[1:59] Yeah, that's right.
[2:21] » Good evening.
We will now open the Tuesday, August
[2:25] 18th, 2026 meeting of the Manhattan City
Commission.
[2:30] Uh
Chelsea, will you please call the roll?
[2:34] » Mayor Adam Chuck.
>> Here.
[2:36] » Commissioner McCulla.
>> Here.
[2:38] » Commissioner Fox.
>> Here.
[2:40] » Commissioner Morrison.
>> Here.
[2:42] » Commissioner Von Lintal.
>> Here.
[2:44] » Mayor, we have five commissioners
present. The quorum of three is met.
[2:48] » Great. Thank you. Will you please rise
and join me in saying the Pledge of
[2:51] Allegiance.
>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[2:56] United States of America, and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation
[3:01] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
[3:07] » Thank you.
Um we will open the floor for public
[3:12] comments. Is there anyone who would like
to make any remarks on an item not on
[3:18] tonight's agenda?
[3:23] Seeing no one approach, we'll close
public comments. Commissioners, do you
[3:28] have comments or observations?
>> Um I was actually going to ask the mayor
[3:32] about board appointments, if we have
like um if we're getting enough
[3:35] applications for the boards and
>> We do have uh several, and the mayor has
[3:41] been somewhat remiss in the last month
or so of not reviewing them in a timely
[3:45] way.
And that was discussed today in my uh
[3:49] briefing, and I will be getting on that.
Um I would certainly still encourage you
[3:54] to
uh when you speak with your
[3:56] constituents, having board participation
is a great way for people to become more
[4:01] engaged in what we are doing with the
city. Some of the boards also do have
[4:07] um
uh
[4:10] qualifications such as they have to be
within the city limit or have a
[4:15] particular professional background and
we don't always have enough people with
[4:21] meeting those qualifications.
So, if you have any boards in particular
[4:26] that you're uh
concerned about, please let me know.
[4:29] » I actually have have one individual
that's kind of interested in just
[4:32] whatever, so that's kind of where I'm
trying to find a find a spot for them.
[4:36] » So, what I'd suggest is, you know, going
on to the website and looking at the
[4:41] listing of the board, seeing what might
uh
[4:45] You do have to apply for a specific one.
There's just There isn't a whatever
[4:50] » category.
Thank you.
[4:52] » All right. Thank you.
Uh Commissioner Morrison, anything?
[4:57] Commissioner Fox.
>> So, I would just point out what a great
[4:59] time of the year it is uh this time of
the year here in Manhattan with the the
[5:03] students returning and if you live
anywhere near the campus, every night
[5:08] you get to be entertained by the band
practicing and uh it it's just a an
[5:13] exciting time of the year. Looking
forward to football season and
[5:18] so and not being able to find a place to
park.
[5:21] But that's okay.
>> Um
[5:24] Okay. And I have nothing either, so we
will move to consider items on the
[5:29] consent agenda.
Uh Commissioners, do you have any
[5:33] queries about the items on the consent
agenda this week?
[5:37] » Um I'd like to move D off.
>> Which Sorry.
[5:40] » D.
>> D as in the ordinance?
[5:43] » Mhm.
>> Okay.
[5:46] Any other requests?
>> Yeah, like to move E1 off so we can
[5:52] just learn a little more about it.
>> Okay.
[5:58] Anything else? In that case, do we have
a motion to approve the remaining items?
[6:03] » I move we approve the consent agenda
minus item E1 and item D.
[6:09] » Second.
>> Thank you. Chelsea, will you call the
[6:11] roll, please?
>> Commissioner McCullah.
[6:14] » Yes.
>> Commissioner Fox.
[6:17] » Yes.
>> [clears throat]
[6:18] » Yes.
>> Commissioner Morrison.
[6:19] » Commissioners, before we finish the roll
call vote, can we please take public
[6:23] comment on the consent agenda items that
were approved?
