Yeah, that's why I think I'm not going to do it today.

All right, where is that?

I'm pretty impressed that you have this right here.

Good morning, Wichita, and good morning to all of you.

Welcome to City Hall.

We'll call this meeting to order.

With us this morning is Pastor Debbie Garrett of Greater Deliveries Ministries to provide our invocation.

Following the invocation, we will have the Pledge of Allegiance, and we ask that you please stand for both.

We also lift up to you, our police chief, Joseph Sullivan and our police officers, firefighters, and other frontline workers and their families as they put their own lives on the line to help keep our city safe.

As we move closer to the month, where we express our love for one another.

Let us remember the families directly affected by the freeze and child care and family assistance grants in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York.

Let his love be in our hearts for our most vulnerable citizens, our seniors, the Wichita's children's home, and the homeless in our communities.

Romans 12 9 states, let your love be without dissimulation.

All these things we ask in Jesus' mighty name we pray.

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you, Pastor Garrett.

Madam Clerk, please call the first item.

Approve the minutes of regular meeting January 6, 2026.

Council members, are there any items to be edited?

I see none.

I move to approve the minutes for the regular meeting, January 6th, 2026.

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.

Selection of the vice mayor and oath of office.

Council, all of us have received a ballot in front of us for the next vice mayor by ordinance.

This position is for a term of one year, and it's rotated among the six council members.

Typically, selection is by ballot and then a motion.

At this time, the floor is open for discussion and nominations.

I will move to approve the next vice mayor as Dalton Glasscock for district number four.

Second.

Motion and a second.

Any further discussion?

I see none.

We will cast our ballots.

Vote for Dalton Glasscock.

Vote for Dalton Glasscock.

Vote for Dalton Glasscock.

Vote for Dalton Glasscock.

Vote for Dalton Glasscock.

Vote for Dalton Glasscock and vote for Dalton Glasscock.

The new Vice Mayor will be Vice Mayor Dalton Glasscock.

With that, a motion and the ballots have been read.

We will now like to thank Council Member Vice Mayor for 2025, JV Johnston.

Thank you for your service as the vice mayor this past year.

I've really enjoyed having the opportunity to work with you in the capacity of Vice Mayor and look forward to now just joining us as a council member, and I really appreciate your service to our community.

Thank you.

I've enjoyed it.

Didn't know if I would or not.

And I cannot tell you how disappointed people are when I take the mayor's place at a function.

But it's okay.

They get over it quickly, I think.

So but I've enjoyed it, and uh it's a pleasure and honor to represent the city.

Thank you.

Councilmember Tuttle.

Thank you.

I just want to say congratulations to Vice Mayor Glasscock.

I'm the first one who's called you that.

Um, congratulations.

We know you'll do great.

Thank you for representing your district and thank you for representing the city.

And I want to give a special thank you to now council member.

Um just went completely right.

JV Johnston, I'm so sorry.

It's been a long day.

Um, but thank you for serving as Vice Mayor.

I really appreciate it.

And I know you went into it a little apprehensively, but you did it so well, and you represented us so well.

And you've just been a joy to work with and to learn from.

So thank you for all you've done, and thank you what you'll continue to do while you serve.

Councilmember Hoheisel.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, congratulations to now newly elected Vice Mayor Glasscock again.

I'm sure you will do well in the role.

Um, it is a trip.

It is uh a fun year that you have ahead of you.

Um I'm sure you'll serve with dignity.

Um now I guess you're just one of the normies like us.

Um you got the old parking spot next to everybody else, so um, but you you have done a good job over the past year.

Uh Councilmember Johnston, so um you have served well and honorably.

So I appreciate that, and thank you, sir.

With that, Vice Mayor J.V.

Johnston for 2025.

Will you join me at the podium as a token of our appreciation for your service as vice mayor for the city of Wichita in 2025?

We present to you, a keeper of the plains, as a remembrance of your year of service as vice mayor for the city.

Thank you again to Vice Mayor JB Johnston for 2025.

With that, I would like to now call Vice Mayor for 2026, Dalton Glasscock to the podium and ask Chief Administrative Judge Jones to provide us the administration for the oath of office.

I state your name.

I Dalton Christopher Glascock.

You solemnly swear that I will uphold the Constitution of the United States.

That I will uphold the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of Kansas.

And the Constitution of the City of Kansas.

And faithfully discharge the duties.

And faithfully discharge the duties of the Vice Mayor.

Of the Vice Mayor for the City of Wichita, Kansas.

For the city of Wichita, Kansas.

So help me God.

That's what all we got.

Congratulations.

Hello, everyone.

Good morning.

First off, I would like to thank my family, my partner for being here, as well as friends and those watching online as well.

Thank you to the mayor and thank you to my colleagues for the trust that they've placed in me.

And I'm deeply honored to serve as Vice Mayor of Wichita.

I'm a nerd.

I said that last week when I was at this bench when I talked about some of the books I was reading.

And so as I thought about what to say today and not to repeat anything and also keep it short, I decided to lean into our history, and I looked to I went looking to be reminded of what came before us and what this bench ultimately represents.

So this past weekend I went to the Central County Historical Museum, and Eric, the museum's director, found me as I was walking through the exhibits and walked me through our history.

One line from J.R.

Mead, the man who chose the name Wichita in particular stood out to me.

Cities are not the result of chance, nor do they make themselves.

Their prosperity and greatness are in large measure due to the sagacity and enterprise of their founders.

Wichtaw didn't appear fully formed, it existed because people made intentional choices to build, to invest, and to believe in this place.

Yes to settlement on the open prairie, yes to trade and commerce along the Chisholm Trail, yes to agriculture, industry, aviation, arts, yes to the hard work of becoming what early leaders proudly called the magic city of the plains, the peerless princess and Kansas's crown and glory.

That history also reminds us of something else.

Progress is never meant ignoring what needs fixing.

It means seeing challenges clearly, refuse and be paralyzed by them, and choosing reform over retreat.

It means doing the hard work of making things better and still believing the city is worth investing in.

I do believe that the city is still worth investing in.

Thank you to the residents of Wichita for the privilege of serving you.

I'm proud of where this city has been, but I'm more excited of where it's going.

Let's get to work.

Thank you all.

With that, Vice Mayor Glasscock, welcome to the council in your new role.

Madam Clerk, can you please call the next item?

And thank you, Judge Jones for administering the oath of office.

Awards and proclamations, Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

May I please ask the representatives of ICT SOS and its supporters to come forward at this time.

Whereas the City of Wichita upholds a strong multidisciplinary response to human trafficking, integrating prevention, intervention, and restoration through the dedicated partnership of nonprofit organizations, medical professionals, law enforcement, and social service agencies.

Whereas ICT SOS celebrates 15 years of playing an essential role in this community by providing comprehensive education, advocacy, and public awareness initiatives designed to empower residents, equip professionals, and protect vulnerable individuals.

Whereas the City of Wichita recognizes the critical importance of combating human trafficking in all of its forms, honors survivors who bravely seek freedom and restoration, and affirms its continued commitment to supporting collaborative efforts that foster safety, justice, and hope for all members of the community.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Wichita City Council does hereby proclaim January 2026 as human trafficking awareness month.

Thank you so much, Mayor Wu.

First of all, congratulations on your first council meeting, Councilmember Shepard, and congratulations to our new vice mayor.

We look forward to partnering together and continuing to see our city grow and improve.

My name is Jennifer White.

I'm the executive director of ICTSOS, an anti-human trafficking nonprofit, proudly serving the city of Wichita since 2011.

As you're aware, January is Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Month, and with me today are members of our community who work tirelessly to create a safer Wichita for all who live here.

In their various roles, they also serve the complex needs of survivors.

Wichita is fortunate to have a multidisciplinary team of organizations dedicated to the prevention, intervention, and restoration of survivors of trafficking, abuse, and exploitation.

This team consists of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, medical partners from clinics and hospitals, social workers, therapists, advocates from child and adult serving agencies, board members, volunteers, and survivors.

ICTSOS is excited to celebrate our 15th anniversary in 2026, a milestone that would not be possible without the people standing behind me, and whose broad shoulders carry the load with us.

I was going to ask them to stand and be recognized, but they're already standing.

So please recognize these amazing people that do this work with us.

I can't look at you guys.

Thank you for the work you're doing, the late night call-outs, the hours on the phone trying to fill the gaps, the tears that no one sees when you close your office door, and the heart to throw yourself back into the arena again tomorrow.

I speak on behalf of the group to extend our gratitude to the mayor and city council for recognizing human trafficking prevention and awareness month.

I implore you as community to connect with these organizations, learn how they are serving, where the gaps are, and how we can come together as a city to see an end to the exploitation of our neighbors.

And as always, I'd always I'd like to expend extend a special thank you to city staffer Norma Ramos for handling the administrative duties to get the proclamation on today's agenda.

As we know, the real heroes are often behind the scenes.

So thank you very much.

Madam Clerk, 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.

Please bear in mind that this is not a period of dialogue with council or a question and answer period.

