City Commission - Regular Meeting

My assistant was like, I've never followed, because I had her follow just in case she didn't know somebody or didn't know where something was. And my assistant was like, I had no idea that those are the things you do all day. Yes. How are you? How's that pool?

The Garden City City Commission meeting is called to order. Today is Tuesday, June 16th. The time is 1 p.m. Madam Clerk, do we have a quorum?

Yes, Mayor.

Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit, amen. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for your love. Come, Holy Spirit, move our hearts with strength, wisdom, and courage to love one another and to recognize the dignity in one another. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. And for our agenda is the approval of the minutes of the last regular meeting, which, if no corrections are offered, shall stand approved. Are there any corrections? Seeing no corrections, they stand approved. Item five is public comment. This is an opportunity for the public to share their thoughts to the city commission for items not on the agenda. Are there anyone here for that?

Hello, everyone.

Hello.

I'm Debbie Reynolds. My regular job, I'm executive director of COPSA. But I'm also the president of the Humane Society Board. And when we visited with last year about our request, we talked about doing a presentation for the commissioners, a little bit more about us. Because when you look at the numbers, and so I handed out the annual report, it's astounding. We think those numbers are not as robust as they could have been. We have new software. We think we'll have better numbers for 2026. But a couple of things I wanted to share with you folks is that even with, you know, doing so much better at the Humane Society, managing expenses, we hired a vet who's lowered our vet costs. Our line item for our vets was like $300,000 last year. We're now looking at about $13,000 gain about every three months.

We know we will not have...

a relation of a whole year until we get to a year. But we know our animals are so much well taken care of. We have a lot less sickness, and we're able to spay and neuter so many more animals than we were before because we have the mercy of the other vets that we can get animals in to actually get that done. Rhett is doing about 150 to 188 surgeries a month. And, of course, we're getting our medications at cost now because she has a license to buy those. So we're really excited to bring her on board. That's really a positive for us this year. Another positive, before I make my request, is we've had a new signature event last year, which was Dueling for Dogs, and we brought in $60,000 from that event, which was awesome. And our second annual is coming up here soon, and we've already got a lot more sponsorships from when we had last year. And so we're hoping to make that event an annual event, and plus also make more money to help our bottom line. The truth of the matter of it is, if we didn't have so many wonderful donors and people who think of us at their wills, we wouldn't be able to do what we do today. You think about just like the transport. We transport that many animals out, but think of all the miles, and those are miles that are not created first by anyone other than through the Humane Society. Another positive we started this year in 2025 was Kibbles for Companions. We noticed that so many people were coming into the shelter looking for food. We know food insecurity is a big issue in our community. And so we did the Meals on Meals. We said, well, if an elderly person needs a meal, probably their companion animal needs a meal. So we developed the Kibbles for Companions so now you can get a meal for yourself and you can get cat food or dog food for your animal through the companion program. We just wrote a grant that hopefully will be granted that will allow us to actually do health care for all those animals for seniors for free. So they'll be able to get an annual check, ammunizations. Because you know, when you're alone at 65, well, I'm 66, so I guess I could put myself in there. But if you're alone and that's the only person you see, your only life thing in your life, how important they are to you. So we're hoping to take that to a higher level. You know, some of the things that we're concerned about is the rising cost of insurance. Insurance is killing us at the Humane Society. It probably is killing all of us. But we thought, you know, one of our proposals is would we be able to look at becoming part of the city's plan? We would pay for our part and be almost cost neutral for the city other than adding RA employees onto your plan, but you guys have the buying power that we do not. Last year we had almost a 9% increase. We know that most likely when we get our numbers early in 2027, we're going to see another 9% increase. Another possible solution as far as helping us better our budget is we know we have utility costs going up yeah we're looking at approximately 18 000 and we thought well maybe that'd be something the city would look into helping us offset that stipend us for us to actually pay for that you own the building be nice if you would help us with that increase State regulations, I'm proud to say that we've had our issues over the years. I've been on the board for a number of years and we've had our issues at the shelter. But I'm proud to say that we've had really some good surveys from the state. We get a lot of people in our community just love to call on us, keeps us on our toes. And we have not passed every inspection since 2024, which is really awesome. By staying current with state regulations and keeping everything current and up to code, it's costly. Animals are very hard on things. We have to replace all the little things outside their kennels, or even if they chew on a bowl, that won't pass the code. So we have a lot of costs involved in keeping those supplies. Jeff Clark is our treasurer. He's going to talk a little bit more about the finances. I kind of strong learned to do that. Jeff, would you like to talk a little bit more? Sure. Jeff is a past CPA. He's looked at the numbers. We're so blessed to have him on our board. Before Jeff came on board, we did not have a real budget. It was a budget, but it really wasn't a budget. So we have really come a long way in having a budget we can look at every month. We also have scheduled an audit for next year. And we're real excited about that. We've never had an actual audit. And Jeff Pinckney and company out of Hayes is going to be doing it for our non-profit.

As she said, I'm Jeff Clark, and you know this is all new to me, so I wasn't sure where this meeting was held. But yes, I've been here 44 years. You know, it's my community. about a year and a half, just over, I think. I was a volunteer dog walker until Mary convinced me to be on the board. I think she has said most of the things that I wanted to say is we are not anywhere near budget neutral. We can't be the $318,000 is a great start, but like she said, if we didn't have some huge benefactors give us money, we couldn't be doing what we're doing. We would love to be closer to budget neutral. I realize money is tight. As for everyone, I just want you to know that I think we're a large part of the community and the society. I think overall there's a pretty good job of doing that as stewards of your money. And we want to continue to do that. We just need some ways to come out and get closer to budget neutral. So thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

I know that you're up for a lot of cuts in this year's budget. But think of all the cats and dogs and chickens and guinea pigs and ferrets and snakes that we have down there. We really are a big part of our community. And if you could squeeze in a little extra for us, we sure would appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any others for public comment? Seeing none, we'll move to Item 6.

