District 4 Advisory Board

District IV Advisory Board Minutes for May 5, 2014 District IV Advisory Board Minutes May 5, 2014 www.wichita.gov The District IV Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at Lionel Alford Public Library, 3447 S. Meridian; Council Member Blubaugh, nine District Advisory Board members; six City staff, and eight members of the public were present. Members Present Matt Lashley Jim Underwood Staff Present Benny Boman Case Bell, Community Liaison June Bailey Officer Floyd, Wichita Police Department John Whitmer Officer Douty, Wichita Police Department Nancy Wilhite Captain Heath, Wichita Fire Department Michael Gomm Brian Hill, Parks and Recreation Hestel Sewell Zach Edwardson, Planning Craig Gabel* Council Member Jeff Blubaugh Guests *Arrived after minutes were approved Listed on last page Members Absent Don McManamy Alex Garcia (Youth Member)* *Youth Members are not voting members ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:30 p.m. Council Member Blubaugh called the meeting to order. Minutes from the April 7, 2014 meeting were approved pending grammar corrections. Agenda for the current meeting was approved. STAFF AGENDA Captain Heath, Wichita Fire Department, reported that there has been an increase in motorcycle accidents. In regards to bonfires, it is illegal to burn trash even in a legal container. There is no burning allowed when winds are in excess of 15 mph. April had three fires: one accidental, one under investigation, and one that is of undetermined cause. DAB? Is there still a burn ban? A: No, that was only for April. DAB? Where do you file a smoke nuisance on a bonfire? A: You would call 911. Officer Floyd, Wichita Police Department, spoke concerning Beat 29. There were 400 trailer thefts in Wichita in the past 12 months. There are currently two suspects and a vehicle that has been observed in relation to the thefts. There is also an upcoming plan for equine therapy to help human trafficking victims. DAB? How many trailer thefts in the last year in District IV? A: There have been two recovered in 29 Beat and one missing at 55th and Laura. DAB? Don’t trailers have to be tagged? A: Only the larger trailers, the smaller ones do not require tags. 1  District IV Advisory Board Minutes for May 5, 2014 Officer Douty, Wichita Police Department, spoke concerning Beat 13. There have been trailer thefts in Beat 13 as well. Fences have been cut in order to get to trailers kept in backyards. Thieves are using special hitches that fit a lot of different trailers. The grates from car washes are being targeted by scrap thieves. WPD has assigned specific officers to work these cases. They are also working with the Homeless Outreach Team on homeless issues around the river and West Kellogg between West Street and Mid-Continent. The neighborhood cleanup for Beat 13 will be on June 28th. DAB? Is there any good way to secure a trailer? A: Not really as most security measures can be cut. DAB? Are scrap dealers calling in stolen property? A: Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. DAB? When you see panhandling, who do you call? A: Call 911. PUBLIC AGENDA Scheduled items None NEW BUSINESS Aquatic Master Plan Brian Hill, Parks and Recreation, presented information on the Aquatic Master Plan. They are currently getting ready for the pools to open. In the city there are 11 pools, of these the average life span is 44 years compared to 25 years for the national average. Most pools are in great need of upgrades or repairs. Edgemoor was leaking one foot of water every night before it was closed in 2011. Linwood’s water is flushed twice a day instead of the usual once a week at around 10,000 gallons per flush. Attendance has increased each year at the pools city wide, however McAdams has decreased due to low hours and Linwood has also shown a steady decline. Overall attendance did decrease in 2012 due to two closings and hot weather. Throughout the two closures, revenues have been consistent. When the public was asked what they wanted to see, they said that they wanted increased hours and more amenities, as well as new family friendly facilities, an extended season, and an emphasis on the importance of swim lessons. The Parks and Recreation department has recommended that the program be moved to a sustainable model with reduced facilities, increased hours, and more modern and appealing facilities. According to the plan timeline, Edgemoor will reopen in 2016 when Boston and McAdams close. In 2017 Evergreen will be closed and then reopened in 2018. In 2019 Linwood will be closed to be reopened in 2020. They are also considering design changes such as segmented pools, lazy rivers, and splash pads that don’t require access to the pool (so that the splash pad can be opened by itself). DAB? Of the pools outside Wichita that you have looked at, how many were public owned A: All of them. DAB? Is there concern with water conservation? A: Yes there is, that is why several of the pools have been closed. DAB? How will you pay for increases in hours and amenities? A: Funded as a CIP Project using money that is already set aside for pools. DAB? Can you close every pool that is losing water? A: They have closed pools that were leaking for unknown reasons, and fixed the pools that they know the reason. Councilmember Blubaugh? Has the plan