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.

Please stand. Let us pray. Servering God, our Creator, You are our Lord and Master in our life, in our community, and in our nation. We are grateful for your guidance, your care, and your unfailing love. We praise you for the many ways you continue to bless and lead us. This morning we gather as people who care deeply for this city and love the people of Wichita. We ask that you grant the members of City Council wisdom, compassion, patience, courage, and guidance as they serve our community. Help them to lead with the open heart and to embrace every person who calls Wichita home. There are times when our leaders face difficult decisions complex issues and challenges for which there may be no easy answers. In those moments, help them seek the example of Jesus, serving others with humility, compassion, grace, and love. Help our council members see the pain, concerns, hopes, and needs of the people they serve. Give them the ability to listen with understanding, work together in unity, and pursue what is just and good for our entire community. Bless this meeting with the wisdom, respect, unity, and productive conversation. Guide each person here to serve our community faithfully and with integrity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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

Awards and proclamations. Today's proclamations are Wichita Assisted Living Week, National Diaper Need Awareness Week, and Direct Support Professionals Week.

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 critical role in supporting families in addressing diaper need, improving infant health and well-being, and advancing both local and state economic growth. Whereas the people of Wichita recognize that diaper need, defined as the lack of sufficient clean diapers to keep babies and toddlers clean, dry, and healthy is a public health issue that can adversely affect the well-being of children and their families, as evidenced by national surveys. And addressing diaper need can strengthen economic opportunity for families and communities and improve children's health, ensuring that all children and families have access to the basic necessities required to thrive and reach their full potential. Whereas a daily or weekly supply of diapers is generally required for babies and toddlers to participate in childcare and quality early education programs that help children thrive and enable parents to work. And many parents experiencing diaper need report missing an average of five days of work each month due to an insufficient supply of diapers. Whereas without enough diapers, babies and toddlers risk infections and health problems which may require medical attention resulting in unpleasant medical costs and which may prevent parents from accessing childcare needed to go to work or school, thereby destabilizing the family's economic prospects and well-being. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Wichita City Council does hereby proclaim September 14th to 20th, 2026 as National Diaper Need Awareness Week.

Good morning, Mayor Wu, members of the City Council, and guests. On behalf of Simply Hygiene, thank you for recognizing National Diaper Need Awareness Week and for shining a light on an issue that affects thousands of babies and families right here in Wichita and South Central Kansas. Diaper need is the inability to afford enough diapers to keep a baby clean, dry, and healthy. Unfortunately, diapers are not covered by SNAP or WIC. For many families, after paying rent, utilities, groceries, and transportation, there simply isn't enough money left to purchase the diapers their baby needs. Today, nearly one in two families with young children in the United States struggles with diaper need. Here in Kansas, a recent study found that 69% of surveyed families experienced diaper insecurity. Behind every one of those numbers is a baby who deserves to be clean and comfortable and a parent doing everything they can to provide for their child. At Simply Hygiene, we believe no parent should have to worry about whether they'll have enough diapers to get through the week. Through partnerships with more than 250 schools and 120 nonprofits across South Central Kansas, we provide diapers directly to the families who need them the most. Last year, Simply Hygiene distributed more than 345,000 diapers, and this year we're on track to provide more than half a million diapers. Along with diapers, Simply Hygiene provides access to hygiene essentials to over 105,000 individuals in our community. This proclamation matters because awareness leads to action. Each of us has the opportunity to make a difference. You can donate diapers, you can host a diaper drive, volunteer, or make a financial gift. A simple package of diapers can relieve stress for a parent, keep a baby healthy, and remind a family that their community cares. If you'd like to join us, please visit simplyhygiene.org to learn more, donate, volunteer, or host a diaper drive. Mayor Wu and members of the City Council, thank you again for recognizing Diaper Need Awareness Week and for helping raise awareness of this very important need. Thank you for standing with local families and helping us build a healthier, stronger community, one diaper at a time. Thank you.

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 marks the 25th anniversary of National Assisted Living Week established by the National Center for Assisted Living in 1995 to recognize the vital role of assisted living communities and the roles they play in supporting residents, families, and caregivers across the nation. whereas this year's theme shining through the years celebrates the resilience wisdom and individuality of residents while honoring the dedicated caregivers health care professionals volunteers and family members whose commitment enhances the lives of those they serve each day Now therefore be it resolved that the Wichita City Council does hereby proclaim September 13th through 19th, 2026 as Wichita Assisted Living Week.

Thank you. Good morning and thank you so much for recognizing Assisted Living Week and for honoring the residents, families, and team members who make assisted living communities so incredibly special. It's truly an honor to have this proclamation on behalf of our residents and the entire assisted living communities in Wichita. Assisted Living Week matters because it gives us an opportunity to remind people that assisted living is not simply a place where someone goes when they need a little more help. It is home. And the people who live here are so much more than the word resident. They are mothers and fathers, grandparents and great-grandparents, veterans, teachers, nurses, business owners, homemakers, leaders, volunteers, and friends. They are people who have spent decades building the families, businesses, churches, schools and neighborhoods that make our community what it is today. They have raised children, built careers, served our country, fallen in love, experienced heartbreak, overcome challenges, celebrated victories and collected a lifetime of stories, lessons and wisdom along the way. Moving into assisted living doesn't erase any of that, and it certainly doesn't mean their story is finished. That's why this week is so important. It gives us the opportunity to celebrate not only the lives our residents have lived, but the lives they are still living and the impact they continue to make every single day. When we celebrate Assisted Living Week, we aren't celebrating a building, we are celebrating people. We are celebrating lives that still have purpose, stories that are still being written, and we are reminding our greater community that aging does not make someone less valuable, less interesting, less capable of contributing, or less deserving of being seen. To our residents, thank you. Thank you for trusting us with your stories. It is an incredible privilege to accept this proclamation on your behalf. there is no expiration date on purpose there is no age limit on belonging and every person deserves the opportunity to continue making to continue living a life that matters thank you for recognizing assisted living week and most importantly for recognizing the extraordinary people we have the privilege of serving

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, education, and lifelong growth. Whereas the compassionate dedication, skills and commitment of direct support professionals strengthen the quality of life for individuals and families throughout Wichita, contributing to a more accessible, inclusive and thriving community for all. Whereas direct support professionals serve each day as advocates, mentors, caregivers, and trusted partners whose work supports the health, safety, well-being, and success of some of Wichita's most vulnerable residents. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Wichita City Council does hereby proclaim September 13th to 19th, 2026 as Direct Support Professionals Week.

Thank you to the Wichita City Council for recognizing Direct Support Professionals Week. At Goodwill, we serve over 100 Kansans with intellectual and developmental disabilities each workday thanks to the incredible professionals who provide the structure and support these Kansans need to reach their fullest potential. Every day, these professionals comfort, encourage, guide, and celebrate these individuals and their growth. Please remember, when you donate and shop at our thrift stores, you're providing opportunities for Kansans who face barriers to employment and training and allowing our DSPs to help Kansans uncover a brighter future. Thank you again for your support. Yes, we can do that.

Madam clerk, please call the next item from the city's adopted civil civility pledge. The city council is committed to promoting civility. They stand United. They lead with respect and dignity, and they honor every resident in all communities. They're working to create an environment that values shared goals and increased empathy and genuine dialogue. We now come to public agenda. The public agenda allows for up to five speakers to have five minutes each to address the council. Please bear in mind, this is not a period of dialogue with council or a question and answer period. This is your opportunity to address the city council with your concerns. I ask that you address your remarks to the city council as a body and not to any individual council member. No action will be taken relative to items on the public agenda other than referral to the city manager for information as necessary. Speakers will please speak into the microphone. Please state their name and address for the record. A time clock will display the speaker's remaining time to speak. Order and rules of decorum will be observed. first speaker today is donnie patton sober living houses i've stayed in while in wichita is donnie present today madam clerk please call the next individual madam mayor we do not have any others that have signed up ahead of time

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.

My name is Jack Long. I'm from the homeless community of Chapin Park. All the information that y'all have been giving, doing for us is null and void. They say that 15 out of 80 of us have been housed. That is incorrect. Only seven have been housed from my community. Some of us, like me, I've had my housing It is now Nolan Boyd. I never got nothing. I got it in June, it went out in August. I have not talked to hardly nobody the whole time. They're not giving us no information that we need to have. They're not telling us exactly what we need to do in order to engage in these vouchers. All they're trying to do is, okay, you got your voucher, we'll take care of it from here. We need information. If y'all are wanting to close us down, y'all have more important things. Y'all got downtown to work with. We're out there, we're not doing nothing to nobody. We're minding our own business. We're staying to ourselves. Y'all got people sleeping on the streets up here that are causing you more problems than what we do down there. They say that y'all had 22 call-ins for us down there. Our 22 call-ins had been, yes, on fires or a gentleman that shot himself twice on his own purport. Anything else? I don't know why they would be coming down there. We have asked that y'all help us out, give us information that we need, try to work with us. All we wanna do is be able to live where we're at. We have housings that the church has come in and built for us. They spent $250 on each little house they built for us. Y'all allowed it and now y'all are talking about shutting it down, killing us. Why? What are we doing wrong to y'all that keeps us where y'all are pushing us to be housed when some of us don't want it? I ask that today that y'all taking consideration that some of us are moving from out of there into new locations, trying to stay off the radar like we've been trying to do. We can't help that we've had some fools come down there and cause problems. We have got rid of our problems now. All we wanna do is keep doing what we're doing and live the way that we are. Thank you.

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?

that the numbers are readily available for what we've been having conversations with different residents. Let us work on that, because as he did acknowledge, there have been choice vouchers or housing vouchers extended to those who have been encamping down there, and we have placed them, so we'll give you the breakdown of our interactions and about the status of the current vouchers.

Council Member Hohaisel.

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.

Second.

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.

Good morning, Mayor, members of City Council, Jason Rodden for the Department of Finance. Board bids and contracts convened yesterday, Monday, September 14th, 2026, for the following. For engineering, we have Genie Pump Station Recycle Line reroute for Wildcat Construction Company Incorporated for $134,980. We have 2026 sanitary sewer reconstruction phase three for PSE contractors LLC for $121,480.22. We have ASR phase three recharge basins rejecting all bids. For purchasing, we have the following. Cowtown restroom renovation for Van Asdale Construction, LLC for aggregate total of $424,791.49. We have grapple saw truck repair for custom truck one source for 175,000. We have Risk Master MESA subscription renewal, 11-1-2026 through 10-31-2027 for CSC Cybertech Corporation for a total of $262,030. This is how to become a vendor with the City of Wichita. These are the purchasing calendar for small business opportunities we have. We're either leading or conducting with our business resource partners. These are the open opportunities out on the street concurrently, and I recommend approve the Board of Business as presented, and I'll try to answer any questions.

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?

So yeah, so the bids were rejected because it was quite a bit over the engineer's estimate. Typically what happens in that situation, the department will reevaluate the specifications, make appropriate adjustments, and then we'll put it back out for bid again.

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?

Good morning, Mayor, Councilman, the director of arts and cultural services. This project in particular is to replace the two restroom structures that are on the grounds. One of them will be completely taken, taken to the ground and rebuilt to add a family restroom. And the other one is to renovate the existing site. So both of those structures are 40, 50 year plus and they're desperately needed to be replaced.

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.

Where would these be? So without a map of Cowtown in front of me, one of them is on the Main Street and the other one is closer to Lakeside on the back of Empire House. These are the standalone restroom buildings that are the main restrooms for guests coming for major events. We do have restrooms sprinkled throughout. Empire House has a couple inside. Visitor Center obviously has some, but I believe there's somewhere on the lines of four to six stalls in each of these two buildings. We've had chronic issues with roof. HVAC, lighting, gas leaks, these buildings are in pretty rough conditions. So they've been in our CIP for a couple years for replacement. So to replace two buildings, one of them will add a family restroom to it.

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.

Second.

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.

Good morning, Mayors, City Council Members, Paul Gunzelman, Public Works, and Utilities for the Record. The signatures on the petitions represent 100% of the improvement districts and the petitions are valid per Kansas statute. Elm Street addition, located in District 6. The project will provide water improvements required for a new residential development. Harbor Isle North addition, located in District 6 as well. The project will provide water, sanitary sewer, and paving improvements required for a new commercial development. and some revised petitions for your consideration. Eastside Community Church, third edition, located in District 2. On April 7th, 2026, the City Council approved water and sanitary sewer improvements for a new commercial development. The developer has submitted revised petitions to remove the acquisition fees and the budgets remain as previously approved. and Young second edition also located in District 2. On August 26, 2025 the City Council approved water drainage and paving improvements required for a new residential development. The developer has submitted revised petitions with revised legal descriptions for an unplanted tract A. The budgets remain as previously approved. Excuse me. It is recommended that the City Council approve the new and revised petitions, adopt the new and amending resolutions, and authorize the necessary signatures, and I will stand for questions.

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.

Public hearing and request of a letter of intent to issue industrial revenue bonds for MTW Properties, LLC.

