District 4 Advisory Board

District IV Advisory Board Minutes April 3, 2017 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. There were six (6) District Advisory Board members and Council Member Blubaugh. There were six (6) City Staff, and four (4) members of the public present. Members Present Guests Kit Corby Howard & Betty Long David Kapaun Jr. Charles Myer Matt Lashley Steve Cranmer Don McManamey Alex Martinez Rebecca Robertson Jeff Blubaugh – City Councilman Members Absent Staff Present Benny Boman Rebecca Fields – Community Services Rep - DIV Michael Gomm Fire – Lt. Chris Bowen Stephanie Hartman –not sworn in as of 4-3-17 WPD – CP Ronald McHenry – Patrol West Nick Hoheisel WPD – CP Officer Robert Kempf – Patrol South Jason Platter MAPD Planner – David Clements Library – Robyn Belt ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:32 p.m. Councilman Blubaugh asked everyone to take their seats and called the meeting to order, and then asked everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. The agenda for April 3rd was then approved (motion made by Matt Lashley, 2nd by Don McManamey), and the minutes for the 2017 March meeting were approved (motion made by Kit Corby and 2nd by David Kapaun Jr.) STAFF REPORTS Lt. Chris Bowen, Station 12, reported there were 19 fires, 2 of which were kitchen fires and 1 was a deck fire that they think was started by a hot tub. The deck was “plastic” wood which burns very easy. Station 12 purchased a new Ford pickup truck to replace their old vehicle. Lt. Bowen then reminded everyone that April has a month long burn ban due to Ozone/Air Quality standards and the fact that farmers and ranchers are burning their fields. Lt. Brown also stated that Station 12 specialized in structure fires and that when other stations are out on grass fires that Station 12 covers building/house fires. Lt. Bowen then reminded everyone at the DAB meeting if they need a free smoke alarm they can contact 268-4510. CP Officer Rob Kempf was next on the agenda and had the March crime statistics for all of District 4. Many of the crimes had gone down in numbers, but burglaries and larceny-shoplifting were up. One reason for the increase might be that spring break was in March, and most of the school children were out of school during this time. Officer Kempf then relayed that Community Police Officer Chris Robinson has initiated a program at the South YMCA for teens (grades 9 – Page 1 of 3  District IV Advisory Board Minutes April 3, 2017 www.wichita.gov 12) to attend free on Saturday nights starting March 25th through the end of the year from 8:30 pm – 11:30 pm. Next, Officer Ron McHenry from Patrol West reminded the board and guests that the Support Law Enforcement parade was this coming Saturday, starting at Central & Main, 10:30 a.m. Officer McHenry then stated that Patrol West has been monitoring the construction zone on west Kellogg more closely and that the previous week there were 11 citations written on Monday, 33 on Tuesday, and a total of 59 on Wednesday. DAB Member Dave Kapaun asked Officer McHenry if he knew about the narcotics bust in Dave’s neighborhood, and Officer McHenry did not know about it. Member McManamey then inquired about an incident in March where a residential door had been kicked in, but the owners of the residence had a German shepherd dog that deterred the burglars from entering the house. Mr. McManamey then said that tree trimmers had been in the neighborhood and wanted to know if there had been a study done as to whether these workers were scoping out houses while working and then later coming back to burglarize those that appeared to be easy marks. Officer McHenry said that this might be the case and that the Police Department was aware of this issue and continues to investigate. Officer Kemp had one more statement to make, and reminded everyone that with the warmer weather it would take people outside to tend to yard work and to be sure and keep garage doors closed and front doors locked if you were working in the backyard of your property. Robyn Belt, Manager of the Alford Branch Library (& the library at the Linwood Recreation Center), then spoke about events that were coming up. On April 4th, (tomorrow), they were holding Candid Conversations that would be highlighting race & ethnicity profiling. The event was being held at the WSU Hughes Metroplex, and that Chief Gordon Ramsey and others would be on the panel answering questions posed by the public. 21,365 items had been checked out at the Alford Branch Library in March. The Wichita libraries were also preparing for their summer teen volunteer program, “Build a Better World”. They will also be kicking-off the summer reading program on May 18th. Councilman Blubaugh stated that his daughter, Avery, enjoyed attending the Alford Branch Library while he conducted the DAB meetings every month. PUBLIC AGENDA CM Blubaugh then moved on to the Public Agenda. Mr. Steve Cranmer was scheduled to speak on the Public Agenda, but was not there at the time, so Councilman Blubaugh moved on to the next agenda item. No one else from the public wished to speak. NEW BUSINESS The only item under New Business was ZON2017-0002, a Zone Change to MF-18 Multi-Family for 131 South Young which is an area that is mostly made up of building and group homes owned by Starkey Inc. Dave Clements, Principal Planner for MAPD, read the background (history), and because all of the board members were aware of all the good that Starkey brings to Wichita, there was no discussion, and no one in the audience objected. Don McManamey made Page 2 of 3  District IV Advisory Board Minutes April 3, 2017 www.wichita.gov a motion to approve the zone change, and Rebecca Robertson made a 2nd. The board unanimously (6-0) approved the motion and zone change. BOARD AGENDA Councilman Blubaugh then moved on to the Board Agenda. DAB Member Rebecca Robertson stated that May is Bike Month and to find out more information you could go to Bike Month Wichita on Facebook.com Jeff Blubaugh then spoke about Pawnee Prairie Park, and that it was the largest park in Wichita that did not allow bicycles, but that he was fighting to implement a bike path through the park. Staff, Rebecca Fields, handed out facts and a revised map plan of the park for the DAB members and guests that were in attendance. Member Kit Corby commented that she thinks this is a great idea, and Rebecca Robertson commended that Area “C” on the map was critical to connect from the neighborhood to Prairie Sunset Trail and to Air Capital Park. Charlie Myers, a guest, stated that he helped Girl Scouts to achieve their Nature badges at Pawnee Prairie Park, and he does not think that bicycles will have an impact. He further stated that he has yet to even see a horse in the park whenever he has been there. DAB member Matt Lashley made a motion to approve the revised plans for Pawnee Prairie Park that allows for a bike path, and Dave Kapaun gave a 2nd. The DAB approved 6-0. PUBLIC AGENDA REVISITED Steve Cranmer had shown up during this discussion and was given 5 minutes to speak. Steve spoke about all that Rebecca Fields, Community Services Representative, had done to assist in cleaning up the neighborhood between Pawnee & Orient and Seneca and Meridian. He said that Ms. Fields had handled approximately 50 complaints that he had called in. He said that there was a new problem across from Prairie Homestead Senior Living of chickens in the front yard of a residence and that a trailer filled with trash had been parked on the street and should be stickered or towed. Ms. Fields said that she would process these complaints. Mr. Cranmer then spoke about raising money for the K-9 Memorials; one for veterans’ park, one for WPD training center, and maybe one for service dogs that assist the blind, etc. Everyone that was in attendance liked this idea, and Member Don McManamey offered to get Mr. Cranmer some additional contacts. Member David Kapaun then made a motion to dismiss, and Matt Lashley made a 2nd motion. All approved, 6-0. The meeting was dismissed at 7:32 pm. Page 3 of 3