City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, it's 7 o'clock in Gardener, Kansas. Follow me in order. Please rise and join me for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right. Good evening. Um, we do have two proclamations this evening that I will come up and read. All right. The first one is for Earth Day. Whereas Earth Day was created 56 years ago recognizing the importance for everyone to protect the planet on which we live. Whereas the theme remains our power, our planet, but its application reflects current global economic, environmental, and civic conditions. Whereas in 2026, our power, our planet refers to the role of people and communities worldwide in sustaining environmental protections that affect the cost of living, public health, infrastructure reliability, and long-term stability. And whereas since the first Earth Day in 1970, civic action has helped establish and strengthen environmental institutions, laws, and international norms. Whereas these measures have been associated with reductions in pollution related illness, improved access to clean water, and long-term public health and economic benefits in many parts of the world. Now therefore, be resolved that I winners may the city of Gardner, Kansas, to hereby proclaim April 22nd, 2026 as Earth Day in the city of Gardener, Kansas, and encourage all citizens to take action to support clean air, clean water, clean energy, protected natural resources, and climate stability. And then we had one for harbor day as well. And whereas in 1872, the Nebraska Board of Agriculture established a special day to be set aside for planting of trees. And whereas this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska. And whereas Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world. Now, whereas trees can be a solution to combating climate change by reducing the erosion of precious top soil by wind and water, cutting heating and cooling

costs, moderating the temperature, cleaning the air, producing life, giving oxygen, providing habitat for wildlife. And whereas trees are a renewable resource, giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires, and countless other wood products. And whereas trees in our city increase property values, enhance economic vitality of business areas, and beautify our community. And whereas trees wherever they are planted are a source of joy and spiritual renewal. Now therefore it be resolved that I v owners mayor of city of gardener Kansas to hereby proclaim April 24th 2026 as arbor day city of gardener Kansas and urge all citizens to celebrate and support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands. All right. No public hearings. We'll move to public comments. Members of the public are welcome to use this time to make comments about city matters or items on the agenda that are not part of a public hearing. If you wish to come forward, please admit your comments to five minutes or less. There's a time clock on the left. That being said, come forward. State your name and address for the record. And the podium is now open. Mr. Mayor, I'm Steven James. I'm 401 uh 408 East Johnny Street in Gardenner, Kansas. I'm representing the Knights of Columbus tonight. And I I did a letter to you to u a lady named assistant Okay. as a as a as the deputy city man administrator. I have a letter here for you.

I gave it to your assistant. Yes, sir. This should be used to make a city lot. where the old police department fire department was at on Main Street for a fireworks tent for nights of Columbus for approximately 10 days for the fire for to sell fireworks. We will make sure we have keep the place very highly policed up. No trash. There'll be a quarter John at the site. We have our own generator. We don't have to worry about gener electricity or water. We already got that taken care of. Uh, I gave I did give this letter to uh the 6th of Dece 6th of April to the lady. They told me to give it to the person over in city park the parks department. I don't know if that's where she works at, but that's what they told me to give it to. So, I don't know if you guys got this letter or not. I'm sorry for getting James. Sorry didn't get up now. But that make sure you let know what we have. We could put a 10 up there. We don't know. I know you guys have to you guys can talk about it. I know

there there is an application process that goes through community development. So you can get an application over at that window. I got that application. Okay. Yeah, I got that. We had to have this first before we put the application in because we might show you have piece of ground to put the tent on. So you want you want you want the application in first

as part of the application process. The property owner needs to sign the application which would be the city of gardener in this particular case. So, um, typically that would be handled by you with authorization to do that. So, but they can they can get that ahead of time if they want to and provide it to us. It's just like a zoning application. We usually require that property owner affidavit that signature with it. So, they're applying as an organization to utilize it, but we need the property owner's consent on that. Do you want you want me you want me to have the guys fill the paperwork out first? Yeah, I would I would go ahead and fill out the application first, bring it over to the community development desk and then we'll know that that's our property and we can get the signatures we need.

I don't know if you guys ever I don't know I don't know if James got the letter or not, number one because I gave it to his assistant. I haven't I didn't get it yet. Okay. Well, I I get they the guys at the at the permit office said you're supposed to give it to her, not you. That's what I thought was kind of crazy. And they and they then they said then they said pass the I get the letter typed up. They said give it to the parks department. I thought that was kind of a little bit off the off the walker but that's what they told me to do that go that window. So we'll look at it. Off top of my head the issue is going to be parking um for one. I understand that we and then the dates you have there's there's a limitation by state statute. I believe we have six days that you can sell. Right. Um,

we we got we put the dates down. I think it was a 10 day window that may be we dates a little bit, you know, but I know it was it was usually four days and then they had six days or something like that. I think that's what they did. We we got to change the dates. Uh, James, there's no problem. It's no problem. I'll have a discussion with the governing body. Okay. Uh, I know it takes a little time, guys. Uh, if you need to have a beer and pizza go along with it, that's why usually have happen have something like this. I I know I know you guys think you I think I'm nuts, but I know that's how a lot of stuff gets accomplished. Okay, thank thanks for your time. All right, thanks. Thanks.

And if my numbers are there to call us, call me or John back and we'll get we'll get we'll get the other we for you. Okay, thank you. My name is Dr. Justin Spece. On October 17th, 2025, I went to the Gardener Walmart. After parking and walking toward the store entrance, I saw a Mark Gardner Police Department patrol truck parked up on a sidewalk in a marked red fire lane and directly in front of a crosswalk and pedestrian yield signs. I then began recording on my phone. A Gardener Police officer later identified as Kyle Sis exited the store. I asked Sis why he had parked like he had, but he ignored the questions and got into the patrol truck. I remained alongside the truck, not in front of it. I assumed the interaction was over and began proceeding. ing across the crosswalk toward the store entrance. Once inside the truck, however, Sisum immediately turned the steering wheel toward me and he also lowered his window as if to continue the interaction. I again asked Sis why he had parked illegally. I remained stat uh stationary. I was not standing in front of the truck but off to its side. Sisum then intentionally drove the truck forward with the wheel and vehicle aimed toward me. As the truck moved toward me, I remained in the same stationary position and said, "Don't run me over, bitch." System saw me at all times and drove his vehicle, striking me first with the driver's side mirror, and then as he continued, struck me with the side of the truck. The impact injured my side, chest, and arm. System continued forward and struck me a second time with his truck, again, injuring my side, chest, and arm. After the second impact, System drove away and parked. He did not check on my welfare. He did not ask me whether I was injured or required EMS. Instead, when I approached and asked who he thought he was to hit me with the truck, he blamed me, saying, "No, you're the one who got in my way." Which was false. I had not placed myself in front of the truck. I informed system that the location where I had hit had been hit was a crosswalk with pedestrian signs and uh yield markings. System then asked me, "Why do you hate cops?" and repeated the question a second time. He drove to the back of the parking lot and then drove away from the property and left the scene. I went to the Gardener Police

