City Commission - Regular Meeting

All right, I will call the Thursday, June 25, 2026 City of Hays Commission meeting to order. All five commissioners are present. First item of the order of business is the consideration of approval of the minutes from June 11. Any questions, changes, or comments?

I have none.

OK.

They will stand as presented. Next, citizen comments for agenda items, or non-agenda items. OK. Now we'll move on to the consent agenda. Just one thing on there, the hanger contract.

I move approval of the consent agenda.

Second. Motion and a second on that. Any discussion? Call for a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes 5-0. All right. Resolution to authorize the city to issue in general obligation bonds to finance the Tallgrass 4 Phase 4 Reinvestment Housing Incentive District RHID Public Infrastructure Improvement Scheme.

thank you good afternoon commissioners kim rupp director of finance uh here to talk about general issuing general obligation bonds to finance tall grass phase four that public infrastructure improvement uh this is a map of the property subject property in the tall grass edition the one on the right is a little dated because i think there's some housing that's already been built there kind of gives you an idea where it's at in haze The city previously created the Tallgrass Phase 4 RHID and entered into a development agreement with Heart of America Development Corp regarding the associated residential housing project. As part of the development agreement, the city agreed to finance the public infrastructure related to that. Approval of the project authorization resolution will allow the city to issue general obligation bonds to fund the public infrastructure improvements. Pursuant to the development agreement, the city agreed to finance construction of infrastructure to support the Tallgrass Phase 4 RHID project and utilize RHID revenues to offset the city's costs, including debt service requirements on any bonds issued for the project. The city estimates that full build-out, the annual RHID increment generated, will be sufficient to pay the debt service on those bonds issued. That includes all of the public infrastructure in there. However, if the RHID increment is not sufficient, the city will still be required to make the debt service payments. In order to issue bonds to finance the improvements, the improvements must be added to the city's capital improvement plan and designated for bond financing by adoption of this resolution. So last week, I had David Arterbury with Steve O'Nicholas with us, and I'll go over a little bit about what he talked about. He started out with the calendar. It's quite a process. In addition to the telegraph project, we have temporary notes on the exit 161 infrastructure that are coming due in October. So this will be a single bond issue to tie up both those projects into permanent financing. Whenever the city issues bonds, there are three main steps that have to occur. The first step is to pass this resolution officially authorizing the project and the bonds to be issued. This particular project authorization is for Tallgrass. We already did the exit 161 authorization last year. Step two is to adopt a sale resolution. That will be on for next week, hopefully approving that on the 9th. With that, you officially authorize staff, our financial advisor, and bond counsel to go out to prepare for and conduct a bond sale. After that, the bond sale is scheduled to occur on August 27th. At that meeting, the Commission will be asked to take the final step to adopt a bond ordinance that actually locks in the final interest rate on bonds, and then if all goes well or is planned, the issue would be closed towards the end of September. Those steps are what are highlighted on what you see there, except for the very last one, and those involve you. Other items in between those steps include drafting all the legal documents, drafting the offering documents that will be distributed to bidders, getting the rating completed, and other due diligence work. So last week David went over the sizing. We have the exit 161 temporary notes of $4,035,000 that we did last year plus the interest. The tall grass is estimated to be at $6 million. The rest is issuance costs to pay fees for the financial advisor, bond counsel, rating, and the state treasurer. The underwriting is the larger amount. That's the fee that would be charged by the firm that actually purchases the bonds. So those are the ones that are going to submit, hopefully submit the lowest interest rate. And this is the max amount. We'd be remiss if we didn't ask for this amount. We do anticipate that this will be lowered. There's a grant, an economic grant secured by Grohaze that should be coming back to the city. That estimated to be about 2.8 to 2.9 million. So that'll change things significantly on the sizing. Sorry. Getting crazy with the remote. And we also budgeted in 2026 $375,000 in demand and interest fund and that will go towards this as well. So don't need to know sizing until August so we have a little bit of time on that. David also went over interest rates. This is from starting in 2022, which is when kind of rates bottomed out. They've risen since then, but have stabilized. The different colored lines represent different maturity dates for the very highly rated tax-exempt bonds. The red line is the one to focus on here, which is the rate of highly rated 20-year bonds, similar to what our issue will be. The bonds we sell basically vary in maturity from one to 20 years. David mentioned last week if we were to go to market today, the overall rate, when you average that all together, would be around 3.8 to 3.9 range. A question last week also was brought up about what impact a Fed rate increase might have, and that would be minimal to none on this particular issue because those rates affect more around the one to three year rate. So this would be a 20 year issue. So options would be to approve the resolution, decline, or provide us with other direction, and we ask for resolution approval.

