District 4 Advisory Board

District IV Advisory Board Minutes March 4, 2019 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 four (4) District Advisory Board members in attendance. Vice Mayor Jeff Blubaugh officiated. There were five (5) City Staff, and six (6) members of the public present. Members Present Guests Ray Hall Janet Miller David Kapaun David Linn Alex Martinez Rosetta Blackmore Don McManamey Christy Yocky LaShonda Garnes Members Absent Russ Ewy Kit Corby Michael Gomm Stephanie Hartman Matt Lashley Jonathan McRoy Jason Platter Rebecca Robertson Council Member Jeff Blubaugh Staff Present Rebecca Fields – Community Services Dist. 4 Officer David Perkins – Patrol West Officer Robert Kempf – Patrol South Capt. Gary Heath – Fire Department Kathy Morgan - MAPD ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:30 p.m. Vice Mayor Jeff Blubaugh opened the DAB meeting and called the meeting to order. He then asked everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. VM Blubaugh proceeded with the agenda, but as there was not a quorum of DAB Members, there was no vote for the previous month’s minutes or the current agenda. There was no one from the Fire Department at the opening of the meeting, so Vice Mayor Blubaugh asked for the Police Department reports. Page 1 of 5  District IV Advisory Board Minutes March 4, 2019 www.wichita.gov STAFF REPORTS Community Police Officer Rob Kempf, 328 Beat in Patrol South, reported that robberies, burglaries, non-residential burglaries, auto thefts, and larcenies to autos are all decreased from last month and more importantly decreased from this time last year. Officer Kempf reported 2 robberies, 51 burglaries, 15 non-residential burglaries (that includes sheds and unattached garages), 27 auto thefts, and 74 larcenies to autos occurred in the Patrol South portion of District 4 last month. Officer David Perkins, Patrol West – 18 beat, then stepped up and reported that Patrol West (which includes part of District 4) had a total of 103 auto thefts (down 8.8% from same time last year), 256 larcenies from autos (down 4.5%), 14 robberies (down 26.3%), and 126 burglaries (down 18.7%). Patrol West has been concentrating on auto thefts that are mostly due to citizens warming up their vehicles with the keys left in the vehicle. They had noticed a spike in auto thefts at the apartments around the Central & Ridge Rd. area, so every morning there were officers assigned to various parking lots at apartment complexes where fliers were given out to those who were warming up their unattended vehicles. On February 26 there were 7 unattended vehicles; February 27 had 28 unattended vehicles; February 28 had 32 unattended vehicles, and March 1 had 12 unattended vehicles all warming up at apartment complexes. A meeting has been scheduled for the apartment managers to meet with Patrol West at 1:00 pm in order to bring this issue to their attention in hopes of discouraging residents/tenants from this practice. Officer Perkins then spoke about gambling machines that are usually table top machines found in some of the independently owned neighborhood convenience stores around Wichita, as well as some smoke shops and gas stations. On July 27, 2017 there were over 300 machines seized in a major sting operation. So far none of these cases have gone to trial. Due to logistical limitations on these investigations, if you report gambling (or gaming) machines at specific locations, you will need to be patient before seeing any action or results. If you suspect that there is illegal gambling/gaming going on at a location, call the Wichita Police Department Vice Division at 268-4171. Vice Mayor Blubaugh thanked both officers and because Cpt. Heath from the Fire Department Station 12 showed up, he asked for a report from that department. Capt. Heath reported that in District 4 there were 6 fire alarms, 23 service alarms, 235 medical alarms (that included vehicle accidents) for a total of 264 alarms that required WFD response. On February 6 at 311 S McComas a house fire was due to arson, with an estimated loss of $5,000. Fire did not breach the interior of the home. On February 17, some discarded oil stained rags combusted and caused about $500 worth of damage at 1934 W Walker. This was accidental. Capt. Heath then reminded everyone that March 10th was when Daylight Savings Time took affect and that it was time to change the battery in your smoke alarms. The National Fire Association has a new slogan, “Close before you doze” in reference to the Fire Department’s recommendation that all bedroom doors be closed while sleeping to slow the chances of any smoke and fire causing harm to those asleep during a possible house or apartment fire. Page 2 of 5  District IV Advisory Board Minutes March 4, 2019 www.wichita.gov There were no further statements or questions for Capt. Heath so Vice Mayor Blubaugh asked for DAB Member David Kapaun to read the library report during Robyn Belt’s absence. The Library Report for the Alford Branch Library is as follows: Alford’s Circulation count for February was: 11,170 items that checked out. Alford’s gate count for February was: 6,276 people who visited the branch. Alford