October 10, 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 October 13, 14, and 15, 2006 to be “Knights of Columbus Helping People with Intellectual Disabilities Day”; and October 20, 2006 to be “Lights on After School!”
CONSENT AGENDA
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the City Commission meeting minutes from September 26, 2006. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the Recycling and Resource Conservation Advisory Board meeting minutes of August 9, 2006. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve claims to 291 vendors in the amount of $2,449,870.17. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to concur with the recommendation of the Mayor and reappoint Patti Welty and Curtis Harris to the Neighborhood Resources Advisory Committee, to additional terms which will expire September 30, 2009; and appoint Bruce Muzzy to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, to a term which will expire December 31, 2008. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to authorize the City Manager to enter into an engineering contract for the final design of the 2007 Phase III Downtown Waterline improvement project for $118,722.08. Motion carried unanimously. (1)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to authorize the City Manager to amend the existing engineering contract with Delich, Roth & Goodwillie, P.A., for $21,114.00 for additional study phase services for the Wakarusa River and Yankee Tank Creek sewage basins in conjunction with the evaluation of Northwest Area service options. Motion carried unanimously. (2)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to authorize the purchase of required property interests from Christine Valcich, 600 North Stonegate, in the amount of $24,000, for the Kasold (Peterson to KTA Bridge) reconstruction project. Motion carried unanimously. (3)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with R.D. Johnson Excavating for the removal of lime from the lime storage lagoon for $6.45 per wet ton. Motion carried unanimously.
(4)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to authorize the City Manager to enter into an Engineering Agreement with Bartlett & West Engineers in an amount of $16,055.00 for the submittal of a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) to FEMA for consideration and approval to change the flood plain limits to account for the improvements that took place as part of the 13th & Oregon Stormwater Improvements. Motion carried unanimously. (5)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for programmable logic controller components for the Utilities Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
I & C Systems Engineering $19,648.32
Logic, Inc. $27,732.00
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to award the bid to I & C Systems Engineering, in the amount of $19,648.32. Motion carried unanimously. (6)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the purchase of an eight acre tract, located at the east end of North 1175 Rd., south of the Wakarusa River, for the Wakarusa Water Reclamation Facility project, for $19,200. Motion carried unanimously. (7)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to place on first reading, Ordinance No. 7999, rezoning of (Z-06-39-05) 12.329 acres from I-1 (Limited Industrial) District and A (Agricultural) District to RM24 (Multi-Dwelling Residential) District. Motion carried unanimously. (8)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 8039, for text amendment TA-05-03A-06, adding revisions to 20-701 (f) of the Development Code concerning planned development conditions and related items. Motion carried unanimously. (9)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 8040, for text amendment TA-05-03B-06, adding revisions to Chapter 20, Development Code to make minor corrections and clarifications. Motion carried unanimously. (10)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the Final Plat (PF-08-31-05) for Glenwood Addition, located west of Wakarusa and east of Eisenhower Drive, and accept the dedication of easements and rights-of-way subject to the following conditions:
1. Submittal of a downstream analysis for wastewater services and approval of this analysis by the city’s Utilities Department prior to scheduling of the final plat on the City Commission’s agenda for acceptance of easements and rights-of-way.
2. Pinning of the lots in accordance with Section 21-302.2 of the Subdivision Regulations.
3. 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 21-708a.3.
4. A Temporary Utility Agreement.
5. Submittal of public improvement plans for the extension of water, sewer, and stormwater improvements.
6. Revision of the final plat to include the following:
a) Deletion of the 10-foot pedestrian easement at the southwest corner of Lot 7. Instead, notation of a 10-foot pedestrian easement should be included along the western and southern sides of Lot 7.
b) A note, stating that only one access point is allowed to Wakarusa Drive for Lot 13.
c) Indication, with hatch marks, of no access allowed onto Wakarusa Drive, except at approved point.
d) Notation of the Book and Page number for the cross access agreement related to providing access from Lot 1 to the access easement that will serve the multi-family portion of the site.
e) Minimum elevations for building openings (MEBOs) for all lots (Lots 6, 7, 8, & 13) adjacent to drainage easements.
Motion carried unanimously. (11)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the Final Plat (PF-08-21-06) for Four Seasons Addition, a three-lot residential subdivision containing approximately 25.976 acres, located west of the SW corner of Clinton Parkways and Crossgate Drive; and accept the dedication of easements and rights-of-way subject to the following conditions:
1. Provision of the following fees and 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 21-708a.3.
d) A Temporary Utility Agreement.
e) Documentation demonstrating that all special assessments for the subject property have been paid.
