City Commission - Regular Meeting

Revenue was up 16,000 for the timing of receipts of sponsorships and water sales and conservation rose 4600 compared to last year. Notable areas of revenue decrease, FAA grants and airport improvement was off 36,000 for reimbursements received this time a year ago on the S sur building and 422 reconstruction. And while month-to- date golf course revenue is down 45,000, year-to- date is up 3,200. Expenditures in March totaled 2,551399. That's a decrease of 425,540 as compared to the same period last year. So noble increases in expenditures. Airport other contractual arose 25,400 for the timing of payment to Arkstar for consulting services. Purchase of a 3/4 ton pickup for parks increase. New equipment 48,000. Golf course chemicals and repairs to buildings and structures increase 69,600. Microsoft Office 365 license renewals increased other contractual and IT 29,000. Chemicals and new equipment in parks and playgrounds rose 27,000 and public works general supplies was up 39,000. The bulk of which was for crack sealant material in the street maintenance program. Some notable areas of decreased expenditure. The AMI and PD projects a year ago dropped capital projects expenditures 60,600. Solid waste reserves fell 14,000 for the purchase of two rolloff dumpsters this time last year. And the largest contributor to the decrease mentioned above is the timing of the $933,000 payment on the water reclamation facility rebuild. Month-to-ate general fund st sales tax collections were at 750,000 which was an increase of 20,378 or 3 and a.5% compared to last year. Year-to-

date general funds sales tax is up 148,000 or 6%. The six-month average is up 3% basically flat compared year-over-year. County sales tax collections were at 88,422, a year-over-year increase of $1,000. The report of top 10 quarter-to-ate sales tax collections by classification was up 108,000 or three and a quarter%. Those top 10 represent 72% of the total collected. And finally, the total portfolio of certificates of deposit on March 31 was 75,36,320 with a weighted average rate to maturity of 3.8% that is down a percent. Total balance of the money market account on March 31 was 5,81184 with a current weighted average yield of 3.29 down a tenth of a percent from a year ago and total investments were up 8,757-231. I'll move that we approve the March 2026 finance statement.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Any questions or comments for Kim on the financials? Anything from you, David? No. Okay. Then I will call for a vote. All in favor, please say I. I. Opposed. Passes 50. Thank you, Kim.

We have citizen comments for non-aggenda items. once, going twice, sold. Okay. Uh next up on the consent agenda, um two things on there. One was what we talked about last week um on the letters of support for the fees on the low-income housing uh projects 2026. Uh and the mayoral appointments for approval for the boards um that we talked about two weeks ago. No changes to those. Uh, I'll ask for motion. Move approval of consent agenda. Second. Okay. Motion in a second. Any questions or comments on that?

Uh, mayor, I would like to ask representative on the LITC if I could ask him a question on the lowinccome housing. Absolutely.

I just had a quick question. How do you guys on the low income, how do you how does that work out? Like there's a certain percent that's low income, sums market rate, how does how does that work out?

Yeah. So, um, at a real high level, the funding is supplied through the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation, as we talked about last week. U, they have certain requirements for, uh, numbers of units at varying levels of affordability. So they'll they'll dictate part of it, but the overarching uh regulation is an IRS uh statute. Um the best way to think about it is in terms of depreciation. You have eligible basis uh that you know based on every dollar that you spend, you have a certain amount that's deemed eligible for tax credits. This is a 9% LITC transaction. So, uh, you basically take your eligible basis times 0.09 and the maximum that KHRC will allocate is $850,000 in credits. So, in this case, for every $10 million that you spend, that equates to um, you know, roughly the amount that you need to qualify for their maximum allocation. So, on a development like ours, I think we're proposing 48 units. You're probably somewhere in the range of 40 to 44 are going to be uh, affordable. And then you might have anywhere from like four to eight that are uh market rate.

I think that helps. I just I had many people ask me this week. So I just wanted to ask him in public. So thank you. Absolutely. Anything from you David.

