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Council reallocates remaining Hyatt proceeds to help match state funds for contamination testing in 20th & Grove area
Summary
Council agreed to move $125,000 from residual Hyatt hotel sale proceeds to create a local match for state funds to support environmental testing and long‑term health screening in the contaminated 20th and Grove area; $32,449 was reallocated to transit implementation accounts.
The City Council voted to reallocate remaining proceeds from the 2016 sale of the Hyatt hotel to help secure state testing funds and to support transit planning work.
Bob Layton, city manager, said the city completed the original street‑improvement program funded by Hyatt proceeds and a surplus of about $157,000 remained. The state legislature appropriated $2.5 million for environmentally at‑risk testing in Sedgwick County; $1.0 million of that allocation requires a local match to be released. Layton and county partners proposed using $125,000 from the Hyatt proceeds account, an expected $125,000 match from Sedgwick County and $750,000 in community philanthropic contributions to meet the $1.0 million local match and unlock the state funds.
Layton said the state funding is intended to support immediate and longer‑term testing and to create a structure for ongoing screening for residents in impacted areas around 20th and Grove. The council placed an ordinance on first reading to allocate $125,000 to the environmental testing account and adopted a resolution to close the related street maintenance Hyatt account; the remainder of the Hyatt funds ($32,449.49) was moved to a transit account to support implementation of the new transit plan.
Supporters and council members emphasized the need for continued community engagement. Council Member Johnson and others said the action is an initial step toward a broader plan that will include community health partners, free‑and‑charitable health clinics and longer‑term testing strategies. The motion to place the ordinance on first reading and adopt the amending resolution passed 7‑0.