Department to report the incident, but Gardennard PD refused to take the report. Last week on April 16th, I filed a federal lawsuit in the District of Kansas against Sysum for violations of my first, fourth, and 14th Amendment rights. I have also served notice to the city of Gardner of my intent to file a state torque claim for assault and battery against SI system in 90 days. I'm going to read from the lawsuit now. SPE versus SI system. Count one, fourth amendment, unreasonable seizure, excessive force against SI system by intentionally driving a patrol truck into Pliff and striking him twice. System intentionally applied physical force to Pliff's body. That intentional application of force constituted a seizure with the me within the meaning of the fourth amendment. The force used was objectively unreasonable under the circumstances. Plaintiff was not committing any crime, posed no immediate threat, was not under arrest, not resisting arrest, and not attempting to flee. Plaintiff was unarmed and engaged in protective activity in a public place. No reasonable officer could believe it was lawful to aim and drive a patrol truck in an into a non-threatening pedestrian under these circumstances. Count two, first amendment retaliation against system. Plaintiff engaged in protected first amendment activity by recording police in public, questioning official conduct, and criticizing unlawful parking. system took adverse action against Plainif by intentionally driving the patrol truck into him, striking him twice, blaming him for the incident and responding with hostility to Pliff's criticism. Systems conduct would chill a person of ordinary firmness from continuing to record, question, or criticize police conduct. Plaintiff's protective activity was a substantial and motivating factor in Systems conduct. The sequence of events was immediate. Pliff videoed and criticized Systems conduct and system then turned the truck toward Pliff and drove it into him. Systems own words, "Why do you hate cops?" revealed a prior negative opinion of Dr. speech and that his decision to use the patrol truck as a weapon was motivated by personal animous toward plaintiff's protective criticism rather than any legitimate safety concern. Count three, 14th amendment substantive due process against SISM by intentionally turning a patrol truck toward plaintiff and striking him twice during a verbal dispute over plaintiff's recording and criticism of police conduct. Sisum engaged in arbitrary executive action that shocks the conscience. System acted with a purpose to harm plaintiff unrelated to any legitimate law enforcement objective. Systems conduct,

including his failure to render aid in his departure from the scene, was conscience shocking, and violated plaintiff's substantive due process rights. Defendant System acted willfully, maliciously, recklessly, and with callous indifference to plaintiff's federally protected rights, entitling plaintiff to punitive damages against him in his individual capacity. No meaningful corrective action by the city of Gardner was taken against SISM. Sysum's conduct was intentional, malicious, reckless, oppressive, and in knowing disregard of plaintiff's federally protected rights. The city of Gardner failed adequately to train, supervise, and discipline its officers concerning citizens right to record and criticize police in public. The lawful handling of verbal encounters with non-threatening pedestrians and the use of patrol vehicles near pedestrians and marked crosswalks. The city and its policy makers failed to secure a fair internal response, failed to process plaintiff's complaint through ordinary channels, and ratified or tolerated systems conduct despite the seriousness of the incident and the existence of video evidence. Additionally, I'm now asking that this commission fire system as a gardener PD officer. Any questions? Are we clear? I expect you force the chief to get rid of that officer. You cannot tolerate that. This community cannot tolerate that. You, me, all of us, we have the right to approach our government employees and ask them questions about fear of getting hit by a police truck is unacceptable. more public comment. I want a lower shelf here so I can be seen. Uh, hi Jennifer Smith, 648 South Oak Street. Um, I'm just here one to say thank you uh to public works and the

working um that's going to happen on Grand Street um soon. Um so very excited about having that street finally paved and sidewalks and and um the disability ramps and everything too. Um secondly, I'm here um as a lifelong resident born here, raised here, going to be here forever. Um that I'm very concerned about the data center that was spoken about um at the uh state of the city address. Um there is concerns from the community and I hope that the council takes everyone's concerns very serious. And also I want you to think, would you live next to a data center? Would you live right next door to a data center? Would your children would your family? Would your friends live next to a data center? Just think about that. So, thank you. Any other public comments? We will move to a consent agenda. Is there an item on consent agenda? Council like to move.

Do I hear a motion? Second. Motion McNair. Second. Deon. We approve consent agenda. All in favor? All opposed? Consent agenda passes. No planning and zoning consents. We'll move to committee recommendations. Committee recommendation number one, consider adopting an ordinance approving a conditional use permit for a short term short-term rental at 642 East Bluebird Street.

Move it back up. Good evening. The propert, excuse me, the owners of 642 East Bluebird Street are proposing to do both long-term and short-term rental at this property. Short-term rental is defined as anything less than 30 days, and it requires a conditional use permit. The property is located in the Genesis Creek subdivision. The rear yard is fenced and there's adequate room or space in the driveway for the parking of several vehicles. Where short-term rentals are allowed with a conditional use permit, there are five specific use standards that they must meet. And with respect to any conditional use permit application, there's 10 criteria by which such conditional use permits should be reviewed. One of the standards specific to short-term rental is that the posting of occupancy limits of the facility. And after consult consulting with the building official and per the international property maintenance code the maximum occupancy for this particular home would be seven people. These are the five specific standards related to short-term rental. I will not read them but I just wanted to point out a couple of things. The property owner is responsible for providing the tenants with information related to noise, parking, nuisances, and property maintenance. They must provide their contact information to both the tenant and to the city as well as if they have a separate property management company. Boundaries should be marked so that there's not an issue with or less of an issue with um trespassing. And the last one specifically does not allow for the

