Good evening and welcome to the city commission meeting January 6, 2026.

Would you please call the role?

Mayor McCullough?

Yes.

Commissioner Adam Track?

Here.

Commissioner Opel?

Here.

Commissioner Mata.

Here.

Mayor, we have four commissioners present.

The quorum of three is Matt.

Thank you.

Um, would you join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

And to religious stance, liberty and justice.

Next thing on our agenda are proclamations.

Brenda, would you join me, please?

Would you like a chair?

Whereas Brenda Wolfe has developed devoted more than three decades of exemplary service to the city of Manhattan, consistently demonstrating professionalism, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to public service.

And she has served with distinction as deputy city clerk for over 25 years.

We've been together for a long time.

And city clerk for six years, providing exceptional leadership, continuity, and institutional knowledge essential to effective municipal governments.

And whereas throughout her tenure, she has been a trusted advisor to elected, and I can echo that an appointed official, staff, and public.

Widely regarded as a cornerstone of City Hall for her expertise in municipal processes, her ability to navigate complex matters, and her steady solutions oriented oriented approach.

She has played a vital role in the administration of city operations, including elections, official records, ordinances, resolutions, contracts, and other critical functions, ensuring transparency and accuracy, and compliance with state and local requirements.

In addition to her public service career, Brenda has demonstrated excellence as a college athlete.

I just found out she's a shot butter.

Um being recognized through the her induction into Fort Hayes State University Athletes Hall of Fame and establishing records that reflect her discipline and commitment to excellence.

And Brenda and her husband John have shown strong commitment to the community involvement, supporting local schools, athletes, youth programs throughout the Manhattan area.

And her legacy is defined by her dedication to public service and her lasting contributions to the city of Manhattan, as well as her roles as a wife, mother, mentor, and friend.

Therefore, I Karen McCullough, Mayor of the City of Manhattan, do declare January 9th, 2026 as Brenda K.

Wolfe Day, in recognition of her outstanding service as city clerk, her exceptional leadership, and her lasting positive impact on the operations, culture, and community in the city of Manhattan.

Thank you.

Please.

Wonderful proclamation has been an important part.

I hope that I what I have done over the years has benefited the organization.

I tried to find ways to make improvements to processes or to create a process if one wasn't in place.

What we have been able to accomplish over the years by all.

I'm sorry.

Well, being able what we have been able to accomplish over the years wasn't just me.

It required teamwork and willingness by all, which also involved partners outside of this organization, like the Raleigh County Clerk's Office, the Raleigh County Register of Deeds, Raleigh County Police Department, Kansas State University Police Department, Charleston Willston Abstract Sultan Architects, Engineers, Construction Companies, and Gilmore Mill just neighborhood.

Learn from each of you what I needed to do.

I appreciate all the patience each of you showed and the valued friendships that developed over the years.

All the heart to work with each Johnson and Lauren Page and for you was the smartest thing I ever did.

Never doubted the ability.

Support and understanding over the years, and especially for the emotional roller coaster ride.

I have put you through since April.

He saved me, he stayed with me in the hospital and slept in a recliner for like eight weeks.

That is true love.

John has served on the Little Apple Soccer Club board, and he was active with the books troops them before.

Actually and Heath Larson actually served as a coach for a traveling soccer team for several years and didn't have any kids on the team.

Wow.

J.R.

I call everybody else knows him as John and Micah.

JR is a detective for Raleigh County Police Department, and Micah is a physician's assistant and has served our country.

Chad Wolfe and Taylor Huston.

Chad is a high school bath teacher.

He's the head freshman football coach at Manhattan High, assistant coach for Manhattan High, JV and Varsity, and he was part of the last two state championships as a coach.

And he is also an assistant wrestling coach at Manhattan High School and has part of the two state championship teams the last two years.

To all of you, thank you.

I consider you family.

It's hard for me to leave my city family.

The community is so lucky to host us dedicated individuals.

Thank you for your service.

And we can have a less formal goodbye to Brenda on Friday at 11 o'clock here in the conference room.

So please join us.

Thank you.

I have the next the proclamation for Martin Luther King Day.

Is someone there?

Welcome.

Whereas January 19th, 2026 marks the observance of the Dr.

Martin Luther King Junior Federal Holiday and Service Day established by public law number 9814 in 1983.

And this holiday highlights the remembrance and celebration and encourages people everywhere to reflect on the principles of non-violent social change, racial equality, community and humanitarian humanitarian humanitarian service, and interracial cooperation.

Dr.

King devoted his life to advancing equality, social justice, and opportunity for all, and challenged all Americans to participate in the never-ending work of building a more perfect union.

We celebrate his life and spirit through community-wide recognition and service on the King Holiday.

And it is an appropriate way to honor Dr.

King, bringing our citizens together and strengthening our communities and nation.

And whereas each of us can and must contribute to making our communities better with increased opportunity for all citizens.

Therefore, I proclaim Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

and community celebration and day of service on January from January 17th to 24th.

That's quite many days of service.

And I urge all people to play tribute to the life and works of Dr.

King and apply his life principles and teaching of service to inspire others to serve and remember his spirit in our community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Would you like to tell us?

Yes, I can't.

This year's theme is you don't have to see the whole staircase before you take the first step.

Our art and writing contest is still in action right now.

It's a it's over on the 9th, and on the 17th, we will be at uh the Manhattan Arts Center with our community celebration.

This organization has been around since 1995, and we're going to continue doing what we do.

And I just want to add that uh K State's hands hands on is also doing a day of service also on the 20th.

It's good to see you here, and thank you for your for your time.

Thank you.

And finally, the 250 anniversary people.

All the RT people.

And Sydney, yay.

Whereas the year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States of America, a milestone that invites reflection on our nation's history, values, and shared ideals.

America 250 is a nationwide commemoration that encourages communities to honor the enduring principles of freedom, opportunity, service, and self-government that have shaped our nation for 250 years.

The Manhattan community has a long tradition of working together to strengthen civic life, preserve local history, celebrate culture, and create opportunities for learning, creativity, and connection.

Successful commemoration depends on a collaboration among local governments, educational institutions, cultural organizations, business, nonprofit groups, and residents working together for a shared purpose.

We encourage all residents to participate in ways that are meaningful to them through learning, service, creativity, storytelling, and gathering with neighbors to celebrate the enduring American spirit.

Therefore, I'd proclaim the year 2026 as American 250 Community Celebration and affirm support for the collaborative, inclusive, and community-centered efforts that honor our past, celebrate our present, and inspire our future.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Does one of you want to see?

So I'm Barcia Rosel, Director of Visit Manhattan.

This is a great collaboration by many attractions and organizations here in Manhattan.

We are working hard for the whole entire year to have events that center around America 250.

We know that that will be instrumental for the lives of the kids that come after us.

So thank you.

Did you want to just quick go through?

We've got to scrubbery center.

Riley County.

Riley County Historical Museum.

Sydney.

Elected official.

Yeah, I got the bill.

I fascinated.

She got the bill.

Museum of Art and Light.

Midwestern Core Collection.

Downtown Manhattan.

USD 383.

The Artificial Intelligence Learning Arena.

AUV Business Association.

Great.

Thank you.

Thank you all for being here, and I think it will be a very exciting year.

How do you say 250?

I know I finally got the semi-current centennial.

Semmaquinals.

Semacential.

Okay, you all you're responsible for knowing that.

And thank you.

This will be going in a help me out.

No, no, time capital.

So in 50 years, um, the next generation.

So where will this time cap if that's still being disappointed?

Yeah, we're not selling.

It's gonna be a treasure hunt.

Yeah.

Thank you all very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

The first meeting of the month, we always have public comments.

Was anybody like to make a comment on something that's not on tonight's agenda?

Or anything to get that off their chest.

My name is Roger Seymour.

Um Roger, I need your address too.

520 Pierre Street here at Manhattan.

Uh I want to thank the commissioners, the outgoing commissioners.

I didn't always agree with everything that they did.

But I want to thank you for the work that you did.

I specifically wanted to thank uh Commissioner John Mata.

Uh you've set an example that I hope future commissioners will follow.

Uh you voted to hold the line on spending while still taking into account the needs of the city and its residences.

You've set the bar at a high level, John.

That uh conservatives like myself, the values that you have represent the values that a lot of us have.

I'll miss your wisdom.

I'll miss your point of view.

I want to thank you again for your service.

Thank you.

