District 4 Advisory Board

District IV Advisory Board Minutes February 1, 2016 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, eleven District Advisory Board members, seven City staff, and two members of the public were present. Members Present Staff Present Benny Boman Officer William Perkins – WPD Kit Corby Officer Chris Robinson – WPD Michael Gomm (fire) Nick Hoheisel Gary Janzen, Engineer – City of Wichita Matt Lashley Steve Degenhardt – Construction Division Mgr. Don McManamey Greg Baalman – Area Engineer Alex Martinez Becky Fields – Community Services Rep for Dist. 4 Rebecca Robertson Guests Cory Tourville Margo Parks Alex Garcia – Youth Member Dave Sanford – CEO of GraceMed Clinics Council Member Jeff Blubaugh Members Absent David Kapaun John Whitmer ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:33 p.m. the meeting was called to order by Council Member Blubaugh who led the Pledge of Allegiance. A motion was made to approve the agenda by Michael Gomm and 2nd by Kit Corby. Motion carried 10-0. Matt Lashley made the motion to approve the minutes from the January 4, 2016 meeting, and 2nd by Don McManamey. Motion carried 10-0. Councilman Blubaugh then introduced Cory Tourville who is our newest board member. Cory has lived in Wichita for 18 years, is a wounded USMC veteran, and formerly worked at Bombardier/Learjet. Cory enjoys woodworking and hunting/fishing. STAFF REPORTS Firefighter (rookie), ? , reported that in the month of January there was only 1 fire in District 4, an attached garage, which was still under investigation. The total of damages estimated for January throughout the entire City was $845,000. Officer Chris Robinson, Patrol South, 299 beat, reported briefly on crime for 27, 28, 290 and 299 beats. In 299 beat there were 45 larcenies to autos during a 7-8 day time period. These larcenies are being investigated to see if there is a pattern. Most occur from the hours of 9 pm – 4 am, and many have been due to change (coins) left in the consoles of vehicles. Kit Corby asked if most robberies to homes/houses were those listed for sale. Officer Robinson replied that most were homes under construction and that tools and building supplies were being taken. Page 1 of 3  District IV Advisory Board Minutes February 1, 2016 www.wichita.gov Officer William Perkins, Patrol West, 18 beat, reported on auto larcenies and a robbery that occurred at Payless Shoes, 6700 W Kellogg. The perpetrator of the robbery was apprehended and now in custody. Officer Perkins then stated to be on the lookout for a white minivan with two females, one white and one black, who stated they were Kirby sales representatives and wanted to come into homes and “clean” in order to demonstrate their product. Officer Perkins said that often times they were actually there to “case” the house, take small items, and take any prescription drugs that were found in the bathroom(s) of a home. He said if they were to approach your home, do not give them access, and to call the police of their location. He then reported that auto thefts were on the rise, especially Hondas and vehicles that were left running. There have also been seven (7) trailer thefts in his area, and that none have been recovered. It is always best to put some type of identifiable ID on any possessions that do not have VIN numbers, but to never use your SSN. Mr. Boman that inquired if Officer Perkins had checked out the silver car that had been parked over at Aley Park for quite some time. Officer Perkins replied yes, that he had driven by and ran the tag and that it was not a stolen vehicle. The vehicle is no longer parked there. Officer Chris Robinson, Patrol South, 299 beat, then briefed the DAB about groups of kids selling magazines, perfume, or other items, and that the kids are being brought up via a van from other states, noticeably Texas. He said that if you see this activity in your neighborhood, please call 911 with a description of the van so that Police can apprehend and question these individuals as WPD suspects human trafficking. Councilman Blubaugh then spoke briefly on the new WPD Chief, Gordon Ramsay. He said that Chief Ramsay had been riding with officers this past Friday and Saturday and was posting on Facebook and Twitter. CM Blubaugh thinks that Chief Ramsay will make some positive changes for the department. Officer Perkins then warned everyone of giving money to the panhandlers that are out on corners and median strips around Wichita. He said that most of the money would be spent on alcohol (or drugs). Gary Janzen, City Engineer, then presented the KDOT project at Kellogg/I-235, thoroughly explaining the 1st phase of this project. Following, he then explained how his team, along with KDOT and Prairie Travelers, a local bicycling group, were able to come up with a plan to keep the current railway bridge that crosses the Big Ditch, and divert the bicyclists over to Irving which would keep them on designated bicycles paths. This project would go towards connecting the bike path from Garden Plain to Wichita, and into the core area of Wichita that will eventually hook to other bike paths leading to Haysville, Derby, Park City, and Andover. These KDOT drawings and plans were presented on a large screen and Gary used a laser pointer to emphasize specs. Steve Degenhardt, Construction Division Mgr., took over with a PowerPoint presentation on the Meridian project, showing the projects that were done prior to the actual groundbreaking on south Meridian. Prior to the start of the constructionwork on Meridian, between Pawnee and McCormick, a new drainage system was installed under Dora Street, mostly, that flowed east to Page 2 of 3  District IV Advisory Board Minutes February 1, 2016 www.wichita.gov the river. West of the river, and south of the Central Maintenance Facility located at 1801 S McLean Blvd, an extremely large Debris Removal structure was installed in order to catch the debris from all of the storm drains prior to the water being discharged into the Arkansas River. This is an extremely impressive structure that captures and holds liter and waste that unfortunately is washed into the storm drains during rains and melt-offs. Mr. Degenhardt states that Meridian Street is projected to be completed by the summer of 2017. Cory Tourville asked if there is a schedule that the trains follow for the tracks that cross Meridian near Orient. Steve replied yes, but that these schedules can change weekly. Don McManamey confirmed that the train schedule varies. PUBLIC AGENDA Dave Sanford, CEO of GraceMed Health Clinics, spoke on the two newest GraceMed clinics in District IV. He states that GraceMed is a faith-based foundation, and that they originated to deal with the health care “deserts” that were identified in specific neighborhoods throughout the City of Wichita. The new clinic near West High School will be a primary care/family practice facility with dental hygiene services, and is slated to open with a ribbon cutting on April 1st. Mr. Sanford stated that Russ Meyer, Chairman Emeritus for Cessna Aircraft, is the Campaign Chairman who helped to raise $6 million in funding for the newest GraceMed addition that will be built to the north of the drive that leads into the South YMCA. The original building was going to be 26,000 square feet, but because GraceMed will not even begin building with any debt, the project will be limited to 15,000 square feet with room for a future addition of 11, 000 sq. ft. Hutton Construction is the builder for this clinic, and is projected to finish in 10 months after the ribbon cutting in April of 2016. Council Member Blubaugh thanked Mr. Sanford for his time and for GraceMed’s services to the entire community. Council Member Blubaugh then opened up any further questions or reports about issues from the board members. Mike Gomm asked about the plans for the southwest corner of 119th & Kellogg because he heard that there was an apartment complex planned for that corner. CM Blubaugh replied that this is county property and asked Becky Fields to look into this. Alex Garcia, DAB IV Youth Member and President of the Mayor’s Youth Council, will be traveling to Washington DC in order to represent the youth of Wichita at the National League of Cities Congressional City Conference on March 5th through March 9th. Nick Hoheisel asked CM Blubaugh about his thoughts on the vote for the new Library learning center and CM Blubaugh stated that he was against spending that amount of money on a new building when there was so much infrastructure that needed repairing. With no further conversation, Matt Lashly motioned that the meeting adjourn, and Nick Hoheisel gave the 2nd motion. Motion was carried 10-0. Meeting was adjourned at 7:55 pm. Page 3 of 3