hosting of parties or special events beyond what would be consistent with the neighborhood. In this case, a single family residential neighborhood. The next two slides are the 10 re review criteria for all conditional use permits. Again, I won't read through them, but you can ask yourself some of the questions such as does this use conflict with the intent of the abuing districts? Is it in compliance with the land development code? Um the impact on the function of the streets, adequacy of utilities, those types of things. And lastly, character of the area and the in terms of the operating characteristics of this use. The narrative that the applicant provided, does that demonstrate that they will be operating that's compatible not only with our code but also with the surrounding neighborhood? A public hearing was held at the planning commission meeting. The president of the Gen Genesis Creek HOA and a resident of that subdivision spoke. There was concern expressed about potential problems with short-term renters and the HOA president referred to their covenants and restrictions in terms of it was his opinion that they are not allowed in their subdivision. I would note that the city does not enforce private restrictions. Therefore, that would be something that they would need to address or take care of on their own. After a brief discussion, the planning commission did recommend denial. We had six uh for denial with one member recusing themselves. Staff recommended approval. Um we did include three conditions and those are on the screen for you as well as in the ordinance. And within that second condition is all of the five that are

listed in the ordinance for short-term rental uses. Because we have a recommendation of denial, we did provide you with two uh motions. One would be if you wanted to affirm the planning commission's denial, you would obviously vote to deny the ordinance. We don't write ordinances in the negative. So, the ordinance is um for consideration of adopting the um or excuse me, approving the conditional use permit for the short-term rental. And if you were to approve it, you would uh if you were going to override, you would be approving it. If you've got any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. I kept looking to see if the applicant was here. They are not. Um and I'm not sure if there's anyone from the public that was here either. I don't recognize anybody. So, if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Sorry, that's okay.

Good evening. John Martini, Genesis Creek, uh, HOA president. I live at 867 North Cedar. Um, thanks for summing everything up. She summed up all of my statements. Fully aware that the city is not responsible for enforcing any HOA covenants and it is a civil matter versus a public matter. So, however, it's decided um it's I'm a little irritated that the homeowner is still proceeding with this even though the HOA covenant clearly states that it's not allowed. So, I guess we'll determine um whether it's approved or not and then just uh proceed our uh piece of that within civil court with a civil injunction. Um as a homeowner, I see both sides of it. I get it. Um we're in a new age now. we, you know, if you have to think about it. Yes, this is Gardner. This isn't, you know, downtown, but at the same time, what if downtown had the same uh recommendations where they didn't allow Airbnb and Airbnb? So, we're at a point in a time where where change is needed, but I I really don't see, just my personal opinion, I really don't see people coming all the way out to Gardener for an Airbnb for the the FIFA World Cup. But irregardless, um she uh stated my comments and I had read the covenant on public record and uh it's our position still that we do not uh that it's not allowed. It's a it's considered a commercial use and that's where we stand on it and we'll have to pursue the matter in a in a civil civil junction if needed.

Thank you. Thank you. Comment a question. Um, is there any thing built into these ordinances or built into not even sure how to say this, um, consideration for if it's like an Airbnb situation, say somebody coming and doing a short-term rental who's on a sex offender database and shouldn't be around children who live in that neighborhood because that's where they live or walking by to go to school. Is there What's the I guess what what do we do in that case or

you want go ahead.

So there's nothing in our regulations regarding how to monitor that or to uh basically follow up on it. We do not have access in the case of Airbnb, VBO, doesn't matter which of the platforms. We do not have access or monitor access as who's renting, what's going on in that process. If concerns or complaints were to come up through that process, we would certainly investigate those as best we can. If we needed to, we could look at something and see if there's a violation there. We'd probably rely on a background check of some type through police or something to that effect. But even there, I would say we're very limited because those folks may only be there for two, three days. We don't know about it. By the time somebody might suggest that problem, it may all be gone. So, uh we do not have anything in the code right now as a proactive measure for those kinds of things.

These these types of uses the the short-term rentals are are difficult to monitor from our standpoint because of staff time. We can't just simply be looking at the platforms and wondering, okay, who's in here? You know, I have two quick questions. And so, if we're approving, so anyone who wants to do a short-term rental uh has to get a conditional use permit. That is correct. So, they'd have to come individually through this process.

That is correct. And then also this particular uh applicant uh if they were approved from us as part of their approval process, they would still need a letter from the HOA. So they wouldn't even have to really they're not going to get they're not in favor of it. But if the HOA is not in favor of it, they wouldn't get that far anyway. Is that right? Yeah. You say like you wouldn't have to go to court. you would just say

correct. So, so the way the the staff conditions were placed that third condition, I don't know. There you go. Third condition requires that a written statement from the HOA be provided. So, even if you were to approve this, all these conditions have to be met, right?

So, we would have to get that HOA letter that says they are approving of this use at this location. So, that's that's one side of this and that's the catchall. I'm going to expand this a little beyond the case because we are going to get another one of these in about another month or so. Um, when they're not in an area with an HOA, it's a whole different situation because we we would not do a condition like this because the HOA does not exist. But in this particular case, because there was an HOA uh in place and at the time that we put the staff report recommendation together, we weren't sure of the interpretation. We let that play out at the planning commission meeting. We had this as a catchall basically to say you need to still comply with your HOA requirements. If the applicant has an issue with the way that the HOA is interpreting this, as was mentioned by the president of the HOA, that's a civil matter that's handled outside of these proceedings.

Other questions? So this says that we have never received an application for a shortterm rental. Is that that's true? So how do we handle when maybe gardener addresses are showing up on Airbnb and VBO? We became aware of the other one the application by a complaint and that's how we sent them a letter and they've submitted their application. That's um so that's primarily how we're doing it. We're not actively monitoring any of those platforms. Yeah. I mean it would be

very difficult and almost right complaint. It's it's generally voluntarily coming in by the person who wants to do it or it's a complaint driven from the neighborhood. One of the two. Now, this aside, this specific one, would it be like, you know, maybe people just didn't know that it was in our ordinance and with the World Cup coming and more people thinking about doing that. Would it be good to put out some information about the process?

