City Council - Regular Meeting

You know, what the heck's happening in the game? We both have problems. And now we have yesterday what's his name? The central's a disaster. God, what's his name? But he has his problems, too. That's pretty creative. Yeah, that's that's a nice marketing going on there. I You know what? I You know what? I think I think he has got to get out of there. That's it. I think he should retire. Because he's played here all his life. And I think he would agree with that. But you know, you know what? He's

[laughter]

Hispanic and I can't think of his name. He is It's a cool sounding name. And he plays for All he has to worry about is his He said that straight doctor told him that. I I guess so. Yeah, because there's talk about it. Yeah, but he take a pretty penny away. He has outstanding fielding and he's a good hitter. Yeah. What do you mean? Let's see where he's at. How do you curl that hair like that? How's it going? Yeah, that's that's a good one. Good. Good. Good. Good. So, let's look at one more picture. Let me see if it's the same picture or not. Wow. I wanted to get the one Oh, is there a plan? I know. Oh, you need that near you. Good night. Drive safe. Second baseman. Oh, it's all good. It's all good. Yeah, sure. Good night, Ronnie. Hey, Ronnie. I'm doing good. How are you doing? Hello. Hi. How are you, Mom? And very good. Good. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I got quite a bit. I but I told myself when I walked in there

I think she'd do pretty good. Yes, she was excited to go to that. Cuz [laughter] I was like, "Hey, go get some more ice." She goes, "Well, what's It's only bruising till this morning." Right? I was like, "Okay, well, can you get her?" And I was like, "Wow." But [clears throat] Oh, well. Notice It just Urban is I am. It just You don't have to do too much. No, I don't. [laughter]

I know. I can't do It'll be good. People be like Yeah. Maybe Maybe they could do it. I don't know. Maybe they could do an easy candy light. Yeah, it's cool. Yeah, the YouTube is The um What was it called?

The National Day of Prayer. Yeah, National Day of Prayer. You weren't there? No. Oh, Ron. And I That's what happens when we get older. It's like I don't put it on a post-it note or my calendar. And it's not on my It was not on my phone either. Yeah. All right, I'm going to go I'm going to go home.

it but here I think it is. I think this is it. I'm not sure. I think it's Edward was it? I think it's What was that again? Edward was it? Oh, Edward was Yeah. I wasn't aware that I just saw Ryan He has some strange names. Crap, look it up. Ryan Beloit. That's it. That's it. Yeah. I'm I'm going to go and look up some stuff. really good? Yeah, look at that. He is uh in Wisconsin. His daughter is in the Hi, how are you? PH I am in the university of Madison. Wisconsin Madison? Please. Oh, nice.

[laughter]

I Yeah, I walked down the office yesterday like it was nothing and I was like, "Your daughter's getting her PhD and she's doing a splits." Yeah, that's so good for He was in Minnesota somewhere? No. She had one of those that was likely going to be solved and then later on a family member was Really? Cuz I asked No, that's not here. I don't know what that I'll put that Oh, yes. That's not here. I know I saw you I can't remember Okay, I'm trying to join a session. I think What's our problem? I'll have to ask Brandon. Okay. I was making when I saw this flag or something. 300 million Yeah. Yeah, that's just like It should to be good. Yes, ma'am. I'm sure it's just I'm sure it's just an error. Yeah, what's going on? And and I know you guys don't see a lot of stuff gets automatically put through, right? Yeah, I'm going to make karaoke lady watch my grandson play. Seven or eight people post the same exact thing and comments go off the rails. No, I know. I know. Right, I'm not going to I'm not going to give you audio. I just turned on the video.

Oh, is that video? Like you. No. I'll take that number. Got a bunch of them. Did you get in? I just I I just got out I got out completely. I just got out completely. Okay. I'm on one. And then I just went back and it popped up. Okay, what brand is the same as I did? Because it worked for me. Technology's Jean, Chris's first question, guys. Yes, I did. Because that happens enough. It happens enough that I I know that one. I know that much, right? Yes. But I guess I didn't have Did you find was it cheating?

Did you have fun? I was going to ask that. [laughter]

But that was pretty awesome having a blind with us. Now, what's this thing? We can't quite get it. Not sure. It was practice for a minute. Who cooked? Yeah. That's true. I think we're in a contest. Yeah. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, we were the coolest people. I've got it, Joe. All right. It's Louie Louie. right.

[laughter]

Next year is how I actually see And that's how they pronounce it, Louise the right. Okay. Yeah. Okay, so he's he's been in the cycle, so Yeah, we'll take that. 2020 I started in 2019.

[laughter]

Anyway, that's who it was. They were talking on the radio. Yeah. Okay. Yes, sir. We're starting right now, so we're kind of working south of the apartment. Cuz they're still working on that land transfer. So, they're Oh, I wanted South of that South right now. 35 Are there pins over here? That's I don't normally see that. I don't normally see a lot out there. Talk to Hunter Nursery. Mayor, I have talked to you and Jill. They're sitting over there and I'm still talking to you, right? Try to remember. I heard you Thank you. Okay. Don't Don't upset the pattern. When we don't call Oh, yes. Yeah. You You knew what I was going for. Yeah, that's what I heard. How you doing? Uh Zach, I do I want to go upstairs and Facebook live. Oh. I don't know if I have that I don't see him on information. We paid for it through Schwab. I got that information. So you and Wanda and Joe just Yeah, I'm pretty sure It's coming back to mom. I don't know. CNN I don't know. I don't know.

She was too busy to I think she had senior assassins. baseball She was [laughter]

She's too cheap. That was Reagan. Yeah. Reagan called back in one time and then she Well, CNN was very quiet that I was getting a little worried. When is Reagan coming home? Um She has an in-person exam, a final, for her online course next Thursday. So, she's staying all the way to Thursday. Well, it's Reagan, so the idea was to go over this weekend and help bring some stuff back. I'm not a week. Yeah, sure. All right, I guess we'll see you on Thursday. That's all right. Great. She sure did. meteorologist have to say about this. Oh, so

They're trying to say Yeah. I think you're right. We sat down quite a while. Joe? Yeah, I always I don't know what you're talking about. Joe Exotic. I'm doing all right. We had Oh, I I had him in a psych evaluation. Yeah, we were in Safety clean for a psych evaluation. Just incognito or something, but with a big group of guys. Was he cool about it? Yes. I And then it was like I couldn't even [clears throat] look. Uh-huh. Does he seem gigantic in person? Yes.

[laughter] [clears throat]

Yeah, I felt like I came up to his waist. May- maybe it was I did talk to him. Oh, thank you. Some of you guys And I talked to him. Yeah, that's what I dog I don't do anything Oh.

[laughter]

It's right in your area. Yeah. Have you sold it yet? You guys like the pool? We love the pool. Is it all the way in the back? All the way. Where did you guys Where was it? Uh Shelton South. Oh, you guys are in [snorts] Oh, is it that channel? What was it What was he watching here? No, he was. Yeah, my nephew He was my buddy. Oh, he was. And my nephew probably did it. And that's what we were talking about.

[clears throat]

All right, it's 7:00. Call the May 7th DeSoto City Council meeting to order. Start with roll call, please. Patterson. Here. Sabre. Here. Lane. Here. McCracken. Here. Bradley. Uh it looks like Council Member Bradley is absent. I think he Maybe he may be Yeah. Soon. Said he's trying to connect, so he's joining remotely. Um I would invite you all to please rise and join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[clears throat]

I'm going to let him in. Give me 1 second. Uh Zach, can you hear us and just give us a a quick uh mic check? I can hear you. Okay. Yes, I'm going to turn you up just a little bit. Give us maybe another mic check for me. Can you hear me now? Is that better? A little bit. Still pretty faint. I'm going to turn you up all the way. Okay. One more time. You We can hear you. Uh you're still a little faint, but I think that's about as high as I can get you on my end. Give me a minute or 2 minutes while I fiddle with my laptop while we're doing it. And then I'll be using the headset and you won't be using that. Okay. Yeah, that's pretty pretty faint. Try and turn him up. All right. Yeah, I'm all the way. We don't have any other No. Options for additional volume on that?