Good morning, Mayor and City Council. Corey. Nicely with Development Services. Today I only have one presentation for you, and this is a ask from MTW Properties for a sales tax. you know, like exemption. So getting into the presentation, you know, MTW is a holding company that, you know, that owns and leases the property at 616 and 640 North uh you know like emporia to uh music theater uh you know uh wichita uh you know uh you know this uh this uh nonprofit uh has been around since 1972 and they focus on producing broadway style plays and they also have a mission to uh to like enhance some of their uh teaching for people that want to go into the performance field or do some stage hands. Just a little bit about the property just itself. This was the former, you know, metro, you know, midtown school. This property has changed a couple hands since 2017 since the school district sold it. So the property is really looking at, you know, just enhancing that space. to bring all of their services to one roof. So this can be some theater spaces, some spaces for staff. Additionally, there would be a cafe and two other smaller theaters. And so with that, they are asking for about $20,000. you know, a million in bonds for that sales tax exemption. And the property, sorry, and the sales tax exemption, you know, evaluation is there on your screen below. This is our standard disclaimer that we have in all of our presentations. No taxpayer dollars, you know, are at risk. And as with that, I stand for questions and I do have the developer here today for any project specific questions.

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.

Sure, I'll make sure to address that. Thank you. Good morning, Mayor Wu and members of city council. My name is Angela Cassette. I'm the managing director of Music Theater Wichita. I'll aim to keep my comments brief and also answer any questions. I do want to start by sharing just a little bit about the industrial revenue process and how it applies to nonprofit organizations. I know this is repeat information for most of you on council, but I've found that the IRB process can be pretty murky for citizens. Throughout the United States, nonprofit theaters and nonprofits across all sectors complete building projects with sales tax exemptions. Many of our neighboring states, including Oklahoma and Texas, offer an automatic sales tax exemption for 501 s. And if I worked for one of our local universities, schools, churches, or museums, I would not need to stand before you this morning requesting your consideration for industrial revenue bonds. those institutions are granted automatic sales tax exemptions by the state of Kansas. We've had a lot of conversation at the state level the past several years about the uneven application of federal tax designations, but change can be slow. Supportive legislators on both sides of the aisle express a lot of concern about picking winners and losers amongst non-profits. And a nonprofit does in fact lose if they do not have the sales tax exemption, as do the individuals who contribute to a project. If each of you went and made $100 contributions to every capital campaign going on in Wichita right now, most campaigns would have $100 worth of spending power, whereas ours would have $92.50 without the city council sales tax exemption issued through IRBs. I do think it's important to reiterate that Music Theatre Wichita does not receive financing or funding from the city through this process, only the sales tax exemption. I also want to say a couple of words about the historic nature of this building. The council spent many hours of late hearing about historic spaces and Wichita's interest in preserving them. Our project will fully restore and expand a 1916 elementary school. For context, 1916 predates all but five of USD 259's current school buildings. This building predates the Orpheum, the Crown Uptown, the Cherkmer, and the Kress Building. It's a beautiful historic space. It's on the state and federal registers of historic places, and what we're referring to is the north downtown area in between St. Francis Hospital and the Nifty Nuthouse, surrounded by mostly abandoned buildings. Once upon a time, this was a vibrant and residential part of Wichita, and we believe it will be so again. In addition to developing this building that has been empty and deteriorating for the past decade, the project will bring ongoing benefit to the area. We expect several hundred to attend classes or rehearsals on a weekly basis, several thousand to attend the productions that will fill this space in the fall, winter, and spring. Notably, Mayor, not in the summer where we will be at Century 2. We'll have approximately 150 employees regularly working at the building through the summer months. All of this will benefit area businesses and contribute to the vitality of both downtown and the north downtown area. We're so grateful for your time and consideration and I'm happy to answer any questions.

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.

Thank you, Mayor.

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.

There's a lot of talent that comes out of Wichita and we're really proud to showcase that.

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

Good morning, Mayor, City Council. Vince Hancock from Delano. Two things to think about. Number one, yes, we are not giving them money, but we are not getting money that we would get from them with the sales tax exemption. So there is an ask financially in there. And number two, I used to work for a very wealthy Wichita businessman. who was very generous with his money, taught every single one of his children to give to the arts in the city. But one of the things he did was he checked their books. He was very stingy on, he would have the accountant spend $500 before he would give one penny because he wanted to make sure that that penny was being used in the most effective way possible. Something I think we should consider in the future is all of our nonprofits that we're giving tax incentives and other types of things is we should be able to see their books for the last five years. I just think that's a responsible thing to do to make sure that it's not being squandered. Not to say that this would be, in this case, in any way, shape, or form. I just think it's responsible business. Thank you.

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.

Second.

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

2027 Employee Group Health, Vision, and Dental Insurance Plans.

Good morning, Mayor and City Council. My name is Andrew Hudspeth. I work in the Human Resources Department. Today I'm going to talk about our 2027 Employee Group Health, Vision, and Dental Insurance Plans. So before we get into the recommendations that we're going to provide today, I wanted to spend just a minute talking about where we are today. The city has historically made a significant investment in its benefits program. We offer a very competitive health plan, and that's intentional. It's an important part of how we attract and retain our employees. When we look at what employees receive today, comprehensive medical prescription and vision coverage, relatively low out-of-pocket costs and a significant city contribution, we have a very strong benefits package. The other important piece is that this isn't a fully city-funded benefit. Employees contribute to this as well, and the city council approves the premium rates each year because the plan is self-funded. How do we continue to offer a strong benefit while making sure it's financially sustainable for both employees and the city is the question at hand. And that's really what's going to drive the recommendations that you're going to see today. This slide gives us a picture of what we're experiencing today. Rather than making changes simply because we think we should, we wanted to understand what is actually driving the cost of our plan. The recommendations today are based on utilization, cost trends, industry practices, and what we're seeing in our plan. When we look at these trends, the issue becomes less about whether whether we could make changes and more about whether we can afford to continue operating the plan exactly as it is. So we're having this conversation today for a couple of reasons. First, this is consistent with the city's strategic plan. We have an obligation to continually look at how we're delivering services and managing resources responsibly. Second, and probably more importantly for this conversation, we have to make sure the benefit remains affordable. So that's how we landed at the recommendations, not reducing benefits for the sake of reducing benefits, but making targeted adjustments. So we're making adjustments so we can continue offering a strong benefits plan. It looks like I got ahead of myself there. I'm sorry about that.

Here we go.

So the proposed plan adjustments that we are making today, number one is we are going to align co-pays for physical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, and speech therapy to primary care co-pays to ensure that members are completing the appropriate treatment and services that their physicians are prescribing. Next, we are going to have durable medical equipment be subject to calendar annual deductibles. And third, we're going to our current three tier copayment for drugs, we are going to increase that to a four-tier prescription co-payment. This is supported again by data. This point specifically, 89% of employers have similar company co-pay schedules with 100% of government employers doing the same. All right. The next thing that we are introducing is adding a pharmacy clinical program through TRIA Health. And this is to provide personalized support and lifestyle resources for the safe, effective, and sustainable weight loss that happens within the plan itself. Trita Health partners with our current pharmacy benefit manager, which is RX Benefits, and the program itself provides cost savings to the plan by sourcing specific anti-obesity prescriptions directly through the manufacturer. So next, we have a 5% premium increase. It's being recommended in the 2027 group rate health plans, and a 2.7% increase for our dental rates. So the family health plan will experience increases between $3.64 to $11.52 per paycheck. The single health plan will increase $1.22, between $1.22 up to $3.64 per paycheck. And from a dental standpoint, that's going to increase from 37 cents, between 37 cents, excuse me, to $1.44 per paycheck, depending on the participant's enrollment. All right, so we do have stakeholders that we filtered this information through, the first being the Health Insurance Advisory Committee, or we call them HIAC. They review our group health trends, the proposed changes before you today, and the recommended premium rates. HIAC is comprised of employee representatives from each union, pension, legal, finance, and HR. HIAC reviewed the group health plan recommendation, and they support the path forward. On the screen next we have, I'm not gonna go into the detail here, but this at a high level presents the total cost of our current plan, what the city is paying and what the employee pays, and then what that is projected to look like with the changes in 2027. The same for dental. And so we recommend at this point adding a new voluntary benefit to our plan. It is short-term disability. I believe you've heard that. This is income insurance and voluntary accident indemnity insurance. So there's two things being added there. Both programs are 100% employee funded and HIAC has reviewed this recommendation and concurred with the addition. MetLife is the current provider for our voluntary employee life insurance and our long-term disability income insurance, and this will be the same provider that will offer the short-term disability and the indemnity plan. Delivering 60% of an employee's pay after a seven-day elimination period, that's when the benefit would go into effect if the employee has enrolled into that plan. So we're asking at this point that you approve the recommended premium equivalents for the 2027 group health and dental plans, approve the inclusion of the TRIA health clinical pharmacy program that was referenced, voluntary short-term disability income insurance, and the voluntary accident indemnity insurance, and authorize staff to negotiate the terms and authorize the necessary signatures.

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?

So they don't vote. It's more of a, we present the information to them and they're providing feedback regarding the information that they receive.

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

I don't recall any concerns that were listed in the call themselves or itself. I can have Valerie come up. She is our SME for the benefits plan and she coordinated that call.

Good morning. Thank you for your question. The only concern that was raised during the HIAC meeting was we had introduced a three or four tier premium structure for our health insurance. So right now we only have employee and family rates available. And we had introduced an option for, first of all, employee. employee plus one, so that could be employee plus spouse or employee plus a child and family. And HIAC saw what the premium equivalents were based on those three tiers and just didn't think it was appropriate at this time.

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?

It was not because we are not going out for RFP at this time for our health plan carrier.

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

Correct, yes.

Thank you.

Council Member Shepherd.

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 other conditions might qualify for short-term disability? And can you clarify if that's going to be an in-house decision or if it's going to be the insurance company that makes the final determination?

So it is not an in-house decision. MetLife, the carrier, will provide the decision, but I will have, is there anything else that needs to be added? Yeah, so, yeah.

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 very different these days. I know many of our employees in the city are also hoping to take some of those steps. And so making sure we're being proactive and looking at how we can expand that. But I just want to say thank you for adding the short-term disability. I think it's a step in the right direction.

Council Member Johnston.

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?

So we looked at that based on the data that came from the most recent survey that was done. The addition of that tier was not rated high from our employees and so at this point we decided that that was not in our best interest considering the feedback that we received from our workforce. Okay, thank you.

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 would rather see less benefit coverage, I would like to know how we benchmark against other municipalities and how do you balance that?

So we do have a partner in our process, IMA. They assist us with gathering national data from a private sector standpoint and a municipality standpoint. And so all of the changes that you have before you today have been benchmarked and are supported by data that says most employers are doing what we're recommending. We can provide you with specifics regarding the data that's connected to everything, but data was reviewed as we were presented these options to adjust our plan to make sure it was healthy as we move forward. But that is always a part of the conversation. We wanted to make sure. I'll just end with that. How about that?

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'm going to have Valerie come back up.

Good morning. Great question. So, yes, today Ozempic, which is more specifically for diabetes, is a covered prescription, as well as some of the GLP-1s like Cephown and Wagovi. And the TRIA Health Clinical Pharmacy Program will help us with the voluntary anti-obesity prescriptions, or GLP-1s. Thank you very much.

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.

Second.

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.

Good morning, Ms. Mayer, members of the council, Nathan Emery, court administrator for the record. So this is a translation service contract to assist us in our in-court translation for defendants and victims whose primary language is not English. We use this service on a daily basis to explain court proceedings, fines, cost penalties, and to communicate with people and residents that don't speak English as the court proceedings go on. They're also used to assist outside providers with mandatory screenings and classes, and we used this service over 1,100 times last year. In May, we issued an RFP, got 13 responses, and we screened six. Vendors, based on their demonstrated experience in court proceedings, we selected Foreign Language Interpreter Service as our primary provider and Innovated Interlingual Solutions as a secondary provider. FLIS is our current incumbent and they've done an excellent job at a pretty low cost, but they have a very narrow scope of languages. And so we are contracting with innovative interlingual solutions to cover those languages that they don't and provide a backstop when interpreters from foreign language interpreter services are unavailable. Foreign Language Interpreter Service provides us these services at $60 an hour for Spanish, and then Arabic, Chinese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese for $70 an hour. And then our other provider will provide those other languages we use, including languages like Swahili and Rwandan, which come up more than you would think in our courts. at $77 an hour, but they have a two-hour minimum. So that's a pretty significant difference between our two vendors. These contracts were reviewed and approved by the Law Department, and it's recommended that the City Council approve the contracts with Foreign Language Interpreter Services, Inc., and Innovated Interlingual Solutions, LLC, and authorize the necessary signatures and approve any necessary budget adjustment. And I'll stand for any questions.

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?

