All right. I am calling the Thursday, July 9th, 2026 city commission meeting
to order. All five commissioners are present.
First item in the order of business, consideration of approval of the minutes
from the meeting on June 25th. >> Question, changes, comments. None.
» Sean thinks they're fabulous, so we're good.
» Okay. Marked as fabulous. All right. Next is citizen comments for
non-aggenda items. Anyone wishing to speak to the commission now may come up
to the podium and state your >> piece.
» Anybody? Okay. >> Didn't want to move on without giving
you your opportunity. >> You know me. I've got some handouts.
» All right. Perfect. >> I'd be disappointed with it if you
didn't. >> All right. Well, you guys should have
placed bets of whether I would be here this afternoon.
» I spent all my money. >> Toby could have won $20 probably. He
knows I'm He knows me better than most of you. He knows I'm reliable.
» Two pages total, right? >> Just the one.
» Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I >> Perfect. Okay. And then if you say your
name for the record and then let us let us know.
» Close enough to the mic here. Ruben Shutman
glasses on.
You know, when I've I've corresponded with each of you, I've tried to be more
than just someone that complains about a problem. I've tried to be a problem
solver and offer solutions with new out- of-the-box ideas, which you have
received. But this afternoon, you'll pick up on some of my frustrations. It
was a very stressful night for me on July 4th. Uh, something I've learned
this past year is that many people do not feel comfortable contacting you
about problems they have with fireworks. I don't know what the deal is. They
don't think it's going to do any good. You'll listen, but nothing gets done.
Nothing will change. Now, these people that won't contact you, they have no
problem telling me all their complaints they have with fireworks. But a a little
humor here, I guess. I was hoping that one of you would volunteer to crawl up
on a ladder to pick all the fireworks trash that landed in my gutters and roof
and yard for several nights. There was a lot. And you know, little old ladies
shouldn't have to deal with the hassle of fireworks trash on their property
deposited there by neighbors. But the city says that's okay. We're fine with
other people littering on other people's lawns and we and we've got to pick it
up. Uh so basically each one of you that con condones it and says we don't need
to take any action with these problems that litter up other people's property.
But what if someone came with a bucket of fireworks trash and dumped it all
over your property? I believe that would be illegal. Maybe the police would get
called. But as long as the fireworks trash and litter lands on someone's
property by coming through the air, that's okay. That method of littering is
approved. The city says no problem with other people littering on other people's
property as long as it flies through the air.
And with all these loud explosions every year, night after night, it's finally
got so bad. Thank goodness the church, the Episcopal church way out in the
country came up with an option for veterans and others who need to get away
from all this warlike activity for at least one night of peace and quiet. But
what does that say about our community? We have to pack up our veterans in a bus
and send them out of town, leave their homes for the evening just to get away
from all this noise. It should be the fireworks out miles in
the country, not the people. Let the people stay in the quiet surroundings of
their home. And many dog owners have serious
problems with loud fireworks. And the really big problem with an
environmentalist group of people in Hayes, they hate the pollution.
You have received proposals that help solve most of the problems that many
groups of people have with fireworks problems. And let me be clear, most are
not against fireworks. They are against all the problems they cause, which all
of you are aware of. And the compromised solution still allows all those clubs
and school groups to sell all the fireworks they want and maybe even more
if it's planned out and done correctly. You know, Hayes has the reputation
across the state of Kansas for creative ways to solve water problems. Why can't
Hayes also be on the cutting edge and be the leader with ingenious, fresh, new
ideas with the fireworks problems? But first, you do have to realize fireworks
do cause problems for a lot of people and those problems are not going away on
their own. I would be glad to volunteer to help you solve these problems.
Thank you. Thank you Ruben and thanks for the
information.
Anyone else like to speak currently?
Okay, we move on to the consent agenda. Uh
only one thing on here currently the mayoral appointment recommendation for
the HCVB advisory board. Uh there's an opening for a U hotel representative. We
had an application. Um,
» sorry, Daisy. Yes. So, Daisy and she uh Oh, sorry.
» Go ahead. >> Yeah. She has experience with uh another
community she lived in on both their chamber board and uh their CVB advisory
committee for hotels. >> Move approval of consent agenda.
