City manager previews April 1 Wichita City Council agenda, flags lease extensions, police property purchase and historic preservation appeal

City Manager Layton previewed the Wichita City Council’s April 1 agenda on Monday, flagging a mix of items that will return for formal action, including two lease-extension requests the administration is asking the council to table, an appeal of a Historic Preservation Board decision, and a planned purchase tied to the police traffic bureau.

Layton told the council the administration "ask[s] the council to table this" for two lease-extension items for North Mead properties because terms remain under negotiation. He noted both extensions expire later in April — one on April 20 and the other on April 30 — and said "we're gonna have everyone's gonna have to make decisions fairly quickly about the lease terms." The administration said it will bring the items back to the council if acceptable terms are reached.

The agenda preview also flagged an appeal of a Historic Preservation Board decision over the planned demolition of a duplex on North Park Drive. "This is an appeal actually filed by MABCD due to the condition of the property," Layton said. He added that if the appeal is granted, a follow-up item would ask the council to declare the property a "dangerous and unsafe structure." Council Member Johnson asked whether the Historic Preservation Board initiated the designation; Layton replied that council members, the board, the property owner or adjacent property owners (with the owner’s approval) may initiate the process under the city’s preservation ordinance. He said a consultant has been hired to review the property's eligibility, and that the matter will also return to the Historic Preservation Board before final council action.

Layton also previewed a project budget that would allow the acquisition of a building and parking to house the police department’s traffic bureau. He said the purchase agreement for the building will be brought to council only after it is "cleared by HUD for disposition." On housing and neighborhood items, Layton said the agenda would include approval to purchase 12 Public Housing Authority properties for $575,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and the allocation of an additional $900,000 in CDBG for rehabilitation; he said those properties will be renovated and later sold.

Other funding items listed in the preview include a grant submission to the State of Kansas for cybersecurity enhancements "in the amount of a little over a million dollars," and $8.6 million in combined funds for building improvements at city museums — $5,000,000 in GEO funds and $3,600,000 in transient guest tax revenue. Layton also said the council would be asked to approve a revised budget and public art concepts for the Douglas Improvement Project from Seneca to Meridian.

Administrative and procedural items on the agenda include selecting a council panel to hear a security permit appeal, a short presentation on proposed changes to the proclamation process and a contract with Kansas State University to continue managing the Little Arkansas River Watershed Protection Plan. Transit-related items include allowing FlixBus and Greyhound to co-utilize space at the transit center, and there is a claim settlement related to the 4 Mile Creek Water Quality Reclamation Facility.

Layton closed by saying the items he described will come back for formal consideration at the April 1 council meeting and that several of them are being routed to consent where appropriate.

Less central items on the agenda include an airport forfeiture fund budget and acquisition of property on the east side of Jabara; Layton said those, too, will be presented for council approval at the meeting.