City Commission - Regular Meeting

I will call the Thursday, August 27, 2026 meeting to order. All five commissioners are present. First item on the order of business is a consideration of approval of the minutes from August 13, 2026. Questions, changes, or comments?

I see none.

Those in stand as presented. Next up, financial statement for July 2026. Numbers man, Kim.

Good afternoon, commissioners. Kim Rupp, director of finance. This is a summary of financials. Summary. Wow. It's not a good start. Financial summaries of revenue expenditures for the City of Hays. Month ended July 31, 2026. Revenues in July totaled $3,910,723. That's a decrease of $809,000 compared to the same period last year. some notable areas of increased revenue. Federal aid for Special Highway was up $274,417 due to the timing of receipts for FFE disbursements. State gas tax was also up in Special Highway due to timing and year-to-date is up $14,074. Water sales and conservation revenue surged $43,000 or 11.7% as compared to a year ago. A couple of notable revenue decreases, leading the decrease mentioned above from a year ago, we had four maturing CDs totaling $15.5 million last year. Therefore, interest income was off $529,475 across all the funds. ARPA funds receded a year ago, dropped airport revenue $328,000. Expenditures in July totaled $3,177,782. That was a decrease of $373,425 when we compared to the same period last year. Notable areas of increased expenditures in July. Purchase of hangar C6, F4, and F8 increased airport and airport improvement expenditures $80,000. Fuel expense and fleet maintenance was up $12,900. Timing of the payment for property and liability coverages in July increased the insurance insurity and intergovernmental $570,615. Projects rose one hundred twenty four thousand six hundred four parks improvement in connection with the women who lead sponsored Sunrise Park upgrades and the purchase of thermal imaging cameras for the fire department and vehicle up fitting and video manager software for the PD increased public safety expenditures thirty four thousand six twenty nine little barriers of decreased expenditures 32nd Street the PD design and Tallgrass Forth at this time a year ago dropped capital project $618,210. CBB reserve expenditures fell $45,000 for the purchase of the new marquee a year ago. And new equipment reserve was lower, $177,400 as compared to last year due to the purchase of water resources fleet trucks and parks mowers at that time. Month to date, general fund sales tax collections were at $861,515. That was a decrease of $40,278 or 4.5% compared to last year. Year to date, general fund sales tax was up $297,246 or 5%. The six-month average was up 5.5% with a year-over-year increase of 4%. And the year-to-date county sales tax collections were at $708,848, up $22,642. Better news, we had a rebound. Just today received the report. The month ended up 11%. That brings us year-to-date up 6%. So we're now up $383,000 for the year. So we had a little rebound, better news there. The report of top 10 quarter to date sales tax collections by classification was up 118,000 or 3.6%. Those top 10 represent 72% of the total sales tax collections for the running quarter. And in that area, larger double digit category increases on that report included car dealers and electronic shopping. Finally, the total of portfolio certificates of deposit on July 31, 2026 was $57,570,904, with a weighted average rate to maturity of 3.69%. That's down a negative 0.6%. Par value of T-bills was at $19,620,000, with a rate to maturity of 3.81%, down 0.39% from a year ago. The total balance on the money market account on July 31 was $3,242,544, with a current weighted average yield of 3.28. That's down 3.25% compared to the same period last year. And total investments were up $5,996,750.

I'll move that we approve the July 2026 financial statement. I second.

Motion by Commissioner Musil, seconded by Commissioner Cunningham. Questions or comments for Kim?

I just I wonder with the high fuel prices and everything currently I mean I know we're up 11% but you know how it's affecting I guess our bottom line with everything being up so high even though you know we're up 11% I guess the one that just came in.

I guess in my opinion we've had higher gas prices through a cycle at least a cycle of sales tax collections and Knock on wood, we seem to be weathering the storm. Time will tell, I guess. Yeah.

And I just lost my spot. That number you just gave us, the new one, is July, right?

So that'll be two months prior, so June-ish.

