District 3 Advisory Board

District III Advisory Board Minutes for March 2, 2016 District III Advisory Board Minutes March 2, 2016 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 James Clendenin, ten District Advisory Board members, three City staff and three signed in members of the public were present. Members Present Members Absent Elena Ingle Marjorie Griffith David Robbins Jessica Hutton Connie White Paul Davis Staff Present Gerald Henry TeiaWair, Community Service Representative Terry Brewster Bryan Frye, City Councilman for District V Eric Bell David McGuire, Division Manager Park & Bruce Gass Rec Cindy Miles Emily “Emy” Winterhaltor Guests Vice Mayor James Clendenin Listed on last page ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:30 p.m. Vice Mayor James Clendenin called the meeting to order. Minutes from the February 3, 2016 meeting were approved. The agenda for the current meeting was approved. STAFF REPORTS Fire Report None: Fire reports are presented every other month. Next fire report will be April 6, 2016. Police Report None: Police reports are presented every other month. Next Police report will be April 6, 2016. Vice-Mayor James Clendenin, informed DAB as well as the public, about Officer Justin Whyte’s resignation from the Wichita Police Department. Officer Whyte, his wife and children have moved to Colby, KS. He plans to pursue a business with his wife as well as be an officer for the Colby Police Department. This has created a huge void in Community Policing. PUBLIC AGENDA Scheduled Items David McGuire, Division Manager, Park & Recreation, Park Maintenance and Forestry, provided a recommendation of a proposal to add a Disc Golf Course to West Cessna Park. Provided a map of what the purposed site will resemble. He stated that several months ago the Air Capitol Disc Golf Club Association approached Park & Rec with the idea that they were seeking to replace the Disc Golf baskets located in Oak Park. At that time Air Capitol also stated that they had interest in adding two additional Disc Golf courses in parks located in other regions of the city. Currently there are Disc Golf Courses in Hermon Hill Park located 1  District III Advisory Board Minutes for March 2, 2016 in South Wichita and Oak Park located in North Wichita. Park & Rec desired a location towards the East and West which allowed them to decide West Cessna Park as an ideal location. West Cessna Park is located north of Pawnee (Kansas Turnpike), south of Mt Vernon and West of Woodlawn. West Cessna Park is utilized by Cross County teams, but not as often as years past because the course is shorter than the actual course used for Cross Country meets. Prior to the Disc Golf course going into Hermon Hill as well as Oak Park, both parks were known for undesirable situations and clientele; however the clientele utilizing the park is now positive. Installation of a Disc Golf Course may create additional traffic to the neighborhood located by the park but the traffic will be positive. The Disc Golfs will not fly over the fence on to the Turnpike nor will they be a hazard to the Cross Country teams. This will be a team effort between Air Capitol Disc Golf Club and Park & Rec. Park & rec will install the Disc Golf baskets donated from Air Capitol. Vice-Mayor James Clendenin, stated that the gate has been closed to West Cessna Park because a few neighbors had issues with the activities going on in the park. He has requested that the gate be removed because green space is meant to be used and adding the Disc Golf course will bring positive people to the park. DAB? Will the park be cleaned up prior to adding the Disc Golf Course? A: Yes, the park will be cleaned up. Also there are plans to install a post and cable around the park to eliminate people driving on the curbs. DAB? What is the cost to add this Disc Golf Course? A: Roughly 20/30 man hours. They can install a hole in about an hour. The plan is to put two sleeves in. The concrete pads will be donated from donations to Air Capitol. No money will be spent. DAB? Will they cut down trees and remove trees? A: There will be minimal tree removal because Disc Golf is played around trees. Public? Will the Cross Country Runners get hit by whole # 7? A: The photo looks like it’s close to the path but it is not. They will ensure the course is safe for all utilizing the course and the Cross Country runners. Pay attention to the safety because the disc are heavy and have sharp edges. Public? Is this course for everyone or just the club? A: The course is for anyone to utilize. David McGuire: Stated that Emporia hosted the world Disc Golf Course, which was held on their regular golf course. Dab? If an organization wanted to hold a tournament and utilize the course how would they obtain access? A: The organization would contact Park & Rec and complete a special event applications. There is not a package yet with pricing for the Disc Golf Course but they do have packages for the Softball fields; a similar process will be utilized. Motion: The District Advisory Board recommend that installation of the Disc Golf Course be APPROVED. Result: Motion passed 10-0. Vice-Mayor James Clendenin, stated that there is a possibility that complaints will be vocalized, once the gates are opened. David McGuire, stated that he plans to speak with those specific residents that voiced the original complaints regarding closing the gates. 