District 1 Advisory Board

District I Advisory Board Minutes August 5, 2019 www.wichita.gov The District I Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:00 p.m. at the Atwater Neighborhood Resource Center located at 2755 E. 19th St. N., Wichita, KS, 67214. Twelve board members, eight staff and twenty-six members of the public were present. Members Present Staff Present Brandon Johnson L. Carlson, WPD Anisia Brumley J. Hook, WPD Lawanda Deshazer V. Minks, WPD Dan Heflin A. Stark, WPD James Holland Scott Knebel, MAPD James Thompson Jones, WFD Angel Galvez-Youth Member Anne Ethen, Library Aaron Mayes Kameelah Alexander, OCS Tadonne Neal Tom Scanlon Joseph Shepard Tyler York Members Absent Guests Azad Taben Listed on last page Order of Business Call to Order Meeting was called to order Approval of Agenda Motion to approve the agenda Motion by Scanlon/Neal, carried 8:0. Approval of Minutes Motion to approve the minutes Motion by Scanlon/Neal, carried 8:0. Staff Reports 3. Fire Report Station 1: In July, there were 645 total incidents: 24 fire alarms, 58 service alarms and 563 medical alarms. 4. Police Report Patrol North: A. Stark, Officers just wrapped up assisting with Convoy of Hope and Summer Camps, larceny-to- auto and auto-thefts are up. Special WPD initiative will begin soon with larceny-to-autos, please use the See Something, Say Something motto (please call when you think a crime as occurred). Q: Is the city using a program like the shot spotter program? A: Yes, a pilot program is being used and kinks are being worked out. Patrol South: L. Carlson, updates for Old Town, please use Crime Stoppers for crimes, Neighborhood Night Out is next Tuesday, August 13th.  District I Advisory Board Minutes August 5, 2019 Page 2 of 9 Patrol East: Officer Hook, please do not leave items in the car, the pilot Integrated Care Team has started to help with mental health crisis calls. This Wednesday, August 7th at the Farmers Art Market there will be a public unveiling of the new horses for the Mounted Unit. Questions/Comments from DAB: Q: What happens if you reveal who you are with Crime Stoppers? If you reveal yourself, you will not be paid? A: Crime stoppers does not ask you to identify yourself; payment is made in a confidential way. Q: Is there an update with the WPD collaboration with the FBI? A: No update, it just kicked off. Q: Is the Integrated Care Team collaborating with the HOT Team? A: Right now WPD and the Sherriff’s office are rotating the duties so some collaboration will take place. DAB member arrived Question from Citizens: Q: How does crime stoppers follow up with citizens? A: There is a special way for citizens to follow up if an arrest is made. Q: Whose idea was this for the Integrated Care Team? A: EMS staff went to a conference and brought the model back to Wichita. 5. Library Report Anne Ethen, Library: Get after hours tech assistance at the Angelou Library. Build digital skills through the guided Google Applied Digital Skills curriculum. Assistance with job applications, resumes, printing documents, Internet research and other digital needs will be provided. 6-9 p.m. Mondays & Thursdays, Angelou Northeast Branch, 3051 E. 21st St. Join us at the Angelou Northeast Branch for the next Candid Conversations Book Club. On Friday, August 16, from 7-8:30 p.m., we will discuss There There by Tommy Orange, a book about twelve urban Indians in Oakland, California, who come together to celebrate the “Oakland Powwow.” This is a free event but registration is required. Call (316) 688-9580 or visit wichitalibrary.org/events to register. A limited number of books are available at the Angelou Northeast branch for checkout. The Wichita Public Library is partnering with WSU Tech to offer technology classes to residents of Wichita. These classes will be held at the WSU Tech South Campus, 3821 E. Harry. Upcoming classes include Microsoft Word, Tuesday, August 27, 8:30-10 a.m., and Start a Resume Using Google Docs, Thursday, August 29, 1-3 p.m. Call (316) 261-8500 or visit wichitalibrary.org/events to register. Question from DAB: Q: Is the after hours program ending in August? A: No, there is funding for the rest of 2019. 6. Park & Recreation Report No Report Recommended Action: Receive and File DAB Member leaves Public Agenda 2  District I Advisory Board Minutes August 5, 2019 Page 3 of 9 Board will hear public issues from individual citizens regarding City issues not scheduled on the agenda. Each presentation is limited to five minutes unless extended by the Board. 