City Council meeting.

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If you wish to speak on an agenda item after the mayor invites public comment, proceed to the podium, state your name and address, and you will be given five minutes to speak.

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Thank you again for joining us today.

Let's pause a moment for our television audience to join us.

Lifting a note of thanksgiving and praise to the one who is almighty.

We ask for wisdom's guidance in the meeting.

May actions that are taken today affirm the beauty and strength of the many people living in various communities that make up the city of Wichita.

May each decision be mindful of its effect on those most in need of the city's protection.

But today we are saddened by the outbreak of gun violence yesterday between people who knew each other.

We know solving conflicts by harming another only begets more harm.

And we pray for families and friends affected, and we know that our city is better than this.

Oh, yes, we do.

Our heart's desire is for a peaceable solution to conflicts.

Gun violence is not the answer.

But on this day, it is a special day because it is the day after Labor Day, and Almighty, we lift up the honest labor and the diligent work of the city's many dedicated employees, especially those who work in behind the scenes and are rarely thanked.

They labor hard to make this a great place to live, work and play.

We thank you for their labor.

And we thank you for all people in this city who are laboring in all manner of work.

We are grateful for those who are here and take their time and talents to govern and lead.

May they balance the many needs that come before them today in the deliverance they take and they have they take.

And so we ask humbly, so be it.

Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you very much, Pastor Goldtree.

Madam Clerk, can you please call the first item?

Approve the minutes of the regular meeting, August 19th, 2025, and August 26, 2025.

Are there any changes or edits to those meeting minutes?

I see none.

I move to approve the meet meeting minutes for August 19th, 2025, and August 26, 2025.

Second.

Motion and a second.

Any further discussion?

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 7-0.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Awards and proclamations.

Today's proclamations are hunger action month and St.

Francis Ministries Day, 80 years of healing and hope.

May please ask the Kansas Food Bank to come forward at this time.

The proclamation reads, the City of Wichita, Kansas founded in 1870, whereas hunger remains an urgent issue affecting over 71,000 individuals and families within our community, with one in seven Kansans and one in five Kansan children in Sedwick County being food insecure.

By working collaboratively, we can make significant strides in reducing food insecurity and ensuring that our neighbors do not go hungry.

Whereas September has been designated as Hunger Action Month by Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger relief organization with over 200 network partners across the United States.

Whereas this month presents an opportune time to raise awareness about the persistent challenges faced by those experiencing hunger and to encourage individuals, organizations, and businesses alike to take action through volunteerism, participation in community events, monetary support, and beyond.

Now therefore be it resolved that the Wichita City Council does hereby proclaim September 2025 as hunger action month in the City of Wichita and encourage all citizens to support the Kansas Food Bank and its 700 partners, providing enough food for over 15 million meals to our food insecure neighbors in Wichita and across 85 Kansas counties.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council.

Um we appreciate your support over the years.

Of course, I'll be really brief, but um Hunger Action Month is really simple.

We're just asking the community to take action, and it's very is you could do that either by collecting food at your home, dropping it off at the food bank, your local pantry that you support, get your businesses or corporations to do food drives, uh, money matches, or give it your treasures.

Uh, but also one of the most important things is to give of your time, volunteers are just as important to the Kansas Food Bank and our pantry partners all across the state to make sure that folks have food on their table.

So the one little thing that you can do starts to make life better for our folks and neighbors right here in Wichita.

And we would appreciate all of Wichita doing that for us as we go about this month.

Thank you.

Oh, sorry.

One, two, three, one, two, three.

Okay, thank you.

May I please ask the St.

Francis Ministries and its partners to come forward at this time.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

The proclamation reads, the City of Wichita Kansas founded in 1870, whereas St.

Francis Ministries has served children and families in Kansas for 80 years, offering unwavering support, advocacy, and services that promote healing, hope, and long-term well-being.

Whereas founded in 1945 in Ellsworth, Kansas by Father Bob Meis Jr., St.

Francis Ministries began as a home for boys and has grown into multi-state nonprofit dedicated to serving vulnerable children and families through foster care, adoption, mental health services, residential treatment, and family preservation programs.

Whereas over the past eight decades, St.

Francis Ministries has remained rooted in its mission to provide healing and hope to those who need it most, guided by a belief in human dignity, compassion, and the power of transformation.

Whereas in celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2025, St.

Francis Ministries continues to be a vital part of the Kansas community committed to innovation, collaboration, and the care of children and families across the state and beyond.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Wichita City Council does hereby proclaim September third, 2025 as St.

Francis Ministries Day, 80 years of healing and hope.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Council.

On behalf of St.

Francis Ministries, I want to thank the City of Wichita for this proclamation, recognizing our 80 years of service.

What began in 1945 as a boys' home in Ellsworth has grown to a ministry serving children and families across Kansas and beyond.

We are proud to serve Kansas and the Wichita community, and we are grateful for the partnerships that make healing and hope possible.

Thank you for honoring our mission and standing with us as we continue this important work.

One is I know I didn't understand that.

Thank you.

At this time, I would like to ask the City of Wichita's purchasing division to come forward.

And also City Manager Bob Leighton.

Good morning.

Good morning.

The finance department has been awarded the Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award from the National Procurement Institute.

This award demonstrates a commitment to procurement excellence, and it recognizes organizations that embrace innovation, professionalism, productivity, leadership, and e-procurement.

It is reflective of staff that works hard every day to provide excellent services to our organization.

This is the 24th year that finance department has earned this award.

For 2025, there were 216 successful applicants, including 85 cities.

Of the 216 2025 award recipients, only three are awarded from the state of Kansas.

Please join me in congratulating the purchasing division of the finance department.

Thank you.

But with great pride and gratitude accepting this award today.

Procurement at its core are stewards of process.

Or as my colleagues like to tell me, we're the fun police.

That's okay.

But most importantly, participate in the project story.

For every project, a story exists.

We're purchasing staff pushed back.

We advocated for a department.

We advocated for a small vendor, advocated for the taxpayers, sometimes all of these actions concurrently.

You because as my predecessor would say, you and I do not look good in orange.

The purchasing division strives to complete actions in a way that is transparent, fair, and accountable.

This award highlights our profession, but most importantly, recognizes the actual people who make this investment materialize.

People who embody this achievement of excellence award for 24 years, people who completed in 2024, 370.4 million in purchasing payments, 31,342 purchasing card transactions administered, 1,960 purchase orders issued, 522 contract actions, 340 solicitations published.

Lastly, I have to recognize the tireless efforts of my team who work behind the scenes, often without fanfare, to ensure that the services we rely on continue to function smoothly and efficiently.

All of the numbers and ambitious improvements mean nothing without the purchasing staff that facilitate this work daily.

Jason Brogdon, Chris Hazlitt, Tracy Jordan, Leanne Hendricks, Kyle Beckstrom, Shuvo Rahman, and those who couldn't join us today, Valerie Fallow and Rachel Carroll.

Thank you.

I see you, we see you.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk, can you please call the next item?

Public agenda.

The public agenda allows for up to five speakers to have five minutes each to address the council.

No action will be taken relative to items on the public agenda other than referral to the city manager for information as necessary.

Speakers will please state their name and address for the record.

A time clock will display the speaker's remaining time to speak.

Order and rules of decorum will be observed.

The first speaker today is Celeste Rossette, Community Improvement Districts.

Oversight is missing.

Good morning, Mayor Wu and City Council members.

City government should be about getting the job done, not about partisan politics.

And when we work together, we end up with better solutions.

The bipartisan citizen-led group made several suggestions for improvements and ways to possibly save money.

Let's keep working together to make our city government more transparent and accountable.

Economic tools should always have accountability, audit trails, and performance measurements.

When developer loans are made for tax increment financing projects, TIFFs, or community improvement districts, CIDs, there should be clear-cut explanations about the loan.

That means list any temporary notes or debt service transfers or debt.

This was not done with the Kinmar TIFF.

When I first looked at Kinmar TIFF, I saw other revenue had fallen to zero.

Revenues had been budgeted for, but nothing came in.

When I asked city staff why, I was told, and I quote, staff has been actively engaged in seeking payments from the developer.

I was also told, and I quote, all TIFF debt is issued as general obligation debt, which means it is backed by the city of Wichita and repaid from the debt service fund.

That wasn't correct.

What I didn't know because there was no explanation in the city's financial statement or on the city's website is that money had been transferred to pay off temporary notes for KINMAR, and off the books, TIFF loan had been created.

There was no mention of debt, no mention of a loan, and no audit trail that $2 million was owed to the city.

When I say it is hard to get answers about city finances, this Kinmar lawsuit is the prime example.

I asked questions but was given misleading answers.

Now the city is suing to collect two million dollars from the KINMAR developers.

Community improvement districts or CIDs is another economic development tool lacking transparency.

Some retailers have tax notice signage and some do not.

Most retailers are collecting the CID, but a few are not.

Central and Oliver CID will be losing the largest area retailer, CVS drugstore.

This will leave a small mom and pop restaurant as the only retailer paying the tax in the CID, Central and Oliver.

It is not fair that a small restaurant should have to comply with the CID requirements when other retailers don't.

Several new businesses will be operating in the multi-sports stadium CID, a hotel, restaurant, and bars.

With $13 million in CID bond debt and a looming $75 million starbond debt liability bearing down on us in 2027, economic development staff has to be ready to ensure CID compliance.

With over 80 million of taxpayer money invested in the ball stadium development, we need every dollar of revenue generated to pay this debt off.

Procedures mean nothing if they are not followed.

When you revamp economic development policies this month, please make sure this is the way things are to happen and don't make exceptions.

Establish a standard process for reporting non-compliant retailers to the state of Kansas Department of Revenue.

Post CID debt amortization schedules on the city's website and show the annual repayment.

Taxpayers want to know if a project is paying for itself and whether or not it is performing as expected.

Taxpayer questions may be annoying.

I recognize that, but don't forget whose money it is you are spending.

Maybe you get these questions because there is no clear-cut description of how our money is being spent.

And please don't hide debt.

Put the amount of debt outstanding for every CID and TIFF in the financial statements and on the city's website.