[6:26] » Yes, thank you. Thank you for the
reminder. Is there anyone who would like
[6:29] to comment on
the consent agenda items that are not
[6:35] removed?
[6:39] All right. I think we can Let us resume
the
[6:43] roll call.
>> Sorry, Chelsea.
[6:45] » No, you're fine. Sorry, I didn't catch
that.
[6:48] Uh Commissioner Morrison.
>> If not, I say yes.
[6:52] » Okay.
Commissioner Van Lentil.
[6:54] » Yes.
>> Mayor Adamczak.
[6:57] » Yes.
>> Motion carries 5 to 0.
[7:00] » Uh Jason, are you going to discuss item
D, the ordinance?
[7:05] » Happy to answer any questions or provide
any information the commissioners are
[7:10] looking for here. These are
uh franchise agreements that have been
[7:14] in place for 20 years
with Evergy and Kansas Gas. We're
[7:18] looking to renew those as we discussed
uh a few meetings ago. Our current rate
[7:25] at 4% um we have included 6% in these
agreements.
[7:31] I would stand for any questions.
>> Um I just
[7:34] think that we often
raise rates on
[7:40] small amounts that we don't will really
um
[7:43] harm people. But I'd point out that
we're raising
[7:47] those rates 30%.
And that's
[7:51] that's a
you know, that's a lot. Um whereas, you
[7:55] know, if we add 1 mil to your your tax
bill, it will be 1% more.
[8:01] So just can't support
always putting these dollars, you know,
[8:05] I know people who live in rentals that
are there's they're four plexes and they
[8:10] pay for 1/4 of their um
they play privately for their
[8:16] » [snorts]
>> energy. And so they're going to get hit
[8:19] much more than somebody who
um can well afford to pay it that lives
[8:23] in a big house someplace else. So that's
I just can't support raising the
[8:29] franchise fees.
>> Appreciate that perspective. I would
[8:32] offer
um
[8:35] I'm not aware of an entity that can
escape a franchise fee.
[8:39] » No, no, no, no, I didn't I don't think
there's any
[8:41] » But I wanted That's just part of my
education whereas property taxes and
[8:45] sales tax, there are a lot of exemptions
within the community that don't have to
[8:50] pay those which puts
a burden back on those who can.
[8:54] » Yes. No, I'm I'm not arguing at all. I'm
just saying that those people who
[8:59] live in low rent places but have houses
that probably aren't adequately cooled
[9:03] and heated without losing the heat and
the cool. And there we're looking at a
[9:08] you know,
a big jump in their in their thing. It
[9:11] could they could go from $100 a year for
that to 150.
[9:17] » Appreciate that. Any other comments or
questions?
[9:23] I might want to take public comment.
>> Is there Thank you for the reminder. Is
[9:28] there anyone who would like to make
public comment on this topic?
[9:35] Seeing none, we will close public
comments and I will take an uh motion to
[9:39] a
>> I I would move we approve item D,
[9:44] ordinance number 7835, entering into a
franchise agreement with Kansas Gas
[9:48] Service,
and approve ordinance number 7836,
[9:52] entering into a franchise agreement with
Evergy Kansas Central.
[9:56] » Second.
>> Thank you. Chelsea.
[10:02] » Commissioner Fox.
>> Yes.
[10:05] » Commissioner Morrison.
>> Yes.
[10:07] » Commissioner Von Lintal.
>> Yes.
[10:10] » Mayor Adam track.
>> Yes.
[10:13] » Commissioner Mekola.
>> No.
[10:15] » Motion carries 4 to 1.
>> Thank you.
[10:18] Uh
[10:21] And Randy, are you going to present on
the construction contract? Um
[10:27] Commissioner Fox, would you like to
raise your concerns? You're
[10:29] » Uh yeah, I just want a little more
information. It says this project is for
[10:33] the design and construction of the
various planned capital improvement plan
[10:38] projects. So, I have a whole page here
list of the CIP projects for the water
[10:44] department. So, I'm just curious as to
which ones
[10:48] uh this is going to take care of.
