Good evening.

I'm gonna go ahead and call the Monday, June 1st, 2026 Columbia City Council meeting to order.

I invite all those who are able to please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

One nation under God, indivisible, with liberal.

For all.

G Louie, please call roll.

Ms.

Selwyn?

Here.

Ms.

Sample?

Here.

Mr.

Foster.

Ms.

Hartman.

Here.

Miss Peters?

Here.

Miss Buffalo?

Here.

Miss Carroll.

Here.

All right.

So just as a quick note, we're trying something out new where we rotate seats every time.

So in case you're wondering why the numbers are not in numerical order anymore, we're trying this out.

So a quick overview of Columbia City Council agendas for those of this is your first meeting.

There are multiple opportunities for people to speak.

You can speak under old business, new business.

At the end of the meeting, there's general comments.

You can talk for three minutes about whatever you want to talk about.

We do ask that people keep their remarks kind of to either the legislation being discussed or at least in polite company.

So you can discuss and be maybe forceful on issues, but not on people, and that includes city staff.

And then just for those who are new, items under the consent agenda normally don't have items or presentations or staff presentations, and there is no public comment on that.

But anyone can request before the meeting to remove something from consent.

All right, so going on, I do ask uh that we when I'm talking about disruptions that will be addressed with a warning and if necessary, removal and recess, but I don't expect that for this evening.

Um so moving on for our agenda, we've got uh the minutes for the May 4th, 2026 regular meeting.

So I'll make a motion to approve the May 4th meetings.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Vera.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye, aye.

Any opposed?

And I believe May 18th is still being worked on.

Um for a adjustment to the agenda.

Staff has asked for Bill 1332 to be removed from the agenda completely.

Um are there any other changes to the agenda?

Seeing none, I'll make a motion uh to approve the agenda with Bill 1332 being removed from the agenda completely.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Second by Nick Foster.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All right.

So the first thing we have, uh, we have two special items this evening.

And our first one uh is recognition of council member Nick Foster, who is relocating with his family to Georgia, and we'll miss them very much.

So Nick, I'm gonna ask you and De Carlin to come join me down in front of the daisy.

I was telling Nick I didn't wear my waterproof mascara, and I regret that decision.

You're right, that's a good one.

I think Jacob's looking at you right there.

Okay, so we have a few items that uh council gives in recognition of an outgoing council member.

Um my gosh.

Um so this is a res Oh, Barbara.

Hi.

This is a resolution of appreciation to Nick Foster, uh Councilmember for the Fourth Ward.

I'm really sorry.

This is not supposed to happen.

I'm just gonna read words.

Um, Nick Foster was elected council member of the fourth ward on April 5th, 2022, and we're and where's Mr.

Foster was duly re-elected council member of the Fourth Ward on April 8th, 2025.

And where is Mr.

Foster uh served as Mayor Pro Tem from November 27th, 2023 through June 12th, 2026?

And whereas he is ably represented the uh sorry I can read uh constituency and citizens of Columbia during his tenure of office.

And whereas his dedication to this office entailed many hours of extra duty, in addition to the hours spent at regular and special city council sessions, and whereas Mr.

Foster has resigned effective June 12, 2026.

And now, therefore, be it resolved that the City Council extend its heartfelt thanks to Mr.

Foster for his dedicated public service and his commitment to keeping Columbia a viable city.

We wish you the best in the future.

I'm not gonna say, and then one of the other uh extra ones that Nick gets is for his service as uh my mayor pro tem, uh, which I have been so appreciative of both for your guidance as my mayor pro ten as my second, um, for stepping up when I wasn't able to attend a meeting or proclamation or ribbon cutting, um, but also just for your steady voice and presence on council.

So this is in recognition of your service as the mayor pro tem.

The last thing that's from uh the council and and from our staff is um you get a heritage tree planted and cared for by the Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation in the park of your choosing.

So you get to pick where you want that one to be.

He has an idea, apparently.

Do you want to pose with that one?

We need to gave up here for this one.

All right, and I'll ask the city manager to come up because I believe staff have um some gifts for Nick.

Yes.

I was a city manager.

So a couple of things from staff.

So one of the things we do for is so that looks like you're gonna be able to do that.

Oh, there it is.

And now I'd like to invite Nick to make some remarks.

Uh, for I'm letting him make his general comments at the beginning of the council meeting as his special thing is outgoing, but while there's people here.

So, Nick, once you come up to here, I'll allow you to make comments.

Not I'm allowing, but we'll ask you if you would like to make comments.

Uh I appreciate your understanding there.

Um since Barbara cried, I'll try not to.

Um I want to begin with thanks, and I want to begin first of all with uh thanking my and providing all my love to both Candace and Carly Anne, my wife and daughter.

Um they have been supportive, patient, and mostly understanding, as I have served on council.

Their encouragement has meant the world, and it's made me possible for me to do this work.

Um in fact, I want to say one other thing that I didn't prepare.

Uh I'm often asked what brought you to Columbia.

Well, it was Candace.

Uh that's the same reason that I went to Bloomington, Indiana before we came here.

And that's the reason that I'm going to Atlanta.

When we were married, I told her I would follow her anywhere.

And if you know Candace Kuby at all, you understand how I feel that way.

I want to thank the people of the fourth ward, those who voted for me and those who chose otherwise.

It is an honor to represent you, and I hope you feel that I have done that well, however, imperfectly.

Thanks to City Manager to Carlin Seawood, and to the entire staff of our city governance.

Mr.

Seawood is visionary in his leadership.

Department and division heads are forward thinking.

And throughout the city staff, I see commitment, care, and a desire to serve our community.

I want to assure that the um citizens of Columbia that your city leadership and staff are capable.

They are dedicated to you and worthy of your trust.

I have seen it up close.

I want to thank all those alongside whom I have served on the council.

Pat, Nick, and now Valerie in the first ward.

Andrea, Lisa, Rachel, and now Vera in the second.

Carl Roy, and now Jackie in the third.

And from the sixth ward, uh Betsy.

Opinions and points of view, of course, have varied as we are all uh various in our own points of view.

Consistently, however, you all have proven yourselves worthy of and deeply dedicated to the responsibilities you have taken on as council members.

You take on this service because you care for our community, and it has been a privilege to work alongside you.

And then to Mayor Buffalo, I am so grateful to have served alongside you.

Thanks for choosing me to serve as Mayor Pro Tim.

That has been fun.

And for serving Columbia so well.

Your role is singular both in design and expectation.

You bring critical experience, a determined commitment, and a sustaining joy to the work.

Our community is fortunate to benefit from your leadership.

For years now, when asked, Candace and I have always said that Columbia is a great place to live.

It's just so far from family.

Columbia is a great place to live.

To be honest, we have lived here longer than we anticipated.

But that is not unusual.

How many times have you heard variations on this story?

I came here to go to college and I stayed.

I moved here to take a job and I stayed.

I grew up here, moved away, and then came back.

We lived elsewhere, but when we retired, we moved back.

Because Columbia is a great place to live.

Please keep that in mind, even as you face the challenges that come with living in a great and rapidly growing city.

And I want to suggest one characteristic, one guiding principle among others that I believe will serve you well.

When you leave this building tonight, if you look along Broadway and above the street to your right, you will observe a series of banners that are there, I assume, at the initiative of the children's grove, for it has their name on them.

This sometimes overlooked organization in our community is doing critical work.

The encouragement of kindness.

And on the banners above Broadway, the banners read Kindness builds community.

I could not agree more.

And I encourage you to avoid the temptation to doubt the power of kindness.

From time to time, someone talks about a politics of love.

The idea may seem entirely foreign and perhaps naive in a period in which anger, spite, unfounded accusation, and denial of the truth appear to be ascendant.

I think not.

Because I share some of their background and training, I believe I understand what they mean by that.

From ancient Greek, the word agape is used often in the New Testament.

Different from Eros, a romantic love or Philios, often describing close friendship, agape describes selfless love that seeks first what is best for another.

It's important to note that agape, unlike the others, is not dependent on how we feel.

Agape love is birthed from a determined and even reasonable act of the will, a decision to love others, no matter how we may feel about them.

Call me naive if you will, but I have been long convinced that if we are able, both individually and collectively to prioritize above uh to collectively to prioritize others above our own interest.

What is best for our families, our friends, and our neighbors, both near and far, the result will be can only be what is best for all of us.

Many thanks again to all who have granted me the opportunity to serve in this way.

I will be watching and cheering you all the way from the ATL.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nick.

I think Linking Happy.

Well, moving on to the regular agenda.

Uh we have one more special item.

I'll ask for Randy Cole to come forward with an ARPA update from the Columbia Housing Authority.

The magic will happen.

Maybe.

Yes.

See?

Good.

Thank you.

Uh Randy Cole, CEO of the Columbia Housing Authority.

So thank you for your service.

We will miss you.

Very good.

Well, tonight I was going to get into providing an update of all the Columbia Housing Authority's ARPA funded projects.

But I also thought it'd be good to touch upon the housing authority itself.

I know we've got a couple of new newer council members, so I thought that would be nice to do.

So a little bit about the Columbia Housing Authority.

It was established in 1956 by city ordinance by the City of Columbia at that time to provide affordable housing for our community's most vulnerable populations.

We're a mission-driven art organization, but I don't I would also emphasize a little bit further that we're a duty-driven organization since we are authorized by city ordinance and have pretty specific guardrails for our attention needs to be as an organization.

The mayor appoints our five member board of commissioners, have one with us here tonight, Mr.

Steve Smith on our board, appreciate him being here.

And I serve at the direction of that board.

Our mission is to provide a quality affordable housing units with supportive and economic resources through eligible households in both Columbia and Boone County.

So our voucher programs serve countywide.

Our core operations is housing.

We do that with our voucher programs that we partner with local landlords on the private market and also housing that we own and maintain, about 784 units.

One thing that I think distinguishes us from most public housing authorities is the level of our supportive services.

We provide about a million dollars worth of supportive services, ranging from youth programming to programming for families to also elderly and persons with disabilities.

They include our public housing authority entity, which is a municipal entity under state statute.

That's our core entity.

One to get grants for our services, one to get grants for our housing, and then a whole host of other tax credit related partnerships and entities that have ownership interests in those partnerships.

So a lot of complexity, a lot of cash movement, but also a lot of tools in the tool belt to advance our mission.

So at our core, uh we're all things housing.

We're everything from a developer to a housing finance organization.

Uh since we're a municipal entity, that means we can issue bonds on our uh 4% Lite tech deals with the approval of the city.

Uh but that strategically positions us wells on those projects.

Also, we're a tax credit partner that can manage those uh partnerships as well as the ongoing compliance, and again, we're a service provider.

Couple more slides.

There was a uh a question submitted about our role in homelessness today, I think uh by uh one council member.

So this was a slide that I did back in 2022 when the council at that time was first talking about uh how to address the issue of homelessness.

So this slide helps uh kind of conceptualize the housing authority's role in addressing that issue.

Uh and this slide uh shows the housing authority in the middle there, uh, where uh we're a key entity and the largest entity that is uh helping households exit homelessness and get into long-term permanent uh housing.

And we do that again with our vouchers, also with our CHA owned housing, and we have a variety of vouchers, some uh towards our chronically homeless and some towards uh just general persons on our wait list.

Uh and thinking of our wait list, about 87% of our households on our wait list have experienced some form of homelessness throughout their their life, uh, maybe not chronically homeless like you might see on the corner, but uh doubled up with a friend or family member.

Um further up the the continuum, uh advancing from home uh homelessness to uh housing on the upper end.

We also provide a lot of economic mobility for households.

Uh we've been tracking for the last uh four years how many households move on and up into market rate housing, and that has uh been between 60 to 100 households each year, uh, showing good outcomes for the organization.

Uh one of those key programs is our family self-sufficiency program uh that we've grown by 33% over the last four years.

Uh we serve about 175 households, uh, and those households have about 420,000 in equity and an escrow savings account for the program.

It's a five-year program where residents can uh gain additional income, employment, uh training, uh, and then also as their incomes rise, we provide a matched savings account.

So it's a great program, particularly in a housing market uh where it's becoming more difficult to get into home ownership.

Uh so it's a great uh program to partner with the city and other local providers on uh having a group of buyers that have additional equity to uh get into home ownership.

So that's a little bit about us.

So advancing a bit more towards uh our projects.

I thought it might be nice to talk through uh the path to a CHA Affordable Housing Project.

Uh it's a long path with a lot of different steps.

I have six different phases ranging from strategic planning in the early phases, including neighborhood engagement, resident engagement, site feasibility analysis, and also purchasing land to pre-development, looking at zoning, title, and other issues, to financial and underwriting, applying for funds through either the city, the state, and other sources, and then moving through approvals and commitments, pre-construction.

I think the good takeaway here is that total project timeline concept from concept to occupied is about three to five years.

And that's pretty typical and affordable housing project, but I think it speaks to kind of the challenges and benefits of affordable housing in its nature.

So shifting gears with all of our ARPA funded projects, we're going through what's called RAD conversion.

So we're converting from public housing to LITEC and voucher-based housing.

And this is something my predecessors started back in 2014, and it's been really important for the organization.

We're actually the first housing authority in the state to go down this route, and these these ARPA funded projects that are underway right now are the final ones that get us fully converted to all LITEC and voucher-based housing.

But allows us to access tax credits, different private capital, injects a lot of capital into the projects to improve them or tear them down and rebuild so we get really high quality affordable housing.

It also transitions us to a better long-term HUD source.

And looking through the annual budget at HUD, Section 8 usually fares the best out of all funding sources and gets funded first.

Public housing, CDBG, home, and other funding sources often don't fare quite as well.

So it really stabilizes our long-term financing into the project, increases our reserves that we have control of here locally rather than looking to what the feds allocate each year.

And then we also manage that asset in partnership with our investors.

And bottom line, the uh the the biggest benefit of these projects in doing rad conversion is it protects our housing and uh for future generations and ensures we don't lose uh this affordable housing.

Our current residents are very excited.

Um, also a big benefit of this project is there's a lot of a layered long-term affordability protections.

Uh so there's the the city loan documents that are on uh for later in the evening, but there's also Section 8 contracts secured to the properties, uh, MHTC land use restriction, a HUD rad use agreement, uh, our bond issuance and regulations that tie to the project, uh, our investor asset management, and then also CHA is an entity.

Our authorizing ordinance spells out that this is the work that we're set out to do.

So a dashboard of our projects uh and funding.

Uh so uh Kinney Point, Park Avenue, Providence Walkway, and Blind Boon and Bear Creek, all over all of our projects.

If you look at uh investments from city and county, ARPA for the city is 5.3, uh county is about 6.1.

We also received home ARP funds.

These were uh uh funds to the American Rescue Plan Act that flowed through HUD and then down to the city and then uh out through the city uh housing department.

So all in all, about 13.5 million.

Uh so the impact of that is about 165 affordable housing units from Kinney Point, Park Avenue, Providence Walkway, and Blind Boone.

We anticipate that impacting about 2,000 individuals over the next uh 25 years, so the life of those properties.

Um the housing authority uh board and staff have done a really good job of utilizing the local funds invested in those projects to leverage additional funding.

Uh if you count the city, county, uh ARPA, as well as the Veterans United funds, other C D BG and home ARP and home funds, uh, about 14.7 million local support, which is tremendous, and we've leveraged about 44 million dollars.

So about $3 for every dollar uh provided here locally or a little more.

So this is our Kinney Point project, status update on it.

It's fully complete and was housed at the end of December.

Um residents are living there, enjoying that property.

We've had nine households enter into our family self-sufficiency program, which has been exciting to watch.

Uh done a lot of programming over there at the community center.

Uh saw a couple households get gain full employment after they got housing stability, and a couple others get transportation.

So the projects uh working nicely.

Uh Park Avenue, uh, just a couple blocks away.

Uh we received five million in county ARPA and then two million in city ARPA, so seven million in total.

Um our county ARPA funds are fully expended, and our last draw was just submitted this last week.

Uh we're spending uh money at quite a pace over there monthly right now, about 1.5 to 1.8 million dollars per month.

Uh so we anticipate uh spending the city's full draw or submitting that next week.

So that project's progressing nicely.

