Council - Regular Meeting

Okay. We're hold we're holding off for just another minute to let Council Member Clark get here so that we can thank her and kick her off the

D. Yeah, she's in. all the broadcasters. Good evening. It is 602. We're going to call this meeting to order. Roll call, please.

Council member Selenus, here. Council member Click. Council member Saper, here. Council member Bailey, here. Council member Mcgrron here. Council member Fitzgerald here. Council member Alvarez here. Council member Clark here. Now we're going to have the pledge of allegiance led by Council Member Selenus. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands nationy and justice for all.

All right. Now we have item four, approval of the agenda. Is there a motion? Council member Saber. Item 10. Okay. Is that the oath of office? Nine. Yeah, that's ceremonial matters. So, we're going to do that like we're going to have a discussion. I just Where are you pulling it to? Yes.

To put it where?

Uh I mean we we handle these like a regular agenda item. This is going to be Yeah. You'll see. It's not like a consent agenda. It's there's going to be a a discussion and vote. All right. Okay. Okay. Um, so is there a motion on the agenda? So move. Second. Second. All in favor? Yes. Any opposed? Motion passes. Item five. So item five and six are um just things to do a little housekeeping. Uh item five, Crystal, would you like to Yeah. Accept resignation of third ward council member Connor Fitzgerald.

All right. Connor, do you have anything to share with us or are you all set? Um, yeah, I thought I kind of said something at the last meeting I was here for. So, today was my last day as a W three resident. So, uh, I won't be up here anymore. All right. So, we need a motion to accept the resignation of council member Fitzgerald. So moved. Second. All in favor? Yes. Any opposed? Motion passes. Good question. Item six, accept resignation of fourth ward council member Amy Clark.

Do you have anything to to say? Okay. Uh do we have a motion? Move to approve. Second. All in favor? Yes. Yes. Any opposed? We need a second. We got a second. Yep. Any opposed? No. And simply because there were none opposed to either of you does not mean we are not going to miss you. We uh and so that with that said, we're going to move to ceremonial matters. Item seven, presentation of resolution of appreciate of appreciation to council member Connor Fitzgerald. And item eight, presentation of resolution of appreciation to council member Amy Clark.

Okay, so we have resolutions of appreciation. I'm going to present these to the two of you. We're going to come down here and then we're going to take a quick break after we get some pictures. We're going to have some cupcakes and then we're going to reconvene and uh and then move along with the agenda. smile. Thank you. What

I know you neighbors. All right, everybody got a cupcake in their belly, feeling good about things. We're going to call this meeting back to order and move on to item nine. approve appointment of Dylan Kaine to fill third board vacant council seat. All right. Uh so I have asked Dylan if he would make a quick statement on this one. So Dylan, if you want to come on up to the mic. Uh Dylan's going to make a statement and if there's any questions from the remaining council members. Feeling a little empty up here at the dis. Uh if there's any questions, uh we can do that afterwards. All right. Go ahead.

All right. Perfect. I appreciate it. Uh, and first I want to thank uh the mayor and members of council uh for considering my appointment to city council tonight uh and also for meeting with me over the last several weeks uh to kind of help answer a lot of my questions about you know ongoings of the city and city departments and kind of getting the general feel. Uh so I really appreciate that and want to thank you all. Um so my name is Dylan Kaine and I'm a W three resident. Uh many of you may know me as the chair of the bicycle pedestrian advisory committee uh which is an ad hoc committee formed last year uh to advise the city on matters related to active transportation. Um for those who watch the meetings at home, I'm generally in this area scribbling notes. Uh so that's where you can find me. Um, but I want to again thank you all um uh for um but I've accepted this nomination today uh because I think I can provide an important perspective on city council. Um North Kansas City is experiencing incredible population growth uh and it's one of the fastest growing cities in the Kansas City metro. Much of this growth comes from renters like myself who have only recently been lucky enough to call North Kansas City home. Um about three out of every four households in North Kansas City are renters and about one out of every three have only resided here since 2020. U a rate I suspect is actually a little bit higher given more recent development. Um while I cannot speak for everyone, I can speak from what I hear from my neighbors. Um they have a tangible interest in the services of our city, uh the safety of our streets, the quality of our parks, uh the reliability and frequency of public transit, and a lot more. Um, I'm reminded that it's a privilege uh for me to have the free time to stay plugged into local government and what goes on here. Um, and to advocate for or against policies that I think are going to affect my lives and day-to-day lives of my neighbors. Uh, this is a luxury that not everyone has. And while not everyone can