Item 6A, the governing body is asked to consider and approve a request from Downtown Vision to allow, under Code Section 6.1, possession, consumption, and sale of cereal, malt beverages, or alcoholic liquor at Food Truck Friday to be held at Stevens Park on the following dates, July 10th from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., July 24th from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and August 21st from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

If there are no questions, are you presenting on this?

Yeah. As Matt stated, Downtown Vision is asking to allow for a vendor to have alcoholic beverages served at the food truck Friday. And so, per the City of New York City Code of Ordinance Section 6-1, unlawful consumption or possession of alcohol in public, specifically in any public park. Downtown Vision has requested the waiver from Code Section 6-1 for the food truck Fridays on July 10th, 24th, and August 21st. The governing body has approved a similar request like this in the past. So your alternatives are that you may approve the request as presented or you may not approve the request as presented. There is no fiscal note and staff has no recommendations. Do you have any questions?

So will there be a specific area that will be cut out or set aside for?

Yes, question. When there is alcohol permitted at a park, they do have to, by state ABC laws, they do have to have a, it's called a 3D barrier around it. So anything that can be designed to be a barrier to enclose that area. Okay.

Any other questions for staff?

Just checking. We've never had any complaints or anything about this in the past when we've approved it, as far as we know. I don't believe so, no.

Does Alejandro have any comment on this, or Chief, or...

Thanks Chief. Thank you.

I just wanted to kind of talk about Steve Jesse. He has never given us any issues, but we followed all the regulations and rules that he needed to. So we feel very confident to have him as our project director.

Any further questions? I'll entertain a motion for this item.

I move to approve the request as presented.

There's been a motion. Is there a second? I second. There's been a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Thank you.

Item 7A, Chief Pruitt will provide an update to the governing body on the city's new mobile command unit. Chief?

Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor and Commissioners. I'm here to provide an update on our Mobile Command Unit. A little background, the Mobile Command Unit was approved to ride the city with a modern, deployable incident command platform capable of supporting large-scale incidents, planned events, critical incidents, emergency operations, and most importantly, BACA's 911 and communication needs. The unit is currently in the final build-out and inspection phase, and this update is intended to brief commission on the current project status upcoming inspection and training events and update you guys on the deployment location and operational readiness this unit will enhance the city's ability to manage events that require coordinated field command presence including backup 9-1-1 communication and coordination support major public safety incidents severe weather and disaster response large public events school and public facilities threats extended law enforcement, or fire operations and multi-agency response. Before the city takes possession, staff will participate in three different inspection and training events to ensure the vehicle, communication systems, and operational components are functioning as expected. Those include inspection in Florida at Frontline's facility the 13th through 15th of July, And we're going to send four participants to that. It's paid for by Frontline and Pierce to make sure that we're trained on the unit. And we also verify build specifications, receive operational training, and identify any final corrections before delivery continues. Next is an inspection in Kansas City at Conrad Fire. And the dates to be determined as are the participants of this inspection will provide an additional review point after the unit reaches regional or local vendor support. It will allow staff to evaluate any remaining vehicle equipment or deployment concerns before it transfers to an animal radio at Great Bend. Again, this one is yet to be determined based on the other inspections and training. This will be more focused on the radio and communication systems, and it's probably the most critical step to make sure that it's turnkey ready when it shows up to Garden City. It will also make sure that the unit is compatible with our local and regional public safety communication systems and computer systems as well. The current plan is to house the mobile command unit at Fire Station 3. And this location provides practical deployment point and it also allows Garden City Fire Department to assist with the routine vehicle readiness and the inspections that they do on a weekly basis, weekly and monthly basis. Those inspections and checks help ensure that the vehicle remains operationally ready Any maintenance or equipment concerns can be identified early and taken care of. No alternatives. This is information only. No recommendation and no fiscal note attached to this. I'm happy to answer any questions. And attachments is the most recent update from Frontline and Conrad on the build-out.

So when do you expect to have it in the community then? I mean, you talked about all these inspections and everything, but kind of an estimated timeline of actually when we have the unit in our possession.

I think July, August timeframe is kind of what we're expecting. Okay. And we're kind of at the mercy of those inspections, and if anything is identified at those inspections, it has to be corrected, so it might push the timeline a little bit.

Any further questions or comments? Thank you, Chief. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Items 7B through 7G are monthly staff reports. Any questions on those? Hearing none, item eight, meetings of note. Any of those requiring RSVPs, please do that through the city clerk's office. Item nine is the consideration of the appropriation ordinance. If approved, it would be ordinance number 2613-2026A.

I move to approve appropriation ordinance number 2613-2026A. Second. There's been a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 12A, the governing body is asked to consider and approve three appointments to the zoo advisory board. Christy.

Good afternoon, mayor, commissioners. The zoo advisory board is a seven-member board. It has two members that will reach the end of their term at the end of this month. One of them, James McGowan, has completed a full term, while the other, Randy Baker, has completed only a partial term. Both are eligible for another term and have expressed a desire to serve. Another member, Lea Antone, has put in her resignation due to other time commitments. She has a year left on her term. We reviewed three applications that came in for that position. After consideration, the board recommended that Randy and James both be appointed to another term and that, sorry, Addison Burstrom be appointed to fulfill the

expiring term.

So other members of the board are listed for your information. Alternatives are the board, the body, may appoint Randy and James to another three-year term and appoint Addison Bergstrom to fill the unexpired term. Or the other alternative is picking the three and assigning them. The zoo advisory board recommends the governing body appoint Randy Baker and James McGowan each to three-year terms and appoint Addison Bergstrom to fill the unexpired term. There is no fiscal impact of this action.