Providence Walkway and Blind Boon Apartments, these are our last two projects where we're working through the closing and due diligence phases.

We are all square with MHDC on all of our tax credit awards and our firm uh commitments.

Uh for Blind Boon, we've fully expended all of our ARPA funds on pre-development and pre-purchase of materials for the project, so that project is in a good position.

So Providence Walkway is where we have a lot of our attention through the end of uh the ARPA uh period to expend the funds through October.

We expended about 350,000 to date, so 2.65 uh million remains of that 3 million.

Uh we are uh nearing the end of our final due diligence with HUD.

We just have uh one last approval from our transaction manager's supervisor and then a committee, and then we'll be on our track to close and begin more rapidly expending uh money over there and uh completing the project.

We also did get uh approved early start uh from HUD on demolition and site improvements.

This is something that we have not had on any other project, uh, but this was from an awareness from HUD that we have ARPA expenditure deadlines, so this both will help us uh keep pacing on spending money and also set the project up well for when we uh do the full closing.

Uh permits have been issued, and uh there's been equipment mobilized and fencing up, and I believe they started uh tearing down parts of our laundry facility today.

So progress going there and our full attention to it to make sure we meet all of our commitments.

Uh Bear Creek, uh this one uh was funded by County ARPA, about $840,000 in County ARPA funds.

Um this was fully expended at the end of May, so we're good on this one as well.

But we replaced all uh roofs at Bear Creek, which is about 35 roofs.

Um really important for that project.

Uh also did some sidewalk accessibility improvements along the housing as well as to the community facility at the end of the road that uh CMCA houses their head start program, so nice improvements there.

Also upgraded the security cameras throughout throughout the site.

So, final slide, uh just a recap uh on the the status of all of our projects.

Kenny Point is in a really good spot.

It's completed, done, and stabilized.

Uh Park Avenue is tracking really nicely.

We'll have all of our ARPA expended uh here within the next month.

Uh Blind Boon and Bear Creek are all in a good position.

Uh Providence Walkway is on track, but where we will have uh most of our attention in the coming months to make sure we meet all those commitments.

Uh with that, uh kind of back to the original slide on you know, thinking about how long it takes to conceptualize projects.

We're also in the process of planning what's next after ARPA on our 507 park project, uh, non-ARPA related, but thinking through what comes next.

So happy to take any questions.

Well, thank you, Randy.

Appreciate the update with the ARPA.

Council have any questions for no.

All right.

Well, thank you.

Appreciate the update.

All right, moving on.

Besides schedule public items, um, we have no appointments to boards and commissions this evening.

Um we do have scheduled public comment, so members of the public can contact the city manager's office by 5 p.m.

on the Monday, one week prior to uh the night's council meeting to schedule a five-minute public comment.

Um public comment cannot be on items that are on the same night's agenda.

And of note, it has been a typical practice of city council to ask for additional follow-up of questions asked tonight of staff at the end of the meeting if it's warranted.

Uh tonight we have one scheduled public comment, so I'll ask for Joseph Wayner to please come forward.

Do I just start?

Uh good evening.

My name is Joe Weiner.

Uh, I like to take a few minutes to speak about uh in support of Bidwest.

When I was working towards my undergraduate degree at Columbia College, I took an elective just to fill out my schedule and unexpectedly fell in love with photography.

But like most students, I didn't have the money to buy a camera of my own.

So that interest interest ended when that class ended.

In fact, I didn't return to photography until nearly six years later.

And I can honestly say if I had the access to the necessary equipment back then, I would have likely changed my major altogether.

That experience is something that I think about often because it speaks to something simple.

Earlier access and creates earlier investment in yourself.

After college, I went into the workforce as a graphic designer, eventually landing at it at Central Methodist University.

During my interview, I may have slightly exaggerated my photo video knowledge, but only because I saw an opportunity to finally uh move into something I truly cared about deeply.

Once I started, I realized how much I still had to learn though, and how little access to I had to the right tool to do it well.

For my first couple of years, I was largely on my own.

I spent hours trying to teach myself this new technical discipline by Googling things like what is a NF stop or watching YouTube videos about cameras, lightings, and equipment, trying to piece it all together.

And while those resources helped, they don't give you, they don't replace hands-on experience.

They don't give you the chance to actually try, fail, adjust, and grow.

What I didn't have then, and what so many people don't have now is a place where access comes first.

That's what BidWest provides.

In my current role, I have been able to use Vidwest as a force multiplier for our marketing team.

At a small private university, we're expected to produce high quality content across campus, but with limited resources, better spent elsewhere.

We don't have the budget to uh to own every piece of equipment for every project.

Bid West allows us to rent what we need when we need it.

That flexibility saves resources, but uh more importantly allows us to do better work.

Work that reflects our institution and community at a higher level.

But it goes beyond uh but this goes beyond one university or one department.

Bid West lowers the barrier of entry.

It creates equity and access and tool to tools that are otherwise expensive and out of reach.

And when you lower the barrier, something important, something important happens.

People stay.

People build their skills, they invest in themselves here, and they find opportunities here.

And when community provides those opportunities, people are more likely to remain in part of it and contribute back to it.

That matters for Columbia, not just culturally, but economically.

This economic development, this is econom economic development at a local level.

It supports freelancers, nonprofits, students, small businesses, and strengthens uh the creative economy and uh uh economy in a way that scales outward.

It also gives the public something just as important a voice.

Not just the act of speaking, but the ability to be heard.

Access to media tools means people can tell their store own stories, document their communities, and share perspectives that might otherwise go unseen.

That's not a narrow benefit, that's a public good.

And when you step back and ask how is serving the public, the answer is broadly.

This isn't just a small group of this isn't just for a small group of professionals.

It's a resource that creates net positive positives across the city, supporting education, workforce development, creativity, and civic engagement.

It's simple and it's local.

It gives people access and they build something with, and it give people access and they will build something with it.

In my own case, I can't help but think of how different my path would have been if VidWest had uh existed when I was a student, how much sooner I could have developed my skills, and how much more confident I would have been stepping into my career.

Bidwest helps close that gap for students, for professionals, for community as a whole.

So I encourage you to take continue supporting BidWest, not just as an organization, but as an investment in in access, equity, and the opportunity for people for all people of Columbia.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you, Joe.

All right, moving on.

Uh, public hearing.

She Louis, please read public hearing 1926.

Public hearing 1926 is the proposed construction of the fire fire station number 10 located at 1020 South L Chaparral Avenue.

Do we have a staff report?

Yes.

Uh good evening.

My name is Shane Creech, and I'm the public works director.

Uh Brian Schaefer, who's the fire chief, is with me tonight.

This project would construct a new fire station at 1020 South L Chaparral Avenue.

The existing structure on the lot was recently renovated and currently houses both the fire marshal's battalion on the main floor and a temporary fire response unit in the basement.

The new fire station is similar to the layout for the new fire station number five that was previously at council for a public hearing and will include adequate space for a modern staff and includes individual sleeping areas, gender-specific restrooms, room for training activities, etc.

An interested parties meeting was held March 27th, 2024.

At that time, both the renovation of the existing structure and the concept plans for the new structure were presented.

The estimated cost of the project is five million dollars and will be funded by the city's 2025 capital improvement sales tax.

The fire chief and I are happy to answer any questions you might have.

Any questions from uh council for staff?

Oh, yeah, Betsy.

This isn't my word.

What what's your time frame if this passes tonight to actually get this done?

Sure.

Um the um the bid call is first is on first read tonight, so that that has to be second read at the next at the next council meeting.

Um we're running both fire station number five and fire station number ten in parallel.

So the hope is to um get that bid um you know late, probably late this summer or fall, and then start construction thereafter.

And how long do you anticipate it would take?

I mean, is this a year project or year and a half to get it built?

Yeah, about a year.

Okay.

All right.

Well, thank you.

Other questions?

All right, I'll go ahead and open up the public hearing.

Would anyone from the public wish to speak on the proposed construction of fire station number 10?

Renee Carter, second ward.

I guess the only concern I have about this particular fire station is having someone I know that lives on out in that area and comes off that road, is that the exits there are going to be pretty difficult.

And with all of the construction going on on I-70, believe it or not, people are taking different paths through WW, which turns into Broadway.

And so I'm wondering as they're looking at it, if they'll be considering about traffic and what the best way to get in and out of there is, because if there is an emergency in the morning or in the evening when people are leaving and entering that particular uh road, it's going to be very difficult for them to get out of the fire station.

So I was just curious about that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else from the public wish to speak on the proposed construction of fire station number 10?

Seeing none, I'll go ahead and close the public comment.

Um I think so I I feel like somebody had asked in a previous one a question about are there any improvements planned for Modots WW there or ours for or are we in conversations with potential improvements to WW there for that intersection?

Um there's been discussions with Modot about that.

Um I believe there is a project in there in their in their STIP, but I don't know that they have any funding for the United States.

What's the acronym stand for?

Oh, you knew you're going to ask me that.

Um state transportation improvement program.

Surface.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes, I'm sorry, I should ask the lawyer, not the engineer.

I don't work for MODOC.

So there is potential plans.

And I don't know if if the fire chief wants to respond to anything else about inter intersection interactions.

Well, we've been there for uh a little over a week now, and and certainly the amount of traffic is no different than station four and station five, just because, like you mentioned, uh the congestion and the alternative routes that the construction has caused, but it's not something that we're not that we're not used to.

It's pretty routine.

Turn our lights and sirens on, make sure the intersection is safe, and then proceed through the intersection.

Thank you.

We would hope people would follow the law and and yield to the emergency vehicle like they have been.

Thank you.

All right.

Any other council comments?

Betsy, it's your fire station.

I know it's my fire station.

Um we've been working on this for um 10, 11 years at least, trying to find a space for it, trying to find um a place where it will provide the services that need to be provided.

Um as an aside, I know we keep talking to Modot about, I don't know, a roundabout or light or whatever.

So they're aware of it, whether it's funded or not.

I think hopefully by the time this is done, we'll be moving along.

So I'm certainly happy to see this.

I didn't realize that the interested parties meeting was two years ago, and I do remember going to it.

But um I'm glad to see this moving forward, I hope.

Yeah.

Any other council comments?

All right.

Uh I'll make a motion to proceed with the proposed construction of fire station number 10 located at 1020 South El Chaparrell Avenue.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Betsy.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

All right.

Thank you.

All right, moving on to old business.

Uh Sheila, would you please read Bill 1392?

Council Bill 1392 is an ordinance authorizing a subordination agreement with Providence Walkway Housing Development Group LP, UMB Bank NA, and the Central Trust Bank associated with the Providence Walkway Development Project, authorizing a deed of release, a fourth deed of trust, a promissory note with Providence Walkway Development Group LP, authorizing a fourth amendment to the 2024 affordable housing funding agreement, a first amendment to the CDBG grant funding agreement, and a first amendment to the Home Investment Partnerships Program funding agreement with the housing authority of the City of Columbia, Missouri, and Providence Walkway Housing Development Group LP, authorizing a full deed of trelease to Columbia Community Housing Trust, directing the city clerk to record certain documents and fixing the time when this ordinance shall become effective second reading.

Do we have a staff report?

We do.

Thank you, Mayor, Council.

Bill Rata, Director of Neighborhood Housing Neighborhood Services.

Randy Cole, who you heard from earlier is also here.

He may be able to help answer some questions that you may have.

But you're all probably familiar with the project, but just to kind of recap, this is uh a CHA project.

Um it's located at Trinity and Pendleton.

And the project uh details are that there'll be nine newly constructed units, 16 rehabilitated units, uh 12 of those will be four bedroom units, four of them are three bedroom units, three or two bedroom units, and six or one bedroom units.

And I should point out that the larger units are important for families because sometimes they have difficulty finding a housing of that size uh to accommodate their their families.

So it's important that there's uh these larger bedroom units.

All right.

Uh the project and the funding uh for this has been previously approved by council.

Um additional funding is being requested from what's being discussed here tonight.

And I just also want to kind of mention Randy touched on it, but it's a very complex program or project.

Uh multiple funders, development partners, regulatory bodies, um, and to that extent.

Uh there have been weekly due diligent calls uh for a couple months now with over a dozen groups besides the the lenders and there's title companies, investors, general contractors, city um MHDC, there's a whole bunch of folks on the on these calls discussing everything and getting to the point where I can have the closing.

And uh the legal documents uh were drafted and reviewed uh by the development partners in conjunction uh with our legal department, and they were approved by our law department.

And uh just to kind of give a brief summary of all the items uh that are on the agenda.

Um first is subordination agreement, and that simply allows the city to take a subordinate position uh to the other funders, like the construction lenders, uh United Missouri Bank, Central Trust Bank, and uh it's typical in uh low-income housing tax project to have a um subordination agreement.

Um there's a data release that's required to have clean title, and then uh kind of once that's released, everything will be re-recorded uh with a new deed of trust, and everything will be in the proper order.

Um there's also uh ARPA funded uh promissory note, and this new note uh reflects the previously approved amendments and the fourth amendment to the 2024 agreement, which is also on uh one of the documents that we're discussing.

Um there's a uh first amendment to the CDBG and to the home agreements, um, and uh this is just simply uh you know getting everything consistent uh with the dates, the maturity dates, uh the period of performance, things like that.

It kind of cleans up some of the language, and it adds some HUD regulatory language uh that wasn't in the first uh version of those documents.

And then uh there is a uh D release for uh property at 106 West Worley.

Um this also is necessary for clean title as it's in the footprint of the development, and that property had been acquired with uh block grant funds previously with the contingency that affordable housing will be constructed on site, uh, but that is needed to be released uh so that they can have clean title for the project.

So um in summary, uh this is a complex project, uh, but it does result in the creation and preservation of affordable housing.

Um it helps families at risk for homelessness.

It prevents that from occurring in many cases, and it just provides security and it can lead to other things like Randy mentioned uh, you know, folks gaining uh access to employment once they have housing stability.

And uh we do have provisions in place uh to protect the city's investment in the project.

Um you know, we have the 30-year affordability period, and uh Randy listed some of the other uh protections and provisions through other funding sources and their ordinance as well.

Um but also uh like to point out that continued affordability is likely anyway since most housing authority units are considered to be naturally occurring affordable housing.

I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Any questions for staff?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Can we ask questions for Randy?

Any questions for staff oh yeah yeah can we ask questions for Randy Yeah this is a question that we've addressed previously but Randy would you mind thank you yeah um seeing that you're here um and um just for the benefit of the public this is replacing existing housing um along Trinity Place and Pendleton I was wondering if you could speak a little bit towards um efforts to locate people who were originally living there and how that has taken place um and where we're at and what the long-term plan is for their housing.

Sure yeah uh so Providence Walkway and Blind Boon apartments make up uh the 52 units that are by our administration building along Trinity uh and then that central area along Providence Providence Walkway is mainly the one along Trinity and then up on Worley.

But yeah we are required to uh relocate uh pay for all the costs involved with relocating residents uh we did all this work on uh the Park Avenue project uh so we do a lot of notices informational meetings uh were required uh and and enjoy doing the meetings we do uh at least four of those during the rad conversion process uh also notices when we're going to move tenants we have to do 90 60 and 30 day notices uh where we pay for all the moving costs we'll even pay for packing costs uh we pay for all the utility hookups and then also to the administrative piece of calling and getting the utilities and people's names um once we uh move uh households we have 365 days to get them back uh to the unit on site uh where their units being either renovated or reconstructed um and if we don't there are uh penalties or there's also additional procedures if there's some kind of unforeseen circumstance like weather uh we can ask for extensions uh but we also have to do a lot of notification and making sure our residents are very well informed so uh the federal law requires us to take very good care of our residents uh we have a really dedicated staff that's really good at doing that uh things went really smoothly on our park avenue moves took us less than two weeks uh the residents were excited the residents had done a lot of packing uh had a lot of good partnership between residents and staffs and that that went really smoothly that answers your question yeah any other questions for Randy or Bill yeah Christina I guess it's kind of a comment but I just remember when you walked me through the different uh housing and um the residents that had just moved into the newer division were very satisfied or at least the ones that I had ran into yeah lots lots of good feedback they're really nice and the residents are taking care of them really nicely and uh just enjoying be there.

