City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I'd like to welcome you to our Monday, December 15, 2025 city council meeting. Would you please join me in the pledge of allegiance? I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Then I'd like to uh introduce Pastor Trevor Rosine from the First Southern Baptist Church and he'll lead us in prayer.

Good evening uh councilmen and and those in attendance. Um before I pray, I'm always like to say thank you for this opportunity to pray for you guys and for our city and just that God would do something great here. And before I ever talk to God, like to have God talk to us through his word. And so fitting to be Christmas time. I want to read through Matthew's gospel for just a moment. Matthew 1:es 21 uh through 23 says this. She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which means God with us. Let's pray. Lord, we are so thankful for this time, for this moment here and now when things are talked about and discussed and decided. And we pray, Lord, that things would be decided in a way that would lead to prosperity for our city, to unity for our city, and for just uh general well-being of the residents of Augusta. We pray that you would give wisdom to those tonight who present, to those who make decisions. We pray that you would give them insights not only to the path that would be at times the easiest, but the to the path that is the rightest, the one that would make the best use of our resources and the best for our people. Lord, we want to thank you that you are a great God, so mighty, the creator of the heavens and the earth. We thank you that you are a God whose thoughts are not our thoughts and ways are not our ways. Yet, Lord, we're thankful, especially during this season. We are reminded that you took on flesh and you dwelt among us. Lord, it is such a good news of the gospel to be reminded that we didn't climb the hill to you. We didn't earn our way to you, but you stepped into our world to redeem us. Lord, we're thankful for Christ and what

he's done for us. We pray that we would live in such a way that we would remember that the peace that Jesus gives is eternal. We do pray this all in your holy name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, pastor. Council, let's go review and approve the minutes from the December 5th meeting. I move for the approval of the minutes of the December 1st, 2025 city council meeting. Second. Got a motion and a second. All those in favor say I.

I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Now, let's review and approve our appropriation ordinance number 12.

I move for the approval of appropriation ordinance number 12 dated December 3rd, 2025. Second. Got a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? Motion carries. That brings us down to our visitor section. Is there anybody here that's not already on the agenda and you have something you want to talk about? This would be the time. Okay, let's move down to our first item of business. I'll open the public well it's a public hearing to take input and comment on the proposed 2025 budget amendments. So staff mayor and council um you were provided this information at the notice for the scheduled public hearing. Um the information and the the requests have not changed since that notice. Um it was published in the Butler County Times Gazette on November 25th. So we did meet the 10-day requirement. Um, and I've not received comment from anyone directly. Um, I'll go through these kind of quickly because most of these you took action during a meeting or directed us during a work session for the budget to include these purchases. And so those purchases were made knowing that these amendments were required in the majority of these. So if I go too fast, stop me. And or if I'm taking too long, stop me. So um, we'll start first with the special alcohol fund. Um this one we just need to increase the budget authority by $195. There was you took action in um December of last year to grant 14,700 and there was only 14,55 budgeted at the time. So those were already paid out. The emergency communication fund, um we're looking at increasing it by 43,000 from 51,500 to 94,500. Um, public safety typically uses this to purchase their camera systems for their building. Um, or they utilized it to replace a camera system for their building. Um, the one they had in place

was failing. The cost of the equipment to install it was $18,000 in total and there's sufficient funds in there to cover that expense, but that one was not specifically budgeted for. We also changed our phone system from Cox to IDAT Tech in late spring. And as a result of that, Cox had previously recorded all of our calls for us. And that was not something that we were aware that I wasn't aware when I was planning for this change. And then they didn't know that IDA Tech wouldn't automatically record those. And so they were required to purchase equipment. Um they have not received it yet. They anticipate the bids will be about $25,000 and they did expect to make that expense before the end of this year. Um so that was also a fun an expense that was not included in the budget, but a needed one. The next one is the vehicle Well, did any quy have questions about either one of those funds before I move on? Okay, sorry. Um the vehicle reserve fund um increasing budget authority by $4,000. Uh that is the fund that we use to pay for all of the leased vehicles for the general fund and which would include community development, parks, public safety, um cemetery. We now have 21 leased vehicles with 12 of them being paid out of that fund. the remaining are out of various utility funds. There were three new lease vehicles in 2025. When establishing the budget, we always include the amounts of the anticipated lease, but a lot of the times the um the aftermarket equipment that's added is quite expensive with a lot of our vehicles and some of those we were we're paying for those out of those funds as well. And so we went over the budgeted expense by about $4,000 or we're anticipating we do by the time we pay our December lease payments. uh fund 33 water bond PNI. I'm increasing it from 591,000 to 660. Um this is related to the KDH revolving loan. We had originally um when we adopted the 2025 budget, we had the loan and we were using it to pay for

the state street water tower rehab, the lift station improvements and purchase of the water AMI. As you're aware, Octoberish, we um moved those purchases of the AMI to a bond issuance. Uh at the time when we estimated what our annual expenses were going to be for that fund, we did not have that KDH loan file finalized or the water AMI equipment finalized. And so we had to make an estimate of what we anticipated and we were just shy by about $69,000. Um there are sufficient funds in there to pay for that. Um it's just the budget authority had been um needs to be amended in order to allow for that expense. Any questions on those two? Uh the electric reserve fund and this one's a kind of a large expense or increase in expenditures. We budgeted $479,500 and we're requesting 1,23,500. In the 24 budget, we um amended it by $500,000 as a placeholder uh to complete the base grant projects. Um we had some out-of-pocket expenses that were not covered by the base grant. And so those were to be paid in 2024, but part of that rolled over into 2025, which was the $25,000. And so that would require an amendment. And then at the September 2nd meeting this year, the council approved the purchase of the Brightpan salt st sand storage for the public works campus for $148,190. At the October 6th meeting, you um also approved a construction project for that same project or a construction contract for that same project for $179,15. Um so in total that was $335,000 that was not accounted for in the 2025 budget. um that is where electric is paying their portion towards that to help um for the building that they're taking over from that was the solid waste building. So they're paying for that building through that project. And then KMEA has been working with the city on the 69 KV line and the Southwest

substation. We anticipate that the cost of those projects will exceed again the budget authority for professional services by about $184,000. All of these are um projects that we've either started or we're in the process of or have completed. Um and all were necessary. But again, there's funds available, just not budget authority to expend those. And part of those were planned expenses maybe for future years, but we were able to get them done this year. So, um the wastewater treatment plant, that one has been out there for several years. We usually have to amend it a little bit. Um that is simply just to close out that fund. uh we are now using the um wastewater reserve instead of the wastewater treatment plant. And what has happened is as people pay past dues and accounts that are in collection, those revenues are all tied to a specific expense and there's some of them that are still paying from when we had that wastewater treatment plant fee. We have changed our software, so that's no longer occurring and it's just going to fund 47. But this last transfer will in fact close that fund for the 11,178 and zero it out. Any questions on those two? Okay. Solid waste and we're asking for an increase of $325,000. And that's specifically tied to um the council authorization on June 2nd of 2025 to purchase the new 31yard refuge vehicle in the amount of 325,000. We planned on expending that in 2026, but um if the decision was made to go ahead and make that purchase now because of market conditions um with the price volatility and potential tariff impacts and we've actually already made the purchase and we have the truck I believe already. So um that resulted in we did save by 8 an estimated $8,000. Um we don't know for sure, but that's what they're estimating that the savings was by doing it this year instead of next year. and water fund is the final fund. We're asking from a for a $685,000 increase

from 2000 or 2,582,690 to 3,267,690. At the May 29th budget work session, council was updated on the uh water storage building project. Um it spanned multiple budget years for planning and construction. And at that meeting, the council was informed the expenses were just recorded in 2025, which caused the need for a budget amendment. um those so some of those were included in the 24 budget and it rolled over. So while there were still funds available because that had not been expended, the budget authority did not exist. Um at the October 7th, 2024 meeting, uh the city council in 2024, the city council ratified the city manager's approval of the proposal from NOWAK for $213,190,000 for the emergency repair to the molding water line um that went under the Whitewater River. we had to work with BNSF um because of BNSF that always delays the project and getting permits and licensing and flagmen and so instead of occurring in 2024 it actually occurred in 2025. So again um that purchase was already planned for it was just it occurred in 2025. So that would require the additional amendment that and the um salt the water storage building. So with that I will turn it over if you have any questions. charge me.

Go ahead.

Yes. Uh, mayor and council, just a few quick comments. This is for the benefit of people at at home on benefit for you all as well since we only do this once a year. Just a quick reminder. Um, when you approve your annual budget, what you are doing is you are setting an expenditure authority, you are setting a cap um for all of those different funds. And so, as Erica was indicating, whenever you have um expenditures that end up exceeding that, um it's not necessarily an issue of whether you have money in your accounts or you have money available to make the payment. What you don't have is the authorization because you approve the authorization when you approved the budget 12 plus months ago. And so when uh the the way that the the state has you address that is through the budget amendment process and what you're doing is recognizing those things that happen uh sometimes that you can't foresee or sometimes emergencies pop up or stuff just doesn't work out as planned. Um, in this case, you can see there was a lot of timing issues when whether it was permits or just whether it started at the end of the year and then spanned over into a new calendar year when the new budget took effect. There's a variety of reasons that can cause that to happen. But the these are not issues that speak to our our ability to make the payments. It speaks to whether you had it authorized in this calendar year or not. And so, uh, Erica just did a good job going through all of the specific actions you've taken throughout the year. And, uh, that's the purpose of the amendment process is to adjust the authorization amount. Um, just to make sure that, uh, we fall within the budget ultimately that you that you have adopted. So, just a little bit of history for anybody watching at home or

a little bit deeper explanation of why you do this each year. Josh, would you refresh my memory on what is the water storage building where it's at? Would we refresh my memory on that?