Roger, make sure you sign in.

Right over here.

No, with Chelsea.

Thank you.

Anyone else want to make a comment?

Hearing none, I'll pass on to commissioner comments.

Uh something that's been uh discussed on the radio, it's been in the newspaper, uh online, and I think you take it up in your legislative meeting tomorrow, has to do with property tax caps, specifically valuation uh caps.

So I was going to touch a little on that.

I'm gonna segue, I'm gonna come back to that.

Uh as pretty public knowledge, uh, me and my family are moving to Arizona soon, uh, mainly for the weather, but also be close to family.

One of the things is I've looked at homes there, and homes are more expensive in Arizona than they are in Kansas.

Uh and I was looking at some homes that were substantially more than the value of mine here in Manhattan.

But to my surprise, the property taxes were about in half of what we pay here.

And so I found that curious, and I talked to some of the people there.

And one of the things I found out was they do have property tax caps there.

Actually, uh three of them.

One is the one that's being talked about here a lot, which is the cap on valuation, so there's a limit on how much uh your value can go up from a taxation purpose.

They have what they call the limited property uh value.

So they keep track of market, but they never let the um appraisal go over five percent on that L uh V, and that's what you pay your taxes on.

Even if you sell your home, it doesn't change the new person still gets the LPV on that.

If you remodel, yeah, they'll they're gonna take that into a to account.

The other cap they have is they limit the annual uh levy limit for counties, cities, school districts, uh to two percent increase plus any new construction.

So that kind of protects the community overall, and the individual cap kind of protects the uh individual residents.

Then they have a um one percent primary tax cap, which means that your valuation or your property taxes can't be one more than one percent of your LPV, which is your limited property value, not even the market value of the the home.

It can't be more than one percent of that uh LPV.

And actually, they give you a tax rebate for that.

The local jurisdiction gets the money, and the state gives you a uh rebate for that.

I don't think Kansas could do that for my research.

I don't think there's a single home in Kansas that doesn't pay more than one percent of the market value in uh property taxes at this point in time.

Usually I'm uh big in favor of home rule and would uh fight against a uh state uh mandate, so to speak, like this.

But I think we're getting very uncompetitive in Kansas.

If you have a home in Arizona, it can cost twice as much, you'll still pay less in taxes than you will here, which makes us very uncompetitive from a state standpoint and very uncompetitive from a city standpoint.

So I think the legislature is gonna be taking that up this year, and so I just think it's something to pay attention to.

Thank you.

No, just welcome to 2026.

Thanks to the Discovery Center for letting me let the balloons go on uh New Year's Eve.

Um it was a packed house, and there were kids having so much fun.

There's a new exhibit starting the 10th, I write on that.

So um get over to see it.

Sounds like it'll be interesting.

Next thing is old business consent agenda.

Um questions on the consent agenda.

Yes, I have a question on item C.

I mean, this is old business agenda, and this to me, uh this appointment appears to be new business, so I don't really feel comfortable on voting on the new business.

Um as mayor, I have the right to appoint people until I stop being mayor, I thought.

I mean there were there was simply didn't get to the through the process in December.

I just think you know our terms are up.

Uh the minutes and the in the other um the register or something that uh was from when we were still in office.

This is something new.

So to me it's new business.

Well, we can put it back on the agenda for the Yeah, that's all I mean is just move it to the new.

Um I had a question on the claims register.

I saw that the um income from the um tapes from from the admissions at the zoo goes into the zoo foundation, whereas the income from the Discovery Center um gate, so to speak, goes into the general fund.

Why do we do that that way?

Uh evening, Mayor and Commissioners, Aaron Stewart, Parks Direct Director.

Um so the zoo memberships, not admissions, uh, do go uh towards uh the friends of Sunset Zoo.

And that is then in turn used uh reinvested in both conservation efforts that are required by AZA for the zoo as well as travel and training that are required for ACA.

So even though it does go into that uh fund, it is returned through trainings and conservation efforts that are a requirement of our accreditation.

The Discovery Center does not have that same friends type group set up, so it does go into the general fund.

All admissions from the zoo do go into the special Sunset Zoo fund, which is an outside revenue fund.

Um it's a city fund.

There there is a foundation for the for the Discovery Center, just like there is a trust for the zoo, and those two are very similar in their operations, which is primarily focused on uh capital reinvestment.

So the Friends of the Zoo is just an additional group.

Correct.

Okay, thank you.

Yep.

Do I hear a motion to approve the consent agenda?

Move to approve the old business consent agenda.

Second.

Okay, is that meaning just items A and B?

Uh yeah, so if uh the commission agrees that uh appointments should be removed from the consent agenda, the motion would need to be amended to uh remove item C from the consent agenda.

Uh okay.

Um then I'll move to approve the old business consent agenda um items A and B.

And I will second.

Chelsea, would you call the roll, please?

Commissioner Adam Track.

Yes.

Commissioner Opel.

Yes.

Commissioner Mata?

Yes.

Mayor McCullough, yes.

Motion carries four to zero.

Next item is reorganization.

Comments from the outgoing mayor.

Um I I write these things in my head, and then when I try and get them written down, I don't can't remember how beautifully I said them the night before.

Um they do say the third time is a charm.

So first I have to thank the citizens of Manhattan for who are willing to support me for yet another term.

But when you're asked to identify the highs and lows of being a mayor, the mayor job is really just representing the city at ribbon cuttings and welcomings and letting balloons down in New Year's Eve.

Um the city, the five commissioners really are the people who make decisions and see that things have work out.

Our commission had three brand new people this year.

Susan, who stepped up and into the mayor job so very well.

I mean, she'd only been a commissioner four months when she was asked to take on that responsibility.

And Peter and Jamie brought new insights and great enthusiasm and and a lot of I think fresh air into the commission.

And if we add to that, we had a new city manager in an addition in the mix.

And then of course, there's the support that the mayor has and the other commissioners have of our really excellent staff.

We are so lucky to have them.

So I'm pleased that we did a number of positive things.

We proceeded with the Highway 24 plan, doing that in house.

We did the Manhattan Parks and Recreation Plan and the complimentary plan that was done by the Chamber of Commerce.

Um we kept the budget almost flat, but we were still able to give the cat the staff a colour.

And we were able to create housing and also work out some of the kinks for new housing next year, um, seeing how the various programs might work and what we can do.

Um I believe in local government.

I think it's very, very important.

I've served at two levels.

I think it's the one place where people can really make a difference and their voice will be heard.

I think right now, with the situation at the state and the federal, many of us feel that we are sort of um we've lost our empowerment.

But at the city level, I hope people will feel that they can be heard and what they say will be taken into a positive program.

Thank you.

Commissioners opelt and Mata, who wants to go first?

Mata, will be okay.

I'd like to um got a few thank yous to go through here.

Uh uh first off, I want to thank the supporters I've had through numerous elections, whether it was financial, whether it was putting up signs or walking door to door.

Uh there was new people each time, but then there was people that every single time they were there and and helped out.

And I know it took time out of their day, took money out of their pocket, and I really do appreciate uh the support.

And I hope I um you know was consistent and represented what I said I was gonna represent.

I said it when I stepped off the commission the uh first time some time ago, that was very important to me to be consistent that I wanted people who voted for me to be able nine times out of ten know how Mata was gonna vote.

And I believe I've done that and hope that I've done that.

I'd also like to thank city staff and wish them well.

Manhattan is a great community, and you're a big part of it.

I know I've been one of the more critical and challenging commissioners, but frankly, to only being told you're great is a bit patronizing.

True professionals appreciate being challenged and pushed to stretch capabilities, and you are true professionals.

I also want to thank the other city commissioners, past and present that I have served with.

We all have wanted what is best for Manhattan.

We may have had passionate disagreements, but it was nothing personal.

I had very open objectives I want to achieve and use the leverage I had to achieve them.

Being outnumbered four to one most recently, my leverage was minimal.

But I hope my arguments would set the stage for future improvements.

And it was gratifying to see those views gain prominence during this past election.

The last thank you to my family and my wife Karen who have supported me throughout the eight years on the commission, put up with me being gone or working on commission stuff, whether that be directly with the city commission or with the law board or the housing authority or whatever it was, having them take off on vacation, me meeting them there because I had other commitments I needed to get to.

I really do appreciate love you, Karen.

So next, I'm gonna go on for a little bit.

Uh I'm gonna speak to our new commissioners.

