District 3 Advisory Board

District III Advisory Board Minutes for Feb. 1, 2012 District III Advisory Board Minutes Feb. 1, 2012 www.wichita.gov The District III Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at the Wichita Water Center at 101 E Pawnee; eight District Advisory Board members were in attendance; six City staff and 15 members of the public were present. Members Present Jody Bennett Staff Present Terry Brewster Officer Ginny Wylie, Patrol South Paul Davis Officer Nick Long, Patrol East Elena Ingle Jess McNeely, Planning Dept. Danny Johnson Battalion Chief Tom Carney Gay Quisenberry Doug Kupper, Park and Recreation Wendy Ratliff Janet Johnson, Neighborhood Services David Robbins Guests Members Absent Listed on the last page Council Member James Clendenin ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:30 p.m. Pro Tem Elena Ingle called the meeting to order. Minutes from the Jan. 4, 2012, meeting were approved. PUBLIC AGENDA Scheduled items No scheduled items Non-Scheduled items No items STAFF REPORTS Community Police Report Officer Ginny Wylie, Beat 25 Patrol South, reported there have been five homicides in Wichita thus far in 2012 and three of them have occurred in the Patrol South area. She said the new beat alignments have caused some shifts in statistics. The new 25 Beat recorded a hot spot trend for burglaries in January. She also announced that Officer Robert Lacy, 28 Beat, has been promoted to Detective. Officer Nick Long, Beat 34 Patrol East, explained the beat realignments in Patrol East. In this Bureau, some of the Beat numbers actually changed; i.e. 33 Beat is now 34 Beat and 34 Beat is now 33 beat. The 32 Beat was also significantly changed. Officer Long said that Officer Paul Duff, 36 Beat, has been promoted to Detective. He said one of the latest crime trends being seen in the city is auto larcenies occurring in church parking lots. He said suspects are actually sitting nearby watching citizens as the get out of their cars. If a woman gets out and doesn’t have her purse with her, the thieves will then break into that vehicle looking for it. Officer Long said these types of crimes are very difficult to solve and reminded everyone not to leave any valuables in their vehicle in plain view. He also said if you see someone sitting in a parking lot just watching, call 911 and report it as suspicious activity. 1  District III Advisory Board Minutes for Feb. 1, 2012 Officer Long said a police officer likely prevented a homicide in the 2200 block of S. Belmont when he saw two armed suspects chasing a man and intervened. Three people were taken into custody on that incident. He said there was a burglary hot spot in the Mead Neighborhood Association area and suspects were identified. The suspects left town and the numbers went down, but now they are back in town. He encouraged citizens to report any suspicious activity in the area of Harry and Hillside. Wendy Ratliff asked about a child being hit by a car in Planeview; Officer Long said he heard the call come out and the injuries to the child were minor. Wichita Fire Department Report Battalion Chief Tom Carney reported there were only three fires in District III in December and they were all accidental: 3900 E. Ross Parkway - - vacant duplex; 2800 E. Wilma - child playing with lighter; and 600 S. Quentin – extension cord. The total fire damage in the City in December was around a half million dollars, but only $27,000 occurred in District III. Chief Carney said WFD responded to 46,000 calls in 2011 and 8,000 of those were in District III. There were eight fire deaths compared to four in 2010. He said in four of them there were no working smoke alarms and most four of them (possibly even six of them) were due to careless smoking. Action: Receive and file. NEW BUSINESS Park Board Recommendation for Golf Fund Sustainability Andy Solter, District III Park Board Representative, presented the Park Board recommendations. The Park Board conducted six public meetings and presented their recommendations to the City Council in a workshop on December 13, 2011. The Park Board presented the following recommendations: 1. Improve customer service 2. Increase marketing 3. Capital Improvement Reductions 4. Adjust the Park Capital Improvement Plan to assist Golf Fund with debt payments 5. Increase green fees and other revenues He said the initial plan was to close Clapp Golf Course, but after several public meetings it because clear that was not what the public wanted. Solter explained that all of the