September 26, 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 October 8–14, 2006 as “Kansas Family and Community Education Week.”
CONSENT AGENDA
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to approve City Commission meeting minutes from September 12th, 2006. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to approve the Hospital Board meeting minutes of August 16, 2006. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to approve claims to 335 vendors in the amount of $1,191,312.74. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to approve the Drinking Establishment License for Zig and Mac’s No. 2, 1540 Wakarusa; Longhorn Steakhouse of Lawrence, 3050 Iowa; and, India Palace, 129 East 10th; the Class B Club License for Brandon Woods Club, 1501 Inverness Drive; and the Retail Liquor License for 23rd Street Liquor, 945 East 23rd. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the recommendation of the Mayor and reappoint Barbara Hillmer and Robert W. Augelli, Ph.D., to the Human Relations Commission, for terms which will expire September 30, 2009; appoint Lisa Johnson to the Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging, for a term which will expire September 30, 2009; appoint Bob Lewis to the Lawrence-Douglas County Advocacy Council on Aging, for a term which will expire December 31, 2007; appoint Susan Mangan to the Neighborhood Resources Advisory Committee, for a term which will expire September 30, 2007; and appoint Brent Swain to the Recycling & Resource Conservation Advisory Committee, to a term which will expire December 31, 2007. Motion carried unanimously.
The City Commission reviewed the vehicles and equipment to be sold on Gov Deals. The 17 vehicles and three pieces of equipment were:
Unit Make Model Year Points
80 Ford C.V. 2004 27.01
81 Ford C.V. 2004 26.90
82 Ford C.V. 2004 28.00
89 Ford C.V. 2004 26.57
120 Ford C.V. 2003 28.85
124 Ford C.V. 2003 31.67
245 Ford F350 1996 33.48
246 Ford F350 1996 33.65
532 Ford F350 1993 35.70
603 Chevrolet Blazer 1995 28.82
604 Ford Explorer 1993 31.89
606 Ford Aerostar 1994 31.83
607 Ford Fire Squad 1991 31.93
623 Ford Fire Squad 1992 27.91
635 Ford F250 1988 34.44
639 Ford F250 1992 32.40
655 Ford F150 1996 33.36
None Murray Riding Mower Poor
None SBC Compressor Poor
None Power unit for Jaws of Life Good
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner to allow the sale of 17 surplus vehicles and three pieces of equipment through Gov Deals. Motion carried unanimously. (1)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner to set a bid date of October 17th, 2006 for the weatherization of 44 homes. Motion carried unanimously. (2)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner to authorize contract extension with Gould Evans Architects for $18,943 in additional architecture planning services for the library expansion project for a total authorized amount of $75,943.00. Motion carried unanimously. (3)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner to authorize the City Manager to pursue a contract for purchase of green tags from Zephyr Energy at the cost of $8,700. Motion carried unanimously. (4)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner to place on first reading, Ordinance No. 8021, amending portions of the Public Offense Code. Motion carried unanimously. (5)
Ordinance No. 8038, allowing the temporary sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic liquor at Burcham Park from noon to 10:00 p.m., was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner to adopt the ordinance. Motion carried unanimously. (6)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner to approve the site plan (SP-08-72-06) for a temporary parking lot during construction of building addition to West Jr. High school, for the west side of intersection of Schwarz Road and Yale Road, subject to the following condition:
1. Upon the certificate of occupancy for the new addition to West Jr. High School, the temporary parking lot will be removed with the following replacement actions: gravel from the parking lot will be removed; area will be graded and reseeded with grass; asphalt drive and curb cut on Schwarz Road will be removed; and a concrete curb and gutter reinstalled.
Motion carried unanimously. (7)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner to authorize the Mayor to sign a Release of Mortgage for Kim Windholz, 1934 West 3rd Street. Motion carried unanimously. (8)
Resolution No. 6685, supporting a local “Plug-In Lawrence” campaign was pulled by a member of the public, for separate comment.