I move we approve resolution number 2026-009, authorizing the city to issue bonds to finance the tall grass space for RHID public infrastructure improvements.

Second.

Motion by Commissioner Jacobs, second by Commissioner Cunningham. Questions, comments for Kim here?

Kim, on the 10-year bond, how much was that bond for?

On the which, I'm sorry?

Do I understand that right? In 22, we have a bond out, is that correct?

What are you looking at there? In the chart.

Is that when we sold bonds?

So, yeah, we had a bond sale in 23, 24, and 25. Right.

Oh, 23, okay.

And he's marking that with a dotted line. That's where we fell on interest rates there. Okay, I got you. Sorry, I did fail to mention you had those hands up Do you know how many RH IDs we currently have that are tied to geo bonds so All of them would be all of them the way we negotiate in the way our economic development policy is written That would that would be a general obligation debt of the city And how many RHIDs do we currently have out there?

So we've done... Three that we're responsible for. I believe so. Tall grass one, two. Tall grass is through phase four and then the grove.

Special assessments are done the same way, though. They're also GEOVON. Yes. Right, so any housing development that's ever happened in Hays has always been in GEOVON.

So ultimately, if the... property values crashed and we weren't making enough money, do we have a contingency in place to pay those debts on those GO bonds? Or are we hoping that we don't end up in that kind of a situation?

Well, certainly we'd have to potentially levy for that then.

Levy or use general fund money to subsidize if they don't?

I know we heard earlier. Commissioner, sorry to interrupt you. In the case of a special assessment, that's assessed to the property owner. So that amount goes on their tax rolls. So if they fail to pay, then they're in foreclosure proceedings. So that sort of situation would not fall back to the city. It's the property owner. Now, what can happen is if they fail to pay, you know, that we can't imagine a situation where numerous property owners in a special assessment district would have that issue, but maybe one or two might go into delinquency, then those are the amounts that we wouldn't be getting and we'd have to make up the difference on those payments, but that would be minimal on any one particular property.

And also at that time we would have a remedy to go back against the property as well with assessing? But, yeah, as Colin mentioned, it is different. RHID, you're dependent on the increment, and the other, you're dependent upon the property owner paying the assessments.

All of these go out 25 years? Is that what most of them are? RHID is a 25-year. It can be less than that, but it matters. So that's 25 years of our taxes or people's taxes going back to paying off the bond. So if there's, let's say, repairs needed for that infrastructure in that 25 years, that's going to come out of taxes.

It'll come out of special highway, yeah. Or if it's a reconstruction, hard to believe there'd be a street reconstruction in 25 years. So most of it would be maintenance, which would come out of special highway then. Okay.

That's all I got.

Anything else? All right. Then I will call for a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes 5-0. Thank you, Kim. Next up, property liability coverage renewal 26-27.