And post the addresses of retailers like this in the CID.

It feels like we're moving in the right direction.

I am truly encouraged by the questions you all are asking of staff.

Please continue looking for ways to be more transparent, ensure audit trials exist, and hold developers accountable for the taxpayer funds they were given for the promises they made.

But I am encouraged and I appreciate your efforts in this transparency effort.

Thank you.

Thank you, Celeste.

Councilmember Ballard.

Thank you, Aaron.

Thank you, Celeste.

Troy, I don't know if this is a question for you or for uh city manager.

Can you talk a little bit about, for example, one of the CIDs that's in my district that may not be collecting what that looks like for the city?

I've seen the city staff in there personally trying to talk to them.

Can you just talk a little bit about where our responsibilities start and if they do just talk a little bit about that process, please?

Yeah, thank you.

Uh Troy Anderson, assistant city manager.

Um there are a number of CIDs across the city.

Excuse me.

Um obviously one of the first things we're concerned about is make making sure that CIDs that uh involve the use of taxpayer dollars, uh, that we're focused on those CIDs first and foremost.

There are a number of CD CIDs, most of the CIDs, there were no taxpayer dollars that were put into these projects.

Um again, having to understand there were a couple of here that were mentioned, the Delano Catalyst site and the Central and Oliver site.

There were no taxpayer dollars that were put into these CIDs.

So therefore, while yes, there should be concern over whether or not retailers are collecting uh the appropriate sales tax, but in essence, the collection of that sales tax ultimately goes back to pay the owner developer for their investment into public infrastructure improvements or otherwise.

So there are a number of CIDs, specifically that the third one was dimension, uh, the ballpark, right?

Uh absolutely we are very concerned with making sure that these CIDs perform when taxpayer dollars are invested, which is why we were so focused on restructuring the deal with the developer and making sure that that development you had heard uh the hotel, the retail, the multifamily residential, making sure that that project came up out of the ground because ultimately, yes, taxpayer dollars sort of are at risk if these CIDs don't perform.

But I would say 80, 85, 90 percent of all of these CIDs, the city did not put any taxpayer dollars into these CIDs.

So the performance is really on the owner-developer and a pay as you go.

We talked a little bit about this when we talk about pay as you go.

Uh now, with that being said, we're doing a deep dive into all of the CIDs.

Um we are working on trying to provide not only a narrative summary, but also uh you heard about things like an amortization schedule.

These are all things we've already been working on.

It just takes time to put all this stuff together and make sure that the information is true and accurate.

We want to make sure that information is true and accurate before we share it.

We don't want to um put information out there that maybe hasn't fully been vetted or analyzed.

And uh so with that being said, to answer your question without knowing exactly which CID you're referring to, that's kind of a really high-level overview.

Troy, we're I believe there's there's a property that we were is brought to our attention that they were not collecting CID.

Can you talk about what our what actions we took as a result of it?

Yeah, in fact, uh I have engaged that retailer myself personally.

It was about a year ago.

Um met with the general manager, um, general manager, uh, perhaps didn't know and understand uh the requirement.

And so after sending the information uh to that individual, uh that information was passed along to the regional manager uh at this point in time again.

Short of notifying the state, as you heard from Mark Manning uh last week, right?

We don't have a lot of recourse specifically in the collection of sales tax.

Uh obviously, yes, we can reach out to the state.

Again, that particularly CID, we we have no taxpayer dollars into the CID that we are reliant upon CID sales tax revenue to come back to us to repay us for investment using taxpayer dollars.

So, in essence, in that CID, the only one who is sort of really being heard or adversely impacted is gonna be the owner-developer.

What is the status of putting this information online?

I know that we've been asking for this, and like you mentioned, it does take time, but I want to make sure that uh we do have a progress report that it will be online at some point.

Do you know when?

Yeah, so I don't know about putting a specific date on that.

Again, we want to make sure that as we're scrubbing the history, there's a lot of history in there that I'll admit personally I was not involved in, and so I want to make sure that we scrub that, make sure that it's true and accurate to the best of our knowledge and understanding.

We want to cross-reference that with finance and making sure that the information that we put out there is true and accurate before we put it out there.

Um, and so we're working diligently through all of that history.

There's a lot of history.

There's um I didn't bring it up with me.

There's 16 CIDs, if my memory serves me correctly.

Um recent that have yet to be activated, one there's a third that has yet to be activated, one has uh terminated, and so there's what about 1314 there that we are currently diving into to make sure that uh we can provide not only a narrative around that, make sure that we're being transparent on whether or not there were taxpayer dollars that were used to fund public infrastructure improvements or otherwise, um, whether there's any debt as you heard.

Again, we want to be comprehensive in putting this information out there.

We're working through that as diligently as we can.

I don't know if I can necessarily put a date on it to to date, but we are working diligently.

Thank you.

Councilmember Johnson.

Thanks, Mayor.

Um Troy, um, I think it was last week or a couple weeks ago there was something said about academy sports.

Did we ever get to the bottom of that?

Yes.

And I'm gonna turn over to my finance director.

I'm gonna I hate to put him on the spot, but I think he's gonna be able to better uh explain exactly what we have found.

Um, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Okay.

Uh yes, sir, uh, councilmember Johnson.

Uh I think as I indicated last week, the city really has absolutely nothing to do with the collection of the sales tax in Kansas.

Having said that, uh, I did read in or I saw on Channel 10, I think that there were some assertions that Academy may not have collected the CID correctly.

Um last week I hadn't not had a chance to look at the material that they provided.

I did since then, and I noticed that the news story had a receipt, which I assume is what uh these allegations were based on.

Again, it's the state's prerogative to administer the sales tax.

Having said that, when I looked at the sales tax, it would appear to me that Academy was collecting exactly correctly, at least on June 25th of 2025.

Uh, there may have been some confusion.

The sales tax indicated the state sales tax rate of 6.5%, which is correct.

And it also indicated a 1% sales tax.

I think maybe the confusion was that uh part of the purchase was food, and food purchases are only taxed at the local rate, as we talked about over the last few months.

So I think the one percent reflected not a SID, but rather the application of the local Sedweek County sales tax rate on the portion of that receipt that was associated with a food purchase.

Uh so again, uh the really the the way to show that is I believe the receipt showed about seven or eight dollars with the purchases, and the total tax on that receipt was 20 cents.

Well, you don't have to be that great at math to know that 20 cents divided by seven or eight dollars is not eight and a half percent.

So, in my opinion, uh they charge correctly at least on June 25th.

I can't talk about what they may have done prior to June 25th, but that receipt would indicate to me that what they were charging was exactly correct.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk, can you please call the next individual?

Yadon Deprey list of funds dispersal for the unhoused community.

Good morning, madam mayor and council.

My name is Yadone.

And I'm a resident of Wichita.

I'm here today to inquire about the city's funding and programs for the unhoused community.

My goal is to better understand how taxpayer dollars are being allocated and ensure that resources are reaching those in need.

Based on recent data, Wichita's unhoused population is estimated to be approximately 1,200 to 1,500 individuals.

This includes families with children who are experiencing temporary or chronic housing instability, veterans, many of whom struggle with unique challenges and related to service and integration, and chronically homeless individuals who have experienced long-term or repeated episodes of homelessness, often with complex health or mental health needs.

Over the last decade, the city of Wichita has historically allocated roughly four to five million per year toward programs that serve the unhoused.

This includes emergency shelters, transitional housing, outreach services, and support to nonprofit partners, providing meals, case management, and health care.

I would like to understand how these funds are currently being spent and whether allocations have shifted over the past 10 years.

Specifically, I'm requesting an itemized breakdown of all funds allocated for homeless services, including the exact dollar amounts allocated to each program, organization, or service category, how CI city administered grants and partnerships are funded, and any changes and allocations compared to previous years.

This will help residents like myself understand how resources are being used and ensure that funding is addressing the most urgent needs of our own house community.

I appreciate the city's work to support vulnerable populations, and I respectfully request that the city provide this detailed itemized information either during this meeting or through a formal records request.

Transparency will help us all work towards solutions that actually make a difference in the lives of those without housing.

Thank you.

Thank you, Yadon.

I do have I have a follow-up to the city manager.

Can you just address some of the concerns brought up?

And in addition, I just want to make sure that we're using the same information.

The United Way does a point in time count, and this year's point in time count was actually 736 people identified as homeless.

And that is the number that the city works off of.

Is that correct?

Yes, it is, Mayor.

We represent we know that there are a number of uh unhoused individuals who are not counted at any one time.

Um population, those who are possibly um what it's termed as couch surfing or living temporarily with others.

Um in order to probably get a more accurate account, we probably need to work with a school district and who they identify as homeless and see if there's duplication, but what's independent as well.

Um we can get a breakdown of what uh we have traditionally put into homelessness services or services for unhoused residents.

But I will remind the council that we, in addition to what our speaker just referenced, council also uh put uh some discretionary federal dollars into the construction of second light.

So there's about $8 million that went into that facility, and then the council came back and put another five million dollars into the operation of that facility for the first two years.

So the council's investment in our homeless population is been significant and will continue to be so into the future.

So Second Light in particular has received $13 million so far.

Um, and then what the speaker is asking is an itemized version of all the different services that have been provided to individuals facing homelessness.

And I know on our sheet it says that he has filed a CORA request.

Um, so I just want to make sure that he does get that information and when that is available, it should actually be available on the website as well.

Uh there is a tab, which todd.gov slash homeless, I believe, um, has a lot of information from the homelessness task force.

So that information should also be available to the rest of the community.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

We'll do that.

And by the way, I forgot phase three of Second Light, which the council has also committed significant resources to.

There'll be 10 million dollars in public housing authority proceeds that would be put into non-congregate and supportive housing.

So, in total, 23 million dollars at the second light campus.

Thank you very much.

Madam Clerk, can you please call the next individual?

Holly Tarrell, bike lanes on Topeka and Market Streets.

Good morning, Mayor Woo and City Council members.

My name is Holly Terrell, and I am the executive director of Bikewalk Wichita, located at 325 North St.

Francis.