Yeah.

Well thank you Randy appreciate it.

Any other questions for staff on this before we open the public comment um the question that I had just pertaining to the action that we have here tonight is just to kind of explain the maturity date and what that change that we're taking means for the project.

Sure initially it was a 20 year maturity date so uh the action here tonight is changing that from a 20 to a 30 year maturity date so it adds 10 more years and it's also uh parallel with the affordability period as well.

Okay thanks.

Any other questions for staff?

All right would anyone from the public uh wish to speak on bill 13926 Columbia Missouri uh President of Marit of the Columbia ACP and I I had questions I guess with um uh with the renovation the new units that are being built etc um noticed when we are going to do voter registration that um we you know there are not a lot of um I'm trying to get I need to know what percentage of African American people are living in the public housing area now because it seems to be decreased decreased uh in large numbers and and I want to make sure that we know what the total process is for those people who are leaving uh while it's being renovated for getting recognized I heard uh a little bit of what Randy was saying there but I don't have the in-depth uh uh um I didn't get the in-depth knowledge of of how they get how they decide that they get back in I know that some of them are not coming back.

Me and them are not coming back and I guess I'm needing to know you know what the problem is that is preventing them from coming back because it is in the downtown area easy access to everything and um we I I know that that number has decreased and and we have a lot of uh uh immigrants and I'm I I have nothing absolutely nothing against immigrants I support them you know and so I don't mean to mean that but that that we have more uh immigrants in the area when I'm going through their checking than then I see of African Americans and I'm just wondering what the process is for getting them back that making sure that they get the opportunity to come back to those areas that they are leaving.

I support them, you know.

So I don't mean to mean that.

But that that we have more uh immigrants in the area when I'm going through their checking.

Then then I see of African Americans, and I'm just wondering what the process is for getting them back that making sure that they get the opportunity to come back to those areas that they are leaving.

Okay.

Thank you, Mary.

But anyone else from the public uh wish to comment on Bill 1392.

See none will come back to uh council comments or any additional questions that came up.

Yeah, Nick.

Well, we would follow up on Mary's uh question.

I'm curious as to the impact that this is having on the demographics of the residents of these of these areas and if we have a way of receiving that.

My guess is that CHA has that information.

But Randy, if you wouldn't mind.

Yeah.

Uh much like the uh the housing units that were done under my predecessor, uh 98 percent of the residents that were there at the beginning of the project are coming back to the project because people are really excited about newly renovated housing.

If people do want to move, it's to their own choice, but we by federal law uh have to move people back.

We cannot deny anyone housing, nor would we want to.

That's not the type of work we do.

Uh so anyone that's living on site right now uh has the full right under federal law to move back into the unit where they came.

And uh I'm not aware of any on Providence Walkway or Park Avenue to date that have chose to move elsewhere.

We had uh we did have a couple on uh park that were interested in moving to Kinney Point uh just to use some school issues, but anyone living there now uh will come back that wants to.

Thank you, Randy.

Any other questions for this?

All right.

Uh Sheila, will you please call roll on bill 1392?

Council Bill 1392, Ms.

Elwood?

Yes.

Ms.

Sample?

Yes.

Mr.

Foster?

Yes.

Ms.

Hartman.

Yes.

Ms.

Peters?

Yes.

Ms.

Buffalo.

Yes.

Ms.

Carroll?

Yes.

All right.

She will you please read um Bill 14026?

Council Bill 14026 is an ordinance uh amending Chapter 2 of the City Code to create an airport department, amending Chapter 19 of the City Code as it relates to unclassified service, amending the FY2026 annual budget appendix authorized full-time equivalent FTE position identification summary, amending the FY2026 classification and pay plan by adding reassigning and retitling classifications and fixing the time when this ordinance shall become effective.

Second reading.

Do we have a staff report?

Yes, ma'am.

This is an exciting time for us.

I think if we just look at the growth that we have seen at the airport for at least the last five years.

Now we have a new terminal, we've had an extended runway.

We've added additional flights and different services and different additional airlines.

We're adding another rental car company.

We have added additional parking spaces.

So we're at this point where we've seen tremendous growth.

When you look at our strategic plan, the strategic plan calls for 100 million dollars worth of future investments at the airport.

And so from a staff perspective, we feel that it's time.

The airport has grown from being a division in public works to a division as part of uh ready, our economic development arm to being a division in the city manager's office, and it's time for to kind of graduate to be in a full department.

It's the size, the complexity, the things that are occurring is significant, and it needs to be managed in that price in that perspective.

And so I'll let uh Randy uh let uh Mike Parts our current airport manager and Kathy to kind of talk about what that growth will look like.

Sure.

Good evening.

I put together just a few slides just really to talk about uh where we've been, where we're at, and really where we're going from both an infrastructure, passenger numbers, and what the airport looks like in the future.

So with that, we have uh just in the last several years, we have lengthened both runways.

Uh not only have we lengthened both runways, we've also enhanced all the visual aids for the primary runway.

Uh we're installing a new glycol recovery system.

We've went from one fueling uh company to two fueling companies, which providing uh more services for aircraft.

We have also done a uh added 24-hour maintenance service for all of our commercial partners and charter aircraft that come into the airport.

With that, of course, we have doubled our parking.

Uh we've nearly doubled our passengers, and we expect to have about 40,000 aircraft operations uh in 2027.

Just as comparison uh last year, uh we're probably at about 23,000 aircraft operations.

Of course, uh I have to mention the terminal facility because it's super important.

Uh it really paves the avenue uh to future growth and really lengthening both runways does the exact same thing.

That's what's important is looking at future expansion, not just for this terminal facility, but also for the runways themselves.

So it went from a 16,000 square foot facility to a 52,000 square foot facility.

But again, I think the most important thing with these slides is it's uh it's a terminal uh created for mid-Missouri, and again, it's all about expansion and looking at these future or these slides here after this uh really determines why we need that future expansion and and uh how it helps.

So this uh slide here kind of gives you it gives you an idea of where Columbia Falls, uh the airport falls amongst our other regional airports here in the Midwest.

And so these airports are located in the four state region, uh the FAA Central region, which is Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa.

You have Waterloo, Dubuque, uh, Grand Island, uh Manhattan, Kansas, Sioux City, Iowa, those are some of the airports on there.

But with that, this slide here really shows you in 2026 where we uh where we're looking at right now.

Uh however going throughout the year, this this graph only shows up to 140,000 in playmates.

So just below that, Manhattan, Kansas.

I always like to proudly point that out.

We're way ahead of them, and we're quickly growing.

So if you can imagine, we anticipate about 200,000 uh in planets this year.

So well off this graph, well ahead of our uh other regional airports in the region, and continuing to grow in the future.

So with that, uh I mentioned I want to show this slide here.

This slide here really shows the total seats that are scheduled out of Columbia in comparison to years uh 10 years back.

And so in 2026, we have 280 287,000 seats scheduled out of Columbia.

That's with American United and Allegiant, which is uh on the graph below is G4.

So looking at a 75 percent load factor, uh again, we're right at that uh just above the 200,000 in payments is what we anticipate.

So substantial growth, and again, it all comes back to preparing the airfield and the facility the self uh itself, uh, as Day Carlin mentioned with near just over 100 million dollars worth of projects in the future uh planning for that.

This graph here is really busy, uh, but I think it's also super important because it also paints a picture on how the airport ranks amongst other airports.

Uh this here includes 148 airports out of a 12 state area.

So it's 148 commercial airports, and it shows Columbia right now ranked at number 40.

With the projected growth that we have now, ironically, uh we'll move to number 33.

Of course, a lot of that would depend on the growth of the other airports, but uh that's Belleville, uh, which of course we're bringing in Allegiant Airlines.

We're excited about bringing in Allegiant Airlines this week.

And Belleville has a Legion over there, and that is their only airline.

So with three airlines, including Allegiant, uh, we know that we can easily move up to number 33 out of those airports.

So I'll go ahead and jump in this uh organizational chart here.

This is the current organizational chart uh showing really how the airport uh is today.

Uh really, as you can see here, all of maintenance have about 13 people to report directly to me.

And then we have an airport, we have one supervisor position at the airport, and that supervisor position uh is in charge of all airport safety officers at the airport.

Yeah, yeah.

All right.

So this reflects the proposed org chart, and the position changes that are proposed to meet that is adding these three new positions, which is the airport director, a deputy airport director, and an airport maintenance supervisor, and it will eliminate two positions.

So it results in a net gain of one FTE.

So getting rid of one airport safety officer and one airport manager.

The three positions below are just title changes.

Um the main reason to do the title changes for the airport safety positions is to reflect that the law enforcement function is no longer a part of their jobs.

So they are airport operations specialist and airport operations supervisor.

The law enforcement function is um handled by the Columbia Police Department.

The assistant to the airport manager is just a change because the airport manager position will not exist and there will be an airport director.

So that necessitates I can't even say it makes it necessary to change that title if everything is approved.

Um council have any questions for staff?

Yeah, Jackie.

This is more of a process question, so probably a question for DeCarlin.

Um was there a reason that this change in um structure, not structure, but the impact on the budget did not go in front of the finance finance advisory and audit committee.

Is that something that they normally comment on when we're restructuring?

No, they haven't in the past.

They haven't in the past.

Is that something they're supposed to be doing?

Not no, not that I've seen.

I I think no what this process is is really looks at no how do we add capacity to for our operations.

And so from a staffing perspective, it's usually it goes from the to the city council for final decision.

This did go before the airport advisory board uh because that's the board that's impacted by these uh decisions.

Okay.

Any other questions for staff?

Yeah, Christina.

Hi.

So could you describe a little bit about what the workload would change for you versus or or for the you know the top level director level, um, how you guys would manage that load, how what it kind of looks like today, how it'll change tomorrow.

I think the working sense, the workload for myself probably doesn't change a whole lot.

Uh I think the workload for the airport manager would change.

No, adding the deputy will change it to a director and adding a deputy director will give some of that capacity to be able to handle a lot of the big projects that are going on.

I mean, right now it's very there's a lot there's a lot of moving parts, there's a lot going on, and having that ability to have additional assistance would be great of relief.

Uh for me, managing it is as a division of the city manager's office or as a department.

That process doesn't really change.

We meet regularly, we talk about what's going on, and we make sure that we're on board with all those processes.

Um I guess I kind of have a follow-up bit.

Sure.

But I imagine this, or I don't want to put words in your mouth, I'll ask a question, I guess.

Um how does this impact redundancy or um uh secession planning for for your that's that's probably the hugest part.

I mean, right now all that knowledge is in one person.

Uh if he decides to leave tomorrow or starting over from scratch.

And have you been being recruited lately or don't give him an idea.

I mean if you if you want to talk about Mike's background, he's been with the airport for 25 years this year.

Yeah, and so he started as a 25 years.

He started as a surf ass safety officer and he's moved on to the airport manager.

So he is, you know, an example of what a staff person can do.

Any other questions for staff on this?

All right.

Would anyone from the public wish to speak on Bill 14026?

Good evening, Randall Rollins, who chair of the airport advisory board.

Uh nice to be back with you.

I did submit a letter that explained the airport board's um support for this.

Also have here with me tonight Gary Thompson and Eric Morrison, who are voting members of the airport board.

What a great problem to have that we have grown so much uh that we need to, as uh DeCarlin said earlier, we need to graduate uh to the next level.

And um we very much support this.

Very much appreciate the Carlin's recommendation and support for making these changes with all of the the projects that are um currently planned and some that haven't been planned yet.

Uh we really need the assistance out there so that we can move things along a little bit quicker and um need some backup for Mr.

Parks as well.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you, Randa.

Would anyone else from the public wish to speak on proposed changes to an airport department?

Seeing none, welcome to council comments.

Uh any council comments.

Yeah, yeah, Betsy.

Um well, and this seems like a good idea to me.

Um, having lived through numerous uh iterations of the Columbia airport, you know, Ozark, Lone Star, whatever used to come through there.

Um, this is this is quite an improvement.

And the number of um projects that you have going, I think sort of um indicate it would be a good idea to have a little more redundancy than one guy.

Not that we hope anything bad happens to you, but you know.

Thank you.

Maybe we need a little bit more organization as this is sort of grown past, I think just the city manager's office.

Well, I'll just I'll add to that.

I appreciate the additional information also showing um comparisons to other regional airports and kind of like as it's grown what they need to think about and as we've continued to grow.

So thank you for your leadership on this, Mike Parks.

And from talking to people in the industry, you're obviously well known at American and other places, so we're lucky to have you.

All right, Sheila, will you please call roll on bill 140 26?

Council Bill 14026, Ms.

Elwood?

Yes.

Ms.

Sample?

Yes.

Mr.

Foster.

Yes.

Ms.

Hartman.

Yes.

Ms.

Peters?

Yes.

Ms.

Buffalo?

Yes.

Ms.

Carroll?

Yes.

All right.

Moving on.

Uh Sheila, we please read Bill 14126.

Council Bill 1412 is an ordinance amending the FY 2026 annual budget by appropriating funds in the total amount of 9 million 398,731 and 56 cents for third quarter appropriation of funds and fixing the time when this ordinance shall become effective second reading.

Do we have a staff report?

Yes.

What you have before you is the budget amendments for the third quarter.

Um there are several budget amendments to the operating budgets of a few funds, and those funds are the Convention of Visitors Bureau, uh the electric fund, parks and RIC, and the general fund.

Uh but the bulk of the changes are moving money from one project to another to allow for projects to continue.

Carly, did you want to add?

Yeah, because normally this process is done part of our consent agenda.

Uh the reason why I want to pull it is because we've we've asked to use asset forfeiture funds, and that's something that's normally talked about in front of the council.

So I just want to make sure that the council has an opportunity to have that conversation with the police chief.

Any questions for staff on this?

I think Vera, yeah.

Yeah.

Um, so I had um I had a few questions about some of the specific items on here.

But I also had a question about like the larger I know that we had a history of how we got to these quarterly reports.

Um I'm wondering, so I guess the first the starting question being, can you remind us how we got to doing the quarterly reports for these uh apportionments?

Yeah, it's at one point we were almost bringing a budget amendment uh at every city council meeting.

And so the idea was let's do it on in a quarterly process.

So let's just make sure that we're in line and we have a process in place for how we have those discussions.

Um what I'm wondering is um I feel like on some of these uh in the sake of having a council memo that is not 50,000 pages long, we end up with very short descriptions of some of these.

And I'm wondering how we are able to take these large projects down to just a couple of sentences.

I think it's we'll probably have to kind of go on it by uh maybe project by project.

But a lot of times what happens is when we start a project, we put in a here's the budget amount, so here's a budget authority for this project.

We complete that project and we still have budget authority left, but that project is complete, so we need to move it to a different place.

And so that's part of our process.

Thank you.

I know you have comments for later too.

So questions.

I did have I did have specific questions and those helped, those helped.

Um I'm wondering one of my questions was about, and I see that Chief Schlute is already sitting there.

So one of my questions was about that rebranding and uniform initiative for CPD, and if you can give us a little bit of information about uh where this is coming from and kind of how how long it's been in conversation.

Sure.

So it's kind of a two-fold um kind of a two-fold uh agenda item for us.

So back when I was appointed, one of the things that the command staff and I discussed was trying to get more employee involvement in things that affect their day-to-day work.

So we created some committees.

Um one of those was the uniform committee, one is an equipment committee, and there's others, employee recognition, things of that nature.

But in doing that, the whole idea was when there's items they would like to suggest or change out that they would have a formal group that could get together, discuss those, and then provide feedback or input or suggestions to us.

And so as that committee got going, at the same time we're working on accreditation, so we're updating our uniform policies and standards.

And one of the things we discovered was well, cops are resourceful.

And so they would say, oh, you know, this belt is really more comfortable than the belt the department buys.

I'm just gonna buy this belt and wear it.

And you know, we're not going and like looking at everybody's belt every day to see if it's different, but we do want like uniformity, that's a thing for us.

And so we said, hey, if there's a piece of equipment that's better than what we're buying and we can afford it, then let's have those conversations.

So we tasked the equipment and uniform committees with doing just that, trying to figure out if there's better, more comfortable, more usable things when you're in this for 12 plus hours a day.