» Second. >> Second.
» Motion by Commissioner Jacobs. Second by Commissioner Cunningham. Questions,
comments on this one? Now, I'll call for a vote. All in favor,
please say I. I >> I opposed
» passes 5 vote on new business 2026 sanitary sewer point repairs and lining
project award of bid. Jeff. >> Good afternoon commissioners. Jeff
Chrisman I'm the director of water resources.
The capital improvement plan uh for 2026 includes a sewer sanitary sewer repairs
and lighting project and this is consistent with similar work that we've
done over the past five six years. Uh the general area for this year's project
is between Hall and Vine, south of 33rd Street. It's the area that's outlined in
green, goes all the way down to about 4th Street, encompasses all that area.
Uh this visual was included in your packet. um staff developed um this
year's project anticipating completion of 1943 linear feet of sanitary sewer
lining which is from manhole to manhole and 20 internal uh point repair pro or
repairs at multiple locations within the city of Hayes originally using 2024
project line item pricing we bid out 1943 linear feet of manhole to manhole
and 20 individual patches on this visual uh the lining from manhole to manhole is
the red lines and so those are four locations and that encompasses that 1943
[clears throat] linear feet. Um, so in green also in on
the on the visual, those are the locations of the 20 patches. And as I
mentioned last week at the work session, you may have one of those lines like in
the western part of Hayes along hall there that might have five or six
patches within that stretch, but all 20 original patches were within those green
locations. After we opened bids and we went back to Mayor Specialty Services,
the uh parent low bidder, we asked them to bid out some additional patches. uh
to to get some more work done. For reference, those locations we added to
those yellow spots on the map. Again, uh those 35 additional spots, there's not
35 individual lines there. There are a few locations where there's multiple
patches within those lines. So, what you see there, if you approve it tonight, we
will get 19 uh 43 linear feet of lining and 55 total patches.
The city has made significant progress in maintaining and repairing our
sanitary sewer system. Uh this visual only shows what's been completed since
2020. Um in 2018, we started a project to line and patch a sanitary sewer
system. And since then, we've performed over $1.5 million worth of repairs.
Initially, the way we started it was we knew we had all we had this big list
that we wanted to accomplish and we start taking off the hardest stuff first
and we would do one year of lining. Then the next year we would do patching and
then lining and then patching. And then we kind of morphed into where we're at
now. We're doing a combination of both. All the repairs that we've made and we
want to re continue to make are based off that sewer line cleaning and
inspection project that we do every year where we do 20% of the town. We get the
video data. We get the still shots. We get all the reports that show us where
those problems are. Then we add them to a future uh repair project. due to our
progress that we've been made, it's becoming more and more difficult for us
to uh find out find enough locations to meet that budget of $350,000.
And I put in here, what a problem to have. Um in the future, um as I
mentioned last week, what we're planning to do is probably 2028, we would combine
both projects. The sewer line cleaning um project that we spend $150 $175,000 a
year and that $350,000 project, combine them. won't be the total budget of both,
but be able to do cleaning and um CCTV, which is the inspection, and then also
do a lot of those repairs as we're going through that project. So, that's what we
would plan on in the future. There are different types of repairs that we've
used in the city of Hayes. Um trenchulous patches or internal point
repairs, the lining from manhole to manhole, and then open cut repairs.
Earlier on when we realized that we had some big problem areas, those would have
to be dug up and they were such those lines were such that you had to actually
have those um physically cut open, get down to them and they would have to put
in new pipe and make that connection. But we've taken care of those issues. So
now we're just doing the internal patches and the lining from manhole to
manhole. This is what it looks like with the patch project. Um they would take
this is called a packer unit and that's the side view of the of the sewer line.