attend meetings like these, city leaders can actively meet people where they are. Uh the relationships between the city and many of its residents, including renters, is something that I hope to build upon. Uh with our population growth also comes pressing questions about future development and services to accommodate new residents. Uh this is most recently materialized with the questions surrounding the Kansas City Royals and their search for a new stadium. Uh but those underlying questions are still there. Uh how do we maintain strong city services uh while still being mindful of recurring deficits? uh how do we attract new business while still maintaining a communal neighborhood feel? And most importantly, how do we develop intentionally while still safeguarding affordability here in the city? Those questions are not easy to answer. Uh and there is no cure all public policy. Uh my background is in political science and public affairs. Uh and I've worked in state government for the last six years. Uh but it does not take experience in government uh to find well-intentioned policies with unintended unintentioned consequences. Uh residents deserve for close attention to be paid to the issues that affect them the most for local leaders that do their homework uh and for the city to center their concerns on those who are just trying to get by. During my time in North Kansas City, I've been continually impressed by the level of involvement, commitment, and civic engagement in this community. from town halls to community bike rides to walk us out in the cold. Uh residents carry a tremendous sense of pride, pride in their street, pride in their ward, and pride in the town as a whole. Uh I also feel this strong connection to place even a in a relatively short period of time that I've lived here. Uh in fact, my grandmother worked at Bellis Hess in the same building that I live in today. Um since that time, North Kansas City's changed a lot. Uh and like any community will continue to change. uh the actions local governments take or choose not to take are ultimately policy choices. Uh and it's my hope that W

three will feel as though they have an advocate for the kinds of change that they would like to see. Um with that I'll conclude uh if you Mr. Mayor or members of council have any questions. We have any questions? Council member Saber. I want to thank you for agreeing to take this position. It's not everybody that wants to take the time and has the energy to do this. And I want to say thank you for coming forward and applying. And I want to thank you, Mr. Mayor, for the appointment. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. Any further questions or comments? Council member Alvarez.

Just want to say welcome. Welcome aboard. And uh Oh, Council Member Bailey. And I I'll just for those of you who have not had the chance to meet Dylan, I have found him particularly articulate. Um he is well thought out. He does his homework, not just here in front of everybody, but behind the scenes to go learn and put the effort in. That's a highly, you know, we need more of that sometimes. And so I am just very excited to have him on council. Thank you.

Excellent. And uh and I've said it over and over again, uh Dylan shows up and he shows up the right way. Um comes to council meetings, comes to town halls, comes to events, uh has been very active in the community. And I'll say this, I I meant to ask you earlier. I asked Dylan yesterday to make a comment and he came with this. Uh that's incredible. Uh sorry for giving you the short notice on that. No, no, it's okay. No, I appreciate Very, very well spoken. Okay. Um, seeing no further comments, we have a uh Yeah, I was just going to say congratulations, Dylan. You're going to be great asset to this to this council. And um, welcome aboard.

Thank you. I appreciate it. Okay. Do we have a motion? I enthusiastically move to approve. Second. Uh, all in favor? Yes. Any opposed? No one is opposed. Congratulations.

Thank you. Right. So, item 10 will be the oath of office for council member Kaine. All right. Moving on to item 11, comments from the public. If you are a member of the public wishing to speak, please approach the microphone, state your name for the record, and please keep your comment to five minutes. Is that all right? Good evening.

Well, good evening. My name is Scott Wagner. I serve as one of your Western Commissioners for Klay County. Let me be the first outside of this body to congratulate Council Member Kaine and offer you my condolences for the times that you need them. Although, if they keep serving you cupcakes, you're going to have a great time uh on this uh on this group. Um, in all seriousness, I'm here um again uh to uh not be here in the capacity as a western commissioner, but rather as the chairperson for Klay County 250. And for those uh who were not watching the last time I was here, just as a reminder, as everyone I think knows, the semicentennial, say that three times fast, is coming up July 4th, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation. a group of volunteers including myself came forward with the idea that to create a legacy for that semicentennial that u we should try to make our um our citizenry more engaged in their government at every level. And so we had the wonderful opportunity two weeks ago to uh to bestow one of these coins that I have, one of these challenge coins that I have to Nakoto. And now I'm here this evening to present one to Mayor Jesse Smith who said the last time I was here, I'm working on it. I just need to turn it in. And true to his word, he turned his work in. He is a very good student in that regard. So um I want to uh not only present this to the mayor today, but to also remind everyone that they can just go on to clayount250.org and see the list of uh things that we are asking individuals to do. whether you are an adult or a student and you too can have the opportunity to celebrate America with us. And I'll also point out because I I I I think I should in these rather divisive times point out

that it does not matter if you're a Republican or a Democrat. It does not matter if you are a conservative or a liberal or anything else. We are all Americans and to build a stronger c country, we all need to be engaged with it. So um with that I have this challenge coin that reads I accepted the citizen challenge. On the back it uh we have the words to keep the republic you must practice citizenship with the names of our various communities including North Kansas City on the back of it and um I wish to uh provide this to you Mayor Smith. One, two, three. All right. I believe that is all the ceremony for the evening. Further public comments.

I think this is my time to speak. Yes, sir. From Richard. All right.

