District 4 Advisory Board

District 4 Advisory Board Minutes Monday, November 2, 2020 • 6:30 p.m. Virtual Meeting • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Order of Business The District 4 Advisory Board meeting was held online at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. Council Member Jeff Blubaugh, ten (10) DAB members, eight (8) City staff, and twelve (12) guests were in attendance. DAB Members Present Staff Present Sonya Brown Rebecca Fields – Community Representative Grant Delmar Robyn Belt – Library Manager Dalton Glasscock Cpt. J Heath – Wichita Fire Department Michael Gomm, Chairman Chief Pete Ridder – Wichita Fire Department June Johnson Shawn Mellies Matt Lashley James Wagner Jonathan McRoy Gary Janzen Laura Rainwater John Philbrick Rebecca Robertson Colby Unruh Guests Vincent Hancock DAB Members Absent Chris Stark Alex Martinez Alan Kailer Zach Castor Council Member Present Tristan Block Jeff Blubaugh Brett Letkowski Michael Bailey + five (5) unknown DAB Member (Chairman) Michael Gomm opened and called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Mr. Gomm proceeded with the agenda and asked approval for the November 2, 2020 agenda. DAB Member Laura Rainwater made a motion to approve and DAB Member Jonathan McRoy gave a 2nd. Motion was approved 10/0. The next item was approval for the October 5, 2020 DAB meeting minutes. DAB Member Sonya Brown motioned to approve and DAB Member Matt Lashley gave a 2nd. Motion was approved 10/0. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • DAB 4 • October 5, 2020 • Page 1 Staff Reports DAB Member Michael Gomm asked if there was anyone in attendance from the Fire Department and as there was no repsonse, and at this time there was no one present from the Police Department, Chairman Gomm asked for the Library report. Robyn Belt, Alford Branch Library Manager, was in attendance and read the following report: Alford Library attendance for October was 2,834 visits Checkout statistics for October were 3,333 items 1. Socially distanced technology classes return to the Advanced Learning Library this month. Very limited seating available. Visit www.wichitalibrary.org/events to register. 2. The Library is once again partnering with the Greater Wichita YMCA to offer the Cooking Matters series, beginning Tuesday, December 1 and running through January 12. This virtual series help families learn to shop for and cook healthy meals on a budget. Classes include cooking demos and budget-friendly meal ideas. Residents can sign up for one or all classes. If you attend three classes in the series and complete a survey, you will receive a $20 grocery gift card. This class is for adults (parents, caregivers of kids or pregnant women). Visit www.wichitalibrary.org/events to learn more and register. 3. November is Kansas Reads to Preschoolers Month, an initiative aimed at promoting reading to all Kansas children from birth through age five. Tune in on Sunday, November 15 at 6:30 p.m. on the Library’s YouTube channel for a special Sesame Street-like video featuring educational activities from our youth services team. Learn more at www.wichitalibrary.org/prek. 4. All Library Locations will be closed in November on Wednesday, Nov. 11 to honor Veteran’s Day. We will close early on Wednesday, Nov. 25th at 5pm, and remain closed on Thursday and Friday, November 26th & 27th for Thanksgiving. We will reopen for regular operations on Saturday, November 28 th. There were no questions or comments for Ms. Belt. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Public Agenda Scheduled Items None DAB 4 • October 5, 2020 • Page 2 Chairman Gomm moved on to the public agenda. There was no one scheduled to speak, but upon asking if there was anyone who wished to speak on the public agenda, Mr. Chris Stark asked to speak as a representative of Bike, Walk, Wichita. Off-Agenda Items Chris Stark, 720 S Hiram, states that Bike, Walk, Wichita has a new program, Neighborhood Connector, that he is representing the McCormick neighborhood and he would like to see a bicycle/pedestrian plan along the West Street corridor that is currently under construction. This area is heavily trafficked and especially on the west side of Wichita there are very few safe bicycling paths. These paths should be included in the design instead of as an after-thought. Mr. Stark invited anyone to reach out to him via email about suggestions for connecting neighborhoods and areas of Wichita that need improvements for bicycle travel. Mr. Gomm agreed that this area is not currently safe for bicycle and pedestrian traffic, and that hopefully tonight’s presentation will have that as part of the plan. Chairman Gomm then asked if anyone else wanted to speak on a topic that is not on tonight’s agenda. Zach Castor, living in Wichita