The packer is the the the um patch is put on the outside of the packer. It
goes to where the problem area is. That packer expands. All the while sewer is
flowing right through it. We don't have to shut down service and for a certain
amount of time that patch will cure. I always use the term of band-aid, but
it's much better than a band-aid um on a sewer line. Same type of material as we
do when we do the lining. Um but it cures in place and then they remove that
and they move to the next location. All this is found from previous um
inspection reports. We know exactly where the problem is and then they come
in when they do this project and they actually pre-clean the line. they know
exactly where the problem is and so they go in and put in the patch while they're
while they're there. Uh sewer lining is a is an impressive pro um product for
us. It's trenchulous, quick, cost effective. There's different types of
lining. We've used different types of liners in our projects before. Um it
could be uh polyester vinyl, epoxy resin, or a like material and it's
pulled from one manhole to another and then it's inflated with steam or water.
it's given a certain amount of time to um to cure. Once complete problems such
as infiltration, leakage, and deteriorating infrastructure is
repaired, the sewer can remain in service during this project just like it
would be um with the patches. And once in place, the contractor then will
they'll cut the ends of it at each manhole. They'll take their equipment in
there. They'll go to where the tap is for the business or or for the resident
and then that cuts open that tap and then it reestablishes. And like I
mentioned last week, the contractors that do this process, they put out door
knockers, they talk to comm, you know, they talk to the area residents
basically asking them to not use your, you know, your facilities or don't flush
something for, you know, the next three hours, those type things. And that way
they can get that work done. Jeff, what's the longest they ever have to ask
them to not? Is three hours normal? >> Three hours is typical. Yeah. Um it I've
seen some of them go up to five hours, but they try to actually do these at
times when most people are at work. You know, you're never going to get nobody
on the on the block. But you do have some time. You know, running a little
bit of water in a sink, flushing the toilet is probably going to be okay. But
a prolonged issue would fill up the the private line and we wouldn't want that.
» Thank you. >> You bet. This is a video that um from
13th and Hall from a previous year. And that's just the liner being
installed um down into the manhole. Somebody's down at the other manhole
waiting for it to actually come out. Um and then once it's complete, they will
uh blow it up with steam or water and then they'll reestablish those tabs. So,
it's pretty slick process, pretty safe process. Um, this product that mayor is
recommending, we've used before. It comes in on spools. They put the spools
into a steam trailer and the spools are hard hardened because it's wrapped
around spools and then it softens and then they're able to actually pull it
through and uh fix fix the problem. And as I mentioned too last week, the liner
itself is very very thin. It's no more than a quarter inch. And so, you think
about an 8 inch sewer pipe. Um, it's not squeezing down that sewer pipe very
much, just by an extra quarter of an inch on the inside of it, but it's like
a brand new pipe. This is kind of what it looks like on the lining. The left
side, you can see that there's damaged pipe, there's soil, there's cracks all
over the place. I mean, it's not going to look perfectly smooth like it does on
the right looks a lot better and it's it's keeping all the soil out and um
protecting the integrity of that line, but it does show on the side. It does
see some you see some of the things, but all in all, you have basically a brand
new line that's put through there. Uh after the question last week, um I
can't remember which commissioner asked it. I apologize, but I was asked about
what type of material and how much do we have in the ground? Uh VCP uh vitrifi
vitrified clay pipe. I can never say that right. I apologize. That's about
93% of what we have in our system. And so everything in brown on that map,
which is a little bit easier to see than all the other colors, that is what is
used has been used. And if you look down there at the far southern part of the
city of Hayes, oldest part of Hayes, I kind of went over and I looked at some
of I looked on GIS, look some of the houses, you know, houses were built in
1940 on this block. So you could kind of estimate that probably the sewer went in
about that time. That kind of pipe can get you about 100 100 plus years. Um, so
it it is good pipe, but it it is breakable just like anything is. Um, we
had went away a few quite a few years ago to only doing PVC. So if you look at
the blue spots in town, all the blue is PVC sewer line. So that makes up, and I
know it's hard for you to see that PVC is about 19.81%.
So um, hold on, back up. PVC is 19 81 miles, not percent. VCP is 93 miles.
I apologize. There's some other things. Force man. If you look along the bypass,
that's our force man. The reason there's a force man there, it's a different type
of pipe. It actually is pushing from one um lift station around the bypass to get
it up and over a hill so we can actually gravity into um the the sewer plant. We
have some private lines. Um, Prairie Acres is private. You can kind of barely
see it, but where the the Big Creek um the mall is, that's all private sewer in
there. So, that's in red. So, there's some different types of lines that we
don't necessarily clean because they're private or we have force main, but for
the most part, most of our line is VCP that's in the ground, 93 miles. And as
we are switching out any projects, we change over to um into PVC. So hopefully
that helps a little bit with last week's question.
