CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
Woody debris stored at material storage location
The Public Works Department staffed 1901 Wakarusa, property regularly used for materials storage, the week of March 13 and received woody storm debris from the community from 9a.m. to 3p.m. daily through Sunday, March 19. The attached photos show the facility being used by citizens, contractors and city crews. An operator was on duty at the site compacting the debris resulting in more than 1000 yards of material in the footprint of a football field.
Hiratsuka student reviews of Lawrence visit
The student delegation from Lawrence’s Sister City Hiratsuka, Japan has published its memory book from the summer 2005 visit to Lawrence. The students have included their surveys of the events. The welcome reception was rated wonderful by 8 students and good by 6. The rating for the Fire Medical and Police demonstration were 13 wonderfuls and 6 goods. Attached are the reviews of the welcome reception and spending time Fire Medical staff and Police Officers and the overall comments from the exchange. The students also included two pages in their memory book covering the City Hall visit with the Vice-Mayor and meeting firefighters and police officers.
Recycling education in the classroom
Waste Reduction and Recycling conducted outreach this month with preschoolers at East Height Elementary. The 4 to 5 year olds learned about composting and recycling from a demonstration with worms and vermicomposting as well as played the “recycle scramble”, a game conducted by MPA intern Kathy Woerner, shown in the attached video (appropriate software and plug ins needed to play the video clip). Diana Sjorgen, waste reduction specialist, led the students in singing “Recycle if You’re Able”, an original song she created. Excerpt from the lyrics: Recycle, recycle, recycle if you are able. Cause nature shows how and you can do it now. Recycle it if you are able.
Online advisory board volunteer database up and running
An online database to house information on citizens volunteering to serve on advisory boards is up and running. Online at http://www.lawrenceks.org/advisory_boards/submit.shtml , citizens can register contact information and boards of interest directly into the database. Once an entry is successfully made, an email alert is automatically sent to the Mayor. The Mayor can access the records as he works to fill vacancies on city boards.
When as interest letters arrives via mail, city staff enters the information into the database. Web Intern Ben Turner, with the help of Information System staff, has created an authentic online database accepting data from the public and permitting manipulation of the data by staff and the Mayor.
Kansas Government Journal article
Efforts to plant 900 New Trees throughout Lawrence were included in the February 2006 edition of Kansas Government Journal published by League of Kansas Municipalities. December through February, Parks and Recreation staff planted trees in public spaces and parks, in right-of-way areas and in the frontage area of new homes in newly developed subdivisions.
CVB purchased welcome ads in Topeka Capital-Journal
The City of Lawrence was included in the logo section of recently purchased welcome ads in the Topeka Capital-Journal. Running for three weeks, the ads feature a simple welcome message to readers and list sponsors of the ads. Convention and Visitor Bureau staff coordinated the ad and participation.
Composting facility and yard trimming collection program highlighted
The Solid Waste Division’s Composting facility and yard trimming collection program was covered in the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Solid Waste Update publication, March 2006. Ken Powell, Bureau of Waste Management, authored the article covering the program’s history, growth and successes.
Kansas Health Foundation Recognition grant application made
Lawrence Douglas County Fire Medical has submitted the attached grant application to the Kansas Health Foundation to provide bicycle education and helmets for every kindergartner in Douglas County including Lawrence, Eudora, Baldwin, Lecompton, all private schools and all home school students.
The following elements are considered with selecting projects for grant funding.
· Focus on prevention (to what degree does it prevent high-risk health behaviors?)
Grant application material includes: 60 % of head injuries and death from wheeled sports are children under the age of 16. 88% of these injuries could be prevented with the use of a helmet. Less than 18% of the children in this age group wear a helmet.
· Meeting a clear, identifiable need
Grant application material includes: make sure they young children have a helmet
· Creativity
Grant application material includes: We need to make wearing a helmet cool. Then the peer pressure will be to wear a helmet, rather than not wear a helmet.
Project description:
Firefighters would conduct helmet safety programs in each classroom, providing an interactive program to the students. During the program the students will learn why it is important to wear a helmet, and what could happen if they choose not to wear one. At the end of the program each student would be fitted with a bicycle helmet. During the fitting process the teachers would also learn how to fit a helmet so he/she would be able to monitor proper fit in the future.
CDBG expenditures, allocation and projection
The attached memo and spreadsheet detail Community Development Block Grant expenditures for 2000 - 2004, allocation for 2005, and projection for 2006.
Lawrence Transit presents at American Public Transportation Association conference
On Monday, March 20, Public Transit Administrator Cliff Galante along University of Kansas representatives Peg Livingood, project manager with Design & Construction Management and Donna Hultine, director of Parking Services, led a session title Barriers to Implementing Transit Services: What’s holding you back? at the biennial APTA national Transportation and Universities conference held at East Lansing at Michigan State University. Galante’s PowerPoint presentation is attached.