This is your opportunity to address the city council with your concerns.

I ask that you address your remarks to the city council as a body and not to any individual council member.

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 speak into the microphone.

Please state their name and address for the record.

A time clock will display the speakers' remaining time to speak.

Order and rules of decorum will be observed.

The spur first speaker is Ben Lee.

Gangs, guns, and violence.

Mr.

Lee.

I don't see him in the audience.

Can you please call the next individual?

Matthew Butlin, open house for the 2025 Air Installations Compatible Use Zones, AICUZ, study for McConnell Air Force Base.

Thank you.

Good morning, everyone.

I'd like to thank the City Council for giving us time on their agenda to speak, and I'll make this brief.

I'm a contractor with the Air Force, and we are here today with uh Kennedy Dunn from McConnell Air Force Base as well as Patty Lee from the AFCEC ACUS program in San Antonio, as well as other members of our team.

Essentially, um, we want to take this opportunity to extend an invitation to a public uh meeting and open house that we're holding this afternoon for the release of the McConnell Air Force Base updated ACU study.

ACUS uh is an acronym that stands for Air Installations Compatible Use Zones and is a long-standing program within the Air Force and the DOD.

The goal of the ACUS program is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of those living and working around the air installation while sustaining the military's operational mission.

To accomplish this, the Air Force produces these ACU studies that can be used as a tool to analyze where the military's ACUS footprint extends off installation property, and what land use is it may be in the community in those areas.

Using that information, land use compatibility recommendation recommendations can be made.

Generally speaking, noise-sensitive uses should not be in noise zones, and people intensive uses should not be in accident potential zones.

This study is a public document that makes recommendations and in cooperation with local municipalities.

Everyone in the room, viewing online, friends, neighbors, uh anyone can attend.

The meeting is today, 4 to 6 p.m.

at the advanced learning library located at 711 West 2nd Street North Wichita, just across the river, about a mile away.

This is an open house style meeting, so you don't have to be there for the whole two hours.

There will be a short presentation towards the beginning.

You can come to the event anywhere in that two-hour window to speak with the Air Force representatives and view the information at your leisure.

That's all.

Thank you for your time.

Appreciate it.

Hope you see uh see you later this afternoon.

Thank you.

Thank you, Matthew.

We have space for four individuals who would like to address their council during public agenda.

Please state your name and your address.

Good morning.

My name's uh Andrew Crane, and I'm with Guiding Paws uh ICT.

Um and uh I have a little small issue regarding the transit app and also bus passes.

A lot of people have been having issues with the the bus passes and the technology that uh is really a big problem, and I am hoping that the the bond uh thing that you guys are gonna be passing passes because it's gonna help out the Wichita Transit and other uh other things in the city of Wichita and helping out the blind and disability community.

Now my problem is uh with the the app is you purchase your bus pass and it's not working on the bus.

Somebody needs to get with the IT department and fix that real quick because there's been lots of big time issues with that.

Um and in that so this needs to be addressed ASAP and it needs to be fixed now.

And uh my other thing that I was gonna say is uh D I'm I'm a member of the National Federation of the Blind, um, the great state of Kansas, and we have folks that are gonna be going to Washington DC, and we have several bills that we are trying to get passed through Congress, and uh hopefully we can have your guys' support in standing with the the blind and disability community and uh getting some work done.

So thank you very much, and I would hear some comments on how we can get the the transit app and the technology working efficiently for folks, and that and including the uh the new city manager.

Come on, guys.

It's it's time to go to work.

Are you finished with your five minutes?

Yes.

Can you please have a seat and then the council will speak?

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Councilmember Hoheisel.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just real quick, Andrew.

Is this the same issue you had talked about in December?

And uh my I bus the uh I I was told today that uh I couldn't get a uh new bus pass and I paid $55 for a bus pass and the the on the on the app and the the bus pass is not working on either buses and I got told down at the transit center that they can do anything for me now the the technology needs to be working efficiently and it needs to be able to uh work and be able to uh work on every single buses.

Okay, we'll look into it.

Thank you.

Councilmember Ballard.

Thank you, Mayor City Manager.

I just asked that you can visit with Penny and see what the issues are.

We'll be glad to thank you.

Councilmember Shepard.

Thank you, Mayor.

Andrew, thank you so much for coming and making sure that you're advocating for the blind and visually impaired.

I know that there's a lot of accessibility work to be done.

Um, but I did have an opportunity to meet with Penny, the Director of Transit, who is working on some incredible opportunities to continue to expand that.

And similar to Councilmember Ballard, um, city manager, I do ask that you get with her to ensure that we can meet the needs of Andrew.

We have room for three more individuals.

Good morning, Mayor Wu, Vice Mayor Glasscock, and congratulations to my friend and first district, uh Councilmember Joseph Shepard, as well as our new city administrator or city manager, sorry.

I come from Park City originally, we have administrator there, um, but glad to have you here.

Uh one of my name is Ben Salceta, sorry, Kansas Aviation Museum also, which all Resident 64.

Well, that's good.

I want to come to you guys here this morning and just give you a little bit of update on what's been happening in this last year at the Kansas Aviation Museum as well as some of the things that are coming up in 2026.

Uh, I do want to first start off by saying thank you to uh Steve Lewis with uh the city.

He's done a phenomenal job of helping us ensure that some of the issues that we've had with deferred maintenance on a building has been addressed and has been extremely helpful within that.

So thank you to him and uh Gary Jansen and all those that fall underneath that that have been a huge support.

I also want to say thank you to Dante and Troy for their support and work with the museum over this past year and helping getting some uh important pieces done and accomplished uh as we work through some of the plans for the the upcoming year.

In 2025, it's no surprise that it was a year of uncertainty for a lot of individuals, a lot of companies, a lot of businesses and nonprofits the like.

Uh, but thanks to the support of our community, we saw a great uh great end of the year uh that really helped again promote the active the active work of steam education in 2025.

The museum was able to partner with some of our uh foundations, and we were able to offer over 50 grants to 50 grants and scholarships to kids from underserved and upper underrepresented communities to allow them to come to our summer steam camps for free while also being able to provide them with food during that time as well.

Uh some of the times when we talk about accessibility and and what that looks like for individuals, uh some of the basic things that we think of, such as transportation or just even cost of just attending are great, but there are other issues that go a little deeper, such as food and such as some of those pieces.

So the support that we were able to offer thanks to our friends uh in our community that helped support that again.

Over 50 kids were able to participate in free summer camps this year, and so we're grateful for that.

Uh additionally, as we look into 2026, we continue we plan to continue that work of investment uh within our community partnering with organizations such as Urban League, Big Brothers Big Sisters, uh Empower League 42, like we have in previous years to ensure that we reach those uh communities again.

Uh one of the most powerful tools to helping people up and out of the situation they are is education and then partnership.

The more that people can connect with others in their community, the more that they feel that they can have accessibility to some of those uh opportunities that exist, and so we continue to do that.

A couple things though to look forward to in 2026, and that we'll be talking with Norma about as well is in April.

Uh the AIAA will be welcoming back, uh, which I will be welcoming back the AIAA design build fly competition, which welcomes uh college students from across the world to come and compete there at Textron Aviation uh with their um I'm not a real deep aviation person, but they're uh which is weird, but with their um their drums basically that they have come there.

There'll be over a thousand students that will come from across the world here in April, and we're excited to welcome them there.

They'll be at the Kansas Aviation Museum for their social, uh, but we'll also be wanting to see about welcoming them with a res uh proclamation come April.

And then, as mentioned earlier, the work that McConnell Air Force Base does here is such an important piece.

And in October, we'll be welcoming back the Frontiers in Flight Air Show, and the museum will be having a part in that as well as we uh as we do that operate that outreach.

And again, we'll be hosting our Steam Camp.

So it's been a great year in 2025.

We look forward to 2026, and again, thank you, Council, for your support.

Again, also just recognition just putting it out there that as we look into this coming year, we will be offering scholarships again for students that come from underserved and underrepresented uh communities, as well as focusing on those that are high steam achievers because again, we want to do our part to make sure that we are supporting the community.

Uh and so things like our city sales tax are gonna be uh important things to ensuring that we can make the investments in our community necessary to help lift those uh that might come from situations other than what most of us find ourselves in.

So thank you for your time.

Vote yes, March 3rd.

Thank you, Ben.

We'll continue with public comment.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good morning to Mayor and City Council.

Congratulations on going into 2026.

Sounds a little bit strange.

Coming from a council member from a wild bat.

My name is Levante Williams, and I am a former council member for District One.

I did want to congratulate some of you that are on the bench.

Um, Councilmember Hoheisel and Ballard, thank you for coming back ready to put in four more years of hard work.

We appreciate all that you have done and all that you will be doing.

Uh, congratulations, uh Councilmember now Johnston on your year 2025, and thank you for what you did as well, and looking forward to what's going on.

Uh Mayor and uh Becky Tuttle, just thank you for always being there and always being out uh in the community.