I wanted to make one comment if I could on the again I I try to do it each time that we are putting more people on boards. I really appreciate the people that step forward and are willing to serve on all our committees and boards in the community. Um, I also wanted to express that if you have an interest, it we don't wait for applications when something opens up. If you have an interest in one of the areas, put your application in at the time. So when anything does come up, you may may miss us announcing it and you wouldn't see it. But we keep them all on record and so when anything does come up, we'll pull every application that's available. So anyone that's interested, do it. And it's all online. You can find everything out there. Uh, and I encourage everybody to do that. And I thank everybody that currently serving.

You're here. All right. Then I will call for a vote. All in favor, please say I. I. I. I. Opposed. Passes. 5-0. Thank you. And now the update from the Youth Leadership Advisory Board. President Mermis. All right, we'll try and get this slide to move. Here we go. All right. Well, hello everyone. I'm Press Mermis. I'm the chairman of the Youth Leadership Advisory Board. We'll start out with some introductions from everybody. So, um Erin Rutder could not make it. Um she's our vice chairman.

I'm Jennifer and I'm the secretary. Um I am Mario Hernandez, a board member. I'm also a board member. Uh Willow couldn't make it because uh she had I don't remember what practice she had something in school. And then Reagan Byer had work. She was not able to be here as well. Fair enough.

So starting out this year with some of the events we had uh we had mock election this year which I believe all of you were able to make. Um it was a great success. Um I would say um that we had a lot of comments or a few comments from the elected officials that showed up to it but also teachers that they really enjoyed it and from students. Uh for those of you that are here that uh don't know what the mock election was, um basically we brought in some elected officials come talk to students at TMP. Every year we switch between TMP and Hayes High. So this is our third year ever doing it. Um and they get to talk to the students, let the students ask questions, um and just hear from their elected officials. So um our next event was uh the mental health initiative um which Aaron Rutder did. Um she's not here, but Um, she had some great results for that. I know Mason, you could probably speak to some of that. Um, I don't know all the details on every single one of them. Um, and then Frostfest,

uh, Frostfest was pretty fun. We built up a nice float in her dad's truck. Um, it wasn't the most flashy thing, but it we all had fun doing it. So,

uh, and then next up, uh, Reagan Byer did a drug awareness program. Uh that was back in October of 2025. So she had a detective from Yellis County Sheriff's Office go to Hayes Middle School and talk with some of the students there about drug awareness and the effects on the body and everything else. Um and then that kind of throughout the year in their health classes they talked more about those. Um and then we had a little drag main event. Didn't have too many people show up to it, but we had probably I'd say it was about 15 cars show up to it. So um Any comments from

the mock election? I thought this year went so much better than in previous years. I love the way that was set up and the students rotated in and out with questions. Thought it really went well. Smooth. Yeah, good job. Yes, it was. It was a wonderful program. Um definitely the best one that has happened yet. Um yeah, Aaron's actually not here because she's in Kansas City accepting another scholarship for this um initiative. That's awesome. She was actually interviewed by Fox Kansas City for it and was requested to be on the mental health board for it. Fantastic. Um, it has grown to be something really special and it popped out of a group like this that does a lot of wonderful, wonderful work. Thank you guys.

Okay, go ahead. I've been lucky to see this is will be my last year on the board, but see it from its start all till now and just see what each year the groups have been able to do and then this group this year. While um at times we've had troubles meeting because everybody's in everything, we've done a lot of great work this year. High school kids are busy. That's a good thing. Thank you guys. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you so much, guys. Um yeah, this board was very very busy board. Um I'm not just saying for the events that they did. Um just in general what these students do to take on that extra time and effort that's needed for this is um is wonderful. And I know we had kind of our last end of year meeting um and they provided a lot of really good feedback on how to make the program even stronger for the next year. Um and then they help provide us with the um the recommendations that they they have for who they think could take this on and and run with it. Um some returning folks and some new faces. Um Preston for being on there since its inception. Thank you. Congratulations for all your success that you've done and the leadership you've had for this outstanding member of the group. And you'll have hard shoes to fill. That's for sure. Thank you so much. Anybody else on the youth leadership group?