Tim Propp, Director of Finance. Last week I had Taylor Feinstein with us, commercial lines executive with our broker insurance planning. We want to talk, or I want to talk to you tonight about the property liability coverage renewal. As you may recall, you asked the city to go to market with this coverage last year. We had quite an increase with NPR, and so we felt it prudent to go out, plus we had not done market research in several years. We couldn't get really anybody interested, so hadn't done that. This year, however, we did get one responsive quote in addition to the renewal, so we'll go over that a little bit. Taylor mentioned last week that commercial insurance lines have started to soften. It is definitely a case-by-case basis, especially in our case because we're property heavy, concentrated in a geographical area. We feel the market did soften because we did get the quote from Travelers this year, which we hadn't had in years past. This quote was $510,836 from Travelers. However, that carries with it a 3% wind hail deductible per building. So in one event or on one event, we would pay the 3% per building. That's 3% of the scheduled value. So for example, in 24, one of our larger properties out at the airport, total claim for hail damage out at the airport was $345,600. 3% of that scheduled value of $2.8 million is $84,000. So there's a comparison for you. So that deductible would have to have been paid. MPR was slightly higher, but basically flat from last year and holding at the $50,000 deductible per event. MPR so far has held the line on that sort of deductible, where most other carriers have gone to the percentage basis. There was a buy-down option with travelers to get down to that $50,000. Taylor indicated last week, however, that was a $90,000 increase in premium. So that put them out of the ballpark. Also, moving to travelers would involve more claims handling on the part of insurance planning, and they'd likely renegotiate that fee because of that increased cost. This is a summary that insurance planning puts together. They've done it each year since they've been our broker. So it's a comparison of insured values on this particular chart. You'll see we increased 1.75 in property, 1.75 million in property, and then obviously every year the increase in total payroll. Sometimes people ask that some of the funny language in the insurance industry, the inland marine, Those are things like tractors, mowers, generators, arrow boards, that type of equipment. And then other property is otherwise called property in the open. So that's signage, playground equipment, ballpark, batting cages, dugouts, things like that. So when we look at the renewal from NPR, again it was flat. The thing that we want to focus on is the rates at the bottom, the rate per hundred at the bottom when you compare the last three years. You'll notice that that has dropped. So basically we're covering more value for the same contribution, same total contribution. So it was only like a $90 increase in contribution. The city's been a member of the NPR pool, and you might recall that I was on the board. I turned out. Colin is now on the board of NPR. We've been with them for nine years, and we've been very pleased with the coverage and services offered. These that you see are member service advantages that have been used by the city staff and have been a great value over the years. Chief of Police has used the legal services. When he's been at an event on site, he's been able to call. He said, and they actually answered the phone. So he's very happy with that type of coverage. They also use the Lexapol policy development and the MILO. Some of you have maybe even participated in the MILO. And then other risk management and prevention services, you know, with the pool, again, the language is a little different. We're members. We have contributions, not premiums. And in this case, I consider NPR a true risk management mitigator or risk mitigator, because they do a lot of those prevention services. In fact, in July, should we continue with them in July they're coming out to do a parks review they were just here a few months ago doing a buildings review so they pick out things that they see are problems and ask for correction and like as much as the exit signs if they'll test those even to make sure they're functioning correctly and things like that plus they Part of our contribution covers a building's appraisal every five to seven year cycle, so we make sure we stay up on values, and then several online training options. So options would be to renew with that package or provide us other guidance, and this would be the action requested.

I authorized the city. Sorry. I told you my brain is like Friday today. I moved to authorize the city manager to renew the 2026 2027 property liability coverages package in the amount of 569,891 to be funded from the intergovernmental insurance and surity line item.

I second it. Motion by Commissioner Cunningham second by Commissioner Lyson. Questions or comments for Kim on this?

I made the comment last week that we started this my first year as a commissioner, and I spent a lot of time reviewing how it was before versus when we went with NPR. They have just been outstanding. This whole program has worked even better than I thought it was going to when we first started. It's a great program.

Not many places you get a $90 increase.

Yeah, I would say the $90 increase is a win. And I just want to, again, I listened to the process that was gone over last week. And I do appreciate you guys taking the work to go out to market and see what was available. So thank you.

I did fail to mention that if the market continues where it's at, softens more, We do intend on trying again, just to cover our business, make sure we get the best rate possible.

Appreciate the due diligence. Thank you. Additional questions or comments?

Okay.

Call for a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes 5-0. Thank you, Kim. Thank you. All right. Resolution setting a public hearing for the establishment of a reinvestment housing incentive district, RHID Lincoln School. Call it.