I'm gonna give them some advice.

You don't have to do anything with it, but I kind of have the floor, so you're gonna have to listen to me here for a bit to go on.

One person I'll call it in particular, Andrew.

Now, Andrew, you're the youngest person on the commission, so you have a particular responsibility to make sure these other folks kind of understand the new way of doing things and all that type of stuff.

And you know what?

If I'd have ran, I think I'd have beat you.

Then I would have been the youngest person on the city commission.

So you're taking my spot on that one.

So anyway, my advice.

Rules for radical city commissioners.

Rule one, buck tradition.

Tradition has been the top two vote getters rotate in vote total order as mayor behind the same sequence of the incumbents from the prior election.

This often leads to a mayor that is not in alignment with the majority of the commission.

The mayor is mostly ceremonial position, but they do appoint to the boards and they do run the meeting.

And when you think about it, that rotation means you rotate in as mayors after the next election.

So you're going to have three new commissioners, or one may hold over.

So there's a lot of misalignment that you can have happen.

It can be cumbersome and distracting to have the mayor who's not in alignment with the commission run the meetings and steer the topic a different direction.

The other things when it comes to boards, a lot of those boards have serious financial or policy decisions that they make.

And you should have a mayor that's in alignment with that.

Also, this is a good time to buck tradition.

Because of resignations, those two top vote getters have already had a chance to be mayor, so they really wouldn't be taking anything away from you know what quote unquote they thought was going to happen during the election.

And it would also set the precedent so the future people running would know that, hey, we don't necessarily follow that anymore.

I really think a commission should elect the mayor they want, not one that's dictated by tradition.

The next is challenge authority.

Rule two.

By this I mean if you are told you can't do something, or have to do something a certain way by city staff, state, or federal officials, ask for the specific reasons why and verify the answer.

If it's strictly a city matter, make sure the reason why isn't something passed by a prior commission that you can actually change.

For example, except for the law board, which is set by state statute, the commission can only vote down the mayor's board recommendations and then wait for another mayor's recommendation.

The commission can't reject the mayor's recommendation, nominate someone else and put them into the board.

But you can change that rule, and I recommend that you do.

When it comes to state or federal officials, make sure if they tell you something that has to be done a certain way, that they ask them what the regulation or statute is that says that's the way it has to be done.

I have had on occasion done that, and then after repeated request over a long period of time and having to call and send emails, have found out guess what?

There is no statute, there is no regulation.

That was just the preference of that official.

So always ask the question.

Rule three.

If you have votes, use them and use them quickly.

You won't necessarily have those votes forever.

Long term, you have three that kind of ran as a block.

You'll have those three votes, two years.

You may not.

When I was first on the uh commission, we made a decision to um take the health department, which was a combined city-county health department, which was an elected board, and usually that's all under the county.

We felt it would be better to have that run by elected officials versus appointed board, so we moved to send that back to the county.

Karen was a county commissioner during that time.

And I remember she asked me, well, we really don't mind taking it, but can you wait a year to give us some time?

I said, unfortunately we can't, because that's a charter ordinance, and it takes four votes in a year.

I don't know if we'll have four votes.

So you need to do it.

The other thing is when you vote on the budget, you'll have a series of votes.

Uh and if you vote a number for the budget, you can always take it down, but you can't take it up.

You'll have a lot of pressure on you not to vote for a lower number because they'll keep telling you you can always take that number down.

The law board works the same way with their budget.

If you vote one number in you can take it down, but you can't take it up.

A couple of years ago, we had a pretty slim police department budget.

We had a 4-3 vote in hand.

Unfortunate situation happened.

A commissioner resigned, that commissioner happened to be on the law board, so we got a different law board commissioner, and that vote flipped.

And we lost that in it with a much larger police department budget.

So if you have something you really have convictions on, if you have the votes, move on it, be decisive.

The next, own the boards.

A lot of the boards uh have big financial impact or policy impacts that have to do with them.

The biggest one is the law board.

Over half of the property taxes are from the police department budget.

So who you appoint there, in my view always was if you appointed them, you own them.

If they voted for uh a budget you thought was too high, it's kind of on you.

You appointed those folks to do it.

A big frustration of mine with commissioners we've had, and it's not just one, it's most of the commissioners we've had on the law board, would vote for a high police department budget, then come back to the city commission meeting and say, well, not much we can do.

The law board did this budget, we have to live with it.

It's like, no, you could have voted against that if you didn't want it.

You have others out there that have big and can have can potentially have big input PAC.

Actually, historic resources board can.

You need to make sure you get experts on that board that take into account uh historical significance, but you also need to make sure they take into account community need.

You want experts, but not necessarily activists who you know put the community uh second over questionable historic items.

The next rule five, one of my favorites, is find a way, which is basically the only advice an old boss would give me when he stuck me with an extremely difficult budget challenge.

You have a choice on the budget.

You'll be told your only choice is to cut services and ask what services you recommend to cut.

But that's not true.

There is something known as efficiencies as well as innovation.

There's cost recovery, which is sponsorships and naming rights and user fees.

There's philanthropic strategies, there's also reprioritized a revenue stream, such as transient guest tax, which I know you've talked about during the campaign, or repurposing expiring capital investment sales taxes into operating budget support.

The thing is, it really isn't your job to come up with all the answers to get to what you believe is a reasonable tax increase.

It's your job to tell city staff to find a way and let them know that you mean it.

To staff's credit, they proposed a lower budget this past year than the commission finally passed.

And tell instead of telling staff to find a way to build in the staff increases, which was what the commission was concerned about, was that budget didn't have staff increases in it.

Instead of telling them to find a way to work that into that lower number, they felt they had no choice, and all they could do was go with the higher number.

You do have a choice.

Rule six.

Don't gaslight on property taxes.

Over the past couple of years, a large portion of the property tax increase was blamed in RCPD.

This increase far exceeded the RCBD city allocation budget increase.

The city diverted other revenue streams that had paid for RCPD services to other city spending.

This disparity eroded trust in the process.

I recommend settling on the exact services that property taxes are going to pay for and keep those permanent.

For example, police and fire, possibly something else.

Then the public will know exactly what property taxes are being used for, and then keep it consistent from year to year.

This can be done without taking an initial big hit on the property tax line.

And the other thing, if you ever really need to increase property taxes for those items, I think you'll get more support because people will know that's exactly what it's being used for, and if it's critical services, they'll understand that.

Also, don't be snookered by talk about delinquency rates.

The city has had a deal with delinquencies related to RCP D for half a century.

Last thing, and rule seven, maybe the most important is don't take things personal.

When I first got on the commission the first year, we had a uh big budget debate.

I remember the Mercury came out with cartoons of all the commissioners.

I was Count Dracula in that one.

And it kind of said, I want to cut your funds in the uh thing.

And I thought it was pretty uh funny actually.

But the deal is you're gonna upset a lot of people.

In any contentious issue, half are gonna agree with you.

Half aren't.

And so folks are gonna be upset.

Unfortunately, you know, I've been demonized, called names and threatened on social media, phone, and in person.

It's sad.

But it happens.

The other thing is to be able to debate things with staff and other commissioners without taking offense.

I grew up in a very aggressive uh corporate environment.

We used to have big arguments, we used to swear at each other and everything else.

But then we go out to lunch or go to a happy hour go out to happy hour and have a good time.

It seems like folks have a hard time doing that these days.

But frankly, that's just something you're gonna have to deal with.

So that's it.

Good luck.

And I appreciate you guys serving on the commission.

Um serving Manhattan on this commission uh has been one of the greatest honors of my entire life.

Um learned a lot of lessons both through success and through failure.

Um we weren't gonna try to weren't afraid to try new things and uh and have difficult conversations up here.

Um I've met some of the coolest people and saw this community in ways I never would have otherwise.

Um it has just been a pleasure.

Uh I want to start by thanking Danielle and Jason for their guidance and and uh wisdom and patience with all of us as we work through some difficult challenges.

Um last year was uh was a whirlwind and and I think we did things very well.

Um I want to thank the city staff.

Um you all show your dedication every day, and um it is very clear that every single one of you wants to work for the best or to make Manhattan better every day, and uh we are better for you.

I want to thank all the other commissioners for their service to our community um and for being willing to have hard conversations and and challenge each other.

Uh I want to obviously thank uh my wife Tiffany and my son Finn um for putting up with me, spending all my time uh talking and thinking about city commission stuff.