District 4, spoke up and had a question about some information he saw regarding that Station 17 (WFD) had a “downsize” of a truck and personnel. Mr. Castor is wondering if this is true, and if so why has this happened? He just wants to make sure that his residential area has the service that it needs. DAB Member June Johnson spoke up and said she knew that this is true because she spoke with the Fire Department recently and was told that a firefighter and a squad truck (medical truck) from Station 17 were sent elsewhere. Chairman Gomm noticed that Cpt. Heath with the Fire Department had just logged on to the meeting and asked if he could respond to Mr. Castor’s comments. Cpt. Heath verified that they have taken squad 17 off track. He said that this station now has 1 unit with 4 personnel on duty. He further stated it was above his paygrade to explain why, and that he personally never liked seeing any reduction in staff or equipment. Zach asked if Cpt. Heath would agree or disagree that there is now a lack of proper fire coverage for this area. Cpt. Heath did reply that the area around the airport has already been identified as not having proper coverage for fires, and now it is minus another unit. It is best to complain to your Council Member so that this can be relayed to City administrators. Mr. Tristan Block then spoke up and said that he had brought this topic up at the last DAB 4 meeting and that he has reached out to Councilman Blubaugh multiple times. Mr. Block then asked if there had been any feedback from the City Council or from the Fire Department. DAB 4 • October 5, 2020 • Page 3 It was at this time that Rebecca Fields had Councilman Blubaugh on speakerphone due to him losing his online connection. CM Blubaugh stated that we needed to get the Chief or someone from the Fire Department to respond to these questions. It was decided that this topic should be on the agenda for the next DAB 4 meeting and have Chief Snow explain the reasoning behind this decision. There were no further comments so, Mr. Gomm moved on to New Business. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • New Business West Street Improvements: Harry to Pawnee Concept: Shawn Mellies, Chief Design Engineer for the City of Wichita, began the presentation by asking that the PowerPoint be brought up for this item. (A PDF of this PowerPoint is attached to these minutes) During this time, Chief Pete Ridder with the Fire Department had just logged on to this meeting, having just presented at the District 5 Advisory Board meeting. Chairman Gomm asked if the Chief would like to go ahead and present before further investing on the current topic. Chief Ridder stated there was one incendiary fire call in District 4, and he did not have the numbers for the medical calls. He reminded everyone that this was the time of year to change the battery in your smoke alarms. There were no questions for Chief Ridder, but Chairman Gomm let him know that prior to his logging on that there had been discussion regarding the removal of the squad truck from Station #17, and that Captain Heath had fielded questions. At this time, Captain Heath spoke up and told Chief Ridder that the citizen was concerned about fire protection in District 4. Chief Ridder replied that this is a pilot program and came about due to budget concerns. Chief Ridder said that there is a fire truck with 4 personnel, a brush truck (that fights mainly grass fires) and a tinder, a truck that carries a lot of water. If the engine is out on call, then there will be a longer response for other units to reach that area. He was unaware of how long this program will be in effect. DAB Member June Johnson asked about the brush truck because it wasn’t at the station when she was there the other day. Chief Ridder said it had been used out north to fight a grass fire along with the tinder truck, but that both trucks were at Station 17 when he was at the station this morning. Mr. Johnson asked if they were able to use all this equipment with just 4 personnel and Chief Ridder replied yes, 4 would go out on the engine if there was a structure fire, and if there was a grass fire 2 would go with the brush truck and 2 would go with the tinder truck. DAB Member Rebecca Robertson then asked Chief Ridder if there was a reduction in the EMT at Station 17. Chief Ridder replied no, because all the staff was EMT certified. DAB 4 • October 5, 2020 • Page 4 Tristan Block asked Chief Ridder where the 5th employee from Station 17 had been moved. Chief Ridder said that this firefighter had been moved to Station 16. Mr. Block said he had safety concerns that Station 17 is in an area with lots of nursing homes and many large neighborhoods that he thought were already underserved by just one medical squad before pulling that squad from Station 