[0:24] All right. I am calling the Thursday,
July 9th, 2026 city commission meeting
[0:28] to order. All five commissioners are
present.
[0:31] First item in the order of business,
consideration of approval of the minutes
[0:34] from the meeting on June 25th.
>> Question, changes, comments. None.
[0:38] » Sean thinks they're fabulous, so we're
good.
[0:40] » Okay. Marked as fabulous.
All right. Next is citizen comments for
[0:45] non-aggenda items. Anyone wishing to
speak to the commission now may come up
[0:49] to the podium and state your
>> piece.
[1:02] » Anybody? Okay.
>> Didn't want to move on without giving
[1:06] you your opportunity.
>> You know me. I've got some handouts.
[1:09] » All right. Perfect.
>> I'd be disappointed with it if you
[1:11] didn't.
>> All right. Well, you guys should have
[1:17] placed bets of whether I would be here
this afternoon.
[1:20] » I spent all my money.
>> Toby could have won $20 probably. He
[1:26] knows I'm He knows me better than most
of you. He knows I'm reliable.
[1:32] » Two pages total, right?
>> Just the one.
[1:35] » Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I
>> Perfect. Okay. And then if you say your
[1:39] name for the record and then let us let
us know.
[1:42] » Close enough to the mic here. Ruben
Shutman
[1:47] glasses on.
[1:52] You know, when I've I've corresponded
with each of you, I've tried to be more
[1:56] than just someone that complains about a
problem. I've tried to be a problem
[2:00] solver and offer solutions with new out-
of-the-box ideas, which you have
[2:06] received. But this afternoon, you'll
pick up on some of my frustrations. It
[2:11] was a very stressful night for me on
July 4th. Uh, something I've learned
[2:15] this past year is that many people do
not feel comfortable contacting you
[2:20] about problems they have with fireworks.
I don't know what the deal is. They
[2:24] don't think it's going to do any good.
You'll listen, but nothing gets done.
[2:28] Nothing will change. Now, these people
that won't contact you, they have no
[2:33] problem telling me all their complaints
they have with fireworks. But a a little
[2:38] humor here, I guess. I was hoping that
one of you would volunteer to crawl up
[2:43] on a ladder to pick all the fireworks
trash that landed in my gutters and roof
[2:48] and yard for several nights. There was a
lot. And you know, little old ladies
[2:52] shouldn't have to deal with the hassle
of fireworks trash on their property
[2:57] deposited there by neighbors. But the
city says that's okay. We're fine with
[3:02] other people littering on other people's
lawns and we and we've got to pick it
[3:07] up. Uh so basically each one of you that
con condones it and says we don't need
[3:13] to take any action with these problems
that litter up other people's property.
[3:18] But what if someone came with a bucket
of fireworks trash and dumped it all
[3:22] over your property? I believe that would
be illegal. Maybe the police would get
[3:27] called. But as long as the fireworks
trash and litter lands on someone's
[3:31] property by coming through the air,
that's okay. That method of littering is
[3:36] approved. The city says no problem with
other people littering on other people's
[3:41] property as long as it flies through the
air.
[3:45] And with all these loud explosions every
year, night after night, it's finally
[3:49] got so bad. Thank goodness the church,
the Episcopal church way out in the
[3:53] country came up with an option for
veterans and others who need to get away
[3:58] from all this warlike activity for at
least one night of peace and quiet. But
[4:03] what does that say about our community?
We have to pack up our veterans in a bus
[4:07] and send them out of town, leave their
homes for the evening just to get away
[4:11] from all this noise.
It should be the fireworks out miles in
[4:15] the country, not the people. Let the
people stay in the quiet surroundings of
[4:19] their home.
And many dog owners have serious
[4:23] problems with loud fireworks. And the
really big problem with an
[4:27] environmentalist group of people in
Hayes, they hate the pollution.
[4:31] You have received proposals that help
solve most of the problems that many
[4:36] groups of people have with fireworks
problems. And let me be clear, most are
[4:41] not against fireworks. They are against
all the problems they cause, which all
[4:46] of you are aware of. And the compromised
solution still allows all those clubs
[4:51] and school groups to sell all the
fireworks they want and maybe even more
[4:55] if it's planned out and done correctly.
You know, Hayes has the reputation
[4:59] across the state of Kansas for creative
ways to solve water problems. Why can't
[5:05] Hayes also be on the cutting edge and be
the leader with ingenious, fresh, new
[5:10] ideas with the fireworks problems? But
first, you do have to realize fireworks
[5:15] do cause problems for a lot of people
and those problems are not going away on
[5:20] their own. I would be glad to volunteer
to help you solve these problems.
[5:26] Thank you.
Thank you Ruben and thanks for the
[5:29] information.
[5:32] Anyone else like to speak currently?
[5:38] Okay,
we move on to the consent agenda. Uh
[5:42] only one thing on here currently the
mayoral appointment recommendation for
[5:46] the HCVB advisory board. Uh there's an
opening for a U hotel representative. We
[5:53] had an application.
Um,
[5:57] » sorry, Daisy. Yes.
So, Daisy and she uh Oh, sorry.
[6:01] » Go ahead.
>> Yeah. She has experience with uh another
[6:04] community she lived in on both their
chamber board and uh their CVB advisory
[6:08] committee for hotels.
