District 4 Advisory Board

District IV Advisory Board Minutes May 7, 2018 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 nine (9) District Advisory Board members in attendance. Member Nick Hoheisel officiated. There were six (6) City Staff, and nine (9) members of the public present. Members Present Staff Present Michael Gomm Rebecca Fields – Community Services Rep – D4 Ray Hall Lt. Matt Schulte - WFD Stephanie Hartman Officer Vickie Kern – WPD South Nick Hoheisel Sgt. Steve Yarberry – WPD West Don McManamey Officer Alex Recio – WPD South Jonathan McRoy Robyn Belt – Alford Branch Library Manager Alex Martinez Jason Platter Rebecca Robertson Members Absent Guests Kit Corby Benn Gibler Matt Lashley Craig Crossette - WSU Rosetta Blakemore Council Member Absent David Kapaun Jeff Blubaugh Bridget Bowman – Westar Energy Christopher Parisho Vincent Hancock Mistie Sifford Chris Stark ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:31 p.m. Nick Hoheisel opened the DAB meeting and called the meeting to order. He then asked everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Hoheisel then proceeded with the agenda and asked for approval of the May 7, 2018 agenda. Stephanie Hartman made a motion to approve and Jonathan McRoy gave a 2nd. Motion was approved 9/0. The next item was approval for the April DAB meeting’s minutes. Don McManamey motioned to approve and Alex Martinez gave the 2nd. Motion was approved 9/0. STAFF REPORTS Mr. Hoheisel then asked for a report from the Wichita Fire Department. Lt. Matt Schulte reported that there were a total of 495 incidents of which 439 were medical, 30 were fire, and 26 Page 1 of 5  District IV Advisory Board Minutes May 7, 2018 www.wichita.gov were service calls. There was an accidental fire at 1544 S Palisade that caused $11,000 in damage, and an accidental fire at 3116 W 27 St South that caused $70,000 in damages. Mr. Hoheisel then asked for Wichita Police reports. Community Police Vickie Kern, Patrol South, reported that there were two homicides, 3 commercial robberies, 6 individual robberies, 27 commercial burglaries, 37 residential burglaries, 108 burglaries from motor vehicles, and 48 vehicle thefts. Sgt. Yarberry of Patrol West then spoke about a homicide at 1701 S Seneca of a 37 year old female. The arrest of a 30 year old male was made. On 18 beat in far southwest Wichita on April 3rd there were shots fired on Yosemite Street. This was domestic related, and several days later the beat officers along with Sgt. Yarberry held an Impact Meeting to discuss the incident with the neighbors. DAB Member Stephanie Hartman asked how they went about notifying residents of Impact Meetings. Sgt. Yarberry stated that around 6 pm that officers went and knocked on nearby doors related to where the incident occurred. Once there is a gathering of neighbors, the officers ask if anyone has additional information to share, and the officers share with the residents the information that they have obtained in relation to the case. When gun fire results in a homicide, there is usually an impact meeting within 3 to 4 days of the incident. DAB Member Jason Platter then raised his hand stating that he had a question for Patrol South. Mr. Platter wanted to know if there could be an active patrol assigned to the 30th Street and Elizabeth area due to all of the “walkers” in the area with dark clothing. Officer Kern, Patrol South, replied that she would notify those beat officers. Sgt. Yarberry then added and reminded those attending the meeting that a lot of people walk around at night trying car doors. It is imperative that valuables be removed from vehicles, especially overnight and especially any guns. Also, keep your garage doors shut even if you are working out in the yard. It only takes a few seconds for a thief to grab something. CP Officer Recio told the DAB and guests that he would be covering Beat 299 for Chris Robinson as Officer Robinson is on a temporary assignment. The next staff report was from Robyn Belt, Manager of the Alford Branch Library. Robyn reported that Alford’s Gate Count for April was 15,211 visits, and that Alford’s Circulation count for April was 12,846 items. Ms. Belt stated that as of today, the Central Library is now closed. Items housed in that location are unavailable as they are in the process of being moved to the new building. The new Advanced Learning Library will open on Saturday, June 16. We do not know what will happen to the old library building. The Summer Reading program starts later this month on Thursday, May 17th- - the day after school gets out for the summer break. Kids and teens record each day that they read, and will earn a prize for every 10 days that they read at least 20 minutes. Graphic novels and listening to Page 2 of 5  District IV Advisory Board Minutes May 7, 2018 www.wichita.gov audiobooks count as well. Additional programming, performers, and story times are scheduled in all locations through June and July. Starting Memorial weekend, all library branch locations will be closed on Sundays. We will still have Saturday hours from 10-5. Once the Advanced Learning Library opens in mid-June, they will have regular Sunday hours throughout the year. As of now, the Central Library is closed awaiting the opening of the Advanced Learning Library. Ms. Belt also said that she would be leaving program guides at the sign-in table for those interested. PUBLIC AGENDA One person responded when Mr. Hoheisel asked if there was anyone who had NOT scheduled, but wanted to speak. Chris Stark then stood up and asked if he could use the white board that was up on stage. Mr. Stark introduced himself as a volunteer coordinator