2026-10-09 - City Council Agenda Review

03:46Thank you, Mayor, and happy Friday to

03:48everybody. Another gorgeous fall day in

03:51Wichita. Um, and thank you for making

03:54adjustment on the calendar and schedules

03:56today. We do have the Kansas League of

03:58Municipalities conference in town where

04:00we're the host city. And so we have a

04:02lot of visitors who are elected

04:04officials from across the state as well

04:06as city managers. So

04:08appreciate the opportunity. I know a

04:09couple of council members were able to

04:12take in the keynote today as well as I

04:14was able to. So thank you for the

04:15adjustment on the calendar.

04:17Looking ahead at the um

04:20agenda for October 13th. I do want to

04:22highlight for everyone and certainly

04:24council members see in their agenda. We

04:26do have a presentation from the school

04:28superintendent

04:30USD 259 to talk about the upcoming bond

04:34issue that will be on the ballot in

04:36November. So he'll give a educational

04:38presentation on what is being asked in

04:41the bond referendum here in November.

04:45I also want to highlight that was noted

04:47on the agenda that we did pull a item

04:50that was related to the former Masonic

04:54home site in Delano at Maple and Seneca.

04:57That's per the developer's request. Um

04:59it's a demolition request that will be

05:01coming back to you at a later date. But

05:03just want to make sure you knew what was

05:05going on with that one. Um looking ahead

05:08again at the agenda, we do have a couple

05:09economic development items for you.

05:12We have the development of the Town West

05:14Square with a TIF as well as an IRB

05:16request.

05:18You'll also see an IRB request for the

05:20Kansas African American Museum.

05:22And you'll also see an IRB request for

05:24the YMCA to complete their work of

05:28updating their facilities across the

05:31city.

05:32Um one uh issue particularly of note is

05:36um agenda 6.3 which is the memorandum of

05:40understanding

05:42with USD 259 for the Claude Lamb Park.

05:46Um I want to make sure there's been a

05:48couple different issues um raised cuz

05:51there's a couple different projects the

05:52school system is working on, but this

05:55relates to Claude Lamb Park and Adams

05:58Elementary School. The school district

06:00has proposed

06:02um rebuilding Adams Elementary School or

06:04relocating Adams Elementary School. Um,

06:07so as we highlight in the green sheets,

06:09um this is related to Claude Lamb and

06:12Adams. We did inadvertently put on the

06:15green sheet a reference to Columbine

06:18Park, but that is not this agenda item.

06:20That is another discussion that schools

06:23are also having.

06:25Um, but the basic um

06:27request for council is do you want to

06:29enter into an MOU with the school system

06:34to really just start the exploration

06:37of potentially doing some type of land

06:40swap for some of the different projects

06:42going on with the school. And for

06:44instance, to rebuild the Adams

06:46Elementary, there is a concept or

06:48proposal. This is the opportunity for us

06:51to start that conversation.

06:53Um, so the MOU helps us think about the

06:56use and valuation of city-owned land

06:59and also it's already been announced

07:01with a lot going on about the closing

07:04this year of the Lovett School.

07:07That's another

07:09just kind of a side conversation that

07:11can be in the mix about as we think

07:13about the use of government

07:16within the city, whether it's city,

07:17county, schools. This is just the

07:20opportunity. The only thing this MOU

07:23does is allows the school access to

07:27Claude Lamb Park

07:29and allows us access to Lovett

07:33to do our own due diligence to think

07:36about what a purchase could be, a land

07:39swap, some type of arrangement. So this

07:41is very preliminary. It just sets the

07:44stage for staffs of the two

07:46organizations, the city and the schools,

07:49to have some more conversation and do

07:51some more exploration. So, there's no um

07:54finite plan established for any of

07:57these. It's just the opportunity to make

07:59sure that

08:00we can work within each other's

08:02properties to have this conversation.

08:04And certainly, this conversation will

08:07ultimately have a public conversation

08:10facilitated by schools, but certainly

08:12with um our interests. And I know the

08:15district council members been engaged

08:17with different community folks. And so,

08:19this one is just Claude Lamb Park and

08:21Adams Elementary with a side

08:24conversation about Love Itcher. So,

08:27trying to put all those pieces together.

08:28And if you have other questions, happy

08:30to discuss that. But the MOUs just allow

08:33us onto each other's property.

08:35The um other thing I want to make sure

08:37you highlight and note is that we are,

08:39after I believe 11 years,

08:42um have a switch in our indigent defense

08:45services. So, the city must provide

08:47legal counsel to indigent persons in

08:49municipal court if the charge or

08:52violations may lead to incarceration.

