May 2, 2006 City Commission meeting minutes

May 2, 2006

The Board of Commissioners of the City of Lawrence met in regular session at 6:35 p.m., in the City Commission Chambers in City Hall with Mayor Amyx presiding and members Highberger, Hack, Rundle, and Schauner present.

RECOGNITION/PROCLAMATION/PRESENTATION

With Commission approval, Mayor Amyx proclaimed the week of May 6-12, 2006, as “Nurses Week”; proclaimed the week of May 7-13, 2006, as “Drinking Water Week”; proclaimed the week of May 7-14, 2006, as “National Music Week in Lawrence”; proclaimed Saturday, May 13 to be the “NALC National Food Drive”; proclaimed the month of May as “National Preservation Month”; and proclaim the month of May as “Huntington’s Disease Awareness Month.”

CONSENT AGENDA

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve City Commission meeting minutes from April 18, 2006 and the City Commission Special Sessions of April 20, 1006 and April 21, 2006.  Motion carried unanimously.

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to receive the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Board meeting minutes of February 15, 2006 and March 9, 2006; the Convention & Visitors Bureau Advisory Board meeting minutes of March 28, 2006; the Sister Cities Advisory Board meeting of March 8, 2006; the Historic Resources Commission meeting of March 16, 2006; the Mental Health Board meeting minutes of January 31, 2006 and February 28, 2006; the Board of Plumbers & Pipe Fitters meeting minutes of November 16, 2005; the Aviation Advisory Board meeting of March 2, ,2006; and the Public Incentive Review Committee meeting minutes of December 2, 2005 and January 19, 2006. Motion carried unanimously.

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to confirm the April 19, 2006 and April 27^th, 2006 study sessions and City Commission staff directions.  Motion carried unanimously.

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve claims to 347 vendors in the amount of $2,362,256.27 and payroll from April 16, 2006 to April 29, 2006 in the amount of $1,561,664.17.  Motion carried unanimously.

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve the Drinking Establishment Licenses to Set’em Up Jack’s, 1800 East 23^rd Ste. G and the Retail Liquor License to Dangermond Retail Liquor, 1010 North 3^rd. Motion carried unanimously.

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the recommendation of the Mayor and appoint Aline Hoey to the Housing Needs Task Force; and appoint Deborah Thompson to the Lawrence Public Library Board to a term which will expire on April 30, 2010. Motion carried unanimously.

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the recommendations of the Mayor and assign City Commissioners and Mayor to the following Boards and Committees:

Committee	Mayor/Commission	Commissioner Assigned (2006-2007)
K-10 Advisory Committee	Commissioner	Hack
Douglas County Development Inc.	Mayor	Amyx
Public Incentives Review Committee	Mayor/Commissioner	Amyx/Hack
City/County/USD Quarterly Mtgs	Mayor	Amyx
Student Senate Group - HINU/KU	Mayor/Vice Mayor	Amyx/Hack
Downtown Parking Advisory Board	Commissioner	Rundle
Economic Development Board	Mayor	Amyx
Economic Development Board Proxy	Mayor Designate	Hack
Housing Needs Task Force	Commissioner	Highberger
Library Evaluation Team (May-June 2006)	Commissioners	Hack/Schauner

Motion carried unanimously.

The City Commission reviewed the bids for 1,000 tons of road salt for Public Works. The bids were:

BIDDER BID AMOUNT

Hutchinson Salt $34,710.00

Central Salt $35,670.00

Cargill Salt $39,360.00

Independent Salt $40,220.00

Hi-Plains Salt $45,370.00

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to award the bid to Hutchinson Salt, in the amount of $34,710.00. Motion carried unanimously. (1)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to set a bid date of May 16, 2006 at 5:00 p.m., for Iowa Street, Irving Hill Road Overpass to Harvard Road, and 23^rd Street, west of Harper Street to East City limit, Milling, Overlay and Pavement Marking Project. Motion carried unanimously. (2)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve the site plan (SP-03-20-06) for sidewalk dining at Ole’ Tapas, 1008 Massachusetts Street, subject to the following conditions:

1. Compliance with the following Historic Resources Commission conditions of approval:

a. The proposed railing not be attached to the building;

b. The composition of the railing shall be wrought iron;

c. The height of the railing shall not be higher than thirty-six inches (36");

d. The sidewalk dining area on Massachusetts Street shall be unenclosed and shall be open to the sky;

e. Advertising shall not be permitted in the sidewalk dining area except for the name of the establishment on chairs or tables as approved by the City;

f. This recommendation is given with the understanding that the City Commission must approve the associated site plan and sidewalk dining license. Approval of this request by staff or the HRC does not guarantee the City Commission will approve the associated site plan or sidewalk dining license.

2. Revision of the site plan to include notation of Historic Resources Commission Case No. DR-03-34-06 and the associated HRC approval date;

3. Provision of a Site Plan Performance Agreement;

4. Provision of an Agreement Not to Protest the Formation of a Benefit District for Streetlight Improvements;

5. Provision of an approved sidewalk dining license from the City prior to occupying the public right-of-way per Chapter 6-1202;

6. Execution of an agreement with the City of Lawrence for use of the right-of-way per Chapter 6-12; and

7. Provision of an ordinance allowing alcohol sales for the sidewalk dining area.

Motion carried unanimously. (3)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve the Use of Right-of-Way Agreement for Ole’ Tapas, 1008 Massachusetts. Motion carried unanimously. (4)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve the Sidewalk Dining License for Ole’ Tapas, 1008 Massachusetts. Motion carried unanimously. (5)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 7996, allowing possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages on certain city property pursuant to Ole’ Tapas Sidewalk Dining License. Motion carried unanimously. (6)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 7997, authorizing the sale, consumption, and possession of alcoholic beverages at Broken Arrow Park on Friday, May 12^th and Saturday, May 13^th for the Lawrence Sertoma BBQ Cook-off Fundraiser. Motion carried unanimously. (7)

Ordinance No. 7995, allowing possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages on certain City property pursuant to a Pachamama’s Sidewalk Dining License, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Amyx, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (8)

As part of the consent agenda it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to adopt the Resolution No. 6644, for the 2007 KLINK Program authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation regarding the Milling and Overlay on Iowa Street, 6^th Street to Harvard Road and Irving Hill Road Overpass to 2^nd Street. Motion carried unanimously. (9)

As part of the consent agenda it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to adopt Resolution No. 6645, for the 2006 KLINK Program authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation regarding the milling and overlay on Iowa Street, Harvard Road to the Irving Hill Overpass and on 23^rd Street, from west of Harper Street to the East City limits. Motion carried unanimously. (10)

As part of the consent agenda it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to adopt Resolution No. 6646, authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $400,000 for the milling and overlay of Iowa Street, Irving Hill Overpass to Harvard Road and 23^rd Street, from west of Harper Street to the East City limits. Motion carried unanimously. (11)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the annexation (A-02-01-06) request of approximately 97 acres generally located south of K-10 Highway and E of East 900 Road commonly known as Sesquicentennial; and, direct staff to prepare the appropriate ordinance. Motion carried unanimously. (12)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the Final Plat (PF-02-06-06) for Green Tree Subdivision No. 3, a replat of Lots 1-15, Block 2, and Lots 8-17, Block 3, Green Tree Subdivision, a 28-lot residential subdivision containing approximately 6.266 acres, property generally described as being located at the northeast corner of George Williams Way and Harvard Road; and accept the dedication of easements and rights-of-way subject to the following conditions:

1. Provision of the following fees and recording documentation:

a. A current copy of a paid property tax receipt.

b. Recording fees made payable to the Douglas County Register of Deeds.

c. A completed Master Street Tree Plan in accordance with Section 21-7081a.3.

2. Pinning of the lots in accordance with Section 21-302.2 of the Subdivision Regulations.

3. Submittal of waterline plans indicating two-inch under-pavement service extensions to be abandoned, the location of new two-inch under-pavement service extensions as required by the new property lines, and the relocation of any fire hydrants as required to maintain their location on property lines.

4. Revision of the final plat to include the following:

a. Removal of General Note #4.

b. Revision of the Mayor’s name to Mike Amyx.

Motion carried unanimously. (13)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the Final Plat (PF-02-04-06) for Fairfield Farms East Addition No. 1, a proposed 226-lot residential subdivision containing approximately 73.604 acres, property is generally described as being located south of K-10 Highway between O’Connell and Franklin Roads; and accept the dedication of easements and rights-of-way subject to the following conditions:

1. Submittal public improvement plans prior to the recording of the Final Plat with the Register of Deeds Office;

2. Pinning of the lots in accordance with Section 21-302.2 of the Subdivision Regulations;

3. Execution of a Temporary Utility Agreement;

4. Provision of the following fees and recording documentation:

a. Copy of paid property tax receipt;

b. Recording fees made payable to the Douglas County Register of Deeds;

c. Provision of a master street tree plan.

d. Provision of street sign fees.

5. Review of proposed off-site dedications of public rights-of-way and easements per the approval of the Director of Legal Services prior to recording of those off-site dedications by separate instrument;

6. Provision of book and page references for off-site rights-of-way and easement dedications on the face of the Final Plat.

7. Provision of a Final Plat to include the following minor corrections:

a. Note on the face of the Final Plat that prohibits construction and fences in drainage easements

b. Provision of MEBO’s for Lots 4 and 5, Block 6

c. Removal of note adjacent to pedestrian easement between Lots 10 and 11, Block 4

d. Correct typo of general note 5 from “Tracts” to “Tract”.

e. Remove label of Block 7 that overlaps on Lot 11, Block 4

f. Add general note to describe building limitation for Lot 7, Bloc1 and add shading to legend.

g. Update signature block for Mayor as Mike Amyx

Provide deed book and page reference for dedication of additional right-of-way for E. 25^th Street across “Queen Property”.