A time clock. This is great. I haven't done You don't know how many people would like to do that to me. Mayor, city council members, and good evening. I would like to thank Richard Groves of the North Kansas City Business Council for suggesting the opportunity to speak with you tonight. My name is Kimell Mothershed, and I'm the executive director for vocational services or VSSI. We will be celebrating this year's 60 years of service to the Northland, supporting people with disabilities and the businesses. On June 25, we will have our big community awards night where we will celebrate the achievements of the of our employees, legislators who support their rights and the people who champion their causes. Our north location, which we have been there for 60 years, is at 101 West 18th Avenue or better known as one block west of Chicken and Pickle. Our team comprises of individuals who face significant cognitive and developmental challenges through thoughtful accommodations, personalized support, and meaningful modifications. We support each other's unique strengths and promote a respectful, purposeful work environment. VSI is more than just a workplace. It's a crucial support system for those who might not otherwise have access to employment opportunities. Extended employment sheltered workshops go beyond just workplaces. We are a vibrant community that offers stability, skill, growth, daily routines, opportunities to connect with others, and a real sense of accomplishment. For many families and individuals, shelter employment is a heartfelt choice that honors both what a person can do and what they prefer to do. We employ 105 employees with disabilities and we train them in the services such as shrink wrapping, packaging, labeling, hand assembling for businesses such as Boulevard, GT Midwest, Granger, Modern Litho, and Tenemic. And we love Tenemic. We've been supporting them for 55 years now. Uh, some of the earlier customers that we first had, you might know some of them,

McDonald's and what used to be TWWA where we did small packaging. Uh just some tidbits about us. You know that we have one person that'll be celebrating 49 years of service and we have another one in North Kansas City celebrating 41 years of service. Our average age is 45 years of age and our average tenure is 18 to 20 years across the board. In 23 we were recognized as the workshop of the year among 86 workshops in the state of Missouri. There are five benefits for businesses that utilize our programs. You have access to consistent workforce in the quality focused environment. Cost savings. We can provide you labels, equipment, materials, pickup and delivery, affordable prices. By partnering with VSI, it can boost your brand by showing support for inclusion and community. Four, we can scale production to match your demand, offering businesses with flexibility that they may need. And five, completing work while supporting individuals with disabilities turn social efforts into business assets. The second service that we provide is competitive integrated employment where a person works with a job coach to learn and perform uh job coaching of their choice choosing in their community. We do this through discovery and exploration, job development, job coaching and probably the most important one is extended followalong where we are there to work with the businesses and the individual in case there is something that needs to be taken care of. We support another 50 people in this particular business where they want to work in hotels, restaurants, groceries, business ventures, whatever they want to pursue. It's their choice. We another thing that you need to know, we are classified under the department of education. There are 86 workshops in the uh state of Missouri and we are an industry that is unique. We are employment trainedbased meaning we only we're the only state in the United States that has this particular model known as the Missouri

model. We are not Medicaid or Medicarebased. We received our funding through DESIE through PDM basis the SP40 board which is set up to support workshop like ours and through contract income and probably the most important one there is contract income meaning the mo uh because it fosters growth and opportunities for all both the community and for the people that we serve. I feel that we have one of the best models. A person can go through our extended employment and if they show readiness, our CE uh CIE team is there to support them through the whole process. And for any reason that they may not be successful, whether it's uh you know unemployment or whatever reduced hours, we can bring them back through extended employment and help them continue to develop those skills and also to maintain the confidence. You never know what a person is capable of until they are given the opportunity. We proudly support hundreds of individuals with disabilities in exploring their right to choose meaningful employment and become an active contributors in their communities. Our services include personalized comprehensive training designed both for in-house roles and for helping them to grow their careers in the community. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Any questions from the council? Thank you for the work you do. That is it's really really important. Further public comments. Good evening. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and council members, and congratulations, Ellen. I know you'll serve well as a councilman for our award. Thank you for giving up your time and energies for it. And you've got a challenge to replace him on the bikew walk committee. I know. I don't think I don't think it's possible to replace him. We've got you're gonna have to find someone to fill his slot.

We've got some great people, but it's clearly hard to replace us. I'm here tonight and I'm uncomfortable and don't like it. I believe most of the departments in our city are efficient and have the interest of the citizens and follow the ordinances adopted by this council. However, in my opinion, I don't believe the building codes and inspection section of the community development department is doing that. In the spring of 2019, the city council adopted the 2018 International Residential Code, including an unmended energy section. For the record, I opposed it, tried to explain why, but the council adopted it. And I believe if you adopt something, you enforce it, and that's not happening in this case. I'm aware of numerous non- enforcement of the 2018 IRC. From the town houses, the la latter part of the town houses in Northgate Village to several residents in the avenues. From safety issues like handrails on stairs, electrical requirement overlooks and energy requirements being dismissed or not even required. I've obtained copies under the Freedom Information Act of the plans for the two single family houses being built in the 2100 block of Clay. They have statements on it reviewed for code enforcement or code compliance and David Harris's signature, but they are either being disregarded by the contractor andor ignored by the building department. An example is insulation. The code is a specific prescriptive code

in the energy area. It requires the exterior sidewalls to be either R13 plus 5 continuous insulation on the outside or R20. There are R13 bats installed in this house. I stopped there last week and asked a insulation contractor who was working what they were and he stated to me there are 13 craft bats. Uh the code is prescriptive. There's no requirement or no in availability of doing energy tradeoffs or anything else like are in the 21 and future codes. I do not believe the building department is doing its job. I've discussed this with the plan reviewer, but he will not answer simple questions to me. The responses I received by the building official seem to ignore the code. It's time for you, the council, to investigate and take steps to correct these errors by the building department. Appreciate your time. I hope you'll do something about it. Thank you.

Thank you. And uh we're certainly going to enlist your help when we get to approving the next round of code, which should be coming up here pretty pretty soon. I remember you bringing the big book in in uh 2019. It's gotten bigger. Yeah. You brought it in, set it on the the podium there, and I was brand new. A little intimidating. Appreciate that. Further public comments. Good evening.