17. Chairman Gomm then asked if Captain Heath wanted to give a report on Station 12. Captain Heath stated that he wanted to elaborate on the 1 known fire in the 2500 block of S Everett. This fire occurred in the morning and a person’s life was saved by pulling them out of a window. Tristan Block asked who responded first, a squad or an engine truck. Captain Heath said that their squad was down that day, and that a 3-man engine had responded to that fire. Mr. Block then asked if Squad 12 had been “off” a lot lately. Mr. Block then retracted the question and said that he would not be asking any further questions. Chairman Gomm then had Shawn Mellies resume the presentation for West Street Improvements. Mr. Mellies relayed that also connected to this project and in attendance were Gary Janzen, City Engineer, James Wagner, Project Manager, with the City of Wichita, and design consultants from TransSystems, Michael Bailey and Brett Letkowski, were also standing by should anyone have questions. Mr. Mellies began the PowerPoint presentation and it was mainly explained by Brett Letkowski. (see attached PDF) At the conclusion of the presentation, DAB Member Matt Lashley asked Mr. Bailey if this would be completed in the year 2024. Mr. Bailey said that this particular project (intersection) was expected to take 18 months and it would be completed sometime in 2025. In early 2021 they will start working on the design for West St at Pawnee to MacArthur and from MacArthur to 47th St S. Mr. Lashley then asked if there had been a study of the truck traffic from I-235 to MacArthur and Mr. Bailey replied that this will be included in the upcoming study and will start that design work soon. DAB Member Grant Delmar asked if there had been anything looked at regarding the pavement on Pawnee St from West Street to Meridian. Mr. Bailey replied no, that of course the intersection will be widened and new pavement will extend quite a bit on Pawnee. Mr. Delmar said that he drove this street fairly frequent and that the pavement is really bad and wanted to know if there was a future project lined up for Pawnee. Gary Janzen, City Engineer, spoke up and said that he can answer this question. Mr. Janzen stated that the biggest challenge with this part of Pawnee is drainage and without undertaking a major, major drainage project, that pavement will continue to struggle (erode). There are over 3,500 paved lane miles in the city with fairly limited funding resources, so prioritizing projects is very challenging. Mr. Janzen said that he will look into this further, perhaps through a pavement repair program, and provide information to the board. There is nothing in the Capital Improvement Program that would do anything for the reconstruction of Pawnee, but until we find some major funding to address the drainage issues in that portion of Wichita, then these pavement problems will continue. Councilman Blubaugh then stated that this is something he has been pushing for several years now, and he thinks it has been 5 or 6 years now that he has been trying to find the money for the drainage issues in District 4. As for the intersection, this is a true bottleneck DAB 4 • October 5, 2020 • Page 5 due to vehicles going 7 different directions at this intersection. West Street development is necessary for all of the industry and commercial expansion and he is looking forward to then continuing this project to MacArthur and then 47th St South. This project is being funded by many other sources, and so that’s helpful. Councilman Blubaugh would appreciate any feedback from anyone that drives West Street and Pawnee more frequently. DAB Member Jonathan McRoy then spoke up and said that this looks like a good opportunity for improvement and one of the things that he has a slight concern about if the stakeholders (those who do business in this area) have had an opportunity to give their feedback. Mr. Wagner assured Mr. McRoy that the companies that use large trucks and trailers understand what is being accomplished for their needs. DAB Member Colby Unruh then mentioned he owns a business on that street and that he takes it 5 times a day and the current intersection causes many problems for efficiency. He is definitely onboard for the improvements as shown. DAB Member Jonathan McRoy spoke up again and said he was just wanting to make sure that due diligence was done in contacting the businesses in that area so that they would also have a say in the design concept. He was assured again that businesses in that area had been contacted and given the information for this meeting as well as the City Council meeting. All the businesses have been given the Project Manager’s contact information as well. Mr. Alan Kailer then spoke up and stated that he agreed with Chris’ earlier comments. It is obviously