Eilean Smith , Kansas Solar Electric Cooperative, said this proposed program would use a 2-4 megawatt power plant for Historic Downtown Lawrence. She said solar electric building materials would be used that generated electricity from the light of the sun. She said it was always helpful when getting renewable energy projects interwoven with other projects that were going to benefit that technology and bring the most benefit to the community. She said they were proposing a 1,000 megawatt peak solar in Kansas as a non-profit manufacturing endeavor. She said it would take an hour to inform the Commission why this endeavor was so important, and referred the City Commission to a book she had written called Electric City beyond the Curve of Deregulation. The problem was that solar energy had been suppressed because of the momentum of commerce more than a political issue and a nonprofit manufacturing endeavor was needed. She said there were approximately four oil cartels that controlled 95% of the manufacturing world-wide, so it was much suppressed. She said they would manufacture, install, maintain, and sell the electricity at wholesale. She said it did not put any burden on the consumer, except they had to lease their roof in exchange for 50 years of battery back up systems, which were about three systems. She said Kansas Electric Cooperatives would be formed by 5 people forming the core board in every county of Kansas; it was structured around House Bill 2018 that was written by Tom Sloan in 2003. She said it was primarily used for wind energy, but in this case it was being used for solar building integrated affordable tanks. She said it required five people under Kansas Statute Annotated, Chapter 17, to incorporate a renewable cooperative and then they had to make a commitment to install 100 kilowatt peak or 10,000 square feet of solar electric generation capacity within 2 years. She said her goal was to have the first manufacturing plant built by the summer of 2007 and have 100 kilowatt peak in each county of Kansas installed by December of 2009. She said that was very ambitious thinking, but how they were going to get that done was by people stepping up to the plate and communities beginning to help. She said the key to this program, which was very good that it was being considered with this plug-in program, was that she asked the Kansas Corporation Commission to get more people aware of proceedings and how they could intervene. She said the thing that would help people become aware and also would help legitimize this program and get financing for it was the Kansas Solar Electric Buildings Registry. She said how she came to that conclusion was that she was talking to the Chair of the Kansas Corporation Commission, during proceedings, asking them formally why they were funding coal plants that should have plenty of ability to subsidize their own improvements in environmental issues when they had 150 years of experience and have 72% of the Kansas market and 55% of the national market. She said the Chair of Kansas Corporation Commission said it was because they had no verifiable capacity for solar energy. She said sometimes they forget that it’s not a political issue, but instead an administrative issue. She said they had to put those details in place so the machine could function. She said each county needed to form a cooperative of 5 people bringing $100 to the state and $100 to the local cooperative, and then they put together a Kansas Solar Electric Building Registry for each county. She said it was not going to verify the building was qualified for the program; it only gave them a list of projects to go out and verify. She said that was how consumers could get involved and a program the City might want to promote with the Plug-In Program. She said to get people involved and get people talking about the Kansas Electrical Cooperatives, then she thought people would step up to the plate and form their own cooperative and then they would have a nice network around the state. She said when it came down to going into the Kansas Corporation Commission, there was not one person or two people, there were 525 people across the state who were officially committed to this program in addition to all of the peripheral people.
Moved by Rundle, seconded by Schauner to adopt Resolution No. 6685, supporting a local “Plug-In Lawrence” campaign. The Recycling and Resource Conservation Advisory Board recommended the City Commission support for the National Plug-In Partner Campaign as considered by the City Commission on September 12, 2006. Motion carried unanimously. (9)
Commission Schauner, pulled for separate discussion, the “signs of community interest” for two banners to span across East 8th Street that would notify the public of the “Get Downtown” event on October 6, 2006.
Commissioner Schauner suggested that Vice Mayor Hack inform the public what was going on in the downtown area on October 6th.
Vice Mayor Hack said “Get Downtown” was an opportunity to celebrate that downtown was opening again after a very successful water project and she encouraged people to come and enjoy downtown. She said there would be food and beverages, bands, and several vendors and encouraged everyone to participate because it would be a fun event.
She said the Commission’s agenda item was to approve the extension of the signs of interest, which were the banners that would advertise the event. She said this event was a partnership between the KU Alumni Association, the City of Lawrence, the Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Lawrence, Inc., which was a nice collaboration of efforts of folks getting together for that fun event.