Uh congratulations to Dalton Glasstock, uh and now Mayor Glass, I mean Vice Mayor Glassdock.

Um, it is kind of uh re it's very rewarding to watch you take that position.

Um I stumble because I think of Mayor Carl Brewer and uh how we started the mayor's youth council during Dalton Simon High School.

So I've watched this young man come up through the ranks, and uh it just uh it just makes me very proud uh to see you take that position after uh we started the mayor's youth council, noticing that we didn't have that in the city of Wichita and coming back and saying, let's start that.

So congratulations to you.

I know that he would be very, very proud to see you in that position.

Also, congratulations to council member uh Joseph Shepard in saying and taking that position.

As a council member for District One, I apologize for not being there last night, but I did have a prior commitment.

But please know that you were on my mind and Miss Sandra Rankins' mine as we looked through some of the Facebook articles and and saw you taking your oath and uh going on to do the things that you need to do.

Uh one of the things that I was also thinking about was there are not that many former city council members for district one or those that can make it out into the public and to the community.

So that made me feel just as bad because uh as former council members, we definitely want to support support the city council and the person that represents District One Councilmember Shepherd.

Please know that you have people that are standing beside you.

There are many people that say people are standing behind them, but we stand beside you or ready to help out in any capacity that you need us to do, as well as any of you as mayor and city council.

There are those out there that are willing to listen and that are willing to step forward as much as we can.

Uh Councilmember Tuttle, you know that as we sit on boards and have set on so many boards together.

Um, and so my wish is that we have a good 2026 and that we move our city forward, uh, that we look at the sales tax increase conversation, and that we make sure that everyone is included.

So I thank you for the opportunity to speak, and again, uh council member Shepherd, we appreciate you and congratulations.

Thank you, former I look forward to meeting with City Mayor.

Thank you for my I look forward to meeting with you, former councilmember Williams.

Councilmember Shepard.

Thank you, Mayor.

Elder Williams, I just want to say thank you for being here.

And uh I stand on the shoulders of giants such as yourself and many elders in the community.

And so I appreciate you being here, but know that my door is always open, and that I know that I did not make it here on my own, nor do I represent my own interest.

I represent the interests of the people of District One.

And so I look forward to working with you and the elders in our community who have fought hard and kicked open doors so that I could walk through them.

So thank you for being here this morning.

We'll continue with public agenda.

Good morning, council.

Uh my first comments will go to Councilman O'Haisha.

Sir, I understand today is your birthday.

Happy birthday, sir.

Okay.

Now I'm here today to speak about the problematic sales tax that is on the ballot for March the third.

On December 16th, 2025, seven duly elected council members voted to place this special election on the ballot for March 3rd.

Now I could be wrong, but I believe that not a single one of the seven people that voted for that clearly understood what the proposal truly represented.

And I'll give you a little example.

Made a claim that they had done a poll.

And when asked by two of the current council members to release the poll results, they refused.

Said that that poll was taken for their consideration and not for the public.

Now, not everybody thinks like I do, but I think that if I were presenting a proposal to the council and I had done a poll, and the poll showed a favorability of the majority of the respondents to represent and favor my position, I would be more than happy to share that with any and anybody that asked.

But you voted to put it on the ballot.

Now this proposal has this city divided like I've never seen it before on an issue.

Furthermore, I think that there's a lot more questions than there are answers on this proposal as it stands today.

And as we've seen in the last week, the issue has gotten even more problematic in two ways.

Number one, the cost has gone up 20,000.

Number two, 26,000 people will not be able to vote at their normal polling place.

Now, this to me is Tanemont to voter disenfranchisement.

Whether that was intentional or accidental, it makes no difference.

The results are the same.

And one of the things that baffles me is that on the 16th, before you guys made the vote, you had a member of the election commissioner's office right here.

Um without any further problems.

And that's less than a month.

We've had two problems.

And in my gut, I feel that before this election, there will be other problems.

Now, what I'm gonna propose to you today is this.

First of all, I want to say one thing here.

I'm looking here at your brochure of the original first one that you uh that I received in the mail.

And at the top, it says restoring trust in City Hall.

If we cannot, and I'm saying we the citizens of taxpayers of Witchhaw, if we cannot trust you and the other council members to be protectors of our hard-earned tax dollars, what other trust is there?

So what I would suggest to you all is to admit you made a mistake on December the 16th and reverse that decision because one of the things I've learned in my life is that when somebody comes to you with a proposal and says this is a good deal, and it's a good deal today, but it won't be good tomorrow.

I run like hell.

Okay.

So people, you've made a mistake, and I think the public is trying to tell you that you made a mistake, and so admit that you made a mistake.

We're all human, we all made mistakes.

Reverse that decision that you made on December the 16th.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Can you please state your name and address for the record?

James Warfield District 1.

Thank you to our five speakers during public agenda.

As mentioned earlier, we um are going to have uh conversations amongst the council during council agenda, uh, but public agendas to receive and file information.

Um so again, we appreciate the five individuals who brought up topics that may be discussed during the council member agenda portion of the meeting.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Consent agenda items one through eight.

Council members, are there any items in the consent agenda that would that you would like to pull?

I see none.

I will move to approve the consent agenda, items one through eight.

Second, I'm gonna have to get used to that.

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.

Board of Bids and Contracts dated January 12th, 2026.

Morning, Mayor, City Council, Josh Laubert Department of Finance, Board of Bids and Contracts Convened yesterday, January 12th, 2026, for the following items for engineering.

We have the 2026 sidewalk maintenance program for PPJ Construction Incorporated for an bid of seven 749,700 originally submitted.

Our engineer's office requesting to be awarded within the engineer's estimate of 1,600.

For purchasing, we have sedans, SUVs, cargo vans, and pickup trucks for the vendors listed at their groups listed to establish contract pricing for our operating departments.

And we have welding gases, contract change order for Lambton Welding Supply Company Incorporated for an amended amount of 46, 170 dollars estimated per year.

We have the legal services for workers compensation claims, contract change order for Kirby Vernon doing business as Kirby L.

Vernon LLC, attorney at law for the amended rates of $95 and 185 dollars hourly.

This is how to become a vendor with the city.

This is our purchasing calendar of small resource business partners, the events that the city's hosting or participating in.

And these are open public opportunities out on the street today.

I'd be happy to try to answer your questions and recommend your approval.

Thank you, Josh.

Questions for staff, beginning with council member John Stun.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh Josh, can you go to back slide number six, please?

Sure.

Um there is Oetha Ford, obviously in Aletha.

Vance County Ford, Vance Chevrolet, Masters Champion, John Vance Motors.

How far out do we go to get bids?

I mean, can we not keep them local?

So I want to be, I want to clarify the city does not have a local preference policy.

Um the city utilizes our our procurement software system that allows any and all vendors who meet specifications solicited to respond.

Um we have vendors nationally.

Uh you'll see that more with virtual work and consulting services that really comes into play.

Uh specifically vehicle bids.

Um, we within this uh group, Miami.

I do my buyer wanted to clarify or tell me that's not Miami, Florida, that's Miami, Oklahoma.

Um, but we have uh vehicle bids being submitted from the region.

Um, and from the city's perspective, it's the low price meeting specifications, and it's freight on board um delivered on our dock.

We do not have objection to it.

Okay, and if they need service or warranty work, do they go back to Miami to do that or Olatha?

I can't speak to the warranty work.

I what I can speak to is what I commonly see is I will see that a dealer purchase occurs with the dealer franchise, and then warranty work may occur in a local region just by association of the Wichita Kansas metro area.

Okay.

Okay, I'd rather keep them local, but okay.

I don't want to open up that can of worms.

Yeah, okay.

Sorry.

Thank you.

Any further questions?

I see none.

Thank you, Josh.

I move to approve the Board of Bids and Contracts dated January 12th, 2026.

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.

Petitions for public improvements.

Morning, Mayor.

So to council members Paul Gunsleman Public Works and Utilities for the record.

I have one location for your consideration this morning.

The signature on the petition represents 100% of the improvement district, and the petition is valid per Kansas statute.

The ranch third edition located in district two.

The project will provide water, stormwater, and sanitary sewer improvements for a new residential development.

It is recommended that the city council approve the new petitions and budgets, adopt the new resolutions, and authorize the necessary signatures.

And I will stand for questions.

Thank you, Paul.

Questions for staff.

I see none.

I move to approve the petition for public improvements.

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 2025 and 2026 capital improvement program, park and recreation projects.

As you'll see once we get into it, this is really kind of the bread and butter of the uh CIP for parking recreation projects.

So again, this is really kind of where we we make a lot of difference in the community and in the park system.

So background, uh, the adopted 2026-235 CIP contains multiple projects.

Again, this is mostly to address needs, uh, general repairs, renovation, replacement of park amenities, infrastructure.

Um, the list kind of goes on and on.

There's there's a lot of different things that we uh utilize the CIP to manage as you'll see.

