District 3 Advisory Board

District III Advisory Board Minutes for July 3, 2013 District III Advisory Board Minutes July 3, 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; 10 District Advisory Board members were in attendance; seven City staff and nine members of the public were present. Members Present Members Absent Eric Bell Jody Bennett Staff Present Terry Brewster Officer Richard Sparks, Patrol East Paul Davis Officer Alex Recio, Patrol South Elena Ingle Officer Shanna Cornwell, Patrol South Danny Johnson Officer Clayton Schuler, Patrol South Wendy Ratliff Cynthia Berner Harris, Library David Robbins Mark Manning, Finance Roger Smith Janet Johnson, Neighborhood Services Connie White Council Member James Clendenin Guests Listed on the last page ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:30 p.m. Council Member Clendenin called the meeting to order. Minutes from the June 5, 2013, meeting were approved. PUBLIC AGENDA Scheduled items No items Non-Scheduled items Council Member Clendenin presented Roger Smith with a certificate of appreciation for his service on the District Advisory Board. STAFF REPORTS Community Police Report Officer Alex Recio, Patrol South, Beat 23, introduced himself and let everyone know that he is also covering Beat 22. Officer Recio typically attends the DAB 1 meetings. Officer Shanna Cornwell, Beat 27, Patrol South, introduced Officer Clayton Schuler who is the new Community Police Officer for Beat 25. Officer Richard Sparks, Patrol East, reported they have two in custody for the air conditioner thefts. He said around 120 units have been stolen over the past few weeks. Paul Davis asked if police were able to determine where the stolen units were being sold; Officer Sparks said yes. Wichita Fire Department Report No report 1  District III Advisory Board Minutes for July 3, 2013 Action: Receive and file. NEW BUSINESS 2014-15 City Budget Update Mark Manning, Finance, presented the latest information regarding the 2014-15 budget. Manning reported unfortunately expenses continue to grow faster than revenue and he reviewed a number of the measures being proposed by the City Manager to address the shortfall. The following items elicited questions/responses from meeting attendees.  Environmental Health food inspection and child care licensing – either terminate the contract and give the responsibilities back to the State, or increase the fees. Dave Robbins asked if the State Contract doesn’t cover the cost. Manning said it does, but it doesn’t cover the associated administrative costs for supervisory and support personnel.  Evergreen/Minisa pool swap and keep McAdams open. Betty Strickland wanted to know what attendance is like at the pools. Manning said even though Minisa is smaller, it’s used a lot more than Evergreen and McAdams is currently one of the least used pools. He said eventually the City would like to have fewer pools, but larger, strategically placed ones. Tom Strickland said in order to repair a pool you almost have to completely destroy it in order to access the necessary areas. He said it makes more sense to build a new pool than to repair an old one.  Eliminating or holding open positions. Elena Ingle asked how eliminating or holding open a position that is already vacant saves money. Manning said the position is budgeted on paper, so by eliminating it, the money can be shifted somewhere else.  Watson Park. Connie White asked for clarification on what the plan for Watson is. Manning said the City needs to do a study to see if amenities can be maintained at less cost, i.e. using volunteers, contracting for services, etc.  City Hall Security Screener outsourcing. Ellen Estes asked how this saves money since you have to pay a contractor anyway. Manning said savings result from not having to pay for benefits and larger companies that specialize in a certain area can typically provide the service more efficiently. Estes also asked how much of a property tax increase on a $100,000 home would be required in order to keep all of the aforementioned cuts intact. Manning said approximately $13 per year. Council Member Clendenin said these are hard decisions because the City Council has already cut all the fat and is now having to cut into the flesh of City services. He outlined some of the options he supports and why.  