2. Pinning of the lots in accordance with Section 21-302.2 of the Subdivision Regulations.
3. Submittal of public improvement plans for the extension of water and sewer improvements.
4. Revision of the plat to include the following:
a) Notation of existing easements being vacated with this plat.
b) A note, stating that if the utility easements being dedicated with this plat are not sufficient for utilities, additional easements will be dedicated via separate instrument.
c) Notation of Clinton Parkway right-of-way which meets City standards.
Motion carried unanimously. (12)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the Final Plat (PF-08-22-06) for Four Seasons Addition, a one-lot residential subdivision containing approximately 3.04 acres, located at 2620 Haskell Avenue; and accept the dedication of easements and rights-of-way subject to the following conditions:
1. Provision of the following fees and 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 21-708a.3.
d) A Temporary Utility Agreement.
2. Pinning of the lots in accordance with Section 21-302.2 of the Subdivision Regulations.
3. Submittal of public improvement plans for the extension of Ryan Court, sidewalks, and water, sanitary sewer, and stormwater mains.
Motion carried unanimously. (13)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve TA-03-02-06(D), revisions to Proposed Development Code. Motion carried unanimously. (14)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve as signs of community interest, the placement of a sign at the northwest corner of Harper and 23rd Streets, on the US Bank property, for the Pilot Club’s Antique Car Show. The sign will be placed on the morning of October 27 and removed the evening of October 29. Motion carried unanimously. (15)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve recommendation from the Lawrence Arts Commission to approve the proposed Kansas River Expression of Soul project for a naturalistic sculpture trail along the Kansas River. Motion carried unanimously. (16)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to authorize the Mayor to sign agreements for City Connecting Links for maintenance on state highways within the city limits. Motion carried unanimously. (17)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to authorize the Mayor to execute City Manager Employment Agreement with David Corliss. Motion carried unanimously. (18)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve Aviation Advisory Board recommendation regarding KDOT Airport Improvement projects and air show. Motion carried unanimously. (19)
Commissioner Schauner pulled from the consent agenda, the site plan (SP-05-43-06), for an 8 unit apartment house located at 1140 Mississippi Street for a question. He said he did not have any interest in going back to revisit this particular project because he knew it had been through the Planning Department and the Board of Zoning Appeals. He said one of the issues of concern was the continued creep of changing residences in that area from single-family or multi-family and not providing sufficient off-street parking. He said he thought this was a place where they had to go to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a variance based on the lack of parking as per the code. He said would like serious thought given on how staff would amend their practice in a way the Board of Zoning Appeals did not face this issue in the future. He said as they continued to turn Mississippi and other streets in that area into student and other housing, they needed to make sure to find a way there was sufficient off-street parking for those places.
Mayor Amyx asked if Commissioner Schauner was suggesting that staff look at language change or some kind of change.
Commissioner Schauner said he would like some sense from staff about what could be done to stop that incremental redevelopment and/or upgrading of the area in a way that did not provide sufficient off-street parking to protect that neighborhood.
Sheila Stogsdill, Acting Planning Director, said staff could certainly put their heads together and look at that issue. She said in that particular instance, the topography on that lot and the lack of an alley certainly lent some credence to the variance request because of the topography. She said it was an issue that staff was aware of.
Commissioner Schauner said he would appreciate a report on what staff could do to fix or mitigate that issue at least.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to approve the site plan (SP-05-43-06) for the conversion of an 8 unit apartment house to a boarding house with 7 bedrooms/7 occupants located at 1140 Mississippi Street, subject to the following condition:
1. Execution of a site plan performance agreement per Section 20-1433.
Motion carried unanimously. (14)
Bill Mitchell, Lawrence, pulled from the consent agenda, the text amendment (TA-06-04-06) to Chapter 20 of the Development Code. He thanked the City Commission for giving the definition of “owner” in the new Development Code another look, but he was sorry it did not result in a change. He said John Miller, Staff Attorney, phoned to explain among other things, why staff recommended retaining the original anemic definition of “owner.” He said this code was new and the City wanted to move cautiously, but provisions could be made later if need be. He said unfortunately, it seemed later, after accessory dwelling units had become de facto rentals because “owner” was not carefully defined, the horse would have left the barn. He said it was clear that no one at City Hall took the rental problem seriously, or at least not as seriously as he did. He said he wished someone was looking ahead, foreseeing, planning, before the entire central city residential district turns into a blighted, crime ridden, school less, rental ghetto wasteland.
