City Council - Regular Meeting

Wichita and good morning to all of you. Welcome to City Hall. We call this meeting to order. With us this morning is Pastor Hyun Yeon Choi of United Methodist Church to provide our invocation. Following that invocation, we will have our Pledge of Allegiance and we ask that you please stand for both.

Thank you, Pastor Choi. Madam Clerk, please call the first item.

May I please ask Cedar Hearst of Wichita to come forward at this time? May I ask Cedar Hurst of Wichita to come forward at this time? May I ask Simply Hygiene to come forward at this time? The proclamation reads, City of Wichita, Kansas founded in 1870. Where as Simply Hygiene, a trusted community-based organization that recognizes the importance of diapers, in promoting children's health and supporting the economic stability of families, is proud to call Wichita home, and works distributing diapers through various channels to meet community needs, including through diaper banks, which play a

May please ask Cedar Hearst of Wichita to come forward at this time. The proclamation reads, the city of Wichita, Kansas founded in 1870, whereas assisted living communities throughout Wichita provide essential housing, care, support, and opportunities for engagement that provide dignity, independence, and quality of life, for older adults and individuals with disabilities. Whereas residents of assisted living communities are valued members of Wichita, whose experiences, accomplishments, and contributions continue to enrich our city and strengthen the generations that follow. Whereas 2026 mark

May I please ask Goodwill Industries of Kansas to come forward at this time. The proclamation reads, the city of Wichita, Kansas, founded in 1870, whereas direct support professionals provide essential services and supports that empower individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live with dignity, independence, and full inclusion in their communities. Whereas direct support professionals play a critical role in helping Wichita residents achieve personal goals, maintain meaningful relationships, participate in community activities, and access opportunities for employment, e

Would anyone in the community like to address the council? If so, please state your name and the district you reside and you will have five minutes.

Thank you, Jack. City Manager, just maybe Sally can address this when we're done with public comment, but I just wanna make sure that they're ready for that. We'll continue with public comment. I see no one else from the community who would like to speak. City Manager, can someone help address what's happening at Chapin Park?

Thank you, Mayor. Steve, can you have a conversation with them and just make sure that the communication lines are open and that we address the issues that they're talking about? All right, thank you, sir. Please have Steve back there in the blue shirt and have that conversation. Thank you, sir.

Madam Clerk, please call the next item. Consent agenda items one through 19. Council members, any items to be pulled from consent agenda? I see none. With that, I move to approve consent agenda. Motion, second. Discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item. Board of Bids and Contracts, dated September 14th, 2026.

Thank you. Questions for staff? Can you go back to slide number seven, please? What will happen with this since all bids were rejected and what was the reason why they were rejected?

And then slide number eight, can you address, or maybe someone from Public Works can address what this renovation will be? Is it both the men's and women's bathrooms? Can you talk about the entire project?

So this will allow for both a family bathroom and is it both the men's and women's? Because if I recall, I just remember the one by the saloon.

Thank you, Lindsay. I have no further questions and I see no further questions from the council. With that, I move to approve the Board of Bids and Contracts. Motion second, discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item. Petitions for Public Improvements.

Thank you, Paul. Questions for staff? I see none. I move to approve the petitions for public improvement. Second. Motion second. Discussion? See none. Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Thank you, Corey. I'll just have Angela just tell us about this project so that the community knows of the intention between this new facility or renovated facility and Century Two.

Thank you, Angela. I see no further questions from the council. I just wanted to say thank you for meeting with each of us and going over this project and what it meant to get a sales tax exemption. I think it gets often misunderstood what an IRB is. We are not lending you $20 million, but this is your opportunity to get a sales tax exemption, not a property tax exemption, and again, not borrowing money from the City of Wichita. Council Member Johnston.

Angela, I just want to congratulate you and your team on a great season. Thank you. A fabulous season. My wife and I very much enjoyed it. Last one especially was fantastic. So nice to have Chris Mann back home and big time New York talent back home to perform. So it was wonderful.

Yeah. I see no further questions. Thank you, Angela and Corey. We will now open it up for public comment on this item.