Um I really I wouldn't have been able to do it without you, and uh you mean the world to me.

And finally, I want to thank the people in Manhattan for taking a chance and uh letting me serve you.

Um I have absolutely loved serving everyone and meeting new neighbors, um having conversations with them.

Coffee with the commissioner was one of my favorite parts of being on this commission, and uh thanks for everybody that showed up to those and and had those really deep conversations.

I wish I had done better to earn another term, but um I'll take what I learned forward with me.

I want to say good luck to the new commissioners.

Um there are a lot of hard con hard decisions that are gonna come in front of you, and um just remember that you represent all 54,000 of us.

Um you are our representatives here on this body.

I want to encourage you to show up, not just Tuesday nights, but make yourself visible in the community.

Um go to events and and talk to people that you don't know.

Want you to ask questions, even if people think you're gonna be too annoying.

Um be curious and have an open mind and open heart.

Um my wife reminded me that leadership is a choice and not a just a position.

And so I'm not done serving Manhattan.

Uh I'm looking forward to fostering a lot of the relationships that I've made in this two years and uh finding new ways to serve Manhattan.

Thank you.

Madam Mayor, I would like to ask the newly elected commissioners to come forward and meet me in front of the commission table.

Oh after Danielle presents, yes.

Step back a little bit.

Thank you.

All right.

Please raise your right hand and repeat after me.

I do solemnly swear.

I do solemnly swear.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution of the State of Kansas.

In the Code of Ordinances of the City of Manhattan.

And faithfully discharge the duties.

Of city commissioner.

For the city of Manhattan.

So help me God.

Congratulations.

Is there a second?

Hearing no other nominations for mayor, I will now call the roll.

Commissioner Fox.

Yes.

Commissioner Morrison?

Yes.

Commissioner Von Lentel.

Aye.

Mayor McCollow.

Yes.

Commissioner Adam Chak.

Yes.

Motion carries five to zero.

Thank you very much, Chelsea.

I would like to now ask the commission for nominations for Mayor Pro Tem.

I move that Commissioner Karen McCullough be appointed to serve as Mayor Pro Tem until the first working Tuesday of January twenty twenty-seven.

Is there a second?

I'll second that.

Thank you.

Chelsea, would you call the roll, please?

Commissioner Morrison.

Yes.

Commissioner Von Lintel.

Aye.

Mayor McCollow.

Yes.

Commissioner McCullough.

Commissioner Adam or Yes.

Commissioner Fox.

Yes.

Motion carries five to zero.

Thank you, Chase.

Sorry, I left him.

Okay.

Oh, you have to be on stone.

Oh.

Are there any commissioner comments on the reorganization?

So I want to I just want to take this opportunity to uh thank my family, particularly my wife Marilyn uh for uh supporting me through this effort.

Uh my daughter Bethany, her husband Luke, and my grandson uh Cooper for being here tonight to see this uh occasion.

Momentous occasion.

Yes, I uh I want to thank all of uh my supporters that uh voted me into this position.

I hope that I can uh meet up to their expectations.

Uh and finally I want to uh thank uh Peter and John for their service.

Uh uh, particularly John for your uh comments about how we should move forward.

I will certainly keep uh all of those in mind.

But uh thank you.

I hope to uh meet uh the expectations of at least the majority of uh of our citizens uh with each decision.

So thank you.

First of all, I thank John, Peter, and Jamie Oliby for their service.

Um they probably would have liked to have more time to serve.

Uh I'm satisfied that the public has made a good decision to go forward, and I think that'll be part of that to me and the indoctrination that we have gotten, and I use the word kindly about indoctrination of how the city does things, what they do and why they do it, has been helpful.

Um obviously, as mentioned by both John and Peter, there are new challenges ahead.

And truthfully, they're not going to be a circus in the party.

There are going to be some hard decisions.

Um, and whether we make it a 50-50 satisfaction ratio or better, what time will tell.

But there have to be improvements, changes, and additions.

So I look forward to it.

Um, and again, thank you to those who thought they had enough faith in me to be here.

Uh good evening, good people of Manhattan.

Um I want to thank all the voters.

Um, everybody that came out, everybody that voted for Peter, everybody that voted for Amber, everybody that voted for me.

Um it's important to vote.

It's important to get out, it's important to take the c the city seriously.

Um we have a big opportunity.

Um it's not one to be taken lightly.

We we can improve the city.

I think this city can be the best city in Kansas, and I think that we have the people here that we can do that.

But we've got to be taking it seriously, we've got to move forward.

Um be patient with me.

I'll get mad at times.

It's gonna happen.

Um but but you know, we're gonna talk it out, we're gonna work through it.

Things um there's a lot of good things that are going on in the city, there's a lot of bad things going on in the city.

There's you know, we we gotta be worried about what's on going on in Yuma and Northview and Miller Ranch and everywhere in between.

And um I hope that we we listen and that we um take public comments seriously.

Um if people show up to city commission and they want to talk, I hope we're listening.

And uh I don't I don't think that happened um, especially in the last six months at times.

So I hope hopefully we're gonna we're gonna do better.

And I just um I'm excited to be here.

Um thankful.

Um it's it's got my business cards here, so we're getting ready to roll.

Thank you.

I did not prepare any formal remarks for this evening.

Um I too would like to thank uh the outgoing commissioners, uh Jamie Minton, Peter Uphelt, and John Mata.

Uh in particular, I very much did enjoy working with both Peter and Jamie.

They brought fresh perspectives, they brought um a lot of good experience, they asked tough questions.

Um all of the department heads who are sitting in this room know that they were the frequent recipients of questions and clear asks for clarification.

And I look forward to working with the new commissioners as we try to achieve common goals for the betterment of Manhattan.

I plan to emulate Commissioner Ophelt and continue coffee with the Commissioner.

Maybe it'll be MOCA with the mayor, but we we will continue having monthly meetings, uh month monthly meetups as an opportunity for uh community engagement.

Um I would take issue with one comment already that Commissioner von Lintel has made.

Please know that at least I'm speaking for myself.

We do listen when people come and make public comment.

We may not always agree with what you have said.

We may not always act on your point of view, but you are heard.

We are listening to you.

And I hope people will try to understand that we are sifting tons of information when we are making decisions.

None of us sit up here and make decisions lightly.

We make these with consideration, with long timelines, oftentimes longer than people realize.

Please know that we would love to see a more engaged community.

We will throughout this year, we will have more opportunities.

We hope to present more opportunities for civic engagement.

Please know that you are heard and listened to.

And now let's move on with the rest of this party.

Okay.

So uh we will now consider the new business consent agenda.

Items on the consent agenda are those of a routine and housekeeping nature, or those items which have been previously reviewed by the city commission.

The commissioner may request an item to be moved for separate discussion and consideration immediately following the consent agenda, or at a different point in time on the agenda if desired by the commission.

Um with our removal from the old business agenda, we now have four items on the new business consent agenda, the fourth being uh the uh approval for the appointment to of Rex Fowls to the cemetery board.

Are there any questions or comments from the commissioners on the new business consent agenda?

No.

Um I mean, really wasn't didn't look into Rex Foles' uh resume, but I mean I've met him before.

I'm comfortable with him being on the cemetery board.

Okay.

Anyone else?

May I have a motion to approve the new business consent agenda?

Oh, sorry.

Is there anyone in the public who would like to address the new business agenda?

All right.

Seeing no one coming forward to make comment, is there a motion to approve?

I move that we approve the new business consent agenda.

Second.

Chelsea, would you call the roll, please?

Commissioner Von Lintel.

Yes.

Mayor.

Yes.

Mayor Adam Track.

Yes.

Commissioner McCullough.

Yes.

Commissioner Fox.

Yes.

Commissioner Morrison.

Yes.

Motion carries five to zero.

Thank you.

We will now move forward with the general agenda.

The first item is to consider an agreement with the Pepsi Cola bottling company of Marysville doing business as Pepsi Cola of Manhattan, Kansas.

Director Stewart will be making a presentation of the item.

I'll say it again since it's a new commission.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners.

This item before you is a agreement.

Under a sole source procurement.

Pepsi has been our beverage supply vendor for uh several years, uh 15 plus.

Um for those that aren't aware, we uh brought concessions back in-house last year.

Uh that is still kind of a new business development for us.

Um it had been uh a concessionaire supplying that service for 20 plus years before that.