Yeah. Um, so it's right there by the water plant. So there's an old Quanet hut building that's kind of on the north side and that's always um that's always kind of been our overflow storage maintenance areas where we store parts and things like that. It just wasn't serving our needs. Hasn't for a long time. Um and then uh the water distribution team was also split off and operating out of the uh the old red metal building that's on uh on Fifth Street near Fifth and Grove. And so this new maintenance building is now south of the plant, south of the million gallon tank. I'll show you on a map real quick. So this is the uh the old quantit hut I was talking about. That's where a lot of materials were stored. And then over here is the uh the red building, the old salvage yard building where the distribution team had some of their stuff as well. And so what we did is we've essentially replaced those two buildings with a single uh main building which the aerial doesn't show right now uh but it's just south of this million gallon tank and sits on this property right here. You you took a few years acquired those properties over time. Uh now the city has control of everything on this side of the roadway. Um, we recently relocated the compost mulch yard up here so that the new salt and sand storage building could be installed down here. So, if you go out there today, there's a new structure here. That's the salt sand storage building. And then up here, there's a new structure. That's the water maintenance shop.

Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Anybody else have any questions? Okay, let's open a public hearing for comments from the public. There are none. So, I will close the public hearing and I will ask the council for a motion and a vote on these amendments. I'll make a motion to approve the proposed 2025 budget amendments. Second. Got a motion and a second to approve those budget amendments. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you.

Who was the second on that motion? Okay. Thank you. Okay. Uh Josh, do we want to wait for Kevin or Oh, sorry Kevin. I didn't see you back there. Okay. We're going to uh conduct a public hearing to discuss the IRBs for the housing rehabilitation at Country Club Tower and consider approval of ordinance number 2259 authorizing the city of Augustus to issue its taxable industrial revenue bonds series 2025 and other related documents. So, staff.

Yes. Uh, mayor and council, I'm going to give you a a quick background just on how we got here and then I'm going to let Kevin walk you through all the the technical components of where we stand with the uh with the project. Uh so if you backtrack to 2023 when this all started uh Country Club Towers I believe was uh newly acquired I think is the situation that happened here by this firm that wanted to do a major renovation project and uh improve the living facilities at that apartment complex. They approached you all in uh and went through the process for consideration of industrial revenue bonds. It included a a costbenefit analysis and then uh you ultimately initiated the process with a resolution just to to allow the project to move forward with the IRBs. they've completed the project and uh at a prior meeting you were given an update indicating that now that their project is complete they have finalized the amount that they would like to go out for the uh the bonds and that amount ended up exceeding the amount that was in that first resolution. So, per our bond council's guidance, um we asked the uh the developer to go back to Witchaw State and do an updated cost benefit analysis since it since their request was a substantively different number than what we we originally looked at. And so, uh that is attached. And there's a lot of detail here, but what I just want to draw your attention to, um, to me, this is the easy one sheet that I always go and look to whenever they do the cost benefit analysis. This is a requirement when you have uh property tax abatements incentives that you're offering. Uh what they do is they plug in um all of the the different information about the project, the the investment that's being made, the

incentives that are being received back, and then they spit out a number. It's a ratio. That's that's your benefit cost ratio. This is your return on investment, your ROI. You may not be familiar with that term from business. And so uh through this analysis what they're showing for the city of Augusta after the adjustment with the revised numbers the uh revised benefit cost ratio is 2.21 essentially meaning for every I believe for every dollar of incentive given uh we're expecting to generate $221 from the project. That that's basically how their costbenefit analysis worked. Now, in the original uh costbenefit analysis, that number was much higher because they hadn't built in um the actual tax incentive to that yet. And then the uh the project cost itself went up. Um but I would say that I I think that 2.21 probably meets standard for a lot of cities for consideration of incentives. Uh some cities actually pass policies that establish a threshold for when you will consider those incentives. Augusta doesn't have an established threshold. Um so uh basically what we look at is anything greater than one one means that the project is expected to generate more benefit than what it would have had the project not occurred. So in this case, the revised cost benefit analysis has given you a return on investment of 2.21. So, we're here tonight to uh do the public hearing again where those results that I just spoke to can be presented to the public and discussed and then uh once those comments are done, then we will flow through the rest of the

process of uh actually moving forward with ordinances uh agreements that uh actually formalize the arrangement and uh get the industrial revenue bonds actually issued started. So, um, with that, I'm going to stop, let you all move forward with the public hearing component. Um, if there's any questions on the costbenefit analysis, we can dig into that deeper and then, um, from there, I say we turn it over to Kevin and then let him walk through, uh, the item D, uh, where we speak to the ordinance and all the various agreements that are included in the packet. Okay, we'll consider the public hearing open. Okay, we'll close the public hearing. And with that, Mr. Cowan, you're on board here. You're up.

Good evening. Uh, and as the city manager has pointed out, this is kind of a continuation of things we talked about before. We talked a lot at the last meeting about what had changed. Why do we need to have another hearing update that costbenefit analysis and you have all of that that detail now? Uh, you've met the prerequisites of the statute. You had the hearing. You have the costbenefit analysis. And now you can consider an ordinance that would approve the issuance of the bonds first and foremost. Second, it would uh approve and authorize a property tax abatement, but in connection with that, a payment in lie of taxes agreement. And we've talked about that where the company's agreeing to sort of hold all the taxing subdivisions harmless and continue to pay an amount that's equal to what was being paid on that facility before they acquired it and made the improvements. And that amount is $21,085 per year that the company will pay for each of the next 10 years. Uh and that will be treated like a payment of taxes. So, it will go to the county and they'll aortion it among the taxing subdivisions in accordance with your mill levy. So, that's not all city tax dollars. Um, but a share of that will be the the city tax dollars.

Kevin, could you say that amount again? I'm sorry. $21,085. Okay. Thank you.

Uh, and then there are a number of other documents that are in the packet. Uh there's uh a bond agreement, there's a lease, there's a site lease, and I don't want to spend too much time on it, but uh and I think we've talked about it before, under a Kansas law, the city has to take some interest in the facility, a real property interest, so that bonds can be issued to improve it. And most importantly, so then the improved project can be leased back to the company. And then the company has a lease payment obligation, and that's how debt service on bonds would be funded. That's the revenue stream. So again, you have that in your packet. The company will lease that property to the city and then the city will issue the bonds and lease it back uh to the company and and that will comply with our statutory requirements. Uh in this case, the company is buying its own bonds. So I'll confess to you that over time, I'm not sure they're going to be making the lease payments. Um, we'll have a bond trustee and the bond trustee is uh a third party that is to collect those lease payments, but if they have to send it right back out from where it came back to the company, it's usually just a a document uh documentation of that. You don't have to send us uh that money, so we send it back to you immediately. We'll note every year that that was paid. And what I would expect is at the end of the 10 years uh of the property tax abatement incentive, the company will probably just turn the bond back in and say we cancel it. We consider it paid and but the bond does have to be outstanding the entire time of the incentive. So, uh, for 10 years and we encounter that sometimes a company in two years may decide we we'd just like to get rid of this bond and we always advise, well, you can do that. But then

the next cycle of the city filing updated information with the county. Uh, that's an annual requirement to show that things are as they should be, the project is still being used the way it's supposed to be used, all the requirements of the incentives are being met. Uh, the city won't be able to do that. they'll say the bonds are no longer outstanding and so I would definitely expect them to stay out for 10 years until the property tax uh incentive is complete. Uh and then in terms of timing, we're hoping to to close this, which is mostly a document closing and making sure everything's signed and filed uh next Tuesday the 23rd. And then that will be it uh for the city hopefully for a while. on the project hopefully will be very successful. Uh but uh I think that's all I had. City manager did a good job on the costbenefit analysis. I you know you can always look at anything above one as being a positive particularly in the shorter term. And I think the goal probably from where you all were sitting is to incentivize this so we have a nice facility for decades looking forward. And so hopefully that's the payoff is for decades you're going to have a nice housing facility in the community.

Okay. council. I believe uh I'll make a motion for the approval of ordinance number 2259 authorizing the city of Augusta, Kansas to issue its taxable industrial revenue bond series 2025 for country club Towers LLC in the aggreate principal amount of 5,755,746.14 for the purpose of the acquisition, renovation, construction and equipment equipmenting of the residential apartment facility and authorizing other related documents. Second. Have a motion and a second. Erica, would you call the role? Martin, yes. Yes. Scott,

yes. Richardson, yes. Davis, yes. Brown, yep. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Kevin. Thanks, Kevin. Item number three, agreement for preliminary engineering design services for pedestrian bridge over the Whitewater River. Staff?