Bob Sanner, Director of Conventions and Sports Markets, Chamber of Commerce, said he wanted to emphasize the sponsors that were identified. He said it was also Homecoming Weekend, which would give those alumni an option to come downtown that evening.
He said with the reopening of the streets downtown, in some cases, they needed to reintroduce downtown to the citizens of Lawrence. He said he appreciated the Commission’s support and help.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve as “signs of community interest” two banners to span across East 8th Street that will notify the public of the “Get Downtown” event on October 6, 2006. The banners will be placed on September 27, 2006 and removed on October 10, 2006. Motion carried unanimously. (10)
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:
During the City Manager’s Report, David Corliss, Interim City Manager/Legal Services Director, said the City’s Management Team participated in exchanged day activities and worked outside of their normal duties to give them a sense of other City operations.
Also, during the City Manager’s Report, Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, said the paving project on Kasold began and concrete trucks were already showing up on the job. He said 1,000 yards of permanent paving was poured. The procedure was computerized and the machine was controlling the depth of the pavement. He explained other operational procedures to the City Commission.
He said staff met with property owners along the east side of Kasold last week and discussed how the project would proceed. He said those property owners were great to work with and everyone was pleased with the progress. The property owners were provided shuttle service to get those owners in and out of their homes.
He said staff was anticipating that in November, the east lanes would reopen to traffic. The mainline paving would be finished this week and they needed to construct the curb on the west side, and a number of miscellaneous small pours. The storm sewer and waterline was completed and they were making good progress.
He said the contract had a completion date of October 6 2007, but he thought the contractor would beat that completion date.
He said as an F.Y.I., he received an e-mail from a contractor today that indicated asphalt prices had gone down $20 a ton. (11)
REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:
Receive staff report concerning possible City authorization for advisory election on resolution requested by the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice.
David Corliss, Interim City Manager/Legal Services Director, presented the staff report. He said last Tuesday, during public comment the City Commission received a request from the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice regarding the placing of a resolution on the November ballot that would be an advisory election. He said they received the information earlier from Allan Hanson, Coalition for Peace and Justice. He said he also had a brief conversation with the County Clerk last week when staff was putting the agenda together and they reviewed some of the status of the advisory elections. He said there was no statutory authority for advisory elections. The only way that an advisory election could be conducted was if the County Clerk, the election officer of Douglas County, received a request from the City and then had the discretion to place it on the ballot. He said there was a timeframe concern. He said Jamie Shew, County Clerk, was not available, but Keith Campbell from the County Clerk’s office was present and could tell the City Commission briefly some of the procedure items that he was not aware of.
Keith Campbell, Deputy County Clerk of the Douglas County Clerk for Elections, said he was asked to research advisory elections. He said as it was stated, there was no statutory authority. He said what they had done was they started researching to see if there was any legal authority. He said they discovered an Attorney General’s Opinion 94-106. He said what he wanted to direct the City Commission’s attention to stated, “In instances in which the County Election Office conducted the advisory election, separate polling places for the advisory election must be maintained.” He said no ballots other than those provided and printed in accordance to the law should be delivered to a voter, deposited in the ballot box, or counted. He said an advisory election was not called in response to the commands of any statute, therefore election judges, clerks, appointed pursuant to Kansas statute 25-2801 may not distribute, collect or count ballots an advisory election.
He said their interpretation was they would need to maintain a separate election board at a separate location with a separate ballot. He said he had spoken with Brad Bryant who worked for the Kansas Secretary of State’s office and spoke with Evan Ice, who was a County Attorney who both agreed with the assessment. He said what they could do was they could have a separate location inside the polling places with an election board member who would then administer the advisory board election. He said their office was fully supportive of any decision the City Commission made and would be happy to do whatever they could and fully confident they could administer it if so needed.
Mayor Amyx asked about the cost of printing the ballots and paying for the advisory election.