David Corliss, City Manager, said he appreciated the dialogue staff had with Mitchell. He said he wanted to respond to one comment about not having any concern about rental use in the community. He said he would point to a number of things where staff was responding to that issue. He said the City Commission was familiar with the Federal District Court case, where staff had vigorously pursued rental registration while they were responding to concerns about compliance with the City’s codes for rental units. He said Miller was also investigating other possibilities including owner/occupied zoning requirements, which would be a very different situation than what they were doing right now. He said staff was not necessarily recommending that idea, but reviewing it as part of the discussion they were having on this topic. He said he did not agree that staff was not trying to monitor the issue and pointed out there were no easy solutions, but renting property was an appropriate use of property. He said staff was trying to respond to some of the challenges this issue could present to neighborhoods.
Commissioner Schauner asked what other tools or were there to deal with the legitimate issues he heard Mitchell raising about the difficulty in the City’s current ordinance in that it was complaint based process. He said perhaps it was not a conversation they needed at this time, but he did not want that issue to go away and thought it was something they needed to keep up front for their discussion.
Corliss said the label he liked to use was “neighborhood integrity” because he did not want to be classifying ownership or rental issues. He said it was really how the neighborhood integrity was held together as far as the use of that property and the viability of schools and other uses in certain neighborhoods. He said he did not want to draw with too broad of a brush about renters and students and those kinds of things. He said one of the things staff was looking at was what other communities were doing as far as owner/occupancy, zoning and whether or not that was an appropriate category to look at sometime in the future.
He said they hoped to have a briefing next week on the Neighborhood Revitalization Act (NRA) as it applied to the 800 block of Pennsylvania. He said he only mentioned that because that was going to be the City’s first NRA project and that tool might be an additional tool staff could use in neighborhoods to respond to some of those concerns. He said it might be appropriate to use the NRA to encourage owner/occupancy for example.
He said there continued to be challenges to enforcing the unrelated person’s requirement in the City’s zoning code. He said as staff had dialogue with other communities, they had some of the same struggles. He said they were not letting that issue go away, but casting it to the Commission for direction. He said staff needed to make sure the use was appropriate, safe, and the integrity of owner/occupancy which was an important value.
Commissioner Schauner asked if any of the other city’s codes, as owner/occupied zoning, had been challenged.
Corliss said that was part of staff’s research. He was sure other cities had been challenged and one of the issues would be whether or not that challenge was successful and whether or not it would withstand constitutional attacks based on equal protection or due process or whatever arguments there might be.
Commissioner Schauner said he would like to see, on a near future agenda, the current status so that it would did not get placed on a shelf someplace.
Corliss said he thought it was important they keep it as a work product.
Commissioner Rundle said while the rental issue was important, it was the rental use or ownership for multi-family versus single-family use that was the concern. He said it was not something that was just in older neighborhoods, but seemed to be something pervasive across the community. He said it was not that staff had not been working on it, but it seemed they had not seen any gains, but a steady problem that never went away.
Corliss said he shared that concern and staff was looking for tools.
Commissioner Schauner said he thought the point Commissioner Rundle made was a good point, in that there were other neighborhoods in town that were not necessarily directly next to the university where those rental issues and non-owner occupied issues could become a threat to the neighborhood stability and integrity. He said he thought it was a broader issue or certainly an issue in the areas that Mitchell discussed, but it was also an issue in other parts of town to the extent where they could develop a tool which would apply to not just an overlay district near the university, but the community, generally.
Mayor Amyx said it was a good idea to place the item on a future agenda to have discussions on what was being done and where they wanted to be, but at this time, the City Commission was dealing with the text amendment.
Commissioner Schauner said he was probably going to vote in the negative as just a sign to remind them of their interest and commitment that they move on this issue, but he did not expect it to fail as an agenda item.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Highberger, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve TA-06-04-06, text amendment to Chapter 20 Development Code and authorized the drafting of an ordinance/resolution for the text amendment. Aye: Amyx, Hack, and Highberger. Nay: Rundle and Schauner. Motion carried. (16)
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:
During the City Manager’s Report, David Corliss, City Manager, said there were a number of improvements to the City’s Parks and Recreation Facilities.
He said the Meadows Place Stormwater Improvements was a project that staff talked about from the need standpoint, but also a challenge of some of the original land use documents that placed the responsibility elsewhere. He said staff had undertaken that project to correct some of those drainage issues and that work was largely completed.
