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Wichita City Council previews Oct. 7 and Oct. 14 agendas with major housing, public-works and arts items
Summary
City Manager Bob Lee told the council the Oct. 7 agenda includes housing-voucher payment levels, a housing authority plan and several public-works and police-related budget requests; Oct. 14 would add funding for street and bridge design, Hess Reservoir work, and public-art projects. No final votes were recorded during the preview.
City Manager Bob Lee reviewed the council’s agendas for Oct. 7 and Oct. 14, highlighting proposed approvals on housing, public-works contracts, police equipment and public art. He told the council: “Right now, you have a full public agenda. Five speakers have signed up.”
The Oct. 7 agenda, Lee said, would ask the council to approve 2026 payment levels for Housing Choice Vouchers and the Housing Authority’s 2026 annual agency plan and capital fund five-year action plan; Lee noted the council had received an email from Sally Stang conveying suggested changes from the Coalition to End Homelessness and Stang’s written responses. Lee also flagged capital items including a request to increase the project budget for storage and evidence-handling improvements at Rounds and Porter and a budget request to purchase police protective equipment. Lee said the overestimate bid for the final construction package for Sewage Treatment Plant No. 1 still fits within the existing budget allocation.
Looking ahead to Oct. 14, Lee said the council would consider funding design for three street-improvement projects and one bridge project (listed in the manager’s materials as likely located in Districts 2 and 5), approve the final design-build contract amount for improvements to Hess Reservoir, and fund art installations at branch libraries as part of a public-art conservation program for fiscal 2025–26. Lee also noted a planned 2026 contract renewal with Visit Wichita.
Several procedural and consent items were noted for Oct. 7: assignment of industrial revenue bonds for a spec industrial building at MacArthur and Seneca, revisions to the Design Council’s bylaws, the proposed sale of nine public housing authority homes, a lease extension with the Federal Aviation Administration for a building on South Tyler Road, and an ATM license agreement for Eisenhower. Lee said two items had been pulled from the current agenda and would return later; one bridge-inspection/design-build item was delayed to Oct. 21.
None of the previewed items were put to a formal vote in this meeting; the city manager presented the agenda and council members asked clarifying questions.
What happens next: the council will consider the items at the dates Lee specified; votes, amendments or additional public comment are possible when each item appears on a formal agenda.