Um the main thing to get out of this is that this is to help us sustain uh quality conditions, extend useful life, uh, do uh align with maintenance resources and try to make sure that we're meeting the needs of the community as well.

So the city of Wichita maintains over 200 athletic fields, over uh 130 athletic courts and over 88 playgrounds.

Um along with that, there's many other amenities uh and assets just to hit on a few walking paths, retaining wall, site furnishings, every bench that you see, those are things that we have to maintain, and we use uh uh CIP money for at times to help replace, especially in large batches.

Uh one of the things to note here is that we do have irrigation systems on here.

I will note that we have miles of irrigation systems within our park system.

There are I'm not sure exactly how much, but I know we have more than miles of of irrigation systems uh throughout the park system.

So those take uh resources and time to uh make sure that we keep those uh usable and efficient as well.

So we'll start to get into the analysis.

Uh so there's a number of projects uh in the CIP and we'll be hitting on those individually here.

Uh and this one is for 2025 irrigation systems.

This is to make improvements throughout the park system for different irrigation systems.

As I mentioned earlier, we have tons and tons of irrigation systems to maintain the CIP here will help us maintain those, make sure that they're up to uh up to code, make sure that we're using utilizing our uh we have a preferred uh irrigation control system allows us to better manage the water, make sure that it's going in the right places, etc.

Uh next we have 2026 at Leg Field Renovation.

Um, we utilized funds from 2025 to uh look at and repair bleachers across the the park system.

I'll note this one here at Barry Sanders football field.

This is before we made any renovations.

So if you drive by McAdams, um you'll see that there is still work being done out there to replace those those bleachers.

The biggest thing to note about the bleachers is to make sure that they are meeting those different um standards that we want to meet.

One of the main things is uh prevent kids from climbing.

You can see here in this photo there are horizontal rails in this one.

So you want to have vertical rails so kids aren't climbing on them and things like that.

So main thing was to try to make sure it's more one more usable and also safe for the community to use and and getting up to date with uh standards that we have for individual products such as bleachers.

If we do have uh, or I guess one of the things too is that we're looking at the amenities as well as the actual playing field conditions.

We have used CIP money in the past to repair fields, uh playing conditions.

So at exact at Barrie Center Fields, for example, we did have issues with uh the turf there.

So we want to make sure that we have the system correct, make sure we get seed down, make sure that we have a usable system because no one wants to play in mud.

Uh one example too is uh we used uh replaced lights over at Robert Thermfield, I was also at McAdams.

We utilize a grant for that one, but this component here is really important for us to help make sure that they're playable and make sure that they're safe for users.

Next, we have uh athletic courts.

Here's a photo taken from the other day.

This is over at Buffalo Park.

Uh you can see here the old asphalt uh courts that we have, they they just don't hold up over time.

You'll start to see that they have cracks in them.

Once you start getting cracks in them, the playability goes down, and obviously, if you have giant cracks running through uh your courts, that can lead to tripping hazards and sprained ankles and things like that.

So for 2026, our plan is to renovate basketball courts at Manissa Park in Buffalo Park.

And other improvements will be made as funding allows, so that could be repairing uh basketball goals, things along those lines with athletic courts.

For athletic courts, we consider those essentially basketball courts, tennis courts, footsall courts, those types of things, usually played on on concrete or asphalt versus those fields like football fields, baseball fields, etc.

For 2026 park facility enhancements.

Uh, this is for improvements along the uh uh Little Arc River.

You can see here, this is kind of right near that, as most people can call it the keeper parking lot.

We are experiencing some erosion there.

That's one of our heavy and most used uh sites in the park system, knowing that we have people from all over the country coming to this site.

We are using some funding from uh 2025 to help work on this to help make this project happen.

So our plan is to get this rolling as soon as we as soon as uh funding is available to get that out to public before we start seeing a lot of the tourism come in, especially over the summer.

Uh if we are able to get some good bids and we have funds remaining, we'll be addressing retaining walls uh throughout the the various parks.

So again, try to make sure that they're they're usable, make sure we aren't getting sediment and walking paths or in uh playgrounds.

For 2026 park signage, you'll see example here off to the right, new signage example.

This is over at the tennis center.

Uh, now that we have branding standards as you start to get those populated throughout the um throughout the facilities and the parks.

We think that this is a great way to help with our branding, help make sure that people uh have a positive view of the city of Wichita and views of of the different parks that we have and make sure we're tying together our branding standards.

Um you'll see we do have a large number of wood signs that are out throughout the park system.

So we'll be slowly going through and replacing those.

at the tennis center uh now that we have branding standards as you start to get those populated throughout the um throughout the facilities and the parks uh we think that this is a great way to help with our branding help make sure that people uh have a positive view of of the city of wichita and views of of the different parks that we have and make sure we're tying together our branding standards um you'll see we do have a large number of wood signs that are out throughout the park system so we'll be slowly going through and and replacing those or trying to hit the kind of the heavy uh programmable spaces first and then eventually we'll we're our plan is to get to all of the signs for 2026 uh playground we have in development this is uh one where we are pairing two years of funding together to help uh renovate a uh uh project this one is for the playground over at Central Riverside Park you can see here um it's sand and it it's really old if you've been to Clapp Park hopefully many of you have and seen kind of the the great things that are over there at that park you can kind of see the stark difference between this one that we have in the park system and that playground uh our goal here with at Central Riverside is to make that a destination uh playground and an inclusive playground one that the the community can be happy about and one that we can start to see people coming in from from all around uh hopefully the region to come to that playground next we have uh 2026 trail path sidewalk repairs um this is a photo along the uh little arc river um we do have tons and tons of different trails around the park system many of them are asphalt and many of them uh do have sediment on them where they do start to crack so those things do take time they do take uh a little bit more than repair um you can't in many cases it's not exactly just going on filling a pothole some of them uh end up getting longer or larger so that's kind of where the CIP comes in where it becomes more of a capital improvement rather than just a simple maintenance to go fill a pothole or a small section uh so 2026 will be used to uh renovate and improve the different paths across the park system and and the city throughout um so want to make sure that that we are doing um trails all across the city uh this one is 2026 walking pads this one's a little different this is primarily focused on on trails and baths within the park system here this was after the um the heavy rain in June uh you can see here that we're experiencing a lot of erosion that's here at Swanson Park this uh part of the pathway is closed off from the public and we'll be utilizing CIP money to make repair to divert this around um this eroded area so we'll get this moved off further into uh further into the park and away from from this uh dangerous area so uh that's one of the things that we're we're definitely looking forward to uh to getting done and and making these improvements so for financial considerations 2026 2035 CIP includes um about 1.8 million dollars in geo bonded projects I will note that the irrigation system from 2025 that is uh it located in the ongoing project section over here on the right that's the the list of all of them I think the biggest one to kind of hit on there is that playground rehab and development that's the biggest fund that we have here and and those funds will will go a long ways with repairing or making improvements to Central Riverside.

As I mentioned earlier these are all geo bonded or geo bonds uh staff recommends initiating all the funding at this time and as recommend that city council approve the uh approve the initiation of the projects adopt the bonding resolution and authorize necessary signatures and more than happy to stand for any questions thank you Tim questions for staff beginning with council member hoysal thank you mayor um just a couple quick questions thank you for your work on this all of parks um signs we hear that there are certain areas of town who want to keep the wooden signs um so what's the process if they do want to keep the wooden signs as opposed to the newer signs is that taken into consideration uh that is taken into consideration we have um we have avoided the areas where they have asked for those wood signs I don't think we have we have a long list I guess think we have over well I know we have over 120 parks and as and guessing that some have one or two we are nearing 150 plus signs so I think I don't think we have a plan just yet to how to address those I think we need to do more community engagement.

I think we're a little ways out from getting to those signs so I think we're kind of letting those kind of sit for a while and hopefully getting these new ones out and hopefully people are actually like these actually look really nice but we do need to have the that conversation but we aren't planning on addressing those signs in those areas where we've heard concerns or desires to keep the wood ones.

Okay.

Appreciate that is there a decision support tool that we use to identify um what are these projects such as we see the the loss from the floods last year is there a tool that we utilize for that or is that more a staff recommendation it's a little bit of a mixture for that we are also looking into other programs that help us manage that a little bit better help track work orders we do have some of that but I think we're exploring ways to use a decision support tool for some of the items that we um we don't look at regularly on a regular basis.

So for example, at playgrounds, we do have I think it was over 200.

Uh we just had parked board the other day.

I think they had it was like 260 playground inspections over 260 playground inspections done just in December.

Um so there's they do a lot of work, and there's a lot of data that we have for playgrounds, athletic courts, uh athlete fields and things along those lines.

I think when we start to get to walking paths and trails, that's where the decision support tool or having one would be helpful to have, or more robust one.

But in terms of kind of those uh really identifiable ones such as courts and fields and things like that, we do have a decision support tool and utilize um inspections to help prioritize.

Okay.

Um, last question.

Um lighting and parks, does that come out of this fund, or is that more public works that we work with on that one?

We have yes, we we worked with Coleworks quite a bit on that one.

