The Wichita City Council met in regular session Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at 9:00 a.m., with Mayor Lily Wu presiding over Vice Mayor Dalton Glasscock and Council Members Joseph Shepard (District I), Becky Tuttle, Mike Hoheisel, JV Johnston, and Maggie Ballard — a full seven-member bench. City Manager Dennis Marstall, City Attorney Jennifer Magana, and City Clerk Shinita Rice represented staff leadership. The meeting adjourned at 12:10 p.m. Assistance from Claude AI.
No one signed up to speak during the general Public Agenda — a departure from the string of recent meetings (April 28, May 12, May 26) where citizen concern over Flock Safety license-plate-reader cameras dominated public comment. That thread did not surface Tuesday, though a related conversation about camera and video evidence came up later in the meeting during a discussion of panhandling enforcement (details below).
The council’s business fell into three broad categories: three federal fire department grant applications totaling well over a million dollars in potential funding, a package of five criminal-code ordinances touching everything from domestic battery sentencing to homeless encampments along the Arkansas River, and a set of routine planning, housing, and contract items that drew little debate. The council also heard from the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce on its Honors Night awards program and approved a long-anticipated lease bringing the Wichita Rugby Foundation to the South Lakes Sports Complex.
Proclamations and Awards
The council recognized Soroptimist International of Wichita, Kansas Day and Amateur Radio Week, and presented an “Over the Years” award to Hunter Health. Chelsea Dyer, Vice President of Membership and Investor Relations for the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce, addressed the council to explain the Chamber’s Honors Night tradition, which dates to 1963 and now includes six award categories recognizing businesses and individuals across south-central Kansas. The Chamber represents more than 1,100 members and nearly 150,000 employees regionally, according to Dyer.
Public Agenda
Mayor Wu asked whether anyone in the community wished to address the council on a topic not otherwise on the agenda. No one came forward.
Consent Agenda
The council approved Consent Agenda Items 1 through 24 on a single motion by Mayor Wu, carried 7-0. The consent package — detailed at the end of this recap — included cereal malt beverage license applications, preliminary cost estimates for several residential subdivisions, an on-call traffic control services contract, five property acquisitions for street and drainage projects, second-reading approval of six previously introduced ordinances, and ten planning, housing, and airport items that had cleared committee review without objection.
Board of Bids and Contracts
Josh Lauber of the Finance Department presented the Board of Bids and Contracts report dated June 15, 2026. On a motion by Mayor Wu, the council voted 7-0 to receive and file the report, approve the contracts, and authorize the necessary signatures. The item drew no council questions.
Petitions for Public Improvements
Paul Gunzelman of Public Works & Utilities presented a package of petitions covering water, sewer, storm drainage, and paving improvements for the Sunshine Village and Veranda Second additions — 14 separate resolutions in all. The council approved the petitions and budgets, adopted the resolutions, and authorized signatures on a 7-0 vote by Mayor Wu’s motion.
New Council Business
Industrial revenue bonds for Storytime Village
The council held a public hearing on a request for a letter of intent to issue industrial revenue bonds (IRBs) for Storytime Village, Inc., a District I literacy and childcare nonprofit. Industrial revenue bonds let the city help finance construction for qualifying nonprofit or business projects; the bonds carry the city’s backing but are repaid by the borrower, not taxpayers. Leah Sisco of Development Services and Dr. Priska Barnes-Simmons of Storytime Village presented the item. No one spoke during the public hearing.
Mayor Wu, whose alma mater WSU sits near the project site, said she had watched construction progress since the groundbreaking. Council Member Shepard, in whose district the project sits, said the investment builds on the council’s April 7 collective impact partnership agreement affirming third-grade literacy as a city priority, and thanked staff members Leah and Korey for connecting Storytime Village with resources during a rough patch in the project. The council closed the hearing, adopted the resolution, and authorized signatures on Shepard’s motion, carried 6-0.
Three federal fire department grants
Fire Chief Tammy Snow presented three separate federal grant applications, prompting the longest question-and-answer session of the meeting.