a complicated intersection and he is in favor of the re-design. He also realizes that Pawnee is not the focus right now. He would like to see paved shoulders along K- 42/Southwest Blvd that could accommodate a bicycle as there are extremely few ways to cross I-235 on a bicycle in Wichita. Mr. Kailer said there are many workers in the West Street corridor that ride bicycles to and from work and that the sidewalks will be increased to 6 feet, but having a 10 ft. sidewalk at least on one side would be of great benefit. James Wagner then stated as far as Southwest Blvd to assist with getting through the intersection, this project would allow for that. However, it is doubtful that there could be 10 ft. sidewalks along West Street unless there is funding to buy up more property to allow for that. Mr. Kailer responded by stating he understands, but it would be beneficial to at least have pedestrian islands or medians to help with crossing West St since it will be 5 lanes. DAB Member Grant Delmar then asked if bicycles are allowed on the sidewalk along West Street, etc. The answer was yes, bicycles are allowed on all sidewalks with the exception of the downtown area. Mr. Delmar then asked if a stripe could be adhered to a sidewalk to designate a bicycle lane. Gary Janzen then commented to be cautious about thinking there is a lot of bicycle traffic along West Street because there is not. More discussion on this topic followed, and Mr. Janzen will look into providing the best possible surfaces and safety methods for bicycles that funding allows. Councilman Blubaugh then asked Mr. Janzen to look into the old railroad right-of-way, and he is aware that this is not part of the project right now, but if the rights could at least be DAB 4 • October 5, 2020 • Page 6 obtained for future use so that the project does not exclude being able to do this. Mr. Janzen replied that they will research this. The Chair then recognized Vincent Hancock. Mr. Hancock stated that he lives near Friends University and did ride his bicycle to the intersection of Southwest Blvd, Pawnee, and West Street. He thinks that the design is headed in the right correction to allot truck, cars, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. There were no further questions from the board or the public, so Chairman Gomm asked for a motion. DAB Member Matt Lashley motioned for approval, and DAB Member Jonathan McRoy gave a 2nd. The motion passed 10/0. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Board Agenda Chairman Gomm opened up the meeting for any comments or news from the Board Members. No one from the board had any discussion, so Chairman Gomm asked for Councilman Jeff Blubaugh to give any comments he had. CM Blubaugh gave a shout out to everyone who helped with the West High School and Delano Neighborhood cleanups. It was great to see all the students and he thanked Josh Blick and his son, Pierson Blick, who were on hand and helped immensely. Staff will provide Councilman Blubaugh the final numbers of how many tons of waste, mattresses and tires were picked up during this cleanup. Councilman Blubaugh wants to keep doing these cleanups and thinks that they provide the biggest “bang for the buck”. Councilman Blubaugh then reminded everyone that the elections were happening tomorrow (November 3) and could possibly be one of the biggest news days we will ever see in our lifetimes. He urged everyone to vote for who they think are the best candidates to run the City, County, State, and Country. DAB Member Grant Delmar then spoke up and said that he lives in the Park HOA that is just south of Pawnee Prairie Park and that Yosemite Street is a main street through this area that is also a snow emergency route. Mr. Delmar sees people speeding 50 to 60 mph frequently through this 30 mph neighborhood, and that Yosemite is the only paved road to get from Tyler to Maize between Kellogg and K-42. CM Blubaugh asked staff to look into this. Rebecca Fields asked if there were specific times of the day that speeders were more likely to be caught, and Mr. Delmar stated that during mornings and late afternoons (to and from work) were the most frequent times. Councilman Blubaugh added that several of the West High School students were talking about the drag races that were taking place on south Hoover Road, and that needed to be investigated as well. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Adjournment DAB 4 • October 5, 2020 • Page 7 Chairman Gomm then asked for a motion to adjourn. DAB Member Jonathan McRoy made a motion to adjourn and DAB Member Grant Delmar gave the 2nd motion. Motion was approved 10/0. The meeting adjourned at 7:59 pm. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • The next DAB 4 meeting will be December 7, 2020. DAB 4 • October 5, 2020 • Page 8