City Council - Regular Meeting

Good morning, staff. Can you please roll the video?

Good morning to all of you and good morning, Wichita. Thank you for joining us for this week's City Council meeting. I will call this meeting to order. With us this morning is Pastor Conn Howerton of Temple Baptist Church to provide our invocation. Following that invocation, we will have our Pledge of Allegiance and we please ask you to stand for both.

Thank you, Pastor Howerton. Madam Clerk, can you please call the first item?

Council members, any items to be edited from the minutes? I see none. With that, I will move to approve the minutes for the regular meeting of October 6th, 2026. Second motion. Second discussion. See none. Madam clerk, please open the role. I, I believe we also have council member and vice mayor Glasscock online right now. Is that accurate?

He is able to hear us and they are waiting for him to be able to speak to us as well, but he is on and I will ask for his vote. I just don't want it to reflect that he's absent because he is here. So we'll go with 6-0. Councilmember slash Vice Mayor Glasscock is online, though, right now, so not absent. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

May I please ask the individuals with Wichita Thunder to please come forward at this time?

The proclamation reads, the city of Wichita, Kansas, founded in 1870, whereas for 35 years, the Wichita Thunder Hockey Club has stood as a proud source of community pride, entertainment, and shared spirit for the citizens of Wichita and the surrounding region. Whereas since first taking the ice in 1992, the Wichita Thunder has created cherished memories for generations of fans while contributing significantly to the cultural vibrancy and economic vitality for our community. Whereas the 2026-2027 season marks the 35th anniversary season of the Wichita Thunder, commemorating three and a half dec

May police ask Family Promise of Greater Wichita to come forward and Council Member Maggie Ballard.

I'm excited to see all of you here. Right, this is the proclamation of the city of Wichita, Kansas, founded in 1870. Whereas family homelessness and housing insecurity remain a growing yet often unseen crisis affecting children and parents throughout our community who are striving to overcome barriers to safe and stable housing, reminding us that every child deserves the security, dignity, and opportunity that come with having a place to call home. And whereas Family Promise of Greater Wichita proudly celebrates its 10th anniversary this October, marking a decade of empowering families with ch

May I please ask Bike Walk Wichita and Council Member Becky Tuttle to come forward at this time.

Good morning, it's my privilege to be able to read a proclamation for Walktober. I've been involved in this for almost two decades, so very excited. So today, a proclamation of the City of Wichita, Kansas, founded in 1870. Whereas Bike Walk Wichita, in partnership with the City of Wichita and numerous community organizations, proudly recognizes Walktober each October as a celebration of walking and many ways it enhances health, safety, and connectiveness of our Wichita community. And whereas walking is an accessible and inclusive form of physical activity, transportation that supports both phy

Thank you, Kelly, and thank you to school board member Albert. We'll start with Councilmember Shepherd.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you for being here and all the support that you are providing to our public schools. You mentioned potentially the law enforcement pathway, which I'm really excited about. I know that you all have a pathway into fire at South High. My nephew attends South High. With that being said, I'm curious, how are you all ensuring that that pathway is smooth? Because I know that in speaking with our fire department, there may be some things that we can do on our end to ensure that they have like the EMT training and different things of that nature to just, once they graduate,

Mayor, with the follow-up? so i've been hearing some folks might be torn on this i'm a yes yes it's it's a no-brainer for me i think we need to be supporting our public schools and i know how important it is to invest in our public schools what would you tell arm us with the knowledge that we can give to someone who may be on the fence and or may be hesitant to support this

Thank you, Mayor. Kelly, thanks for being here. As you know, one of my sons, Jake, works for you. And he is the principal at Krista McCullough. And so I hear about that issue all the time. I bet. What a mess it is. And so actually one of my best friends lives just a block east of Krista McCullough, District 2. And he tells me how much of a mess it is, too. So in that respect, I very much support it. And I hope it does well. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. This will be my last comment on this. And I've had the opportunity to listen to this discussion, follow along on the Board of Education meetings, really inspired by Diane Albert, who has been a real voice of reason in this conversation. Thank you for your support and really trying to strike a balance of how important this conversation is. So I'll just say this. When we talk about investing in public education, we have to look beyond this bond issue being just a building. We must ask whether we are preparing our children for a strong future given the current condition of many

Kelly, I'll just end with a question I have for you. As you know, you mentioned that this failed in February of 2025 and a city sales tax also failed in March of this year. What learnings have you had Since that failure last year, and you mentioned this, the yes was 13,889 people. The no was 14,208 people. That's a total of 28,097 people voting out of the 200,333 registered voters at that time. That voter turnout was 14%. What have you learned from that failure last year to this year?

