers   they um they will be required to accept anyone  that has them they are not necessarily actively   pursuing that Avenue but if anyone shows up  that has a voucher they will be required to   take them awesome thank you Tim um again just  a clarifying question so the developer is not   asking for any property tax abatement can you  just tell us how much property tax is this   current building yes it's just over $440,000  a year the 23 taxes were $40,000 uh $4,060   53 thank you Tim and you mentioned that the  developer is on teams right now good morning David just wanted to ask um the the  team uh of I know that these are   not from Witchita um individuals so can  you tell us why you decided to invest uh   in witch talk Kansas to help us with affordable housing David you're muted if you are speaking we'll come back for that answer council member  Glascock yeah my question was probably for   David as well I mean I wanted to follow up to the  question if you move outside of the Ami then what   happens um because I don't want people to get  stuck where they don't feel like they can take   advancement opportunities if they're in there  I just want that for a claric question of how   do we not just have people stuck in an apartment  if they're or stuck in a job if they're denying   advancement opportunities to make more income  because they don't go of their apartment how long   does that process take so if there's anybody that  can answer that question I would appreciate that so I will try to answer question can you rephrase  the question so I make sure I make so these   apartments are 40 to 60% of the Ami correct  um and so we were just told that if someone   makes above that then they have to find other  living and I just want to know what how what's   that process how long does that process how long  do they find have because I don't want somebody   to deny an advancement opportunity in a job or a  higher income because they also feel like they're   stuck and then they're you know in this in between  period where they might be you know 61% of the Ami   and so they're still close to low income well now  we just kick them out of their place now they have   to get a moving truck to go to a different place  and then it may exacerbate a problem as well so   I'll try to answer that two ways number one um  as part of the qualification process they have   to provide income evidence so on and so forth  right so if a household makes more than those   thresholds right depending on how many folks are  in the household there's that percentage of area   median income so in order to qualify for a lease  um and a lease contract Arrangement they they have   to meet those qualifications if they don't meet  those qualifications Unfortunately they won't   qualify for housing at this location if it's my  understanding that once you qualify you enter it   generally speaking a one-year lease right and  so during that one-year lease you continue to   be allowed to be part of that one-year lease if  you sort of renewing your lease or requesting   to renew your lease I'm not sure if you guys can  hear me I I can't anything David we can now hear you having some technical to add to add my  question just to quantify it so just so you   know he can't hear us I think is part of  the issue gotcha can someone email thank   you so 60% of the average mediate income for  a single adult would be 38,46 let's say they   received a raise um from their company and now  they're making 38560 so let's say they're only   making $100 more the average medium income  they're still around this amount but are   we going going to remove them from their  home at that point for just being right   above the average Medi income and how long  do they have to move out yeah so we might be   able to get some some but generally speaking  it's my understanding that they enter into a   generally a one-year lease and they're eligible  to to take advantage of those rents during that   one-year lease if for whatever reason they come  up to renew their lease they then have to sort   of re-qualify if at any point during the year  they accept they have to kind of continue to   provide their income in order to qualify for  that renewal it's my understanding that no   they are not immediately evicted they still  have a lease agreement that they're entered   into but again we'll we'll get okay so we're  speculating probably at the end of their lease yes and I can this is Mike group consultant  for the developer um that is correct once   they are initially qualified um if  their income goes above the limit   they cannot be removed from the property  so it's the one time they have to meet it   if the income goes over that then they can  stay at the property okay thank you Mike   I appreciate that clarification and Mike  anytime uh David is available or you can   answer the question why the developer uh chose  to make an investment right here in Witchita yeah David do you want to handle that one uh David can you hear I believe the problem  is that David cannot hear us okay um I I'll try to obviously he's the  the owner of the property um they made the   investment um I I think his company  they do a lot of historic rehabs in   urban Redevelopment properties around the  country and they looked at Witchita as an   opportunity um to make another investment  the the investment they bought the building   preco and uh that kind of slowed everything  down through that process so um but I think   it's just part of their business to um redevelop  properties in urban areas especially that are historic thank you Mike I see  no further questions from the   bench we will now open it up for public comment I see no one from the public who would like  to speak uh we will now bring it back to the   bench this resides in vice mayor Ballard's  District thank you mayor um I'm very excited   to learn that they rewarded the low-income tax  credits I know how competitive those can be also   very excited that these seem to actually  be affordable which is something that um   you know we talk about all the times access  to affordable housing and I'm super excited   that they are willing to uh renovate  one of our historic buildings downtown so um I'd like to take staff's  recomend action close the public   hearing adopt the resolution of intent  and authorize the necessary signatures   second Motion in a second any further discussion  I see none Madame clerk please open the rooll   motion passes 70 Madame clerk please call  the next item adoption of the International   Mechanical Code International fuel gas code  and international residential code 2024 Edition good morning mayor council members Chris labor  metro area building and construction Department   we have three adoptions in front of you today  uh to begin with will be the 24 International   Mechanical Code as stated so uh this uh code is  specifically Article Five of our unified building   and trade code uh this will adopt the uh latest  and an updated National code version as well as   our local amendments uh the mechanical code is  specifically or uh applies to generally applies   to I should say the codes and standards for HVAC  systems um this is an international code council   code so nests with the other ICC codes that we use  and then as you saw in your agenda items unique   to this one we also uh do our International fuel  gas code adoption within the Mechanical Code we do   have some components with that in the plumbing  code that you will also see later but this is   where we officially bring that on and then just  the way the ICC codes work the uh International   residential code has a lot of its components mixed  with the uh trades codes as well so when we do the   a trade code such as this we bring components of  the IRC in uh you will see the full IRC adoption   uh later as that uh code in its entirety was not  released uh at the same time as as all of the rest   uh uh as we always like to point out that this  adoption was coordinated across the codes that   we currently do have and that we are currently  are preparing to adopt so you see those listed   there uh the latest adoption of this code was in  December of 21 uh that had nine local amendments   at this point we're moving to the 2024 uh IMC  version uh with eight amendments so some of   the discussion uh with this includes uh the the  philosophical question of updating codes as they   come out uh or waiting until those codes have had  some time uh in the community so um our staff as   well as our board members are looking at that and  we feel that uh the way the codes these codes were   actually released just over a year ago um prior to  the 2024 year so we feel like the way the national   um discussion the way that adoption and those  changes have been taking place and then also   that we see that that creates much less change uh  to our industry when we uh adopt and keep up with   those Cycles so uh we do feel and our recommending  at this point that we go forward with adopting the   codes towards the front end even though we know  that may mean some administrative changes uh   within the next year or two as as these are on  the street so uh in this code in particular in   particular we saw very little change especially  to uh the local impact in our local processes   so uh the bulk of our change changes you can see  listed here uh six of those uh eight sections that   remain in our local amendments the only changes  to those were numbering and references uh two of   those again just updating from 21 to 24 references  uh and some of that is based on that's basically   that the national code book changed what's in what  chapter so we have to uh obviously update that as   well so it can can be found in referenced uh we  did delete one of our amendments as you saw and   that is a requirement for grease testing we've  had that locally for some time uh the national   code now incorporates that test so we no longer  of course need it uh no new items were added and   uh no amendments were added to our ubtc as part of  this so we have uh several longstanding all of the   Amendments that are there have been longstanding  uh they've been in place for uh for for a good   amount of time uh as we always like to uh point  out as well the impact that the codes have and   specifically that there were no specific safety  or management issues or any no local events or   anything that needed to be accommodated in this  code review so obviously very happy to report   that and again though I State relatively minimal  here that the changes are actually very minimal   uh the process that was followed included the  board of mechanical appeals uh as well as staff   leading that review it was then specifically  um coordinated and received input from uh these   industry associations which included the Kansas  cooling contractors Association the local local   Sheet Metal Workers Union and the witch area  Builders Association uh this was then of course   taken to the board of Sedwick County Commissioners  for public hearing that occurred just last week   uh no members of the public commented on this  code uh we did have for the three adoptions we   did have some uh me industry members who are in  attendance but none of them uh spoke so uh we   did not receive any additional input there and  it did receive unanimous approval uh as part of   that we did uh have individual meetings with  each commissioner to go over the code changes   and our adoption process in depth there was one  commissioner absent from the meeting commissioner   Dennis is is in Europe but the other four were  there and voted unanimously to approve a few uh   of the Amendments that we wanted to ensure the  public was made aware of uh are here the first   being and all of these actually stand in favor of  I I believe the industry and making it a little   easier uh for for them to do their job so uh  previously uh there were different uh charts   different rates for different size buildings for  the ventilation rates and the calculations that   are done those have been combined into one chart  so no matter how big the building is you still   follow the same chart and this actually slightly  reduces the restrictions on larger buildings so   there is a slight reduction in requirements here  uh another and similarly so uh we see requirements   for ventilation with ad adult changing stations  uh and this was specific to this code but it's a   good example of some of the things that we're  starting to see when we get increased uses so   basically if you have a changing station that  requires a restroom rest area type uh ventilation   so a lot of these changes just ensure that any of  those New Uses do get defined so that uh someone   does not put those in place not realizing that  they have to follow those tenants of the code so   again this is just to incorporate uh updated uses  and new items uh another uh slight change that   we saw was an allowance within duct work so um  previously there was not an allowance to connect   into common duct work at all between dwelling  units uh that still is prohibited unless there   is negative pressure but if there is a if that is  a pressurized duct uh that can be now allowed in   order to again just provides another option for  the industry uh also with a component to ensure   the safety factor is still there uh on this to a  few of our amendments that stand in place again   the only changes were to update references are  that we do allow some increased length of ducting   and we allow especially when we're talking drier  ducting and drier venting and some of those areas   we do uh allow some additional footage of of  venting and ducting in our amendments another   one again a fairly simple change uh but code  is previously uh prohibited uh pulling return   air from a closet uh there's obviously a lot  of big closets out there uh hopefully most of   the return err is coming from a closet that looks  like this much will probably not but uh it again   if the closet is of is of enough size uh that can  now be pulled and actually uh Mr Stony nethercott   our uh chief of the mechanical section is here uh  with his expertise if there's any questions but   Stony specifically pointed out that he likes  this because some of the humidity and issues   that are sometimes found in closets so this will  hopefully assist with that and then uh lastly uh   with a lot of the r radiant tubing heat tubing  the different things that go under floors and in   different areas um it's hard to exactly calculate  those in the initial drawings so code specifically   allows which is something we have generally done  by policy and allowed kind of work this out on the   job side if you will but code officially now uh  says that you can adjust that up to 10% plus or   minus uh without having to resubmit drawings or  update the design just again to Eon accommodate   those on-site changes uh when when ducting uh  or those uh excuse me that tubing is laid and   those circuit links are laid versus uh what was  calculated in the engineering plans so uh with   that uh we will of course stand for questions and  public comment after which we'll be recommending   that Council Place on first reading the ordinance  and