Motion carried unanimously. (14)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the Final Plat (PF-02-05-06) for Fairfield Farms Addition No. 2, a 7-lot mixed use subdivision containing approximately 47.821 acres, property generally described as being located south of K-10 Highway between O’Connell and Franklin Roads; and accept the dedication of easements and rights-of-way subject to the following conditions:

1. Submission of public improvement plans prior to the recording of the Final Plat with the Register of Deeds Office;

2. Pinning of the lots in accordance with Section 21-302.2 of the Subdivision Regulations;

3. Execution of a Temporary Utility Agreement;

4. Provision of the following fees and recording documentation:

a. Copy of paid property tax receipt;

b. Recording fees made payable to the Douglas County Register of Deeds;

c. Provision of a master street tree plan.

d. Provision of street sign fees.

6. Provision of book and page references for off-site rights-of-way and easement dedications on the face of the preliminary plat.

7. Provision of a Final Plat to include the following minor corrections:

a. Note on the face of the Final Plat that prohibits construction and fences in drainage easements

b. Note that Lot 4, Block 1 and Lot 1, Block 3 shall not have direct access to O’Connell Road.

8. Update signature block for Mayor as Mike Amyx

Motion carried unanimously. (15)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to authorize the City Manager to execute an amendment to Agreement to Lease of City of Lawrence, Kansas Property, allowing T-Mobile to install a back up generator on the Stratford Water Tower. Motion carried unanimously. (16)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with Dan Boyle and Associates, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $159,029, for consulting services to complete the Coordinated Public Transportation Development Plan. Motion carried unanimously. (17)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to authorize the Mayor to sign letters and execute Local Government Endorsement Forms in support of applications from Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging, Inc., and the Salvation Army of Lawrence and Douglas County to the Kansas Department of Commerce for tax credits under the Kansas Community Service Program act. Motion carried unanimously. (18)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to receive the 2005 Abatement Annual Report. Motion carried unanimously. (19)

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:

During the City Manager’s Report, Mark Bradford, Fire Chief, briefed the City Commission on the status of activities regarding the gas leak at 9^th and Louisiana. He said there was a structure fire on Sunday, April 30^th, at 832 Louisiana. Subsequent to the fire which destroyed an older single family dwelling that had been converted into 5 apartment units, that dwelling had been razed and removed from that site. The investigation revealed that an ignition of flammable liquids that was transferred from the earth through some watershed areas went into the basement area and was ignited by one of three different sources which were the water heater, furnace, or a sump pump. Further on-going investigation indicated quantities of gasoline in the soil and in the subsurface water leading from the service station located at the back alleyway of 9^th and Louisiana.

He said his staff, along with Kansas Department of Health and Environment were investigating the affected area. Staff notified businesses and residents in the area from 8^th to 9^th and from Ohio to Indiana informing those residents of what had taken place. The key areas of concern were the smell of gasoline along with personal concerns of safety.

Along with monitoring air in those lower areas such as basements and crawl spaces, of 62 homes, approximately 43 homes were monitored and the remainder of those homes, the owner/tenants refused or staff had not made access into those dwellings.

Along with that investigation, the Utilities Department had worked along side of staff in monitoring both stormwater and sanitary sewer and Public Works Department had been present along with other department that had assisted in this issue.

At this time there were no flammable vapors in any of those areas with the exception of trench drains that had been dug by KDHE for the removal of gasoline and water product and with an attorney’s office building located to the south of the house that was destroyed by fire. That building still had vapors that were coming up into that particular business through their sump pump pit probably because of the large quantities of fuel that were removed from that site.

Currently, a vacuum truck at the site was removing water and gasoline. There were over 600 gallons of water removed along with 200 to 300 gallons of raw gasoline and removal would continue for an unknown period of time.

The emergent part of the incident was concluded. Fire/Medical staff would be working along with Utilities and KDHE to monitor the situation, but he could not say whether this would be a one week, one month, or one year project.

KDHE would be installing monitors wells at various sites around that particular area which would hopefully identify a geographical area of where that watershed and fuel mixture was located and where it was going. KDHE would then make an assessment plan of how they would go in and clean up. It might include additional monitoring wells and remediation systems which were similar to the retention trenches that they had already made and some geotechnical work where KDHE would place some soil vapor extraction systems blowing air down into the soil and making it bubble up to dissipate the material. Those were some of the ideas KDHE was looking at implementing, however, KDHE had not established a firm plan at this time.

Along with notifying neighbors if they were not present, door hangers were left indicating what had happened and what they should look for as far as odors. He said staff had used CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), which was part of Douglas County Emergency Management to disseminate that material. The key was to inform the public and make sure the public knew they were in a safe environment and if they did smell gasoline, what the public should do.

Mayor Amyx thanked Chief Bradford and members of City staff for their efforts. He said Commissioner Schauner had brought up a good point about researching where those old tanks were located because this type of incident could happen again in other locations. (20)

REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:

Continue public hearing from April 11, 2006 meeting, and receive staff reports concerning proposed demolition of structure at 429 Indiana.

Lynne Braddock-Zollner, Planner, said after the structural analysis that was conducted by Neighborhood Resources, the Neighborhood Resources Administrator concurred with the finding of that investigation and also by a private source contractor. She had forwarded all of that information to the State and they concurred that there was no feasible or prudent alternative to the proposed demolition and the demolition included all possible planning to minimize the harm to the listed properties.

Commissioner Schauner thanked Zollner for her professionalism in handling this issue because it had been a difficult issue and the Commission appreciated all the good work Zollner did on this project.

Mayor Amyx said the Commission wanted to make sure they had all the material in place to make this determination. The extra work from staff helped the Commission make that determination. He thanked staff for their efforts.

Mayor Amyx called for public comment.

After receiving no public comment, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Rundle, to close the public hearing. Motion carried unanimously.

Commissioner Rundle asked if staff needed a statement of the basis for finding there was no feasible or prudent alternative.

Zollner said no. She said she would include the section of the minutes along with a letter to the State Historic Preservation Office.

Mayor Amyx suggested including in that statement, all of the information that was provided.

Commissioner Schauner said from a practical matter, after this issue had been approved by all pertinent bodies, he asked what happened next.

Zollner said staff had to give the State 5 days to respond to the information that was sent and then, at that point, the demolition could proceed as long as they had all the required permits.

Commissioner Schauner asked if the demolition would be done by the City or property owner.

Victor Torres, Neighborhood Resources Director, said typically the property owner would apply for the demolition permit.

Moved by Rundle, seconded by Highberger, to approve the determination that there is no feasible and prudent alternative to the proposed demolition and that the demolition includes all possible planning to minimize harm to the listed properties. Motion carried unanimously. (21)

Consider the adoption of the 2006 Action Plan of the Consolidated Plan and consider Resolution No. 6648, authorizing the Mayor to execute agreements for the 2006 CDBG and HOME programs and other such documents as may be required to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for such programs.

Margene Swarts, Community Development Manager, presented the staff report. She said the City was required to submit a 5 year Consolidated Plan or Action Plan to HUD each year regarding the CDBG and HOME programs. This year’s submission would be the 2006 Action Plan as part of the 2003 to 2007 Consolidated Plan. The plan discussed housing, community development needs and priorities for the community. The investment summary details those activities and the recommended funding to address those needs.

Priorities had been determined both by the assessment of needs and prior activities that had been completed. The Neighborhood Resources Advisory Committee would make the final recommendation for both the CDBG and HOME programs with input from other citizens, boards, and public along with census data and previous homeless counts that had been conducted in the community and direction also came from the City Commission at their annual study session.

As previously approved by the City Commission, the Advisory Committee continued to consider the Step Up to Better Housing Strategy and additionally strong attention had been paid to continuing to address the needs of the City’s homeless in the community with the allocation of funds to both the Lawrence Community Shelter and the Salvation Army.

The Advisory Committee held a public hearing on April 13^th which opened a 30 day written comment period. Several persons attended that public hearing and made comment. So far their department had received no written comments.

With regard to the investment summary, it was important to note that by Federal Regulation the expenditure of funds was limited in only three areas. No more than 15% of the CDBG Grant could be used for public service activities. She said for administration, the cap was 20% for the CDBG Program and 10% for HOME Funds. The Community Housing Development Organization had a minimum set aside of 15% and they were limited to 5% for operating expenses.

The allocation as recommended by the Advisory Committee was within the regulatory caps. There was no cap for capital improvement expenditures. The next step in the process was the adoption of the resolution authorizing submission to the department of HUD.

Commissioner Schauner asked if it was a 15% or 20% limitation on administrative costs for the CDBG Program.

Swarts said it was 20% CDBG and 10% from the HOME program. The 15% was for public service activities.

Commissioner Schauner asked if the Neighborhood Resources CDD Administration of CDBG money was $163,396.00, as stated on the memo.

Swarts said yes along with the Neighborhood Resources CCD Administration of HOME for approximately $45,000.

Commissioner Schauner asked if those numbers exceeded the 20% number.

Swarts said those numbers did not exceed the 20%. She said those numbers were right at the regulatory cap.

Commissioner Schauner asked if that money was spent to pay for staff’s salaries for the administrative program.

Swarts said yes, but that money did not pay the salaries of the rehab staff because that was considered a program delivery cost and those costs came out of the capital improvement side of the grant.

Kirsten Roussel, Chair, Neighborhood Resources Advisory Committee, said the City Commission had received their recommendations for the investment summary for the Community Development Block Grant and HOME Programs for this year. The deliberations were difficult as they faced cuts in their allocations because their requests for funding far exceeded what was available.

She said they took the City Commission’s guidance from the study session and focused on the goals of the Step Up to Better Housing Strategies with particular attention to the transitional and emergency housing needs and homeless needs as indicated with their funding of the Lawrence Community Shelter and Salvation Army programs.

They were anticipating further cuts in the future and would appreciate guidance as they move forward through this process.

Mayor Amyx said the recommendations for the investment summary for CDBG and HOME Programs seemed sound. He asked how much time the committee deliberated regarding those recommendations.

