District 3 Advisory Board

District III Advisory Board Minutes for August 7, 2013 District III Advisory Board Minutes August 7, 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; 11 District Advisory Board members were in attendance; seven City staff and 28 members of the public were present (four did not sign in). Members Present Members Absent Eric Bell Jody Bennett Staff Present Terry Brewster Officer Justin Whyte, Patrol East Paul Davis Officer Greg Murray, Patrol South Vaughn Fox Gary Janzen, City Engineer Marjorie Griffith Tim Davidson, Public Works Engineering Elena Ingle Bill Longnecker, MAPD Danny Johnson Karen Sublette, City Clerk Wendy Ratliff Janet Johnson, Neighborhood Services David Robbins Connie White Guests Council Member James Clendenin Listed on the last page ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:30 p.m. Council Member Clendenin called the meeting to order. Minutes from the July 3, 2013, meeting were approved. DAB members took the Oath of Office and were sworn in by City Clerk Karen Sublette. (Danny Johnson left after the swearing in). PUBLIC AGENDA Scheduled items No items Non-Scheduled items Alex Jackson, a Wichita youth, was recognized by Council Member Clendenin and Officer Justin Whyte for his civic engagement in helping keep Friendship Park free from trash. Alex participated in the Filling the Gap program and unsolicited, took it upon himself to clean up trash in the park. He was presented with a Certificate of Recognition. Lonnie Wright, District 3 resident, reported he is irritated with the Delano District group because they are complaining about the Southfork Development. He said they are forming a strong movement against any potential oil drilling the City might be considering and he doesn’t have a problem with that, but they don’t need to be saying things about the Southfork Development. Paul Davis, DAB member, said there has been a suggestion that the new airport be named after Dwight D. Eisenhower. He said he would like to see the DAB formally endorse that name. Council Member Clendenin said he would check into having someone attend next month’s meeting to address the issue. 1  District III Advisory Board Minutes for August 7, 2013 STAFF REPORTS Community Police Report Officer Justin Whyte, Patrol East, Beat 32, announced that Celebrate Safe Communities (formerly National Night Out) is slated for Oct. 1st. Registration is due by Sept. 25th and can be done online, or by calling 268-4165. He said Patrol East recently conducted four larceny special assignments, but they weren’t extremely successful, most likely due to the rain. He reminded citizens to not become crime victims; keep vehicles locked and remove all valuables. Connie White said she called 911 about a suspicious event and asked that she be contacted and no one ever called her back. Officer Whyte said he heard the call come out, and that he would contact the responding Officer and get back with her. Officer Greg Murray, Beat 26, Patrol South, reported they did a prostitution sting on July 31 that resulted in two felony arrests and two misdemeanor arrests. He also reported that 29 Beat has experienced a lot of break-in’s that are occurring during the daytime. Wal-Mart is experiencing another spike in larcenies with items being stolen out of vehicles and from unattended shopping carts. He said they are also seeing criminals steal the vehicle registration and garage door opener out of cars and then they go to the victim’s house and burglarize it while the person is still at the store, often busy with police making a report of the vehicle break- in. Wichita Fire Department Report Lt. John Eck reported a recent spike in activity for District III. Last month there were 19 fires that caused substantial damage: 12 were accidental, four were arson, two were undetermined and one is still under investigation. He said Firefighters have been busy practicing river rescue training. Currently, the river is flowing at about 5 mph. He said this is swift enough to pin and ultimately drown a person. A discussion ensued on when it is appropriate to call 911 when individuals, particularly children, are spotted in flooded or high water areas. Action: Receive and file. NEW BUSINESS CON2013-00015 Bill Longnecker, MAPD, presented a request for a conditional use to allow a nightclub in the city. The property is located at 2304 S. Oliver and owned by Gary and Debra Lofland (applicants). Longnecker said the MAPC approved the request with the seven listed conditions. He said he received one protest, so the case will proceed to the City Council for approval. (Vaughn Fox arrived at the meeting) Elena Ingle asked how far from the church the club is; Longnecker said the church is within the notification boundary. Ingle said she knows some elderly people who live on Blake Street who could be impacted. She wanted to know what kind of noise is generated by the club. Gary Lofland, applicant, said they have been operating there since 2007 and they have not received any noise complaints. Paul Davis asked if Lofland owns the property as well as the business; he said yes. Dave Robbins asked Lofland if he anticipated any changes in how he runs the business, due to the zoning change. Lofland said no, just some physical improvements. 