SAFER grant (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response). Mayor Wu had submitted written questions in advance “out of courtesy to staff,” and used the floor to walk through them publicly. Chief Snow testified that funding 14 new firefighter positions tied to new Fire Station 23 would cost roughly $1.6 million in year one of the grant period, rising to about $1.75 million by year three as the required local funding match increases — a structural feature of the SAFER program designed, in City Manager Marstall’s words, to build “discipline” into future city budgeting. Snow said Wichita’s population has grown from about 372,000 in 2009, when the city last built a new fire station, to just over 400,000 today, while the fire department’s operations staffing grew only from 419 to 457 full-time positions over the same period. The number of alarm calls handled per firefighter rose 44.5 percent over that span, she said, from about 104 to 138 annually.
Snow also detailed the shift from three-person to four-person fire engine crews, a change written into the firefighters’ union contract in 2013 following a National Institute of Standards and Technology study that found four-person crews perform key fire-suppression tasks — search, rescue, hose deployment, ventilation — up to 25 percent faster than three-person crews and can meet National Fire Protection Association safety standards that three-person crews cannot.
The new Station 23 is now going out to bid at an estimated $5.17 million total cost, Snow said, up from an original $4 million estimate; she attributed the increase to rising regional construction costs, citing recent police substation bids running near $500 per square foot. Council Member Shepard asked how the city accounts for the long-term personnel costs of new fire stations as Wichita continues to grow outward; Marstall said the SAFER grant’s escalating match requirement helps discipline that planning. Vice Mayor Glasscock asked whether similar costs should be expected for two more planned stations, including a rebuild of Station 18 near K-96 that the Kansas Department of Transportation wants relocated for a highway interchange project; Snow said the city may need to front that cost before being reimbursed.
Doug Ballard, a District Six resident and former firefighter who served in the late 1960s, was the only member of the public to speak on any item Tuesday. He said he “cannot imagine being the first engine to a house on fire with only three firefighters.” The council approved the SAFER grant resolution 7-0 on Mayor Wu’s motion, authorizing submission and — contingent on award — acceptance of FY2025 SAFER funding to staff Station 23.
AFG grant (Assistance to Firefighters Grant). This application, championed by Council Member Tuttle, would fund cancer and health screenings for firefighters through a competitive bid process, replacing an informal pilot program run in partnership with Ascension that broke down amid what Snow described as “miscommunication” over which screenings insurance would cover. Tuttle noted her 2024 sponsorship of a since-stalled state bill, House Bill 44, that would have offered Kansas firefighters a $200 tax credit for supplemental health screenings, modeled on an existing Oklahoma program; she said she intends to pursue it again with the South Central Kansas legislative delegation. She also disclosed a $150,000 Kansas Health Foundation grant the department is using to develop a “culture of wellness” blueprint, expected to be complete by late 2027, that the department hopes will become a national model. The council approved the resolution 7-0 on Tuttle’s motion.
Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grant. This application would fund three additional fire code inspector positions; Snow testified the department currently relies on roughly five staff, pulled from all ranks including battalion chiefs, to handle an estimated 13,000 annual building inspections, leaving no capacity for process improvement or technology adoption. Vice Mayor Glasscock separately praised the department’s privately funded Wichita Fire Summer Camp, which filled more than 100 slots within an hour of opening. The council approved the resolution 7-0 on Mayor Wu’s motion.
Criminal code ordinances: theft, domestic battery, trespass, panhandling-adjacent enforcement, and buying sex
Deputy City Attorney Jan Jarman presented a package of ordinance amendments required largely by recent changes in state law. The package raised the felony threshold for vehicle and property theft from $500 to $1,500 (aligning municipal code with the state’s new threshold, which pushes more theft cases out of municipal court and into district court as felonies), increased the mandatory minimum jail sentence for domestic battery from five to 20 days, updated interference-with-law-enforcement and criminal trespass provisions, repealed the city’s standalone harassing-and-aggressive-conduct ordinance, and repealed the municipal ordinance criminalizing buying sexual relations — meaning the city will no longer prosecute that offense at the municipal level at all; if the Sedgwick County District Attorney declines to pursue it as a state felony, the city could still pursue related conduct such as solicitation under other ordinances, per Jarman.