amendments to Article Five of the unified   building and trade code with the adoption  of the 2024 additions of the International   Mechanical Code International fuel gas code and  the international residential code and authorize   the necessary signatures questions for staff I see  none thank you we will now open it up for public comment I see none bring it back to the bench um  given that SED County unanimously also voted for   this and uh no objections from the major trades um  I moveed to recomend uh to place on first reading   the ordinance and amendments to Article 5 of the  unified building and trade code with the adoption   of the 2024 additions of the International  Mechanical Code the international fuel gas   code and the international residential residential  code and authorize the necessary signatures motion   and a second any further discussion I see none  Madam clerk please open the r motion passes 70   Adam clerk please call the next item adoption  of the international existing building code   2024 addition and amendments all right good  morning again mayor and councel Chris laam   again mabcd for the record uh two of three and  this one uh actually also a very easy adoption   in that regard very little change to what we  already already had in place uh to clarify um   because it is kind of interesting nomenclature  so the existing building code refers to existing   buildings not the existing code I know sometimes  that does confuse uh members of the public in in   what that is so it's it's not referencing that  the code was in existence but that we're dealing   with the remodel and renovation of buildings as  we will see here uh this one was also presented   for bccc review and public hearing uh last week  you will also see that in our our coordination   slides it impacts article two of our ubtc uh as  with the others it adopts the national code and   the local amendments and this is specifically the  safety code for commercial Remodel and renovation   work uh in general this code reduces  the overall requirements so this allows   um of course in in a change of use or a situation  uh such as that allows us to then match the what   is happening in the existing building with the  new code uh find those areas that need to be   updated uh it especially helps us with historical  buildings and the requirements associated with   those so one thing for example that uh the iebc  allows is if a sprinkler system is installed in   a historical building then we're generally able  to leave most of what is there and providing the   historical significance untouched uh without any  other issues so so again we do we do see a lot of   help there it definitely helps our um architecture  and engineering community in their designs and in   any kind of pre-design discussions that they have  with us uh to to make those work uh just as with   our last code coordinated across the uh codes that  it has an impact with it does doesn't hit all of   them or as many based on the nature of this code  but uh again those that it uh that it does are   listed there uh also the same usage also happy to  report that we've had no specific issues with this   code that needed to be addressed in the adoption  uh was last adopted in 20 that was the uh 2018 uh   addition of the IBC we had 71 local amendments uh  this will adopt the 24 IBC with 85 amendments now   uh generally too I of course am pleased to report  when we reduce those versus increase those so uh   we were a little concerned to see that going the  wrong direction uh but that simply is based on a   lot of additional references to the new Baseline  code so uh we still do not specifically adopt   elements of the energy code uh we also have local  ADA requirements uh we'll also see in here that   the city of Witchita requirements are slightly  more restrictive than the national requirements   So based on that we also have local flood plane  reg regulations and references uh jurisdictions   who do not have those would of course rely on  what's in the National code to help guide them   and help uh uh work those when when you have  those you either amend those pieces out or at   least amend them to reference your local guidance  so we did see a a large expansion in the National   code this one and to a lesser extent but also in  the next one you'll see the building code where   the uh just that Baseline code expanded a lot of  reference and a lot of the areas is where that   where they Incorporated energy Ada and flood plane  management so again where we have those locally uh   we amend those out uh in some cases we just make  a reference to our local uh guidance but in most   cases those are taken out of the code and and  those are the drivers uh for those increased   increased amendments to the greatest extent uh  one that we didn't put on the slide but also   drove the Amendments up because it's mostly  an international thing is uh parking garages   so there were some fire events in in England  and based on with electrical cars and based on   those the code did incorporate a requirement for  sprinkler systems in garages over 48,000 square   feet I believe it is uh we did not see that as a  good practice uh or a safety requirement either   one so we have amended that out of our code and  I believe that's pretty consistent in most us jurisdictions uh so the process with this one  did follow a little bit differently than what   we normally do uh given the size of the building  code and then the IBC that taxs onto that we   begin this one with a stakeholder committee so  this is a fairly robust committee it actually   consisted of 20 individuals which included mabcd  staff Witchita fire SED County Fire uh and then   uh industry professionals from contractors to  Architects and Engineers uh after their uh work   we then took this to the board of codee standards  and appeals for their full review and input uh   after which we then of course did the same with  the witchi area Builders Association and then as   discussed took this to uh the board of SED  County Commissioners and did receive their   unanimous unanimous approval last week uh so I  think I've covered most of this we'll add a few   details to it but uh again majority of amendments  increasing our manageability uh does include with   these Public Works fire code other ubtc articles  when you get into these codes you have plan review   permits plan review fees a lot of the permitting  fees and those things are Incorporated in these   codes so several of our amendments are simply to  ensure those fit with all of the other agencies   we're working with our local fee charts Etc uh  and then as stated removed energy references   uh referred to our local flood plane and refer  directly to the Americans with disability act   as well as the Witchita uh requirements for uh  our work there uh the the main impact of this   code again hits uh you know that we see kind of  hits our high-rise structures and helps us there   uh accommodates that non-conformance and that  prior code uh basically as explained previously   uh also helps us with analysis and repair of damag  structures uh again no real changes to these areas   that we saw so happy to be able to continue uh  as is there um didn't didn't see uh uh any uh   again a change in the application so one that  we will point out is uh a local allowance the   code and has for some time so this is a standing  amendment that we've had uh does require a fire   wall when there are separate electrical services  so code generally is going to say one electrical   service for one building obviously there are  times when uh customers would want owners would   want separate electrical services and the code  requires a firewall this is in both our building   codes um a firewall are very extensive they're  designed to be a standalone structure so the idea   of a firewall is the building on either side could  burn and fall over and the wall would still be in   place but uh uh we do we see that as extensive  uh not required in most cases so we require a   fire barrier in those but we do not require a full  firewall uh and with that uh we will also Ju Just   as before happily stand for questions and uh and  encourage any public comment uh after which it's   recommended that Council Place on first reading  the ordinance to amend Article 2 Section three of   the witas sedick unified building and trade code  and authorize the necessary signatures thanks Josh   council member hoisel thank you mayor um Chris uh  could you discuss the differences between a fire   barrier and a fire wall H so a fire barrier does  provide a level of fire protection so fire rating   uh it would be an extend wall U but it would be  allowed to be tied to the structure versus having   to have its separate foundation and meet all  of those requirements of a firewall okay um and   also go back to the uh bo you were talking about  the case that happened in England um is that in   regard to EV V or EV that is exactly exactly sir  yes and so uh in those cases um and those were EV   vehicles that burned extensively caused a lot of  d damage to cars next to them and to the garage   that the problem we have with that is sprinklers  do not necessarily put that fire out that so um   they may they they may protect from spread um  but we we think our firefighters are going to   Long be there by the time that would be the case  and we would probably just make it harder to get   to the event by having sprinklers in place right  you'd about have to bury the batteries to to put   them out in the EV Vehicles all right well I  appreciate it thanks for the back thank you   sir any further questions I see none thank you  Chris we'll open it back up to public comment I   see none we'll bring it back to the bench I move  to approve the first reading of the ordinance to   amend Article 2 Section 3 of The Witch cedri  County unified building and trade code and   authorized the necessary signatures second motion  and a second any further discussion you see none   Madame clerk please open the roll motion passes 70  Madame clerk please call the next item adoption of   the international building code 2024 addition and  amendments all right again mayor council members   thank you last one I promise uh Chris laam mbcd  for the record and again International building   code now this uh luckily for you all is not  necessarily our biggest presentation because again   it was fairly M minimal but this is our heaviest  lift and our biggest code uh that we do adopt so   uh as it governs commercial work so same process  that was here this is is also article two of our   unified building and trade code it's section two  also adopts National code local amendments and   again this covers all commercial construction  whether new remodel Etc um this does also again   of course nest with our ICC family of codes and  is is compatible with the uniform P plumbing code   which is our one uniform code that we uh still  utilize in this jurisdiction again coordinated   across the applicable codes uh also uh same here  in that we see generally minimal change not a lot   of uh impact to the industry uh one that I will  point out that we we do think they'll be very   pleased with and we feel like we're still in the  in the safety zone so uh we'll get to that one but   uh with with that exception not much change and we  have again are happy to report we didn't have any   specific safety or management issues to address  in this adoption uh also was last done in 20 of   J uh January of 2020 that was the 18 International  building code with 91 amendments we have proposed   the 2024 IBC with a 121 amendments uh just as  described in the last adoption we have those   same items that are creating the majority of that  increase in amendments those that we are taking   out of our uh out of the code here because we  already have standing rules for those uh and or so   whether by whether we reference our standard rules  or remove them uh it still ends up being a local   change uh same process that same 20 uh member  committee reviewed this code was then also taken   to the bcsa after which it was taken to Wabba uh  one addition to this code is that the office so   the State Fire Marshall approves the overlap with  the fire code there are two chapters in this code   that do overlap with with the international fire  code and that adoption uh the Office of the State   Fire Marshal agreed to review this prior to our  local adoptions which is something we have not   been able to do in the past so very grateful  for that that obviously sped us up quite a bit   assuming we make no changes we'll then obviously  be able to publish and move forward with the code   we'll report back to them with this because the  state does have an approval level of this code uh   and again uh follow the same process of meetings  with individual Commissioners followed by a public   hearing at the County Commission and that was also  approved unanimously uh just as you saw on the   last code uh the majority of our amendments for  manageability and across the agencies and areas   that we work with and then again uh won't rehash  too much those uh changes in the three areas so uh the change that I referenced earlier that we  want to point out so this is significant because   state law requires that uh any commercial work  that requires a permit must have architectural   Andor engineering designs associated with it so  when we require that permit that and that state   law uh kicks in that obviously is an expense  and a Time burden uh what we see especially   in the post uh pandemic environment is a lot  of rearranging of offices conference rooms and   those type of things a lot of a lot of changes in  the Way businesses are structured so in looking   through that and reviewing that previously we've  allowed up to 100 square feet of work on wall   covering uh Andor non-load bearing walls we are  increasing that to 250 square feet so that will   buy quite a bit increase the amount of work  that can be done remodel work in a commercial   building without having to come to us for a  permit there's obviously some exceptions to   that if there's Utilities in that wall if there's  different things associated with it obviously if   it's loadbearing uh some of that we will still  be requiring permits but uh if it is simply uh   rearranging and and and refinishing walls to that  level uh then then that should give uh should give   our industry a lot more room to do that without uh  the burden of a full review and inspection process   uh another example of some things where we do  not require permit is retaining walls the code   just says retaining walls need a permit uh we say  if you do a small retaining wall under 30 inches   there's some other criteria there we we don't  need a permit so those again not an extensive   list but a few of those that you see another local  amendment that we have and have had for some time   uh didn't change this other than to make sure it's  updated with the paragraph number is that uh we   allow fire separations in in three and four family  dwellings so single family and two family do not   require sprinklers period uh but three and four  family are then kick us into the commercial