for Pawnee Prairie Park where he organized trash cleanups twice a year, planted a new butterfly garden that approximately 400 square feet, and the park now has signs indicating that the garden is a Monarch Waystation for migrating Monarch butterflies, and is also a certified pollinator habitat. There is a Go-Fund-Me page to which people can donate; “Butterfly Garden at Pawnee Prairie”. Next, Westar Energy was on the agenda to discuss a new street light initiative. Bridget Bowman was the Westar representative and opened by stating that Westar Energy is replacing ALL the street lights in Wichita with LED bulbs. This project began in March of 2018 at the INTRUST Arena area and then moved to the NE quadrant of the city which is not finished. They are currently in the SE quadrant and will then be moving to the SW quadrant of the city, and so on. The entire project should be completed in another 4 ½ months. The LED bulbs are considered a “true” light and are also called Dusk-to-Dawn light. Westar Energy does own the vast majority of street lights in Wichita. Prior to March 2018 anyone could call in to report a street light outage, and you still can, but now consumers and residents are being told that they will need to wait until the work in their area has been completed. When asked what Westar Energy was using for the division of quadrants, Bridget reported that Broadway & Douglas were considered the boundary markers (dividing lines). The cost of operating the street lights will not increase, and there will be much less maintenance due to the longevity of the LED bulbs. This will result in less cost for the City of Wichita as well. You can go on their website and report outages, or if there is a high crime area where a street light is out, have a Police officer report the street light outage in order to speed up the process of having a light replaced. Ms. Bowman then stated that Westar Energy would be merging with KCPL at which time there would actually be a 2% rate decrease followed by a 5-year moratorium on any rate increases. Board Member Don McManamey asked what would be the name of the new company if the merger goes through, and Ms. Bowman stated that a new company name would be declared if the merger occurs. Page 3 of 5  District IV Advisory Board Minutes May 7, 2018 www.wichita.gov Next on the scheduled portion of the Public Agenda was a presentation by Project Wichita. This presentation was hosted by Craig Crossette, Project Coordinator for Public Policy and management Center at Wichita State University. Craig stated that there are three (3) main objectives to Project Wichita; Listen – Focus – Share. Project Wichita is currently in the “Listen” portion of the objectives. This entails listening and gleaning responses back from as many residents/participants as possible as to what people like best about Wichita and what would they like to change in our City. After this there will be Focus groups that survey the information and then all of the responses and information will be consolidated and Shared. Craig then began by asking the first of six questions and writing down the responses on a large paper pad. The first question was “What are the best features of the Wichita area”? This was followed by the second question, if you could have anything you wanted for Wichita, what would that be? Next, Craig asked for ideas on how to attract people and developers and keep them here in Wichita. #4 was, “In ten years, how would the region change physically?”, and, #5 was “In ten years how do we thrive economically”? The last question, #6, was “What will make you stay in Wichita”? There were many responses to all of the questions, and Craig said that he takes the sheets (responses) from the pad back to the office where staff will input the answers into the system that will be tallied with other groups. To date there have been over 100 groups participate in Project Wichita, and there were still two weeks remaining of the Listen portion. Craig then encouraged everyone to tell others about Project Wichita so that as many residents as possible were heard. NEW BUSINESS NONE BOARD AGENDA There was no Old Business to report. DAB Member Jonathan McRoy asked if any board members who were in active duty could be excluded from the board rule under Sec. 2.12.020 (8) that states: Any member of a board or commission shall be removed from office by the City Council after due notice and hearing for nonattendance at three consecutive meetings, or for absence of more than fifty percent of the meetings held during any twelve-month period of time. A meeting canceled for lack of a quorum is considered a meeting for purposes of recording attendance. The ex officio secretary will provide written notice to the non-attending board or commission member and the City Manager. A vacancy shall be declared unless the board member requests a hearing before the City Council within ten days after notice is provided. Page 4 of 5  District IV Advisory Board Minutes May 7, 2018 www.wichita.gov DAB Member McRoy brought this to the attention of the other DAB members because he is in the U.S. Air Force and could be deployed for up to 4 months or longer, therefore disqualifying him due to absence. DAB Member Stephanie Hartman then made a motion to exempt all active military DAB 4 members from Sec. 2.12.020 (8) as long as a DAB 4 member is in active service status. Jason Platter made a 2nd motion and the motion passed nine (9) to zero (0). Mr. Hoheisel then asked for a motion to adjourn. A motion was made by Stephanie Harman and a 2nd given by Jonathan McRoy. Motion carried 9/0. The May 7, 2018 DAB IV meeting adjourned at 7:55 pm. Page 5 of 5