>> Sure. Um
[10:52] thank [clears throat] you, Commissioner.
We'll uh
[10:54] Let me pull up the
item here and I can
[11:06] » [snorts]
[11:11] » So, pulling up the previous agenda from
when we
[11:16] authorized the original
engineering services agreement,
[11:20] uh provided a a pretty detailed list of
what those capital improvement projects
[11:25] were.
Um
[11:28] I can give you a description of of any
one of these, but and we we've added, as
[11:33] I mentioned in the AAS,
um
[11:36] a seventh project, which would be to
replace the security gate at the water
[11:40] treatment plant.
Um
[11:42] we these are
these are just
[11:46] multiple capital improvement projects
that in lieu of us going out and trying
[11:50] to
um
[11:52] solicit these improvements individually,
we will
[11:55] hire a consultant to to do the design
for the cumulative projects.
[12:01] And uh BG Consultants is working on that
design for us.
[12:06] Um
we have several different construction
[12:10] types within this project, and so
because of that and because of some
[12:15] delays in the design of other portions
of the project, we've broken this into
[12:21] um at least one bid, which we're looking
to award for uh the building
[12:25] construction to Schultz Construction,
and we'll have subsequent bids coming up
[12:31] at later dates once we receive all
permitting and complete the design for
[12:35] the remainder of the CIP projects. So,
um we can I can detail any specifics on
[12:40] these individual CIP projects you'd
you'd like to talk about, but that's
[12:44] kind of the sum of the nature of this.
>> Yeah, I just I I could have gone back
[12:48] and looked at that myself.
>> Okay.
[12:51] » So.
It'd be good just to get it out in the
[12:53] open as to what we're doing here. So.
[12:58] » So, your curiosity is satisfied? Okay.
Thank you, Randy.
[13:03] Uh do we have public comment on item E1
regarding the authorization of a
[13:10] construction contract?
[13:14] All right, we will close public comment.
Uh do we have a motion to approve item
[13:20] E1?
>> I'd move we approve item E1.
[13:26] » Second.
>> Thank you. Chelsea, will you call the
[13:29] roll again, please?
>> Commissioner Morrison.
[13:32] » Here.
[13:36] » Oh, Commissioner Morrison.
>> Here.
[13:40] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[13:41] » You say yes.
>> Yes.
[13:43] » Say yes.
>> Yes.
[13:46] » Commissioner Von Lint tell.
>> Yes.
[13:49] » Mayor Adam Chuck.
>> Yes.
[13:51] » Commissioner McCulla.
>> Yes.
[13:53] » Commissioner Fox.
>> Yes.
[13:57] » Motion carries 5 to 0.
>> Thank you.
[14:01] Um we will move on to the item that
we're considering tonight on our general
[14:08] agenda, which is to consider approving a
resolution that authorizes and provides
[14:13] for the calling of a special question
election in the city of Manhattan for
[14:19] the purpose of submitting to electors
the question of authorizing the
[14:24] imposition of a general citywide
retailer's sales tax of 0.5%
[14:30] for street maintenance for 10 years.
>> Yes. Thank you, Mayor Adam Chuck and
[14:36] city commissioners for the opportunity
to bring this forward for your all's
[14:39] consideration this evening. Uh we have
talked at length at our July 14th work
[14:45] session as well as our August 11th work
session regarding how we wanted to
[14:50] address the sunsetting of our current
dedicated sales tax for streets of 0.2%.
[14:57] Uh we have presented um
a uh
[15:03] We have presented detailed information
in a presentation uh last week regarding
[15:07] the condition of our roads and what kind
of investment we need to see over the
[15:11] next um 5 to 10 years in our streets to
bring our pavement condition index from
[15:16] a 60 to a 70. Uh we did bring forward a
plan, a 5-year plan, and understanding
[15:22] that
that 5-year plan uh as what year one
[15:26] rolls off, we would start working with
that seven that sixth year plan and have
[15:30] a rolling 5-year plan of what streets
that we need to do maintenance on. So,
[15:37] um
just as a reminder, that plan does
[15:41] include having 6 million of the 8
million that would be generated by a
[15:45] half-cent sales tax going to repair and
rehabilitate streets in our local
[15:51] streets and neighborhoods. And then 2
million would be used on our minor
[15:56] streets as well.