Sorry, I have one follow-up and that's simply because I know a lot of people received this and we got it right here on our dais. This was not provided by Wichita Public Schools. Can you explain the difference between what Wichita Public Schools can do versus the campaign, I guess?

Can you just high level because I think a lot of folks may not know about future readies. This council has had the opportunity to tour the various future readies. There's a future ready in advanced manufacturing, a future ready in healthcare, and a future ready in IT. Can you just explain for folks that may not have gone to one of the public schools recently what future readies are?

And I'm sorry, I do have one more question because you, started the conversation with a declining enrollment. Can you just share the challenge that you have? Because I actually have what you provided us, which was the district at a glance, or you provided me back in 2022, 2023. 47,500 and now what is that enrollment and can you explain what's going on?

Sorry, actually someone texted me a question that I was gonna take the opportunity to ask you, I'm sorry. They just said, can you explain how the classrooms will accommodate the influx of students moving into School like the schools that are closing or consolidating How will those schools adapt with the kids that are going to be kind of moving around a little bit? And then can you talk about what schools? Regardless of the bond will be closing.

council member shepherd final question thank you for bringing up low overture and sharing that information i i'm not sure a lot of my colleagues have had the opportunity to engage and as you know the mou is on the agenda for later today um it's closing regardless of the bond right right yep can you say that one more time it's closing regardless of the bond thank you can you also speak to a little which is within close proximity to Little Richard. I just want to paint the full picture for folks about the impact that it would have on that community.

Thank you, Kelly. Great questions. Appreciate it.

Madam Clerk, can you please call the next item?

Thank you, Walt. Council Member Hoheisel.

Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate you coming up and expressing your point of view, Walt. We know that public school is the hardest to educate. It's one of the things that makes our country unique is the fact that we try and educate every student. So I guess I would ask you, especially with the number of people moving out of the district or going to other schools, do you think that voting no on the bond issue will actually help? Our children help educate our children.

Well, I hear you. And what you're talking about is structural reform. But at the same time, having the infrastructure to educate our children as a taxpayer, as a property tax, or somebody who pays property taxes, a homeowner, and as somebody who has children in our educational system. I do want to make sure that they have all the infrastructure that they need. So I think there's a separating the issue from structural reforms that you're talking about as opposed to the infrastructure that we need.

Well, I know with climate change and the raising of temperatures, 90 degrees, 100 degrees into September, there's a need for air conditioning. And I also know when we took a look at Jardine, because we were looking at making that a community center, by our standards, that was $20 million in maintenance that it needed to be caught up on. So that's one school. So I, again, I appreciate you coming up and

We're talking about our kids getting air conditioning, not private residents. And that falls on all of us to ensure that they have a safe... place that they can actually focus on education, and I do believe air conditioning is part of that.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, please call the next individual.

Thank you, Ben. Madam Clerk, please call the next individual.

Mr. Fletcher? I see none. We will now open it up for three individuals who would like to speak before the council.

Thank you, Charlie. We have space for two more individuals if anyone would like to speak.

Thank you, Mayor Karen. So good to see you. Appreciate your passion. Have had opportunity to see your passion for a very long time now. So I know when you come forward and you talk about these things, you're not. It's not performative outreach and and I certainly understand where you're coming from. I'm looking through my email, though, and I don't it may have gone to junk. Our server is very. too good at times at bumping things to junk, but I'd be happy to come out and take you up on that drink on your porch. And I've also been in the area. I've been in conversation with Public Works. Actuall

Here, and I also wanted to echo Councilman Shepard's remarks that I did not get your email. So if you could re-forward that. I found you on Facebook Messenger, so I sent you my email, but I would love to come out and maybe Joseph and I can come out at the same time.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to reiterate, I checked my email. I think we tried to be pretty responsive, and I just don't see any. Oh, okay. Well, thank you. I appreciate that.

I was just able to find your email in spam, so we will be emailing you back. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. We have space for one more individual. I see none. I'll bring it back to the bench. Thank you to the four public speakers today, including thank you, Charlie, for being a veteran. I appreciate your service to our country. I do know that Councilmember Shepherd is going to pull an item from consent.

So I don't see a need to pull the land acquisition from consent because number eight is actually a discussion on the supplemental design agreement related to Bleckley and I believe I'm looking at attorney Magana that it would be germane for us to ask questions related to Bleckley instead of pulling something from consent.

I will beg to differ with you, just for legality reasons, because consent agenda item number 11 is specifically eminent domain.

Sure, I'm happy to pull it. Is that okay?