» Yes, >> that uh you said some like 1940s, early
50s. So that's able to be lined if we need to.
» Yeah, it can be lined. And that's 8 inch. And some of those some of those
we've seen where we've lined. Let me Well, I hope I'm right. Let me look real
quick. So you see the red red lines down by
campus. Hey, I got one of these things.
» Am I doing this right? Oh boy. So that one was line.
» Okay. >> And that's down by campus. So that was
probably >> line that was from 1940 1950.
» That's awesome. >> Because what is the cost per mile to
switch from BCP to uh PBC? >> Uh I'll have to get back with you on
that. Off the top of my head. >> I wish I had I should have the bid
document. Well, I could look here. >> More than the linear foot line.
» Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Um okay. So that was on the material. So
we solicited proposals for multiple contractors as we always do with all of
our projects. Like I mentioned in developing our estimate for 2026, we
used 24 pricing. When the bids were open, pricing was much more favorable
than we anticipated. A large portion of the savings for our 2026 bids was that
mayor's proposed liner is not as expensive as what was used by CC Steel
in 2024. Very adequate, very commonly used. It's one that we've used before,
but that difference equated to about $132,000
less than we anticipated when we were putting the project together. And so
that's where we had quite a bit of savings. And like I said, both
materials, all the types of materials we've used for all of our projects, none
of it's failed. Everything when they go through and they do the next cleaning
project and they go right through one of those lines to do cleaning and
inspection, they're clean. Nothing's failed. Nothing's having a problem. It's
like a brand new pipe. So, we've had seen we have seen great success um with
that. Um I mentioned this last week, too. We do not have a um C, excuse me,
we don't have a mayor um contractor rating sheet for this project. Back in
2022, we we just for some reason we didn't have one in there, but mayor
we've worked with um significantly on the manhole rehab project. They use
similar type of material when they're doing our manholes. uh similar type of
crew, similar project manager. I'm very confident that mayor uh will do a good
job for us because they have in the past and we'll work on making sure that if
this is approved, we don't miss another contractor rating sheet.
» Do we have a a contractor rating sheet on them from any of the other projects
I've done? >> 20. Um I have six years I have six years
of contractor rating sheets for manhole rehab.
» Okay. >> So,
» thank you. >> Um work has been great. Um easy to work
with. If you do award it tonight, it would start September 1st and it would
go through December 31st would be the last date. Um, and I put in there the
original bids in bold, but the the base plus the the additional patches 254,640
is what we're asking you to approve today. So, for financial consideration,
we budgeted 350,000. We're recommending the project cost as I
mentioned and that is a remaining balance of 95,360
from what we budgeted mentioned again that in future years we'll be looking at
doing some combination of a project that way we can kind of get it so I wouldn't
come in front of you more than once it I would be once for both projects so these
are your options to approve it to direct us to another option or to do nothing
and this is the action I would request and I would stand for your additional
questions. >> I'll move we authorize the city manager
to enter into an agreement with my mayor specialty services to complete the 2026
sanitary sewer point repairs and lining project for $254,640
to be funded from the water reclamation capital.
» I second motion by Commissioner Mucil, second by Commissioner Bing. Questions
or comments for Jeff? >> Is there any I'm trying to find it. I
don't see. Is there any manholes being redone this time?
» Yeah, I'm working on the project right now to come back to you.
» That's a separate project from this. Okay.
» Yeah, we we haven't brought that to you just yet. Okay.
» But that will be coming. >> So,
» but Jeeoff, I appreciate you consistently doing this. To me, this is
just important as is the water lines and street maintenance, stuff like that.
It's just something we have to do to keep on top of. So, I appreciate very
much what you're doing with this. >> Sometimes it's hard because you don't
see it. Yeah, exactly. >> You know,
» you use it. >> Yep.
» We have a city in the state that's struggling right now with water issues
and pipes and all the stuff that isn't done. Uh not a pretty situation. I'm
certainly glad we don't have to deal with anything like that because projects
like this. It's appreciated.