That's pretty important to you.

So we started that process, they came back with some great suggestions.

A lot of that had to do with things like belts.

Um when I started the police department, our uniforms were a wool blend.

You can imagine how wonderful that was in Missouri.

Um it has gotten somewhat better, but as most of you probably have experienced, most of our fabrics nowadays you can buy in some form of stretch, which is very nice, especially when you're getting in and out of a car and moving around.

Well, our uniforms currently not so much.

So that was one of the main suggestions that could we move something to something that's a little bit more breathable, um, doesn't shrink up as much when we launder it because we don't really do dry cleaning anymore.

And so we kind of worked that into this proposal.

At the same time, we know our our 200 year anniversary is coming.

And so Deputy Chief Stevens, his passion project has been kind of putting together some ideas for how we would celebrate that.

And a big one that came up was kind of a rebrand as far as our our department patch.

And so we embarked on a journey of asking for artwork.

We have some great artists in the police department and got lots of submissions and then narrowed it down, had some uh prototype patches made through our patch company so we could look at colors and compare them.

Sounds very not like a police thing, I know, but it it is real it's really important to the folks that work there.

It really is.

It says a lot about them.

They they take a lot of pride in what they wear, and so um narrowed it down and uh made a selection and we're being really quiet about it because we want to have like a reveal if we get to do this.

But uh, Matt's done a great job getting a lot of employee input and and interest and excitement about it.

So we made an NDI request uh in the last budget cycle.

Um understandably just wasn't something that was there was money for at the time.

And so throughout this process, when we got really deep down into the weeds, we said, okay, what could we what would we have to actually replace if we redid our patch and what could we reuse?

So for example, our winter coats are extremely expensive.

I think they're over $300 a piece.

And so we don't wear them a lot, thankfully, but we wouldn't want to just buy a whole new coat.

So we can repatch the coats.

So we save a lot of money there.

A patch is like three dollars a piece.

Um so that would be the plan.

Some things would rotate out as we bought new, others we would just have to switch out.

So for example, we're not gonna throw all the old business cards out and buy new ones.

You would just keep using your business cards until you order new ones, and then we would get the new logo.

So we've tried to be very frugal about this.

Um, but Matt's very excited about it if it moves forward.

He's been kind of the lead on this, so we're it's it's exciting for the department.

So does that mean that this request is lower than the NDI that did not get uh approved?

You know, I don't I don't remember what the NDI request was a couple years ago.

This it's pretty comprehensive.

So we get really down in the brass tax when we looked at money because there's a sign on the building, there's wraps on the cars, there's business cards, there's patches, there's all these different things, there's stickers on some of the windows.

So we tried to really go through and be very deliberate about making sure we realized the entire expense.

Okay, and I know Valerie and then Jackie had questions.

So Valerie?

Yeah, I think we've kind of moved on from it, but um I felt like Vera had a really good question about how do we get to those two sentences.

Um, my recollection is that before this became a quarterly thing, we would have an individual staff report for each one of these things.

And it wasn't huge either.

Um in a lot of ways I like this better because I don't think we need 20 different council actions.

I I think one is fine, but I also don't I can't from these reports get the information, what is this product project and what's it's for?

Um, can we just get a little bit more detail on these?

Sure, if there's not enough detail, then we can always add more.

And I think the one benefit of like right now, all department directors that have our project are out right here in the audience.

And so if there's additional questions, they're prepared to answer those questions.

But we can always add additional detail.

And I think, you know, for our purposes, every time this has come up, also to my recollection, every quarter when we've done this, we've had a whole bunch of council questions going, okay, what's this?

What's this for?

Um so we get all those answers.

But the couple sentences of this project is for XYZ.

Um that information is somewhat lost to the public then.

Um we can always add additional detail.

Yeah.

All right.

Jackie, you got a question?

So that leads.

Wonderful transition, Valerie, into my question.

Um I was wondering if we could get a rundown on the Kirkland House project and what that is.

I believe that's Gabe, right?

Bring her back.

Don't go far, Jill.

Yes.

In 2023, the City of Columbia purchased the Henry Kirkland home.

And we have since then formed a small committee with a number of individuals to look at everything from potential uses of the home to how do we fundraise for it.

Um Deb Shields is working with us in terms of looking at the National Historic Register, and if that is a possibility.

And so we've only been meeting for about four or five months to come up with some plans for what um that home can potentially become.

Um we've actually peeled some of the sighting off.

It's been resited a couple of times.

And so we've peeled some of that off to kind of expose what what Deb felt was original to the home from basically the 1870s to 1910s, 1920s when Henry was there.

Um and Henry Kirkland, if anyone that does not know African American in our community, that was a renowned horticulturalist, um, also a professor at the University of Missouri, and this was his home.

Also there was some garden space throughout that area.

So the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture really kicked off this idea that the city would purchase the home and try to like work toward a restoration process so that they can potentially have some outdoor garden space.

So whether that's community gardens or demonstration gardens, um, we're still kind of working through that as well.

But uh we have a small committee working right now.

Once we get to a point where we've done some of preliminary work, we'll start that public input process.

Um we're gonna do a little of that actually this Saturday.

Um there the there's a neighborhood kind of party festival, so to speak, but they're gonna have it at the Henry Kirkland home in the grass there.

Um and it's actually through the city's Love Your Block Grant.

And so it's funded through that.

And so some citizens are going to take that on.

So if you want to learn more about it, we'll be there Saturday, um 11 to 3, and uh just kind of talking about the home and the process and where we're gonna go from here.

Can you provide um just a little bit more information on I just because I want everybody to hear the history of this home, um specifically uh why it's included on the African American Heritage Trail.

So Henry's mom, who originally purchased the home as one of the first African American individuals to purchase a home in this neighborhood.

Um and so Stephen Bibey and Deb Shields have really done some history through this to figure out that this is one of the first African American owned homes in our community, and so it was important to save that.

Um it had been a rental for a number of years until the city purchased it.

And so it's been around for a very long time.

Um the one thing, and and I the the committee would be mad if I didn't say this.

We have yet to find a photo of Henry in front of this house.

So if anybody is listening to the council meeting would have that, we are still looking for some of those things.

Um just some of those historical artifacts related to it.

But we've been through the house, they've they've pulled lots of things out of the attic, out of the crawl space, um, some of the wood that's in the home.

And so yeah, so we're just kind of originally taking those steps to make sure we preserve that and keep that in place for the community.

Thank you.

Nick.

I had a question for Chief Schloody.

Oh, sorry.

And I bring this up by the way, just while you're going there, I would I would pay money to watch um Deputy Chief Stevens work through fabric swatches to pick a colour.

It was a thing.

It was a thing.

Um opportunity.

Um leaving, y'all.

Um, regarding regarding the money from the federal asset forfeiture fund uh can you speak to how that fund can be used, why you've chosen to do this here, and how this qualifies for use of those funds.

Sure.

Those funds are very restricted by the government.

And so we can't you can't use them for personnel costs that can't go to employees salaries or things of that nature.

They really put some guardrails up around what you can use it for.

And so, you know, just to be really transparent, we try not to use this money to buy things that the community might find to be controversial because the asset forfeiture program itself is somewhat controversial.

We understand that.

So we really try to find projects to fund through it that are money that we wouldn't probably have otherwise in some ways, and to to use it for things like this, benefiting employees, pieces of equipment that we might not otherwise be able to.

We bought safety equipment in the past, body worn cameras, things of that nature.

So things that I think everybody would probably mostly agree are good uses of the funding.

Thanks.

All right.

Well, and um sorry, Vera had a hand up and then Christina.

All right, Vera.

Ah never mind.

Oh, Christina.

Or newbie questions, sorry.

Uh so can you talk a little bit about what um that fund you described where you're removing it from again?

Can you just forfeit asset for the asset for federal asset forfeiture?

So when we participate in investigations, sometimes they start out as federal level investigations, sometimes they become federal level investigations.

Um generally it's not us by ourselves, it's usually several departments.

Not always, but most of the time.

And so when uh assets are seized, so we'll do like a large scale uh W Chief Stevens used to be in narcotics, so he's pretty experienced with this.

But we would seize um the government would seize um vehicles.

I mean, I've we've seen him seize real estate, obviously cash, things of that nature.

And once the case is adjudicated, that you know there's the criminal portion, there's also a civil piece to asset forfeiture.

Once all the adjudication happens, if the judge determines yes, the property should be forfeited, then it's um it's parceled out between all the participating agencies percentage-wise, according to kind of was it primarily in our jurisdiction, how much help?

So we have not uh and we you never know when the money is going to come in because the process takes several years, many times.

And so there's no like, oh, we can count on this.

That's the other reason.

Um you it's not funding you can count on.

So they really have structured it so that there's no way you can go, oh, I'm gonna use this money to buy this.

You never know.

Number one, if if you're going to get any money at all and how much it's going to be.

Um so that's kind of how the program works.

We have money trickles in from old cases.

I mean, we've seen it take in some cases up to 10 years for money to come in.

So it's it's that we really just don't have any idea at the pace it would come in.

And it's totally dependent on how many federal cases we're involved in.

Okay.

I feel like I have a lot more questions, but I'll probably talk to you later.

There's a an attachment.

We have to do a report every year about the fund, and so there's an attachment that explains a lot about it.

I could forward it to you.

Thank you.

Any other questions for staff?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

So um I have a question on the operating electric or the one in the council member titled electric.

So um I guess I'll let you get up here and before it's making its way up.

You guess you can come to this fancy microphone.

Coming over here.

Hello, good evening, everyone.

Hi.

Can you describe a little bit about the project and then where the money is currently at, where it's being moved to, and why it's such a large amount?

Yeah, so these transformers are very large in size.

Um right now our Columbia Energy Center has four different units that are supported by two of these transformers.

Both of them are 25 years old.

This one is aging.

I mean, both of them have aging infrastructure.

And at this point, one of these two transformers is at a stage where we detected arcing inside.

We're already doing a lot of maintenance work to keep it up and running.

But if we don't replace it, then we have to have to outage two of our four units at the Columbia Energy Center.

So that'll be a significant impact to our ability for capacity and to run when we need for peak demands.

So is this not moving money around?

This would be a whole new appropriation for dollars.

Okay.

That's what I thought I read in comment, but I was like, I don't know if I read that right.

So no, no, no, you're good.

And come forward to the microphone so that they can hear you.

All right.

Um and then Beth, you go on.

Um, how long does it take um once you order these transformers to get them in?

We are currently evaluating quotes and specific details via an RFP, but about two to three years is a good estimate if we order that today.

So you have to be organized and correct, yes.

We yeah, we have to, I mean, we know there's issues right now.

So right now that um arcing inside is already turning the oil to gases, and we have to put in oil right now to even continue keeping it running.

So we know it is at the end of its life cycle.

Um in my opinion, I would think two to three years is something that we need to act on quickly because we don't know how long we can keep it running with the existing maintenance efforts.

Okay, thank you.

And to clarify, um, since this is a new one, this is coming from electric reserves, is that correct?

Is that correct?

Yes.

Yeah.

That's right.

I think that's what you were gonna ask.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right.

Any other questions?

Did you have a follow-up?

Yeah.

Okay.

And so um what would the impact to the grid be should we just be like, I don't feel like doing that?

No, so the impact would be if we have to audish two of all four transformers, right?

Then it means that we cannot run half of our units from the Columbia Angie Center whenever we are getting called upon by MISO or whenever we have peak demand needs to run them at the same time that audit will uh put our capacity accreditation, kind of going back to the IRP discussion we had in the past for the integrated resource plan that also means less uh capacity the city gets credit for, which also means our gap to you know fulfill our capacity needs will continue to increase voter.

Thank you.

All right.

Any other questions for staff?

No, thank you.

Okay.

All right, would anyone from the public wish to speak on um Bill 14126?

See none, we'll come back to our council comments.

And I think I think to Carlin, I think um it sounds like staff understood that kind of the question is a little bit more information, because this was very helpful to have these sort of presentations and so maybe meet in the middle on full council memo per each one, and just a little bit more information on the packet together.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Any other council comments on this?

All right, Sheila, will you please call roll on bill 1412?

Council Bill 1412, Ms.

Elwood?

Yes.

Ms.

Sample?

Yes.

Mr.

Foster?

Yes.

Ms.

Hartman?

Yes.

Ms.

Peters?

Yes.

Ms.

Buffalo?

Yes.

Ms.

Carroll?

Yes.

All right.

Moving on.

Um consent agenda.

Sheila, would you read the items on the consent agenda twice and call roll?

Items on the consent agenda include bills 134, 26, 135, 26, 137, 26, 138, 26, and resolutions 105, 26, 106, 26, 107, 26, 108, 26, 109, 26, 110, 26, and 1126.

Bills 134, 26, 135, 26, 137, 26, 13, 826, and resolutions 105, 26, 106, 26, 107, 26, 108, 26, 109, 26, 110, 26, and 1126.

Ms.

Elwood.

Yes.

Ms.

Sample.

Yes.

Mr.

Foster.

Yes.

Ms.

Hartman.

Yes.

Ms.

Peters.

Yes.

Ms.

Buffalo.

Yes.

Ms.

Carroll.

Yes.

All right.

Moving on to new business.

Uh Sheila, will you please read resolution 1126?

Council Bill 1126 is a resolution authorizing the temporary closure of portions of parking lanes and sidewalks on Locust Street, 7th Street, and 8th Street, and the alleyway north of 8th Street to facilitate building restoration of the district flats apartment complex located at 127 South 8th Street.

Do we have a staff report?

Yes.

Therefore, this work is proposed in four phases, or one side of the structure at a time in an attempt to limit the impact to pedestrians, downtown customers, and motorists in the area.

It's the goal of the owner and the contractor to have the work completed before students return in the fall.

Therefore, to both expedite the work where feasible and limit safety concerns with overhead work.

The sidewalk is proposed to be a closed along each frontage during that phase.

Since the structure remains occupied with existing tenants, there will be covered walkways over egress areas.

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

And the contractor should also be here tonight should you have any detailed questions about the overall project that I cannot answer.

Does anyone have any questions for staff for the project?

Yeah, Jackie.

Could you um and I know I asked this on email earlier?

Could you walk through the reason why there are three different entities across the paperwork?

Sure.

Um and one thing I discovered after the questions this morning.

Um 21st Enterprise LLC is a subsidiary of Surve Pro.

That's why SurvePro shows up on the traffic control plan.

Okay.

Okay.

Um but the three entities that I think we talked about earlier were the owner itself, which hires a contractor, that's 21st Enterprise.

They've then hired um it's what's it called?

Roadrunner Safety Services to put together the traffic control plan.

So that's why you see the three different entities.

Okay.

Thank you.

Yeah, Valerie.

Yeah.

Have we engaged with the CID and with adjacent business owners to let them know that lands will be closed?

Not as of yet, no.

We can, yes.

Thank you.

All right.

Any other questions for staff?

Yeah.

Pira.

Can you clarify which sidewalks are going to have covered walkway versus be closed?

Sure.

When they do each phase, the through sidewalk movement will be closed.

But it's an occupied structure.

So tenants, the the doors going in and out.

There's also parking within the facility.

So they've got to be able to let the cars come and go and the people come and go.

So they've got to be able to protect from that from that perspective.

So it will be a covered walkway, but only the tenants will be able to use it.

That's that's correct.

Okay.

Thank you for that Clarity.

Any other questions?

Yeah, Petsy.

Sorry, Barbara.

No, I have one.

Um if only the tenants can use the sidewalks, then are they paying a sidewalk inconvenience fee then?

They are.

Okay.

Thanks.

All right.

Any other questions?

All right.

Uh she um would anyone from the public, sorry, wish to speak on resolution 112-26.

See none.

Any council comments?

All right.

Sheila, we please call roll on resolution 112-26.

Council Bill 112-26, Ms.

Elwood.

Yes.

Ms.

Sample?

Yes.

Mr.

Foster.

Yes.

Ms.

Hartman.

Yes.

Ms.

Peters.

Yes.

Ms.

Buffalo?

Yes.

Ms.

Carroll.

Yes.

All right.

Moving on.

Uh Sheila, we please read one th resolution 11326.