>> Move approval of consent agenda.
[6:12] » Second.
>> Second.
[6:14] » Motion by Commissioner Jacobs. Second by
Commissioner Cunningham. Questions,
[6:17] comments on this one?
Now, I'll call for a vote. All in favor,
[6:21] please say I. I
>> I opposed
[6:24] » passes 5 vote on new business 2026
sanitary sewer point repairs and lining
[6:29] project award of bid. Jeff.
>> Good afternoon commissioners. Jeff
[6:33] Chrisman I'm the director of water
resources.
[6:36] The capital improvement plan uh for 2026
includes a sewer sanitary sewer repairs
[6:42] and lighting project and this is
consistent with similar work that we've
[6:45] done over the past five six years. Uh
the general area for this year's project
[6:50] is between Hall and Vine, south of 33rd
Street. It's the area that's outlined in
[6:55] green, goes all the way down to about
4th Street, encompasses all that area.
[7:00] Uh this visual was included in your
packet. um staff developed um this
[7:06] year's project anticipating completion
of 1943 linear feet of sanitary sewer
[7:12] lining which is from manhole to manhole
and 20 internal uh point repair pro or
[7:17] repairs at multiple locations within the
city of Hayes originally using 2024
[7:22] project line item pricing we bid out
1943 linear feet of manhole to manhole
[7:28] and 20 individual patches on this visual
uh the lining from manhole to manhole is
[7:33] the red lines and so those are four
locations and that encompasses that 1943
[7:38] [clears throat]
linear feet. Um, so in green also in on
[7:44] the on the visual, those are the
locations of the 20 patches. And as I
[7:48] mentioned last week at the work session,
you may have one of those lines like in
[7:52] the western part of Hayes along hall
there that might have five or six
[7:56] patches within that stretch, but all 20
original patches were within those green
[8:02] locations. After we opened bids and we
went back to Mayor Specialty Services,
[8:06] the uh parent low bidder, we asked them
to bid out some additional patches. uh
[8:10] to to get some more work done. For
reference, those locations we added to
[8:16] those yellow spots on the map. Again, uh
those 35 additional spots, there's not
[8:21] 35 individual lines there. There are a
few locations where there's multiple
[8:25] patches within those lines. So, what you
see there, if you approve it tonight, we
[8:30] will get 19 uh 43 linear feet of lining
and 55 total patches.
[8:36] The city has made significant progress
in maintaining and repairing our
[8:40] sanitary sewer system. Uh this visual
only shows what's been completed since
[8:44] 2020. Um in 2018, we started a project
to line and patch a sanitary sewer
[8:49] system. And since then, we've performed
over $1.5 million worth of repairs.
[8:54] Initially, the way we started it was we
knew we had all we had this big list
[8:59] that we wanted to accomplish and we
start taking off the hardest stuff first
[9:03] and we would do one year of lining. Then
the next year we would do patching and
[9:07] then lining and then patching. And then
we kind of morphed into where we're at
[9:11] now. We're doing a combination of both.
All the repairs that we've made and we
[9:16] want to re continue to make are based
off that sewer line cleaning and
[9:20] inspection project that we do every year
where we do 20% of the town. We get the
[9:25] video data. We get the still shots. We
get all the reports that show us where
[9:29] those problems are. Then we add them to
a future uh repair project. due to our
[9:35] progress that we've been made, it's
becoming more and more difficult for us
[9:38] to uh find out find enough locations to
meet that budget of $350,000.
[9:43] And I put in here, what a problem to
have. Um in the future, um as I
[9:47] mentioned last week, what we're planning
to do is probably 2028, we would combine
[9:52] both projects. The sewer line cleaning
um project that we spend $150 $175,000 a
[9:58] year and that $350,000 project, combine
them. won't be the total budget of both,
[10:04] but be able to do cleaning and um CCTV,
which is the inspection, and then also
[10:09] do a lot of those repairs as we're going
through that project. So, that's what we
[10:14] would plan on in the future. There are
different types of repairs that we've
[10:18] used in the city of Hayes. Um
trenchulous patches or internal point
[10:22] repairs, the lining from manhole to
manhole, and then open cut repairs.
[10:27] Earlier on when we realized that we had
some big problem areas, those would have
[10:32] to be dug up and they were such those
lines were such that you had to actually
[10:35] have those um physically cut open, get
down to them and they would have to put
[10:40] in new pipe and make that connection.
But we've taken care of those issues. So
[10:44] now we're just doing the internal
patches and the lining from manhole to
[10:48] manhole. This is what it looks like with
the patch project. Um they would take
[10:53] this is called a packer unit and that's
the side view of the of the sewer line.
[10:58] The packer is the the the um patch is
put on the outside of the packer. It
[11:03] goes to where the problem area is. That
packer expands. All the while sewer is
[11:08] flowing right through it. We don't have
to shut down service and for a certain
[11:12] amount of time that patch will cure. I
always use the term of band-aid, but
[11:17] it's much better than a band-aid um on a
sewer line. Same type of material as we
[11:23] do when we do the lining. Um but it
cures in place and then they remove that
[11:27] and they move to the next location. All
this is found from previous um
[11:32] inspection reports. We know exactly
where the problem is and then they come
[11:36] in when they do this project and they
actually pre-clean the line. they know
[11:39] exactly where the problem is and so they
go in and put in the patch while they're
[11:43] while they're there. Uh sewer lining is
a is an impressive pro um product for
[11:49] us. It's trenchulous, quick, cost
effective. There's different types of
[11:53] lining. We've used different types of
liners in our projects before. Um it
[11:57] could be uh polyester vinyl, epoxy
resin, or a like material and it's
[12:02] pulled from one manhole to another and
then it's inflated with steam or water.