Roussel said the committee started aggressively in January and kept at it. She thought they had a very experienced board that came into each deliberation session having done their homework so they could get down to business. She said it took several months to go through that process.

Mayor Amyx said the City Commission appreciated the efforts of the Neighborhood Resources Advisory Committee.

Mayor Amyx called for public comment.

Robert Baker, speaking on behalf of the Housing and Credit Counseling, said he would like to thank the advisory board for their hard work and for their preliminary allocation of $8,026.

He said Housing and Credit Counseling helped with pre-purchase budget counseling for the Tenants to Homeowners Land Trust Program, transitional housing services in partnership with Lawrence/Douglas County Housing Authority, and the practitioner panel or continue of care services, which this year had increased due to their involvement in the Homeless to Housing Program. This program had increased the amount of staff time from the budgeted half time position to a three quarters time position. However, they were still holding the line and were requesting the same amount of funding they had last year, which was $24,000. The last four years of funding had been $26,500, $24,500, $24,000, and $24,000.

He said the City had asked that the Housing and Credit Counseling perform those services as far back as 1994. At that time, the City made a commitment of the general revenue budget in response to the loss of housing services by the Consumer Affairs organization which closed their doors when funding was lost.

He said if at all possible, they were requesting additional funding because they were a partner in all of the housing services that were mentioned in staff’s memo. There was an increase in the public service funding for Transitional and Emergency Housing and they were an integral part of that service including program manager of Homeless to Housing. He said their funding was reduced by 65%.

Commissioner Schauner asked about administrative costs. He asked about last year’s administrative figure.

Swarts said last year’s grant was more. She said she thought it was approximately $980,000. She said since the grant has been lowering, it typically took every bit of the 20% allowed by the CDBG or 10% of HOME to administer the program.

Commissioner Schauner asked if the administrative cost last year was greater than the proposed budget costs for administration this year.

Swarts said no because they could not exceed the cap. They just had to tighten their belt and stay within the budget with those various programs.

Commissioner Schauner asked Swarts to discuss the tenant/landlord counseling reduction.

Swarts said the amount of public service total was reduced. When the grant was lowered, the cap would also be lowered accordingly. One difference was that funding was set aside this year for Douglas County AIDS Project (DCAP) that was not funded last year. Last year, DCAP did not submit an application which was an error on DCAP’s part. This year, considering DCAP provided funding for emergency lodging and assistance for their clients, the committee felt that was also an activity that benefited homeless or near homeless people. She did not think it was anything in particular on the part of the Housing & Credit Counseling that they did or did not do, it was just in looking at trying to fund both of the Shelters, DCAP, the Emergency Service Council, which sets aside money for emergency utility and rental payments. She said there just wasn’t enough money.

Mayor Amyx asked if they had to couple the $163,000 with the $45,000.

Swarts said the $163,396 coupled with the $44,569 from HOME was the total administration for the department. She said that money paid half of the Director’s salary, her salary, a program specialist, ¼ of two clerical staff’s salaries and all of the publication costs in administering the program.

Commissioner Schauner said he did not want to second guess the advisory committee’s work. He said in the future, he would like some discussion about finding a way to more efficiently deliver the administrative services. He did not mean to suggest they were not being efficient, but as money became less available, he asked if they could provide a similar level of service and reduce administrative fees.

Swarts said they could provide that review because they kept track of all of that type of information. She said in that administrative amount was the amount they spent on citizen participation which was notification to the public for public hearings, public notices, publications in the paper, also some fair housing activities they participated in jointly with the Human Resources/Human Relations Department was out of that particular amount as well as other things she noted such as salaries, benefits, and other administration along with rent on their facility for their office space, computer upgrades, furniture, and all those types of things that were required to administer the program.

Commissioner Schauner said he was confident that they all recognized the difficulty of making those choices. Again, it was not his interest in trying to second guess all the work that had been done. He said he would like to see if they could make some changes to cause less money next year to go as far as it had gone this year.

Commissioner Highberger thanked Swarts and the Board for their efforts. He said he sympathized with the request from HCCI. He had been on the board of HCCI and knew they did good work and he would like to give them more money, but the problem was that the money would need to come from somebody else. He said regretfully, he supported the recommendations of the board.

Commissioner Rundle said this was a matter that deserved serious consideration in funding outside agencies. He said HCCI was one of those services that needed to be put into a group like the Humane Society that was considered an annual necessity.

Commissioner Hack said she appreciated everyone’s efforts regarding this issue. She said the financial concerns she had was the cost to the Neighborhood Associations for the targeted neighborhoods which was over $39,000 in the five targeted neighborhoods in coordinators and operating expenses. She said those numbers had not changed, but everyone seemed to have made adjustments. In looking back over the last several years, those numbers had not changed and the tightening of the belts had not occurred in all of those neighborhoods. She said that was something to consider particularly if HCCI was making significant cuts and the other services were not. It was something to have a conversation about at the Commission’s study session in the fall.

Commissioner Schauner said some of the Habitat for Humanity costs and the water and wastewater development charges might be an area where the general fund could make some assistance in that line items which might free up some additional money for some other programs within CDBG. He said that was an area he would like to have some conversation about in the fall as they look at this budget.

Mayor Amyx asked if Commissioner Schauner wanted that idea to be looked at this year.

Commissioner Schauner said he would not rule out the possibility that they might make some additional money available by covering some of those costs out of the City’s general fund if they were able to do that. He did not have an interest in going down a particularly slippery slope and it was not something he was proposing tonight, but he would like to have some discussion about it.

Commissioner Highberger said it was his understanding that the public service section was already at its 15% cap. Even if they freed up money in the capital budget, they could not direct that money toward those programs.

Mayor Amyx said regarding the public service section, they would need to take away from one of the other agencies to add money. He said if it was something they would like to consider under the outside agencies as an additional item, would be a possibility. He said he appreciated the efforts by the Advisory Board and thought they had sound recommendations.

Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to adopt the 2006 Action Plan of the Consolidated Plan. Motion carried unanimously. (22)

Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to adopt Resolution No. 6648, authorizing the Mayor to execute grant agreements for the 2006 Community Development Block Grant & 2006 Home Investment Partnerships. Motion carried unanimously. (23)

Receive bids and memorandum on construction phasing options for waterline and electric improvement project in the 700 and 800 block of Massachusetts.

David Corliss, Interim City Manager, presented the staff report. He said in 2004 staff retained B&G Consultants to design waterline improvements that provided water service to the downtown area. A project was implemented last year to replace the waterlines on 6^th Street and in the 600 block of Massachusetts Street. This year, bids were received for waterline replacements for on the 700 block and 800 block of Massachusetts. A memorandum from Chris Stewart, Acting Utilities Director, outlined the history of the project and the scope of that improvement. He said Nowak Construction was the successful bidder for the project and was the successful contractor for last year’s work. He said the consultant from BG Consultant would discuss their memorandum that outlined an option that staff was recommending the City Commission to pursue with Nowak Construction as far as the phasing of the project.

As they approached the design of this project along with what was done last year, staff had been in consultation with property owners and merchants in the downtown area to ascertain their views. He thought it was fair to say when they look at this project, there were some variables. There was the variable of quality, cost, inconvenience, and time. Staff was not going to compromise on the quality of the project. This project was replacing 100 year old water lines, which was a needed improvement for the downtown area. He said staff was working with the variables of cost and had a bid that was below the estimate, and they wanted to be conscious about the cost elements and any changes to the arrangement they had for waterline work.

He said there was an inconvenience factor to this project and staff was sensitive to that factor. Staff wanted to be proactive to minimize that inconvenience. The inconvenience had been paralleled with the issue of time; how long it will take to successfully complete this project. They had been looking at those items and had tried to flush out a number of different options. He said staff believed Option 2 outlined the memorandum would get the project completed successfully. Option 2 appeared to be the most favored with the downtown merchants, although they understood this project would be an inconvenience.

Brian Kingsley, B&G Consultants, said the first summary had the bid results in which the bid letting was held on April 11^th. Nowak had the low bid in the amount of $1,599,584.74. With Nowak’s prior experience in the City of Lawrence, specifically downtown, Nowak was definitely qualified and they would support a recommendation to the City Commission to award that project to Nowak Construction.

A letter was given to Chris Stewart that outlined the summary of construction sequencing options for the project. On April 14^th, there had been a very good turnout of approximately 35-40 business owners at that meeting. The business owners asked staff what options they had to increase the overall duration of the project. He said there would be another meeting scheduled after the pre-construction conference and they would discuss in detail about the notifications and construction. All they were focusing on right now was the big picture on how they were going to get this project constructed and what construction phasing they were going to use.

The as bid construction documents for the project required that the work be accomplished in 5 phases; the first four phases of the project were waterline and electrical installation, half of a block at a time. The 5^th phase was to mill and overlay the street and put pavement markings down.

Also, there was a summary of the as bid requirements in the construction plans along with three options for considerations that were developed with the contractor. As discussed, the first as bid option was constructing the waterline and electrical in four phases, a half block at a time, which included 26 working days per phase. Each half of the block would be disrupted for 26 days, times four phases which was 104 working days for the waterline and electrical installation and then there 12 days at the end allocated for the mill and overlay activities and pavements marking.

The projected completion date for that particular as bid option would be October 11^th, which did not include rain days or unexpected delays during construction. It was a projected date, not an actual physical date that was included in the contract.

Each of the three options was developed in an effort to decrease the overall construction duration. They all involved combining one or more of the phases.

Option 1 involved consolidating the four phases into two phases, which meant that they would close down one block and would be allocated 28 days to complete that block, and then move to the next block and close down that block. The obvious concerns the downtown business owners would have with that process was the one way traffic and no parking on the opposite side of the street. In all of those options, the sidewalk remained open.

