District 6 Advisory Board

Minutes 1 May 6, 2013 District VI Advisory Board Minutes www.wichita.gov Monday Evergreen Recreation Center May 6, 2013 2700 N. Woodland 6:30 p.m. Lounge Clubroom The District VI Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at the Evergreen Recreation Center Lounge Clubroom 2700 N. Woodland. There were six (6) District Advisory Board members in attendance, seven (7) City staff and three (3) members of the public who signed in. Members Present Members Absent Charlie Claycomb Denice Bruce John VanWalleghen Scott Dunakey Staff Present Deborah Sanders Terri Dozal, Neighborhood Services Denise O’Leary-Siemer Bill Longnecker, Planning Cathy Landwehr Officer Schweithale, Patrol South Joel Weihe Officer Lang, Patrol North Officer Long, Patrol West Capt. Heard, Fire Station 7 Cheryl Busada, Public Works Council Member Miller called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. welcoming everyone. Miller asked members to introduce themselves and state their representation for serving on the board. Approval of Agenda The agenda was approved as submitted (VanWalleghen/Claycomb 7-0) Approval of Minutes The minutes for March 4, 2013 was approved as submitted (Sanders/Dunakey 7-0) Public Agenda 1. Scheduled items: Teresa Palacios, Hispanic Mobility Manager at La Familia Senior Center - not present Southdaly Sysavath, Stand Together Coalition presented on needing community involvement on substance abuse and social hosting. In the packets I have provided for you there are news articles of a 14 year old girl being shot in the head at a party and other similar incidents. These events happen when underage drinking occurs. In 2002, 99% youth are able to get alcohol purchased for them. We need to adopt something similar to the City of Lawrence statute. This can assist WPD and that’s why we are asking for your support. VanWalleghen asked if this is a Distinction of State Law and if Wichita will handle this in Municipal Court. Weihe asked if WPD was behind this. Sysavath said yes. Miller included there was no confirmation yet if Police supports this and we need to get additional information. I had asked City staff to be present today to discuss. VanWalleghen asked if this would increase revenue to the city and if so, I don’t feel government should be run like this. Sysavath said they would receive revenue. Dunakey stated he agrees with the principle and can see the benefits but wants to hear from the city first. I want to know how this is currently handled. This was well written to meet all objectives.  Minutes 2 May 6, 2013 Miller asked Terri to follow-up with Capt. Leeds to invite him to come to the June DAB meeting to discuss the pros and cons on this topic and if WPD offers an official endorsement. Please make sure we also get our legal dept. here. Sanders said we need to crack down on kids having parties and parents should pay for any damages. There has got to be a way to help kids keep safe. Landwehr stated she was curious about the Lawrence city ordinance and how it worked. Jason Verbeckmoes, maybe since 2003, I don’t believe law enforcement has changed; they use state statute rather than city code. O’Leary-Siemer asked is there already a law on the books for social hosting. Verbeckmoes said at present there is no social hosting ordinance. Sanders stated you can’t prosecute because there are no witnesses and asked if Police could serve as witnesses. Sysavath stated it is very difficult to present a case because witnesses are minors committing crimes and the case isn’t as strong without a witness. She also said Police could not serve as witnesses. Miller told the presenters we will try and hear this again in June and you may want to come back for that. Verbeckmoes said he wanted everyone to understand this is just the beginning phases on this. 2. Off-agenda items: None Staff Presentations Zoning 3. ZON2013-00004 The District VI Advisory Board (DAB) considered a request for a TF-3 Two-Family Residential (“TF-3”) zoning on property zoned SF-5 Single-Family Residential (“SF-5”) zoning, generally located on the southwest side of Zoo Boulevard and Illinois Street, south of 10th Street North. The members were provided the MAPD staff report for review prior to the meeting. Bill Longnecker, Planner presented the case background, reviewed the staff recommendation and answered questions of members and the public. The Board asked/made the following questions/comments: responses in italics.  I didn’t notice if a sign for this request was ever posted. A sign had to be posted but it’s possible, it blew away. There were no public to speak in favor or opposition of this request. ****Action: The District VI Advisory Board members made a motion to recommend to City Council Approval (Dunakey/VanWallehgen 7-0) for the zone change, subject to the findings listed in the staff report. Staff Presentations 4. Fire Department Report Captain Heard from Station 7 reported the March alarms for District 6 were 12 fire calls and in 2012 at this same time there were 27. 569 EMS calls with 575 for 2012, 165 service alarms with 209 for 2012. Accidental fires-7, Incendiary 8, Undetermined –one and Under investigation - one with a City wide structure and content loss of $537,600. Sanders asked if there were any fatality fires. Dozal stated that Esther Cohoon, 3100 Wellington Place was killed when she was burned in her home. She worked the senior lunch program at Evergreen and her son used to serve on DAB 6.  Minutes 3 May 6, 2013 Miller asked Heard if the Fire truck for Cinco de Mayo at the NoMar showed up on Sunday. Heard was not aware if they did or not. *****Action: Receive and file 5. Community Police Report Patrol West: Officer Long reporting for 11-12- 14-15 Beats said on  11 Beat- Officer Tejeda said an alarm call where inside the ex-husbands belongings they found a pipe bomb.  Speeding around schools, officers have opened a NOTE project.  12 Beat-no hot spots.  Auto larcenies along McLean near Exploration Place and the Indian Center.  