[Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] [Music] [Music] Good morning, Witchita, and good morning to  all of you. Thank you for joining us at City   Hall. I call this meeting to order. With  us this morning to provide the invocation   is Pastor Philip Moore of Chapel Hill United  Methodist Church. Following the invocation,   we will have the pledge of allegiance.  May I please ask everyone to stand? Good morning. And I want to thank uh the mayor  and the city council for this opportunity. Uh   let's pray. Gracious and eternal God in heaven.  We come before you with thankful hearts for the   gift of this day and the opportunity to  serve the people of Witchah. We ask your   blessings upon this council. the mayor and all  who are gathered here. Grant wisdom, clarity,   and unity as decisions are made that will shape  the future of our city. Lord, bless Witchah,   its families, neighborhoods, schools,  and businesses. Protect those who serve   in public safety. Strengthen those who  work for the good of our community. And   encourage every citizen to seek peace and  justice. Guide this meeting with fairness   and integrity. May every discussion be marked  by respect, every decision rooted in wisdom,   and every action taken for the common good.  We ask these things in your holy name. Amen. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United  States of America and to the republic   for which it stands. One nation under God,  indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much, Pastor Moore.  Madame clerk, happy birthday.   Can you please call the first item? Approve the  minutes of the regular meeting September 2nd,   2025. Council members, any edits to  those minutes? I see none. I move to   approve the minutes for the regular meeting  of September 2nd, 2025. A second. Motion and   a second. Any further discussion? I see  none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Who's missing? Bless you. Maggie. Motion passes.  70. Madame clerk, please call the next item.   Awards and proclamations. Today's proclamations  are recovery month, witchaw recovery coalition,   national I'm sorry, opioid abuse and national  suicide prevention, mental health awareness month,   and national literacy month. May please ask  council member Ballard to join me and ask   Witchaw Recover Coalition to please  come forward at this time as well. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.  Good morning. your money. Good morning to all. The proclamation reads, "The  city of Witchah, Kansas, founded in 1870, whereas   behavioral health is essential to overall health  and well-being and recovery for mental health and   substance use challenges as possible for every  individual. Whereas National Recovery Month,   now in its 36th year, is a national observance  held every September to celebrate recovery,   promote evidence-based practices, and honor the  dedication of service providers, peer leaders,   and community partners. Whereas millions  of Americans and thousands of residents in   Witchaw and Cedric County are living in recovery  today, demonstrating that treatment, peer support,   and community connection are effective and  life-changing. Whereas the Witchaw Recovery   Coalition is a grassroots network uniting  treatment providers, peer-led organizations,   harm reduction advocates, public health partners,  faith communities, and local leaders to build   a healthier, safer, and more resilient  Witchah. Now therefore, be it resolved that   the Witchah City Council does hereby proclaim  September 2025 as recovery month. [Applause] Thank you, Mayor and Council, for recognizing  September as recovery month in Witchah. Recovery   looks different for everyone. Many people are  navigating multiple challenges all at once.   Healing from substance use, mental health  struggles, and other trauma. And it affects   everyone, children, families, neighbors, and  even our local businesses. So, when someone   finds support, the whole community benefits.  In Witchah, the need is urgent. Sedwick County   um overdose deaths have doubled over the  last decade. And these aren't just statistic   statistics. They represent lives, families,  and futures. That's why the Witchita Recovery   Coalition is so important. This grassroots  network unites organizations, service providers,   and advocates to make Witchah a recovery ready  city, a place where support is accessible,   stigma is replaced with compassion, and no one  has to face these challenges alone. Thank you   for shining a light on recovery and helping to  build a stronger, healthier Witchah. Thank you. Thank you again. And I also had the  opportunity to meet Salvation Army last week   uh regarding their recovery program and  there are still beds available and so I   just wanted to make sure that people in  our community knew that that resource   is available to anyone who needs that  help. Congratulations to the coalition. You got to come see that. May I please ask council member Hohheisle to  come forward at this time and all those who   are in support of the opioid abuse and national  suicide prevention mental health awareness month the proclamation reads, "The city  of Witchaw, Kansas, founded in 1870,   whereas the associated general contractors AGC  of Kansas, the Chamber of Commerce for the Kansas   construction industry, representing  300 Kansas commercial, industrial,   and utility construction contractors and their  20,000 employees. Whereas AGC of Kansas is proud   to partner with the public and private sectors  including the Kansas construction industry,   US Department of Labor, OSHA, and the Kansas  Mental Health Association to recognize the   month of September as opioid abuse and national  suicide prevention mental health awareness month.   Whereas AGC of Kansas and its industry partners  created the Kansas Construction Safety Network to   provide opioid abuse and mental health resources  and to bring attention to the critical challenges   associated with drug abuse and mental health in  our community. Whereas AGC of Kansas has worked   with its 300 Kansas construction firms to hold a  construction stand up on their construction job   sites in Witchah and around Kansas to recognize  drug abuse and mental health month. Now therefore,   be it resolved that the Witchaw City Council  does hereby proclaim September 2025 as Opioid   Abuse and National Suicide Prevention  Mental Health Awareness Month. [Applause] Thank you. Um and what a great honor to be able  to share this platform with the coalition today.   uh it speaks test a big testament of what  our city is going through and what we need   to do collectively to not only recover but to  prevent. So on behalf of the associated general   contractors of Kansas which is recognized as  the chamber of commerce for the construction   industry representing 300 company construction  companies and their 20,000 employees. Our safety   committee is honored to join the city of Witchah  and Mayor Liy Woo in recognizing se September as   mental health awareness month. If I could,  I would like to introduce our great team of   industry safety professionals that have joined us  on this. A couple of years ago, the Agency of Can   uh the Agency of Kansas Safety Committee worked  in partnership with the US Department of Labor,   OSHA, and the Mental Health Association to  creating the Kansas Construction Safety Network,   that has a website that offers a a wide range of  resources of both the construction industry and   the community as a whole to utilize in addressing  the many challenges associated with mental health,   drug abuse and suicide prevention. We are proud  of this partnership and proud of the construction   industry's investment of millions of dollars and  millions of men hours to asssure that employees   return home safely at the end of each workday.  Because of this great safety partnership in   Kansas, the construction industry leads the way on  job site safety practices. Thank you again, Mayor   Mayor Woo, and the city council for this great  leadership to the citizens of Witchah. Thank you. Is anyone from storytime  village present at this moment? If not, we will delay doing this proclamation.  Is that proper or okay? We will read this   proclamation at our next city council  meeting on Tuesday of next week. Thank you. We do have a representative from  Storytime Village, Dr. Prrisca Barnes.   Can you please come forward at this time? Good morning. The proclamation reads, "The  city of Witchah, Kansas, founded in 1870,   whereas literacy is essential for personal,  social, and economic well-being of individuals,   families, and communities. Whereas Storytime  Village has demonstrated a commitment to promoting   literacy in our community by providing access to  books, resources, hosting events, and building   little free libraries to inspire a lifelong love  of reading and learning. Whereas Storytime Village   recognizes the importance of early literacy in  laying the foundation for future academic success   and is dedicated to empowering young leaders with  the tools needed to thrive in school and beyond.   Whereas the city of Witchah acknowledges the  efforts of organizations like Storytime Village   as well as educators, volunteers, and community  partners in working towards a future where every   resident has the ability to read, write, and  fully participate in our society. Now therefore,   be it resolved that the Witchaw City Council  does hereby proclaim September 2025 as National   Literacy Month. [Applause] Good morning and thank  you, Mayor Liy Woo. Uh, Storytime Village, our   mission is to inspire a lifelong love of reading  for underserved Kansas children from birth to age   8. And we've been doing this work since 2009.  And so we're in our 16th sweet 16th anniversary   uh celebrating literacy, empowering young people  and families. Uh we are embarking upon a major   endeavor building a literacy center um in the  northeast area providing wraparound services for   uh children and families and we're so grateful  each year to celebrate National Literacy Month   and grateful for this proclamation. So  thank you for this opportunity and we   uh look forward to continuing to inspire  a lifelong love of reading. [Applause] Madame clerk, can you please call the next item?  Public agenda. The public agenda allows for five   minutes for up to five speakers to each  have five minutes to address the council.   No action will be taken relative to items on  the public agenda other than referral to the   city manager for information as necessary.  Speakers will please state their name and   address for the record. A time clock will display  the speaker's remaining time to speak. Order and   rules of decorum will be observed. The first  speaker is Samantha Annayia Raider, Camp Sam. Buenos Diaz. Good morning. Grand Rising citizens,  civil servants, please look alive while Miss   Sunshine herself, two-time Kansas State Fair,  Sunflower Ribbon winner, four-time grand champion   of Sed County Market Wheat Show. Lady Samantha  Annayia of 2030 South Lulu District 3, presents   Cam Sam. Can you picture abundance meeting private  interests? Soon accoladed, applauded, May we be.   Camp Sam's sights are set on transforming more  than 650 acres of prime parks into the personal   playground for Kansas obstacly charitable honchos.  My vision is an invite only quasi exclusive camp   where pay to play is key. A place where one may  realize our little house on the prairie. Come on,   come all come as you are. Build it and they  will come. I plan to purchase the parks at a   sweetheart rate. Won't you pretty please sell  me the Northwest Sed County park for a dollar   an acre? And I plan to, you know, count them out  for you. But this time I'm counting a dollar an   acre. You've done it before. I promise to care  for it, not sell it for more. This camp will be   grand. I'll start by breaking ground, planting  a stand of sunflowers for the great late Luke.   Next, I'll fashion a grand guild defense to keep  my heritage herd bison and assorted creatures.   Camp Sam of a center for health and wealth. I call  on your benefactors to invest in me too. City,   I need a small loan of a million dollars in  exchange for your trust and one book donation.   I owe you a favor. try your luck camp sand for  you and I originally intended to do a a whole   campy thing. It's kind of an art thing and  um yeah, so it was just an inspired writing   and thank you for allowing me to speak. Um  but I intend to have Pancakes in the Park at   noon next Tuesday in Lynwood Park. Um, and I'll  personally invite all of you there. And I hope   to see you next Tuesday at noon. And I also  will have a raffle for some signature prizes   um to win a three-month print subscription to Sand  Press, my little newsletter I want to write. Um,   and my award-winning spaghetti squash. Um, I  got a ribbon at the Cheni Fair. I'll I have   two that I can give. Um and I'd like to invite Mr.  