June sales report July. Because I think they'll be up even bigger for August because that's when travel really happens, when kids get done with their athletics for the summertime. Everything's done July 31st when they start vacationing.

Yeah, for the most part, that report always has a two-month lag. Two months, okay.

Thanks.

Any other questions or comments? Okay, I'll call for a vote. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes 5-0. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next up, citizen comments for non-agenda items. Done once, twice, it's old. All right, and now the consent agenda. A few items on here. First two is the Uniform Public Defense Code, the UPOC, and the standard traffic ordinance STO for Kansas cities, just kind of getting us back in line with state law. The development landscape, clerical edit, cereal malt beverage license for the Volga German Association Oktoberfest, and mayoral appointment recommendations for CVB advisory committee.

Move approval of consent agenda.

All second.

Motion by Commissioner Jacobs, second by Commissioner Lysing. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes 5-0. Okay. Next, the ordinance authorizing and providing for the issuance and general obligation bonds series 2026A. Okay.

Kim Rupp, Director of Finance, and I'll cover all of my agenda items in one here, and then we'll have a slide at the end that you'll take individual action on. I would appreciate that. So with me tonight is David Arterbury, Managing Director with Stiefel-Nicholson Company, and we had a bond and a note sale today with lots of participation, so we'll be going over those results as well as the ordinance and resolutions necessary to issue those. We covered this a little last week. The city previously approved the exit 161 infrastructure improvement project. The city also authorized the sale of general obligation bonds. in order to finance that project. Approval of the winning bid, the bond ordinance and the resolution will authorize the city to issue those bonds to fund exit 161. The issuance is paying off the temporary notes from a year ago. That was $4,035,000 in principle, with final permanent financing estimated around $1.195 million after taking into consideration the economic grant funds received from the state of Kansas. And then the resolution with that issuance, the city had previously approved a project to install infrastructure in the Tallgrass Phase 4 RHID. for future development. The city also authorized the sale of temporary notes for that. Approval of the winning bid and a note resolution will authorize the city to issue the notes, temporarily finance the cost of tall grass. The principal amount of those is approximately $5.6 million, which includes project and issuance costs. I'll turn it over to David here to talk about the S&P rating, the market data, as well as the results of today's sale, go over some sources and uses so you can see how those funds are filtering through, and then I'll come back and we'll finish up with the ordinance and resolutions for your consideration. You have the chart in front of you there, and then when it gets to sources and uses, we also have that in front of you as a summary. Thank you.