Good evening everybody. Dave Wood, 2414 area, ward one. Um just a a word of thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh and congratulations to Dylan. Uh, but I wanted to thank you also about your effort to um postpone, if you will, the other empty seat appointment to give the people of Ward 4 to have a chance to have their say in who's who's their next representative. I really appreciate that. It's a very rare thing in this day and age for a politician to actually listen to the people, reconsider his position, and change his mind and then come back to us and say, "Yeah, I've changed my mind." We're going to wait. So, thank you very much for that. And I know my whole group, which you're aware of, very appreciative of that. And they actually they actually gave me the okay to come up here and say, "Tell the mayor thank you in public." And we really appreciate your efforts. So there's a lesson there for all of you. If you're not communicating with your folks, uh he's a good he's a good example of a communicator. So if you need help, he can help you model it. So thanks and thank you Dylan for stepping up.

Appreciate that. Further public comments. Okay, I've got one that was submitted via email that I'm going to read into the record, so bear with me. So, this one came from Jessica Loya. Public comments says, "Good evening, mayor and council. I am again speaking on immigration enforcement and the responsibility you all carry. The city of North Kansas City has one obligation above all others to protect the constitutional rights, safety, and stability of the people who live here, not not to federal politics, not to staying quiet in hopes that nothing happens." Up to this point, the city's posture on immigration enforcement has felt cautiously riskaverse, hoping by not taking a clear position, we avoid setting an unwanted precedent or drawing too much attention. Respectfully, the precedent has already been set. The legal landscape doesn't lack clarity. The constitutional guard rails exists. The risks are known. The real threat our city faces is whether we respond to fear of crossing some invisible boundary with the federal government or to wellestablished constitutional liability. Federal courts have ruled that ICE detainers are voluntary requests, not mandatory commands. Refer to landmark cases such as Galzar Galarza vers I don't know this word. Uh Miranda vers Miranda Oliver versus Clackamos County and Morales vers Chadburn. Courts found that holding individuals without a judicial warrant can violate the Fourth Amendment. Cities and counties have paid significant settlements for unlawful detentions. Municipalities that operate under unclear policies, inconsistent training, and informal practices have faced litigation and federal oversight. Refer to Maricopa County and Alamance County for examples where immigration enforcement 287G partnerships led to unconstitutional policing and costly structural reform. Courts examine written policy, training, and whether a city showed deliberate indifference to to known constitutional risk. When the risk is known and policies remain vague, exposure increases. Preparedness reduces liability. Ambiguity increases it. North

Kansas City is not insulated. We sit within the Kansas City metro. Public statements by Kansas City leadership have already placed this region in the broader national immigration conversation. Federal enforcement dynamics do not stop at municipal borders. We are also preparing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. International events bring increased federal coordination and presence. That reality alone requires clear constitutional policy. Now, silence is not safety. Ambiguity is not protection if the city fails to review, clarify, and strengthen policies. The risks include Fourth Amendment violations from unlawful detention, equal protection claims if enforcement disproportionately affects certain communities, privacy violations if data is shared improperly, loss of community trust leading to decreased crime reporting and weakened public safety, financial liability for failure to train, or unconstitutional customs. So, I ask clearly, does the North Kansas City Police Department have a 287G agreement? If not, provide public confirmation. If yes, produce the agreement publicly. I will ask again that the city consider the following. Publish NKCBD policies, NKCPD policies on detainers, data sharing, traffic stops, and federal requests. Adopt a clear judicial warrant only compliant warranton only compliance standard. Review and strengthen training on Fourth Amendment limits and equal protection obligations. Document and publicly report aggregate data on all federal immigration contacts and requests to this council regularly. Work with trusted institutions including the North Kansas City School District, library, hospital, and community centers to distribute multilingual multilingual know your rights information vetted by legal counsel. Mayor, you ran on transparency. Transparency is not a campaign slogan. It's a governance practice. This is an opportunity to demonstrate it in action. Preparedness is not political. It's constitutional governance. Ambiguity plus discretionary enforcement plus political pressure equals higher constitutional risk. You all are responsible to this community first. Acting now protects residents,

protects officers, and protects the city from preventable liability. Thank you. Further public comments? Seeing none, we will move to the consent agenda. Is there a motion on the consent agenda? Move to approve. Second. All in favor? Yes. Any opposed? Motion passes. All right. Regular items. Appointment of a council representative to the planning commission.

Okay. So, since council member Fitzgerald was the council representative to the planning commission, we have an open seat. The process is nominations are made by the council members. Uh then we have a vote on the nominees to fill that seat. Do we have a nomination? I nominate myself. Council member Groan nominates herself. I nominate Council Member Bale. Council member Saper has nominated. Do you accept? Okay. Any other nominations? I'll nominate Lindsay.