Recently, I submitted a letter requesting the reinstatement of bike lanes on Topeka and Market Streets.

Today I would like to share a personal story about why this matters in our city and for our individuals.

This year I began commuting to work by bicycle a couple of times a week, not only to improve my mental health, my physical health, and reduce environmental impact, but also to understand the daily realities that people who rely on biking as their primary mode of transportation face.

Earlier this summer, after a flat tire prevented me from driving, I biked three miles from work to home.

During that ride, a driver followed me for several blocks down Topeka, honking repeatedly, yelling profanities at me, and telling me to get off the road.

I started to feel a little nervous about making my left turn, afraid that the car was going to hit me.

That same evening, while riding north on market, I again encountered aggressive driving without a bike lane or space for protection.

A driver pulled up beside me, pushing me toward a parked car and rev their engine as they sped by.

These are not isolated experiences.

I have faced enough frightening encounters since the bike lanes have been removed that I ultimately stopped commuting downtown by bike.

For me, the risk no longer felt worth it.

But unlike me, many people in our community do not have that choice.

They depend on a bicycle to get to work, to get to school, and to get to essential services.

Dedicated bike lanes make a difference.

They reduce conflicts between drivers and people biking, create predictable traffic flows, and they give families, older adults, and new riders the confidence that they need to get where they're going safely.

They also encourage more people to choose active transportation, which reduces congestion, supports local business, and aligns with the city's goals of health, sustainability, and economic vitality.

This is why restoring the bike lanes onto Piket and Market isn't just about convenience or cost, it's about safety, dignity, and making sure that Wichita streets are welcome for everyone, whether they walk, bike, drive, or ride transit.

I invite you to consider the bigger picture.

Safer streets aren't just for cyclists, they're for everyone.

Well-designed bike lanes can calm traffic, reduce crashes, and make downtown a place where people feel comfortable to live, work, and play.

Thank you for your time and your commitment to building a safer, more connected Wichita.

Thank you, Holly.

Councilmember Hoheisel.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Holly, for coming up.

Um always great to hear such an advocate for the biking community.

Uh, you have a couple of fans in the audience too, I think today.

Um Gary, could you come up and just give like a brief um background on some of the challenges we'll have regarding bike lanes on Topeka and Market and what the future might hold as far as that goes, or Paul.

Sorry, caught you guys by surprise today.

Good morning.

Paul Gunsleman Public Works and Utilities.

Um as you know, we had um gone through the uh we were working on the update to the master bicycle plan and started in 2023.

I think when we wrapped it up in 2024, late 2024.

Um, and at that same time we were um also um looking at implementing more downtown parking as well.

So we were trying to balance some needs.

Um I had um while we were converting the streets that did two-way downtown.

I had uh met with the bike pet advisory board and and had presented to um the possibility of removing those from market in Topeka as we went through that um conversion, maybe on a temporary basis uh to kind of see how traffic once the conversion was completed to see how traffic balanced.

Um we were also during the plan 2024 plan, I believe Broadway Street is the north-south corridor that has been identified for the bicycle uh network, and our plan is to provide a more robust um on-street um uh lanes for that corridor.

Um I don't know that uh every street downtown needs north-south uh needs a bicycle lane, but we can continue to evaluate as the uh you know traffic patterns shift around due to the downtown conversion.

I think traffic speeds have also slowed um with that conversion with the the uh diagonal parking, so we will continue to monitor.

But um, right now, I think the bicycle plan, the new updated plan has uh um Broadway has the North South Corridor.

Um there was I think a plan a study completed by Nelson Nygard, I think before the the uh downtown conversion was completed, and they did have within that plan, I believe they showed on-street bike lanes on Market Street.

However, that looked good on paper, but if once you start measuring it, um I don't believe there's room for one lane each direction, parking on both sides, and an on street path.

So all of that we had to take into consideration as we did the conversions.

Is there room on there for maybe just one lane going one way and then on the other street, maybe the lane going the other way?

I don't know that there is, but we can sure look at that.

Okay, so it's ongoing process to see the best.

Okay, and in regards to the uh Broadway corridor, are we looking at protected bike lanes or open bike lanes?

We would look at protected bike lanes, and we have submitted a grant application for the safe streets for all.

Um we had submitted that, I believe, in June, so we hope to hear back on that later this year.

Okay, thank you, appreciate it.

Vice Mayor Johnston.

Thank you, Mayor Holly.

Thank you for speaking.

Very much appreciated.

As you know, I'm also a cyclist.

I've been buzzed and cussed out and everything too.

So uh there's just some unruly drivers out there that are not very nice.

So but most drivers are nice.

So I appreciate you speaking.

Another issue we might address is the sand in the bike lanes.

Because when you're in a bike lane and you and you and if you are going pretty fast, the sand can really cause you to go down.

So keeping the sand off the bike lanes is important too.

So thank you.

Madam Clerk, is there another individual?

No, ma'am.

We have two openings.

We have two openings for anyone who would like to address the council.

I see none.

I'll bring it back.

Madam Clerk, can you please call the next item?

Consent agenda items one through 15.

Council members, are there any items to be pulled?

I see none.

I move to approve the consent agenda.

Items one through 15.

Second.

Motion and a second.

Any further discussion?

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 7-0.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Petitions for public improvements.

Good morning again, Paul Gunzelman, Public Works and Utilities for the record.

This morning I have a few petitions for your consideration.

The signatures on the petitions represent 100% of the improvement districts, and the petitions are valid per Kansas statute.

Tall green tall grass, tall grass east commercial, second edition, located in district two.

The project will provide water and sewer improvements required for a new commercial development.

And Reber, second and third editions, also located in District 2 on January 7th, 2025, and March 20th, 2025.

The City Council approved sewer improvements required for a new residential development.

The developer has submitted a revised petition with an increased budget for reverse second edition phase one to reflect current market conditions and to cover the cost of a private bid.

The developer has also removed the acquisition fees from all sewer petitions.

The budgets were reverse third edition phase one and two remain as previously approved.

Questions for staff.

I see none.

I move to approve the petitions for public improvement.

Second.

Motion and a second.

Any further discussion?

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Public hearing and request for amended amended of letter of intent for industrial revenue bonds, market center apartments.

Honorable Mayor, members of council, Troy Anderson, Assistant City Manager.

This request uh involves an amendment to a previously approved resolution of intent.

Uh more specifically, back on October 15th, 2024.

Uh City Council approved uh the use of industrial revenue bonds uh for the purpose of purchasing, renovating, and operating the former market center office building uh into 114 affordable housing units.

Uh Wichita opco LLC was awarded 4% low-income housing tax credits.

Uh and since then they have um worked towards uh organizing capital investors.

And so the purpose of this request is to update the entity name from opco LLC to market center apartments LP.

This is pretty common once Litech credits are awarded and obtained and investors are again organized to sort of assign and assume those credits.

Subsequently, with an increase in project costs, they're requesting an increase to the amount of the RB from 30 million to 35 million.

Again, the increase necessitates the request to increase the IRB letter of intent to meet the tax credit bond rules.

Approval of the request will ensure compliance under the tax credit rules for projects financed with tax exempt bonds, which is required under the low-income housing tax credit rules.

The project will qualify for sales tax exemption only on bond finance purchases.

Revenue bonds are a mechanism for achieving a sales tax exemption and/or property tax abatement and a revenue bond transaction.

The city's not lending any money, bears no risk.

Owner developers required to achieve all of its own financing.

No taxpayer dollars are at risk, and all costs are borne by the company requesting the use of the bonds.

Financial considerations, market center agrees to pay all costs of issuing the bonds and agrees to pay the city's annual uh origination fee, and then an entity associated with the applicant will subsequently purchase the bonds.

It's recommended that the city council hold a public hearing, close the public hearing, and then adopt the resolution amending the name and the amount and authorize the necessary signatures.

With that being said, we do have a representative from the uh uh applicant who's available with us online, and otherwise I'll stand for questions.

Questions for staff.

I just have one.

I wanted to know if this is getting a sales tax exemption and a property tax abatement or just sales tax exemption.

Just the sales tax exemption.

And then my question is for the applicant uh who is online.

I wanted to know the rents, uh, average rents or approximate rents for these units.

We may be experiencing technical difficulties.

I I can speak to um at least those rent controlled units.

There's a formula that's put out by HUD based on uh the size of the family and the and the income of the family and what percentage of the area median income that household generates or what the what the rent limitations are.

And so we'll be more than happy to get that information and share that with you, but just to try and answer your question.

I would appreciate uh just understanding what the rents are.

I know previously we talked about um private development that is providing workforce housing, and those rents are going at a certain rate.

So I just wanted to know what these would be since they're getting government funding.

Yeah, we'll make sure and share that information.

Thank you.

I see no further questions.

We will now open it up for public comment.

I see none.

I'll bring it back to the bench.

This resides in council member ballards district.

Thank you, Mayor.

I'd like to take the recommended action.

Close the public hearing, adopt a resolution of attend, authorizing necessary signatures.

Second.

Motion and a second, any further discussion?

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 7-0.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Park and recreation budget adjustment.

Good morning, Mayor and Council.

I want to give you a little bit of background on this uh budget uh adjustment request.

In 2025, the rule bio budget was approved by the city council on August 26, uh, 2025.

Each year the budget is established based on anticipated activity.

However, frequent rain events throughout the summer caused both unexpected flood damage and reduced water expenditures in the full scope of which was not known during the budget development process.

Little analysis on this several programs sustained significant uh flood damage over the summer uh for Breek Neighborhood Park, which is in District 3, East Cessner Park and Distance 3.

Assessing the park in distance three, uh Sleepy Hollow Park and District 1, West Meadow Park and District 5.

Uh Engineer Wood Fibers surfacing at these sites uh where washed away underlying foam base was compromised.

Uh to meet safety requirements, we have to go in and complete these changes to make sure that it's safe for uh staff to uh make sure it's operable for the community to actually use.

While the storm caused uh significant damage, they also reduce irrigation needs across the uh park system as a result to park maintenance budget that's projected to realize savings of 200,000 dollars during fiscal year 2025.

