CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
New
Additions to Lawrence Police Department Website Launched
The Lawrence Police Department has
initiated a summary of police activity and a Web blog on our website: www.lawrencepolice.org. This is a two part system for information
about activities on-going with the department. Community Information will
provide a review of major cases investigated by the agency. These summaries will be updated and reviewed
weekly. Police Activity Information will
include numbers and types of calls, number of reports taken, and the names of
persons arrested since the last posting. The Q.
& A. Board will provide the Police Department the opportunity to
respond to questions submitted by the public.
LEAP Performance Recognition Award Announced
The Lawrence Excellence Awards Program (LEAP)
Performance Recognition Award recognizes City employees for exceptional
performance, volunteerism, and special project efforts. At the 2006 Employee
Relations Council picnic, Central Garage Field Supervisor Glen Taylor
was honored for his discovery of a fuel tax exemption that the City of
Improvements Made
at
Eagle Bend Golf Course has seen a number of
improvements (see photos)
over the past month, including:
®
Painting the exterior of
the building and installation of new roofs on the pro shop and cart buildings
®
Additions to cart
pull-off areas near a number of the tees and greens
®
Regrading of #15 fairway
to correct drainage problems (fairway will be reseeded this fall)
Ice Field at the Holcom Baseball Complex has
also seen some improvements. The five foot high outfield fence that was damaged
in the March 12th storm has been replaced with a new eight foot high fence in
left and right field. The center field fence is now 14 feet tall. See attached photos.
Parks &
Recreation Fall Enrollment Increases
The attached memo
contains a comparison of 2006 Fall enrollment in Parks & Recreation classes
and activities to enrollment figures for previous years. Both overall enrollment and on-line
enrollment continue to increase.
Planners attend KACPZO Conference
Planners Mary Miller,
NELAC Audit
Findings
KDHE recently conducted on-site assessments
of water quality assurance efforts at the City’s two water treatment plants and
the wastewater treatment facility. The
auditor found that the data produced at
all the laboratories is acceptable and worthy of continued certification under
the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Conference standards and
state regulations. Please see attached memo
from Utilities staff.
Survey Added to www.lawrenceks.org
A new survey is now online to help evaluate
the usefulness and any shortcomings of the lawrenceks.org web site. The survey
can be viewed at http://www.lawrenceks.org/survey.shtml.
The survey’s goal is to help determine ways the city can improve city services
by listening to user feedback. This voluntary survey asks users to rate aspects
of their web site experience, in addition to an open comment section so he or
she can voice “three things you like most (or least) about our web site and how
you would improve it.” Comments from the survey will be addressed by Eric Gruber, eGov Coordinator. The city
will continue to take comments about other topics important to the public
through the lawrenceks.org Feedback page, located at http://www.lawrenceks.org/feedback.shtml.
Electric
Bus Presentation to be hosted by KU on September 6
The KU Transportation Research Institute is
hosting a presentation on "The Chattanooga Electric Bus Experiment,"
a seminar presented by John Powell, at 3 p.m. Wednesday, September 6, in the
Spahr Engineering Classroom, 2 Eaton Hall on the KU campus. Powell is executive
director of Advanced Transportation Technology Institute, a nonprofit institute
dedicated to increasing the use of electric and hybrid-electric buses through
research, communication and demonstrations. Among his achievements, Powell
managed the largest operation of electric vehicles ever assembled during the Centennial
Olympic Games in
Disorderly
House Nuisance Abatement Conferences
The City has been developing a tracking
system for disorderly house nuisance properties, and in the month of August the
first two disorderly house nuisance abatement conferences were held. In each case, staff members, property owners,
occupants and neighbors of nearby properties met to discuss the identified
properties. The stated goal of each
conference was to attempt to prevent future nuisance behavior from occurring on
the identified properties. In each case
nuisance abatement agreements were reached.
If the conditions in the agreement are subsequently violated, the
individuals responsible for the property under the ordinance will be prosecuted
in Municipal Court, or in appropriate cases the agreements may be amended to
include more restrictive or potentially more effective conditions. Please see the attached staff memo
for more information.