District 5 Advisory Board

Page |1 District V Advisory Board Minutes April 2, 2018 www.wichita.gov The District V Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at Fire Station #21, located at 2110 N. 135th St. W, Wichita, KS 67235. ATTENDANCE Members Present Staff Present Ben Bradley Chief Joe Bickel, WFD Angela Breer Capt. Brock Ratzlaff WFD Nancy Duling Officer Robyn Douty, WPD JV Johnston James Wagner, Civil Engineer Jill Kerschen Tracie Partridge, Senior Librarian Ben Kittrell Laura Rainwater, Community Rep. Trevor Kurth Troy Palmer Guests Roman Rodriguez Alan Kailer Alissa Unruh Jacob Marietta Trey Rios, Youth Member Council Member Bryan Frye Members Absent Jose Gutierrez ORDER OF BUSINESS Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by JV Johnston Swearing In of Distict V Advisory Board Members by Karen Sublett, City Clerk Approval of April 2, 2018 Agenda: Approved 10-0 Approval of Minutes from March 5, 2018: Approved 10-0 Updates, Issues and Reports 1. CM Frye:  Outsourced Pavement Preservation Program (OP3): $8.5 million for 2018-19 program on the Council Agenda tomorrow  Wichita Flag license plate – The joint transportation conference committee has agreed on HB 2599. It now will be voted on again by both the House and the Senate and then to the Governor to sign  Pracht Wetlands – Contractor chosen (Hutton Construction). Groundbreaking soon. Possibly in conjunction with the Governor signing the license plate bill into law  Advanced Learning Library – Possibly opening June 16-23  Unwanted newspaper deliveries in driveways – How many of you (DAB members) are annoyed by the deliveries and don’t want them? All 11 DAB members voted that they are a nuisance  Page |2 Public Agenda Items None Off-Agenda Item None Staff Reports 2. Fire Department Report: Capt. Brock Ratzlaff, reported.  District V analytics  25 fire alarms  40 service alarms  438 medical alarms  503 total incidents  April is Burn Ban month – all outdoor burning is prohibited (including chimineas)  Severe fire danger due to extremely dry conditions 3. Community Police Report: Community Police Officer Brad Haught, reported.  Robberies up  Residential burglaries up  Auto thefts up but starting to slow down due to warmer weather  Larcenies down  Auto tags being stolen at a high rate  Lucas Hernandez search efforts  NCAA tournament 4. Park and Recreation Department Report: No report 5. Libraries Report: Tracie Partridge, Westlink Branch Senior Librarian, reported.  Advanced Learning Library to open in mid-June – looking at ways to provide service to those who use the Central library during down time due to move  #ReadICT update  Teen Volunteer Program – Signups now open – 8th – 12th grade  Westlink Programs:  April 19 Marshmellow Engineer program for teens  April 19 – Microsoft Word tech training  May 1 – Found Family – Foster Parenting program  May 5 – Comic Book readers program – Black Panther 6. Public Works Report: James Wagner, Civil Engineer, reported.  Tyler Road – 2nd St. – winding down. Waiting on warmer weather to mill and overlay  Kellogg/235 update  SB235 to EB54 ramp should open in late April  NB235 to WB54 now closed until fall 2018  EB54 will be reduced to two lanes in June/July  Still on schedule with estimated completion of summer 2019  2018 OP3 program to City Council tomorrow for approval - $8.5 million  Hyatt funded residential street repair winding down  2nd Street sidewalk west of Ridge Road is complete  Page |3  Ridge Road sidewalk – Concept approved by Council Dec. 5. Construction to begin along the east side of Ridge Rd. later in 2018  Sidewalk extension from Mere Ridge to 29th St.  13th Street W., Azure to 135th St. W. – 2019 Project Action Taken: Motion made to receive and file all staff reports. PASSED 9-0. New Business 7. Deputy Chief Joe Bickel, Wichita Fire Department, presented two options for proposed amendments to the fireworks ordinance.  