Wichita City Council Meeting – November 19, 2024: Parking Plan Deferred, Holocaust Memorial Approved, and Restroom Project Passes
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Wichita City Council Meeting – November 19, 2024
The Wichita City Council held a regular meeting on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, at 6:00 PM in the City Council Chambers. The meeting lasted until 12:54 AM on November 20, 2024, covering a wide range of topics including a major downtown parking plan, a Holocaust memorial agreement, budget adjustments, and a controversial public restroom project. The council deferred the parking plan decision to December 10, 2024, after failing to reach consensus on options A and E.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes of the November 5, 2024 meeting (7-0).
- Approved consent agenda items 1 through 19, with the exception of item #8 (transit grant), which was discussed separately and then approved (6-0). Consent items included routine licenses, preliminary estimates, agreements (including joint funding for Equus Beds Aquifer, sewer agreement with Oaklawn Improvement District, encroachment with Ideatek Telcom, developer agreement for Brookfield South Addition, and aquifer storage modeling), design services, advisory board minutes, weapons destruction list, a cost share amendment with Sedgwick County, and second-reading ordinances (Ordinance Nos. 52-566, 52-568, 52-569).
- Approved consent planning agenda items 10–19, including annexations (A24-02 and A24-10), plats, vacation orders, and zone changes (ZON2024-00045 and ZON2024-00046).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Mary Dean (Kansas Justice Advocate, Inc.) requested a reparations workshop for city leadership, citing the city's non-discrimination ordinance, the James Chung report, and the Diversity, Inclusion, and Civil Rights Advisory Board as foundations. She provided informational folders to council members.
- Twila Puritty urged the council to implement true performance measures instead of benchmarks in the city budget, called for transparency on lawsuit spending and asset forfeiture income, and encouraged fiscal responsibility.
- Dr. Walt Chappell spoke on the Citizen Review Board (CRB), noting that since 2005, six studies have confirmed racial profiling disparities (blacks twice as likely to be stopped, three times more likely to be arrested/searched), but 800 complaints have not been sustained. He said the CRB is dysfunctional due to vacancies and lack of executive sessions for a year; he urged council to fill vacancies and ensure appointees actively engage. He also criticized the upcoming FOP contract, calling for rescission of Articles 13 and 14. Council members responded: Council Member Glasscock noted his appointee resigned November 14 and a new one is in process; Council Member Hoheisel said his appointee resigned in August and he has not received responses from applicants; Council Member Johnson defended the CRB as effective, citing its discovery of the text message issue that led to the Jensen Hughes report.
- Sybil Strum alleged that City Manager Robert Layton and planning officials illegally took her 1910 historical house at 2919 North Richmond, leaving her homeless; she requested restitution.
- Dennis Hedke presented climate data arguing against the Climate Action Plan, citing ice core records, temperature trends, and severe weather patterns; he cautioned against bad policy, referencing Texas's 2021 storm. Council Member Hoheisel responded that the plan's focus is on resilience to droughts and clean water/air.
- Diana Tedlock (District 1) raised concerns about the Wichita Animal Shelter's lack of transparency, alleging suppression of data on euthanasia rates, kennel vacancy changes, and contract language that may infringe on rescue groups' First Amendment rights. She questioned the Kansas Humane Society contract.
- William Glander criticized a past rezoning decision he said was administratively approved despite neighborhood opposition, urging better public engagement.
- Public comment on the downtown parking plan: Over 16 speakers addressed this topic, including business owners, residents, and organization representatives. Speakers from Delano and Old Town (Christopher Parisho, Vince Hancock, Tim Duggar, Dan Norton) predominantly opposed paid parking, citing potential harm to small businesses recovering from COVID, lack of transparency, and mismanagement. Supporters (Heather Schroeder of Downtown Wichita, Jeff Fluhr of Greater Wichita Partnership, Rachel Murphy, Susie Santo of Visit Wichita) advocated for Option A, emphasizing turnover, revenue for deferred maintenance, and consistency with other cities. Some speakers questioned the financial connection to a new parking garage for the Biomedical Center. Several requested an audit of parking revenues and expenses by mode.
- Public comment on the restroom project: Heather Schroeder (Downtown Wichita) supported the Portland Loo as an industry standard. John Axtell opposed it, calling the cost wasteful (over $300,000 per unit) and questioning maintenance.
Discussion Items
- Downtown Parking Plan Implementation Strategy (Item V-1): Assistant City Manager Troy Anderson presented five options: A (full implementation with 75¢/hour on-street, $5 lots, $10 garages), B (first hour free), C (Old Town exceptions with CID or higher in-lieu fees), D (status quo), and E (phased: enhanced O&M in 2025, meters in downtown core in 2026, exclude Delano, Old Town options). Key financial points: $18 million in deferred maintenance for garages; a potential $19 million, 500-space garage for the Biomedical Center (total $37 million unaccounted). Council discussion revealed splits: Council Members Johnson and Ballard supported A; Glasscock, Johnston favored E; Hoheisel leaned D/E; Tuttle considered A or E; Mayor Wu preferred D due to transparency concerns. Two votes failed: motion for Plan A (Johnson) failed 3-4; motion for Plan E (Glasscock) failed 2-5. Council then voted 6-1 (Glasscock against) to defer to December 10, 2024, with direction to staff to refine options A and E or a combination.