5. Scheduled Items No Items 6. Off Agenda Items No Items New Business 7. Public Art Ordinance Jeff Best, Ty Tabing and City Finance Department Rep., will present this request. Approximately two and a half years ago, the City Manager asked Patricia McDonnell, Director of the Wichita Art  The ordinance adds a funding stream and maintenance of projects  The idea is to use a percentage of the CIP for a funding stream with determination from City Council  The request is for 2% of funding versus the 1.5% per year that is currently calculated Recommended Action: Provide feedback and suggestions to the Ad Hoc group as they move forward with preparing the draft ordinance for presentation to the City Council. Questions from DAB: Q: Is there a particular area of the City for these projects? A: Staff gets a listing based on projects? Q: Is the 9th street project part of this proposal? A: Yes, we made a recommendation to add funding for that project. Q: Is the McAdams Pool part of this? A (CM Johnson): No, there is a separate funding stream proposed for the pool. Q: The DAB previously heard about bridges needing better aesthetics to hand rails, would this be part of that? A: Yes, the goal is to get an artist on the team to get a rendition of art elements. Q: Do you have a listing of what the Design Council wants completed by the end of the year? Are there too many projects at this point. A: Bridges, public buildings, parks, and the city core this solidifies the process. The Design Council makes recommendations to the City Council. Q: 1.4 million is the average? A: Yes, over the last 5 years and to get the funding the City is currently squeezing funds from other projects. Comment: this recommendation keeps art at the front of the conversation versus added art components during the middle of the project Q: Can you speak about how the artist are selected? A: The intent is to create an Artist Registry with inclusion and diversity. Q: Are able to identify other Cities that have benefited from this goal? A: An attachment to place of having people fall in love with where they are. The other cities have growth and Project Wichita have identified this. 3  District I Advisory Board Minutes August 5, 2019 Page 4 of 9 Q: How do we see these projects? A: Get with your Council Member and share your thoughts. Comments: It is good to see the aesthetics downtown and in Old Town; the only concern is that this should be represented around the entire town/city. Questions/Comments from Public: Q: Is there any accountability to the artist. An artist recently tagged another building not part of the project? A: The project in question was a privately funded. Q: How will artist know about registry later if they do not know now? A: That is a good question and some help will be needed in getting the word out. Comments: Please use social media pages to reach the artist. Comments: I am thrilled that this includes landscaping in an artist manner. Comments from Public: Engineers are competing for jobs from all over the country and the aesthetics around our city does make a difference. Comments from DAB: I like the current staff recommendation. Recommended Action: Receive and File 8. PUD2019-00008 Planned Unit Development to Amendment Revolutsia Commercial PUD #53 Scott Knebel, Metropolitan Area Planning Department, will present this request. The applicant is seeking to amend the Revolutsia Commercial Planned Unit Development (PUD #53) located at the southwest corner of Central Avenue and Volutsia Street. The intent of the amendment is expand the overall area west to Estelle Street, which will include the property presently occupied by the Funeral Home at the southeast corner of Central Avenue and Estelle Street, as well as the single lot south of the alley on the east side of Estelle Street as a parcel for additional parking. The amendment also add drinking establishment for “common consumption” uses for Parcels 1 and 2 in a designated area, addresses certain signage issues on Parcel 1, and requests a waiver of the paving requirements for parking on Parcel 3. These are detailed in the General Provisions on the PUD drawing, with the “common consumption” area outlined thereon. All other conditions of the original approval remain the same. Recommended: Based on the information available at the time of the public hearing, staff recommends APPROVAL of the application subject to seven conditions. Questions from Public: Q: Neighbors are concerned with parking and if you add to the space will more parking be guaranteed for the neighborhood? Did any studies take place? A: Other density studies have taken place and patrons are not using the designated parking to more signs will be installed to direct patrons to those parking spots. Comment: As a resident who lives nearby, I attended the MAPC meeting, met City staff, the agent and the owner. No parking signs should be going up soon from the City in one area, the owner is planning to post signs about parking, we ask that the partial 3 be only parking, we would like the area to remain gravel versus permanent lines which give more space for parking. As a resident, we are excited about Revolutsia and we want shared space. It could be helpful to see signs that direct people for “Revolutsia Parking”. Some cleaning up of the newly acquired area needs to take place to make the parking more accessible. 