Yes. Uh, mayor and council, this is an item you're going to be familiar with as well. It's just a continuation of past actions. As you recall, we recently completed construction on phase one of the Red Bud Rail Trail projects, which was the bridge over Highway 54,4400. Uh for that project, we received a a grant exceeding $4 million ended up I think the total project cost ended up being less than half of that uh once it was constructed. Um, as part of our initial application to KOT, we had always presented the project of of completing the four mile stretch as a two-phase project. So, the highway bridge had a timeline on it per agreement uh that we had with KOT. So, uh, it was separated out and, uh, as part of our application, we had a phase two, which is for the, uh, construction of the bridge to replace the old railroad bridge that used to exist at the, uh, the Whitewater River crossing. We applied for a grant for that bridge, the grant exceeding $5 million. And, uh, earlier, oh gosh, I guess earlier this year, it's been a while. Um we were uh we received the announcement that that grant was successful and the uh the program packaging that KOT put together. Um it's a little bit different than our first TE grant which was an 8020 split and we had a local match on it that we utilized contributions and other federal money to pay for. In this case, uh, KOT has prepared an agreement that covers 100% of the cost of the project up to that amount that we submitted in the application, which was over $5 million. Um, another thing that's different in

this phase 2 application is that our preliminary engineering is also covered by the grant. Normally, that's not. You simply get your construction administration and the uh the actual construction itself. In this case, the preliminary engineering is covered as well. Um, the way that K dot works is uh we have to do a selection process for our engineer. Uh, we put together a request for qualifications, sent that out. um did not get a lot of responses to it, but uh JEO did submit uh their request for qualifications and then um they entered into a negotiation with KOT with the city outlining their scope and uh the project is going to be divided into probably to multiple agreements. This one simply speaks to the preliminary engineering. Once the engineering is done, then we'll probably have another agreement that that speaks to the construction uh when we're ready to to take that out uh for bid there. So, what you're approving tonight is the three-party agreement that uh KOT, City of Augusta, and JEO negotiated where they outlined their scope uh went back and forth with KOT as they reviewed it and then ultimately KOT uh approved the scope and uh this agreement stipulates that the city will uh will enter into agreement with JEO for a cost of services not to exceed the 396,4 $420 and the only obligation that we have to pay anything is if those costs get exceeded. Again, those costs were negotiated with the parties based on the expected scope and uh and we are not responsible for any of that unless the

scope ends up exceeding that amount. Um so that's the agreement you have tonight. It is not the final agreement that you will have related to this project, but this gets us started on phase two where we can actually start working uh towards the design to ultimately get that bridge installed hopefully in accordance with our schedule which I believe the goal was to try to get it let for construction in like Q1, Q2, maybe Q2, 2027. So that's the goal. 2026 is going to be a busy design year, lots of survey. Um, so that that's what you're considering tonight is simply the the engineering design. KOT has already reviewed this. They sent us the agreement with the approved scope and uh we do have Riley from JEO here to help speak to any questions that you might have on the agreement. Otherwise, I will stand for any questions that you may have.

Council I do want to add this is a great opportunity for the city of Augusta. Just an awesome project. Josh is going to be very humble, but this is really brought to you guys because of his efforts and other city staff efforts of putting together a terrific application submitting to KOT and then Kott's continued partnership with the city. So be wrong of me not to recognize any of that. How soon will you start on your design?

So city will sign this. It still has to go back to K do for signature. Um as soon as they get that signed and back to us. Then we have to get survey going. um design typically will take a month or two once survey gets started before we get files back for for um our design. Yeah,

Josh, you might have just said and I didn't hear it properly, but the state going to be running this like they did the one over the highway or

define running. No. Um so that they they will have a deep involvement in the project. Um they're again they're funding it at 100%. So I believe they will probably have a a similar level of review of the engineering documents that are done. So if you remember on the first project uh Schwab beaten did the design but then there was a lot of review and back and forth with KOT's engineers uh verifying everything tossing out ideas asking questions and then uh so it's it's kind of collaborative um per these agreements we are uh I give you an acronym we are the the LPA and I I forget what all that means but essentially we are ultimately responsible for the project But bear in mind, Kada will have a deep involvement in it and I believe that you guys will probably have to be submitting all along the way probably like a 30% plan set, a 60%, a 90, you'll have a whole bunch of back and forth if you want to give them a little bit insight how that works.

That's accurate. So, because like Josh said just a little bit ago, um the goal is to have letting in Q1, Q2 of 27. We'll have uh field check, office check, final check, uh PSN, and then final plan submitt. Um so there will be multiple iterations going to KOT for their review of the design. Um we have a great relationship with them um and their staff. We have several projects that are going through this same program right now, the TA program for other communities. So we are very familiar with the the process itself. Um, again, it's a great partnership with K DOT. Um, they do a great service of making sure you guys have a great design that you'll be happy with once it's finished.

I guess one other question really has nothing to do with the bridge, I don't think, but are we planning on using some of that land for parking or anything like that that should be thought out?

And it not, honestly. It hasn't even been on my radar to this point. um just trying to get the the main project delivered. Um any anything additional that you do uh we will ultimately have to plan out. It's going to be out in flood plane. Um if you're talking about developing any areas that are down close by the river. Um we're going to get into FEMA stuff. We're going to get into flood plane. Um there may be some core permitting. Um there there's a lot of potential with any development that you do out there. It's kind of even independent of of this project. So uh short answer is as the project gets developed ultimately yes we we can look at all those other things of um how do we set up the amenities? How do we make sure that the trails ex access accessible and usable as possible? But for the scope of what's in this agreement and what we're um working with JO and KOT on uh it's not going to be in this agreement and it's not going to be in this project. That doesn't mean that we can't be doing other things concurrently, but it's not part of their scope with this agreement.

Okay. this uh amount of money that we're going to be repaid back by K DOT if it happens that way $396,000. There's not going to be a time limit on that at all. It's a beginning and ending date of any kind. Just Q3, Q2, Q1, uh 27, 26.

I'm not sure. And so I don't know if this will answer your question. So let me just speak to calendar real quick. So when we submit our grant, we have to give them a rough calendar of what we expect to deliver and when. Um they have been working with us because I believe they had quite a few delays as well uh even in their contract reviews. So the project is is starting later than we all kind of anticipated. uh but they were uh they were working with us and that that Q1 Q2 time frame for letting is what they were comfortable with and so we are working off of that calendar. So that that's where the calendar came from. Now your question uh seems to be about the funding and if the funding is tied to the calendar in some way. Is that

usually the longer it goes out the more it's going to cost? I would say just roughly

possible. I I don't know how to answer your question. And I mean if it so the number comes from a a a scope of services that JO has repaired where what they have done is uh take in all of their different uh people could be draftsmen engineers uh technical I don't know technical writers whatever those folks are that all have like an hourly rate assigned to them and then they have to look at the scale of the project and and say this is how many hours that sort of person is going to have in order to deliver um the the tangible product when this is all done. And uh then they negotiate that back and forth with KOT who also scopes projects all the time and they they look at it and say is that fair? Is that not fair? Is that how long we think that should take? Why is why do you have this number here versus that number? And so it's a collective process where they land on this $396,000 number. So it is possible that that could be exceeded but the basis of it is JEO and KOT looking at it together and the city as well but again we're not going to be as versed as they are um and then making sure that that's a scope that they believe will deliver the project

if that is exceeded is the city going to be capable of handling that?

Yeah. So I would recommend similar to what we did on the uh on the first bridge, if it is exceeded and you do have any cost, it should be eligible for a K dot cost share as well, which is how we paid our local portions uh on on that first bridge. So if for any reason that does get exceeded, we should have new K dot cost share money, which again is federal money that works its way down to us for transportation projects and we can submit uh new costs uh with each year. We just we did that on the first bridge. So uh we don't have any more money this year, but come February, we will have more money available to us. And it's about 115,000 a year is what is what's been tracking. and uh if we don't need it for this project, we can use that 115,000 for other transportation projects in the city. So,

thank you.

I guess I had one thing I wanted to excuse me, want to verbalize. Um, I know some of the and it's and it's mine also kind of a fear I guess and concern I think is out there with the river is making sure that we engineer it so that we don't have any big issues with the banks and things like that flooding and washing away as well as the uh trail itself. You know, every time we have a big rain that it's not underwater, we're having to shut the trail down and things like that. So, right, I guess like I said, I just want to make sure that that was verbalized and things. We take that in consideration as we're looking at that and things so that we don't have those issues come up down the road,

right? And part of our our design services will be to to be just do just that. Um, we're going to be analyzing it to see how frequently it's going to be over topping by storm water. Um, because we can design you a bridge that sits 100 feet in the air that'll never be run, but that's not economical. Um, but fortunately, you've got the best engineers on this project. Um, we'll be looking at every single aspect and making sure you have a quality product.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I'll make a motion to approve agreement number 1119-25 with JEO Consulting Group Incorporated in the Secretary of Transportation of the State of Kansas acting by and through Kansas Department of Transportation KDOT for preliminary engineering design services for project number TE 0554-01 phase 2 of the Red Bud uh rail trail. a pedestrian bridge over the Whitewater River. Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any other questions? All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you all. Look forward to kicking this off. Absolutely. Item number four, final plat and drainage plan for the Red Bud Ridge staff.