Thank you, Kim, and good afternoon, everyone. Again, David Arterberry with Stiefel Nicholas. What I'd like to really briefly do is just kind of catch you up on what we've been up to since you last took action to authorize the sale of the bonds. This does represent, you'll probably be glad to hear, the last steps that you'll have to take related to the issuance of the bonds and the notes. I think, I was looking back at the calendar of events and I think this is probably about the fourth meeting that you've taken some form of action, but this should be the final step here. one of the main things that we've been up to since we were last I was last here to visit with you is we did go out and had the rating reviewed and affirmed by Standard & Poor's as usual Toby and Kim did a really good job of presenting the city's credit to Standard & Poor's the the rating report came out with the double A level which is consistent that's what the city's rating has been and that's that is considered a high investment grade rating and For a city of your size in Kansas, I believe you do have the highest rating, with the exception of maybe a couple of cities in the Kansas City area. The things that Standard & Poor's kind of pointed out in your rating as being strong points is they like the stable economic profile of the city, the fact that you're an economic center for the region. You're balanced operating results with substantial available fund balances. They appreciated the fact that you used trend analysis and conservative assumptions when developing your budget. And finally, they consider your debt profile to be manageable. So good review, great rating report, and congratulations. A lot of issuers these days, with the economic conditions the way they are, there's been a lot of downward pressure on ratings. So to be able to maintain your AA is a really good result. The bond market itself, over the last probably about month or so, we had a little spike up in interest rates back in late July. I think there's kind of just lingering concern about the impact of the war in the Middle East. how that's impacting inflation. You can see here on this graph, what this represents is the green line is a trend of 20-year tax-exempt bonds. The blue line is a 10-year maturity for tax-exempt bonds, and the red line is the one year. So you can kind of see over the last few years, since the beginning of 2022, how those rates have fluctuated. But we are, you know, unfortunately, at least with regards to the 20- and 10-year issue, we are kind of towards the high end of what those interest rates have been over the last four years or so. So that's kind of the market conditions. In addition to getting the rating, since we've been here, we've also gone through the process of doing due diligence with the city. All of the legal documents, the drafting of them was completed and the bidding documents were distributed last year to potential bidders around the country. And here's the results of the sale of the bonds. We met this morning via Zoom and we pulled up the bidding website and we watched as all the bids came in on the bonds and the notes. And here's the results and who offered the lowest interest rate to the city for the bonds. And you can see there was Commerce Bank. It was nice to see a local bidder submit the best bid. Their true interest cost was 3.843457%. And you can then see all of the other bidders. It's a nice mix of bidders, both local and regional bidders all submitted here. We had anticipated an interest rate of just a little under 4% on this issue, so pretty much in line with what we were anticipating, and a good mix of bidders. I think this is the most bids that the city has seen on any of their issues in quite a number of years. Here's the results of the bidding on the temporary notes. Now, you'll notice, even though this is a shorter issue, the bonds were a 15-year issue. This is only a one-year short-term borrowing. It is a higher interest rate because the interest on these securities, the notes, the interest is not exempt from federal income taxes. And that's due to, I don't know if you've covered this with them before, but it's due to the fact that for this project, for the Hilltop project, you have a developer who is provided an escrow to help assist with the repayment of these securities. And when you have a private entity like that supporting a public bond issue, the bonds aren't eligible to be tax exempt, they're taxable. So there's the results of that sale, and the best bid was submitted by Hilltop Securities with a true interest cost of 4.5165%. I think we're estimating right about 4.5% on this, so right in line with what we were estimating. We reviewed the bid from Commerce Bank and from Hilltop Securities that met all of the bidding parameters. The bids were calculated correctly. So there's no reason we would suggest that you accept the best bids by each of these firms. With regards to the sizing, I just kind of wanted to real quickly show you, elaborate a little bit on what Kim was saying about how the issue was sized. This is the sources and uses of funds for the bond issue. And you'll see up there at the top of the sources of funds, the total principal amount or par amount of the bonds is $1,195,000. Down below there, you'll see other sources and uses of funds. You see the GrowHaze grant there for about $2.9 million. Right above that, you'll see a B&I fund contribution. The city budgeted $375,000 this year to pay on temporary note, so that's factored in also as a source of funds. Down below there, you see the use of funds. That project fund deposit that four million oh three five. That's actually the principal amount of the notes that are being repaid Below that you'll see some issuance expenses and down at the bottom there. You see other sources and other uses of funds There's the interest that's due on the temporary notes. There's also a reimbursement due to the city that actually represents additional project costs above and beyond the money that was made available through the temporary note. So there's going to be some extra money deposited with the city to help pay for that project. So that's the bonds. The notes are a little bit more simple. The only source of funds is the principal amount of the notes. And then you see the uses down there is a $5.54 million deposit to the project fund and then some issuance costs. So that's sort of a simple source in uses of funds. And I think that's about it. Again, we're real pleased to see the results of the sale. The interest rates were very much in line with what we expected and got a good number of bids on each issue. So I welcome any questions you might have about the process, the rating, the bid results.

Commissioners?

We're just as proud as you are, David. That's really nice.

Thank you, David. Thank you.