Hohiso, parks and wreck, um city manager Leighton,   a few friends of mine, um art friends,  music friends as well. Um Mr. Arthur Stokes,   I'd like to him to be there. Um I'd like to invite  a family friend named Roberto. He is a counselor.   So, um, others may benefit from seeing him and,  you know, he's he's good good people. Um, I'd like   to invite Mayor Whipple, Mayor Woo. I'd like to  invite um my my DJ friend, her name is Sadi. Um,   I have another friend named Ka. Um, Kaia Papaya  is an amazing singer and I'd love her to perform   there. I have a saxophone friend named Sage.  um my lab partner of ecology, Jacob Stewart,   um and a few others. So, I hope to see you again  next Tuesday in for Pancakes in the Park um at   Lynwood Park. And thank you for allowing to uh me  to camp it up and um yeah, this it's been fun. So,   thank you and I hope to um be a community partner  with y'all. I was, excuse me, I was the wellness   coordinator of the health department um before  I was laid off there. I wrote the wellness   operational plan and I I believe that we can all  work together to it doesn't have to be called   Camp Sam um but just a health and well health and  wealth a wellness center and I think we can all   work together with it. Um, so I intended to sing  Home on the Range for y'all, but um my voice is   uh failing me. I have I was exposed to black mold  at Johnson Controls and um my I need help with uh   getting my lungs back. So um yeah, um home on the  range. So thank you. Thank you, Samantha. Council   member Hohisel. Thank you, Mayor. Um, did you say  the pancakes was Tuesday or Saturday? Saturday. Uh, Dexter, we're not having one this  month. We have one next month. Okay. Um, okay. I just I just Tuesday's fine.  I just wanted some clarification. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Council  Member Hohheisle. And just a quick note,   Cedric County owns Cedric County  Park. Council, sorry, Madame Clerk,   can you please call the next individual?  Mayor, we don't have any more individuals   signed up this morning. Thank you. Are there  any individuals who would like to address the   council? I see none. We'll bring it back to  the bench. Madame Clerk, can you please call   the next item? Consent agenda items 1 through  16. Council members, any items to be pulled? I see none. I will move to approve uh  consent agenda items 1- 16. Second.   Motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk,   please call the next item. Board of bids  and contracts dated September 8th, 2025. Good morning, mayor, city council. Josh Lober,   Department of Finance. The board of bids and  contracts convened yesterday, September 8th,   2025 for the following items. For engineering,  we have Sweeney Farm Edition phase 1 rebid for   NOAK Construction Company Incorporated for  the aggregate bid total of 3,768,216.70. We have the storm water sewer number 800.  Oldtown slotted trench drains reject all   bids. We have the water mainline  replacement for St. Paul and Newell   Streets for Wildcat Construction  Company Incorporated for $533,249. We have the 2025 outsource paving  preservation program CIP Localized   Street Repair for PS Contractors LLC for $734,490. We have the skylight replacement for West Link  Library for Icon Structures Incorporated for   $74,200. We have the installation  of outdoor antennas for 21 fire   stations for gateway wireless  and network services for 93,1329. We have the ortho phosphate bulk delivery  for Shannon Chemical Corporation for an   estimated annual usage of $398,520 annually.   We have the 58,000 gross vehicle  weight restriction dump trucks for   Omaha Truck Center doing business as Truck Center  companies for an aggregate bid total of 377,138. We have the roof and gutter replacement  at 25 residential sites for AR Commercial   Roofing LLC for an aggregate bid  of $249,000. And we had the license   track software annual renewal change order  for Progressive Solutions Incorporated for   $7,500 per year requesting authorization to  add. And we have the Witchaw Fire Department   radios and equipment for Motorola  Solutions Incorporated for $99,226. This is how to become a vendor with the city. This  is our purchasing calendar of events that the city   is hosting or participating in with small business  resource partners. This is our open public   opportunities out on the street today and I'd  be happy to try to answer any of your questions   and I recommend your approval. I have a couple  of questions. We go back to number six. Sure. Can you talk about this? Sure. um the  bid exceeded the engineer's estimate,   requiring us to change the material  deviation of the scope. Um so we can   hopefully resolit the project and then  get bids within the engineer's estimate. And then nine. Okay. Um I've attended  several grand reopenings of libraries and   I'm very appreciative. This was in uh Council  Member GlassCox's district, Westlake Library,   and all these improvements are great. uh had the  opportunity to see council member Tuttles um where   she holds her district advisory board meetings  at Rockwell. Um can you address or can someone   address since we've made all these investments?  Um can we make sure that the structures are   structurally sound? This should have been item  number one prior to renovating inside. Uh I think   this was a leak. Is that correct? Oh, sorry. I  apologize. I'm now thinking about yours, but it's   still the same question. How can we make sure  that we first focus on the structural buildings   before we I guess we've already done it though,  which is the insides of these, uh, libraries. Uh, thank you, uh, mayor and council members, Gary  Jansen, public works and utilities. there was a   kind of a special set of circumstances related  to this issue that you point well received. I   get it. You're right. And we certainly as we go  through these projects, we're trying to evaluate   as many issues as we can. Uh the focus here uh  was on a lot of what happens with the interior   use and the space. Um there again there were  some circumstances that led to this not being   a part of the project but I think it gives us the  opportunity to re-evaluate how we approach these   in the future. So I appreciate the comment and  uh we do want to be as thorough as we can upfront   with these projects. Do you have any updates  regarding Alfred then? Um we I I can get you   uh I don't have specific updates with me.  Uh we do have funding for roof replacement,   additional window replacement, and then we're also  looking ahead at funding that's in the CIP for   um some of the uh facade removal and replacement  to to hopefully address the issues we're having   with the leaks. Um same thing there. When those  repairs were originally made, some of what has   happened since that point in time we were not  aware of. Uh, and it had nothing to do with the   repairs that were already made. Uh, but we do have  funding program to be able to move forward. So,   I can get you specifics on that because we've got  multiple things getting ready to happen there,   too. Thank you, Gary. And I know that we have  seven libraries and a majority of them had major   improvements. So, I just want to make sure that  people understand that we are making those major   investments not just inside, but also structurally  so that it is a sound building. Thank you,   Gary. Council member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor  Josh. Can you go back to I think it's six, maybe?   Certainly. This is probably a question for Gary.  Sorry, Gary. Is this the drains in Oldtown? Um,   like in the center that I'm always harassing.  Yes. Yes. The the drains that are at the center   of the street. The ones that we've been talking  about. We've had the temporary plates on them.   Unique situation. When these were designed years  ago, they they lasted. They they served us well,   but to try to get in and make repairs has  been more challenging than we thought. So,   we've tried to take a different approach to  make sure these last longer next time being   fairly unique and some of the materials being used  um resulted in a higher cost than we expected. So,   we're going to take one more look and maybe  find a different way to approach this,   but hopefully we can get back to bidding soon.  and get the per and get the permanent repairs   done. I don't know what that timeline looks  like just yet, but I'll let you know as soon   as we know. Okay. Thank you. And then lastly,  Josh, um it's slides 10 and 15, so maybe it's a   chief's no question. Okay. 93,000 and then I think  what was um 15 909. So major um investments into   the fire departments. Can Chief Snow maybe just  address uh the needs for this and how this will   help with safety uh for our our firefighters  as well? Sure. I see Chief Snow coming now. Good morning, mayor, city council members, fire  chief Tammy Snow. Um, yes, both of these are part   of a larger package for our station alerting.  Um, it will upgrade our station alerting. Um,   and allow us to to uh receive and transmit  signals. Um, it's all part of a big package. These   are two components of it. Um the current station  alerting it's currently out for um well we have   RFPs and we are currently uh um interviewing um  the potential bid packages currently. Um some of   the specifications on it or are to change the way  we currently alert our firefighters. Um currently   there's a loud blast whenever an emergency call  comes in waking the entire station or notifying   the entire station. Um in the current um vendors  that we're interviewing at this particular time,   we've changed that to cardiac alerting  which means it's more heart friendly. Um   if a firefighter is asleep at night, um it the  tones ramp up. goes from very soft to loud. Um,   the packages also have the uh amenity  or the luxury or uh another feature of   uh being able to um if we have multiple units in a  station, we can alert just those that are assigned   to that particular uh station. So allowing the  rest of the members to continue to sleep. So yes,   it's uh more health friendly and uh moving  forward and these is like I said, these are   just two components of it. Thank you, Chief. So  nearly a million dollars and it is going to help   uh with really the safety and uh health of  firefighters as well as communication. Yes. Thank   you. Appreciate it. I have no further questions  and I see no further questions from the bench.   I move to approve the board of bids and  contracts for September 8th, 2025. Second   motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk,   please call the next item. Petitions  for public improvements. [Music] Good morning, mayor, city council members.  Paul Gunsman, public works and utilities.   For the record, I have one location for your  consideration this morning. The signatures   on the petitions represent 100% of the  improvement districts and the petitions   are valid per Kansas statute. Northwest  High School addition located in district   5. The project will provide sewer improvements  required for an existing commercial development. And it is recommend recommended that the city  council approved the new petition and budget,   adopt a new resolution, and authorize the  necessary signatures. I'll stand for questions.   Questions for staff? I see none. I move to approve  the petitions for public improvements. Second.   Motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes. 70. Madame clerk, please call  the next item. Ordinances relating to sections   568-218 and 505030 of the code of the city  of Witchaw relating to mapping restrictions good morning Sharon Dick Graph City Law  Department. I'm here today to talk about um   some procedural cleanup ordinances um regarding  existing ordinances that we have for mapping   restrictions for anti-prostitution areas and the  Oldtown um overlay as background. Um since 1995,   we have had these mapping restrictions in  effect for prostitution or sale of sexual   relations offenses. The areas were essentially  near the Broadway corridor. Those areas were based   on statistics at the time that these were high  level prostitution areas. Um they are essentially   uh areas from 21st Street on the north to second  street on the south, Maine on the west and   Washington on the east. And then the second anti-  prostitution area was south of Kellogg um Waterman   on the north to 47th Street South, Washington on  the east and witchah on the west. Second uh set of   ordinances that these amendments would include  are back our Oldtown enhanced penalties and   mapping restrictions in reference to Oldtown. 2014  ordinances were passed that allowed for additional   penalties for person related crimes occurring  in the Oldtown area. These penalties included   a mandatory fine as well as um opportunities for  the court to restrict individuals from returning   to the Oldtown area as a condition of probation.  