Barbwire Barbecue owner Jason Musick hopes to make major renovations to the restaurant with the help of a government grant.

The first step in the process involved appearing before the City Commission Monday night to get their support for his application to the state.

The $300,000 Community Development Block grant from the state would help with updating and maintaining the current building, which needs a lot of work, he said. The building was not built to be a restaurant, so it’s taken a lot of modifications to get to where it is now, Musick said in an interview Tuesday. 

Musick said the grant would focus on improving the existing structure. It needs a new roof, better insulation, windows in the front, plumbing work in the kitchen, a new kitchen floor and other maintenance to keep up with the building. 

With building and supply costs so high, it’s hard to know whether to add on to the existing structure and what that would mean for city codes, he said. If they were required to pave the parking lot, it would likely cost $100,000. It would also likely add additional needs for fire suppression. 

He said they are still weighing options as far as what the future of the building could be. They also have to consider prevailing wages they would have to pay if they do receive the grant, he said. Musick wants to make sure they can get out what they need from the grant, while also being cognizant it is money coming from taxpayers and making sure it’s a good investment for the community he said. 

Musick is working with a grant writer to help figure out what all could go into the grant and an architect to work on renderings. Getting support from the commission was the first step, but the application for the grant itself has not been submitted yet, he said. 

If he received the grant, Musick would need to provide $75,000 in matching funds.

The commission approved supporting Barbwire Barbecue’s application for a grant from the state during its meeting Monday night. 

Mayor Tim Reazin said he feels that grants like this one would help the community. He said, once this funding pays out, the city continues the cycle by helping other businesses with their applications, as well. 

He said he hopes the city can bring the tax dollars back home to be used in multiple capacities. 

Commissioner Alex Curnes wanted to clarify that although the funds are administered by the city, they are not funded by the city. The money is from the state, he said. 

Commissioner Roberta Lehmann said she can’t wait to see what they do with the renovations. 

In other business, the commission received an update about the water treatment plant that has been in the works for years. 

The city went through the formal selection process in January and has decided to work with Burns and McDonnell for the design-build process. The city previously purchased the land on the north side of Seventh Street for the new facility. 

Travis Stryker with CAS Constructors is working on the construction and design side of the project and spoke to the commission about phases of the project. 

Dana Hinderliter of Burns and McDonnell will work on the project from the engineering side. 

They are working on the planning and conceptual design part of the first phase, she said. They are looking into the well field, possible need for improvements to the wells, treatment alternatives, distribution techniques and other operations for the new facility, Hinderliter said. 

Stryker said they estimate this first part of phase one will take six months, as well as six months for phase 1b. He estimates about two years for construction. 

Public Works Director Branden Boyd said the team’s deliverables will also help with the city’s applications for grants so it’s important to the project. 

Reazin said members of the commission toured a water treatment plant similar to the rendering shown of the Eudora design and said he appreciates there is no need to reinvent the wheel but rather keep the efficiency of the design. 

Lehmann asked if any city employee offices will be in the new facility. 

Boyd said some Public Works offices, including his, will be there. He said the ultimate goal is to have additional facilities built in the back for other Public Works facilities storage. 

The commission authorized the city manager’s office to execute the documents to move forward with the Burns and McDonnell contract. 

Reazin also said he wanted to clarify that his wife works at Burns and McDonnell but has had no part in this project. 

The 2025 budget includes $800,000 for this project. The scope for phase 1 in the contract includes a fee of $299,800. The unspent total will be covered over into the 2026 budget. 

In other business, Assistant City Manager Zack Daniel provided an update on the budget as planning continues. The city received its preliminary valuation for the 2026 budget year at $79,164,688. That is a 6% increase from 2025 – the lowest valuation increase in the last few years. 

Changes in valuation over the last several years can be seen here:

Daniel said city staff are looking into making sure that the city’s valuation increases are keeping pace with the region. 

The city is working on a budget that would keep the current mill levy, 39.038, flat. The overall property tax revenue generation would be around $3 million with that mill rate, Daniel said. 

Daniel shared some of the general fund projects and purchase requests being considered as the city continues to work on the budget. 

He also shared some project and purchase requests that will possibly be planned for the 4 mill capital improvement plan that may be factored into the budget. 

Daniel shared what a dollar would look like broken up with the city’s projected mill rate. The school district would receive 45% of the dollar, the county would get 27% and the city with 25%. About 2% goes to the library and 1% to the state, he said. 

With a flat mill levy for the year, Daniel broke down a tax calculation for a home worth $350,000 in 2025. With an 11.5% tax rate, and an assessed value of $42,729, the city property tax bill would be about $1,668. That’s an increase of about $97 from 2025, or about $8 monthly. 

Here is a breakdown of the whole residential tax bill for the same home value with a flat mill levy: 

The commission also approved a proclamation recognizing the Douglas County Community Foundation and Eudora for 25 years of participating together in charitable action week. 

During staff and commission comments, Reazin asked that the city look into its mobile food vending policy after a call from a community member regarding vendors in front of Gene’s. 

“My discussion point is, it seems counterproductive to have a vendor in town that also owns a business, and then we don’t allow them to kind of spread out where they’re able to sell,” he said. 

Reazin said if a vendor has a license and is able to sell at other events, they should be allowed to sell at Gene’s. He asked if the city could look at changing the code phrasing at a future meeting. 

Fire Chief Justin Lee notified the commission of the fire at Sonic and said the CPA Picnic was a success with only one medical call the whole time. 

Parks and Rec Director Sally Pennington said the pool is averaging about 3,000 daily visitors. The city is preparing for the Fourth of July Star Spangled Celebration at the high school. There will be live music and fireworks. 

The summer’s first Dive In movie will be July 18. The event is free to the public, she said. 

The city went into executive session for 40 minutes following the regular business items to discuss City Manager Kevyn Gero’s quarterly evaluation. No action was taken following the session and Reazin said he had no comment on the evaluation.