All right. So approval of the bond ordinance and bond resolution will authorize the city. I'm going to have a terrible time reading tonight. Maybe I should go off script sometime. Approval of the bond ordinance and bond resolution will authorize the issuance of and prescribe the form and details of the bonds based upon the best bid received. Closing on the sale of bonds will occur on September 24, 2026. Final maturity of the 26A issuance is scheduled for September 1, 2041. On the note resolution, approval of the note resolution will authorize issuance of and prescribe the form and details of the notes based upon the best bid. Closing again will occur on September 24th. Final maturity is scheduled for next year, so the temporary note is only a year. City anticipates issuing general obligation bonds upon completion of the Tallgrass project. So we'll pay off the notes and provide that permanent financing. The bond is financed by bond and interest. We have that in the budget scheduled. The notes, once they're permanently financed, we'll go through the RHID to pay for those. So options would be to approve the ordinance and resolutions, decline, which we highly discourage, or provide us with other direction. And so we do need three separate motions. He opened this particular item, so that would be the first item we need approved.

I move to adopt ordinance number 4109, authorizing the city to issue general obligation bond series 2026-A. Second. All in favor, please say aye.

Aye. Opposed? First one passes 5-0. Okay.

I move we adopt resolution number 2026.

the form and details of the city's general obligation bond series 2026 dash eight a second motion by commissioner jacob second by commissioner blyson questions comments on that okay call for a vote on that all in favor please say aye aye opposed passes 5-0 next

I move to adopt Resolution 2026-017, authorizing the issuance and prescribing the form and details of the City's General Obligation Temporary Notes, Series 2026-1. Second.

Motion by Commissioner Blythesing, second by Commissioner Cunningham. Questions, comments? Okay. Call for a vote on that. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes 5-0.

Thank you. Hopefully, Mayor, you didn't have separate plans. You've got a lot of paper to sign. I know. Good thing there's two pens up here. Thank you guys so much.

David, thank you for being here and explaining that. David, thanks for coming out.

Thank you so much.

You always do a good job making sure I understand.

Alright next up will be the parks department HVAC upgrades award a bid Colin. Good afternoon Colin Belzer deputy city manager And so in November of 23 this city did retain an engineer from Wichita to conduct an evaluation Of some various HVAC systems and City Hall Public Works and the parks department Systems on all three buildings have been piece milled over the decades including some City Hall equipment dating back to 1999 room renovation Parks Department, their equipment is reaching their expected end of service life. And then the Public Works building has some systems dating back as far as 1993, and that require refrigerant that is no longer being manufactured and is hard to come by. So a project to address the HVAC systems at all three locations was first included in the 25 CIP. And earlier this summer, the Office of Project Management did release an RFP to address those at all three locations. However, there's been some transition in our Office of Project Management, and it's required staff to really reevaluate our capacity with pending and current projects and taking on a new one. The Parks Department building is the smallest facility, containing the least number of offices and limited public space, so it's a fairly simple project. And for this reason, staff is recommending at this time to move forward with only the Parks Department upgrades. Staff will reevaluate the other two buildings later this year. We're also going to evaluate the need of a roof for City Hall. We've had seven leaks in the last two years. And it would be better to do an HVAC project with a roof replacement at once to limit disruption. And so it's anticipated those upgrades would happen in 2027. So two bids were received. The low bid was from Worth Heating, Plumbing, and AC, just under $44,000. and that would leave about 1.5 million in the commission capital reserve to complete the remaining HVAC upgrades in 27. City Hall and Public Works building are much larger, more space obviously, so we expect those projects to be much more than the simple parks building. Your options are to award the bid, not to, or provide other direction. This would be the action requested.

I move that we award the bid worth heating plumbing and AC for improvements to the parks department HVAC system in the amount of $43,700 to be paid from commission capital reserves second motion by commissioner Musil second by commissioner Jacobs questions comments on this I think like I said last week I just appreciate you guys prioritizing and you know doing the right thing like you know if the roof needs fixed here get that done before and taking care of the parks department like we should thank you All right.

Call for a vote on that. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Passes 5-0.

Thank you, Colin. And now on to progress. Good afternoon. Colin Bilzer, Deputy City Manager again.

Bye, Jeff.