Council Member Hoheisel asked whether the $500 threshold covered motorbikes, bicycles, and go-karts (motorbikes yes, bicycles and go-karts no, per Jarman) and separately raised concerns about mini-bikes and dirt bikes on city bike trails, prompting City Manager Marstall to commit to working with Parks and Recreation on signage.
Mayor Wu focused her questions on why stolen-vehicle cases are difficult to prosecute as felonies even though auto theft is already a felony-level crime. Jarman explained that police frequently locate a stolen vehicle — sometimes with help from Flock license-plate-reader cameras — but find it in the possession of someone who was not the original thief and who often claims (plausibly, Jarman said) to have acquired it secondhand, making it hard to prove the “permanent intent to deprive” required for a felony theft conviction. Captain Aaron Moses of the Wichita Police Department reported 774 auto theft cases through May 31, 2026 — down 12 percent year-over-year and down 19 percent against the five-year average.
Vice Mayor Glasscock asked whether losing municipal court jurisdiction over now-felony-level theft cases would slow prosecution; Captain Moses said felony cases involving an in-custody suspect must still be presented to prosecutors within 72 hours, though cases involving suspects who haven’t been arrested can see delays when routed through the county-wide district attorney’s office rather than the city’s in-house prosecutor.
On domestic battery, Council Member Shepard asked whether local crime data showed an increase; Captain Moses cited a 7 percent year-over-year increase and 6 percent increase against the five-year average in domestic-violence-related aggravated assault (a felony-level category), and said he would not be surprised if a similar trend holds at the misdemeanor level captured by this ordinance. Jarman cautioned against raising the mandatory minimum further without first evaluating the 20-day increase already underway, arguing that overly rigid mandatory minimums discourage survivors from cooperating with prosecution and increase trials and appeals — both of which she said are harder on survivors than negotiated outcomes. She and Council Member Hoheisel discussed the Batterer Intervention Program (BIP), a state-mandated 26-week treatment program required for most domestic battery convictions; municipal court administrator Nathan Emmorey testified that BIP is typically paid by the offender but is available free through the city’s day reporting center when tied to a substance-abuse component, and reported roughly steady domestic violence case filings in municipal court: 6,800 in 2023, 6,800 in 2024, and 6,600 in 2025.
Late in the discussion, Mayor Wu raised a question she said she’d forgotten to ask during Friday’s agenda review: whether homeless encampments that form on the Arkansas River bed itself — as opposed to its banks — during periods of low water, including near downtown and Chapin Park in District III, are illegal. Jarman confirmed camping there is illegal both under the city’s camping ordinance and, separately, under trespass rules barring people from remaining in city parks after hours, since much of the riverbed sits on park property.
The council placed the ordinances on first reading and authorized necessary signatures on Mayor Wu’s motion, carried 7-0. (First reading is procedural; ordinances typically return for a second reading and final adoption at a later meeting.)
Golf cart ordinance
Chief Deputy City Attorney Sharon Dickgrafe presented ordinance amendments to Chapter 11.51 and Section 11.38.080 governing golf cart operation on city streets, addressing a gap that had barred golf carts from crossing streets with speed limits above 30 mph — including, in practice, streets carts needed to cross simply to reach a golf course. Council Member Johnston praised the change as an example of responsive government, thanking the Kansas Legislature for allowing local rule-making on the issue. The council placed the ordinance on first reading on Council Member Johnston’s motion. The vote was 6-1, with Council Member Becky Tuttle casting the lone dissenting vote; the record does not reflect a stated reason for her opposition.