code   versus the residential code which would start with  saying sprinklers are required so we just go ahead   and amend that right out of the gate and say that  uh you have the option for fire separations versus   uh the sprinklers in order to avoid that and then  as I've stated a few times now we have some areas   of enhanced ADA accommodations that apply to the  city of Witchita uh one amendment that we have had   in place uh and that is standing is aircraft uh  hangers we allow a slightly larger aircraft hanger   than code requirement without Sprinklers and we  allow some reduced spacing requirements in those   uh as a support to the local aviation industry and  again uh over time and practices analysis this is   where we feel we're still well safe uh without  being overly burdensome to uh their requirements   and work uh here's another example uh hotel and  church canopies which we see a lot you see an   example there uh Baseline code says that anything  you hang off of your building has to be the same   fire rating as the building uh we think that's a  little little again overburdensome so we do not   require that you still have to have a fire rating  on those canopies but it does not have to meet the   same criteria as the building so uh there's some  reduced requirements in that area that that we   have have uh another one and there is a slight  change to this uh at this time in our code so   restaurants uh a and restaurants have a little bit  tighter uh sprinkler requirements than most other   commercial buildings such as Mercantile retail  Etc where you're not cooking you don't have uh   a seated um customers don't have quite the same  Hazard so code Baseline code 100 or less does not   require sprinklers uh in the Baseline code from  100 and above require sprinklers we amend that   to say between 100 and 299 uh you can avoid the  sprinklers if you're able to provide a third exit   and a manual fire alarm now there has been some  split in this previously um which TOS fire code   has previously and often allowed that to be an ore  a third exit or a manual fire alarm uh the fire   code is changing and is being updated to state  that the third exit and a manual fire alarm are   required so we did incorporate that in our code  obviously if that's changed as the fire code goes   forward we would make that adjustment and bring  that back to you all but uh for now that is an   end so that that will have some potential impact  in a renovation uh from an existing building to a   restaurant but uh generally and again this is uh  there's always the option to put sprinklers in uh   and this is an option to still try to avoid that  while in maintaining those safety factors so uh   and then uh Fire Marshall Dugan obviously has  um uh has some uh options within the distance   between those exits Etc so there's some work  the fire department can do to help people with   those and again to try to avoid those uh uh fire  sprinkler requirements when they seek to do so uh   last one here and uh so I guess that's a little  bit back but have got a pretty good picture of   Gary's water treatment plant out there uh as  an example of special inspections so in mbcd   inspection for something like this we're going to  go out in advance of all of that concrete being   poured and make sure that the holes that are  dug are clean that they're the right type of   uh it's the right type of trench as per the uh  plans requirements the engineering requirements   right size of rebar right amount of rebar uh  we're going to look make sure conditions uh are   correct for that concrete to be poured as  that concrete is being put in place we are   not inspecting that the um there's a third party  working for the contractor doing that work and   they're the ones that are checking temperature  humidity uh checking the consistency of that   concrete checking every so often to ensure there  are not voids or anything that is going to create   um a problem with that in the the future uh those  reports are then provided to us and are attached   to our inspection reports and the permit so uh in  and in these cases we up the size of the buildings   that require those special inspections uh there  may may still be some special use buildings that   those will be that those requirements kick  in regardless some companies have special   inspectors with their uh with their work and  do those no matter what but uh in this case   if you're under 50,000 square feet then you do  not require uh special inspections uh over that   you do and again that is slightly less restrict  Ive than what the national code requires we've   up the square footage and with that we will uh  again happily stand for questions and uh welcome   any public comment and then after which it is  recommended that Council Place on first reading   the ordinance to amend Article 2 Section three of  the witas Sedwick unified building and trade code   and authorize the necessary signatures thank you  again Chris we'll start with council member glas   thank you mayor quick question about canopies  less about the fire retention of canopies um   but I know there's a couple small businesses in  deleno in particular that have asked me about   canopy regulations and that they have to pay  a yearly fee for canopy inspection to their   knowledge the canopy has never been been inspected  we have a canopy inspection fee how often do we   monitor canopies so that that would not be with  us councilman so I I would I'm going to venture   a guess that that's probably a right of way use  fee or something along those lines uh once we   have inspected it and granted occupancy then the  only time we would get involved again is if there   was damage to the canopy or a report of some form  of danger involved and then it would either be us   and fire so they don't pay a yearly fee to you it  might be right away correct so I I would have to   look to I'll look into that later I just who else  that might be if it's not yours then don't worry   about it I'll figure it out later thank you I  appreciate it I see no further questions for staff   we'll open it up for public comment see  none'll bring it back to the bench I move   to place on first reading the ordinance to amend  Article 2 Section two of the wit cedri County   unified building and trade code and authorize the  necessary signatures second motion and a second   any further discussion I see none Madame clerk  please open the role motion passes 70 thank you   thank you thank you may Madame clerk please call  the next item 2025 cultural funding allocation recommendations good morning mayor council Lindsay  Baka director of Arts and Cultural services for   the city manager's office this is one of my  favorite presentations to give each year because   it's our opportunity to really highlight the  incredible work that's happening in our nonprofit   sector that we are so honored to help support  a little bit of background uh the city's had a   cultural funding program uh that provides  uh operational funding support to local   Arts and Cultural organizations and also to  individual artists uh the program is overseen   by our cultural funding committee which is made  up of 11 members seven are appointed by all of   you uh and four are appointed by our nonprofit  partner the Arts Council uh the the committee   makes funding recommendations to you all uh  for local art artist and Arts and Cultural   organizations which is why we're here today uh  they oversee the funding program and make sure   that alignance with our Cultural Arts strategic  plan and I'll talk about it shortly but uh just   an upfront reminder that we adopted a new  strategic plan in May of this year so we   we did see a few changes in the funding program  uh and the grant cycle is administrated annually   and applications are new and competitive  each year I always want to reiterate this   because the funding program does have a lot of  variables so while we have applicants that have   received funding in this program for upwards  of 20 years it really is a fresh competitive   process each and every year uh one of the big  variables is that our committee members change   and the amount of applications that uh we receive  into the program change year-to year this year we   had a significant growth in applicants that  we received uh so while many organizations   receive funding each year through this program  it really is a a new competitive process each year uh we have three categories for 2025 uh  funding this year with one significant change   uh the operational grants which we'll talk about  at length today the artist access grants which   we'll talk about a little bit but we'll have  applications open up later this year and the   new uh fund that we have this year that we're  really excited about is the Arts Thrive Grant   uh this is not City money but because we have a  robust funding program we were El eligible to be   a subgrant sub granter of the national endowments  fund so we received a $75,000 Grant from the Nea   that we're then sub granting into the community  um at the the guidance of the cultural funding   committee we really uh built this program to be a  risk Capital program uh so for for the Arts Thrive   call to the to applicants it was uh pitch us idea  uh that serves the community Through arts and   culture and let's see how we can uh fulfill that  need and I'm really excited to say we had over   40 applicants uh for three funding opportun three  grants through that program but we're here to talk   about operational grants so I'll keep it moving  um as a reminder our strategic plan uh was adopted   this may and our mission is to ensure that  everyone has Equitable access to Cultural Arts   opportunities by activating the creative potential  of our community and our vision is that witchta   is recognized as a community where artistic  expression is an integral part of the city's   success where Arts Thrive and where cultural  heritage is preserved and celebrated and these   are really our guiding posts uh for the cultural  funding committee to make sure that whatever was   funded through this program was really uh in  lock step alignment with this plan um and a   special consideration was for for for those  organizations that um really align with both   this mission and vision uh quickly about artist  access uh this is a longtime grant program that   we've had that's for individual artists uh who  serve witcha residents uh we'll be opening up   applications in November uh of this year and they  should close into this year or early January of   next year uh those applications will be on our uh  Grant portal witch to.sub itable outcom or witch   to.gov Arts we'll be sure to send out some PR  about that once it is opened uh and this grant is   specifically designed uh to support professional  development opportunities for individual artists   so it's not to fund the creation of new art but  to really Advance uh the professional careers   of artist working in witcha so funding examples  could include but are not limited to attending   a conference a training a website development an  artist residency or Professional Services I always   like to highlight like a legal aid opportunity  that this grant could Pro provide so if an artist   is looking to copyright their work or work with  some sort of uh legal support to figure out how   to um how to secure and Safeguard their artwork  this is a great opportunity for that Grant artist   access grants are $1,000 doll or less um and I'll  talk about it a little bit later but the committee   uh has designated a pot of money to to be set  aside for artist access grants for next year   so it'll be part of the funding recommendation  today uh but the applications themselves will come   back to you once the committee uh has reviewed  applications and has a recommendation for funding   so we're we are recommending a pot of money be set  aside but we don't know who uh will be receiving   those funds just yet so into the operational Grant  eligibility so this is not the full exhaustive   list but kind of just an overview of what type of  organization can apply um most notably that they   must be a 501c3 nonprofit uh and their primary  purpose must be the production presentation   advancement or preservation of arts and culture in  the in the community and then they must serve the   the res resents at the city of witchta they also  must have a minimum of two years of operational   history of serving residents in witchta um and  then of note uh this does not include our cultural   institutions they receive dedicated funding  support so they do not compete in the funding   program um so I have them listed out here there's  many that we have in our cultural institution   category most notably they're ones that we own and  operate or that reside within a city building but   these organizations would not be eligible for this  program the Grant application s uh we we changed   it up a little bit this year not majorly but we  really wanted to make sure it connected with our   new strategic plan the committee identified three  objectives within our new plan that we really   thought um could be of of service in this grant  program U the first objective is uh to really   increase the number of participants uh who are  historically underserved um and ensure that they   have access to Arts and Cultural opportunities  um and that is really objective 1.1 that's most   tied to our mission statement um objective 3.3  three is establish witchat as a regional hub   for Cultural Arts objective 4.1 is to partner  with organizations to increase the number of   paid professional opportunities for artists and  organizations in the community and this is one   that the committee felt very strongly about and  really encouraged all applicants and recognized   that most of our applicants are doing great jobs  partnering across the community but where there   might be duplicative Services we've got a lot of  music organizations the committee would love to   see those music organizations partner together  to really Advance the field most of them do but   just love to see more um the application  components include narrative questions attendance   and impact data board and staff information  and financial information we ask for a lot of   information as part of this grant the timeline uh  we open applications in June uh I do want to point   out that we had several uh open engagement  opportunities for uh prospective applicants   to meet with staff and committee members to talk  about how they could have a successful application   many took us up on that offer um a shout out  to our Cultural Arts administrator Jesse kosa   who oversees and administers this program I can  hear him on his phone all day every day guiding   applicants on what to make sure that they have the  right components for their application in um but   we're really thankful that the community is taking  us up on that offer um applications were open for   a couple months uh we also have something that's  unique to our program on September 19th we hold   a Q&A so it's an opportunity for the committee  itself to meet with the applicants and to for   them to ask any questions questions or clarify