We we certainly could do that through the PIO's office. That's something we could do. It's very similar to what we deal with with food trucks when we have out of town food trucks that appear. The the hard part again is even when we put that information out, we're not able to monitor. So a lot of times we we find these things primarily by complaint. What what was the timeline that we were talking about for this though? I mean it's a conditional use permit. For how long? It would expire at the end of 2027 with a review sometime between December of this year and January of next year. So, it's not quite a year and a half. I mean, a little bit longer than a year and a half, not quite two years.

Yes. And and the application read like they weren't interested in the it didn't read like it was a FIFA thing. If it was a FIFA thing, I would say limit the conditional use permit for through August. Yeah. Through August.

The applicant originally was looking at long longer term rentals, which would not require a conditional use permit if it was over the 30 days. Um, but he wanted to have this in his, you could say, back pocket if he had vacancy that he wanted to try to fill. Let's let's put the FEA thing in our pocket and just address this application because there was some legislation passed by the Kansas legislature sign law last week that specifically address short-term rental during a truncated permitting process. Let's just take the application that hasn't

right. And I would and I to concur with the city attorney on this. The the issue is we would not know if that's related to this or not. You know, as that platform takes those uh renters in, we don't have the ability to even know what they're associated with as renters. The other thing I think that's important to point out though with what you were talking about, Councilman Wean, is the conditional use permit on any of these. What is nice Even though it's a two-year, we have that uh statement in there for the administrative review at the end of the year. What we also can do during that process is if we receive complaints, that permit, that special use permit or conditional use permit comes back and could potentially be re uh revoked by the planning commission in your action. I I guess I'm looking at it from the standpoint of if the HOA was willing to go for a shorter time period to try this out, but if that's not the case, then

and that's up to So the the hard part for the HOA is is they are interpreting the HOA covenants and they need to make an interpretation of what they have currently in those covenants. So, um I don't know that it's a matter of well, it's kind of like a short-term rental. We'll let you go for a period. You know, it's that kind of element of here's what we believe this says and therefore we're rendering this decision. Dave is number three on that list. That's not in code, right? It's like number one. It's a determination by staff.

Correct. That is not in code. That is something that staff added to its recommendation and that was a consideration because the HOA is there and we don't we don't want to be interpreting their covenants for them that we are not a legal interpreter of that.

Right. So I would argue that that shouldn't be there. They need to deal with the HOA. We need to pretend like the HOA doesn't exist in this room. They can do whatever they want with the HOA. has nothing to do with us from this perspective that because that first half of it means they have to already have agreement with the HOA, right? If they go through a a fight in court and they win, that's that's a whole another thing, right? So, they need to comply with the HOA regardless. That has nothing to do with what we do up here. Correct. The issue would be because this is heard before this would go to court potentially in an interpretation case.

Having this here kind of catches that element of if they if the applicant won the court case, this then would take effect and they would have to get us that written statement. They couldn't just start operating without us knowing it and be operating under a conditional use permit. This kind of relates to the fact that the ordinance is written in the positive sense of approval and so what we don't want to have is something hanging out there without the proof that they should be there. So that reason otherwise yes I would agree that it is it necessary no it's it could be done without this right I'm looking at this as

regardless of what happens with the HOA assume they lose right then this is a view point right but if if they happen to win their case then this property owner wants to do something with their property we need to look at it from what is here and as long as they follow these guidelines go through the application process and if there's problems, we deal with it. Seems like they should be able to do what they want with their property here regardless of the HOA. I think I'm following what you're saying that by having the number three on there, we are almost inserting ourselves into the HOA's business. Is that what you're

Yeah, because we're we're saying that you have to get this written statement that the HOA approved it. Well, we're basically already saying, "Hey, you got to get HOAs to be on board with you." Well, we already know they're not. That's fine. But I don't know why we're involved with that. What do we care if HOA says yes or no? We're just saying whether or not this should meet code. It's appropriate. And whether or not then the HOA says you can't do that, they shut it down. I agree. So just to be clear, Dave, we in the absence of an HOA, this action would not even come forward. Is that correct?

No, it would still there would still be a conditional use permit application that would still come through without the HOA. Okay. The issue is exactly what Councilman Baldwin is talking about is where does the in the HOA come into play on this and it would only be in those neighborhoods where they exist. One of the concerns of staff with with the kind of situation without number three was also the fact that let's say you approved of the ordinance tonight. They start operating and taking reservations and you have people now who have reservations on there. The HOA action isn't determined for whatever period of time. Now you've got it. You've got potential reservations out there. That has nothing to do with us per se. Again, it has to do more with the consumer side of that and the element of sitting there and going that's a bigger problem that could exist otherwise. So either way, it's not really a debate. It could go either way on this as far as I'm concerned.

Thank you. I just want a clarification on whether whether HOA was involved or not. Thank you. I want you all to understand the recommendation to you is for denial. It is not this staff recommendation. So you would have to override the planning commission's recommendation by twothirds to adopt what what you see on the screen or send it back. When other than the HOA, were there any neighbors or anything? There was one other resident of the subdivision that spoke against it.

Against it. And then for the review process um December 26 or January 27, what does that look like? Do we go and ask the neighbors how things are going? Do we just review it as we've received no complaints and you know property owner said things are going fine. What does that process look like?

So we would notify the people within the notification area. It's the 200 foot radius of the area. We would probably notify the HOA because they play a role in the neighborhood. We would also um go to police, fire, other emergency services, see if there were any complaints filed during that time, any findings of code violations during that period of time, things like that. So, it would be a a research on the administrative end of things to look for those records.

Well, I tend to agree with the staff recommendation except for number three. I think the other things sound reasonable. Then number three only applies to them. Excuse to the uh HOA. They police they do themselves. So yeah, I would approve this strike three and approve it. Yes.

Again, I'm going to go back to what the city attorney has said here. If that is the motion that you're going towards, that again is not corresponding with the plane commission's recommendation. So again, you need to make sure that you're getting the two/3 vote to override that.

