District 3 Advisory Board

District III Advisory Board Minutes for March 6, 2013 District III Advisory Board Minutes March 6, 2013 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; nine District Advisory Board members were in attendance; nine City staff and six members of the public were present. Members Present Eric Bell Staff Present Jody Bennett Officer Eric Noack, Patrol East Terry Brewster Officer Genaro Arroyo, Patrol South Paul Davis Bill Longnecker, MAPD Elena Ingle Jennea Noel, Park and Rec Danny Johnson Chief Ron Blackwell, WFD Wendy Ratliff Capt. Brien Snyder, WFD David Robbins Jeremy Kuffler, WFD Connie White Bryce Woods, WFD Council Member James Clendenin Janet Johnson, Neighborhood Services Members Absent Guests Roger Smith Listed on the last page ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:32 p.m. Council Member Clendenin called the meeting to order. Minutes from the Feb. 6, 2013, meeting were approved with one correction. He introduced new DAB member Eric Bell who lives in the K- 15 Neighborhood. PUBLIC AGENDA Scheduled items No items Non-Scheduled items No items Action: Receive and file. STAFF REPORTS Community Police Report Officer Genaro Arroyo, Beat 28, Patrol South, said there was a police chase that resulted in a fatality, but he did not have the details on it. He reported the 28 beat was recently hit hard with gang graffiti and it caused a lot of property damage – three arrests were made for that. Also around Christmas there was a spike in burglaries and police have made two arrests in conjunction with that. They were all juveniles. He also reported:  Lowe’s is going to assist the homeowners at Stewart Village in burglar proofing their homes.  In the area of MacArthur and Hydraulic, a 50 year old white male in a blue mini-van tried to get a 13-year-old girl to get in.  3839 S. Broadway has experienced a number of stolen vehicles  Patrol South did a special project last month on larcenies at the YMCA  Officer Kern is working on the graffiti by Mike’s Steak House 1  District III Advisory Board Minutes for March 6, 2013 Officer Eric Noack, Beat 39 Patrol East, reported Patrol East did a special assignment where they focused on traffic, blight and warrants. He said the focus was in the 32, 34 and 35 beats and Officers made 6 felony warrant arrests, 7 misdemeanor arrests, stickered 82 illegally parked vehicles, arrested 1 robbery suspect and 2 burglary suspects. He said because the assignment was so successful, they will most likely do another one in the near future. Wichita Fire Department Report Capt. Brien Snyder reported in February there were 5 fires that were investigated in District III; 1 was accidental, 2 were arson, 1 was undetermined and 1 is still under investigation. Total property damage was $26,500. Total fire damage in February citywide was $374,920. He also reminded everyone with the time change to change the batteries in their smoke alarms. Capt. Snyder said during the snow storm, the fire department added three reserves and three extra squads. He said Station 22 averages 7 to 8 calls per day; the least he has ever seen were 2 calls and the highest in one day 23 calls. Dave Robbins asked if any firefighters were injured in accidents last month; Chief Blackwell said no, but they currently have 15 firefighters on the injury list. Jody Bennett asked if any of the fires were the result of being snowed in; Chief Blackwell said no, it was the normal stuff. One citizen had a question on the best type of smoke alarm to purchase; Chief Blackwell said it doesn’t really matter, as long as it is UL tested and approved. He went on to say the Fire Department still has free smoke alarms and batteries available, so citizens can call if they need an alarm. Park and Recreation Department Jennea Noel announced the spring session class list is now out and can be picked up at any Rec Center, or accessed online. She also reported that Park and Rec received about 1100 responses to the aquatic survey and that on March 23rd there will be an Easter event at Watson Park. Action: Receive and file. NEW BUSINESS CON2013-00001 Bill Longnecker, Metropolitan Area Planning Department, presented a request for a conditional use to permit “Mining of Quarrying” specifically sand extraction from Go Lake, generally located south of 31 st St. and east of Broadway. The request would permit a short term (nine months) industrial use (sand excavation and removal) to provide the greater community with a needed new Broadway Bridge of the Arkansas River and the Union Pacific Rail Road Track. Longnecker said the request had already been approved by the MAPC, and if there weren’t any protests, the request would be approved. He said he has heard from two residents in the area, but one was calling about inappropriate outdoor storage and the other was concerned about a private drive; neither of which have to do with this conditional use request. 2  District III Advisory Board Minutes for March 6, 2013 Paul Davis wanted to know if the owner of the lake would be financially compensated; Longnecker said yes. He also wanted to know if the road paving was a part of the project, or would be billed to the property owners; Longnecker said it’s part of the project. Connie White, (Ingle) made a motion that the request be approved, subject to conditions as required by the UZC. Action: Motion passed 9-0. UPDATES, ISSUES AND REPORTS Council Member Clendenin provided some history on the NBC baseball tournament that is held in Wichita every year, and said he will be attending a meeting on March 27th regarding the future of the tournament. He said they want to make the tournament bigger and better. Terry Brewster asked if the audit has been completed; CM Clendenin said yes. The Council Member also acknowledged being pleased construction has begun on the South Broadway Bridge. He said currently, fire trucks are too heavy to drive over the bridge, so when responding to emergencies they have to find an alternate route to avoid the bridge. Council Member Clendenin announced there will be a final hearing on the Southfork Development at the April 16 City Council meeting. He said one of the first things going into that development will be an Emergency Medical Care facility. Jody Bennett asked if the TIF boundaries had been resolved; the Council Member said yes, that was taken care of during the last Council meeting. Connie White announced Fairfax will have a neighborhood picnic in April and will be attending the training for Neighborhood Clean ups in March. Terry Brewster said he talked to the flyer people at the Eagle again and he thinks he finally has his issue resolved. Paul Davis reported his neighbors didn’t like the City survey sent out by WSU. He said they didn’t like the way the questions were presented, so they just threw the survey away instead of finishing it. Jody Bennett announced the South Area Neighborhood Association will hold a District III City Council candidate forum on March 11 at 7 p.m. She also expressed concern over the water issue. Dave Robbins expressed concern over the possibility of Southeast High closing and said he plans on attending the school board meeting. Vaughn Fox announced the next East Mt. Vernon Neighborhood Assoc. meeting will be at 6:30 on March 14. Council Member Clendenin said the City Council recently had a workshop on the City’s water supply. He said right now Wichita has about 2 years until it runs out of water. He said he encourages everyone to conserve water and reduce irrigation. He said the most effective way to reduce water usage is to price it very high, but that for some citizens who live in areas with Home Owner Associations this could be a financial burden because the HOAs will insist that lawns be kept green. He went on to say the City could buy themselves another two years by drilling deeper into the equus beds. He said the Council will be looking at all options. 3  District III Advisory Board Minutes for March 6, 2013 Regarding Southeast High School, he said he had spoken with School Board Member Barb Fuller and she assured him that even if a new high school were built, the Southeast High building would not remain vacant. Jody Bennett said that area is a neighborhood in transition and losing the high school won’t help it. Meeting was adjourned. The next meeting for District Advisory Board III will be held at 6:30 p.m., April 3, 2013, at the Water Center at 101 E. Pawnee. Respectfully submitted, Janet Johnson, Neighborhood Assistant – District III Guests Tom Strickland Betty Strickland Trisha Epps Vaughn Fox Ron Trace Pat White 4