So, this $8 million is planned to be in
[16:00] addition to what we already have in the
general fund as well as the special
[16:04] street and highway.
We showed a chart that demonstrated that
[16:08] we do need
$8 million a year to raise our
[16:13] PCI to a 70.
And so, happy to answer any questions
[16:18] that you all have. If we do approve
to put this
[16:22] on the ballot, it would be on the
November 3rd
[16:25] election. And of course, we will start
doing our education efforts
[16:30] immediately once this is approved this
evening.
[16:36] » Commissioners' questions or comments for
Danielle.
[16:41] Um
so, I would just suggest if this is
[16:45] approved that Brian presented us this
map
[16:51] last meeting with work that has been
done.
[16:55] I was first going to suggest lists of
streets and what all's been done, but in
[16:59] reviewing this map he did,
it it's very telling of what's been done
[17:04] over the last 10 years. It might need a
little
[17:09] uh more clarification for the public,
but I think it's something that ought to
[17:12] be
uh
[17:15] made available to the to the public
through the newspaper or whatever, but
[17:19] it's very telling on
what's been done to date
[17:25] and also what could be done.
>> Yeah, I appreciate that feedback,
[17:28] Commissioner Fox. Um
no um
[17:32] no offense to our city engineer, uh
Director Johnson, but uh we do plan on
[17:37] tapping our local expert, uh Vivian
Laiva, our communications director, to
[17:41] help us start putting together um maps,
presentation materials, graphics, really
[17:46] helping us communicate how important
this is uh for our community.
[17:54] One of the things I was remiss, I did
want to um
[18:01] go back and just remind everyone of what
the ballot language will be. So, the
[18:05] ballot question will read, "Shall the
City of Manhattan, Kansas be authorized
[18:10] to levy a 1/2% special purpose citywide
retailer sales tax for the street
[18:15] infrastructure maintenance? If approved,
such sales tax shall take effect on
[18:18] April 1st, 2027, the day following the
expiration of the existing special
[18:23] purpose citywide retailer sales tax
implemented on April 1st, 2017, or as
[18:28] soon thereafter as permitted by law, and
shall expire
[18:32] 10 years later."
Um
[18:36] as far as uh city sales tax question
scope, this is one of our least
[18:40] complicated ones. So.
Yes, Commissioner McCool.
[18:44] » Do we have a budget for the education
program?
[18:48] » Um
no, I do not have a budget, but I do not
[18:52] ex-
>> [snorts]
[18:54] » plan on spending uh an exorbitant amount
of money. I would anticipate being able
[18:58] to put together our uh materials that
the city will be doing um for less than
[19:04] $250.
>> Okay.
[19:08] » I think a lot of our efforts will be um
getting out um hopefully we will be
[19:13] invited to Rotary clubs. Hopefully we'll
be invited to Optimist Club. Um,
[19:17] hopefully we'll be, um, I'm happy to
attend HOA meetings, um, any kind of
[19:22] club that is out there to help share and
educate on this topic.
[19:27] » Well, you'll probably need some
giveaways, too, and that probably
[19:32] 250's pretty
>> We have to be very careful, um, in
[19:35] making sure that we are not, uh,
lobbying and advocating and that we are
[19:38] in an education.
>> Mhm.
[19:40] » So, uh, perhaps some printed, um,
rack cards, um, that we could share as
[19:45] handouts, but, um, I think we'll have a
pretty limited
[19:49] » Okay.
[19:52] Commissioners, any other comments or
ideas for Danielle?
[19:57] » Well, the lobbying will probably be some
or all of us five
[20:01] because we aren't prohibited from
lobbying.