Um the area included in this is essentially the   Oldtown overlay. The proposed ordinances um fix  a technical change in the ordinances that would   allow these mapping restrictions to be part of  um my office's um diversions or deferred judgment   agreements. It would allow the court and um my  office the opportunity to file additional charges   um if these mapping restrictions were violated as  part of the defersion and deferred judgment. Um   defersion and deferred judgment is an opportunity  for offenders to keep charges off of the record if   they comply with all the terms and conditions of  the agreement. We are asking that the ordinances   be placed on first reading and authorize any  necessary signatures. and I would stand for any   questions. Thank you, Sharon. Questions for staff  beginning with Council Member Glasco. Thank you,   Mayor. Um, I know we had to discuss and Sharon,  thank you for answering all my questions earlier   this week, but I'll just reiterate them now.  So, they're in the public a little bit too,   the whatifs uh regarding this. What if someone's  driving through transit in here? What about if   someone's going to work? Uh, if they're going to  the farmers market, if they have a family event,   what are the exceptions? Did the judge make the  makes those exceptions as they travel through?   the judge may make exceptions. PD PD is only going  to have contact with people quite candidly if   there's a problem. Um, one of the other questions  that a council member asked me yesterday was how   how how do we know about these restrictions  and there is an order that's filed with the   court copy is sent to spider. Um, so then when  an officer would make contact with a person,   um, they would know then that they're on that  anti-prostitution or mapping restriction. So,   if I'm passing through Oldtown, we're never going  to stop you. Um, if you're at a farmers market um   and you are mapped out, that could be a violation.  Um, but if you ask the court for exceptions,   the court would then determine whether or not an  exception was appropriate. And so, this is less   about enforcement, more about uh helping in  prosecution, right, in the future. Thank you,   Council Member Jonathan. Thanks, Mayor. Thank  you for the presentation. Um, just a couple   questions. So, are there any time restrictions  on this or would that be something that someone   would have to ask a judge for exception wise? You  mean as far as time of day or um, you can ask for   exceptions? I mean, if if I work in the area, um,  frankly, the exceptions that we could ask for for   work in the area, they were using work vehicles  when they were committing the crime. Um, so those   were not granted. Um but the period of any kind  of restriction is for a period of the probation   or the diversion agreement which is generally one  year. Okay. But it's 247 restriction and unless   there's some exception authorized by the court  or the diversion agreement. Okay. If there is   a situation where maybe this is wanted but the  person resides in Oldtown, how would that work?   would be up to the court as to whether or not it  was appropriate for that person to continue to   reside in Oldtown for that year period of time. I  have never seen it applied to someone who lived in   Oldtown and required them to move. Okay, that was  all I have for now. Council member Ballard. Thank   you, Mayor Sharon. Thank you for the presentation  and for answering my questions um yesterday,   I guess. Um, can you talk a little bit about the  successes of this and is that why we are expanding   it into Oldtown or did did legal bring this up  or legal? Yeah, legal legal brought this up. Um,   we don't file a lot of violations of the mapping  restrictions and that could be that they're   either successful or they're just not going to  back to those areas for that period of time.   Um it became an issue when we were wanting to  have these restrictions on people who were on the   diversion agreement for the period of agreement  and the court did not feel comfortable ordering   those because the ordinance talked about condition  of probation or conviction. Um so we just wanted   to include language to allow that as a sentencing  tool and a tool for our office to use as regarding   diversion con conditions. Great. Thank you so much  Sharon. So these types of offenses again are I'm   looking at page two of the ordinance. So urinating  in public, defecating in public, public nudity,   these are all items that if a individual has  been charged with these items then would not   be allowed to be in the area. You have to be  convicted or you have to be placed on diversion.   Um and we are asking for a slight expansion into  those um to include the the offenses that you just   listed. Um right now they are related to the  person crimes, the battery crimes, the assault   crimes. Um but we are asking for a slight um  expansion of those in the Oldtown area to include   some of the public nudity type offenses that we  are seeing. How often are we seeing those types of   offenses? I do not have that data with me, but I  could get that for you. Has that been increasing,   decreasing, or staying the same? I'm going to  look to see if Captain Moses has any data or idea. I don't have specific data on those specific  incidents. Um, but obviously crime in Oldtown   or or downtown is of high priority to everyone in  our community. It's something we hear a lot about.   Uh certainly the perception of crime in in  the Oldtown and downtown area is something   we hear a lot about. So it is something that  we track uh just not these specific crimes,   but I can certainly have those pulled uh and  get those to you at a later date if you'd like.   You don't need to. I don't want to add one  more layer of um information. This is more   of the question that I wanted to know which is  how often has this been an issue in particular   that this obviously law believed that this was  an issue to bring it to an ordinance change but   how often has this really been an issue in the  Oldtown area? Well, I'll let Sharon talk about   the issue with the diversion versus probation,  but what I can touch on is we all saw incidents   in the last six months that draw extreme  public attention to the Oldtown area. Uh,   and and we certainly feel that any additional  restriction we can place to help people feel   safe in that area is important. I'm speaking  specifically about the case where a female was   battered in the Oldtown area that draw a lot of  that drew a lot of public attention. Uh so from   the police department's perspective, having  another tool in the tool belt to try to keep   uh problem people out of the area while they  work on changing their behavior is beneficial. I don't have anything to add other than what  Captain Mosa said. It's just really to give our   office another tool um and the police department  another tool should these people come back   um into an area that that they shouldn't be for  that limited period of time. Thank you Sharon   and Captain Moses. I see no further questions.  We'll open it up for public comment. I see none.   We'll bring it back to the bench. I see no  council members. So, I will go ahead and move   uh to approve the proposed ordinances and  authorize the necessary signatures. Second.   Motion and a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk,  please call the next item.   Amendments to chapter 544  related to illegal dumping. Sharon Degraph City Law Department. I'm here  today to talk about um ordinance changes regarding   illegal dumping. Um, as background, an illegal  dumping work group was formed and has been working   for about the last 18 months um to look at ideas  on how to improve enforcement of illegal dumping   um and hopefully help the city with some cost  recovery as we clean up these dump sites. Um,   since 2018, almost 11,000 dump sites have been  remediated by MABC and their contractors at a   cost of a little over $1.5 million. Um these  codes or sorry these violations um present   unique prosecution challenges. Um nearly 50%  of the criminal charges were dismissed due to   evidentiary issues and less than $4,000 in fines  have been collected by municipal court. Um one of   the requests was for illegal dumping data based  on districts. We were not able to locate concrete   numbers, but the map on the slide does show the  concentration of dumping sites um within the city.   They are primarily focused into the downtown  core area, some up um north. And that shows   essentially the breakdown of districts and where  those illegal dumping activities occur. The task   force came up with a number of recommendations.  Uh first was to enhance ordinance penalties for   illegal dumping. Um allocate additional resources  for a dedicated MABCD inspector and continue   to look at grant funding opportunities for  enforcement efforts. Um additionally, it was   recommended that evidence collection be enhanced  by additional surveillance cameras. um working   with the police department's technologies for  flock cameras and closed captioning TV cameras and   uh assisting with community efforts and reporting  of these violations. Um, the final recommendation   is a six-month pilot program um to use existing  MABC staffing resources um to help build better   cases um and hopefully catch these offenders.  Additionally, we would continue to leverage WB WPD   technologies um and install and monitor existing  camera systems in separate locations where   illegal dumping frequently occurs. We would base  those on um ClickFix um reports as well as the   data that you saw from 2023. Um the PO proposed  ordinances do a number of different things.   Um they increase the fines to a minimum of  $500 for convicted offenders. Um it also has a   structured tier penalty with um fines escalating  as it goes up. It allows the court to impose   um restitution requirements um on offenders  to help pay for or offset cleanup costs. Um,   this is a new charge and it was one that would  hold the offender's liable. Um, if my vehicle or   trailer is used for illegal dumping, I could be  responsible for um, the illegal dumping charges   and restitution um, in the same manner as if I  was the person that actually did the dumping.   um a classification of major violations is created  which has enhanced penalties based on the number   of large items that you dump. Um those tend to  be costly for the city to get rid of. So if I   have dumped two sofas and three refrigerators, I  now have five separate violations. Um, municipal   court may continue to order community service um  for offenders if they cannot pay otherwise. Um,   and it would allow the court to assess the cleanup  costs as restitution. Um, spoke about this just   briefly. Um, the owner of the vehicle or trailer  uh would be responsible for the illegal dumping.   Um, they would be or could be assessed the same  fine, $500 for a first violation and $150 for   major violation. Um, the goal of this is to have  better cases. Um, it's it's easier sometimes to   get a description of a vehicle and perhaps a tag  number um than it was Sharon Dickraph out dumping   her mattress. Um, you could see my vehicle with  my car tag um and then trace it back to me. Uh,   we would ask that the ordinance be placed on first  reading and authorize all necessary signatures. Um   I have representatives from the entire um internal  working group here. So if there are specific   questions for MABCD um and WPD um as far as what  has been occurring and where we go from here   um they can hopefully assist with answering  those questions. Thank you Sharon and the   entire team that has been working for 18 months  towards this solution. Uh I really appreciate it.   Council member Hoheisle. Thank you mayor. Thank  you Sharon. Thank you everybody else. Chris,   everybody, Daniel, all of you who's been working  on this. Um, this is quite an issue in my district   as we saw by the heat map. I know we've had a  couple of different pilots over the years. Um,   it's been a touch and go. Um, we've learned  some things with some of these pilots. I   think what you're talking about as far as the the  prosecution of the people who have the vehicles,   own the vehicles, is a big one because that's  always been a barrier to successfully prosecuting.   Yeah. Um, so I I do appreciate all your  work. Um, a couple of quick questions. Um,   in here you talk about rummaging uh people who  rummage through it and kind of spread the mess   even more. Can you uh just touch base on that  for a little bit for us? We are we are adding   or it's proposed to add an offense that if  you rummage and leave through a mess. So,   if I go to Goodwill and they have some boxes  sitting out or they have a dumpster for Goodwill   and I go in and I take things out and I spew  them all about, the spewing about of those items   um would also violate this particular ordinance.  