Garden City commissioners voted in Oct. 2025 to authorize a staff-led investigation into a petition from Western Kansas Housing LLC asking the city to assume operation and maintenance of the East Garden Village public water supply and sanitary sewer collection system.

City staff told commissioners the East Garden Village development currently operates its infrastructure privately while taking wholesale water and sewer treatment from the city, but state rules require a Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE)–certified operator for the public water supply. Fred, a city staff member, said staff would inspect infrastructure, evaluate regulatory compliance and estimate the costs of meter replacement and sewer improvements before any transfer of ownership or operation. "East Garden Village is required by the state of Kansas to have a KDHE certified operator to oversee monitoring and compliance of its public water supply distribution system," Fred said during the meeting.

The request covers roughly 450 water service connections; staff estimated meter upgrades at about $2,500 per connection and said replacing meters could amount to "a little over a million" dollars. Staff provided a rough financial scenario: gross water-side revenue could increase by about $600,000 over five years if the city replaced all meters, while wastewater revenue might decline slightly because existing accounts are billed as a single commercial connection rather than as individual residential services. The city also flagged the lift station in the sewer collection system as a potential major cost and said easements would need to be surveyed and established before any city takeover.

Commissioners discussed procurement and cost thresholds for the study. Staff said professional engineering consultant PEC would prepare a task order if the commission directed an investigation; purchases under $50,000 can proceed under staff authority but any task order above the city purchasing threshold would be returned to the governing body for approval. Commissioner Wynne, who made the motion, said: "I wouldn't mind investigating to see what's there. I mean, the community is growing into that."

The commission amended the motion to require staff to bring the PEC task order back to the commission for approval of the professional services amount. The motion to permit staff to investigate the potential acquisition and to return with the PEC task order passed.

Next steps: city staff will request a PEC task order to inspect and evaluate infrastructure condition, meter needs, regulatory compliance and cost estimates. If the PEC task order or any part of the investigation exceeds the city purchasing threshold of $50,000, staff will bring the task order to the commission for formal approval and return with a recommendation at a future meeting.