any  information we know that putting art on a piece of   paper is not always easy to understand that ins  and outs of what an organization does so that   Q&A is really important to help um mythbust  anything on an application or just provide   clarifying information um and then moving right  along we're here today uh to seek city council   approval and then we go into Contracting we have  annual reports we have site visits we're engaged   with these applicants and organizations really  throughout the year and of note I just want   to highlight the the incredible work that the  committee does they're all volunteers I think   on the low end one Committee Member said that  they spend eight hours reviewing applications   for this fund um most of them said they are  more in the 20 to 25 hours just in reviewing   the applications themselves That's not including  meeting time so we're really grateful we try to   make sure we give them lots of snacks and keep  them excited to come back uh because they're   they're doing a lot of uh really detailed work in  re reviewing these applications and looking at the   funding itself uh we're projected to have 510,000  uh in this program for 2025 uh this is uh advised   by our finance department we do see a small uh  uh increase on it year toe just depending on the   mill Levy um but we're anticipating $510,000 being  available in 2025 we don't find out that number uh   until mid November to know the exact amount we're  working with uh of of which for for the sake of   this program the committee is recommending 495,000  to be allocated for operational grants and then   the $15,000 be set aside or reserve for artist  applications artist access applicants um and then   this next section is kind of confusing uh once you  see who gets what money or who's being recommended   what uh but the amount an applicant is eligible  to ask for um it is a request uh is depending on   the size of their operational budget so the larger  organizations um who have annual operating budgets   of $500,000 and more are eligible to ask up to  8% of their total operating budget not to exceed   75,000 so I point this out because sometimes when  you see the scoring of the the point structure   of which applicant received what point it's not  always the highest scoring applicant that receives   the most amount of money and then the the the  opposite is also true the lowest scoring might   not receive the lowest Grant because it really is  determined U by the the eligible ask and then what   they actually ask not all organizations ask for  the max actually I would say about half of them   do some of them at like specific assets based  on their operating budget and there's a lot of   reasons why they do that I thought that this  would be interesting to look at because we've   seen a significant growth in this program over  the last few years uh which I would really just   highlight for some strategic Community engagement  that we've done throughout the strategic planning   process we really were uh pinpointing what what  organizations are working in this field and do   they know that they have this opportunity through  the city uh so for this F fiscal for next fiscal   year for this funding cycle we had 39 applicants  which is up almost double from two years ago um   the funding request this is the the actual ask  that we received not the cap of the elig eligible   ass but is what we uh saw in request was over a  million dollars this year and then the applicant   operating budget total so we asked them that  as part of their uh application process but our   nonprofit arts and culture sector who've applied  into this program have over $36 million in annual   operating budgets and we're only giving out about  half half about 500,000 so we're just kind of a   blip in the overall um uh Market that's happening  in the community and then also we released this   economic uh Prosperity study earlier this year  if you remember Randy Cohen from Americans with   Arts was here talking about the economic  impact that the nonprofit arts and culture   sector has in witto of note um in 2022 when the  study concluded uh we were about $185 million   economic impact for the nonprofit Arts sector so  I bring that up because you're we're potentially   awarding $500,000 in in Grants to nonprofits that  return on investment is pretty exciting uh when   we look at the overall econom economic impact  that the sector has on the community so the   recommendations the cultural funding recommends  awarding grants to 38 applicants and reserving the   artist access fund $495,000 for operational  grants $115,000 to the artist access grants   fund these are the large organizations with  operational budgets of$ 500,000 uh dollars or more these are the medium organizations with  operating budgets between 250,000 to $499 999 and then these are the small organizations  with operating budgets of under $250,000 of note   we had many firsttime applicants  in this category specifically and then new to this year's program and not  something that we would normally do but the   committee uh recognized several organizations who  are really just doing above and beyond work that   aligns really strategically with our new strategic  plan and with our mission of representing and   serving historically underserved and culturally  diverse populations all of the applicants and   all the funding recipients this year do that work  but these are the organizations that really stood   out with exemplary applications and I just want  to highlight a few that maybe the public isn't   super aware of they're smaller organizations  but the work that they do is really incredible   uh so just a shout out Juniper arts academy uh  this is a relatively new organization in the   community but they provide Fine Arts education  to Youth and foster care and the juv Juvenile   Justice System um and they're really providing  a a a stop gap for for individuals and young   per young people who would have otherwise no  access to Arts education laughing Fe performers   inspires relationships between individuals  with special needs and their typical peers   through Musical and artistic expression and  they give performance opportunities to those   who would not normally have the opportunity to  do so uh music youth partnership provides music   and character development classes to at risk  youth in public schools and specifically they   find Opportunities to give individuals uh to give  youth instruments that they would not otherwise   have access to so they're giving instruments  that will then belong to the students but then   they're also giving them education on how to  play those instruments and I could spend all   day talking about all these organizations but  I'll spare you the rest but enourage everyone   to look up these organizations to learn more  about what they do in the community and with   that the recommendation is to approve the 2025  funding allocations uh for for arts and culture   organizations by the cultural funding committee  and authorize the ne necessary signatures and I   would like to point out that our uh chairperson  for the committee Dominic Ghana is in the in   the audience if you would have any questions for  him as well and with that I stand for questions   thank you for the presentation Lindsay and thank  you Dom we'll begin with council member H Heisel   thank you mayor hey Lindsay thank you for all your  work on this um we are reaching out to the groups   who have been uh denied just to let them know um  what they can do to strengthen their application   for next year absolutely okay thank you council  member Glascock thank you that was one of my uh   questions as well I was trying to read through all  the feedback on here the feedback for us I think   is great on here but in terms of um the actual  applicant are we providing more information than   just the funding recommendation feedback that we  get um not sure which packet you're looking at but   series of bullet points under each application  that is what they automatically receive if they   want to have additional feedback we'll definitely  provide it um of not the one applicant that's uh   was not recommended for funding uh we will  reach out to them specifically they received   funding this past year they didn't this year that  organization is going through some transition so   uh we recognize and the committee recognize the  the great work that they do in the community   but really was just looking for more of  a thorough application uh they provided   all the required information but it was  a very limited application so it's not to   discredit the work that they're doing but we  really want to encourage them to have a more   successful application in the future  so we will provide that feedback thank   you ly Lindsay um how much was allocated last  year for cultural funding um so for last year   this current fiscal year that we're in we're in  about $472,000 through the operational Grant fund I had a couple more questions um I wanted to know  you mentioned the ARs Thrive call when will those   uh be announced that's a good question applicants  yeah so we will bring that uh to to this body for   approval once we get through them we received  quite a few more than we anticipated and and   we're trying not to burn out our committee at at  the same time while they review it um we hope to   have them reviewed within the next 30 days and um  get them to for approval uh that funding is for   2025 and the earliest funding could be exhausted  would be J end of January uh so so we are getting   closer but we do have some time but uh we were  really thrilled with the amount of applications   and now we're wondering like where do we find more  money because so many of the projects were great   ideas and you mentioned um the professional career  development uh fund the artist access Grant when   will those applications begin and will there  be a robust uh communication to artists yeah   uh we anticipate them opening I'm nervous to  say on live mic but I think November 7th Jesse   is telling me November 8th is when we anticipate  them opening on submittable and we always try to   make sure that all past applicants know about  it um and we kind of have a big contact list   but we'll send out a press release we will have  in information session so individuals can reach   out to us and learn more about the program as  well out of full disclosure um I was a past   president of the witcha Asian Association and uh  the nonprofit has zero paid staff members it's   completely volunteers and one of the things that  was daunting was the application itself and so I   really appreciate seeing uh organizations that are  much smaller like that also were outreached to and   asked to apply so thank you for the Outreach to  the smaller organizations that are making impa I see no further questions for  staff we'll open it up for public comments good morning my name is gray Bishop I'm  current president of the witch jazz festival and   I really appreciate I really appreciate all  the work of the committee um their support   in helping us prepare our application uh the  extra sessions that they provided for everyone   that was really was pretty fabulous um just  something about the witcha jazz festival we   are all volunteer organization and we will  be celebrating our 53rd year in the spring   we try to bring in jazz artists that are are  worldclass musicians and also Educators and   so we help to put those people out into the  schools also to provide clinics and we have   people that work in schools uh throughout the  year to try to help with education about jazz   so it's really a wonderful experience and  this this money will go to help our cover   our administrative costs for the festival so  thank you very much really appreciate itk you um hi I'm Andre Seward programming director for  Tallgrass Film Festival which is operated by   Tall Grass film Association I'm Melanie Addington  executive director of Tallgrass film Association   and I'm Sierra Franklin Morton I'm the assistant  director for Tallgrass film Association uh I   just want to say thank you for considering this  funding uh Tass Film Festival is very important   to me personally I started volunteering when  I was 15 at wi East High I now live in Berlin   Germany but come back every year to participate in  the festival but it's amazing to see just how uh   much this event brings to the city especially  seeing people from all over the world come to   the festival learn about Witt and return either  making films are just returning to the festival   it's also nice to be able to bring uh the films to  underrepresented communities in wiah uh especially   I'm very proud of bringing more Spanish language  films to the community so they get to see stories   in their language on the big screen there's lots  of other things we do but it's an amazing cultural   institution here and I wanted to mention the  festival is next week our 22nd so we encourage   everyone to attend I especially encourage you to  come out Wednesday to our free Wizard of Oz Navar   Park screening I know our mayor will be joining  us along with Music Theater Witchita um this is   a very large organization done on a very medium  budget with two and a half full-time staff um we   bring hundreds and hundreds of people from all  over the country to visit we have international   visitors um I believe we're actually much better  recognized nationally than maybe necessarily here   in witto but because of funding through the city  of witto actually does help us continue so thank you and then just to kind of wrap up just a  little bit of an overview on the festival we   do have a couple of great things that we  have including um hope in the Heartland   which is going to be partially sponsored by  the City of witcha Hope you guys come out and   see that also we have I'm really excited  for the showing of I needed Paris which   is a documentary feature showcasing the students  at Gordon Park Academy that got to go to Paris   and go through the streets that Gordon Park  got to go to and take photography of and we   actually invited the students of Gordon Parks  academy to come and see themselves on screen   which will be a very big impactful moment for  their lives and sorry one last thing we want   to thank the city also for supporting we are  bringing Kevin John Goff the great nephew of   Hattie McDaniel her family has never returned to  witcho for all of this time and you are providing   a key to the city and they are very excited and  he's actually looking to make this his second   home to make the documentary about her life so  thank you for making that happen thank you very much I'm Kathy Grant with music youth partnership  I'm the executive director I am just thank you so   much for the privilege of uh of this funding  of for the important work that all of these   nonprofits do um we are only two and a half years  old uh we started with in in one school we're in   usd259 schools uh and a uh just a support to the  band directors who do so much uh we started like   I said uh two and a half years ago in one School  uh as this year we are in six schools and growing   we uh intend to