Okay. Is there like how do we prosecute that? Like   what would the fine spewing about? It would it  would be the same process to to prosecute any   illegal dumping. um we would need to see the  person there. Um a lot of the Goodwill agencies   I know of um do have cameras just because they're  tired of getting illegal things dumped. Um so   we would use the same type of mechanisms to try  to enforce that violation as we would the other   violations. Okay, thank you for that. Um we talk  about an additional MB MABCD inspector position.   Um, is that a new one or is that moving about  from the the current employment? The the current   six-month pilot is to utilize existing staff. Um,  the task force can't implement extra people. Um,   we can recommend that. Um, the abbreviated final  recommendation was to utilize current staff. um   have a six-month pilot program that they would  have more dedicated to illegal dumping um and   then at the end of that six-month determine  whether financially a new position would be   warranted. And I'm going to look for Chris or  Daniel if you want to add anything to that. Good morning, Mayor Council. Well, Chris Labram,  MABCD for the record and uh thank you for that,   sir. Thanks, Sharon, for the presentation as well.  And so, yes, our uh my vision of this, if you   will, is um again, the change in the ordinances  are a big game changer for us and the ability   to try to prosecute, get the the information to  Sharon and her prosecutors that they would need.   We often get video, maybe we get pictures. We've  had everything from individuals wearing a hat   that said, "Ah, I don't think that was me." They  didn't even flat out deny it was. They just said,   "I think it don't think it was or the video is a  little grainy." Uh, and therefore, uh, we are not   allowed to prosecute. So, being able to pull the  vehicle in, uh, and that gives us a lot more, uh,   ability to tie that evidence together. So, what  I would foresee with this is if we can get uh,   some uh, payback through fines, some cost  recovery through fines, uh, through the um,   reimbursement of dump site cleanups, that will  help. But mainly if we can start to deter illegal   dumping, then we'll be back here next spring  with part of our budget process hopefully to   say that we can take uh a good portion of the  $300,000 a year that we're spending right now to   cleanup sites and divert that towards resources  such as an inspector vehicle equipment that we   would need to continue to deter and prevent the  illegal dumping. If we can be successful with the   uh implementation and uh with this that that will  be our long range plan. All right. I appreciate   that. And thanks again, you WPD, everybody who's  been working on this. Um, if you guys need any   suggestions for any of the pilot sites, I have  one or five or six that I could give you. So,   um, but thank you again for all your guys' work  on this. Very welcome. Thank you, Chris. Follow-up   question. What's the salary of a typical MABC  inspector position? Uh, they're about 60,000,   60 to 70 depending on range. um top out around  75. So with benefits uh and that's what I look   at with benefits, salary, and a vehicle, I'm  about $150,000. So about half of the current   illegal dumping budget. Thank you, Chris.  Council member Johnson. Thanks, Mayor. Thanks,   Chris. Sharon team. Um I guess my thought process  even to your point Chris is um I kind of think the   initial fine should be higher than 500 and happy  to have that conversation but just um the ugly   act of illegal dumping is an intentional act and  I just believe that $500 is a little low. I think   it should be double that at a th00and and maybe  a language change in the ordinance. Instead of   saying not less than 500, just saying it's $1,000  on the first conviction. Um, looking at the ramp   up on I think page eight. Um, not less than 1,000.  I would say not less than 1500, no more than   2,000. But I would ramp that up just because of  what we've seen. Just like council member Hohisel,   I've had several neighborhood people send videos.  Chris, you know that. I've sent them to you,   too. And people are just really frustrated. And  I think $1,000 minimum is a really good deterrent   hopefully to stop people from doing that. But  I just wanted to add that in. I agree with   um ramping this up, adding tools to the tool  belt. You all work really hard and adding more   tools to make sure we can address these issues  I think is a good thing. Thank you. I am going   to second what council member Johnson has  just said. I actually was looking at the   violations for fireworks ordinances and firsttime  violations will result in a $1,000 fine or 100   uh community service hours. So again, there's  always that option for community service. However,   the fine for fireworks is a thousand. illegal  dumping. If we just look at the numbers that were   provided to us, $1.5 million was spent between  now and 2018 to remediate these sites for from   illegal dumping. And the only fines we were able  to get back to recover the 1.5 million was $4,000.   So, we need to send a stronger message that our  city doesn't tolerate actions that hurt others,   especially in neighborhoods. Uh, these illegal  dumping sites uh then become a safety hazard   for people in our community. And so, I am for  a stronger fine or a higher fine of $1,000 as   well. Council member Glascock. Thank you, Mayor.  Um I would support uh the strictest enforcement we   could have on legal dumping as well on particular  areas and try to give you as many tools uh to be   successful in uh prosecuting them. Um regarding  this was my question last time to Sharon but it's   question you could answer as well. Um in some ways  this is probably less about enforcement but more   of prosecution for individuals. Correct. This  would give us more tools to prosecute. Correct.   Uh for successful prosecution. Yes sir. So, one  thing I was looking um on the analysis um item   1B said that this will strengthen uh so this one  might be more of a sharing question. Um provide   courts with the ability to impose restitution  fees on offenders to uh cover cleanup cost. So,   I was trying to look through the actual language  of the ordinance and I probably just skipped past   it. You know, when you read something like four  times and I couldn't find it, but where does it   specifically say the restitution side? I soul  were said the fine on I'm sorry on page 8 J the   court may require in addition to the fine and as  a condition of probation person convicted remove   or pay the cost of removing any waste matter  which the person dumped or caused to be dumped   on public or private property. I think I just want  to make sure that that language was in there. And   then regarding the uh background um on the sheet  that we are provided, less than 4,000 fines been   collected by the municipal court. So previously up  to this, we weren't uh doing restitution on top of   fines. It was just the fine. It was just the fine.  Okay. Thank you. Thank you for your work on this. Thank you, Sharon. And thank you to the team. And  I might just add procedurally if it is the will of   the council to change those amounts as far as the  minimum and maximum that could be done as part of   the motion and then it would just be cleaned up  and you would be provided a cleaned up version   on second reading. And if I was following Council  Person Johnson, that would be sections H on page   seven. And then over on page eight would be the  same change for the minimum for a second offense   to the maximum of $2,500 is generally what  we have jurisdiction over in municipal court. Council member Ballard. Oop. Sorry. Thank you,  Mayor. I have a quick question for Bob. Um,   sorry if I'm out of order, but I was just  thinking, do you know offand how much our   budget is for the neighborhood cleanups? I'm  just curious how much we spend on that. And   then obviously there's just a situation with  a lot of trash and that's why it gets dumped.   I'm just curious how much money you were  spending. I know it's just off the cuff, but yes. No, sorry. It's just I'm just curious. I  don't know that I remember. I know I remember   the transfer. I'm gonna I think it's  around $100,000 if I remember correctly,   but don't quote me on that. Okay. 300,000  300,000. Okay. Only off by 200. So that   so it's that those organized cleanups in addition  to the million dollars that we're spending on the   illegal dumping. That That's correct. Okay. Okay.  Thank you, Council Member Johnson. Thanks, Mayor.   Um Sharon, one question I forgot to ask you that  came in my email and then a second one I thought   of. I'll start. This is probably the harder one.  Um some of the illegal dumping that's happened in   District 1 over the years Inspectors have told me  to stop doing this, but I would go look through   the pile and see addresses that were not attached  to where it was dumped. Would the individual's   name that's found and that be um prosecuted? Or  if we were able to identify who actually dumped   it and it was a different person, would they be  prosecuted? That's in here. Um, page six, uh, D is   in dog. Did I miss that? Um, if there's evidence  of three or more items in the waste manner,   there can be presumption. And it's a presumption  because I think in a lot of the situations that   you're talking about, right or wrong, I may have  paid my nephew Billy to go take my trash to the   dump and instead he dumped it there and kept  my $25. I mean, so we we as prosecutors and   the inspectors look at all the facts, but there's  a presumption and and then it would be up to the   individual who paid her nephew or whoever or Bob's  trash service or whatever to come back and say,   "No, I in fact paid him to do this." Okay. Um the  question in my email is um what would be done for   illegal dumping at a business? So this person  works at a business and said that trash companies   find them for cleaning up illegal dumping when  people go dump furniture, mattresses, tires,   paint, and all that other stuff in front of their  trash recepticles. Is that something they would   just share that video with us to prosecute who did  it? Yes. Okay. Would the would the judge be able   to look at the fines that maybe this business  receives and add that as a condition of I guess   the result of court or are they kind of on their  own for that and that's a civil matter that they   would have to sue this individual. Okay. So, okay,  let me make sure I got the facts right. So, I own   XY business and ABCD comes and tags me because I  have junk out there. I then come back with a video   that shows that ABC, my neighbor, dumped the junk  there. They're saying that the hauler would. So   if Waste Connections is your hauler and somebody  dumps there, Waste Connections cleans it up, but   they find them. Yeah. I have to pay for an extra  mattress or oversized item or whatever. I mean,   I I think you could ask the court as a matter  of restitution. I mean, that was something that   the property owner had to pay or expend to get  those items removed. So, I think that would be   an appropriate ask if we have enough information  to cross all the lines and dot all the tees to get   over to who who did the dumping. And that's always  been the problem in this case is who dumped it.   Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Sharon. Uh you mentioned  an example a little bit earlier ago where you   said uh say for instance two sofas I'll make  it two mattresses and three fridges that's five   violations. Yep. And just so that people kind of  have an understanding of what those costs are. If   they would have gone to Brooks Landfield um the  mattresses per mattress is $20 each. So that's   $40. And then the three fridges any items with  free on is $50 each. So, um, $150. So, nearly   200 bucks, um, in that they could have taken it  to Brooks Landfield. Instead, they would get five   violations. If we went with the $1,000 fine,  how would that work? On the on the big stuff,   it's a bigger fine. On page 10, if you dump big  items, it's $1,500 per violation. So, if you're   talking the five big things, if my math is right,  the fine should be $7,500. So, it's $1,500 per big   thing. So, they could save themselves that fine  $7,000 go to Brooks Landfill and simply go and   dump it there instead of illegally dumping in our  community plus any restitution costs. So, there's   always a choice. In other words, there's a choice  where you can do it appropriately. um and there's   a choice of just dumping it in our neighborhoods  which is illegal. So I appreciate again I wanted   to give context to those numbers uh so that  people understand there is an opportunity to   do it correctly and then there's an opportunity to  do it incorrectly. Um in addition I had one more   question. Um council member Ballard asked about  neighborhood cleanup costs. So per year $300,000   So neighborhoods have an opportunity. Um if  you cannot afford going to Brooks Landfield,   you can go to these neighborhood cleanups. I know  council member Hohheisel Ballard and many others   um have them in their neighborhood. So there is  an opportunity for free um neighborhood cleanups.   