City Manager Layton reviewed items on the Jan. 7 agenda and previewed several items for the Jan. 14 meeting, naming a range of proposals the Wichita City Council is expected to consider, including housing, library funding, transportation projects and park improvements.

During the agenda review Layton said the council will hear an appeal of a Wichita Historic Preservation Board decision on a property at 632 North Topeka; that appeal will be conducted as a quasi-judicial matter. Layton also listed a proposed joint state legislative agenda developed by the city, county, chamber of commerce, Wichita State University and REAP.

Layton outlined multiple proposed approvals for the council to consider: a contract for managed call services for the library system; a $200,000 funding agreement with the Wichita Public Library Foundation to help develop a capital replacement funding plan; a project and budget for 2025 intelligent transportation system (ITS) improvements, expected to include work on Greenwich, East 21st Street and West 21st Street; and a supplemental agreement to redesign signal timings in the downtown two-way street convergence and at Kellogg and Rock.

He also said the agenda includes a $1,000,000 donation for phase 1 work at Crystal Prairie Lake Park, described as primarily a bike path on Hoover; an annual agreement with Sedgwick County for funding of the Housing First program; a public-housing recovery agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development related to properties being transitioned for sale; and several housing-related items including project-based housing vouchers for 11 units and a contract extension with the Gill Group to assist sales of Public Housing Authority single-family houses.

Public-works and utilities items listed included an agreement to design updated odor-control technology at Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 1; an agreement for operating-condition evaluations for the city’s water and sewer utility and for bond feasibility work; approval of a multi-hazard mitigation plan to retain eligibility for FEMA pre- and post-disaster mitigation funding; criteria for an RFQ for work at the Hess pump station; and continued negotiation of an amended contract with the downtown car park to reflect the council’s parking plan implementation.

Other items previewed: the possible sale of two land bank properties to Habitat for Humanity to support new single-family houses; approval of an agreement with the federal government for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) space at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport; a claim related to a police vehicle accident; and an RFQ and selection items related to police pre-employment psychological evaluations.

For the Jan. 14 meeting Layton said the council will select a vice mayor at the start of the meeting and administer an oath of office, and the meeting will include a special presentation from the school superintendent expected to focus on graduation rates. Layton also asked the council to consider ordinance changes about golf-cart use on city streets and to endorse the 2024 bicycle master plan. He noted the city is applying to participate in a heat-resilience cohort to plan urban-heat mitigation work, and that an RFQ for pump-station work would be considered.

Layton closed the highlights by asking council members whether they had questions about either agenda; no votes on any of the previewed items were taken during the agenda review.