Uh parking recreation staff is transferring uh is requesting uh recommend transfer and 150,000 these savings to expedite repairs and safe reopening of the playgrounds.

The financial and uh legal considerations.

Uh the staff recommend a budget adjustment of 150,000 within the parking rack operating budget, which is in the general fund, uh initiating the cash funded project to facilitate facilitate the repair of the flood damage playgrounds and transferring 150,000 to this project budget based on AR 2.5 budget adjustments greater than $50,000 required approval of the city council.

Uh the recommended action is that uh the city council approve the budget adjustments, authorized the project budget transfers, and authorize staff to take appropriate action to implement the city council action.

And I'll stand for any questions.

Thank you, Reggie.

Questions for staff, beginning with Councilmember Glascott.

Thank you.

Mayor Reggie, I noticed that there's 50,000 that's not being allocated.

So have we found another allocation for those savings, or are we just keeping that in the budget for future use?

Uh we're keeping it in the budget for that.

What we did was we do the projections through the end of the year to see what those savings are, and that's where we anticipated was the 200,000 dollars.

So we're requesting 150 will be over for that project.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um just walking around, especially along around our park system.

Another thing that was also affected by the storms, I think everybody knows would be tree canopy and just not a tree.

So if there is the opportunity to allocate the additional 50,000 toward that, um, that'd be something that I would be interested in, but I trust your expertise in that role.

So thank you.

Councilmember Hoheisel.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, thank you, Reggie, for all your work on this and everything else.

Um, a number of these parks are in my district.

Do we have any date as to when uh they may open back up?

Sure.

So uh as soon as we get the authorization from council to move forward, we're gonna reach out to the contractors to get the project uh started as soon as possible.

So we're anticipating initial initiating those within the next couple weeks, and we're probably about a month out before we can have those things uh completed, uh, contingent upon the weather.

Okay, thank you.

I see no further questions for staff.

Thank you, Reggie.

We'll open it up for public comment.

I see none.

I'll bring it back to the bench.

Uh this affects council members Johnson, Johnston, and Hohisel.

All right, I will move that city council approve the budget adjustment, authorize the project budget and transfer, and authorize staff to take appropriate actions to implement the city council action.

Second.

Motion and a second.

Any further discussion?

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes, 7-0.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Kansas Department of Health and Environment Planning Grant Agreement.

Good morning, Mayor and Council members Gary Jansen, Public Works and Utilities.

Uh, the item before you this morning is a request for a KDHE planning grant to um support our continue to sustainability planning efforts in collaboration with the sustainability integration board.

Um, I actually have uh Dr.

Russell Fox here with me this morning.

He's the vice chair of the sustainability integration board, and I'm gonna let him speak here in a couple of slides.

So give you some background uh on this grant and our goals for uh how best to utilize the resources from this grant if the council chooses to approve this today.

Uh the emissions reduction and mitigation program or ERAMP is a KDHT grant that funds planning efforts to reduce air pollution.

Uh while that is a primary focus of our efforts moving forward, uh our discussions with KDH that has evolved uh to allow us to uh look at even more efforts related to sustainability and particular to our community resilience plan, which I'll talk about more in just a moment, uh, so we can be able to expand these resources to utilize that to move the plan forward.

KDHE was originally uh was awarded federal funding in 2023 and created the Kansas Priority Action Plan.

We had several projects included in that plan at the time, including solar panels, EV chargers, some improvements to the Red Bud Trail, tree planning and building energy efficiency upgrades at the time.

No funding was awarded to Wichita, but there's there is still funding available with the pro within the program.

One million dollars was designated for sub-awards to up to five Kansas cities, including Wichita.

So we have been told that 200,000 or more is available to which staff we choose to move forward with acceptance of the grant.

So talking about uh the sustainability integration board and and a guiding document that began in the fall of 2023.

There's a public draft released in in the fall of 2024.

This is really where we want to focus these resources to continue developing that plan at the time.

Uh, and that was brought before all six district advisory boards.

I'll talk about that timeline more in just a moment.

It was known as the Climate Action Plan.

Uh, we have made some changes to that draft plan since then, based on feedback we received, including from a survey, uh, which I'll show you some results from the survey soon, and how this effort and this grant could help us again evaluate the true needs of the community and the desires moving forward.

Community feedback resulted in a new draft, what we now call the community resilience plan in March of 2025.

Based on initial feedback, staff would utilize this grant to further develop the plan as follows.

We heard a lot about the need for cost-benefit analysis of future efforts, future sustainability efforts, so that we can have discussions with the council and the public on the best way to invest future funds.

Greater public data sharing is desired uh as we move forward, and there is not a timeline on this at this point, but as we continue to move this effort forward, we want to continue to gain uh public input.

I would suspect we'll have continued um discussions with district advisory boards if and when we move forward, and focus on addressing local challenges, including drought, heat, and loss of tree canopy, amongst other items.

The sustainability integration board voted to support acceptance of this grant award by the city council.

The community resiliency plan as it moves forward will highlight past sustainability efforts and provide a vision for the future based on public input.

This is similar to planning efforts by other advisory boards, and this grant will provide planning resources for enhancing energy efficiency, reducing pollution, and improving air quality, amongst other things.

Ultimately, we would hope for this plan to provide a set of measurable recommended goals related to environmental sustainability and resilience.

At this time, I'm gonna invite Dr.

Russell Fox, Vice Chair of the Sustainability Integration Board to come forward.

He's gonna talk about the SIB, specifically this uh effort, this overall plan, and what this grant could do to help in that regard.

Thanks, Garrett.

Hello, council.

It's a pleasure to be able to speak briefly with you today.

My name is Russell Arby Fox.

Uh I am uh the vice chair of the Sustainability Integration Board.

Uh I uh live at 605 Northwestlink on the west side of Wichita.

Uh, lived here since 2006 when I got a job at Friends University, and I have uh been pleased to have been able to invite uh a few of you uh to come out to Friends and speak to students of mine in the past, and I deeply appreciate that.

Um in 2011, I started a class at Friends University called Simplicity and Sustainability.

And uh this has been a longtime passion of mine.

Um being an academic, I I hope you will forgive me if I slip uh just very very briefly uh into discussion mode.

Um I talk about sustainability with my students.

Uh a lot of my students uh are musicians, uh they're there on music scholarships, they're part of uh the concert choir or singing Quakers, and so sometimes I will talk about how in certain compositions it is important to sustain a note.

Sustainability is not a action that is taken.

It's not a task that is accomplished.

It is a mode.

It is a mode by which we think about how we interact with our overall goals, how we interact with our overall environments, conservation, innovation, development, movement, those are all modes.

Sustainability is such a mode.

And resiliency is such a mode in our environments, both natural and built.

We look at changing variables, we look at data that's around us.

We think in terms of what are our goals, what are uh the elements of our lives we want to be able to preserve what are the things about our natural and built environments that really benefit people's lives, and what are ways in which we can interact with it so as to be able to sustain certain things, so as to be able to make them more resilient.

It's that sort of concern, which is not necessarily an ideological concern, but is really a concern that is grounded in an appreciation of how we think about our lives together that motivated me to begin this class, uh, to start introducing these ideas to my students.

Uh, I want to particularly express my appreciation uh to councilwoman Becky Tuttle, who's come out to friends on a couple of occasions and talked about food deserts and talked about uh e-bikes and and and talked about other things that pertain to this broad constellation of concepts.

And it is a broad constellation.

There is a reason why the sustainability integration board is called an integration board.

There's a reason why we have somebody like me on the board because I'm on the board because the Wichita Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board wants me to be there as a spokesperson for that board.

There's a reason why we've got people from the Mayor's Youth Council, from the Stormwater Advisory Board, from the Transit Advisory Board, from the Parks Commission board.

We have all of these different representatives on the board because if we're going to talk about sustainability, we have to talk about ways in which we can see this mode of life, these choices that would be involved in promoting this mode of life, impacting all sorts of different elements of our lives together as witch taunts.

It has been wonderful to serve on the board.

It has been wonderful to be part of using our resources to be able to direct small targeted projects in the same way that the city in the past has approved small targeted projects like rebates to people who you know want to get rid of uh their gas-powered uh lawn mowers and get electric-powered lawnmowers who want to get rid of inefficient washing machines and get more water conserving washing machines.

That is an excellent bit of targeted work.

And we've tried to do the same sort of thing, being able to use some of the resources that the city has given the SIB to approve the purchase of air quality monitors, uh, to set up microgrants that neighborhood groups, churches, uh other uh organizations could uh appeal to the board for in order to afford rain barrels or any number of small scale things.

But this grant obviously is not small scale.

This grant is the sort of thing that would enable the SIB to do as it was originally uh designed to do.

And here I'm I'm quoting from uh the original ordinance for the creation of the board, um, to collaborate with residents, schools, businesses, and others to advance environmental goals, which include economic opportunities and energy use practices that optimize financial health and environmental benefits, climate resiliency planning, waste and material management practices, community outreach initiatives, affordability and resiliency in all services vital to our quality of life.

That last one is really key.

Because again, if you want to be able to sustain something, you can't just tell a student, okay, hold that note like forever.

No, there's there's training, there's vocal exercises, there's work that goes into developing that.

We want to be able to help the city to be able to have a clear understanding through cost benefits analyses and through meetings with stakeholders.

We want them to be able to understand the real work, the real choices, the real options that are in front of us as we try to think really more broadly about resiliency and sustainability within the city.

And that is why the Sustainability Board has uh strongly advocated that we pursue this grant and uh that I hope that the city council will decide accordingly today.

I'll hand it back to you to get into the details of the grant.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dr.

Fox.

Uh, very well said.

I want to talk about the development timeline for the community resilience plan.

Um, it's not our focus today, but again, this grant does a lot to help us further develop that plan because that's really a guiding principle for the sustainability integration board and helps us move forward in all of our efforts.

Some of the things we've talked about today with bike and pedestrian.

Uh, I'm going to show you the results of the survey, the community survey.

It talks a lot about drought, especially when it was taken.

Uh, all of those efforts.

What this uh grant would help us do, probably through the use of a consultant.

Also, maybe we can allocate funds for some smaller projects like Dr.