Campbell said at this point there would be other options they could pursue, which included a paper ballot which might reduce the cost, but would add time to counting the ballots as well. He said the City of Lawrence had 49 precincts and currently running 49,000 ballots for those precincts. He said he did not have the exact number of what it would cost per ballot if they printed an official ballot that would run through the machine back in the Courthouse afterwards. He said it would be safe to say that even on a paper ballot they were looking at 5 cents per ballot just for the cost of printing that ballot.
Commissioner Highberger said he wanted to clarify if they could station an election officer within each polling place.
Campbell said that was correct, but it needed to be separate from the main election that was occurring. He said it could be in the same polling place, but just a separate table.
Commissioner Highberger said he did not have a chance to totally read the opinion, but there was a reference to 250 feet from the entrance.
Campbell said they decided they would help administer this poll and could use their polling locations, but if they decided not to administer this election, then there would be election laws that would occur. He said the Secretary of State’s Office emphasized the polling needed to be separate. He said they were basically looking at another table and a person who would be responsible for administering that part of the election. He said it would increase the amount of election workers they needed as well.
Vice Mayor Hack asked what other costs the City would bare.
Campbell said the going rate for election workers would be $85.00 per day times 49, if the decision was to have a ballot at every polling location in the City of Lawrence.
Commissioner Rundle asked Corliss if he indicated there was no home rule authority for any kind of flexibility on this kind of advisory election.
Corliss said it was essentially the City’s home rule authority that gave the City the ability to adopt this resolution if that was desired. He said unlike other municipalities, like the school district or something else that did not have constitutional home rule authority, they would not even be able to ask the County Election officer to do that polling. He said the City Commission had the ability to ask the County Election officer to ask for their help. He said the County Election Officer had discretion as to whether or not they want to facilitate that polling or not. He said the County indicated they would help on some items and might need to discuss cost items and logistical issues as well. He said what was important to understand was essentially it would be a separate ballot at a separate table and the City Commission could weigh that information.
Commissioner Schauner asked what instruction would be given to a poll worker to a voter who came to vote in the general election concerning the advisory election option. He asked if the voter would be handed two ballots together or how would it work.
Campbell said the way logistics would work out with the two tables, he did not think they would be handed both ballots at the same time. He thought they would need to go to two separate locations to vote. It would be possible to put up some sort of sign or have the election workers notify the public that if they wanted to, they would have the option to vote on this issue as well.
Ann Haehl, Lawrence, said she was the daughter of a veteran and the mother of a veteran and she said fortunately her son came home safely. She said she was proud of their soldiers, sailors and marines and she was proud of their veterans. She said one of the proudest traditions was that their military was subordinate to the civilians. She said there was nothing in this country like what was going on in Thailand with a military coup and that meant that when those people stand up and say that they would defend the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, it was their responsibility, as citizens, to judge what they were going to be doing. She said they were the ones who were sending them out there and it was their responsibility and that was a very proud tradition. She supported the request for an advisory election.
Joe Douglas, Lawrence, spoke in support of the referendum on the war. He said many of the decisions the Commissioners made were analytical, precise, concrete, but he believed that behind every one of their decisions, even the most practical or mundane, there were community values. He said how they want their community to be, how they want to treat each other, what kind of people they wanted to be. He said their decisions came both from the head and the heart and he thought they were elected as much for their values as their intellect. He said this issue called for a decision from the heart. He said in the best of democratic traditions it would give the people of Lawrence a chance to say what kind of world they wanted and what kind of nation they wanted to be. He said practical reason, as the Journal-World had pointed out, would say that they could have no effect on the course of world events and that this referendum would be a waste of effort. He said the heart said they had to speak up and do what they could and hope for a better world. He said he did not believe this was naïve and thought it was the only way that positive change could occur. He said he hoped they would support this referendum so they could speak as a community.