So then we have one portion eminent domain and then new business is actually the project itself. So I think it would be appropriate. The two guest speakers want to continue staying. This will be pulled. And just for awareness, about three years ago, we started pulling items from consent, which then have the opportunity for public comment again. All right, with that, I see no more comments regarding public agenda. Madam Clerk, please call the next item. Consent agenda items one through 18. Council members, any items to be pulled? I will, Council Member Shepherd.

Thank you, Mayor. And just per our discussion and per my commitment to the residents who I have the opportunity to represent, I'm going to pull agenda item number of, I want to say 1124A. It's the partial acquisition of 4910 East Central Avenue for phase three of Bleckley Drive drainage improvement. Charlie, was that what you were expecting to pull that? Just a thumbs up would be good. You got it. It's number 11. Sorry, I said two. Number 11, 4A.

Consent agenda item number 11. Thank you, Council Member Shepherd. I just have a couple of ones for clearing the consent agenda item number six. And consent agenda item number 12. Okay. With that, I will go ahead and move to approve all consent agenda items without consent agenda items number six, 11, and 12. Second. Motion second. Discussion? See none. Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. We'll go in sequential order beginning with consent agenda item number six. This was to correct the record. Council Member Tuttle voted for the Family Promise Week proclamation. So we just w

I think, if I may, I might have missed the vote, but I would like to vote for it if that's appropriate.

My bad. Council Member Tuttle would like to vote in favor of Family Promise Week proclamation, so then it will reflect a 7-0 on that item. Okay, any further questions from the bench? We will now open it up for public comment regarding this item, Consent Agenda Number 6. I see no one from the audience. We'll bring it back to the bench. With that, I will move to approve Consent Agenda Item Number 6. Second. Motion second. Discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 7-0. The next item is Consent Agenda Item Number 11. Acquisition by eminent domain of tracks required for the Blackleaf Drive Drainage Improvement Project in District 1. Can we have someone from Development Services or Real Estate come forward and just share where we're at in terms of why eminent domain is now necessary?

Thank you, Mayor. And again, Jerry, thank you. I pulled this item because, of course, the Mayor thought it was important and was asking, have been asked by residents to do that. But I know that you and I have had a lot of conversation. And I just want you to share, have you knocked doors? What other levels of communication have you done to try to reach residents?

And Jerry, in the case that maybe the owner of the property lists on the website or however we get our, or the Sedgwick County website or however we get our information is not the resident that lives there, what have we done to try to communicate with the right person who may have more autonomy to make decisions about this particular cost?

And final question, I've had an opportunity to converse with some residents. What is the process if they feel that what they're being offered is not in alignment with the inconvenience or just what they're going to experience in the project? We heard a previous speaker speak to that. Who should they contact? What are those conversations like?

You're welcome. Jerry, can you talk about what has been done regarding actual easements? Especially temporary versus permanent easements. What have you guys done in terms of the city to try to reduce that footprint?

One of the concerns we heard from residents is devaluation of property. Can you talk about how that will or will not? I know that that is a guess, but can you talk about since you work in real estate, what could this do to properties?

And then because this is specifically to eminent domain, we don't get this often. This basically is the last resort. Can you share how will property owners be compensated?

Sorry, a lot of these questions because again, this is very serious when we as a city vote on imminent domain because I believe in property rights. And so I want to know when it comes to this going to imminent domain and now you'll have three individuals that will Be speaking with property owners and you said no design changes at that time. Is this the time to do any design changes? Because you just mentioned one property owner was able to negotiate and then the easement became smaller.

Does that mean that if there are any design changes, they should be now instead of during eminent domain?

My concern with that is I just want to make sure that if this passes as moving forward with imminent domain, that if property owners that are still the ones, there are 23 parcels that have not said yes yet, that they still have an opportunity to basically negotiate what will still happen with their property. If this goes into effect, does that mean that they will no longer be able to negotiate?

Thank you. I just want to make sure that, again, there are only two property owners here right now, and there are 23 parcels that still have not said yes. So I just want to know that that process still continues despite if we all vote yes on this.

Thank you. You're welcome. And this question's for Paul. I know we're gonna talk about this in item number eight, but the project is $36 million maximum. So there's not gonna go, another increase regarding this $36 million project?

And does that include the property acquisition and negotiations because some of them are going above even market value?

I see no further questions from this bench. We will now open it up for public comment on consent agenda item number 11.

I see no one else from the community who would like to speak on this item. I will bring it back to the bench. This is consent agenda item number 11 and does reside in Council Member Shepherd's district. Before I pass it to him, I simply want to say that I wanted to pull this item because again, eminent domain is a very serious topic and I wanted to make sure that number one, there will continue to be open conversations with property owners regarding valuation of their home and any negotiations, but also that it's on the record that this project will not exceed $36 million. And with that, becau

Thank you, Mayor. I'm gonna ask this question now because I believe it's germane to this, but it feels like we're being, I hate to feel like we're being redundant knowing that it's number eight. Previous speakers spoke about buying homes. Why are we not offering to purchase homes?