- Holocaust Memorial Construction and Maintenance (Item VI-1): Reginald Davidson (Parks) and Matthew Cartwright presented plans for a memorial near Veterans Memorial Park, fully donor-funded, including lighting. Robert Kaplan, the visionary, spoke emotionally about the need to remember. Council approved the agreement 7-0.
- Vendor Selection for Computer Hardware (Item VI-2): Mike Mayta (IT) explained moving from value-added reseller High Touch to direct Dell purchases via NASPO agreement, saving $70,000 annually. Council approved 7-0 after public comment supporting the move.
- Budget Adjustments for Public Works & Utilities (Item VI-3): Gary Janzen presented internal reallocations within the 2024 budget (total ~$282 million) for increased maintenance, a landfill fire from a lightning strike, and accounting changes. No overall increase. Approved 7-0.
- Overestimate Bid for Downtown Restroom and Hydration Station Improvements (Item VI-4): Gary Janzen recommended approving bids for two Portland Loo restrooms and hydration stations at Naftzger Park and A. Price Woodard Park, total $660,310 (including $30,000 from 2025 CIP). Features include anti-crime design, cold-weather capability, and ADA compliance. Council debated cost (~$300,000 per unit) vs. need for public amenities. A motion to deny failed. A substitute motion to approve (Hoheisel) initially failed. An amendment to pilot only Naftzger Park (Tuttle) lacked a second. The original substitute motion passed 4-3 (Nay: Wu, Glasscock, Johnston).
Key Outcomes
- Deferred downtown parking plan decision to December 10, 2024; staff to refine options A and E or a hybrid.
- Holocaust Memorial agreement approved (7-0).
- Computer hardware contract with Dell via NASPO approved (7-0).
- Public Works budget adjustments approved (7-0).
- Portland Loo restroom and hydration station project approved (4-3).
- Council approved travel for Council Member Hoheisel to attend a housing committee (no cost) and for Council Member Johnston to attend a Federal Reserve round table with $133 mileage reimbursement.
- Council Member Johnston requested staff schedule an ordinance regarding golf cart operation on city streets and sidewalks.
- Council Member Glasscock appointed Patricia Johnson to the CSBG Public Sector board.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome to City Hall and good evening, Wichita. We'll call this meeting to order at this time. With us this evening is Reverend Ben Staley of Chapel Hill United Methodist Church to provide our invocation. Following that invocation, we will have the Pledge of Allegiance, and we ask that you please stand for both. Family and friends and neighbors who give it themselves and support one another. We're thankful that in our community we have people who serve us through the schools, colleges, churches, hospitals, community leaders with servant hearts. And for the future, we know, Lord, that to whom much is given, much shall be required. So help us to share what you've given us with wisdom and kindness, to be good stewards and generous in our give giving and also in our demands. As we strive to follow Christ's example of sacrifice and love, in whose name we pray. Amen. I see none. I move to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of November fifth, twenty twenty-four. Second. Motion and a second. Any further discussion? I see none. Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Sorry, I'm recognizing that Vice Mayor Maggie Ballard is joining us virtually today, so her voice is what just came through. Motion passes seven zero. Madam Clerk, please call the next item. Awards and proclamations. May I please invite Councilmember Becky Tuttle to the front and the recipients and organizations that will be receiving the best tasting award. So one of the one of the events we have a backhoe rodeo, uh, you know, test operator skills, you know, on a backhoe. We have a meter madness, see how fast people can uh assemble a meter and make sure it works. Uh you know, once it's done. We do that with hydrants also, hydro hysteria. We also have a thing called Top Ops. So we have the water water operators, it's kind of a like a high queue competition, and and they answer the questions and and we award award a winner that way. Uh all our different awards, you know, they they're you know pick chosen, you know, one won that award at the section level, but every one of them they're able to go on to our national conference. Uh this next year it'll be in Denver. Uh, one of the awards that's it's always been one of my favorites is is the water taste test award. With the water taste test award, it's not just you know one or two people, it's usually a whole team of people, you know, that that work to make that water what it is. Uh with that, you know, there's a select panel. Uh, you know, we'll just pick different people throughout. Uh usually we have some of our dignitaries from AWWA from the national level that come in. Uh there are some of them. So usually it's people that don't be not normally drinking the water in Kansas. But with that, you know, they're they're gone through and they they keep selecting, they score, and uh at the end we we make that determination of who had the highest score, uh, and and they are the winners. Uh and this year it was the city of Wichita, and I'd like to present them with with their award tonight. Thank you, Jim. My name is Michael Jacobs. I'm the water production senior division manager, and with me are representatives of the water production staff. The water production division is responsible for all raw water, water treatment, and water quality delivered to our customers. We work with a treatment plant that was originally constructed in the 1940s, a well field that was originally developed in the 50s, Chini Reservoir, which was developed in the 60s. These facilities have changed over the decades, both physically and how we operate them. We operate these facilities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We have a philosophy. But we can make something better today. It's not one big thing that results in high quality water. It's many, many small things and paying attention and trying to improve, trying new things.
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