Uh I just want to add, you know, just like adults, you know, there's a lot of people that volunteer for boards and you know, they were saying they're working, they're have different events going on and I mean that's real life scenarios. That's what happens. And it always seems like the best volunteers are on many different boards and uh appreciate what you guys do because I know how busy you guys are with having a 14-year-old and she's just now getting into that. So, uh, thank you for what you do and, you know, you're an inspiration for a lot of people. We appreciate it. Good luck to you two seniors. It's going to be sad to see you go, but excited for you to see what your futures look like. They're looking pretty bright from right here. Congratulations.

Yeah, I'll just add thank you to each of you. Um, I know that you do have a lot of involvements. I know some of you personally and so I know how many activities you do involve yourself in. And it's great that you didn't just take this on to just put it put it on your resume. You were actively involved and so it's greatly appreciated. Thank you each. Thank you. In two years we got some open seats. Yeah. Yeah. Anything else that you guys would need or want? You going to stick around and listen to the bonds? Certainly don't have the Yeah, you guys do all the fun stuff. So, you got to listen to the boring stuff. No, I'm just kidding.

I like how they're honest. Thank you guys so much. Congratulations on a good year. All right. Next, we have the resolution evidencing an intent to issue industrial revenue bonds pioneer run project. Mr. Chair, can we leave too?

Jared Kelman, assistant city manager. So, today we are discussing a resolution of intent to issue industrial revenue bonds for the Pioneer Run project. The developer for this project, Overland Property Group, has plans to construct an affordable housing project on the site adjacent to 221 West 43rd Street, which is just west of the Hilton Garden Inn. Project would involve the construction of approximately 48 units with a clubhouse and then plus the road extensions, parking, and any internal site improvements to serve the property. The developer is seeking an IRB sales tax exemption to help with the project as well as improve the score on a lowincome housing tax credit or LITC application. So, we can discuss that a little bit more later. Um, because this project would utilize LITC, the housing units would be income qualified for residents. As we just heard a little bit ago, the star here shows where in Hayes we're talking about. This image shows the site in question between 43rd and 45th streets, west of Walmart and the Hilton Garden in. Well, that looks like a large area. This is more of the project area itself, which is just to the very immediate west of the Hilton Garden Inn. You can see there that there are two apartment buildings, one at the very north and one on the south, and then in between would be the clubhouse. The developer is seeking industrial revenue bonds or IRBs for the purposes of this project. IRBs are a unique bond issuance which are meant to provide at least one of two incentives e property tax abatement and or a sales tax exemption on the construction or remodel materials. And so in this case the property this project is not seeking the property tax exemption is only seeking the sales tax exemption.

IRBs do not affect the city's debt limit or rating. They do not require taxpayer commit. which can award 10 points on the application. Um, as we discussed last week, Haz does have four proposed projects this year. um which is certainly a great number to have but unfortunately um we can't really guarantee that any more than any one project will get awarded. So unfortunately without LIT type these low income housing projects really almost certainly do not move forward. So we're asking you to consider

this resolution intent to issue the IRBs here today. If the project does not receive the light tech award later on in this summer, we probably won't move forward with the project and therefore won't end up actually needing the IRB. So we will not end up ever coming to you with the next step in the IRB process which is the issuance of the bonds. And so we are talking about property groups project.

Total investment by the developer for this project is estimated to be about $9 million which does include the land costs for an IB. There are no general obligation or special obligation bonds issued and the city is only the conduit issued and so the payment obligations are all on the developer. So these are the options for you today and this will be the action requested. I move we adopt resolution number 2026-005 evidencing an intent to issue industrial revenue bonds for the pioneer run project by the overland property group

motion in a second uh questions or comments for Jared staff or the developer in question

all four projects have made the request is that correct all four did the fee waving which you would approve as part of the consent agenda only three are doing the IRB B one, I spoke with them. They chose to not do an IRB sales tax exemption because of the size of their project. Um, when you have an IRB issuance, there are bond issuance costs. There are the city application fee. So, typically you want a margin of sales tax exemption that makes that worthwhile. Um, and they felt that for their particular project, it just even with the 10 points, it wasn't going to pencil out on the number side. um these other three they it didn't make sense so they did submit applications

and this is this is a dumb question probably but why aren't we looking at all of them at once if they've made the request you know the timing um this developer help them get their application in sooner and bond council helps us out with all of those but May 15th is their date isn't it yes so we will be approving yeah two more two more right before the deadline okay there won't Any room for delay? David, did you have anything?