Option 2 was a viable option. He said not only to staff, but the downtown business owners united and voted on this option as a preferred option which involved constructing the project in two phases, but instead of closing down the block, they would construct one side of the street, two blocks at a time. Instead of half of one block at a time, they had two blocks and there was still one way traffic and parking across the street from the business. The construction duration for each phase was increased to 35 days. In front of each business, they would have a fence up for 35 days compared to 26 days in the as built plans. The overall project duration was reduced significantly down to 82 days from 116 days with a project completion of September 18, compared to October 11^th.

Option 3 involved closing down the street, and he thought that was the main reason Options 1 and 3 were not viewed favorably because those options eliminated traffic in front of businesses and there were visibility and parking across the street, which affected accessibility to the businesses.

He said the downtown business owners expressed concern and wanted the overall project duration to be decreased. It could be viewed either way; as more of an inconvenience, because the fence would be up longer in front of each business, but the overall project duration went down. Of the 35-40 business owners that were in attendance at the meeting, there was a handful that did not vote or were in favor of a different option, but certainly the majority was in favor of Option 2 on the construction scheduling.

Mayor Amyx asked if any of the options included bad weather days.

Kingsley said this was working days they were allocating. They were assigning a number of working days and during the project development they actually broke out not only just a lump sum of 26 days, but they also tried to identify the actual activities: the waterline installation, the electrical installation, how long it is going to take to pressure test and disinfect the pipes, and other issues. They accumulated those activities for that construction schedule and came up with that allocation.

Mayor Amyx asked if the 35 days was a 6 day workweeks.

Kingsley said it was a 5 day workweek. He said the original contract included work hours from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday with a minimum of 50 hours per week the contractor must work. The revised proposal and the options included a five day work week and the contractor specified that he would like to work Monday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. It was a five day work week, but there was about 55 hours compared to the minimum of 50 hours that the contractor planned on working.

Mayor Amyx said once they started discussing incentives to help move this project along, he asked if the contractor had the option of increasing the number of working days.

Kingsley said the contractor had already been told he could work Saturday.

Corliss said the incentive was for a date certain which was September 18^th. Liquidated damages kicked in after that date and the incentive provided an incentive to get the work done before that date. If the contractor found that he was ahead of schedule, they did not want the contractor to have a disincentive not to keep working along those lines.

Kingsley said that at the end of a 55 hour work week in the middle of the hot summer working in a downtown congested environment, the contractor felt his crew needed some time on the weekend to decompress. He said the contractor’s crews lived in the Wichita area and needed time with their families.

Bob Schumm, downtown business owner, said those meetings were well attended by 45-50 different businesses that attended either one or both of those meetings.

He said Option 2 had nearly a unanimous vote because some of those business owners feared that closing the street would create a problem where some businesses might not survive.

He said his group would like to go on record as supporting Option 2. Also, his group supported the idea of the incentive payment to the contractor for early completion. They were asking that consideration from the City Commission so that there was every incentive out there for the contractor to finish as quickly as possible.

He said the contractor thought if they had funds to provide a full-time field mechanic that the contractor could substantially reduce the number of days to complete the job. He said if some piece of equipment did not function correctly; that field mechanic could fix the equipment right away which would help move the project along. Without a field mechanic, the contractor would need to call someone from Wichita or Kansas City which would take quite a bit longer.

The other part of Option 2 which might be lengthy was that there were 12 days allotted for the mill & overlay portion of the project which would go from 6^th Street to 9^th Street. He asked if there was a way to tighten that window of allotted days, if possible.

Also, at later date, they would like to discuss a marketing program for the duration of the time the project would take place.

Mayor Amyx asked Schumm if there would be an objection to the mill & overlay occurring during the evening hours.

Schumm said he thought that option was preferred. Although, he had seen some evenings where there was more traffic downtown than there was during the day, but he did not think it would matter too much. In the evenings there were more vehicles parked on Massachusetts Street than in the two hour lots. He thought what they were concerned with was the total number of days of the project. The retail merchants were more interested in seeing night mill and overlay than during the day.

Commissioner Highberger asked if he knew the costs of a field mechanic that was being requested.

John Nowak, Nowak Construction, said the cost of an on-site mechanic had not been fully explored yet.

Commissioner Highberger asked if they used an on-site mechanic on other projects and did Nowak find that useful.

Nowak said no, but they have had a mechanic allocated to a project in the past.

Commissioner Highberger asked if it was somebody who was paid to be there all the time or somebody who was on call.

Nowak said the mechanic was one of their regular salaried employees and he was present in case something happened on a project that was high profiled like this project. They did not anticipate an on site mechanic going into the as bid scenario, but with the acceleration options, they were looking at that idea.

Commissioner Highberger asked about the amount of time for the mill and overlay portion of the project.

Nowak said the preliminary answer to that question from their subcontractor was that they did not want to have people come in at 1:00 a.m. to start work at 2:00 a.m. He said it would probably be a daylight process.

Commissioner Hack said the City Commission had heard many compliments about Nowak’s work last summer and how they appreciated their efficiency and the way the project was handled.

Mayor Amyx said he concurred with everything that had been discussed. He said there were sound recommendations and they would not short the quality of this project in anyway.

Commissioner Hack said she appreciated the work of staff, downtown merchants, B&G Consultants, and Nowak Construction in coming up with ideas that would make this project less painful.

Commissioner Schauner said he had been pleased at the way staff was handling this project and also pleased with the turnout at those meetings with the downtown merchants.

He said he was concerned about some business not surviving this process because it emphasized the fragility of downtown and the fact that there were a number of Mom and Pop stores without deep pockets, and it made those projects particularly difficult. He said this was a reminder that if they were going to continue to honor the Horizon 2020 mantra about protecting the downtown as Lawrence’s major retail area, they could not just think about downtown on a night they were doing a waterline project. They needed to think about downtown when they made a lot of those decisions about retail competition. He was hopeful that everyone would survive this process downtown and clearly, he was supportive of having more discussions with the DLI about how to ramp up some advertising support during this period of time.

Moved by Highberger, seconded by Hack, to award the project to the low bidder, Nowak Construction, in the amount of $1,599,584.74, authorize the Interim City Manager to execute a contract agreement for the project; approved a change in contract with the proposed construction sequence and approved Option 2; approved a change in contract to provide an incentive of $1,000 per day for each day the construction project is completed before the projected completion date and directed staff to investigate the possibility of hiring a standby mechanic for the project. Motion carried unanimously. (24)

Consider awarding Project No. 15-CP4-304(BD), Kasold Drive, West 22^nd Street to Bob Billings Parkway, street, storm sewer, and waterline improvements, to R.D. Johnson Excavating Co. for $5,483,332.90. Consider adopting resolution No . 6647, authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds for street improvements for $5,110,000.

Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, presented the staff report. The project included Kasold Drive reconstruction project from Bob Billings Parkway to West 23^rd. The typical section would be four 11 foot lanes with turning lanes at appropriate intersections. There would be an 8 foot wide sidewalk on the west side, a landscape median, a new water main storm sewer, and the street cross section included a treated base, 10 inch concrete pavement, and a drainage system. The project has a specified completion date of October 6, 2007. Traffic would be opened in one direction both ways and there was an incentive for early completion as well as a disincentive for late completion.

The project was re-bid because the initial bids were higher than the Engineer’s estimate. At the re-bid, two bids were received and R.D. Johnson was the low bid in the amount of $5,483,332.90.

This project was included in the 2006 Capital Improvement Program. Staff had provided for the City Commission’s consideration Resolution 6647, authorizing the issuance of bonds in the amount of $5.1 million for the street part of the project. The utility funds would pay for the water main side of the project. He said staff recommended proceeding and award the bid to RD Johnson.

Mayor Amyx asked about the experience staff had with the removal of the drainable base and changing the subgrade stabilization from flyash to lime.

Soules said staff was confident that this technique would provide the City Commission with the type of street they wanted in this the community. The difference of the flyash to the lime was just a construction technique and both gave excellent sub-grades. Staff used flyash on all pavement surfaces. The reason they chose the hydrated lime was because in that area, they felt with the traffic and the proximity of some of the neighbors, there tended to be more dust activity with the flyash operations, but staff could control that dust.

As far as the drainable base, they had used that type of base on one project in Lawrence, which was on O’Connell Road because it was flat and swampy area. Staff did perform geotechnical exploration with 14 bores and found no ground water. He said they would be putting in edge drains behind all four curbs that tied into the storm sewer and as they went down the hill there were drains that traversed the road and would pick up any ground water. He said staff would find any type of spring.

On west Highway 40, the basic cross section for that State project was 6 inches of lime and 13 inches of asphalt. Staff would be using a 9 inch flyash and 10 inch concrete. On the Kasold North Project, from Peterson to the KTA, which was a City project, but State funded, they were putting in the exact same cross section. Staff was confident that they were going to get an end product that would last a long time.

Mayor Amyx said since they were going to change to lime, his concern was with the washing possibility that might come out from under that pavement. He said he wanted to make sure they were putting the best possible product under that roadway.

Soules said the Commission should feel very confident in the design of this project.

Commissioner Schauner asked if Soules believed that the City’s standard for the mix they were using for the 10 inch concrete cross section was of sufficient quality and that they would not face the kinds of deterioration much too early that they had experienced with some of the curb and gutter work over the past 10 years, which had been an expensive problem that they had not fully dealt with.

Soules said that issue had been addressed with the current concrete mix design. Durable aggregate with additives were being used. For example, although the intersection at 15^th and Wakarusa was not 10 years old, he did not see any flaking or cracking.

Mayor Amyx said the thought this roadway was well thought out.

Commissioner Schauner asked if Soules would be the contact person for neighbors who had questions about keeping regular traffic out of those adjoining neighborhoods.

Soules said yes. He said staff would send out a mailing with contact numbers. He said if there were problems with traffic staff was prepared to address those issues.

Vice Mayor Hack said the two concerns the City Commission heard from the neighbors were keeping Kasold open on one side and traffic taking shortcuts through the neighborhoods.

Soules said in preparation, staff had taken traffic counts to keep an eye on the traffic volume in those neighborhoods.