Um so for us, just from a standpoint of continuing service and to continue and approve, we we would seek this out.

Um, but also Pepsi has also agreed to uh name a field.

Um obviously they would like an exclusive agreement because if they're gonna name a field Gatorade field, they would not want coke products served out of the concession stand, so that would be counterproductive for them in their mind.

So there is an agreement for naming uh the baseball field at uh steel and pipe supply ball fields that is contingent on the approval of this.

Part of the agreement is we'll receive a $4,000 annual contribution back to our uh department, and we are anticipating uh an average of about $35,000 a year spent with them.

Again, that's a uh a price a purchase price.

We're obviously selling it for more than that, so we easily recoup these costs.

Any questions?

Commissioners, any questions for Director Stewart?

Well, since I'm new to the game, we pay $36,000 for the service.

What do we intend to reap from the benefits of the concession there?

So generally, uh, especially with beverage products, we're probably cost uh we're probably recouping at least at 100%, if not 125, 150 percent.

Depending on breaking oh, we profit.

Okay.

Yeah, it's so we're we're making a hundred to 150 percent above what our purchase price is.

Um that really depends on a project, the product that we're selling.

You can sell certain products for more than you can others, so um that's an average is probably about a hundred percent markup.

Aaron, um so is this is this contract?

Because I'm really concerned about um the costs of canning or bottling or whatever you call it, in that the Trump tariffs are really shooting the price of aluminum way up.

And I've read that that Pepsi and you know, Coke are really having difficulties with their profit margin.

So what have we what have we written down here in a contract?

I mean, we so promise to buy this much, or does that equal that many?

Yeah, so in the agreement, there there talks about quantities that we are anticipated to purchase.

This is all based on data that we've used over time, and it's really kind of locked in a pricing structure for the next five years.

So, you know, the well generally speaking, we're not buying a lot of cans, we're buying mainly plastic bottles.

Um I don't know that we've noticed that, and in fact, what we've noticed since we've taken over concessions is because our volume is increased in our sales so much, we're actually getting better rates for our per product purchase because we're moving more product.

Anything else, commissioners?

Okay, uh thank you, Aaron.

Is there anyone from the public who would like to speak to this issue?

Seeing no one, uh public comment is now closed.

Any remaining questions for staff?

Okay, is do you have a question?

Um is there a motion from the commission?

So I would move to authorize uh the mayor and the clerk to execute a five-year agreement with PepsiCola bottling company of Marysville Incorporated DBA Pepsi Cola of Manhattan, Kansas.

Do you provide soft drink and beverage products for city parks and recreation concession stands?

Thank you.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

Chelsea.

Mayor Adam Track.

Yes.

Commissioner McCullough?

Yes.

Commissioner Fox.

Yes.

Commissioner Morrison?

Yes.

Commissioner Von Lentel.

Yes.

Motion carries five to zero.

Thank you.

We will now move on to the next item on the agenda.

Uh considering dissolving the Frederick Douglass Recreation Complex Advisory Board and amending the bylaws for parks and recreation advisory board.

Director Stewart, welcome back to the podium.

Thank you.

Um the Fredericks, just a little background on this uh this board.

Um, the Frederick Douglass Recreation Complex Advisory Board.

Uh, I'm gonna call that the Douglas Board for short.

Uh, the Douglas Board was originally a policy board and became an advisory board in 1970.

It typically has represented the historically black neighborhood uh around the Douglas Center, Yuma Street, Ward 1, uh, that we'll kind of go over.

Uh the Douglas activity complex is now organized under the Parks and Rec department and is a piece of our recreation division.

Our park and rec advisory board was also originally a policy board back when recreation was a commission.

They became an advisory board in 1982.

It is a seven-member board with a requirement of two members from USD 383.

That is a holdover and it's statutorily required when you merged a joint recreation or school recreation board into a department advisory board.

So we do currently have two members from USD 383.

In fact, we'll be getting some new nominations for one of them this month as their term is up.

Christine Wexelman will be doing her final meeting this month, and then we'll get a new member.

So the the Douglas Board recommended uh dissolving due to the following, which is they were really kind of felt like they achieved their mission with the construction of the Douglas Activity Center.

Um the cultural center that's going in right beside it, they felt was picking up a lot of the mission that they formerly served.

Uh they had a chronic difficulty of achieving quorum.

There were several meetings that did not receive quorum.

Um and so much so they actually removed the requirement for the location for board appointments to best faith ethroverts, and we'll get into that language here in a minute.

Um had a lot of challenges recruiting members out of those areas.

So Park Board was a suggested expansion to keep representation from that district, or at least the best the good faith effort from that district, which is ward one precinct one, in order to dissolve the board, but yet maintain that representation that had has historically been there and from that particular area.

This is obviously consistent with how we dissolved the policy board from the rec commission.

Uh so that's where it was kind of generated as past precedent of putting two members dedicated onto the park board.

The does uh Douglas board did vote for two for disillusion.

I did include those minutes in there, so you can see the comments there.

They recommended if they were going to do this to add two members to the park board.

Uh so the vote was based on that additional park board representation.

Uh the park board um members had mixed perspectives on this and including the geographic representation.

Uh there was a big discussion, and again, those minutes are included, so I don't necessarily want to go through verbatim, but about whether the bylaws should specifically reference board one, precinct one.

So there were two motions that happened.

One recommended the structured as the proposed item, which was add the two members.

Again, it went 3 3, so no action was taken.

Uh one recommended uh this broader geographic region, like we should kind of split up the city and have geographic representation.

Um but again that ended in a 3-3 tie and had no so park board has no formal recommendation on this.

So benefits of this consolidation, again, it streamlines that advisory function into a single board.

It continues to have that representation though, so that's not lost in the new board.

Uh it does reduce the administrative version burden and resources because again, doing two meetings a month versus one meeting a month, it's way easier to do one.

Um and it aligns with the department and organizational structure and operational needs.

So happy to answer any questions.

So, what geographical areas did they suggest?

What did they have any ideas or just a general just a just a general?

Uh the area that came up was Northview, uh having representation out of Northview.

Um and part of what the language states in the bylaws, it both had to be amended in in the Douglas board bylaws, and and we are putting, if this was approved, that are in the the bylaw, the draft bylaws that are written, is we are making a good faith effort to pull somebody from that area.

Um however, it's no longer a requirement because the requirement they couldn't get representation, they couldn't hold a meeting.

Um the more restrictions you put on that, again, that makes it more difficult to find representation and um and put people in there.

This is really the reason this is called out, is that representation for that area because we are taking what was once eventually a policy board and maintaining that representation that has been there historically for Manhattan.

So it was both positions were for ward one or ward one precinct one.

So currently we have a person serving that satisfies that requirement.

So we would be looking for one in the future.

Or I mean you can always have more, but did was there talk about looking at it kind of a completely fresh new perspective since it's kind of making the board new?

I mean, one thing I would ask is how how helpful is the USD 383 members to the board?

Is that something that they want to do?

Is that something good for us as a city?

Um so far that their position is that they want to serve and it's it's statutorily required by the state because of that merger.

Any other questions for Aaron?

Um seems to me that it makes sense to streamline uh if in given that the Douglas Center board itself voted for dissolution, they recognize that mission accomplished.

Um I also value the ongoing effort to include representation from that community.

Um I would just remind the other commissioners that there are other positions on the board that are um available, well, not at this moment, but that are available for appointment, and anyone from Northview or any other neighborhood in Manhattan is certainly eligible to apply for those positions as they are open.

I talked to a number of the people on the board, and I do understand the problem of trying to have people and not have a quorum because we've had several boards that have not had quorums this year.

And and as Marin Pass Mary, it is difficult to find people from Ward One.

However, um I think the Douglas Center, I hate to see them not have a voice, a real voice that's their own voice, not just part of the park and rec board.

And I also don't really see the necessity of having almost a third of the park and rec board be from that area.

I mean, it seems to me that that the park and rec board has a lot of of area to cover and to make such a giant membership from one area.

I'd really like to see it stay the way it is, and perhaps the the Douglas Center Board only meets quarterly, or you know, and we really as as commissioners work hard to find people who will get their quarterly.

Um, you know, if they're they're not showing up for that board, I don't want them not showing up for the park and rec board.

And believe me, I know I'm Susan can second me, it's hard to find people to serve on all boards, but particularly what the Douglas Center is one of them, and you have to really kind of campaign a little bit.