Okay. She's she's nominated, so we're just going to do a vote. Okay. All right. Any other nominations? So we have council member Saber nominated Mr. Council member Bailey. Council member Groan is also a nominee. How do we do we call for How have we done this in the past? Just call for name. I'll call their name and they can state who they're voting for. Name who you're voting for. Go ahead. Council member Selenusy. Council member Click. This is very sudden. Um, I would have loved to talk to y'all about it for a second. Um, can I be

You're welcome to ask questions. Oh, okay. I mean, I'm just curious like why why would you want to take on this responsibility now? Council member Bailey on the spot for you guys. Surprise. Currently, I don't hold one of the seats. Uh, so many of the council members have a committee that they're assigned to. I don't have that. Um, this one probably speaks to me more than most in regards to some of the technical aspects of it and trying to make well reasoned, planned, thought out solutions that will impact the the city or the future of the city. And I'd love to be a part of that.

Council member Mcgrron. Um, I currently serve on the library board as the council liaison, but uh before I was on council, I was on the planning commission and I was the chair of the planning commission. I really loved it. Uh, I'm a project manager by trade and I work with a lot of um construction and IT projects. Uh, so I kind of speak the language of what's happening in those meetings and I would be happy to give up my library board position in order to be on the planning commission again. All right, any other questions? We kind of did jump right into the vote, didn't we? Okay, let's jump back into the vote. Still so much time. I know.

Uh, again, would have loved to talk to y'all. Lindsay, Council Member Bailey, hardressed not to vote for myself. So, Bailey, vote for me. Uh, Council Member Mcgrron. Council member Mcgrron. Okay. Congrats, Council Member. Thank you, everybody.

Welcome to the planning commission. Now I get to make a library for an appointment. Perfect. All right. We'll play musical chairs of the committees. Okay. Uh, I'll make that next. Yep. I gota make parks at the next one. That's right. Okay. Moving on to item 50. 15 EPA audit finding and pre-treatment program update.

Good evening, mayor and council. Um just want to give a quick update tonight, maybe an introduction for some um about an ongoing uh evolving change in the public works department uh for a program that we administer. Um there's a group of three individuals in public works that uh put together a program called the pre-treat industrial pre-treatment program. Um this program monitors the uh wastewater. discharge from different industrial users, mainly the seven significant industrial users we have in town. Uh there's larger users like Ingredon, US Gypson. Um the hospital even falls into this. It's a entities that you know their waist streams are a lot stronger, more concentrated, have elements in them that could be uh dangerous to the wastewater treatment plant in Kansas City. And so there's a program put together where we permit these users um and limit what they can put in the water. Um this program has existed in North Kansas City for about 40 years. Uh it's been audited before by EPA, but this is kind of the first time it's been audited in a way that they came back and said, "Well, your your pre-treatment program permit permit they give us to operate this program is tied to your water treatment plant." Um we are unique in that is the only we are the only city really in Missouri maybe even country that has that operation. Um when we closed our wastewater treatment plant back in 1988 um they were they elected the city elected then to keep the pre-treatment program. And so I think this was kind of DNR's way of finding a way of of permitting that program. So again DNR or EPA comes in says this is not really a logistic way of doing this. So they uh want us to make a change. Um they presented us two options. One is that we um as go to Kansas City as the operator of our program. So again as uh you know the wastewater treatment plant operator,

they are really what's you know kind of being looked at as the concern of you know what passes through our system into theirs then ultimately can affect the wastewater treatment plant. Um so they they've given the option that they would take over our program. they would actually permit our users and um be involved in monitoring them. Um and the second option is that we maintain our uh department or pro our division under public works but then they would become our DNR for lack of a better understanding. They would become our control authority uh where we would report to them uh for our limits. Excuse me. this kind of is how we already do it um in a in a little bit of a way. I mean, we actually have limits imposed on us from Kansas City because again, our industrial users go to Kansas City ultimately for treatment. Um so, we're kind of working with DNR, EPA, uh and Kansas City to figure out what's the best path forward. A lot more to come on that. So, we're we're just beginning the conversations. Um this happens to also coincide with the three individuals that operate this program for us. uh they're all looking at retiring this year. Um the pre-treatment coordinator, he's been here for 48 years. Um he was actually here when we had a wastewater treatment plant and kind of graduated to this program. Um so um he's looking at retiring and so are the two people under him in that division. So coincides with a big change coming anyway. Um again factoring that in with Kansas City and what that means. Um so I guess more to come. I don't know. You know, we're just beginning the conversations. Um, again, kind of under DNR, EPA's direction. Um, so we're kind of working through the process and bringing back more updates and, uh, ideas on what we'll be, you know, what limits we'll have on our program. So, happy to answer any questions. Sorry, that's a lot. There's a lot to the program. Um, happy to answer what I can.

So, uh, you said we're kind of in a de facto spot where we're operating with them as a control authority because we send to them anyway. Um, what would would there be a change in cost structure if we fully I I assume if we fully outsource them handling all of it that we would what would that look like finance-wise? That's that's part of the discussion right now. I don't think we have a clear um understanding what that would cost. Um, we would kind of weigh that against the cost we have now for operating the program. Again, with three individ individuals retiring, there might be some capacity there, but again, we don't know exactly what from Kansas City that cost would be. So, that's part of the ongoing conversation. Okay, Council Member Saber. Oh, sorry. I was just Go ahead.