4  District I Advisory Board Minutes August 5, 2019 Page 5 of 9 Follow up question from DAB to resident: Is there a certain time of the day where parking is an issue? Response from resident: Anytime can be an inconvenient, we come home at lunch. Comment from DAB:  You are commended as a resident with being involved in your area with this zoning case  I was under the impression that this business was going to be walkable for the community and I also know that Wichitans’ do not like to walk. Comments from Owner and Agent:  We linked in a cross walk and people are not using the parking spaces that have been allotted across the street  Our goal is to add proactive parking signs and respect the neighborhood and give back to the neighborhood  We need to get aggressive about people blocking driveways in the neighborhood  We can limit the scooters but we would like to keep the bike share  We do not want the parcel paved and it is mainly for rain water retention  Revolutsia purchased other buildings for additional parking purposes  Parking was actually added; it is more about getting people to the parking places Questions from DAB: Q: Have you talked to adjacent businesses about shared parking? A: We purchased property already to provide more parking. Q: What property did you buy across the street? A: It is where the fyre restaurant is/was. Q: I support the gravel, are you aware of the need to pay more in maintenance for the gravel? A: Yes, we also own the ICT Pop-up Urban Park so we are familiar with taking care of gravel Recommendation: Mayes/Thompson made a motion to recommend that City Council approve the request with gravel parking. Motion carried 9:0. 9. TNR (Trap Neuter Release) ordinance creation in the City of Wichita Stephanie McCurdy, Animal Control Advisory Board, will present this request will present this information. Background: A TNR Committee was developed in 2015 by the Animal Advisory Board to look into developing a standard within the City. • A December 2017 community survey found: • 20.63% of respondents felt that feral cats were a nuisance in their neighborhood • 64.41% of respondents felt that the City should take an active role in assisting neighborhoods with this issue • 48.56% felt that the most pressing issue for Animal Control was to reduce our euthanasia rate at the shelter Analysis: The committee put together a proposed ordinance and it presented it to the Animal Advisory Board in April 2018. The committee presented a draft ordinance to the Board. The Board discussed this at several meetings and received significant public comment. A final draft ordinance was developed and provided to the Police Department. • The Police Department formed an internal committee to review the ordinance and ensure applicability and enforceability Financial Considerations: None, this will be a community based service and will be funded by grants obtained through various rescue groups Legal Considerations: None, if TNR is to be used on private property, the property owner will be contacted and permission granted before any activity begins. 5  District I Advisory Board Minutes August 5, 2019 Page 6 of 9 Recommended: It is recommended that the District Advisory Board approve the ordinance. Updates from Animal Control Advisory Board  2018: 920 cats were euthanized  Mandated registration of cat colonies  TNR is already happening whether we have an ordinance or not Questions from the DAB Q: What keeps a cat TNR take? A: If the cat is sick it can be removed and animal control can access what the nuisance is. Q: Are the ear tips A: Cats can be placed with another cat colony that wants them. The community caregiver takes care of cats that they did not necessarily buy Q: How will cats be monitored if a stray cat joins the colony cats? A: From research, the other cats will not accept the other cat. Q: What is going to happen if every household on a block wants a cat colony? A: When someone registers, the address is known but the possibility is not known. There should be some guidelines of how many households can have colonies. Q: Do you have field agents from Animal Services to check on colonies now or see if cats need TNR services? What does the process look like? A: Call for help from citizens is the only way for us to know now (ear tip, vaccinating and spay/neuter). Q: Is there an