Also, he wanted to inform the Commissioners that he had asked Toni Wheeler, Staff Attorney, to be the Interim Legal Services Director and she had accepted that position which he was delighted that she was willing to take that on. He said he thought as they looked at the organization and how they wanted to organize the Legal Department, they might want to make some other changes, which was why the interim status was there.
Commissioner Schauner said he attended an open house in an area where it would be a private, gated area with private streets and those photographs of the Meadows Place work where all that work was essentially part and parcel of what the homeowners were required to do. He said there were at least one or two other places where there were substantial infrastructure needs that were part and parcel of the homeowner’s responsibility. He said he did not know what role the City could play in notifying people of the liability they would be taking on when buying into a development no matter where it might be located. He said he just wanted to open that idea up for comment because he did not have a suggestion necessarily. He said he suspected if they gave people something in writing up front that stated, “They were responsible for the streets when they fail,” it would be so far into the future they would not think much about it.
Corliss said that was a good question and he would find out what different practices there were in other communities. He said it was not only stormwater, but also on private streets and many times the failure of the infrastructure happened many transactions after the original purchase and the documents were buried deep in the title commitment and the new successors in title were not familiar with those requirements. He said he wanted to do something that made sense and not scare people away from owning good homes in this community. He said one thing that might be helpful was communication with those Homeowners Associations early in their responsibilities so they were not talking to those associations when the infrastructure had failed so they knew early on and could start planning. He said many of those Homeowner Associations had resources, but usually did not have the resources for major infrastructure work.
Commissioner Schauner mentioned the Williamsburg property.
Corliss said staff was working with their Homeowner’s Association to see if there was not a good solution. He said staff wanted to see if they wanted to dedicate an easement to the City and the City would special assess those road improvements on that property, essentially the City serving as a bank to help the association with that work.
Commissioner Highberger said he had some concerns about private streets for other reasons, in terms of public access and the ability to hand out leaflets and things like that. He said he echoed Commissioner Schauner’s desire to have a conversation and look at the policy.
Mayor Amyx said as far as the current concerns of notifying people, through someone’s title insurance policy, it was pretty well highlighted whether they had a private street and their responsibilities.
Corliss said it would show up in the title commitment, but he did not know how much people look at that title commitment. He said people who had sat through meetings regarding special assessment districts were more cognizant about that issue. He said he did not know how much future homeowners paid attention to those items. He said he wanted to be wise about their communications and not scare people away from those things. He said those were commitments and encumbrances on the property, but very common as well.
Mayor Amyx said when people buy homes, those people needed to make sure to read their title policy.
Corliss said they had a situation the past week where someone was making an extensive inquiry about a sanitary sewer easement on their property and had some concerns. He said there were people who paid attention to those types of things. (17)
REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:
Consider approving text amendment, CPA-2005-02: Joint City Ordinance/County Resolution follow-up to the previously approved update to Chapter 9, Horizon 2020, Park, Recreation, Open Space Areas, and Facilities.
Paul Patterson, Planner, presented the staff report. He said this was a wrap up to what was previously seen on August 15th where the City Commission approved the updated version of Chapter 9 to the Parks and Recreation Open Space Areas and Facilities. He said this was a follow-up, Joint City Ordinance/County Resolution. He said the resolution was passed by the Planning Commission on September 25th and yesterday afternoon the County Commissioners approved their portion of the joint resolution/ordinance and this was brought forward as the final piece of the puzzle. He said the ordinance/resolution would replace the existing Chapter 9 with the new version the City Commission previously approved.
Mayor Amyx asked Patterson to again describe how close the parks were going to be.
Patterson said every one quarter of a mile.
Commissioner Highberger said the quarter mile was only a guideline.
Mayor Amyx said he understood everything that was trying to be accomplished and the use of trails as part of the quarter mile park distance and other things, but it came back to funding. He said he was having a hard time with the distance and thought it would be too close.
Commissioner Schauner asked if the Mayor’s preference would be one half mile.
Mayor Amyx said yes. He said as they looked at funding resources over the next couple of years and met the intent of text amendment change he thought they would get themselves into trouble. He said he did not think they could count on money always being available.
Commissioner Schauner said having attended a meeting with a large number of attendees at Langston Hughes School, parks seemed to be important as the town continued to move outward. He said he agreed the cost could be pretty significant and also thought the impact fee issue was one way to address some of the costs. He said they found this was not working because there was ground dedication as well as impact fees and a number of other ways to achieve it. He said he would like to see the Commission give this a try at the quarter mile to see how it worked because this issue could always be revisited. He said the neighbors wanted parks close and did not want to have their children to cross busy streets. He said he thought those were important issues to people and why he could support the quarter mile.