Yes, mayor and council. This is another item that has come before you previously um that we're trying to wrap up by the end of the year. Um this is a final plat for Red Bud Ridge. Um it is a residential development that is approximately 4 4.4 acres um infill project located east of Ohio and south of David. The project includes 22 residential units across 19 lots consisting of a mix of single family homes and smallcale attached units consistent with R3 zoning district and was approved by the um and the approved plan development overlay. The project has progressed through all required steps of the city's subdivision and zoning regulations thus far. Um as a reminder, city council approved a resoning on November 17th to R3. um they approved the plan development overlay on December 1st of 2025 and the action before you today is approval of that final plat and drainage plan that has been submitted. Um the planning commission again did review it and voted unanimously in approval. Um nothing has changed with the site layout or the engineering since previous um review. So I I'll stand for any questions. I know they have their engineer with BHC here. This is Joe Hutcherson. Um, he can answer any question. The developers are here as well. Um, so if not, I would recommend approval of the final plat and drainage plan for case 2025-22 Redbed Ridge as recommended by the planning commission.

I just have one, Cammy, and you may not know this, but maybe somebody else can help me out. So, once we get all the Tes crossed and eyes dotted, what kind of timeline do we have for shovel ready, ready to go? That was my question. Yes. Yeah. We'll let Owen speak to that. And to add to that question, so you can knock it out at one time. Um, is there anything after we vote, is there anything else they need from us, the city, to vote on again or uh, yes, there'll be a lot more steps. What's a lot? So, you got two more tonight. A lot from this. Yeah. And and I can get into some more detail about Can we be done by the first of the year with all this? a lot.

No, no, no. This is just approval of the final plaque getting done by the end of the year. Um, then we will start into more of the development phases and into the finance setting up the financials um for the project. So, Kip, your first question. Go ahead and introduce yourself. Owen Shiggley, Tenno Oak Investments LLC, uh, PO Box 780169, Witchaw, Kansas. Oh, it's mine. Sorry. Yeah. No, that's that's fine. Yeah. My my question was after we get all the paperwork done, so shovel ready, you're digging basement. Are you saying for the infrastructure development or for the actual homes?

Actual homes. We're probably looking at towards the middle late of 2026. Okay. Um I would love for tomorrow, but right, we got to be realistic. It's going to take time to get the in final engineering of where all the infrastructure is, but then getting the dirt moved. Um, it's luckily not a huge project, so dirt work won't take a huge amount of time, but it still needs to take time to do. Perfect. Thank you.

And then Shane, uh, there's starting the next step, which would be the RHID, which is the reinvestment housing district. That is a three-part process and there is a mandatory uh public hearing period for that and that's between the second and the third vote or third resolution if I remember correctly and then there's also the uh initial bonding that would need to occur for those things for the actual infrastructure development. I just wondered on the city's part not the state part of how much how long you think that is the city part. That is the city part.

Yeah. So later in the meeting today, you'll approve there's resolution number one um that's in your packet for approval and that just establishes the RHID district. Then there will be another resolution that comes before you to schedule a public hearing. Um and then there'll be a final vote for an ordinance after that. That's just for the RHID establishment. The planning department will also be working with their engineers to do initial develop a initial utility plan that will give us the cost estimates that we need to establish petitions which will come before the city council for approval. There'll be a developers agreement um that is developed as well. There'll be covenants that we work with the developer to to create. Um once the petitions are approved by city council, then the city will enter into a contract with the engineering firm to do the actual utility design. So that engineering contract will come before you for approval. Once the design work is finalized, I believe that may come before you too. again um there'll be some temporary bonds issued um to finance those infrastructure costs up front and then those will event so that will come to you for approval for the temp notes eventually once the infrastructure is done we'll finalize finalize those as general obligation bonds and establish the special assessment districts um so there this is we're in it for the long haul I would say there's there's numerous other actions that will come before city council for this project. Again, the next steps will be design, engineering contracts, um, and then setting up the proper financing structure.

Do you have an estimated time frame of all these things we're doing here?

So, the resolutions for the RHID are set to finalize April 15th, if I remember correctly. And then once that is done, that would kick up to the secretary of commerce for the state for their final approval. This is after the local and the county have their approvals or veto powers have their say from there. Um but for the SPE uh temporary notes and the infrastructure investment, we have to have those uh project estimates already done for the finalization of the RHID RHID district. That has to be done for the um resolution number three. So that's already going to it's already been in the works. So

a lot of this stuff will be simultaneous. Yes. um like the developers agreement they need for the RHID like you said the initial cost estimates they need for RHID I'd say the engineering design work would probably be the most time consuming when we get to the actual design part I could be wrong um so we'll follow the same timeline that Owen has into April to hopefully break ground at least for the infrastructure mid 2026ish ish late is you know midlate is the realistic viewpoint on that timeline. Okay. So thank you so much for your for I'm sorry I'm excited

I'm excited to have it and it's a lot of legal documentation and even the final like special assessment districts those could take years before those final before those final motions come before you. We can hold tip notes for like two two and a half years. So, so this will be something that this project these stay on our to-do list for for years. So, I got a question. The reserve B, what is that? Is that just easements? Detention. Detention water detention. So, there going to be ponds there. It'll be a detention pond.

Dry. It's detention. So, when it rains and there is overflow that need to be retained, it will be there. But otherwise, it'll be mostly dry. And that was based off of that drainage study that was included. Um, yeah, noting that that was needed. I move for the approval of the final plat and drainage plan for case 2025-22 Ridge as recommended by the planning commission. Second. Got a motion and a second. Are there any other questions? All those in favor say I. Any opposed?

Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you, Tim Owen. Thank you very much for No, they're staying for the next item.

Okay. Item number five, housing study and needs assessment staff.

Yes, mayor and council. On June 16th of this year, the city council approved a professional services contract with Canyon Research Southwest to prepare an updated housing needs assessment, revising the original assessment that was completed in October of 2020. Um, this is part of the application process for the RHID program through the Kansas Department of Commerce. Um, the state requires a current housing needs assessment as supporting documentation. Um and since it was around 5 years old, um the we the council made the decision to go ahead and enter agreement to get an update to that assessment. Um after reading the report, like many Kansas communities, Augusta continues to face a shortage of quality housing across various price points. The demand for new housing units still outpaces supply. This shortage presents a barrier to workforce recruitment and retention and limits future community growth. Augusta's housing stock is aging, dominated by older single family homes with limited multifamily options and very few newly built units. The study identifies the need for 219 to 353 new housing units by 2030. Um, it also noted that rental properties are operating at a 98% occupancy rate. Barriers to new housing include high construction cost, infrastructure expenses, um moderate absorption rates, and competition with older, lowerc cost existing housing. Um just real quick, I made we did kind of a comparison between the 2020 housing assessment and the 2025 housing assessment. And in 2020, the low estimate for the

amount of houses needed was 122 and the new update study said 219. So that's an 80% increase. Um, also if we were looking at the high estimate, it was 249 and the new study shows we need 353 residential units. Um, so there's actually been an increase in the amount of housing that Augusta is in need of since the previous housing study.

Okay, I have another question. Does that address like um patio homes? We have all these empty nesters sitting with three bedrooms houses that we need to get them out of those houses and and into a patio home so we can start getting families in here and get our get them into school system and such. So I would say it doesn't speak directly to that. It does state that some of like one of our policy considerations could be to support different housing types and mixed use developments. Um so that is in there as a policy consideration as well as supporting um RHID districts, MIH, any of those state programs that can help lower those infrastructure costs um to build those developments.

Anybody else? Is this have a cost to it? I mean this study does it have a cost? You've already incurred the cost. Yeah, we we've already incurred the cost. You approved that at a prior meeting. So this this action h doesn't have a new cost. No, this action doesn't have a new cost. This is just you the housing needs assessment is needed to apply for um the RHID. And so this establishes that Augusta has and has demonstrated a need for housing in the community.

With that, I move for the approval of the housing study and needs assessment produced for the city of Augusta by Canyon Research Southwest, Inc. Second. Got a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Now item six, resolution 2025-27 designating the Red Bud Ridge A, replat of lot one, block B, Cottonwood Professional Park, second as a rural housing incentive district staff,

a real quick correction, council. So when and this is uh this is our fault in the typing of it but when the program RHID was originally launched it was called rural housing incentive district they've now changed what the R&H mean. So it's uh what was it? It's reinvestment reinvestment just reinvestment housing reinvestment housing incentive district. So that's a that's a typo on our part for that program. It's still in RHID. Just use the acronym. We don't have to talk about it anymore.