2  District III Advisory Board Minutes for March 2, 2016 Off-agenda items Vice-Mayor James Clendenin, thanked councilman Bryan Fyre district V, for attending District III Advisory Board meeting. Councilman Frye is observing to hear what is occurring in other parts of the city. He mentioned that Councilman Frye has hit the ground running and doing an amazing job, which does not surprise him because Councilman Frye has tons of experience and has been the president on the Park & Rec board for ages. Councilmen Bryan Fyre, stated that he had no agenda but wanted to observe other District Advisory Board meeting to ensure his DAB meetings were running as efficiently and productive as possible. He mentioned that he used to play disc golf at Cessna Park about twenty to twenty-five years ago. At that time, the Disc Golf courses were not maintained which caused the course to be removed. The Disc Golf Committee came back to the Park Board and stated that they have reformed and reestablished, which shows with the current disc golf courses. Adding the course back to Cessna Park is a great amenity. Vice-Mayor James Clendenin, stated that Disc Golf is fun, fun to be bad at. If you don’t get a chance to play Disc Golf walk around the holes at Hermon Hill Park or Oak Park. Its great you see parts of the parks you never see. He thinks District III has the most parks. The parks are great parks. Vice-Mayor James Clendenin, introduced the new train that is coming soon to O.J. Watson Park by showing a slide show of photos of a train that resembles the new train. The photos were taken when Vice-Mayor James Clendenin and Councilman Bryan Fyre toured chance manufacturing. During their tour they viewed the assembly process as well as the piece of the train for O.J. Watson Park. The new train will pull three cars instead of one. Receiving a new train took a while, but because residence in the neighborhood were persistent about receiving a new train, he was able to advocate hard and get it accomplished. This is a great example when citizens express the value they see in some of the green space and areas in Wichita. He encouraged citizens to be vocal because this allows him to see as well state that he has support from the public. Vice-Mayor James Clendenin, Stated that there are other things underway for Southeast Wichita. Improvements are coming to South Broadway which will be beneficial to South Central Neighborhood. They are working on ways to clean-up neighborhoods and help with blight trying to think outside the box. Doing things that will help with blight in Southeast Wichita. They are hiring an Environmental Court Liaison for Environmental court. This person will be responsible for providing resources to help those sent to Environmental court that are unable to clean-up or repair their property. The illegal dumping program has not been implemented yet because they are working on hiring a contractor to take care of all the illegal dumping. There is also an administrative position open which will be responsible for taking all the illegal dumping calls to ensure the illegal dumping clean-up process runs efficiently. The Forestry department has a 3 year backlog but should be caught up in 18 months. DAB? There are a number of ways to tackle illegal dumping. Consider talking to neighborhood associations and solicit their ideas. Vice-Mayor James Clendenin, stated that is a great idea and he wants citizen’s feedback. There are a lot of projects underway because citizens provided input. DAB? Will the positions be volunteer or a paid position? Vice-Mayor James Clendenin, the positions will be a paid position through the City of Wichita. 3  District III Advisory Board Minutes for March 2, 2016 NEW BUSINESS Scheduled Items None BOARD AGENDA Meeting was adjourned. The next District Advisory Board III meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., April 6, 2016, at the WATER Center, 101 E. Pawnee, Wichita, KS 67211. Respectfully submitted, Teia Wair, Community Service Representative – District III Guests Catherine Johnson Lonny Wright Ron Tracy 4