Nope, he's all the way up. Okay. All right. Um first time tonight on the agenda is our consent [snorts] agenda. Tonight on the consent agenda, we have approved the minutes from the April 15th City Council meeting, approved ordinance number 1018, approved a donation request from the DeSoto Food Pantry, item D, approved notification of the city administrator's appointment of city clerk, and item E, approved supplemental agreement number one with PEC construction and inspection of the Waverly water tower. Is there any item anyone would wish to remove for further discussion? Does anyone want to make a motion to approve the consent agenda? I'll move that we approve the consent agenda. Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. McCracken? Here. Lane? Yes. Sabo? Yes. Bradley? Here. Patterson? Yes. Motion carried. All right, item two's call to public. Members of the public are welcome to use this time to comment comment about any matter relating to city business not listed on tonight's agenda. The comments that are discussed under call to public may or may not be acted upon by the council during this meeting. There is a 4-minute time limit. Uh please stand and wait to be recognized. When you come to the podium, state your name and address, please. When did it go from five to four minutes? Um okay. Tony Caldwell or Marie Caldwell, 8412 Corliss Road. So, trust means a firm belief in

someone's reliability, integrity, and honesty. But, what we are experiencing with Beal does not reflect that trust. It reflects a pattern of behavior that raises serious concerns. Beal has a documented history of being unreliable and inconsistent. Yet, we allowed them to enter into a development agreement, and now they want to change it. They are proposing a facility larger than what was originally presented, and this is a breach of understanding that they created with this community, and not to mention the developmental agreement. Meanwhile, smaller developers are required to turn return again and again over something as simple as a sidewalk. Yet, Beal was allowed to move forward on a promise that their proper regulations would be added later, as well as not adhering to the size of the first data center. This is not consistency. This is not fairness. And it's certainly not accountability. We have seen the impacts of Evergy's involvement, tearing up land, installing massive power poles in front yards, and now preparing to build a substation, or maybe two, to support this project. If the poles already installed are any indication, the future infrastructure will be even more intrusive. Remember, this center is not being built on sunflower contaminated land, but farmland that was somehow acquired with the help of the city and the chamber for Flint development. Even Eudora said at the last planning commission is developing new data center regulations. We are not being good neighbors. At the planning commission meeting, Roger Templeton openly stated he did not trust Beal to adhere to the regulations that did not have in their They did not have in their plan. And yet, the project still passed our planning commission. When the people responsible for oversight expressed distrust, but others approved the project anyway, something is fundamentally broken. This train wreck needs to stop. I am calling for a moratorium on data centers, a pause that allows us to evaluate the cumulative effects, the environmental and infra- costs, the fairness of our development

processes, and the long consequences for our community. We deserve transparency. We deserve consistency. We deserve developmental partners who will honor their commitments and not try to buy us off after the fact. And above all, we deserve a city government that protects its residents, not one that bends for the biggest player in the room. I am asking you to take a careful, transparent, and proactive approach before approaching any further aspect of this project. While I know we are doing a few of things um specifically, I request clear, enforceable answers, and legally binding conditions that the public can easily access. And I have a list, and because I don't have 5 minutes, I only have 4 minutes, I am going to pass them off, but I will tell you what the general areas are. Protection of residential utility rates, infrastructure responsibility, water usage and sustainability, air quality and backup power systems, setbacks, noise, and community impact, tax incentives and long-term community benefit, and lastly, transparency and accountability. I will say a few things. All commitments should be written in binding development agreements, no changes. Maybe bring in a lawyer that specifically deals with data centers. Agreements should be re- reworked if broken and redone, publicly accessible, enforceable with no with consequences for non-compliance, no NDAs. While NDAs might be inherently might not be inherently illegal depending on the scope, doing so conceals information from the public and are considered unethical. This is not a request to reject development outright, although a more trusted developer would be nice. It is request to ensure that any development is responsible, sustainable, and does not shift long-term costs or risk onto our community and other surrounding communities. And also to allow for community input, which we never had in the first place. So, I have these transparency are these

things listed and then I will hand those off to each one of you so you can read those. [applause] [applause]

Hello, I am Sarah Van De Creek, 8175 Ravenswood Lane. I think I'm taking a little different approach than Tony, but that's okay. We all have differences. The city of DeSoto and the city council, we need to take a step back and we need to slow down. I'm not against progress and unlike probably my counterparts, I can't say I'm fully against data centers or even industrial uses that at first might seem unreasonable. I want something that's reasonable. We Do we want what is reasonable? The previous city counter councils and our current mayor have made decisions for our city that this council is having to handle. Foremost for on many of our minds tonight are the plans for more than one data center. I've heard of at least two different companies. I have spent hours, days, weeks, so much time trying to get to the real cost to our community and whether the cost is worth it. Questions many have asked include water, from where? Where is the disposal? How often does it need to be refreshed as was mentioned in the recent planning commission meeting? Is it 5 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks? At what cost? Electricity, how much? What is the load? Will my rates go up? Will Evergy changes bring more destruction to our landscape? How much is Evergy really willing to fix the damage that they have caused or make changes to the future? And at what cost? Our health. Will the constant sound cause problems? It has been compared to no more than that of K10, but even K10 has lulls in sound production. It's never constant. How will this affect our students? How will this affect our people? How

will this affect our environment, our wildlife? What is the cost? I would ask that this city council are you prepared to move forward with projects that have so many potential hazards? Have you done your due diligence on what you are getting yourself and our city and our citizens into? Are you prepared to face the consequences of anything that causes damage to the people, the land, and the environment of this city? I ask that the city slow down and make sure we have the ordinances and other protections in place to protect our community. Take a pause. Make sure we get it right. Many have mentioned a two-year mor- moratorium to me. I know there are other things that can be done, but our city has had issues to face before and often our citizens are met with, "Well, you elected us for a reason. We really don't have to ask you if we can do it." That's been told to me by former city council members. "I don't have to ask you because I've you elected me to make the decisions for you." That's not how this works. I live here. My kids are here. My family is here. I work here. This is my community. If other communities and data centers and other industries all over the internet, social media, and in journals and on university campuses are sharing struggles that they have faced, shouldn't we heed their caution? Thank you.

[applause]

Okay. Laura Holloway, Sally to some people, uh 8530 Hilltop Road. Um I'm going to be honest. I didn't know what I was going to write when I sat down. I didn't know where to start. I didn't know where to finish. We are facing an unprecedented time of growth in our community. What I decided on is just to provide some scientific facts about data centers and how they affect communities around them. Um they aren't new. I think we all know and understand that. They've been around for a very long time at this point. However, what is new is the increased demand that these structures and the strains that they put on citizens nationwide. Thanks to the rise in data center power requirements alone, utility rates for residents increased by 31% in the United States between 2020 and 2025. That's a comparison of 4% from 2015 to 2020. The idea that data centers will bring their own power is also, unfortunately, a corporate myth. While proponents claim that self-powering means self-paying, that's often not the case as studies will show. In New York and Georgia, new demand in energy consumption increased residential costs even when data centers were not pulling from the grid. Nonprofit a nonprofit called Power Lines notes that US gas and electric companies requested $31 billion in rates increase last year in 2025. That's double what they asked for in 2024. Um I just Is our city ready to handle that? I'm not sure. Are our ready for that? I don't think so. Water is an ever-growing concern that we are facing. Drought notices across the country, the state. We were just put on notice here in Johnson County. The amount of waters that data centers required tripled between 2014 and 2023. Estimates suggest that by 2028 AI data centers alone may consume as much as 720 billion gallons of water. That's 18 and 1/2 million American US households.

I know we talk about the closed-loop technology a lot here. It's been a big push here in our area. But unfortunately, closed-loop does not mean that there is no water uh consumption. All it means is that the water is put back into our systems. This ensures nothing about the safety of the previously withdrawn water when it reenters our systems. It They closed-loop systems can suffer from bacterial growth, meaning that the equipment will actually corrode faster. That requires more chemicals to maintain the costs and the equipment. These chemicals will be uh released into the wastewater of our city eventually at some point when the systems are flushed. That causes more water usage in the end. So, a closed-loop system is not necessarily a good solution. Um health effects are another documented issue that have not been addressed. There are noisy cooling systems that are used often in data centers. Backup generators used by centers issue harmful pollutants such as nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. These contribute heavily to the smog levels and exacerbate childhood asthma and elderly cognitive decline. And environmental and health concerns are not enough, the financial implications of not one but multiple potential facilities like we're hearing about is very precarious. The AI-led stock market, which is largely responsible for the state of center growth, we can all admit, has not materialized any actual profits. None. Trusting corporations that engage in financial behavior like circular investing helped fuel both the dot-com era and the 2008 financial crash. This data center trend is no different, even when you use facility exemptions on sales or use tax like we've talked about here. Uh Virginia lost 1.6 billion dollars in tax revenue from these data centers alone. But what does that mean for us,

DeSoto? What does that mean for our neighbors and the community? Well, a single hyper-scale center takes 100,000 households worth of energy. Water needs unpredictable. Closed-loop systems come with a host of their own problems. The location for data centers is near our schools, homes, and other spaces. In the end, I really just want to ask, is this project worth our city's long-term health, our resource availability, and our potential tax revenue? Thank you for your time very much. [applause]