Fox talked about, but it's really going to help us decide where best to invest our resources in the future if we choose to do so.

So, back in uh late 2023, staff and the sustainability integration board worked with WSU's Community Engagement Institute to help the SIB develop a draft resiliency plan.

Uh, this included a retreat for the SIB to set priorities.

Uh, you do have a copy of the draft plan with your packets today.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on any of that.

Uh, but if you want to take a look at that and have questions in the future, we'd certainly be happy to address them.

In March, in the spring of 2024, two more planned development sessions were held by the CIV, facilitated by Wichita State.

In the fall of 2024, the first draft was released to the public, along with the opening of a public survey, which I'll talk about in just a moment.

And late last year, city staff presented the draft plan to all the district advisory boards, and the public survey closed at the end of the year in the spring of 2025, based on initial public feedback.

A new draft of the resiliency plan was released for for per further public engagement, which is the plan that you see today.

So I'm gonna run through this fairly quick.

Uh happy to come back to any of it, but want to look at the survey results again.

Keep in mind this is the fall of 2024 because you'll see a lot of focus on drought.

Questions were designed uh to obtain community input on the draft plan and better informed staff and the sustainability integration board on community opinion.

Uh survey respondents totaled 329, which is I think is similar to uh the number of respondents we've seen on other surveys throughout the community with further in-person engagement at each stab and its sustainability integration board meetings.

Responses mentioned water and air quality, public transportation or walkability, solar or wind wind energy, and benefits or concerns related to cost.

Responses were not all in favor.

Some expressed concerns about uh making sure where our efforts were going and were not going, which I'll talk about more also here in a moment.

Uh, we heard about clean energy, recycling, conservation, and energy efficiency, reducing the emissions of harmful gases.

Uh, there was concerns about making sure that we were not increasing regulations, adding costs, especially in light of rising taxes, which we are very cognizant to.

There's a lot of different viewpoints, research, and opinions on the matter that we are trying to keep to the forefront too.

That's part of the reason for the request for this grant to make sure that we can take in all of those viewpoints and opinions and create um a working plan going forward.

So, hitting on some of the survey results, uh, first thing we looked at was present-day environmental concerns.

Uh those doing the survey were asked to select their top three droughts.

You can see was overwhelmingly a concern.

This was done in the fall of 2024.

Uh, climate change, heat, outdoor air quality, increased energy burden, access to parks or green space, water quality, and others were some of the uh topics that came to the forefront.

So then looking at uh the question about future climate risks and impacts, drought was still a concern, heat, uh less predictable weather.

The two in the middle that you see were about the same, I think kind of go together, loss of tree canopy and canopy and the urban heat island effect.

We certainly would like to focus uh in that area going forward, looking at the most effective tree planting plan and how we can help um respond to the urban heat island effect.

Air quality again is the focus of this throughout.

So many of the things that we look at will relate to air quality.

We uh had uh folks say that they were concerned about more frequent heavy rainfall and flooding.

Uh as you know, we were talking about drought and flooding at the same time in the recent months, and then there were other considerations too.

So Wichita State um helped us compile the information from the survey.

Uh one of the questions is what sustainability topics and services would you like the city of Wichita to provide information about?

The most common responses were water conservation.

We have a lot moving forward with water conservation as you know, but even this effort will help us fully understand what's the most effective approach going forward again, where we can best invest our resources.

Transit, uh public transportation was talked about a lot, rebates as related, especially to water conservation and air quality.

The last question I wanted to hit on was what actions or projects do you think the city of Wichita would pursue to increase resilience and sustainability?

They pulled out some of the key words here again.

Tree planning, tree canopy was uh mentioned often, water and transportation, public transportation, sustainability, um, uh a lot of the same things that you've seen uh throughout the course of our discussion.

So ultimately, this community resiliency plan.

We talked about being a guiding document for the sustainability integration board, and based on our past discussions and and what we've heard from the community.

I wanted to just hit on real quick about what this plan is and what it isn't, because our ability to utilize this grant uh for additional resources will help us move forward in this regard.

So the community resilience plan is a guiding document for the sustainability integration board.

We've talked about numerous times.

It is a source of information on current and past city projects related to sustainability and resilience, all the things that we've talked about.

Dr.

Fox mentioned a lot of those too.

It's a continuation of previous planning efforts related to building energy transportation parks, water, and more, helping us bring that all together as one guiding document.

Uh, you heard Reggie talk about it earlier.

We've got multiple departments working on sustainability efforts.

This plan ultimately would help us be on the same page moving forward and to make uh proper recommendations to the public to the city council with public engagement.

What this is not, uh, this effort moving forward is developing additional regulations or laws.

It is not putting restrictions on choices related to vehicles, homes, or other personal property, and it is not a commitment to fund new projects outside of what is in the current city budget or CIP and also without city council approval.

So, point being nothing we're moving forward with commits any uh the council or any of us to additional funding, but will help guide us if and when the funding is available and where we want to make those investments.

Key changes from the first draft.

This is the last thing I'm gonna hit on with the plan in particular is we've highlighted some updates.

We talked before about the original focus being on air quality, so that section was added, had not been an original plan because we do want to keep uh a close eye on air quality efforts throughout the community.

There's greater emphasis on showing how this effort connects to past city plans and projects, which I already talked about.

Uh a few uh real specific items that we looked at was the there was some concern about community-wide mitigation goal.

We removed that.

Uh that was at one time in this plan because that's really hard to measure.

There's so many uh uh forces at play there, uh, and it's hard to tell if you're really meeting those goals.

We did retain the community tree canopy goal as a as a certainly is a focus.

Heard from a lot of you over time, we've heard from the community about the value of tree planning.

We want to make sure we're being as effective and efficient as possible going forward on that.

And we do want to keep in the government operations goal because we do want to lead the way.

Uh we have large organization, large operation, just like we've talked about with our water conservation efforts.

We also want to continue to look at energy savings, everything that we can do from an organizational perspective in this regards.

So, our future planning activities, this grant will support staff in identifying and evaluating community priorities related to sustainability initiatives.

So kind of wrap this together just to summarize again.

The activities related to this grant will include cost-benefit analysis analysis of proposed projects and policies if we get to that point of specific projects, but it'll help us be in alignment with each other, uh, working across departments.

Stakeholder engagement meetings, we would expect to continue and looking specifically at software that includes a public dashboard dashboard for community input and review.

That is very critical moving forward that we continue to get public input on this plan.

The final CRP will be brought to the city council for approval if and when we get to that point, but there would be public engagement throughout.

There would be discussions with the council.

Again, I would expect this to come back in front of these discussions to continue to be in front of the district advisory boards.

Total funding award for this grant is expected to be 200,000 over two years.

There is no match requirement for this sub-reward, so there is no uh matching funds required from the city of Wichita.

And what that means is as we move forward, uh we expect to look at consultant resources to help us with this.

There may be some small projects that we could award funds through the SIB for.

Thank you, Gary, and thank you, Dr.

Fox.

Councilmember Hoheisal.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Dr.

Fox.

Um I agree with you 100%.

It's more state of mind that we have to be in regarding um reuse and just smart investments moving forward.

Uh Gary, a couple quick questions.

Um, one, is this the same pot of money that we applied for two years ago, or is this a new grant?

This is effectively money that's still available from that original pot.

There was some allocation of funds, but there was still money available, so it was a sub-allocation to the state.

And I think their desire was to start with some of the larger communities.

I think Lawrence may have applied for this funding and possibly Topeka.

But they have reserved this funding and said it is available for Witch Taw if we so desire.

So did we have a proposal that we sent out that was rejected or not?

We did, uh, and I'm sorry, I may have hit on that too fast.

Uh we had we had had a proposal that we would review with the council prior to going forward.

We looked at uh um some solar opportunities, some electric vehicle charging opportunities, improvements to the red bud path uh and a few other efforts.

Um it was very competitive, it was nationwide.

There were many, many applications across the country, and we were unsuccessful with that.

So were we applying directly to the federal government then, or was that the state?

It was effectively through the state, but for federal funds.

Is that the same process as this time around?

This one is not.

This is directly with the state.

Okay, uh, yeah, last question.

Um kind of what all is eligible in particular, we do have the um the upgo the ongoing improvements of the sewage treatment plant.

And one of the things that we are looking at is trapping the gas that we're flaring off currently and putting that back into the pipeline and uh reusing that, you know, making the sewage treatment plan actually a um a source of income for the city.

Is any of that, the planning of that eligible for this grant as well?

It could be.

Um we've identified uh funding source for that uh for what it's worth so far.

But I think one of the things that this plan can do, and one of our goals with this effort is to look at the return on investment for what you're talking about compared to other initiatives.

We'd like to kind of be able to look at where the priorities should be uh and make sure across all these things that we've talked about today, and that Dr.

Fox talked about, and again, we talked about bike bed earlier.

Uh, what we'd like to do is kind of be able to wrap our own arms around all of that collectively and decide where our investments best fit, if that makes sense.

So I don't know that right now that this funding will go directly to one area.

We don't want to commit too much there.

I think what we'd like to do is really have a better understanding of holistically where can we best invest for sustainability?

I can appreciate that.

We've got a lot of good momentum going, water reuse, again, the upgrades, uh, the tree canopy.

So I appreciate the board's uh work so far and uh the department's work as well with setting us up for the future.

Thank you.

Councilmember Johnson.

Thanks, Mayor.

Thanks, Gary.

Thanks, Dr.

Fox.

Um, I too am supportive of the SIB and the work that has been going on and will be supportive of this, but I just wanted to say, Dr.

Fox, I'm a little disappointed.

You represent the Friends University, the fighting Falcons, the 2024 KCAC champs with a dominant win this last Saturday over Bethany, and there was no football reference.

How much time are you going to give me to talk?

No football reference.

How kind of interest football without talking about wrestling without talking about over practice?

Football is the most important.

Thank you, Dr.

Fox.

A couple of questions for you, um, Gary.

Number one, the 200,000, will this be for any staff, or is this simply for carrying on the plan so that there's more public engagement and more uh goals that we can achieve?

Our hope is to utilize this probably first and foremost for consultant resources.

