District 4 Advisory Board

District IV Advisory Board Meeting Minutes May 06, 2013 www.wichita.gov The District IV Advisory Board Meeting was held at the 6:30 p.m. at the Lionel Alford Branch Library, 3447 S Meridian. Seven (7) DAB members, eight (8) staff and six (6) citizens were present. Members Present Staff Present Councilmember Blubaugh Kelli Geier, City Manager’s Office Bruce Werth Dale Miller, Planning John Whitmer 2 police staff June Bailey 2 fire staff Nancy Wilhite Mike Jacobs, Public Works Utilities Jerry Warren Migwi Karugu, Public Works Utilities Craig Gabel Matt Goolsby Order of Business Call To Order Councilmember Blubaugh called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m. The April 1, 2013 agenda was not approved due to lack of quorum. (Goolsby/Werth: 6-0)* The December 10, 2012 and January 7 and April 1, 2013 meeting minutes were approved as submitted. (Bailey/Werth: 6-0)* *Warren attended the meeting after this action was taken. PUBLIC AGENDA The public agenda allows members of the public to present issues not on the agenda to the District Advisory Board. Each presentation is limited to five minutes unless extended by the Board. 1. Scheduled Items Josh Blick, President of the Southwest Neighborhood Association, addressed the Board concerning the construction of bathrooms at Osage Recreation Center. He stated that they were informed that $150,000 was allocated in October 2012 for this project and that it would be completed in May 2013. Staff accepted a bid in January and stated that the bathrooms would be completed by the time that the interactive fountains at Osage opened. Migwi Karugu, Public Works, addressed these concerns and stated that the bid and project design took longer to prepare than anticipated. When asked what the delay was, Karugu stated that there was not a final decision made on the design until late February 2013. Ron Tracy, , asked if they will be done by the time the pools close. Karugu replied that the bathrooms would be completed by July 19. Blick stated that they would like both the inside and outside bathrooms completed at the same time and asked if KETCH would wait until July to occupy the facility. Karugu stated that the bathrooms would be done at the same time and clarified that the bathrooms inside are ok, but are not ADA compliant, which is necessary for many of KETCH’s clients. 2. Off-Agenda Items No items were submitted. STAFF PRESENTATIONS Public Safety Reports 3. Community Police Report Police staff reported the following: 27 beat o A lot of auto larcenies around the Truesdell School area and 299 beat – reminder to not leave your vehicles unlocked o Last two weeks there has also been an increase in auto thefts – 8 on the south side 24 beat o Did a John sting and made 11 arrests and also did a prostitution sting and made 6 or 7 arrests o 2011 S Main – there was a drive by shooting, but it was not gang related o 2100 block of Market there is a suspected drug house and police have an open case on it. 14 beat o Mail theft – 2 individuals were arrested due to citizens calling in suspicious characters. They had about 20 different individual’s mail and will be charged in federal court also. o Ice Sports had 30-50 auto larcenies from January 1, 2013 to March 15, 2013 – people need to remember not to leave items in their vehicle o There are a lot of auto larcenies due to people leaving valuables in their care, especially at Towne West Mall and apartment complexes. Officers get calls requesting neighborhood watches, but do not receive a response when they follow up, so if you want one in your neighborhood make sure to contact your community police officer Bailey asked how many of the auto thefts had keys in the car when taken. Officers responded that about half of them had the keys in the car when stolen. Bailey also asked if the victims of the mail theft had been notified. Officers replied that some have and some have not because the Postmaster has asked to contact and interview them.  Gabel asked about the metal and copper thefts near Broadway and Pawnee. Officers replied that they are not sure about the status of those particular cases, but they are doing a special assignment on the 4000 block of West 33rd Street South where metal and copper are also being stolen; as well as, fuel also. Werth asked if they caught the person responsible for the shooting in Southern Ridge. The officers stated that they cannot release any info on the case, but that there are no suspects at large. 4. Fire Report Fire staff reported the following: 18 fire calls o 5 structural o 2 accidental o 2 incendiary o 1 unknown 424 medical response calls 148 miscellaneous calls Burn ban is lifted o currently no active burn permits in District 4 o only recreational fires o wind below 15 mph o no more than 3 feet around and 2 feet high o 15 feet away from anything and 300 feet away from woodshake shingles o Can only burn brush or wood MDA donation collection on the corners of major intersections across the City for the next two Saturdays Gabel asked how many fire stations respond to calls in this area. Fire staff stated that there are three stations that respond to calls – Stations 2, 4 and 12. Bailey asked if all five of the structure fires were inhabited structures. Fire staff responded that they were not sure if they were inhabited or not. Action Taken: Received and filed. NEW BUSINESS 5. ZON2013-00003 Dale Miller, Planning, presented this zoning request to permit a Day Care General for up to twelve children and two employees at 145 South Millwood (south of Douglas) on the west side of Millwood (west of South Seneca) St. Joseph Catholic Church. Neither the Board nor citizens present had any questions regarding the request. Goolsby stated that he would have to abstain from voting on this request. Action Taken: (Whitmer/Gabel) moved to recommend approval of the zoning request. Motion passed 5-0-1 (Goolsby.)