I see no one else from the public who would like to speak. We will close public comment and bring it back to the bench. With that, this resides in Council Member Ballard's district.

Thank you, Mayor. Angela, thank you for being here. And I, too, got to go to Les Mis last week. It was incredible. So kudos to you and all of your team. With that, I would close the public hearing, adopt a resolution, and authorize unnecessary signatures.

Motion second. Discussion? See none. Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Thank you, Andrew. Questions for staff, beginning with Councilmember Hohaisel.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Andrew. I appreciate your work on this. Does the HIAC, do they vote or is it more providing comments on these plans?

Okay. What, was there any, what were any concerns that they had towards any of this?

Okay, I just had to add that question because when we had received the survey here a couple of weeks ago, there were a few people on there that had talked about Blue Cross Blue Shield, for example, maybe being their preferred method. So I didn't know if that made its way to the HIAC or if that was an issue they pushed on or if that was just not the majority of the employees felt that way. So just a couple of kind of clarifying questions around that. Was that discussed at all?

Okay, so it's just adjustments within the current health plan.

Thank you so much, Mayor, and thank you to the HR department. And also want to just give once again my gratitude to both the HR department and our city manager for working to add in that short-term disability. I think that is a game changer. And to my knowledge, this is a new benefit that we've added in, which is certainly going to help folks who are dealing with an unexpected emergency, an illness, or some other condition. My question is when it comes to the conditions that qualify for short-term disability, we know that pregnancy or an unexpected illness for that employee qualifies, but what

Thank you, I appreciate it. Again, I think this is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, in following years i really hope to see paid family leave as a part of a benefit as well many of our employees have aging parents and they need to step away to take care of those parents a lot of folks are starting families be it the non-traditional route that many of us are used to but for me i hope to become a father in my life one day and go through an adoption process That's a lengthy process, taking time in the legal side of things, too, for that. And so being mindful that the family unit looks ve

Thank you, Mayor. I know we talked about the employee, employee plus one, and family. For the dental, you do have an employee, an employee plus one, and family. And can you tell me the thinking? I could guess, maybe. Maybe you want to keep the family coverage a little bit less expensive, which it would do. Why would you not go to an employee, an employee plus one, and family?

Thank you very much for that insight. I'm actually looking at those survey results right now. Number one was rate of pay. Number two was rate of merit. Number three was insurance coverage. Four was retirement. Five was insurance cost share. Six was vacation accrual rates carryover balances. And number seven was employee plus one medical coverage. So I am just trying to give context to that question. My question is about benchmarking. Knowing that obviously the highest amount cost is personnel. We want to make sure that we're meeting the needs of our employees. If employees want better pay and

Thank you again, Andrew. And just to finish out those numbers, number seven was employee plus one. Number eight was longevity pay. Number nine was other. Ten was comp time. Eleven was maternity paternity leave. And number 12 was tuition reimbursement. So thank you again for that presentation. I did have just one more, and that was in regards to the portion about prescriptions and obesity and wanted to know, does that mean Ozempic GLP ones are covered in the city's insurance?

I see no further questions from the Council. We will now open it up for public comment. I see no one from the public who would like to speak on this item. I will bring it back to the bench. With that, I will move to approve the recommended premium equivalents for the 2027 group health and dental plans and approve the inclusion of Tria Health's clinical pharmacy program, voluntary short-term disability income insurance, voluntary accident indemnity insurance and authorized staff to negotiate the terms and the necessary signatures.

Motion second, discussion? See none, Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item. Translation and interpreter services.

Thank you, Nathan. Questions for staff, beginning with Councilmember Shepherd.

Thank you, Mayor. Nathan, thank you so much. A couple of questions. Is the interpretation services both written and verbal?

Thank you. And then I noticed several languages here, especially the three spoken not just in Wichita, but in our county, both English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, so I'm happy to see that we're providing that. I'm curious, because I had an interaction with HOT Monday, actually, where there was an individual who was deaf. Do we provide a translation services for sign language, American Sign Language?

I appreciate that. And that stems to my next question. We have a growing blind and visually impaired population, too, in the city. So how do we accommodate for those who are blind and visually impaired and they need Braille?