The changes in Fire because at the city/county fire station, they only responded to 4 fire calls last year; those resources could be used somewhere else  Contracting out the Government Relations position after the current employee retires  Riverside Zoo Exhibit is a tough one, but the habitat is expensive to maintain and isn’t the greatest for the animals The Council Member assured everyone that Watson Park isn’t going to be shut down. He pointed out that the City contracted out mowing a few years ago and was able to save $1 million. Paul Davis said the City Council has done a great job of not increasing the mill levy and as a businessman he appreciates that because businesses pay about 2½ times what residential property owners pay. 2  District III Advisory Board Minutes for July 3, 2013 Recommended Action: Provide feedback New Central Library Architectural Services Steve Roberts, Library Board President Pro Tem, and Cynthia Berner Harris, Director of Libraries, gave a PowerPoint presentation outlining the need for a new library and the challenges with the current building. The next step in the project process is to identify an architectural firm and its consultants to comprise a building design team to continue the project through schematic design, design development and creation of construction documents. A request for qualifications will be used to select the building design team. The City will retain HBM as its library consultant throughout the design phase and the preparation of construction documents to help ensure that the intent and efficiencies identified in the building program are realized by the building design. The adopted 2011-2020 CIP includes $18,000,000 in 2014 and $12,000,000 in 2015 for this project ($30 million). Roger Smith asked if the Library currently utilizes volunteers; Berner-Harris said yes the number utilized equates to about 12 fte’s (full-time employees). Dave Robbins asked how autonomous the Library Board is; Roberts said they are an independent body, but they do not have a dedicated mil levy or taxation ability. Robbins asked what efforts have been made to secure grants; Roberts said they are always on the lookout for grant opportunities, but with the state of the economy grants have become very competitive. Danny Johnson asked if increasing the debt ratio into the 90th percentile would make it difficult to borrow money. Kevin Mc Whortor, Library Board member who works in the field of municipal financing, said the City would still be in a position to borrow money. The City might have to borrow at a higher rate, but not significantly. Johnson asked if a new library could be funded by sales tax; Roberts said the Library Board is not a taxing authority. Johnson asked Council Member Clendenin if that option was being discussed; CM Clendenin said there have been some “robust” discussions. Connie White wanted to know when the Library was built; Berner-Harris said 1965. Terry Brewster commented that the PowerPoint presentation was the best one he has ever seen at a DAB meeting and acknowledged that he sees it as an important quality of life issue. He asked when the building needs to be ADA complaint; Roberts said probably 2016. Brewster said he also had concerns about maintaining the bond rating and he liked the idea of a sales tax. Connie White asked how long it would take to design and build a new library; Roberts said the general estimate is 9 to 10 months for design and 12 to 15 months for construction. Elena Ingle asked if a new library is built, what the plans for the old building are; Roberts said he didn’t know. Ellen Estes said she started her genealogy research in the basement of the downtown library; that the building is 50 years old and needs to be replaced. Kevin McWhortor said he had heard the city of Detroit mentioned in regard to debt ratio and financial concerns, but for Wichita to reach the point where Detroit is, it would have to lose 70 percent of its population. Jim Underwood said he is a DAB IV member and he went to that meeting opposed to the idea of a new 3  District III Advisory Board Minutes for July 3, 2013 library, but the presentation changed his mind. He expressed concern of the lack of ADA compliance and said it only takes one lawsuit, and the building isn’t old enough to be historically exempted. He also pointed out if the current building was struck by a tornado, they would lose all the contents. Jody Bennett asked if a new library design would allow for upward expansion; Roberts said only two floors, but it would be build with maximum flexibility in mind. Paul Davis asked what it will cost to put the RFQ out; Roberts said that won’t cost anything other than publication costs. Berner-Harris said they anticipate the actual design cost will be about 7% of the total project cost – around $2 million. Davis said he liked the idea of using sales tax to pay for the library, particularly if food and medical could be exempted. Connie White thinks the sales tax is more fair because then it’s not just property owners being taxed. Recommended Action: Provide feedback. UPDATES, ISSUES AND REPORTS Meeting was adjourned. The next meeting for District Advisory Board III will be held at 6:30 p.m., August 7, 2013, at the Water Center at 101 E. Pawnee. Respectfully submitted, Janet Johnson, Neighborhood Assistant – District III Guests Tom Strickland Betty Strickland Tricia Epps Jim Gulick Jim Underwood Judy Dillard Steve Roberts Kevin McWhortor Ellen Estes 4