Library will be hosting a Job Fair co-sponsored by Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas from 2-4pm on Thursday, March 21st. Job seekers will have the opportunity to meet with over 11 employers and are encouraged to bring copies of their resume to share. The Advanced Learning Library will be hosting a Spring Break Challenge for children ages 6-12 during the week of March 11th through the 15th. Different activities are planned including Mario Cart Monday, Trivia Tuesday, and Watercolor Wednesday. Meet in the Children’s Gallery on the first floor at 2:30pm to join the fun! PUBLIC AGENDA No one was scheduled on this agenda item, but guest David Linn asked if he could speak about McLean Boulevard which Vice Mayor Blubaugh allowed. Mr. Linn stated that he said McLean Blvd was good for traffic, but would like to see it extended to MacArthur, and that Seneca Street traffic is becoming heavier and McLean could absorb some of that traffic. He does not like the idea of the new ballfield development taking up part of McLean and would like to know why the “City” thinks it is important to spend money on a pedestrian bridge when there are two bridges close by that both have pedestrian sidewalks. Mr. Linn personally thinks that the City is up to no good with the pedestrian bridge idea and using the river front property to make money for something that we don’t need. Vice Mayor Blubaugh commented that he thinks the City has been doing a poor job of explaining the entire stadium project. NEW BUSINESS Vice Mayor Blubaugh then asked for the next item that was presented by Kathy Morgan, Senior Planner with the Metropolitan Area Planning Department (MAPD). ZON2019-00005: The applicant/owner is requesting the rezoning of 19 acres of Turkey Creek 3rd Addition (48 lots and Reserves D and F) from SF-5 Single-Family Residential (SF-5) to TF-3 Two Family Page 3 of 5  District IV Advisory Board Minutes March 4, 2019 www.wichita.gov Residential (TF-3). The site is located 2,150 feet south of US Hwy 54 on the east side of South 135th Street West. The property is currently undeveloped. Ms. Morgan stated that this area is platted but that no building has begun at this time. There is property to the north that has been approved and will have about 160 residences, and the proposed re-zoned small portion of Turkey Creek (48 lots) would have duplexes/twin homes as opposed to the remaining lots being single family residences. This corner of Turkey Creek would be ideal for the duplexes, and there was a Westar Energy sub-station in the far NW corner of the Turkey Creek addition. Vice Mayor Blubaugh asked if there was anyone from the public present who had any questions, and there were none. He then asked if anyone on the board had any questions, and there were none. Being that there was no quorum, then no vote could be taken, and Vice Mayor Blubaugh went forward with the next agenda item. PROJECT WICHITA – UPDATE: LaShonda Garnes was present to give this update and had a PowerPoint presentation that she had prepared. This presentation was based on community input from more than 249 focus groups and about 14,000 survey respondents regarding the vision of Wichita and the focus on retaining and keeping the next generation in the Wichita area. For further information on this project you can view on-line at www.projectwichita.org, or you can contact Evan Rosell, at evan@greaterwichitapartnership.org or 316-500-6650. BOARD AGENDA Updates, Issues, and Reports DAB Member McManamey stated that he is opposed to any building on the river and to McLean Blvd. being reduced to 2 lanes. He further commented that the recent WAMPO survey about transportation was “loaded” as did several of his acquaintances. Mr. McManamey said that the survey was not about the City streets, but about highways and interstates. Further, Mr. McManamey thinks that no one is worried about the timing of traffic lights, and why not? He did concede that the lights on Ridge Road over Kellogg worked well in timing traffic flow. Vice Mayor commented that the City needs to have a Communications employee/group that could actually get facts to the public, especially about the new stadium project. He stated that he was going to motion at the City Council meeting for the final vote to be deferred for a couple of weeks before the City Council has a final vote on the matter. DAB Member David Kapaun thinks that traffic on Seneca through Delano has become very congested over the past 10 years and he is also worried about McLean Blvd. being narrowed to 2 lanes. Page 4 of 5  District IV Advisory Board Minutes March 4, 2019 www.wichita.gov Mr. McManamey said that McLean Blvd. is the perfect road for cruising. DAB Member Ray Hall followed by stating he uses McLean Blvd. because there is little traffic on this road compared to other more linear arterial streets, and personally thinks that “choking” McLean will not affect traffic flow in Wichita. Mr. McManamey retorted that McLean can move traffic more efficiently because there are lots less side streets bogging it down. Mr. Hall replied that he would like to see a traffic count on this matter. The meeting adjourned at 7:25 pm. Page 5 of 5