So this last month, the Service Division and Public Works have repaired a failed curb and gutter along Barclay Drive. They also had to place 15 yards of topsoil and 24 pounds of grass seed for erosion control matting and erosion control matting to repair an eroded shoulder at the ditch section along East 13th Street. And then they repaired some pavement after a water main break at the intersection of 13th and MacArthur. Some new firefighters took a six day driver operator training course and that was provided through the Kansas Fire and Rescue Training Institute. So this course requires certification testing before operating a pumper or aerial truck. And then some of our firefighters competed in the cardboard regatta. The team won their heat race and then they took second overall. In parks, they completed the installation of the play equipment provided by the women who lead. The new pieces were laid out strategically so no trees had to be taken down. And they were also able to remove, refinish, and reinstall the original infant swing with the new equipment. And I've seen adults on this equipment, so I know it works really well. And then with the playground installation, the women who lead have placed their nice logo on the basketball goals, so phase two is officially complete. Staff have been making repairs to structures and play equipment throughout the city parks. And then new fiberglass doors were installed on the restroom to replace the metal ones that are rusted through and we're starting to seize with the door jam. Police officers attended the Fort Hays State back to school picnic to welcome students. Here's Officer Pat Kelly demonstrating field sobriety testing as the student wore vision goggles. So hopefully this is just never needed. Officer Derek Nordell was promoted to detective. His first day in the position was August 17th. Detective Nordell is a seven year veteran who also serves on the special situation response team and is a firearms instructor. Staff from the fire department, along with Lyle Panel, from Ellis County Emergency Management met with water plant staff to discuss and train on chlorine safety and steps and procedures to take in the event of a chlorine leak. They had to install a tap at the 1700 block of Golden Belt Drive and due to the depth of this tap, trenching equipment was used for safety precautions. Water resources also participate in the duck derby boat race. They got second in their heat and unfortunately finished fourth place overall in the race.

I thought they knew water.

Crispin's watching this, you know it. Water resource maintenance staff has been busy this month repairing various water leaks. And then Holly Dickman and Jeff Crispin also attended the Fort Hay State back-to-school picnic. They had a booth set up to educate students, faculty, and staff on items not to flush or dispose of into the collection system. And then lastly, for water, the Environmental Protection Agency was on site August 10th through 12th to inspect the collection systems. While they were here, they toured the water reclamation and reuse facility, lift stations, and some sewer manholes throughout the city. We did receive a report back that there were no deficiencies. So really good work that they do. Impressed the EPA. The CVB coordinated a Nebraska television interview with Mayor Mason Reuter to discuss the significance of Big Boy's final stop on the America 250 tour in Hays. There's a link down there, and I can send it out if you haven't seen it yet. I'll send that out to you all. Rocket boy to train boy.

Always have big power.

CVB sponsored inflatable bounce house and chalk art station for Bazaar on the Bricks. And then Janet Coon welcomed attendees of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia Conference. CVB staff assisted with registration throughout the three-day conference, which brought approximately 300 visitors to Hays. CVB staff was also at the back school picnic. They distributed Love Hays koozies featuring QR codes that provided direct access to the CVB calendar to help students stay informed about events and activities. The new police station continues to take shape. It's making excellent progress. Lower level flooring is installed. Main level flooring is currently being installed in hallways and offices. And countertops and finishes are currently being installed throughout the facility. We're planning, I'll send out an email, I was working on it before the meeting, but if you're available next Thursday at 3 o'clock for a tour, because it's about 90% done. So we're getting close. The north multi-use path is nearing completion. The pathway was 100% poured on August 18th and the contractor is currently working on backfilling around the path. The new pedestrian bridge has also been poured and the seating company is currently on site establishing erosion control and temporary seating. It should be opening pretty soon, officially. Is it going to be painted, or is it going to stay that rust color?

It stays that color.

Yeah, that's what I see.

It's vintage.

Vintage.

Matches the trees and the, I don't know.

It looks really nice from I-70.

It is so beautiful.