be in every school so what we do  is we hand instruments to kids that struggle to   get them any other way I had the opportunity in  May to go myself and hand seven instruments to   to students who had to turn their instruments in  not thinking that thinking that they would never   touch an instrument again that instrument again  uh they were going into high school and had to   relinquish their instruments uh the band director  called me I brought the instruments right over and   those every one of those kids just tears filled  their eyes we're talking about eighth graders so   it was a very moving I cried all the way home  so um we um we are are mentors we pay mentors   to go into these schools middle schools and high  schools and and the the this high school that that   that middle school feeds into so that our mentors  will will be with those kids the maximum amount   of time and then um after they graduate from high  school we plan to provide scholarships for kids to   go to college we're working uh close partnership  with Butler County Community College which wants   to welcome those kids into their schools um many  maybe most of those kids never had a family member   that went to college so it will be foreign  to those people uh music youth partnership   with the scholarships that the schools provide we  want to provide scholarships that will pay their   living expenses because they'll have to get there  and um so I just uh thank you so much for the   privilege um I always say that we're not in this  to build musicians we're in this for kids to see   the Beauty and the disciplines of music education  and what that can do for their lives thank you so much you Kathy good morning I am Colleen director of  development for PBS Kansas good morning I'm   Lyn wolf Director of Education for PBS Kansas  and we just wanted to thank everyone for the   opportunity to be able to apply for this Grant and  to be able ble to continue to fund what our city   looks for in being able to provide the services  and programming for our kids for our adults for   the different events that we can provide for you  guys so we just wanted to say thank you thank you good morning Denise Sherman the executive  director the Kansas African American Museum   thank you so very much for the support and the  funding that you afford us as we continue to move   forward with our programming our operations and  being a part of the central location here in the   M uh downtown area this is so very important  for us because we're at a critical time when   making a move to do something bigger and grander  than what we've done before takes a lot of effort   energy and a lot of support So this crucial time  for us is so appreciated that you are seeing that   we are a part of not only the core of the M  of the city but the advancement of the city   we appreciate the fact that you recognize the  artistic the historic the educational and the   cultural components of what we do and so as we  continue to expand and move forward we just want   you to know that it is so very important that  we stay in front of you and that you continue   continue to work with us and as um our former  uh our previous executive director Melanie who   spoke from Tass is the opportunity also to  collaborate with other organizations within   our same uh area because they had mcdel is part of  our story too and so when we have an opportunity   to collaborate and partner and look for ways  to expand our Collective and our intersecting   messages it only makes it Greater so thank you  again and I certainly appreciate appreciate it thank you very much to all  the speakers oh there's one more hi my name is Amanda alessie I'm the  director of the Great Plains Nature Center   um for those of you that aren't aware the Nature  Center is a partnership so I'm am with the city   of witw Park and Recreation we also have us  fish and wildlife service Kansas Department   of Wildlife and Parks and a nonprofit the friends  of the Great Plains Nature Center who have very   gratefully been recipients of this cultural  funding and I just wanted to point out um the   council member glasscock's question about the  comments and the feedback um so we've benefited   from this grant process not just financially  but through that feedback and not and not just   for the next application but the nonprofit as  a whole that feedback has made us stronger when   we've taken those recommendations from the  committee um it has built our nonprofit and   so and to a stronger more healthy nonprofit  um and that's benefited us with other Grant   applications and other things that we've done  so I just wanted to thank the committee and let   you know um the great work that they're doing  and how that's benefited the community thank you thank you to all of our speakers really   appreciate it we will close public  comment and bring it back to the bench council member tutle thank you it'll be  very challenging for for me to not make comments   regarding this but due to a personal conflict  of interest I must abstain from this vote thank you I am really proud to move this um item  forward um I really appreciate Lindsay's   feedback regarding the financials this is  an investment into nonprofit organizations   that are doing great work we're a small  piece of the funding that you all need and   hearing you all talk about collaboration and  further advancement uh together I think is   how you harness the dollars to a greater amount  and so I really appreciate the efforts by staff   in trying to educate Community about the funding  mechanism so that it is Equitable and that people   have access and know how the process works um as  a council we get lots of requests to fund uh youth   programs uh even uh youth groups that that want to  do whatever you may think and the reality is there   are only limited dollars and we have to be good  stward and there are application processes for a   reason and so we appreciate uh the cultural arts  funding board as well as the staff and helping   share that information with community so that they  can apply and then be successful candidates to get   this funding um that really just helps Kickstart  how other community members can also help support   so thank you uh to the staff and to the  volunteers at the committee and to all   the organizations that are really moving Witchita  forward and we appreciate it as a whole Council uh   so thank you for your heartfelt messages um it  is these types of intentional Investments that   uh make me very proud to be on this uh council  with these council members so I move to approve   um the funding allocations recommended  for Arts and cultural organizations by   the cultural funding committee and authorize the  necessary signatures second motion and a second   any further discussion I see none Madame clerk  please open the role motion passes six to one exstension Madam clerk please call the next  item real time information center flock purchase good morning mayor and Council Captain Aaron  Moses the executive officer of the witto police   department here today to discuss a a request for  authorization to move forward with additional   flock uh license plate readers and additional  gunshot detection technology I always like to   start with this this is how we started all of our  uh Town Hall meetings in your council districts to   discuss why why we're having this conversation  I know everybody in this room is very familiar   with this group uh it's something we took to  heart in the police department identifying   that crime prevention was a lower quality  higher importance issue for our community   real-time information centers gunshot detection  technology and automated license plate readers   help us to move that crime prevention aspect  to higher quality higher importance which is   where we obviously want to see that be for our  community some background on how we got to where   we are on November 7th 2023 the witas city council  approved receipt of the 2023 cops technology and   Equipment program in in Invitational solicitation  Grant and the 2023 Bureau of Justice assistance   National Public Safety partnership Grant those  grants total an amount of $2.15 million and the   purpose of those grants was to implement a  real-time information center in the city of witchta one of the items we're asking for  authorization to purchase with those funds   is additional uh flock automated License Plate  Reader cameras we began as one of the earlier   adopters of flock technology and law  enforcement in November of 2020 since   we have started installing those devices in our  community uh we we have recovered at least $5.4   million in stolen property and those cameras  have led to clearances of multiple violent   crimes including some homicides uh the de some  of the details on how the cameras work they   take photographs only and those photographs are  purged after 30 days unless they are used in an investigation uh additionally I will add we've  we've strengthened some of our uh language   and the agreements we have with with flock after  some Community concern to make it very clear that   flock does not own these photographs um a and they  cannot retain them after that 30-day period either   or sell them uh as far as gunshot detection we  started beta testing it gunshot detection in our   city with flock Raven is what it's called in 20122  that was based on fiveyear a five-year look back   of gun crime data uh and the high or the hot spots  that we identified were in Council district one   and Council District 3 uh based on that testing  period the uh alerts that have been generated off   of The Gunshot detection uh software and 911 calls  and reports we've identified an under three 83%   Under reporting of gunshots to police in those  areas that can be for any Myriad of reasons uh   people don't want to call 911 people don't want  to be identified as being as calling 911 a lot of   times uh we see that people believe that someone  else is calling 911 so they don't feel that they   need to what we heard through our town halls that  we had is is the desire to have police respond   when people hear gunshots in their community that  makes sense uh we can't respond if we're not being   notified that they're happening so this is a way  to uh deal with that 83% of Under reporting in the   uh test areas uh because we anticipate that that's  also occurring in other parts of our community as   well uh one reason we wanted to move forward with  the beta test first was to really evaluate the   reliability of this technology uh before we move  forward with a purchase uh using Grant funds or   uh City funds and this is a direct notification  system there is no third party involved sometimes   you'll hear of gunshot detection uh systems where  uh sound is captured that sound is sent off to a   person somewhere else to evaluate and determine  whether this is these are gunshots and then make   a notification to 911 the way that this system  works it integrates with our flock automated   License Plate Reader cameras and there's  a direct notification to officers in the   field who are logged into the system that say we  identified gunshots at this location uh based on   triangulation of three separate three separate  sensors that hear those gunshots um to enhance   the real-time information center that we're  moving forward with we seek again to expand the   flock safety Falcon that's the automated license  plate readers uh to add an additional 31 license   Plate Reader devices um 10 of those devices are  purchased under a 5year agreement to reduce cost   and then in additional 21 devices are purchased  under a two-year agreement those are lumped in   with the gunshot detection sensors um and there  is a 20% discount based on existing infrastructure   that we already have uh we currently have two  square miles of gunshot detection coverage in   district one and District 3 what we're seeking  to do is expand that to add two additional   square miles and cover a hotspot area identified  in District six based on that 5year gun crime data   uh just the financial consideration the first  10 flock Safety license plate readers uh it's   a cost of $151,500 that's the uh upfront cost for  uh the five years and that's utilizing the grant   funds after that five years a funding source  would have to be identified uh if the system   is to be continued and then for the 21 license  plate readers and the expansion of The Gunshot   detection uh coverage it's $186,100 that again  includes a $20,000 discount based on existing   infrastructure and at the end of year two uh the  ongoing costs are estimated at $ 18 183,000 which   would require identification of a funding source  again for public engagement um as we started this   realtime information center discussion o over a  year ago um if not before that it was made very   clear to us that Community engagement and public  engagement was very important uh we took that to   heart we had uh Town Hall meetings arranged  at each of the city council districts those   occurred this summer into the fall with the last  one being um Council District 2 in September uh   we facilitated discussion with residents  about uh real-time information centers and   about gunshot detection specifically uh the  feedback about The Gunshot detection software   was was mostly positive uh there were some some  privacy concerns which uh we took note of as we   moved towards policy development uh but mostly  it was positive saying when can you turn it on   uh we want this in our community we want this  turned on and we want you to be able to respond   to the information it's providing you uh we do  intend to continue public engagement throughout   the policy development process related to gunshot  detection uh just legal consideration city code   section 2.64 provides for sole source procurement  when items are only available from one firm and   when purchasing elsewhere would be economically  imprac iCal obviously we are heavily invested in   the flock infrastructure at this point uh  with uh over 160 cameras in our community   currently uh so utilizing the flock alprs makes  sense to expand on that investment and the fact   that the gunshot detection software interfaces  with the the current uh notification process   that officers use for the automated license plate  readers the law department has also reviewed and   approved the 2021 agreement uh for flock and the  additional purchase would be added added added to   that agreement the recommended action is that  city council approve the contracts with flock   safety and authorize the necessary signatures  just some additional background on real-time   information centers one study from the Journal of  Criminal Justice showed that realtime information   centers lead to an increase in clearance rates  for violent crime of 5% for property crime of   12% and overall an increase of 11% uh and just to  give you some data on where we're at today uh the   most recent statistics that I got from our crime  analyst section yester yesterday show a decrease   in driveby shootings over the 5year average of 12%  a decrease in aggravated assault and aggravated uh   battery with Firearms where they are