I appreciate that. That's why I asked about the verbal and written communication because I know that there's oftentimes a lot of documentation that comes along when you're going through a court proceeding to include the initial citation. And so I'm just wondering how that might work with somebody who has a blind or visual impairment

Final question. I saw that the Innovative Interlingual Solutions LLC was a small business, but I couldn't find anything on foreign language interpreter services?

Thank you, Nathan. I see that both of these are 67207 is where Foreign Language Interpreter Services is located, and Innovative Interlingual Solutions is in 67218. So both are local firms. So thank you very much for that. I see no further questions. With that, we will open it up for public comment. I see no one from the public who would like to speak on this item. I'm going to bring it back to the bench. With that, I will move to approve the contracts with Foreign Language Interpreter Services Inc. and Innovative Interlingual Solutions LLC, authorize necessary signatures and approve any necess

Thank you, Mark. Questions for staff? I see none. Thank you. We'll open it up for public comment. I see none. I'll bring it back to the bench. With that, I will move to ratify the award of the bids by the city manager for each series of bonds and notes. Adopt the bond ordinance on a declaration of emergency basis. Adopt the bond and note resolutions and authorize the necessary signatures. Motion second. Discussion? See none. Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

GREG BRUDNICKI Thank you, Reggie. We'll go with questions from the Council first. Councilman Johnston. COUNCILMAN JOHNSTON Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Uh, Reggie, thank you very much for your work. I appreciate it. My wife and I ride this trail a lot. So, uh, interesting. So, Prairie Travelers is in charge of any washouts and stuff on the, on the path.

Okay, I know it hadn't rained for a long time, but this spring there were several places that did wash out. So, fairly well repaired. Not great, but fairly well. Um, question for you. Long term, is there, are there plans to go over the big ditch with the, with the path or not?

To get over the big ditch, because it stops right there at Hoover. So, that'd be key in connecting that path to the Redbud Trail.

Thank you. Mayor Ruggie, can we just go back to the delineation of duties slide? okay so let's say that someone people know how to use the city app to be able to report graffiti right now so let's say that someone sees graffiti on the trail what is do they still use the city app to be able to report that and then we reach out to prairie travelers because i don't want to get maybe in a situation where someone feels they report a homeless encampment to the city of wichita but then maybe they have to report graffiti or

Thank you, Mayor. And I appreciate this agreement and working with volunteers who want to contribute to the city. Reggie, my question is particularly as it relates to the responsibilities of PTI. Are there any duties that come at a significant cost or any cost at all to them? The reason why I ask that is because in Section 11, in the default section of the contract, It mentions that if a default exists the city may terminate this agreement at any time given PTI written notice of intention to terminate this agreement on a date specified therein. And it goes on to say if all defaults have not be

So this agreement is for 10 years. Is that standard for MOUs of this kind?

So this is separate from the conversation at PTI but still germane to the topic of MOUs with volunteer groups. Because I recall one of my first meetings there was another volunteer group who I believe cleans up the river. I know that that may or may not be in the park area. But one of the things that they were asking for is free parking on the days that they were cleaning up the river. So given this MOU, I'm assuming we also have an MOU with other entities that maintain public spaces. How can one go about engaging with the city about an MOU of this kind?

As a follow up question about adopt a park, how many neighborhoods have done such a thing? And I remember I sent you an email a few weeks ago. Someone was interested in helping out in adopting a park. What's that process like?

It would be nice if you could send an email to the council just to know which districts have adoptive park or active adoptive park programs. Sure. Thank you. With that, I see no further questions. Thank you, Reggie. We will now open it up for public comment. I see no...

Thank you, Gwen. Council Member Johnston.

Gwen, I just want to thank you and your organization for everything you do. It makes it very enjoyable for those of us who do ride it. And I do see a lot of people on that trail. So thank you for your work.

Thank you. And if people don't know, Goddard's a good stopping point because there's restrooms and water there and repair stations. So it's a wonderful trail. Thank you.

thank you again i see no further comments we'll close public comment and bring it back to the bench i just want to say thank you again to gwen and the volunteers that is exactly what i love seeing is community members adopting a portion of their community and making it better you do that i've seen it throughout this weekend people doing that in our downtown core and other areas of our community so Thank you, Gwen, and to your volunteers also. This resides in Councilmember, Vice Mayor, Glass-Cox District.