Is that correct? There there is. I do not know the  frequency of those cleanups and and I think that's   the I mean the issue is always I'm getting ready  to move. I have all this junk. What do I do? Do   I leave it and then my landlord keeps my deposit?  Do I leave it at the curb? Do I call my c cousin   Billy? Um if if I can't wait for that cleanup,  which would certainly be what we would want you   to do. Um but just looking at what resources are  out there rather than just leaving at the curb   and telling telling citizens it's somebody else's  problem is really what we're trying to address. So   back to some personal responsibility. Yes. Thank  you very much, Council Member Hoisel. Oh, sorry,   Council Member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor.  So question for I don't know if this for my   colleagues but um so by increasing the fine which  I agree with. My concern is if we only collected   $4,000 in the past and we've spent a million for  the cleanups. I just it sounds great, you know,   in theory to up the consequence, but we're already  not collecting a lot. And so I'm just curious how   you guys feel about that. I'm I mean I I believe  that there needs to come a consequence for for   illegal dumping. Sometimes you the only way to  get their attention is you know to hit him in   the pocket, but if we're already um having a  hard time collecting. I just am curious your   thoughts on what that might look like. May Mayor,  if I could and I'd like Sharon to address this.   If all we were doing was just increasing fines, I  wouldn't disagree with you. But we're asking for   significant changes in the ordinance in order  to help us with prosecutions. And so I think   we could see a substantial increase in revenue  because now we have greater tools to be able   to find someone guilty or provide evidence  to the uh uh court to try to get guilty.   If I may tag in manager uh Captain Moses  again for the record, that's the exact   conversation we had as part of the work group.  Uh the the work group kind of started around,   you know, the lowest barrier change we can make is  increase the fines. And we all said that's great,   but what does that mean? And so that's when we  started looking at how can we also increase the   fine and fill the gaps in the prosecution because  what we found is some of these barriers like not   being able to hold the vehicle owner responsible.  that those were the types of things that really   limited the ability of MABC, law enforcement, and  the prosecutor's office to successfully prosecute   a case. So, that's why we did both of these  together. We had the conversation about increasing   the fine amount candidly. Uh we anticipated  some of this conversation from the bench,   but we wanted that to be a discussion that  you all were able to have and not something   that staff imposed. Uh but we had some of  those very similar conversations, but that's   why this all kind of comes together in in two  different ways like the manager said. Thank you.   Council member Ho Heisel. Thank you, Mayor.  Um, yeah, I I agree and I support raising   those fines 100%. Uh, just a little background on  the neighborhood cleanups. I believe we use CDBG   funds for that. Um, or some sort of federal  funding, I believe, for it. No. Okay, Becca,   could you come up here and just give a little  background about that? here. Um but also um   another barrier that we see with the neighborhood  cleanups is that um you essentially have to have a   neighborhood association to run those cleanups. It  might be worth a discussion moving forward about   how to work our way around that a little better  cuz there's a number of areas in all around the   city that don't have neighborhood cleanups because  they don't have an association going which I think   is one of the requirements there. Yeah. Um,  we don't use CDBG funds. I don't have the   full answer, so I don't run that program. Becca  Johnson from Office of Community Services for the   record. Believe it is part of public works budget  for dumps. I think it it's a transfer from the   um our landfill fund. Okay. Okay. Yes. Um, but we  do have requirements about the neighborhoods that   are allowed to have them that do uh they have  to be low to moderate income neighborhoods.   Okay. Thank you. Can you reiterate that? Um, city  manager, since I mentioned uh Brooks Landfill,   uh, obviously people are asked to come and dump  there appropriately with a fee. And so because   of these fees, then we're able to provide free  neighborhood cleanup locations so that people   who cannot afford paying the $20 for a mattress  dump that they can have it at a neighborhood   location. Can you address that? That has always  been um that this has been part of uh our method   of trying to help individuals who are either low  to moderate income individuals. It it has, mayor,   the money is transferred from the landfill fund  uh into the cleanup program. Um it's something   that we're reviewing right now because uh we are  uh projecting some difficulties in that fund going   forward and so our ability to be able to fund  the neighborhood cleanup to the level that we   have in the past may come in jeopardy a little bit  because of that. Um, but that's under study right   now and we're doing some long range projections  to make sure that the landfill fund stays healthy.   Um, we the council also, if I remember correctly,  modified the program a few years ago so that some   neighborhoods could take advantage of it that  aren't necessarily low or moderate income to   make sure that um there were parts of the city  where a group of neighbors could come together or   a homeowner association sponsor a cleanup. But if  I reme it's just a handful if I remember correctly   every year. Council member Johnson. Thanks Mayor.  U just adding to the conversation what Captain   Moses said is why I think the increase in fines  would be good. Adding those additional tools I   think will result in better prosecutions. And  I think a few people and I continue to think   about that red truck that was in that video. I  think a few good examples of people being fined   for all the waste that they are dumping would  make an impact and hopefully in the future it's   not happening as much but I think initially  having those additional tools will help out. Uh if I mayor thank you uh councilwoman Ballard  has asked me if I could go down go ahead and   break down the case totals uh that we've had. So  if you look at that uh those prosecution numbers   uh since 2018 we have cleaned up 10,944 total dump  sites. Uh of those we were able to charge 72. Um   we were able to get 17 of those into court and  we were able to get six convictions of those. So   uh oh actually sorry I take that back. So we  had 17 no contest and six uh guilties. So,   of those uh we were we were able to uh to get  about half of those um with a conviction and   that resulted in the $3,6896 cents in fines that  we were able to recover. So, that's the complete   breakdown of those numbers and uh as the manager  and others have said, we would certainly hope that   uh we would see a gross increase in that um be  able to recover uh a great uh a great deal more.   Uh another thing uh I will add is so to the topic  of the dump sites and by council district. So we   track every dump site uh the decision was made  several years ago that um we should not be making   management decisions based on council district and  the location of those sites. It should be based   on the urgency of the site and what was in it. So  that's why we had not uh ever retained or tracked   that that data by council district. uh if that  is valuable, especially with this new ordinance,   we can certainly begin doing that uh so that we  have it going forward. Does that answer all of   your questions? Ma'am, I have a follow-up question  to that. Um so, of those neighborhood cleanups,   can I just understand the breadth of which  districts, is it the same three districts that   there have been issues on the map? Oh, you have  one. So, can you just raise your hand if your   district receives funds for neighborhood cleanups?  So, no council district 5 or no council district   2. I I believe there have been limited ones in  one and five. That's why the council changed the   policy of several years ago, but they're very  limited. And I don't have that information. It   would be probably one or two a year at the most  if I remember correctly. And it's a first come,   first serve basis. I know the council opened it  up, but I don't know that there have been many   applications. For clarification, you said one  in five. Did you mean two and five? I'm sorry,   I meant two and five. Okay, thank you. I'm not  a aware of any, but that doesn't mean that it   hasn't happened, but my usually it's an HOA that  comes together to do a cleanup in my district. Thank you. So, there are opportunities. Again,  I just want to make it clear that that's why I   really uh lean on the council members. They are  very good at sharing when there's a neighborhood   cleanup because that is your quote free  opportunity to uh do it appropriately but   also not get charged what you would get charged  at the landfill but it is being subsidized. So   that is I think what I just um gleaned from that  information and knowing that the fund is unstable,   can you address what are steps that we're taking  to make it stable? So again, that there are   opportunities for those that cannot pay still have  these free opportunities. Um mayor, primarily what   we're doing is looking at our fee structure. Um  we think we've been undercharging at the landfill.   um when we look at competition on the private  side. And so we're trying to find the right spot   not to discourage dumping um uh by our the vendors  that use us, but at the same time to get closer to   cost recovery. Thank you, Council Member Jonathan.  Thanks, Mayor. Um two things, Chris. I do think   it's important to track that by district just to  have that data. um to the neighborhood cleanup   piece is a little more complicated um than we are  talking about. We don't publicly advertise um when   those are happening citywide because of illegal  dumping. So if neighborhood A had a cleanup on   Saturday, that neighborhood knows about it. The  rest of the city does not just because people will   bring stuff over there and it's incumbent upon uh  most of us work with those neighborhoods. But, uh,   council member CSR, neighborhood president, their  group to door knock and let people know when that   is, get the flyers out. Hopefully they get their  belongings to the curb. And that happens once a   year. We really need to do that more, but we  don't have the budget for that. Um, and that's   kind of where some of this comes from. That one  time per year is great. People get stuff out,   but in four or five months they may have something  else that they need and they don't have the funds   to do that. And I think that's where some of this  comes from. Um, but again, those are not fully   advertised citywide. And in cases, at least in  District One, where I've seen people put that on   social media. One time we had a bus from West W,  not a bus, a boat from West Witchah show up at a   neighborhood and they tried to leave it there and  speed off, but luckily the neighborhood president,   myself, and the neighborhood officer were there  to make sure that did not happen. But so most   of the time that's just advertised within the  neighborhood to try to stop that from happening. Thank you, council members. Thank you,   staff. I see no further questions right now.  We will now open it up for public comment. I see none. I'll bring it back to the bench. Council member Heisel. Thank you, Mayor. I think  most of us up here are in agreement to raise the   fine. Um, so Sharon, I don't know if you need to  help me through this, but you indicated earlier   on page five, I believe it is. Page seven. Seven.  Thank you. Seven and eight. Yeah, seven and eight.   And then the section H. H as in Harry. Yep. Um, go  ahead. Oh, no. If you wanted to increase the fine,   the motion would just be moved to approve  the ordinance with the following changes. Um,   increase the fine in section H to $1,000,  not more than $2500. Second violation,   not less than $1,500, no more than $2,500, I  think was the gist of the conversation. Okay. So,   I move that we approve the ordinance with  the changes of in section H changing changing   the language from a mandatory fine not  less than $500 to $1,000. And then also changing um on page eight, not less than a,000  or more than 2,000 to uh $2,000. $2,000. Yeah.   that. Yeah, I believe $2,000. Second.  