Mobile phone use in road construction zones
Dickgrafe also presented an ordinance creating new sections and amending existing ones to prohibit mobile phone use by drivers in road construction zones. The discussion evolved into a broader conversation about enforcement mechanics that circled back to panhandling. Council Member Hoheisel confirmed the restriction applies only to drivers, not construction workers. Mayor Wu asked a series of questions about whether enforcement requires a police officer to personally witness the violation — as opposed to a citizen reporting it — and Captain Moses confirmed that traffic infractions generally require an officer as the “complaining witness,” extending this discussion explicitly to include panhandling enforcement: “we’re sort of zooming out from panhandling and addressing it through other City ordinances,” he said, adding that citizen video evidence, even with a timestamp, would need to be evaluated by the city prosecutor’s office and would face additional hurdles establishing who was actually driving a vehicle at the time of a recorded violation.
Council Member Shepard cautioned against the city encouraging citizens to record and report violations themselves, citing an unnamed department’s prior “Here Something Say Something”-style citizen reporting effort that she called “quite frankly a disaster” and said risked escalating situations. Mayor Wu also asked, in a related aside, whether it is legal to hand money to someone panhandling; Dickgrafe said the legality turns not on the act of giving money but on whether the recipient has stepped into the street or a median in a way that impedes traffic. The council placed the ordinance on first reading on Mayor Wu’s motion, carried 7-0.
South Lakes Sports Complex lease
Reggie Davidson of the Park & Recreation Department presented a lease agreement bringing the Wichita Rugby Foundation to the South Lakes Sports Complex in District IV. Foundation representatives — President Keith Sharp and Peter Ferris — told the council the organization has operated in Wichita since 1973, with a high school program dating to roughly 2008 and a growing youth program. Mayor Wu noted the site became available after Vice Mayor Glasscock’s earlier reallocation of pickleball complex CIP (Capital Improvement Program) funding toward homelessness services created a vacancy at South Lakes, calling the rugby lease “a win-win.” Vice Mayor Glasscock, recalling playing at the site’s former SCSA soccer fields as a child, said he hopes it becomes “a unique sports complex and an emerging sports complex” over time. No one spoke in public comment. The council approved the lease 7-0 on Vice Mayor Glasscock’s motion.
Planning Agenda
Broadway tire shop rezoning
Scott Wadle of the Planning Department presented a zone change (ZON2026-00005) and conditional use request (CON2026-00029) at 1963 South Broadway Avenue, at the northwest corner of Broadway and Mount Vernon, from Limited Commercial to Limited Industrial to accommodate a wrecking and salvage yard use — specifically, a tire shop already operating there that resells and dismantles used tires. Council Member Hoheisel, whose district includes the site, said the District Advisory Board and neighborhood objected less to the specific business than to the precedent a full rezoning might set along a Broadway corridor already dominated, in his words, by “salvage yards, car lots, and motels and hotels.” The approved motion narrowly tailors the rezoning to permit only this type of used-tire business under a modified Protective Overlay, rather than opening the parcel to any Limited Industrial use. Hoheisel noted communication difficulties arose because the tenant operating the tire shop, not the property owner, has been driving the rezoning request. The council approved the override of the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (MAPC) recommendation with modifications on Hoheisel’s motion, carried 7-0.
North Clara Street duplex rezoning
The council approved a zone change (ZON2026-00004) at 525 North Clara Street from Single-Family Residential (SF-5) to Two-Family Residential (TF-3) to allow a duplex, with a Protective Overlay requiring a hip or gabled roof and limiting the site to one duplex. Scott Wadle confirmed existing TF-3 zoning already exists immediately north of the site. Approved on Council Member Ballard’s motion, 7-0.
21st and Amidon nightclub CUP amendment
The council approved a Conditional Use Permit amendment (CUP2026-00008) at the southwest corner of West 21st Street and North Amidon to allow an entertainment establishment and nightclub use, limited to the lower level of the southernmost building on the parcel. Vice Mayor Glasscock sought clarification that the nightclub designation would not extend to the entire parcel — Wadle confirmed it would not — and separately asked about a second referenced “nightclub” use nearby, which Wadle clarified was a Mexican restaurant seeking a live-music permit facing Amidon. Council Member Ballard, whose district includes the site, said she was “very excited to see new things happening in this area.” Approved on Ballard’s motion, 7-0.