opportunity to see if other people (not colony owners) who want a cat? A: People can go to the shelter to get Comment: If people that are calling for help now for help with cats, that would not have a colony now. I had terrible problems with a cat in my neighborhood with problems. Q: Are you going to have enough Animal Control Officers to handle this ordinance? A: The department budget was actually cut this past year. Someone will still get to TNR calls based on call volume. Q: Are these private companies that people call? A: Yes. Q: What is the relationship with the City and these private companies? A: There is a good working relationship. Q: I am struggling with owners not wanting to take cats back? A: Cats can be taken to barn cats or cared for and adopted out to other people. There are other options and that includes separation. Comments from public:  It makes no sense to return a cat whether is it spayed or neutered.  The community care giver is perpetuating the problem and they do not want to take full responsibility  The ordinance is pushed by activist with emotions (there are very few people who are registered) they do not want to accept that the cats are wild  This ordinance is putting cats above the food chain than humans 6  District I Advisory Board Minutes August 5, 2019 Page 7 of 9  A community cat is a feral cat  Microchipping would identify the owners but the community care giver  The cats will travel back to their original colony Q: How do you suggest that we take care of this? A: The current ordinance does not take the cats when someone calls Q: How do you stop people? A: No, I do not know Comment: If someone is calling about a problem, then the cats should be taken Comments: If you like cats, you like cats. The issue here is I cannot force my neighbor to love cats because I do. That causes issues with spayed and neuter. What is the City Ordinance, what does it take to get it enforced? Can we remove the emotion to see what it is? Comment: I like cats but I do not own one because of other cats in the area. I have rescued cats and I do not think people will become responsible cat owners. Guidelines are not in the proposed budget. There is not a list of when or how to feed cats. I have offered to help other gets their animals fixed. This ordinance is a noble attempt that is not going to be enforced. Please vote no to this ordinance. All the nuisance issues we are dealing with today will be the same; TNR is about doing something different. These abandoned cats are a problem of owners who did not take care of them or products of them. TNR is going up and euthanasia is going down in this city. Other cities have had success with this. Putting something in place to give us some data, there are existing ordinances that take care of nuisances. This ordinance does not address people getting a license. We have to do something. Comment from DAB: I would like to see a common ground; concern of not keeping a cats in one area? Both groups need to see the middle ground. Comment from Public: Colony of cats that are digging in trash, scratching cars and people are not feeding the cats. I had to trap the cats in my own area. The current enforcement is not taking place. I do not think this is a starting point. We have to address the people who have the cats. Q/Comment: Is removing TNR while implementing consequences for current pet owners. What can we do to enforce it, if TNR works? Comment from Public: I voted against this ordinance as an Animal Advisory Board Member. There are some things missing from the ordinance. Euthanasia does not mean successful TNR; rescue groups have been running in to get the cats. There is a misunderstanding. The current ordinance says: you feed it-you own it and you cannot have more than 4 cats. I am not against TNR. We have people that do not want to bring their cats. Look in a rational way, TNR is not the only way. There should be a complete cat ordinance. Use TNR, get the cats that are not feral off the street Comment from Public: We have to recognize that human and animal, you have to approach this differently. Cats were abandoned in an impoverished area. You have to meet the people first and not wait for a call. Petco and Pet Smart have suspended their support without this ordinance. We need data model that cannot be changed. Comment from Public: This ordinance is bad, feral cats can spread disease, they kill wild life, TNR cannot solve the problem in a city of our size, neighbors, every other animal knows when and where to come get the food. We need an ordinance that confines cats indoors. We need an Animal Control Department that treats the cat concerns like other pets. Require Advisory boards to include community groups to re-write the ordinance so it is not one sided. 