Yes, we do less written. We do have included as part of the contract that we can send our documents to be translated. I don't want to say interpreted. Translated. Different service. So we've done that on a few things. Some of those things we can do internally, and so we try not to leverage the service if we can self-support, but yes.

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?

We do. Yeah. And we've even We've had Mexican sign language, which actually we had in a case where we had to have a chain of interpreters where we had one person interpreting American sign language to a Spanish speaker to a, you know, to a Mexican sign language. So sometimes we have to jump through hoops and create systems that we wouldn't expect to make sure that people understand.

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?

So probably for those individuals, we would have a reader rather than a Braille, produce a Braille document and walk them through in an environment that was comfortable to them. But we haven't had that a whole lot yet. So I couldn't speak to an actual practice that I've experienced, but if I just in thinking out loud here, I think that we would probably have someone that they were comfortable with assisting them to understand what's in front of them and what each thing is.

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

So in every court proceeding, we have laminated court documents and we provide people time and space to understand anything that they're going to sign or encounter. And so that would be the same for anyone that has a difference in communication. We would find a way to give them that time and space to understand because we don't want anyone doing anything in our court without full understanding and that it's their decision to proceed in whatever manner they proceed. Amen to that.

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?

I don't believe that they are a small business, but we chose them so that we could choose the small business because what we've been doing, so while they are our incumbent, we've been having to use a language line in courts for languages that they don't provide. And that is really a struggle in a courtroom environment to not have a live interpreter that can see the visual cues, talk with people. And sometimes when you're on the phone, you know, the line drops or they're just missing things. And so from a court translation service perspective, the phone translation has been woeful and so this is going to be a substantial improvement to our ability to communicate with the various communities that we service okay and and services are requested by the individual so we work to identify needed services so if we see anything on a police report we'll flag it we put it in our our our uh our system so that we know. And we really work hard to make sure that we've got the right people at the right time, because if we are doing it at the last minute, it actually costs us more. So the earlier we can identify a need, the better for everyone involved and the better for our budget. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

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 necessary budget adjustments. Second. Motion second. Discussion? See none. Madam Clerk, please open the roll. Motion passes 7-0. Madam Clerk, please call the next item. Bond and note sale.

Good morning, Mayor, members of the City Council. Mark Manning with the Department of Finance. Today I want to present to you the results of our most recent bond and note sale. As you know, we use two mechanisms to finance CIP projects. One is a note, which is a very short-term debt instrument, typically maturing in one year. We use that when projects are being constructed. After a project is completed, then we issue bonds for that, which is more of a long-term debt instrument that typically mature in in 10 to 20 years. Of course, in a lot of cases, we retire the notes with cash, so we don't always issue bonds. Those are the two forms of debt that we issue. We had a sale recently that had one series of notes and one series of bonds. So the timeline is we ask you for approval to conduct this sale back in August, which you provided us. The sale actually occurred last Thursday. We're seeking your ratification of the sales results that were approved by the city manager last week. And finally, we'll go through the closing process on October 15th. So just a little bit of detail on the two series. Again, we sold series 3, 26 in notes. That was somewhere in the neighborhood of $120 million, which is about normal for us. What is important to recognize is the purpose for which we sold these notes. About $42 million was for general obligation at large projects, but the vast majority of our notes was for special assessment projects. In other words, our special assessment activity here in the city of Wichita is very, very active right now. So the vast majority of our notes were for special assessment projects. We had a great sale. We had five bids. We always view the competitiveness of our issuances by the number of bids we receive. We had a very tight spread, which is also a good sign. The low bid was TD Financial Products LLC at a rate of 2.97. Rates are pretty volatile these days, but again, we had a good result. We also compare ourselves to other cities that are similarly rated, and again, that was comparable to what other cities are issuing at, so very good result. We issued Series 838 bonds. Again, these were for special assessments, so they matured over 15 and 20 years. We received six bids. Again, very, very good bid results, very tight spread. The lowest interest rate was Robert W. Baird and Company, Incorporated. We sold these at a rate of 4.27%. So again, very favorable results. We would recommend that you ratify the award of the bids by the city manager, adopt the bond ordinance on an emergency basis, adopt the bond and note resolutions, and authorize the necessary signatures. And I'd be happy to answer any questions.

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.

Second.

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

Memorandum of Understanding for Maintenance of the Prairie Sunset Trail.

Good morning, Mayor and Council. Reggie Davidson with Parks and Rec here today for you to talk about the Memorandum of Understanding and Maintenance of the Prairie Sunset Trail. So a little bit of a background on this. Prairie Sunset Trail follows the Riverbank former railroad corridor used for recreation and while preserved for potential future transportation needs. Prairie Trail Travelers has approximately eight miles of trail west of Wichita from 295th Street west to 167th Street west. In 2015, PTI proposed extending the trail east towards Wichita through the adjacent rail corridor. The city banked approximately three miles of corridor between 167 west of 167th Street West and Hoover Road, Sedgwick County controls the internal, the intervening mile between 135th and 119th Street. City Council approved the MOU with PTI on March 3rd, 2025, authorizing the development and maintenance of the non-motorized recreational trail within the corridor. PTI designed and constructed the trail to the city standards and has maintained its existing completion. So now that they've maintained the actual trail and developed it there, we're in transition now. The 2015 established a framework for PTI to develop the constructed trail within the city rail bank corridor. With construction complete now, we're actually transitioned to look at ways for long-term maintenance responsibilities for that. And to the right there, you'll see that it actually shows where those actual corridor is. The green section is the city property. The purple section is the actual county property. PTI has continued to maintain the trail and serve as a responsible steward throughout this process. Through the updated MOU that we're looking at, we're actually defining what the long-term goals will be for maintenance moving forward. It gives, on the left-hand side, the areas that PTI will maintain as well as, on the right, what the city will maintain. The structures and repair and replacement of structures built by PTI. They will continue to maintain that with the city and doing inspections on that. They will do the landscaping for the trees, shrubs, and other landscapes and maintain clearance sites, distance, and safety. And the city will mow that area 10 times a year, working to make sure the litter and debris is picked up needed for the mowing. Litter and debris pick up and trash they maintain on a regular basis outside of those mowing time frame. And then the city will actually work with them on any, excuse me, any repairs that are needed when the contractors come in that may affect any of those things that are taking place with the signs or markers or posts that are in place. They also manage the removal of graffiti along the trail as well. and the city does the fence repair for that location. PTI actually does all of the surface grading as well as surface material repair for washouts. as well as any furniture maintenance and repair, replace furniture and other fictions along that particular area. They also are responsible for the replacement of the bollards and signs and et cetera provided by the city, as well as any drainage. And we are responsible for removal of any homeless encampments and breeze along the corridor. As well as any signs or anything that needs to be replaced, we provide them for them to actually do the installation. And the drainage along there and the culverts or other damage structures are larger than 15 inches in diameter and that's responsibility of the city. For the financial consideration, the city is ultimately responsible for maintenance of the city-owned portions of the Prairie Trail. The proposed MOU assigns a portion of the maintenance responsibilities associated costs to PTI, which will be a cost saving for us to not have to have staff to maintain the area with this partnership. City responsibility will be performed through existing operating budget and funded by Parks and Rec and Public Works in accordance with our standard operating procedures. The law department has reviewed and approved the MOU as to form. It is recommended that the City Council approve the MOU and authorize the necessary signatures.

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.

That is correct. They actually work with doing that as part of the MOU. They take care of the responsibilities for that and we do assist when it's needed as well.

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?

There, there isn't currently. I know that once we started this process back in 2015 was to expand back to the current space where it is now. We've depended a lot on the volunteer support for that. So, as we look at future expense, we'll see if there's other support in the community to be able to expand further.

To get over the big ditch, because it stops right there at Hoover.

Yes.

So, that'd be key in connecting that path to the Redbud Trail.

Yes, and I think that's part of, as we're looking at other ways to make the city more connected. Those are options that we'll look at exploring too.

Okay, thank you.

You're welcome.

Vice Mayor Glasscock.

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

you know washouts or surface grading uh that councilman johnson said so what's the clearest path for a resident when they are trying to report some concerns uh we still encourage everyone to go through see click and fix and then we have someone on our team will communicate with the prairie travelers so that way we have a time and date stamp to be able to monitor when it's completed so they do that as part of the mou but ultimately if there's any support that's needed we will provide staff to help as well okay fantastic thank you Council Member Shepherd.

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 been cured on the date basically PTI's right to possession of the property as provided and all rights under this agreement shall be terminated. But it doesn't necessarily say who would be responsible for continuing the maintenance that they're responsible for. So for example, I'm thinking volunteer group, if at some point this volunteer organization's membership dies down to a point where they don't have the capacity, and we then have to absorb the responsibilities, who's responsible for closing whatever financial gap that we may incur as a result of that?

So ultimately, as city property, we're responsible for it through this relationship. We're able to leverage the volunteers to help maintain it and reduce our obligation there. And that clause specifically just gives us accountability to say that these are the things they're responsible for so that we can monitor it on a regular basis to see if there's a relationship that we continue to be able to meet the needs there. But we've had a great working relationship since 2015. They've done a really good job with maintaining the trail. and we meet with them on a regular to communicate and share any concerns they have and it's worked out well so far.

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

They are pretty typical with groups like this that we have a 10-year and then an option for an additional five years. And that's kind of driven by them as well for what support level they want to provide and how comfortable they are with maintaining the space.

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?

Sure. So we have a couple different options we do. We do MOUs as well as we have an opportunity to adopt the park programs. Those are more commonly used for some of our community park locations that we have that people come in and maintain those areas. We work in conjunction with them, provide supplies and things for them to maintain the area in their communities. And then the larger spaces like this is when we go into MOUs because it's a bigger responsibility.

Thank you.

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?

So typically we have someone that reaches out and says that they're interested in either doing some work in their community park. We have an adopted park agreement that we go through, outline what their responsibilities are, what we are responsible for. We provide, whether it's trash bags or pickers or things of that nature, so it's not a cost for them to actually maintain it. And then we work in conjunction with them to monitor what they're doing and give them projects that they can do to help maintain that particular area.

but you don't know how many are active?

I don't know the exact number, but I can find out, but I know we have quite a few throughout the city.

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...

My name is Gwen Whitted. I'm with Prairie Travelers. I'm the president currently. And I just wanted to say thank you to the council and to Mayor Wu and Mr. Davidson for supporting us and allowing us to help with the Prairie Sunset Trail. I will address your questions about the washout, just because we had a major washout on that area between 135th and 151st, and that was caused by a four-inch downpour that occurred in that area all at once, and it's been really, really difficult to get those filled back in appropriately, and we are in the process of working on that. Our cost, somebody asked about the cost that we incur, is for that very thing, the gravel. And we hauled four loads of gravel the morning that we started working on that. And so that becomes rent a trailer, buy the gravel, all those kind of things. So I would be open to questions if you have any, but that's kind of what we do. We work every one Saturday every month. and completely volunteers and I would say probably 90% of our volunteers are over 50 years old, so it's a slow process to work on that. With the dry summer, we've had an enormous amount of cracking when that surface gets really dry, it cracks and then If the cracks are big enough that a bicycle tire can go in them, then we go out and try to open them up, fill them up, and pound them in. And that's kind of the process of filling, fixing that kind of thing. So thank you.

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.

We do have a counter that we're able to track how many people are on the trail at any given really hour or day. We average about 100 people a day and we move that counter right now. It's in Goddard. We have another location in Garden Plain and then another location in close to 135th Street. So we have one counter, but three places we move it back and forth from. And our average is about 100 people a day on that trail. So thank you.

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 the area. There are very few escapes that you can have in the city, especially for kids to be able to see Mr. Forest like that. And I think it's, thank you for your investment. And that's what good stewardship of our community looks like. So with that, I would make the motion to approve the MOU 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 the next item. Contracts for command vehicles.

Morning, Mayor, Council, Jason Cooley, Captain, Wichita Police Department. Today we want to discuss the command vehicle contract These beginning slides are slides that were taken from the original presentation to you, so I just wanted to kind of reiterate those. But in a large and evolving metropolitan city, a command post and equipment capabilities are essential to deescalate and mitigate critical incidents safely. The Wichita Police Department uses and maintains specialized vehicles to protect the community and staff, as well as transport equipment. Locking up here. Okay.

Is this the second slide?