Thanks, Mayor. I've spoken about this a lot. I there's no doubt in my mind. This project is an inconvenience for you all. And I would be a fool to sit here and try to make it seem like it's not. And I'm torn here because as I've said, it's a much needed project in my opinion. But it's also coming at the inconvenience of many of the residents specifically on Blakely. And so my commitment has been and will continue to be, and I hear people all the time say, I've inherited this project and I've maintained, I don't care how I've come into something, it's my responsibility now to try to make it rig

Motion second. Further discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Consent agenda item number 12 is a correction to the actual item. The bid tabulation, I believe, says $244,725, not $244,735. So I just want to make sure that that is corrected. Can someone from Public Works? Make sure that that's accurate. The green sheet was incorrect compared to the tabulation which was attached to this green sheet.

Thank you very much, Paul. With that, no further questions regarding this item? open for public comment regarding this item. Seeing none, bring it back to the bench. This resides in Councilmember J.B. Johnson's district, but I'll go ahead and move the item. I move to approve the acceptance of the lowest bid at $244,725. Second. Motion second. Discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Thank you, Josh. Questions for staff? See none. I will go ahead and move to approve the Board of Bids and Contracts, dated October 12, 2026. 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, Paul. Questions for staff? I see none. With that, I move to approve the petitions for public improvements. Motion second. Discussion? I see none. Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Thank you very much, Corey. Questions for staff? I submitted questions ahead of time to staff. The question I really just wanted to make sure that we understood was, does this property continue paying its current property taxes prior to these improvements? And if so, what was the assessed value?

And again, that is what they'll continue paying moving forward. And so, and one last question I also asked via email was, what are the eligible costs for this TIP district? And you responded with acquisition at 10.9 million, landscaping at 292,000, parking lot repairs at 1.1 million, exterior sidewalk repairs at 198,000, exterior lighting improvements at 61,000, and site signage at 294,000, which comes up to just under the 13 million of eligible costs. Thank you very much for the answers. With that, I see no further questions from this bench. We will now open it up for public comment on this s

Hey mayor, thank you. I would be honored to make this motion. In addition, I wanted to highlight two specific points and Corey hit on them, but they're also in the agenda packet for the public that different measures have been incorporated into the agreement. And the two that stand out to me complete the construction within four years following the creation of the TIF district and obtain 50% occupancy. Within five years following the creation of the TIF district, I know when we had our economic development workshop a couple weeks ago, those were two very key points that we wanted to put into c

Motion second. Discussion? See none. Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Thank you, Shane, and thank you, Corey, for the presentation. We'll begin with questions from the bench. I have just a couple. First and foremost, thank you so very much, Shane, for being a really good partner, especially with a neighbor down south, which is Tulsa. Greenwood Rising is a partner museum with you all, and I know that the Wichita Police Department takes its recruits. every single class to Greenwood Rising to understand history. Once this museum will be on First and Main Street, do you envision that there will be greater opportunities for you all to maybe also be part of that, part

Thank you. And Shane, another thing that really excites me is that First Street will be fully activated from TCAM to the Orpheum and beyond. I'm curious how all the museums locally kind of interact together. Orpheum was one of also other nonprofit organizations that this council wanted to utilize economic development tools to assist them as well. And now TCAM is asking for that. Can you just share the cohesiveness between all these cultural assets in our community that may not be owned by the city, but they are definitely assets in our community.

And sorry, one more question before I pass it to Council Member Shepherd. Why is this economic development tool necessary for you all?

Thank you very much, Shane. Council Member Shepard.

Thank you, Mayor. And Shane, you just articulated very well why these tools are important to not just our business community, but also our nonprofit community that does exceptional work. I love that the mayor is interested in making sure that we bring our law enforcement officers to the Kansas African American Museum, have the opportunity to travel with them, and much of the history they're learning in Tulsa, urban renewal, race relations, we can point right here in Wichita, Kansas, in Northeast Wichita to understand that history. And so to have those officers being able to serve this communit

I see no further questions from the bench. Thank you, Shane, and thank you, Corey. We will now open it up for public comment on this item.

Thank you, Ted. I see no further comments. I'll close public hearing and bring it back to the bench. And this resides in Council Member Ballard's district.