good afternoon colin belzer deputy city manager so today we're discussing the next step in the process to create an arch id for the project at lincoln school and the former lincoln elementary school was closed in may 2025 as part of the usd 489 bond projects local developer mike graham was a successful purchaser of the property after the school board approved his bid back in january of 2025. The developer has proposed converting the existing school building into rentable housing units and constructing seven four-plexes on the remaining open space while utilizing an RHID to offset the costs. We completed the resolution making certain housing needs findings and determinations last fall, which was submitted to the Kansas Department of Commerce and the Secretary of Commerce gave his approval back in December. So this shows the side of the former Lincoln School, and while the image on the right shows both the boundaries of the property and the boundaries of the Arch ID District, because they're the same in this case. And here's a concept plan. Things could still change, but thus far the owner plans to remodel the 100-year-old school into 26 or 28 one and two bedroom apartments, and construct seven fourplexes on the surrounding area east of the former school. So a real quick reminder on how RHIDs work. They're established by cities and counties, and they're based on housing needs analysis. They capture the incremental gains in project taxes for up to 25 years. They can be financed through bonds or pay-as-you-go, and in this case, it would be pay-as-you-go. And after 25 years has passed, the full valuation is restored to all taxing jurisdictions. An RHID is an important development tool as the revenue from the increment gain in value can reimburse the developer for certain eligible costs, some of which are listed here. This RHID is a bit more unique than most previous ones Hays has, as that this is an existing building along with new construction, and existing buildings are allowed under certain provisions of the RHID Act, and this building does qualify. So the existing infrastructure in the area has also existed for more than 10 years, which means the state statute allows for new construction on those structures to be considered an eligible cost as well. So what we're discussing is the RHID process as a resolution to set a public hearing on the development plan. The development plan is a document required by the RHID Act, and it includes a few pieces of information, including what the boundaries of the proposed district are, what the proposed project involves in a financial analysis, to show what the tax increment over the district over 25 years looks like and the development plan was included in your packets and you all look at officially approving it after the public hearing that would be held in a few weeks it was discussed or mentioned i should say that the arch id will be pay-as-you-go the estimated revenue generated over 25 years is just over 1 million and while the anticipated eligible costs are estimated at 4.3 million so This project would clearly go for 25 years, but it does still mean the developer is responsible for almost 80% of the project costs. Also, as part of this project, the developer plans on asking for an IRB sales tax exemption on construction materials, which would go before you at a later time in this process. Here's the counter to show where we're at. Should you choose to move forward and approve the resolution, the public hearing and approval of the district would come in early August. And after that, there is a 30-day veto period for the county and school district. So our options are to adopt the resolution or not. And action requested is to adopt the resolution.

I move we adopt resolution number 2026-010, setting a public hearing for the establishment of an RHID for Lincoln School and adoption of the development plan. Second.

Motion by Commissioner Musil, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs. Questions or comments on this item?

One thing I will say is thanks to Mr. Graham for just the infill that he continues to do in our community. That building could sit there for many years empty. And for him doing this and what he's doing by the railroad tracks, he's doing a lot of good for the community.

This one is exceptionally exciting, I think, because it's such a mess of his buildings. I mean, if he didn't have the opportunity to tour it before they closed it, it's awful. That he could take part of that and bring it back to life and add some stuff to it. I think it's going to be, I consider it a little compound there. It's just going to be beautiful in the middle of it. I mean, infill is what we look for. It's cheaper. Everything there, all the infrastructure is there. Appreciate him all the time. He's not here for us to thank you.

It's great infill. And then you're commenting on the structure. That building was built in 1920. So the fact that we can keep a historic building, but then revitalize it for use, it's great. It's that long game we keep looking for.

Any additional questions or comments?

All right.

Then I will call for a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes 5-0. Thank you, Collin. And now put your Mr. Progress hat on.