Thank you, Mayor. I also want to echo the sentiments, Gwen. Thank you for your investment in Prairie Travelers. I'm often on the trail. That's where I train for my marathon and triathlon, and it's the perfect distance. It's 13 miles to Garden Plain and back. And so it was a great escape and I think it showcases the beauty, especially of West Central County. In addition, I love that it connects to our park system at Pawnee Prairie Park. And I don't want to start a fight up here, but Pawnee Prairie Park is by far the most beautiful place in the city, especially with the preservation of nature in

Second. Motion second. Discussion? See none. Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item. Contracts for command vehicles.

Thank you, Captain Cooley. Questions for staff, beginning with Council Member Hohaisel.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Captain. Is there a recommended lifespan for the bomb squad vehicle, or does it undergo inspections that have to keep it up to a certain standard?

So when we put it up for sale, who's most likely to buy these? Smaller communities or...

Okay. The command vehicle you talk about, it has multi-agency ability. So how, how does that work? Do we pre-program it with some of our neighbors? You know, their, their radios for Mulvane, for example. How do we work that inter-agency ability? Is there an MOU that comes with it? I'm just curious about that whole process.

And so we have the fire command vehicle as well. So let's take the tornado in Andover here recently, for example, or a couple years ago. Would both of the command vehicles be out there for that particular event?

Okay. Is this a group discount for all of this or are these parsed through individually?

Okay. Thank you. That's all for now. Thank you.

I have several questions, Captain Cooley. editing purposes, it actually was the October 21st meeting in 2025, not October 15th. So on October 21st, 2025, it passed unanimously. This council minus Council Member Shepherd, at that point was Council Member Johnson, it passed 7-0 to approve this. And at that time, that budget was 3.25 million. That included a SWAT incident vehicle that has since been purchased. Are you telling me that now it is under budget from what the council approved back on October 21st?

Can you tell me between the command vehicle and the two mobile community outreach vehicles, the differences in sizes versus even the fire department's big command vehicle?

And can you talk about the reason why a command vehicle that is smaller than the one that the fire department currently operates out of North Meridian, why in a lot of Wichita streets that are much more narrow, why the nimbleness of a command vehicle versus a mobile community outreach vehicle would be necessary?

So currently the police department does not have a command vehicle?

I know that there have been images on social media of what looks like a command vehicle with the Wichita Police Department. Can you just address what those images may be? Because it is not a command vehicle, correct?

And again, going back to my original question of this is under budget of what was requested back on October 21st, 2025. Can you share if you guys have attempted to try to get any federal grants regarding these four vehicles? And if not successful, can you share what the federal grants have said regarding these requests?

And last question, is this the highest need for the police department right now, these four vehicles?

Thank you, Captain Cooley. Vice Mayor Glasscock.

Thank you, Mayor. I have just a few questions. In terms of utilization, how many times do we project to use the command vehicle?

Okay. In terms of priority listing, I imagine it's BOM unit, command unit, mobile units. Would that be a fair assessment?

Lastly, how does this work in relation to the EOC on Main Street if we're having a unit disposed somewhere else that would likely take away some of the WPD officials at the EOC? Can you elaborate what that relationship would be?

Thank you so much, Mayor. You may have already answered this, but clarify for me again, if you've already stated or share what opportunities for cost sharing or mutual benefit agreements. I know when you've come before us last time, we talked about the SWAT vehicle. You talked about other jurisdictions maybe being able to utilize that. Is that the case for what you're requesting today as well? Is that an option?