» I like the maintenance and keeping up on things. I've said that multiple times. I
like that you've got a structured format that's showing uh improvement. so much
improvement so that you're hunting for more projects to add to it. Um it sounds
like you're you're on the right path there. My thought for the commission is
is if we're coming in under budget $100,000
instead of keep putting the money back into this. Maybe that's $100,000 we
could use to save the citizens a little bit down the road. We've still got a
good program. We're still getting ahead of the curve with what you're doing and
I love that. they should be commended for that, but instead of just continuing
to use more of that money, why not rebudget it and save somewhere else in
the budget? >> That's my thoughts.
» And I mentioned last week, commissioner, that we do have in the future,
[laughter and clears throat] you know, we need to be looking at our force mains
and we will we just spent quite a bit of money to upgrade that Highway 40 lift
station that was approved a couple years ago. you know, we are going to have some
other maintenance coming up for some lift stations. So, it is all part of the
maintenance of it and there's always going to be some repairs to the sewer
line system, but we've made some significant progress that will help us
in the future. So, >> keep budgeting for those big plans.
» Yep. I just appreciate that while we were
looking at doing those 20 repairs with it coming in so much under budget that
you went ahead and looked how many more we could take care of this year instead
of waiting when potentially they cost more. So thank you
» Jeff. The question I had for you um is you know comparing what we what CCCL had
in 2024 and these ones we had the reinstate service connection was quite a
bit higher. I mean it was back when we did it with CC Steel now they're both
very much cheaper which I appreciate. Yeah. Um, do you know why that
» CC Steel had a change in leadership as far as their
» their project manager moved to a different company. Um, we've worked with
him many times before. Um, I think there might have been some estimating issues
with with what that was [clears throat] what was going on there. They've had
some changes in who's doing their their bidding. So, and you know, CC Steel,
it's quite a ways for them to actually come down here. It's like three states
away, >> right?
» So, >> no, thank you for that. Yeah, and it's
it's something that I think we kind of talked about last week, too. You know,
the important of importance of preventative maintenance before it
becomes too much of a problem that you do have to go in and do complete
trenches, replace entire lines, and then it gets really expensive. Service gets
cut um while you're waiting to get that done
» and you're tearing up street. >> Exactly. Gets really expensive really
fast. So, be able to do this one under budget um and looking forward to, hey,
we can attack something else before it rises in cost because nothing ever goes
down. Um I appreciate you looking into that and being proactive with it. Um
with uh Commissioner Valing's question, the water reclamation capital can we can
shift money wherever we want, can we? [snorts]
» Well, that's what I'm I wanted to verify. So, so yeah, when you when you
collect uh when you levy a rate or collect a rate from users, um part of
that's used for operations, part of it's used for water production, um part of it
is transferred to reserves to be used for capital projects like this,
» right? Um, so, um, I think what Jeff was was was saying to Commissioner Wilson's
question was, um, we kind of have capital needs that are in excess of our
capital dollars, you know, so if we are able to lower our estimate on this
because we're maybe catching up with the maintenance. And keep in mind, we didn't
budget any money for sewer maintenance until about eight years ago, right?
» Um, and so we had to play a lot of catchup, including like digging up Main
Street to replace it, you know, things like that. Um, but if we're catching up,
he's got lots of other things he could reallocate that to, you know, to to make
sure that we're keeping those things covered.
» Okay. >> There.
» So, the revenue is not outpacing projects.
» What's that? >> Revenue is not outpacing projects.
» We And we've got other projects like some other demo at the at the wastewater
treatment plant that we've got planned in the future. You'll see on CIP for the
future. >> Um, so there is some different things
that we we need to be prepared for. >> Okay. But u now I would say
» tracing is going to be something that we're not going to see
» from a solveny standpoint. We're more solvent in waste water than water.
» Right. >> Right.
» When you look at the buffer and the comfort zone um we're way more
comfortable in wastewater than we are than we are with with water.
» And it's a little bit different funding, but we also are paying back for our
wastewater treatment plant upgrade, too. >> We're making an SRF payment every every
year. Toby, to be clear, the money in, you
know, in wastewater, let's say we save another 100,000 next year.