Current ordinance  Nothing over six-foot  No sky lanterns  No bottle rockets  Wichita is an island – surrounded by communities that go by State law that only bans bottle rockets  Enforcement is almost impossible with current ordinance as a person must be seen shooting and in possession  Option A: Limited full power fireworks with “designated shoot areas”, and additional modifications  Use violation would be an unclassified misdemeanor  $250 fine  Can pay at window, no court unless defendant asks for trial  Makes adults responsible for juvenile use and possession of fireworks  Makes property owners/occupants responsible for violations  Reduce dates of use allowed to July 1-5  Limit times allowed from10:00 am to Midnight  Maintain sales dates June 27- July 5  Issue fireworks sales permits at $5,000 per sales site  Allow sales of all fireworks allowed by state law, except sky lanterns  Use of “full power” fireworks would be limited to identified “designated shoot areas” only  Currently legal fireworks, sparks <6’ tall, still legal inside COW  Increase enforcement as previously outlined, funded by fireworks sales permits  Enhance public fireworks display with funds from fireworks sales permits  Fire and Parks Department staff identified potential areas  Primary and secondary site options were identified for each Council district  Sites available on July 3rd and 4th  Use of private property would be an option if available  Large parking lots would be advantageous  Designated shoot areas cost  Fire crew stand-by cost: $840 per unity needed  WPD stand-by cost: $1,500 per site per night  EMS stand-by: $360 per site per night  Park & Rec estimates cleanup of $732 per site per night  Total estimated cost of $3,432 per site per night  Total for all six sites: $20,592 per night  Fire Enforcement Task Force  Page |4  Propose teaming a fire officer and WPD officer in a low profile vehicle to patrol and enforce ordinance  Propose up to 22 teams to cover the City of Wichita  Enforcement would focus on July 3 and July 4  Staffing would be overtime for off-duty personnel  Cost for 22 teams on a six-hour shift: $10, 943 per day  Cost on the 4th is over $15, 173 due to holiday pay  Option B: Maintain the current legal fireworks throughout the city. Modifications address dates, times of use and provide an opportunity for enforcement  Maintain current limitations of fireworks < 6” high  Maintain sales dates of June 27 – July 5  Change use dates/times to July 1 – 5, 10:00 a.m. to midnight  Penalty for violation is an unclassified misdemeanor  $250 fine  Can pay at window, no court cost unless defendant asks for trial  Makes adults responsible for juvenile use and/or possession of illegal fireworks  Makes property owners/occupants responsible for violations of the ordinance  Set fireworks sales permit fee at $1,500 per site  Use funds from permits for increased enforcement (same as Plan A)  Use excess funds from permit sales to enhance public fireworks display  Estimated cost for enhanced enforcement: $10, 943 per night  DAB Members comments/concerns:  Designated shoot area will be dangerous; especially when alcohol is involved  No one will leave there neighborhood to go shoot at a designated shoot zone  Do you want people driving to and from a designated shoot area after they have been drinking  Who is going to be liable when someone gets hurt at these “safe shoot” zones  Has anyone talked to surround neighborhoods of the safe shoot zones?  Too many people at safe zones causes a very dangerous situation  Limit the days to shoot from July 1-4 and the time to 10:00 am to 10:00 pm  $250 is adequate fine  Enforcement needs to happen  Option B does a lot to increase enforcement  Jacob Marietta, Wholesale Fireworks  Safety is #1 priority  Option A is very unsafe  Safe zones are very dangerous and do not work  Option B improves the process. Allows funding for more enforcement  $5,000 permit fee will diminish number of tents and non-profits will be hurt  $1,500 permit fee is doable  811 calls made to non-emergency number last year  Majority of fires are caused by improper disposal  Option A is not sustainable and will kill the small tents in Wichita Action Taken: A vote was taken and the DAB V Board voted 11-0 for Option B with reservations. All had significant concerns of safety, cost & effectiveness of the “Safe Shoot” zones under Option A.  Page |5 Meeting adjourned at 7:59 p.m. The next DAB V meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., Monday, May 7, Fire Station #21, 2110 N. 135th St., Wichita, KS 67235.