I love what the green sheet talks about in regards to making sure that it's available at community events because I think when we think about public safety and of course how we bridge the gap between our police officers and maybe some of our community that quite frankly just may not feel as comfortable with police for whatever reason I think this is a unique opportunity to shift from formal engagement right where you may not have a good interaction with the police officer to maybe informal engagement. We know that. I looked it up. Florida does it. A lot of other places do it. So it sounds like

That's just something that's really heavy on my mind because I think it's a great opportunity, but if you don't have the staffing, which is a separate conversation, but they do link together, I want to see that vehicle utilized to the best of its capability, especially in my district where I know in particular areas there is a heightened level of distrust. And I hear it all the time. And my goal is to help close that gap. And I think we have to close that gap. And I think this is a unique opportunity to, one, expose folks to the police department, and maybe they have a future career with the p

I see no further questions from the council. Thank you, Captain Cooley. We will now open it up for public comment on this item.

Thank you, Sarah. We'll continue with public comment.

You can direct your comments at us, and then we'll give you five minutes.

I don't think we had any images in our packet. Captain Cooley, can you address the images of these vehicles?

with the best way to i know that community wants to conceptualize what this looks like you said illinois state police yeah command vehicle yeah okay and it's again a box truck for the command vehicle whereas the community outreach vehicles i think you alluded to an ambulance looking

Thank you. We'll continue with public comment.

Make sure I get a lot of the questions you guys already asked.

If I see none, I will close public comment and bring it back to the bench. I do have a couple of follow-up questions, Captain Cooley. I'm looking again at the agenda from October 21st, 2025. And that agenda broke down exactly the budget for each of the vehicles. And for the bomb squad, it was 700,000, so this new figure is 661,800, so under that budget for the bomb squad. For the police mobile command vehicle, a budget of $1.25 million. This new command vehicle, the number is 879,000. Can you share the discrepancy here? I like numbers that are below the budget, of course, but what was the scop

But the one that does have a discrepancy is the mobile operations vehicles. The allotted budget was 700,000, and I would assume it's for two of them, so 350,000 each, whereas now the new mobile community outreach vehicles are 427,800. Can you share the difference?

Um, and I'm gonna ask the questions from a couple of our public agenda or public comment individuals. What is the maintenance plan regarding these 4 vehicles?

And then the other question, I understand that we have four bureaus to separate the city into quarters, but this would be two community outreach vehicles to separate the city in half. Correct. And one of the public comments was, have we thought about providing a pilot program first to debut this vehicle? Has that been thought about by the police department?

If there was any misinformation or disinformation, can you please address those?

I see no further comments from this bench. Okay, I did get some clarification. The photo that was emailed to the council, that is the negotiator truck. It's a white vehicle. with the letters Wichita Police Department. There are no computers, no workstations, and no tables in this white truck, so it is not a command vehicle. The other one was I also wanted to make sure that we had the accurate length of the fire department's command vehicle, and that was 45 feet. So again, the fire department's command vehicle is very large. It goes even outside of the region, 45 feet. The command vehicle that

Thank you, Jerry. Before we begin, I would love to hear from Lynette if you could just talk about the expansion or the proposed expansion. I think that, again, it is such an exciting opportunity for our community. That area of Botanica has obviously gone through a lot of renovation with the amphitheater as well. Can you just talk about the proposed expansion?

Thank you, John. I see no further. We see Councilmember Joseph Shepard.

Thank you. Lynette, I'm just wondering if maybe you can speak to the work that you all also do outside of Botanica to get young people engaged in, you know, getting their hands dirty and planning things. I had the opportunity to attend an event at Allison Middle School. where Botanica partnered with USD 259 to beautify the school. Maybe talk about some of those projects as well.

Thank you, you said something that really resonates with me and it's how do we get to yes? I love that because the students came to you all and said we have this vision and you didn't say we don't have the capacity, this is not something we normally do, we've always done it this way, you said how do we get to yes and how do we leverage our resources to get students who may never walk through the doors of Botanica to actually understand the great work that you all do Thank you for your vision. Super excited about the curriculum and the work with 259 schools. We need more of that.

Thank you. Thank you Lynette. I see no further questions for either you or Jerry. We will now open it up for public comment.

We'll continue with public comment. I see none, I'm gonna bring it back to the bench. This resides in Council Member Maggie Ballard's district.

Thank you, Mayor. Lynette, I have a question. There's been some questions about, are you moving the entrance from Botanica? There's been some questions about that and if that will interfere with the area that you're talking about potentially leasing.