The City Commission reviewed the bids for Kasold Drive, West 22^nd Street to Bob Billings Parkway, Street, Storm Sewer, and Waterline Improvements for the Public Works Department. The bids were:

BIDDER BID AMOUNT

Engineer’s Estimate $6,497,319.08

R.D. Johnson Excavating Co. $5,483,332.90

LRM Industries, Inc. $5,916,326.43

Moved by Highberger, seconded by Hack , to award the bid to R.D. Johnson, in the amount of $5,483,332.90. Motion carried unanimously. (25)

Moved by Highberger, seconded by Hack , to adopt Resolution No. 6647, authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds for certain main trafficway improvements for Kasold Street, Bob Billings Parkway (15 Street) to Clinton Parkway. Motion carried unanimously. (26)

Review proposals and additional information from the Americana Music Academy and the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department on the possible re-use of the Carnegie Library building at 9^th and Vermont.

David Corliss, Interim City Manager, presented a brief introduction. He said on March 9^th the City Commission conducted a study session and received additional information regarding the possible reuse of the Carnegie Library at 9^th and Vermont. Those proposals were received earlier in the year and the Commission indicated they wanted to study the proposals. In the Commission’s March study session, it was indicated they wanted to receive additional information primarily focused on the business plan and the financial trajectory of both of those uses.

The Commission received two proposals for the reuse; one proposal from Americana Music Academy and the other from the City’s Parks and Recreation Department. Staff had been in contact with the architect and the plan review for that design was now receiving review by local, state, and federal governments as far as its historic character and reuse. That analysis was continuing and likely to delay the finalization of those plans until later this year, which staff anticipated if the City Commission accepted those plans, then the project could be bid for a lengthy construction period for at least a year, perhaps longer.

Mayor Amyx said during the agenda review, there was a discussion about the earliest time for occupancy which would be two years before this building could be available for use.

Corliss said he was a little more optimistic, but Lynn Zollner, Historic Resources Administrator, might have a better idea about the historic review. He hoped that the plans would be finalized so that it could be bid later this year. He said it would probably be longer than a 12 month construction period. He said he did not see occupancy in the first half of 2007, but perhaps towards the end.

Mayor Amyx asked how much this project would cost.

Corliss said the information that David Dunfield, project architect, had indicated was that just like in a number of other projects, the project costs had increased, but he did not want to give a specific number because Dunfield was not ready to give a number.

Mayor Amyx asked if it was appropriate to consider this project in a priority ranking system.

Corliss said Commission made the final decision on proceeding with anything that was done, particularly with capital projects as far as the desire to issue debt. He thought it would be part of the capital improvement budget discussions as they looked at financing those projects. Staff did have that in their 2006 Capital Improvement Budget already. If someone was looking at that document and understanding where it ranked as a priority, he thought it was fair to say the project ranked as a high priority because the City Commission or other Commissions had indicated that it deserved to be placed in this year’s Capital Improvement Projects.

Vice Mayor Hack asked about the dollar amount listed in the Capital Improvement Projects.

Corliss said he would find that figure for Vice Mayor Hack.

Zollner said regarding the CIP, there was a Save America’s Treasure Grant for this structure. Staff had accepted the grant, but if staff did not want to use that grant they would have to let the park service know and they had two years to spend that money.

Commissioner Schauner asked when that two year period stopped.

Zollner said in mid 2007. There was an extension if the structure was in production.

Ed Brunt, speaking on behalf of Americana Music Academy, said by now the Commission had heard from the Director of the Academy and various members of staff and students concerning how the Carnegie building should be granted to the academy. As it had been pointed it, the Academy’s current site was woefully inadequate for their current needs and future programs they would like to enact. Like Parks and Recreation, they offered a multitude of programs that addressed both the youth and the adults. Obviously, the Academy’s specialty was music and they were focusing on youth programs. One of the chief complaints of the young in this City was there was no place for youth to go and nothing for them to do.

He said they received a grant last year and hooked up with the Boys and Girls Club and taught a series of mandolin classes. One of the stipulations for the kids was if they completed a certain number of classes, they were able to keep the mandolin to continue to pursue their musical pursuit. From the comments of the Director of the Boys and Girls Club and also from the Academy, it was a huge success. It also gave them an indication of where they would like to take this, which would help serve the community better in addressing youth.

He knew that Parks and Recreation would like to use the Carnegie Building to extend their offering of community classes and that was an admirable undertaking. The Academy would like to use the building to host summer music camps, group lessons in a less crowded environment, and both of those were things they could not do now because their building was too small. They would like to bring a national musical talent to hold seminars, and that was something they currently did, but they had to utilize the resources of Parks and Recreation and the Community Building because their building was too small to house the massive amount of people that were brought in.

They had noticed there was no end to the number of garage bands of teenagers, but they had no venue to showcase their budding musical talents. One of the things they would like to do at the Carnegie Building was to allow them to hold bands and dances in a controlled environment where they could showcase what they could do to their friends, which were things they could not do in their current building.

They had noticed that there was a great musical interest in Lawrence. The Americana Music Academy wished to take that to even new heights and bring national acclaim to Lawrence as a musical beacon of the Midwest. They could do that and he did not think there was a better way to honor National Music Week in Lawrence than to announce that its premier musical academy would be moving into the historic Carnegie building and continuing that great tradition. He said all they needed was the City Commission’s approval.

He said using the loosest definition of the term “play”, he played the fiddle. He said he did not play it well. His teacher described one of his latest attempts at playing a song as “masochist flailing with a stick.” He said that might discourage a lesser man, but if taking into account what she said when he first auditioned for her, was that his fingers should be broken and his violin burned, and the ashes scattered to the wind, which he took as a compliment. He was making improvement

As stated earlier, the rooms were too small and sooner or later were going to force people of his lesser musical bin out on the street or take to the street corners and pitifully practice their art in the failure of musical sensibilities as people passed by. He said he had heard himself play, and people needed him in a small enclosed room. He said the Commission’s decision not only affects them but also the community at large, which was why they were there.

He said he had taken a number of classes through Parks and Recreation and taught Tae Kwon Do for Parks and Recreation. They offered great programs and he could take nothing from them because he had the greatest respect for that department.

As the Commission and policy makers for Lawrence, he knew the City Commission had already completed their research and knew they had most likely decided how they were going to cast their vote. His expressed interest was the Commission’s confidence was cast toward the Academy’s way and regardless of the decision, the Americana Music Academy, the director of the staff, remained at the City Commission’s service.

Brent Crandon, Lawrence, spoke in support of the Americana Music Academy. He said his association with Americana was that his three children took lessons from the Academy and had for a couple of years. One of the primary reasons that he signed his kids up for lessons was his youngest two daughters were not able to participate in the band or orchestra the year they were in the 6^th grade. He said he felt that Americana was a very wonderful opportunity for other students, considering some of the cut backs in music that they were experiencing in public and private schools. Both of his daughters went to St. John’s and the private school that previously had a program for music that was changed in the 6^th grade year for them. They were able to participate with Americana with success. They were still taking lessons and he could compliment the teachers that they had.

He said he thought having the program in the Carnegie building would indirectly affect the businesses in a positive way downtown just by the mere proximity having parents dropping students off so they could walk downtown and shop or have a bite to eat while they were waiting for their child to have a lesson. He said he knew he had to wait about an hour and he frequently brought reading material and sat in the building and waited on them to have their lesson. It would be something that if it was closer to downtown, they could just walk around, shop, buy, and eat.

He said he agreed with what was said before in terms of the Carnegie Building had begun in the turn of the century to house an institution to assist the public in learning and the Academy fell under that type of institute.

Dr. Joe Hollowell, Lawrence, spoke in support of the Americana Music Academy. He said he had nothing to add to the enthusiasm everyone had heard from the two previous speakers. He said he and his wife became involved with the Americana Music Academy right after it formed. They became involved in the number of opportunities and the enthusiasm was expressed by the teachers in getting this Academy going. At the time the Academy started, they were in a small building on New Hampshire and 8^th Street. After a year or so, they moved to the Massachusetts location and the growth of the program had been exponential and they were overcrowded at the Massachusetts location now. The Carnegie Building seemed like an ideal site for the Academy and he thought the Academy would offer an ideal opportunity for the downtown area as well in terms of the vitality for the business community.

He sensed the City Commission might have questions about their business plan and the program they had been studying. He said there were people who could answer any specific questions.

Carl Burns, Lawrence, spoke in support of the Americana Music Academy. He said he wanted to mention a couple of issues. The first issue was the economic advantage to the City supporting the Americana application. The Americana was self-funded and had a track record of raising money to support activities and operations. If the Americana was in the facility, it would be able to pay its way. If Parks and Recreation went into that facility, the City would have to consider there would be additional expenses to the City beyond the capital costs and operating costs of the building to maintain additional park staff to operate their programs. Whereas, Americana’s programs basically were free to the City because they provided the money to operate their programs.

Secondly, he brought up the question of timing. He thought it was important that they not think of 2007 as so far off that they did not need a decision tonight. As a self-funded business they were responsible for raising their own funds. They had to approach funders and show their program plans and the future expectations. If they were able to go to those funders with a commitment from the City, even if it is only a provisional commitment based upon the solicitudes that might come up in regard to architectural changes, that they would like to support their application, then they could go to their funders and use that as a basis for requesting funds. They had also discussed the possibility of raising additional funds to help support some of the renovations necessary for the building. He would like to see the City make a decision tonight, rather than just leaving the issue open so it would put Americana on a track that they knew where they were going and they could work with the City to raise the funds and working on the plans necessary to implement to the architectural changes and other necessary changes.

Katherine Compton, Lawrence, spoke in support of the Americana Music Academy. She said when she first moved to Lawrence five years ago, she heard about Americana Music Academy. She called and at that time they were just getting started, so she was on the faculty for one semester. When she made a choice about where she was going to live, the fact that Americana was in Lawrence helped to shape that choice for her. The thing that she has been so impressed with in her interactions with Americana was the way the community was centered on the Academy. There were many different types of people that attend the Academy. She thought everyone was concerned about social cohesion in society right now and one of the things inspiring about Americana was the type of nurturing with the community. She saw it not only of being a nurturing of the music community, but a real way to expand the whole sense of community throughout the whole Lawrence community and it could be a focal point for community and a source for community building in this City.