I think we could use an outside resource and probably someone with some more expertise and and time availability.

We obviously we'll have staff leading this effort in collaboration with the SIB.

Uh, but uh, there's some outside resources that are available that could help us develop uh the community engagement tools that we need.

You know, we talked about a dashboard that would allow the public to stay involved throughout.

I think that's where most of our resources will go to.

Uh Dr.

Fox mentioned something that we may look at if there's depending on where that ends up.

There could be some small uh funding amounts available for projects through the SIB.

I think they've done a good job so far of allocating some small resources that were tied to other outside opportunities that we could really capitalize on available funding.

So I think it's not for our staff time, it'd be more for outside resources and looking for other grant opportunities.

I would uh challenge the staff to try to see how consultant fees could be below us amount so that money could actually be used for actual projects and the dashboard, which I think it goes back to transparency with community.

They want to see what is being done with grant dollars.

So I really would appreciate the dashboard itself.

Um, and then you mentioned multiple times water, so I'm going to give you the opportunity to share with the community the meetings that are coming forward in the next week regarding the water plan.

Sure.

So uh we have tomorrow morning we actually have a meeting with our wholesale customers.

Uh I think Mayor and City Council members, I you all were extended that invite if you want to join us.

Um that meeting is to discuss details of our plan moving forward.

Our new um watering schedule is what we like to talk about for long-term conservation efforts.

So, you know, we've been in touch with our wholesale customers, 11 wholesale customers throughout, about leading up to our new plan being in place on September 15th.

Tomorrow will be the opportunity to discuss details.

I'll make a presentation to everybody, and we can answer questions about that, uh, specific requirements of the wholesale customers, not unlike what was done through our drought response plan efforts.

Next Monday night, um, I think 6 o'clock, if I remember right.

Uh, we'll have a town hall meeting here so that we can uh also have the same discussion with the public about what these new watering schedule looks like, what our long-term conservation efforts look like, they will allow watering three days a week, what some of the specifics are, the variances that will be allowed so that we can try to get back to normal and where we're at on our drought response plan uh moving forward.

Thank you, Gary.

I see no further questions for staff.

I will now open it up for public comment.

Madam Mayor, members of the City Council, Manager Leighton.

What a pleasure and privilege it is to speak to you this morning.

My name is Harold Schlechtweg.

I live at 351 North Fern Street, 67203 here in Wichita.

I chair the board of directors of ICT Trees.

ICT Trees is a 501 C3 nonprofit corporation.

Our purpose is to educate the public and policymakers of the value and benefits of the urban forest, plant trees, and assist residential and other property owners to plant and maintain trees.

I'm here today to express our organization's support for the proposed grant agreement between the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the City of Wichita.

The grant will assist the city in further development of its community resilience plan.

There is no requirement for matching funds from the City of Wichita, the grant funds planning activities without the need for additional funding from the city.

But I want to spend the rest of my time addressing the role of trees and why they're an important part of resiliency.

Energy costs are increasing at a rapid pace as our climate grows warmer, which draws is experiencing increased average annual temperatures, increased average summer temperatures, increasing numbers of extreme heat events in both frequency and intensity, increasing summer nighttime temperatures, which inhibit cooling down from high daytime temperatures, and a length thinning of the freeze-free system.

We have been blessed this year with a milder and wetter summer, but this is an outrighter, not a pattern setter.

The pattern in place of trending hotter is there in the data since at least the early 1970s.

As temperature increases, so do utility bills, but trees are an important part of the solution for lowering energy bills and reducing the demand for energy.

This is why much of the funding for our free tree distribution events has come from EVI.

Targeted tree planting combats trending hotter in several ways.

The most obvious way is that trees provide shade.

Shade reduces the surface temperatures by preventing direct sunlight from reaching absorbing and emitting surfaces like roads, sidewalks, and buildings.

These surfaces, when exposed to the direct light of the sun, heat up to extremely high temperatures and then radiate heat back into the air.

Researchers have found trees dramatically lower surface temperatures of streets and sidewalks by as much as 20 to 45 degrees as the surface.

Less obviously, trees are a source of natural air conditioning called evapotranspiration.

Evapotranspiration is an example of the sweating effect.

If you work or place or play outside, you sweat.

As the sweat dries, the moisture is absorbed in the air and creates a cooling effect on your skin.

Trees do something similar.

Evapotranspiration is the process by which trees absorb water through their roots and then release it as water vapor through tiny pores in their leaves.

As water changes from liquid to a gas, it absorbs heat energy from the surrounding air, creating a cooling effect.

In neighborhoods with a dense tree canopy, this can lower the temperature by 8 to 12 degrees.

When planted in the right places, trees significantly lower the cost of heating and cooling buildings and homes.

In this trees deliver a double whammy, lower utility bills for consumers, and less need for energy from power plants.

In addition to the role in cooling, trees improve urban air quality by filtering out pollutants.

Trees filter carbon from the air, release it as oxygen.

In conclusion, trees are an important part of any strategy addressing energy efficiency, pollution, and air quality.

Thank you, Harold.

We'll continue with public comment.

I see none.

I'll bring it back to the bench.

Thank you, Earl, for speaking, and thank you again to Dr.

Fox and the Sustainability Integration Board.

I know that there are a couple of vacancies right now on that board, so I'm just going to make mention that anyone in the community is free to submit their applications on any of the boards that are available by the city and one of the council members can appoint you.

With that, I just want to say thank you again to the board to Gary and his team and making the changes.

And again, 200,000 with no match requirement by the City of Wichita.

With that, I will move to approve the grant agreement, authorize staff to reallocate funds between projects as necessary and authorized necessary signatures.

Second.

Motion and a second, any further discussion.

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 7-0.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Funding for 2026 water and sewer main improvements.

Paul Gunsleman Public Works and Utilities for the record.

The item before you is funding for 2026 water and sewer main improvements.

The adopted 2026 through 2035 capital improvement program includes annual funding for the following water and sewer infrastructure improvements.

Arterial water mains, water distribution mains replacement, water dead end mains elimination, and water mains for future development.

The arterial water mains program will allow for main replacement or relocation necessary to construct arterial street projects, which will provide more reliable service to customers.

Specific locations and scope of work will be developed as designed advances for arterial street improvements.

And some locations on the list are 37th Street North from Hydraulic to Hillside, 2nd Street from Maine to St.

Francis, and the 29th and Broadway intersection.

The water distribution mains replacement program decreases the number of unexpected water main breaks, brings underside undersized mains to current standards, and improves fire protection.

This program replaces water lines that have failed or have been determined to be in critical condition after multiple breaks and are beyond the means of city crews to repair.

And the water mains for future development projects will primarily serve new development with water infrastructure as needed when the city grows.

Proposed projects are requested by developers and evaluated by staff to make sure the proposed improvements are in the best interest of the utility and the city of Wichita.

This count will be run on a first come, first served basis.

And proposed locations for 2026 are 140 First Street and Kellogg, Ridge and Hoover, North 45th Street North, and Meridian South 55th Street South.

The map before you shows some of the locations I had highlighted on previous slides.

And the red is the uh water mains for future development, and the pink area.

It's hard to tell here.

The pink are some of the uh locations for CIP projects.

The adopted 2026 through 2035 capital improvement program for 2026 includes water main water arterial water mains at $3 million, water distribution mains replacement $6,650,000, water dead end mains elimination for $560,000, and water mains for future development $2.7 million.

The collection of main acquisition fees and the amount of 0.032 cents per square foot will reimburse the utility 50% of the main cost as smaller mains are extended.

Sewer collection mains replacement at $6.2 million.

In total, staff recommends initiating the funding for each at this time for the total of $19.1 million, and the projects will be funded from future revenue bonds or sewer utility and water utility cash reserves.

If revenue bonds are issued, an additional 8% will be added for financing and administrative costs.

With that, it is recommended that the city council approve the projects, adopt the resolutions and notices of intent, and authorize the necessary signatures.

Stand for questions.

Thank you, Paul.

Questions for staff, beginning with Vice Mayor John Stunning.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just want to compliment uh compliment public works.

You had a water main break on West Douglas, and uh there's a barbershop there, Brownie's barber shop, and Ronnie Brown's right there, and he watched the whole thing for a couple days, and he said they all seven or eight guys were there, they all were working all the time, and they got it done quick, got it done fast, and they were very efficient.

So he was really impressed with uh uh city the staff uh of uh public works.

So just want to pass that along and uh compliment you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I see no further questions from the bench.

We'll open it up for public comment.

I see no one from the public.

Bring it back to the bench.

I move that the city council approve the projects, adopt the resolutions, and authorize the necessary signatures.

Second.

Motion and a second, any further discussion.

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 7-0.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Home program 2024 housing development loan program, Minnonite Housing Rehabilitation Services Incorporated funding allocation.

Good morning, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Carmen Hoffein, and I'm the real property section manager for the Department of Housing and Community Services.

And I'm presenting the Housing Development Loan Program, which is within our home program, single family home development presentation today.

For a little bit of background, home investment partnership program funds are federal grant with local allocations set by council.

Home is used to create affordable housing for low to moderate income households.

Current city uses for homes, housing development loan program, which I'll refer to as HDLP, some gap financing toward rental development and down payment assistance via our home AD program.

Community housing development organizations, also I'll refer to as a CHODO, must receive at least 15% of funding that's set aside annually.

On May 2nd, 2023, the City Council approved the 2023-2024 annual action plan allocations for entitlement funds.

Allocations included $923,106 in home investment partnership program, home funding for the HDLP.

The HDLP is designed to provide subsidies for affordable housing projects.

This supports development of real estate that is idle or underutilized, provides needed housing for underserved populations.

Funding is available for nonprofit or for-profit organizations.

The loan structure is dependent upon the type of project to be financed.

Funding must be used within approved city areas, such as redevelopment incentives area, neighborhood revitalization area, and local investment areas.

Funding requests are accepted through an open application process.

For analysis, home funds have been essential for the continued development of affordable housing in Wichita, lower predominant values in existing neighborhoods, make it difficult to fully recover costs of acquisition and construction from the sales price.

