District 4 Advisory Board

District IV Advisory Board Minutes April 1, 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 eleven (11) District Advisory Board members in attendance. Vice Mayor Jeff Blubaugh officiated. There were six (6) City Staff, and eight (8) members of the public present, but two (2) did not sign in. Members Present Guests Kit Corby Betty Long Dalton Glasscock Howard Long Michael Gomm Steve Corby Ray Hall Dennis Fairbanks Stephanie Hartman Rob Hartman David Kapaun Beckie Jenek Matt Lashley Alex Martinez Don McManamey Jonathan McRoy Rebecca Robertson Council Member Jeff Blubaugh Staff Present Rebecca Fields – Community Services Dist. 4 Cpt. Wendell Nicholson – Patrol South Sgt. Steve Yarberry – Patrol West Officer Robert Kempf – Patrol South Lt. T. Deneen – 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. Vice Mayor Blubaugh proceeded with the agenda and asked approval for the April 1, 2019 agenda. DAB Member Stephanie Hartman made a motion to approve and DAB Member Matt Lashley gave a 2nd. Motion was approved 11/0. The next item was approval for the February 2019 DAB meeting’s minutes. DAB Member Kit Corby motioned to approve and DAB Member Don McManamey gave the 2nd. Motion was approved 11/0. Vice Mayor Blubaugh then asked approval for the March 2019 DAB minutes. DAB Member Alex Martinez motioned to approve and DAB Member David Kapaun gave the 2nd. Motion was approved 11/0. Page 1 of 5  District IV Advisory Board Minutes April 1, 2019 www.wichita.gov STAFF REPORTS Vice Mayor Blubaugh asked for a report from the Wichita Fire Department, and Lt. Tim Deneen spoke about the current City’s burn ban that would continue through the month of April. You could still operate barbeque grills and smokers. If you had questions about other outdoor burns, you could call 268-4510. He said that there was a current grassfire going on in the City due to a smoker throwing out a lit cigarette. He asked everyone that smoked to be sure and extinguish their cigarettes first due to the grass not being green at this time and still highly flammable regardless of all the recent rains. Lt. Deneen said further that there was a house fire that had started with an electric extension cord, and that the standard cords should be unplugged when not using them or when you leave the room. If it is being used for several items, you should always use a heavy duty power strip with a surge protector. This was the cause of a fire at 2206 W MacArthur. He also reminded everyone with the start of the growing season that even a lawnmower blade, if not set properly, can cause a spark that ignites the still-dry grass this time of year. One last reminder was to test your smoke alarms and keep the batteries changed. Rebecca Fields asked him if the fire at 929 W Douglas in Delano was the tattoo business, but Lt. Deneen said that Station 12 did not cover that fire and so he was not sure. (Note that District 4 had 414 alarms during the month of March. 23 were fire alarms, 36 service alarms, and 355 medical alarms) Vice Mayor Blubaugh then asked for the Wichita Police reports. Cpt. Wendell Nicholson spoke first, introducing himself as the new Patrol South Bureau Commander. DAB Member Don McManamey let Cpt. Nicholson know that there were new tenants living in the home at the NW corner of Lydia & Vine, and that this residence had constant activity of people coming and going. Cpt. Nicholson wrote down the information and assured Mr. McManamey that he would look into this. He also handed out his business cards to the DAB Members and staff. Cpt. Nicholson then assured Vice Mayor Blubaugh and the DAB Members that there was a concentrated effort to reduce larcenies, burglaries, robberies, and thefts which most all were related to meth activity. The upswing of meth usage is causing more of these crimes in the Wichita area. Community Police Officer Rob Kempf, 328 Beat in Patrol South, then reported that any robberies from persons were mostly meth related. He also stated that on April 9th, Patrol West was meeting with apartment managers regarding theft of and to autos, and Patrol South was doing the same on April 10th. Officer Kempf then stated he mostly sees Domestic Violence cases at the apartment complexes in his beat area. Sgt. Steve Yarberry of Patrol West and supervisor for the Community Police Division, stated that 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 Page 2 of 5  District IV Advisory Board Minutes April 1, 2019 www.wichita.gov to various parking lots at apartment complexes where fliers were given out to those who were warming up their unattended vehicles. His division then started having monthly meetings with the apartment managers regarding this activity, and due to the meetings the managers are now communicating more with each other. Sgt. Yarberry then commented that currently auto thefts were down in numbers, but reminded everyone that if working out in the yard, or in the garage, to always keep the garage door shut should you go inside or go to the back of your house where you cannot see the garage. It only takes about 30 seconds for someone to grab an item out of the garage