Push by council member leads to ethics review surrounding Haysville engineering contract
Haysville’s city attorney will review if it is a conflict of interest for Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC) engineers employed by the city as contractors to review plats designed by the engineering firm.
Haysville contracts PEC to advise the city on engineering concerns, including reviewing proposed plats submitted to the city, Haysville Mayor Russ Kessler said. A plat is a map detailing how a certain lot will be divided and developed. These engineers are responsible for reviewing all engineering drawings to make sure they follow design standards relevant to that plat before forwarding it to the planning commission. They review all city projects, Kessler said, which sometimes includes projects that were designed by the engineering firm.
“These are projects where the developer has chosen PEC to design their plat,” Kessler clarified in an email to The Eagle.
In a February email sent to Kessler and City Administrator Will Black, council member Eric Myers shared concerns that allowing PEC engineers that work as contractors with Haysville to review plats designed by PEC is a conflict of interest. Myers cited city code 1-111, which provides guidelines that all public officials, city employees and contract employees must follow to avoid conflicts of interest. Myers was specifically concerned about two plats that PEC was involved in creating and reviewing as city engineers.
When Myers’ email did not receive a reply, Myers followed up in April. Kessler responded and said they would add the topic to the April 13 City Council meeting.
“I bring back this topic to council upon identifying that the city has allowed PEC to violate our own ethics code,” Myers said at the meeting.
The city’s code provides guidelines for all “city employees, contract employees, appointed officials and elected officials” when “conducting business of the city.” Employees or officials who have “substantial interest” in a business handling are prohibited from participating, the code reads.
Kansas State statute 75-4304 also discusses conflicts of interest in government jobs. The statute reads “no local governmental officer or employee shall . . . make or participate in the making of a contract with any person or business by which the officer or employee is employed or . . . has a substantial interest.”
In a statement sent to The Eagle, Christina Beaird, PEC’s chief marketing officer, told The Eagle that PEC is “committed to upholding ethical standards and maintaining public trust” in their work.
“These principles are fundamental to professional engineering licensure and core to who we are as a company,” Beaird said. “We respect the City’s review processes and will, as always, cooperate fully with Haysville City leadership to address any questions or concerns. Our focus remains on providing objective, professional support that serves the City of Haysville and community well.”
In a memo sent to Haysville in February, following Myers’ first concerns, PEC said that their on-call engineering services are separate from development project managers so that “on-call services remain impartial, defensible, and fully aligned with the public interest.”
“At no time do on-call services providers act in advocacy role for private development projects within your community,” the memo read.
Haysville’s Planning Commission chair Tim Aziere works for PEC as well and always abstains when a PEC project is on the planning commission’s agenda, Kessler said.
Myers told The Eagle that while he recognizes and appreciates all PEC has done for the city, he does not think PEC engineers should review projects that PEC was involved in.
“The fact that we allow the same company to both review as a city engineer . . . as well as submit and complete jobs is a conflict of interest, and it should be put to end for fairness,” Myers said.
Kessler told The Eagle that he does not have any concerns regarding the city’s contract engineers.
“They have a separation of duties between their offices. And whoever is the city contracted engineer, their focus is on what’s right for the city,” he said.
After approval from the planning commission, all projects go to the City Council.
“The council is the ultimate deciding governing body,” Kessler told The Eagle.
‘Want to make sure things are done correctly’
Myers’ motion to have the city’s attorney provide a legal opinion on if PEC was violating the city’s ethics code passed with only council member Bob Rardin against.
The city attorney, Josh Pollak, said he would present his findings at the next meeting, which is set for May 11.
Kessler said he did not want to speculate on what would happen if the city attorney found the city broke its code of ethics, but said if that happened, the city would make changes to ensure it was properly being followed.
“We would make some changes to make things right,” Kessler said. “Always want to be on the up and up, and want to make sure things are done correctly.”
Myers said that if the city attorney said that the city was not breaking its ethics code, he would still speak up against the current situation.
“If he comes back saying, ‘We’re fine, it’s good to go,’ . . . I would say, ‘Well, I still don’t think it’s right,’” Myers said.
“It’s my concern that the council is arguing me on this and I feel as though that they should really consider what I’m bringing forth to them, that this is a legitimate concern,” Myers said.
Haysville City Council meetings are streamed on the city’s YouTube account. You can view agendas and previous meeting minutes on the city’s website.
This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 9:18 AM.