2  District III Advisory Board Minutes for August 7, 2013 Terry Brewster asked how it came to be that he had operated this business since 2007 and was now having to request a zoning change. Lofland explained he had sold the building at one point, but the person let it go back and it had been closed for two months, which required a zoning permit when Lofland re-opened it. Hoyt Hillman asked how much of their total business is food sales; Lofland said about 30 percent. Dave Robbins (Davis) made a motion to approve the applicant’s request for the conditional use permit. Paul Davis and Terry Brewster echoed similar responses to the motion stating Mr. Lofland is a small business owner who is paying his taxes and doing his best to run a good business. They said he is doing a great job, he has no neighborhood complaints, and there is no reason not to grant the CUP. Motion passed 8-1. Georgia Avenue paving petition Tim Davidson, Public Works Engineering, presented a paving petition for the portion of Georgia Avenue located west of Hydraulic Avenue, within the Louis Fourth and Fifth Additions. A petition signed by resident owners representing 47.7% of the improvement district and 58.5% of the resident owners has been submitted in support of the project. Proposed improvements include construction of an asphalt street, curb and gutter, and drainage accommodations such as storm sewer and drainage inlets where necessary. The project will extend from the intersection of Georgia and Hydraulic to the west, approximately 1400 feet, or the end of the street. The current street has a dead end and serves the adjacent properties, and the improvement district within the petition has been limited to these properties. The estimated project cost is $380,000, with $359,480, or 93.66% of the final project cost being assessed to the improvement district, and $24,092, or 6.34% paid by the City through General Obligation bonds. The proposed method of assessment is the square foot basis with each property owner’s share being based on the size of the lot(s). Special assessments can be paid in one lump sum, or over 20 years as an assessment against the property. The estimates do not include financing costs that will be incurred during bonding, or the design and construction phases of the project. Davidson used a PowerPoint to explain the street paving petition process and also how some residents may go about qualifying for a hardship deferral. He said the petition will go to City Council on Sept. 10th and he expects construction would occur next summer. One citizen asked if they could remove their name from the petition because they signed before they knew the cost. Gary Janzen said one the petition is filed, it’s permanent and no names can be removed. He also said he was surprised they hadn’t seen the price because Public Works has implemented a new process whereby letters go out to residents giving them an estimated cost before the petition is even circulated. Another citizen asked if the cost would be more than the estimate; Janzen said no, in fact most projects come in under the estimate. Terry Brewster (White) made a motion to recommend that City Council approve the paving petition. Motion passed 9-0. 3  District III Advisory Board Minutes for August 7, 2013 UPDATES, ISSUES AND REPORTS Connie White reported they have a couple of problem properties in the Fairfax Neighborhood Association and they have a meeting with WPD on Aug. 13 to discuss. Paul Davis expressed his frustration with attempting to use the Purple wave Auction in order to buy old City equipment. He said as a buyer, it’s a ridiculous way to buy anything. Council Member Clendenin said he would like to set up a meeting with the City Manager and Paul to discuss further. Jody Bennett said she hopes the City continues with its water conservation efforts. She also reported there is still a considerable amount of tree debris in her area as a result of the wind storm. Council Member Clendenin said if the property owners don’t clean it up, we may have to involve OCI. Dave Robbins said Fabrique Neighborhood Association is going to try to have a neighborhood picnic on Sept. 27th. Eric Bell said K-15 will have their clean up on Aug. 24th and their meeting attendance has really increased. Vaughn Fox said East Mt. Vernon will meet on Sept. 12. He also complimented City staff on the excellent job they did with the tree clean up. Council Member Clendenin addressed a number of items:  The rain has made great strides in getting Cheney filled back up to where we need it to be  Southfork Development has almost completed all the preliminary work needed to move the pipeline on the property  The City is looking into the possibility of drilling, but would avoid fracking, if they decided to drill at all.  Regarding the development on the West Bank, Council Member Clendenin said he chose the developer that he did because that design offered public access. He said the other design was a gated community, and because the land belongs to the City and ultimately the tax-payers, he felt like they should have access to the area. A citizen had several questions on City services and who to contact that the Council Member responded to. Meeting was adjourned. The next meeting for District Advisory Board III will be held at 6:30 p.m., Sept. 4, 2013, at the Water Center at 101 E. Pawnee. Respectfully submitted, Janet Johnson, Neighborhood Assistant – District III Guests Tom Strickland Betty Strickland Lonnie Wright Connie Klassen Hazel Drummond Harold Littlejohn Ruby Littlejohn Gary Gaston Carol Albright 4  District III Advisory Board Minutes for August 7, 2013 Hoyt Hillman John Dickson Gary Lofland Debra Lofland Gerald Jackson Darlene Jackson DJ Baker Sierra Baker Alex Jackson Matthew Jackson Destiny Jackson Bonnie Patterson Sally Fahrenthold Mary McCrea Osman Amaya 5