discharged of  5% over the fiveyear average but uh we have seen a   increase in the past 28 day period uh a relatively  significant increase and we believe technology   like this would help us address that that increase  in our community uh as far as the realtime   information center itself the RFP results for the  construction of the physical realtime information   center were brought to you I believe in August at  the evening meeting when you discussed the budget   uh the constant technology was selected to do the  construction and we do current we are currently   in the RFP process for the actual operating system  of the realtime information center uh and another   reason we are moving forward with flock is the  uh interaction that that software will have with   with flock technology so I'm happy to stand  for questions thank thank you Captain Moses   questions for staff beginning with council member  hoisel thank you mayor and thank you Captain I   appreciate all the work this has been um pretty  well received in my district except they are   wondering if um The Gunshot detection can capture  illegal fireworks so yes so uh not necessarily   illegal fire fireworks but one thing we saw when  the beta test period started was an identification   of fireworks um the this technology uses machine  learning not necessarily AI but machine learning   uh and we're able to provide it feedback and  say no that that was fireworks we've confirmed   that that sound that you heard and thought was  gunshots was fireworks and it will then learn and   say okay I'm not going to notify on that sound  in the future but know illegal fireworks would   not be something that the uh gunshot detection  software would would notify us about okay yeah   well they'll be disappointed on that one I'm aware  um is there any federal oversight of the flock   company that you're aware of um what do you mean  by federal oversight uh I mean there's a lot of   privacy concerns um you know justifiably so with  the community so is there anybody that's looking   into um their practices that can um essentially  audit every once in a while and make sure that   they're um they're following through what they're  into the contract I am not sure if there's Federal   oversight of flock I'll make a note to follow  up on that uh but obviously the Constitution   uh of the United States would be certainly  a lot of federal oversight about how this   system can be used and uh the Fourth Amendment of  the Constitution protects uh every citizen against   unreasonable search and seizure and we intend  to incorporate a lot of protections uh for the   community and guard rails guidelines on how this  system should be used into our policy and that's   why we want to continue public engagement through  the policy development process yeah and you guys   are doing a good job as far as um the oversight  on our end um it's just a concerns with the the   bigger company there that we don't necessarily  have the power to to um dig into and on that   note who who deletes is it flock they have the  information as far as the the pictures that are   get taken of the license plate so they're the ones  who are responsible for deleting the pictures yeah   they're automatically purged after 30 days unless  they're used in an investigation um but but like I   said we actually strengthened our mou we worked  with the law Department to do that a few months   ago as we were working through these discussions  to strengthen that mou to make it very clear flock   does not own these photographs flock cannot sell  these photographs flock cannot do anything with   the photographs to be honest with you they don't  have an interest in that um and the flock CEO has   visited here to wit himself and and made that very  clear okay um last question uh we talk about um   the continuing the need for um continuing funding  going forward um are there grants out there that   we feel pretty confident we can uh apply for  that would help with the continuing funding or   have there been other sources identified that we  might dig into uh for that funding uh we haven't   identified the sources at this point but yes there  are we're always looking at Grant uh information   in order to Encompass some of these ongoing costs  um I'm technology is a high Grant item in our   world uh there's always grants out there for for  emerging technology so that's certainly something   that we would continue to evaluate moving forward  yeah appreciate it vice mayor Ballard thank you   mayor um thank you so much for the presentation  so how how much more coverage will this provide   so the beta test area is currently two square  miles split between district one and District   three we are seeking to uh we haven't paid  for that two square miles because we've been   a beta test partner with flock um so they came  in they installed the actual physical equipment   and let us have access to it officers have not  been responding to it uh but we've been using   the information to we've been using the system to  verify the accuracy of the information for flock   uh what we're going to do is we're going to  purchase that two square miles and then add   an additional two square miles on top of that does  that make sense kind out four square miles total   in the city is what we're seeking to have so the  337,000 will cover four square miles not two it   will cover four plus 21 flock automated license  plate readers so those are bundled together in   the cost breakdown okay that was the only I've  only received um questions from one person and   they were concerned about spending $337,000 for  two square miles but that's not the whole story   no it's it's I just want to make sure that we're  understand yes everything we're talking about   today is actually 31 additional automated License  Plate Reader cameras what we currently have and   then four square miles of gunshot detection and  those are separate separate devices so the The   Gunshot detection Dei devices are actually  completely separate from the the automated   license plate readers they are separate physical  devices okay thank you council member Johnson   thanks mayor thank you Captain um just wanted to  say I appreciate the presentation and information   and it was pretty eye openening at the Town Hall  um looking at the effectiveness of The Gunshot   detection and seeing that they had or the system  had triangulated down and found some shells and   people hadn't called in and it's really a serious  issue for people to hear gunshots and not call   and so many people think somebody else did so I'm  supportive of this appreciate the presentation and   seeing how the licensed play readers have worked  has been pretty amazing and and how U it's helped   out with law enforcement so I'm supportive and  just wanted to say thanks for the presentation   thank you council member Tuttle thank you I'm  gonna pile on a little bit Captain thank you   for your presentation Mike as always steals my  questions um I did yesterday I was driving down   Kellogg and at Kellogg and web I saw a billboard  for the save a casing program so I wanted to   applaud yall for doing that and it really made me  think we have the violent interrupts we have save   a casing we have this there's so many great things  that you're doing just working in conjunction and   it's 21st century policing I always say I like  cops on the ground but I also like to utilize the   tools that we have um you provided fantastic data  um and and I always appreciate that as our good   friend Andy Cohen from the American for the art  says all data should have stories and all stories   should have data I know some of the stories that  the flock camera system has been successful in   really saving people's lives could you share  just one or two yeah absolutely it's been a   great tool for us on uh reported abductions so  when officers are responding to the area perhaps   a reported abduction in a certain area of the  community our officers can go in and search the   cameras in that area to identify a vehicle uh and  that's led to rapid recovery of of juveniles uh   whether it be a stranger abduction or a familial  Abu abduction those are the ones that really jump   out to me additionally it's helped in cases of of  homicides where there really is no information and   we're able to piece everything together with  with the automated license plate readers to   bring Justice to to victims and I appreciate you  talking about 21st century policing one thing I   wanted to touch on was uh how this fits into Chief  Sullivan's uh vision for the police department and   the three goals that he's set out for us which  are to increase Community engagement to reduce   violent crime and to and to uh leverage technology  and truthfully a realtime information center fits   into all three of those it's going to allow us  to push out information to the public um it's   going to allow us to hopefully have an impact on  violent crime rates and it's certainly going to   allow us to leverage technology thank you Captain  you nailed it thanks council member Glascock thank   you mayor um so we're R viewing the financial  considerations um I noticed that the shot   detection component uh cost beginning in year two  are estimated to be $180,000 annually they said   that we' identify later if they would be continued  I imagine that'll probably just come out lease   budget is that the I mean next year is pretty  quick so we're already getting ready to go into   budget conversations at the start of the year so  have you identified where the shot detection will   continue uh we have not identified that today and  I just want to clarify that 183,000 is not just   the gunshot detection so that's gunshot detection  and 21 automated license plate readers um so we   certainly have the opportunity if in a year we  want to reduce that cost we can take off the   automated license plate readers uh and keep the  gunshot detection we can look at what that does to   cost there are certainly options we wanted to make  sure that we had you know what we call off-ramps   here that that looking at the city's financial  situation and the benefit of the system making we   know that there's going to be some tough decisions  moving forward so we wanted to give ourselves the   flexibility to make those decisions um but just  to be clear the 183,000 is for both 21 of the   automated license plate readers and four square  miles of gunshot detection so 21 of them so what   is the fiveyear continuation that is 10 automated  license plate readers so we we separated them to   to reduce costs up front and those 10 uh license  plate readers it allowed us to have a reduced cost   on those 10 if we spread that out over five  years okay fantastic um in terms of the 31   one total flock devices do we have a Maps can see  where these flock cameras are located as well we   don't uh we don't publicize exactly where we put  these cameras out of a concern of people damaging   them we have had people damage these cameras and  certainly we want to Pro protect the investment of   uh that our community is making what we do is we  look at at crime in our community uh high traffic   areas near those areas of crime and deploy them  Based on data I know um you've you briefly hit on   this too we've seen you know use of some flock  and other communities can you talk about the   mitigating factors to make sure that's not going  to happen here absolutely we have a strong policy   that that flock has actually started to talk to  other agencies about uh regarding our policy on   auditing and our policy on requirements for the  system so flock requires or our policy requirement   for our officers is in order to search the system  you have to use a case number uh that allows us on   the back end in an audit to ensure that officers  are accessing the system uh as they're supposed   to and we also recognize that there are going to  be situations like a child abduction or something   that's happening right now where there may not be  a case number assigned to that incident yet and so   the direction in our policy is that officers  have to write uh an General location that   they're responding and what type of call they're  responding to the bottom line is we verify that   our officers are using the system in response  or in an investigation into a specific incident   uh what we've also done is we've had discussions  with flock about expanding uh essentially positive   acknowledgement to other communities that may  have access to our flock License Plate Reader data   to say that they will have similar policies in  place and they will also conduct audits of their   of their officers use of the system okay last  question I have total fla cameras how many do we   have in the city right now 160ish is that public  and private or is that just what we have I believe   that's both you know how many of those be private  I don't but I can get that answer for thank you   appreciate it council member Johnston thank you  mayor uh Captain how long has the flock company   been in business I know we started in with them  in 2020 November of 2020 and we were one of the   early adopters of the license plate readers back  then okay what other cities are they in uh pretty   much everywhere um so they're they're expanding  their presence in Atlanta Georgia they're in Texas   they're they are the leading company as far as as  automated license plate readers go okay thank you   I see no further questions for staff thank you  Captain Moses we will now open it up for public comment I understand the the value oh Doug  Ballard I live in Riverside understand the   value of it as a tool but um what I have a couple  questions number one's what's the lifespan of the equipment okay and the my other question is once  you start down the this the whole soul soul source   is always a concern of mine understand the value  of it and all that but once you start down a path   when you're only using one company will another  company ever be able to bid on this kind of work yeah as far as the lifespan on the equipment  I don't have the actual like range of lifespan   but I do know that flock works very closely with  us to uh make repairs to equipment when we need   to um that's been pretty limited other than  people damaging the cameras uh what we have   seen ironically is uh these automated license  plate readers are actually powered by solar uh   and so in the winter we have some challenges when  it's cloudy that we'll have cameras fall offline   uh because they're not getting solar power  so that's been one of our challenges uh but   obviously when it's a sunny day it Powers right  back up as far as the soul source is concerned I   app we appreciate that concern and we actually do  um we actually do have multiple different vendors   of of license plate readers that we have used in  Witchita another vend I know of that we currently   use and have used in the past is L sag uh it's  just a different functionality uh additionally   we're currently testing um we're currently T  testing what's called axon Fleet which is an   axon product it's a dash camera that also function  functions as an automated License Plate Reader and   I see Josh lobber