And if I could interrupt for a moment,   just to add the magic language, we'd like to  place have the motion to place the ordinance   on first reading with those changes and authorize  necessary signatures. Just and place the ordinance   on first reading and authorize the necessary  signatures. Thank you so much, Jennifer. Okay,   second motion and a second. Any further  discussion? Council member Johnson. Thanks,   Mayor. Council member Hohheisle, would  you take a friendly amendment on page   eight to say not less than 1,500, no more than  2500? Accepted. [Music] Second. Motion and a   second. I see no further discussion.  Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk,  please call the next item.   Ordinances relating to noise nuisances  and the operation of loud vehicles. This is kind of the Sharon show today. Um  noise trash. Yeah. Okay. Um before you today   are amendments relating to the city's noise  uh ordinances. Uh currently noise violations   are contained in Title 7. Um when these  were passed in 1991, enforcement of these   ordinances was handled differently. Um the health  department, environmental services department,   now that department is part of public works,  um were responsible for enforcement of these   ordinances. Um when all of those restructuring  activities occurred, um those enforcement   activities got shifted to the police department.  Um the provisions or amendments um do a couple of   different things. um they move the ordinances  to title five with other criminal ordinances   that are enforced by the police department. They  continue to allow um MABCD and other departments   to enforce them. Um but recognize that most noise  violations occur after normal business hours and   your officers are going to be the ones that are  going to get called to those kind of complaints.   Um the methods to establish a noise violation are  unchanged and I know that was one of the questions   that I received. Um there are two methods um  that prosecutors can use to to prove a noise   violation. First one is an actual decibel reading.  The ordinance um continues to have decibel levels   set by the use or zoning of the area. The second  method is testimony that the noise interferes   with a person of reasonable sensibilities.  Um that's a standard that has been upheld by   um the Kansas Court of Appeals and Supreme  Court as a objective basis to establish um a   noise violation. Um the amendments also add some  changes to title 11 in reference to loud vehicles   um which was requested primarily in the downtown  area to address some of the loud vehicles. Um   the same standard is being applied if it is noise  that would interfere with the sensibilities of a   reasonable person. Um a traffic infraction can be  issued to that driver. Um, minimum fine is $500.   Maximum fine is $1,500. Um, I was asked, well,  how would we ever approve those? Officers are   there when they do the speedouts on Douglas. Um,  they're they're going to know what was loud. Um,   they're going to know who who was um interfered  with by that conduct. Um, I would ask that   the ordinance be placed on first reading and  authorize all necessary signatures. Um, Captain   Moses is here. Um if you have any enforcement  type questions um from the police department. Thank you Sharon. Council member Ballard. Thank  you mayor. Um Captain Moses I have a question for   you. Okay. So I hear about this a lot in addition  to the motorcycles but that's for another day. Um   how so how will this be enforced? I mean, I know  you guys are extremely busy. Um, but for example,   will like the entertainment districts all  be treated the same as like downtown Oldtown   Deleno? There's a lot of dragging Douglas going  on. And I'm just curious. I have gotten a couple   messages basically about they're very excited,  but are really looking forward to enforcement. So,   I'm just curious what that might look like.  Uh, it's a great question. So we have done   special assignments in downtown in the downtown  area around Navar Park, Oldtown previously and   I anticipate that that will continue. That is a  priority of the chief because he hears the same   complaints you do. A lot of our enforcement  related to this type of activity is complaint   generated. So we rely on the community to tell  us where these problems are occurring and then   we establish a plan to address them. We have  to balance enforcement with the safety of the   community. Uh, so it's important to make sure  that that that expectation is is metered. Um,   you know, this is a $500 to $1,500 fine for  noise and it is a problem. Uh, but we also want   to make sure that we're not recklessly chasing a  motorcycle or a vehicle that's making loud noise   through the downtown area on a Saturday night uh  when it's packed uh putting people at risk. So,   our our special assignments, while I'm not  going to get into the all the tactics behind it,   they take those types of things into  consideration. Uh, that's why we've been   leveraging technology at the department with  your all with your all support, which we're   grateful for. And we'll continue to use that  technology to enforce things like this. This,   like many of the other things we've talked about  today, simply gives us more tools to address those   problems that people have. Um, so enforcement  will continue to look like what it has probably   uh with increased special assignments focusing  on these specific ordinances now that they've   been kind of tweaked and and that we can use  them a little bit differently. Hopefully that   answers your question. Council member Glasco,  thank you. Um, these questions be for Sharon. Two quick ones. This is the same question  I asked on the last one that this is more   for the prosecution less enforcement. Yes, people  who find violations and then in addition to that   um often we may uh there are some people that  are unreasonable and so how are we defining   reasonleness of a person? Uh it's a legal standard  what would a person of reasonable sensibilities   and normally that's up to the court to  determine. Um, we do like to have in these cases,   um, cooperating testimony. The officer was there.  The officer heard the music. He saw the pictures   vibrating on the wall. Um, we do not intend to,  um, regulate the type of music. I don't like that   music. So, I I want them charged. Um, generally,  we need at least one other person to testify or   provide information that there was, in fact, a  problem. So it may not just be an individual going   down the street and declaring things unreasonable.  That's not the standard that we're using. No.   Okay. [Music] Council member Hohisel. Thank you,  Mayor. Captain Moses, just one quick question. Um,   do we have any ability to measure decibel levels  with our our patrol units? We do have some decibel   readers. They're mostly focused in Patrol South  for Oldtown. Uh we that's where we've used them   most recently related to complaints that we've  received about uh specific locations in Oldtown,   but we do have some um not they're not something  that patrol officers generally carry around, but   we do have some. Okay. Thank you. Approximately  how much is that tool and is it beneficial to have   more of those tools? one of her patrol. I don't  know the exact cost of the tool, but uh Captain   Kulie was a part of purchasing those previously,  I believe, and I can go back and and talk with   him about expanding uh having those in other areas  of the of the city. Thanks, Captain Moses. Council   member Johnson. Thanks, Mayor. U I guess it's  good I got rid of my hemi. It's pretty loud.   Um, I'm sure you drove very responsibly and would  not have violated this order, you know. Yeah,   I did. Yeah. Um, just one quick clarification. I  know the answer to this. Well, I think I do. So,   officers have discretion when they are called  out. So in an example like Sharon just mentioned,   if the neighbors don't like Snoop Dogg or Ice  Cube and that's what's playing, officers can hear   that and just ask them to turn it down because  of that, not just find them immediately. Yeah,   absolutely. Chief Sullivan has taken a very  strong stance about education over enforcement   when we can. So, if it is something where we can  reasonably communicate with the offender and say,   "Hey, you may not have recognized this, but  your neighbor is hearing your noise and and   it's too loud. Please turn it down." That's  what we're going to do first before we move to   just citing somebody. Okay. And in a situation  where there's a responsible person with a Hemi   in their truck who may work out early in the  morning and when they turn their truck on, it   rattles everybody's windows, are they going to get  a potential fine for that just going to work out?   I would say we would utilize the same education  model where we would maybe communicate with that   person and say you may not recognize this but it  is causing issues for your neighbor. We all have a   responsibility to be good neighbors and sometimes  we just need to uh hear from a third party,   an independent third party about how your behavior  might be affecting your neighbors. Cool. Well,   anybody with a hemi make sure you don't  add that extra tailpipe attachment. [Music]   I see no further questions for staff. We'll  open it up for public comment. I see none.   We'll bring it back to the bench. I know I've  had the opportunity to go to breakfastes at   uh Council Member Ballard's District 6 and I've  also heard it in um College Hill and District 1   that this is an issue. Um, and so I will glean  on these two council members to move this item. Sure. Thank you, mayor. Uh, I take would  like to take the recommended action,   adopt their proposed ordinance, and authorize the  necessary signatures. Second motion and a second.   Any further discussion? I see none. Madame  clerk, please open the role. Motion passes.   70. Madame clerk, please call the next item.  Ordinance authorizing use of Hyatt proceeds. Good morning, mayor and city council. Becca  Johnson from the office of community services.   For the record, on September 5th, 2017, the  city council adopted ordinance number 5585,   which authorized use of Hyatt Regency, which  Hayatt Regency witchah sale of proceeds to   fund projects in council districts 1, 2, 3, four,  five, and six. subsequent ordinance of authorized   additional projects and allocations. As part of  those subsequent ordinances, on December 18th,   2018, the city council approved a $200,000 loan  to Starlight LLC, the operator Starlight Drive-In,   for the acquisition of two digital projectors  and other related equipment and installation   costs. The loan was amarized over 5 years  with interest only 1% for the first four   years and then monthly repayment in year  five. The funds were appropriate out of   the funds allocated to district 3 from the  sale of the city-owned Hyatt Regency Hotel   in Witchah. And on December 27th, 2022,  Blake Smith, the operator of Starlite,   requested and received an extension of the loan  agreement for two years due to the financial   hardship of COVID and a slow industry recovery. On  February 4th, 2025, the city council approved an   amendment to the promisary note to restructure  Starlight's loan at Mr. Smith's request. Mr.   Smith has made a $50,000 payment following the  restructuring and agreed to repayment of the   balance of $150,000 beginning July 1st, 2025  with equal monthly installments of $2,147.33, which includes the amortization at 1% through  June of 2031. One payment was made in August   2025, reducing the outstanding balance to  $147,977.67, 67, which means thus far $64,147.40 in proceeds, including $52,000 52,22.33 in principal and $12,125.7 in interest have been  recorded as program income to the district 3 Hyatt   project and are available to be reallocated.  The proposed ordinance allocates $52,000 to   three district 3 projects and the proposed  ordinance additionally allows for future   requests to change the repayment timeline of the  Starlite loan with city council approval. A cont   uh for the projects proposed to get funding. The  first is a contribution of $25,000 to the Witchah   Animal Action League. These funds will be used for  spay and neuter clinics in the district 3 low to   moderate income neighborhoods. The second project  is a contribution of $20,000 to Legacy Works ICT.   Those funds will be used for its continued youth  employment and development programming within   District 3. The third project is a contribution of  $7,000 that would be added to the beautifification   grant program for District 3. $8,731.72 was  previously allocated to this project in 2023.   