Hello. Um my name's Britney Smith, 8725 Kilcrease Road. Um our two properties are up for vote on eminent domain for the city sewer project being conducted by Grata. I've already discussed at length with many of you on this council our concerns with the proposed sewer route. However, I felt this was one of our last opportunities to appeal to the council regarding this matter. As you will see um from the maps of the sewer route, our two properties are a very large portion of the land needed to complete the proposed sewer main. Over the last two months, we have been attempting to negotiate with Grata regarding this route. Um the process has been slow, generally pretty frustrating, as the only options that appear on the table are agreement to the original route or agreement to slight variations but wholly similar routes. Um, all of these routes would destroy a large majority of natural landscape that we have on our property, um, destroy old trees in the area, and would bisect our property in half, um, and have unknown impacts to the creek that it was will be built along. Um, in the legal statement of mutual assistance that we received, the city agreed to assist Grotto up to eminent domain. Um, so far we have not seen any assistance included in that up to portion of the agreement. All of our alternative routes navigate around our property or proposal that the city and Grotto use a lift station to provide the service that they want have been denied or not even explored due to costs. Um, all conversations have circled back to that we either agree to the route or that Grotto will use the city to take the, um, property from a needed from us. Um, Grotto has increased their compensation offered for the proposed route to us. However, this offer is

still vastly below what it would cost us to even build a sewer line to connect the proposed main line to our home on just one of our two properties. Highlighting the fact that this proposed utility service that we keep hearing is bettering the community or providing service to the residents won't even be able to service the users whose backyard it will be built into. We feel that if the city agrees to move forward, um, with the eminent domain process, it will eliminate any negotiating power that we may have. And we also feel that in moving forward with this process, the city is showing the residents that they are choosing the potential of making a profit to outweigh the concerns of the residents, that they do not care about their constituents who have owned property for 40 plus years in DeSoto, and that they would rather support an outside corporation than their own landowners. I would encourage you all to think if that is the message that you want to send your residents and if not to instead seek alternatives in this situation before choosing to move forward with eminent domain. Thank you for your time.

[applause]

I'm Emily Lednicky. I own Village Vibes Massage in town. Address 33065 West 83rd Street. Um a data center could potentially cause me to move my business out of town. I do massage. Needs to be quiet. Um if there's a net negative with the noise, not just for me, but also for the nervous system of my clients. Um Again, it would just it would force me to leave if it's loud enough. Also just the water concerns for everybody, the children, the future and um just yeah, just literally being run out of town by the data center. I do want to mention um I just don't think any water is worth the risk even if it's a small percentage. Um I did look up the other night where [clears throat] data there's around six states that are not allowing data centers to be built in them and one of those places includes Washington D.C. So I just want to think about why why here and not there. So thank you for your time.

[applause]

Rob Daniels, 30875 West 87th Street, DeSoto, Kansas. I'm not up here There's been a lot of comments about data center and I'm not up here to speak about data center good, data center bad. But I do want to address a couple of things because as somebody that was on council, sat in meetings with Beal, the development agreement was based upon what was presented to us as a project coming forward. And what we're seeing are material changes, drastic material changes both in size, scope, the utilities, whether it be water or electricity that are being used that the development agreement was based upon. And with material changes of that nature, that scope, and that size, what I'm seeing and what is coming forward now is basically a different project than what had been proposed in the meetings that I was in that made me come forward and actually make the motion to approve the Beal data center development agreement and the industrial revenue bonds for it. So, as the change happens, it's one of those changes that that size of material change also means that the development agreement should be revisited because it's not the same project that it was when we looked at it the first time.

[applause]

Hello, I'm Cheryl Ragland. Been in DeSoto about 30 years, so I'm pretty um this is home for me. So, I'm pretty invested in our community. Um so, last week I intended the planning committee meeting, which was insightful. Um what I what I would request from that meeting, and again, I want to thank all the planning committee people cuz I know that they were working hard on looking at this quickly. [clears throat] I think they got the packet pretty a couple days before the meeting. Um so, my request would be, I know that we're having a substation added down I don't know what road it is, I'm sorry. I could drive you there. [laughter] Uh where? Evening Star

Evening Star Road. That there's going to be an addition of a um substation and up and during the meeting the planning meeting there was some discussion about how can we make it look a little bit better for people coming in from that part of the town the west side of town so that they don't see this huge massive and maybe an engineer would think that's really beautiful but I don't think it's that attractive when you come to the city of DeSoto and I think for the city of DeSoto for a long time we have struggled with this we're on the other side of the tracks when it comes to the city of Shawnee and that other part of the school district and I think we've gone a long way with overcoming that but I also don't want to feel again that we're on the other side of the tracks and we've got this somewhat ugly building or ugly structure as we come in from the west and I know there was some discussion about putting shrubs I'm not sure how much shrubs are really going to cover with the size of the structure so there's got to be something that can be done to make it a lot more appealing I wanted to talk about a water fountain or something but again a water fountain is here and the structure is what how big is it I don't really know how tall are they normally do I have any average people here pretty tall so again I'm just going to ask that we look at that we think about our community we think about how we enter into the town what it looks like for people coming from the west I would appreciate you guys digging into that and I think the other thing I'd like to just put out there and I don't know I come from a medical field I have not done enough research but I would look at some whatever data we can find out there that talks about long-term effects from projects like this I mean RFK has some stuff out there but I don't I don't know that he's the only person I would take my information from so I would ask that we look at that long-term um and I think we have a lot of caring people here in town so thank you for being here I know it does you take your time your energy I even appreciate you

thank you [applause] Thank We do have two people online. [clears throat] Sally, I'm going to unmute you if you just let us know if you wanted to speak. Give you a couple seconds. Okay. [cough and clears throat]

Don't hear you. Okay. I'm going to disable your mic, Sally. And then Abby, I'm going to unmute you real fast just in case you wanted to speak. Not seeing her wanting to speak, so I'm going to put her back on mute. [clears throat] [snorts]

All right. Anyone else on the call to public? All right. We will move on in our agenda. Old business is item three and we do not have any, so we will go to item four A, receive presentation and update from the Johnson County Sheriff's Office. All right, this is Mayor and Council. This is just our quarterly update from the Johnson County Sheriff's Office [clears throat] on law enforcement activities in DeSoto. We have Dan here who gives gives a quarterly report, so I'll turn it over to him. Good evening, Council. Thank you for having me once again. As Brandon said, here to present the first quarter statistics for the Sheriff's Office. As requested, the first slide is just some definitions of the offenses, the type of calls that we utilize. That's a general slide that's been there the last couple times. Executive summary, dispatch calls decreased from 710 to 654 uh, from the same period in 2025. Okay? That's just number of calls coming into the dispatch center was less. Uh, self-initiated non-traffic calls decreased from 1,145 to 952 for the same period. These would be the type of calls uh, that we do through our general patrolling. Um, whether it be through the neighborhoods, doing business checks and things like that. All right. Uh, uh, I'm sorry. Go back to the first slide, yeah.

[laughter]

Uh, self-initiated traffic increased from 1,451 to 1,556. Uh, I would like to say that is due in part to the number of deputies that we have uh, produced from our training program and the district assigned officers, Deputy Miller and Deputy Heidi, uh, who have have very much activity here within the city. Um, but with their combined efforts, you see an increase in those calls there, those type of stops. And that's also in addition to the district assigned officer for the DeSoto area. Uh, traffic accidents increased from four to six for the same period in 2025. Uh, not a significant increase and here in a little bit I'll go to the uh, individual accidents and the areas that those took place. We have a slide for that alone. And uh, as I said in previous meetings, here in the third quarter of 2026 uh, we began our e-ticketing system um, last year so we can develop that baseline and compare from 2026 to 2025 here starting in the third quarter of this year. All right. There we go. All right. The first slide here is just the type of offenses that were there for this for 2026. And utilizing that were on the first slide, group B offenses we had 60 and 268 total offenses. There the pie chart will show you the type of offenses that took place for that period. I can answer any questions as to that if you have any. If we're good. Okay. Thank you. Uh this slide right here is one I put together. I wanted to show you comparison of all of those types of offenses compared from 2025. Um through most of them there's no

significant increase or decrease in each of the categories, but of note you will notice in uh driving under the influence, drugs and narcotics, and drug paraphernalia there is an increase in those areas and again that's due to the activity level of the deputies that are operating within the district and within the city. And here you see the total number of dispatch calls were 654. And self-initiated non-traffic were 952 resulting in that 1,556 uh self-initiated traffic and that was an increase I talked about. That's the increased activity level of the deputies and the dots there will show where each of those active or that activity took place. Uh the next one there is what we call the heat map. It kind of gives you just an image, a concentration of where the offenses or the stops were taking [clears throat] place within the city. All right. As I said, uh this is a total number of accidents uh for the first quarter of this year and on the next slide right there it will talk about where each of those took place.

[clears throat]

Yep. Did you want me to go down? There you go. There we go. So in 2025 we had four. We had two at West 83rd and Laramie and we had one at 103rd Street and Eveningstar and then at J C and Osage. We had two additional here in 2026 and you see the areas there. Of note and concerns in the past have been obviously with the advent of more traffic and things like that within the area especially up around the Panasonic facility. Actually that is not where those accidents have been taking place. Much of that too is we had some rough time there in January and early February with the cold weather and the ice and things like that. So that often attributes to those increased number of accidents during this time of year. All right. And this year addresses our e-ticketing for the city for this first quarter in 2026 a total of 274 tickets were written amounting to 394 violations with 171 warnings given. And again in the third quarter this year we'll be able to show that comparison from this year to 2025. All right. Any questions with that I can answer? Any questions? Thank you. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate the update.