Yeah, thanks. Good afternoon. Colin Belzer, WCA manager. So a new rectangular rapid flash beacon pedestrian crossing system was installed by the service division at the crosswalk on Hall Street adjacent to O'Loughlin. This will enhance safety for pedestrians crossing at the existing crosswalk. Service division did do some repair work as well as widening 13th Street just west of Commerce. So now there's a Well, a dedicated turn line has been added. The service division also had to repair some concrete work at 27th and Plaza, as well as 33rd Street and Broadway. Deputy Chief Shane Preston attended a three-day expert witness courtroom testimony class in Topeka, which was put on by the International Association of Arson Investigators. And two of our new firefighters, Dylan Scheibler and Zane Stipe, completed all requirements to become certified EMT personnel. At the golf course, staff aerated and top dressed greens on the course. They also removed several dead trees and planted new ones in needed locations. And they've been making repairs to playground pieces that were damaged or did not pass recent inspection. And then they've removed the old playground at Sunrise Park and are preparing it for the new equipment that was purchased with funds from Women Who Lead. They did start this week. I think the rain has slowed them down, but they've been up there. So hopefully soon. Corporal Ethan Henderson and Officer Linzer attended the picnic in the park where they interacted with the public and children had fun exploring the patrol vehicles and police bikes. Officers Devin Henderson and Martha Saldana have completed their basic training at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center and they're now back in Hays to continue their on-duty training. Deputy Chief Tim Greenwood and Detective J.B. Burkholder presented at a joint meeting held in Hays. Attendees included law enforcement professionals from the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Kansas Peace Officer Association, and the Kansas Sheriff's Association. In water, staff did have to respond to a water leak at 1031 Highway 40 Bypass. The leak was repaired and a new service connection was installed. Holly Dickman was invited to present about water conservation at the Hayes Public Library on June 16th. There were many great questions from a very engaged audience. And then we've been fortunate to get some rain lately. So this photo was actually taken on June 4th after the current rains were received. My guess is Crispin went down there this afternoon to take a picture. Staff replaced the fire hydrant at 13th and Haney, and they also repaired a broken valve. CVB partnered with the Arc of Central Plains to host Picnic in the Park at the Arc Park and Splash Pad. Sponsors included Midwest Energy, Fort Hays State Student Engagement, Walmart, McDonald's, and more. There was an estimated 2,800 people from Hays and surrounding communities who enjoyed the music, bounce house, games, food trucks, and Splash Pad. Obviously, police officers were already mentioned, but also the fire department were there to let guests explore their fire truck. CVB partnered with Hayes High School, Hayes Rec, and Hayes Sister Cities to host a World Cup watch party at the Hayes High football field for the USA versus Paraguay game on June 12th. Kansas Tourism provided feather flags and FIFA giveaways, and the Kansas Mobile Visitor Center traveled from Topeka for the event, and it's estimated there were about 300 guests through the entrance gate. The CVB welcomed the 26 Hayes-Larks team with Love Hayes t-shirts for each player. Staff also assisted with a welcome for special guests for the Hayes-Larks 80th celebration dinner, which included red, white, and blue pop popcorn, a Hayes magnet, and Hayes postcard. CVB staff and Mayor Mason Reuter supported the KSN Summer Road trip stop at Breathe Coffeehouse on June 17th. very early in the morning. CDB also partnered with Friends of the Hays Dog Park to split the purchase of fence signage for the Hays Dog Park. This plastic clip-in cup solution allows for greater visibility and awareness for visitors.

Looks nice. It looks great.

Melissa and Jenny at CDB put in a lot of hard work actually clipping in the cup, so good job. Tallgrass Phase 4 project continues to progress nicely. Sewer installation is well underway with stormwater and domestic water soon to follow. The project is scheduled for a November 1st completion. The new police station project continues to take shape and is making excellent progress. Exterior windows and doors are being installed. Final preparations for the exterior sign are underway. And as you can see on the picture on the left, the downstairs bathrooms are coming along and more cabinetry is being installed. The carbon reduction path is making progress as well. The section from Hall to Vine is very near to being complete. It was slowed down because of some of the rain. And then the east section has concrete installed up to the future bridge. And path excavation is up to the Sternberg parking lot.

Hey, Colin. Yeah. Can you explain to people where it's already, it looks like it's finished, but they say there's still cones. Can people walk on that legally?

Technically, it's a closed project.

Okay.

As they were still doing some things. One is crosswalks. I know that they're adding. That's all part of the project scope. I do not believe there's active enforcement.

Okay.

I just get asked about it all the time.

When you say crosswalks, that's those little things they're putting between the street and the path.