Any questions?

I will entertain a motion for this item. I make a motion we appoint Randy Baker and James McGowan to three-year terms and appoint Addison Burstrum to fulfill the unexpired term on the board as presented.

There's been a motion and is there a second?

Second.

There's been a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 12B, the governing body is asked to consider and approve a recommendation from the Traffic Advisory Committee to remove two parking spots along the 200 block of Pine Street.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Commissioners. So, yeah, our Traffic Policy Committee meets the first Thursday of the month, 5.30 p.m. This last meeting, we had several items on there, and that's what's before you today. First item on here, John Hahn, owner of Kenny Glass Incorporated, located at 415 North 8th Street. submitted a formal email request stating that freight trucks accessing Kenny Glass Incorporated through the alley are frequently unable to complete the turn when exiting onto Pine Street due to vehicles parked in the adjacent parking spots. It's requested to remove one or two parking spots to provide sufficient turning radius for trucks to safely exit the alley. And according to the request, truck drivers sometimes must wait while the vehicle owners are located and asked to move, resulting in delays up to one hour. Mr. Hahn indicated that the only other option would be to block off a portion of the 8th Street for an hour every Monday and Thursday to unload. On June 5, 2026, this request was presented to the Traffic Advisory Committee . The TAC recommended removing one parking spot on the south side of Pine Street and one parking spot on the north side of Pine Street. The committee noted that one parking spot on the north side appeared to be too close to the entrance of the Finney County Courthouse's entrance. and that there is plenty of room of public parking in the lot across the street from the courthouse, as you can see there in the map attached. It was also discussed that others, such as the Finney County Jail, receive freight and those drivers often deal with the same issues, pulling out that alleyway. If approved, staff would remove the parking stripes and paint the curb yellow in the affected area. The alternatives before you, one, the governing body may approve the recommendation of the Traffic Advisory Committee and direct staff to remove the two parking spots along the 200 block Pine Street. Two, the governing body may recommend an alternative option to the recommendation being proposed. And three, the governing body may not approve the request and redirect staff. Recommendation is the traffic advisory committee is to remove the two parking spots identified on the attached map and there is no fiscal impact on this item. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions you might have on this.

Tyler, from the memo, just some clarification. Yes. Is the owner looking for one or two on both sides or just one or two in total?

In total.

Okay.

And that would alleviate or help with the truck situation if there's just the one on each side?

Correct.

Okay.

Any further questions?

I move to approve the recommendation of the Traffic Advisory Committee and direct staff to remove the two parking spots along the 200 block Pine Street as presented.

Second. Second.

There's been a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Item 12C, the governing body is asked to consider and approve the Traffic Advisory Committee recommendation to deny the request to reduce the speed limit from 40 mph to 30 mph along Mary Street from Fleming Street to 8th Street.

All right, so here we have Lisa Harris, a local resident, has formally requested the speed limit on Mary Street to be reduced from 40 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour from Fleming Street to 8th Street. This request is based on concerns regarding vehicle speeding in the area, particularly during the school year. On June 5, 2026, the Traffic Advisory Committee was presented a request for consideration and open discussion with Lisa Harris being present. After further discussion of the issue and review of the available information, TXC recommended that the speed limit remain unchanged. Staff concurred with the TAC's recommendation to leave the speed limit as currently posted at 40 miles per hour. The three alternatives before you today, the governing body may approve the recommendation of the TAC to deny the request to reduce the speed limit from 40 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour along Mary Street from Fleming Street to 8th Street. Two, governing body may request the staff do further research to the matter of the request to speed reduction along Mary Street. or three, the governing body may approve the request to reduce the speed limit along Mary Street from 40 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour from Columbia Street to 8th Street. The recommendation, the Traffic Advisory Committee recommends denying the request to reduce the speed limit along Mary Street from 40 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour between Columbia Street and 8th Street. And there is no physical impact on this item. And again, the map is attached there showing the affected area.

I think a couple questions here for me. So first is, for Lisa's request, what is her justification beyond vehicle speeding? Is she seeing an increase in accidents? Is that some data that we can say? Is it more than just people are speeding?

Yeah, her main reason was vehicle speeding. She did discuss a little bit about difficulties pulling out of her driveway in and out of times, particularly during the school being in session. But other than that, it was mainly just speeding vehicles.

And then what justification did the staff see to leave the speed limit and TAC's recommendation to leave the speed limit as is? Just status quo or?

You know, so that's that map there, that section, you know, I mean, if we did drop it to 30, you know, then it would, you know, there's two sections, one on each side that would be 40. And so, I mean... We didn't see that really being a fix in this area. We have made some changes. This has come before the traffic advisory committee before. And talking with Mario Salcedo, our traffic foreman, we did make some changes to the traffic light on 3rd and Mary and also on Fleming and Mary Street there to change that timing of that light so that you can't just get a green and blow through Mary Street. So that has helped, we've seen. But, yeah, that was our discussion at our meeting.

Any further questions?

Is there any data that shows a number of accidents or traffic violations, people going more than 40?

As far as traffic... violations and accidents. No, we did not look into that. However we could, if that's what you would like us to do. We did not. I know that there has been additional patrol kind of right there by the church. But yeah.

We'll be happy to try to pull some facts.

Just to know, I know, I'm trying to think right now, there is a piece that is school zone. And that is 20 miles an hour, right, on Mary Street, isn't there? About Main Street. But it's past third, yeah.

It's before. On Mary. Yeah, it's east of it.

Okay, so part of Mary is already 20. Do we have people going above 20 when it's posted? No. I mean, and I know, but I'm just trying to, okay.

I don't think that the school zone is in the area that we're talking about, right? Is it? I don't think so.

Well, let me do it all the way.

It'd be from Main to 8th. It's a little bit.