[12:06] it's given a certain amount of time to
um to cure. Once complete problems such
[12:11] as infiltration, leakage, and
deteriorating infrastructure is
[12:14] repaired, the sewer can remain in
service during this project just like it
[12:19] would be um with the patches. And once
in place, the contractor then will
[12:24] they'll cut the ends of it at each
manhole. They'll take their equipment in
[12:27] there. They'll go to where the tap is
for the business or or for the resident
[12:32] and then that cuts open that tap and
then it reestablishes. And like I
[12:36] mentioned last week, the contractors
that do this process, they put out door
[12:41] knockers, they talk to comm, you know,
they talk to the area residents
[12:45] basically asking them to not use your,
you know, your facilities or don't flush
[12:49] something for, you know, the next three
hours, those type things. And that way
[12:54] they can get that work done. Jeff,
what's the longest they ever have to ask
[12:57] them to not? Is three hours normal?
>> Three hours is typical. Yeah. Um it I've
[13:04] seen some of them go up to five hours,
but they try to actually do these at
[13:08] times when most people are at work. You
know, you're never going to get nobody
[13:12] on the on the block. But you do have
some time. You know, running a little
[13:18] bit of water in a sink, flushing the
toilet is probably going to be okay. But
[13:22] a prolonged issue would fill up the the
private line and we wouldn't want that.
[13:26] » Thank you.
>> You bet. This is a video that um from
[13:30] 13th and Hall from a previous year.
And that's just the liner being
[13:35] installed um down into the manhole.
Somebody's down at the other manhole
[13:40] waiting for it to actually come out. Um
and then once it's complete, they will
[13:45] uh blow it up with steam or water and
then they'll reestablish those tabs. So,
[13:49] it's pretty slick process, pretty safe
process. Um, this product that mayor is
[13:54] recommending, we've used before. It
comes in on spools. They put the spools
[13:58] into a steam trailer and the spools are
hard hardened because it's wrapped
[14:02] around spools and then it softens and
then they're able to actually pull it
[14:06] through and uh fix fix the problem. And
as I mentioned too last week, the liner
[14:12] itself is very very thin. It's no more
than a quarter inch. And so, you think
[14:16] about an 8 inch sewer pipe. Um, it's not
squeezing down that sewer pipe very
[14:22] much, just by an extra quarter of an
inch on the inside of it, but it's like
[14:26] a brand new pipe. This is kind of what
it looks like on the lining. The left
[14:29] side, you can see that there's damaged
pipe, there's soil, there's cracks all
[14:34] over the place. I mean, it's not going
to look perfectly smooth like it does on
[14:37] the right looks a lot better and it's
it's keeping all the soil out and um
[14:43] protecting the integrity of that line,
but it does show on the side. It does
[14:47] see some you see some of the things, but
all in all, you have basically a brand
[14:51] new line that's put through there.
Uh after the question last week, um I
[14:56] can't remember which commissioner asked
it. I apologize, but I was asked about
[15:00] what type of material and how much do we
have in the ground? Uh VCP uh vitrifi
[15:05] vitrified clay pipe. I can never say
that right. I apologize. That's about
[15:09] 93% of what we have in our system. And
so everything in brown on that map,
[15:14] which is a little bit easier to see than
all the other colors, that is what is
[15:18] used has been used. And if you look down
there at the far southern part of the
[15:22] city of Hayes, oldest part of Hayes, I
kind of went over and I looked at some
[15:26] of I looked on GIS, look some of the
houses, you know, houses were built in
[15:30] 1940 on this block. So you could kind of
estimate that probably the sewer went in
[15:34] about that time. That kind of pipe can
get you about 100 100 plus years. Um, so
[15:40] it it is good pipe, but it it is
breakable just like anything is. Um, we
[15:46] had went away a few quite a few years
ago to only doing PVC. So if you look at
[15:51] the blue spots in town, all the blue is
PVC sewer line. So that makes up, and I
[15:57] know it's hard for you to see that PVC
is about 19.81%.
[16:01] So um, hold on, back up. PVC is 19
81 miles, not percent. VCP is 93 miles.
[16:12] I apologize. There's some other things.
Force man. If you look along the bypass,
[16:17] that's our force man. The reason there's
a force man there, it's a different type
[16:20] of pipe. It actually is pushing from one
um lift station around the bypass to get
[16:25] it up and over a hill so we can actually
gravity into um the the sewer plant. We
[16:31] have some private lines. Um, Prairie
Acres is private. You can kind of barely
[16:36] see it, but where the the Big Creek um
the mall is, that's all private sewer in
[16:41] there. So, that's in red. So, there's
some different types of lines that we
[16:45] don't necessarily clean because they're
private or we have force main, but for
[16:49] the most part, most of our line is VCP
that's in the ground, 93 miles. And as
[16:54] we are switching out any projects, we
change over to um into PVC. So hopefully
[17:01] that helps a little bit with last week's
question.