Home funds help to offset acquisition, development, site improvement expenses, sales expenses, and developer fees.

Current program requirements for single family home ownership include homes constructed with home funding provided through HDLP, must be sold to income eligible owner-occupant home buyers.

Home buyers also receive home funded down payment assistant loans, which is through our home AD program.

Requested 270,000 for construction of three single family homes.

Proposed addresses are 3501, 3505, and 3510 North Sedgwick Street.

Mennonite Housing is a CHODO, and this allocation fulfills the city's required 15% CHOTO set aside.

The proposed project is consistent with the city's comprehensive housing policy, affordability, availability, and neighborhood stability.

This project aligns with the department goal to increase the supply of affordable housing to residents earning 80% or less of AMI.

In 2025, 80% of AMI for a family of four is $75,050.

So next I do have representatives from Mennonite, so I'm going to ask them to present the next 10 slides.

So I will introduce you to Angie Mendoza.

Hello, my name is Angie Mendoza.

I am the CEO for Mennonite Housing.

Minnonite Housing, this is our staff.

Corey Bannister is our director of construction.

He's been with Minnonite Housing for a really long time.

He is a general contractor and oversees this program.

We also have a program administrator that is new that is working, will be working with the city in conjunction with this program as we bill.

Minnonite Housing began in 1975 as a volunteer effort to repair homes of elderly individuals.

The City of Wichita was gracious enough to provide funding for a van and tools.

In 2012, we became a member of Neighbor Works America.

NeighborWorks funds us.

They also do an annual organizational evaluation and basically make us a stronger organization by requirements that we have to achieve.

We are guided by a community-based board of directors.

We rehabilitate homes and improved neighborhoods.

We make home home ownership a reality to those with low to moderate incomes.

We develop and build more affordable housing options for citizens within the communicate community, and we demonstrate God's love for all people.

Our property development is primarily funded by LITEC applications.

Currently, we manage over 1,300 units that are LITECH and HUD 202 and 811 properties.

2010, sorry.

It had 10 parcels that were not built on during part of that development.

It is a low-income housing tax credit property that has just been able to convert to home ownership.

Those residents are now able to purchase their homes.

This is already built on two different homes in the neighborhood already, so this will fit with the design of the neighborhood.

It will help finish that out so there are no more vacant lots there.

This is 1,311 square feet.

It's three bedrooms, two bath, uh slab on grade, there's no basement.

It does have a two-car attached garage, and we do everything is energy star efficient.

The sales price of this home is 131,000.

How we can do that is really based on the subsidy.

The total cost of the home, you can see is 220,000 to build.

The subsidy allows us to sell this house for 131,000 so that the buyer can actually afford the mortgage payment.

Currently, we have 1,200 individuals that are on our waiting list.

We do marketing as needed, which is currently paused.

We do try to reach individuals in minority communities by reaching out to things that would be specific to those neighborhoods or those applicants.

The applicants submit primary application online.

We do anticipate homeowners in the 60% AMI ranges for the three houses that we have in this proposal.

Thank you, Angie.

To continue the analysis, staff and the developer presented the proposal to the Affordable Housing Review Board on July 28th of 2025.

The Affordable Housing Review Board voted two to one to recommend the proposal to council.

Financial considerations.

There is no impact to the general fund.

Funding comes from 2024 home entitlement funds.

270,000 will be provided in the form of a zero interest forgivable development subsidy loan to assist in building three homes for low to moderate income homeowners.

Total project costs from all funding sources is estimated at 662,295.

For legal considerations, the law department has reviewed and approved the funding agreement as to form.

Recommendations and actions.

It is recommended that the city council approve the home investment partnerships program funding allocation of 270,000 and authorize the necessary signatures.

And I stand for questions.

Thank you, Carmen and Angie.

We'll begin with Councilmember Hoheisel.

Thank you, Mayor.

Angie, I do have just one question.

Go ahead.

The cost of even building homes right now.

You see that gap there between what it takes to build a home and what it takes to keep it affordable.

Are you guys pivoting more towards home rehabilitation or we actually do multiple programs?

Home rehabilitation is really funded through Federal Home Loan Bank.

It has very significant different parameters for that.

Our staff does not like to rehab houses just because there's so many unforeseen items when you start to dig into the walls.

In order for us to maintain affordability, we have had the most success with building from the ground up.

Okay, thank you.

I appreciate that.

Welcome.

I have a couple of follow-ups to Angie.

Okay.

Thank you very much for everything you do and your team at Minnonite Housing.

Um, several of us had the opportunity last week to visit Habitat for Humanity.

Um, and they also provide very similar services.

Can you talk about how you guys collaborate?

And um because the end goal is to provide affordable housing and home repair opportunities for individuals in our community.

I'm happy to speak to that.

Um, we actually have really forged a very recent relationship with them in the home repair program.

As I mentioned, our program administrator is new.

Habitat has graciously spent an enormous amount of time with us just kind of helping us understand the program better.

Um, I'm fairly new to the organization.

I'm in my third year here, so that's a newbie considering staff before me has been here for 20 plus years.

So they have been really gracious to help us, you know, just kind of navigate what Federal Home Loan Bank requires.

Um, right now they have very specific parameters for their grants.

Ours are different.

They have people that have been waiting to use their grants that don't qualify.

They're able to refer them to us, and we're able to service them.

Um, so most of the collaboration with them is on the um home repair side.

We had a house that was actually the last house that was built in our last grant.

We had four homes that we did.

We had a hard time finding a buyer because of the location of the home.

Habitat had somebody that was pre-qualified that they offered to give that person to us to help get them moved into that.

It didn't end up working out, but there's a lot of collaboration with them just in general because we do work in the same space, and we're really just trying to lean into that um relationship and figure out how to work with them more often and on a bigger scale.

And Angie, um, back to kind of the question that Councilmember Hoheisel asked, that gap.

Have you seen um right now the cost of building this house would be 220,000?

Do you know what it was previously when you guys were building out that subdivision and have those costs continue to increase?

Can you speak to that so that the community understands that there's an even greater gap now?

So it it's been 15 years since we built in this neighborhood, so I'm could not speak to the cost of that, and I don't think it would be very relevant to us now.

The the houses that we were building, even just in our last grant application, the four homes, we were building a much smaller or a smaller home that had an unfinished basement.

Those costs were around 200,000.

Um, the costs of these homes are higher because we had specials that were part of the option contract that we're trying to pay off.

This is a more desirable neighborhood.

We think that the um homes will sell easier, which was kind of the reason that we went this route.

It's been difficult for us to find um lots that are available to build on.

This one was kind of built in for us.

We knew that there were 10 that were available that the developer was trying to sell, and this was a great opportunity for us to finish out this neighborhood.

So the costs have gone, they've come down since COVID, but um they're still they're still in line with what we saw in the last grant period.

Thank you again.

Um really appreciate what you and Habitat for Humanity do for our community when it comes to affordable housing.

So thank you very much for providing those opportunities.

With that, I see no further questions from the bench.

We'll now open it up for public comment.

I see none.

I'll bring it back to the bench.

Councilmember Johnson.

Thanks, Mayor.

Due to a personal conflict of interest, I have to abstain from this item.

Thank you.

This resides in council member Ballard's district.

Thank you, Mayor.

I would like to take the recommended action, approve approve the home investment partnership program funding allocation of 270,000 and authorize unnecessary signatures.

Approve approve the home investment partnership program funding allocation of 270,000 and authorize unnecessary signatures.

Second.

Motion and a second, any further discussion.

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes six zero with one abstention.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Generally located on the south side of North Richmond Avenue within 915 feet north of West 21st Street at 2377 North Richmond Avenue.

Good morning.

Scott Waidell from the planning department here to present this item.

So for this case, the applicant is requesting a conditional use, as you heard to allow for an accessory apartment at the site.

Case is being heard today because the district advisory board and the planning commission recommendations for approval are slightly different.

In terms of the subject site, as you can see here, it's located at 2377 North Richmond Avenue, generally to the north and west of the intersection of 21st and Amidon.

The property itself is just over half an acre in size.

It consists of one ownership parcel, is developed with a single family house and a shed and is currently zoned SF5 single family.

The applicant has indicated that they would like to construct an accessory apartment on the site in addition to a garage and a shop building.

This zoning case is just concerned with the accessory apartment.

In terms of context, the subject site is surrounded by properties zoned SF5 and developed with single family residences.

A staff report for this item contains information on the supplementary use conditions that apply to accessory apartments.

In terms of review on July 24th, the planning commission held the public hearing for this item and recommended approval with conditions, and that vote was 14 to zero.

One member of the public spoke at that hearing.

They wanted to know if the accessory apartment could be used as a short-term rental.

On August 11th, the district advisory board reviewed the request and recommended approval with an additional condition that the accessory apartment must have a gabled roof.

No member of the public spoke on this item at that hearing.

No protests were received against the application.

Therefore, the conditional use can be approved by a simple majority vote or four of seven.

In terms of the recommended action, is recommended that the city council adopt the findings of the planning commission and approve the requested conditional use with the MAPC conditions, authorize the necessary signatures, and instruct the city clerk to publish a resolution after approval.

Again, that would require just a simple majority or four of seven votes.

Alternatives include the following.

That would require five of seven votes.

You can override the planning commission, adopt alternative findings and deny the requested conditional use.

That also would require five of seven votes.

Or as always, you can return the case to the MAPC for additional consideration.

Just a simple majority, four of seven.

And just a quick note about city council policies.

So with that, I'll take you through some of the images.

So here's the aerial showing the site.

Here's the zoning map again, surrounded by SF5.

Here's the map from the comprehensive plan showing it's recommended for residential use.

Here's the site schematic or graphic that was uh submitted as part of the application by the applicant.

Here's protest and the notification map.

Again, no protests were submitted.

And here are photos from the site and the surrounding area.

And with that, I'll stand for any questions.

I just have a couple of questions because I'm very interested in this because I do like seeing that there's an accessory unit request.

And I read the applicant's comments which said this is a dwelling for my in-laws to be moving in with us.

And so I I like seeing that there's uh family um considerations.