Question. Yeah, go ahead.

So, Jared, you said that they probably will not uh build if these things are not granted. Have they given you more specifics and said for a fact that they will or will not um if these are not granted? So, I believe this developer did state last week, which I if he's welcome to come up and state their intention. Um, with the others that I've spoken with, I'll just quickly say that um they haven't necessarily given vocal confirmation, but I do know from overall discussions that they would say yes that they I don't think they would ever it's I don't want to say like never say never type situation, but they would not plan to move forward. I I know that from their general comments that they've made. And when you say not move forward, it's if they don't receive the LITC funding, not that they wouldn't proceed if we decline the IRB. That just could hurt their application.

Yes, that's the accurate way to state it. Okay. And I think we've had tons of conversation about the cost going continually increasing and and when we're talking about lowincome housing, it's very very difficult to make that work without one of these LITC grants. Correct. I will say one of the ones you will be talking about did submit an application three years ago. They and they failed to get awarded and so they did not move forward at that time because of that. Um they're trying again now this year. So that kind of indicates that's where they're for our sake. I certainly hope that one of them at least one of them gets approved. We certainly need that housing. Yeah. Did that answer your question, David? Yeah.

Okay. Perfect. Um, yeah, I'm I'm excited for this project. Um, it's I had a lot of people question. Um, you know, what was going on with it and then when I explained it and they asked, "Well, who's doing it?" And I told them who it was and they're like, "Oh, okay." They were like, "Okay, they're they look great. They're run well. Um, and they provide an affordable place for people to live." So, um, you put that on your application, too. Our our people want it as well. Um, so it's it's an exciting uh exciting project to have and to have four applications in a single year for us is is huge. So I appreciate your continued investment in our community over the last gosh, how long now? When was the first one done?

First 17 years ago. Yeah. So and I think we've probably been telling our story very well in terms of what we need in terms that kind of housing. They're listening. They're coming from they know what the opportunity is. Uh, so it's much appreciated. They've been investing for half of my life. Somebody gets really tired of that motion. Okay. Are there any other questions or comments on this? Okay. If not, I'll call for a vote. All in favor, please say I. I. I.

Opposed? Passes 5. Thank you, Jared. Thank you very much. Good luck to you. All right, progress report with Captain Progress.

Thank you. Afternoon, Deputy City Manager Colin Belzer, aka Captain Progress. So, Public Works Storm Water and Service Division placed approximately 50 tons of rip wrap material underneath the Main Street Bridge along the levey to prevent erosion. This was an item cited by the Army Corps of Engineering during a past annual levy inspection. service division placed nine yards of concrete in a couple areas at the solid waste recycling facility to assist with some draining issues and to help correct water standing around the electrical transformer. Be a good thing to do.

12 yards of concrete was used by the service division to repair damaged concrete panels 19th and Port. That's uh 50 yards of concrete was used by the service division to repair failed pavement on Swaller just south of the 26th Street intersection. and also 20 yards of concrete was used by the service division to repair concrete panels at the intersection of 22nd and Wheatland. Chief Ryan Hagens was a guest presenter at the International Association of Fire Chief's Wildland Urban Interface Conference in Reno, Nevada, and the fire department completed their first quarterly drills on March 31st through April 2nd. And the focus was on single truck initial fire attack. And then as the cover photo showed, the fire department completed their annual ARF live fire drill on April 13th. This is required by the FAA. Six members of Dodge City Fire Department and one from Garden City Fire Department attended the training. Also,

and they also help pay for it, so we're glad we can bring them up there. Yay. Deputy Chief Shane Preston and Firefighter Travis Johannes attended the ISO class on April 18th through 19th. On March 19th, director of Park Stref Bole attended the 2026 Tree City USA award ceremony in Great Bend. The city of Hayes was awarded Tree City USA recognition for the 47th consecutive year. Wow. Longer than Mason's been longer than That's a lot of trees. New fiberglass doors were installed to replace the old metal ones that rusted through at Sunrise Park. Wow, that looks nice.

