District 4 Advisory Board

District IV Advisory Board Minutes for Nov 2, 2015 District IV Advisory Board Minutes November 2, 2015 www.wichita.gov The District IV Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at the Alford Library at 3447 S. Meridian, Wichita, KS 67217; Council Member Blubaugh was unavailable. Seven District Advisory Board members, four City staff, and four members of the public were present. Members Present Staff Present Benny Boman Cpt. Jim Heath, Wichita FireDept. Kit Corby Penny Feist, Public Works & Utilities Nick Hoheisel Jessica Purdue, Housing David Kapaun Jr. Rebecca Fields, Office of Community Services Matt Lashley Don McManamey Rebecca Robertson Guests Listed on last page Members Absent Michael Gomm Hestel Sewell John Whitmer Phillip Mosher – Resigned Youth Member Alex Garcia Council Member Jeff Blubaugh ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:35 p.m. Nick Hoheisel called the meeting to order and everyone rose for the Pledge of Allegiance. Minutes from the October 5, 2015, meeting were approved (2nd motion made by Matt Lashley). Agenda for the current meeting was approved (2nd motion made by Kit Corby). STAFF REPORTS Penny Feist, Senior Management Analyst with Public Works & Utilites had a handout with three (3) scenarios of Cost of Service Analysis for the water and sewer utilities rate structure based on AWC (Average Winter Consumption). Ms. Feist went over the handout. The board had no questions, but a guest, Janice Bradley, asked about having fixed charges instead of usage charges due to having a more stable revenue. Benny Boman, DAB Member, commented that he perfered that revenue come from usage and not a fixed rate because that will keep consumption down. David Kapaun, DAB Member, suggested that there be a pipe usage fee as a base charge and then additional charges based on consumption. Penny replied that a base charge is included in the rates structure, and that the larger the meter, the larger the base charge. Janice states that she would like to see a dual system. Cpt. Jim Heath, Wichita Fire Department, reported that they just finished up Fire Prevention Month and reminded everyone to be sure and change the batteries in their smoke detectors. He states that there were several car fires being set in District 4 and that they were working with Police to find 1  District IV Advisory Board Minutes for Nov 2, 2015 the culprits. He also warned about fires at Thanksgiving due to frying turkeys. He stated that it is best to do this outside of a structure, including a garage, so that any oil spatters will not start a fire inside. Cpt. Heath commented that they had to tend to several garage fires last year. David Kapaun asked about nuisance fires which are mainly those fires caused by home owners buring leaves which cause excessive smoke. Cpt. Heath reminded everyone that residents cannot burn trash, only tree limbs or fire wood, and that leaves often time cause excessive smoke and therefore not allowed in that case. Citizens can call 268-4441 for more information. There was no one available from WPD to give a District IV Police Report. PUBLIC AGENDA Scheduled Items None Off Agenda items James Kilpatrick had three (3) handouts regarding the Water and Sewer Optimization Plan: A letter dated 11-2-15 addressed to the District IV Advisory Board, and two PowerPoint pages from the October 6, 2015 Workshop presented to the City Council by Alan King, Director of Public Works & Utilities. Mr. Kilpatrick is alarmed that a new fee will be attached to the water bills, and questions whether 100% of this fee will be used for water infrastructure. He states that raising non- taxable fees will allow the City to have a revenue source to use for anything the City wants and is questioning the ethics of such fees. Janice Bradley is concerned about the reputation of a private company that is used to manage a new structure in which Phase 1 merges management of the Water Department with a private company, and Phase 2 enters into a 10-year contract for a private/city partnership. She states that other cities are also trying to come up with creative financing to generate revenue. She states that there is a conflict of interest to have an outside company conduct the study that would also have a financial interest. Janice suggested using the Engineering Department at Wichita State University, or other local sources, to solve these problems, and agreed that staffing is low in the Water Department and that they need more employees. Janice would like to know what other alternatives have been looked at, concluding that water usage is forever and is requesting that the Water Department stop this current direction to use a private company. NEW BUSINESS Recommendations for FY 2015-2017 Funding Allocations: CDBG, HOME, ESG Funds Jessica Perdue, Fiscal Specialist with Housing Services presented three handouts to the District Advisory Board: 1) 2015 – 16 Spending Summary for the the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), 2) a PowerPoint printout of the 2016-17 HUD Conolidated Plan Third Program Year Action Plan (3) and the Annual Spending Plan Priorities Feedback Form. Jessica’s presentation was very informative and therefore few questions were asked. She stated that the funding is based on five year 2  District IV Advisory Board Minutes for Nov 2, 2015 plans, and that next year is the third year in this five-year plant. She asked everyone on the board to fill out the Feedback Form which they did and Jessica collected them. Nomination of Grants Review Committee Representative – District IV Jessica Perdue, Fiscal Specialist with Housing Services spoke briefly about the responsibility of serving on the Grants Review Committee and that it was necessary for someone on DAB IV to be on this committee in order to represent the needs of the district. Matt Lashley served on last year’s committee and he commented on how it was a very interesting and informative committee. It was asked about when they meet and how many hours of commitment. Jessica let it be known that most of the time was for several days in February. No one volunteered to serve, so Nick asked Matt if he would be willing to serve again. Matt agreed that he would serve again. Rebecca made the motion to appoint Matt to the committee, and David seconded. The motion passed seven/zero. David Kapuan motioned for the meeting to adjourn. Matt seconded the motion and the meeting was adjourned at 7:35 pm. The next meeting for District Advisory Board IV will be held at 6:30 p.m., December 7, 2015, at Lionel Alford Library, 3447 S. Meridian, Wichita, KS 67217. Respectfully submitted, Becky Fields, Office of Community Services Guests Lonny Wright James Kilpatrick Janice Bradley William Anderson 3