Does anyone else have any questions? Okay, well I am very excited about this. So appreciate you being forward thinking and doing the work potentially for asking for a longer lease that would open up doors for additional funding for you all. So with that, I approve the lease agreement and authorize the necessary signatures.

Motion, second. Discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Thank you, Reggie. Questions for staff? I'm going to begin with this. This is a $20 million project. How much has been committed so far by private donations?

Who will be leading the capital campaign fundraising when it comes to those private dollars?

And currently, the only city taxpayer dollars in this $20 million project is $500,000 from the 2027-2035 CIP. Is that accurate?

I want to make sure that the CIP dollars do not get... So I want to know, what are the... stipulations right now so that city dollars don't come into play until a certain dollar amount has been raised. This $20 million project, again, is of concern to me because I don't know how many dollars really will be coming into the city when it comes to private dollars outside of Wichita or inside of Wichita to fund this project. And so I don't want to jeopardize taxpayer dollars in the tune of half a million dollars until there's a certain threshold that is met. Has that been identified yet?

And I see on here the Wichita Parks Foundation. Are they going to be also involved in the fundraising effort? Because this says through the Wichita Parks Foundation.

Thank you. This is just the application. If we get awarded the grant, it has to come back to us. And at that point, could we have the conversation about funding exerted on how much capital is fundraised at that point as well?

Thank you so much. I would like to know what the precedent is on projects like this. I appreciate maybe some of the consternation that I'm hearing from some of my colleagues as it relates to raising the private capital for other projects. Has that been the standard before initiating any funds from the CIP for the total project? Thank you for asking.

Thank you, City Manager. And the $500,000 that's in the CIP is for the design concept, correct?

And so my question again is, are there other projects that we have had where we have initiated the use of those CIP funds for design and concept to paint the vision? And withholding these funds, would that be different from the standard process we followed in the past?

Thank you. Are there currently any capital campaign projects currently going on that have not been completed, that have been initiated in the past?

And can you clarify for the public record how long has that project been going on?

Okay, and so this would be a newer project, and $500,000 has been allocated in the CIP for concept and design, which is more money than I'm hearing has been allocated to a current existing project.

Okay, thank you. And the ongoing conversations with the group that you're meeting with, you mentioned that it's Barry Sanders family. What role are they playing in the conversation as it relates to building out the framework before you move beyond the silent phase to a public phase? Because in a capital campaign, there's silent fundraising, which is standard. And then once you hit a certain threshold, then you move to the public phase. So what discussions are happening right now with that group as you build out what it will look like when you move to the public face.

So Reggie, I hear that Barry Sanders, national figure, is willing to use his name and likeness to help with the fundraising component of this project.

Do we know, historically, has there ever been a national figure willing to be involved at this level to assist in fundraisings for a public project like this?

Final comment for you in the vision that we have for this. How will this benefit folks outside of the targeted area, which falls within District 1? And then also, how will it help with tourism, if in any way at all, to attract folks from outside of the city into the city?

Thank you, Reggie. I do see some of my other colleagues on the board, so I want to be mindful, but last question I have for you right now. When we met, I asked, this is a lot of money. It's going to take a lot of time, potentially, and I believe in the vision, but I asked, is there another location where assets currently already exist that might complement those assets? Given the vision, can you answer, have you identified another location that may be complementary to maybe what's already going on in that area? I'm thinking of McAdams Park, we have the Carlborough Community Center, we have Lea

Thank you. Thank you, Reggie, for all your work on this. I just have a quick question because I want to make sure I understand, okay? So if it's in here and I'm not interpreting it correctly or you've mentioned it, sorry about that. So we're going to be asking for $10 million in this application, is that correct? And it's a one-to-one match, so if we are awarded $10 million, we have to match it with $10 million. That is correct. The $500,000 that's allocated in the CIP can be a part of that, so it's $9.5 million that needs to be raised if this grant is awarded.

Okay. So the grant is awarded. It says notification of the awards will be in May 1, 2027, correct? That's correct. So between now and May 1, we potentially need to raise 9.5 million?