Housing Agenda
Sale of 25 public housing properties
Carmen Hoffine of Housing & Community Services presented four real estate sale contracts covering 25 public housing properties: three vacant lots to ABI Construction, LLC, and 20 public housing units plus two vacant lots across three contracts with entities affiliated with Large Enterprise. Council Member Johnston, who represents the area near these properties, confirmed with Hoffine that the buyers’ stated plans call for the homes — two, three, and four-bedroom brick houses with driveways and fenced yards — to remain affordable housing, though Hoffine characterized that as the stated goal of the buyers’ plans rather than a binding requirement. Six additional Country Acres properties included in the original request for proposals received no bids, Hoffine said, because their appraised values (roughly $150,000–$162,000) made rehabilitation costs impractical for developers; those six will instead go to the open market through a broker. Johnston said he had asked staff about the properties “ten, fifteen times” and expressed relief that most have finally sold after years of sitting vacant. Approved 7-0 on Johnston’s motion.
Public Housing Recovery Agreement status report
Sally Stang of Housing and Community Services presented the monthly status update required under the city’s HUD Public Housing Recovery Agreement, which must continue until the city’s last surplus public housing property is sold. Vice Mayor Glasscock asked, semi-rhetorically, how many more months of reporting remain; Stang said reporting continues until the final property closes. The council received and filed the report 7-0 on Mayor Wu’s motion.
Council Member Agenda and Appointments
The council approved, without expense to the city, Council Member Tuttle’s travel to Topeka on June 23, 2026, to attend the ceremonial signing of House Bill 2462, the water reuse bill. Approved 7-0 on Mayor Wu’s motion.
Council Member Tuttle also presented two board appointments: Reverend Phillip Moore to the Board of Park Commissioners and Zenah Mason to the District Two Advisory Board. Approved 7-0 on Mayor Wu’s motion.
Council Member Comments
Council Member Shepard used his closing comments to speak about the overlap between Juneteenth and Pride Month observances in June, describing his identity as a Black LGBTQ+ man and inviting colleagues to community events including McAdams Park/MacAfee Pool activities and Pride celebrations the following week.
Council Member Hoheisel offered condolences on the death of Anthony Horsch, a longtime Cowtown volunteer and education director.
Vice Mayor Glasscock noted the death of Scott Stiles, a former member of the Wichita Airport Advisory Board who had also served with WABA (Wichita Aeronautical Business Association) and the “Cuffs and Axes” first-responder charity event, following a five-and-a-half-year battle with cancer.
Mayor Wu thanked Empower North End for activating Naftzger Park during World Cup viewing events and noted an upcoming free World Cup viewing (Portugal vs. Colombia, June 27) at the Mid-America All-Indian Museum in District VI. She also congratulated Council Member Shepard on the Miss Juneteenth ICT pageant program, which Shepard said has awarded $55,000 in scholarships to more than 25 young women over six years with a 90 percent post-secondary enrollment rate among recipients.