* 6. Drought Response Update Mike Jacobs, Public Works and Utilities, presented this item. The Wichita region is in the third year of a drought. There is no way to determine how much longer the drought may last or how severe it may become. That uncertainty, along with the water levels in the City’s two sources, has prompted the City to plan its response to the drought. Two sources supply Wichita’s water: 60% comes from Cheney Reservoir, while the other 40% is drawn from an underground aquifer. Cheney Reservoir is currently only 58% full. Assuming that the drought conditions persist, usage does not change, and new supplies are not created, Cheney Reservoir would no longer yield water after August 2015. The City Council held a workshop on February 26, 2013 to study the issue. A public input campaign was started in April. This included public meetings, focus groups with all customer bases, surveys and feedback forms. Preliminary results from those efforts are now being presented to the District Advisory Boards. Goolsby remarked that the result totals do not add up with the meeting attendance totals stated. Jacobs responded that the totals include both online and meeting feedback. Whitmer asked how much weight these results will carry in a solution to this issue. Jacobs stated that he is not sure. The results will be presented the Water Advisory Committee May 22 for review. Werth stated that he is trying to sell his house and buyers would not look at it because neighboring lawns are not green and that we will need to move toward zeroscaping lawns or property values will go down. Bailey asked how we would handle Homeowners Associations that require residents to have green lawns as part of their covenants if we ban outdoor water use. Jacobs stated that covenants are a private contract between the developer and residents and that the City does not participate in these. Bailey then asked if it is illegal to catch rain water for outdoor use. Jacobs replied that it is illegal to do this in Colorado, but it is not illegal in Kansas. Gabel asked if banning outdoor water use included private wells. Jacobs stated that only a few of the survey respondents feel that it should include private wells. Warren asked if private well permits will be cut off. Jacobs stated that private wells do not require a permit for household and lawn use. He added that the water taken from use by private wells is not of significant impact to the water shortage situation in the short term. Councilmember Blubaugh asked if there was going to be any other chances for the public to have more input on the action taken on this issue. Jacobs said that these results will be presented at the City Council meeting on June 4 where the public can attend and speak. Staff will then take the top five or six ideas mentioned in this feedback and will score them accordingly to effectiveness and practicality. Goolsby stated that he thought that the Cheney Reservoir was supposed to last until 2050. He also mentioned that voluntary water restriction will not be effective or enough to resolve the water shortage issue. The Board then had a discussion concerning where individual property and water rights end and need for water for basic survival begins; as well as, how these new solutions implemented would be enforced. Gabel asked if we could consider dredging Cheney. Jacobs stated that they are trying this at the John Redman reservoir, but that it reduces the ability to control flooding. He further stated that Cheney has some sedimentation and that dredging it will not change the current situation. Werth asked if we could pump back water into Cheney. Jacobs stated that this could be done, but it would be expensive, as with all other additional sources of water we could pursue. Warren asked how the water shortage will impact providing water to wholesale customers. Jacobs replied that we usually have long-term (20 year) contracts with these customers and that there is a provision in the contract that states if we enact a water restriction they must do so also. Whitmer commented that we need to shelve the new downtown library and other development to concentrate resources on this issue. Bailey stated that when the state of Texas was experiencing this issue, they started giving rebates for water efficient home fixtures (i.e. low flushing toilets.) Jacobs responded that our bonds cannot be used for programs like this and that these types of programs can be effective, but it takes awhile for the results to be realized. However, this is one of the options that is going to be looked at and scored by staff. Ron Tracy, 3415 S Southwood, asked what the aquifer is at now. Jacobs responded that it is currently several feet below normal. Joshua Blick, 2039 S Everett, asked what the City is doing to reclaim gray water. Jacobs said that our water currently goes through 4 treatments to be reused and that there is not a constant use for this so the cost would be spread out. Blick also asked how much water we are currently putting back into the river? Jacobs replied 25 million gallons. Action Taken: (Gabel/Whitmer) moved to recommend raising rates for tier two water uses and explore other sources of water. Motion passed 4-3.  OLD BUSINESS 7. No items were submitted. BOARD AGENDA 8. Board Updates and Issues CM Blubaugh reminded everyone of the first district breakfast, Saturday, May 11, at 9:00 am at Country Café, 2803 S Seneca. He also requested feedback on the day and time the DAB meetings are held. DAB members agreed to keep the meetings at the current day and time they are held. Werth stated that this is his last DAB meeting as he is moving to Manhattan. Whitmer welcomed Councilmember Blubaugh and asked what the status of Pure Entertainment is. Goolsby stated that it is his understanding that their license to rent out inflatables is still suspended, but that they are contracting with a third party to rent them to customers. Warren stated that Orchard Breeze is having a neighborhood cleanup Saturday, May 18. Bailey suggested that the City should look at partnering with Sedgwick County on dump coupons for cleanups. 9. Adjournment With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.