Um, but we I believe we did have a CIP item that was park security and lighting.

That was not an annual fund, that was not an annual item in the CIP.

So that one kind of came and went, but we do not have an annual CIP item for specifically for lighting and park security.

Okay, thank you.

Council member Johnston.

Thank you, Mayor.

Tim, thank you very much for your presentation.

Appreciate all the work that you do and director Reggie Davidson does for parks.

A community is often judged by its parks.

So thank you.

Uh quick question.

Uh, do you have a timetable on Swanson Park?

I do get a lot of complaints about Swanson Park.

Is there a timetable that it'd be completed by?

Uh, I think once we get funds initiated, we'll be able to get rolling on that one.

I don't imagine that that one that we'll need um uh an on-caller engineer to do that.

I think we have well good staff in uh in the system that we can easily identify to route that one around.

So I think um I imagine we'd probably be able to get something done probably in the in the spring or early summer.

Okay, I appreciate it very much.

Thank you.

Tim, can you go back to the slide regarding athletic courts?

Yes.

I was asked specifically because that line item is 225,000 for two courts in particular that were highlighted.

Minnesota and par uh Buffalo Park.

Is it gonna cost 225,000 just for two courts?

Um so we did we were able to do three, excuse me.

We were able last year we put out bid for three basketball courts.

That one came in over our uh engineers' estimate, which was right around that 225.

We do have account for staff time and um engineering services for this.

So it's to pay the contract where it's also to help manage uh internal staff costs towards the project.

Um so we uh were able to work with the um the contractor to get that down table to do three courts last year, knowing that that was last year.

Many of the bids that we did have for the courts were well above the 225.

So I for us, I think we're we know that we can get two done, and that's kind of where other improvements may be made as funding allows.

So I think our goal right now is to make sure we get those two done, and if we get great bids, we can try to get another one done, but we may try to go look at uh replacing basketball goals or things like that, um, just knowing we won't have enough for three.

I will have a follow-up question to that.

Um, obviously it seems like a lot uh 225 for two courts.

However, as you just mentioned last year, 225 covered possibly three courts.

Um has that been standard?

How much these courts cost?

Uh no, we've seen uh cost for athletic courts go up quite a bit.

Um we um for basketball courts, um, one of the main issues or one of the things we've with tennis courts we use a different system, we use post-tension courts, which really cost quite a bit because you have steel cables that run through the courts.

Uh with basketball courts, we don't utilize those uh post-tension systems, which is great because we can try to get more done.

Um I say that just to kind of provide that we're trying to use kind of the simple basics concrete that we can for these athletic courts.

So we're not trying to go above and beyond with these basketball court systems.

Um, but this is really through the bids kind of what it's cost now.

I think before maybe a few years ago, we were able to get um maybe 50 to 75,000 dollars for a basketball court, but obviously that that's grown since then.

Um so yeah, they I think one of the challenges and one of the things that we're working on or trying to manage is there are specific court builders, and what we've been trying to do is reach out to just concrete um contractors that know how to just pour a giant slab of concrete.

So in the past, it's kind of been limited to or not limited intentionally, but it's kind of been on the radar for the court builders to just try to come out there and do courts.

So we've been actively trying to reach out to folks that we know are capable enough to doing um larger slabs of concrete to hopefully provide and have a more competitive bid uh for the size of the project.

So luckily we've been making friends and you know, working with vendors and things like that that we know are capable and encouraging them to apply for this.

I think a lot of times a lot of them are busy, and sometimes those bigger firms doing two courts is just not really that not really worth their time.

So they'll maybe throw in a high bid to make it worth their worth their time.

So that's kind of where we're trying to go with one of those maybe smaller uh companies encourage them to apply, knowing that it is pretty simple and it is within the wheelhouse, even if maybe they haven't done that many courts.

This is something that we think that they're sorry, I'm asking a lot of questions because as you just mentioned several years ago, and I don't know the exact several years that you're speaking of, but it was 50,000, and now we're talking about double that a hundred thousand plus.

And so community does want us to explain why that increase.

So last year you mentioned uh three courts for 225.

Were that they a local vendor that just did concrete, or was it a playground specific um contractor?

Yeah, so this one that we had last year, they did a great job.

They're a local company and they're kind of a new uh uh I think they they broke off a different company and kind of started their own.

Uh so it it was great, they're they're great to work with.

Um so I think before that we've um again, some many of those court billers, this is on their radar for them to try to look at, but I think many times those um concrete companies they aren't thinking, well, I can do a basketball court, they just think, well, I'm gonna do driveways, sidewalks, things along those lines.

Thank you, Tim.

I again would encourage looking at um how to reduce cost on making these um athletic courts, um, and so I would encourage that a little bit more.

Um, a couple more questions.

How does this coincide with the park master plan?

So, right now the city is still undergoing a park master plan, and uh, can you remind the community about a survey that's currently out for anyone in the community to fill out?

How does this uh the CIP for 2026 coincide with the master plan?

Great question.

So we do have, I appreciate that.

We do have a park survey out, and encourage everyone to to take that survey.

And I do believe we have a I believe it's on the 21st in the evening, I believe it's four to six, maybe four to seven at uh Boston uh recenter.

Uh they'll be having a an open house to meet with uh the firm that's doing the park master plan.

Uh specific to these CIP items, we specifically targeted ones that we knew were uh deferred maintenance.

So for with these items, we targeted these are things that we we know are issues that we know that would come up in the in the CIP and working with them, you know, such as this example here, having cracks within basketball courts, those are things that are we need to address their safety issue.

Um so with many of these things, they are addressing maintenance, deferred maintenance or things like that, such as the bleachers and things along those lines.

Um I will say that we are uh kind of in the swing of the park master plan.

So again, I encourage everyone to make those comments and make them known.

They do help us um prioritize and and make sure that we are having the right amenities if we need more amenities or less amenities, but uh we do know that that basketball courts get used a lot, athletic fields and things along those lines.

Um hopefully that answers your question.

Okay, thank you.

It does.

Thank you, Tim.

And last question is um I've seen several of our older worn-out damage signs that have had graffiti, and we've had to paint over them.

Um, since we are transitioning to these new signs, can I encourage, I guess, staff to start removing some of these signs?

One in particular that is an eyesore is on Douglas Street, right next to the new A-Price Water Park beautiful sign, and next door to it is this river center sign that had graffiti on it, it's been covered up, and it still remains, and it just looks out of place.

Now that we have a beautiful new sign, literally next door to it.

So I would encourage maybe looking at some of the ones, especially in our city center where there are new signs.

Try to remove the old ones.

Yes.

Thank you.

Agreed.

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

Thank you very much, Tim.

Thank you.

We will now open it up for public comment.

George Theo Harris, 2115 South Chautauqua, Mayor, outgoing Vice Mayor, incoming vice mayor, new council member, council, city legal, and city manager.

I want to welcome you from Grandview Metal Arc and Mead neighborhood and Mike's in Metal Arc.

And I hope you stay micro with us down in the neighborhood.

So I I had to try to wrap this into parks, so I've got it.

So I have voices in my head all the time, and I never know which voice is going to come out.

Well, I I landed on one.

So the gentleman before me or earlier, uh well uh happy birthday to you, and of course, happy birthday.

Mike is the only uh city council to my recollection that stayed on a board, our city, uh neighborhood board for the whole four years, and I I think we look forward to them for another four years.

I had a balloon when I was coming in here that Kansas win.

It's it's probably in Oklahoma, so I apologize for that.

But I I want the since we're talking about the parks and stuff.

I'd love for one of the parks, uh, maybe either Reggie or uh the gentleman that just spoke to come and talk because uh Clapp Park, and I want to know how it's going, the damages and stuff, because quite honestly, that's Mike's babysitter.

He takes his son over there and he wears them out so he can come home and go to bed.

So um, I hope that uh one of you guys can come and talk about Clapp Park because you didn't mention it in particular.

You're talking about all, but tell us how it's going there.

So thank you.

Thank you, George.

We'll continue with public comment.

I see none.

I'll bring it back.

Oh, sorry, Councilmember Hoheisel.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, just real quick, and we can bring somebody in and talk to the neighborhood when it the season comes up again.

Um we still have money in the the CLAP park fund.

Um that'll be going to do some parking lot um overhaul next to um the playground there.

Also repairing the the northernmost bridge that got taken out in the flood, and we will see uh what the fund looks like after that for some additional um amenities.

Also, I know that as a neighborhood, we're looking at maybe a memorial bench or so, one or two that could go through the neighborhood or the uh the park as well for some of the people that we've lost.

So uh we're still doing work on it, and so we'll have a better idea when the neighborhood season comes up and come out and uh chat with everybody.

We'll continue with public comment.

I see none.

I'll bring it back to the bench.

I want to just say thank you to the parks department uh under the leadership of Reggie, and also thank you to Tim for that presentation.

Um I do believe that it's important to maintain what we have and um improve the ones that we currently um have as amenities for the citizens of Wichita.