[17:03] » Yes,
>> that uh you said some like 1940s, early
[17:07] 50s. So that's able to be lined if we
need to.
[17:10] » Yeah, it can be lined. And that's 8
inch. And some of those some of those
[17:14] we've seen where we've lined. Let me
Well, I hope I'm right. Let me look real
[17:18] quick.
So you see the red red lines down by
[17:23] campus. Hey, I got one of these things.
[17:28] » Am I doing this right? Oh boy. So that
one was line.
[17:32] » Okay.
>> And that's down by campus. So that was
[17:34] probably
>> line that was from 1940 1950.
[17:37] » That's awesome.
>> Because what is the cost per mile to
[17:40] switch from BCP to uh PBC?
>> Uh I'll have to get back with you on
[17:45] that. Off the top of my head.
>> I wish I had I should have the bid
[17:50] document. Well, I could look here.
>> More than the linear foot line.
[17:54] » Yes. Yes. Absolutely.
Um okay. So that was on the material. So
[18:00] we solicited proposals for multiple
contractors as we always do with all of
[18:03] our projects. Like I mentioned in
developing our estimate for 2026, we
[18:07] used 24 pricing. When the bids were
open, pricing was much more favorable
[18:12] than we anticipated. A large portion of
the savings for our 2026 bids was that
[18:17] mayor's proposed liner is not as
expensive as what was used by CC Steel
[18:22] in 2024. Very adequate, very commonly
used. It's one that we've used before,
[18:28] but that difference equated to about
$132,000
[18:32] less than we anticipated when we were
putting the project together. And so
[18:37] that's where we had quite a bit of
savings. And like I said, both
[18:40] materials, all the types of materials
we've used for all of our projects, none
[18:45] of it's failed. Everything when they go
through and they do the next cleaning
[18:48] project and they go right through one of
those lines to do cleaning and
[18:52] inspection, they're clean. Nothing's
failed. Nothing's having a problem. It's
[18:56] like a brand new pipe. So, we've had
seen we have seen great success um with
[19:00] that. Um I mentioned this last week,
too. We do not have a um C, excuse me,
[19:06] we don't have a mayor um contractor
rating sheet for this project. Back in
[19:11] 2022, we we just for some reason we
didn't have one in there, but mayor
[19:15] we've worked with um significantly on
the manhole rehab project. They use
[19:20] similar type of material when they're
doing our manholes. uh similar type of
[19:24] crew, similar project manager. I'm very
confident that mayor uh will do a good
[19:29] job for us because they have in the past
and we'll work on making sure that if
[19:34] this is approved, we don't miss another
contractor rating sheet.
[19:37] » Do we have a a contractor rating sheet
on them from any of the other projects
[19:41] I've done?
>> 20. Um I have six years I have six years
[19:44] of contractor rating sheets for manhole
rehab.
[19:47] » Okay.
>> So,
[19:48] » thank you.
>> Um work has been great. Um easy to work
[19:52] with. If you do award it tonight, it
would start September 1st and it would
[19:56] go through December 31st would be the
last date. Um, and I put in there the
[20:01] original bids in bold, but the the base
plus the the additional patches 254,640
[20:08] is what we're asking you to approve
today. So, for financial consideration,
[20:13] we budgeted 350,000.
We're recommending the project cost as I
[20:17] mentioned and that is a remaining
balance of 95,360
[20:22] from what we budgeted mentioned again
that in future years we'll be looking at
[20:26] doing some combination of a project that
way we can kind of get it so I wouldn't
[20:31] come in front of you more than once it I
would be once for both projects so these
[20:37] are your options to approve it to direct
us to another option or to do nothing
[20:42] and this is the action I would request
and I would stand for your additional
[20:45] questions.
>> I'll move we authorize the city manager
[20:48] to enter into an agreement with my mayor
specialty services to complete the 2026
[20:53] sanitary sewer point repairs and lining
project for $254,640
[20:59] to be funded from the water reclamation
capital.
[21:03] » I second motion by Commissioner Mucil,
second by Commissioner Bing. Questions
[21:07] or comments for Jeff?
>> Is there any I'm trying to find it. I
[21:10] don't see. Is there any manholes being
redone this time?
[21:15] » Yeah, I'm working on the project right
now to come back to you.
[21:18] » That's a separate project from this.
Okay.
[21:20] » Yeah, we we haven't brought that to you
just yet. Okay.
[21:22] » But that will be coming.
>> So,
[21:24] » but Jeeoff, I appreciate you
consistently doing this. To me, this is
[21:28] just important as is the water lines and
street maintenance, stuff like that.
[21:33] It's just something we have to do to
keep on top of. So, I appreciate very
[21:36] much what you're doing with this.
>> Sometimes it's hard because you don't
[21:39] see it. Yeah, exactly.
>> You know,
[21:41] » you use it.
>> Yep.
[21:43] » We have a city in the state that's
struggling right now with water issues
[21:47] and pipes and all the stuff that isn't
done. Uh not a pretty situation. I'm
[21:53] certainly glad we don't have to deal
with anything like that because projects
[21:56] like this. It's appreciated.