I was just gonna ask, but he asked my question. I just want to know if there was going to be a rate increase if for us if we did that if Kansas City took over completely. So, really wouldn't be tied to the rates. Um Oh, go ahead. Yeah. Uh, we don't anticipate that. I mean, we'll have to get through all this with them, but this affects the pre-treatment program only. Those are separate from the flow rates that that are charged to residents and businesses. Council member Saber, uh, thank you for the heads up. I know the negotiations are going to be ongoing, but at this point, can you imagine or have any idea of what the pros and cons of the two options you presented are? Kansas City,

right? Yeah. Versus Go ahead. Been going back and forth on that. You know, internally there's a lot of conversation about it. Um, excuse me. I do like to point out that right now we do have limits imposed on us from Kansas City already. So, you know, I think future conversations about that would need to consider what we already do and what already our limits are. Um, but again, a lot a lot more to figure out. Thank you for bringing that to the council. Any further questions? All right, we'll stay tuned for more. appreciate. Oh yeah, go ahead.

Sorry. Um, you said with the three people who are running the program retiring, is there any potential for new people who are equipped to even do that?

Um, we've done some cross training on our staff just to kind of, you know, prepare for that. We also we also work with a a consultant that's kind of an expert in pre-treatment. So, we have some different options to kind of cover some gaps if we have to. Um but again if we have to completely go to Kansas City we would not have a need for those three positions. So it would kind of change the structure of our program. Yeah that was I was thinking along the same lines. So if we have three people natural attrition and we don't need to rehire those positions if we're outsourcing. So obviously part of the consideration. Very good. All right. Moving on to item 16. Consideration of an ordinance approving accounts to student and payable by the city through February 27th, 2026. Bill number 7970, ordinance number 9767.

Do we have a motion to pay the bills? First reading or uh second. All in favor? Yes. Yes. Any opposed? Motion passes. An ordinance authorizing payment for certain accounts due payable by the city through February 27th, 2026. I move that bill number 7970 to be placed on second and final reading and passes as ordinance number 9767. Second. Call the role. Council member Selenas. Yes. Council member Click. Yes. Council member Safer. Yes. Council member Bailey. Yes. Council member Mcgone? Yes.

Council member Kaine. Yes. And council member Alvarez. Yes. An ordinance authorizing payment for certain accounts due to payable by the city through February 27th, 2026. Staff comments. What do we have? All right. Tonight we have staff comments. I think a couple from Kim and one from Shu. Just get going. Good evening, Mayor and Council. I have two items for you. One of them is we have been notified that we will not have a pint path this year. So just so you guys know that was budgeted for this coming year in the current fiscal budget, but we've been notified that they will not be having that particular event this fiscal year. How much do we have for that?

I'm sorry, what? How much was budgeted for 5,000? I thought

um and the second thing is is we are speaking of FIFA um we are kind of getting an understanding of exactly what this park and ride uh facility in town will entail. Um things that we have learned over the last week is it will be operational for 33 days. That was kind of news to us. Um, so it will be open. It will be both for game day transit as well as transportation to the FFES which will be activated 18 days. And then again, we were notified that that particular parking ride will actually be activated 33 days as riders will be able to park in that facility and get transit to other areas of the metro. So, we actually had a meeting with the KC 2026 so that we can kind of get an understanding of what does operation look like? Uh what does staffing consideration, signage, lighting? Um we do anticipate needing to somewhat address our infrastructure and hardscape in that particular area, particularly with the um anticipated increase in pedestrian traffic in that area. We don't quite know what that looks like just yet. I do know that public works was talking to some of their contractors to take a look at those sidewalks or lack of sidewalks or lack of curb cuts in that particular area. Um, we do anticipate some signage. They seemed receptive to allowing for some signage to be able to help advertise or let all of our new friends know of some of our local businesses in town. Um, so we at least got that kind of that sounds like there is an opportunity to be able to partner with the signage in the area. Again, a lot of this is kind of evolving and we are learning as we go. Uh, we are anticipating they do know that that will

need a conditional use permit that would would need for council approval before they begin construction. We do anticipate that being on the April 8th city council agenda for your consideration. We're hoping at that time to have a lot of our questions answered uh particularly around that pedestrian safety. Again, we'll have a lot of people in that area. There's some lighting considerations and again there's some investments that the city should probably kind of take a look at to make sure that um our hardscape is in the condition we would want for all of our new pedestrian friends in that particular area. So again um we'll we'll continue to share and give updates as we learn more about what this facility is.

Very good. Thank you. I know that's become quite the topic of discussion on everyone's lips is what are we going to do uh as World Cup approaches. Um the balance we're going have to strike is that's an area that is going to be redeveloped post World Cup. So to while balancing making it nice for our friends who come to visit but not overspending on a place that will eventually get new look, new upgrades. Um but it'll be interesting to get that list together on what's needed. Any questions on what Kim brought to us? Go ahead. Question.

Uh thank you again and for addressing that as well. Um the pedestrian access element is going to be huge there. Uh I know I live pretty close to where that park and ride location is going to be. Uh so 18th Street is always a strong priority. Uh just to uh reiterate um so are you referring to uh sections of sidewalk on uh south of 18th on the very far north side of that parking lot where the bowling alley was?

Yes. Yes. there right now is kind of a square that's missing. Um, and there are no curb cuts in that particular area. So, any pedestrians that might need mobility considerations, they're going to have to pop a curb. Um, and again, those are kind of some of the things that we would need to look at and just make sure that we are being compliant. Thank you. I appreciate it. All right. Shu.

