ELLY GRIMM

    • Leader & Times

The Liberal City Commission will have a wide variety of projects and other business seeking its approval at its next meeting this evening starting at 5:30. This evening’s meeting will be in the commission chambers at the Liberal Recreation Center at 950 S. Grant Ave.

Up first for discussion will be the 2027 Liberal AirFair.

“The biennial Air Show is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 2, 2027. This event is produced through cooperation with Lyddon Aero Center, the MAAM Foundation, the Airport Advisory Board, and countless community volunteers. It has been a long-standing tradition in Liberal and ties into our rich aviation history and background,” the agenda information noted. “The City makes many notable contributions to this event, including setting up safety fences, allowing parking lot usage, providing security staffing and support, lending golf carts for transportation, and assisting with gate admittance and attendance counts. Bill Lyddon, one of the organizers, will be on hand and request support from the City for this event, as it continuously provides great entertainment and attracts thousands of people to our area, thereby generating increased business and sales tax throughout Liberal over the course of the weekend. City staff requests consideration to pledge public support and resources to the success of the 2027 AirFair.”

Up next will be discussion of Resolution No. 2469 concerning the waiver of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

“WHEREAS, the City of Liberal has determined the financial statements and financial reports for the year ended 2026 to be prepared in conformity with the requirements of K.S.A. 75-1120a(a) are not relevant to the requirements of the cash basis and budget laws of this state and are of no significant value to the Governing Body or the members of the general public of the City of Liberal,” the resolution in the agenda information noted. “And WHEREAS, there are no revenue bond ordinances or resolutions or other ordinances or resolutions of the municipality which require financial statements and financial reports to be prepared in conformity with. K.S.A. 75-1120a(a) for the year ended 2026. Now, therefore be it resolved, by the governing body of the City of Liberal, in regular meeting duly assembled, the governing body waives the requirements of K.S.A. 75-1120a(a) as they apply to the City of Liberal for the year ended 2026.”

Also up for discussion will be the Arkalon Park Grasslands CRP Contract.

“The US Department of Agriculture has a Grasslands Conservation Reservation Program in which the City of Liberal would receive payments in exchange for adhering to pasture management practices and guidelines,” the agenda information noted. “Arkalon Park would be covered with three parcel contracts offered under this program. The total acres are 2,496.9 with a payment of $13 per acre, which would result in income to the City of Liberal of $32,459.70 annually over a 10-year contract period. Roads, campgrounds, marshes, and some river areas with tree cover are excluded. The pasture practices and guidelines to be followed are within historical practices, such as control of noxious and invasive weeds. The notable addition to management of the property is the placement of small cattle panel enclosures of 16 to 20 square feet. This request allows USDA staff to monitor the pasture for plant growth and for potential overgrazing. City staff requests consideration for approval of the USDA's Grasslands CRP Contract as presented.”

The Mid-America Air Museum staff will also be on hand for a request.

“The Mid-America Air Museum  has three large HVAC units that service the office areas and theater room. All the units are well past their normal lifespan, but one has completely failed and needs to be replaced immediately,” the agenda information noted. “Four estimates were obtained for the removal and disposal of the old unit, followed by the purchase and installation of a new one. The original plan was to replace one each year for the next three budget cycles, but this failure requires attention at the present time, so the museum's Gifts & Donation Fund will cover the expense. Staff recommends approval of the HVAC purchase from Weber Refrigeration in an amount not to exceed $19,500, with funding coming from the Mid-America Air Museum's Gifts & Donation account within Fund 209.”

The commission will also be discussing taxes for the National Beef Packing Co. (NBP) Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“The City of Liberal completed a development agreement with NBP in 2019 which included a 10-year, 100 percent abatement of ad valorem taxes related to their wastewater treatment plant. A legal description error occurred in the original tax abatement filing,” the agenda information noted. “NBP has submitted a filing with the Seward County Appraiser’s office, correcting the property to be abated, which will include three properties covering NBP's Wastewater Treatment Plant, the nearby wastewater treatment cells, and a small tract of land just to the north of the treatment cells. All three legal descriptions were included in the development agreement in 2019, along with other additional tracts for the IRB issuance financing wastewater improvements. The corrective application for exemption has been filed by NBP for review by the county appraiser’s office to be further submitted for approval by the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals. A consensus is requested for the tax exemption application to proceed through review by the Seward County Appraiser’s office and be submitted for approval from the Kansas BOTA, in accordance with the 2019 development agreement.”

To conclude the meeting’s new business, the commission will then be asked to approve a change order for the water park design-build.

“At the conclusion of the special meeting that took place Sept. 30, the commission voted to approve the design concept and corresponding budget with Hutton Design-Build in an amount not to exceed $16,900,000,” the agenda information noted. “Following this meeting, Hutton detailed how the next step would be presenting more in-depth drawings, followed by the Guaranteed Maximum Price Amendment by year-end.

In the meantime, the City of Liberal needs to execute the attached change order that removes and replaces the existing contract language under Section 2.1.1 that was previously approved Aug. 25. The Design Services Fee remains at 7.75 percent, so with the updated project budget being established, the section must reflect an amount not to exceed $1,200,000 based on the commission decision from the special meeting. This is a zero dollar change order. It needs to be signed to simply acknowledge this adjustment to the project cost and update the verbiage, now that we have a more solidified design. City staff recommends the approval of water park design-build change order as presented, which acknowledges the maximum design cost based on the projected budget and maintains the original fee percentage of 7.75 percent.”