It is? Okay. The WPD does not currently have a dedicated vehicle or other secure mobile facilities capable of serving as a command post during major or extended incidents, community events, or severe weather conditions. Additionally, there are different vehicle types in the contract today. The second one is a bomb squad vehicle. That vehicle that we're looking to replace is 21 years old. It's listed in our heavy equipment vehicle used to respond to emergencies within the south central region. However, that current vehicle is more of a local asset as we divide our equipment between two of them. These kind of vehicles provide the necessary workspace and equipment to safely operate effectively and decrease the risk to public and to personnel safety during critical incidents. These procurements will provide purpose-built mobile facilities designed for specific operational functions that cannot be effectively met by standard passenger or fleet vehicles. Sorry, I keep trying to click. To just give you a background on how we got here today, this project was put in the CIP at the beginning of 25. In March of 24, we asked the US Senate for some congressional dollars for this vehicle. We were not awarded those, so at that point in September when we knew we weren't getting awarded those dollars, actually Public Works put it in the heavy equipment capital improvement fund. We pulled it out of there just for simplicity of us doing the RFP as well as for transparency out of the heavy equipment CIP. The heavy equipment CIP is A lot of public works, skid steers, excavators, dump trucks, things like that. So just like fire pulls their apparatuses out, we pulled our heavy equipment out of that. That way there wasn't confusion. We divided them in the CIP. But that's how we got here in the CIP. On October 15th of 25, I presented the initiation of those funds and that CIP to this governing body. that was approved to move forward with the request for proposal for these vehicles. So therefore, WPD, in accordance with city staff, conducted two requests for proposals different than bids. We did not want to go out for bid because then you're stuck with whatever they design, you get and you get low bid. You can't specify how many seats at the table, what communication devices you need. So we did an RFP, which is why it's not on board of bids. It's in front of you today as a separate item. That process identified a quality vendor to design and build the command vehicles, the mobile community outreach vehicles, and the bomb squad equipment vehicle. On March 25th, 2026, so there was a substantial time in between October and March, we took a lot of time looking at other departments' vehicles. Departments have had these vehicles for many, many years. Leawood, Lenexa, Shawnee, Olathe, Overland Park, Salina, Topeka. We evaluated all those. We evaluated other ones in other states. Florida Highway Patrol, Illinois, State Police, We drove up to Lenexa and actually looked at their command vehicle to see what they did, what they shouldn't have done, what they recommended we don't do. So there was some gap in there to make sure the specs that I wrote in the RFP were the specs that we needed for Wichita. So on March 25th, we went out for the RFP for the command vehicle and the mobile outreach vehicles. And we received nine proposals for that. And on April 10th, we went out separately for the bomb squad equipment vehicle. As those specs are different, we have different federal regulations we have to meet for the bomb squad vehicle as those are carrying items that have to be secured in a specific way. And we received 10 proposals for that. The analysis will start with the command vehicle. This is a dedicated mobile facility that we can locate near a complex major incident where emergency personnel and partner agencies coordinate and monitor developing information, communicate across agencies, and manage operational decisions. This is a mobile facility. I know it's a vehicle contract, but this is a mobile facility for severe weather, search and rescue, active threats, major criminal investigations that last multiple days, large public events, incidents requiring multiple agency coordination, For the lack of the font on the PowerPoint, I only listed a few. Riverfest, NCAA, Red, White and Boom, all the marathon races, the parades. We don't have anywhere to stage with other agencies. When I say other agencies, it's barricades of public works. When we operate out of the Emergency Operations Center, every department in the City of Wichita has a seat in the EOC. We can't currently do that in the field. We don't have a seat with Public Works to talk about water barricades or concrete barricades. There's nowhere for us to facilitate any of those needs out in the field. The mobile community outreach vehicles, this is a smaller, much smaller, so I guess picture more of an ambulance size, flexible mobile workspace to deliver services inside the community based on operational community needs. So again, it can be severe weather, It can be a neighborhood meeting, community events, smaller criminal investigations. It can be a missing person, a missing child. We don't have anywhere to keep a log of where we've searched, a map of the area to discuss it with fire, to discuss it with air support, to discuss with anybody else, the search and rescue team from Sedgwick County coming out. We don't have any workspace to do that. Victims and residents assistance currently, if you're a child or a victim and we need to interview you out on the field, we have two options. In a house or business, wherever you're at, if we can safely do that, or in the back of a patrol car, between a cage or through a window. We don't have anywhere to actually interview a child or a victim on scene where we're then gonna just release them on scene. These smaller ones provide a small conference table in the back where you can interview two or three people comfortably, give the child a teddy bear or a car to play with on that conference table, and then you don't have to remove them from their residence. The bomb squad equipment vehicle, a little bit more specific and kind of self-explaining here, but it's a dedicated platform for transporting and storing and deploying specialized equipment involved in explosive devices and hazardous incidents that cannot be transported in a standard vehicle. We're under federal regulation for our bomb squad of how we can transport and how many items we can transport together. If we seize an explosive device, we have to keep it a certain distance away from other explosive devices. and in a protective piece of equipment. Those things are large. They're big. Bomb suits are large. They're big, which is why we operate two different vehicles. Plus, we're a regional response team, which allows us to get federal funding for our bomb squad. I can't tell you the last time we actually bought an $80,000 bomb suit. The region's been very generous in that. But when we respond to something in one of our 19 regions, that regional asset leaves This vehicle in particular that we're talking about today stays here in the city of Wichita with some of the equipment so that way we never leave the city of Wichita unprotected for explosive devices. So the competitive RFP selection, just a little bit how it broke down. The command and mobile vehicles, 158 vendors were notified. We received nine proposals. The bomb squad equipment vehicle, 192 vendors were notified, and we received 10 proposals. Of those, we evaluated who could provide what and what time based on what warranty, based on what price and what package they were offering. Five vendors were selected by the staff screening selection committee, and those five were interviewed by the committee. And of that, LDV Incorporated was selected by the selection committee as the preferred vendor. Just before I go into financial considerations, I know I've spent a lot of time talking about different requirements for the BOM vehicle and the capabilities of the Large Command and Mobile Command. When we went out for RFP, we took a lot of stuff in consideration. We have never operated one of these command vehicles. I don't have a reason for that. I can't tell you why we do it on the trunk of a car. All these other agencies are going on year 30 and they're replacing their second or third one. We are behind the times of that. There are FEMA regulations. If you are going to be awarded, there are preparedness grants. The city is recipients of preparedness grants. The city currently has three awards of the preparedness grant right now. We've had some in the past as well. It's not a requirement that you have a command vehicle for those preparedness grants, but the specific verbiage is you have to provide mutual aid at a remote location of a facility capable of communication with 911, partnering agencies, You have to adopt it within NIMS, which is the National Incident Management System, to run an ICS, which is Incident Command Systems. All this is within the FEMA regulations. With that, when we did the RFP, we took into consideration what does FEMA actually mean as a facility. Short of establishing buildings all over the city where you could run these commands, that's why agencies lean towards these mobile commands because you can buy one and take it where you need within your city. So we made sure that it had ICS approved workspaces, ICS approved radios, ICS approved computers, situational monitoring, briefing areas for staff. And when I say staff, I mean it could be partners of emergency management, public works, dispatch, dignitaries. If you guys had to come out for a tornado or whatever it is, there's no place for us to brief you on 110, 100 degree weather or zero degree weather either. The financial considerations, again, the proposal was initiated back almost a year ago. As the RFPs came in, the mobile community outreach vehicles came in at $427,845 from LDV. The command vehicle was $879,630. The bomb squad vehicle was 661,867. For the initial proposal of 2,397,187, the reason I say initial is the vendors, like I have a rendering of what we want it to look like, but they won't start their staff actually designing our vehicle until they're under contract, which is what we're here today. So that's initial. I can tell you that the funding that you guys initiated a year ago was just over $2.6 million. So we're asking for a do not exceed. I don't think this 2.3 is gonna go up much. There's not much left to do on the vehicle. I have full confidence that 2.6 will not be exceeded by any means. We may lengthen the mobile command vehicles by a couple feet, but we're not going to get to the 2.6. That was initiated in the 26 to 35 CIP. And there again, I have that it was initiated back in October of 25. So the recommendation today is approve the contract with LDV and authorize the necessary signatures.

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?

Yeah, so there are inspections. Our bomb squad vehicle is 21 years old. We have... fixed it to its capabilities. I'll say that for a lack of better word. We're having issues with mechanical issues at this point that just aren't cost effective to keep fixing that vehicle anymore. I would say for the bomb squad vehicle, 21, 20 years is probably a good lifespan for that. The command vehicles are probably much farther than that. The command vehicle that I went to look at is coming up on year 10, and it looks brand new. So different uses. But I would probably say 20 years for the bomb squad vehicle. The regional asset we have is approaching 20 years as well. It's currently duct taped together in some parts. So 20 years probably is pushing it, but that's where we're running it with fleet.

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

Yeah, so just like our police cars we put up for sale, usually the smaller communities, depending on how well that car is maintained, this vehicle probably could be repurposed for probably not a bomb squad, plus we're the only bomb squad in the region. I suppose if you wanted to use it for a moving truck or something like that, the doors are having a hard time staying shut at this point. But that's typically what we see. A construction company will buy this and just haul whatever goods they have in it. That brought up a point I wanted to mention. The vehicle was purchased post 9-11 with a grant. After 9-11, there was just an influx of public safety grants available. You name it, you could get it. This vehicle was one of those that was purchased post 9-11. We have reached back out to the federal department for that to ask them, hey, when this goes to sell, do you have any interest? That's the policy that we have to do. They don't have any interest in this vehicle. Obviously, it's struggling to maintain. So the proceeds from that will go back in the general fund. Can't tell you what dollar amount. It goes for auction, but it'll go back in the general fund to offset a little bit of what we're purchasing.

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.

Yeah, so we provide our partner with mutual aid now. So all those radios inside that vehicle, similar to our car radios, these will be a little bit more advanced. They'll be on the unified command system. So we can touch statewide. We can touch federal agencies with them. We'll have the ability to put a different antenna in this vehicle that we can't just slap on a car. But yeah, they will be able to take a seat inside this vehicle and either operate. So let's use Mulvane as your example. Let's say we have something I don't know, at the county line, for some reason, we're down there, right, in between the two counties. We can speak between the two counties interoperably inside this vehicle with that. Or back to 911, we can patch different stuff through. We can merge two different radio channels into one.

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?

We were out there. I don't want to speak on behalf of fire. I don't know if they were out there. My assumption is they were probably out there for search and rescue. I don't know if they brought their vehicle. We were out there as a mutual aid. Andover called us in for mutual aid, even though it was at the county line. again we had nowhere to conduct mutual aid operations so yes our our vehicle would have been out there for mutual aid i i don't know if theirs would have been or the same area or

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

So the RFPs were all individually. I can't speak if on the back end any of these companies took a group discount off of any of them. They were all priced individually so every company that bid on the command one gave a separate price for that. The mobile ones were separate and the bombs were all separate. None of them, and we purposely didn't write the RFP for that as a package. We didn't want to get stuck with one vendor if multiple vendors were needed to be selected. It just so happened that we selected the same vendor for all three of them.

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?

Yes.

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?

Yeah, so the smaller ones right now are 14 foot. They may at most end up to 17. That's why I'm saying not to exceed. Even if they go up to 17, we're not going to touch that 2.6. The large one is 30 foot or 31 foot, something like that. So a little over two, two and a half times. The fire one, again, I don't wanna speak. I don't have much detail on that. I wanna say it's 40 foot or 45 foot. It's a completely different style, completely different vendor. It's more of a kind of a village tour bus look.

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?

Yeah, so we have requested theirs twice that I know of. Once we couldn't get it turned down the street where we needed it to get down, just some city streets are narrower than others, a parked car, whatever the scenario is, which then became problematic operationally-wise because instead of putting your command post where you need it, you're stuck putting it wherever you're capable of putting it, which affects your operation. We also have to have fire come set it up, and when we have fire come set it up, that takes that station out of service. That's those firefighters that are in that, so another fire station has to cover that fire district. even the couple times we've asked for it, or we had it one year at Riverfest. They had to park it, but someone has to stay there and man it, and it's just us operating it. So the smaller ones allows us to make those turns. We know the turning radius of the one that's proposed. i see smaller ones i don't mean the mobile command i mean our our our larger command that is much smaller than the fires command we know that can get down city streets so the smaller ones are an ambulance those are those obviously can get down city streets without issue alleys wherever we need them The larger one we know with the turning radius from Illinois State Police and the Florida Highway Patrol both operate almost the exact same vehicle that was proposed to us, and they can get it down the same measurements of city streets that we deal with here.

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

Correct.

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?

Yeah. I don't know what image you're referring to, but the only vehicles we have that would have an image on that, SWAT operates a large equipment vehicle just full of their equipment. That has a SWAT logo on the side of it. And then our bomb squad, the one we're asking to replace, is a large white box vehicle that will also arrive on not just explosive devices, but there are hazardous team as well. So like the situation we just had with the child in the home around hazardous materials, that was our bomb team that had to go in there and render that seemed safe and collect those. So that vehicle is going to be on scene for those. Our negotiators also operate a large white vehicle that has been repurposed probably three times at this point and so that one would be on scene conducting their operations as well. So those are probably the ones that are in the news.

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?

Yeah, so some of the grants that we normally get outline... It used to just be... No vehicles, they're broadened now to no gas engines, which poses a problem. That's not all grants. That's just some of them that we're familiar with. We did in 24, like I mentioned, we submitted to Senator Jerry Moran for his appropriation, like every agency in the state does, asking for appropriation funds for the vehicle. We were not awarded that. Outside of that, we have not come across any other large vehicle grants to purchase these.