[22:01] » I like the maintenance and keeping up on
things. I've said that multiple times. I
[22:05] like that you've got a structured format
that's showing uh improvement. so much
[22:09] improvement so that you're hunting for
more projects to add to it. Um it sounds
[22:14] like you're you're on the right path
there. My thought for the commission is
[22:18] is if we're coming in under budget
$100,000
[22:24] instead of keep putting the money back
into this. Maybe that's $100,000 we
[22:29] could use to save the citizens a little
bit down the road. We've still got a
[22:33] good program. We're still getting ahead
of the curve with what you're doing and
[22:36] I love that. they should be commended
for that, but instead of just continuing
[22:41] to use more of that money, why not
rebudget it and save somewhere else in
[22:45] the budget?
>> That's my thoughts.
[22:49] » And I mentioned last week, commissioner,
that we do have in the future,
[22:54] [laughter and clears throat] you know,
we need to be looking at our force mains
[22:56] and we will we just spent quite a bit of
money to upgrade that Highway 40 lift
[23:01] station that was approved a couple years
ago. you know, we are going to have some
[23:05] other maintenance coming up for some
lift stations. So, it is all part of the
[23:09] maintenance of it and there's always
going to be some repairs to the sewer
[23:13] line system, but we've made some
significant progress that will help us
[23:17] in the future. So,
>> keep budgeting for those big plans.
[23:20] » Yep.
I just appreciate that while we were
[23:25] looking at doing those 20 repairs with
it coming in so much under budget that
[23:30] you went ahead and looked how many more
we could take care of this year instead
[23:33] of waiting when potentially they cost
more. So thank you
[23:38] » Jeff. The question I had for you um is
you know comparing what we what CCCL had
[23:44] in 2024 and these ones we had the
reinstate service connection was quite a
[23:52] bit higher. I mean it was back when we
did it with CC Steel now they're both
[23:56] very much cheaper which I appreciate.
Yeah. Um, do you know why that
[23:59] » CC Steel had a change in leadership as
far as their
[24:05] » their project manager moved to a
different company. Um, we've worked with
[24:10] him many times before. Um, I think there
might have been some estimating issues
[24:15] with with what that was [clears throat]
what was going on there. They've had
[24:18] some changes in who's doing their their
bidding. So, and you know, CC Steel,
[24:23] it's quite a ways for them to actually
come down here. It's like three states
[24:27] away,
>> right?
[24:28] » So,
>> no, thank you for that. Yeah, and it's
[24:32] it's something that I think we kind of
talked about last week, too. You know,
[24:35] the important of importance of
preventative maintenance before it
[24:39] becomes too much of a problem that you
do have to go in and do complete
[24:43] trenches, replace entire lines, and then
it gets really expensive. Service gets
[24:47] cut um while you're waiting to get that
done
[24:50] » and you're tearing up street.
>> Exactly. Gets really expensive really
[24:53] fast. So, be able to do this one under
budget um and looking forward to, hey,
[24:58] we can attack something else before it
rises in cost because nothing ever goes
[25:03] down. Um I appreciate you looking into
that and being proactive with it. Um
[25:08] with uh Commissioner Valing's question,
the water reclamation capital can we can
[25:15] shift money wherever we want, can we?
[snorts]
[25:17] » Well, that's what I'm I wanted to
verify. So, so yeah, when you when you
[25:22] collect uh when you levy a rate or
collect a rate from users, um part of
[25:27] that's used for operations, part of it's
used for water production, um part of it
[25:31] is transferred to reserves to be used
for capital projects like this,
[25:34] » right? Um, so, um, I think what Jeff was
was was saying to Commissioner Wilson's
[25:41] question was, um, we kind of have
capital needs that are in excess of our
[25:47] capital dollars, you know, so if we are
able to lower our estimate on this
[25:51] because we're maybe catching up with the
maintenance. And keep in mind, we didn't
[25:55] budget any money for sewer maintenance
until about eight years ago, right?
[25:58] » Um, and so we had to play a lot of
catchup, including like digging up Main
[26:01] Street to replace it, you know, things
like that. Um, but if we're catching up,
[26:06] he's got lots of other things he could
reallocate that to, you know, to to make
[26:10] sure that we're keeping those things
covered.
[26:12] » Okay.
>> There.
[26:13] » So, the revenue is not outpacing
projects.
[26:16] » What's that?
>> Revenue is not outpacing projects.
[26:18] » We And we've got other projects like
some other demo at the at the wastewater
[26:23] treatment plant that we've got planned
in the future. You'll see on CIP for the
[26:27] future.
>> Um, so there is some different things
[26:30] that we we need to be prepared for.
>> Okay. But u now I would say
[26:34] » tracing is going to be something that
we're not going to see
[26:37] » from a solveny standpoint. We're more
solvent in waste water than water.
[26:41] » Right.
>> Right.
[26:43] » When you look at the buffer and the
comfort zone um we're way more
[26:48] comfortable in wastewater than we are
than we are with with water.
[26:52] » And it's a little bit different funding,
but we also are paying back for our
[26:56] wastewater treatment plant upgrade, too.
>> We're making an SRF payment every every
[27:00] year.
Toby, to be clear, the money in, you
[27:04] know, in wastewater, let's say we save
another 100,000 next year.