The Exit 161 project continues to move. And then Tallgrass Phase 4 project has seen significant progress. This month, the contractor is currently installing sanitary sewer water and storm water lines almost simultaneously. And they've been starting to work on grading the roadways in preparation for a paving contractor to begin. The airport construction work inside the safety area of the main runway was completed. That was done from between August 3rd to August 23rd. And this 21-day closure was given to SkyWest and airport tenants several months in advance. And the main runway did reopen as scheduled on August 24th. Construction will now focus on the taxiway intersecting the crosswind runway for the next few weeks. And then airport staff, while it was closed, managed to paint the entire main runway during the 21 days. Performing this work in-house cost us about $15,000, and if we had gone out for a contract, it would have been well over $300,000 based on recent pricing.

Wow. Good job, team. Wow.

The TSA hosted the FAS dogs on July 30th. FAS Dogs is a non-profit organization based in Kansas that trains and provides service dogs for individuals and families who deal with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and similar diagnoses like autism. And the group was able to experience security screening before the travel and it symbolized the final graduation step for their service dogs. That's it. All questions?

Thank you.

Thank you, Paul.

$285,000 saved on that payment. That is unbelievable.

Very nice.

Air Force. FAA projects are expensive.

Great stuff.

Absolutely. All right. Hayes Happenings. Upcoming events. Ms. Nikki Brown.

Good afternoon commissioners, Nikki Brown, CDB. Hard to believe we're already talking September. We're wrapping up a couple things with August, so don't forget about the fall art walk here this coming Friday. Things that we have going in September, September we will still have the downtown Hayes Market and Fresh Fruit Produce Market going on. Those will continue through to October. Then October, I'm sorry, September 5th, the rec will have the 5K midnight run that proceeds benefit the Special Olympics of Kansas. Then we get to the Fox Theater, which will bring in three concerts during September. So on the 11th, you have Fox and Veed. On the 18th is Josh Malloy. And then on the 26th, Saving Abel will be in town. All of those shows, doors open at 6.30, with the concerts actually starting at 7.30.

Mason, is that your kind of music? Oh, absolutely.

Good time.

Oh, sorry. No, sorry.

As we get into the 11th, things get really, really busy. That weekend, there's quite a few events going on. On the 11th and 12th is the Fall Citywide Garage Sale that goes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and that's throughout town. Then you have the Hayes Prairie Winds Kite Show that will also be that weekend on the 12th and the 13th. Hayes Rec is putting this on event. It will be at Biggleschmidt Sports Complex, and hopefully the wind will cooperate those two days. Also going on the 42nd Annual Frontier Open and Disc Golf Tournament. That is going to be the second largest disc golf tournament in the state this year. So they've increased from 140 to 270 participants. So that should be quite a bit of fun if you have a chance to be able to go out and watch. I would strongly encourage. They're from 9 to 7 p.m. both days on the 12th and the 13th.

Do you know if that reservation has closed on...

it has closed the wait list i believe was down to seven i think that's what brett told me this morning so they're still trying to work those few excuse me few in um the morning of the 12th is the 20th anniversary of 9 11 so the sixth annual 9 11 memorial event and stair climb will start at 7 46 a.m over at lewis field Then you also have the 16th Annual Free Spirit 5K and 10K run that morning at 10 o'clock. So on that Saturday, you can start the day with the stair climb, go over, run your 5K, hit the kite show, and then end your night with wines and steins downtown, which will go from 6 to 11. So like I said, it's a really busy weekend. The city should really be buzzing, and we should see a lot of people out and about that weekend.

Day of hydration.

All types. Some sort, yeah.

So that next weekend is when homecoming season will essentially kick off. So Hayes High is the only one that has their homecoming in September. Parade will be at 5 o'clock, and then the game will start at 7. So then the dance will follow and be that same evening. Wow. So I'm proud of whoever figured out not to have these homecomings on the same weekend. Thank you. Great.

I agree.