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

The highest need? I guess I don't know how to answer that way. It is a high need, that is for sure. You know, right now we have zero capabilities to conduct mutual aid and ICS command on scene. Heaven forbid a major incident happens, we've had 58 bomb callouts, 21 SWAT callouts, you know, we get two tornadoes a year, and right now we have nowhere to conduct those. So this is a very high need, which is why we have tried with Senator Moran and other appropriations to try and get this funding in there, which is why in 25 we put it in and projected it down to 27. It's actually in the 27 CIP we initiated it, or 26 CIP we initiated it early because we knew the process would take a while. But yes, this is a very high need. I can tell you me personally, I worked a homicide on scene and lost the feeling in my right hand in an ice storm. There was nowhere for me to conduct a business. I mean, you're just stuck on scene conducting that business. That's just the nature of our business. And unfortunately, that's what we're forcing our staff to do out there.

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?

So it would have come out to every one of those SWAT calls, so 21 so far as of August 31st. The bomb calls, it Varies on what that is. The one where we were doing hazardous cleanup in reference to that child being exposed, when it came to that one, that was last month. They've had 58 bomb call outs so far. Just depends on what it is. On some of those, I would probably say a good estimate would be half of those. Some of those we can render safe with some of our quick response force items that we have. All these special events, Riverfest, NCAA, we scrounge and beg for places to conduct these operations. We've been very fortunate that people let us use basements or other facilities. Penny's been very fortunate to allow us to use her facility, just because we don't even have the options. Same with every marathon that we have. We don't have anywhere to conduct that business. If we're talking 52 weeks, I would say over 50% of the time you're gonna see these out.

Sorry, go ahead. And then mobile units?

Yeah, that's what I was, when I interrupted you, that's what I was gonna say, is the mobile units, you're gonna, you could see those out way more than you're gonna see the big one. The big one is for the critical incidents. The mobile ones are... more of the community mobile outreach ones where you're gonna see those out on a scene where they could be interviewing a child in it for 30 minutes and then it leaves and goes back to the station. So those are gonna, you're gonna see those a lot more. And the reason we did two is Each bureau is responsible for 25% of the city's coverage. We don't have a facility to store these in each one of the bureaus. Patrol East and West are getting their new facilities stored, so we split them half of the city, so each one will represent covering 50%. That's going to increase the call because instead of responding to 25%, each mobile one is going to respond to 50% of the city.

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

I think that would be a safe evaluation, yeah.

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?

Sure. So part of the quick action force or quick response force protocol that we use and fire uses and some of the other ones, you have on scene command and often remote command for a back of letter word, right? So if I'm operating at the EOC as the emergency management commander, I gotta have somebody on scene feeding me real time information of what's going out there. Now, even though I sit next to the sheriff and the fire department and public works and finance, those people are not on scene also conducting those operations. So as we divide the task through NIMS, which is the National Incident Management System, The on-scene people will relay that back to the EOC. So the only time we're really going to activate the EOC, amber alerts, a tornado, flooding, hazardous, gas leaks, things like that. If we have... of large critical incidents, that's police in nature, we may not activate the EOC for that. Typically we don't activate the EOC. But to answer the root of your question, those function separately, but they speak together. Awesome. Thanks for shedding light on that. I appreciate it.

Council Member Shepherd.

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?

No, because we're asking to purchase through CIP. And the reason we're going that route, the region, so the South Central region, is responsible for many agencies, right? There's 19 counties in the South Central region. So many counties are asking for things. Many cities are asking for stuff. I'll tell you that our SWAT team doesn't really get anything from the South Central region. The funds just aren't there. For the 25 funding we received from the South Central region, the Wichita Police Department received $215,109. So for example, the regional bomb vehicle that we have is probably half a million to $600,000. We can buy half of it. It's currently duct taped together. So the regional money isn't even enough to replace that one vehicle, let alone x-rays, bomb suits, everything else, let alone what other agencies are getting. So the funding really isn't there through the region to do cost sharing. I will say there is an upside to that because it does help some of the financial constraints of the city. The downside to that is that regional vehicle or any regional asset, we have a SWAT regional asset from many years ago, 20 years ago, and we have a regional BOM asset. If those 19 counties need that asset, that asset has to leave the city of Wichita. So that's a downside to the residents of the city of Wichita is that asset's gone. So with the CIP, we can respond through mutual aid to the south central region at the chief's discretion now. So he gets to decide where your funding goes, does it leave the region, does it not, which is why we keep assets in the city as well. I mean, we have an obligation to protect the city of Wichita as well. So that kind of gives you some light over there is cost sharing, but the dollars just aren't there. Absolutely. Thank you for that. we approved what did we approve a while back clarify that for me and for the public the difference yeah so the are you talking about the initiation approval yes okay so um i didn't put that in here but the the mayor's numbers are accurate it's 3 million 200 something i can't remember the 50 000 yep Part of that and the difference of that is 600,000 for the SWAT critical incident vehicle. So SWAT's regional vehicle that's 20 plus years old that can leave the region at any time is again at end of service life. And we're required by NTOA standards to have a certain level of protection to be a tier one SWAT team. so part of that 600 000 has already been allocated and purchased that's why i didn't include it in the i just used 2.6 because that's essentially what's left i guess if that makes sense i don't i can keep okay that's the difference yeah that makes complete sense yes my colleagues have asked all my other questions except for this one um for the mobile community outreach vehicle

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 we might be behind the curve a little bit with this opportunity. But staffing that. How would you be able to staff that? I know that there's some staffing concerns with the police department. If this gets approved, I would want to make sure that we're utilizing this specific resource on a consistent basis, particularly in parts of our neighborhoods where distrust with police is not as high as it can be. I see this as a unique opportunity. to break down that wall, build that barrier. In Florida, they use it to pass out ice cream to kids, start a conversation about public safety and humanize police officers. But I'm really concerned about the staffing piece.

Yeah. What a great point and great question. I'll talk about the first one and then I'll talk about staffing. You're right. we're not oblivious to the fact that sometimes people just aren't comfortable approaching an officer or making a police report inside of a police station so we'll bring it to you we'll bring it to you in the community whether we are handing out ice cream or squishies or whatever it is we can bring it to you in a more comfortable friendly environment to show the community we're human. I mean, we're all human. I go home to my family too, you know, and sometimes people think of us as robots. You know, even my kids, they still can't wrap their head around what exactly dad does, right? Because they see it in movies and Hollywood. There is that barrier that does still exist between the community and police. It just does. That is our idea and our philosophy of let's continue to try and break it down. How do we do that? Whether it's community events, whatever it is. These vehicles are just an additional step to do that. As far as staffing, that is a concern of the police department. we constantly look at how we can move and shift staffing with the allocated numbers that we have. These vehicles aren't gonna operate full time, right? There may be a community event that we know ahead of time that we can have staff come in and grab them and go. If it's one of the scenarios that I talked about where maybe we've gotta interview a kid or a domestic violence victim that we don't wanna interview in the house, right? Maybe they're uncomfortable. we can send an officer back to go get that vehicle unfortunately we make do with the numbers that we have and so we do pull resources from one place to another and shift them and they you know they may have to park their vehicle get in this one and bring it to the scene that's the unfortunate part of of the business we're in that we are constantly evolving and shifting resources to where they're needed Same with specialty events. I mean, same with a community event. We find people to volunteer, to come in, to get these things and go walk the parades or whatever it is. So, it is a concern, but we overcome it all the time.

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 police department. But if it's not out, if it's not being utilized, then it serves no purpose, it serves no good. So, talk to me about how this could potentially help with major events. I'm hearing a lot from folks who put on festivals and events and they have to pay for off-duty police officers. Is there an opportunity to maybe utilize some of these vehicles to help reduce the cost of private security or security that is required to be present at events?

I guess potentially, but it would be minimal. Just because the security that's provided at those events, if we focus them inside this vehicle, not really providing security outside the events, those events presence have to be just police presence. Uniform presence is the first use of force. That's one of the security things that we provide is if there's an officer just at the front gate, maybe whoever decides they're going to do something that day changes their mind what this vehicle would provide at those events is for if you have let's just keep with the scenario an individual who maybe shouldn't be there there is no place to relay that back to command or who's running the incident command We don't have anywhere, any vehicle to organize that. Nowhere to put a name. Nowhere to map them. Nowhere to, you know, where do I have officers? Come to the command post. I can show you where every officer is staged. Do we have a gap in security? So, yes and no. It would be minimal because we do still have to get the actual boots on the ground out there at the location. But that's only as good as what we can coordinate. If we don't have a place to coordinate that, then we are going to have gaps in security.

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

Hi, my name is Sarah Cowling. Well, I'm from every district. But first of all, I just wanted to say that, like, with the police force, they've done a really good job on modernizing and evolving. And I liked hearing the facts that, like, as far as selling things off and as far as they had some... At first, I just kind of, like... And I was looking at the budget for $141 million was spent on police force. And when somebody that doesn't know a lot about what's going on in the city sees those statistics compared to the rest of the budget, I kind of questioned why we would put so much money into safety when it's the difference between safety and security. The only thing I have to ask is when we put so much money into that security, it almost gives that feeling that they have to earn that money, like they have to look for, like he said, we have like so many SWAT calls, so many, and kind of get our money's worth. I don't know. I just felt a compulsion to say thank you for your service and thank you for everything you've done. Thank you for the evolving. Thank you for being realistic on things that I don't understand. I always know what I'm going to say in my head, but I think that what Shepard had to say was really important because people, when we have that imminent threat, when we're looking to buy these vehicles because we want to make sure that we have the tactical and we have all of these things for these Basically crime. I think that we should have more faith that it's not going to be that bad. I'm all for getting cool toys. I just want to say thank you.

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

Do you have any pictures of what these vehicles might look like?

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

They're asking $3 million. Would you kind of like to see what they look like?

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

sure the only image that any of the vendors really produced was kind of a just a mock outside of the vehicle you know it's a basically a 30-foot box truck or a 14-foot box truck and they would just slap wichita police on the side some of them used our logo some of them didn't use our logo and then they would just give a rendering of what they believe the inside configuration and their mind look like oh maybe a conference table in the back They all met our specifications of a conference table needed to have this many seats or we need to have this many computers. But they won't actually give us the actual CAD approved drawing until they're under contract. And that's because it costs the vendors money to do that. But I will say that basically 99% of the vehicle of where we'll end up with the large one, Is the Illinois State Police or the Florida Highway Patrol those vehicles are essentially the same? I think we'll probably end up switching the conference table around different part of the vehicle, but that's why I didn't provide a rendering is because LDV doesn't have that yet. They'll have it very very fast once they're under contract, but I

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

Yeah, they're still box style, but it's basically the size of an ambulance to kind of give the conception in the head. It's much smaller. The outside will probably look, you know, the same, just smaller, but it does look like an ambulance basically.

Thank you. We'll continue with public comment.

Mayor Mrakas, Morning City Council, I want to thank you guys for asking I was having to cross out a lot of things, because you guys are asking a really good questions and I appreciate that. Mayor Mrakas, A question that was asked earlier on a different agenda item was did you use a local vendor. And I did look up and there's multiple vendors in Kansas that do this work. So I'm just curious why we wouldn't keep those dollars here in Kansas. My biggest concern is where's the budget for the long-term lifecycle costs? Because Councilman Shepherd brought up full-time heads but the the cost of fleet management is getting larger and larger every year not just maintenance costs but gas or diesel however those are powered where will that be held in the budget and you know the police budget is already quite large is this another uh percentage growth that's going to be asked of taxpayers in october when you guys approve this Not two months later you approved a sales tax because we were struggling. That was the perception that we were struggling as a city. So on one hand we need additional dollars from the public to be able to maintain things like libraries and still not get the things that we want at the full level. On the other hand we have CIP asks that are specific one time costs but the maintenance of those costs are not ever talked about when we look at purchasing that. If we purchase a building, we know we're gonna have to have operational and maintenance costs moving forward. The mayor asks about it all the time. We have to take care of what we have. Where is that discussion here? wasn't part of the 2026 budget, will it be part of the 2027 budget, the 2028 budget? We're just not seeing those things, and that's the fear. I did look up some renderings. The ambulance one is, it's just a mobile outreach vehicle. It really, some of them have bath, a toilet, a shower. Those can really look like anything. I do think those are a great idea, but I would also like to see a pilot for one. Let's get the metrics on how much it was used, what the public thinks about it before we go and buy two. very similar to the conversation around the robot dogs. The mobile command center is the same way. I think we should have very specific metrics besides we just sent it out. Because when you look at ROI, are we getting the return on investment for our tax dollars on some of these really large capital purchases? So I would like to hear more about The purpose of it is either it's a hotspot during critical incidents or it's a place where we can talk during the NCAA for the security that we're doing. How did we do that before? Somehow we were able to successfully have safe River Fest and safe NCAA and safe parades. Is there somewhere we can meet in the middle so we're not spending millions of dollars on vehicles that we have to go and turn around annually spend $100,000 to $200,000 maintaining these vehicles.