Yep. I want to just do a quick update on the comprehensive safety plan. We're getting very close to the final draft. There will be a public open house next Tuesday, March the 10th at 5:00 um at city hall in this chamber room. There will be two presentations, one at 5:30, one at 6:30. Hope everybody can come swing by and give us your input asking questions. Uh this is your last chance. That's it. Thank you. Uh, repeat that time one more time. March the 10th, Tuesday, 5 to 7 in the evening, there will be two presentations. One at 5:30, one at 6:30. That's a week from tonight.

There will be snacks. Okay. Okay. I'm going to look right at the camera and say there will be snacks. Come out and tell us what you think. This is your last chance. Uh, that's what she told us. Okay. Uh, further staff comments, chiefs, anything? All good. Very good. All right. Council member comments, starting with council member Selenus.

Okay. Um, thank you to everyone that came out for public comments. Um, Jesse, thank you again for your reconsideration um of that seat. Um, and if you don't know already, I am seeking a second term. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please reach out to me directly. Um or perhaps meet me and some neighbors at one of our local businesses to be announced. And this invitation goes to all wards, not I'm not just River Forest. I am North Kansas City. And let's have a fun and safe snake Saturday. Council member Click.

Um thanks to um everyone who came out for public comments. Um, I wanted to kind of go off of something that, um, Commissioner Wagner said. Um, we still have a lot of openings on the SEAK committee, um, which has a really similar goal to the 250th um, anniversary goal of just getting community members engaged um, and helping to be involved in decisions and um, just talking about things that are going on in the city. Um, so we are now at the point I think there's three openings. There's a lot and there's five. Okay, five openings. Um, and so now we're at the point where anyone from any ward can come be a part. So just wanted to give kind of a another um opportunity. There have been some discussions about ways that we can make the committee more successful. So, I don't know when um and how we'll continue those discussions, but I think it's a really important committee, an important mission. Um so, I really do want to try to figure out a way for that advisory committee to be successful. Um so, that was the main thing I wanted to say. Thanks, George, Dave, Jess. Um I think that was it. Welcome to Dylan. Happy you're here. sad too. I keep Sorry, Dylan. Council member Kane, I need to get better at that. Um, that's it. Thanks, everyone.

And to uh apply for the SEAK position, nkc.org. Uh, there's a page for boards and commissions. Application is at the bottom. Ship it in. I will forward that out to every council member who has an open seat to appoint. And let the feeding frenzy begin. Council member Saber. Uh kudos to all of our outgoing council members for all the hard work that they've put in at long hours. And to council member Kaine, now it's on you. Thanks. Council member Bailey, don't really have comments tonight. Dr. Mcgroom.

Um I have a couple of comments. One, thanks to Connor and Amy for their service on council. I will miss both of them. Uh, congratulations to Council Member Kaine. I am very excited to work with you over the next year. Uh, I do have a question. I saw that there is going to be a candidate forum. Um, do we are you are we planning on announcing that or talking about that at any point? 24th. Uh, is it the 24th of March? Yes. So, it was in the connections newsletter. It's on the city's Facebook page and it's on the city's website. And is it just for the candidates that are uh in contested races? It's every name on the ballot. I didn't get an invitation, so I only saw it on Facebook. I didn't know it was Hopefully. Did you get a little flyer when you registered for office?

Uh, probably, but I got a lot of little things when I registered for office. We'll circle back around. Excellent. Okay, cool. Well, uh, everybody, uh, watch that, so that' be very good. Uh, and lastly, uh, this is our last meeting before Snake Saturday, so hopefully the weather is great and everybody goes out and has a wonderful time. And it's always a good time to go visit businesses that you haven't been to in a while or maybe you have and uh just see your friends and neighbors and um enjoy one of the best parts of living in North Kansas City. Very good. And uh repeat for us and for the audience the candidate forum is it is right after the northtown supper is the day after day after.

So it is the 24th. Um people can anybody interested can watch it live on YouTube. So, we'll be broadcasting it as if it was a regular city council meeting. Um, they are more than welcome to come and see it in person. They can submit questions at citync.org. And it will be facilitated by the North Kansas City High School debate team. They do a phenomenal job. At what time? 6 p.m. 6 pm March the 24th, Tuesday night. Council member Kaine.

Uh, thank you. And I like that calendar placement, too. we get the northtown supper to come together and then politics the next day. So, um but I'll keep my council comments relatively brief uh today. I want to thank the folks that came out for public comment. Uh I also want to thank uh council members Fitzgerald and Clark or former council me council members um for all of their service uh here in North Kansas City. Uh, obviously, Council Member Fitzgerald was such a a huge advocate for responsible budgeting, uh, really sounding the alarm on, uh, the deficit. Uh, so I appreciate talking to him uh, very candidly about that and getting to learn more from him. Uh, I also want to thank Council Member Clark um, for all of her work uh, for Word Four. Um, you know, River Forest Park is just going to be such a huge accomplishment that she's going to be able to have taken part in. And I also really appreciate her wit and humor at a lot of these meetings. Um it was um you know in a long and dry meeting it was nice to have a little bit of that brevity. Um so I also want to shout out um upcoming event uh of course uh open house for the comprehensive safety action plan. Uh that'll take place Tuesday, March 10th. Uh again I really want to yeah encourage folks to come out and attend. Um, I know the last council meeting there was a lot of discussion about relative priority of different streets and intersections and I think in the leadup to that at the town hall last week uh we kind of heard a little bit about that. Um, some folks like me are going to think of Iron, others are going to think of, you know, 32nd and Howell. Uh, some might think of, you know, 26th in Burlington. Um, so those are the kinds of things that I think would be really important there. Um, I also want to note, um, you know, again, I'm I'm relatively new to this community, but I've lived here the last couple of years. Uh, so I will be putting together something, uh, just kind of open office hours or, you know, coffee chats, uh, coming here soon. Uh, I'll have more information about that at