But it's small, yeah. So we'll pull some data. One thing I will say is that when school is in session, Mary Street is very hard to do traffic enforcement on because it acts up if you pull somebody over. So we have to kind of anticipate our stops and make sure that we're pulling them off of Mary Street so we can not cause further traffic jams, traffic accidents, that type of thing. We'll put that up. I'll get it to Tyler. He'll have it ready for you guys.

I mean, the deeper rooted issue, I feel like, is if her issue is that she has a hard time backing out of her property. I also don't necessarily know if reducing the speed limit fixes that, but I can't brainstorm any other problems or solutions that would be helpful. Like, is there anything else that might be helpful? I can't think of any on the top of my head for her issues.

I think the lights have made a difference. I live right there. And I travel up and down that street many, many times a day. And I will say that I couldn't figure out why it was a little bit different, but now it makes sense if you've changed. Because I was like, hey, how come my attorney left when everyone... So it did make a difference. But I do know what you mean with traffic backing up. I think that's just a natural occurrence. I mean, it backs up on 3rd Street and, I mean, any school zone. But it's very, very... It's for a very short time. It's twice a day. So...

Mayor, I make a motion that we approve the recommendation of the Traffic Advisory Committee to deny the request to reduce the speed limit to 40 miles an hour from 40 to 30 along Mary Street from Fleming to 8 to deny. So alternative one. There's been a motion. Is there a second?

Second.

There's been a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Thank you, Chief. That was helpful. Thank you. Thank you.

Item 12D, the governing body is asked to consider and approve the recommendation from the Traffic Advisory Committee to deny the change of the alleyway behind the Emmaus House, 802 North 5th Street, to one way only.

Yes, so Donny Lunsman representing the Mayes House located at 802 North 5th Street has formally requested that the alley adjacent to the facility be designated as one-way only traffic from north to south. This request is intended to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion associated with the freight truck deliveries to the facility. On June 5, 2026, the request was presented to the Traffic Advisory Committee for discussion. During the review, City staff identified concerns regarding the impact on the current solid waste operations. The existing collection route travels south to north through the alley, with dumpsters located along the west side. There is insufficient space on the east side of the alley to relocate the dumpsters and implementing the requested traffic change would require relocating all the dumpsters between Walnut Street and Kansas Avenue. The TAC also discussed the possibility of designating the alley as one way from south to north. However, concerns were raised regarding potential traffic queuing on Walden Street impacts to hospital access and congestion near the traffic signal at 4th Street. Following the discussion, it was recommended that no changes to be made to the current alley traffic flow at this time, and the TAC discussed the possibilities of educating the Neah's House staff to help the situation and exploring the use of temporary signage for traffic management measures during the peak operating hours and freight deliveries to mitigate congestion. The alternatives before you, one, the governing body may approve the recommendation of the TAC to deny the request of the changing of alleyway to the man's house located at 802 North 5th Street to a one-way only north to south. Two, the governing body may request the staff do further research of the matter and return with other possible options. Or three, the governing body may accept the request to change the alleyway to one way only from north to south at the Mayes House, 802 North 5th Street. The recommendation is that the TAC recommends denying the request to the change of the alleyway behind the Mayes House, the Mayes House at 802 North 5th Street to one way only. And there is no physical impact on this item. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions on that.

Any questions for staff?

What would the temporary signage look like for the traffic management measures? Would it be just to be during specific hours, or what would that look like?

Yeah, good question. So it'd be real similar to some of what the school does whenever they have the free meal pickup, I believe, that comes around, I think, over by the Buffalo Jones School. They put out the little tripod stands with directing traffic. It was that. That was what was discussed when Donna was there. And she agreed that that might help with employees and educating some of the staff. But it would be up to them to pay for that and put those out and pick them up.

I approve the recommendation of the TAC to deny the request of changing the alleyway of the Emmaus House, 802 North 5th Street to a one-way only north to south.

There's been a motion for alternative one. Is there a second? I second. There's been a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes.

I'm stepping down for this next item.

Please note that Commissioner Sussman is stepping down for item 12E.

Item 12E, the governing body is asked to consider and approve a recommendation from the Traffic Advisory Committee to install a new flashing crosswalk light and equipment at the intersection of 3rd Street and Harding contingent upon financial participation from USD 457.

Yes, so Victor Harada, a local resident, has requested installation of a flashing pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection of 3rd Street and Harding Avenue. The request is based on high volume of pedestrian traffic in the area and student traffic attending Horace Good Middle School. According to the request, motorists frequently fail to stop for pedestrians even after they have entered the crosswalk, creating a significant safety concern. On June 5, 2026, the Traffic Advisory Committee reviewed the request. Following discussion, both the TAC and staff agreed that the flashing pedestrian crosswalk would improve safety at this location and is warranted based on pedestrian activity and school-related traffic. The cost of the flashing crosswalk equipment is $10,626. The TAC recommended that city staff contact the USD 457 to determine whether the school district would be willing to contribute 50% of the equipment cost. If the USD 457 agrees to participate, the city's share would be $5,313. If the USD 457 declines to contribute toward the project, the TAC's recommendation is that the flashing crosswalk does not be installed at this time. Three alternatives before you is one, the governing body may approve the recommendation of the TAC of the installation of the new flashing crosswalk contingent upon the USD 457 agreeing to pay 50% of the cost. Two, the governing body may not approve the request. And three, the governing body may decide to move forward with the cost even if the USD 457 does not agree to pay half the cost, leaving the city with a total expense of $10,626. Recommendation, the Traffic Advisory Committee recommends installing a new traffic flashing crosswalk at 3rd Street and Harding Avenue contingent upon USD 457. You're ready to pay half the cost. Fiscal note, the new crosswalk will be charged the street traffic signal account, which is lined up there, which has a current balance of $77,363.00. Happy to answer any questions on that note.