Jerome Hanson, Lawrence, spoke in opposition of the advisory election. He said since the concern as a taxpayer had been somewhat discussed in talking about the cost of this particular activity, there were no established procedures and this was happening in a situation where there was no way this was presented to the council since there was no procedure other than to make a statement. He said this would cost the City and the taxpayers of the city, particularly, the cost of doing this. He said he was also afraid this would set a precedent, which meant in the future any group that had a political issue or any other type of issue would be able to come forward and stand up and get that issue placed on a ballot. He said they could end up, down the road, with a number of problems in trying to make decisions with people making personal pleas. He said particularly, in this issue, it had a lot of heart strings that were going to be pulled in different directions and they were dealing with the fact that they had talked about responsibility, but part of that also responsibility, also fell on the fact they set out something was proposed, voted on by the Congress of the United States, and it happened. He said it looked like mistakes were made and maybe some bad judgment, but this was a federal issue which they vote on and elect representatives to make those decisions for them. He said to be taking this issue before this plane, they already heard from the group involved that it would have no direct effect on the federal legislation or actions. He said he did not see it for the platform for the City to put the burden on the taxpayers of the City without having some procedure set up to where groups could earn their way to have this procedure followed.
He said secondly, in the statement, there were a number of things which he believed they needed to take into consideration when talking about political responsibility. He said they set out as a country to do something and for whatever reasons they wanted to accept, they were involved and trying to help people who have never had a democracy to have a democracy. He said if they desert those people in the course of this before they were ready and strong enough to maintain that democracy, he asked if they were living up to their responsibilities. He asked if they were going to desert someone in another country when they had a need and take into consideration many of the things that had changed that country by the fact that the United States personnel were there and doing a lot of it not because they had to but because they felt those people needed help and they were trying to help.
He said with those two items in thought, he did not believe the City should support the referendum.
Bob Lewis, Lawrence, said he spent two years in World War II. He said as to the issue of costs, he asked whether one of the three election workers could help alleviate the concerns about the cost other than the printing.
Keith Campbell said all of their polling places have a minimum of three poll workers and some have four depending on the size. He said he would not see it a possibility to transfer one of those people over to work this poll. He said he thought they would need an additional person per polling place.
Commissioner Rundle said it was interesting to look at the history of the referendum initiate. He said it evolved out of an era when there was corruption and there was not a lack of responsiveness of elected officials and gave the citizens a chance to voice their will in trying to influence political outcomes. He also noticed, in trying to get some background on this issue, many states provided for an advisory election like this. He said a large number of cities that he found on the internet that had an antiwar referendum had such a mechanism in place. He said they had done this at least twice in the past in Lawrence, but he thought it was important to note they lacked that official mechanism. He said he thought maybe should adopt one so that they could treat those requests uniformly. He said he noted in the case of the advisory election they had on the downtown mall proposal in the late 1980’s, it was preceded by a petition drive.
He asked how they should treat this request. He said it had been asserted that it should be a matter of the heart. He said he had been thinking in another direction since last week and thought they needed to be dispassionate by which he meant they had to think about it in a way that would apply to any request now, or in the future.
He said he had occasion as a City Commissioner for people to come to him privately about an issue and ask the City Commission to take some leadership as a Commission. He said he had instructed those groups in the past that he felt it was important that they demonstrate some more substantial group was interested in the issue. He said in one case, he suggested that they should get a number of environmental groups to endorse the cause and in another case it was more of a social concerns issue and he thought it would very much be likely that local churches would get behind it. He said what he saw necessary was some sort of means, a threshold that needed to be met, just as that was the case in the communities in states that had a mechanism in place.
He said he was unable to find a city except for one that the governing body had placed this on the agenda, but even that one there had been a required petition drive that council felt that even though they did not meet the minimum threshold, they substantially moved ahead. He said the possibility was for such a mechanism to be abused with only two happening in Lawrence which was not a realistic, current threat.
He said he thought the governing body needed to remain uniform for dealing with city manners and the use of a referendum should be very rare. He said this was not a matter of local influence, but he did not think that should be a reason to reject the ballot. He thought in this case another reason why he was reluctant to support this was because it came late in the election process and having a published agenda, allowing periods of notice, allowing reasonable head of time, all of those were part of the foundation of democracy in trying to encourage participation and public decision making. He said he thought that if they had more lead time and some sort of petition drive behind this issue and official mechanism, he would be more inclined to support this issue. He said he was sorry to disappoint those who brought the request forward because many of them were his natural constituents and many of them had been long time supporters and counts on many of them as long time friends and worked with them on community issues. He said he hoped they could understand his decision even though it would be a disappointment.