She said when she went to visit a friend in Chicago a couple of years ago; she made it a point that she had to go to the Chicago Old Town of Folk Music, which was a legendary school of folk music. That was the model the Americana was creating itself on. That school now has hundreds and hundreds of people that were members. People came from all over the country to visit that school and the best artists in the world come and perform there. That was the vision of the Americana, to be that focal point and that type of magnet for talent for the community.

Thom Alexander, Americana Music Academy, said the specifics of their plans were to create a community environment based on American folk music. Being able to take the Carnegie building and moving it to a level of national prominence in their music and programs was their goal. They knew they could help support the City in terms of creating money to renovate the building. They know that if they move into the building they were going to see it filled quickly because they had already ran out of space at the other building. The important thing was a ground swell was happening in Lawrence and in this region and they saw Americana as a center point for that ground swell. He said it would be a nationally recognized organization.

This year they were being more involved with some of the national music companies to the point where those companies had offered to help them in connection to renovation of the building and as it turns out, one of the foundation people for one of the string companies that provided money and equipment for Americana had offered to go around to the major music sources at a national music convention in Austin and go with them to talk to them about financing and helping them fund the school.

He hoped the Commissioners would side in their favor because they were not going to let the Commission down. In fact, this was going beyond all of their expectations in the next 2 to 5 years and they really wanted to be downtown with everyone.

Fred DeVictor, Parks and Recreation Director, presented the Parks & Recreation proposal. After the renovations, staff was proposing to have the name of the Carnegie Community Center. The plan staff had proposed was one that affected the need for indoor facilities, which was getting more and more acute. He said staff felt they could make a difference by maximizing this facility for public use, particularly to provide affordable space that people could use for events and meetings and various other things. He said it was in the downtown area, which would draw people to the downtown.

It seemed unbelievable, but the Depot celebrated its 10^th anniversary recently. He pulled the reservations they had at that facility and so far this year there were 194 reservations, 100 of which were weddings, receptions, rehearsal dinners, birthday parties, anniversary parties, graduation parties, showers, reunions, and 10 art shows. Those were the types of needs in the community and they thought this type of facility could compliment what they did at the Depot in meeting those needs. The capacity of the Depot served 70 people and the Carnegie Building was much larger and would serve many more needs. The average use of the Depot for the last five years was about 13,000 to 14,000 people and the Carnegie Building being more than twice that large could double the amount of people they served.

Staff thought they could offset the annual operation and maintenance cost with the revenue, which was in their business plan. They would not be asking for additional tax dollars to operate that facility. The exception would be, one time, initial start up costs for tables, chairs and sound equipment, but some of which might be in the architect’s plan.

Their plan addressed the South Park Recreation Center. They would anticipate moving some of their staff from that facility to the Carnegie Community Center and utilize that space for classes and activities, but not have that facility opened as much due to full time staff not being available. He said they would move their computerized system for reservations to that location.

The plan addressed the National Park Service Offices for the National Heritage Area. One of the key issues was that the facility was a public building and staff was asking that it be kept in the public arena and they would like to provide the opportunity to work with different groups in providing both classes and meeting spaces that the community needed in the downtown area.

Bill Penny, Chair, Park & Recreations Advisory Board, said what they were trying to do was make Lawrence grow in all different ways. He said he appreciated the things that Americana was accomplishing. He said as the Chair of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, he thought he had a duty to make a statement of the public’s need in this particular area. He said DeVictor did a great job and his staff was efficient. They were doing a lot of things to help the cultural activities in this community. He thought Carnegie would lend itself greatly to those endeavors as it related to arts, music, and theatre. He did not know how many people had been to a recital in that particular building, but he had been to a number of them. There were a number of things he believed they could provide a venue for, along with things that Americana music might want to do which would not be a conflict. The building was a huge asset to the community and was probably worth in the range from $3 to $4 million. The building had not been appraised, but the City was going to spend $750,000 and another million dollars. His preference would be to allow for the Parks and Recreation plan, which would not add to any of the cost and they would not hire anyone else and use the current staff and allow people to use that building as needed in areas of music and the arts. He said he would hate to see that venue lost for a number of those activities in Lawrence. He emphasized that as the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board went, they saw this building as being used to enhance many of the things in the arts and music area which were the same goals of some of the other people. He thought they had the ability to do it for the whole community in a very equitable type of way.

Commissioner Highberger asked if Parks & Recreation had explored providing the services proposed at the Carnegie Library at any other locations.

DeVictor said no, because the facilities were not available. This was one of the first opportunities that a facility was available and would lend itself to those types of activities.

Vice Mayor Hack asked if DeVictor meant the larger space to rent or provide larger space performance venues.

DeVictor said correct. The first priority in the Recreational Centers was the Community Building; East Lawrence Center, Holcomb Park Recreation Center, and other community centers were the kinds of programs that offered. After that, those facilities were available for the public to use on a first come first serve basis. He said at the time, the City used Centennial School, but there was a crying need for more indoor space in this community.

A member of the public asked if any of the City Commissioners had been down to Americana to see their facility and what they were currently doing. He said he thought it would be difficult for the Commission to make a final decision if they hade not seen what Americana does or how they operated.

Commissioner Rundle said he had been there when Americana was at their first location on New Hampshire Street, but not since then.

Mayor Amyx said there were two very good proposals before the Commission.

Commissioner Highberger said despite the excellent proposal by Parks and Recreation, he supported the Americana proposal. He said he was excited about the possibility of assistance in raising funds for completing the renovation which was crucial. He said the Carnegie Building with the Americana could be a real jewel for Lawrence. He said it would also bring foot traffic downtown. He said he wanted to address the needs raised by Parks and Recreation in other ways, but Americana and the Carnegie Building could be a great asset for this community. He said as for the public/private concern, he did not see the proposed relationship in helping with Americana as substantially different from the relationship the City had with the Arts Center. The way Americana operated was almost quasi-public and there was very much public access to the facility.

Commissioner Schauner said this was one of the more difficult decisions the Commission had to make in awhile. He said he had struggled with this idea of committing close to $2 million of public money in repairing, improving, and stabilizing the Carnegie Building and then essentially making it available 100% of the time to the Americana Music Academy.

He said he was looking for the greatest good for the greatest number of people. He said he respectfully disagreed with Commissioner Highberger because he believed that was served with the Parks and Recreation proposal. He said he wished there was a way to mix some of that Carnegie space available on a regular basis to the Academy at a substantially discounted or free rate to help their space needs. He said the facility was an irreplaceable public facility and if they were going to spend a substantial amount of limited tax dollars to repair that facility that was his guiding principle and though he knew that would be a disappointment to the Americana supporters but that, unfortunately, was how he would throw his support.

Commissioner Hack said she agreed with Commissioner Schauner that this was a difficult decision. She said it was important to keep this building in the public domain. Both programs were fantastic, but her feeling was that if they were going to use public dollars to maintain and preserve this building, it was important that it remained in the public. She thought Parks and Rec was a very appropriate use for this building and would become something that would serve a large group of people. She thought that with the proposed Heritage Area designation, the potential for a City facility to be housed there would be a tremendous asset and a guarantee that would happen. She hoped that this was not perceived as a criticism of the Americana Music Academy because they had made an outstanding contribution to this community, but she felt the facility needed to remain with Parks and Recreation.

Rundle said he agreed with Commissioner Schauner that a portion of this facility be available to the Americana Music Academy. He said he recognized the needs of Americana, but there were many arts organizations in this community that had compelling needs as well.

In regarding the cut backs in school music programs, he knew the Commission was going to be asked sometime this fall to help make up the deficit. The psychological and counseling services were also going to be losing their funding.

The idea that Americana could help raise funds for the improvement of the building was the same argument that was made by the Langston Hughes proposal. The Commission decided that they were not comfortable in making that commitment, so that organization could go out and try to secure grants. He supported keeping the building with Parks & Recreations.

Mayor Amyx said in discussion he had with Americana, he had been supportive of the program. He said he liked the idea of bringing another new business downtown. He said the opportunity was there for grant proposals to help underwrite those costs. He thought that this would have been an opportunity for all of downtown to enjoy. He appreciated the amount of work that was done by Americana Music in preparing and answering their request for RFP along with the Parks and Recreation’s proposal.

Commissioner Schauner said he would like to direct Park & Recreation staff to develop a method for providing a substantially reduced fee structure for Americana Music Academy.

Commissioner Rundle said he would like to see a more formal proposal identifying specific days of the week.

DeVictor said staff had discussed with Alexander initially about the idea that they would present a joint proposal, but their interest was the need to expand to the entire building, but staff would be happy to pursue that request to see if space would be available.

Moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to direct staff to accept Carnegie Library RFP proposal from Parks & Recreation. Aye: Hack, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: Amyx and Highberger. Motion carried 3-2. (27)

Consider Planning Commission recommendation for (Z-01-02-06) a request to rezone a tract of land approximately 5.05 acres from PCD-2 (Planned Commercial Development) District to PCD-2 (Planned Commercial Development) District (with additional allowable uses). The property is generally described as being located at the northeast corner of Wakarusa Drive and Clinton Parkway. Submitted by Landplan Engineering, P.A., for Off-Piste, Inc., property owners of record.

Lisa Pool, Planner, presented the staff report. She said this was an application for the Northeast corner of Wakarusa Drive and Clinton Parkway for rezoning requests for PCD-2 to PCD-2 with additional allowable uses. The site’s existing PCD-2 zoning included the following conditions:

1. Restriction of uses to PCD-1 uses plus the addition of Use Group 15, Athletic Club, but excluding a pawn shop and Use Groups 13 and 14; and,

2. Limiting square footage to 12,700 square feet of commercial/retail use, with the balance of the project to be office use.