City golf courses are operating at a profit, but Auburn Hills has a remaining debt of $3.12 million. If no changes are made, the forecasted negative cash balance of the golf fund is expected to be $6 million by 2020. Solter said part of the plan is to move $1.1 million in the current Park Capital Improvement Plan from a 2017 future project in order to address a number of issues including the repair the Clapp roof, address parking lot issues at several golf courses and make club house improvements at Tex Consolver, Sim and Auburn Hills. Dave Robbins asked for confirmation that the damaged roof at Clapp Golf Course would be repaired. Bryan Frye, president of the Park Board, said that project is a top priority. Elena Ingle asked of all of the $1.1 million being transferred in the CIP came from Planeview Park in District III; Solter said yes. Ingle asked why a large portion of that $1.1 million was being dedicated to improvements at Auburn Hills when it is the golf course with all the existing debt. 2  District III Advisory Board Minutes for Feb. 1, 2012 Jody Bennett said she has real concerns about the maintenance of the current facilities with Clapp being a primary example. Doug Kupper, Director of Park and Recreation, said at the public meetings golfers indicated they would prefer to see the actual golf courses maintained rather than fixing up the clubhouses. Danny Johnson asked what project in Planeview is being delayed by removing the $1.1 million; Kupper said there was no project – it had been determined under the PROS plan that if everything was rosy the Park Department wanted to spend $2 million in Planeview, but the economy has changed since then. Johnson said he didn’t agree with that philosophy – that all too frequently government takes funding from under-served areas and puts it elsewhere because they know there won’t be any pushback from people in poverty. Solter said he agreed with that, but the money wasn’t actually allocated to a specific project in Planeview. Elena Ingle wanted to know why the Auburn Hills Clubhouse was getting a big chunk of that money if golfers didn’t want the clubhouses fixed up. Dave Robbins said he thinks Clapp serves low income citizens. Terry Brewster asked why Clapp was the golf course chosen to close; Solter said because it has the lowest revenues. Brewster said Clapp is paid off so if you compare the revenue to the existing debt, it more than likely would be higher on the list than Auburn Hills. Solter said he and the Park Board have gone to battle to keep Clapp open. Jody Bennett asked how water usage impacts the golf courses; Kupper said all of them are on wells with the exception of Clapp, which is on City water. The upside to that is that Clapp has a type of turf that doesn’t require a lot of water, Kupper said. Gay Quisenberry asked what the timeframe was for the roof replacement at Clapp; Kupper said this summer with City Council approval. Paul Davis said he attended one of the first public meetings which was held at McDonald Golf Course and at that time he felt like the City/Park Board had already decided to close Clapp. He said at subsequent public meetings things seemed to change and he felt like the public was actually being heard, and he was very pleased with that. Davis said from 1996 to 2000 the city golf courses were all over-booked and over-played so he could see how projections could be off, especially concerning Auburn Hills. Davis shared some history on how that golf course came about when a developer gave the land for the golf course to the City; he also mentioned that at one of the public meetings a person who owns a home at Auburn Hills said she was “entitled” to have premier golf course in her neighborhood. Solter said he wasn’t sure that the current City Council and City administration would make the same decisions that were made back when Auburn Hills was constructed, but the only choice now is to deal with it. Gay Quisenberry asked when this item will be presented to Council for a vote; Bryan Frye said no sooner than Feb. 14. Ingle opened the discussion to the public. Jan Hunt said she thinks they decided to keep Clapp open so part of the $1.1 million could go to Auburn Hills. Jim Gulick referred to the comment by Paul Davis regarding the woman who lives at Auburn Hills and feels “entitled.” He said she was told by her Real Estate Agent that it was in her best interest to keep the golf course open in order to maintain her property value. Gulick said if the value of these homes is increased by the presence of a golf course, the City should be reaping benefits via property taxes. Kupper said it is true that homes located near a park or open space have a higher property value. 