Council Bill 1136 is a resolution approving the preliminary plat of Cambridge place face to locate it on the south side of Scarborough Drive and east of Rock Quarry Road.

Do we have a staff report?

Yes, thank you.

Council.

Mayor, Clint Smith, Community Development Director.

Uh as stated this is a request for a seven-lot preliminary plat.

Um the uh postcards were sent out notice for this.

And honestly, I'll just kind of go through this briefly.

This is generally an R1 zone property uh being subdivided for a single family development.

As you can see here, it's uh essentially a piece of property that really is located at a at the terminus currently of Scarborough Drive that would be extended uh as part of a earlier subdivision, and this is a a lot that's being further subdivided that was part of it at an original plat.

So uh we'll just kind of go, I think, to the to the overall site and kind of get an over uh kind of an overall view of of the development and and the layout for that.

Um again, zone R1, so a single family development.

Uh this would be seven lots, but just five additional single family uh lots on this.

There's a couple kind of interesting parts to this.

One of those is that it would be access from a uh kind of a private um access easement off of Scarborough.

Um and there's a couple common lots uh that actually provides a buffer to the north, about fifty feet of width.

Um and we can see that here on on the layout.

So the the current terminus or the terminus shown of Scarborough, which is kind of the right side of that screen, that is not constructed currently, but that would be constructed along with a uh previous um portion of this plat.

Uh what you see in the kind of the the darker subdivision um boundary lines is what's being proposed further.

So you can see um two common lots.

The C1 would be kind of that buffer to the north.

Uh it does have an access easement.

So this property um directly to the west of it is some uh predetermined locations for climax forests as forests that we be preserved.

Uh so there has to be a way to access that.

So there's a 20-foot access easement all the way across that lot C1 that would allow access there for basically um maintenance of that climax forest preservation area, uh, and then five single family subdivision properties located off the lot C2, which would include that ingress egress area and access.

Uh and we kind of touched on the on the two um common lots there, one being the buffer, one being the street and then the uh existing tree preservation on the far uh left side of the property that was actually dedicated with a with a previous subdivision.

Um just a recap a little bit planning and zoning.

We have um one letter in opposition, just generally, I think, with concerns with the impacts of new residential um within the proximity.

So I think concerns with loss of trees that come along with with the development of a site, which does happen.

Um we did have one speaker there, I think it was HOA rep uh also shared some some more questions about the development um regarding occupancy of the street light impact and generally the easements that are around there, but um never necessarily vocalized opposition generally to that project.

Uh it was approved by PNZ 8 to 0.

Um the representative at at the meeting did request that it be pulled off consent.

And so when that happens, the Planning Zoning Commission can vote on their request.

So they did vote in the affirmative to remove that from consent.

And so that's why it's on new business tonight.

So with that, I kind of went through that a little quickly, but I kind of wanted to open it up for questions if there's specific concerns on this one.

But the recommendation is for approval.

Any questions?

Yeah, Betsy, this is your ward, I believe.

It is my ward.

So I had a couple of questions.

You said something about uh a private road, but I don't know whether I misheard you or what?

No, they so on certain uh kind of context-specific situations, we do allow um access drives to serve kind of small areas.

So it has the the benefit of reducing some of that cost with um allowing in fill development, such as this one.

So this is essentially kind of an infill site.

Um so it's it's usually allowed in in kind of smaller areas like this where kind of requiring the the full scope of public infrastructure might actually kind of defer uh or deter development on that site.

So here so where is where is the access to the site and what is considered the private access, which the city is not responsible for?

Correct.

So uh as you can see here on on the right, if you see my screen, there's Scarborough Drive.

He's doing it.

That is a what's that?

I'm sorry.

Oh, I was saying yes, you uh to point out that you are showing it with your mouse.

Okay.

Well, those are the mouse.

Okay.

It is a uh public right-of-way.

And then this lot, this is a separate lot.

It's a common lot, C2, and within that is an access easement that um will then facilitate uh the construction of basically a standard width um access drive.

Uh it is fire department compliant for turnaround, so it meets generally all of our city standards.

Uh we also have the necessary easements on each side, just like you would on a regular regular city street for any type of uh utilities to serve these properties as well.

So essentially is is kind of a lower grade um opportunity to provide access to these lots uh which may not be have been feasible had uh a full public, I think, street cross section been required in the situation.

So who's responsible for for repairing that?

So the HOA would be required or some sort of organization, and that's usually um something that is addressed the time of final plating when construction plans are submitted.

So the HOA would be these five lots?

Correct.

Or so okay.

So then my next question is this looks like it's all forested now.

Was this used as part of the climate force that we needed for the other development in the year?

No.

So nothing on this is part of a protected uh tree preservation area.

When this entire area was developed, that was already um located and it is all within areas to the west of this.

So if you can see off to the west of these lots, there is a tree preservation area there.

And that is um what this access easement that's going along the north part of C1.

That's actually what provides access to that tree preservation area.

So they have met their requirement for tree preservation.

Uh I don't think the they being the new development.

The developers, yes.

The new development.

The the tree preservation requirement has been met um for this entire site by this location.

And so this developer didn't necessarily have to set aside any additional tree preservation area.

So I have a question.

Um so I live on a private street.

Um is now the time to make the requirement of an NID being part of that final.

You mentioned like if HOS, so Nancy, it's probably more of a question for you.

Like, when is the time to make that?

Because, you know, third generations purchasing these homes might not know that they're retired, they're in charge of their own snow removal and pothole filling.

So that's a really good question.

And I would um like to say that over the course of the last five years with Clint coming on board and uh my staff working together, we have actually developed some language to put on these plots that require folks and the maintenance to occur and processes by which um that can happen as a part of these projects whenever you have a private street.

So when you do see the final plot come forward, it will have to have that language on the plat so that there's a mechanism by which those private streets can be maintained.

Oh, to be 60 or 70 years ago and had that happen.

Correct.

And we've done that with a few other plates, I think, recently, so it's something we've I think worked out again with the law department.

So we're pretty confident that's gonna, I think, meet the needs for that long-term maintenance for the site.

Can I make the request when the final PAC comes that you make mention of that in the council memo?

I can't.

Thank you.

All right.

Any other questions on this one?

Yeah, Christina.

Um, um, do we have any concerns like around watershed or anything like that with additional or anything like that?

No, no concerns.

No.

Um, they meet uh they would have to meet all the the standard stormwater requirements, and so all that's reviewed by all of our utility staff and public work staff to make sure they meet um all requirements for new development.

So no concerns that were raised, or if they were, they've been addressed and accommodated per our stormwater ordnance.

Okay.

All right.

Um would anyone from the public wish to speak on resolution 11326?

See none, I'll come back to council comments.

Uh any council comments on this?

I guess you could ask the question.

Yeah.

Come closer to the microphone.

Yeah, so my other question is with the new development, has there been any comments or concerns from the neighbors?

Because like that's a lot of trees being removed and you know, infill.

So what kind of um feedback have you guys got from the So today we had the one I think uh email that was included in the packet, and I think they were concerned with the removal trees.

And again, I think the the HOA representative here was uh had spoke at the public hearing uh about the project.

Uh didn't specifically um I think mentioned trees if I recall, um, but uh generally focused, I think, on just the impact of this to the surrounding property owners.

So it it it may have been concerned, but I don't think it was specifically addressed.

Thanks.

All right, any other council comments?

Okay, Sheila, we call uh roll on resolution one thirteen twenty-six.

Council Bill 11326, Ms.

Elwood?

Yes.

Ms.

Ample?

Yes.

Mr.

Foster?

Yes.

Ms.

Hartman, yes.

Ms.

Peters?

Yes.

Ms.

Buffalo?

Yes.

Ms.

Carroll.

Yes.

All right.

Moving on.

Sheila, will you please read the items under introduction and first reading?

All bills are introduced by the mayor unless otherwise indicated bills 142 26, 143, 26, 144, 26, 145, 26, 146, 26, 147, 26, 148, 26, 149, 26, 150, 26, 151, 26, and 152 26 first reading.

All right.

Uh we're on to our reports.

Finally, Stacey.

Finally.

You can present on the community summit that you have introduced twice before.

So thank you.

Happy to do so.

Stacy Whiteman, assistant to the city manager.

Really excited to be here to talk about our second annual community summit, which took place in March of March.

So I'll share some highlights from the event.

We had over 200 community members attend.

I believe all of you were there as well.

So I appreciate you making time out of your Saturday to join.

Our setup was really similar to our first summit.

We did make a few key changes.

One thing that you'll notice in the report is we tried to really drill down into ward-specific information for some of the dot polling.

The reason for this is some of the questions were really uh neighborhood specific.

Um we were trying to see if there were any trends uh by ward.

So we see that in the report.

You certainly saw that at the event as well.

Um we had over 30 interactive booths at this event.

Um a lot of them were dot polling booths, but we did have some that were really just informational booths um providing information about our upcoming comprehensive plan update.

Um our capital improvement sales tax projects from the 2025 ballot and things like that.

Um we did have we tried something new since this is our second event.

We had two different styles of name tags for participants, and that's again how we counted what our attendance was.

We had a name tag that was similar to last year, as well as a name tag that said, Hi, my name is, and this is my first summit.

Um judging by those, it seems we had a whole lot of first-time attendees, so that's also really exciting.

Um, something not on this list here, but just important to note is this is also where we kicked off um our strategic plan update.

Our consultants from very done were there getting feedback from residents.

Um also just kind of hearing from staff and uh hearing some of the conversations that went on during the event.

So a really really great event.

We're excited to make this an annual one.

When we look at our participation participants by ward, we had a really good distribution across the city.

Uh Ward 4 and Ward 2 showed up a little extra.

Um so you can kind of see that there.

We also had a lot of good attendance from those just outside city limits as well.

So and again, with the color-coded um polling, you'll kind of see where um all folks from all areas of the city and even outside of the city uh landed on a series of questions.

Also, similar to last year, we did 100 of Como bucks in voting to for residents to tell us what their um what of our five strategic priority areas they wanted to see increased investment, similar to last year, reliable and sustainable infrastructure was the top.

Uh a little different from last year.

Safe community came in a second this year, whereas last year I believe it came in um number three behind inclusive community.

So you can see the whole breakdown of those Como bucks voting here.

And again, other than other than those two uh flipping, it was very similar to our first summit.

So I'll go into all of our five priority areas.

For these slides, I'll just list the departments that were representative.

And I think it's also really important to point out that we had representation from virtually every single city department, if not actually having a table at the event, supporting the event in some way, whether it be with the setup or with the breakdown afterwards.

So we just had a lot of volunteers from across the city who showed up to be a part of this.

That was really great as well.

So for organizational excellence, departments included IT, HR, finance, the clerk's office, and community development.

Participants had the opportunity to provide feedback on things like community dashboards, job benefits, and also just learning some of those some things about our comprehensive plan and where their tax dollars go.

Some of the takeaways, there was a lot of interest in community dashboards.

So for this, we had an example up, just because it's hard to weigh in on what you'd like to see in a dashboard if maybe you don't know exactly what we mean by a dashboard.

So I think the example we had up was from Las Vegas, Nevada, where residents kind of got to see and interact with that and then provide some input on what they'd like to see in a Columbia dashboard.

Some of the most common responses were locations for community resources as well as public safety data.

A lot of attendees, and I will I will say that we had 200 attendees, and not every single attendee voted in every booth.

So it's a bit of a small sample size, but of the attendees who voted, there was a lot of interest in being involved in some way in our comprehensive plan update.

I think most said they wanted to at least attend a few meetings and learn a little bit.

Also, uh we had some questions that were similar to last year, one of those questions being related to what job seekers are interested in, and similar to last year, uh traditional benefits are the priority for job seekers, at least the ones who showed up to our event here.

For Safe Community, that's where residents were able to interact with our police, fire, public health, and housing and neighborhood services departments.

They were able to provide feedback on public safety concerns, public health initiatives, fire staffing and code enforcement.

Some of the takeaways for the health department, uh, the two areas that uh residents said that they want to see the health department really prioritizing, are really valued in their health department, were providing basic needs support and mental health crisis intervention.

Um, outside of just general emergency response, risk reduction, and medical readiness were the areas for fire that folks were most interested in.

And then, and I think this has been alluded to previously, but uh some of the responses from residents about public safety in their specifically to their neighborhoods really centered around quality of life and property crimes.

We had staff from the city manager's office from public health, sustainability and housing.

Um feedback was uh uh solicited on volunteer programs, community engagement, homelessness, and sustainability related actions.

So as a way of addressing homelessness, uh participants said that they'd like to see the city prioritizing, increasing the availability of affordable housing, um, as far as getting information from the city, a monthly newsletter with updates on city projects and information about upcoming events.

Those were the two most popular choices.

And residents said that just the impact on the natural environment was their biggest um motivator for taking more sustainable related actions.

For economic uh for our resilient economy, excuse me, uh priority area, uh staff from economic development, the city manager's office, cultural affairs, and housing uh were present in those areas, talked a bit about the airport, um, business offerings, public art, and affordable housing, and also retail options.

So little surprisingly, the majority of attendants said they preferred free parking even if it was in a less convenient area, even if it was further away from the terminal, as opposed to um paid parking that was in more of a prime location.

Also uh attendees expressed a lot of interest in getting flight options to the East Coast.

So we see that with the top destinations that they picked out, including New York City, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.

Again, with it being a small uh sample size, the attendees that provided feedback, the majority of them uh expressed a willingness to pay more to support affordable housing.

However, there wasn't really a clear consensus on a good way to approach doing that.

Um also for retail options, there was an interest in small locally owned retail options with uh kind of niche products.

For reliable and sustainable infrastructure, that's where staff from utilities, public works, and parks and rec were.

Um there were opportunities to give feedback on pedestrian safety, energy generation, recycling, and then what we've what they value in our parks.

Um for the utilities maintaining uh the infrastructure and maintaining reliability were the most important things to uh attendees.

Uh similar to last year, what they value in our um parks are biking and walking trails as well as access to those outdoor green spaces.

Uh, there was interest in exploring opportunities for new electric generation facilities in or near Boone County.

And then um participants indicated that changing to single stream recycling as well as staff drop-off centers would make recycling the most convenient for them.

All right.

Oh.

And we're already starting planning for next year's event.

Uh we're planning April 10th.

Uh I would say we're but the different one of some of the differences between last year's event and this year's event um that I neglected to mention the first is a lot of the feedback we got was how cramped the space felt.

So this year, whenever we were doing the the design of the first floor of City Hall, we were really aware of that feedback, and we tried to make it so there was a lot more room between the tables.

There was just more of the space was being used.

So I think I think I heard some positive feedback from um attendees on their way out that it felt for the ones who were here uh last year, it felt a lot more open.

Uh I also just noticed that participants stuck around, they seemed to stick around a lot longer and really linger and talk to staff.

Um, some other feedback that I've heard from some of the volunteers that worked the event and that I just heard from people who attended.

Um it seemed like this year people really kind of had an idea of who they wanted to talk to.

There was a big number of people who came in saying, like, I want to talk to someone in this department about this issue.

And we were able to kind of direct them where those um where the whether they might be able to find those staff members.

So I think that feedback um it's gonna help us make next year's event even better.

So happy to take any questions on this.

And hope you all mark your calendars for April to right now.

Like I'm doing it right now.

And I accidentally almost invited everyone that you invited.

So I'm gonna make my own thing.

Uh no, just really do appreciate the thing.

Uh, any counsel comments or feedback?

My my comments were I you probably heard them when I was there.

It's great that where there was more room because that was a huge issue last year.

Heard heard a lot about it last year.

It was much better to be able to move things around and you need to move your entertainment, not where it was last year because we're trying something new.

We need to kind of figure that one out a little bit.

Time around, I'd put it in the middle somewhere.

But anyway, it was very well organized and I appreciated it.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I appreciated the report very much, the quality of the report and the usefulness of the data and the thoughts that went into the questions.

Last year's report has proved to be useful throughout the year.

Um I even see more granularity of data on this presented in a useful way.

Um I anticipate that this will be extremely useful throughout the year, um, possibly in ways we haven't even anticipated.

Um, because I think that's how the last one went as well.

Yeah, and I can uh if I can talk a little bit to that, uh Shauna Johnson was really uh integral in this process as well.