Any questions for Tyler?

No, I don't have any questions, but I have seen vehicles not stop more than one time. And so I'm glad to see that this came before the Traffic Advisory Committee.

Tyler, I know that USD 457's budget is with the oversight of the school board, but have you chatted with USD 457 if they've had a pallet to want to cover half? Have they kind of... What have those conversations been like?

Yes, Mayor, I have. So I hate to kind of jump... We actually have another item that's going to be going in front of the Traffic Advisory Committee next month that will be ultimately coming before you. It's for another crosswalk at Buffalo Jones School. So I did reach out to the USD 457 staff. They did agree in an email to pay half the cost for this one. So we do have another one that's going to be coming before you. And that email does indicate that they are willing to pay for half the cost for that one as well.

Gotcha. Any further questions? Seeing none, I'll entertain a motion for this item.

I move to approve the recommendation of the TAC of the installation of the new flashing crosswalk contingent upon the USD 457, agreeing to pay 50% of the cost.

Is there a motion? Is there a second?

I second.

There's been a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you, Tyler. Please note that Commissioner Sessna is returning back to the bench.

Item 12F. The governing body is asked to consider and approve a recommendation by the Public Utilities Advisory Board regarding the logo design for the Jameson Water Tower.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Commissioners. City staff received the LOGO submittal for the Jameson Water Tower, that's the new water tower being built by the Jameson Energy Center and the Lakewater Treatment Facility. After reviewing the submittal, staff raised concerns regarding the LOGO's visibility from US 50, it is 1,600 feet to the tower, and from US 83, it is 2,700 feet to the tower. The submittal indicates that the words World Grows Here logo tagline will be less than two feet tall, making it unreadable. Including the tagline also makes the city name too small, so ideally the text should be five foot or six feet tall to maximize the legibility of the city's name. Staff requested a second submittal with the tagline removed. Three options were presented to the Public Utility Advisory Board. The Advisory Board recommends option three, a city logo with the tagline and the word Kansas removed for maximum visibility. The Jameson Water Towers tank is now being painted upon final approval from the City Commission. The contractor will supply the, or they will apply the selected city logo. The memo presented to the Public Utilities Advisory Board and both submittals are attached to this memo that was in your packet. Alternatives one, the governing body may approve the recommendation of the Public Utilities Advisory Board to use the design and outline as option three, or the governing body may not approve the recommendation of the PUAV and use the design in either option one or two, or the governing body may not approve the recommendation of the Public Utilities Advisory Board to provide some other alternative. I want something else panned up there. Jesus, the Broncos. Any questions? I'll take a motion for this item.

I make a motion. We approve the recommendation of the Public Utilities Advisory Board and use the design outlined in option three as presented. Is there a motion or a second?

I second.

There's been a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes. Thank you, Mike.

Item 12G, Finance Director Kuhlman will review potential adjustments to the budgets as presented. I'll give up.

Are you just going to stay there?

It's not very long. All right.

We're all relieved that he didn't sit down.

He wouldn't offer if he didn't believe it.

All right. The June 2nd, 2026 City Commission meeting. Staff completed the presentation of the 2027 City Manager's proposed budget. From this point, the City Commission begins deliberation of the budget. In past years, discussions were held during the first and second meetings in July to determine the target mill levy rate desired by the City Commission and the appropriate adjustments to achieve it. If the City Commission decides to exceed the revenue rate, the City is required to provide a notice of intent to exceed the revenue rate to the county by July 20th. With the third Tuesday of July falling on the 21st in 2026, the City Commission will be able to determine whether to exceed the revenue rate and approve the appropriate notice of the county at their first July meeting. To that end, the staff is prepared to break down the preliminary adjustments recommended to begin moving forward, what they anticipate to be the City Commission's desired middle levy for the 2027 budget. As the budget currently stands, the City would need to increase revenues or decrease expenses by approximately $3,695,000 to achieve a level middle levy rate assuming 3% valuation increase. The county will provide the preliminary valuation estimate on or before June 15, 2026, and that figure will be incorporated in the budget discussion for the presentations following today's meetings. I did get an email yesterday with that number. The estimated valuation is 2.62% up, so less than the 3% assumption that we utilized, which is the first time in a few years that it's been lower than that 3% assumption. So that will represent an increase in what we need to figure out rather than an absolution of payment. The recommended adjustments to the budget considered by staff include the following for this time. Number one, staff has reviewed vacancies in positions from January 2026 through April 30, 2026. Based on the positions vacant during that time, salaries and benefits can be adjusted to capture some of the vacancy savings. These adjustments amount to $323,500 in the general fund, $29,600 in the airport fund, $83,750 in the electric fund, and $15,300 in the self-waste fund. Number two, city sales tax collections in 2026 are up 3.5% over 2025 on pace for $8,870,300 for 2026. The current 2026 budget figure is $8,600,000. This could be increased by $100,000. County sales tax collections in 2026 are up 3.4% over 2025 on pace for $5,425,500 for 2026. The current 2026 budget figure is $5,200,000. This can be increased by $100,000. Used tax collections in 2026 were up 7.7% over 2025, on pace for $2,300,000 for 2026. The current 2026 budget figure is $2.5 million. This can be increased by $100,000. Revenues from fines for the Municipal Court are on pace for approximately $915,000 for 2026. The current 2026 budget figure is $775,000. This can be increased by $75,000. The rental agreement line in Recreation Athletics was originally budgeted at $31,000 for 2026 and $31,500 for 2027. This can be reduced to $11,000 each year as this cost is for one contractual obligation with an annual cost of approximately $11,000. In the 2027 budget, there is $50,000 for a transfer from the general fund to the recreation reserve to continue building that fund. The recreation reserve currently has a balance of $460,094, which represents 14% of annual operating costs for the entire recreation budget. This $50,000 transfer could be eliminated from the 2027 budget as staff do not currently see a need to increase the balance of the recreation reserve fund. The city has an agreement with Finney County for the operational costs of the temporary law enforcement facility to encompass the lease obligation, utilities, and other operational costs. Since July 2025, the city has been paying these costs and Finney County has not yet been invoiced, as the discussions regarding the payment of the construction improvements have been ongoing. Between reimbursements for the costs incurred in 2025 and costs throughout 26 and 27, the city can anticipate at least $324,000 in reimbursements from the county during 26 and 27. These adjustments total $1,142,100. This leaves a balance of approximately $2,553,000 in additional adjustments needed to achieve a valid levy. With the additional increase from the 2.62% valuation, there's an additional $83,000 approximately added to that number. Due to the compressed timeline to consider budget adjustments before indicating an intent on a revenue neutral rate, the City Commission could consider utilizing a portion of the town hall meeting scheduled for June 30th for a budget discussion. Staff can prepare a list of items for consideration for addition or renewal from the budget. This would allow the governing body to conduct this discussion outside regular business hours. which may provide an opportunity for some citizens to provide input who otherwise may not be able to attend a city commission meeting when the budget is considered staff can take the input received from the governing body at that meeting to prepare a discussion in consideration of an indication on a revenue to rate as well as the target bill levy during the first meeting in july if the governing body's goal is to maintain a flat bill levy rate it is unlikely that one-time budget cuts such as repairs capital improvements or equipment or vehicle acquisitions will fully cover the cost or the remaining budget gap. These types of reductions also tend to appear in future budgets as increased costs, as acquisitions can sometimes be late but will eventually be realized. A reduction in the City's programs or services creates a recurring budget reduction and is more likely the solution needed to achieve a flattened levy. Staff opens any input from the City Commission regarding programs or services they would like information on as they consider these items to achieve their target budget at the following meetings. And I'll tell you this for you today is that staff will make the listed adjustments to 26 revised and 27 original budget figures barring any input from the city commission to do anything apart from listed items. So unless there's something you want me to not change based on what I presented, I'll make those modifications in preparation for the next meeting. So really the question before you are, do you want to use the June 30th meeting as that budget discussion, kind of the first stab at the budget discussion? And then are there any specific elements or items you want me to present? In the past, I've very much presented on here's the cost for this equipment, here's the cost of this program, here's what we pay downtown development, you know, X, Y, and Z. but more programmatically functionally is there something that we look at as far as here's the cost for running for here's the cost for running the pool here's the cost for doing any other programs or services or kind of identify fields the speaker covers so that as you analyze kind of the levers to pull you can have a programmatic approach to it as well so any feedback you have anything that would help me to know what to go prepare for you and then do you want to use your video