changed significantly since previously presented? A: Not closing as many pools. DAB? Will any of the new facilities be designed for year around use? A: That is not covered in this part of the plan that goes to 2019. DAB? Is the cost of closing the facilities in the plan? A: Yes, both the cost of closing and removing the pools. DAB? Have aquatic amenities for pools that are closing been considered? A: Yes, Linwood has discussed putting one in. 2  District IV Advisory Board Minutes for May 5, 2014 DAB? Do the Wichita pools compete with YMCA pools? A: YMCA has a different clientele such as day cares. Public? What are Salina and Hutchinson doing differently? A: They have newer, more updated facilities. The cost recovery of their pools is around 80% compared to Wichita’s overall 30%. DAB? Will prices go up with premium facilities? A: Yes, but not quite what the private sector is. Public? Are you advertising at the schools? A: Yes, we are through their latchkey programs. Action: Receive and File WAMPO Update Zach Edwardson, Planning, presented information on the Wichita Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (WAMPO) Move 2040 Plan. The WAMPO Dollar exercise surveyed 1,000 people to find out what the public wants. The most pressing needs were alternative modes of transportation, bottle necks, and maintaining the system. A key issue that was identified was connecting rural and urban communities. Of those roads that qualify for federal funding over 70% of roads were rated good or very good. However, almost half of the residential streets that do not qualify for federal funding do not meet national standards. There were four groups of investment strategies identified, these were: multi-modalism (more than one way to get from point A to point B), fixing bottle necks such as the I-235 and I-135 interchange, use technology or redesign to update roads, and maintaining the system. DAB? Will you come back to the DAB for results/what happens next? A: After workshops there will be a selected preferred strategy (may include parts from other strategies). They will develop a scoring system for future projects. They will come back to the DAB at the DAB’s request. DAB? Why is this process different than the last processes? A: Expansion of the city and the driving population will require this. DAB? Does the plan address pockets/zones of different populations? A: Yes, that is being examined. DAB? How do you plan for commercial traffic? A: Done by freight, they are federally mandated to take it into account. DAB? How will you pay for it? A: They are looking at no increases in funding from any sources. If money ran short, projects would drop instead of going to taxpayers for more money. DAB? How will you determine what gets dropped due to funding? A: Scoring system will play a factor as well as elected officials. DAB? Is there a list of roads that need to be improved? A: Yes, in the Transportation Improvement Plan, which is updated every five years. WAMPO funding can only fund roads of regional significance. Questions regarding city owned roads should go to Public Works. Action: Receive and File IdeaTek Ivan Kuhn and Jill Droge, IdeaTek, presented information on IdeaTek. IdeaTek is a Kansas based company that works with municipalities on small cell deployment. Small cells are cell phone radio towers that are three feet tall by one foot wide and are placed upon existing light poles. These small cells have a range of 3-5 city blocks. They give better cell phone coverage, reliability, and speed in that radius. They will be placed in specific areas to improve coverage in that area. They contract with a specific wireless carrier, but other carriers can use the small cells via roaming agreements. The reason for these small cells is that the larger towers no longer have extra capacity and as a tower reaches its maximum capacity the range of the signal shrinks. Small cells also use less power. The small cells get their bandwidth from a fiber ring around the city that IdeaTek will install at no cost to the city. There will be 110 smalls cells initially, seven of which in District IV. This service is at no cost to the city and in fact IdeaTek will be paying the city for the usage of the poles plus 5% on all revenue from Wichita. 3  District IV Advisory Board Minutes for May 5, 2014 DAB? How many small cells and how many new poles will there be? A: There is no set number, but they will try to be as efficient as possible. DAB? Will these operate if the macro tower goes down? A: Yes, they all work independently. Each small cell is not in a chain. DAB? Who pays the electricity bill for lights on towers? A: They do. DAB? What’s the dollar amount? A: The first phase will be 10 million. Public? Will the system penetrate metal buildings? A: It will help. Public? Will people get royalties? A: If it’s clearly on private property, but not if the pole is in the utility easement. Action: Receive and File BOARD AGENDA Meeting was adjourned. The next meeting for District Advisory Board IV will be held at 6:30 p.m., June 2, 2014, at the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation (for June only) at 507 E. Douglas. Respectfully submitted, Case Bell, Community Liaison – Districts III and IV Guests Ivan Kuhn Jill Droge Roger Runf Ron Tracy Lonny Wright Josh Shorter Leslie Hicks David Kapaun 4