7  District I Advisory Board Minutes August 5, 2019 Page 8 of 9 Comment from Public: I look like a group a feral cat in my neighborhood, I hate seeing kittens in the neighborhood, and cats were trapped and fixed. It cost $60 a cat and I have to let them loose. Has the colony grown since the TNR? No. This is not personal because you are being responsible and you are one person. Comment from Public: As a veterinarian, there is a vacuum effect that will have TNR cats go back and fight for the area they originated in, caregivers are not community activist they just saw a need, these animals are wild and we need to accept that. Caregivers are trying to contain them. This ordinance is in other cities and it works. We are not asking that this ordinance be the only thing we do. We have to start with getting the cats spayed and neutered. Comment from Public: As current President of Friends and Felines, we get a lot of request (2-month back log as of now). We try not to remove and relocate; people that call us are responsible. There is a program with Kansas State University-Shelter Medicine Program to complete the surgeries. There are deterrents in the community. This ordinance is not preferred, there has to be a middle ground. This ordinance puts cats before me; the City has a responsibility to enforce the ordinance. It only takes 3-4 months for a kitten to reproduce, we have vacant homes with cats sitting in them, and we cannot keep a cat in one yard. The City has to take care of the budget. Learned to trap by herself with YouTube, I have helped 17 cats and they did not all stick around. Two years of kitten free in the area. Neighbors saw a need to help. It makes no sense to be mad at a person who wants to help but not keep the cats. It is humane to feed cats. The feral cats are going to be around, the cats are already there, we want to reduce the population, and you are regulating people who are stepping up. Who is responsible to that? I am not spending my time to trap cats and kill them. I would love to see spay and neuter in a massive way. Q: How does this affect other people? A: We have to get to people abandoning the cats. Response from Public by:  We had 7 meetings about this for public comments  There is a difference between Wichita Animal Service and Kansas Human Society  Caregivers do not feed 24-hours a day, they feed at specific times  The ordinance is a result of meetings  The organizations are not running out of money  Everyone was given a chance to speak  We have to start somewhere, please pass the ordinance Q: Why is microchipping not included? A: It is expensive and it shows ownership. Q: Are we changing the ordinance from allowing 4 to 8 cats? A: Yes Comment: There is a funding problem with animal services Q: If they are wild, why are we releasing back to a community where they come from. They are not wild to the caretaker. Q: What is the rational for increasing from 4 to 8? A: There are already colonies that have more than 4. Q: If the vote is no, what will happen? A: Yes, the work will continue. 8  District I Advisory Board Minutes August 5, 2019 Page 9 of 9 Comment from DAB:  We are not enforcing the current law and there needs to be a remedy  There should be more funding for an additional person to deal with this problem area  If they cannot give care as they are why are 8 cats giving back to the caretaker Recommendation: Holland/Neal made a motion to recommend that City Council deny/reject the ordinance. Motion carried 8:1. Board Agenda 10. Updates, Issues and Reports Opportunity is provided for the Council Member and the District Advisory Board members to report any activities, events, or concerns in the neighborhoods and/or Council District.  Go vote tomorrow  Stop sign at Murdock and Yale was moved and now it is a problem; it was almost hit  Free transit to go vote  Neighborhood night out is next week  9th street dedication ceremony  East front legacy…open meeting to the public opposite of the baseball stadium Recommended Action: Receive and file The next DAB I meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m., September 9, 2019, at the Atwater Neighborhood Resource Center, 2755 E. 19th St. N., Wichita, KS 67214. Adjourn Motion to adjourn the meeting Motion by Mayes/Thompson, carried 9:0. Guests 1. Jeff Best 14. Eric Miller 2. Jane Byrnes 15. Mearlin Overton 3. Michael Capps 16. Ellen Querner 4. Jared Cerullo 17. Janet Radig 5. Tom Ewert 18. John Radig 6. Russ Ewy 19. Michael Ramsey 7. E. Hernandez 20. Janice Rich 8. Donald Hogg 21. Richard Ruth 9. Danyelle Johnson 22. Carman Stanford 10. Kelly Jones 23. Aaron Stark 11. Yessenia Lopez 24. Ty Tabing 12. Stephanie McCurdy 25. Cheryl Taskinen 13. Patti McKee 26. Edna Trent 9