And staff worked the bison herd. This included giving them fly tags and their spring shots. And then two new members of the herd arrived on April 8th. There's now one bull, one bread cow, and two bread heers. And Boil told us any day now there should be some calves joining us or at least one. I don't know. Any names? I don't know. I'm not school kids do that. I have no idea. He said Buffy, but I think that might I think that's the one that's pregnant. Buffy is.

Yeah. Okay. That's cool. staff has been topping off mulch and green spaces throughout town. This mulch not only looks good, but it also holds much needed moisture for plants and helps keep keep weeds out. And then on the left, staff installed a new bench at the dog park that was donated by the Hayes Rotary Club. And on the right, staff planted trees around the perimeter of the playground at Massie Park. Officers did assist with the torch lighting at the Special Olympics opening ceremony ceremony on March 20th. And then in water staff responded to and repaired a transmission line line leak just north and east of Shenshin. Picture one is of the location and then picture two is of the old broken pipe and the new pipe that was installed. Water resources maintenance staff also installed a new service line at 2204 Haney. Staff removed the old tap and replaced with a new tap and then they also had replaced the concrete for the sidewalk. Eric Hos and Brady Beckman replaced a 2-in meter overnight at 10th and Fort. So, these larger meters are being replaced during the night to avoid service disruption during the day as part of the AMI replacement program. So, we're slowly getting to an end of that. Staff at the water reclamation reuse facility have been loading and hauling bioolids to farm ground around the incorporated uh fields as part of the EPA 503 bioolids regulations. So, the second picture shows the drying beds empty and ready to stockpile again. And staff have been placing rock around several of the stock tanks at the R9 ranch to help stop the wind erosion. Tessa Sheek, administrative assistant for the Department of Water Resources, received the Kansas Rural Water Association Special Recognition Award for dedicated service and outstanding leadership. Tessa received this award at the Rural Water Association annual conference in Witchaw on March 25th. On March 26, Janet and Melissa

Dixon worked registration and welcomed approximately 180 attendees to the Kansas Society of Radiologic Technologists. This was their annual convention that was held at the Hilton Garden Inn and Convention Center. And then on April 1st, Melissa Dixon volunteered for the Higher Pass Career Hunt, which was hosted by Higher Pass Fort Hay State Career Development and the Chamber, as well as Grow Hayes. Groups of seventh graders explored different industries and Melissa was paired with three tourism partners, Hilton Gardenin, Suck It Up Bubble Cup, and the Hayes High Bakery. April 9th through 12th, Hayes hosted over 130 burers and 30 volunteers from 29 states for the fifth annual Kansas Electra Prairie Chicken Festival.

I try to do that sometime. As a member of the Hay City Sisters board, Melissa Dixon helped plan an event to celebrate 50 years of partnership with one of Haye's sister cities, Santa Maria de defa Paraguay. Special activities on April 6 began with proclamation by Mary Rutder. And then the celebration continu continued at Los Heffes restaurant with a Santa Maria display installation, a special South American food and drink menu, and Paraguayan gifts and memorabilia from the sister cities collection on display. And we were informed that they had one as well. Presentation and dinner.

Really? That's cool. On April 18th, the CVB partnered with Fort Hay State Tourism and Hospital Hospitality Program to host the second annual Jana Jordan Memorial Tourism Trout. And then CVB staff partnered with Next Tech to create a new summer video to promote Hayes. This spot will appear on visithaze.com, social media channels, and local networks. That looks good. prog looks like fun. Does

it's a fun town. Progress in the new use path from Hall Street to Sternberg Museum is moving along rapidly. Concrete has been poured from the connection point at the northeast side of Hall and 41st and is progressing towards Vine Street. Project does have an August completion date. The tall grass project continues to move forward. Sewer structures are set to begin arriving next week which will allow underground infrastructure to begin. Site dirt work is in progress as well as storm water detention structures and this project has a completion date of November. The exit 161 project has started and it's gaining some momentum. Site dirt work is underway. The sewer sleeve running under the storm water box on Commerce Parkway has been installed which will start the sewer line installation process with the main tie at 13th and Commerce. And then the new police station is progressing nicely. Basement drywall is being primed and painted with ceiling grids starting soon. The main level framing is nearing completion with roughins following immediately after. Then lastly, Jamie Bryant was appointed to the board of the City Clerks and Municipal Finance Officers Association of Kansas. The association is a professional organization dedicated to promoting education, networking, and professional standards for city clerks and finance officers across Kansas. It provides training, certification in collaboration with Witchaw State University and resources for local government officials.