Commissioner Highberger said he wanted to make it clear the Commission’s vote on this issue was not about whether they believed the war against Iraq was a good idea or not but was more about if it was an appropriate function for City government. He said he certainly thought their elected officials in Washington needed to hear about what people in Lawrence thought, but was not sure this was the proper way to do it.
He said Commissioner Rundle noted, the absence of a state established procedure or even a local procedure, he did not think he could support it. He said he was concerned about the precedent Commissioner Rundle alluded to. He said this was obviously the biggest issue facing the country at this moment and many people would agree.
He said a public conversation would be helpful and he was concerned because it would be different than an opinion poll. He said there would be campaigning and people drawing sides. He said it had potential to be divisive and sometimes they had to face divisive issues and this was something they did not have direct control of so he was not sure it was worth that cost. He said he shared Commissioner Rundle’s thought about the people that support them and was sorry to disappoint them, but he could not support the proposal.
Vice Mayor Hack said Douglas said it best with the issues in deciding with their head and heart and thought their heart said one thing about war, loss of life and loss of innocent life, and the continuation of it without an effective way to get out of it. She said on the other hand, she did not think anyone could say it as well as Commissioner Rundle in terms of why this had to be a decision from the head. She said this was something they did not support in terms of the war and hoped that people did not take it to mean the Commission felt the loss of life was not difficult for everyone to bear. She said those were people from this country and innocent people in Iraq. She said she did not think it was the appropriate way to do it and would say the same things in terms of the precedent.
She said she thought there was a way to speak out in that there was an election coming up in November where officials were going to serve the citizens in Washington D.C. and 80,000 citizens in this area who could write letters to express its opinion in an acceptable and forthcoming way. She said she hoped they could encourage people to have more dialogue and move forward in a way that would have a strong effect.
Commissioner Schauner said in many ways this was the hardest decision in his three years on the Commission. He said this was not a place for his personal opinion on matters of social, federal and international policy. He said he had his own opinion about the war and the rationale for war, whether there had been a truthful dialogue between the executive branch and the voting public.
He said he would certainly add to and amplify on what Commissioner Hack indicated in there was an election coming up in November and perhaps one of the most important opportunities to vote in his lifetime on issues of national and international significance. He thought there was an effective method of expressing ones opinions about the war and the policies that created it.
He said as Commissioner Rundle said a moment ago, he looked out in the audience and saw a lot of people he stood on a corner with, who had supported him, and he hoped to continue their friendship and support. He said however, the best approach for resolving those matters was not through an advisory election, but something more than advice and something that carried more weight than advice. He said he thought it was something they all possessed and that was the power of the ballot box when voting for people in November. He said there was a very effective directive approach to addressing this issue and he asked and encouraged everyone present and everyone watching or reading about this to take full advantage. He said instead of having an 18% turnout in the general election, that they had a 100% turnout in November. He said he did not think there was a stronger way to express an opinion than actually finding a good reason to go down and vote in November, for the candidate of their choice. He said he thought this issue was clearly on the ballot. Otherwise, he would join with his fellow Commissioners and respectfully decline that this matter be put on an advisory ballot.
Mayor Amyx said in the past, as Commissioner Rundle alluded that referendums were brought to the Commission in the past in which he supported, but he always had questions from the public as to whether or not that was the City Commission’s responsibility to place those items on a referendum. He said never once had he considered a vote, he had taken to be wrong and was happy to support in the past. He said in this particular case, he thought it had been well said by the entire Commission, that there were comments made about mistakes and bad judgment.
Commissioner Rundle requested that the City Commission receive a report on feasibility and mechanics of establishing a mechanism for advisory ballots to take place. He said it would serve the citizens and the future Commission’s. He said this would alleviate being placed in a position where the Commission was deciding against a matter of heart and perhaps looking heartless.