Thank you, Mayor. I would just echo all of the comments that the Mayor and Council Member Shepherd mentioned. Thank you so much for your leadership and for your vision. Really excited about your new location and to continue to learn more about what all you guys are doing. So if none of my colleagues have any more questions, I make the motion to close the public hearing, adopt the resolution, and authorize the necessary signatures.

Motion second. Any discussion? Seeing none, can I just add one little comment and just say once again, Shane, thank you very much for thinking outside the box and coming to the city and seeing what economic development tools there are to be a partner in that investment that the community and various other partners are coming alongside you to do with TCAMP. And so the economic development tools are there for that very reason. And so very supportive of this project. With that, we will open it up for the vote. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Thank you, Mayor. City Attorney, I have a question for you. There's been some things brought to my attention this morning in regards to perhaps maybe some of my colleagues having additional questions about this. I feel deeply concerned about bringing this up for discussion and then having that part of our community feeling as if they've not had a chance to engage with their council members. I would like to table this discussion to spare my neighbors and residents from anything that may be incongruent from the desires of their heart to give our colleagues more time to engage. Can I do that befo

I don't want to table it indefinitely. I've heard from residents to also include members of the Council of Elders who I also believe have engaged with all of the colleagues or majority of them about this. But it appears there's some consternation or questions that I want to respect both them and my colleagues. So I wonder if we don't have council the last week of October, but I'm wondering if we can table this discussion until the 10th of November.

Thank you. Reggie, would that be okay if we, is this gonna get in the way of anything Parks and Rec has in motion already? Thank you. I appreciate you and thank you for being prepared. I just don't think this is wise to do this. And I want to give my colleagues the opportunity to hear from members of that community directly. So with that being said, Mayor, if I may have your support to, not table, defer. So I am going to move that we defer the memorandum of understanding with USD 259 for Cloudland Park due diligence until Tuesday, November the 10th.

Motion second. Discussion, just so that everyone's aware, that is our evening time meeting on Tuesday, November 10th.

so we have a motion second any discussion i want to say that i'm not tabling this i'm deferring this not because i don't think that we deserve to have this conversation today staff has done their job i have done my job my door is always open to my colleagues if there are ever any questions about the temperature on this matter, I always invite my colleagues to come engage with me. The Council of Elders and many people pushing for this conversation have also offered the same thing to all of my colleagues. I think it is a disservice to residents in this community who wanted to see this go forward

Does anyone want, there is one individual who, I would entertain the motion adjustment to allow for public comment on this item. Second, okay, so can we vote on the public comment first? Okay, we'll vote on public comment first. We have a motion and a second for public comment on this item. Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. We will open it up for public comment and then we'll come back to the deferring this item.

Thank you, Brian. Council Member Shepard.

You don't go too far, former Council Member Frey. I appreciate your note of injustice. Would you also acknowledge that it's an injustice to have another vacant building in that historically disinvested community?

Low Overture, which we heard today, regardless of the bond outcome.

Okay, so you see it as a separate issue.

Thank you. We see, would anyone else like to speak on this item? I see none, I'll bring it back to the bench. We have a live motion and a second regarding deferring this item until Tuesday, November 10th at 6 p.m. I see no further comments. Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Thank you, Nathan. Questions for staff, beginning with Council Member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Nathan. Okay, so question. So you only got one person to respond. Obviously, that is who you had to choose. Do you feel like you had to choose that, or should you go back out? Like, I'm sure time is of the essence, but why do you think only— one responded. It's a tough job.

And do you think, from your professional opinion, that it's a fair price? I know that there's inflation, and I know you explained a little bit of it, but, you know, of course you just immediately get nervous that if one person is bidding, and it is significantly higher than it was, that, you know, we just don't want to make sure we're not being taken advantage of.

Thank you, Mayor. Appreciate your presentation and work on this, Nate. Two questions. One is, does this do, would this attorney have anything to do with evictions, the eviction process?

Okay, what would their relationship be with the Sedgwick County District Court? What would we be?

Okay, so it doesn't sound like we're going to have too much to do with the new mental health hospital through this process.

Thank you, Nathan. I asked a question to you so that I could understand the scope of this. Last year, there were 31,500 cases that municipal court adjudicated. And in this specific green sheet, 9,200 municipal court cases were appointed legal counsel. So that's about 30% of the cases that come to the city of Wichita. The individual may not have the means to pay for an attorney. So you guys then provide a court appointed attorney. So 30%. So we are, in other words, this is to help individuals that may not have the resources or means to have their own attorney. Is that accurate?

45% if if my memory serves and it is for those people who simply who don't have the resources to defend themselves Thank You Nathan and for Clarification you did send this to me because I asked the question and so you were able to show me The Municipal Court cases the types of cases so they would include criminal drug DUI domestic violence environmental handicap, general parking, and traffic, but you just said traffic and general parking would probably not require that. So it's everything minus those two. And so you said it's closer to 45% require a court-appointed attorney. Is that accurate?