So I just, you know, and I'm I'm hearing this staff time.

I mean, the the staff that meets with most of our boards are salaried, and and they're supposed to, you know, expect occasionally to do a little overtime.

I don't really see why uh we don't have more effort from staff to get people to some of these meetings.

I talked to a number of people on boards that um weren't sure who was setting the agenda and um what should be talked about at the boards and that kind of thing.

So I guess I'm I'm for status quo, but uh I can understand and and you're right, there were there were people on the board who supported that.

Um was there any talk about downsizing the the board?

Um so maybe it was easier to be made easier to get a quorum that way.

Uh so it was a five-member board, and we would need to downsize to three.

Um I I mean there.

No, no, is the answer.

Like that wasn't talked about.

Um the that wasn't talked about.

So I would suggest based on our actual meeting served, we maybe only actually met quarterly.

That particular board took the summers off too.

Um so um I think last year we had quorum for maybe five meetings.

The quorum couldn't have been five if no, uh uh sorry.

Last year we actually, out of the nine meetings we were supposed to have, I think we had quorum for five of them.

Don't hold me to that number.

I do think you could have fewer meetings for heaven's sakes.

You don't really, you know, until an issue came up.

I mean, there were some things with the statues that went in the sculptures that went in, and so there were some various meetings with the um community art board and that kind of thing, and I can see that you know that took a little more time.

I just hate to see them not have a voice that is their voice, that area, and not just be part of a you know the city park system, so to speak.

And I really think the city park system doesn't need that much advice from their board.

Thank you, Erin.

Okay.

Is there any public comment on this item?

Amber Starling for Zurich Houston Street.

Um I do want to acknowledge that we have three new commissioners here tonight, and they are inheriting um a lot of really good things from the former commission, but some issues to navigate.

One of those is uh kind of an issue with trust in the government.

Um within the context, and it's fair to remind you of this context.

Um we're kind of seeing lower input from the community in their government.

Um last year the second reading of ordinances went out.

Uh and although tabling was recommended as a way to kind of get the public back involved, it wasn't used very much last year.

Um the reduction of public comments to three minutes with a max of ten speakers was also something that came up.

Um we are talking about consolidating boards, and so that can be a very tricky project when you're dealing with that greater context.

Um this is something specific.

This is the consensual reorganization of a board and taking those two members to uh put into another part of the government where they can still have that voice.

I think that is very reasonable.

Um however, if the board wants to uh uh or if the commission wants to continue consolidating boards, that would very quickly become a problem.

Thank you.

Thank you, Amber.

Good evening, uh Mel Boris, 1918 Humboldt Street.

And I I uh appreciate this discussion and uh also uh appreciate the comments that Mayor uh McCullough uh Commissioner McCullough uh made as well as Amber uh about the topic here.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else who would like to make a remark?

All right, seeing no one else approaching, we will close public comment on this item.

Commissioners, do we have a motion to consider dissolving the Frederick Douglass recreation complex advisory board?

Second.

No, you have to make them somebody has to make the motion.

I'll make the motion as stated by the so um we might want to have a little discussion.

Yeah, I think we need to have discussion.

I don't do that until after you have a motion.

No, no, do um so it's fine to have discussion now.

We we can ask questions of the presenter and have some discussion then, and then we can also, once the public has their say, talk to each other.

So maybe it be my recommendation since there's already a motion on the floor to have a second and then proceed with discussion.

Do we have a motion?

I I don't believe we had a motion made yet.

Sorry.

Commissioner Morrison, were you making a motion?

I thought I did, and I didn't write it down succinctly like the mayor stated it.

And so by adoption, I said that was my motion.

I so move.

Thank you.

I second.

All right.

Andrew.

No, we can't.

We have to vote now.

No, I think we can have to do that.

Now you can have discussion.

Okay.

So I'm in favor of the consolidation of these two particular boards.

My only reservation is limiting or you know, encouraging two representatives from Ward One.

Mostly because it's 1289 registered voters in it in a large city.

So I would even if we just made it one, um, I would be more on board with that, but I just think two is not very I I wouldn't do that.

No, I just you know, I've I think we probably won't end up with any representatives because it's just if we can find people, that's how we left it.

And um I do think the Douglas Center deserves and that area deserve a voice.

And I think um rightly so it's we have lost some um trust in this commission in the some of the decisions that were made last year.

People did not feel that they'd been heard properly, and I think we need to rebuild that.

I don't think that was true, but that was kind of the impression that some of the older neighborhoods came away with.

So um I you know we I don't understand what this MADAS to consolidate, you know.

We did away with the bicycle committee, for example.

And I don't know who besides that group had really any expertise on.

I mean, I I couldn't tell you what to do with bicycles.

Uh and you know, I I think to me the to we need to involve more people in what we're doing, and the boards are one way to extend our voices out to the public.

Aaron, would you mind coming back one more time?

Can you give us any further insight into the recommendation to have two members from this neighborhood on that?

Yeah, so number one is one member would make an eight-member board, and you don't want an even number for your member for your board.

Um again, that representation to put it in perspective was represented by five people in that area.

We are reducing that to two out of nine.

Um, and they'll weigh on way in on more than just that area.

Um right now we've got heavier representation from different various areas of the community because there is no requirement.

So I I do think yes, it takes work, but there's opportunities to to get people presented.

Um, to uh to mayors and commissioners that are from that area again to satisfy the requirement right now, we would need one.

So we already have one from that area.

Thank you.

Chelsea, we have a motion and a second on uh to consider dissolving the Frederick Douglass Recreation Complex Advisory Board and amending the bylaws for parks and recreation advisory board.

Can you please call the roll?

Commissioner McCullough, no.

Commissioner Fox.

Yes, Commissioner Morrison, yes.

Commissioner Von Lentel?

No.

Mayor Adam Chack.

Yes.

Motion carries three to two.

Thank you.

Um we will now hear.

We will now consider the purchase of a 2026 service slash mechanic truck for public works.

Public utilities.

All right, thank you, Mayor.

Commissioners.

Um I have one presentation for these two uh considerations for for vehicle and equipment purchases.

So I'll run through this first item uh as you mentioned for the uh wastewater wastewater plant service truck.

Uh just some background.

Uh this is a vehicle that is uh utilized at the wastewater treatment plant.

It's replacing an existing vehicle that consists of just a standard bed truck or standard cab truck, uh pickup truck, three-quarter ton.

Uh several years ago, our staff approached administration requesting that when we replace this vehicle it would be replaced with more of a multi-purpose uh type of uh piece of equipment that they can utilize in the field is more than just uh a truck for uh transportation purposes, so they requested a a utility bed on this vehicle as well as a small crane uh to help them with the various uh maintenance projects that they do.

Um see here that the budget for this purchase was approximately 110,000.

This is actually a 2024 budgeted vehicle uh for various reasons.

We were not able to uh go through the procurement process until now.

Uh it combines funding for for two vehicles for the wastewater plant.

The other one would have been a superintendent vehicle, it's an SUV that was due for replacement this past year.

And when we went to solicit bids for that, we made the decision between management and administration that we weren't going to replace that vehicle.

That particular position did not require a dedicated vehicle.

And so we opted to just utilize those funds elsewhere.

That vehicle is still in the fleet.

It still gets utilized.

It's just not going to be replaced, and we won't utilize those funds for the replacement of that vehicle.

So well, just a little bit more background on what this will get used for.

Primarily, you know, in satellite satellite facilities, lift stations, and at the wastewater treatment plant.

We have a lot of equipment that we do heavy lifting.

Sometimes there's a manual lifting devices, so this equipment would be used to make that process a little more safe for employees, a little more efficient.

So that was one of the primary reasons for that for that recommendation from staff.

We did bid this vehicle and with a base bid and an alternate bid for the crane.

So the base bid was the chassis utility bid, and then the alternate bid was for a crane, so that we could analyze that if the bids came in over budget, we would probably put off with the crane and look at procuring it in the future.

But fortunately, it came in within budget, so we've recommended that we make the purchase with the crane.

Lowest responsive bid meeting specs was also the low bid from master truck and equipment in Park City, Kansas.

Again, this is a cash purchase, and going back to the existing vehicle it's scheduled to be disposed of at Purple Wave via auction.

So the proceeds of that sale generally come back into the city's budget is uh general revenue.

Um so it doesn't go specifically the offset the cost of this vehicle.

So that's that's the basic information that I have for this.