[applause]

Oh, Zach I'm sorry. Sorry Zach. I'm looking at the computer but I have one question. On the map Let me pull that back up for you Zach. Hold on. Let me get there. What you're still pretty hard to hear but I will try to make out what you're saying. Is that better? It's a little better yeah. What what slide did you want to look at Zach? The one with the map Tickets or for the e- or Yeah, offenses So, there over there at the This one? 103rd and I think that's it. That is all I have. This used to be a little bit of a blur here, so you will know where the uh Flint Commerce Center is. Did you know if you know what kind of calls those were over there? What kind of difficult ones? There's traffic collisions or the tickets or criminal offenses? Do you know off the top of your head? I'm sorry. I didn't know. I do not know off I don't have that data readily in front of me. It's a combination of all the dispatch calls, the self-initiated calls by the deputies, and the self-initiated traffic uh stops that were made. So, without that actually in front of me and be able to pull up the data for that particular call, I do [snorts] not know. I'm sorry. That's all right. That's all right. But, I will look that up. What was the specific intersection?

The Flint Commerce Center, is that what you were saying, Zach? Is that what I heard? That's correct. Okay. I will look that up and get an answer for you. All right. All right. All right. Thank you. [snorts]

Item B, consider proposal with Maverick Construction for the 2026 sidewalk curb replacement program. Good evening, council members. Thank you. Tonight before you uh is the bid for our sidewalk curb replacement program. Uh you may not be aware currently you should be we just had a sidewalk repair program. And then the 2025 budget we doubled the amount of money to go and add curbs uh to it since we've got uh a lot of our curb here within the city as a lot of cities do. They use limestone uh that's failing. And so, this year we we added curb to the program. We had three bidders. Uh Mack and Nancy Freeman Construction and and Johnson Concrete LLC. Mack and Nancy provided us the the lowest most responsible bid in the amount of $159,990. Uh we do have two areas and one area in Timber Trails at 84th Court that we'll be replacing the curbs and then High Street north of 83rd. Um we will be placing uh curb along that street. Um there is a link within the write-up that takes you to a map that shows you the locations of the sidewalk uh and the locations of the curb work. Uh so, tonight we'd ask for approval of Mack and Nancy Construction on $159,990 and 80 cents and authorize the city administrator to execute the contract. I would uh like to compliment you and Martin on the on the map. I found that to be very uh handy, uh useful, and uh informative. And Martin, I found the locations quickly and the pictures that were tagged to those really really helped. I'd like to make that motion. I have a couple quick questions.

Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. Sorry, Danny. I'm sorry. Um as far as when the time frame, I think it was a 60-day completion timeline. How do the residents get notice on which areas are going to be at which times? Yeah, we'll the contractor will send out door hangers to let folks know when we will move in. Probably about a week in advance of that, yeah. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, cuz on on the curb work we want to make sure they get plenty of notice cuz uh there'll be restrictions to getting in and out of your driveway as they replace curb. So, you'll probably have to park to one side of the street. We kind of try to do half at a time. Uh but yeah, we'll make residents aware of when that construction would start. Okay. Thanks, Joe. All right.

[clears throat]

I think we have a motion technically, right? So Yes, yes, we do. Thank you, Danny. Are we ready for a second? Yes, uh I'll second. All right, we have a second, a motion and a second. Any discussion of the motion? Roll call, please. Lane? Yes. Sabo? Yes. Patterson? Yes. Bradley? Yes. McCracken? Yes. Motion carries. All right. Item C, consider agreement with IBTS for third-party plan review and inspection services for the Mountain Flower project. Thank you, Mayor. Um before you this evening, Council, um is an agreement between the city of DeSoto and uh IBTS, uh Institute for Building Technology and Safety. IBTS is the company that we have utilized since 2023 on the Panasonic project to assist our building department with um plan review services as well as inspection services. They currently have one full-time inspector and a second inspector as needed that are at the Panasonic project every day um in order to provide the level of service needed for a project of that magnitude. Um we do not currently have uh staff capabilities to provide the level of service that a project of that scale would need just due to the amount of work, the amount of inspections, and the scale of the plan review. Um numerous packages have been in the uh 3,000-plus sheet uh per package range, um which takes a significant amount of resources to get reviewed for code compliance to ensure that the construction meets adopted building codes by the city of DeSoto. Um the Mountain Flower Properties project um would put a similar strain to the Panasonic project, similar demand um for plan review and inspection services.

So, we have been meeting with the developer as far as uh uh that uh third-party agreement goes, you'll notice on the last page of the agreement before the exhibits, there is a line for [cough]

acknowledgement [clears throat] by Mount Sunflower Properties LLC to be financially responsible for these services. So, they would cover the costs of those third-party inspection and plan review services 100%. Um working with Patrick, um the staff recommendation that while these services would uh typically be subject to competitive bidding, um the city purchase policy provides exceptions for special circumstances as we have here due to IBTS's existing relationship with the city, expertise in building code compliance clients in newly constructed data centers, and the funding mechanism coming from developer reimbursement, uh staff recommend entering into the agreement with IBTS for third-party plan review and inspection services. In 2023, we did uh solicit bids for this service. IBTS was significantly lower than other companies due to their status as a non-profit organization. The rates they have provided have increased slightly since 2023 as inflation has increased the cost for most services at this point. Um however, after reviewing those rates in comparison to the other bids from 2023, they are still at or below the rates from other bidders in 2023. And so, that's another reason that that Patrick and I worked together and felt as if that exception is acceptable for this. So, with that, I'll stand for any questions.

Questions for Cameron regarding this agreement. Hi Cameron, thank [snorts] you. Um Sorry, Zach. I really interrupted all of that. of people. Zach, what did you go Oh, never mind. Sorry. Um So, when I was reading through it, so with projects like Panasonic or Mount Sunflower, and requiring that third-party inspection services, so have we as a staff evaluated having the need for additional in-house person to do that? Cuz I only see that growing at for that third party.

Yeah, so currently, and we evaluated it when the Panasonic project came to town, and and obviously there was concern that it would require more than one additional staff member. Um currently, on that project, our plan review is completed by a team of uh plan reviewers that has had as many as nine people on any given plan review in order to get these plan reviews turned around in as quick as a week. Um you know, to review 3,000 pages takes significant time. Um our concern at that time was um hiring enough people to be able to man a project like that with the level of service that we're getting through this third party. If the development did not continue after that project was over, then we would be in a position where we would have an abundance of staff and and not be uh able to properly fund that personnel or have to lay people off. Um and so, the level of service we get for these large projects, um we've had really good luck with IBTS on the previous project, and we just felt like given the uncertainty of mega projects like this, we don't want to overstaff and then have to lay people off immediately after if further development were to not happen. So, I hope that answers your question adequately. Zach, did you have a question? I did. Okay. So, I just wanted just to say

I believe that that is a total for just that phase. Those numbers were provided by Mount Sunflower Properties. We asked them for their proposed scope of this project so that way we could encompass what it was being proposed as to to be conservative and have a maximum with the understanding that if it were to scale back, we would rather be conservative and have our scope of work listed out clearly for the third-party to where it protects us if the third-party if the project conversely if the project were to be under estimated and they were to increase the third-party could potentially request a revision to this agreement. So this this would allow the agreement to stand and not have to be revisited throughout the project. Um unless it was felt necessary by the city or IBTS that something wasn't correct or something wasn't fair. Any other questions? Rhonda, I will I thought of one other thing for your question. Currently in the 2026 budget, there is an additional position within the building department for a full-time [snorts] plans examiner. Um once revenues we expect revenues to exceed our projections just due to the uh large-scale development. Once those revenues do materialize, we are um budgeted this year to hire a full-time plans examiner within the building department. That position um is really to help with uh the additional spin-off developments. I mean, we're building more homes in DeSoto. There are developers building more commercial businesses. Our permit numbers have vastly increased over the last 3 years since Panasonic. So,

we are growing, but we're trying to grow based on our our day-to-day development versus reacting to the the large-scale developments. So, just for clarification, we do have a additional position in the budget this year, but that is not tied to this. So, just wanted to make that clear for you. Yep. Okay. Anything else? Ready for a motion. I'll move to approve agenda item 4C and approve the city administrator to sign the agreement with IBTS with the Mountain Sunflower project. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Motion? If you don't mind, the contract has the mayor signing. Oh, sorry. I typed that incorrectly on the suggested motion. Would you amend your motion?

Yes, so [laughter] I move to uh amend the motion to have the mayor sign the agreement with IBTS. Thanks, Cameron. Set you up for failure. [laughter] Apologize. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? [snorts] Further discussion of the motion? Roll call, please. Patterson. Yes. Radley. Yes. Sable. Yes. McCracken. Yes.