Thank you. And one last question. The current provider, what has been their feedback of why they did not choose to apply for this? I know that they obviously were under what they could have asked, but they were giving the city a deal, in other words. Why did they not apply?

In terms of criminal cases, you gave me three years worth of data. Criminal filed 7,100 cases, and in 2025, 8,300 cases. So I just wanna say thank you for trying to get other community members that are experts in this to apply for this and while only one may have come forward to Apply the one that currently is servicing the city Has also served the city for well over a decade And so thank you for helping individuals who did not have the means to defend themselves And the city is now moving forward with a new Provider, so thank you, Nathan I see no further comments from this bench. We will now

Motion second. Discussion? See none. Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.

Thank you, Paul. Questions for staff? I just want a clarification. You said that any sidewalk that is greater than six feet wide, the city must share the cost?

So anytime we build new sidewalks that are 10 foot wide, the city will then have the responsibility of maintaining it.

Thank you. Matt, I see no one else from the council who would like to ask questions. We will open it up for public comment now. I see none. I'll bring it back to the bench. With that, I will go ahead and move this item with a note that I always do when it comes to sidewalks. And that is a reminder that it is the responsibility of the property owner adjacent to that sidewalk to maintain the sidewalk. And so my concern has always been that we want walkability, as Councilmember Tuttle today proclaimed Walktoberfest. We want to make sure that sidewalks are safe, but they are the responsibility of

Motion second. Discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes seven zero. Madam clerk, please call the next item.

Thank you, Paul. Questions for staff? I just have a couple. I wanted to know why Mosley, Bridge, and Kellogg and Seneca rose to the top of the list for design so that the community can understand priorities.

Thank you. And then the last question regarding Kellogg and Seneca. You just mentioned KDOT would be engaged in all of this. What are the estimated project costs for these two projects?

I'm sure that you're already engaged with Council Member Glasscock on this item since there's a lot of conversation regarding Seneca and Maple. and that area in addition to University and Seneca. So for the community members who are watching or listening, this is in District 4 and Councilmember slash Vice Mayor Glasscock has been engaged in that conversation regarding Kellogg and Seneca.

Thank you very much. With that, I see no questions from the bench. We will now open it up for public comment. I see none. I'll bring it back to the bench. This is in Council Member Ballard's district in one of the projects.

Thank you, Mayor. I move to approve the selection of the vendors, approve the contracts, and authorize the necessary signatures.

Motion second. Second. Motion second. Discussion? See none. Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes.

Thank you, Paul. Questions for staff, beginning with Council Member Shepherd.

Thank you, Paul. What is the budget to date? I know the overall project has a $36 million budget, but what's the budget to date?

Thank you. Um, Paul, one of the residents that I was speaking with, um, as it relates to the trees, asked if, if it might be a possibility, if they wanted to pay the difference for a more mature tree, would that be possible? And have we done that for any of our residents thus far?

Thank you. Because I think that's a reasonable ask. If it is possible that if we take the average of what we're spending on the replacement of trees and the homeowner wants to pay the difference to have a more mature tree if it is possible and logistically manageable. I think that's an easy compromise in which we can meet the residents in the middle with. What about the environmental concerns that we've heard about, about the toxins in the air? Have we had any environmental studies done thus far and what did they show?

I appreciate you, Gary, and I certainly take your word for it. I'm wondering though, what, if anything, we can show residents that showcases that I believe I saw something on the website that we have as it relates to Blackley that we've done some environmental testing, didn't we? And it came back clear. I could be thinking of something completely different, but my understanding was that there was some testing done and it came back clear for us to move forward. And I'm wondering, is that something we can share with the residents to give them a sense of relief? I think they're looking for relief

You definitely did. It is on the website because I found it myself. I think in the height of the moment the average worker probably just can't go through all of the documents. There's a ton of information out there but I'm wondering if we can pull that information specifically and share that with residents. because that has come up, I mean, of all the residents that I've spoken with, that came up about 80% of the concerns about the environment. I now know that, right? There's nothing to be concerned about. I wanna be able to share that with residents and allow them to read that document for th

Thank you, Mayor. And the reason why I'm stressing this is because I really want folks to understand how much we've been working together to try to meet residents in the middle. And again, as I said earlier, this project is an inconvenience. I think construction can be an inconvenience for everyone, but this one in particularly. It's a 50-year challenge and my understanding is, as I even go back and look at the history of where we built the homes, right? If we know what we know today, we probably would have said, hey, we probably shouldn't build there. But hindsight is 20-20. That said, what a

I just have one question, and I asked it earlier during the consent agenda. I just want to make sure that This project does not exceed $36 million. So my question is very specific. Does $36 million include acquisitions, condemnation awards, utility relocations, restoration, contingency, inflation, and project management?