Um we can we can go through the process if you have questions and finish this item.

I can move forward with the next item procedurally.

It's do that, please.

Okay.

Um that okay?

Okay.

All right.

So the next item would be a replacement of an existing uh Unit 1155 combo sewer cleaner.

Uh this is a a large piece of equipment that we utilize in our sewer maintenance division.

Uh it's a very critical piece of equipment that we use, um, serves many, many purposes.

It's utilized for uh primarily removing debris out of manholes, lift stations.

Uh it gets utilized by other divisions when needed, other departments.

Uh we use it frequently to assist those departments.

We use it frequently to uh assist other communities when when needed.

Um we use it to do a lot of hydro excavating of utilities that is really prohibitive for us to do traditional excavation because of the uh presence of a substantial amount of utilities, private utilities on top of our infrastructure, such as communications fiber.

So it makes that excavation process a lot more safe.

As you can see, the budget for this purchase was was $550,000.

That was developed several years ago when we had our vehicle equipment replacement fund.

Uh and as you can see from the information I provide here, the lowest responsive bid meeting the specifications was slightly over that, but we're sitting in a good position with the wastewater fund, so it's not too much of a concern for us.

Um we did note that there were three bids that were lower than that, but those three bid vehicles did not meet our specifications and provided an interoffice memorandum in the packet that explained a lot of that the reasonings why.

If you want me to go into that, we can.

I'll probably just end up reading verbatim from that memo.

Um but you can see here the low lowest lowest responsive bid meeting specifications was from Red Equipment in Independence, Missouri.

I noticed that they're actually here.

So if you have any really important questions about the specifics of these machines, they're the expert.

But it's a 2025 VATCON with Freightliner chassis.

We did benefit on this purchase.

I I'm assuming by the fact that we are a source well membership.

That's basically a national program that uh puts together uh bids for common equipment that's used by municipalities and construction companies to provide discounts or just predetermined lower bid amounts.

I just I know from fact seeing other quotes for similar equipment within the past year, that's a substantially lower price than what we've seen.

So, in my opinion, we are seeing substantial benefits from that membership.

Um the financing, this is a CAS purchase.

Uh when this was originally budgeted, we looked at it as being a a um a lease purchase, which we in the past we would traditionally do with some of these larger equipments.

Uh but earlier this year, management and staff made a decision that we were not going to be doing lease purchases anymore.

Um so the 2025 budget included ample funds for a down payment for that.

But since we're sitting in a really good position with the wastewater fund, uh we are more than more than capable of proceeding with this as a cash purchase.

Um there's there's a lot of other information I can share with you, but that's the basics.

Uh Commissioner Von Lintel.

I know you had a lot of questions.

I replied to those by email, but I can certainly get into more of those answers that you're expecting to see here if you want.

Um I'll leave it up to questions to the commission uh on both of these items, and then you can move forward.

Uh Randy, just a couple questions.

I don't see either of these on the five-year CIP.

Sure.

So I would say that's probably because we made a change in how we in CIP in the past few years, where I don't know how long it was ago.

We had it, we actually set aside a vehicle equipment replacement fund, and capital improvement really became about, I think I would say brick and mortar projects, I guess, and vehicles were not traditionally included in CIP anymore.

So we we budget for for vehicles within the budget, and particularly larger ones.

Like I said in the past, we would we would look at programming them as a as a lease purchase.

Um vehicles and equipment like this really aren't uh eligible for temp note financing, but like I said, we are in a good position where we can afford this purchase with cash.

So to that point, what is the balance in the white wastewater fund or roughly meaningful?

Um so what I provided to Commissioner Von Lentel was that we we look like we're gonna end the the year with the fund balance of uh what I what I expressed was the budgeted was about 12 and a half million.

Uh we're looking at being well above that.

Uh when I talked with uh Rebecca and our finance department today, we were looking at potentially up to 15 million dollars just based on some budget savings that we had in 25, some maintenance projects that we deferred and didn't do.

So that's why I'm very comfortable with recommending a cash purchase.

And then you talked about the uh the existing equipment, the the quarter 10 pickup for the maintenance truck.

Yes.

Um this truck I it's what 20 years old.

Yes, it is.

So I mean we utilize two of these in our fleet.

Um more often than not, it's a it's a redundant system, but these get used on a daily basis, a lot of times together on the same project site.

But when one goes down, we need we need to have access to the second one, so that's why we have two.

Um the this existing piece of equipment we have talked with other vendors about what that value was if we were to do a buyback.

Um it has a lot more value for us, the existing piece of equipment to keep.

Uh surprisingly, they you know, trade-ins are only maybe like ten thousand dollars because it does have some some motors and equipment because of age, they're gonna need some work.

Uh stormwater department or the fleet and and uh public works has requested the to be able to retain the uh existing vehicle for their purposes because the stormwater folks they do utilize these a lot.

Um you buy these pieces of equipment, you get lifetime training.

So all those all those maintenance staff are trained on utilizing those vehicles.

So it's it's one of these things that they're not they're not extremely costly for maintenance.

Um they're very robustly built machines, so like I said, it's it's it makes good sense to keep to keep them, uh especially if they will get utilized.

Uh but we just we wouldn't receive a lot back in the form of a trade-in.

Uh if we did purple wave it, I mean these type of vehicles, other smaller communities love getting access to these, especially if they've been well maintained, and it's not going to cost them a lot to invest in upgrading them.

But uh, so that's that's really what the intent that we're not going to dispose of it.

At least that was not the recommendation.

It's completely up to the governing body, but um it would be a you know substantial benefit to other department division to be able to have that and to not have to borrow it from the utility, the water and wastewater utilities.

Um I would say you can ask questions of Director Johnson if if you have any of that, but I think it stands for itself.

So just kind of reiterate reiterating um so all of all of this is coming from the wastewater fund.

Yep.

So that's it's not gonna hit property tax, it's not gonna hit the general fund.

There's gonna be no so um and what I would encourage is that we kind of focus on trying to not raise rates this year um that we we plan sure.

That would be my my goal.

I think it's very important right now to keep with inflation the way it's been for us to keep a handle on our fee increases or tax increases.

We don't want to do any of that.

Sure.

So I the good news is I think you're um well, I think both of your funds um have sufficient capital.

I I I'm feeling comfortable with it.

I hope you're feeling comfortable with the I do.

And and you'll you'll hear later in the year when we start talking about updates for these funds.

Uh you know, the rates that we set for next year, while we while we consider it, you know, what we need for that particular year, the rates we set for next year really have more of an impact five years, ten years down the road and what that fund balance looks like.

So that's a that's a big part of how we set rates.

So obviously this isn't really the time to talk about that, but you'll hear a lot more about that in the road when we start giving updates and we go through the 27 budget development process, and and we'll have we hope to have some consultants on board within the next year to help us go through a cost of services study too.

So well, and so it's some of it is setting a precedent of how we're in how I'm interacting with directors and how we need to be focused on budget year-round.

It is not a you know, spend you know, multiple times and then worry about it later.

We got to be on top of it.

So we try to be thank you, Randy.

Thank you.

Oh yeah, Randy, um, you said we're not looking at leasing things anymore so much.

And I think maybe that's a discussion that I'd be interested in having at a later time.

I just read something um about Salinas doing a lot of lease purchase and they're sort of pushing that direction, and we're not.

I mean what's the I would say that would be more of a question for the city manager's office or the finance.

Maybe it's something we need to talk about as a commission sometime.

Yeah, I mean it's it's a useful tool for these larger pieces of equipment.

Yeah when the fund can afford it with cash.

That's that's just fine.

Um I know it's a uh uh it's a process of labor when when the finance department has to go out and solicit bids for those lease purchases.

So I would actually ask Rena um to take a minute to step to the podium and talk about um our change in policy from lease purchase.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners.

Um last year as city administration met with departmental staff.

We talked about our various lease purchases.

At one point we had about 30 lease purchases across the city.

Um as Randy mentioned, a lot of our larger pieces of equipment were not able to um debt finance through temp notes.

The only things that we could do that for um our fire trucks, and we've recently done something with those.

So in terms of lease purchasing, it's a very arduous process.

You have to go out and solicit, and then we also have to get um legal opinion and then move forward with the financing of that and making sure that the funds are available each year.

Um Randy had mentioned earlier that we have a vehicle and equipment replacement fund that we um instituted in 2023, and that's its own separate internal service fund and the various departments that have vehicles and equipment, they do pay into that fund.

