District 3 Advisory Board

District III Advisory Board Minutes for June 3, 2015 District III Advisory Board Minutes June 3, 2015 www.wichita.gov The District III Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at the Wichita WATER Center, 101 E. Pawnee, Wichita, KS 67211; Vice Mayor Clendenin, nine District Advisory Board members; six City staff and nine signed in members of the public were present. Members Present David Robbins Marjorie Griffith Staff Present Elena Ingle Case Bell, Community Liaison Connie White Officer Recio, Wichita Police Bruce Gass Officer Kern, Wichita Police Paul Davis Officer Doshier, Wichita Police Gerald Henry Brian Hill, Park and Recreation Terry Brewster Eric Bell Vice Mayor James Clendenin Guests Listed on last page Members Absent Wendy Ratliff ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:30 p.m. Vice Mayor James Clendenin called the meeting to order. Minutes from the May 6, 2015 meeting were approved. The agenda for the current meeting was approved. STAFF REPORTS Wichita Fire reported on District III and the City. There were four alarms investigated City-wide, two in District III. One of the two was a vehicle fire with a $5,000 loss and the other was an apartment fire with no damage to the structure and $20 in content damage. Officer Recio, Wichita Police, reported on Beat 24. May was very slow with only one residential burglary and one non-residential burglary. There were also a couple of auto-thefts. Officer Kern, Wichita Police, reported on Beat 23. It was also a quiet month there. A neighborhood watch program was started in the 1200 block of S. Kansas. Officer Doshier, Wichita Police, reported on Beat 25. There is also a neighborhood watch program starting in this area. In May there was one aggravated assault and one auto theft. DAB? What is neighborhood watch? A: It’s similar to an organized neighborhood association where citizens look out for each other in watching for criminal activity in the neighborhood. DAB? Do the recent rains have anything to do with the lull in criminal activity? A: It could be, but not certain. 1  District III Advisory Board Minutes for June 3, 2015 PUBLIC AGENDA Scheduled Items None Off-agenda items Public? Is there anything going on at South fork? A: The IHOP will be built by the end of the year as the contract was just finished. Utilities finished two months ago so now they are selling pad sites. There are also contracts in negotiation with Walmart a possibility. The gas pipeline was one holdup because the gas company had engineering issues with the other utilities. Public: Wichita Independent Neighborhoods will be holding Neighborhood University on Saturday August 8th at the Fire Training Center. The topics will be human trafficking, fire safety, hording, and gun safety. More information can be found at www.WINWichita.org. NEW BUSINESS Scheduled Items Brian Hill, Park and Recreation, reported on the OJ Watson Park Master Plan. The Master Plan is ready for review by Park Director Troy Houtman and if approved by him it will go to the City Council. Some of the highlights include: cleanup of the island has started, the golf course was repaired, and a volunteer group “Friends of OJ Watson Park” was created with over 450 hours of volunteer hours last year. They are looking at a new train and coach for the train as well as adding concerts in the park. The streets in the park are being renamed and benches are for sale for sponsorship. They are also looking at miniature golf course tournaments. A new fishing dock is coming, as well as replacing the pony shelter and more screening in 2016. In 2017 a new indoor shelter will be built and one of the playgrounds will be relocated to the south end. In 2018 new shelters and restrooms are expected and an adventure course on the island. Public? Is anything being done about the fly population? A: So far this year it hasn’t been a huge problem. Vice Mayor James Clendenin: The new park director is giving a lot of support to the parks for recreation activities. BOARD AGENDA Vice Mayor James Clendenin: Would like suggestions from the public and the DAB as what presentations or topics they would like to hear at the DAB meetings. Vice Mayor James Clendenin: Suggested that people pay attention to transit for this budget cycle as there are some changes coming to make it more relevant and better able to serve the riders. The routes might be changing and increasing or decreasing in some cases. They are in the final phases of changing the fare structure. Vice Mayor James Clendenin: There will be budget meetings coming up soon. Vice Mayor James Clendenin: South Side CommUNITY Day is coming up this September 12th. This will be the 2nd Annual South Side CommUNITY Day so put it on your calendars. 2  District III Advisory Board Minutes for June 3, 2015 Vice Mayor James Clendenin: Foley Equipment’s incentives were approved by Council yesterday. They were asking for incentives to build a new 100,000 sqft building which would enable them to keep 153 positions here and add 12 new jobs. The tax abatement is for five years on the new building but not the old building and there is also a sales tax abatement. DAB? What safeguards are in place regarding the Foley Equipment incentives? A: If they have property tax abatements the City might put a lien on the building and if they don’t create the jobs they say they would the City can work to get the money back. A DAB Member said that they support saving businesses with a history in Wichita. Vice Mayor James Clendenin mentioned that there was controversy at the last Council meeting because Foley Equipment was in support of the sales tax and the people at Council thought it was unfair that they were asking for a sales tax abatement. Vice Mayor James Clendenin focused on the jobs they were keeping here and that they were investing $19 million money to build the new facility. DAB? Will the contractor for the new building be local? A: That was not disclosed. Vice Mayor James Clendenin: There is progress in Friendship Park in Hilltop. They should be starting with the basketball court and the soccer field. The concrete is already being laid. Vice Mayor James Clendenin: The police have really gotten crime down at Riverfest this year. A couple of years ago arrests were in the triple digit numbers, but this year and last year it is in the single digits. A DAB Member reported that they were concerned about the intersection of Oliver and Mt. Vernon and the bike lanes being put in. It is confusing to traffic without lane reduction signs or striping. Vice Mayor James Clendenin was contacted and engineering now looking into it. Meeting was adjourned. The next meeting for District Advisory Board III will be held at 6:30 p.m., July 8 2015, at the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation located at 507 E. Douglas. Respectfully submitted, Case Bell, Community Liaison – District III Guests Pat White Beth Rush Tom Strickland Better Strickland JD Crole Ronald Tracy Lonny Wright Steven Walters Jan Hurt 3