Sister City Board

ABILENE OMITAMA SISTER CITY BOARD JORDAN ROOM, ABILENE PUBLIC LIBRARY, 209 NW FOURTH STREET JULY 14, 2026 - 6:00 PM Agenda for Board Meeting: 1. Call to Order 2. Changes to Agenda/Approval of Agenda 3. Approval of Minutes a. Sister City Board Meeting Minutes - June 9, 2026 4. Public Comments, Correspondence a. News from Omitama b. Official Correspondence 5. Financial Report - Kim Shafer 6. Friends of Sister City - Heather Unruh 7. School Programs - Jerry Rankin and Corina Ryland 8. Old Business a. Delegation Planning 9. Adjournment Page 1 of 3  CITY OF ABILENE SISTER CITY BOARD MEETING MINUTES June 9,2026, at 6:00 p.m. Abilene Public Library, Jordan Room 209 NW 4th St. Abilene, KS 67410 Members Present: Jennie Hiatt (Chair), Kim Shafer (Treasurer), Corina Ryland (Corresponding Secretary), Kevin Unruh (Member), Mary Montgomery (Member), Samantha Geissinger (Member), Christal Hall (Member), and Heather Unruh (Friends of Sister City). Members Absent: Jennifer Hager (Member), Jerry Rankin (Vice-Chair) Additional Present: None Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Chair, Jennie Hiatt at 6:10 pm. Approval of Agenda Kim moved to approve the agenda as written. Seconded by Corina. All in favor. Approval of the Meeting Minutes – May 12, 2026 Kevin moved to approve the minutes. Mary seconded. All in favor. Public Comments and Correspondence a. News from Omitama – None b. Official Correspondence – Omitama provided their itinerary. They will arrive in Manhattan on July 22nd @ 4:47 pm and depart Manhattan @ 6:00 am on August 4, 2026. They also inquired if there was a piano available for them to use at the Welcome Dinner. They also asked about wifi access at that dinner as well. Financial Report New Balance: $9,859.70 Kim shared the general fund for Sister City is at $9,859.70 after paying Jerry for Japan Club supplies $5,142 is left in the scholarship fund. Kevin moved to accept the financial report. Sam seconded. All in favor Friends of Sister City Heather shared that Friends is available to help with the delegation as needed. School Programs None Old Business Page 2 of 3  a. Bylaws – Kim moved to approve the by-laws. Kevin seconded. All in favor. b. Delegation Planning: Delegation prep began. Hager and Ralph families will be hosting the two boys; Montgomery and Hiatt families will be hosting the two girls. Still need host families for Makoto and “Shaw” (4 more host families) Corina shared that she saw the Bison guide and he is excited about us joining them again. Corina will set up Welcome bags. Christal has a van that holds 8 plus the driver, she’s willing to pick up from the airport if we could have an additional truck for the luggage. Welcome dinner will be on the 23rd @ Garfield School, Farewell dinner will be on 3rd @ the Rec Center. Wednesday the 29th will be switch day @ 5pm @ the Taylor’s house. Pick-up and drop-offs should be at the same location every day to make things easier for host families. Kelsey will get 10 rodeo tickets. Corina will contact Brenda about the welcome sign for delegation. Corina will contact a couple of families about parade location. The Board will hold a working meeting on June 30th @ 6pm at City Hall for additional preparation of delegation. Corina, Kim & Christal will meet before June 30th to start a plan of scheduling. New Business None Adjournment Next Regular meeting: July 14, 2026, at the Abilene Public Library at 6pm. There will also be a special workshop on June 30th @ 6pm @ City Hall. Corina made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mary. All in favor. The meeting adjourned at 7:07 pm. Minutes Approved, Attest: ________________________ Sister City Board _________________________ Kelsey Briand, Finance Director Page 3 of 3