However, in the past couple of years, we haven't been able to fully fund that just due to budget constraints, and so lease purchases play into that as well.

And so the goal is to try to have departments um save up the money that they need for their particular needs in terms of those larger purchases, and a lot of them are um fire trucks and then some of them are utility related as well.

Personally, I appreciate the pay in cash versus lease purchase or financing.

So it would be interesting though to hear what Selene County is what's behind their thing because they seem to be feeling they're spending there's saving quite a bit of money with lease purchase.

So, you know, at some later point maybe we could have work session on that.

We can most definitely have that further conversation.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you, Rena.

Okay, you're welcome.

Commissioners, any other questions for Randy at this moment.

So when I first saw these two items on the agenda, I thought, oh God, you're wanting us to spend 700,000 dollars in our first meeting here.

But uh I consider the water department, water, sewer, storm water department, probably one of our top priorities as far as serving the needs of the community and uh with regards to the the pumper truck.

Uh I see those guys out working all the time.

Absolutely.

Uh so I I know I know that equipment gets to use.

So as for the maintenance truck, uh I'm sure that would be better than a three quarter ten pickup for maintenance.

So and we have the money, so and it's needed.

So I would if you think 750,000 is good, wait for a few weeks.

Um thank you, Randy.

Let's see if there's any public comment on these items.

Is there anyone in the room who would like to make public comment on this?

All right, seeing none, we will close public comment.

May I have a motion for agenda item C to consider the purchase of a service mechanic truck?

So I would move that we award purchase of a 2026 service mechanic truck in the amount of 107,324 for master tech truck and equipment and authorize the disposal of excess property once replacement vehicle arrives.

I will second Chelsea.

Commissioner McCollow.

Yes.

Commissioner Fox.

Yes.

Commissioner Morrison?

Yes.

Commissioner Von Lentl.

Yes.

Mayor Adam Chak.

Yes.

Motion carries five to zero.

Thank you.

Um do we have a motion to consider the purchase of a 22025 truck mounted single engine combination sewer cleaner.

I'll just get right in here and do this.

I move we award a purchase of a 2025 truck mounted single engine combination sewer cleaning truck and the amount of 588,0703 from red equipment.

Second, Chelsea, can you call the roll?

Commissioner Fox.

Yes.

Commissioner Morrison.

Yes.

Commissioner Von Lintel.

Yes.

Mayor Adam Chark?

Yes.

Commissioner McCullough.

Yes.

Motion carries five to zero.

Thank you.

We will wrap up our meeting with a briefing from the city manager.

Good evening, Mayor and newly elected commissioners.

Appreciate the opportunity.

Thank you all for putting your names uh in the hat and for coming out on top and choosing to serve this wonderful community.

Sometimes we have a city manager's briefing.

It's usually during our work sessions, but since this is our first opportunity for us to convene as a governing body, I did want to share with you all there is a list of our 2026 city commission dates.

So this is outlined.

We begin at six o'clock every evening.

And then work session dates are on the second and fourth Tuesdays.

So we have those before you for your planning purposes.

But sometimes if we need to, uh we will schedule those, but we will make sure you all are aware of that and we will coordinate with you and your schedules so that if you are planning to take time off, um just let us know.

Um of those other meetings that is we would typically have would be the fourth Tuesday in May.

So that is actually the Tuesday after Memorial Day.

So we will cancel that one as well.

Um and then we will not have a meeting the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and then we will cancel the meeting before Christmas, and then we will also cancel the following um Tuesday, which is the December 29th, which is heading um into that last week of December, and then we convene.

Uh we will reconvene again and um January.

So if you have any questions, uh this is just for your planning purposes.

We do ask as staff if you are planning on being away.

Uh you're not going to be able to attend a meeting that you let us know.

Uh we do have the option to participate virtually, but we also recognize that you all um have lives and also need to enjoy time away, even though uh there's no better place to come back to than Manhattan, Kansas, right?

Uh other things that are in front of you this evening is the upcoming meetings and invitations.

So your city clerk's office will provide and coordinate uh the various meetings and social engagements that you all are invited to.

We will provide this calendar to you all during your work sessions.

Um again, as you are receiving those calendar invites, please be sure to accept or deny.

That's how our city clerk's office make sure that you are registered, make sure that if there is any fee that needs to be paid that they can take care of that, um, as well as helping us track if there is going to be more than three of you at any of these meetings and if it is something that we might need to potentially notice so that we are not in violation of an open meetings act.

So, does anyone have any questions on the upcoming meetings and invitations that are before you this evening?

Yes, Karen.

Yeah, sorry, Commissioner McCollow.

That's okay.

Um when's the the work, you know, the two-day session or whatever it is that we're yep.

So your retreat is going to be uh it is on that uh first list.

We will be February 2nd and February 3rd.

Okay, thanks.

Yep, we will be at the Flint Hills Discovery Center.

February 2nd and 3rd.

Yes, yeah, two days.

Thanks.

Good.

I thought it was the end, but I so any if there are any questions on any of these upcoming meetings.

Um, if you take this home and you have an opportunity to look at, please don't hesitate to reach out to Chelsea or Lauren and let them know.

The last thing that I wanted to uh bring before you all are just the boards and committees where commissioners currently serve on.

So that list is in front of you.

Um the first one would be the community liaison group for NBAF.

Um that is uh has typically been held by the mayor.

Then we have our um Flint Hills uh MPO policy board, which was vacated by Commissioner Opelt earlier this evening, so we need to find uh replacement for him.

Uh the days that and times that these committees meet is also listed.

Um Flint Hills Area Transportation Agency Board, which was also held by Commissioner Opelt as an alternate, so we need to make a replacement for that.

Um Housing Authority Board was vacated by Commissioner Mata.

And then we have the municipal audit board, which was vacated by Commissioner Minton, and then the Riley County Law Board.

I do want to note uh we are planning to have a special legislative meeting when we have our work session on January 13th for as an opportunity for you all to appoint a member to the law board.

The law board will meet um for their first meeting on January 20th at noon.

Typically they meet on Mondays, but because it is Martin Luther King Day, they will meet on the Tuesday following.

Uh, but that is before your next legislative meeting.

So we will need to take an opportunity at that January 13th meeting to appoint someone to the law board to make sure that we have all the representation for the board of Manhattan.

So are there any questions about that?

Danielle, am I the first person on the area um transportation?

The fear was the yes, you are the first person.

He was an alternate.

I would be happy to relinquish that to anybody who wants to do it.

I've been on that board for I think 30 years, so um you know just in the future.

Yeah, it's not a terrible amount of time, but but it's the ADA bus board really.

I would be interested.

Okay.

Okay.

Um I would encourage you to reach out to uh sorry, Commissioner Fox.

There are two people on that board right now.

Do we need two on it or just one?

I think Peter was alternate, right?

Peter's the alternate.

And and I would suggest that we do uh have someone present, someone listed as an alternate because much like um our the other the boards that we discussed previously, some of these also have challenges meeting quorum.

Yeah, and so having an alternate who can step in if the initial uh commissioner is not available is very helpful.

Okay, I I think just to be up front, uh one of the uh upcoming appointments.

Um I think some of us would like to see Commissioner Morrison as our law board representative just I will be up front with you in saying that I am considering appointing myself to that position because I have not uh served on it and I think it would be a good education for me to become more familiar with it.

We can decide that on the third day.

Have a week to have that conversation.

So not all together.

Not together.

Um, I was going to throw out um just I don't think I've really talked to you too much about it, but my mornings are busy because I'm still working at Big Lake, so evenings are you know, four o'clock is a is a reasonable time for me to be regularly available.

So that's just kind of something to keep keep in mind.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you, Andrew.

Yeah, the last thing I wanted to let you all uh make you all aware of is that on January 13th, we will be having a work session in addition to the legislative session where we appoint a law board member.

We will have a work session about the Aggie Ville TIFF district.

And then as Randy uh did a little foreshadowing, we will have a work session on our uh construction manager at risk for the wastewater plant uh sewer expansion.

So that's what you all have ahead of you for January 13th.

That is all I have for you this evening.

Thank you, Danielle.

Commissioners, any questions for Danielle?

Yep.

All right.

Thank you.

Is there a motion to adjourn our meeting?

So moved.

Second.

All in favor of adjourning the meeting of January 6th, 2026, please say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Thank you all.