the next council meeting. Uh, I also want to wish a happy belated birthday uh, to council member Alvarez. Um, and just say, uh, happy birthday,

Council Member Alvarez. Thank you for that. As long as I don't have to say my age, appreciate it. Thanks. So, um like to thank um Scott Wagner for coming tonight. Um and congratulations to the mayor on getting your challenge coin. And I am actually working on mine very very slowly, but I'm working on it. So, maybe I'll get there. Um yeah, I want to congratulate um well thank Connor and Amy for everything that they did while they were on the council. Miss both of them. Um so they both did an excellent job. So again, we will miss them. So congratulations to Dylan. I'm glad to see have you here part of W three. So congratulations. Um let's see. I also I don't do want to uh do want to be careful how I say this, but I want to I appreciate all the comments from the public. Um and I just want to address Mr. Slutter's comments. I do have a lot of faith in our uh building and codes department. I think they do an excellent job. They have a lot of experience. Um I think Mr. Harris has been here 20 plus years. I think he he's an expert, I would consider, on what he does. So, I just want to say that I do appreciate the work that you do. I think you do a great job. So, anyway, just want to get that out there. Um, think that's it. Hey, thank you.

Very good. Uh, that brings it back back to me and I, uh, I will not be brief. I have a whole list of things, so uh, hang with me. Dylan, welcome aboard. Happy to have you. Very, very pleased. Lindsay, welcome back to the planning commission. Excited to have you in the mix. Uh Ivonne, welcome to being the new number reader for all of our ordinances. Uh you did a phenomenal job on your first go at it solo. Very proud of you there. Um okay, Northtown supper. We have that on the books now. So Monday, March the 23rd, 5:45 at North Kansas City High School. again. Northtown supper open invite to the entire resident base of North Kansas City. Monday, March 23rd, 5:45 at North Kansas City High School. It is a pay what you can model. If you have money to to help out, great. If not, come on and eat with us. We're going to build some community. It will be wonderful. Uh thanks to Scott Wagner. It's always good to have Scotty Wags in the mix handing out coins, making it rain. Uh if I will extend the challenge to anyone who is watching this. This is a pretty cool little coin here. It's got some heft to it. So Kim and I have done the thing. Uh it's not a heavy lift and it's great civic engagement. It's things like reading the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and and thanking a public official. Dave Wood is well on his way to getting his coin. Um so thank you for uh Scott to come out and do that and I look forward to seeing more presentations here. All right. Uh it is the month of Ramadan and I was fortunate to join in a dinner uh to break the feast with our Muslim friends at a Mormon temple. Uh it was quite the beautiful uh setup and and my kids loved it. We got to have dialogue with people who uh believe differently, worship differently, speak differently and we all had a wonderful time. It was excellent to see. So if you have an opportunity during this time, take it.

It's great. All right, let's see. Town hall. We had a town hall. Was it last week? Yeah, it was last week. Uh the video is on YouTube. It is an hour and a half long. So, watch it at 2 and 1/2x speed. Just whip right through it. There was some great discussion, excellent questions, probably some of the questions you have as well. We also had to meet, we had a meeting with our sister city mayors and public admins. We talked about public transit. Uh searching for solutions, making sure that we're all on the same path and we talked about World Cup for obvious reasons. It is coming up under 100 days now. Under a 100 days. That's that's pretty wild to think about. Uh and then I will close with uh Snake Saturday is coming up very soon. Very exciting. It is the biggest party we throw in North Kansas City. So everyone get ready to be at the firehouse to have pancakes at what time? 8 o'clock and it's $5 for kids, $10 for adults. All funds go to I'm putting him on the spot. All funds go to a good cause. Come out and have pancakes and uh and meet your fire staff uh and and watch the Chris Cakes folks flip them around. All right, that is all from me. Moving on to item 20. Consideration of a request to hold in recess into an executive session is requested by the city administrator to be held on this date pursuant to Missouri revised statute section 610.0211 potential litigation matter section 610.0212 real estate matters and section 610.0213 personnel matter litigation matter real estate matter real estate matter personnel matter.

Do we have a motion? So move second. All in favor? Yes. I'm sorry. We got to call the role. Tom will uh come after me. Call the role, please. Council member Selenus, yes. Council member Click, yes. Council member Saber, yes. Council member Bailey, yes. Council member Mcgrron, yes. Council member Kaine, yes. Council member Alvarez, yes. At this time, the live stream and channel 2 will cut off. There will be no further votes or business this evening. Thank you all for coming out.