behind me to hopefully answer  that question a little more thoroughly than I did morning still morning morning mayor council  Josh Department Finance um Soul sourcing is is   very important in procurement in city code  2.64 there are specific buckets that are   outlined that the governing body can use in a  procurement policy and the procurement policy   in this instance is sole source um when you  approve this item you're outlining the terms   and conditions you're approving and that includes  the years so once the years expire we can come   back to you for new authorization as a part of  our board in bids and contracts presentation   you will see the ordinance question and that's  the item that will be Exempted from competitive comparment any further public comment  I see none we'll bring it back to the bench I'd like to take staff's  recommended action approve the   contracts for flock safety and authorize  the necessary signatures second Motion   in a second any further discussion I  see none Madame clerk please open the rooll motion passes 70 Madame  clerk please call the next item   temporary operations at which tall Water Works good morning mayor and council members Gary  Jansen Public Works and utilities uh the item   before you this morning is consideration of  a contract for temporary operations support   at Wist Waterworks uh as you're all aware  we have reached substantial completion of   the facility had a great event week before  last all of you are able to be there I'm   glad you could be there um we are now moving  into a phase where operations uh have become   a critical focal point and so we've got to have  staff to be able to do that so right now between   now and March April of 2025 we've got performance  uh testing going on what we talked about before is   commissioning and startup that's hydraulic flow  and chemical test process performance testing uh   with a goal of final completion in April of 2025  so we've got training in intermittent operations   during that period of time we've got training  underway now with the staff that we have uh again   shooting for full-time operations in April  keeping in mind too that our existing Water   Treatment Plant we will stay in operations during  that same period of time probably through all of   2025 we need the ability to work this new plant uh  make sure it's been tested in All Seasons demands   Source water blend scenarios so we're estimating  right now U probably from April through the end   of 2025 operating both plants which means we  need more staff to be able to do that so this   is the same plan we've been working on for some  time uh we talked about this a little bit in July   with the approval of the contract for OTS uh that  depending on our recruiting efforts we may need   uh additional support for making the transition  in operations so 20 new 20 new positions were   added to operate the new plant that included plant  manager supervisor process control specialist uh   and overall oper operation in maintenance we've  done a pretty good job in every area except for   process control Specialists there's some factors  associated with that that I'll talk about in just   a moment the PCS positions require class four  water operator certification and prior experience   operating a water treatment plant so again we  filled uh most of the others uh were struggling   because there's uh some issues related to these  positions across the country uh that's presented   some additional challenges so what we've done  with recruitment efforts since February has has   been really robust staff's done a great job we've  had a lot of people all Hands-On Communications   uh Department's been involved with this we've  had some staff specifically dedicated to this   but just to kind of run through this list and talk  about some of the things we've done and then I'll   talk about some of the other challenges that are  currently in the market related to this industry   uh with the council support and collaboration uh  with SEIU we were able to increase pay rates by   about 40% still not probably where uh we would  like to be compared to where the industry is but   that did help uh we have a competency based  Matrix if you will for compensation of these   employees which allows them uh if they want to  get additional training certifications uh to   help enhance basically create their own incentives  for additional pay we had a recruitment contract   actually we've had several of those temporary  labor requests through CIO industry job boards   we've also had job job fairs and same day  interviews at the treatment plan direct   emails to employees at other Kansas utilities and  through uh K Municipal utility organization social   media candidate sourcing and targeted posts on  LinkedIn working closely with human resources   this effort is going to continue regardless of  of Your Action today and we're going to try to   add some additional incentives working with HR on  hiring bonuses and relocation bonuses to see if we   can get more folks hired in the meantime so on the  four of these positions in particular we've had   three qualified applications two offers were made  one successful hire um which is not where we had   hoped to be but it certainly wasn't for lack of  effort so I'll tell you too uh Across the Nation   there is a shortage of treatment plan operators  for a variety of reasons we've seen reports from   the American Waterworks Association from the  EPA uh there's kind of we talk about the silver   tsunami in a lot of Industries there's a lot of  folks that have been retiring and there's not   near as many younger people coming up through  one of the things that we have really stepped   up on through this process and will continue to  do is make sure uh what we can do for outreach   and education whether that's starting in high  schools uh trade schools there's not everybody   understands what these positions are and that they  are out there it's pretty cool stuff working with   technology uh even if we're not meeting current  market uh compensation and benefits through the   city we think are are good uh but because  there's such a shortage across the country   it makes it even more challenging to meet those uh  pay standards and to get folks to move from where   they might be at so the uh I've saw some recent  stories again working with uh um other agencies   too we're not the only ones that are struggling  with this um city of Arc City recently had had uh   some challenges on a cyber security attack they've  got to run every all their operations manually   they're trying to hire operators too not sure how  that's going but there's a need out there and so   we we're going to keep moving forward we're going  to keep up the effort we're going to try to offer   some additional incentives but in the meantime  uh we really need to move forward with additional   help and support by way of this contract one more  thing I'll say about this too is I think everybody   knows it's 247 3 65 days a year right we've got to  operate this plan it's around the clock that has   also become a challenge I think for the newer  generation not everybody wants to work those   shifts necessarily so that's been the hard part  too we've talked to some folks who I think would   had been more interested if we could have promised  them a first shift position but that's just not   possible so that's been one of our challenges  that we've faced too so count I mentioned that   the city council approved a contract with OTS in  July of this year for technical support including   development of standard oper operating procedures  maintenance programs and risk management plans   that work is underway now moving forward with  uh our staff being engaged the contract did   not include Hands-On operations we did talk  about the possibility of having to come back   to this point depending on the success of our  recruiting efforts I mentioned this before and   I'll mention this again uh we we continue to  recruiting efforts while negotiating terms of   this supplemental contract and we will continue  to do so so for the contract itself uh some of the   initial terms is OTS will provide certified water  plant operators again full-time 247 availability   with a necessary level of Prior experience at  the point in time where we are at now needing to   bring the plan online in April we've got to find  experienced operators that's one of the benefits   that they can bring to this uh over the course of  time we've had to bring we've promoted our staff   which is good we've brought others in that didn't  have the necessary experience at the time we had   the flexibility to train them right could take  over several years we don't have the time to do   that now unfortunately they're insured against  liability by OTS and they have the ability to   provide substitute operators as needed Whenever  there may be absences which brings a real value   to this the good part about this is the contract  can be canceled in whole or in part within 60 days   notice if City's hiring efforts are successful  so we will continue our recruiting efforts if we   bring folks on um that will take off part of their  contract and and hopefully save us money long term   OTS is certified with the city as an emerging  business Enterprise and I want to mention again   operation of both plants will continue during this  time and remained under control of the city so   even the Operational Support that they will be  bringing in will be under the direction of our   supervisors our managers to make sure that we have  a smooth transition as we go through this process   so on the fin Financial considerations for the  contract is a one-year contract with the option   to renew for one additional year total cost is  not to exceed $1,285 th000 per year City will   continue recruiting to fill all positions and  as I mentioned the contractor level of effort   and contract cost will decrease as positions are  filled funding is available within the existing   adopted operating budget I might mention what's in  the box there so we did have uh funding programmed   within our operating budget with the hopes  of hiring the staff ourselves so the net cost   increase for this contract is just under $800,000  with that staff recommends city council approve   the Professional Services contract with otss  approve any budget adjustments and authorize the   necessary signatures and I'd be happy to stand  for any questions thank you Gary we'll begin   with council member ho Heisel thank you mayor um  thank you Gary can you go back to that last slide   okay so that 491 number there there 491 th000 um  that's not the unfilled positions that we have now   is that the savings from the unfilled positions  or is that something we already had a lot that's   the funding that's the budget we had programmed  to fill these positions if we were going to hire   them ourselves okay how many positions are we  short right now we ideally we're hoping to hire   five to six more operators okay uh about what are  the average salaries of the five to six positions   so right now um our average salary and I can give  you an hourly rate for certified water operators   is around $ 32 to $39 an hour and and and I'm glad  you asked that because one of the things I wanted   to mention across the industry what we've looked  at even with that increase to get to that point   um utilities our size are typically paying up to  $50 an hour okay um and none of the workers from   the the plant we have up and running right now  are any of those going to be eligible to come   across this and do this do any of them qualify  or they they will all of the above we're going   to need more operators when this new plant comes  online so even with increases in technology and   efficiencies um there's a lot of new things that  are happening here we need to make sure that we   stay on operations and maintenance from the very  beginning uh we've got a lot that we've got to   uh mitigate here from a risk standpoint so we're  going to need more operators at our new plant than   we do at the old plant we're going to work all of  them in between right so what'll happen is if we   move forward with this contract bringing qualified  operators they will help train we'll have uh uh   people moving back and forth between the current  PL and the new plan to get everybody trained up   hopefully to take the old plan offline by the end  of 2025 and have everybody there at the new plan   at that point any of the operation support that  OTS would provide in the meantime if they're still   part of the process they would no longer be there  after the end of next year okay um and a side note   I guess or side question that group that's looking  at what to do with the old plant have they met yet   um where are we in that process so actually we're  going to be discussing that with council at the   workshop next Tuesday okay appreciate it that's  good council member Johnston thank you Mayor   Gary you know we've approved some more money for  positions we approved uh six more months warranty   and now this do you foresee any more request for  additional funds to get the plan up and going we   have uh so one thing I had mentioned last time  I was here in front of you for the change orders   we've got uh one last item in particular uh as we  come into the final months here uh related to the   converting the existing raw water line to finish  water line so there were some costs associated   with that they were actually part of change order  number two and at the time and it's also included   in that change order we said we'd have to come  back to the council for final cost we're working   through details with kdhe on that now uh that's  a fairly unique situation we knew early on that   that's what was going to happen to convert that  but didn't know what the requirements would be uh   depending on the condition of the pipe what we saw  there so we're staff's working with kdhe now in   fact we're supposed to have some more information  on pricing and the following week but that's one   thing that I know that will have to come back  before the council I don't know what that cost   looks like yet um but there could be some other  things to wrap this up once we get through April   that's the one thing I know of otherwise I'm I'm  not aware of any at this time how much is left in   the budget that that could pay for those cost  so we have and I can give you an exact number   if I can get back to you on that but I know  within the capital side of it for the capital   Investments which would be the item I was just  talking about there still is funding available   what we're looking at today comes out of our  operating budget which was put in place as part   of our rate structure knowing that we're going to  have to operate both of these plants through some   period of time last question is what happens to  the employees at the old plant close the old plant   they lose their jobs or we'll Ming everybody we'll  be moving everybody to the new plant again this   new plant uh is going to take more staff than what  we've gotten now I'll just tell you that we've   been running leaner than we wanted to for some  time time