Mayor Amyx said there was probably language and law that did not pertain to this item, but gave avenues to the public that could call for an election. He suggested staff provide information on how the public could petition an item to be placed on a referendum.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Rundle, to receive the staff report and not authorize the advisory election on the resolution requested by the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice. Motion carried unanimously. (12)
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Alan Cowles, Lawrence, provided an update on the Greenbelt Park. He said Fred DeVictor, Parks and Recreation Director, indicated that was the best attended meeting he had seen, which was a sign of the tremendous interest in parks in that area. He said they had a variety of views, particularly as to whether or not a trail should be placed between Stonecreek and Waverly and whether or not the money should go towards playground development as opposed to trail development. He said although a few people suggested placing a trail at that location, they might need to cut down most of the large trees and would be assaulted by snakes and broken bottles and washed away by floods. He said there were reasonable people suggesting the funds should go to playground development and at the same time there were a lot of people suggesting trail development.
He said one of his a person in the neighborhood and volunteers went around the neighborhood and received 350 signatures on a petition heavily in favor of the trail. He said he thought she found only about 2% of the people out in their area objected to having the trail. He said 5% were undecided, and the other 93% were clearly in favor of the trail, in other words tremendous support.
He said in the end, he had a lot of faith in Fred DeVictor and the Parks Department because they had been through this kind of thing before and he thought they would be able to distribute the funds reasonably between playground and the trails and would be able to put some sort of small trail in those areas that would not offend the nearby property owners and in fact increase their property values, if anything.
David Corliss, Interim City Manager/Legal Services Director, said it would be the City Commission that would decide the scope of the first phase. He said others would give input and they would have additional dialogue with the neighbors, but they would ultimately see a scope in how they were going to try and achieve as much as possible both on the park and the trail aspects of that area.
Eilean Smith said she had two issues she would like to address. She went back to the Kansas Solar Electric Cooperatives and speak to the issue that there were a lot of people who had never been Commissioners who really did not know how the City worked and did not know how to bring up issues, address issues, or how the process worked. She said cities were different and every city was managed a little bit different and had different processes. She said when Commissioner Rundle said there were projects that had come up and needed certain support before he felt like he could bring them up for the Commission.
She said she knew with the Kansas Solar Electric Cooperatives she founded the idea back in January of 2005 and they were sitting there with 72.5% coal fire plants and 55% increase. She said they had people picketing President Bush but they cannot even get one person to go over to the Kansas Corporation Commission rule making and protest this deadly imposition on Kansas citizens. She said it was something they could do because decisions were being made here and President Bush was not making them because he had solar systems on the White House. She said her concern would be was there something she missed in terms of how to interface with the local government. She said she was trying not to be too critically but it was painful to sit out there and be on that fence. She said it was like a razor blade trying to figure out, how to say it, who to say it to, and how to get those issues formally before the City because other than Commissioner Rundle saying they needed to bring the support in from the City, if people did not understand what was being talked about in the City and if they wanted to see support from the City before they get involved, then they put someone in a very difficult position unless they have a lot of money and have a lot of money to publicize and campaign. She said she did not have that kind of money. She said she had experience and a lot of resources in terms of what this program was about and how it would work and it how it would transform the energy industry, but she did not have resources and did not have influence to bring those issues up appropriately before the City.
She said her suggestion in talking about bringing referendums up, she did not even know how to put a referendum on a ballot and perhaps she should go back and take government class 101 again because there were a lot of things she did not know how in terms of facilitating things. She said she knew a lot about energy agency proceedings and how to intervene before those and would love to trade information because she thought the City could benefit from knowing more about decisions were made before the Kansas Corporation Commission and could definitely benefit by understanding more about how she would interface or how anyone could interface with the City to bring those issues up. She said she thought a lot of times the leadership in the community was taken for granted that everyone understood how things worked. She said she knew Commissioner Rundle had been in the government for at least 10 years or more and so it was like her in energy agency proceedings because she had been in that route for at least 15 years and she understood a little bit about it. She said she would say what they would suggest to her in terms of putting this together so that next year she did not come back saying they still did not have a Kansas or Electric Building Registry together. She asked how she would get it organized and get it effectively integrated into the city. She said she knew it was something people were interested in, but was not sure how to work with the local constituency to get that to happen.