And so with that, I will go ahead and move that the council approve the initiation of the projects, adopt the bonding resolutions, and authorize 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.

Amendment to joint resolution and ordinance pertaining to the Wichita Sedgwick County Emergency Communications Advisory Board.

Good morning, Mayor Wu, members of the Wichita City Council.

Welcome, Councilmember Shepard.

Uh, congratulations.

Um, since 1977, the city and county have jointly operated a consolidated emergency communications system model.

Um, the shared model supports 911 services across Sedwood County.

The Wichita Cedric County Emergency Communications Advisory Board reviews and approves emergency communications department policies affecting countywide emergency communications.

Um the advisory board structure has not been comprehensively updated since 2012.

The amended joint resolution that you have before you and the ordinances help maintain an effective regional coordination of emergency communications.

The updates align the advisory board's composition and responsibilities with current practices and also align city and county ordinances.

The goal is to have continued effective regional coordination.

The board provides policy level direction and re and a regional perspective, and it focuses on issues that affect agencies dispatched by 911 across the county.

The board does not manage daily operations or staffing.

Operational decisions remain with the emergency communications director who is here with us today, as well as county leadership.

This slide shows the board competitive composition in terms of permanent members.

And what you see here are representatives of cities of the first class within Cedwick County who are involved in either emergency operations or and or first responders.

So once again, the ordinances and joint resolution confirms permanent city and county public safety leadership representation, which include Wichita Cedric County and Derby, police and fire leader uh fire leadership.

It also ensures that key system users are consistently represented.

In addition to the public safety uh permanent uh representatives on the board, uh the ordinances and joint resolution uh formalizes representation for suburban law enforcement of fire agencies.

I mentioned that previously Derby served in a suburban law enforcement capacity now as a first class city.

It has permiss permanent representation with an interest in maintaining regional representation.

The permanent body will have the opportunity to name two agency heads from the region, namely a police chief and a fire chief from one of our partner uh communities in Cedric County.

In addition to that, both the city and county manager have the opportunity to appoint a designee to the board.

I've served in that capacity since December of 2024.

Um legal considerations.

Um City Attorney's Office work closely with the county councillor as well as the county manager's office to draft the joint resolution and the ordinances that are before you.

They are authorized under Kansas Center Local Corporation Statutes.

Um they've been approved as to form by our law department.

There is no fiscal impact associated with the action.

Once again, operations is managed by the county, the emergency uh communications director and county management.

Um, this is an advisory board that provides feedback and direction to that body.

With that being said, the recommended action is to adopt the joint resolution and ordinance or regular ordinance, authorize necessary signatures in place on first reading.

Uh emergency communications director, Yelor Foursi is here with us.

If you have any questions for me or Laura, we stand for questions.

Thank you, Dante, and thank you, Alora.

Questions for staff.

I see none.

Thank you very much.

We will now open it up for public comment.

I see no one from the community.

Um, we'll bring it back to the bench.

Um, I just want to start by saying thank you to Cedric County Emergency Management and 911 for all that you do to make sure that first responders are able to get to those calls.

So you are the first in line.

So thank you for your service to our community, both in Wichita and Cedric County, and thank you for coming over here to City Hall.

Um, I am very grateful that there's a partnership between Wichita and Cedwick County when it comes to emergency communication.

And um, I know that you guys have all collaborated and there's leadership from both the city side, the county side, and uh some of our surrounding communities in addition to the leadership uh with Wichita police and fire.

So uh with that I will move to approve that the council adopt the joint resolution and ordinance and regular ordinance amending the membership and responsibilities of the Wichita Cedric County Emergency Communications Advisory Board and authorize the mayor to execute those documents.

Second.

Motion and a second.

Any further discussion?

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 70.

Thank you very much.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Approved that pursuant to section 2.04.090, Councilmember Shepherd's travel expenses as estimated on the travel authorization and expense form to attend local government day in Topeka, Kansas, January 28th through the 29th, 2026 for the purpose of meeting with state legislators regarding community issues consistent with AR 3.1 upon return from travel.

Actual expenses shall be reported to the controller's office.

I move to approve that travel and we'll just add one quick comment.

I want to say thank you to Vice Mayor Glasscock, who will be attending the League of Kansas Municipalities Board Meeting on my behalf on the 29th, so that Councilmember Shepherd can return to Wichita to attend the community-wide prayer in memory of those who lost their lives in the American Airlines crash January 29th of 2025.

With that, 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 70.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Approved that pursuant to section 2.04.090.1.

There will be no expense to the city.

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 70.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Approved that pursuant to section 2.04.090, Councilmember Johnston, Councilmember Glascock, and Councilmember Hoheisel's travel expenses as estimated on the travel authorization and expense form to attend NLC's Congressional City Conference in Washington DC March 13th through the 18th, 2026 for the purpose of representing the City of Wichita by meeting with federal officials 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 70.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Approved that pursuant to section 2.04.090.1.

There will be no expense to the city.

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.

I have one additional travel.

There will be no expense to the city.

I will be attending the state of the state address this evening in Topeka as Governor Kelly provides her address this in Topeka.

I move to approve that the mayor will be attending with no expenses to the city.

Second.

Motion and a second.

Any further discussion?

I see no none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 7 0.

There were multiple travel that were approved by the council today, and I just want to remind the community that it is available and open for anyone to see the 2025 and 2026 mayor and council travel that is located at Wichita.gov slash city council, and on the left hand side or at the bottom, you can see mayor and city council travel for full transparency.

With that, I also have um a couple of things.

Uh I would like staff to add the key to the city votes into our transparency portal as well, so people can see the keys to the city that the council has voted on and whom has voted for those keys.

I would recommend that that happens for 2025 and 2020 and 2026.

And I believe that we've never done that before, so if there's also record for 2024, I would suggest just having one uh full consent agenda item that shows all those so that we can move forward with more transparency on keys to the city.

And with that, uh we're still in council agenda, and I do want to bring uh an item up.

Um, as you can see, we had public agenda, and people can sign up to speak during public agenda, or if there's space available, people can come and address the council.

And um during the agenda review on Friday, we discussed how uh if council wanted to bring up any topics, uh, maybe it's better to place it in the uh council member agenda portion of the meeting so we can have that discussion.

Um, so with that, I actually do want to bring up the sales tax.

Um first I have a couple questions uh for staff regarding the sales tax.

Um I don't know whom can address this, but we have had several questions regarding um the repeal or delay of this sales tax vote.

Can legal address what uh that protocol is?

Is there any opportunity to repeal or delay this vote?

Um Mayor Jennifer McGone, city attorney.

The election can only be held March 3rd or August in the August primary in 2026.

Um you have an ordinance that was adopted setting it for March 3rd.

Um there is um within the council authority the ability to repeal that ordinance.

Um I think timing may be um an issue we want to consider.

I don't know when the notices of the election uh the mail ballots go out from the county, but they're they're probably getting close to that date.

Um that's a consideration, I guess.

Um, but that it would be a vote to repeal if the council wishes to change the date from March 3rd to another date.

And can you address how many votes are needed in order to repeal an ordinance?

This ordinance would require four votes, not five.

Five again, we've heard a lot of feedback after Friday's news that it will cost more and that there will be some changes to polling locations for the special election.

So I wanted to get the information in front of everyone regarding the possibility to stop delay or repeal, and so I have I've been really uh conflicted with comments from community and again on in December when this council voted, what we voted on was not for or against the sales tax, it was to allow the community to make that final decision.

That's what that vote was back in December.

So again, I voted along with the council previous to council member Shepard.

We voted to allow it to move forward because, in my opinion, I really wanted to have the community have the say on big projects and big investments, and we needed to get the buy-in from the community, and if the community wanted us to move forward after that special election, then we would be moving forward.

And if the community wanted us to move forward after that special election, then we would be moving forward.

But my vote was not about my individual opinion for or against the sales tax, but again, rather to let the community vote in an election.

However, over the last few weeks, I've also heard various responses on the sales tax proposal.

And on Friday, we learned of additional costs and changes in polling locations.

And so I believe we need to pause with a new council.

There are now new members who are part of this group.

And I wanted to see if anyone would join me in favor of delaying this vote.

Councilmember Shepherd.

Thank you, Mayor.

And I appreciate your concern and for acknowledging that this was a decision that was made prior to my time on council.

I do want to share that as we learned about the information of polling locations being impacted that Friday morning.

And so members of our community are actively working on a plan to provide transportation for those disproportionately impacted at no cost to the city to ensure that those whose polling locations were changed are able to get to the polls.

So I wanted to provide that information, and I wanted to make sure that my colleagues have that information as well, and that a more thorough plan regarding that transportation that we are going to be providing with the help of community members, it will be available at the workshop scheduled in January 27th.

I will add one uh additional note.

I did ask communications regarding uh transit being free on days of election.

That has been tradition for the city of Wichita to provide free bus um free bus rides on days of election, which include the primary and the November general election.

And I asked if this special election would also be the same, and the answer was yes.