The applicant proposed to rezone the property to allow for additional commercial uses. The associative development plan included 18,866 square feet of commercial space, which was approximately 6,166 square feet more commercial space than was currently allowed. Staff recommended denial of this rezoning request based on several factors, but mainly it did not comply with Horizon 2020 as an expansion of commercial uses beyond the intersections existing commercially zoned property was not recommended, and it was a neighborhood commercial center.

Commissioner Highberger asked about the amount of commercial spaced at that intersection.

Pool said with the addition of the proposed development plan, the amount of commercial space for the intersection would total approximately 119,840 gross square feet of commercial space at the intersection, which was 19,840 square feet more than the recommended maximum of 100,000 gross square feet of commercial space for a Neighborhood Commercial Center.

Commissioner Highberger asked if that included 40,000 square feet of self-storage.

Pool said yes.

Commissioner Highberger asked if Horizon 2020 recommended one or two corners of commercial.

Pool said Horizon 2020 recommended one corner.

Commissioner Schauner said he recollected that future plans for Wakarusa would be to extend to the south across K-10. He asked if there were any long-term plans for widening that road to accommodate additional traffic as part of that long-term extension plan.

Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, said south of that area was right-of-way that could be used to widen that road, out to K-10. Other than adding turn lanes to that specific intersection, he did not know if they were expecting to go past a four lane facility.

Commissioner Rundle asked if there was any other intersection in town that was designated as neighborhood commercial that violated that provision of Horizon 2020, for example, 6^th and Wakarusa.

Sheila Stogsdill, Acting Planning Director, said 6^th and Wakarusa was designated a community commercial development and it exceeded the square footage maximum because that property was zoned prior to Horizon 2020 being adopted. This corner was unique in that the Clinton Parkway Nursery area was a County commercial corner long before that area came into the City. She said she did not recall the history of the southwest corner. Originally, there had been designation on the southeast corner for commercial and that property owner had chosen to develop residentially therefore, plans changed, but she did not recall the sequence in terms of when Horizon 2020 was adopted. However, this corner was originally zoned after Horizon 2020 was adopted.

Mayor Amyx said this site had a plan that had been approved several years ago. He asked about the difference, in the amount of square footage, between the former plan and the plan of today.

Pool said for commercial uses, it was over 6,000 square feet.

Commissioner Schauner said in looking at the Planning Commission minutes, the reason for staff recommending denial of the rezoning and preliminary development plan was a substantial drainage easement existing on the northeastern property lines and significant grading was proposed in the easement which would reduce the buffering effect. He asked if the drainage easement and buffering were connected.

Pool said yes, but those were specifically related to the development plan. She said it was not necessarily a justification for denying the rezoning.

Vice Mayor Hack asked if the justification was the amount of square footage and the two commercial properties.

Pool said the justification was the amount of commercial square footage and the amount of traffic generated. She said in the staff report, she noted the Traffic Impact Study identified a trip generation of 6,857 trips on a typical Saturday and 4,942 trips on a typical weekday in a 24 hour period. The fact that the development plan showed a convenience store when there was already a convenience store on one of the corners was also something that Horizon 2020 did not recommend.

Tim Herndon, LandPlan Engineering, speaking on behalf of the applicant Off-Piste, Inc., said this project was an opportunity for great commercial, retail, office, and multi-use development at this historically vacant corner of two major arterials. He said they had the opportunity to construct a well done architectural style development and initiate revenue on a historically failing corner. He said this project was an infill project and it was noteworthy to understand this location was not subject to what they sometimes called “creep.” It was encapsulated by pre-developed conditions and this project was not going to be future development that would overtake the area. He said part of this project would cleanup an existing ravine which was a drainage way that ran along the east edge of the site. It was a difficult site. The location was at the intersection of two major arterials. The visibility was great, but access was a challenge and was the paramount concern as they had dealt with this intersection over the years. The grade was also a concern.

He said it was helpful to understand that in 1992 or 1993 there was a significant pond in the area that was drained. Notably, the fallen elevation from Clinton Parkway down to the bottom of the hill was no less than 26 feet and from west going eastward down into the ravine was 48 feet which was a huge physical constraint that was very prominent when one ponders how to do a project on that site. He said that type of site insinuated a lot of money in retaining walls and infill dirt, but the good news about that site was that it was a high traffic area.

He said there had been discussion concerning a section of that property being in a 100 foot wide drainage easement which dovetailed into Commissioner Schauner’s question to staff about the existing vegetation and the need to clear that vegetation as a result of improving the drainage way. The vegetation in that easement was vegetation that had sporadically and naturalistically recurred following the dredging and clearing in the early 1990’s at that location. No matter what was built on that corner that drainage way would need to be improved to City standards as the area developed which would require clearing, re-grading, refinishing, and replanting.

The buffering as it related to the 100 foot wide drainage easement was even further widened in the southern corner of the southeast corner of the site. The proposed building was located east of the existing residences that faced the cul-de-sac which was approximately 250 feet from building to building and a couple hundred feet from the edge of the parking lot to where the rear building setback stopped. He said this site was blessed with a natural separation device which most sites did not have. He said it was a blessing and a curse because this development, when it moved ahead, would require a hydraulic and hydrology drainage detention project as part of that development.

He said the rezoning request was for an expanding list of uses. In 1998 when the previous project was approved, it was not only for the 12,700 square feet of commercial that was cited by staff, but included 32,000 square feet of office in addition to the commercial. He said the former project was approved, but within a year or two the Bristol Partners built the office building on Wakarusa Drive and Sallie Mae vacated and suddenly there were hundreds and thousands of square feet of vacant office space which was why the previous proposal did not go forward.

He said their expanded uses would allow limited drive-up service, no fast food, but would allow gas pumps, coffee shops and banks with a drive through. Their plan specifically featured a bank with a drive through facing that corner. He said they were asking for an expanded list of uses that would allow a development that could function and be feasible, viable, and doable. He said his argument to the City Commission, in light of the fact that this project came to the City Commission with a 7-3 recommendation of Planning Commission denial, was that this had been unfairly characterized as neighborhood commercial. Horizon 2020 stated this area was neighborhood commercial, but that was incorrect.

He said there were two commercial developments at this intersection that were built and a third intersection that was zoned as a planned commercial district. The argument that Horizon 2020 stated that only one corner could be commercial, that argument was already lost before it could be discussed, was an unfair benchmark to evaluate their project against. He pointed out some of the actual development data from the development plans. He said the issue of one corner and 100,000 square feet was not germane to this site or this conversation and it was an unfair argument to make in relationship to this proposal.

This project had been accused of expansion of commercial uses beyond the existing commercially zoned property which was not true. He said they were not proposing to expand the boundaries of that commercial district, but they were proposing to expand the uses. This 5 acre project had a unique attribute that should be recognized that only 60% of this project was developable because of the massive detention area and other issues. The developable areas of this project were a small concentration of the total project.

The fact this property was buffered and separated by so much space; the fact that the stormwater management system that affected this property in the area would be improved; the property after all this time would be maintained and would be blessed with better architecture; and, the fact that there was neighbor support, was the icing on the cake.

Finally, Horizon 2020 stated that unnecessary duplication of commercial services was to be avoided if possible. It had been stated that because there was a convenience store cattycorner from that site, that somehow another convenience store on the other side was inappropriate and was an unnecessary duplication of services at this site. He said he wanted everyone to know that there were several intersections with two or more convenience stores in the same vicinity. He said he was asking the City Commission to sincerely consider this project in an appropriate light and not judge the project by an erroneous classification that was in a guide plan that the City used to help move project along. The City Commission knew that with a simple majority, they could send this issue back to the Planning Commission for reconsideration or with a super majority, overturn the Planning Commission’s recommendation, which the latter idea was his request.

Brian Sanders, Lawrence, said his home was directly behind the project and he supported the project. He said it was a nice looking project and he thought the project would not interfere with their neighborhood. He said in discussion with his neighbors, they were also in support of the project. The proposed stores would be an asset to their area.

Commissioner Rundle said the Planning Commission meeting minutes reflected a number of comments regarding the neighborhood guidelines and asked about the status of those guidelines.

Stogsdill said the guidelines had been recommended for approval by the Planning Commission and they had started, in the last couple of months, to ask staff to review development plans based on those guidelines. She said those guidelines had been identified as an expectation from the Planning Commission.

Commissioner Rundle asked if those guidelines included what Planning Commissioner Ermeling discussed concerning a different approach to the plan that would bring buildings closer to the street.

Stogsdill said the guidelines brought buildings closer to the street.

Mayor Amyx asked if buildings could be brought closer to the street with this site.

Stogsdill said staff did not review this plan, because they were recommending denial of the zoning and the development plan.

Commissioner Highberger asked for traffic counts to the previous and current plan.

Pool said the previously approved final development plan projected 853 vehicles per day during a 24 hour period on a typical Saturday and 1,123 vehicles per day during a typical 24 hours period on a typical week day. The current plan was 6,857 vehicles per day for Saturday and 4,942 vehicles per day for a week day.

Herndon said the traffic worked with this intersection. He said that intersection would have the same number of vehicles at that intersection no matter what type of use was at that location. He said the applicant would be back to the City Commission with a plan and if it became apparent that traffic was a significant concern in the course of that review, they would be fully prepared to address that issue.

Commissioner Rundle said he was interested in some of the proposals from the Planning Commission and wanted to know if any of those proposals were feasible given the topography. He said this was matter of integrating rural commercial into the urban setting. He said the area was not developed to neighborhood commercial, but the plan was valid in trying to define that intersection as appropriate for neighborhood commercial. One of the main concerns was redevelopment. He said he was leaning toward either sending this issue back to the Planning Commission or support the recommendation for denial.

Mayor Amyx said there had been a recommendation in the past for a planned commercial development at that corner, but for economical reasons, made that project not viable at that time. He said there had to be a change in the uses to make sure this project would be viable and pay its way.