Corliss said he would be glad to meet with Smith and discuss her ideas and issues and see what appropriate form or consideration. He said he thought they would want to talk about what she was expecting of the City or asking of the City. He suggested that Smith call the City Manager’s Office and staff would find a convenient time in the next few days to have those discussions.
Smith said thought contacting the City Manager’s Office was a good idea to set up a meeting. She said she had talked a little bit to the County about that issue and they were looking at five cooperatives in each County of Kansas and what she learned in this County would help her in other counties. She said she had gone to other counties and talk to them, but each time she had a hard time partly due to resource limitations and understanding how to get this program appropriately set up in different counties and she would need help. She said she was not a politician and she studied architecture, design and music and she did not think she took one political science class in her life. She said she was sorry to be so illiterate in that way.
She said the other issue was totally unrelated. She said she had a strong concern about Centennial Park. She said she noticed when walked through the park it was nerve racking because she did not know which direction those Frisbee disks were coming from. She said if someone hit another person with a Frisbee in a car and injured that person, it was a felony. She said people needed to be educated about those facts and there needed to be a brochure in those parks. She said Frisbee was such a romanticized sport. She said it was a cool sport and everyone loved that sport, but now it was dangerous and it was not only dangerous because of Frisbees but dangerous because of the attitude.
She said the City had built up around Centennial Park and the traffic was much greater than it was when that Frisbee Park started and there were a lot of things that had changed. She said this was an urban park that was not marked as a Frisbee Park, they had people coming into that park from every direction, and there was no pathway to show where to go to avoid being hit by a Frisbee.
Mayor Amyx said staff would follow up on that concern and post signage to take care of that problem.
Smith said that was a good idea. She said she did not have enough money to sue otherwise she probably would. She said it was a very serious thing and it was not just what happened in terms of the Frisbee, but what happened in the way the youngsters treated her, the police treated her, and the way the whole thing evolved. She said it was also damaging to her reputation, it caused a lot of problems in her life, and it was nerve-racking.
She said there needed to be signage and thought there also needed to be a brochure like at Clinton Park that said it was a Frisbee Park and stated the rules of behavior and mention some of the statutes.
She said she noticed as she was walking out from that park that there was a children’s playground 30 feet from one of the Frisbee goals. (13)
REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS (cont):
Consider motion to recess into executive session for 90 minutes to discuss the possible acquisition of real estate and non-elected personnel matters. The justification for the executive session is to keep confidential non-elected personnel matters and possible terms and conditions of possible acquisition confidential at this time.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to recess into executive session at 8:15 for 90 minutes to discuss the possible acquisition of real estate and non-elected personnel matters. The justification for the executive session is to keep confidential non-elected personnel matters and possible terms and conditions of possible acquisition confidential at this time.
The City Commission returned to regular session at 9:25 p.m. (14)
The City Commission returned to regular session at 9:25 at which time it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously.
APPROVED _____________________________
Mike Amyx, Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
1. Sale of surplus vehicles through Gov Deals.
2. Bid Opening Date of October 17, 2006 for weatherization of 44 homes.
3. Contract extension with Gould Evans Architects for library expansion project.
4. Contract for the purchase of green tags from Zephyr Energy.
5. Ordinance No. 8021- 1st Read, amending portions of Public Offense Code.
6. Ordinance No. 8038- 2nd and Final Read, temporary sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic liquor at Burcham Park from noon to 10 p.m.
7. Resolution No. 6685- supporting a local “Plug-In Lawrence” campaign.
8. SP-08-72-06: temporary parking lot at the west side of intersection of Schwarz Road and Yale Road during construction of building addition to West Jr. High School.
9. Release of Mortgage- Kim Windholz, 1934 W. 3rd Street.
10. Approve 2 banners as signs of community interest to span across E. 8th Street that will notify the public of the “Get Downtown” event on October 6, 2006.
11. City Manger’s Report.
12. Receive staff report concerning possible City authorization for advisory election on resolution requested by the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice.
13. Public Comment.
14. Executive Session.
15. Future Agenda Items.
16. Commission Items.