Petal Patrol will also be that weekend, though, but doesn't conflict with anything going on with homecoming. It's that morning from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and that's over at Obel Bickle Optimist Park. And then that next weekend, you have Go Truck Go that will be between the Early Childhood Connections and Crosspoint Church, and that will be from 5 to 7 p.m. then the month rounds out with the elizabeth polly statue reception that will be at historic fort hayes on the 26th at 4 p.m and also that evening is the second concert of the hayes symphony which is the simple strings two which is over at st joe's catholic church so another busy month lots of different great things to be able to do any questions that i can answer

It looks like a fun month.

Wow.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Before we get to commissioners' inquiries and comments, Toby wanted to make an announcement.

Yeah. First, I want to say it's been a couple months since Nikki took over for what's-her-name. Don't tell her I said that. She hit the ground running. She's done a great job. I've had great feedback from people in the community, so she's doing a great job filling those big shoes. And then Logan was here last week, and somebody said, who's the guy in the audience? Logan Downing is our interim project manager and he's been doing a good job too he kind of got thrust into a lot of very big projects in a not great situation he's been doing a good job in case you see him here So today a motion was filed in the water transfer proceedings asking the hearing panel to schedule the final hearing to approve our water transfer application. You may remember our water transfer application was actually approved by Judge Burgin in February of 2023. The transfer panel then, after they briefed the case, they decided to hold off on the final hearing for whatever reason only known to them until the Supreme Court ruled on the challenge to the master order, even though the two issues are separate. so early on after they did that we filed subsequent motions asking them to to hold the final hearing and both those motions were denied but in the interim period we've had two of the three transfer members change Leo Henning retired he was replaced by Kate Gleason and then most recently Connie Owen the water office director retired And it was replaced by Carolyn McGinn. So after consultation with the attorneys, this motion was filed today. It states the importance of our project. It states the need for expediency. And it reminds the panel it's been 930 days since Judge Spurgeon ruled approving our water transfer application. And by statute, the panel is supposed to take action within 90 days. It's been 930 days since he ruled.

But the Supreme Court issue stops, I mean, gives them grace for not having it, the panel.

No? There's no statutory connection between the Supreme Court and this year.

No, there are separate proceedings. They used the Supreme Court case as justification to hold off on their final hearing. We pointed out in previous motions that the two cases are separate legal matters. One's a separate legal matter, one's a separate regulatory proceeding, and they are completely independent of each other, but they are the transfer panel and they chose to use that justification. But with two new members on, we think it's time to take another run and get this file and just sort of remind them this has been languishing for 930 days and we'd like to move along with this. So this has actually been filed today that your copies in front of you.

We got a copy for the process What's your expectation of a response?

I don't know they do. Oh, they will give us a response. This is a quasi legal proceeding So we will get a response And I remember I'd done the last couple of motions. They were fairly quick to respond. Yeah, they were very So I would expect some kind of response for the searcher Mm-hmm.

Yeah Good questions or comments on that

Somewhere in there it sounded like good news, so I'm kind of hanging in there with that.

Yeah. This is positive communication.

Positive communication.

Yeah, we like both. We're still here. Okay, awesome. All right, commission inquiries and comments. Commissioner B, you're up.

I really don't have much. Just to remind the public that September 10th we're going to have the Revenue and Mutual Rate hearing. they're not happy with the way the budget's looking let us know reach out to us show up let your voice be heard that's really all I got thank you very much Commissioner Jacobs just a couple things I wanted to

congratulate Nikki and DHDC and Student Affairs Student Engagement at the University for we had March to May this week and we had not had it for the last couple of years it was it was a great event I thought I don't think it was quite as big as we had gotten it over the previous years but I think that's a start I think it's a way to go and to have the students involved like that I thought was a really good idea And I thought whoever that band was was really good. I don't know who they were. Reprise. Reprise. They were really good. So that was, I never did get in the line long enough to get a root beer float. It was about a block long. Yeah, yeah. And then this morning, I just attended the ribbon cutting of the splash, oh, don't say that, Sandy, of the Sunrise Park. Anybody that could stand in that park, I think maybe you had to know what it was before. I mean, I knew it when there was a pool out there. And then what happened to it over the years. And with the women who lead, which I hope they never get tired of me talking about them because I'm never going to quit talking about them. What they have been able to accomplish out there, along with our – and I wish Jeff was still here – along with our Parks Department, those guys – I don't know what Nancy Jeter does, but everybody does what she wants them to do. So whatever she has, whatever that is, I would like some of that. It's outstanding. I had to cry a little bit when I walked away. And I have, I'm starting to talk out loud of thoughts I have about that. So don't be surprised if I talk further as time goes along about Sunrise Park. Okay. That's it.

Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Musil. She kind of took all my thunder.

You know, that's the thing about when you get up there, you don't get to talk to us.

Well, I do have a couple other things. I'm going to add to what you said. The multi-use path that you shared, I've had so many community members reach out to us and just how they love it. I've actually, I know it's not officially open but I've seen many people on it already and I think it's great and Yeah, sunrise Park being there and listen to how all came together. You know that they were struggling for finances and Many many and I'm not gonna name all because she did today Community members came forward and gave money, you know organizations gave money to make it all happen and it's just I over our community now that are thriving and you know and i was one that said that you know do we need to have all these parks you know our funds have been you know light and it's just amazing how the community um you know stands up and you know takes care of it and and it's great to see kids out in these parks and that that's my whole thing if we're going to have them let's have it Something to where the kids want to enjoy. And I think we're, you know, just the city worked with them. The Parks Department actually said no on quite a few things. They sat down and had really good conversations and made it happen. And I just, I don't know. That's what Nancy does. I didn't cry, but it warms my heart. Just, you know, all the people that were there today. And, yeah, Nikki, I was actually going to mention the same thing. I've heard so many things. Just your positive attitude and, you know,

upbeat it's just i love being around people like that and thank you for what you're doing that's what i got okay i agree everybody's taking all i'm like just crossed on my list here but i also just want to give a formal thank you for helping bring back march to me it was great to see um i mean who doesn't like a marching band right I feel like that's all you need and some students and it's a great event so thank you for collaborating and bringing that back I was unable to attend the ribbon-cutting at Sunrise Park today unfortunately and so I just wanted to give a formal thank you to the women who lead for again helping bring community members in to find the funds to update something in our community. They're just an amazing group. I don't think we can say enough positive about them. And then I wanted to remind everybody that tomorrow is Maroon and Gold at Hayes High. So if you want to peek at the football team and Just the introduction of all the fall sports. That kicks off with middle school football at 5 p.m. And then we'll follow with lots of introductions and Hayes High finishing showing off the football team. Hayes High soccer boys play in town Saturday their first game. So they're not going to scrimmage tomorrow night, but they have a game here if you want to go out and see them. And then Nikki mentioned it, but don't forget the Art Walk. I think it's one of my favorite ones when we hold it in the fall. And that's all we got.

Yeah, I don't think anybody's mentioned, but we went to a ribbon cutting this morning. Yeah, it is wonderful to have those kind of community partners that do something. And you're absolutely right. I know Nancy told me this morning she's glad that they have Jeff there because she goes, if we would just go unchecked, would probably be you know a bad thing to have Jeff essentially be like a father figures kind of what you said you know are you sure you need that are you sure we need to do that like can we make it you know be both awesome and smart for the future so appreciate that collaboration between them I think the only other thing that I have would be next week, Wednesday night, you talk TMP, I'm going to talk TMP. Next Wednesday night is TMP's veterans dinner. So they do a veterans night once a year with the football team. So that is open to any veterans. It's not TMP specific. Any veterans can come out, have the dinner. I believe the door is open at 5 p.m. and the TMP students get special St. Joe's Military Academy uniforms that they wear for Friday night and that Friday night game is free for all veterans who come to the game. It's a great display Kiwanis lets the teams borrow the flags that go out around and both TMP and the away teams Teams and cheerleaders surround the field with the flags. It's a wonderful display. So if you can make it out there, it's a great thing. Other than that, I don't think I have anything else. We will adjourn at 4.46.