Um of the things that her and I have been talking about is just meeting with the departments to go over these results to see how we can use them, as well as start figuring out what the questions for next year will be and how we can build on these.

Um something else that we added to this year's summit uh that I should have mentioned at the beginning is we tried to highlight ways we had used participant feedback last year.

So on the the screens throughout the event, there were slides that said this is what we heard and this is what we did.

So we're excited to build on that for next year as well.

Yeah, yeah, Christina.

Do you have your hand up before me?

Oh sorry.

Okay.

Um good job.

I think this is really good progress for the future.

And I definitely was one that was like, hey, dashboards, that could work.

Um the other thing I would like to see is like as we do the report, like if you do end up going back to the leadership, what are those outcomes and and are you taking, you know, what things are a direct result because of community engagement from this event?

Because I think you know, the community wants to know that we hear them and that we're making specific action from that.

Otherwise, they won't they'll stop showing up.

Absolutely.

Yeah, Nick and then Vera.

I just want to this is a really good example of borrowing an idea from another community and then making it our own.

And I think I've seen more of that from last year to this year doing exactly that.

And my memory, Carlin, you you saw this in Florida somewhere.

Yes.

Yeah, right.

And brought it here.

So just commentation about finding something that works and then making it work even better here for us.

There's some good words, Stacy.

Yeah, Pierre.

I just wanted to also point out an anecdotal thing that I saw when I was there, because you were absolutely right.

A ton of people came in knowing what department they wanted to go straight to.

I also saw a ton of people walk in knowing what city staff person they wanted to go straight to.

And many, many times that was Shauna.

They walked in, they're like, where's Shauna?

Which is incredible, but it was wonderful to see that across departments that we are starting to see, or not starting to, but that we have evidence to show that our community really knows and engages with city staff and that city staff are knowing and engaging back.

Becky, did you want to add I just think it was great?

I appreciated the event.

And I know the work that goes into it.

So thank you for all your time on that.

I'll just say uh I use the results from last year's when we talked to American Airlines about you know, Charlotte was like the number one thing.

And so then this year when talking to people talking about like, okay, no, really, where do you guys want to go next?

Because we're gonna try this again.

So it looks like New York City or DC is what we need to work on next parks.

So yeah.

Well, thank you again for the work and thank you to Carlene for bringing it and for staff for implementing it.

Yeah.

All right, moving on.

Uh our next one is report 3026.

This is consideration for the addition of a short-term rental representative to the CVB board.

Uh do we have a staff report?

Yes, good evening, Amy Schneider, Convention and Visitors Bureau.

So this item is is indeed intended to at seek council direction uh regarding the composition of the CVB advisory board.

Our current board board consists of 12 members, including five hotel or motel owners as required by city ordinance.

In June 2025, short-term rentals became subject to the city's lodging tax and now contribute to the same funding source that supports CVB operations and tourism development efforts.

As a result, staff believes there's a value in considering representation from the short-term rental community on the advisory board.

A short-term rental representative could provide a unique insight into lodging trends, visitor preferences, and the evolving hospitality landscape in Columbia.

The question before council is whether the board should be expanded from 12 to 13 members to accommodate this representation, or whether the current board site size should stand and another approach be considered.

So I'm really looking to uh seek your feedback and direction on whether you would like us to proceed, and if so, what your preference would be.

And then based on the council's input, we can return with any necessary ordinance amendments or recommendations.

That's good.

And this is staff initiated, just to clarify.

Or this is from the CVB board initially.

Staff um asked the question of the CVB board and the CVB board did um approve it.

Okay.

I think we just want to clarify on that one.

Yeah, questions.

Yeah, Valerie.

Yeah.

Um I don't really have a question, I have a comment.

Um I think this is a natural step to take.

Um I've been vocal on other aspects of um short-term rentals.

Um if they're paying the lodging tax, they deserve a say on CVB.

Um they are serving a role that meets the needs of visitors.

Um, and they can give us good information and provide that information to CVB.

Um so I I do support this.

I think it makes sense.

Um if you need a motion, I'm happy to make a motion.

Um I'm also all ears for the rest of the council.

Any other council comments or questions on this?

No real concerns.

I I think um even though you guys don't normally have Thai votes, I would probably be in favor of just adding a person just to have an odd number, just in case you randomly have that just seems like a best practice.

So then the motion would be um to it and Nancy clarify, is it for a resolution to come back to council to vote on the changes or an ordinance, I'm sorry, an ordinance to come back to council.

So then the motion would be um uh to request from if you want to make it um and to add a member for short-term rental.

So to add a member.

Right.

Okay.

All right.

So do you want to make that you will say you're making that motion, Ballerie?

Sure.

I feel that I should open the report back up now.

Um I will make a motion for you to bring a resolution ordinance back.

Adding a member um to the CVB board.

That represents the short term.

That represents short-term rental owners or operators.

All right, so we have a motion.

We have a second from second it, yes.

Uh, any discussion on this.

All right, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

All right, thank you.

Appreciate this.

All right.

Our next report uh is proposed artwork installation at the Columbia Regional Airport.

Do we have a staff report?

We do, and I have photos too.

There were pictures earlier.

Yes.

I just don't know how to get to them.

No.

Maybe go back to the airport slides, because it was like right after the airport slides.

So go to like slide seven or something.

Hold on, I can't read that.

I got it.

There it is.

There you go.

Okay.

Slide presentation.

Bottom right hand corner.

I am over four.

Right, sorry.

This is fun.

This is I am so sorry.

I know how to do this.

I've done this before.

Thank you.

I'm so sorry.

Okay.

So this is just to provide you an update.

I believe I've talked to you all about this at the council retreat on arts installation at the Columbia Regional Airport.

The Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau in partnership with the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau has been working together to enhance the visitor experience within the airport.

The picture you see right now is what the information wall looks like at this time.

This posal is to proposal is to improve the existing visitor information area with a mural that highlights central Missouri and creates a more welcoming and visually engaging first impression for travelers.

The mural would complement the existing visitor information wall, and it's being designed so it can be relocated if necessary in the future.

Local artist Adrian Luther has been identified for the project.

She has completed several projects in both Columbia and Jefferson City and was previously a finalist for the existing airport mural project.

The airport advisory board reviewed the proposed concepts and expressed support for the design being presented this evening.

The total project cost is $10,000, which will be shared equally between the Columbia CVB and the Jefferson City CVB, with each organiz an organization putting $5,000 toward the project.

No additional city funding is being requested.

And if approved, we hope to have this completed by fall of 2026.

This is what the mural would look like.

If you look this middle part is kind of the see-through where we have have all the visitor guides, and then the part on the left and part on the light right are the existing shelves.

So those would remain and the mural would be built around it.

Any questions for from council to staff?

No, I think it's beautiful.

I like the additional art on on display here.

Second.

Second by Nick Foster.

Any discussion?

All right.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

No.

Thanks for bringing this forward.

All right.

Up next we have report 3226.

This is communication from the Finance Advisory and Audit Committee.

And I see the chair here and I see the staff leads on here.

Oh, he likes snuck in, Matthew.

He's right there.

So I don't know who wants to make the I'll I'll go to Matthew and then if you want Peter.

Oh, Peter's saying you have to do this.

All right.

Do we have a staff report?

Yes.

So at the April 2 meeting.

Members voted unanimously to recommend an amendment to the code regarding the duties and of the committee and the adding language regarding attendance.

And so uh what you have in front of you is basically what they discussed and any questions you have, I'll be happy to try to answer them.

And so similar to the CVB, Nancy.

Um if we are agreeable to the recommendations, our motion would be to request for an ordinance to come back with the recommendations in here.

Is that making sure I'm following this?

All right.

Any uh council comments?

Yeah, Jackie.

Can you provide an example of what would fall under other financial reports and matters?

Like I'm specifically thinking my question earlier when we were talking about the airport uh reconfiguration and that that didn't go be in front of this commission.

Um think it would be more things uh of a financial matter.

So more uh probably like what we're doing this year is looking at the the budget a little more closely uh before the presentation.

Looking at actually doing the the audit going through the audit, different things like the the internal audits and so those type of reports.

Yeah yes so yes the the count what they would like to do is to basically clarify the expectations and actually have support from the council as well and so that's what a lot of a lot of the work that we've been doing with the the FAC committee has been around uh kind of finding that identity for them because for for a while they have not been used in a manner that is would be conductive for a uh people with experience that they have agree that's why I was questioning so I know so I understand the process.

Thank you.

Yeah no yeah I would just like to say that I I appreciate this development I think that if you take a look at the people who are on this body there they are a very capable group I'm not sure that we have made full use of their of their capabilities in times past and this expands that it also delineates it a little bit more and I think that's a really good thing.

I appreciate their initiative and bring this to the council I think clarify.

So what it would be would be changing the phrase that in their letter is bolded and changing it from let's see make recommendations on financial matters.

Sorry I'm like bringing up to your mouth some that and review and provide guidance on the annual budget audit reports and other financial reports and matters is that is that the sort of recommended change that we're having that's correct.

Okay I just wanted to clarify because that wasn't bolded and so I wanted to make sure other questions yeah Christina.

When you said that they've been underutilized how do you uh anticipate I for the record I I fully agree with where this is going but I'm curious like if you already have ideas or plans of how you'll start leveraging that uh committee in a different way or in a more full capacity one of the things that uh we just started and we just talked about at our meeting today was creating a report to the council so that's one of the new things that'll come forward uh we anticipate that we they'll have some sort of recommendation with the budget uh to come forward to council as well uh as uh as well as the audit when we do the audit maybe having a more active role with the council with the audit so and um yeah that's it um so to um one point we used talked about how I guess in your meeting today you talked about doing an annual report is one of the recommendations because we've talked about kind of clarifying this in duties and responsibilities on our boards and commissions to add a requirement that they do an annual report um into the legislation we have that in some of our boards and commissions so is that um a recommendation that you would want when this ordinance comes back to us do you also want and that might be a question for the chair if it was discussed kind of sorry.

Peter would you mind um so some of our boards and commissions have a requirement that an annual report comes to council would you like us to add that to your ordinance as well?

You're welcome to do that if you think that would be serve the council it's not something that we brought forward primarily this one was brought forward because we are the audit committee finance audit and advisory but audit is not anywhere in the list of responsibilities so we wanted to make clear that we do review the audit reports but if you want to add that and the attendance issue we had had a problem with recently so we wanted to kind of get that in writing so we had some ground for taking action if necessary.

Yeah we had a um a survey done a couple years ago of our boards and commissions and one of the common things we saw was some don't have clarification on attendance and so we need to improve that on like what happens and who triggers that that it is happening.

And then the second was to have an annual report just so we have that touch point with council that you know it's not just when we refer something but that you're going to come to us anyway and we get to talk to you.

You would like to add that to the ordinance that would be fine.

Okay thank you.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Christina.

Um all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

She listened to only one of you.

All right.

Thank you.

All right.

Now moving on, uh staying on the finance theme.

We have our monthly finance report.

So, Matthew, do you uh kick it to you?

Yes, what you have before you uh is our monthly finance report.

And within that report, we have a quarterly revenue report for the second quarter of fiscal year twenty-six.

Um I think one thing of note would be on page five of the report uh where we have the fiscal year twenty-six actuals for the second quarter, so first and second quarter, looking at those totals.

Uh compared to last year at this same time, we had a uh deficit basically for uh in our actuals for twenty-five, and this year we have uh actually uh seven hundred and fifty-nine thousand to the slide for the the I do not have a slide, but yeah, it's in what's attached to the council.

Okay.

Yes.

Any other highlights you want to make from it?

Nope, I think that that's the major takeaway.

Okay.

Any questions from council?

Yeah, Vera.

Not a question, just a comment.

I'd love to have slides next time.

We can put some slides together.

Awesome.

It but we don't need a lot of slides, but if you're gonna reference a number, I'd love to see it on the screen.

Okay.

Any other council comments on this?

Uh I'll just point out um, you know, I always appreciate when you call out um the purchasing department and how many kind of like bids that they finish and all the orders.

Um and one of your ones who she she always has the high numbers.

Uh I just wrote her retirement card.

So Michelle Sorensen, I know, is retiring.

So good luck on replacing uh one of those high hitters in your purchasing department.

So that's a tough one.

Yeah.

All right.

Uh so this is just for information only, so appreciate it.

So now we'll go to general comments from the public.

Would anyone from the public wish to speak?

If I will, or if I may, I do have a special uh presentation here uh for one of your council members.

Okay.

Um June 1st, 2026.

Oh, Marcus, will you say your name, please?

Oh, I'm sorry, Marcus Richardson, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Columbia Chapter.

Uh listen, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Columbia chapter, to whom it may concern.

When I reflect on the concept of legacy, I think a robust resume of past work and achievements that supply the current framework and tracks to run on for future effectiveness and succession.

I would also be remiss if the elements of timely partnership and cooperation with contemporary agencies or organizations and individuals were not mentioned in the context of true effective legacy.

In light of legacy, the Columbia, Missouri chapter, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference would be remissed if we did not give a well-done and location farewell to Fourth World Councilperson Nick Foster.

Mr.

Foster on his relocation to Columbia, immediately involved himself in the work of bringing resources and a voice of those who lack them for whatever reason.

Mr.

Foster gave generous contributions to grassroots organizations working in spaces of equity and service.

As our fonder said, if I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can chair somebody with a word or a song, if I can show somebody he's traveling wrong, then my living will not be in vain.

There are now several initiatives in Columbia that Mr.

Foster can point to that approve his living has not been in vain among this community.

Mr.

Foster is a strong supporter and member of the Columbia chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and we encourage his participation there in Atlanta at our national headquarters.

From community of faith outreach, uh which was a organization that we had that he helped assist with to second chance housing.

We want to express our deepest appreciation to Nick Foster and his unwavering participation in our beloved community and his desire to make sure we live up to the extension of our city charter to all people to flourish and find fulfillment.

Congratulations, Nick, on your service here, first as a concerned citizen and as a councilperson.

We pray for further enrichment for you and your family with much love and appreciation.

Reverend Marcus Richardson, president of the Columbia chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

We we present this to you.

It's not framed, so you can I wanted to speak about what I really come to speak about if if if I may.

I will give you two extra minutes.

Give me two extra minutes, please.

So I stand before you today to to speak of a common problem that we have been running into, uh, especially when it comes to our store properties of African American uh here in Columbia.

Uh we we see, especially with the um the Calester House that was recently um had a agreement or contract with the city uh through Love Columbia uh to do some kind of housing or transitional housing, things like that.

And while that is good and that is great, um, our community was not a part of that process until the process was already done.

Um and so we we are asking uh the city to please uh grant us oversight, give give our community uh a chance to bring our ideas to the table.

Give us a chance to know what is going on before these properties are being purchased or before these properties are coming into agreement because there's a lot of history that you all may not know of that comes with these properties, but our community knows about this history, and it's usually told after it's too late, and then we have to go back and then we have to restart the process all over again because we wasn't involved in the first place.

So we are looking for oversight, whether it's an overlay, whether it's a task force, whether whatever it is.

We we are looking for oversight, especially on the African American trail.

This is something that is near and dear to the African American community here in Columbia, and when you go on there, there was there are certain lots that are empty, the houses are no longer there, and so we want to make sure that we are preserving the history that is there, not just being replaced by a plaque, but if we can preserve the homes, if we can preserve the land, we want to make sure that that is able to do it so our future generations can come along and see that, yes, we are also as African Americans, we are also a part of this community.

We we are not just at the bottom, but we have done things in this community to help Columbia along the way.

So we are asking again uh for these oversights on on these type of projects uh when it comes to the African American community.

Thank you.

Thank you, Marcus.

Would anybody else from the public wish to speak?

Good evening.

My name is Pamela Hardin, and I am the president of the Columbia Unit NAACP, so I am representing individuals from all across uh Columbia.

Um before I get started, I would like to also give uh congratulations on your new endeavor, the new chapter in your life from leaving here, Mr.

Foster, because you have attended all of our events and we are very appreciative of the support you have given us.

So I wanted to get that out.

I rise this morning or this evening uh to speak to you about something that's near and dear to us in the African American community.

And um I just wanted to start out um as uh Mr.