Grants from this program will be available for  onetime beautifification projects located in   district 3 to include murals, trees, signage, or  other beautifification efforts. It is recommended   the city council place the ordinance on first  reading and authorize the necessary signatures.   And I stand for any questions. Any questions for  Becca from the bench? I'm seeing none. Is there   any uh one that would like to speak on this from  the audience? Seeing none, bring it back to the   bench. Would uh Councilman Hai would like to Yes,  sir. Thank you, uh, Vice Mayor. Um, first I just   want to give uh the flowers to everybody who's  currently doing work in our district. Uh, Wall   is actually in Plane View right now and starting  to get into Hilltop with spay and neuter clinics.   I know we all hear the heartbreaking stories of  um what's going on at the um the animal shelter   and this is a countrywide issue right now. A  lot of it stems from uh the fallout from CO.   This is a good step as far as getting ahead  of this problem so we don't have these issues   further down the road. So they are doing great  work. Um while they not only deal with a lot of   the strays that people have but also education  with people um hooking them up with resources uh   letting them know you know here's where you can  get your heartworm medicine here's how to better   take care of your pets. They also participate  in neighborhood cleanups as a matter of fact   uh just uh this last weekend in Hilltop Wall was  out there and they were also out in Plane View   helping with that as well. So, they're doing  so much more than just helping with this, but   um it's great to be able to help them a little  bit, help us in return. Um also, Legacy Works,   they've been doing great work working with  kids who are um in the foster care system,   working with uh some atrisisk kids as well. Um I f  fully encourage people to go and try their coffee.   I'm not sure if they're still at the downtown  library, but they they've been down at the   downtown library, so stop by there and grab  some of their coffee. They also do pottery   to help teach kids how to garden and um sell that  produce actually to help go back into the program.   It's another great program that we have down in  District 3, and I'm just so thankful that they're   there doing the work. Um, also we are looking at  um uh doing some murals um in Lynwood Park and   uh Hilltop as well on the side of the community  building. So that's what the extra 7,000 or so of   this ordinance will be going to. Um we have one of  South Witchah's um well-known artist uh Bill Stoer   helping with that as well. So, uh this is all  a lot of um great momentum that we have that we   want to further support in the district and also  the drive-in had a significant uh amount of damage   that was done here recently. So, this is just  to help them kind of get the fence repairs done,   get um some of the down limbs uh hauled out of  there as well. So, um, and just also of note,   they will be having a scary movie, um, festivals  here in end of September and October, and those   are always a a blast to deal with as well. So,  I just want to make sure that we give as much   help to the drive-in as uh, we can because it's a  Southside institution. Thank you. And with that,   I almost forgot at the end of that whole ramble.  Um, I recommend that the city council place   the ordinance on first reading reading and  authorize the necessary signatures. Second.   Motion in a second. Any further discussion? I  see none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk, please call  the next item. Funding for 2025 park signage. Hello, Mayor, City Council. Tim  Kellum's public works and utilities   uh here to present on 2025 park signage. So, a  little bit of background. on the adopted 2026   uh 2035 uh CIP includes funding for uh park  signage uh is located in the ongoing section   uh for this year for 2025 that we're uh wanting  to initiate initiate. As you can see here,   this is just a photo of the old uh wood signs.  I'm sure most of you all familiar with those   uh as you drive around town. Um we have new brainy  materials. Um, as you can see, it's kind of all   throughout the the community. And so now it's kind  of the steps to start implementing that into the   uh into the parks. Uh, it helps with wayfinding  and also helps with a stronger sense of place. Uh,   just kind of helps remind people on uh who's  responsible for the parks. Uh, making sure that   they understand that we are uh have these  amenities throughout the the park system.   uh and also provides a bit of um uh continuity  throughout the throughout the system. Uh so a   little bit of analysis. Um the new park signage  uh will pro be provided. Um we're focusing mostly   on the pools. Uh we focused heavily on the rec  centers and community facilities. Uh you should   start to see some of those from the 2024 CIP  uh come up in the next probably about 30 days.   uh probably early October is when you'll start to  see those uh go in. Uh so this is good timing for   us to kind of go through the next round of funding  to start uh implementing new uh signage. Uh we're   really focusing on the main uh heavy heavily  used amenities. So the pools, uh facilities,   rec centers, those sorts of things. And eventually  we'll start to kind of filter down into the   uh large uh regional parks, community parks, and  then eventually we'll get down to the neighborhood   parks uh down the road. Um so our goal is to  do the pools and if we uh have good bids on it,   we'll continue to do additional signage. So uh  Harrison Park would be one of them, Country Acres,   uh K9 Rooster Dog Park, Clap uh Chapen, and then  uh the Kansas Fallen Fighters uh Memorial Park. Uh   that's one that we're looking into. So those  are potential uh locations. Again, if we get   good bids, uh we'll continue to work through uh  our long list. We have over I think 140 parks,   so that means that there's likely over 140 signs.  Uh and many parks have multiple signs, so it'll   take us a little while to get through all of them.  Um but kind of here for the for the long run to   get through and and help uh continue to improve  our parks and make sure we aid with wayfinding.   So, for the financial considerations, uh there's  $100,000 in the ongoing section in the approved   or in the adopted 2026 2035 uh CIP uh for park  signage. And again, this is for 2025 um money. So,   we'll be coming back again uh for 2026 uh park  signage um here in the near future. Uh so,   staff recommends initiating the the whole  amount, the whole $100,000 at this time.   Um, it is recommended that city council  initiate the project, adopt the resolution,   and authorize the necessary signatures. And  I'm happy to stand for any questions. Thank   you for the presentation. Questions for staff? I  have several. Uh, can you go to uh 73 again? So,   I wanted to know this compared to the current  wood signs. How much is this obstructing   um I guess traffic? Because I can see that the old  sign you could still see through and it would be   helpful for people who are making left turns. Um  can you talk about that? Sure. Yeah. So um all   the signs have to go through a a sign permit. Um  so that's done through MABC. So they look through   that make sure that um it is appropriate for the  sign the right size and and is in a good location.   Many of our signs most of the projects that we've  been doing now are the big facilities. So, they   have like Evergreen Rec Center, they get these  big tall ones because they're they're they're   pretty important and most people are trying to go  to those. As we get to these smaller um locations,   we'll be going with a smaller 4x3 sign. So, it'll  it'll be smaller. It'll be basically pretty much   the same size as this one. Um not as bulky uh as  this one. Still very legible. Uh but it will be   roughly about the same size. We don't have any of  those currently installed, so I don't have a photo   for you, but you should start to see those.  Uh we do have a couple of those in the 2024   uh park signage project. So, you'll start to see  those around, so we'll have a better idea. Thank   you. That helps with uh comparison because again,  we're not comparing apples to apples right now.   Yeah. Uh there is no such sign uh example  just yet. Correct. With these old signs,   uh, the wooden signs, do you know how much those  used to cost versus these new signs, which cost   $25,000 each? Um, so $25,000 is is not the number.  It depends on the bids. Um, and the size. We're   seeing that those are coming in around um I think  the latest one was around probably around $4,000   to maybe $10,000. Depends on the size. The taller  ones are are more costly and the smaller ones   are are a little less. you're just using less  material. Um the um uh in terms of cost, I'm   not sure those these metal or these wood ones were  mostly done inhouse. So they were using staff time   to repair these, create these. Um a lot of the  the issues that we're having with the wood signs   are that um when they are vandalized, you can't  just take a uh graffiti remover to them and clean   them off. You have to then go and replace them.  if they get cut, you have to replace them. So,   it's using staff time to go through and maintain  these, whereas it's a lot easier to just remove a   panel, get a new panel made uh for these wood or  for the metal signs, and you could just take the   uh graffiti remover to them a lot quicker. So,  in terms of maintenance, we're we imagine that   we'll be seeing uh less staff time going towards  the the maintenance of these signs um because it   does take quite a bit of um you can see kind of  in the bottom of this one. They do get um with   heavy wind, they are wood, they are susceptible to  to cracking and breaking. Uh there are um uh with   weed eaters and mowers, they do damage the signs  as well. We're putting uh concrete footings around   all of the new signs. So, that makes it easier  for mowers uh in the the maintenance team. So,   our vision is that these new signs will be  getting uh have less uh wear and tear on them   and they'll have a much longer lifespan compared  to these wood ones which do routinely have to get   replaced over time. Um they they just aren't as  as structurally sound. I have several questions,   but Council Member Johnson has some. Thanks,  mayor. I was just going to say I appreciate the   presentation. I really like these. Um when it was  installed, I think the first one was at Lynette   Woodard. People loved seeing that and really  kind of gave a refresh. Not to overstep into   another district, but I just wonder on the Kansas  Firefighter Memorial when you all get there,   would there be entertainment of adding red to it  just for firefighters instead of the consistent   blue and water stuff? Yeah, I I think we're still  kind of exploring funding exactly how that one I   know we do have a mockup for that and I'm planning  to move forward with that sign. Uh but I don't   know the full details exactly on funding just  yet. I know there's a couple of moving pieces   on on that one and what the final design will look  like, but I do believe there will be red on that   one. Awesome. Council member Ho Heisel. Thank you,  Mayor. Uh just a little background. I do believe   red and black is the um the color outline for  that particular one. I think maybe the wording,   whether it's black or white wording is yeah,  kind of where we're at. Um, also it appears that   um that sign will be donated. Um, so we would not  have to have that in our um the CIP going forward.   We're still in discussions with that. So, um, a  lot of good momentum there. Thank you. Several   more questions. Um, so back to the cost. So, we're  about to approve $100,000 for 2025 park signage,   but you're telling me that each sign is  roughly $4,000. So, what's the remainder? Uh, so once we get into the to the pools, we are  looking at the different sign types and evaluating   the the exact size that we that is appropriate  for these. Uh, if funding allows, we will continue   to go and work on Harrison Park and those numbers  listed to potential additional signage. the v the   numbers that we received um for park signage uh  has varied. Um so what we've done in the past when   we've bid this out is we've put out multiple park  signs um and and we bid them in different groups.   So if they are accepted, we can accept pretty much  all the groups that we can fit into our funding   amount. Um so we will do our best to get all of  these in. Um, I didn't want to say that we're   going to be doing all of these signs when we don't  know when the bids come in yet because we bid them   uh on a individual basis um to each uh contractor.  