08:55And so, you'll notice we only had one

08:56RFP response and the current bidder did

08:59not um

09:01submit a response. So, it will be a new

09:02vendor for us. Um but wanted you to have

09:05that information as you consider that

09:07agenda item. Also, as we highlighted

09:10before, we do have the sidewalk

09:11maintenance program. All this is is for

09:13the city to front the money for repairs

09:17of uneven or broken sidewalks where the

09:19adjacent property owners are

09:21responsible, but often times we have to

09:25fill in the work and put it on their tax

09:28uh assessment to get the work done. And

09:31so, that's outlined in your green sheet

09:33for you. But this authorizes us to spend

09:36money with contractors to address

09:39violations and then put that money back

09:41on the tax roll.

09:43We of course have had a lot of work

09:45lately on another agenda item related to

09:47our storm water drainage and Blackley in

09:49particular.

09:50Um there's a couple different items on

09:52there related to acquisitions,

09:54easements, and then starting the eminent

09:56domain process for a few properties um

09:59that we need to resolve. Um you will

10:02also see some zoning items on there and

10:04I know we will have a updated uh

10:07zoning 2637

10:09um some enhanced or updated background

10:12information on that item to come forward

10:14to you.

10:15And we do have an executive session

10:18scheduled for Tuesday related to

10:21property acquisition.

10:23And so we'll bring that forward to you

10:25for executive session.

10:28So those are the highlights on October

10:2913th. If I can uh take some questions.

10:32>> Thank you. Thank you, city manager.

10:34Appreciate it. On my item 6.3, somebody

10:36just wanted to clarify the the mistake

10:38in the green sheet does say that it's

10:41going to be Where is it?

10:43>> Columbine Park.

10:44>> Will that be corrected and removed from

10:46the green sheet before the meeting?

10:47Okay. Thank you.

10:48>> actually will. You'll see the version

10:50will show the strikeout to show that we

10:52didn't make an edit from the published

10:55agenda to what will be considered. And

10:58so that's already been

11:00um addressed with the clerk's office and

11:02that will come out either today or

11:04Monday with that strike through.

11:07>> Only question I have regarding the legal

11:10services um and only one person bidding

11:12for that. Is that pretty common with the

11:15work or has that happened previously?

11:18>> I don't know about I'd say it's common.

11:20I don't know about our last RFP process.

11:22But yeah, if you want to stand up

11:25or come up forward actually talk.

11:27>> Um 11 years, I believe.

11:29>> Okay.

11:30>> It's been about 11 years, so I'm not

11:32100% sure.

11:33>> That's pretty common then.

11:34>> Yeah, I don't think

11:36I know they reached out to several law

11:38firms to get them to apply.

11:40>> Okay. Thank you.

11:41>> Thank you.

11:42>> And as we've heard from the district

11:44attorney even about the ability to

11:46recruit and retain attorneys, lawyers,

11:50across the country I know from other

11:52jurisdictions, it is a struggle for

11:55defense

11:56lawyers for these types of cases and so

12:00I'm not surprised that we did not have

12:02as much response. I think that's common

12:05across the country these days and then

12:06you'll see that even the contract amount

12:10is significantly higher than what we

12:12were paying in the past cuz again

12:15finding attorneys for this work is

12:19a general struggle across the country.

12:23>> Hence the need for a law school, which

12:25town.

12:26>> Absolutely.

12:28>> Anything else I got a few notes on the

12:3020th for you.

12:33Looking ahead at the 20th actually I

12:35need to highlight for you. I will be out

12:37of town so Dante Martin will be um

12:41helping to guide that agenda should you

12:43all be in town. Just not in town that

12:45day

12:47but Dante Martin will be available at

12:48the meeting.

12:50We do have on that October 20th agenda

12:52the cultural funding operational grant

12:56on there and then

12:58we'll send some more information out but

12:59that is also where we do want to look to

13:02have the finalization and appointments

13:04for the economic development task force

13:07on October 20th.

13:10I have shared information with most

13:12council members about the structure of

13:14the ED task force and so ready to bring

13:17that forward

13:19and then look for your appointment

13:22to that task force. So we'll outline

13:24that for you in a future agenda item but

13:26wanted to put that on your radar as you

13:27think about potential appointees.

13:29>> Would you like for them to follow the

13:31same process that other appointees

13:33follow in terms of having to fill out an

13:35application and have it filed with the

13:37clerk?

13:38>> I think that's best, yeah, to have at

13:40least some information on file so that

13:42you all

13:43when you approve them, you'll know a

13:45little bit um about each candidate.

13:47>> So, we'll get a link to send to the

13:49folks we are thinking about.

13:50>> Yep, absolutely.

13:52>> Great question.

13:55>> And then, anything else from the 20th or

13:5613th I can address for you?

14:01All right, we do have a more events this

14:05evening and people in the night sky

14:06downtown might see fireworks and a drone

14:09show coming from Equity Bank Park as

14:11part of our hosting fund for the Kansas

14:15League of Municipalities conference.

14:17Otherwise, thank you very much and have

14:19a good weekend.