District 3 Advisory Board

District III Advisory Board Minutes September 7, 2016 District III Advisory Board Minutes September 7, 2016 www.wichita.gov The District III Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at the WATER Center, 101 E. Pawnee, Wichita, KS 67211; Councilman James Clendenin, ten District Advisory Board members, five City staff and sixteen signed in members of the public were present. Members Present Catherine Johnson Elena Ingle Councilman James Clendenin David Robbins Paul Davis Members Absent Emily “Emy” Winterhaltor (youth member) Bruce Gass Gerald Henry Daisy Olivar Staff Present Cindy Miles TeiaWair, Community Services Representative Jessica Hutton Lt. Tim Deneen Marco Alcocer Paul Gunzelman Kathy Morgan Guests Rebecca Greif Listed on last page ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:30 p.m. Councilman James Clendenin called the meeting to order. Minutes from the August 3, 2016 meeting were approved. The agenda for the current meeting was approved. STAFF REPORTS Fire Report Lt. Tim Deneen: Stated that there where no major fire incidents to report. Cautioned citizens to be mindful of children because school is back in session. Encouraged citizens to have their chimney and/or furnace inspected and/or cleaned. Reminded citizens to remove items from floor heaters prior to using the heaters. Change the batteries in smoke alarms during Spring forward/Fall back or at least twice a year. Install a Carbon Monoxide detector in the living quarters of your home. Public: Mr. Hoobler inquired if the Fire Department will be giving away smoke alarms this year. A: Lt. Tim Deneen, yes, call 316 268-4510 or the fire prevention division at 316 268-4441. Police Report None: Next staff report in August. PUBLIC AGENDA Scheduled Items None 1  District III Advisory Board Minutes September 7, 2016 Off-agenda items Councilman James Clendenin: Provided an explanation as to what and who the District Advisory Board(DAB) is. Councilman Clendenin emphasized that the members of the DAB are citizens from across the District. They come together each month and vote on items presented. The DAB voters vote carry alot of weight. Councilman Clendenin thanked the public for attending the DAB III meeting. DAB: Paul Davis: Stated that he read about the City/County contracting the mowing duties and gave an example of a tall, grass & weed issue in his neighborhood. He stated that the process took a long time. The contractors receives about 60 work orders a week and there are over 300 work orders pending . Councilman James Clendenin: Stated that there were 600 work orders pending about two weeks ago. Reminded citizens to maintain their grass and to keep it below twelve inches. He emphasized with the frustrations and explained that the conversation to purchase mowing equipment has been on the table. There is a huge break down in mowing across the city on several areas. Public: There seems to be a break down in the process. Possibly because the City does not pay the contractors within a reasonable amount of time. Councilman James Clendenin: Stated that he hopes that is not the case. Contractors have been fired and new contractors have been hired due to a break down. Areas were waiting for six weeks to get mowed. The normal time should be four weeks. The process is the property owner is notified and given time to take care of the issue. Then another inspection is conducted. If the issue was not corrected the abatement process will occur through legal process. Public: William Stoffer: Stated that in 1997, there was a South Central Prostitution Project. The idea of the project was that any crimes committed within this zone had double the penalties and even band people from the area. One of the items attached to this project was anti-blight. They ensured that the area had proper lighting, the alleys were cleaned up and extra resources for trash pick-up were provided. There seems to be a loop hole in the system with the H.O.T team. There is a little tent city down by Wal-Mart because this is private property the HOT team can’t do anything about it. Mr. Stoffer would like to speak to the chief about revitalizing a project like the South Central Prostitution Project. Councilman James Clendenin: Stated that if they are setting up a tent city then this against code. Mr. Stoffer: Stated that private property is gray area. Paul Davis: Stated that this was a neighborhood clean-up between South Central Progressive and Community Policing. Community Policing has kind of morphed. Mr. Davis thinks it would be a great idea to have a conversation with the Chief. Councilman James Clendenin: Agreed having the conversation with the Chief would be great. Public: Richard Willems, asked if there was a way to increase the consequence to those caught illegally dumping. A: Councilman James Clendenin: Stated that if you see illegal dumping occurring call 911and try to obtain a tag number right then. Citizens can contact Teia Wair to report illegally dumped items. There is a program available to get these items picked up. 2  District III Advisory Board Minutes September 7, 2016 NEW BUSINESS Scheduled Items Street Closure and Cul-de-sac Construction on Mead Avenue, South of Pawnee Rebecca Greif, Small Projects Engineer, provided an update on the numbers obtained from the petition conducted to approve a request for constructing a cul-de-sac at the north end of Mead Avenue, south of Pawnee and east of Broadway. Mead