Yes. So, in June of 2025, again, the city council approved a professional services contract um to prepare an updated housing needs assessment to meet state requirements for participation in the RHID program. On September 2nd of 2025, the city council approved resolution 2025-9 authorizing the preparation and submitt of a Kansas Housing Investor Tax Credit application to the housing to the Kansas Housing Resource Corporation. Um, and that was related to this develop to the Redbud Ridge development. And during that same meeting in September, the developer indicated interest in pairing the HITC program with the RHID program to improve project feasibility through tax increment support. Um so the initial the HITC was approved by resolution in September and then it will be hopefully partnered with the RHID program which is the action that's before you right now. Um, again, the updated 2025 housing needs assessment identified a significant need for new owner occupied housing units and confirms the statutory conditions required to establish the RHID for this project. The city anticipates forming a benefit district and levying special assessments to finance the public infrastructure improvements required for subdivision development. This approach reduces the cost burden that would otherwise be carried by future homeowners through annual special assessment payments. The Redbud Ridge RHID structure will be further detailed in a formal RHID development plan and the development agreement brought forward after the statutory public hearing um that Ellen

mentioned. So this motion before you just establishes kind of the boundary of that RHID district as being the plat that you just approved for Red Bud Ridge. So this is just the establishment of the district and this is after this approval then that gives us the green light to move forward with the second resolution which will be to establish a public hearing. Um, I guess for more background on the RHID, that's when we take the incremental increase in the valuation and those property taxes are will be used to pay off the debt service for the special assessments that were issued to install the infrastructure for the development. Um, so the water, the sewer, the streets, the storm water, and the electric. Kam, I think there's a typo also in the uh resolution and it should be red bud ridge instead of red bud bridge.

Oh, awesome. So, we're stuck on both. We We got bridges on the brain. Yeah, I get it.

Thank you. And mayor and council, real quick, I'll draw your attention to one of the attachments to this staff report. You've seen this before, but it's been several years. So, uh because the RHID is involved, there's kind of a flowchart process for how that that uh goes through. So, uh what you're doing here tonight is this step number three, this resolution number one, and then you can see the uh the rest of the flowchart from there. So, if you're tracking at home and you want to keep your scoreeet over the next couple of months as we're going through this, this is the uh this is the game plan. uh for how that works out under statute and just the RHID portion though.

That's helpful though. It is helpful.

I'll make a motion to consider the approval of resolution 202527 designating Red Bud Ridge of lot one block B, Cottonwood Professional Park, second as a rural housing incentive district. Second. Got a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. And mayor council, we will correct any typos in it. They're not substantive. They're just Yeah. typographical. So, sorry about the grammar guy. Item number seven, utility easement and temporary construction easement to Butler County Rural Water District. Number five, staff.

We're going for it. So, Butler County Rawwater District number five is undertaking a regional water infrastructure improvement project involving the installation of a new 12-in water transmission main along Southwest Indianola Road to enhance water service capacity in the area and improve supply to the city of Andover wastewater treatment plant. Ro Water District 5 has requested a 30foot permanent utility easement along the west side of the Augusta Municipal Airport property. The city coordinated with the FAA airports district office and FAA review has been completed with no objections to the proposed easement location, construction method, or long-term airport planning impacts. Royal Water District 5 also requests a temporary construction easement to support installation activities. Um, rural water district 5 will bear all construction, maintenance, and future relocation costs related to the utility. The city retains full operational control over the airport, and this easement does not interfere with future airport runway or taxiway improvements. Um, the improved line will significantly strengthen water availability for the Gustoa Municipal Airport by enhancing domestic water service reliability for existing and future airport tenants. Fire suppression capacity supporting airport safety and operational readiness and infrastructure availability for future aviation or commercial development opportunities on airport property. Um, so I believe there's a map or a site plan in there as an attachment to so you can kind of see where the easement Well,

there's a couple This is This is only moderately helpful. Yes, there's a couple wells out there south of the little hangers. Are is are they going to be in that 30foot easement? couple wells. Yeah, it's it's possible. Again, the easement allows them the right to install their infrastructure as is the case with uh many easements. There's a lot of different types of infrastructure that are competing for space. Okay.

Uh within those easements, um we we have buildings that are kind of close by. We have the fence line that's close by. We have the wells. So, uh, we talked to them about some of those things early on in the project. And so, as that moves forward, uh, through construction, um, we we'll just have to continue to work with them to make sure that those get, uh, accounted for. Uh, there's a there's a septic field out there, a leech field. Um, so we talked to we talked to them about that. We'll have to navigate around that issue. Um, so short answer is yes. We had preliminary conversations with them. The longer answer is as the project moves forward, we will just have to keep all of that front of mind as it gets installed.

And they've addressed there's some areas that are I get say tighter than other areas, right? So they have some areas where they'll be able to bore some with open trenches. So you know, so it's just depending on where they're at on the site. Um they are having to make some of those adjustments in their design. Will that easement be able to be used by let's say the gas company at a future time or this is granting the easement just to roll water district 5. Okay. So that 30foot nobody else can get in there. It's what I'm asking.

Correct. Yeah. This agreement is just with rural water district 5. Well, I guess the secondary question then is well, what does this agreement do versus what we are able to do? So to the mayor's question is if we wanted or if gas company came out or someone else came out and wanted to add in the future and get their own easement there, are we prohibited in any way by this easement from also having that infrastructure installed there? I think that's that's your question. So the scope the scope of this one specifically speaks to Royal Water District. The question is does that mean that no one else can get an easement or use in the future? I think is your question.

Well, can no one else be within that 30foot easement is what I Yeah, that that's that's the question. So So that makes it pretty tight out there for other development question. Good question. That's what it's that's what it's saying. So if some if someone want to come and put other electric or whatever in there, can we do that or can we not do that?

That's what they're working out. I'm sure have to find out. I missed that part. Okay, Mark, I'm ashamed. Say that again. I got my mic off. Go ahead. Say that again.

I love you, man. So, can we put electrical in there? It's my last meeting. I'm sorry.

Well, it's so it's it's the same question. So again, this is a grant of an easement to this entity. The question is not whether other entities can use this easement because this is granted to a specific one. The question is whether this specific grant is exclusive and locks others out from being able to get their own. That that to me is the core of your question. Um, so I I can read it and in in reading it have have a comfort level that that's not what this is doing. But if you wanted um the the full legal advice on that then um I I don't know Justin if you're comfortable doing that tonight or if you think we need to take that back and do another review on it. What this says is the granter it says and assign shall have the right to fully use and enjoy the premises except for us as may unreasonably interfere with the exercise by grantee. So there's basic language where I don't think it precludes our ability to use our land, our ability to work with other utility partners that I mean that that seems like the grantee has a right to put their infrastructure in and as long as uh other infrastructure is not interfering with theirs. Uh I don't think this precludes us from having any other relationship. But if you wanted other feedback, then I I'll let Justin speak to you.

That's exactly how I would read this. Um is that as long as they're allowed to do what they need to do under the easement with the water um pipes and and the flow of the water and as long as that's not being interfered with, it's not going to restrict your ability to grant other easements or have other uses of that property. Well, right. Okay. They've got a 30-foot easement. Can anybody else put something in that 30foot as long as it does not interfere with with their water line? Yes. Okay. That's you can you can

because I know out there between the road and the buildings maybe it's 32 feet. So that's not room for a natural gas line or a fiber line if you if that was an exclusive 30 feet. Yeah. And I don't read this as as exclusive other than they have to be able to do what you're allowing them to do. Okay? As long as that's being done without being interfered with, it's not going to be a problem. Thank you.

So the the um just just for a little bit of additional context, the reason you're granting an easement is that this is actually extending up onto airport property. So this is adjoining Indianola road which still has a road rightway and in a lot of circumstances your utilities go in those road rightways and so um that easement is kind of starting up here around where the fence line is and then going in further. Um, I think part of that had had to do with this ditch that is out here and and I don't remember all the details of the discussion, but I think that how they were going to construct the water line was impacted by the depth of that ditch or something like that. And so, they didn't want to put it out in the road right away. U, but to your question or to your point about future utilities, um, there's the two elements. There's the easement that's on property, but you still have the road right away that's out here, too. and could potentially have infrastructure as well. It's just in the case of the Royal Water District, their design that did not suit their design as well. And that's why they asked to come up on our property. And I can't tell you all the details of why that is. Those those are engineering choices, but that was part of our conversation why it's up there versus out in the road right away. And trust me, I understand that the FAA engineers have looked at this and everything, but every once in a while stuff like that bites us 10 years down the road, you know. So,

yeah. So, I mean, here's here's an example. You can actually see the uh the Everg Oh, that's old old imagery. Um, you can see the EverG pole line that's within the road right away. So that that's an example of other utilities and normally that's what your road rightaways are are for is um now I I think one of the questions or concerns was like longterm if Indianola road ever developed out further and maybe that got widened is the roadway wide enough in which case does it uh create issues for future utilities I don't know what the circumstance would be for us to have to enhance that or to want that to be a much larger built out roadway. Um, but at least for our purposes, that that existing roadway has served us since the 1960s and we haven't had a need to push that out and develop it further. Now, let's let's say the the industrial element or your business element goes gang busters and you add a whole lot of businesses out there, there's new activity, then maybe you'd want to develop this further, but you still have right away to work with uh that the utilities could go into. So,

does down in the lower left of the diagram, it says something about a district court case. Can you explain that? I mean, is there a some kind of a something going on down there in the corner? Is this the diagram you're looking at? This is what you're referring to right here. That's what I'm talking about. But I don't know what it has to do with very south of it.