» We can't take that money and put it in general fund.
» Uh, no, >> that has to stay
» it it stays within it stays in wastewater.
» What you could do is you could push off rate increases,
» right? Right. >> The more money you save, you don't
spend, you push off necessary rate increases.
» Okay. >> Yep.
» It's just because of the funding source. >> Yeah.
» Okay. >> Okay. Does that make sense? Yeah.
» Okay. >> Good question. I didn't know the answer
that. >> Okay. Any other questions or comments on
sanitary sewer point? >> Okay. I'll call for the vote. All in
favor, please say I. >> I.
» Opposed. >> Passes 5-0. Thanks, Jeff.
» Resolution authorizing the offering for sale of general obligation securities.
The sale resolution. Kim. >> Good afternoon, commissioners. Kim Rup,
director of finance. Just a real quick res resolution for you
today. This is uh the next step in the process of doing a bond issue in the
fall. This particular bond issue will take care of the infrastructure for tall
grass phase 4 as well as the exit 161. Uh we have to ask for the maximum in
these documents. Um because we particularly the exit 161 we did issue
temporary notes of 4 million. So we have to ask for that. The uh sizing of that
bond will come in August. Likely the exit 161 will be more around the 1.3 1.4
million because we did get the the grow haze uh economic grant uh that we were
able to apply towards that. So to provide an orderly plan of finance
for the city, staff recommends that the city issue general obligation bonds to
fund the tall grass phase 4 infrastructure and permanently finance
the exit 161 fin uh infrastructure. State law and capital market structures
require that city staff and the city's adviserss take various actions prior to
city offering any of its general obligation bonds or temporary notes for
sale. Uh those actions may include publication requirements, offering
documents drafting, and other preparations to receive bids on the
securities for sale. Approval of the sale resolution that we have before you
will authorize all necessary actions to offer for sale the city's general
obligation bonds for the purpose stated. If the sale resolution is approved, the
city will prepare to solicit and receive bids for the sale of those securities.
the bids will be presented to the to you uh for approval in its meeting in August
uh where the commission can accept the best bid or reject all of those. So
pretty straightforward not much to it. Um options would be to approve that
resolution, decline or provide us with other direction and we would ask for
approval. I move approval of resolution number
2026-011 authorizing the offering for sale of the
city's general obligation bonds andor temporary notes.
» I second it. >> Motion by Commissioner Jacobs, second by
Commissioner Biceing. Question or comments for Kim.
» It's nice to get the money back from Gro Hayes on get the money from the grant. I
think we should make that clear. I took it from 4 million to 1.3. That's a big
deal. We've kind of gone, you know, over it every time we go through it, but I'm
going to keep talking about it. >> Big deal. those grants
» correct >> helping us out. agree.
» And then just verification this is not an increase in we have dedicated funding
sources for these set up already >> at this point we are able so the the uh
exit 161 is the portion that the city is responsible for the [clears throat]
other the tall grass that's going to be RHID funded um ultimately if the RHID
revenue doesn't meet that need then we would have to possibly um levy for it
but at this time uh projections show that won't occur.
So the exit 161 does include uh in 2027. So we're doing the bond in 26. Payments
start in 27. 27's budget that we've uh put before you has this included in it.
» Yes. >> Perfect.
» Okay. Any question? >> And the amount for that levy actually is
going down from what it was the previous year.
» Yeah. The proposed levy for the bond and interest is lower. Yeah.
» Than last year. >> The levy rate is correct.
» Correct. >> Yes.
» Okay. >> Okay. Anything else? Okay, call for a
vote on that. All in favor, please say I.
» I. >> Opposed? Passes 5.
» Thank you. >> Thanks, Kim.
» All right, commission inquiries and comments. Commissioner B.
I really wish Ruben would have stuck around. I uh
talk to him, I guess, a little bit, but uh hopefully he watches this or listens
to it later. Um,
it's frustrating when our neighbors aren't good neighbors and they make a
mess and it ends up in our yards. U, I've experienced it. I didn't like it.