I feel like the second question is if we want to use June 30th, it might be a little bit easier. Is this something the governing body would prefer? Sure.

Yeah, I think that would be a good time. And I do like the aspect of having it be in the evening so that people can come in if they so choose.

Me too. I agree.

Okay. I'll prepare for that.

As for the first question, any considerations from the governing body for Jared?

And not so much cuts, like something you are saying now you want to cut, but something you want me to bring you data or information on.

I think for myself, the big thing is like if there is a reduction in city programs, what would that structure look like? What is the cost savings in that? What are the cons that we might have in a reduction of a certain program or service? I can't really think of one that would be impactful to present on because I think they're all impactful. So those are some of my thoughts.

And also maybe just some scenarios of what it could look like flat, up, you know, down. Just, you know, what that could look like with the bottom line to kind of give us an idea of what that bottom number is.

So our final, what we're trying to get to I mean, after all those adjustments that you told us, what we're trying to get to is 2.5 or, well, actually now about 2.7 million is what we're looking at.

And that is the largest it's been in the last few years.

Well, I know last year.

But for getting to the final throws of the budget, it's been less than that for the kind of the final levers to pull. So that's why I expressed that I think this is going to be a more significant conversation for the city commission to consider programmatically rather than just kind of the one timeline of budget to be reduced down.

Mm-hmm.

Well, I know last year it was like $863,000 that we had to try to whittle out. So when I looked at this, it was... I don't know if it's... You kind of mentioned it in the memo that there's items that we've kind of just kept pushing down and it just kind of keeps building. So we either need to... Yeah, we have to do something because it just keeps getting bigger every year.