[20:04] » Uh,
>> You all can advocate.
[20:06] » is also educational.
>> And I actually do have a public speaking
[20:12] invitation already for next week, so
this will be one of the topics that I
[20:16] will
be covering.
[20:18] And I have several in September, as
well.
[20:25] All right, thank you, Manager Dulan.
Is there public comment on this topic?
[20:43] » Good evening, Madam Mayor and
Commissioners. My name is Trey Cockman.
[20:46] I'm the External Affairs Director for
Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce.
[20:49] Happy to stand before you today to speak
on behalf of the Chamber, uh, in support
[20:53] of the resolution and the proposed
measure of a 0.5%
[20:57] sales tax for road and street
maintenance.
[21:00] Reliable and well-maintained roads are
an essential part of the daily movement
[21:04] of employees, customers, residents,
visitors,
[21:08] and goods throughout the community.
Uh this is an important investment to
[21:12] the Manhattan's to Manhattan's economy
and to its quality of life.
[21:17] This increase of the sales tax from 0.2%
to 0.5%
[21:21] puts us closer to the peer communities
when it comes to the investment they
[21:25] make in their roadways.
And we support the city's comprehensive
[21:29] plan to improve our roadways over the
course of the five the next five years,
[21:33] and this measure dedicates the funding
towards.
[21:37] For these reasons, the Manhattan Area
Chamber of Commerce believes the
[21:39] proposed sales tax is a responsible and
necessary measure
[21:43] and is
uh
[21:46] a critical resource to street and road
maintenance.
[21:50] With it, the community can protect its
core public assets and support continued
[21:54] economic growth and ensure Manhattan
remains a safe, accessible, and
[21:57] competitive place to live, work, visit,
and to do business in. Happy to stand
[22:02] for any questions. Um otherwise, thank
you for your time.
[22:07] » Thank you, Trey.
>> I guess I have one question like uh what
[22:10] was what was the vote total with the
chamber? Was it pretty much unanimous or
[22:14] » Yes.
[22:18] » And Trey, I would just clarify that
although that the sales tax will be um
[22:24] we will be requesting for it to be in
effect for 10 years, the current plan is
[22:28] has been developed for five with a
rolling uh
[22:33] continuation over the the subsequent
five years.
[22:36] » Right.
[22:39] » Thank you.
Are there any other comments from the
[22:42] public?
[22:45] All right, we will close public comment.
Commissioners, any last thoughts?
[22:51] Otherwise, I'll entertain a motion to
uh consider approving these two
[22:57] resolutions.
Or this single one resolution, excuse
[23:02] me.
>> I move we approve resolution number
[23:06] 081826A.
[23:10] » Second.
>> Thank you.
[23:13] And Chelsea, will you once again call
the roll, please?
[23:16] » Commissioner Von Lintel?
>> Yes.
[23:20] » Mayor Adam Track?
>> Yes.
[23:23] » Commissioner Makola?
>> Yes.
[23:25] » Commissioner [clears throat] Fox?
>> Yes.
[23:27] » Commissioner Morrison?
>> Yes.
[23:30] » Motion carries 5 to 0.
>> Thank you.
[23:34] Um
Manager Doolin, do you have anything any
[23:40] updates for us that we need to be aware
of?
[23:42] » Just to share with the commissioners
that you all have next week off.
[23:46] So.
>> And thank you for that.
[23:48] » Make make big plans on a Tuesday
evening.
[23:50] » Uh this week is Third Thursday. The the
uh city will have a booth downtown.
[23:58] Uh tell your friends. Stop by, have a
good time.
[24:02] Uh commissioners, you're certainly all
invited to stop by as well and represent
[24:06] the city.
Um
[24:09] I don't think there's anything else to
announce in that regard. Do we have a
[24:15] motion to adjourn?
>> So moved.
[24:17] » Second.
>> All in favor, please say I.
[24:21] » I.
>> I.
[24:21] » I.