So can I Ryan ask your opinion with the number three on there? Does that because we've had the issue before where HOAs have come in and said, "Hey, we need you to help govern." And we were like, "No, that's your own deal." So, does number three, if we left it in there, does that make us like on the hook? If they went and did this anyway for any of their HOA fines, fees, leans, whatever the HOA decided to do, did we insert ourselves into their HOA?

Yeah. I mean, we're usually pretty consistent about If there's something in the covenants and restrictions um and you know there's a dispute between property owners, we tell them it's a private civil matter to go figure it out, right? Um so, you know, to me our code is really what you see in one and two versus what we have in three. Okay? Because I know like when you lease a property, if you're renting and I want to dog, they make, you know, get your landlord approval or make sure that, you know, whatever. And so, like, I get that, but I just don't want to insert ourselves into HOAs.

Well, and it's just simpler, right? If you don't have an HOA, then we wouldn't even be talking about that, right? So, we're looking at this. This exists in code. Whether or not does this application fit, right, is the way I look at it's just it's that simple. and then I assume it'll get shut down by HOA, but I don't care if it gets shut down by the HOA or not if it meets this, right? That's up to the HOA for them to find out.

And then I it's so subjective because we let's say we review it in December of 26 and the neighbor says, "I don't like having a different person next to me every week." Like, that's not a reason to pull a conditional use permit. It would have to be a tangible. They're having parties. There's fires. there's it's dangerous. They're harassing my children. Like it would have to be against it would have to be against the items that are agreeing to here. But yeah, it would be primarily against those items that you're you're showing in that list. But noise and nuisances are a little bit subjective, right? But we have we have to help evaluate that. Okay.

Right. Just like any other location or if it's a long-term rental, you could have the same call. Hey, this guy's having a party every weekend. He's revving his motorcycle. What are we going to do about it? Yep. Correct. We we have public nuisance code, you know, elements that we can reinforce during that period of time, too. Again, individual complaints happening on a case-byase basis that would be handled through code enforcement depending on the time of day and what's happening. So, if we were going to do a code violation and it was uh I'm going to say Airbnb or whatever, um would it be on the occupant or on the homeowner? Would we be submitting our paperwork to be the homeowner? Correct. They are responsible for property owner is responsible.

Okay. Mark, I I I tend to agree with you on your point of number three because if we leave that in there, then we have two separate sets of situations and by removing it, we have a uniform ordinance.

And I just I don't think the HA has anything to do with this decision. I mean, if he came up here and said we're for it, does that mean we automatically approve it? I don't think that's the case. And if he comes up here and says we're against it, I don't think it automatically means we're against it. So take that out and then this guy I mean the guy wanting to go through all this I mean more power to him but my guess is it's going to be a new point. Um but I I just don't think that piece applies here for any conversation. Would you like to make a motion? Sure. Uh I think it'd be number one and then add the removing item three. Sure. Yeah.

Uh I move No, it went black. Sorry. I move that we adopt ordinance number 2877 approving conditional use permit 26-305-01 allowing short-term rental at 642 East Blueird Street overturning the recommendation of CL planning commission after removing number three. Condition number three. Second. All right. Motion Baldwin second Deon that we adopt ordinance number 2877 approving conditional use permit 26351 allowing short terminal 642 street planning commission and removing item number three. Council member McNair.

Yes. Council member Baldwin. Yes. Council member Deon. Yes. Council member W. Yes. Council member Johnson. No. Council member W or Mayor Winters. Yes. Um ordinance number 2877 passes as read. Okay. Thank you. Um, committee recommendation number two, consider authorizing the utilities director to begin negotiations with the Grand River Dam Authority, GRDA, and the Kansas Municipal Energy Agency, KMEA, to purchase an additional 7 megawatts of firm electric capacity and energy.

Good evening, mayor, council members, excuse me. Uh we put quite a bit of information in the packet, but basically what we're asking for is for authorization for us to enter negotiations with Brand River Dam Authority to firm up an additional 7 megawatts of energy and capacity for the city of Gardner's energy resource package. Uh basically to look at this is do you guys want to be on a fixed rate mortgage or on a firm rate mortgage? That's really the best way. We want to minimize risk. Securing the additional seven megawatts of firm capacity and energy is going to shift us to more of a firm power commitment, firm pricing than rather than playing the market where we're at right now with that energy resource. U in your packet, I broke it down in a couple options. And basically right now going into the market for 2026, we're going to have 68% of our power resources out in the market. That's not really a good place to be right now. The market has increased its power cost from 2024 almost double to what it was back in 2024 to what it is today. Excuse me. So, with that, if you have any questions, I'm better at answering those and setting up here giving you a speech of something I don't know nothing about.

Uh, is there any any public comment on this? Okay, council. I Dave, I had a couple questions. You bet. Uh, is this going to obligate us to buy that additional seven megawatts every month year round? This will be a this will be a firm contract and I believe this contract will be a 30-year contract. So once we So it will obligate us every month going forward. Correct. Uh is that going to be substantial enough to get us over the hump in the uh summer winter when we really need a lot more electricity?

Well, the the scenario is you guys have a bad problem and that's growth and development. And what we've got forecast right now, this should keep us pretty well balanced through 2030. But theoretically, I hate to say it this way, but as soon as we get this locked in, we're going to go out and start seeing what else is out there that can get our fingers around.

How often are we have to go out on the open market now, purchase additional electricity, and what's the cost of this? Right now, we've run some numbers and I think you've got a slide. Yeah, there we go. This is what we've this is what we're seeing right now. And really the the graph to look at is the SP market purchases and the SP market sales. And you can see from 24 that the SP market purchases has went from three cents almost to four and a half cents. And if you look at the if you look at the purchases and the and the sales, there's a pretty good spread between those numbers in 2026. So that's why this Grand River Dam Authority works pretty good because it's going to fill our voids when we need power. We're going to have some excess power that we can put back on the market and sell, help bring our power costs down. But if you go back to 2024 when you guys made the original decision, there wasn't much spread between the sales and the purchases. Pretty tight. So, let me make sure I understand what you just said. So, if we're buying this power, let's say at 3 cents or whatever. Uh, and we have excess, we can sell off, we can maybe get four, four and a half or something like that for making a little bit of a profit.

