WYANDOT DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
(WYANDOTTE COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL)
JANUARY 19, 2000, 11:00 A.M.

KANSAS CITY KANSAS PUBLIC LIBRARY

WCEDC Members Present: Mayor Ted Stolfus-Chairperson, Mayor Carol Marinovich, Mary Ryan

Others Present: Bob Evans, Marcia Ashford, Marla Newman, Adonna Thompson, Rick Yarnell, Lavert Murray, Jackie Hampton, Pat Mahoney, Jim Thompson, Tom Cooley

Mayor Stolfus called the meeting to order at 11:09 a.m. and introductions were conducted.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes of the September 15, 1999, meeting were unanimously approved by a motion from Mayor Marinovich and second by Mary Ryan.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

The current officers were presented as follows:

Chairperson – Mayor Stolfus
Vice Chairperson – Mayor Marinovich
Secretary/Treasurer – Mayor Berry

Mayor Marinovich made a motion to approve the same slate of officers to serve in 2000. Mary Ryan seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved.

CITIZENS PLANNING COMMITTEE UPDATE

Jackie Hampton reported that the Best of Wyandotte Celebration will be held on Wednesday, April 26. They will be seeking nominations from the cities of Bonner Springs, Edwardsville and Kansas City, Kansas for three Citizenship Awards. It was suggested that post cards announcing the Best of Wyandotte Celebration be mailed soon so that everyone knows of the date well in advance.

Recreation Subcommittee – Ms. Hampton provided a report for Craig Gaffney and Wendy Wilson on the activities of the Recreation Subcommittee. In March 1998, the subcommittee led an effort to schedule focus group meetings regarding recreation in Wyandotte County. Based upon the outcome of those meetings, the subcommittee presented their recommendations to the Unified Government Parks and Recreation Department in January 2000, which in turn accepted their recommendations. The Parks Department would like to hire a facilitator to process the recommendations into a strategic plan.

Image Subcommittee – Rick Yarnell stated that this subcommittee focused on the variety of ethnic and cultural activities in the county and tried to expand on them. For the first time, a brochure of ethnic festivals was developed and published. They worked with the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) to market these activities, and the CVB developed the slogan, "City of Festivals." A Festival Organizer Council has been formed to schedule, organize and promote all of the festivals.

UPDATE ON URBAN LAND INSTITUTE ACTIVITIES

Marla Newman from the KCK Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) gave a brief update on the progress of the Urban Land Institute study that was conducted 11 months ago. The panel’s recommendations were to develop a housing strategy, form a community based neighborhood coalition in the northeast area, and focus on retail development.

She said that a Neighborhood Coalition has been formed. In September 1999, invitations to serve in the coalition were mailed to organizations that were located in the northeast district or served the northeast district. Forty to fifty organizations expressed a willingness to be involved. A steering committee was formed and met 5 times before the end of 1999. They would like to (1) meet with employers within the Fairfax District to see what residents can do to be hired; (2) develop a directory of the organizations and institutions that serve the NE area; (3) inventory the condition of street lights, vacated overgrown lots, streets, etc. and prioritize these items in terms of getting them resolved; and (4) land use planning, which is a long-term goal. The coalition met in December and agreed on the short-term and long- term goals. Ms. Newman stated that LISC is a resource to help get this whole process started, but LISC now needs to be less engaged.

In terms of retail, an affiliate of LISC that invests equity into grocery stores is looking into the possibility of establishing some more grocery stores. They are working with grocery store owners on 5th street and the 600 block of State Avenue. A grocery store is needed to serve the northeast area and downtown business population south to Strawberry Hill. A centrally located store is needed to better serve more of the community, and a full service grocery store is needed in the NE area due to transportation issues and age of residents.

A subcommittee is working to develop a comprehensive housing strategy that does not just focus on individual developments. There needs to be a plan in place. Several entities will need to help support this effort. Ms. Newman said she will meet with Mayor Marinovich to propose a concept and will recommend the appointment of a groups to work on the strategy. Mayor Marinovich requested a list of steering committee and coalition members.

Mayor Stolfus inquired as to when the inventory analysis of streets, street lights, vacated lots, etc. will be completed. Ms. Newman said that the tentative goal is to have it finished by April.

HUB/HOME PAGE ADVISORY COUNCIL UPDATE

Pat Mahoney from the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library explained the history of the Communication Hub and how the KC Metrolink has taken the place of the Hub. He distributed a brochure that explained how the KC Metrolink provides businesses, agencies, organizations and individuals with direct and instant access to the most current information about their community’s resources. KC Metrolink uses ECLIPSE, a community information network , to link users to the World Wide Web. ECLIPSE and KC Metrolink are administered and sponsored by the Kansas City Metropolitan Library and Information Network.

By computer presentation, he provided an overview of the KC Metrolink web site, how to use it and how to add or update information. The resource information now covers five states. Users should call Adonna Thompson, 596-5800, at the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library to obtain a password for inputting or updating existing information about a particular resource.

TOWARD A NEW CENTURY PARTNERSHIP CONTRACT

Jim Thompson from Wyandotte Development, Inc. (WDI) provided an overview of the Toward A New Century (TANC) economic development campaign between the Kansas City Kansas Area Chamber of Commerce and WDI. He stated that they currently have a contract with the WCEDC to serve as the vehicle to handle all of the Business Education funds. He said they would like to enter into the same agreement with the WCEDC for their new campaign that is starting.

Mr. Cooley stated that the WCEDC has served other organizations in this way, such as the All-America Conference and the 5th Mayor’s Summit, because of the 501C3 status.

Mayor Marinovich requested that he submit the contract to the Unified Government’s legal department to see if the contract needs to be modified and to provide enough advance notice.

Mayor Stolfus said that the contract would be placed on the March WCEDC agenda.

REPORT ON OUTCOME OF NAITCP 5TH MAYOR’S SUMMIT

Bob Evans provided a brief overview and distributed the conference agenda of the NAITCP 5th Mayor’s Summit held September 22-25, 1999. Over 200 people registered for the conference. He said a check for $3,000 was recently deposited, which brought the Summit out of the red. He said it was an interesting event, and that the process of working with an international event was challenging.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Tom Cooley provided a year-end report for the Wyandot Development Corporation and the four different funds. The account had a balance of $53,915.62 as of December 31, 1999. The Annual Corporate Report will need to be filed with the state, and 1099s will be made out to vendors. He also provided a cash report for the NAITCP 5th Mayor’s Summit.

Mayor Marinovich questioned his role as treasurer since he is a commissioner and may be appointed to the WCEDC Board. He said that he had no problem serving as treasurer, but someone else should reconcile bank statements and sign checks. It was suggested that the secretary do this, which would require that the secretary/treasurer position be split. This would require a bylaws amendment. Mayor Stolfus said that this item would be placed on the March agenda.

Mayor Marinovich made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report as submitted. Mary Ryan seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved.

OTHER BUSINESS

A. Future Agenda Items

1. TANC contract

2. Bylaws change

B. Host Schedule – The host schedule for 2000-2001 was distributed with the WCEDC agenda. The City of Bonner Springs will host the March 15 meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 12:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Marcia Ashford
Asst. to the City Manager/Deputy City Clerk
City of Bonner Springs