So we wouldn't have to have the additional, the total 10 million by May 1? Okay. But it could also be an opportunity for fundraising to say, look, you know, you've talked about giving, maybe this could be a pressure point for individuals or organizations who are interested to say, help us meet our matching goal. Yes. I'm assuming. Okay. And then... Who actually will do like the asks or is that, I know that question kind of come up, I just want to make sure that I understand. Is it Park and Rec?

Okay, that's great. And it's kind of, I'm going to use a similar situation, not near to the financial scale, but when we were looking for improvements at Stryker, we found a naming opportunity, and then, you know, that organization, now it's the Shields Stryker Multisports Complex, and then the partnership that we have with them helps to fund the improvements that we need at Stryker along the way. So it's kind of a similar situation in some ways where Park and Rec got all the information ready and then we went with the ask. Okay, I just wanted to make sure I had it right, thank you.

I have a question about, since there will be a one-to-one match, if $9.5 million is not able to be raised, will then the city be on the hook for whatever the remainder is?

when do you expect to start utilizing the design costs so obviously we won't find out about this award which i'm in favor of trying to get some grant dollars into the community however i'm very cognizant that this is a very competitive application process and 10 million is not guaranteed 10 million is the hope um what when in timing will you be doing design uh allocation for this.

So when do you think you would start asking? Because you have to come back to the council to ask for the $500,000 to be initiated. When are you expecting to do that when the notification for awards for this grant will be May 1st of 2027?

Thank you very much. That's what I wanted to make sure that if my vote yes in favor of this application does not put us, does not commit us to utilizing the $500,000 starting January 1 of 2027. That's what I wanted to make sure of. Is that accurate? Yes. This won't be until after, if we get received this grant, would the $500,000 then be initiated? Is that accurate?

Thank you so much. And Reggie, I just wanted to clarify from my point of view that this isn't the only funding that we're going after. So to make the initiation of the $500,000 contingent on this grant, I would reject that. I don't think that that's wise at all. I know that there are several conversations that you and the committee are having with very very um integral components and companies that are interested in this project and i think it's important that this would be in addition to what is already kind of in motion it is not the end-all be-all we're not hanging everything up on this par

I see no further questions from the council. Thank you, Reggie. We will now open it up for public comment. I see no one from the public who would like to speak on this item. I'm going to bring it back to the bench. This resides in Councilmember Joseph Shepard's district.

Thank you, Mayor. I move that we authorize staff to submit the ORLP grant application and authorize the necessary signatures. Second.

Motion second. Discussion? See none. Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call. Actually, yes. We're gonna take a 10 minute break and return at 1225. Let's say 1225. Thank you.

Thank you, Penny. Are there any colleagues, or any questions for my colleagues? Seeing none, we'll open it to public comment. Is there anybody from the public that would like to speak on this agenda item? Seeing none, we'll bring it back to the bench. Also seeing none, is there a motion to approve this item? So moved. Okay. Is there a second? Second. Okay. All in favor, or Madam Clerk, can you call the roll? Motion passes six to zero with one abstention. Madam Clerk, next item.

Thank you, Penny. We'll start with Councilmember Heisler.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Penny. I appreciate it. Do we have a, if we get this grant, do we have a priority as far as which bus stops receive shelters and improvements, ADA accessibility?

Okay, I appreciate that. It was pretty, not an alarm, but just taking it back to learn just how much it costs to put a covered stop in, all the regulations that you have to go through and whatnot. So I do appreciate that. The second question, if we do get the funding for the 14 additional hybrid buses, what percentage of our fleet would be hybrid or electric?

Council Member Johnston. Thank you. Just talk a little bit about the ongoing maintenance cost and fuel cost. How much fuel will it save over a traditional bus?

Thank you. I see no other questions from my colleagues, so we'll open it up to the public. Is there anybody from the public that would like to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll bring it back to the bench. Seeing that there's no discussion, Penny, I would just say I noticed the need for this when I was riding along with Andrew Crane, especially at some of the bus stations without covers on them. And so I'm really appreciative of this and know the need for it now more than I did previously. Councilmember Shepherd.