He said because of the fact that that only 60% of the project was developable was a safeguard. He said he thought there would be some increase in travel, but that project was at the intersection of two very busy roadways. Also, he thought the concerns about the architectural guidelines could be addressed. He said this project was a way to develop that corner and he supported the project.

Commissioner Schauner said Herndon almost had him convinced until Herndon recited examples of the convenience stores and their proximity to intersections. He said Herndon was exactly right in that there were multiple duplicated uses at numerous intersections and he could not imagine why they would want to do it again.

Horizon 2020 designated that area as a neighborhood commercial corner. He said it might not be neighborhood commercial and he did not want to make this up as they went along, but use the same process that got them Horizon 2020. He said he could not visualize that much additional commercial on that corner and the impact it would have on that corner’s ability to deal with current and future traffic. He said in looking at the Planning Commission’s comments, all of those comments struck him as well founded reasons not to approve this project. He said Horizon 2020 was a guide and should be given some deference. He said he was not opposed to some type of project on that corner, but this proposal was too large.

Vice Mayor Hack said Herndon’s point about this project being an infill project was the most important point to keep in mind. She said to have a function, feasible, viable, and doable project were four very good terms to describe this project. She said she did not agree with Horizon 2020 that this was a neighborhood commercial center. She said this had historically been an undeveloped area. She said she supported the project.

Commissioner Highberger said this was a difficult call. It did not make sense to count self storage as retail square footage. Therefore, this project did not result in exceeding the allocated square footage for that corner. He said regardless of how that area was developed, the City’s planning documents stated this was a neighborhood commercial center and if not, then the document needed altering. He said he agreed with Commissioner Schauner that the examples cited persuaded him to go another way. He said it was close, but he could not support the project.

Commissioner Rundle said if this proposal was denied what would be about the impact of that decision.

Stogsdill said if the City Commission denied the rezoning, the applicant would still have the existing zoning in place and the applicant could submit a development plan that met that criteria. If the City Commission wanted to pursue something that was in between, then the applicant would need to come to the Planning Commission and ask for a determination that it was a substantial change which would waive that one year waiting requirement if the Planning Commission determined the proposal was substantially different from the current proposal.

Mayor Amyx said if the City Commission concurred with the recommendation by the Planning Commission the plan before the City Commission was done.

Stogsdill said the plan was deferred from the Planning Commission. The City Commission had the plan as an illustration, but the plan was not an action item.

Mayor Amyx asked if the rezoning would be done for one year.

Stogsdill said the rezoning would be done and the applicant would not be able to come back with this exact rezoning within one year, but the applicant could request the Planning Commission consider something different if the Planning Commission made a determination that the plan was substantially different for this plan.

Moved by Schauner, seconded by Rundle, to deny the rezoning request as recommended by the Planning Commission. Aye: Highberger, Rundle and Schauner. Nay: Amyx and Hack. Motion carried. (28)

Receive draft Request for Proposals for consultant services for the study of competitive and athletic facilities. Receive draft cooperative agreement on the funding for the study.

Fred DeVictor, Parks and Recreation Director, presented the staff report. He said an 18 member Partners for Lawrence Activities and Youth Committee had been formed and they had met numerous times. The committee had developed an RFP for City Commission consideration and approval, along with a legal cooperation agreement for each of the four entities involved to sign which was the City, County, USD 497 and the Chamber of Commerce.

Vice Mayor Hack said the vast majority of the work had been done by DeVictor and she thanked DeVictor for using his expertise in drafting RFP’s.

Commissioner Schauner said he was going to vote against this proposal. He said he was confident there was a need for the facilities, but he was not confident the City could find a way to pay for those facilities. He said he was uncertain the City was the proper party to be playing a significant financial role in developing replacement facilities for Sport to Sport and other private enterprises. Again, he would not support the proposal because he was trying to be more honest with the folks who were behind this project.

Mayor Amyx said originally he was not in favor in funding this proposal, but his view had changed. As they looked in the future, in order for PLAY to continue to move ahead, the public side of this agreement would carry them through this particular project.

Commissioner Rundle said he was going to vote for the project, but he did not want anyone to misconstrue this as a prior commitment to additional funding. He said he was probably the most pessimistic about public expenditures and he thought they needed good information in which to base their planning. This information could be useful for the private sector if this project was going to be a public/private partnership and he expected that they would be looking for as many additional sources of funding.

Moved by Hack, seconded by Rundle, to authorize the Mayor to sign cooperative agreement for consulting services for the study of competitive and athletic facilities and authorize the distribution of RFP, if appropriate. Aye: Amyx, Hack, Highberger, and Rundle. Nay: Schauner. Motion carried. (29)

PUBLIC COMMENT: None

WALK ON ITEM:

Fred DeVictor said the Outdoor Aquatic Center roof was damaged in the recent hail storm. The roof was leaking in 3 different locations and staff’s assessment was the roof needed replaced. Staff had contacted 9 roofing contractors, but only one contractor, Alpha Exterior Service, could do the work in the needed timeframe. The estimated cost was $26,860 and staff thought the bid was reasonable. He said staff preferred that the roof was repaired before the swimming pool was opened.

David Corliss, Interim City Manager, said the sales tax reserve fund could be used, but staff would look at recreational funds as well. He said the Commission’s options would be to waive the bid requirements and accept the quote.

Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack to waive the bid requirement and accept the quote from Alpha Exteriors for outdoor aquatics center roof work and authorize staff to contract with Alpha Exteriors in an amount not to exceed $26,860. (30)

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:

David Corliss, Interim City Manager, said he anticipated, next week, to carve out some time to discuss a number of planning items such as the Southeast Area Plan and other general planning items regarding long-range planning.

REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS (CONT’D):

Consider a motion to recess into executive session to discuss matters which would be deemed privileged under the attorney-client relationship for 30 minutes. The justification for the executive session is to keep attorney-client matters confidential at this time.

Moved by Highberger, seconded by Rundle, to recess into executive session at 10:00 to discuss matters which would be deemed privileged under the attorney-client relationship for 30 minutes with the justification for the executive session to keep attorney-client matters confidential at this time and to extend the meeting to 10:30. Motion carried unanimously. (31)

The Commission returned to regular session at 10:25 p.m. at which time it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to adjourn at 10:25 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.

APPROVED _____________________________

Mike Amyx, Mayor

ATTEST:

___________________________________

Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk

CITY COMMISSION MEETING OF MAY 2, 2006

1. Bid- Purchase 1,000 tons of road salt from Hutchinson Salt for $34,710.

2. Set bid date- May 16, 2006 for Project No. 1-SR1-106(S).

3. Site Plan – (SP-03-20-06) Sidewalk Dining, Ole’ Tapas, 1008 Mass.

4. Use of Right-of-Way Agreement, Ole’ Tapas, 1008 Mass.

5. Sidewalk Dining License, Ole’ Tapas, 1008 Mass.

6. Ordinance No. 7996 – 1^st Read, alcoholic beverages on city property, Ole’ Tapas.

7. Ordinance No. 7997 – 1^st Read, alcoholic beverages, Broken Arrow Park on Friday, May 12^th and Saturday, May 13^th for the Lawrence Sertoma BBQ Cook-off Fundraiser.

8. Ordinance No. 7995 – 2^nd Read, allow possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages on certain City property pursuant to Pachamama’s Sidewalk Dining License.

9. Resolution No. 6644 – 2007 KLINK Program, KDOT Milling & Overlay on Iowa, 6^th to Harvard.

10. Resolution No. 6645 - 2007 KLINK Program, KDOT Milling & Overlay on Iowa, Harvard to Irving Hill Overpass & 23^rd from W of Harper to E City limits.

11. Resolution No. 6646 – GOB, $400,000 for Milling & Overlay of Iowa, Irving Hill Overpass to Harvard & 23^rd from W of Harper to E City limits.

12. Annex – (A-02-01-06) 97 acres, S of K-10 & E of E 900 Rd, Sesquicentennial Park.

13. Final Plat – (PF-02-06-06) Green Tree Sub No. 3, Lots 1-15, Block 2 & Lots 8-17, Block 3, 28 lot residential, 6.266 acres, NE corner of GWW & Harvard.

14. Final Plat – (PF-02-04-06) Fairfield Farms E Add No. 1, 226 lot residential, 73.604 acres, S of K-10 between O’Connell & Franklin.

15. Final Plat – (PF-02-05-06) Fairfield Farms E Add No. 2, 7 lot mixed, 47.821 acres, S of K-10 between O’Connell & Franklin.

16. Lease Agreement amendment – T-Mobile to install generator on Stratford Water Tower.

17. Contract – consulting services for Coordinated Public Trans Development Plan, Dan Boyle and Associates, Inc. for $159,029.

18. Local Government Endorsement Forms –tax credits to Jayhawk Area on Aging, Inc., and the Salvation Army.

19. 2005 Tax Abatement Annual Report.

20. City Manager’s Report

21. Public Hearing – Continued from April 11, structure at 429 Indiana.

22. 2006 Action Plan of the Consolidated Plan

23. Resolution No. 6648 – Grant Agreement for 2006 Community Development Block Grant & 2006 Home Investment Partnerships.

24. Bid accepted – Nowak Construction, waterline & electric improvements to 700 & 800 Block of Mass for $1,599,584.74.

25. Bid – Kasold, W 22^nd to Bob Billings Pkwy Street, Storm Sewer & Waterline to R.D. Johnson for $5,483,332.90.

26. Resolution No. 6647 – GOB for main trafficway, Kasold, Bob Billings Pkwy to Clinton Pkwy.

27. Carnegie Library – proposals from Americana Music Academy & Parks & Rec.

28. Rezone – (Z-01-02-06) 5.05 acres, PCD-2 to PCD-2, NE corner of Wakarusa Dr & Clinton Pkwy.

29. Cooperative Agreement – consulting services for competitive & athletic facilities.

30. Public Comment

31. Executive Session