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

Oh, and then the question was asked about cost sharing. How much has Sedgwick County Emergency Management been included in this because a big part of what they're supposed to do is exactly what Captain Cooley talked about where we have to respond to critical incidents and we have to provide, I forget the term that Captain Cooley used, but we basically have to show mutual aid. We have to show up and provide mutual aid. How much has emergency management at Sedgwick County been included in these conversations? Is there vehicles or budget that could be shared there? We just had a presentation from emergency management not long ago and I don't think people realize how much they already do all of these things. So I would just ask, maybe we don't Maybe we don't look at the need as displayed from the asker, but we look at what the community need is, and I think we would get more out of the smaller vehicles being able to do that, test it as a pilot, and probably the bomb squad truck, than we would a command vehicle and another one, because we just, we're running out of dollars, and at some point, something's gotta give, and I would rather see us fully fund roads and libraries than have more fleet management that we're gonna have to turn around and sell in seven to 10 years because they're obsolete. Thank you.

good morning mayor and city council on april 7th we were having a discussion about robot dogs and deciding whether we should have two or one or how that worked and i do want to commend a leader in the department who when the council asked for to say hey we probably should have a policy for all these things that we're talking about not arming the robot dog so that it wouldn't be misused And I do wanna say, I was very impressed, within two months, by June 26th, policy number 706 was on the internet, available for all of us to read, go through it, it makes perfect common sense of what was said to be on paper. So I really do appreciate that. What I didn't appreciate was later on in that conversation, on that exact same day, we heard a comment, oh, we don't have a mobile command post. That's not exactly true. At 7.30 this morning, each one of you received a photograph of the mobile command post. I've personally been in a place where I was parked within half a block of where I work, And due to a SWAT call out, I was prevented from going home for over four hours because I was parked two cars down from where they arrived, parked there and said, we want nobody walking within a block of this vehicle. It was not a SWAT vehicle. It was Wichita Police Department on it. And again, you had that photograph. Now I want to take a little bit of time out to say that Jason stood here for 48 minutes. I understand that I have a reasonable time restriction, a reasonable place restriction. But for me to be unable to share a static image with you, that is an unconstitutional manner restriction. And we're going to have a discussion on that someday, not now. So for the department to say, oh, that's a negotiating vehicle. That's not our incident command post. I've seen non-SWAT officers go in and out of that vehicle using it as a mobile command post. It's a distinction without a difference. We have one. And I've got the video proof of it. And now you have that as well. And I'd like to have that made a matter of the public record. I'm personally offended that they would bring up incident command decisions. I've had hours and hours of training in national incident management systems. And as Dante knows, we've had some healthy discussions on this. We were standing in this building, in this room, holding a city council meeting. Our police department couldn't even drop 50 bucks for a weather radio when we had a severe thunderstorm warning and hailstorms heading in this direction. For them to say that they know a clue about incident management is a joke. Julie's got her head screwed on straight. She'll work with them always. In fact, Dante said we're possibly going to get somebody on staff to help with that. That'd be great, but the WPD should not be in charge of our incident command system. It needs to come from county because that's the way the feds are designed. It goes from federal down to state, down to county, and then down to all the agencies that are involved. So I agree with you. We need to have that discussion together So as to the other vehicles, I'm not qualified to talk on them But I've seen that vehicle in use in this town. We already have one. I don't know why we need another one any questions Thank you We'll continue with public comment

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 scope before versus the scope now?

On the bomb one, we reached out to multiple agencies. We belong to the National Bomb Tech Group. We based that number on Dallas and some of these other places that already have the vehicle we're trying to acquire. That's where we got that dollar amount. We felt comfortable that 700, we could hit that. got pretty close. The $1.2 million was the Senator Moran's appropriation amount of $1.2 million. That is what we were told from other agencies that have these. I mean, all these other agencies are operating these. That's the dollar amount we were told, hey, you're probably going to need to be in that range. We went into the RFP thinking that was the range we needed to be in. So once we started getting the proposals back and realized only one company was even in that range and we started interviewing them, we learned very quick that wasn't the dollar range we needed to be in. The dollar range was much lower than what we asked for.

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?

Sure. Yep. And we went into the RFP thinking that the best course was to get basically a sprinter van, for lack of a better term, with a conference table in the back. We quickly realized after viewing some of those that there is no room to operate in that. The width just isn't there. And we started seeing all these other agencies, they were telling us, well, we tried that and it didn't work. So when we went out to the proposal, we knew that those were going to probably come back a little over than the sprinter van. But in the total project, we knew we were going to have savings from the large mobile command one.

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?

So, maintenance on these is just like every other vehicle. It's oil breaks. tires after like a lot of miles, right? These drive from their staging point to a staging point and then they park and operate. So like our armored vehicles have a long shelf life because they're there, they're on scene, they're not patrolled, they're not driving around the city. So we're not asking for any additional operating costs. It's fuel from getting them from point A to point B, and then they run on the fuel from the generator and can run 24 hours on that tank and one generator. They're just powering the electronics at that point. So the maintenance fee is nothing more than oil, brakes as needed, and then putting fuel in it. We already have fuel in our budget, so we're not asking for any budget increase for that. The replacement plan for these is so far down the road in CIP that it's only a 10-year lookout. I can't even put it on the CIP for a replacement plan 20, 25, 30 years from now.

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?

yeah we thought about that and i'll tell you that in 25 we operated 325 special events so we're that's a lot you know compared to a calendar year so one vehicle is not going to be able to sustain what we're trying to do out in the community you know when mr shepherd was bringing up breaking down that barrier that vehicle's out of service for anything else in the city. So that's why we're just asking for two. Two is the pilot program. We're not asking for four. We're asking for two. We think those will be used all the time. So essentially is the pilot program is two. I mean, we serve 400,000 residents, and that doesn't even count the visitors we have, the million visitors we have. And I can speak to any of the other comments if you'd like me to address those.

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

Sure. So the ongoing cost I talked about, one of them was how do we do Riverfest and NCAA? I mentioned that we borrow space from people. There's a business downtown that he's very gracious and lets us just use his basement. That's not conducive for our setup. We have to run a lot of wires through that to get video feeds, to get our radios out of that business. They don't work. So now we're doing kind of a mesh daisy chain to get our radios out of that. So we're very fortunate they allow us to do that. NCAA, again, like I mentioned, Penny was very fortunate. That, without going into details, is not tactically sound for what we want to do. There's one way in and one way out of there. So during a crisis, that is not how we want to operate incident command. Plus, the NAACP has a host, right? The university, yeah, NCAA is a host. Wichita State has to host that, right? You have to have a university host it. We don't have anywhere to communicate with Wichita State, so we had to ask Penny, hey, we need somewhere close. Where can we go? That's just not conducive. We've just been literally making do. The emergency management already having these. They don't have a command vehicle to send out. They have a small ambulance type that just has supplies on it. It says emergency management on the side. It's blue and it's an old ambulance they repurposed. That has supplies on it. We used it a lot during COVID. The emergency management team operates emergency management center. They don't go out in the community with us. We operate operational things, and then we place people inside the EOC to bridge that gap, whether it's PIOs or like we just ran a mock. I think it was a gas explosion over by Town East was our mock exercise. So we're in the EOC operating those. They don't have these vehicles to go out. Funding roads, I will tell you that in the CIP, all that stuff is already listed in the CIP. We're not asking to take any money away from funding roads. Sewers, storm water, streets, all those get their own line items in the CIP. Those are separate line items. We're 2% of the CIP. Polices, that's all we've asked for in the CIP is 2%. Mobile command post, again, I think we talked on that. I don't know what's on the news or what's out there, but we don't have that. That's not an accurate statement. SWAT has one. It's full of equipment. Negotiators have one, and they have to have a self-contained area where they can talk to the individual in crisis. You can't operate a command post next to negotiators who are talking to an individual in crisis. And then the bomb squad has one, and that's equipment. They are full of equipment. i will tell you that i am the commander of those incidents and we huddle up in my suv five deep and we try and organize these scenes out of our suv that's currently how we're operating these scenes thank you

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 the police department is asking for is roughly 30 feet and the mobile community outreach vehicles between 14 and 17 feet. And again, the council, voted 7-0 last time to approve these items, and now it is under the budget that was approved to them. So with that, I will move to approve the contracts 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.

Approval of lease agreement with Botanica, Inc. Good morning, Mayor and Council Members. Jerry Ford with Development Services. The item before you is the approval of a lease agreement with Botanica, Inc. A little background on this property. So in 1917, Kohler Sim donated land located north of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers to the city of Wichita in memory of his son, Arthur. This land is known as the Arthur B. Sim Golf Course and Sim Park. Botanica was opened to the public in May of 1987 to generate enthusiasm for horticulture and enlighten people through educational, artistic, and cultural experiences. With this mission, Botanica's gardens and programs expand public awareness of horticulture, educate Kansans about how nature can improve their daily lives, and assist in the promotion of community development. Since its opening with four gardens and a horticultural library, Botanica has added 30 additional themed gardens and exhibits. All gardens are designed to emphasize collections in display settings that feature plants particularly well suited to South Central Kansas. The gardens are decorated with a collection of 50 elegant sculptures, flowering streams, fountains, waterfalls that compliment the beauty of the plants. In 2010, the Sim family granted permission to Botanica Inc. to expand onto the Sim Park property located west of Botanica. The Botanica expansion included the Downings Children's Garden and Children's Garden Education Center, amphitheater, and grand lawn and new fencing. Botanica Gardens is owned by the city and operated by Botanica Inc. It's a non-for-profit organization. The parties operate under the terms of an operating partnership agreement dated December 16th of 2025. And as indicated in the lease agreement, the operating partnership supersedes the lease. It's at this time, Botanica requests a 30 year lease agreement to codify the organization's ability to apply for grants, develop and improve the existing grounds together with the ability to pursue new development within Sim Park. The city will continue to own the property while Botanica will operate and care for the gardens, provide public programs and experiences and invest in improvements that benefit the community. The agreement provides a long-term site stability Botanica needs to pursue grants, philanthropic support, and major capital projects, including a water reservoir and hydro learning center and conservatory within the expansion into Sim Park. Botanica, in partnership with the city, is in the process of applying for a water projects grant in support of the development of a comprehensive water reclamation and education project. This initiative will advance sustainable water practices through storm water management, rain water collection, and the use of test water from the city's new water treatment plant to supply a new reservoir and irrigation system. The project will also establish a water learning center designed as a hands-on educational hub for K through 12 students. The center will feature visible water pipes, channels, a reservoir system to demonstrate the movement, conservation, and reuse of water. This image here will show that the existing grounds of the botanical gardens are in purple, with the proposed expansion area of Sim Park being that part in green. There's a large meadow and some tree wooded areas that are currently there now. No other improvements are within this area. As an extension of botanica into Sim Park, The project will integrate ornamental French or Italian style entry gardens to create a welcoming transition into the hydro learning campus. These additions will enhance both the horticulture beauty and educational mission of botanica while contributing to a long-term water sustainability and community engagement in Wichita. Attached to the facility will be a conservatory and greenhouse complex, providing hot and cold growing environments for orchids, water lilies, tropical plants, and annuals while also serving as flexible classroom and learning spaces. If trees are to be removed from the expansion area, Botanica agrees to replace the trees by planting new trees of commensurate or greater value once matured, subject to the city's approval. Additionally, prior to an expansion improvements made, permission from the Sim family is required. A lease agreement for the land within Sim Park will allow Botanica, Inc. the ability to apply for grants and plan for future expansion. The lease itself creates a leasehold interest for Botanica, Inc. When an expansion occurs, Botanica will benefit from an expansion by the increased attendance and earnings the gardens will produce. All capital improvements to the facility will be reviewed and approved by the city prior to the fabrication and completion. The recommended action before you today is to approve the lease agreement and authorize the necessary signatures. In addition to standing for questions, both Director Bonacca and Botanica Director Dr. Lynette Zimmerman are also here to answer questions.

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?

Good morning, council members. Mayor Wu, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. This is an exciting opportunity to add new programming to an existing important part of our community, particularly in this area of Riverside. This is a special place for a lot of folks, and we want to see it grow and become more engaging with our public. And what we would like to do is not only that on the recreation side, but fuse that with conservation efforts. We are coming off of an extremely hot summer. We know it's going to do that again next year, most likely, and we've been experiencing water shortages. So as an organization, We have a lot of plants, a lot of trees to take care of, and a lot of acreage. We want to think future forward on how we take care of that water resource. And we have an opportunity. We have an opportunity to recycle that test water into a water reservoir that then supplies irrigation water for our gardens. To me that's a win-win situation where we can come together within our own city and our multiple departments and work on a cohesive plan of action there to satisfy the needs of a true cultural gem in Wichita as well as recycle such a precious resource. So that is the emphasis and then also fusing that into educational purposes. Again, we're looking at environmental changes. We are an outdoor venue. We would love to be able to work with our students. We have over 12,000 students right now. We'd love to work with them inside in a conservatory setting so that we are not eliminating their education during certain times of the year. So we want to make sure that our students have access to plant-based learning 12 months out of the year.