I wanted to know if the gabled roof um what the owner has said.

Will this increase the cost?

Is this an added burden?

Does anyone know?

I'm not aware of any comments that have been received from the applicant regarding that recommendation.

Um yes, I'm sorry, I don't have any information to provide on that.

I I can just um talk about most times when um zoning cases similar to this come before the DAB.

They always make the recommendation because in the past there has been some designs that don't fit the neighborhood, and so this is just a recommendation that they literally add almost every single time just to make sure that it's compliant with the um other um houses and such in the neighborhood.

And so this is just a recommendation that they literally add almost every single time just to make sure that it's compliant with the um other um houses and such in the neighborhood.

So it's more of just um a cosmetic thing to make sure that um please fit the neighborhood.

Do you know if the homeowner has said will this be a burden or not?

I am not sure.

I haven't heard um any feedback in the past because it is a recommendation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Scott.

I see no further questions.

And this resides in council member ballard's district.

Thank you, Mayor.

I move to override the MAPC and approve the requested conditional use as recommended by the DAB with the following additional condition.

The accessory apartment must have a gabled roof in support of this motion.

I offer the following findings.

The additional condition will help ensure that the accessory apartment will be in keeping with the character of the neighborhood and will reduce the possibility of detrimental effects to the nearby properties.

Second.

Motion and a second, any further discussion?

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes, 70.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Zone 2025-25 zone request zone change requests in the city from multifamily residential district to limited commercial district for vehicle repair limited, generally located on the east side of South Hillside Avenue within one half mile south of East Pawnee Avenue.

Hello again, Scott Wedd from the planning department.

So as you heard for this one, the applicant is requesting approval of a zone change from MF 29 to from multifamily to LC limited commercial.

In terms of the requests, the applicant has indicated that they are requesting the zone change in order to be able to use the site for additional parking for an automotive repair business on the property to the south.

In terms of the property itself, the subject site is located on the east side of Hillside Avenue, approximately half a mile south of Pawnee Avenue.

A subject site is approximately 0.17 acres in size, consists of one ownership parcel and is currently vacant.

In terms of context, property to the north and east is zoned MF29 and is in use as open space.

Property to the south is owned by the applicant and zoned LC and is not developed.

So here's the zoning map.

Property to the west across South Hillside is zoned PUD, Plan Unit Development, which permits event centers in the city and is undeveloped.

In terms of the staff report, the staff report provides information about development standards, parking, signage, screening, and landscaping.

In terms of review on June 26th, the planning commission held a public hearing, but ultimately ended up deferring it because the applicant was unable to attend.

Likewise, that also happened on July 10th.

On July 24th, the planning commission held the public hearing and recommended approval of the zone change request.

That vote was 14 to 0.

In support of the motion, the planning commissioners indicated that the property is buffered from residential properties to the north by a creek.

The property is directly adjacent, directly adjacent to the south of the subject site is zoned commercially.

The proposed use would be consistent with the character of the area and removal of the zoning restrictions would not have significant detrimental effects on nearby properties.

The applicant was in attendance and provided comments at the meeting.

No members of the public spoke other than the applicant.

On July 2nd, the district advisory board reviewed the request and recommended denial of the zone change request.

That vote was seven to zero with two abstentions.

The applicant was not present at that meeting.

During the that meeting, the DAB members expressed support for the site to be in use as open space, concerns about removing the zoning restrictions and possible detrimental effects to the nearby creek, and also concerns about detrimental effects to surrounding properties if the property adds additional commercial space that would later become vacant.

No protests were received against the application.

Therefore, the zone change can be approved by a simple majority or four of seven votes.

Recommendation, it's recommended that city council adopt the findings of the MAPC, approve the requested zone change, authorize the necessary signatures and instruct the city clerk to publish the ordinance and resolution after approval would require four of seven votes.

Alternatives include the following.

Or as always, you can return the case to the MAPC for further consideration, which would require four of seven votes.

And again, city council policy, the public hearing takes place at the planning commission meeting.

So with that, I'll take you through some of the images.

Here's the aerial.

Here's zoning map, which was described earlier.

Here's a map from the comprehensive plan recommending residential uses.

Here's the notification and protest map.

Again, no protests were received.

Here are photos of the site and the surrounding area.

And with that, I'll stand for any questions.

Questions for Scott, beginning with Councilmember Glasscock.

Thank you, Mayor.

I only have one question.

We can go back to the zoning map.

Yes.

So all they're wanting to do with this parcel of land is zone out limited commercial to go to the red to extend basically the red further down.

That's correct, yes, sir.

Okay, well, thank you.

I do have another question.

So this property belongs to the city or to this individual.

No, it uh my understanding is that it belongs to the applicant.

Because I heard you say that the DAB wanted this to remain open space, but again, this does not belong to the city though.

That is correct.

So my other question then on this property is if I remember correctly, if you go back to what's surrounding, this is across the street from the former joyland.

Is that correct?

Uh yes, that's correct.

So that property right there.

It technically is the triangle is technically residential, is that correct?

Right now, it is currently zoned MF29, so multifamily residential.

So that one property could be a home if someone wanted to build it as a home.

That is correct.

You could.

However, that's likely not going to be the case.

How much in property taxes is that currently being levied?

Ooh, um, I do not have that information with me.

And if this becomes a commercial property, will then the property taxes on that increase?

That would be my assumption, yes.

So right now, say for instance, I don't know how much it's being levied, but I'd like to know how much is currently being levied versus how much if you make improvements onto this current property that also again does not belong to the city of Wichita, how much in property taxes that would then uh levy.

I I do believe, if I if I may, that the amount of property taxes that would be generated uh would largely depend on the type and the value of the improvements.

So at this point, uh the own the owner has only indicated or the applicant has indicated uh their intent is to use it for additional parking.

So my assumption is that that would be a flat lot, which generally they do not have very high improvement values when it comes to property taxes.

That's that's all I can offer in terms of insights on on values.

Thank you.

I see no further questions for staff, and this does not get public comment, and this resides in council member Hoheisel's district.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um yeah, this one's always tricky whenever you have such a swing between DAB and MAPC.

Um so I actually plan to send this back to DAB for additional information.

Uh I want them to actually hear the proposal from the um the property owner and to let dab know exactly what they are planning.

So my hope is that they actually show up this time because that can be pretty detrimental towards open discussion and transparency as far as the project goes.

So I move to return the case to DAD to allow for additional review and consideration at their October 1st meeting.

This would return the case to the city council on October 14th.

In support of this motion, I offer the following.

This will provide another opportunity for the applicant to attend a dab meeting so they can explain their request and answer questions.

Second.

Motion and a second, any further discussion.

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please please open the roll.

Motion passes 7-0.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Selection of appeal panel to hear appeal of additional conditions to drinking establishment license.

Mayor and council item before you request that you select three members to serve on an appeal panel for the appeal of a licensee for the city.

Um recommend that um district two represent as this is in district two, and then two other council members as well.

Those would be council members four and five.

Is that correct?

Numerically, I believe so because council member Hoheisel recently served.

That's right.

That's right.

Very good.

Um with that, Councilmember Tuttle, Councilmember Glasscock, and Vice Mayor Johnston.

Are you guys okay with serving?

Sure.

Very nice.

Okay.

I will move that the council approve council member Tuttle, Councilmember Glasscock, and Vice Mayor Johnston to preside over the administrative appeal of the license amendment.

Second.

Motion and a second.

Any further discussion?

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 70.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Councilmember appointments and call oh, I apologize.

Approved that pursuant to section 2.04090.

Councilmember Tuttle's travel expenses as estimated on the travel authorization and expense form to serve as a member of City Health's Policy Advisory Committee in Washington DC, October 15 through 16, 2025 for the purpose of representing the city of Wichita consistent with AR 3.1 be approved upon return from travel actual expenses shall be reported to the controller's office.

Councilmember Tunnel.

Thank you.

I just wanted to provide a few highlights regarding this.

I think many of us have met with City Health when we go to the National League of Cities Conference, but their goal or their mission is that every person in every city deserves to live the healthiest life possible, and they're putting together a policy advisory committee to review their current application processes and also then what initiatives to work on right now.

It's access to healthy food and tobacco policies and affordable housing and all the things.

So I'm excited to go into not only help develop this nationwide policy initiative, but then also bring back lessons learned to our city.

Thank you.

Since that is the case, I don't think uh I think it's worded differently then.

If no city dollars are being used, it actually should be a gift limit exceeding motion.

Is that correct?

Jennifer.

That's correct if no dollars are used.

I haven't looked at that one.

So will the motion have to be different.

It does because it requires a listing of estimated uh gift.

Shall we we could bring it back in a week if that's all right?

Okay, perfect.

I'm not going to let perfect.

We'll bring it back next week with the amount of gift exceeding information.

Okay, we will now move to the next travel item.

Can you please read that city clerk?

Approve that pursuing to section 2040.

Councilmember Johnson's travel expenses.

As estimated on the travel authorization and expense form to attend city to city in Detroit, Michigan, October 8th through 10, 2025 for the purpose of representing the city of Wichita consistent with AR 3.1 be approved.

Upon return from travel, actual expenses shall be reported to the controller's office.

I move to approve that travel.

Second.

Motion and a second, any further discussion.

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 7-0.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Councilmember appointments and comments.

We'll start with appointments.

Councilmember Glasscock.

Thank you, Mayor.

I would like to appoint Nino Lawson to the Parks Board of Commissioners.

Councilmember Johnson.

Thanks, Mayor.

Due to a family emergency of my uh appointee to the city manager selection committee.

I would like to now appoint Aaron Bastion to fill that position.

I move to approve the appointments.

Second.

Motion and second, any further discussion.

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 7-0.

Madam actually, council members, any comments.

Councilmember Tunnel.

Thank you.

2020 September of 2025 is a national library card sign-up month.

So if you haven't gotten your new handy dandy library card, they're beautiful as the Wichita flag using books.

So if you haven't had a chance to get your new library card, please sign up.

I see no further comments.

The executive session is required to protect attorney client privilege and the public interest.

So we will return at 1135.

Motion and a second.

Any further discussion?

I see none.