Councilmember Hoheisel.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I think anybody that's paid attention to this bench over the past couple of months kind of know where I lie in this.

Um, there's not really any good suggestion here.

If we do delay it till August, um dependents will not be at the polls as well.

Um, but again, it's something that I hear the community and their concern that this is too rushed and giving us time to um actually debate and kind of come up with the issue.

It is like building an airplane as we're flying it, trying to get to March 3rd.

Um, I do think the workshop later this month will offer clarification, but again, I have been in support of um delaying this from the start.

So council member Johnston.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I did have heartburn originally over 150,000 spent, a little more heartburn now, it's 170,000.

Um I kind of wonder why the county doesn't just pay that they have certain responsibilities.

I I realize this is a special election, but it is their job to hold elections, and I obviously I don't know all the details there.

Um what I am concerned about is if we do delay this, the funding for second light will not be there.

Um it's no secret, that's why I ran for city council was for the home situation, um, and now housing, because that's the bottleneck uh for getting people uh out of homelessness, the housing is so working on that a lot now, and this would provide fund for housing.

And and in our workshop, we will discuss how much should go to housing.

So, and I think that'll be a very robust and lively discussion for that.

Um, a lot of community members are interested in that also.

Um, and and the money for first responders, I think is very, very important.

Um they deserve it.

Um three or four firehouses that I would not want to live in myself, and I think it's important to get them the um the equipment and the the places to to sleep or to live that are that are decent.

Also, the the people we didn't bring this a group brought this to us.

A lot has been made about them.

Unjustifiably, I think, in a lot of cases.

But they took a chance on putting us out there and uh putting themselves out there and raising money to promote this.

And they have already spent a lot of money.

So I am also cognizant of that fact too.

So that would be essentially flushed down the toilet if we did if we did delay it.

So that also concerns me.

So it's a tough decision.

Councilmember Ballard.

Thank you, Mayor.

So what exactly are you asking or are you asking to propose this today?

Are you asking for us to vote on this today?

Is that so I asked legal what would we what would be required to delay this or repeal this?

And I would assume the next steps, if that was um something that this body would be interested in, would require a special meeting.

Is that accurate, Lost?

Mayor, that is accurate because we'll need some steps to clarify with the county where we are on a timeline and to draft the appropriate document for an agenda.

So I think if it because time is of an issue, I think we'll need a special meeting to be on the safe side.

I don't know when that would be, but that's what I would suggest if this is the will of the council.

But are you asking for us to make a decision today, right now on if we are I'm asking if anyone would like to join me in delaying this vote?

But that vote would be right now.

Yes.

And so I don't really appreciate that.

I appreciate that it's important to you, but I don't like the surprises.

This is uh we did all vote unanimously to put it on the ballot, but this kind of moves the goal post.

And um I just wanted to make the comment that maybe if you could give us a heads up in the future for you know, a big vote uh kind of on the fly, and it's it's too important for us to um give it any more black eyes, unfortunately.

And so um, yeah, I just wanted to make sure that I understand what you're asking.

Mayor, if I if I may, I think today you're not deciding whether to repeal it or not.

You're asking whether council would entertain a motion for an executive session, or I'm sorry, for a special meeting.

I don't mean but words to mouth, but is that what you're you're asking?

That would be accurate because I know that it would require a formal vote, which then when you have formal votes from the council, it has to come from the official agenda, and this agenda was released on Thursday evening, uh, Friday morning.

We have our agenda review, so nothing can be put on the on today's agenda.

Um, but rather if we did a special agenda, then proper notice would be given.

So again, this is not to delay the vote today as a vote, but rather to have a special meeting to discuss the delay of the vote.

And so that's what I'm asking if anyone wanted to join me in doing that.

Councilmember Joseph.

Thank you, Mayor.

And a couple of questions.

Um I guess it's for legal.

How quickly could that special meeting take place?

Excuse me.

We under the ordinance you can set a special meeting with reasonable notice.

I mean, it could be theoretically tomorrow, um, but we would just need a little bit of time to prepare the document to dot our eyes across our T's and check with the election commissioner's office on a timeline and where we need to be on this.

So I mean it could happen in a day or two, it could happen this week.

Thank you.

Um follow-up question to that for legal um during that special meeting where there will be an opportunity to entertain public comment.

Absolutely, council member, yes.

Uh final follow-up.

Thank you.

Um is there an opportunity to have individuals such as the election commissioner present at that special meeting to educate the public on how we arrived at the at this position of the polling locations because I think the public deserves to understand the process and how that occurred.

The council fits the councils.

We'll can invite any officials to speak if if they wish to.

Thank you.

Um just a couple of comments that I would like to make on this, and and I again I want to thank the mayor for bringing this conversation up.

I uh agree with many of the sentiments, particularly um council member Johnston, who uh shared a lot of things about the stress and the strain that our city departments are under.

Um I think one of the ways in which we have failed and can do better, I think it's a learning moment, is by exposing the public to the the important needs of our city departments.

I've had the luxury and the privilege to recently go through orientation, and I'm amazed by what our departments, our staff, the backbone of this government um is doing with very limited capacity with very limited resources.

And the reality is we are at a crossroads here, and I am really grateful for the people that work hard every single day, from the people like Norma down in the city office all the way to the individuals who are in the city manager's office.

But I believe that given the information that I've been exposed to, the way that we've been operating is just simply not sustainable.

But I believe we have not done our due diligence to educate the general public on what that looks like and mobilizing that opinion.

So I think it's fair for many members of our community to be concerned about this process and why it needs to happen at the rate that it's happening, because we've not opened the doors uh, so to speak, so that they can be exposed to those realities.

When people say this process is rushed, I believe that one interpretation is that they want time to understand what's really being decided, and I believe that that is fair.

Everyone deserves clear information before they vote.

I wanna say that again.

Everyone deserves clear information before they vote.

But I also believe that we owe it to the general public to be honest about how most people actually will engage with democracy.

The reality is that most folks do not have time to track government proposals for months at a time.

They tune in when something is real, when it's on the ballot, when mailers arrive, we saw that talked about in public forum today.

When the news covers it, when neighbors start talking about it, that's not apathy, that is real life.

Many of us are living it every day.

The needs did not appear overnight.

We heard today as we talk about the CIP.

The mayor brought up a good point of how costs continue to double.

The reality is that inflation is real, deferred maintenance is real, and the fact that expenses continue to grow and revenues do not are also a reality.

And the plans behind it were built throughout years of conversation in this study, in this in this conversation in the city, and the budgeting process.

What's happening now feels rushed to many people, but the problems have occurred for various years.

It's moving from analysts to now a public decision.

At the same time, I want to acknowledge a real risk.

Putting a sales tax on an August ballot alongside a gubernatorial race and judicial elections creates one of the most crowded and complicated ballots that voters will ever see and face.

That kind of overload, I believe, can actually make it harder for the everyday working class families to give each issue serious consideration and the attention that it deserves.

When voters are being asked to evaluate who they want as their next governor, when they're being asked to evaluate multiple judges and the decision-making power that they will have on top of a major tax decision, all at once, something gets lost.

And usually it's the nuance, and usually it's the details.

Longer timelines, I believe, do not automatically create better understanding.

In fact, waiting often just pushes bigger decisions into low voter turnout where fewer voices are heard.

If we truly believe in public engagement, then we should put important questions in front of the largest and most diverse group of voters.

But we should also make sure the process is designed so that people aren't overwhelmed when they get here.

I am asking the council and the mayor to let's consider what we have control over.

I think we need guardrails in place.

I think we need to have a serious conversation about what we plan to do with the CIP money, the 197 dollars that we will save if the sales tax pass.

And I think the public should be brought in on that conversation so that they can have a say in where those dollars go and how it impacts their community.

I think we need to shift this conversation about when this vote takes place and how do we open the doors of City Hall to begin to include the public in the conversation over what we have control over.

Thank you.

Councilmember Tottle.

Thank you.

Um, I just wanted to provide some context to a question that was asked of staff.

Um, since I've been here, we've had one special meeting.

It was July of 2020 during COVID, and we did have physicians present.

So it is um possible as um legal has advised that if we wanted to have um folks come, such as the election commissioner, we could.

Um to say I'm frustrated and baffled is like the understatement, I think, of the century.

Um it was brought up that we were gonna vote today, and now it's we're not gonna vote today, we're gonna have a special meeting.

That's not transparent, that's not consistent.

It's not giving anyone in the community any trust in us when we can't even decide, oh, I'm gonna bring it up today and we're gonna vote on it.

No, now we're gonna have a special meeting.

It doesn't allow you know the community to know we meet Tuesdays at nine.

They know to tune in, they know to come to the meeting.

Now we may have a special meeting tomorrow.

People can't just take off work to come and show up.

So I'm just incredibly frustrated with how this is happening.

Um, it's not transparent and it's not consistent, and that's incredibly unfortunate for Wichita.

Vice Mayor Glascock.

Thank you.