I'm not sure what the I'm not sure what the court case is. Um it's likely just that resulted out I don't know. Um just I was just wondering what it is. I something in the way or going to hold up something or

it looks like it was a court caseing to if you can see that on the diagram. I' I'd have to look it up. I don't I don't know what the court case was. Just asking a question, Josh. Is that water line go all the way up to 400 or 54 highway? Yeah. And I believe they're actually going to they're going to cross it and go to the other side. Is that what you have heard? Well, they're actually crossing from the north.

From the north and Yeah. So, it already exists on the north. And then they're going to go under 54 highway and it's actually on the west side over here somewhere. Right there is where it's kind of stopped. Now, they're going to go under the highway and then they're going to go also go under Indianola and come onto the side of the airport. Okay. Josh, has there been any discussion, thought, anything put in on as far as seeing if we could get a fire hydrant put there close to the fire for the uh I'm sorry, the airport. Yes. For use of the fire.

Yes, I did receive feedback about the fire hydrant locations. Um I cannot recall that whole conversation off the top of my head, but we did talk about that and I did reach out to Marbbit as well. I can go back and find that communication. I did reach out to Marbet about the the distance between the fire hydrants along Indianola road. So I can't recall the specific.

So the action item tonight is the grant of the easement which is essentially giving them space to do the the development. So as that moves forward they'll have to design it and and kind of spec out the locations for the hydrants and other things. So there there will be there have to be like a continuing conversation on that. But I know uh fire protection is one of those conversations of why why this is beneficial to the city of Augusta. It's the same conversation we had with Royal Water 5 about Santa Fe Lake and if we're doing a line extension, we want to make sure to get that fire protection. So, uh I wouldn't see that being any different of a case here. Um, now we may or may not have costs if we have to purchase a fire hydrant, but I mean that's kind of nominal for the safety and security that you're getting from having that. Uh, but we'll continue those conversations with them as they get that line designed and uh and make sure that we're getting the the security benefit that we want out of it when it's all said and done.

I just want to bring it up now rather than afterwards and say, "Darn, I wish we' have thought about that." I I think that there's a hydrant that's on the far south end now. And the goal would certainly be to where our building structures are. Um pro probably maybe even if we could get something midfield. I I don't know what the standard is for spacing on those hydrants. So we'll do some consulting with the engineers and see what they'd recommend. But to me, where your buildings are, where your people are, that's where you want those capabilities. So, we'll we'll just work with them and see what recommendations come out of the conversation.

I know I talked to Marbbit about the length of the hose and um Schwab Eaton, I believe, is the engineer for Will Water District on this and we talked about the spacing between the fire hydrants and I reached out to Marbit to make sure they had enough hose to reach that spacing and it was more than adequate. So, um I I just don't have those specific numbers. So, I just want to give you enough fine as long as knowing we we have had those conversations and like Josh said, we'll continue them. That's fine. As long as you've gone through it with a major and stuff, that's it's been it's been addressed. So, that answers my question. Thank you.

Anybody else? Any cost to this at all? I mean, not to us at this point. No, not at this point. No idea. Uh the only cost would be improvements that we would want to make that the city would want to make to the airport or future developments. Potential cost from future developments. Um so there's no surprises, excuse me, no surprises or anything.

There won't be any surprises that any any additional cost would be some decision the city is making to improve services out there or to support future development. Well, with that said, I move for the approval of the utility easement and temporary construction easement to Butler County Rural Water District number five. Second. Got a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? Motion carries. Item number eight, resolution number 2025-28, establishing the 2026 job classification and salary schedule and governing body compensation staff. Yes. Uh mayor and council, this is a routine item. If you remember back, remember no one was here. I guess 2008 maybe maybe you were mayor

when uh when all of this process started the city put together its first ever uh pay plan and job classification schedule. And the way that was um the way that that was created, the idea was that you're always going to have inflation. There's always going to be something in the marketplace that is uh pushing those up over time. And so what uh what what we put into place when that original plan was created, I believe in 2008 was a pay plan that has midpoint sorry um minimums, mids, and maxes. And the idea is that your midpoint is tracking with the broader marketplace. And uh then your resolutions establishing this basically said that if you do a cost of living adjustment, a lot of times that cost of living is tied to consumer price index or it's tied to some sort of index uh that is just dealing with the basic cost of living. Could be social security index because that goes up a couple percentage points every year. Your resolution said that if you offer a cost of living adjustment then the pay plan midpoints shift by that same percentage. So, the idea is that they try to grow and keep pace with what the market is. Um, in years past, we've had other adjustments where we've modified position titles or uh we we've changed some of the grades. In this case, this is a a simple uh job classification plan. In the 2026 budget, you approved the 2 and a.5% uh cola, the cost of living increase. And so, the midpoints were adjusted by that cola. and then the rest of the plan just shifted the way it's supposed to under that resolution. So there was nothing else um there was nothing else different about that where the last couple of years we've done some other kind of layered changes to it. Um the other component and this changed a

few years ago and this is where the the council has made some different decisions and what your ordinance uh allows is um I want to say maybe around the 2013 2014 time frame you looked at governing body compensation and compared with other city councils of what they were paying. Um, in your case, uh, um, at that time the city of Augusta was on the low end. Uh, it's not a significant amount. Uh, I believe it was maybe like $1,000 for a city council member and maybe 1,500 or 2,000 or something for a mayor back then. That's what you made in a year. And that essentially just helped reimburse your cost for coming to the meetings and doing all the additional work that you all do. Um, what we did though is I I think maybe 2017 time frame. There was an updated study that we did comparing two other communities and the wages for the mayor and the governing body were adjusted at that time. And the question was asked of, hey, um, we seem to go 10 or 15 years sometimes between these without ever really looking at them. Should you build something in to where maybe that adjusts in a similar way so that you don't have to revisit again if you're just trying to keep up uh if you're just trying to keep up with inflation. And so the solution that we put in place uh your your pay was previously set in ordinance. And whenever you're dealing with ordinance that doesn't give you a lot of flexibility. There's a there's a process you got to go through um an ordinance to update your law. A lot of times you're paying attorneys probably more to update the the ordinance than what you would end up paying yourself with an increase. So there just a lot of inefficiency with that. And what the council uh did is um we modified the

ordinance where it said that the governing body's pay would be set by resolution as well. And so we've used this annual job classification uh salary schedule as a a way of also looking at uh governing body pay. And the governing body pay has just shifted by the same cost of living adjustment if you allow it. In the last couple of years since that change was made, you have not accepted those increases. Okay. So, um, down at the bottom of the pay schedule, so all of the kind of pinkish reddish color, and I know this is small print, so it's probably hard to see, uh, but those are the employee positions, and then down in this darker blue color, this is the governing body, the mayor and the city council. Um, these numbers have been updated by the same 2.5% cost of living adjustment. In the last couple of years, you've chosen not to do that. So, you still have that option, but the way that your resolution is worded is that pay will go up by the same amount as whatever you do for employees. So, it's totally your choice. Um, I did go ahead and make that adjustment. I think it probably bumped it up by like 30 or $40 per year. So, it's not a huge adjustment. Um, and again, that that exists just to help reimburse some of your costs for for coming to these meetings, going to outside sessions and and things like that. But I did want to draw your attention to it. That's how it exists in ordinance. Now, it references the resolution, but the last few years, you've simply chosen not to accept that governing body increase, but it's up to you how you would like to proceed. Um, with that, I'll turn it over to council for any discussion.

Council, I'm g speak for me and me only, but I just assume for me I want to defer it for this year. We raised tax and stuff this year and I just like to see it uh for me to defer that uh adding the cost of living this year. Me as well. That's what we did last year, right? No, I definitely don't think you guys should be getting any more next year.

Eric, what do you think? This is last night he'll gear. Mike, it doesn't matter to me. So, I'll make a motion to defer the cost of living raised to the city council for 2026. Second. Got a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. I want my Christmas cards back. Didn't even get a vote.

Okay. So, mayor and council, what I'll do then is on the the modified resolution for employees, then then the motion would be to approve this resolution with no changes to section one, which is the governing bodies pay, no changes from last year, and then we'll edit this back down to last year's amounts. Yep. That's the way I see it. It's a governing body. Yes. We'll need another motion to approve the actual resolution again with the added disclaimer um for section one governing body pay not changing from last year.

What you done? Say so move. So moved. Second. Second it. Okay. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Okay, we're ready for item nine are 2025 write- offs and collections staff. This goes right with it.