It it all the the market doesn't stay at this constant price. It changes every five minutes. The market on power changes and it's constantly going like this. And the and the key is being able to have excess power when the power prices are high, but yet having enough power to cover your load so you're not out in the market purchasing power. But another thing is the risk. And the risk is having a base load power to cover your load. So in the event and I don't know how many of you were on the council back in 2011 and we had the wintertorm Yuri but a fiveday power sprite power spike if we're going to the market and buying 68% of our power could cost this community over $5 million. And that's the risk we're trying to manage. By getting power from Grand River Dam Authority we're going to get firm power at a fixed price. We're not going to get all of our power there, but we're going to get a good chunk of it there. And then when those power prices do spike, we're not going to be out there buying quite so many.

One more question. So, we're when we go out on the open market to purchase electricity, we're competing against every other consumer of electricity for the available megawatts. Is that correct? That is correct. It's it's just like buying stock on the stock market. You know, when everybody's out there buying it, buying it high, prices go up. Thank you. You bet. Any other questions, Mark?

Yeah. I I just wanted to have Dave explain it for the public. We're abusing GRDA because we could get the seven megawws, not going with more stake in dogwood to help offset with credits or uh you know wind, which obviously has its own drawbacks, but is that the reason we're going with GRD? Yeah, a couple a couple reasons. Number one, GRD is a firm power resource. Winds wind's not wind's not is not firm. Dogwood, we're locked into a capacity contract. We bought a chunk of dogwood. There's no more,

right? That's that's all there is that's out there. And another piece of this that it's everybody kind of always forgets is once you buy it, you got to either get it here and have a delivery route for it, which is the SP transmission lines, or you buy it and try to use it an offset credit, and then it's not a firm delivery. So then it goes back to the market and then you're playing a market game with it. The Grand River Dam Authority, not only are we going to be able to get the 7 megawatts of firm energy and capacity, but we're also going to get a path for it. So it is committed firm to the city of Gardener, right? Just coming down the Edg.

Yeah. But there is a established path for it. That's that's the key. Okay. Yeah. I just wanted you to explain that. Um, and then one other comment is just just remember when he says we're helping to not go out to the market, this is for firm power, not for right it's capacity. It's an obligation. We're obligated. It's not for actual usage in when it's 105 in July. We're obligated to buy this whether we use it or not. Yes. And I I guess I had one other question for you. What happens when uh we have to go out to the open market and there's no available extra excess electricity. What happens then?

Well, generally generally as a rule, there's capacity out there. It's just what do you want to pay for it, right? It's there, but what do you want to pay for it? That's that's the key. It's a supply and demand type thing. Okay. Thank you, sir. Questions? There a motion. So move. Second. Motion Baldwin. Second McNair. We authorize the utilities director to begin negotiations with the Grand River Dam Authority and Kansas Municipal Energy Agency to purchase an additional 7 megawatts of perm electric capacity and energy. All in favor? All opposed?

Uh committee recommendation two passes. No old business. New business number one consider appointment of chief of police. Mr. Pretty, good evening.

I think as all of you know, Pam's last day or Chief Wald's last day is Friday. Um, so I am recommending DC Kelly Herren to um take her place as police chief. Deputy Chief Herren has been in law enforcement for 27 years, the past 13 months as a member of the Gardener PD. During that time, he's played a key role in elevating the department's performance and morale. He is well respected by members of our department in law enforcement circles around the metro. Through his leadership, integrity, and judgment, he's demonstrated that he is wellprepared to assume the role of police chief and lead the department forward. This his appointment or ascension to the police chief role is is part of the succession plan that was in place when he was hired. So Pam, if you guys have questions about how he was selected, she can speak to that, but there was a process for him to be selected. He's done extremely well. He's highly qualified and he's ready for this position.

Thank you, Jim. Is there any public comment on new business item number one? Council questions. questions. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second motion date and second Baldwin. We authorize the mayor to appoint Kelly Herren as chief of police. All in favor? I. All opposed.

Welcome, Chief. Uh, I'd like you to crack down on short-term rentals. When we hired Chief Walde, there was a cute little girl dancing in the back. I don't know if there's a dance coming or she's available. I couldn't see you because of the podium and I didn't know if you still wanted the job after beginning of this meeting.

Yeah. Okay. Uh that concludes our our um regular session there. So, we'll move to council updates. Um let's start this side here. Uh couple things. Um should have our new building ready couple weeks yet. We've had a couple hurdles with that. A couple items we kind of let fall through the cracks, but we're getting those buttoned up and we should have our new building ready for occupancy two, three weeks. Good. Excellent. Jason, parks. No, sir. Dave,

just a couple quick items. We do have a plan commission meeting coming up next Monday. So, just so people are aware, at 700 p.m. Um, I just want to comment real quick on the fireworks. I stepped out in order to get the gentleman a full packet which includes the owner's affidavit sheet. What I just want to make sure that you all understand is as property owners, if it is your decision with the city administrator to grant them the ability to have that fireworks stand there as the owner, that's different than what we go through on the administrative review. We will still be reviewing the application per code to make sure it meets all the code requirements. if it does not meet the code requirements, it could still be denied by the city. So, I just there's two roles going on here that we just got to be careful about. Um, and then finally on the uh the CUP, I do want to thank you for the discussion on that because what we did also with number three provide for policy direction as we get more of these potential items that help staff to better inform those conditions. So, thank you for that discussion. Kelly, nothing tonight.

Uh, city attorney. Uh, I just wanted to say to Pam that I've known her since worked with her from when she was over at KCKD. I think you you all in this community were really lucky to have her for the period of time that you did. Um, so wish the best. And I worked with Kelly when he was over at KCKPD as well. I think you you all are going to be really happy with what it can do for you. Thank you.

Nothing tonight.