But like a good neighbor, I've talked to my neighbors and we work together as a
community to clean up and to pick up and to be good neighbors. Um, if Ruben's
getting up there in age, you need some help,
you know, my number's out there, give me a call. I didn't get his email. Uh, he
said he sent everybody. So, uh,
» I just checked as soon as he said he sent us an email. I didn't see it. So,
I hope in the future he gives me a call. I'd be more than happy to come out there
July 5th, help him pick up trash. I might even talk to some of the veteran
organizations and some of the Boy Scout groups or something. See if we can't get
something put together and organized to help out the elderly
after the 4th of July. >> This is a community event. We need to
work together as a community. That's what makes the Fourth of July so great.
And yeah, we only celebrate it once a year,
but it's what makes us special as a country. There's holidays that get an
entire month, you know. we get one day, why not let the folks
have a couple of days to set off some fireworks and celebrate it the way it
was intended? I think John Adams said it something along the lines of the 4th of
July should be celebrated with pump and circumstance and he didn't use
fireworks, but he he said something of that nature
of the harbor. [laughter]
You >> know, that's what that's our culture.
That's America. >> So, Ruben, if you're listening, give me
a call. I'll help clean up those fireworks next year. Um,
as far as the budget goes, I've been digging through that, trying to find
some creative ways maybe we can save. Um, I hope the fellow commissioners are
doing the same. I might reach out to a few of you and talk about some ideas I
got. Um, there's plenty of ways for us to save some funding.
I know it's not going to make some people happy, but people want
reductions. They don't want the budget to stay the flat. They don't want
revenue neutral. They want to be taxed less. So, that's my thoughts is let's
give them what they want. Let's find some ways to tax them a little less.
» Awesome. Thank you, Sandy. I appreciate the comments on neighbors because we
happen to be out of town for the weekend and anybody that wants to be really
upset, we were at our grand our daughter's and son-in-law's farm. He's a
retired military, retired colonel. Every year he gets a bigger roll of
firecrackers. This year it had 6,000 fire and he likes it all. Just likes
that puppy. Rolls it out there and puts it around. Just likes it. Most miserable
thing, but we give him the honor of doing it himself. But when we got back,
interestingly, neighbors on the to the south, the street south of us came over
and with their little boy and they said, "We think you have some bottle rockets
in your backyard that came from us. We didn't want to go in your backyard when
you're gone." So, we opened. Sure enough, there were three bottle rockets
back there. And they came over to get them out. So, I thought that was very
nice. So, we do need to be good neighbors. I really don't have anything
else. >> Okay.
asked the same thing this week and I wish like you said Mr. Shookman would
have stayed. Um I was actually um messaged from some of his neighbors and
they've all lived there forever and said they're very neighborly. They're all
friendly and they you know have a good time together and they they feel
concerned. You know, Ruben's out there taking photos of them and they feel
uncomfortable. And back to what you said, you know, maybe just go talk to
your neighbors, you know, and I have neighbors to the south that
yeah, they shoot off more fireworks than I would ever shoot off, but you know,
you get up the next morning, it's usually cleaned up. And um you know, I
had some in my backyard. I cleaned it up and it took me probably less than five
minutes and stuff. And I I don't know. I mean, the only way you're going to solve
this, we either don't have them or we have them. There's no there's nobody
there's no way to make everybody happy. And I will tell you, if we don't have
them, there's going to be I would say more than 50% of this town is gonna be
really pissed off at us. And I'm just not
» they're gonna be upset. >> No, that's good. That's a good word,
too. But, um, I I'm not at the point to where I I would not be against, uh,
maybe changing how many days we have it, but I don't know. I don't think it's
going to make him any happier personally, but I I appreciate his
comments. I appreciate what he gave us. He's done this for the last few years.
And I mean, he's not wrong on anything he says, but I also think if you just
talk to your neighbors directly instead of sneaking around, taking photos, maybe
they would uh maybe they get along a little bit better in my opinion.
That's all you have. >> Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Kan.
» Um, so again, I wanted to make some comments on fireworks. I happen to
receive several emails over the week that we're commending the city of Hayes
in allowing fireworks and um kind of that commodity that it provided the
neighborhoods or organizations that gathered. It was a very big year, the
250th. Um I wanted to just kind of read an excerpt out of one of the emails I
received. I did receive several. They all were very positive and thankful. Um,
this one just highlights basically what most commissioners have already stated,
but this little excerpt says, "I understand that not everyone enjoys
fireworks and that balancing the interest of an entire community is not
an easy task. While there will always be a small number of people who come with
complaints, know that the most Hayes residents are truly grateful for the
decision on fireworks. We hope that those voices are not overshadowed.