Lane. Yes. Motion carries. All right. Item D, discuss 2027 CDBG project. All right. Thank you, Mayor and Council. This is our annual application for community development block grant. Couple good things of note is the amount available has been doubled from 100,000 annually to 200,000. So, that's a significant increase. It's been 100,000 for at least last 10 12 years. So, it's finally been increased and is now $200,000 on an annual basis. Also, want to let you know a public hearing does need to be held by the city council. So, that is scheduled for the 24th. So, tonight we're just receiving some input, some ideas, some areas that maybe you'd like to see the money spent. We do have some staff recommendations, but ultimately it is the council's decision on what projects is selected or projects are are requested. It's not selected to be We turn in an application to the to Johnson County for consideration since they manage the program. One thing that also was a benefit is De Soto used to have three census tracts now we have seven. And so, I've highlighted the areas in yellow which are eligible for community development block grants and they are for the money is targeted to low and moderate income areas and we've got three areas. One is west of Penner north of K-10. It's the Lakeview Lakeview Heights area which does include a fairly large portion of downtown area. Then of course the old town De Soto original platted area and then west of Kill Creek, south of K-10, which really is the Clearview City is in the area that is generally targeted for this location. So, just a quick recap some of our

previous grants. We had 108,000 to the Sunflower Trail, which was built recently and completed open in [clears throat and cough]

2024 was weather sirens that we installed. And those are in and then we've All these funds have been approved and we've been reimbursed for this. This is also to reimbursement plans and we have to, you know, get the engineering, get the project built, and then we can request reimbursement for this. And then currently under construction is the sidewalk along Commerce or Lexington Avenue connecting 95th Street to Commerce Drive, and that's under construction now. And we were awarded 182,633. You may have recall we did recently have a bid opening on that a couple months ago. So, that is underway. So, to move towards the 2027 project, staff's recommended a couple areas to be looked at. I did will point out previous councils have been really focused on sidewalk development and improving those. So, that's an area that focused on with this consideration as well. Certainly, you're not bound by any of those things, but on page two of the staff report, you can see where we did a bunch of sidewalk replacement in orange for the city. That was city only funds, not anything to do with community development block grant. And then, of course, the areas that I have highlighted in yellow are sidewalks that need to be replaced ultimately, and do have pictures of those in your staff report. One area also that I would like for the council to consider is Lakeview Heights area. There is some serious concerns with our water lines over there. They're actually 6 in is our standard size water line. A lot of those lines over there are 2 in. And some of the hydrants aren't working and that valve that are have shown on that drawing there. Spoke with Billy Briggs, our our water superintendent and he's actually afraid to turn that one or do anything with it because he doesn't know if he'll ever get it back open. So, I really think they're this is an area

that needs some strong consideration as well for this project. Now, one thing that's also good about the additional funds is you could split the project. We can make we could consider two applications, both for 100,000 on sidewalks, 100,000 towards the water line, or they could be split up if the council has a third area you'd like to see considered and we can divide it up in thirds. So, that's why I'd like to have this discussion or the council has a discussion if there's some areas you'd like to see these funds applied for, but they do have to be in these three areas [clears throat] that I've highlighted in the staff report as far as the Lakeview Heights area, the Old Town DeSoto, and potentially areas around Clearview City. Uh a location that came to my mind and I don't know if we might be ready for that by then would be a downtown project that we might combine with some other like we could combine some of the CDBG funds with another project and do something downtown. If if we're starting the planning process this year by 2027, then we might be ready for some construction and and could is would that be possible?

Yeah, well, this the application is June 12th [snorts] of this year. So, that's why I've got the public hearing at the next council meeting. So, I don't know if we'd be able to make that and I know we've talked about or you brought this up mayor before about having some sort of joint project downtown. I'm so I'll have to clarify with the Johnson County staff that runs this what we could potentially do, but it has to be infrastructure, sidewalks, Yeah. things like that. I remember one year we did target this thing for sidewalks downtown that

Yeah, we could turn we could do that combined with something that like lights or whatever it might be with some other uh downtown improvements that uh but Uh I was I guess my question was I'm assuming that Main Street or that that street Sorry, my that street between Shawnee and uh and uh Peoria would would qualify along Certainly, yes. That's in the thing. One of the eligible districts. Okay. Ron, do you look like you had a comment or something to say? So, just for clarification, of course I think the downtown part is big. If we can have that sooner than later, it'd be great. Uh since we're wanting to drive more activities and down there, the sooner we can get that going, I think the better. But, so what's your definition of downtown? Like, what is the from what street to what streets? What's considered downtown?

Well, I mean, if you really And I do have a map of the census tracts. Actually, the one downtown's kind of Well, they're all kind of strange shapes, but the core of it is basically It actually stretches all the way to Gardner Road, north of Gardner Road, which includes the whole sand plant area, which nobody lives in. So, it's really I mean, old town to Soda, what I refer to as the original plat area, basically. So, more than just two blocks? Yes, yeah. It's It's you know, all the surrounding neighborhoods or homes basically from Well, Wyandotte to uh along 83rd out to Piner Avenue in that area. Thank you. Brad, can you uh talk a little bit about Where [snorts] our next closest working hydrant? Um near 83rd and and center. So, you have that marked on the map that that is the non-working hydrant?

Right. Yeah, and I guess it and I did draw it's out on the along 83rd Street. We do have a 6-in water main along 83rd and it is probably closer when Penner swings around and you've kind of got that turn you turn right on 83rd Street. It's maybe uh a block from there. So, it's a fair distance. Yeah, I I I would definitely be interested in seeing cost impacts on improving the 2-in water line. Uh I I think the community deserves working fire hydrants. [clears throat]

Yeah, we can get some of those numbers for you, but this is really at this point just a spur discussion on Yeah, I understand. Okay. But, yeah, I'll get that location of that nearest hydrant. I know I can see it when I I know where it is. I can point to it, but I don't know the exact address of the home. Any other areas or ideas you want to throw at uh Brad to have him bring back for the public hearing? This is Brad. Yeah. Um so, Mark, so so so we wanted to make sure that this uh hydrant is coordinated with with the Valley Fire District um to make sure that we're aligned our public works and their needs as the fire district are are as a large volume. Well, we have had discussions with the fire district before specifically about this area. Now, once again, it's been several years ago. So, I'm kind of going off of memory. But, we had a discussion about how a fire would be fought in that area knowing that this hydrant is is not serviceable. And I mean they do carry water in the trucks and I have Chief Max and the sole heir who was here earlier, but so it the our fire fighting capability would be limited to what is actually transported in the truck itself. So they're full and they're ready to go right now. So if there was a huge blaze, we they'd have to string hoses to the nearest hydrant. But they do carry several thousand gallons of water on each each of their trucks, so hopefully they would already have a big fire. Well, we certainly can do that, but as you know, the hydrants are ours and we've had some instances. I mean there are other hydrants in town that are out of out of service, but um this area also has

some water line needs as well. So yes, well well I'll speak with Chief Max and about other areas that he might have concerns about for water projects.

Okay. Anything else you need from us tonight? No, that will do it Mayor. And like I said, if you have any other ideas, um we have that public hearing on the 21st, so All right. Thank you.

Thank you. Item E, consider resolution number 2095 regarding KDOT transportation all Yeah. Uh good evening Mayor and Council. Uh tonight staff is requesting approval of resolution uh 2095 to support the KDOT transportation alternative grant application shared use path on Sunflower Road from 87th to 91st Street. Um the project is would the project would be constructed is approximately half mile uh long and a 10-ft wide asphalt asphalt trail. And this would be kind of the missing link between an existing trail on 87th Street that was part of the mark expansion several years ago and a trail segment that was completed last year from 91st Street to 103rd Street. Um right now the pedestrian and cyclist are having to as they come around the bend on 87th Street having to get on the road to kind of connect from trail to trail. Um the project is already designed and when we designed the the trail from 103rd Street up to 91st Street we had the engineer go all the way up to 87th Street with the anticipation that this missing link would be completed. Um and so the the great application basically requires an 80 an 80/20 cost share with the city of DeSoto having the 20% and that 20% would be approximately 80,000 on a $400,000 trail. Um the project is included in the CIP and it's for the city goals for safer trail connection and walkability. Um and so staff recommends approval of resolution 2095. I do have if anyone would like to see it kind of a map. Um so you kind of get a feel for it. I know it is kind of out there but you can kind of see It was one of the topics of discussion at one of our Saturday morning meetings. This particular piece of trail was.

Well it's a missing link. I'm having technology issues. I'll tell you that. Right now there's yeah right I actually have a photo that the school district sent me where the our current cross country runners are running on the road as they're going back to the path. Um so it's definitely a missing link we're seeing. Sure. Questions from council. Ready for a motion to uh approve the resolution. I move we approve resolution number 2095 as presented to allow submission of the grant application. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Bradley. Yes. Lane. Yes. Sabel. Yes.

