GOODLAND CITY COMMISSION
Special Commission Meeting
Goodland City Commission, Sherman County Commission
and USD 352 School Board of Education
June 8, 2026 5:00 P.M.
Mayor Jason Showalter called the meeting to order with Vice-Mayor J. J. Howard and Commissioner Sarah Artzer responding to roll call. Commissioner Angie Cloyd and Commissioner Brook Redlin were reported absent.
Present from Sherman County are Sherman County Chairman Steve Evert, Sherman County Commissioner Harvey Swager, Sherman County Commissioner Kevin Zimmerman and Ashley Mannis – Sherman County Clerk.
Present from USD 352 Board of Education is Trevor Linton – Chairman, Jim Gillespie, Stacey Price, Katherine Franklin, Michaela Kaus, Bill Bierman – Superintendent and Judy Goodwin – Board Clerk.
Also present from the city were Joshua Jordan – IT Director, Mary Volk – City Clerk and Kent Brown – City Manager.
Mayor Showalter led Pledge of Allegiance
PRESENTATIONS
- Steve Feilmeier, Owner of Prime Craftsman Homes stated, I retired as CFO from Koch Industries in Wichita and worked with them on gaps in the community. One gap was affordable housing which I have spent the last four years studying. For affordable housing in Wichita, there are about 25,000 homes needed for population at or below the poverty line today. If look at Section 8 waiting list the market rates for most of the people on the list is too expensive. Section 42 is a program run by the federal government that helps people develop and build multi-family apartment complexes. About 22% of the complexes utilize this program. This subsidy requires the investor and developer to cap the rent in exchange for federal tax credits. Many believe affordable housing is a government program and have given up that the market can solve the problem. People have given up building affordable housing because of construction costs and they cannot make money.
For affordable housing, costs need to be around $150,000 for people to make the rent or come up with down payment to purchase the home. Housing development in Goodland has dropped drastically the last 20 years. The next problem is starter homes, people want to purchase a home but not live there forever. In last six decades across the United States, the age for first time home buyers increased from 28 to 41. The source of the housing problem is builders who think they cannot make numbers work. Most builders need at least $300,000 or $250 per square foot to make the numbers work. I started a fund to start remodeling homes in Wichita and raised $15M to make low interest loans to people for a start on affordable housing. Out of the process, we learned how expensive it is to build homes so started looking for better ways for affordable housing. Construction costs have tripled the last 18 years, doubling about every 6 years. Price of land has increased over 250% in some places last number of years. We started looking for new construction methods and came across factory built modular homes.
Today modular means high quality and the only difference to building on site is where it attaches to foundation. Building in a factory you can improve the quality. I can build modular homes in a factory at $100 less per square foot. Costs are cheaper because we have no sub-contractor to pay; there is no general contractor as we are the developer; constructing in a factory has less raw materials and waste because everything is precision cut; and can build house in about a month with about 50% of the employee hours. We are building for less with a not-for-profit mentality and want to prove that with the quality of this model, costs are taken out and passed on to consumer. We are starting this process in Valley Center. We have been approved for 30 lots where typical stick-built homes would be $270,000 but we will market them for $190,000. People wait until age of 41 because they have no choice but to wait. There is huge demand in Kansas for affordable housing.
Kansas Lt. Governor has asked us to visit communities in the state because there is a need. Without workforce housing, your community will continue to shrink. It is happening across the state. Conner Hampton asked us to try project in Goodland. Price for starter homes in Goodland are crazy and despite that, valuations for your housing is quite low because housing stock is low. With median income in Sherman County, you cannot build larger housing. I am proposing to use land adjacent to Topside Manor that is currently designated as RHID for Prime Craftsman Homes to build affordable homes. RHID is important because it acts as a way to reduce risk for everybody involved. It takes the tax revenues, in this case property taxes, and pays back bonds issued to develop utilities for lots. We do not know for certain that cost but estimating $1,500,000. If you are trying to build affordable and starter homes, but you have a monthly add-on for special assessments, it defeats your purpose. Goal is to push value down to make sure program works.
Reviewing the proposed tax revenue over the next 25 years, we believe this project pays back much quicker. I believe we get houses out quickly and you get started making bond payments early. You model what your community is comfortable with. We are proposing that the City and Prime Craftsman Homes work together with Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC) through an entitlement process to get estimates. We are committing to keeping housing at the levels proposed. It is important to have plan that if the houses sell, remaining housing fits community needs. This process involves two steps, the first being a plat with PEC to determine utility costs which is estimated to cost $75,000 split between city and Prime Craftsman Homes. Then proposing a change to your subdivision regulations to match most cities in Kansas with timing construction plans be submitted before final plat is done. We will want some additional incentives like working with local foundation on project. This will help relieve some costs like shipping, which will be more than normal. Commissioner Artzer asked, do we commit to the whole project or just a trial phase? Steve stated, we will have a few houses to show people to determine need. If we proceed, commitment is $37,500 to get PEC started on entitlement process. Vice-Mayor Howard asked, does the $190,000 include everything or will there be additional costs once home is here? Steve stated, no we are aware costs that occur outside factory are large. These figures are fully stated costs. Mayor Showalter and Kent thank Steve for the information.
ADJOURNMENT WAS HAD ON A MOTION Vice-Mayor Howard seconded by Commissioner Artzer. Motion carried by unanimous VOTE, meeting Adjourned at 5:45 p.m.
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ATTEST: Jason Showalter, Mayor
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Mary P. Volk, City Clerk