Wonderful. Thank you. Now we'll move on to Hayes happenings. Mr. Happy Admiral happenings. Admiral happenings. Yeah. Jared Kuckland, assistant city manager. Don't get Melissa. The 20th annual John Heinrich Scholarly and Creative Activities Day and Fort State Open House will be Friday, May 1st, with multiple locations on campus showcasing student work. No parking tickets will be given on campus this day so you can show off free of charge.

That's awesome. The Biglesmid Sports Complex will host three tournaments in May, including Hayes Hitfest UTSA Fast Pitch Softball with 42 teams, UTSA Baseball Classic with 38 teams, and the Haze Summer Blast UTSA Fast Pitch Softball with 21 teams. The Haye Symphony will close out their season with Spring Classics Viva Percussion on May 2nd at 7:30 p.m. at Beach Smmith Performing Arts Center. And as always, all symphony concerts are free admission. The Hayes Kansas Science Festival will take place Sunday, May 3rd from 11:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. activities at multiple locations on Main Street in downtown Hayes. The Sternberg Museum summer exhibit, Under the Canopy, Animals of the Rainforest, is scheduled to open May 16th and will run through November. Downtown Hayes Market's opening day is Saturday, May 23rd from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the downtown pavilion at 10th in Maine. The second annual picnic in the park will be Saturday, May 23rd from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Ark Park and Splash Pad. This is a free event with games, activities, and food trucks.

Bigger and better than last year. Hard to do. Yeah, last year was was really, really good. So, I can imagine what this will be like. Hopefully good weather. Yes.

IC IMCA races will run on May 23rd and 24th at RPM Speedway at the Ellis County Fairgrounds. Hayes Aquatic Parks opening day will be Thursday, May 30th, thanks to a lot of hard work from City of Hayes Parks Department staff. Oh, weather. It's coming. Local graduation and commencement ceremonies are also this time of year. They include the Kansas Academy of Math and Science will be Saturday, May 9th. Fort Hayes Tech North Central will be Thursday, May 14th. Fort Hayes State University, Friday, May 15th and then also Saturday, May 16th. Hayes High's will be Sunday, May 17th at 1:30 p.m. And then TMP Marian will be Sunday, May 17th at 300 p.m.

Pray for the service people that weekend. Good Lord. Congratulations to all the graduates, including those who have family in this room. Yeah, this is crazy. If you have questions, ask Melissa when she's around. Thank you, Admiral.

All right, next up we have commission inquiries and comments. David. Oh. Uh, just want to say, uh, thanks to the youth leadership advisory board. Uh, it's good that they recognize that the 10% of the community does a lot, right? They they're involved in so many things going on there and, uh, it's going to keep going that way. So, I hope they keep a positive mindset and keep turning forward and helping the community. They're doing great things. It was nice to see all the my fellow ELEOs there prior to the commission meeting for your proclamation. I wish I was there. Um it was a humbling experience this last week up in Washington DC walking around the uh the memorial the law enforcement memorial up there looking at all the names on the board. very uh it's a it's a week that hits hard in my heart for sure. Um but it's glad to see everybody be there and supporting each other. So, uh looks like the employees have had a very very busy week and I'm grateful for everything they do for the city, keeping things up to par, keeping Hayes the the great city that it is.

Absolutely. That's all I got.

Thank you, Sandy. Um, I wanted to mention again about the on May 2nd final symphony of the year. I think so often people just don't realize what an asset that is to this community and what it's done over the last 5 to seven years. It's grown unbelievably. Used to be able to fill a few rows and now we get three or four 500 people show up and it is free and it's because of sponsorships and and the good people of this community. Uh, this last symphony on May 2nd is going to be extra special. So, I hope people get out and see it. Um, I spoke to the youth leadership advisory group when they were here and and before, but I really want people to understand or hope everybody can understand the value of those young people and what they do in this community and where they're going from here. Uh, they may not stay here and and be here forever, but I'll bet you I can look at those two today and I'll bet you they'll be back. I I just know. Um, and special congratulations to Aaron Rutder. It is Mason's sister. She has just done an unbelievable job with what she's done and this you've heard me talk so many times about I think mental health is one of the biggest issues we have to deal with in this country right now and especially with our youth. So the work that she's doing is just really commendable and please express my thanks to her.