McCracken. Yes. Patterson. Yes. Mosher cares. All right. Thank you. Item F, consider contract with Excuse [clears throat] me, Milburn Engineering for the 89th Street culvert replacement SMAC project. Mayor, council members, thank you. So, last year we hired Milburn to do preliminary [clears throat] engineering study to um submit to the county uh through their Johnson County Stormwater Management Program for uh funding of this project. [snorts]

Uh so, that application was submitted and uh we did receive funding. The funding from the county will pay 50% of the design, 50% of construction, and then 50% of construction section. Uh the other 50% uh would be the the city's to uh to pay. Uh we have a dev- a developer's agreement with the developer of Arbor Ridge that will cover that other half because they're going to have to approve the section of 89th Street, too. So, this project is located on 89th east of Kill Creek. It was in the right of the county shows uh the total [clears throat] improvement state in 89th Street from Kill Creek going east. And we have the kind of the middle section, about 1,100 ft of the roadway and culvert that will be part of this project. Uh so, once uh uh assuming this is approved tonight, we'll send the application of the the approved contract to Johnson County. Uh they will in turn uh develop a interlocal agreement that will come back to the council for approval. That will state uh the cost of this project and that they'll fund 50% and the other 50% would be the city's responsibility in this case through the developer for Arbor Ridge. So, tonight uh asking for approval of the contract with Milburn Engineering in the amount of $162,500 and uh authorize the city administrator to and I'll stand for any questions.

All right. Any questions? Motion? I'll make a motion that we approve engineering agreement between Milburn Engineering in the amount of $162,500 and authorize the city administrator to sign. Second. All right. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion of the motion? Roll call, please. Sable? Yes. Patterson? Yes. Bradley? Yes. Blake? Yes. McCracken? Yes. Motion carries. All right. Item G, receive presentation on phase one of the community center master plan. Uh Mayor and Council, tonight our consultants are here to present phase one findings from the community center master plan. This item is informational only. Uh no formal action is is requested. Um phase one focuses on my on market data, prior survey review, community engagement efforts, and our continued um and confirming what residents have continued to prioritize. Um I will turn it over to Jean and the rest of the team and they'll walk you through this process. And you can go ahead and introduce yourselves.

Uh hi, my name is Jean Stovern. I'm an architect with Clark and Anderson and you get two of us this evening.

That's right. You get double double duty tonight. I'm Chris Castellic with Studio CKA. I'm also a consultant to the Clark Anderson team. And as uh as Brandon mentioned tonight, this is just an update of our first phase of the community center uh feasibility study and the idea here is that we're going to share with you everything we've learned over the last few months before we embark on the second phase of the project and start showing some some more some more concrete information. So, we'll go ahead and jump into that. So, tonight we're going to go through a little bit of market and demographic data. We're going to talk about the process that we've been through with the community, some of the engagement activities. And we'll talk about some of the feedback that came out of that. And then we're going to talk a little bit about a survey that was conducted with the community and give you some feedback on that. And then I think our public meeting as well as our steering committee went through a little we'll call it a build a center activity where we were given hypothetical money and and and expressed our priorities. So, so that's the agenda for this evening. I know we're getting a little late here. So, we're going to move through this pretty quickly if we can. So, this is just simply the service area that forms the foundation of our study. The red represents obviously the border of the DeSoto and the black is really an expanded secondary service area that that expands to the entire school district boundaries. The idea behind this is this really sets the parameters for analysis demographic market and the the things that will factor into the revenue analysis of this project. The other thing that really impacts use, market penetration, and revenue projections are other service providers in the area. And as you all know, several of the communities surrounding DeSoto have larger community recreation facilities. So, that's something that will factor into our analysis and will factor into some of the feedback that we look to. Now, I'm just going to talk a little bit

about the process. We met with a steering committee meeting throughout phase one in between each of the community engagement activities. Steering committee was made up of city staff, city some city council members, park board members, uh, school district and community members. Um, and the engagement activities we are community engagement, um, we held three pop-ups. One was at a youth basketball game, one was at a pick-ball event and one was at a high school basketball game. Uh, these were really to build awareness about the project, to introduce people to the project. We had a board up with the timeline of the project and just kind of introducing what the study was about and then we, um, asked people to fill out postcards and, um, they could fill them out there and leave them with us or they could bring them back to city hall, um, and tell us, uh, what they would like to see in a community center. And then we held focus group discussions. Uh, these were more conversational, um, not just, you know, listing amenities but talking about, uh, how these different special use groups in the community, um, would see the a community center being used. We met with the arts council, student advisory committee to the superintendent, we met with the chamber of commerce, um, faith groups and the parks board. And then, um, as Chris mentioned, we and we'll go into a little bit more, um, we conducted a survey and had over 400 responses, which was very good. And then the hometown hall, which was our public meeting, was open to, um, anyone in the community to attend. Oh, and then this is just a look at the schedule. So, we had, uh, something going on almost every week since January and then the, uh, uh, focus groups and survey were concentrated mostly in the month of March. Um, we had our hometown hall just a couple weeks ago and, um, we have been meeting with the steering committee regularly throughout those to provide updates and feedback from them.

So, the real the real purpose of this phase of development is to make sure we can understand everything there is to know about the community before we forge ahead recommending anything. And a lot of the amenities that came out of this discussion or a lot of the priorities that came out of the discussion really focused on the the types of recreational amenities that may have been lacking within the community. Some of the questions that we asked people were what are the types of things as you can see things like an indoor aquatic facility, larger gymnasiums, fitness space, other other amenities that came out of the discussion. These are a couple of the examples of the postcards that we asked people to fill out in some of those activities. And as I just listed some of the top amenities that kind of rose to the top both within that outreach as well as within the survey, some place for some indoor year-round walking to get out of the cold and wind, something centered around fitness. This was both fitness open fitness as well as group exercise fitness, a huge support for additional gymnasium space, and then some level of aquatics and I think that's a big a big uh talking point as we move forward is what type of aquatics would be most desirable. I think we also really want to understand the qualitative things. Not everyone in this community will participate in a facility like this, but we want to make sure that we understand how it supports the community in as a whole. And so some of the themes that came out of these discussions were also around the idea of a community hub, a place where people could gather, something that strengthens partnerships, strengthens our unique identity as a community, and really preserves the feel that people have come to expect from DeSoto. Make sure it's multi-generational, that it serves all age groups, that it's not just just not sport and recreation facilities, but also other other enrichment and community programs. And also make sure that it's a complement to the existing facility. We asked a lot of questions of people, well if you did see a new facility, how would it relate to the

existing? Would it complement that? Would it supersede that? And so that was a big piece in making sure that as we move forward that everything we present is sort of a responsible stewardship of public dollars. That we look to amenities that provide the broadest appeal and have the broadest utilization so that we can make sure that funding is most appropriately utilized. So the survey. This was administered through several different methods through social media, through city newsletter, as well as through utility bills. We did make paper copies available for those who didn't take that online. There's some examples of some of the questions. A lot of the questions focused on priorities and preferences, and we even started asking a question or two around willingness to potentially pay for a tax measure. As Gene mentioned, 400 respondents, a little over 400 respondents. It's not really critical that that the demographics of those respondents are known, but it was good to know that the majority of the respondents both DeSoto residents as well as school district residents were residents of the primary and secondary service area up to 97% within that secondary service area. I think this is another key key finding that about 57% don't use a facility. And then 65% probably would. This is really the type of data that supports community recreation facilities. The type of people that don't see themselves using a retail facility or a private facility, but would if it were available, affordable, and accessible. So this is the kind of data we like to really see come in. And and as you can see a couple of the more more targeted questions around aquatics, what type of aquatics. And as you can see the the most prevalent was something around a leisure or

recreational pool, closely followed second by some type of lap or competitive pool, and then a couple of other specific amenities that would play into that. And then about 16% of the population or 16% of the respondents said, you know, aquatics indoor aquatics is not a high priority for them. And then we also looked at youth facilities specifically gymnasium space as you can see was was a very very high high response level. And then following behind that things like drop-in child child watch, um some type of youth or activity space, and then obviously again if if if if it was not a focus about 9% of the respondents felt that wasn't a high priority for them. And I know pie pie charts can can blur the eyes occasionally, but I'll go through the one on the left related to property tax was specifically around some level of willingness to pay. And if you do the math quickly in your head, you recognize that about 50% of the respondents totaled said they would support something between 10 and $30 a month at a at a taxation level. I wouldn't focus so heavily on the property tax question as much as the willingness to pay some level of taxation. And again about 30% of the population said this isn't just something that they just wouldn't support. Then you look at tax type and again property tax falls pretty low on that on that scale. What this really says to me given the preliminary nature is we don't focus too heavily other than to say we really owe it to the community in the second phase of this to really dive into the program, the numbers, the costs, and really start refining some of these numbers. But recognizing that again if you look across the spectrum here, there is enough support to some tax tax willingness to pay that it's it's worth it's worth getting getting a little deeper dive into that. Um I also wanted to point out that one of the impetus of this study was really coming off the heels of the previous

study that was done uh last year uh involving the YMCA. We really want to see some alignment and we saw a lot of alignment. So, we're not seeing a disparity of information coming in. Both are showing some level of support for those high priority activities indoor walking uh gymnasium, aquatics, and fitness. Um both again show a pretty high propensity to support the facility and and would show usage. Um both really focused on cost as the primary uh factor for involvement in that. And then again, both show around 50% um of that range would support a some reasonable monthly uh additional tax. [snorts]

So, again, we did conduct this build a center activity both within one of our community meetings as well as with our steering committee. People were given chips and a hypothetical dollar value and then a total budget that they had to stay within. And this allowed us to show a preference for the most important activities to the to the participants. Um but but when you bring cost into the equation, that definitely made the challenge a little a little a little trickier. Um and so we can keep keep moving through these around. And so in the hometown hall, we also went through a similar exercise. And then again, with our committee, we went through a similar exercise as well and really kind of felt like we were seeing a lot of common themes. This isn't just survey data someone reading in their their living room a a a dry survey, but people that could really discuss why are these amenities important? Why are we seeing this lacking of of these particular activities? When you got into a deeper discussion, um it really gave us some insight into why these are um high priority activities within the community.