that's not necessarily out of choice   that's because we were still we were struggling  to hire people even then at different times is we   we had staff who knew the old plant who knew how  it operated we were able to make that work more   so uh with people working a little bit longer  shifts having knowledge of the facility makes   a big difference with this plant being brand new  new technology and a lot to learn we're going to   need more people um so no one's losing their job  everybody's moving up there during this transition   period is when we'll be doing training with staff  um but it's critical to make sure that we've got   operators to keep the plants going first and  foremost well I'll tell you what'll happen   at some point in time what we're hoping for is  if we've got the ability this same thing that   we're talking about here now is going to need to  happen with our BNR project here in several years   we're going to need additional staff we're going  to need staff with diff uh different T training   and qualifications I think it's very practical  that if we have the capacity that some of the   staff that we're bringing on now once we get the  water treatment plant going and feel comfortable   with where we're at some of those staff may be  able to tr uh transition to help us with bringing   BNR online thank you Gary can you talk about some  of the requirements that are needed to become an   operator so that folks can start thinking about  this being a career choice um I might defer to   staff I've got two of them here that can probably  talk better better than me about this Dawn or lur   if you want to because I want to give you a  better answer than I would be able to give you uh don Henry Public Works and utilities  the standard requirement for a licensed uh   water treatment plant operator in Kansas is  a high school education and then two years   experience working in a water treatment facility  and then um during that two years there's also   an Education and Training period to qualify  for testing and and then ultimately to work   in the city's plan it requires what's called  a class four certification so it's that that   um high school education two years training and  a plant and then passing the exam for the class 4 thank you see no further questions  for staff we'll open it up for public comment no one from the public  we'll bring it back to the bench I oh council member toddle thank you um  thank you for the presentation thank you to   all your staff a shout out to Laura quick thank  you I know you've been working extremely hard   on this been creative you've been diligent and  I appreciate that just on an interesting note   and I mentioned it that this at my district  Advisory board meeting last night because the   drought in the Water Treatment Plant came up in  2019 when I was doing my onboarding and going   to to meet with each department I asked the  each department four questions I asked them   lots of questions but four consistent questions  and one of the questions that I asked was other   than more budget what do you need and I remember  clearly Public Works in 2019 saying we need more   staff we're seeing a trend of people not going  into these industries and so you know this now   having this amazing opportunity of having a water  treatment plant is just exasperating that so I   appreciate all of your efforts your hard work  I think you've exhausted every opportunity that   you can that brought us to this solution and we  have to get this right this is the largest piece   of infrastructure our city has ever seen I think  it's going to be an amazing project something that   we'll be proud of for the next 100 years so I'm  going to be very supportive of this today thank you I will Echo the same message council member  Tuttle has mentioned and that is um I'm really   trying to encourage a lot more Young people to  consider options outside of going to a 4-year   University and that there are really great  paying opportunities for careers um and thank   you for the requisites that are uh necessary  to become an operator like you mentioned high   school graduate uh two years experience in  a plant and qualify for testing are really   the requirements to become an operator and  right now we're hiring five to six operators   um and they will eventually get paid between 32  to $39 an hour these are great paying jobs and   so um I just wanted to mention that again  more people need to be interested in these   types of um critical roles for infrastructure  and anytime I'm able to highlight that it's a   great opportunity with um very small barriers  um that we should be uh emphasizing the these   opportunities to the community so thank you U for  sharing all that information so I will motion to   approve the contract with OTS approve any required  budget adjustments and authorized the necessary   signatures second Motion in a second any further  discussion I see none Madame clerk please open the role motion passes 70 Madam Clerk pleasee call  the next item Co 20243 amendment to co 2012-   44 to increase square footage of a restaurant  generally located on the northeast corner of   East Douglas Avenue in North Oliver Avenue  4800 East Douglas Avenue good morning Mary   City Council Members Philip Zen Bergen with the  planning department here to present on behalf of   Scott wle the application before you is actually  coming back to city council you guys considered   this First on August 13th and uh your motion then  was to send it back to the Planning Commission for   further consideration that meeting took place on  September 12th and here we are today as a reminder   the applicant is requesting this amendment to an  existing conditional use on the property in order   to increase the square footage of an existing  restaurant after the city council considered   this in August and before the Planning Commission  reconsider the item the applicant did amend the   request uh the original request was to increase  the square foot but also to remove the prohibition   against outdoor speakers and um outdoor TVs on  their patio so that was the original request the   request that was considered by the Planning  Commission was just to increase the size of   the restaurant they actually removed their um  request to allow for outdoor speakers and outdoor   TVs which if you remember were one of the major  sticking points with public comment around the   area with the concern of the nuisance factor of  uh noise in the neighborhood and um issues related   to that also as a reminder this item is before  you today the original request had different dab   and mapc considerations um again most of that was  related to the ability to have outdoor speakers   and TVs um but more importantly the application  was protested and we'll get to that in a second   did exceed the 20% consideration so there are vote  some some vote considerations for you today as a reminder the applicant had an existing restaurant  and and there was a connected retail space on   this property and when that retail space became  available uh they did a zone change to allow for   micro Brewery that was approved and now they're  looking to expand into that space and it also   includes some additional restaurant seating um  which is why we're here today the conditional   use originally limited the size of the restaurant  um which had a in terms of square footage which   of course impacts the seating and so they're  looking to increase that the site is located   at 4,800 East Douglas Avenue which you can see  on your screen it's at the northeast corner of   Douglas and Oliver it consists of three Parcels  it's .17 acres in size and has three different   zoning classifications of General commercial  neighborhood retail and B multifam the conditional   use is primarily related to the B multif family  which is for ancillary parking but the ancillary   parking had specific conditions on it related  to the size of the restaurant the subject site   is currently developed as a retail building  and the uh or the commercial building and the   associated parking the context to around this  area the properties to the north are Z general   office and B multif family and developed with an  office and a single family residence respectively   property to the east is own limited commercial and  is a developer of the bank property to the South   across Douglas is Zone limited commercial and  developed with stores in a restaurant and property   to the west across alliv Zone limited commercial  and developed with a strip mall the stuff report   provides information about noise and limitations  as well as the existing conditional use and the   zoning on the site in terms of review um the  Planning Commission originally um considered   this request on June 27th and that that meeting  they deferred it to the July 11th meeting on July   11th they recommended approval with a vote of  seven to four with one exension um again this   original request included the ability to have  outdoor speakers and TVs on July 1st the district   Advisory board for district one considered the  request they recommended approval with a 5 to2   vote with one exstension um they approved the  expansion of the restaurant and allowing outdoor   speakers but did not allow outdoor televisions  which deferred from the original Planning   Commission recommendation as I said before the  city council first considered the item on August   13th and the motion was to send the or there was  original motion to approve but that failed and so   the second motion was to send the case back to  Planning Commission which was approved 7 to Zer   on September 12th the Planning Commission reviewed  the applicant's revised request and that was only   to increase the size of the restaurant and remove  the request to permit outdoor speakers in TVs   and the mapc recommended approval with an 11 to  zero vote as a reminder this case was protested here is the zoomed in version of the protest  map the protest equal 29% of the eligible   properties which does exceed the 20% that's  set by State statue therefore in order to   approve this request the council must have a  super majority votes which requires six out   of seven council members it is recommended that  the city council adopt the findings of the mapc   approve the requested Amendment authorize the ne  signatures and instructed city clerk to publish   the resolution after approval and again this  requires six of seven votes altered is in include   override the mapc adopt alternative findings and  deny the conditional use request which can be done   with five of seven votes or you can return it to  mapc for additional consideration which requires   four or seven votes and in terms of process as a  reminder the city council policy is that public   hearing or the planning agenda occurs at the  Planning Commission and according to the policy   the city council does not typically receive  public comments on zoning items and with that   I can stand for any questions questions for staff  beginning with vice mayor Ballard thank you mayor   thank you philli um just a quick question the  protest is for when they were wanting the TVs and   speakers and everything correct that is correct  and in terms of process the protest follows the   first consideration by Planning Commission and  there's not an additional protest per period   and the original protest stands through the  entire process until the case is considered   by governing body but yes the original protest  happened after the first Planning Commission   when the request contained an a request for  speakers and outdoor TVs have you heard any   uh feedback this second go around from I mean  that seemed to be like the main problem was   the noise outside correct correct at the Planning  Commission the second time in September the there   was some public comment at the Planning Commission  but it was morly REM related to possible impacts   of parking issues uh I don't believe there was any  comments related to the application regarding any   noise because that was an amend request and they  were no longer going to be doing it okay thank you any further questions for staff I see none  this resides in council member Johnson's District   thanks mayor I move that the city council  adopt the findings of the mapc and approve   the requested amendment to co n 2012-  044 authorize the necessary signatures   and instruct the city clerk to publish  the resolution after approval second   Motion in a second any further discussion  I see none Madame clerk please open the RO motion passes 70 Madame  clerk please call the next item   council member appointments and comments  are there any appointments by council members I see none we will  now move to council member common council member Johnston thank you  mayor I'd like to congratulate the uh Park   department on the great open streets  uh event a lot of people there A lot   of vendors and it was a great event and a  great day so my wife and I enjoyed it very much I will just uh Echo a couple of things  thank you to the whole Community for coming   out to multiple different community events  this weekend it was really great to see people   together building Community uh whether at open  streets whether outside of New Life Covenant uh   standing in the gap for foster care Children and  Families uh to the prairie fire marathon with over   2500 participants and the witchat Asian Festival  on Saturday um just really grateful to see a lot   of community members and I just want to give a  shout out actually to council member Glascock   who had his the fourth unity in the community  on Friday at FR University uh for the West High   School football game and many community members  came and gave feedback about um what it means to   be in a community where we are standing against  violence and want to bring Community together so   looking forward to more unity in the communities  they have now occurred in districts one three four   and six and so I encourage council members  Johnston and Tuttle to also have uh unity in   the communities and we will have more of these  um including as Tall Grass Film Festival just   mentioned October 23rd is a free event where  we will be showing uh Wizard of Oz uh at Navar   Park and it's really a free community event for  everyone to come out um and be part of uh not   just Tallgrass but be part of uh the community  of Witchita so thank you to our community I see   no further uh comments we do have an uh a motion  for an executive session um so for um I mve that   the city council recess into executive session  um at 12:00 for 25 minutes um and this is a uh   to receive information on a civil action pursuant  to KSA 75- 4319 B2 for legal consultation with the   city attorney which would be deemed privileged in  the attorney client relationship Rel relating to   pending litigation and legal advice the executive  session is required to protect attorney client   privilege and the public interest the executive  session will begin at noon and will end at 12:25   when we will return to the chambers motion  second and a second any further discussion   I see none Madame clerk please open the the  rooll motion passes 70 we'll return at 12:25