and drive off. Sgt. Yarberry then mentioned that 70 – 100 pounds of meth was coming into Wichita EVERY DAY, and this was causing a crime wave even though the drug is relatively cheap, but highly addictive. Staff Rebecca Fields then reported to the DAB that Sgt. Yarberry was soon retiring and that he would be greatly missed. Vice Mayor Blubaugh thanked him for all he has done and everyone in the room gave a hardy round of applause. Due to the current absence of the Alford Branch Library Manager, DAB Member Kit Corby read the library report. Alford’s Circulation count for March was 12,186 items; 3,910 of those were checked out using the self-check machine, which is a self-service option available to customers. Alford’s gate count for March was 7,034. Spring is just getting started but we are already preparing for this year’s Summer Reading Program! Teens interested in volunteering to help with this year’s program are encouraged to fill out an application. They must be entering 8th through 12th grade and available to work between 2 to 6 hours per week in June and July. Applications are available at our Circulation Desk and on the library website. This year the Summer Reading program will start right after Memorial Day, on Tuesday, May 28th. All Wichita Public Library locations will be closed on Sunday, April 21st, which is the Easter holiday. PUBLIC AGENDA No one was scheduled on this agenda item, and no one raised their hand. 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). PUD2019-00003: The applicant/owner is requesting the Conditional Use for an event center to a PUD Planned Unit Development in order to modify the existing parking requirements. The PUD requirements include hours of operation, restriction of uses, lighting, security, etc. The property is located Page 3 of 5  District IV Advisory Board Minutes April 1, 2019 www.wichita.gov approximately 1,200 feet west of Interstate 235 and West MacArthur Road at the southwest corner of Gold Street and West MacArthur Road (537 W. MacArthur Road). Kathy stated that the DAB had approved the venue at a meeting last year, and that the site is a little over 3 acres. The current zoning requires a paved parking lot for the event center, but this PUD would allow the venue to use gravel for their parking. The stipulations and activities of the venue are listed on the staff report “as follows”. 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. At this time DAB Member Michael Gomm made a motion to approve, and DAB Member Rebecca Robertson gave a 2nd motion. BOARD AGENDA Updates, Issues, and Reports Vice Mayor Blubaugh recognized and welcomed the new DAB Member, Dalton Glasscock. DAB Member Jonathan McRoy stated that he did not get any notification from the Housing Department about the recently held Grant Review Committee meetings. He contacted Housing and spoke to Mark Stanberry who apologized to him and said that he will be sure to notify him of the next meeting. Vice Mayor commented about the presentation at the last City Council Workshop on February 26 where it was suggested that the City allow 1% of the annual CIP budget to be used for the funding, selection, creation, and maintenance of public art. This presentation was called the Percent of Art Program. The Vice Mayor stated he did not want to sway anyone’s opinion on the board, but asked the DAB Members what they thought about this. He said currently this would allow $1.7 million for public art and to beautify buildings. He would like to know what others on the DAB thought of this idea. DAB Member Michael Gomm replied that he doesn’t want to cut the arts, but thinks that this is not an allocation for which he would approve. DAB Member Ray Hall commented that from what he understood from the presentation at the workshop, someone would have to be involved in every single project and that it would be the same group that made all of the art decisions. Guest Steve Corby stated that this type of funding ends up never going away and will become more complicated with time. Then they will want more money and the percentage will go up. DAB Member David Kapaun would like to see this money going towards a bike path through the Delano neighborhood, to which DAB Member Rebecca Robertson replied that the Transit Advisory Board has been talking about transit (bus service) to the new ball stadium as well as bike paths that will lead to the new stadium in Delano. Page 4 of 5  District IV Advisory Board Minutes April 1, 2019 www.wichita.gov DAB Member Michael Gomm then commented about the metal posts in the median area at Kellogg & 119th Street West that were damaged and it appeared as if large trucks were running them over and that a concrete barrier would need to be installed. He then asked why a concrete barrier had not been installed and the reply from staff was because it had been a temporary experiment, but that it would soon become permanent and that work would begin soon. Vice Mayor Blubaugh then asked for a motion to adjourn, and DAB Member Kit Corby made a motion, and DAB Member Jonathan McRoy gave a 2nd. Motion was approved 11/0. The meeting adjourned at 7:20 pm. Page 5 of 5