Thank you so much. I want to echo the sentiments of you, Vice Mayor, but also say welcome back, Penny. We're excited to have you back. Your presence was missed, and because of the great work that you do, but also just know that you care deeply about the work that you do, and so welcome back. We're excited to have you.

Fantastic. Seeing nobody else on the board, I would make the motion to adopt the resolution, authorize the necessary budget adjustments, and authorize the necessary signatures. Second. A motion and a second. Madam Clerk, can you call the roll? Motion passes 6-0 with one absent. Madam Clerk, next item.

Thank you, Andrew. We'll start with questions from the Council. Council Member Shepard.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Andrew, well done. I am curious, as it relates to the Way to Work program, I've had the opportunity to engage with many of those young people, some of which who actually were working in-house. An amazing and remarkable experience for them How or are there any limitations to expand it year-round?

Yeah, I love that. Would you be able to give me a number on how much it would cost to continue it for specifically those who are justice involved?

I know that we've allocated some of those violence prevention funds for next fiscal year, and so I'm wondering if there's an opportunity to connect that with the Way to Work program, specifically for those who are justice involved. I mean, those are the people that we're trying to target with the violence prevention funds. We know that they are most at risk to either go into a crime, but we are trying to deter that, and I think one of the best ways we can do that is keep them working. Absolutely. I appreciate you. Thank you.

I see no other colleagues on the board, so we'll go to the public and open for public comment. Is there anybody from the public that would like to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll bring it back to the bench. I don't see any colleagues on the board as well, so I'll make the motion that we close the public hearing, approve the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report, and authorize submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Second. Okay, with the motion and second, Madam Clerk, can you call the roll? Oh, it's me, okay. And then one other. Council Membe

Okay, we'll start with questions from the council. Seeing none, we'll go to the public. Is there anybody from the public that would like to speak on this? Seeing none, we'll take it back to the council. Seeing there's no one on the board, I'll make the motion that we receive and file the HUD Recovery Agreement Status Update and Public Housing Disposition Update Report. Second. The motion is second. Madam Clerk, can you call the roll? Motion passes. Six to zero with one absent. Madam Clerk, can you call the next item?

Fantastic. We'll start with appointments. Is there anybody that has appointments today?

Vice Mayor, I do. I would like to appoint Joseph Tex Dozier to the Wichita Library Board. Tex has served as the chair of the District 1 Advisory Board for quite some time. Sad to see him go. He's been a phenomenal leader for the District 1 Advisory Board. He'll term out there in March, but we have identified that his service is still needed to the city, and he wants to continue to serve. So I'm proud to make the motion to appoint him to the Wichita Library Board.

Great. I have one as well, and it's Deanne Graham for the District 4 Sister Cities representative. Seeing no one else, I'll make a motion to approve both appointments. there a second second okay uh let's go with councilman johnson um and all in favor just say aye all opposed the same sign now we'll go to council member comments or any comments from anybody the bench council member ballard thank you i hope to see every single one of you at my district 6 coffee um on saturday nine o'clock evergreen

okay thank you comments council member total thank you one of my favorite days of the year and i hope city manager marshall you'll be able to join us this year open streets ict if it wasn't for covid this would be our 10th year anniversary we started open streets ict as a way for people to become connected to get out to get downtown We went to a conference, it was before I was in council, a few of us went to a conference from Park and Rec and some community members and learned about the concept and brought it back and I think at first people thought we were maybe a little over ambitious and we

council member shepherd thank you and speaking of the open street september 19th for folks who want to see me do a dry try with orange theory fitness in downtown wichita we'll be doing it outside so spectators can watch it is at nine o'clock though so maybe you want to go and hang out with maggie and then come over to orange theory still trying to get council member johnston and vice mayor glasscock to commit to doing it with me um and maybe even city manager marcel at some point so

If I didn't have bikes, we have bikes and breakfast for Kuala Lumpur Clinic at the same time. If I didn't have that, I'd be... I'll explore the option.

What I try is Orange Series. I think you do like 2,000 rows. You do a mile on the tread, and then you do some lifting as well. You want to come?

Okay, seeing there are no other comments, I make a motion to adjourn. Okay, all in favor say aye. Aye. And all opposed the same.