Avenue currently connects to Pawnee, and extends south to Marion. Currently there are no left turns on to Pawnee. The city does not go out and find these projects or go door to door. The door to door piece is solely on the neighbors in the improvement district. They have one year to obtain signatures. There are state statues which must be followed. The City of Wichita does own a few properties in this improvement district. The City of Wichita did not sign the petition, they do not want to pay the specials. In fact they are seeking to sell those properties. The petition was conducted to those that would have to pay the special. A husband and a wife may be included on the deed one may sign the petition one may not. The special will be based on the cost of the project. Small project estimates can range from $600 to $1700 which would be roughly $50 to $100 extra per year for a total cost of $45,000 on a square foot bases. The original numbers showed that the petition was signed by 51% of the resident owners in this block, representing 43% of the improvement district area, which was submitted in support of the proposed closure and cul-de-sac construction improvements. The petition was valid per Kansas Statute 12-6a01. There was one concern received regarding the ability for buses to turn around. Those concerns were answered and addressed. DAB: Elena Ingle, this was brought up a long time ago regarding the rail road. Why is this coming back up? A: Rebecca Grief, stated that she was not sure about the rail road but this petition came up about a year ago. A: Councilman James Clendenin, stated that there was a meeting held about a year ago and this petition came up from that meeting. There was a railroad project which was not completed due to federal funding and the railroad not moving forward with that project. That is also why the City of Wichita wound up with ownership of the property in the area. Public: The request that this street be closed is because it is dangerous turning on and off of Pawnee. The amount of traffic and people speeding down the street is excessive and not safe for children playing in the area. DAB: Dave Robbins, will the new frontage of the front properties on Pawnee be utilized in this project? A: Rebecca Grief, if the plate allows it they will be able to have a drive way off Pawnee. DAB: Cindy Miles, how will this help improve traffic flow on Pawnee? I understand you cannot turn left onto Pawnee. A: Rebecca Grief, this will be an inconvenience on Mead because they will have to go around to Washington to get onto Pawnee. Pawnee is dangerous right now because vehicles turning onto Mead from Pawnee have to slow down. Those driving over the railroad tracks have to stop or slow down fairly quickly, which can create vehicles to run into the back of others. DAB: Paul Davis, questioned if the address in yellow on the map provided signed the petition or did not sign the petition. A: Rebecca Grief, stated that the yellow did sign the petition. Paul Davis, does that include husband and wife? A: Rebecca Grief, it depends on how the deed was signed. Some deeds are trust funds, husband, wife, or to people’s children it all depends. We pull a property search from Sedgwick County and determine the amount based on how the title is listed and obtain the number of votes based on that. Paul Davis, if I do the math it looks like 21 signed and 27 did not sign? How do you get a majority out of the minority? A: Rebecca Grief, 27 of 53 resident owners signed which is 213,962 square feet of 498,874 square feet. So it’s close. Paul Davis, Washington is two blocks to the east and has a signale. Is there an accident history report? Councilman James Clendenin, stated that there was an accident history report presented at the previous meeting when this was brought up. Paul Gunzelman provided that but at this time the report is not available. DAB: Paul Davis, asked why the street can’t just be closed off like down on Lincoln and Water/ Market area. 3  District III Advisory Board Minutes September 7, 2016 Why can’t the street be vacated? A: Rebecca Grief, there is 1500 feet of dead-end street. Fire trucks would not be able to turn around and the only way of doing that is by creating a cul de sac. Subdivision regulations would not allow that. Emergency responders are comfortable with this closure. This will look a little different because Fire/Emergency crews will need to get in and out. DAB: Gerald Henry, why was this project not included when Mosley was turned into a cul de sac? A: Paul Gunzelman, stated that Mosley was incorporated into another project on Pawnee. DAB: Gerald Henry, are there plans to widen Pawnee to add a turn lane? A: Paul Gunzelman, there is nothing in the CIP for the next 10 years. DAB: Gerald Henry, why are we not addressing the issues on the other side of the street? Councilman James Clendenin, stated that there was a rail road project to be done but in 2008/2009 when the economy slumped the federal government removed their funding and the City of Wichita was unable to take on the charges to conduct a project of that size. It would have been several millions of dollars to complete a project like this. Yes, the City of Wichita did purchase land but only because of the plans for the rail road project. The current City Council does not like to own property. They are looking to sell off property. DAB: Marco Alcocer, inquired if lanes on Pawnee would be closed. A: Rebecca