We took the opportunity to drive around Hayes this week and were greatly and
genuinely impressed at how well the community cared for the city after the
holiday. There were a few pieces of debris that might have been missed here
or there, but in large, most of it had been picked up and residents had cleaned
after themselves by taking pride in keeping Hayes beautiful. It's
encouraging to see our community not only enjoy the holiday, but also take
responsibility for preserving the city we all call home. Um, so I just wanted
to share those comments. I thought that it was very well written and I know that
not everybody picks up after themselves, but I think the majority as a whole, we
do a good job. I know our culde-sac personally was a little quieter this
year. Not as many fireworks, but still um we have a lot of teenagers in our
neighborhood now. They're all growing and they did a good job of gathering up
the bulk. And then um I will say the adults gathered midday the next day and
did a really good clean sweep of everything. So, um I hope the majority
of people did get to enjoy the holiday. That's all I have.
» Hey, mayor. Can I say one more thing? >> Something that Ruben said that kind of
concerned me is saying that people are scared to talk to us or afraid we won't
listen. Couldn't be further from the truth. None of us would not respond to
somebody. You may not agree or we may not agree with you, but all of us if you
email us, we always respond. You call, we call back. So, I hope nobody's ever
scared to contact any of us. Agreed.
» Okay. Um, yeah, I I thought it was a I thought it was a great Fourth of July.
Parade was really really uh wonderful. Really well attended. Uh, heard a lot of
good things about Wild Westfest. Three amazing bands. Um, and yeah, the you
know, the night of the fireworks uh something that we did is I we made my
kids their cousins. Um if they noticed any
trash on the ground, they picked it up. Um we had our bucket, we put all the
trash in, made sure it was disposed of properly. Um but we told them if you get
anything out, you make a mess, you notice a mess, pick it up. Um and they
did. Um, after everything was done, after all the time uh had expired for
shooting him off, I walked around kind of up and down my street um on both
sides with a flashlight and went and pick stuff out of people's yards for him
because, you know, it's one thing unless you got to do. Um, but it's just the the
neighborly thing to do. I don't think you're going to be able to legislate uh
being a neighbor. Um, you're you're going to have to
» kind of like being a parent. >> Yeah. You can't legislate parenting and
you can't legislate being a neighbor. You've got to actually communicate with
one another and uh understand that uh your actions can affect people and the
best way to do that is communicate with them and come up to a solution together.
Um and then I' I'd also heard the uh the event that happened at the the church
north of town for the veterans. I believe the women who lead the
organization uh help cover the cost for that. Um they had actually people from
the event in Hutchinson at the salt mine uh was actually full. So they had people
from Hutchinson come out to that event. >> Um
» which I think is a lot of fun. >> That's cool.
» Wow. >> Um
» number that I don't know. I can find a number out, but I know that they're
looking at maybe trying to expand it even more next year um to accept people
from outside the community as well who want to participate. So I think that's
» build the salt mine. Yeah, [clears throat] the salt mine was full.
» I mean that it'd be a cool place to celebrate. I mean there's a lot of cool
things down there. >> Um but yeah, I mean offering that's how
things get h how things happen. Community came together and provided
that option for you. >> Um
» I know there's a few different organizations looking at doing something
for pets too. Um so it's community coming together. We're not going to
legislate our way out of that. Um I think other than that I don't have
anything else really to talk about and we have an executive session I
believe. I would request the city commission
enter into an executive session um to include the city commission, city
attorney, city manager, deputy city manager, assistant city manager
um for a period not to exceed 20 minutes to discuss uh confidential data relating
to financial affairs or trade secrets or corporations, partnerships, trust, and
individual proprietorships. >> So moved.
» Second. Motion by Commissioner Jacobs, second by Commissioner Cunningham.
Questions or comments? Call for a vote. All in favor, please say I.
» I. Opposed. passes. 5 session