[27:09] » We can't take that money and put it in
general fund.
[27:11] » Uh, no,
>> that has to stay
[27:13] » it it stays within it stays in
wastewater.
[27:16] » What you could do is you could push off
rate increases,
[27:19] » right? Right.
>> The more money you save, you don't
[27:21] spend, you push off necessary rate
increases.
[27:23] » Okay.
>> Yep.
[27:24] » It's just because of the funding source.
>> Yeah.
[27:27] » Okay.
>> Okay. Does that make sense? Yeah.
[27:31] » Okay.
>> Good question. I didn't know the answer
[27:34] that.
>> Okay. Any other questions or comments on
[27:38] sanitary sewer point?
>> Okay. I'll call for the vote. All in
[27:42] favor, please say I.
>> I.
[27:44] » Opposed.
>> Passes 5-0. Thanks, Jeff.
[27:49] » Resolution authorizing the offering for
sale of general obligation securities.
[27:54] The sale resolution. Kim.
>> Good afternoon, commissioners. Kim Rup,
[27:58] director of finance.
Just a real quick res resolution for you
[28:02] today. This is uh the next step in the
process of doing a bond issue in the
[28:06] fall. This particular bond issue will
take care of the infrastructure for tall
[28:12] grass phase 4 as well as the exit 161.
Uh we have to ask for the maximum in
[28:18] these documents. Um because we
particularly the exit 161 we did issue
[28:23] temporary notes of 4 million. So we have
to ask for that. The uh sizing of that
[28:29] bond will come in August. Likely the
exit 161 will be more around the 1.3 1.4
[28:35] million because we did get the the grow
haze uh economic grant uh that we were
[28:41] able to apply towards that.
So to provide an orderly plan of finance
[28:46] for the city, staff recommends that the
city issue general obligation bonds to
[28:50] fund the tall grass phase 4
infrastructure and permanently finance
[28:53] the exit 161 fin uh infrastructure.
State law and capital market structures
[28:59] require that city staff and the city's
adviserss take various actions prior to
[29:04] city offering any of its general
obligation bonds or temporary notes for
[29:08] sale. Uh those actions may include
publication requirements, offering
[29:12] documents drafting, and other
preparations to receive bids on the
[29:16] securities for sale. Approval of the
sale resolution that we have before you
[29:20] will authorize all necessary actions to
offer for sale the city's general
[29:24] obligation bonds for the purpose stated.
If the sale resolution is approved, the
[29:29] city will prepare to solicit and receive
bids for the sale of those securities.
[29:33] the bids will be presented to the to you
uh for approval in its meeting in August
[29:38] uh where the commission can accept the
best bid or reject all of those. So
[29:43] pretty straightforward not much to it.
Um options would be to approve that
[29:47] resolution, decline or provide us with
other direction and we would ask for
[29:52] approval.
I move approval of resolution number
[29:55] 2026-011
authorizing the offering for sale of the
[29:59] city's general obligation bonds andor
temporary notes.
[30:03] » I second it.
>> Motion by Commissioner Jacobs, second by
[30:05] Commissioner Biceing. Question or
comments for Kim.
[30:09] » It's nice to get the money back from Gro
Hayes on get the money from the grant. I
[30:12] think we should make that clear. I took
it from 4 million to 1.3. That's a big
[30:16] deal. We've kind of gone, you know, over
it every time we go through it, but I'm
[30:19] going to keep talking about it.
>> Big deal. those grants
[30:22] » correct
>> helping us out. agree.
[30:25] » And then just verification this is not
an increase in we have dedicated funding
[30:30] sources for these set up already
>> at this point we are able so the the uh
[30:35] exit 161 is the portion that the city is
responsible for the [clears throat]
[30:39] other the tall grass that's going to be
RHID funded um ultimately if the RHID
[30:45] revenue doesn't meet that need then we
would have to possibly um levy for it
[30:50] but at this time uh projections show
that won't occur.
[30:53] So the exit 161 does include uh in 2027.
So we're doing the bond in 26. Payments
[31:01] start in 27. 27's budget that we've uh
put before you has this included in it.
[31:06] » Yes.
>> Perfect.
[31:08] » Okay. Any question?
>> And the amount for that levy actually is
[31:11] going down from what it was the previous
year.
[31:13] » Yeah. The proposed levy for the bond and
interest is lower. Yeah.
[31:16] » Than last year.
>> The levy rate is correct.
[31:18] » Correct.
>> Yes.
[31:18] » Okay.
>> Okay. Anything else? Okay, call for a
[31:23] vote on that. All in favor, please say
I.
[31:25] » I.
>> Opposed? Passes 5.
[31:28] » Thank you.
>> Thanks, Kim.
[31:31] » All right, commission inquiries and
comments. Commissioner B.
[31:37] I really wish Ruben would have stuck
around. I uh
[31:43] talk to him, I guess, a little bit, but
uh hopefully he watches this or listens
[31:47] to it later. Um,
[31:52] it's frustrating when our neighbors
aren't good neighbors and they make a
[31:56] mess and it ends up in our yards. U,
I've experienced it. I didn't like it.