I have a couple items. Um first I would like to address the comments that were made at the beginning of the meeting. Um, and I understand there's litigation, so it'll be very brief, but we um did not refuse to take a report. We referred him instead to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, which we had respond to our department um to take a report because that's best practice. We would not investigate our own criminal complaint. Um following that that it was sent to the district attorney's office where they said no crime was committed and then we did um conduct a um administrative investigation. Um and that is a personnel matter so I'm not going to um speak on that but I'm happy to answer any questions if anybody has any. All right. Um I have a prepared statement. We're gonna we're gonna see how this goes. Um, I want to sincerely thank the city council and the city administrator for the opportunity to lead this organization. It has been one of the greatest honors of my career. Your support and your trust and your commitment to public safety. Jim, I'm trying to picture you laughing, so I'm not crying. Your support, your trust, and your commitment to public safety have made a lasting impact not just on the department, but on the entire community. I also want to thank you for prioritizing training. In a profession where the margin for error is incredibly small, access to high quality ongoing training is essential. Because of your support, our officers are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to perform at the highest level possible. to the men and women of the Gardner Police Department,

the rank and file. Thank you. Thank you for your willingness to overcome every hurdle and stand up to every challenge. You have embraced change, worked through adversity, and continue to serve with professionalism, integrity, and pride. What you do is not easy and it never will be. But you show up every day ready to serve this community. We also have to acknowledge the reality of this profession. Law enforcement requires split-second decision-making in moments of uncertainty, stress, and risk. While we strive for perfection, the truth is we are human. We don't get every decision right, but we but often gets lost is that we get far more right than we do wrong. and we do it under a microscope. Today's officers operate in an environment shaped by 24-hour news cycles and the constant pre presence of social media. Every action can be scrutinized, second guessed, and criticized, often without full context. Yet, despite that pressure, these officers continue to step forward. They are on the front lines every day, protecting this city. They respond to calls for service, often entering situations that are unpredictable, dangerous, and emotionally charged. They are asked to make decisions that most people will never be asked to make once, but these officers make them repeatedly throughout their careers, and still they serve. So tonight, I simply want to say thank you. Thank you to the city council and the city administrator for your leadership and support. And thank you to the members of the Gardener Police Department for your sorry dedication and resilience. And thank you for the to the community of Gardener for the trust you place in your police department. It has truly been an honor to serve.

Thank you. Thank you. That was great. Jim, can you follow that up? Yeah. Um, thank you, Pam. you were you were a great hireer. You you put us on a the right path. Um and you're you're going to have a strong legacy here. Thank you. And I and I know Kelly will will carry that on. So, thank you. I should have included my endorsement, Kelly. Noted.

So, with regard to the old police lot, there there's there's all kinds of problems with parking and access to that lot. Um, do we want to I mean it's really a council decision. Do we want to get in the business of letting people use that lot for, you know, fireworks, events, other things? I feel like it sets a precedent once we do it. Once we're, you know, okay, we like this group or, you know, we want to do it and then a private fireworks tent wants to do it and they get their application in first next time. I don't know. I I

I mean there are other places available. We had but the the problem that I have with it is just the parking and access. They're going to park over a wall. They're gonna they're gonna put cars everywhere. That's true. Especially the day before it gets pretty busy. I mean compared to other stands I mean other stands have I'm trying to think of all the locations they have much better situations well they they have to put in they have to do a site plan for in the application

right so as part of the application they do have to put together a site plan they have to separate the parking from the tent itself by a certain distance they also have to have some buffering because they're going to be adjacent to residential on the north side um so there'll be some elements to that it could be a pretty tight tight site plan. Um the difficulty here for us as staff, we will measure that site plan. We will look at all that per the code requirements because those are all iterated as far as distances and things and it'll either work or not work at that point. The concern would be similar to me with the access points that you've got. Um the lot is kind of it's a shared access point with Wallally's uh the liquor store that's to the east there. Um some elements there. We'd also we would as staff I would tell you they would have to return the lot to the condition that it was in prior to having the stand there. But um again there are I would have similar concerns about this. This is a pretty tight site. Doesn't mean it can't work. It just means it's going to be difficult and I'm not sure how they pull that off.

Well, I was going to say isn't there normally a stand like right across the street? Across the street. So, it's not not even ideal because if it's going to be difficult to get in and out of, people are just going to go to the hill. There's some of that element. There's also what direction are people coming from? They don't have to go make lefthand turns. There's it's I I with fireworks stands, it's always interesting to me because they tend to be in close proximity anyway and there's so many of them that sometimes you look at that and it's like the mall. How many shoe stores can be supported? Well, there's cross shopping that goes on And the same thing kind of occurs with the fireworks stands sometimes. So

this kind of seems similar to what we talked about earlier in the sense that whether or not it's a smart decision should at least see if the application even works. Maybe we don't even need to have a conversation because the site plan never gets approved. But the application doesn't get looked at until the property owner signs off on it.

Well, no. We can go through the application process and go this is not even an issue. Don't even bring it up to us. So, what we can do is, and I I stepped out to provide the application packet to him to make sure he had the full packet with all the code requirements and everything. Um, and I gave him also the card to the correct staff to ask questions about. We can accept the application and begin the review. What we would note in our first round of comments is the opener's affidavit is not signed. We can take a look at the site plan. We can do things. The one advantage we have in this whole situation right now is timing. This is well in advance of the deadline for having these applications considered. So we can certainly gather all that information and see and we may come to an administrative conclusion that this is just not going to work in light of our code elements. If it does appear to work administratively, I can certainly talk to Jim about that. And however you want to handle the conversation as a property owner at that point, whether you want to give approval or not, that's a separate conversation you could have because that would be an outstanding element of the application. We could not issue the permit without that.

I kind of feel like it's like going through the planning process for something else, right? Go through that. Oh, now it's time for approval or not. It's just it's different because you're in two roles, right? Right. You have the administrative review and then you have the ownership. But the the thing I I'm curious about too is well who how do we decide who is it first come first serve then? Are we charging for it? Are we giving it for free? Are we like do we get to decide what

like pick our favorite group, right? You know, it it opens up a big can of worms of how much or do we charge because, you know, this is taxpayer land and it's, you know, should be they will they will definitely have to pay the application fee for the fireworks permit that or the not the application fee, the permit fee. Sorry about right. But but I'm talking about just like the land rental like any other firework tent would probably have to lease the land from the owner to put their firework tent to then pay the permit fee. Like is that something is that the business that we are getting into?