Complete Voting Record
| Item | Motion By | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Approve minutes of June 9, 2026 regular meeting | Mayor Wu | Carried 6-0 |
| Consent Agenda, Items 1–24 | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Board of Bids and Contracts, June 15, 2026 | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Petitions for Public Improvements (Sunshine Village / Veranda Second) | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Storytime Village IRB Letter of Intent | Council Member Shepard | Carried 6-0 |
| SAFER Grant Program (Fire Station 23 staffing) | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) Grant Program | Council Member Tuttle | Carried 7-0 |
| Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) Grant Program | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Ordinances: theft threshold, domestic battery, trespass, harassing conduct repeal, buying sexual relations repeal (1st reading) | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Golf cart ordinance (1st reading) | Council Member Johnston | Carried 6-1 (Nay: Tuttle) |
| Mobile phone use in construction zones ordinance (1st reading) | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| South Lakes Sports Complex Lease (Wichita Rugby Foundation) | Vice Mayor Glasscock | Carried 7-0 |
| ZON2026-00005 / CON2026-00029 (South Broadway tire shop rezone) | Council Member Hoheisel | Carried 7-0 |
| ZON2026-00004 (North Clara Street duplex rezone) | Council Member Ballard | Carried 7-0 |
| CUP2026-00008 (21st & Amidon nightclub CUP amendment) | Council Member Ballard | Carried 7-0 |
| Sale of 25 Public Housing properties | Council Member Johnston | Carried 7-0 |
| Public Housing Recovery Agreement status report (receive/file) | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Council Member Tuttle’s travel to Topeka (HB 2462 signing) | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Board appointments (Moore, Mason) | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
| Adjournment (12:10 p.m.) | Mayor Wu | Carried 7-0 |
Consent Agenda Detail (Items 1–24)
For the record, the items bundled into the single 7-0 consent vote were: (1) cereal malt beverage retail license applications; (2) preliminary cost estimates, including water improvements for Trinity Point 2nd Addition Phase 2 and sewer improvements for Cedar View Village 2nd Addition (District II); (3) an on-call traffic control contractor services agreement; (4) five property acquisitions for the 143rd Street improvement project (District II) and the Bleckley Drive drainage project (District I); (5) Board of Code Standards and Appeals minutes from May 4, 2026; (6) proclamation votes; (7) an overestimate bid for drainage improvements serving Oak Tree Addition (District IV); (8–9) two notice-of-intent-to-use-debt-financing amendments for airport perimeter fencing and parking analysis at Colonel James Jabara Airport and Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport; (10) an eminent domain acquisition for the 143rd Street improvement project (District II and county); (11) second readings of six previously introduced ordinances covering zoning notification requirements, District Advisory Board composition, event classification types, and Community Investments Plan amendments; (12–20) nine additional planning items including PUD amendments in Districts II and IV, several single-family-to-multifamily and single-family-to-commercial rezonings across Districts I, II, and IV, a plat approval for Harbor Isle North Addition (District VI), and a utility easement vacation (District IV); (21) sale of a public housing property at 2819 East Ellen Street (District I); (22) 2026 public housing insurance renewal; and (23–24) airport perimeter fencing and an automated parking guidance system contract at Eisenhower National Airport.
What to Watch
Homeless encampment enforcement. Mayor Wu’s question about Arkansas riverbed encampments — confirmed illegal under both the camping ordinance and after-hours park trespass rules — adds a new enforcement angle to the city’s homelessness response, distinct from the shelter capacity and enforcement-timeline concerns advocates have raised at recent meetings. Watch for whether this translates into active enforcement near downtown and Chapin Park.
Panhandling enforcement mechanics. Tuesday’s exchange between Mayor Wu, Captain Moses, and Chief Deputy City Attorney Dickgrafe was the most direct council discussion of panhandling enforcement logistics in recent memory, including confirmation that officers — not citizens — must witness violations, and that the city is deliberately “zooming out” from panhandling itself toward adjacent ordinances. Whether this signals a broader enforcement strategy shift is worth tracking.
Flock camera oversight. No public comment on Flock license-plate-reader cameras this meeting, breaking a streak of consecutive meetings with citizen concern on the topic. Flock cameras were referenced only in passing, as an investigative tool in stolen-vehicle cases. Whether citizen advocacy on camera oversight has paused or will resume at the next meeting remains to be seen.
Fire station funding contingency. If the city does not receive the FY2025 SAFER grant, Chief Snow and City Manager Marstall indicated the department would fall back on existing staffing levels, with a possible stabilization-fund backstop to be discussed at the June 23 budget workshop. Grant award notification is not expected for months.
Public housing disposition. With 25 more properties sold Tuesday, the city’s HUD-mandated Public Housing Recovery Agreement — and its accompanying monthly status reports — continues toward closure, though six Country Acres properties failed to draw developer interest and will now go to the open market.
Civic Engagement Resources
Wichita City Council meets in regular session most Tuesdays at 9:00 a.m. at City Hall, 455 N. Main St. Meetings are open to the public, and the Public Agenda portion at the start of each meeting is reserved for community members to address the council on any topic. Agendas, meeting minutes, and video are posted in advance on the city’s website. Residents wishing to speak on a specific agenda item may do so during that item’s public comment period.