[32:03] But like a good neighbor, I've talked to
my neighbors and we work together as a
[32:08] community to clean up and to pick up and
to be good neighbors. Um, if Ruben's
[32:16] getting up there in age, you need some
help,
[32:19] you know, my number's out there, give me
a call. I didn't get his email. Uh, he
[32:25] said he sent everybody. So,
uh,
[32:30] » I just checked as soon as he said he
sent us an email. I didn't see it. So,
[32:35] I hope in the future he gives me a call.
I'd be more than happy to come out there
[32:39] July 5th, help him pick up trash.
I might even talk to some of the veteran
[32:45] organizations and some of the Boy Scout
groups or something. See if we can't get
[32:49] something put together and organized to
help out the elderly
[32:52] after the 4th of July.
>> This is a community event. We need to
[32:56] work together as a community. That's
what makes the Fourth of July so great.
[33:01] And yeah, we only celebrate it once a
year,
[33:05] but it's what makes us special as a
country. There's holidays that get an
[33:11] entire month, you know.
we get one day, why not let the folks
[33:17] have a couple of days to set off some
fireworks and celebrate it the way it
[33:21] was intended? I think John Adams said it
something along the lines of the 4th of
[33:26] July should be celebrated with pump and
circumstance and he didn't use
[33:30] fireworks, but he he said something of
that nature
[33:35] of the harbor.
[laughter]
[33:40] You
>> know, that's what that's our culture.
[33:43] That's America.
>> So, Ruben, if you're listening, give me
[33:48] a call. I'll help clean up those
fireworks next year. Um,
[33:52] as far as the budget goes, I've been
digging through that, trying to find
[33:56] some creative ways maybe we can save.
Um, I hope the fellow commissioners are
[34:01] doing the same. I might reach out to a
few of you and talk about some ideas I
[34:05] got. Um, there's plenty of ways for us
to save some funding.
[34:11] I know it's not going to make some
people happy, but people want
[34:16] reductions. They don't want the budget
to stay the flat. They don't want
[34:20] revenue neutral. They want to be taxed
less. So, that's my thoughts is let's
[34:27] give them what they want. Let's find
some ways to tax them a little less.
[34:32] » Awesome. Thank you, Sandy. I appreciate
the comments on neighbors because we
[34:36] happen to be out of town for the weekend
and anybody that wants to be really
[34:39] upset, we were at our grand our
daughter's and son-in-law's farm. He's a
[34:44] retired military, retired colonel. Every
year he gets a bigger roll of
[34:48] firecrackers. This year it had 6,000
fire and he likes it all. Just likes
[34:55] that puppy. Rolls it out there and puts
it around. Just likes it. Most miserable
[34:59] thing, but we give him the honor of
doing it himself. But when we got back,
[35:03] interestingly, neighbors on the to the
south, the street south of us came over
[35:07] and with their little boy and they said,
"We think you have some bottle rockets
[35:11] in your backyard that came from us. We
didn't want to go in your backyard when
[35:14] you're gone." So, we opened. Sure
enough, there were three bottle rockets
[35:18] back there. And they came over to get
them out. So, I thought that was very
[35:21] nice. So, we do need to be good
neighbors. I really don't have anything
[35:25] else.
>> Okay.
[35:30] asked the same thing this week and I
wish like you said Mr. Shookman would
[35:34] have stayed. Um I was actually um
messaged from some of his neighbors and
[35:39] they've all lived there forever and said
they're very neighborly. They're all
[35:43] friendly and they you know have a good
time together and they they feel
[35:47] concerned. You know, Ruben's out there
taking photos of them and they feel
[35:50] uncomfortable. And back to what you
said, you know, maybe just go talk to
[35:54] your neighbors, you know, and I have
neighbors to the south that
[35:58] yeah, they shoot off more fireworks than
I would ever shoot off, but you know,
[36:02] you get up the next morning, it's
usually cleaned up. And um you know, I
[36:06] had some in my backyard. I cleaned it up
and it took me probably less than five
[36:11] minutes and stuff. And I I don't know. I
mean, the only way you're going to solve
[36:15] this, we either don't have them or we
have them. There's no there's nobody
[36:19] there's no way to make everybody happy.
And I will tell you, if we don't have
[36:22] them, there's going to be I would say
more than 50% of this town is gonna be
[36:26] really pissed off at us. And I'm just
not
[36:29] » they're gonna be upset.
>> No, that's good. That's a good word,
[36:32] too. But, um, I I'm not at the point to
where I I would not be against, uh,
[36:38] maybe changing how many days we have it,
but I don't know. I don't think it's
[36:42] going to make him any happier
personally, but I I appreciate his
[36:46] comments. I appreciate what he gave us.
He's done this for the last few years.
[36:49] And I mean, he's not wrong on anything
he says, but I also think if you just
[36:53] talk to your neighbors directly instead
of sneaking around, taking photos, maybe
[36:57] they would uh maybe they get along a
little bit better in my opinion.
[37:02] That's all you have.
>> Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Kan.
[37:07] » Um, so again, I wanted to make some
comments on fireworks. I happen to
[37:11] receive several emails over the week
that we're commending the city of Hayes
[37:18] in allowing fireworks and um kind of
that commodity that it provided the
[37:24] neighborhoods or organizations that
gathered. It was a very big year, the
[37:28] 250th. Um I wanted to just kind of read
an excerpt out of one of the emails I
[37:34] received. I did receive several. They
all were very positive and thankful. Um,
[37:42] this one just highlights basically what
most commissioners have already stated,
[37:46] but this little excerpt says, "I
understand that not everyone enjoys
[37:49] fireworks and that balancing the
interest of an entire community is not
[37:53] an easy task. While there will always be
a small number of people who come with
[37:57] complaints, know that the most Hayes
residents are truly grateful for the
[38:01] decision on fireworks. We hope that
those voices are not overshadowed.