I uh echo every single word said by councilmember Tuttle, Councilman Shepherd, and uh Councilmember Ballard.

I'm gonna add a couple of words before councilmember Shepard who added um his name on the board.

The delay, the surprise, and the frustration actually happened on Friday morning when we received an email letting us know that it was gonna cost more, and that many voters would not be at their polling location with new information, it does change things, it changes things because it was something we did not know in December.

So that is why I'm asking for this discussion, because when you're given new information, and we've been told that the mail-in ballots have not yet been sent, there's still a small window of conversation that can still there's an opportunity to be had.

Therefore, I'm just asking again would any council member be interested in having a special meeting, and that special meeting would be an actual vote whether or not to delay that sales tax vote.

Again, as I was clear from the beginning, this council without councilmember Shepard voted to put it on a ballot in a special election in March.

That was the vote.

The vote was not in favor or in opposition of that proposal, because again, as a council, we cannot be for or against as official members of this body.

We can, however, educate, and again, once we were surprised with new information on Friday morning, the immediate reaction is to let the community know.

And I'm very grateful because this body was in agreement that that information needed to be put out to the public.

And as you recall, part of transparency and full clear communication, the communications department of the city of Wichita sent out the news release with that new information.

So again, this council is trying its best to be transparent, to be communicative and to be clear.

And so when new information is given, I do believe that there is an opportunity for us to have a discussion about this, and this is the appropriate portion of the meeting to have that discussion.

Councilmember Shepard.

Mayor Wu, thank you.

I would be interested in supporting you in making sure that the public has an opportunity to comment.

I mentioned that we need to open the doors of City Hall.

And um I'm not gonna pretend that many people have not reached out already to say that they are concerned about the process, and I believe that we owe it to the public to hear their concerns in a formal setting.

Um I mentioned that I would not be supportive of delaying, but I would be supportive of calling a special meeting to ensure that the public has an opportunity to comment.

But I would also make sure that during that special meeting that we ask the public to come with what they would like to see from the savings of the potential 197 million dollars that it will come from the CIP.

I think it's important that we focus on the things that are within our control, and that we also have a contingency plan in place.

And I would like to ask the city manager to also ensure that staff share with the public what what happens if this sales tax fails, because we're talking about if it passes, but the real reality is it may fail, and there are consequences on the other side of that, and the public deserves to know what that consequence is as well.

So again, Mayor, I would support you in that.

Um, as long as the public has an opportunity to share their concerns, but also their aspirations.

Councilmember Tuttle.

Thank you.

But I'm gonna start with legal and with city manager, if that's okay.

Um, if we do call a special meeting, and I guess this question is ultimately for the mayor.

If we have a special meeting, is the an agenda item, you know, is it to delay the election until August?

Because if we're just gonna have a meeting to discuss it, we have a workshop on January 27th, and we could make a vote that we allow public comment on January 27th and not have a special meeting.

So I think the mayor needs to say that if we're having a special meeting, her intention is to have an agenda item to delay this.

If otherwise having a special meeting just discuss it with no agenda is futile, and like I said, we could just have the conversation during the January 27th meeting.

So I I know that's more editorializing than a question, but Mayor is the purpose of a special meeting to that you your intent is to make a motion to delay this until August.

That is accurate.

Okay.

Where again this is not a vote right now because you cannot, and I know it's a a bit confusing for folks who are tuning in right now, but we cannot legally make a binding vote on something that is not on an agenda, therefore we have to have a special meeting with an agenda with the intention of again delaying this vote until August.

Councilmember Johnston.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, I agree with councilmember Tuttle.

Um I think it's it's very confusing.

Uh we did not bring this proposal forward.

A separate group brought this proposal forward.

Uh we passed it.

Um they raised money to to advertise to to pass it uh for the yes vote.

Um there's a no vote committee come going to um they've already spent a lot of money.

So I think if we if we do rescind the vote, then we they lose trust people lose trust of government.

We're wishy-washy.

Yes, one, no, another one, go back and forth, back and forth.

So I think trust in government is a factor here, and I think it's trust and government that we don't do what we say we're gonna do, and they are invested money uh in this vote, and uh if we delay it, that money is wasted.

So I think there is an issue of trust of government, but it's a different perspective than maybe maybe what the mayor sees.

So I think we can have a discussion on like councilman Shepard said, uh, a good time to do that.

I agree with councilman Tuttle would be at our workshop and allow public comment.

Uh we've already had hours of public comment on this.

Um we could have more comment, and I think that would be the appropriate time to do it is during during the workshop.

So and people can plan for that, and it's it's they can just plan for it and they can plan to be here and they can plan their comments instead of being a rushed in a day or two.

This is a question maybe for legal.

So workshop meetings happen the fourth Tuesday of the month, and they typically do not receive any public comment.

If we would like public comment during the workshop, what would be the procedure?

Mayor, I believe that this um January 27th meeting is already been converted to a regular meeting.

So there is there is public comment in a regular meeting, or it could be a consent.

It will now be I believe you voted on on that to make it a regular meeting on January 27th.

So there will be public comment because again, it is now a regular meeting, so this topic of sales tax will still have public comment at the January 27th meeting.

In the meeting portion, yeah, workshop workshops do not, you know, they're they're separate than the the business meeting.

Um, I don't know how the how the orders planned for that day, but I know we changed it to a regular meeting to have a further discussion.

So is there also a workshop portion?

Sorry, we we can we can structure the agenda as to what's the workshop and what's the business portion of that, but as stated, yes, it was converted to a regular meeting, so there will be and we'll structure it so it'll be public comment on the business agenda item, and we can just go ahead and change the workshop uh structure to have the sales tax as part of the uh business structure.

Can I also have a question?

Maybe someone can call the election office, but what is the actual deadline of sending those mail-in ballots?

Because once those mail-in ballots are sent, they cannot the election then has to move forward.

What is that date?

We'll we'll reach out to the election office.

Councilmember Toddle.

I think when we called on Friday, they said that, and and please correct me I'm wrong.

There were we talked to Jennifer.

I know my uh council member Holeheis always there, um, that we have to inform them by close of business this Thursday, or otherwise the election moves forward.

Can you confirm that commit Councilmember Holy South?

That's my understanding.

The ballots go out Friday.

Okay.

So I would be curious too, um, even if we just if there were the votes to delay this until August, we're still gonna have charges, I'm sure, from the county from the election office because they've been doing work already.

So that would be something to you know also consider how much are we already going to spend Vice Mayor Glascock?

Thank you.

Seeing there is no one on the board and there is not a motion pending.

I motion that we adjourn this meeting.

Second.

Excuse me, we have it.

We have an executive session item today.

Um so we can't adjourn until we've we've gone into an executive session.

If it's the will of the council to have an executive session today, we have to hold that in within the meeting.

I am in my motion that we move to executive session as presented in the blue sheet uh that the mayor has.

Second if I may, if that's the will, then we'll need to read it.

Actually, we have a motion and a second currently on the board, which that allows for any council member to have public comment.

Um, I want to say that I would like to have a substitute motion to that motion currently.

Um I substitute my substitute motion is to have another vote regarding a special election prior to this executive session.

Mayor, if I could correct, I think for clarification, what you're asking is for a special meeting.

A special meeting, rather council member hoheisel.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I can second that, but I I am curious.

Um, is that something I believe the mayor can do that unilaterally?

Yeah, it may report.

Council member, under section 2.04.210 of the city code, special meetings provides that the mayor or any four council members shall have the power to call special meetings of council.

So, yes, the mayor or four council members can call a special meeting.

Okay, thank you.

And do we have a date yet?

Confirmation that it is close of business on Thursday, which means you can only have a special meeting either tomorrow or Thursday.

We're working to track that down, so we've got some calls in the fast.

I have received information.

Mail ballots go out on Friday.

Um so I move that this council host a special meeting on Thursday at noon, Thursday at noon, or tomorrow.

I will I will take friendly amendments to the motion.

Let me say the motion first.

I move that the council provide a special meeting on Thursday at a uh hour to be announced to vote on delaying the sales tax vote.

Second motion and a second discussion, council member Shepherd.

Thank you, Mayor Wu.

I just have a question for my colleague, Councilmember Hohaizel.

I want to make sure I'm understanding that ballots go out on Friday.

Yes, sir.

So overseas, overseas mail ballots.

Okay.

So we we would have if we want to delay, we would have to do it by the to council member Tuttle's recollection and the business day Thursday.

Are we sure that that would prevent the county from mailing out those ballots?

Uh that was according to the election commission.

I believe so.

We we'll we'll again confirm, and I have also received information that the election commissioner is not available for a meeting tomorrow afternoon.

Thank you.

I have information that's coming quickly.

I'm sorry.

So Wednesday.

So I will take a do you want the friendly amendment to it to Wednesday?

Tomorrow, Wednesday, to discuss to vote on a delay of the sales tax vote.

Second.

And the meeting will resume here in the council chambers.

Second.

Motion and a second.

Any further discussion?

I see none.

Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes seven zero.