Kansas City Business Session - January 20, 2022: Infrastructure and Pet Project Updates
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Kansas City Business Session - January 20, 2022: City Facilities Infrastructure and Pet Project Updates
The Kansas City Council met in business session on January 20, 2022, at 2:00 PM, presided by Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McMahon. A quorum was achieved with council members both in person and online. The meeting included approval of the previous week's minutes and two major presentations: an update on city facilities infrastructure needs and a year-end review from the Kansas City Pet Project.
Discussion Items
City Facilities Infrastructure Needs
Yolanda McKenzie, Director of General Services, presented a report on the city's building infrastructure needs. The department maintains approximately 160 buildings, receiving about $5 million annually in capital improvements. Of that, 45% is spent on maintenance, 20% on emergencies, and 35% on projects. Key challenges included water damage incidents, such as a water main break at City Hall in 2020 and another in January 2022 that forced closure of floors 1–6. The City Hall garage is currently closed, and the Bartingallis Plaza garage was noted as needing repairs. From an internal assessment, McKenzie identified priority repairs totaling an estimated $42.2 million for City Hall, including the garage ($22 million, including design), fire suppression systems, HVAC air handlers, core plumbing, and elevator upgrades. She recommended phased financing: design phase, then RFP and construction funding. Finance Director TMI Quinn stated that final costs are pending design documents, and debt financing would likely be issued in FY24, with first debt service payments in FY24. Councilmember Park Shaw asked about acrylic shields removed from the chamber; it was clarified they were part of the now-rescinded COVID safety order. No other questions were raised.
Kansas City Pet Project Update
Teresa Johnson, President and CEO, and April Moore, Chief of Animal Services, presented a year-end review. In 2021, the shelter served a record 14,581 animals (4,000 more than 2020), achieved 10,042 adoptions, and a 96.4% save rate. Volunteers contributed 42,000+ hours, valued at $1.2 million. The "Keep Them Together KC" program helped 1,215 families with $96,418 in subsidies. The pet support helpline handled 88,760 calls. Animal Services responded to 15,000+ calls with 28 staff members, including a newly formed cruelty investigations team. The division uses data to track trends, including bites and animal abandonment linked to housing instability. Councilmember Park Shaw expressed concerns about dangerous dog cases and public safety, citing personal experience and constituents' complaints. She noted calls not being returned and requested concrete action steps and performance measures for the upcoming contract renewal. The attorney for KCPP explained the investigation process and weekly dangerous dog case reviews. Councilmember Robinson thanked the team for outreach in the 3rd district, and Councilmember Lor praised the organization as a national leader. Mayor Pro Tem acknowledged their work assisting unhoused individuals with pet care.
Key Outcomes
- The council approved the minutes from the January 13, 2022 business session by voice vote.
- No formal votes were taken on the infrastructure or pet project presentations. The discussions were informational.
- Future financing for City Hall repairs will be determined after design documents are completed, with potential debt financing in FY24.
- Councilmember Park Shaw indicated that performance measures for dangerous dog cases would be important in renewing the Kansas City Pet Project contract.
- Both presentations were received; no further action was stated.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Kevin McMahon's mayor pro tem filling in for our mayor. This is uh business session uh January 20th, 2022. I want to welcome you all here. We've got many of our council members online and uh I see at least four, maybe five. Uh and then we've got some folks in the chamber, so we've reached a quorum. Uh I'd like to start uh with the first item, which is approval of minutes for business session of January 13th, 2022. Is there a motion? So move. Second. It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor, please respond by saying aye. Aye, all right. All those opposed, hearing none. That motion is passed. Uh the second item on the agenda is city facilities infrastructure needs. Invite our city staff to come forward and look forward to hearing this presentation. Thank you all for being here. Okay. Well, good morning. Good morning. Afternoon. Members of the city council. Name is Yolanda McKenzie, Director of General Services. I'm here to give you guys a brief report on our infrastructure needs, city building infrastructure needs. So the presentation I have before you will basically focus on our city facility infrastructure needs and prioritize critical repairs to improve the integrity safety and extend the life cycle of our municipal buildings. General Services is responsible for approximately 160 buildings. Our inventory of buildings excludes few departments, which includes conventions, aviation, water, parks. But the remaining buildings were responsible for providing maintenance. Each year we're provided about five million dollars in capital improvements funds in order to maintain these buildings. And of the funds that we receive, about 45% is spent for maintenance, 20% for emergencies, and about 35% for projects and major repairs. Some of the key issues that we have faced are decay and deterioration, and much of our vertical infrastructure, lack of maintenance and renovation, and much of this is due to the five million averages about 31,000 a building to maintain that infrastructure. Scarcity of financing and funding that is from budget years and limited resources, and money tends to be used or allocated for construction, but minimum funds are allocated for maintenance. Sorry about that. Okay, so as far as our challenges, I thought it would be good to just share with the council some of the challenges we face just over the last maybe 18 months to get an idea of what we are dealing with in our infrastructure. So one of our number one callers, of course, is water damage. Um and I've itemized here some of the incidents that we've experienced. The ones that I really want to point out are the um two where it has closed at the end. That's the city hall water break, water main break, which was in 2020, had to close city hall, and then more recently this month, had to close city hall due to water main break or water break and the plumbing which flooded the first through the sixth floor. And I will share with you staff has not at this time returned to those locations. Um we're still doing construction in the area. Some other incidents that were brought to council, and that was shared is the city hall garage, which is currently closed, and we fenced off the South Plaza for safety purposes. Um we've shared just recently last week the condition of the Bartingallis Plaza garage and a need for repair. Another water damage incident occurred at our 5300 municipal location, which is where our fleet division is housed. Recognizing the needs of the infrastructure that we have and wanting to get ahead of the curve and do our own internal assessment. Staff has performed a review of our buildings, and from that review, it consisted of them doing a walkthrough. We focused on the mechanical and electrical systems, we looked at our internal structure. We identified safety or structural defects that were obvious. And then we've also looked at what are the current and future demands for our infrastructure. I want to remind that the list that I sent out, which is an Excel sheet, and I'll show you in a minute of our repairs that are needed.
openpublica.com