3  District III Advisory Board Minutes for Feb. 1, 2012 Kupper also pointed out that Park and Recreation offers extensive youth programming that costs the City a lot because those programs occur during “prime tee times.” Roger Smith wanted to know how often the Park Board will analyze the status of the golf fund; Solter said it would be done on an ongoing basis. Bryan Frye said the Park Board will look at it at every meeting (monthly) and that Doug Kupper would most likely be reviewing it weekly or daily. Dave Robbins complimented the Park Board for its hard work and made a motion to recommend approval of the Park Board recommendations to the City Council. Brewster seconded the motion and commented on how happy he was that Clapp would remain open. Motion passed 6-2 ZON2012-00002 - Zone change from the existing SF-5 Single-family Residential to TF-3 Two-family Residential zoning on a 0.5-acre platted property Jess McNeely, Metropolitan Area Planning Department, presented a request for a zone change from the existing SF-5 Single-family Residential to TF-3 Two-family Residential zoning on a 0.5-acre platted property located at 3301 E. Navajo Lane. The site was developed in 1930, presumably with the existing duplex structure. This area came under County zoning in 1958 within the “R-1” zoning district; the R-1 zoning district permitted only single-family residential uses, and did not permit duplexes. The area was subsequently annexed into the City of Wichita, and zoned the current SF-5 district. The applicants are seeking re-financing on this property, and are required by a lending institution to bring the property into zoning conformance. Elena Ingle asked if Planning has the historical data on the property; McNeely said no, if that was required it would be incumbent on the applicant to obtain it. Dave Robbins asked if the neighbors have been notified of the zoning request; McNeely said yes. Elena Ingle said she went by the property and she didn’t see a sign posted; the applicant said it isn’t required to be up until Feb. 3rd and they were going to wait until that date to post it. Paul Davis asked McNeely a question about Conditional Use Permits and they discussed why that wouldn’t be the best option for this property and what the consequences of a natural disaster could be. Jody Bennett asked if any protests had been received; McNeely said no. Tony Wood, the applicant, said they live in one part of the duplex, which they purchased five years ago. He said they didn’t realize the zoning discrepancy until they tried to re-finance. He said it was very apparent the property had been originally built as a duplex and had not been converted from single family. Paul Davis commented it was nice when the actual applicant showed up instead of sending a mouthpiece. Danny Johnson (Davis) made a motion to recommend approval of the requested change. Motion passed 8-0 UPDATES, ISSUES AND REPORTS Janet Johnson announced there would be a special DAB III meeting on Feb. 21 to hear the proposed Capital Improvement Plan. Jody Bennett reported the LED sign is getting ready to go up at 47th and Hydraulic. 4  District III Advisory Board Minutes for Feb. 1, 2012 Danny Johnson said he wanted to clarify his vote on the golf item. He said he appreciated the hard work of the Park Board and he felt like District III won and lost with the recommendation. He said he was very happy Clapp will stay open, but disappointed the necessary funding for the Golf Fund is coming solely from District III and particularly the Planeview area. Terry Brewster thanked Janet for contacting the Wichita Eagle regarding the flyers. He said he spoke to both the Publisher and the person who is in charge of the flyer distribution. He said both of those individuals were very responsive to his concerns and if anyone has issues, they should contact the distribution person at American Newspaper at 558-8400. Meeting was adjourned. The next meeting for District Advisory Board III will be a special meeting to be held at 6:30 p.m., Feb. 21, 2012, at the Water Center at 101 E. Pawnee. Respectfully submitted, Janet Johnson, Neighborhood Assistant – District III Guests Connie Klassen Jan Hunt Steven Walters Pat White Jim Gulick Andy Solter Bryan Frye Tony Wood Elisha Wood Roger Smith Trisha Epps Tom Strickland Betty Strickland Gerald Henry Jim Gulick 5