Richardson has stated um about the history of the uh houses or the community uh in Ward 1 here in Columbia.

And I'm not sure that everyone always takes the time to sit and look uh or realize the history that's there.

So I thought I'd bring a little bit of it to you today.

Um history notes that for over 200 years, Columbia was two cities uh divided by race.

Blacks were not allowed to shop in white stores, and they weren't allowed to attend those stores or go to the churches or receive services, and they also were not allowed to utilize um a lot of the professional businesses such as doctors and things like that.

And because of this, um there were two different sides of Columbia.

Um most of it was in a centrally located area here in the inner city.

Um after the American Civil War in 1865, blacks began building their own businesses and their own institutions.

This historic area dramatically changed in the 1960s, and that was due to urban renewal.

Sharp Inn was an area that was established where African Americans had established businesses such as barbershops, um, there were uh restaurants, different businesses that was in that area.

There were some clubs and things like that in that area.

We also had Cemetery Hill.

A lot of people don't know about Cemetery Hill.

Um, but until 1950, Cemetery Hill was populated with homes uh for blacks on the east end bordered by Broadway and Providence, which was originally called Third Street, um, a federal program once again, urban renewal, changed all of that.

Um the Columbia Land Clearance for Redevelopment Redevelopment Authority designated the land for redevelopment along with other properties in that area.

Um we also have a concern now about the Kirkland property, a prize winning internationally acclaimed horticulturalness.

I couldn't get that out very well.

Um, but he was born a slave.

Very important to us.

This is on our agenda right now.

We are also, we also already have lost the Wiggins uh medical clinic, which was very, very important to us.

We are concerned at this moment about Annie Fisher's home, a legendary caterer, and she was known nationally for her beaten biscuits.

Nora Stewart Nursery was a school known as the Negro nursery school.

This school is very important to me.

My my own children attended North Stewart Nursery School.

It is a rock or was a rock in the community, giving our preschool black children a jump start in the education as well as nurturing of our young students.

Some uh individuals, this was the only nurturing that they were receiving was from Nora Stewart, which is no longer uh there at this moment.

The McKinney building hosted a lot of jazz clubs and had um legends there like Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.

And so that's important to us in our um our art in our uh community.

And now a major issue, the McAllister building, which is located at 200 North Garth, is what we are now dealing with losing in this line of our loss of our black history in this city.

Um this being a big part of black history in our community.

Dr.

McAllister not only lived at this location, he also had his dental office at this location.

And at that time, this was the only black dentist and the only place that African Americans could go to have their teeth cared for.

Um we understand that uh this property was uh leased out with an agreement with Love Columbia not to exceed 19 years, but um this proposal process was not open uh to organizations and we were not at the table, which is what the problem that we're having.

This proper property, it reflects the resilience of a black doctor who provided a service to people that just couldn't go anywhere.

Pamela, you're at time.

Do you want Mary or someone else to finish your remarks?

She can she can pick up where I look at it.

Okay, that's right.

Thank you.

Sorry to volunteer your mom.

There's somebody anyway.

Um we are very much concerned about uh the McAllister building uh on the corner up there of uh Worley Street.

Uh as she said, Dr.

McAllister was the only, in fact, he was my dentist.

He was the only dentist in Columbia for African American folks.

And uh I guess I was just surprised that you know that more um information was not given about him during, you know, during renovation processes that are taking place.

But right now we want to make sure that we honor that site and and that I understand that there are a group of people working with some of the council people and some other people to try to uh bring in better into focus of what we can do for that McAllister House to make sure that it stays in the community.

We want to make sure that African Americans really still continue to have their place be recognized as uh area in which we dwelt dwelled at one time, you know, which was our neighborhoods, uh which would which had our professionals when we couldn't go to other places.

And so we we're just uh hoping that you will work with us in the community.

And one of the things that that I need to say to the council uh here tonight is that that you know, communication is so very important in our community, and when things happen when we have folks all upset about everything, usually it's when something has happened in our community that they feel that we should have known about that we didn't know about it, and it causes a lot of grief, and we kind of have to work the whole things together sometimes uh because people get uh angry and and want to take some different kinds of action.

We're trying to, we're trying to pull Columbia together so that we can be an example for the world.

I think we've done a fairly good job at it.

Uh, but I would like to see us work together uh in this community as a group because I have black friends and I have white friends.

I have we work together.

Uh, but the the African American community, I have uh have lost a lot, I have not gained the gains that we should have and and the recognition that we should have for the area that we occupied in Columbia, and that's why we are fighting for that something to be done.

So I want to I hope that the council will allow us to work with us to take another look at at the McAllister House.

And uh I know that that that our group uh I do not meet with them, but I know that that Marcus and Pam and some of the others, you know, have met with some of the with the uh love inc, and they kind of working in sync together.

Yeah.

So uh I hope that we can get something working.

Thank you, Mary.

We'll be happy with that.

Okay.

Thank you, Mary.

But anyone else from the public wish to speak.

Eugene Elkin, 34 second warden.

Tonight I'm speaking on uh kind of the same area of history.

Some of you have heard of the Wilkes United Methodist Church, and it's now history gone.

It closed yesterday.

It represented the Department of Revenue, it represented NA.

I can't think of all the different organizations I was told about that actually had meetings inside the old church.

As a member there, I went there in the early 2000s when a new preacher there invited me from one of my habitat meetings.

I stayed.

I sang for eight years in the choir, and I even stayed through the entire 09 forward trying to help the homeless.

I've seen Sturgeon, Sintra, Hallsville, and now Wilkes of those four Methodist churches, Hallsville is closed, and now Wilkes.

Tonight you made a vote on House or the Fire Station number 10.

The church will be standing empty.

It was called New Horizons Methodist Church.

My pastor preached in that church.

The homeless gentleman at the church service Sunday morning.

I was telling him now there would no longer be church services, which he's well aware of what I've been trying to say.

It's needed, and it's not just Eugene asking.

He being homeless suggests that we need a chapel at the new ready location.

My opinion is how about a non-denominational chapel?

We need people to understand you gotta give homeless hope, because you would not believe the violence we saw the previous week.

They said it started around a quarter till 8 a.m.

and it was still going when I arrived around 10.30.

It was ongoing, the biggest mess, and I think it had something to do with instability.

Where are we going to go to get a good decent breakfast?

And as I've always promoted the church, one hour of peace, one hour every week.

You could go to the church, lay your head down if you choose, but by God, nobody's gonna bother you.

You have no idea the stress they live under.

Some nights they never get any sleep.

As I end this, I would hope that someone can hear me loud and clear on a short statement.

We've had a gentleman to die in the last two weeks of pneumonia.

The partner is a mentally challenged person and flies a kite downtown.

I hope the police understand his challenge.

They live together so the deceased partner could make decisions for them both.

Thank you, Eugene.

Thank you, Eugene.

Renee Carter for Race Matters Friends.

Well, having a thriving airport is a nice amenity for our local travelers, business persons, and tourists.

Also, um we have not uh shifted our roads and bikeways and pedways to the recommended designs and restrictions on vehicle speed that would give us a walkable livable city.

When it comes to moving those projects ahead, we are reluctant to do so.

We don't have adequate funding, we don't have the enthusiasm about meeting those goals for the people.

There have been ongoing excuses about why these things must wait while other projects get priority.

We expect that our community members, particularly those who are marginalized, will have their needs met.

So I'm asking you to invest your time, your energy and enthusiasm with coming up with plans for us to move forward to give our community more walkable and livable streets, which is something that we really need.

Thank you.

Thank you, Renee.

Anyone else from the public wish to speak?

Say your name in your ward.

Yeah.

Andy Boyles.

Um I'm actually in the county.

My um I had something on the consent agenda uh on behalf of the Boyles Family Revocable Trust.

I'm actually in the county, and my petition has been submitted to planning and zoning.

I realize that was not covered this evening, but I was advised to present a letter to you and the city council to accompany that by Rusty Palmer.

Um I can upload that to my portal if you would like.

I also have copies for everybody.

So if you do discuss this outside of today's meeting, I would like to at least have this.

What number were you?

Boyles the last one on the first read.

Is it under I think it's consent?

Yeah, it was under consent.

I realize you guys did not discuss that.

Annexation agreement.

Yes.

Yes.

You were approved.

Oh, okay.

You're good.

Okay.

Yeah.

Thanks for coming down.

Right.

Feel free to come at any time.

Right.

Well, thank you very much.

You don't need me to hand out those.

I would still yeah, I think so.

I was like, You came down here, you should give it a lot.

Exactly.

You can just be on it.

Yeah.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

All right.

Would anyone else from the public wish to speak?

All right, none.

We'll go to um council comments.

Um, I'm gonna.

Well, I know Valerie has a plan, but Vera, uh because we changed it up.

I was gonna start with you, unless you want me to have Valerie go first.

I can go last.

Okay, right I uh I know, but I just knew that a lot of our conversation is around what yeah.

So Gira.

Yeah.

Thank you.

I can uh happy to go.

Um so uh first I want to say um how incredibly excited I am to see our bus system get back to 45 minute cycles.

Um I know that got a ton of press.

It was incredibly deserved.

I think it deserves more.

I'm so excited.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make that happen.

Um I want to say congratulations to all of our recent graduates from all of our recent schools.

Um, particularly my own Sun River.

If you heard someone openly weeping during the Hickman graduation celebration, that was me.

You could hear me over the cameras.

That is how loudly I was crying.

Um, and apologies to anyone that had the misfortune of sitting next to me.

Um then I also just have to take a moment to acknowledge that as we sit here on June 1st, it is the first day of Pride Month.

If you know much about me, my history in public service, or my day job, you know that this month is incredibly important to me.

And particularly in these frightening political times, and as a queer woman who holds a position of power, I can't pass the ability to speak on it.

When I lead the local LGBTQ youth group, I always include a section that we call campfire meeting.

And while my kids may groan about it, um, we either ponder a life question, learn about LGBTQ history, or practice a coping skill, and then we end with a unison affirmation.

One of my favorite questions to ask my middle and high school students is why are you proud to be LGBTQ?

And so I just wanted to share a couple of my favorite answers, which I believe really embody the ideals of this month.

Some of the answers I've gotten include I get to be part of a community that supports me no matter what.

I learned early that I'm the only person who gets to define who I am.

I get to make my own home in my own body, and no one can tell me otherwise.

I get to experience love on my own terms and at my own time.

And a personal favorite for everyone who was there to hear it, I get to have really cool haircuts.

That's all I've got today.

That's awesome.

Thanks, yeah.

Jackie.

So Nick was the first person I talked to when I was thinking about running for office.

And he gave me the best advice out of all the people I talked to, and that really helped me make that decision.

So do you remember what that advice was?

He told me to pretend I was already on council because I was worried about the time commitment.

And you're just like, well, just pretend you're on council and see if you can handle it.

And that was really, and I've given that advice to everybody I've met who's running.

Just pretend you're already on council because that gives you an idea if you can handle it.

And so if any of you are really interested in what that's like, you can do it too.

So but that was really great advice, and I appreciated that and your friendship and your mentorship.

And I wish you one, Alina.

I'm gonna do you want to close it out at the end.

Yeah, since it's your last one.

I'll go.

Christina.

I'm gonna be really quiet tonight, I think.

Um, but I do want to encourage people to um get out there and be part of the boards and commissions because we do still have applications available.

So the more applications we get, the better, you know, candidates we can select from and have a good variety of people and boards and commissions.

Well, aside from thanking Nick for his four years of service and being sorry that he's moving on, but happy to know I have someplace, somebody to visit in Atlanta.

Um so thanks for that.

But otherwise, so I'm happy to have the number 10 fire station coming online sooner or later.

Thanks.

Yeah, Valerie.

Nick, thank you for your service.

Um we've been friends for a while.

Um, and I'm thankful for that friendship that we've had um as a family and as um citizens.

Um it's been an honor serving with you.

Um I wish you the best of luck in your next move.

Um so I did have some um comments prepared.

Um I have been participating um in the meetings with Love Columbia, um, the advisory committee that they set up on the McAllister House.

Um, and I very much appreciate the members of that commission.

Um Marcus Richardson, Pamela Harding, um, and also um Mary Um Ratliff who hasn't been to those meetings, but I know has participated because I've seen the email lists.

Um so I know that we're hearing from you.

Um thank you for speaking tonight.

I appreciate your experience.

Um I appreciate your recommendations.

Um we've only had two meetings.

They've been incredibly um vulnerable and incredibly productive.

Um I think something that struck everyone was the umified um message that we're hearing from all of the commit um community participants in those two meetings.

Um that struck me from Mary's comments tonight um was the call for communication.

Um and that's exactly right.

It's that communication step that was missed here.

Um the recommendations that I've heard from every committee member or every participant in these meetings, um, has remained consistent that we need to stop, go back, and fill in that communication piece that we didn't have on what the future of that property should be.

Um and so I'm I'm looking forward to hearing more on that piece.

Um but another important thing that we keep coming back to.

Um not many structures on the African American Heritage Trail, not many of the original structures still remain today.

Um I think we need to ask ourselves how we can more effectively ensure that we're identifying and protecting locations that have historic significance to the African American heritage before demolition occurs, before it's an item on a city agenda, um, and regardless of who may purchase properties.

And regardless of who may purchase properties.

So one of the tools that we have that we could use is a historic preservation overlay.

So tonight I will make a motion to request a historic preservation overlay for the African American Heritage Trail that provides oversight, added oversight on demolition requests, demolition permits and identifies historic features to be preserved.

I'd also like to form a task force to serve in an advisory capacity on the formation of a historic overlay.

And their duties would include reviewing historical surveys, making recommendations on potential boundaries of the overlay to the heritage trail.

And properties that should be included.

As well as architectural or historical features to brief to be preserved, to conduct surveys, focus groups and listening sessions, gather input from affected communities, and to engage in joint work sessions with the Historic Preservation Commission and the planning and zoning commissions on the formation of a zoning overlay for historic protection.

And then to submit a final report summarizing their activities and making recommendations.

Do we have a second?

Second?

All right, second from Christine.

She put a few no hand to good.

So any other any discussion on this?

Yeah, Betsy.

Do we have like a time frame for this?

Is this going to be like a forever task force, or are you thinking two-year task force?

Or do you have an idea of how many people you want on it?

Did I not read some email that you sent me?

I I sent ahead an email.

And I formatted this somewhat like other commissions that exist.

I'm I am open to keeping the function that's intended.

Um but I I'm open to that changing as is needed by our by legal and by our city managing department.

Um you're looking at architectural features and you're looking at that's what goes into an overlay.

They need so zoning is the duty of planning and zoning.

They need someone to work and report with them the recommendations of what that zoning overlay should include.

Okay.

Um and you want it to be along the trail as opposed to like a uh land block, you want it to be the trail.

I want it to include the African American Heritage Trail, and I want it to review historic surveys to find if there are any other structures that needed to be encouraged.

We could expand.

So it could expand.

There have already been structures identified and added.

Um so I suggested nine members, and I suggested that the task force would dissolve after we're able to take action on a heritage trail on a on the overlay.

So they deliver their report and make recommendations once we have a public hearing on the overlay.

So the other question.

But your first question was about timeline.

So I thought Clint come up.

Did you want to ask what how long you thought it might take?

That was one question, yes.

Money was another question, but we'll start with the timeline.

Yeah.

It it depends, right?

I mean, I think it's a good idea.

Okay, more than it's time.

Go ahead.

So I mean, this this is a project that a staff person has already started looking at.

And so I think Rusty's already started some of the work on what it would look like to kind of look at an overlay district.

So we have some of the bones in place.

And so I think the next step is kind of just look at process, and that's something we can bring back and saying, okay, here's actually what we think the timeline will be.

The information about the task force is great, so at least we have a start as at that place as well.

So it's something that we can kind of look at and see exactly what we think will take in order to kind of complete this project.

The staff would come back to us with a resolution to form a task force that includes some of the duties and responsibilities and council could add to it as well as talk about appointees.

Absolutely.

And so like I said, we've already started some of that work.

The bones on the overlays.

If I may, yeah.

Um I am asking for a specific overlay to the African American Heritage Trail and properties that should be included with that, in addition to the work that's already been done on historic preservation overlay, even though like some of that work has been started by historic preservation overlay.