You certainly could do that. That's what the other private property owners are doing with these. I don't know what the lease rates are. I don't have any idea what is the cause there. Um, it does raise an issue, I think, and Jim's aware of this, is what do we do if we get requests on other surplus land that the city currently has, like there's the 10 acres just off from the community justice center, things like that. What do we do as property owner there? And how do you treat equally across the board, whether it's an organization equally or has to do with what they're requesting to do on the property? Dave, I kind of like the idea of let's let's go with uh the application. Find out administratively if it works. You got to agree with Mark. We may not have to make a decision as property owner at all if administratively this does not work.

But then what if it works? What if they say, "Okay, let's go." Then we have a decision. Why don't we go over the justice center property then? You know, I mean, and And I we before that we didn't want to be land uh landlords. So I think it sets bad precedent. I mean as much as I like the feeling of it. I like the you know let's let's just let charities and and I don't even hate having something there when people drive by, you know, when people are visiting our town. I just I'm worried about the president. I mean, I don't I'm not opposed if we want to look if it's feasible, but I'm definitely concerned about the presidential.

I can see both sides of it. I mean, if we had to say something tonight, I lean towards no because of the precedent that it sets and because, you know, we don't know. being city land, we would have to treat it equally across the board, which I'm all for, except for that gets really complicated really fast. And you know, we as the city council only meet twice a month. And if all of a sudden we're handling a whole bunch of rental questions and applications, um, I just think that's probably not what we really want to be doing. Um, but at the same time, I go to all the fireworks stands, too. I take my kid, we go shopping, you know. So, I understand that that's a great location that it as far as people passing by that I can see why it would be very inviting and why the Knights would really like to be there. Um, I don't really have any questions right now and I could I could make an argument either way. set.

That's where I'm at. Yeah. And it's between a a gas station and a liquor store. So, what could possibly go wrong? I mean, I'd argue the president. We have the senior citizens building. We have park um pavilions. I mean, we already rent, but in those cases, we're renting for hours at a time, not days at a time. Yeah. We could do we can set whatever we want here.

Yeah. Well, yeah. How does a firework stand next to a gas station? I didn't even think about that because that sounds like a nightmare that should automatically be shut down. how close you can be to a gas station.

There there's not there's not there's not specifically the distance for gas station. There are buffer requirements. There are separation requirements based on the storage of the fireworks and what they need to be stored in when it's off hours. There are different elements to this that all come into play. Um, from that standpoint, I don't recall a specific element that says it has to be a certain distance from the gas station. I do think we have some elements to that code though um that may make it a little bit difficult.

I like I said I'm not opposed to just letting them look at the application while we maybe individually kind of gather our thoughts on the whole thing. That that doesn't bother me. I' I'd like to see what it looks like at the end of the administration administrative application process because then we'll have a lot more information to make a decision on. That's fine with me. Mark

All right. How about let's get the application and we'll see if it even works at all. I and I'll encourage them to get me something as far as at least even a rough site plan as early as possible because sooner we can get that um the better for all parties involved quite frankly including them. And we don't want to necessarily um we'll make sure that as staff we're very clear to them about the difference between the ownership approval and anything we're doing. Okay, fair enough. Did you have anything else? All right.

I just wanted to say thank you to Chief Wck. Um, thank you for your service. I've not had as long to get to know you as the other council members, but I have enjoyed every interaction I've had with you and I wish you all the best. Congratulations to you, Chief Herren. I wish you the best also and I look forward to getting to know you better in the coming years. Thank you, Councilman McNair.

Again, I don't want to sound like a broken record, but thanks, ma'am. Uh, but what I do want to acknowledge is that every interaction when I see our our police women and men in action with the community, they're professional, they're courteous, and they're very, very well trained. So, I I I don't think I think it was a better community police department. So, thanks again. Great job. Thank you.

I I am going to be a broken record. Um thank you, Chief. Uh it was an honor to appoint you um that short three years ago. Um and I know it's not been probably what you dreamed it would be. Uh I know we had our our sleepy little gardener town. Um, but your leadership is a reflection in uh the interactions I've had with everybody uh on our our gardener police department and u it's nothing but even when I have gotten pulled over um has been a positive interaction. So, thank you for that and welcome board chief. Uh looking forward to working with you as well. I can't see.

Okay, broken record again. And I'm a sympathetic crier, so you really got me. And I'm not going to look at you, but but thank you so much for your service to the community. Dang it. You got me, B. Um, you you've done so well. I know, you know, not being born and raised in in gardener, you've been the face of GPD. You've been at so many community events and just the community engagement has been phenomenal. And Chief Herren, congratulations. And same to you. You have been at so many community events. I saw you out of the Aspen Place and um it's just so great to have that community engagement and thank you. I had a great time working with you and I look forward to working with you. On that note, PD Battle of the Badges Blood Drive was yesterday and I want to congratulate them on another win. We're getting more votes for the Battle of Badges blood drive. And during that ended, the Gardener Gold duck competition of the fire department and the police department were selling ducks for Gardener Gold. Their annual duck race is in July. Ducks are still on sale, but this competition is over. numbers are still coming in, so I can't announce a winner just yet, but I have been told just recently that over 900 ducks were sold, which raises close to $1,000 for Gardener Gold. That is money that stays here in our community for our special needs group. So, thank you to the PD and the fire department for your support there.

That's it. Council President, everybody knows I don't like to repeat everything, but uh this is due. So, uh I wanted to thank Chief. You've done a a fabulous job. Gardner uh is better off because of you being here. Um we always have, you know, everybody deals with certain things, but I just wanted to call you out specifically for uh when we were dealing with Aspen Place. Um, I can remember being over in that church and people well screaming at the mayor. Um, and you handled everything very well. I was, uh, really impressed. So, um, good luck to you on future endeavors and, uh, DC Heron. Uh, good luck.

You got the top. Yes. And and again, uh, thank you, Pam, for everything. you know, uh, just recently at State of the City, I went through a huge list of all the accomplishments and great things you brought to Gardener. So, uh, you've done a lot in your short time here and you'll be very missed. Thank you for everything. And again, welcome. Welcome, Chief as well. So, thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. Uh, nothing further. Motion to adjurnn. So, moved. Second. Motion D and second may adjurnn. All in favor?