Grief stated that there are no plans to interfere with Pawnee during this project. If they needed to, it would be for a short time. Councilman James Clendenin, asked if the way the numbers are allocated are all based on stated regulations? A: Rebecca Grief, yes, there are multiple ways to calculate the numbers. The most equitable way is by square footage. There are 6 or 7 ways to calculate. Councilman James Clendenin, so you look at the higher of the two numbers. A: Rebecca Grief, yes, whichever is the highest? Public: Richard Willems, owns the property at 2553 S Mead which is a larger property. He is unable to add a garage or shed to the back yard because the rail road may want to come back and do a project. He pays more because my square footage is larger. I think this project should be dealt with like the water and everyone pays the same amount because it is unequal. There will also be increased traffic on Mead due to those traveling south bound to Washington. Washington is already a nightmare with cars parked on both sides of the street and now we are going to add extra traffic. What is going to be done with the excess traffic? Washington and Wassall are almost to the point that they cannot handle that. Also why is the property on Marion included? A: Rebecca Grief, stated that state law says resident owners or square footages. The square footage for the $45,000 is divided by the square footage in the square foot. Not every frontage is the same width. Public: Richard Willems, this is going to increase the rent on my rental property. A: Rebecca Grief, 802 E. Marion is included because state statue determines half a block east and west of road improvement. Public: Connie and Geoff Davis, stated that only one of them signed the petition not both. They actually no longer live at the property and wanted to know when they would begin paying and if they needed to disclose to buyer? A: Rebecca Greif, stated that she would have to re-examine things and determine if the numbers are valid or not. City emergency services staff have reviewed and approved the proposed project. The special would hit the property taxes one year after completion of project. Yes, disclose to the buyer if this project is approved. 4  District III Advisory Board Minutes September 7, 2016 Councilman James Clendenin, stated that if the special assessment becomes a financial hardship property owners can apply for a deferral. Rebecca Greif, stated the details on the hardship deferral was in the notice that went out to residence. Motion: Defer until next month vote carried 10-0 to give Rebecca time to determine if the petition is valid or not due to 802 E. Marion only one signing the petition. ZON2016-00032 Kathy Morgan, Senior Planner, re-visit a request for city zone change from Single-Family Residential (SF- 5) to Two-Family Residential (TF-3) zoning on approximately 2.73 acres of Rivendale Addition to Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas. The applicant proposes to build duplexes on 13 platted lots located on either side of Victoria Street, immediately north of 55th Street South. DAB III voted on Wednesday, August 3, 2016 to not make an action until the Developer or Agent was available to answer questions as well as concerns from DAB III and the public. The agent was available, provided proposed floor plans, layouts and answered all questions and concerns. The duplexes will have view out basements. Public: What will be the price range for each unit? A: $200 thousand to $300 thousand rent will be roughly $900 to $1200 per month per side. Public: Will the units be all electric? A: No. Public: Who will maintain the landscaping? A: Our maintenance department will maintain all landscaping. That way every unit looks the same. There are 14 lots for sale which have been sitting vacant for 10 years. Public: Does the resident pay for the trash? A: Yes Public: When will construction begin? A: 2 or 3 units will be built at a time until completed. Public: Does the city have jurisdiction over how you can sell the units? A: No, the City of Wichita/Sate has no juridical over how the units are sold. Kathy Morgan, stated that you can apply for a re-zone of your property at any time. DAB: Dave Robbins, is this your first development? A: No, I have been in business since 1998. I have completed 32 projects. Public: Will you allow subleasing to occur? A: No Public: Mr. Hoobler, stated that he is now in favor of the duplexes. Originally he was not in agreement but now that he has heard from the agent and the builder, he is now in favor of the duplexes. Motion approved 9-0 Councilman James Clendenin, reported that the sale of the Hyatt was approved for $20 million. Discussions are on the table to determine how the funds should be split up. Public comments will be encouraged over the next few months. BOARD AGENDA 5  District III Advisory Board Minutes September 7, 2016 Meeting was adjourned. The next District Advisory Board III meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., October 5, 2016, at the WATER Center, 101 E. Pawnee, Wichita, KS 67211. Respectfully submitted, Teia Wair, Community Service Representative – District III Guests 1. Rick Davis 2. Lewis Hoobler 3. Johnny Gaines 4. Connie Davis 5. Geoff Davis 6. Randy Williamson 7. Ron Tracy 8. Carolyn Alcocer 9. Joe Cravens 10. Carol Cravens 11. Antoni Ghigliotti 12. Debra McGregor 13. Will Clevenger 14. Richard Willems 15. William Stoffer 16. Ronald Nickel 6