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.

Absolutely. Thank you, Council Member Shepherd. Botanica has expanded its educational programming and its reach into the community. We are working with several organizations around town. We are with Allison Middle School, making sure to beautify their spaces. Members of that seventh grade class came to us asking us to help. We said yes, we'll find the resources to do this. Anytime that next generation wants to improve the environment around them, I think that's an instant yes. So we took that step forward and made sure we had the resources behind that, and we even took care of the plants during the summer so that they would come back to a school full of beautiful tropical plants, so never missing a beat there. And we are actually piloting a project with Coleman Middle School, the Environmental Magnet School, and that I am very excited about, where we take our plant-based curriculum into the classroom, so we are part of their advocacy hour. So we are built into their curriculum, and our instructors, our educators, who are actually certified teachers, are in the schools this fall piloting that project with that middle school hitting the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classes. So that's really exciting. We wanna start small to prove or have that proof of concept, if you will, and then grow and build out and have a larger impact in our city.

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.

Good morning, Mayor and Council. Maggie, I apologize if there's an echo in the room, since you know what I'm about to say. We talked about this last night at District Advisory Board. I feel like deja vu all over again. I feel like it's long-term dollar deal days at the city council. Stop me if you've heard these dollar deals. Waterwalk, River Vista, the Boathouse, all of these deals where we technically own the land or we're selling it for a dollar an acre. This is a dollar lease. You may have heard me speak earlier when I talked about auditing 501c3s. Do we know how well their financials are doing? Are they making more? What's their income? We understand it's a tourist destination. We understand that we had some issues with COVID. Where's the last five years of the financials? With a previous director, I attempted to do an audit by simply visiting Botanica and asking to see the IRS 990s for the past three years. I was told, they're not available, you'll have to come back tomorrow. When I came back tomorrow, the accounting office door was locked and the director told me that if I did not sign an identification statement, that I was going to be trespassed from the facility for simply asking for documents that are required to be public under IRS law. That is not an attitude of transparency. That is an attitude of wrongdoing. So I'm glad we got rid of the previous director. I don't know what his deal was, but he was up to something. That's now said and done. But we should have, for as much as we're investing in this, for as much as it's our property, we should be able to see those financials. We're not doing that. I think we need to do some work. We've got this meadow, the only place that I know of where we've either taken off or landed with balloons. I don't think that students should have to go to the zoo to see animals. We've got deer, foxes, skunks, coons, raccoons, bunny wabbits in that meadow. You make it into a pond, all those four-leggeds are gone. And what is this going to do? It's going to drive them into the neighborhoods, into trash cans to find food. South Riverside Park, just down here. Oh wait, there is no more South Riverside Park. We literally paved paradise to put up a parking lot that gets used one month a year. I used to be a Boy Scout in 1985 and I camped right there. Can't go camping on asphalt, just doesn't work. We're taking away the green space to give it to a public private partnership. Please don't put Sim Park behind a paywall. Say no to this land grab and limit the lease to five years. Any questions?

Thank you.

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.

Happy to answer that. We are continuing to honor our main entrance. It is the home and the opening of Botanica since 1987. We want to see that continue. That facility does need some work, so we can talk about that later. With this expansion project, we know that there's a lot of acreage between, and we want to create access points from the River's Edge parking lot into the new facility so that there would be access as a secondary entrance so people could go and enjoy directly, as well as having our students and the buses be more capable of navigating that space back there.

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.

Second.

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

Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Grant Application.

Good morning, Mary Council Reggie Davidson with parks and REC are here before you to talk about the outdoor recreation legacy and partnership grant application. So a little bit of background, the outdoor work. Recreational legacy or lap is a nationally competitive grant program funded through the land and water conservation fund administered by the national park service. All that provides funding to create an improved outdoor recreation spaces and expand connections to outdoor and eligible communities. Applications are submitted to NPS through each state's designated lead agency. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism serves as the state lead agency with the city eligible to apply as a sub-recipient. Staff identified the proposed Dr. Glendive Park Football Complex as an eligible project on this location in the urban area serving low-income community. The project would advance development of football complex and expand access to quality youth athletics. Youth football is a major parks and recreation program, but currently lacks playing fields comparable in quality to those available for other sports. October 1 2026 the application is due to K W K D W PT if selected the city's phone application would advance the nps for consideration and anticipated by may 1 2027. Administrative regulation 2.4 a require city council approval before applying for potential grants awarding exceeding $250,000. So the financial considerations for this opportunity, ORLAP provides awards from $300,000 to $15 million with the one-to-one funding match requirement. Staff are preparing an application requesting $10 million in ORLAP funding. The proposed match would be $500,000, which is in the adopted CIP for project design, and then $10 million fundraising through the Wichita Parks Foundation. The City of Wichita and the Parks Foundation have executed a MOU supporting the football complex fundraising efforts. If awarded, ORLAB will reimburse 50% of eligible project expenses up to the awarded amount. So the law department will review and approve any grant agreements if awarded, and it is recommended that the city council authorize the staff to submit the ORLAB grant application authorizing necessary signatures. And I'll stand for any questions.

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?

We haven't gotten final commitments from private donations now. We are working with the Barry Sanders family and identifying who those donors are. We have identified some that we believe are strong prospects to help with the fundraiser efforts, but they haven't been secured as of yet.

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

So we're working with the family directly, and we're also working with private groups in the community to help with some of those fundraising efforts. And we're identifying who those committee members will be as we move forward with that campaign.

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

That is correct.

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?

So we haven't identified a certain threshold, but part of the process of what we're doing as we're moving forward with kicking off the fundraising efforts is that once the grant is awarded, if we are a recipient of that, we're able to use those dollars to leverage for other fundraising efforts that we're doing. So we're going to use that in collaboration with those dollars before we move forward with making an investment on what we're going to do with the project.

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.

So we established an MOU with the Parks Foundation. We're there for the judiciary for any of those contributions that comes through. So then it's a 501 where those donations will be considered as tax deductible. And they're the one that's going to manage those dollars once they come in towards the project. as part of what they're doing as well is they typically will charge an administrative fee that goes along with handing those funds they are working with them where they're waiving some of those fees that will help with ongoing efforts for fundraising i'll have more vice mayor glascock

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?

Yes. So this is just giving us to make sure that we're following the CILI policy before applying for any grants that we get approval. And then if we're awarded, then we have the option at that point to discuss where we are with fundraising efforts in the next steps.

Okay. Fantastic. Thank you.

Council Member Shepherd.

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.

I don't have the full history on some of the things, but I would say that I think this was put into the CIP as a planning support money, so to help start paying that vision for it. I think that's consistent where we do think ahead that is there some city funds that can support the private or public grant fundraising that we're doing. I think that is consistent that we do identify projects that have a mix of public and private funds.

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

That is correct. Mr. Davidson can, yes, I believe so.

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?

I can't speak to any in my short tenure here. I'm trying to think real quick. I don't know if Mr. Davidson has any examples.

I can't think of any examples that, uh, that differ where we've held on some of the funds to towards the design concept before moving forward.

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

The only other one that I know that's in the process now that we're working on is Firefighters Memorial, which is in Councilmember Hoheisel's district and there currently isn't any dollars that's designated right now for the design of it. We've worked on the general concept of it and then using that to be able to use for fundraising efforts.

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

It's about almost three years now.

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.

That is correct.

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.

Sure, so we meet Barry Sanders family has a representative that meet with us on a monthly basis. We look at prospecting at what are companies that he currently has relationships with, those individuals that are in the community that may be supportive of the project moving forward. We're also working this week that is on the mayor's media briefing that his nephew, Adrian, will be doing a press release on that campaign and us moving that forward. A press release will be going out after that, as well as Barry Sanders Jr. will be available for any interviews related to the project as well. And we're also working to put together a prospect list of those individuals that will be moving forward with the public phase test, the next portion of that, as we start looking at soliciting dollars.

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.

That is correct. His, uh, Barry Sanders Jr. is the one that's been attending the meetings and representing his father along with the representatives here locally. And then, he will be engaged as we move forward with the projects as we start looking at additional opportunities for fundraising.

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?

This is the first that I'm aware of through the Parks Department, and this is something they've been really supportive of since this initial inception that it was brought up, and they've been engaged the entire time frame with helping with the planning as we move forward.

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?

So part of our process with moving forward with this vision, we met directly with VisitWichita, and they're a consultant that does a lot of national events around the U.S. and targeted what type of events that we can host at this particular facility. So we've already identified some of those that could come here in the community. There's not another one here in the Midwest. So this will be attractive for those who are coming in to be able to use the space. Another big component of that was that flag football is growing tremendously throughout the U.S. USD 259 has adopted it as a sport. Collegiate is starting to offer scholarships for it. And then 2028 is also going to be part of Olympics. So that's something that is driving a lot of what we're doing with that to be able to use this space as something not only just for locally, but it's something that can be through the Midwest as well as a national attraction to bring in economic development and funds into the community.

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 League 42, we have the pool, and there's the current Barry Sanders football field there. Why or why not was that considered?

So that particular space is there with the size and the scope of what we have for this complex, we wouldn't have enough of the landscape to be able to develop there. So Glen Dye gives us the opportunity to make the impact where we can bring in those large tournaments and things that are nationally into the area. Where we are at McAdams Park would only allow us to put in one field, which wouldn't meet the need for those larger tournaments and things that we're trying to attract into the community.

Council Member Tuttle.

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?

That is 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.

That is correct.

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 the way the grant is actually set up on it is that we can draw from the particular grant as we move forward in different phases. Okay, that's helpful. So it gives us flexibility as we continue the fundraising efforts to be able to leverage those dollars as part of what we would need in the long term.

So we wouldn't have to have the additional, the total 10 million by May 1?

No, we would not.

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?

So in this situation, so I can, my team can help sell the vision and what we're doing for it, but as city employees, we will have someone from the fundraising committee that actually makes the ask. Okay. So we will share the vision, share where we're going, how the space will be used and how it's gonna benefit the community. Then someone from that committee that is helping with the fundraising will actually do the ask.

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?

No, we wouldn't. That would be part of the process as we're looking at doing the fundraising portion to expend those dollars. We would want to have those one-to-one match funds available to use towards the project.

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 we'll be working with Public Works and their team on that. We do have an initial website that's set up to have some renderings of the rough draft of what that looks like that we've been using for marketing purposes. So that website is in place that we have and has runnings of the site itself. With the $500, $100,000 will be as we move forward to what the specifics are going to be for that. But we do have a ballpark on that $20 million of what the facility would cost based on those estimates.

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?

we will align it with the grant application award to be able to come back to council and discuss next steps. So before or after May 1st? After the May 1st time frame.

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?

Yes. Thank you. And just so you're aware as well, if the grant doesn't move forward, we still have plan in place to be able to look at fundraising dollars to move forward with the project. So the grant wouldn't necessarily say that we're not moving forward. It would just allow us to have to raise additional funds now in that process to move forward. But the plan is to move forward with the project.

Councilmember Shepherd.

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 particular grant i don't think it would be wise to and you have certainly shared those thoughts in our committee meetings as well The other concern that I have in regards to holding the release of these funds to some precursor is that it's not the precedent that we followed with other projects. Why this one is different, I'm not sure. I'm open to hearing those concerns and how I can work with my colleagues to address those concerns, but it appears to me, at least in my time, and I've asked Mark for this and city manager, that I'm really interested in knowing how many of those capital investment projects in district one included private funds. I mean, Carl Brewer, private funds contributed to that. We look at League 42 and the investment in that area, private funds have contributed to that. So this district has proven that when we are committed to working with public and private to get things done, that we can do it. And so I think not being able to release those funds limits us on our ability to cast the vision to the community People need to see what they want to believe in. And then the second thing is if folks are concerned about how much we're raising in private funding, we can all commit right now to at least a brick, right? Yes. So can you talk about that? So we can put, so we can know how we can put some skin in the game too.

Sure. So part of the process that we're doing as well, we didn't want it to be just a corporate sponsorship. We wanted the community to have an opportunity to buy into it as well. So there's going to be a plaza where a statue of Barry Sanders will be in the middle of the complex, and there's a build-a-brick program that you can go to the Park Foundation and make a commitment there for $200 that you can actually have a brick that goes in those pavers there on site. And our goal with that is if we sell 20,000 bricks in correlation with the number 20, that raises almost $44 million towards the project itself. So we've had opportunity to break it down on it as well. It's a local level, so someone in the family can actually contribute as well.

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.

There is one thing I want you to sign.