Mayor and council, this is a routine action that you're required to take annually. Um we do it the last meeting of the year so that we can get everything taken care of. Um this year the staff has identified 18 accounts that are pending write off for a total of $3,65.74. Um this is down three accounts from last year and a little over $4,600 less than last year. Um this includes one account that's in bankruptcy. Uh there are nine accounts with deceased account holders and seven utility accounts with a balance of less than $25 and one account that the collection agency has deemed as uncollectible. Typically, those are business accounts where the business no longer exists. This is an actual individual and I'm assuming they've tried to take them to court and identify that there's no asset or no employment or something like that. So, they've deemed it as uncollectible as well. Um, so the total amount being requested for write- off, uh, there's 18 accounts for a total of $7,739.32. And then I'll touch on the collections as well. And I would like to credit my staff with that because they've been working really hard to make sure that they have all the documents they need and to identify people and have forwarding information for them when they leave so that we're able to collect um, on those accounts. Um, and then also our collections themselves. Um there has been a reduction in the amount of collections that we've submitted. CBK is handling all of our collections for us both through traditional collection and through the state set off. And so we've had a total of 148 accounts this year which has been the lowest we've had in the last six years. And the total amount um sent in was 65,7602. And then we've collected 42,2390. Now, that's not just for what we turned in this year, but for the historical um collections as well. So, collections are down from last year um down from the last few years, but I also credit that

with we're not turning quite as much in for collection. So, so Erica, you said $7,738.32. That was last year, correct? Not this year. Oh, I'm sorry. I did read. Yeah, that was the amount for 24. Yes, this year is $3,65.74. Thank you very much for catching that. That's where you lost me. Thank you. Any questions? I make a motion for the approval of the write- off of the 18 utility accounts in the amount of $3,65.74. I hear a second. Mike. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed?

Motion carries. Item number 10, our cereal malt beverage license renewals for 2026. Staff,

mayor and council, that's me, too. Um, so this again is very routine. There was a little change to the routine. Uh, state statute states that the state of Kansas will actually issue the CMBB stamp. They have never enforced that. The cities have always handled the CMBB from start to finish. Um but this year they decided to implement a change where they actually are the issuing agency for the CNB stamp. And so that caused some issues uh with some of the vendors. The people who have big businesses who um have multiple locations were really good about getting that stamp way in advance because uh the state did send out a letter late late summer uh to let vendors know. And then I also sent out a letter to let them know that they had there was a new process before they submitted their application to us as well. And for the most part, everyone complied. We did have two that at the last minute sent in their applications and I explained to them that there was this additional process. Um so part of the recommendation is the um is re approving the renewals contingent upon the applicants receiving that state CMBB stamp because now they're being flooded with all those people who didn't know they had to do this process. And I'm not exactly sure how quickly they're going to get those out. um if I don't receive them before the end of the year, they won't be able to sell CMBB because the state can't allow them to unless they have that stamp. Um but I believe the state is pushing trying to get that taken care of. Um we received applications for renewals for all the businesses except Pizza Hut who called me to let me know that they would not be renewing their application this year. And then the Augusta Arts Council did not submit their renewal application and I still haven't received that. Um, I did follow up with them to remind them as well. The two businesses I did not receive the state stamp from are King Buffet and Comfort Inn and Suites and both of them have submitted to the state. So, I actually sent it off for one of them and the other one I assisted them with that application process. Uh, you will notice

that the financial impact also went down, but that's because the state is now collecting their $25 instead of me collecting it and then sending it to them. Um, so they were always receiving that money. It was just passed through the city. Um, but we're only receiving an estimated $500 based on the applications I receive. Uh, I did send everything to public safety. They did the appropriate background checks and everybody passed that and everybody paid their fee. So, um, with that staff would recommend the approval of these re license renewals. I'll turn over for any questions.

As you know, Arts Council is going to renew theirs though. As far as I know, I mean, when I talked to them last week, they were like, "Yes, we know." We told her to get it in, but I haven't seen it. Um, so likely this will be on the agenda for the first meeting in January. They'll just have about a week that they won't be able to serve. Make a motion to approve the 2026 serial m beverage license renewal contingent upon the applicants receiving the estate CMBB stamp from the state of Kansas. Second. Got a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you.

Okay. Matters from and for council. So, Eric, I'll go to you first tonight. All right. Um, I am going to be moving out of the city limits of Augusta, so I will need to resign from my position. Um, it's been an honor to serve the community for the last eight years. We've I feel like we've gotten an enormous amount of things accomplished to um in that time. And I want to thank Josh and the rest of the city staff and my fellow council members and mayor for their hard work and dedication on making Augusta a better place to live. And I wish I guess all the best and I'm not moving far away so I know I'll be back. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Eric. If I could on that, Eric, I'd just like to say thank you for you also all the work that you did and stuff on here and being a part everything for the last eight years. Been good to work with you. Thanks. So, thank you. Yes. So, I'm going to ask Josh to review us on how to fill positions when there's vacancies. So,

yes. Um, so mayor and council, you are actually going to have um two seats that are technically vacant that you're going to have to resolve once we get into the meetings in January. So wanted to uh one pull out the ordinance uh speak to people at home, explain how that process is going to work and also tell them how they can get uh involved if they are potentially interested in serving. Um, so our historical practice whenever we've had the election, the uh the new members that are actually elected by vote take their seats at that first meeting in January. So the outgoing members will typically stay through the minutes um because th that those minutes represent the meetings that they were there for and the new members weren't there for. So we typically have the outgoing members uh stay through the minutes and then uh they step down from their position. We do the oath of office and have the new members come in. Uh so in this case in uh ward 4, the member that uh the person that got the most votes um ended up I believe moving from the ward and so was not eligible to take that seat. And so that is uh Jeff Brown's position. um his term is expiring and so the January 5th uh meeting will be the last meeting and then uh technically after that the vacancy will be created once Jeff steps down. Um tonight uh Councilman Burke indicated that he will be moving out of the city and I believe that moving is is happening in in relatively short order probably even before the the next meeting is happening. So, uh, that means the re the, uh, with the resignation, you now have a vacancy in ward one as well. Uh, and so that actually lines up

pretty well. And so the process going forward, what your ordinance says is that whenever a vacancy is created that you will have um, you will have your election um, basically at the next available meeting. in the case of uh Jeff Browny, we've known that that vacancy was going to be created for a while. Um and so uh the the process now and we're going to make an announcement tonight that uh if anyone is interested in serving in either Ward 4 or Ward One uh we uh the council is asking that you submit an application so that uh and this is the same thing that we do with all of our boards and committees. If you have an interest, submit uh that application. It gives us a little bit of background information, gives us your contact information, and allows us to also verify your address, make sure that you are in located in the ward that you would actually be serving. And then at the January 5th meeting is when the actual election would be held. And pursuant to your ordinances, whenever you have vacancies or by virtue of essentially resignation on the council, then the positions are filled by a vote of the remaining members of the city council. And so what we're asking for, if anyone is interested for either of those seats, complete your application, submit those applications. I believe we're going to try to set a deadline of uh Wednesday the 31st of this month. So, we have about nine or 10 days now to get that in. Um maybe a little bit maybe a few more days than that. Sorry, I can't count right now. Um um and the reason that we want them by a deadline is so that we can include that information in the agenda packet so

council has an idea of the potential slate of candidates going in to the election. Uh that doesn't prevent you if you have other nominations or folks that you want to appoint. That doesn't prevent you as council members from making other nominations at that meeting. But our historical practice is we like to try to have background information on the candidate so council has a chance to review it ahead of time. So, um I'll put out additional information on the city website. Um and uh let now real quick while we uh we have folks watching at home. I'm going to pull up the city's website and show you how to access that application. So, when you go to austaks.org, org. That is our uh main website URL. You're going to want to go to the government tab. Okay? If you're interested in serving on a board or committee, if you're interested in serving on the city council, go to the government tab and then the application is under the city council category on this link that says boards and committees. In this case, that includes the city council. Okay? So, go to the city's website, government tab, click boards and committees, and then if you scroll down, you'll see a big old button that says apply to serve on a board. That's the online application. That's all you have to do. If you click on that, you can then uh submit your information that comes straight to my office and then I can pro I can provide that information in the agenda packet for council to see. So, what we're asking is for any potential applicants fill in this online form before Wednesday the 31st and then we'll have you in the agenda packet for the council to consider January 5th. Now, after that election and your appointments are made, uh then we will have those folks officially take their

seat at the second meeting in January. And the reason that we do that is we generally have an orientation process to get people accustomed to the meetings, how motions happen, uh get a little bit more familiarity with the city. So I will do orientation activities with them. I'll do tours. Um so that's also been part of our past practice. It's not actually outlined in ordinance how that's supposed to happen, but our practice is we don't seat them on the night of the election. And that gives them a chance to get oriented a little bit before they have to take their seat. So January 5th election, January 19th, new members for those two ws will take their seat. Any questions from council? Any questions you or any other items you'd like me to speak to for the public that might be listening at home?