Absolutely. That's all. Thank you. Sean, um I just want to remind the public on May 28th we'll be talking about the uh fireworks ordinance. Um me personally, I'm not talking about the what's that in a different date.

21st and 21st. I'm sorry. 21st. My bad. So, you have about a month to think about it, but um I know a lot of times we have people say, "I haven't had time to, you know, go to the meeting or whatever, but um to me, if I look at it, it's so dry. I don't know how we could allow it." But I also been on here long enough to know that we've banned fireworks and then two weeks later we get, you know, 2 in of rain. And I would like to possibly see if there's uh some kind of change to that ordinance if um we do if we would ban them to where if we get a big rain that we have had and let's pray that we do to where possibly within a week we could uh you know change that. So that's just throwing out my opinion for uh you know when we talk about on the 21st. So that's it.

Okay. Thank thank you Elena. Um, highlighting on the mental health, just want to remind everybody that next Thursday is the grand opening for the new crisis intervention center. So, it'll be the last time the public can go in and view it, um, you know, without needing their services. So, if you want to get in and see, they've done a fabulous job renovating. Um, I'm excited that they're going to be located in the Hadley building. So, congrats to them. And then, um, no, don't blow away. Yeah. Yeah, that's all I got.

Um, yeah, there's a lot of good things going on. The, uh, the crisis intervention center is is a a huge benefit to not just our community. Um, one for the amount of wonderful jobs it'll create, but for what it'll do for our city, county, and region. Um, for taking care care of people in, you know, one of the most difficult times of their lives. um and giving them a respectful place to take care of themselves. It's not just throw them in a jail cell and wait. It's give them the treatment that they need immediately when they're in a crisis. Um so, congrats to Craig and his staff at High Plains Mental Health are getting that getting that done um quickly. It's a wonderful place. So, if you see him around, let them know. Uh just wanted to highlight that uh uh David and I and Colin and Jared went out to uh DC this last few days uh to meet with our uh senators and uh Congressman Mann. Uh wonderful uh trip out there. A lot of good discussion um making sure that they're aware of kind of what's going on within our community. Uh, obviously we go out, it's every year it's the Western Kansas congressional delegation. So, Dodge, Garden, Liberal, Hayes, and Great Bend, uh, go out there and we get a chance to sit one-on-one uh, right on their home turf and let them know, you know, these are the priorities that our communities are looking for. These are the things that, um, we need to sustain. if we have need help for projects, if there's grants out there that we can apply for or continued investment in infrastructure, um it it's nice to be able to sit out there and then thank and greet their staffers who do a lot of the work behind the scenes. Um they're in constant communication with constituents and drafting things and researching.

They do a lot of the a lot of the leg work. Um so it's a great way to thank them as well. Uh, so we did get to sit one-on-one uh with uh Senator Moran, Senator Marshall, and Congressman Mann um who it's it's funny when we go out there now, they just know we're going to be talking water. They just see us and they say, "Oh, you got water still, right?" Yeah. Um and then had a a pleasant opportunity Monday night uh for former Senator Pat Roberts to show up. Uh he s he said uh he heard Kansas people were in town so he said it was his 90th birthday that day and he wanted to spend it with Kansas people. So that was wonderful for him to join us.

That's cool. Um I did talk to Senator Moran about trying to get Artemis 3 to launch from Hayes Regional Airport. Um said probably not going to happen. Too large of a project. That was a pretty quick decision on his part. It was. I think the wind is too bad too cuz I think the rock would have to launch off like this just to probably not going to happen but um do we need to lobby lobby him for that? You don't have to worry about me lobbying. Uh yeah, it was a great trip. Um good. Thank you for support. Of course representing. Yes. Hopefully we have some good news here in the coming months. Any executive session?

Nope. Okay. Then we will end at 4:43. Three.