14 Beat- Mail thieves were pulled over with 20 cases of mail.  15 Beat- Two non-residential burglaries, 24 larcenies 2 residential burglaries, 3 auto thefts and 6 aggravated assaults. Patrol South: Officer Schwiethale reported few larcenies in Old Town parking lots and garages. We have begun to distribute the cameras through the area and are meeting with bar owners about the security. Now that Doc Howards closed the area is a little quieter. Homeless program: we take any 911 calls on homeless issues; we get referrals for outreach to connect with services, work with case managers, do fund raisers and make presentations on the program. So far we’re serving 485 homeless, 105 are from 911 calls, 122 in case management, 153 referral to agencies, 21 off street to in-patient services, 15 we put in permanent housing, 17 we have reunited with their family, 21 job referrals with six achieving full time status and 92 transports, SRS services and benefits. We are trying to divert the homeless out of the jail and court system and get them into treatment. Some have been successful. We have bought bus tickets to reunite them with their family and one person is taking care of a dying family member. We want this program to be self sufficient when we go to businesses to talk about it. Claycomb said he hadn’t seen Darryl Walters around. Schwiethale responded we have been looking for him as he is mentally ill. Weihe said the numbers are very impressive in trying to combat the homeless issues. Patrol North: Officer Lang reported on April 20th the Wichita Walk against Gang Violence had 600 participants along with numerous other activities. We had well over 50 officers participating. We plan to dedicate more time in the problem areas. Crime trend along North Broadway between Central and 13th with an increase in prostitution. We held a John sting with female officers and arrested 11 people. There has been a decrease in violent crimes possibly due to the weather. Officers are working on false alarm system calls. There are fees associated with this and there is a misconception of being charged, so we need to educate better on this. We continue to have copper thefts in commercial businesses and now they are taking back flow valves from water sprinkler systems. These valves are very expensive and run between $200 and $300 and can cause $1000 damage to the sprinkler systems. This is happening between 2 and 3 am. VanWalleghen asked Lang if he could please attend the Benjamin Hills neighborhood meeting on Tuesday evening. Dunakey asked if the City has done anything on cutting down on scrap yards who pay for materials that have been stolen. Miller stated there has been a changed ordinance and it doesn’t include all scrap yards. They don’t comply and it makes it difficult to charge. *****Action: Receive and file  Minutes 4 May 6, 2013 6. Drought Response Cheryl Busada reported on the six district drought community meetings held in April stating that 125 feedback forms were filled out and around 500 people attended the meetings. On the Activate Wichita website we had 1000 people review and respond to the topic. There was a broad range of perspectives from the city was moving too slow and 76% responses said we should reduce demand. Activate Wichita response was to restrict water usage. These responses will go before City Council on June 4th. The Board made the following comments/questions: responses in italics.  Will you do away with the interactive fountains? I would rather see restrictions to water irrigation than to the fountains as they add a benefit to the city.  Swimming pools benefit the people also.  I think this is perceived wrong by the public, we should restrict private users and some city uses.  You need to do more education on watering as I sometimes see it going down the street.  We need to do more conservation.  With a city the size of 380,000 you could only get 125 people to say this is a serious issue. People don’t understand how serious this is. We don’t want to be like Oklahoma.  We need to work with neighboring communities and look for regional answers. Miller said this is about the future water supply and the drought; we need to look at both topics. Busada stated the City is not restricting private wells and they are going to dry up quickly. Some of these wells serve for drinking water.  Well water will still impact the overall water supply; if someone digs a well it will decrease water significantly. Miller said there is mixed information on restricting well water. There is no legal precedent yet but our staff has said we can restrict if needed.  The City could start controlling permits.  Homeowners associations maintain their yards neat and trimmed; we don’t have water to take care of their yards.  I have seen commercial sprinklers on all day long even when raining. Is there any discussion on this?  I hope the City is not planning on adding any more irrigation.  We need a comprehensive package to see any good results.  With USD 259 building new schools, has the water dept. been in involved in this. Not sure.  People are in denial but once they get thirsty they will realize this drought issue is real. Miller said she knows this is a big issue and has been asking about it for several years especially securing new water supply. Voluntary conservation efforts will only give us an extra seven days and that is nothing. I’m all for providing incentives. The rate increases may be three-tiered. Base level for low water users and level 2&3 would have to increase due to higher water usage. I encourage you to think of more ideas on education as we must act quickly. *****Action: The Board provided comments regarding the drought response. Board Agenda 7. Problem Properties Along 25th street going up the interstate ramp, there is gravel but there are a lot of overgrown grass/weeds. Who is responsible for this? *****Action: Receive and propose appropriate action. 8. Neighborhood Reports There were no reports. *****Action: Receive and file.  Minutes 5 May 6, 2013 Updates from the councilmember Announcements  The next DAB VI meeting will be held on Monday, June 3, 2013. With no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned at 7:54p.m. Guests Jason Verbeckmoes Southdaly Sysavath Aurora Mendia Respectfully Submitted, Terri Dozal, Neighborhood Assistant