I have one quick, Josh. Um, is it better to have that person that was voted on to resign or for the council to vote them remove them for the failure to for council member to qualify for the office because they don't live in that ward anymore. So, I I'll verify with the attorney. I had him look at it already and he gave me kind of a lengthy response and I'm not going to claim to remember every detail that was in it, but I believe the way that he spoke to it was it was treated essentially as a resignation by them. But are you looking at it right now, Justin? All right, maybe I'll let him speak to it because I

could he speak into the mic? we couldn't hear him before.

The the simple answer to it is that the candidate was ineligible and so under the ordinance it creates a vacancy and that and that's the simplest way to put it. I don't know that it really is a it may be a distinction without a difference whether it's a a resignation or it's it's some other resolution. Um it's just that the vacancy exists because the candidate was in ineligible to take office. So there therefore when the next term begins it begins with a vacant position.

But we don't we have to take action on that because she was voted in by the by the by a majority vote by the city citizens of by Butler County or Gustoa. So we don't we don't think so because again um by virtue of her moving she essentially failed to qualify for the office she is not eligible and the and what I have up here on the screen is your actual ordinance and the ordinance speaks to vacancies and then there's different ways that vacancies can occur. So in this case Councilman Burke has uh resigned tonight. So that's one way and the part that we believe and this is what Justin was just referencing is in this second line. So it says all vacancies occurring in the office of city council members for the city whether such vacancies occur by reason of removal of a council member from his or her her ward or by his or her death, resignation or the failure of a council member to qualify for office or the disqualification of a council member for the holding of such office. So in in this case, we think that it's it's one of those things that happened. they failed to qualify by the time the election occurred because they moved out of the ward and you're not eligible if you're not in the ward. I believe that's what his justification rested on. So what that does creates the vacancy. Your ordinance speaks to how do you fill vacancies and it's that election process.

Okay. I know like I said just well I think because normally we've in the past what we've done when we have a vacancy like that we it's either voted on or something or accept their resation or don't we or we just they just they just go they just leave they just resign. They just leave. Okay. They just resign. Yeah. Yeah. I mean in this case um that person can't even resign because technically they're they're not even joining the council. They're ineligible to join. They've been disqualified. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate your explanation. Okay. Now, Mr. Martin, do you have anything tonight?

Just three things just quick. Um, somebody asked me if the electric on Thunder Road, the new facility, is it up and going? I know we've got wires going to it now or

it's getting close. We we think based on our conversations with KMEA, who is uh who we're working with on all of the programming and tying it together, we think we'll have it operational in January. Yeah. Uh they pulled the lines the other day. So, up to this point, we didn't even have the lines tied together, but the high voltage line has been pulled. And so, now they've just got to make it all communicate at that substation. And that's what KMEA is helping us with. I think if the holiday wasn't in the middle of that, it' be a little bit quicker. Uh, but we're expecting to have it fully operational soon.

Um, did something happen on State Street today? A car have a problem or was it a city or individual or What are you What are you talking about? So, I don't know. I mean, my understanding there was a vehicle that was being towed, lost a bunch of oil, and that's good. That's where all the sand came from. look like they're trying to clean it up or put sand down on it. Yeah.

Yes. There was a vehicle that was that left the dealership or left a mechanic's place and got up to Fifth Street then just started dumping oil and uh I would assume it's towed back, but uh Anthony brought his crew down. They put uh sand for us all the way down to cover it up because bricks are slick enough just wet, but oil makes it 10 times worse. So they they covered it up for us. That's all that happened today. Just a car broke down.

Thanks. Um I wanted to thank everybody that participated out at the cemetery this weekend. And I'd like to ask, did we used to put uh I had a call about it uh flags or decorations on 7th Street Avenue uh for Christmas on the polls? Those those decorations were bought by the Chamber of Commerce years ago. Uh and then the city helped install them on the poles. Those decorations have since fell apart and are not usable any longer. I just had a question about it and I thought I'd ask. And for example, the wreaths that used to hang out there, those cost about $5,000 a piece nowadays. So it was up to the chamber to raise the money, which would be a businessman chipping in, you know, to do that.

The wreath that's down on the U what would be the south end or the east side of coming into August is really they got the light fixed on that. looks really nice. Uh it's always been, you know, in that parking there, the by the donut place east of it a little bit. That's all I have, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Eric. Do you have anything else tonight? Mr. Mayor, no more bomb to drop. No, sir. Mr. Mayor Kip,

I I one thing to add. Um, I just want to say thank you to all of our citizens for the privilege of all of us being able to serve this year for for them, represent them, um, for the city and just want to wish everyone happy holidays and merry Christmas. Mr. Davis,

I just had something. Um, I talked to Cammy briefly today. I'm not throwing you under the bus or anything. Um, can we kind of look into whether CT be purchase some or go a gusto or the city some way finding signs down downtown. I know we had talked briefly about it. Is that something we can kind of look at and and I've got some examples that I can show you? Um, so there's a long history with the wayfinding project and um I I had proposal in front of council as part of a capital improvement plan probably six, seven years ago, maybe longer than that to uh fund a citywide wayfinding project. It did not get funded. We had other projects that took priority. Um, so there was money, a small amount that was allocated in CTV to go towards wayfinding signage and it was part of that project. That's why you see that line item in the budget. Uh, but no supplemental funding has ever been provided. And at that time, uh, the study included a lot of times if you're doing a city-wide, um, wayfinding, you you normally work with an architect nowadays, and they actually do those designs and they integrate and they tie those together with kind of a broader wayfinding plan of where to place, where to route, uh, make sure you have consistency in all your signage. That's kind of what we had proposed. um and that there's not enough funding in CTB to pull a project like that off. If you just want to add a few signs somewhere and we just pay somebody to design one off, you probably have enough money to do that. But if you wanted that integrated design that goes citywide and you maybe have 30 or 40 of them that spread at all your major um arterials and entry points and go to all your

potential locations, that's a bigger expense. And the last time it came up, it was not selected for funding and we haven't really brought it back since. But that's why that money is listed in CTB. So, short answer is if you wanted to do a one-off and just have us make something up to put out there or if we have a design, we could do that. Um, but it it's not the $12,000 or so that's sitting there isn't going to go very far. Okay. Well, like I said, I got some designs from another community that I visited and it it looked really cool and, you know, showed you where the restrooms in city hall and and it basically was just their downtown.

So, and it was they were different colors than the street signs. So, it would they would kind of stand out. I I'll see I'll see if I can dig out that old proposal and show you what we were looking at back then and if um if that's something that you wanted to take on as a potential action um get you caught up on what that that previous discussion was, see what the proposals are, see how companies actually pitch these if you're going to do a request for qualifications. And then uh maybe as we're going through the budget process this year, if you want to talk to council about that, about whether making that a priority in CIP, um I I think that'd be a good way to bring it up. Okay. Let you get caught up on that history. Thanks, Josh.

I'll just I just want to say that when we looked at it before, there are federal and state requirements for this signage uh for traffic safety purposes. And instead of what you and I think 20 bucks would do, they want 2,020 bucks, you know. So that's why it gets so expensive. Anything else? No, that's it. Jeff, um, one thing, the light at Belmont in Ohio, does it not I think you guys probably got tired of me talking about it, but it's off the sensors now. It just goes through the motion.

Yep. And I feel like we've bought an expensive system. So like I'll pull up there and if I get there at the wrong second, you got and nobody else will be there. It just clicks through the five stages. It takes I don't know three minutes or so. It's it's a long time and cars get lined up there, you know, at the school time. I'm going to say this faciciously. I haven't heard that yet. Yeah. Okay.

I've actually talked um I've talked to probably five people in the last week and say, "Hey, what's going on at Belmont in Ohio?" So, I I know that we have our vendor look at it constantly. I don't know what the issue is. U we've had the vendor come out and work on it several times. Um I'll just have to ask our staff again and say, "Hey, is what do we have a new problem? Is it the new system? Is it something else creating it?" So, it just it flares up every once in a while. And this has apparently been the week for it because I I've had a ton of people contact me about that life. Yeah, I I would have to second what Jeff said cuz I was there today and I was the only one at the intersection and I had to wait and I saw all the other lights go.

So it's it's not reading. And is it just on the what I've heard is like primarily east westbound. Is that the case or is it also north? All of them. Okay. All of them. And and it does it 24 hours a day. It's Yeah. You can go up there two o'clock in the morning, it'll stop you. That's when I noticed the most going to work. It was 5:15 or so and I'm the only one with that light and I just sat there and sat there and first I didn't think it was working again but then I thought oh then I could see it changing. Yeah. So it it's like somebody just switched off the sensor and just I'll check with staff. No problem. Thank you Josh. So did you run the light? Yeah, I drove through it now. I'm kidding, Chief. So So I'd just like to say Mr. Burke, thank you for all your service.

For sure, Eric. Thanks, sir. you know, during that Andover tornado, you were the instigator in getting that fundraiser going, and that was awesome. I appreciate that. Uh, it's been good to know you, get to know you. U with that, I would say, City of Augusta, merry Christmas and happy holidays. And somebody needs to dismiss us. The mayor make a motion to journ a meeting. Second. Got a motion and a second to go home. All those in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you all. It's good to see you. Never come.

Do you know everybody? You know everybody up here.