Delaying pain. Yeah. But the decisions we've been making the last few years have been delaying inevitable pain. And so that's where I think programmatically it's looking at a scope of what we do. Where your expenses have been accelerating at a greater pace than your revenues, you've got to bring the expenses down or increase the revenues. Those have to be in the same trajectory. And so I also have been preparing to look back at the past 10 years during the presentation that the auditors provided where you can see kind of the last 10 years of budget. You notice that five years ago the trajectory went up quite a bit. And so I wanted to kind of paint that picture for you. So I'll prepare in preparation for the next meeting I'll have a little bit of a history for you. I kind of show the 10-year period over administration departments and the different budgets within the general fund. And really looking at the story to that, we point often to the fire department increasing the staff at the third fire station, the airport, increasing the staff for their operational increase, and then the acquisition of the recreation commission combining with the city. The story will tell you. Those are big, big parts of the story as we look at that 10-year look back. But I wanted to be able to quantify that to you and show you kind of staffing numbers along the way as well as just financial impact. There's also some consideration that the pre-meeting for the first meeting in July, we have been working with enterprise fleet management as far as the vehicle acquisition and rotation plan. So we'll present more information to anybody on that, but trying to get a more strategized approach to our vehicles, because that's been one of the cuts that's been made. Over the last few years, we keep pushing out vehicles. That is a pain that's going to continue to increase, and more will have operationally issues with our vehicles when they're not running and not being able to function as service. And so kind of choosing really comes down to, as with the rest of the staff, you pick your poison. You might take care of vehicles through that plan, but then something else has to give to make up the cost for that. So I'll come back with... Here's what an increase would look like for a bill or two. Here's what an increase would look like. Here's the revenue and digital rate target and how much you would have to reduce to get to that, just like we've done in the past years. But as far as kind of the red, green, and yellow levers to pull, there's not a lot of green. Today is kind of the green levers. These are the ones that are saying, hey, the low-hanging fruit, the things you can do that we've done traditionally, Looking at sales tax revenues through today with a better scope than we had in January, we think there's a little ebb and flow there. But just remember that the items are all going to be kind of yellow and red items. There is one point I'll remind you of is that there is a million dollars as a holding spot for the implementation of the PACE that is ongoing. And so what would have been $1.5 million last year is $2.5 million this year because of that million. So there is a very quantifiable... identifier to that piece of this which brings you closer to what kind of the experience would have been last year's budget of finalizing a number but we do believe that's a fairly accurate number for what we'll need or we're close to what we would need to implement or give you the option to implement sooner rather than later if so chosen by the governing body. If you do think of anything else between now and June 30th, if you want to email and shoot me, hey, can you make sure you bring up, you know, what would it cost me to do this? To avoid having a star on my back and saying, hey, guess what, every other department, I'm going to go put your department on blast and say what it costs me. I'll try to be pretty wide-scope and bring you quite a bit of information, especially if it's going to be kind of a work session at that June 30th meeting, and try to quantify different elements of kind of programs and things from the different divisions. Not to identify that that's a recommendation from the Director of the City Manager saying, yes, reduce this, cut this program, let's take this out, but just giving some quantifiable data behind the numbers attributed to those programs so that as you make decisions, you kind of have to know where the high and low limits are for what those impacts would be. NO EASY ANSWERS. ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP YOU HAVE DATA AND INFORMATION, I WANT TO MAKE SURE I'M ABLE TO PROVIDE TO YOU.

I MEAN, THIS IS ALMOST, I MEAN, THIS NUMBER IS LIKE GETTING RID OF LITERALLY A DEPARTMENT IN OUR CITY. SO THIS ONE'S GOING TO BE, YEAH, WHEN I READ THAT AND I KEPT LOOKING AT THAT NUMBER AND I'M LIKE, And, you know, the more I thought about it, it's like, yeah, we've kind of just been kind of pushing this down the road, and the numbers just kept getting bigger. And it got really big really fast this year, so.

But we've been... Right, right.

It's accumulation.

Well, but the community has also grown. Like you said, we've added staff to the airport because we've increased the size of the airport as well as Fire Station 3. So, I mean, it's been intentional, too, by not only this commission but other commissions because the community has grown.

Absolutely. I plan to bring you a lot of information, a lot of data, so just kind of buckle up here. But I feel like more is better than less. That way you have the tools needed for that decision. And then we'll plan on June 30th, having that be somewhat of a work session to give staff an indication. And then your first meeting is July, is where we need to finalize. And you don't have to have a final budget at that point, but what you do want to finalize is... If you're going to exceed the revenue neutral rate, we need to indicate that to the county. And then they publish that notification to citizens and identify a target mill levy rate. You can change from that, but our practice has been to try to put that number, especially to not exceed that number, then be that or lower. And so if you want to follow the same practice, you would indicate kind of your anticipated high lump watermark for what your mill levy allotment would be. And then we would broadcast and publish that. You could always then come back from that. in your final throws of the budget. But you have the meeting a couple meetings in July to then kind of tweak. And our final presentation will be in August for kind of the levers adjusting. And we publish our notification for our hearings at that point with the hearing happening the first meeting of September. So we still have time to make the tweaks. But the indication of what's your target would need to be consolidated and planned by the first meeting of July. Great. Thank you, Jared.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Item 12H is an executive session and we don't anticipate any action needed coming out of that executive session. So if you want to take up the consent agenda item next, the appropriate motion would be to approve items 13A through 13E unless someone's here to talk on one of the environmental code issues.

Is there anyone present for the environmental code nuisances? Seeing none, I move to approve consent agenda items 13A through 13E. Second. There's been a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes. And then before executive session, we will also do our commissioner reports. Vice Mayor Orler.

I enjoyed the pre-meeting. I think it's always... I always appreciate when department heads or when the discussion comes around of always improving the work situation or the working hours for our employees. Because I think it's easy to get complacent. It's easy to just continue to do things the way they are. But to try and help with that work-life balance, I think that was certainly something that I took away from that meeting, which is, you know, as we work really hard to be the employer of choice, sometimes you have to make those changes. And so thanks for presenting that and for all the thought and research that went into it. And so I think that was great. So my competitive eating is done. June 5th is part of National Donut Day for the Salvation Army. I was able to eat 21 out of 25 donut holes in five minutes. Don't ask. It wasn't pretty. And unfortunately, there is video. But congratulations to, I think it was Officer Hall who beat me. He beat all of us. And it was fun to be able to be there with the fire department, the police department, and some of the employees from Randy's Donuts. And then also a little girl who was there who almost beat all of us. She's probably eight years old and she had a strategy. So anyway, but then to counteract all that sugar, being able to help with the brisket judging on Sunday was also something that was fun to do. And I enjoyed Beef Empire Days. I was out of town for a lot of it this year, but I was glad to at least be able to participate in some of the activities that we had this year. I also enjoyed the opportunity to visit with the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine students. I love the fact that THAT SOME OF THEM ARE EVEN, YOU KNOW, CHOOSING TO COME BACK TO GARDEN CITY. YOU KNOW, AFTER THE PRESENTATIONS AND COMING HERE AND DOING THEIR CLINICALS AND DOING SOME OF THEIR ROTATIONS, YOU KNOW, THE FACT THAT THEY'RE AT LEAST CONSIDERING SOUTHWEST KANSAS IS A BENEFIT TO ALL OF US AND, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY when they may not have even ever heard of Garden City before, but to come here and to experience it and to actually know that there's a need for them, that they wouldn't just come here and not be busy. There is a definite need in our community to be able to provide that health care. And then congratulations to Fred Jones, who is the new public works director. It was a great opportunity to be able to be on the stakeholder panel and to interview the applicants. And so, Fred, that was a great choice. And I know that it will be easier for Mike as he retires, knowing that his replacement is there, although nobody will ever replace Mike. It'll just be someone to move that department where it needs to go for the next iteration of public works. That's all I have.