So, um it allows us to get our bang for our buck   because we're doing as many signs as we possibly  can, but knowing that uh the funding kind of   changes around, especially given that they're all  metal, that changes a little bit. We know that   we'll be able to do all of the the pool signs. Um,  and hopefully we'll be able to do those additional   signs, but I don't know if we're going to be able  to get to all of them. Okay. So, technically,   because the way that this screenshet reads, it  makes it sound like a $100,000 is for four pool   signs. However, if there are remaining dollars  within the $100,000, you'll be able to also help   out with possibly up to six, but I just heard that  the sixth one actually is going to be donated,   so really five. So, my question uh really goes  back to it's $100,000 for up to is it nine parks,   nine locations? Is that accurate? Um yes. Yes.  I mean, if we get great bids, we can always go   back out and put out more and try to, you know, do  more. Right now, we've seen when we've done bids,   we've seen uh pricing kind of all over the place.  Um, we luckily we had a vendor out of New Jersey   of all places bid on a project and was a low bid  for the 2024 signs. Now, I don't know if they're   going to bid on the next one. Um, and prices  may change and we don't know who exactly is   going to bid on the projects. Uh, but I think  nine is is probably our our target. But again,   with funding kind of bouncing around and  not knowing who's bidding on a project,   um it does kind of open us up to not knowing  exactly how much we're able to get done. So again,   just so that community understands, we're about  to approve $100,000 for up to nine signs. Sure.   So that it doesn't because the way that the green  sheet again looks like it's it shows $100,000 for   four specific pool signs. So that it does come  down to $25,000 each. So it's very um inaccurate.   Um so I I think again I would encourage staff  to share this portion within the green sheet.   So again when community understands $100,000 is  not being divided up by four signs but rather   up to nine signs. It makes it more reasonable of  how much a sign actually costs. Sure. Just again   for community and transparency sake. Um the other  question I had was about QR codes since these are   uh panels versus these wood signs. Um and  that's I think one of the reasons that   um you guys are having consistent signage look  is so that people understand that the city of   Witchaw maintains these. Has a QR code ever been  considered? Um no I don't think so. We have kiosks   that we have uh throughout our parks. Um those  are a little bit more appropriate for QR codes uh   rather than I think these signs are more for um uh  vehicular wayfinding. Uh I mean they do help with   pedestrian and bicyclists. Um but didn't really  want to encourage uh QR codes on more traffic   signage. We do have QR codes throughout our parks  on smaller kiosk signs uh and we do use those. One   great example of that is uh at LW Clap Park at the  playground. Uh we have um a uh panel that is used   for the playground to help with uh uh individuals  that are um that have uh commun challenges in   communication. Uh so there's a communication panel  board there uh that we do use QR codes for. So uh   we do use them throughout the park, but probably  won't be on this project. you go back to slide 73   um and you brought up something that is of concern  to me and to this council which is vandalism. Can   you address um since moving to these new signs um  have we had vandalism? if not uh which is great.   Um what has deterred that vandalism? Because it is  a cost to community and I think oftentimes we just   talk about the vandalism and then move on from it  and we clean it up but it is a cost to not only   staff time but resources and it also goes back  to I think the three ordinances that we talked   about earlier today about taking some personal  responsibility and your actions have consequences.   Can you talk about vandalism and what we have done  to try to curb vandalism on especially on signs?   Sure. Yeah. I think changing to uh materials  that are that are more appropriate and used with   uh the uh graffiti removal um um material. That's  something that we've done on even signs and even   other materials about not there are certain  uh coatings and materials that work well with   uh graffiti removal. Uh so on our projects, we  we'll look through uh let's say it's a retaining   wall. We'll make sure that the coating on the  retaining wall um doesn't allow for uh let's say   spray paint to be absorbed into it and allows for  easy graffiti removal. That's the same thing that   we're doing here on these signs is that it allows  it um the graffiti removal um uh chemicals to not   eat into the into the material. Uh, I don't  know if I have I don't have exact numbers on   um replacement or on uh maintenance. I do know  that when I've talked with maintenance staff   that routinely there's been when I'd ask like hey  what are you guys doing this week or what's on   your what's on your list? I've routinely hear that  replacing a sign at this park replacing a sign at   this park and those are those wood signs. I have  yet to hear that I've never been told that we had   to replace uh one of these metal signs. So, uh I  think that's great because that's allowing more   staff time to do maintain other things. And again,  uh in terms of vandalism, in terms of graffiti,   uh this is just a much easier thing to to  maintain. I think if you drive around, um   businesses around town, a lot of them have these  metal signs, and I think you'll probably see that   uh many of them don't have vandalism or they they  uh are easily or quickly removed simply because   it's easier chemically to remove them. Thank you  again. Um maybe this is a question for law. How   um have we prosecuted vandalism cases regarding  um sign vandalism or even just park vandalism? I haven't heard directly of any cases recently.  I can get that information for you. Of course,   depending on the dollar cost damage,  they might be charged as felonies and   go to district courts. So, we could  find out that as well. parks may know   if we've gone to court on any. I don't  know if they have any memory, but yeah. So, part of the challenge that we've had  as well is uh being able to identify who   those individuals are. So, with the changes  to the ordinance to be able to tie it back to   vehicles or either to trailers if they're  there on site makes it more enforceable   for us. But we do track all of the uh the  graffiti that we report. It's on the same   uh uh dashboard that has the homeless  encampment along with any illegal dumping.   It shows each location what the staff hours  and what the cost is that's associated with   it that's forward facing for the community to  view. And you'll notice on the signage here,   we try to put them in common places where it's  visible for the community as well as putting   lighting there in the area so it's not a dark  area. People can go and do it and not be noticed. Yes. So, part of what we're doing as well, we're  starting to look at installing cameras at some of   those locations as well so that we can have  them covered that's there. And we work with   WPD and do the SEPTED to make sure that we can  capture all of those areas so that it's visible   for them to be able to look at when they have the  uh real-time information system as well. And one   of the locations that we've had some challenges  with is uh one of our community facilities that   we have uh worked in getting cameras to cover  that area where we've seen a lot of that over   at Kuanas. So that's another location that we're  moving with uh putting additional cameras as well.   Thank you, Reggie, and thank you  to the park staff because again,   I wanted to make mention that anytime vandalism  happens, uh, it is being tracked on the dashboard,   but it does take away time for staff to do  other important work within the park system.   And so I appreciate that you guys um are looking  at these types of signs that are easier to clean   um but also and to maintain so that you the  staff can work on things that are even more   important within the park system. Thank you. I  see no further questions. We'll open it up for   public comment. I see none. I'll bring it back  to the bench. And again, this uh the four pools   are in district 4, district 5, district 1, and  district 6. Council member Johnson. Thanks, Mayor.   I just wanted to suggest city hall needs one,  too. That one on central is a little outdated. With that, I will move that the  city council initiate the project,   adopt the resolution, and authorize the  necessary signatures. Second. Motion and   a second. Any further discussion? I see  none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Madame clerk,  please call the next item. Council member appointments and  comments. [Music] We'll start with   appointments. Council member Hoheisle. Thank you,   Mayor. I would like to nominate Cole Schneers  to the affordable housing review board. Any other appointments? I see none. I move  to approve that appointment. Second. Motion   and a second. Any further discussion? I see  none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes 70. Council members comments.  Council member Ho Heisel. Thank you,   Mayor. Uh just a couple things real quick. The  meal art Grand View neighborhood associations   have been moved to Hope Church. Uh same times  as usual. I'd like to thank Pastor Bon for his   years of service and letting us use his church.  He really is a true servant to the community. And   I'm going to miss seeing him twice a month. Um  also uh special thanks to Garrett Foster. He is   um a friend of mine and he is now the chair  of the bicycle board. So he's a good dude as   well. So congrats Garrett. [Music] Council member  Tuttle. Thank you. I just have a few things. One   was an update. Um last week on my travel request,  we had delayed it until this week, but I requested   through the city clerk and the manager that it be  next week. We're still trying to make my travel   arrangements through them, so it's a little bit  more complicated than we thought. So, I don't have   the exact cost quite yet, but it'll be next week.  I also wanted to mention again um that September   2025 is National Library Card Signup Month. We  had some great chat about Rockwell and how great   um the um opening was for that branch yesterday.  Thank you again to Council Member Johnson for   sharing Rockwell with me. Always appreciate it.  But if you haven't got your library card or you   want to get an updated library card, please  make sure that you do that. And then finally,   I just wanted to give a shout out. I mentioned  it at agenda review on Friday. The um protecting   Witchah Firefighters Initiative received the  Kansas Hospital Association Visionary Ward on   Friday and was honored to be a part of the team  with Chief Snow with our Witchaw Fire Department   President Bush with the um IFFF135 and then also  with our friends at Ascension Via Christi. And   this Thursday at the Witchah Business Journal  Awards ceremony, we will be receiving a healthc   care hero award. So again, we'll be there with  Chief Snow, President Bush, and our friends from   Ascension Via Christie who have been instrumental  in making this initiative happen. So lots of kudos   and recognition, and our goal is just that the  firefighters in our community know that we care   about them and we're trying to protect them like  they protect us. So thank you. Any other council   members? I will just uh say thank you to uh  public works director Gary Jansen. He held   uh two uh meetings. One for wholesale co  customers and yesterday he held a town hall   uh with anyone interested uh regarding the water  schedule that will begin on September 15th. And   so again, thank you to Gary for hosting those  two meetings uh at the request of this council   uh during that vote. So again, I appreciate  uh his time and his team's time. With that,   we cannot leave yet. Um I have to move an item. I  move that the city council recess into executive   session for 15 minutes to receive information  on three actions pursuant to KSA 75-4319B2 for legal consultation with the city attorney  which would be deemed privileged in the attorney   client relationship pending litigation and legal  advice. I think the executive session is required   to protect attorney client privilege and the  public interest. The executive session will   begin at 11:10 and end at 11:25. Second. Excuse  me, mayor. I am so sorry. Um, there is an error   on the the document provided to you. You read it  correctly, but instead of three actions, it should   be receive information on an action. So they're  just one if that could be um just reflected in   your motion on an action. Okay. So the executive  session will begin at 11:10 a.m. and end at 11:25   uh regarding one action. The meeting will resume  in the council chambers. Thank you. Second motion   and a second. Any further discussion? I see  none. Madame clerk, please open the role. Motion passes. 70. We'll uh  begin at 11:10. Thank you.