Thank you. With that, I feel comfortable reaffirming my vote that I had earlier regarding this project, as long as it does not exceed $36 million that will be paid with the stormwater utility fund. With that, I see no further questions from the bench. We will now open it up for public comment on this item. I see none. I'll bring it back to the bench. This resides in Councilmember Shepherd's district.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you to the staff who have been working extremely hard and diligently on this project. Thank you for being in the arena. I know it's not easy, but with that being said, I would move that we approve SDA number four, adopt the amending resolution, and authorize the necessary signatures. Second.

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

Thank you, Paul. Questions for staff? Seeing none, we'll open it up for public comment regarding this specific item. Seeing none, bring it back to the bench. With that, I will move to approve the selection of vendor and contract. Motion second. Discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please open the roll.

Motion passes 70 Madam clerk, please call the next item.

Thank you, Scott. Questions for staff? I just had one. What is the intention of the applicant for this area again?

Thank you. This resides in Council Member Hohaisel's district.

Thank you, Mayor. I have been working. I have had ex parte communication with the applicant trying to resolve some of the concerns from the surrounding neighborhoods. So I think we've come together and gotten a pretty good product here that. helps with the appearances and some of the issues surrounding the work being done there. So with that being said, I am making a motion to approve the requested zoning change and CUP amendment with custom conditions. I move to override the MAPC, adopt the following findings, approve the requested zone change and CUP amendment with custom conditions. I'll de

Motion second. Discussion? Seeing none, I just want to say thank you, Councilmember Hohaisel, and all the council members who work very diligently to find solutions. This is exactly what we see, and I think that it's important for people to understand that there are oftentimes council members work very hard to find a win-win situation. So thank you very much for doing that. With that, we have a motion, second. Discussion? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0.

Questions for staff? Seeing none, this resides in Councilmember Ballard's district.

Thank you, Mayor. I move to approve the MAPD recommendation with a protective overlay.

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

I Motion passes 7-0 madam clerk, please call the next item councilmember appointments and comments. I I would like to see if there are any appointments first. I sent a appointment via email. I move to approve the appointment of Jennifer Mackey to the Sedgwick County Juvenile Corrections Advisory Board. Motion second. Discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed, same sign. Motion passes 7-0. Council member comments at this time.

Mayor. I would like to ask for a brief update about Chapin Park. There are individuals who are reaching out and I know that I've asked the city manager to prepare a statement to give an update about Chapin Park today.

Any further comments from council? I just want, I have one really quick one, and that is thanking the Wichita Sports Commission for hosting the annual Prairie Fire Marathon, half marathon, 5K, mayor's friendly 5K. There were over 3,400 participants from 45 states and eight countries. And so our city got to have individuals that don't even live in our community experiencing a tradition. So thank you to the council members whose districts were affected. I know it was temporary, but it was also a really great way to bring community together. So with that, City Manager Marston.

Yeah, I just want to say I've been having concerns the whole time we played through this process. I've warned people the entire time I've been here, it's turning one big camp into a couple of smaller ones. That's the way it's looked like it's been so far. So we need to definitely make sure we continue to follow through with those residents, do everything that we can to get them out of the elements and into safe accommodations. And going forward continue to make this a priority among council to one of the issues we're finding is um just a lack of available landlords who are willing to take thes

Mayor, I actually did have a comment. I'm sorry. It probably didn't show up on your screen, but I just Mike, I feel for you. I think you are in a very hard situation and I remember standing right there when the emergency winter shelter was moving into northeast Wichita and a group of folks who don't have great positive feelings about the way in which the city or local government may view their neighborhood. was very adamantly opposed to that emergency winter shelter moving in temporarily. And I stood in a crowded room and I was one of two people who said, I hear you and we need to give folks h

City Manager, I really appreciate that. I guess it doesn't answer the question, so I think this might help. How much are we spending to clean up the encampment?

What's the minimum threshold typically that something has to come to us?