Thank you. Commissioner Canal-Solzano.

Yes, so I can attest to Miss Deb at her donut eating abilities. We were there and she did a great job, thank you. And also it was a pleasure to be part of the brisket judging panel. And also want to recognize or congratulate Fred Jones for his new position. And then also the work being done at the Jameson Water Tower. That is exciting. And I would just want to thank all of our first responders. And thank you for keeping Garden City safe. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Sessa. Just kind of echoing what the other commissioners have already stated, just wanted to mention that Buffalo Dunes Golf Course is having their 50th anniversary celebration on July 2nd. That's at 5 o'clock. Just want to invite everybody out to celebrate that and check out the golf course. Great things going on, not only at the golf course, but around our community. Also had the opportunity to visit with the Kansas College of Osteopathic Students. A lot of them from large cities, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles. But coming to Garden City, they really thought Garden City was really... Some of them thought it was a unique town because a lot of them were looking at rural and being in rural, but they thought it was, you know, we had a lot of the urban setting. And I said, well, if you want to drive five minutes out of town, you're going to be definitely in a rural community. I mean, you're out in the middle of... nowhere, which is in the middle of somewhere, which is in the middle of everywhere. But it's always nice to visit with those students. A lot of them, like Vice Mayor Euler noted, that they're looking at coming to western Kansas in some capacity. So it's always good to hear that they're really taking an opportunity to check us out. And we always put our best foot forward and everything. And congratulations to Fred Jones on being named the Director of Public Works and Utilities. I think he'll do a great job for that department and continue moving it forward in a positive direction. I'm going to be attending the League of Kansas Municipalities Regional Forum in Dodge City tomorrow evening. And that will start at 5 o'clock. But part of their regional tour around Kansas, they go to different communities. So being on the board, I thought it would probably be important that I be at that forum. So that's all I've got. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Landgraf.

Also just echoing what the other commissioner said as well, was able to attend the luncheon with 11 students from all across the United States, being able to tell them kind of what Garden City has to offer and also being able to kind of pick their brain and see what all it is that they're looking for in the community once they get their career started. Kind of what I thought was the most interesting part was a lot of these people had the misconception that Garden City's a tiny town with a very tiny hospital. And so one of my favorite quotes of one of the students said to me was, you know, I started looking around Garden City. I saw you guys have a Target. I saw you guys have a Starbucks. I think I could live here. And so it's just kind of nice being able to hear that sort of stuff from the students. Also, I just want to say congratulations to Fred Jones on his promotion to Public Works and Utilities Director. I just want to also say that you've done an amazing job as a Water Resource Manager. And I know you'll continue to do great work as the Public Works and Utility Director. I know you have big shoes to fill with, Mike. Maybe not literal big shoes, but metaphorical big shoes. But I know you can do it well.

Great. I don't know. Maybe they might be the same size shoes. But yeah, congratulations to Mr. Fred Jones. It's very exciting for us as we see this new shift in leadership, and I think you will do an impactful job for our community. But also, Mr. Mike Muirhead, if retirement gets boring for you, I think you'll be okay as a pro pitcher for the Pecos League. So yeah, I also got to attend the lunch with Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine. Something that I really thoroughly enjoyed was hearing what they desired to build their careers in. what aspect of community, and it literally is having a community-facing place to live in. And for them, I think that is so important and so inspiring for me because if that is what these people are looking for, then I am sure and proud to say that Garden City is a place that offers that too. Somebody that was, I was very upset not to be at the donut eating contest and the brisket judging, but I think one person that failed to be mentioned there was actually Officer Ralston, who came pretty close, I hear. So he and I joked about maybe we need to have our own. donut eating contest and crowned the champion for the whole city as opposed to just the Salvation Army. What a joy. And also, Prayer in Action, an organization that I love, is in town the last two weeks, this week also, and they've garnered about 80 young adults, youth from southwest Kansas, so it's been a joy. If you guys see them out pulling weeds or myself getting a little dirty, please say hi. It It is an incredible joy to serve your community, and I hope that inspires everybody to find a neighbor to help, find somebody around their backyard to love and to serve. But on that, that's all I have. So let's jump back to item 12H.

Thank you, Mayor. Commissioner, I think this executive session, which is a request to go under the statute 7543.19.B.6 pertaining to preliminary discussions relating to the acquisition of real property, I think we estimate 15 minutes, and ask that city attorney, city manager, deputy city manager Burke, public works and utilities director Muirhead, and director of electric operations Chan be included in that executive session.

I'll entertain a motion for this item.

I move to go into executive session pursuant to KSA 754319B6 pertaining to preliminary discussions relating to the acquisition of real property for 15 minutes starting at 2.15, including Jennifer Cunningham, Matt Allen, Danielle Burke, Mike Muirhead, and Jose Chan.

Second. There's been a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes.

Yeah. Yeah, that'll work. No, just extend.

We have left executive session and no binding action was taken. I'll entertain a motion to return to executive session.

I move to return to executive session for 15 minutes.

I'll second. There's been a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes. Our executive session has expired with no items left on the agenda. This meeting is adjourned.