Good afternoon, Vice Mayor, City Council, Penny Feist, Wichita Transit. As you are well aware, Wichita Transit is in a transformative period. We have changed our facility location. We currently are launching a new route redesign. And of course, we have several technology improvements that we are currently underway right now. And with all of these changes, we know how important it is to communicate effectively and efficiently with not only our writers, but our stakeholders and the public as well. So in order to do that, we would like to authorize a contract with Parsons & Associates for an integrated communication plan. And the goal of that would be strategic messaging and branding, public outreach, and writer education. change in crisis communications, and ongoing support to ensure consistent and effective messaging throughout the transition. So on March 20th, city staff issued a request for proposal. We received eight responses that the staff screening and selection committee evaluated, and interviews were conducted on June 29th and June 30th. Based on the results of those interviews, the Staff Screening and Selection Committee recommends Person Associates LLC based on their demonstrated experience with transit-related communications, the recent work with the State of Wichita on the Downtown Wichita Action Plan, and their familiarity with downtown communities and stakeholders. They also had a competitive cost proposal. The communication plan is eligible for 80% federal funding and 20% local match. The contract is not to exceed $69,525. Of that, the federal grant will cover $55,620. It is recommended that the city council approve the contract and authorize necessary signatures. I'm happy to stand for questions.

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.

RESOLUTIONS AUTHORIZING FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION SECTION 5339B BUS AND BUS FACILITIES GRANT AND 5339C LOW NO PROGRAM APPLICATIONS.

Thank you. Vice Mayor, City Council, Penny Feist, Wichita Transit, for the record. On July 27th, FTA released a notice of funding for a joint program, which is the bus and bus facilities and a low or no emission program. And as a part of the application process, the FTA requires a resolution from the governing body authorizing Wichita Transit to apply for that funding. Therefore, we're here today to seek authorization to apply for funding to replace buses, to provide facility improvements, and ADA accessible bus stops and amenities. We've identified capital needs that are essential to maintaining a reliable service, which includes bus replacements, facility upgrades, and bus stop improvements. This would include the purchase of 14 hybrid buses if the application was approved, and those buses would replace aging buses that will reach or exceed their useful life. Aging buses, of course, increase maintenance costs, reduce reliability, and result in higher emissions. With this replacement, Winshaw Transit will improve efficiency, reduce operating costs, and support environmental sustainability. One of the things that we struggle with within Wichita Transit is the recruitment and retention of mechanics. And so we have been researching with other maintenance jobs as well as working with Wichita State, WSU Tech actually, the automotive program, as far as how can we be more competitive in that field. And something that was brought to our attention is the lack of air conditioning in our maintenance shop. So we've been working with other transit agencies across the country to understand how they cool their shops and we put together an estimate and are applying for grant funding for that activity. As part of the recent redesign, we also completed a bus stop inventory. And there are a number of bus stops that are not ADA compliant. And therefore, whenever we make any modifications to existing stops or want to add new stops, all of those stops have to be ADA accessible. The hybrid buses are eligible for 85% federal funding and 15% local match, which comes out to about $17.2 million to replace those 14 buses. Federal grants will cover about 14.6 of that, with the local match estimated at 2.6. Workforce development is not a required component of this grant application, but we do feel as though it makes it a competitive application and also benefits the employees. So included within the application is $86,170 for workforce development. The second request, which will be submitted under the Bus and Bus Facilities Program, will address the air conditioning and the ADA accessible stops. This portion of the application is anticipated to be filed for $355,000, of which federal grants will cover $284,000. And the remainder, $71,000, would be a local match. So this is a summary of all the costs that we've covered, the federal and the local split for a total program application of $17,675,170. It's recommended that the City Council adopt the resolution, authorize necessary budget adjustments, and authorize necessary signatures. I'm happy to answer any questions.

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?

So the two primary criteria we're using for the bus stop identification is ridership. So we've selected 60 stops on Route 21 and Route 22, which primarily serve northeast and southeast Wichita. And then from there, we identified those that are most utilized and narrowed it down to 15 that are in need of especially ADA improvements. So those are the two criteria we use, ridership and 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?

If we got all 14 and we currently have three that have already been ordered, that's 17 out of 50. So 17 hybrid, 11 electric. So we're coming up on more than 50% alternative fuel.

Okay, I appreciate that, thank you.

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?

The hybrids, so one of the components or requirements of this grant is that you reduce emissions by 25%, which doesn't necessarily one-to-one correlate to fuel efficiency, but we experience significant fuel savings. I'm sorry, I don't have the number from our electrics, but these hybrids are regenerative, so when you use the gas, you're powering the electric side of the bus, and you're I don't have a good estimate, but it probably is somewhere in the 20% range that we'll be reducing our fuel costs.

Okay. I appreciate that. Thanks.

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.

Okay.

A motion and a second. Madam Clerk, can you call the roll? Motion passes 6-0 with one absent. Madam Clerk, next item.

2025-2026 HUD Consolidated Plan Annual Performance and Evaluation Report.

Good afternoon, City Council. My name is Andrew Tyree. I'm with the Housing and Community Services Department, and I'm here today to speak on the 2526 HUD Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report, or as we refer to it as, the CAPER. The city is required to prepare a CAPER for accomplishments and progress towards consolidated plan goals. the 2526 caper documents the activities and accomplishments during the program year beginning july 1st 2025 and ending june 30th 2026 and these are for the entitlement grants community development block grant cdbg home investment partnership program home and the emergency solutions grant esg program And before we get too much into it, there's a few things on the presentation that have been updated, and when we get to those, I will point those out to you. But we'll start with CDBG. For 25-26, the CDBG expenditures totaled $3,378,886.98. For activities under CDBG, we'll start with public services. These are for our subrecipients that receive public services dollars. Youth services, 1,732 youth were reached through these different services. Domestic violence services, 654. Homeless services, 1,388. And so for youth services, that's your Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters, Prime Fit Youth Academy, our foundation, excuse me, Colvin Kids, YMCA, and I think I'm missing one, sorry. And domestic violence is Wichita Family Crisis Center, Catholic Charities, Step Zone, and then homeless services is United Methodist, Open Door. And then for training and employment, TWTW, we just wrapped up another successful year with TWTW where 172 youth were able to be involved in that program. Then the Office of Community Services, just under 38,000 citizens utilize services at Evergreen, Atwater, and So just great, great services that are offered there. So I'm glad that people are able to take advantage of those. And then Housing First, our Housing First program, we had 119 individuals that received rent and utility assistance, case management services through the Housing First program. also with cdvg and we had our home repair program we had 60 households or if you want to look at it housing units that were repaired in that program and here's one of the the spots where we wanted to give you an update there it says one rental unit rehabilitated that's not true it's actually 227 so we had our rad conversion wrap up in this program year so that's your the units at Greenway Manor, McLean Manor, Rosa Gregg, and Bernice Hutchinson, and that's, again, that brings that total to 227, because there's 226 units at those four sites. And we had infrastructure improvements, and this is for the CDBG-funded bus shelter at 2220 East 21st Street. We had a little over 2,800 individuals that utilized that bus shelter there. And then for MABCD, there were zero CDBG-funded blighted structures that were demolished. Obviously, they have emergency demolitions that they do. And they're looking, looks like we're looking to, I'm sorry, we swept those funds up and reallocated them for the same purpose in Program Year 2026. When they're able to, they have some staff capacity there. Once they have that, those funds will be available for them to continue or restart those CDBG funded demolitions. Next, we got the home program performance highlights. For 25-26, home program expenditures totaled $1,092,448.89 for both the development and subsidy and down payment assistance. So you look on the screen there for down payment and closing costs, we had 19 home buyers that were able to take advantage of that program. And those were also with the affordable housing development, those 19 single-family homes that were constructed. Those are both hand-in-hand there. And just infill housing activity stats here. $761,937.40 in home program development subsidies were provided for the construction of those 19 single-family homes. And you'll see the development partners listed on your screen and broken down by the number of projects that they took part in. And then home development subsidies for the private sector construction financing leveraged $897,693.70. And then additionally, a total of $536,400 in home funding was provided through the Home 80 program, and that's for the down payment and closing cost assistance for those 19 single family homes that were constructed. And also with the HOME program, 2526, we had the Home Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, or TBRA. At the bottom, look at the bottom of the screen, it says Home TBRA funds were used to serve 58 individuals and 41 households. On the screen there in the graph, that's backwards, so sorry about that. I'll have to have a talk with the guy that put this presentation together. But it was again, 58 individuals, 41 households were able to utilize that program and that's for rent and deposit assistance in order to become housed. And here's another one of those spots where we wanted to bring your attention to a change. And so in the original draft version of the CAPER, we had the home match totals being 118,319. And so we were looking, Sally got together with our home team and they were looking at that's a little closer, and we can actually use affordable housing fund projects, that $440,000, we can use that. They determined that that was eligible as a match as well, so that actually brings our match total up to $558,319, so it was a good find there by, like I said, Sally and the home team there to be able to get that included as well. And lastly, we have the Emergency Solutions Grants program there. So for 25-26, ESG expenditures totaled $124,506.11. And so we had the Rapid Rehousing Program, and that's your temporary rent and utility assistance. 30 persons were assisted through that program. And then the Homeless Prevention Program was able to serve 25 households. And then the Wichita Unhoused Resource Coordinator, that program was able to reach 126 persons. Citizens participation is a key part of the Consolidated Plan program and activities. As a city, we're required to provide an opportunity for citizens to review and comment on the CAPER prior to the submission to HUD. And so the CAPER was distributed for public review at all neighborhood resource centers. We had a copy here in the housing department. here at City Hall as well, and then it was posted on the city website and delivered to all branches of the Wichita Public Library. We also, like I said, we published the notice in the official newspaper of Wichita, which is wichita.gov, on August 27th, 2026, and that was advising that public comments would be accepted beginning the 28th of August and would run through the 14th of September, and comments can also be made during today's public hearing as well. Financial considerations, there is no impact to the general fund. And legal considerations, federal regulations applicable to the entitlement grant programs require submission of the CAPER within 90 days of the close of the program year. So I believe that official date is September 27th that we have to get this submitted to HUD. And the recommendation is for City Council to close the public hearing, approve the CAPER reports, and authorize submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. And at this time, I'll take any questions or comments. I think we have some backup in case there's some questions I can't answer. Awesome.

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?

Oh, to year-round? Year-round. I think it's mostly just funding and staff, I would think, but Sally might want to come take that one, though.

Thank you, Council Member Shepherd. It is something we have been really wanting to be able to do and we've applied for some other grants in the past, specifically around justice involved through KDOC and other opportunities and just haven't been able to secure those. The number of kids that we can reach each year actually dwindles because our funding doesn't necessarily increase. We use both CDBG and community service block grant funds so that we can expand to all of Sedgwick County. That funding isn't increasing year over year. So that is our biggest challenge, but we continue to look for other funding mechanisms. We had an opportunity during the COVID days where we could use some additional funding. at that time it was CARES funding, and we expanded through the fall. And that was our model for extending. And that was done through the animal shelter. It was providing some additional support to the animal shelter when they needed it. But that funding also ran out.

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?

Yes, you know what? We could pull the grant application to KDOC because that was our target. When we thought about expanding year-round, we said, well, let's start with those that we've identified are justice involved, and we can pull that grant application and get you a copy. Okay.

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 Member Tuttle. Okay, motion passes six to O with one absent. Okay, Madam Clerk, can you call the next item?

Public Housing Recovery Agreement Status Report.

Once again, good afternoon, council members. Sally Stang with the Housing and Community Services Department for the record. Back again for our monthly update to the public housing recovery agreement for the public. We entered into the recovery agreement with HUD in January of 2025 due to the low public housing assessment score related to occupancy and our efforts to dispose of those properties. And HUD requires this report be presented to the board monthly. The recovery agreement included actions related to the physical condition of the occupied dwelling units, repositioning the remaining public housing properties, and providing an update on capital fund projects. All requirements related to the physical condition of occupied units were met. We actually have no occupied units any further. Repositioning public housing, all those units are vacant. As of September 2nd, we had sold 305 of them. We only have 21 units we don't have contracts for, and those will be rolling out with the next RFP. And a detailed disposition report was attached to the agenda report. The strategies for those remaining units, those floodplain units as well as a few of those market challenge will be made available through an RFP leveraged with some affordable housing funds that have cycled back. We have some repairs on those floodplain units that are happening. Actually, water heaters are being installed this week. HVAC units will be installed by the end of October at the time we expect to issue that last RFP. All remaining units are listed with the broker. One of them recently, the unit that had a fire, all those repairs were complete and that is now with the broker and the market. We have no open capital fund projects. That last fire unit was our last capital fund project. There is no impact to the general fund. This monthly update to the Housing Authority Board is required under the recovery plan, and it's just recommended that the Housing Authority Board receive and file the recovery plan status update for September 2026, and I'll stand for any questions.

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?

Councilmember, appointments and comments.

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 weren't exactly sure how it was gonna happen. but it turned out to be a huge success and it just brings people together and there's nothing like being in the middle of Douglas and seeing people walk and stroller and scooter and just being outside and being together. So it looks like it's gonna cool down a little bit and so hopefully we'll have great weather but just welcome everyone to come downtown on Sunday for Open Streets ICT. Thank you.

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 is that?

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.