Um this needs its specific overlay because they have different needs for this trail and these properties than Columbia as a whole.

Yes.

Yeah.

So then my follow-up to that, and I'm not opposed to it at all.

I'm just then thinking if we actually have people with historic expertise.

I'm not sure.

I don't know how what your staff's like.

It seems like you guys are always short staffed, though.

So I expect that's going to continue.

I don't know whether we then need to be considering having whether it's Deb Shields or someone else who's an expert at because she might not be the expert on this, I don't know, about the rest of your long list of things.

So I'm just sort of wondering if we need to also consider funding this task force to get the work done.

Yes.

I believe that Deb Shields was involved with the COVID.

I was involved with this.

Yeah.

Not this one.

Um I know.

The Kirk Clinton, the Henry Kirkland House.

Okay.

Um as well as a number of other people that we haven't heard from tonight.

Yeah.

We have a motion and a second, still discussion on the motion.

Yeah, Fira.

Um so I have uh a comment and a question.

Um the comment, uh, I would love to see um involvement with the uh Boone County Historical Society.

Uh they have done some incredible work specifically about housing in the area and race in the area.

Um, and I think that they likely have a lot of knowledge that we'd be looking for.

Um then the question, and this is somewhat of a you know more about P and Z than I do.

So we've talked about how the historic designation does not protect the property.

Can you explain how the overlay does protect the property?

You can add, you can put additional oversight into overlays.

Um I think they need to determine the particulars of that through this process.

Clint wants to tell us something.

Yeah, so yeah, a little, I think, distinction there.

I think we've had um really conversation about really two ways of designating historic preservation.

One is the kind of uh national register, which does not necessarily place any type of physical protections on a property.

It's a little more finance related.

There's tax credits available, and you are obligated to preserve it if you want to maintain those tax credits locally our historic preservation overlay is what we would use to designate local landmarks and or districts.

And once that designation has put in place, then there'll be an ordinance associated with that.

And generally, if there have been features associated with a landmark that are within that ordinance, you would have to come back and ask for a certificate of appropriateness to make any changes to that property.

So that's already kind of built in to uh how that ordinance would be structured.

So that that would provide some oversight per se.

And and it, you know, when we talk about historic preservation, it's easy to kind of kind of jump all these together.

There's a lot of different designations and different roles for those types of things.

We have most notable properties and things like that too, and they're all a little bit different.

But the historic preservation overlay is essentially our historic desk district designation, but it's kind of a zoning overlay.

And within that zoning overlay, can we also have oversight for demolitions?

Um I guess a higher bar of approval should someone seek a demolition permit.

Yeah, I believe so.

I mean, I think that's the that's the intent of the certificate of appropriateness is that you have to demonstrate that the changes that you're making to the property are consistent with what was approved by council, and if it's not, if you're demolishing something at that point, I think we would deny the COA the certificate of appropriateness and you wouldn't be issued a demo permit.

So that that is one way, and I'm not as familiar with it as I could be right now, so we'll get more information exactly how that would operate uh under circumstances of a demo.

And that's why I was going to just jump in and say that we really can't get too far into it because we haven't done the research at this point in time.

So what what we would ask is that if this is something that council wants to pursue that you give us uh kind of a hot second to really dive into the details and see how best um and and the controls that we can put in to try to help protect those areas.

Um we'll come back and have a more robust conversation about what that looks like with the input of the task force and other folks along the way.

So it's kind of all of those pieces coming together.

But our first step would be to put together your task force that would then begin providing that input at the same time staff is kind of wrapping their arms around it and doing the research.

Yeah, Bureau.

Um as we are talking about the timeline and the need for research, then there are just on the legal side, and then there will be research on the architectural and history side.

Is there anything we can or need to be doing in the meantime to let to prevent potential harm to buildings that may later be identified on this overlay?

I don't know that there is anything.

I think we have to actually take a look really uh have staff take a closer look at it because you are the it is private property.

Um landowners can and and there are also you know we run the gamut from from setting up programs and and things to encourage uh landowners not to take action uh or demolition or repair, but we're so far away from that that I don't even hate to start throwing things out.

I suppose the real question there was are there any other city-owned properties that we need to take some some sit back and pause measures while we wait for this to be in place?

And before we get too far into that, we have a motion and a second on the formation of a task force.

So let's do that, and then we can add on I guess I made two motions.

Right.

Well overlay about it and I requested an overlay.

Right.

And I asked to form a task force related to the overlay.

Yeah.

And I guess that's what we are with the discussion on it, right?

Yes, Clint.

I I you know I know we can have more conversation about this uh as well, but I think I would suggest uh one idea would be to focus on a historic preservation commission as the partner for the task force, or even have representatives serve on that task force.

Plan and zoning does play a role, but usually with an HPO designation, it really starts with historic preservation.

And they're the ones a little more versed, I think, in the process and historical research.

And that might be I suggest uh you're saying that because they have more capacity right now for the Trevor Burrus, uh no, because that's that's generally what they do.

They they review, they they initiate and review historical research surveys done on these properties.

Uh they've initiated one right now for the Benton Stevens area.

They're they are identifying part of their historic preservation plan they're working on right now.

Further areas, really that West Ash area to focus surveys on.

So they're they're kind of as DeCarl and said, laying the groundwork, I think, for for some of this going forward.

So I do have some things to say on this.

Umwards what goes into historic preservation, most of the information goes with the historic preservation commission.

So I did include, I'd like for them to work with historic preservation.

Um of the concerns that community members have vocalized is that they make their report and their recommendations and their task force is dissolved, and then the implementation is left to some other commission.

They want to be there for a work session with the commission that is going to be responsible for the zoning, drafting the zoning.

And can't both can both be true?

Like can we work on the same thing?

Yeah, okay, I'm true.

And I wrote you can to your points.

I wrote work joint work sessions with planning and zoning and historic preservation.

I don't want to miss that piece where they are working with planning and zoning to advise and to determine boundaries to hear what the actions are and influence the actions of what goes into the overlay.

All right.

So motion and second discussion on the task force.

Do you have more on the task force?

I'm together.

Okay, so Valerie, I just wanted to say thank you for pulling this off of consent when you did.

And taking it to other, you know, continuing to work on it post the vote and trying to come up with a solution.

So I just wanted to say appreciate that.

Yeah, Nick.

Well, I imagine this will be the last thing I vote on.

And I'm delighted for it to be to be that.

And as I've been reflecting on my experience in Columbia and all of the things that I love about this place and the things that I like so much, I've come to realize that the African American Heritage Trail is one of my favorite things about this city.

It's a because of all that it recognizes, because of all that it says about who we are as a city.

In my mind, I'm thinking we need to set boundaries, and within those boundaries look at anything that happens there through this lens.

So maybe the trail is that, but I would just caution that it might need to extend a little bit beyond that as well.

And so I know that's gonna be the work of the task force.

Um, but uh that's my one caution about that.

Yeah.

All right.

So a motion and a second for kind of two.

I'm I'm putting them together, but I understand there'll be two different things task force and the creation of an overlay.

Any other conversation on this?

All right.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Didn't see, didn't expect that.

Um, do you have more?

Yeah, so after we've created a task force now, I'm looking at staff, this will come back to us with establishing legislation for the task force and we'll make appointments at that time.

Yes.

And there's opportunity, it I is there opportunity to get feedback on the ordinance that establishes the task force.

Absolutely.

It's just the direction of what the council would like to do.

Because I'm seeing that there may be some feedback on what those roles and duties should be and what groups should be working with.

I think I think the best practice would be for us to try to put together that framework and then get that input before it actually comes to you formally as legislation.

And then after you actually approve the creation of the task force, then there is what process are you going to do to identify the members?

That's not written into your legislation.

So then that's kind of the next step.

You don't appoint the members at the same meeting that the task force is created.

You then create the process and then you get the members appointed.

So you're it takes it takes a little bit, but but I think we can get there based on what you the feedback that you provided so far.

So Vera had a question a while ago about what if any actions were needed to protect city-owned properties with connection to African American heritage.

Um I just want to acknowledge that we already requested a list of city-owned properties with any historical or cultural significance and a note on what their current or anticipated use may be.

Um at least for the time being, uh I think that could serve as a watch list for the properties that we do have control of.

I also want to acknowledge that the recommendation that I have been hearing is that the lease be terminated and that we go back and hold public input on what any future use should be for this property.

I mean I think that question is going to be ongoing as far as what protections can we do going forward.

I guess the the question is do we have an idea of a timeline for that request of the list of city-owned properties?

Yeah.

Can you talk about that?

Uh yeah.

So we've we've I think pulled together, I think a short list of just the city-owned properties that have some sort of historic designation and try to divide those between again, national register properties, natural registered district properties, historic um overlay properties, most notable properties.

Um I think it was maybe a dozen or so properties, and we could provide that now.

We were kind of waiting to get that full, I think, um packet of information to send it, but but we have that I think internally right now.

So some of that um we're working on kind of think trying to provide that in a little more digestible, I think.

Could we have a list of city-owned properties?

And and a list of city-owned properties with historic designation.

So what I anticipated was a list of where are the properties that we own or a map, and then maybe call out the ones that have known historic designation.

Um I'm acknowledging here that we don't always properly identify which ones have historic or cultural significance.

Um I I want to see where we own property so I can look at it and ask people.

Honestly.

So I think that's the timing part.

So the the request is a very broad request, and that's going to take more time.

The historical properties, I think we have that information now.

So we can send that now while we work on the larger project.

So we do I just want to make sure I'm understanding.

We do not have a asset inventory of that's not that's not what I'm saying.

Oh, okay.

There's a very large, broad request.

And so there are several factors to that request.

So we can send you the request of all city-owned property, but that's about 300 properties.

The request was to look more detailed for those properties.

So for the historical part, I think we have that now.

So we can send that part now while we work on the larger request.

What are you working on on the larger request?

Is that I couldn't tell you right now looking to see if 300 properties have historic significance or uh yeah.

Um because you asked for a map overlay.

So it's a lot of kind of pull out together.

It's a little it's a larger project.

Yeah, that was a separate request from my list request.

Uh maybe we can talk about this.

Yeah, I think clarifying on that.

Yeah.

I think we need to follow up later on and then get to the specifics of what's needed.

Yeah.

All right.

Thank you.

All right.

I'm gonna go on, move on.

Checking.

Oh, sorry, Virgin.

Can that list of 300 properties can that be sent?

Yeah, we said that before.

Oh, fabulous.

Okay, was that in a in an email since this conversation or I think it was sent l either last year or two years ago?

I was not here, so could it be sent again?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Fabulous.

Thank you.

Maybe you should send it to everybody again.

We will.

Okay.

Thank you.

So I have um I just have a couple of things and then I'm gonna give it to Nick to close us out.

Um my one is um we received a report on the history of kind of Vidwest funding and CAT TV funding and peg channels things, and I think uh we would all benefit if that could be placed on an upcoming council agenda to talk about the history of Midwest funding and the history of Peg Channel channel fees and and then as well as the expected deliverables with our current contract with Bidwest.

This question keeps coming up, so I think it would be really good to have all the information that we've seen in one spot.

And I know that I think Office of Cultural Affairs had put something together, so if that could come up on a future council, is that something that I need um I'll make a motion to make that request.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Betsy.

All those in favor on the request say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Okay.

Um and then my second one was when we had a um a resident make a comment about the amazing improvements we're making at the water treatment plant, but how that will increase the value for the water treatment plant, which will then increase the pilot contribution of the water utility to uh the city.

Uh and I was wondering if staff could consider looking at how we treat like a chapter 100 project where we kind of freeze the value and they continue to pay that sort of our version of what it would be pilot um and then phase that in.

Like what would that look like?

And you don't have to have the answers for me right now, Matthew Liu, but just whether or not that could be something that we could consider to look at for moving forward.

And I don't know what it would look like.

Yes, I believe that's something we can do.

Uh we have looked at So basically what happens is uh the new equipment gets put on the uh asset list and then it's depreciated over time.

And so uh when is added to the asset list, what we could do is uh depreciate it at a slower pace.

And so uh uh basically you wouldn't have to pay that that complete pilot for those.

Yeah, so I think we can do we can do something.

We'll bring back a little bit.

Um so I'll make a motion to request a report on like a creative way to kind of ease this as it comes in.

Uh can I have a second?

Second?

Second from Vera.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Okay.

Um so that was mine.

Uh and then Nick, I'll kick it over to you.

Well, so that's my last vote.

Uh, oh, sorry.

It's not as exciting.

Yeah.

Um, I think I made a joke at a recent uh meeting when I said I in light of my my announcement about leaving, I wanted to give a long and inspirational speech.

Um I don't have that tonight either.

But I I do want to say to uh counsel first, um I have something to give to each of you.

And when you open it and you don't understand why I gave it to you, I'll be glad to provide an explanation.

Um I don't think so.

Okay.

Um think so.

Well, maybe something happened.

Um but it's usually department heads.

When when it comes to this part of the meeting, I'm always thinking, who's listening at this point?

And there are probably some people that are at home watching on their uh surprisingly, watching on their computers or their phones.

But the department heads are here, and I know that you're anxious to leave, and I don't I don't blame you at all.

But I I want to say one thing to you all.

Um I'm so uh I've learned so much in this in this work.

And that's because of you.

Um I remember at a re shoot.

I remember at a recent um at a recent uh one of the council retreats we had, there were words of appreciation offered.

And I said, I hope that you all will go back.

The department heads will go back and be sure that those people with whom you work, the staff with whom you work hear this appreciation.

And I don't expect all of you to go back and say, hey Nick thinks you're cool.

But I I I hope the spirit of what I'm saying uh reverberates in that way.

Um I've been tempted from time to time when I'm driving along and I see a city truck from Utilities or Public Works or whatever, and they're doing their work.

I'm I've been tempted to pull over and just walk up to them and say, Hey, thank you for what you're doing.

But then I thought better of it and thought I might be more in the way than anything would be that I say would be appreciated.

And so I haven't.

But uh but I do appreciate that work that goes on in every way at every level.

And I'm grateful for the view I've had of that.

Uh when the Missourian reporter reached out to me after my Facebook post, the last thing he asked me was, are you gonna run for office when you move to Atlanta?

And I laughed uh and I laugh every time I think of it because I mean I can't imagine doing that.

But I'm so grateful that I that I did that here and that uh I've learned so much that I have learned in this work.

And I and I do hope that I can take that experience uh to Atlanta and find a way to make use of it in a positive way.

Uh you all have been very gracious tonight, uh, and I'm honored and uh humbled by all of that.

And uh I I appreciate the evening and all that's taking place here.

Uh anything from staff?

Sure.

Uh so one thing and I'll let everybody go.

Uh so for uh the strategic plan.

And so right now we're in that process.

The one thing we'll have is a bunch of community forums.

And so just want to make sure that the public are is aware and then they come out and actually participate.

Um our dates are Wednesday, June 3rd at that at 1030 a.m.

at the Boone County Boom Electric Cooperative.

On Thursday, June 4th, that's going to be a virtual process.

On Thursday, June 4th, that's going to be a virtual process, and it's at 5 30, and that will be a virtual.

The link is on our webpage.

On Saturday, June 6th at 2 p.m.

at the Daniel Boone Regional Library.

And Tuesday, June 9th, 5 30, we'll be at the ARC.

And so we'll we'll make sure this is also online so people can actually see what those dates are and those locations.

But ideally, in part of for it's part of our process in order for us to really do a strategic plan, we really need community input.

I mean, this is their plan.

And so here's an opportunity for residents to kind of give us their thoughts and what their desires as we move forward.

That's all I had.

Yes, Nancy.

Anything?

She anything.

I'm sorry, I you did remind me this weekend is also the kickoff of Juneteenth celebrations, so 4 p.m.

Um at Second Missionary Baptist Church will be the first kickoff for the Juneteenth uh events for happening all throughout June.

So check out all the events at Como.gov backslash.

I think it's Juneteenth, but I might be making that up.

I think if you Google that, it will happen.

All right.

Well, thank you so much.

And again, thank you, Nick Foster.

You've been you've been the best.

All right, we'll go ahead and adjourn.