There'll be those crosswalks over there. And then at the curve, you know, well, both curves, the actual road, there's the neighborhood ones. And then there's obviously on the curve, there's two. There'd be two crossings. Okay. own it either right now it's still the contractors path until we take acceptance of it we can't take acceptance until they've done all that sure okay I just people ask all the time I personally have walked on it we do hope the section we hope that section opens here pretty soon yeah they love it yes they do so the reconstruction of Oak Street between 5th and 6th is progressing Nicely the project is part of the larger 26th Street maintenance projects and it's completely expected to be completed by mid-july Exit 161 is moving along as scheduled both the water and sewer sleeves have been bored under i-70 sewer line installation along Commerce Parkway will continue on with water soon to follow at the airport Airport staff extended the sidewalk to connect to the terminal entrance, allowing passengers the option to solely use sidewalks and or crosswalks to get to and from the parking lot and terminal entrance. They also installed some paved parking spaces for hangar tenants. So this square footage is included in the lease agreement and charged in the rental rates. So a little more extra revenue. And then the crosswind runway reconstruction project is underway. Smoky Hill has done a great job staying on schedule, even with the rain and storms. The project is to be completed on or before October 8th pending any weather delays. Any questions?

I got one real quick on the multi-use path. I noticed I was driving by it the other day between Hall and Vine there. There's some pretty low spots where the rain is washing mud and dirt all over the top of it. Are they planning to come back through there and do anything about the drainage, or is that something we're going to have to clean up after every single storm?

Yes, go ahead.

Well, I know one of the things that the contractors has had to do is seed. So once it establishes grass, a lot of that should take care of itself. And then we had, I think the rain event was... probably at a level that's not like your normal rainfall as part of that.

Yeah, they're keeping on. I can tell you early on with some of our early rains, we were actually surprised at how well it held up. Some of that, yes, is going to be designed in high-intensity rain events. It's just going to run across the path, but only for a brief duration. And then, as Colin said, once grass is established, you shouldn't take any grass across there. But they're keeping an eye on it. At the very most, what would probably have to happen is the contractor would have to go back in and put some matting down as seeds being established to try to prevent that in the short term. But yeah, Tom and Jeff and the contractor are all very aware of it.

They did spray some. I'm sorry. I guess we're lucky to have it rain so we can see this before. While it's still in construction.

They did spray a seed down kind of close to the hotels, I think, right before the rain. So I don't know if it all ran off or not. Yeah. Okay.

Any other questions for Colin? Thank you. Hayes happenings and upcoming events. Melissa.

Good afternoon, commissioners. Melissa Dixon with the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Have some items in July I want to make sure are on your calendar or at least you're aware of. Something that goes through the whole summer are farmers markets at the downtown Hayes Pavilion and out at Baumgart's. The Hayes-Larks baseball team is in full swing. Schedule at HayesLarks.org slash schedule. And we were excited to welcome that team to Hayes for the summer. One of the largest weekends in Hayes, Wild West Festival concerts are coming up. And believe it or not, for three nights of concerts, if you buy your ticket ahead of time, it's only $35. Screaming deal. VIPs are a three-pack for $300, and that includes food and drink. A great lineup with July 1st, Lakeview and Brandon Wisham. July 2nd, Jackson Dean and Steel Scarecrow. And July 3rd, Eve Six and the band Feel. And then Saturday morning on the 4th, Wild West Fest Parade on Main Street at 10 a.m. You can still get a float in there. That's free. Free advertising for you or your group or your business. And then Prairie Picnic at the Fort, people were asking, what are we doing for America 250? The stars aligned, and the fort was planning something that we were able to support that started with their vintage baseball game. Lots of great sponsors came to the table to pay for live music, reenactors. There's going to be a lot of free stuff for kids and families to do out there that day. And we hope that people will stay for the Wild West Fest fireworks show at 10. Which looks kind of like this. Great view on the south side of town. The police always ask that we ask people to not park on the bypass because that's not safe. Plenty of other places on the south side of town without parking on the bypass. Ellis County Fair is coming up July 11th through 17th with grandstand events, racing, rodeo, moto rodeo, and a big air tour, which is always fun. And free nightly concerts out there at Ellis County Fairgrounds. The Fox Theater Show presents Buck Cherry. That'll be on the 17th at 6.30pm. And then a little chiller is the Lovegrass Concert Series under the pavilion. I went to this last month and it was very nice. Good attendance. Just a free show under the downtown pavilion. The weather was great. This band will be Arkansas.

23rd.