[clears throat]

And when we did this with the committee, we started off realizing those pools are really expensive. So So, we started with one that had a pool and realized you don't get a whole heck of a lot else within a reasonable range of money. So, then we started looking at one that really reduced the amount of aquatics and said, "Okay, how much How much does that give us to to play with?" And that gave us a little more meat on the bone. And then we decided it was only prudent to come up with a hybrid, which is always the perfect um I was I was joking uh you know a camel is a horse that's designed by a committee. And if you take a committee and put them together, you get a you get a you get a good hybrid. And I think we did we did get a hybrid that really included some level of aquatics and some level of those high priority dry activities. And then thought about maybe a phase two potentially if there was something that would allow us to get a more robust indoor aquatic program. So, I really thought this was a good exercise for the committee to go through to understand. And a couple folks on council were part of that effort as well. Um really understand the priorities and in the in the challenges that we face in the next phase.

[snorts]

Okay. And then phase two we'll start um programming um which is really starting to understand what are the spaces um that are necessary, what size do those want to be, um what are the adjacencies that need to happen, um and then benchmarking tours. So, we'll look at some existing facilities um across the region. Um we'll uh conduct site analysis. Um Got another slide on that. The current preferred site. Um and then we'll start um con- conceptual design. So, this 3D rendering there, that is not this project, but that's just an example of the type of graphics that we'll start to generate when we get into phase two. Um We get further along in phase two. And then um throughout all of that we'll be doing cost estimating um which is estimating the upfront costs for construction and project costs. But then also looking at operational ranges. So, that's looking at the cost of um maintaining the building over the life of the building. Um We want to make sure that it's a sustainable um model. And then just touching on site analysis, this is the preferred site at the moment that is across from just south of the high school. Um to the west of El Patron restaurant. Um so we'll be starting to look at storm water, site access, um topography on the site, uh size of the property versus the size of facility that we think is viable. Um and then existing infrastructure, any environmental restrictions will get into um preliminary studies of all of that in phase two. And this is uh just quick look at schedule. We'll continue to meet with the steering committee throughout this phase two. Um and then our target right now is um to uh bring the study to a conclusion in October. All right, any questions from council?

Couple of things. First of all, I appreciate this whole engagement process. I think I not that it can be done maybe to this extent, but I I hope some of our future developers, developments that are coming to town um take note of what you've done and the process and the involvement. So um thank you for that. Uh I like the lazy river idea. That was not on my mind. [laughter] And um also I I know cuz I had been stressed about complementing the current community center. So I appreciated seeing that on there and that the community still feels strong about that. And [cough] of course I know

[clears throat]

the primary concern is cost and that's a big obstacle for all of us. Um have there been any talks or conversations or how to go about maybe visiting with larger businesses or potentials partnerships or sponsorships like naming rights. This is the such and such community center that would then help offset the other costs? That did come up particularly in some of our focus group meetings with Chamber of Commerce. Some of the businesses I think even asked if that would be an option. They were eager to do that to have their name on things. So, yeah, that's been brought up from several different places within the community throughout our talks. That's it. Thank you. Um I I'll agree with Rhonda's sentiments and statements there. Um Brandon, you've been huge in this as well. Can you scroll back up to the postcards? Oh, yeah. The artwork on these are amazing. So, I mean, I I have an extensive uh handwriting uh investigative background. I I would definitely say the bottom one there might be somebody close to my age.

[laughter] And I'd be in favor of a slide like that, but This is You guys have done a great job getting community involved, and and I know we've we've had several people attend um and and this this is a great way to do this. Yeah, I would just echo what Joe said. They've been Genie and team has been phenomenal. Um we keep seeing compliments and people stopping me when I'm walking down the street saying how great it is to work with you guys. So, I really do appreciate you. Thank you. [snorts] Well, it won't be so positive when we present costs. [laughter]

Save it till October. All right. Well, thank you. Appreciate you. Great. Yeah, very good. [applause] against

[clears throat and cough]

will they will come up with a a value and the city will need to pay that um to get these easements. So, what you have in your packet materials is a first step. It's simply a resolution authorizing survey work to determine exactly uh what easements are needed. Um that will be followed up in a future meeting of an ordinance and the ordinance will specifically set out what properties we're talking about. So, stay for any questions.

I um would like to share that I think we're down to two now. I think that the lake development that one one additional uh kind of potential condemnation has been avoided. Okay, good. We're down just to the the the two properties near the north end of the project. So, um and and this step does not preclude further negotiations that um um the developer can continue to work with the with the property owners to try and um resolve this prior to conclusion of this process. So, it's just the initiation of that first step. And Travis Shram, the developer, is in the audience. If you have any questions for him.

Yeah. Questions? Joe? Uh I'll direct this to Travis. Uh Travis, have have we been able to make contact with all the parties that have not responded? Uh yes, we have. Okay. Thank you. All right. I I know previously there was one that was uh we were unable to contact or

Yeah, um it took us about 4 months and like 15 letters and phone calls and emails and on-site visits and we finally got response from them. Um we have an offer out to them. They had a uh legal counsel contact us. I think they're doing their own appraisals. Um, they have not responded to that. We've kind of checked in every couple weeks and they keep telling us they're going to respond but but don't actually respond. So, they haven't said no either but they haven't said yes, so. Does that help? Perfect. Understood. Thank you.

Okay. Any other questions? Ronald? I just say I do know that there has been a lot of effort to to definitely reach out and have some communication. So, I'm just confirming for tonight I guess that that there's going to still be opportunity to reach that agreement and nothing I mean, this is not like the final. No. You can negotiate [clears throat] right up until the award is made, so yeah, none of this precludes those negotiations. They're going to give it. So, more or less this is just an authorization for more site review. That's right. And has nothing to do with the actual eminent domain right now. Well, it's part of the eminent domain act. It's just the first step. And this particular resolution doesn't even mention what properties we're talking about. That will come at your next meeting in the form of an ordinance and that will set forth the exact legal descriptions of the easements needed. Okay. And was it the Aikens? Was that the property owner that came off? Yeah. I I can speak to that. We We We expanded a couple of adjacent easements and were able to work around the Aikens property. So, we don't no longer need We no no need an easement from them. Um, one of the challenges on on this particular situation is is sanitary sewers, as a lot of you guys know, is you got to stay in the low spot. You got to follow the draw, and so we can maneuver, but we can't go very far, right? We can try to avoid specific areas or trees or something like that, but it's really hard to go, you know, too far one direction or another and stay in the low spot to make the sewers flow with gravity.

Okay. Any other questions or comments from council? This is Jack with a question. Sure. Um I I did hear earlier that you should be thinking that the people whose properties are affected by this will not be able to use the sanitary sewer. I just wanted to clarify that was was not the case. Um I think I'll I'll I'll designed so that anybody that lives along it should be able to get to it by gravity.

Yeah, I was confused by that statement as well. So, the sewer line would be below the structures that are currently there and on the low spot of their property. I think I'm I'm reading between the lines a little bit, but I think she was talking about the cost of extending connecting it to her house. Um we have offered to run a connection uh so a service line off the off the main in the direction of her house and bring it relatively close. Um And allow her to make that connection. Um but we haven't made much progress in that discussion. So, I So, that being case, she should be able to connect for at the same price that anybody would connect. And if you recall in the development agreement that we did um the city has agreed to waive the connection fee charge, so that would be a of cost savings to the average person that was connected to a sewer line that was on their property. Thank you. Any other questions?