[38:06] We took the opportunity to drive around
Hayes this week and were greatly and
[38:11] genuinely impressed at how well the
community cared for the city after the
[38:15] holiday. There were a few pieces of
debris that might have been missed here
[38:19] or there, but in large, most of it had
been picked up and residents had cleaned
[38:23] after themselves by taking pride in
keeping Hayes beautiful. It's
[38:28] encouraging to see our community not
only enjoy the holiday, but also take
[38:31] responsibility for preserving the city
we all call home. Um, so I just wanted
[38:36] to share those comments. I thought that
it was very well written and I know that
[38:42] not everybody picks up after themselves,
but I think the majority as a whole, we
[38:47] do a good job. I know our culde-sac
personally was a little quieter this
[38:51] year. Not as many fireworks, but still
um we have a lot of teenagers in our
[38:57] neighborhood now. They're all growing
and they did a good job of gathering up
[39:01] the bulk. And then um I will say the
adults gathered midday the next day and
[39:06] did a really good clean sweep of
everything. So, um I hope the majority
[39:11] of people did get to enjoy the holiday.
That's all I have.
[39:14] » Hey, mayor. Can I say one more thing?
>> Something that Ruben said that kind of
[39:18] concerned me is saying that people are
scared to talk to us or afraid we won't
[39:22] listen. Couldn't be further from the
truth. None of us would not respond to
[39:26] somebody. You may not agree or we may
not agree with you, but all of us if you
[39:30] email us, we always respond. You call,
we call back. So, I hope nobody's ever
[39:35] scared to contact any of us.
Agreed.
[39:40] » Okay. Um, yeah, I I thought it was a I
thought it was a great Fourth of July.
[39:45] Parade was really really uh wonderful.
Really well attended. Uh, heard a lot of
[39:49] good things about Wild Westfest. Three
amazing bands. Um, and yeah, the you
[39:54] know, the night of the fireworks uh
something that we did is I we made my
[40:00] kids
their cousins. Um if they noticed any
[40:06] trash on the ground, they picked it up.
Um we had our bucket, we put all the
[40:10] trash in, made sure it was disposed of
properly. Um but we told them if you get
[40:13] anything out, you make a mess, you
notice a mess, pick it up. Um and they
[40:18] did. Um, after everything was done,
after all the time uh had expired for
[40:22] shooting him off, I walked around kind
of up and down my street um on both
[40:27] sides with a flashlight and went and
pick stuff out of people's yards for him
[40:30] because, you know, it's one thing unless
you got to do. Um, but it's just the the
[40:35] neighborly thing to do. I don't think
you're going to be able to legislate uh
[40:38] being a neighbor. Um, you're you're
going to have to
[40:41] » kind of like being a parent.
>> Yeah. You can't legislate parenting and
[40:44] you can't legislate being a neighbor.
You've got to actually communicate with
[40:48] one another and uh understand that uh
your actions can affect people and the
[40:54] best way to do that is communicate with
them and come up to a solution together.
[40:57] Um and then I' I'd also heard the uh the
event that happened at the the church
[41:03] north of town for the veterans. I
believe the women who lead the
[41:06] organization uh help cover the cost for
that. Um they had actually people from
[41:12] the event in Hutchinson at the salt mine
uh was actually full. So they had people
[41:18] from Hutchinson come out to that event.
>> Um
[41:21] » which I think is a lot of fun.
>> That's cool.
[41:23] » Wow.
>> Um
[41:24] » number that I don't know. I can find a
number out, but I know that they're
[41:28] looking at maybe trying to expand it
even more next year um to accept people
[41:33] from outside the community as well who
want to participate. So I think that's
[41:36] » build the salt mine. Yeah,
[clears throat] the salt mine was full.
[41:39] » I mean that it'd be a cool place to
celebrate. I mean there's a lot of cool
[41:42] things down there.
>> Um but yeah, I mean offering that's how
[41:47] things get h how things happen.
Community came together and provided
[41:50] that option for you.
>> Um
[41:52] » I know there's a few different
organizations looking at doing something
[41:54] for pets too. Um so it's community
coming together. We're not going to
[41:58] legislate our way out of that. Um I
think other than that I don't have
[42:03] anything else really to talk about
and we have an executive session I
[42:08] believe.
I would request the city commission
[42:12] enter into an executive session um to
include the city commission, city
[42:17] attorney, city manager, deputy city
manager, assistant city manager
[42:22] um for a period not to exceed 20 minutes
to discuss uh confidential data relating
[42:28] to financial affairs or trade secrets or
corporations, partnerships, trust, and
[42:32] individual proprietorships.
>> So moved.
[42:36] » Second. Motion by Commissioner Jacobs,
second by Commissioner Cunningham.
[42:39] Questions or comments? Call for a vote.
All in favor, please say I.
[42:43] » I. Opposed. passes. 5
session