And you said it was 108. Yeah. That's what I don't understand. How is this over the threshold, but it never came to us? It never came for discussion. I have brought it up from the bench many a times, so there was an opportunity. I'm asking City Legal to look into this, because as far as I'm concerned, this can't happen again. I mean, I don't know about any of you all, but the commentary, the calls, Council Member Hoheisel, I know you were contacted over the weekend while you were doing an event for the firefighters of people just in panic. And I feel this could have been mitigated if we would

I have a follow up based on that and thank you for running down here. Got some water for you, I see. 2024 and we should probably have a conversation about this later on because obviously i wasn't hearing so i need to be informed on this was that a vote did this council vote for that change in 2024 i don't know about the management model but the board of bids and contracts affirmed that contract being approved okay yes councilman and so am i hearing in in basic layman terms and i'm i'm sorry i just need you to break this down for me that this is a part of a larger encampment cleanup budget. So

For fiscal year, right? For, I believe, 26.

Calendar year. Okay, thank you. And so we have used $110,000 from that budget for this specific cleanup. I'd be curious how much is left and remaining and what impact does that have on all the other encampments that we have across the city of Wichita? And how did we factor that into this decision? that that was gonna impact other encampments. Because what we do know is that, right, there are some folks who refuse services. Some folks just refuse services. I am concerned that we are shifting the challenge to other parts of the city and not solving it. So that tells me that we will have more enc

I do have one question and that is for Sally since she is in the back. The comment was made that this is not best practice, but I do recall that this is actually a best practice from Texas. There is a individual that is helping with encampment cleanups in Houston. And the most humane way to do this is to connect people to resources at these major encampments in Houston. Can you share, is this best practice?

See no further questions. Oh, I can't see anything. Council Member Hoheisel.

Thank you, Mayor. Just one other thing. Talking about the challenges with communication. This is on KDOT property. So a lot of the potential deforestation I know I've had a lot of people reach out about those concerns as well. That is not up to us. That is up to the Kansas Department of Transportation as to what they want to do with their property moving forward so i did want to get that out there too again communication issues with it that's something i do think we need to work on moving forward so just wanting to make sure that's on everybody's radar council member ballard thank you mayor i

allowing up to 100 people in the night-by-night beds, and they do have up to 25 bunk beds reserved for folks coming from Chapin Park. So really appreciate that. A little bummed that nobody's using them yet, but just if any of you all here, I just want to make sure that you know that resources are available and they are reserved. So just wanted to share that.

I see no further comments regarding this. of Council Member Johnston.

Thank you. I think one of the challenges is a lot of people remaining had pets, didn't want to give them up. I think that's why it's important for Second Light to somehow accommodate that. I think eventually, I know it costs money, but I think that should be a factor. And the second thing is I think it's important that we don't get into day-to-day operations of the city. We are a policy board. We're not day-to-day operations. So we hire city manager and the staff to do that. I think it's important to us to set policy and then let them do their job.

Thank you. I did have a conversation with the folks from WALL, and they worked, and they did a couple media interviews, too. They worked significantly to try and be involved and to try and be helpful any way that they could. That was one of the things that I saw from the outside. And again, I want to applaud Council Member Holt. I know that he's done a great job and spent the most amount of time on this. But it seems like lots of community partners were engaged and we reached out to as many entities as we could. So for all of the community partners that assisted with this project, but especial

I know that Reggie is not here at this moment, but I just wanted to highlight something. For anyone who's watching, the Parks and Rec Department has done 524 work orders for homeless remediation, which means encampment cleanups this year alone. And the total cost of that work is $335,792. And total labor hours is 4,843 hours. And that is only for 2026. Council Member Shepard.

Thank you. Because some of the commentary alludes to this idea that we're getting into the weeds of things, I want to be very clear that policy and setting policy impacts how you operate. And I think the mayor does a phenomenal job with the rack card of really describing how things work. And I agree with that philosophy of our city manager is our CEO and we are the board of directors. And every decision that is happening, be it operation or policy, impacts how and when or Yeah, really how we should respond to our constituents. What I'm saying is over the last three months, I've not had any any

I see no further comments on this. I will now move to a blue sheet. I moved that the City Council recess into executive session for 10 minutes to receive information on the potential availability of real estate pursuant to KSA 75-43-19B2 for the preliminary discussions of the acquisition of real property. The executive session is required to protect the city's right to the confidentiality of its negotiating position and the public interest. The executive session will begin immediately following this session so that we can get on to this. It will begin at 1.10, 1.11 p.m. and end at 1.21 p.m. Th

Council Member Tuttle would like a break, so we will actually begin at 1.15 p.m. and come back at 1.25 p.m. Motion second? Oh, Council Member Hohaisel.

Just one other point before we finish here. Our comms team does a great job. And they often have a lot on their plate. So I just want to make sure everybody knows this. Any comments about comms was not an indictment of them. It was our overall strategy. So I agree there's things that we need to do better in terms of communicating. And that comes from the top down. So that's on us as well. So just want to make sure that point is made.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed, same sign. Aye. Motion passes 7-0. We will begin executive session at 1.15.