[cough]

We ready for a motion? Adopt the resolution as written. I'll make a motion to approve agenda item uh 4H uh to approve uh resolution 2096 as written. Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion of the motion? Roll call, please. Lane? Yes. McCracken? Yes. Patterson? Yes. Sabo? Yes. Radley? Yes. Motion carries. Item five is executive session. We do not have any, so we will move on to item six, advisory reports. City I'm going to go to assistant city administrator since city administrator is not here. Brett Brandon, are you ready? Yeah. Uh appreciate everyone um letting me do my very poor impression of Mike tonight. And the only other thing I have mayor is we have our final property tax relief open house uh on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to noon in the senior center. How is that process going? [snorts] Have we gotten a lot of interest this year?

a lot of applications. Edgar's actually been collecting. I think we're at somewhere in the 40s. Is that the number? Yeah, close to 40. Yeah, close to 40, so yeah, we we estimate we're going to see somewhere around 65 depending on the value. Thank you. City attorney? Nothing for me. All right, thank you. City planner? Nothing tonight, Mayor. Thank you. City engineer? Nothing tonight. All right. You already had your turn, so we'll go on to council comments. Danny, anything for the group? Nothing tonight, Mayor. Thank you. Lindsay? No, thank you. All right. Rhonda? All right. Um first of all, it's great to see this crowd here. I know everyone coming together for a common common purpose. Um I would love to see that for other things as well. It just is um great for folks to be here to hear things firsthand. Um so personally, just want to thank everybody for being here tonight. Um Brandon, I didn't get to thank you with the community center thing, but thank you for organizing that. I know that's all been a lot of work, and it's very much appreciated. Thank you. And then I um I'm going to read from this cuz I had this typed up myself. Um but I just wanted to put out there I um agree definitely for all of us to somewhat slow down and take a breath because I know there is a lot of development. Shh. I'm sure that's coming. And some of it, you know, it's like somewhat out of control just um based on uh on locations. But um I think definitely as our community continues to experience rapid growth and increased interest from large-scale industry projects such as data centers, and based on community feedback um and some tonight, I would be like to begin the discussion

regarding whether DeSoto should consider limiting or like a uh moratorium or temporarily pausing maybe additional data center development after, you know, the the projects that have already been discussed are completed. I didn't even know, I'll be honest, uh uh moratorium, that's actually been new to me until about 3 4 weeks ago. So, I'm still learning that. So, I think bear with us. [cough and clears throat]

I'm just putting that out there that this would allow the city and community adequate time to fully understand and evaluate long-term impacts and how they affect our residents, public services, utilities, and future growth, positive and negative. Not saying it's all definitely negative, [snorts]

but just moving forward for everybody. So, I'm just putting that out there. I don't know necessarily how that works, and I'm sure I'm catching some people out off catching them by surprise. I just need I need more of that. Not like I don't have enough trying to come in here, but I want to try to understand that better and how that works. The good, the bad, the ugly. Um just to again make sure that we have um somewhat an idea on what we want to prioritize coming in to the city. Um I mean, it's [snorts] nice I guess to have a popular location, and everyone wants to be here. So, you know, maybe we're we're at that point where we can can help navigate what some of that might look like. You all should done with me for the night. Okay. Thank you, thank you, Rhonda. Thank you. Joe. I was going to let him go last unless you you want All right. Unless you'd rather go last. Yeah. I I'll try not to take up a lot of time. Give it to Zach, but uh I do want to echo Rhonda and say thank you. It's nice to see full seats here. Uh Tony, Sarah, uh Laura, I know Brittany left, but uh Emily, uh Robin, and Cheryl, thank you for getting up, speaking your mind, and and being a part of your community. It's important. Um and uh yes, I would also wish please keep attending. Um and uh this is a way that helps spread factual information and doesn't add to the rumor mill. Um and he said, she said on our ever so

popular DeSoto social media sites. That's all for me there. Thank you.

Thank you. Zack, I'm going to give the floor to you. Okay, can you hear me? Mhm. All right, so uh a couple of things. There's a lot of citizen concern about about this facility now. Some of it is uh concerning and I want you all to know that some of the water used to be known that some of these at least the current plans call not for that equipment. Just pure water. Water and the fill is done with a distilled or double distilled deionized glycol water mixture that is distilled stuff. By a company specialized in and fill that solution is not necessarily introduced as a concentrate that is mixed on site or can be. Disposal is easy. Some of the other concerns uh are about some of the noise complaints. Absolutely not. Uh and one of the things that uh I found in in doing some research after receiving these queries was that our current city code uh calls for a decibel limits based on a DBA A-weighted uh, measurement. Essentially, that measurement is used to determine the level of nuisance for the human ear. Uh, what we consider a sound like a nuisance. And that's great. I mean, that we need to keep that, right? Because certainly we don't want people running chainsaws at 2:00 a.m. Uh, you know, that's probably not conducive to good neighborly action. But, the point is that's a very specific measurement for that specific purpose. There's other types of specific measurements such as a C-weighted or

more perfectly probably a G-weighted decibel measurement. Uh, measurement. And while there may not be enough studies currently to especially longitudinal long-term studies to justify absolute prohibition for artificial rules regarding infrasound, which is a lower frequency sound or low frequency noise. Uh, but I think that taking into account our citizens' concerns and in the compelling governmental interest of protecting public health, I think it would be prudent for us to at the very least um, investigate uh, how we could control that noise with if we need a complimentary noise ordinances for high and low frequency infrasound low frequency noise or if there's something else. Now, I know that many of our surrounding cities don't have um, but then again, many of our surrounding cities aren't putting in data centers. So, I think it'd be prudent given both citizen concern and the potential for vibroacoustic disease caused by long-term exposure to pulsating low frequencies that it it's potential that that could occur. We know that the developer has said that they meet all current city code requirements for decibel levels, and I don't doubt that. That's probably correct. What we don't know how much infrasound and low frequency noise they will produce. And given that there's very limited scientifically studied subjective studies around this, I think it would be something that we need to look at sooner rather than later, so that we can make sure that we are Again, we we've just approved a contract for monitoring

compliance with city code and IBC and IRBC [snorts] or whatever we're doing for the various buildings. So, I think it would be prudent for us to take a look at that at a future meeting or perhaps staff can do that. Um Do some research on how that may be affected, what methods we can use. Obviously, our current code calls for a properly calibrated sound measuring device of general purpose, but this would be a specific measuring device. They are [clears throat]

a little pricey, a few thousand dollars, I think, for something that can do a G-weighted measurement. But, I think that's really small change in protecting our citizens' health for even if you say there's not studies that show for sure that this is a bad thing. Prevention is always good, I think, especially given our citizens' concern. So, I apologize taking up so much time. I want to thank everyone who was there. I'm sorry I couldn't be there. I am currently deployed to Shreveport, Louisiana for a hurricane preparedness exercise. And so, I wish I could be there personally. I hear it's great turnout, so thank you all, everyone who came to the meeting and joined our line and watched the meeting. That's all I have here. Uh thank you, Zach. Um I think we can certainly add a discussion of our noise ordinance to an upcoming agenda to start that

[clears throat]

down that path. I know that from my limited research into this that there is very limited definitive evidence in this area right now. I did happen to visit the Loudoun County, Virginia um code site to try and figure out what what data central data center central had, you know, the the area that has probably the most dense population of data centers in the country. And their current ordinances um uh don't address this low-frequency sound yet. I think they are starting that process now as I understand it, but it's so it's it's an evolving study, but I think it's certainly appropriate that we would look at that if there's anything that can if there's definitive guidance that would help us make a reasonable and enforceable ordinance that we could um help provide additional public safety would would be in our interest to do so. So, on that, I'll end on that note, and so we'll make note to add that noise noise ordinance discussion to a future agenda. I just had two other things I wanted to to hit on. We had the National Day of Prayer observation in the gymnasium today. It's pretty well attended um um happy to deliver a National Day of Prayer Prayer Proclamation on behalf of the city and the mayor. Um And then the last thing I had was a belated I had talked to some folks about crosswalks on Lexington Road at Thorpe. And I think it's Sky Avenue. Um It's it's a crossing from uh um basically Demetos area across to uh area to the north. There's uh so it's

the next major crossing um Otto Street [clears throat] on uh Lexington. So I would like to investigate [cough]

Overshot it. Sorry. You go down more. Further down. Yeah, okay. This mouse battery is about to die. There we go. Right there. Thorpe and Lake, not Sky. Thorpe and Lake. So um recently I've actually twice observed uh young young uh young person uh crossing the road right there. Um and I know we don't have sidewalks on Thorpe yet, but we can get that in a future plan perhaps, but um at that crossing we have people crossing the road there. So whether uh maybe we would add a sidewalk that would connect back to uh the next street and and improve that crossing, but something to get in certainly a sign crosswalk or something to help get folks safely across the street there. All right. And that's I think all I have. I guess other than that I thank folks for showing up tonight. So I would entertain a motion to adjourn. I'll move we adjourn. Second. I'll adjourn. Thank you all. Thank you. We made it.

[cough] [clears throat] Time to get 8:30. It's not too bad. Yeah, yeah, this will be about an This mouse battery is so terrible.

I've been telling him I've been telling Mike that I think it's time. Thank you guys. Thank you guys. [clears throat] Thank you. Guys and ladies first. Ladies. Yeah.

[laughter] I think it was a I took it all the way on our side. I think your voice is uh Cuz he changed. He changed it. I think it was a little bit I might I might try to catch it.

[laughter]

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Okay, perfect. Okay. All right. Okay. All right, well, hit me up, yeah. We can make it happen. Yeah, I like the way I'm going. Doc, that's good. Thank you. I'll split the high. I will.