Commissioner Hack said she had a conversation with Fred DeVictor, Parks and Recreation Director about this issue because she was in the same boat in voting against it. She said Commissioner Highberger was correct in that this was a guide and to the extent that it was possible to do it was the City Commission’s goal. She said the report defined “parks” in a lot of different ways such as mini parks and greenspace, but then they had a Holcom/Broken Arrow type of look and she did not think that was what they were talking about every quarter mile. She said there were opportunities for connectivity, trails, and some dedicated green space that could meet this criterion that they were allowing for some connectivity from neighborhood to neighborhood. She said while she would also agree that a quarter mile seemed pretty close, in the same breath she had been very supportive of the new urbanism which talked about things needing to be every quarter mile because that was about what people would walk. She said they hoped they would walk farther, but what this might do was provide that opportunity to do so because things would be connected. She said she looked at this as a first step and was hopeful it would not create so many expenses that they found themselves in trouble and she thought if they did find themselves in trouble, they would address that issue.
Mayor Amyx said they were talking about connections, but his was one of priorities. He said he did not disagree with what everyone was saying, but why they would not invest in a sidewalk system throughout the community. He said they should take the dedications they might be able to receive and do something that might make sense. He said when talking about connections from neighborhood to neighborhood, he suggesting making the pathways and sidewalks people needed. He said they were missing connections all over town, although with the 2007 budget, they would make some of those connections happen. He said it seemed to be out of kilter on what needed to come first.
Commissioner Schauner said at the Langston Hughes meeting there were people who supported a park and people who were opposed to a trail. He said they were opposed to the trail because they did not want a public access point at their back door. He said to the extent where they could announce where parks would be early so that at least an informed buyer would know there was going to be a trail or some other public access point near their home, they would be better informed as a buyer.
He said he agreed that sidewalks were important, but it seemed sidewalks were something that people hated and loved in almost equal amounts. He said they would like sidewalks in front of their house, but they did not want to shovel snow or fix a sidewalk if it broke. A child also liked to have a place to play out of the street and sidewalks were a good place to play. He said he thought sidewalks were important and thought trails and parks were also important. He said he did not know what the balance was, but was something that needed to be worked out.
Mayor Amyx called for public comment.
After receiving no public comment, Commissioner Highberger said he shared the concern about cost, but he thought it was a matter of equity, too. He said if looking at the older part of town and drew a quarter mile line around existing parks, it was almost all covered. He said he thought they had failed West Lawrence because there was an entire section that had no parks or public space. He said he thought they could not have that happen to newly developed areas. He said there was a cost to it, but existing residents were subsidizing the proximity. He said they had people who were paying for parks and if they were going to have a livable City, every resident needed to be within reasonable walking distance of a park. He said this was the goal of that.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Highberger, to approve text amendment (CPA-2005-2), a joint City Ordinance/County Resolution follow-up to the previously approved update to Chapter 9, Horizon 2020, Park, Recreation, Open Space Areas, and Facilities. Aye: Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: Amyx. Motion carried. (18)
Consider approving the following items related to the Pump Station #48 Project:
a) Authorizing the City Manager to enter into a design/build services contract with the CAS Construction/Professional Engineering Consultants team in the amount of $9,893,988 for the construction of Pump Station 48, its associated force main, and a portion of the upstream gravity sewer network in accordance with recommendations in the 2003 Wastewater Master Plan and as directed by the City Commission on April 11, 2006.
b) Authorizing purchase of required takings from Roger & Russell Tuckel in the amount of $25,000, and purchase of easements from Lawrence and Carrie Sinks in the amount of $15,439 for the Baldwin Creek pump station project.
c) Adopting Resolution No. 6677, authorizing the preparation of a survey and initiation of condemnation proceedings pertaining to the Pump Station 48 sanitary sewer project.
d) Adopting on first reading Ordinance No. 8042, condemning certain property interested for the Pump Station sanitary sewer project.
e) Adopting on first reading, Ordinance No. 8043, establishing a Pump Station #48 sanitary sewer connection fee
David Corliss, City Manager, said to provide a little bit of background, the City Commission had earlier approved the selection of the design/build team of CAS Construction and PEC for this project. He said the project was in the northwest part of the community and included a gravity sewer line that connected to two existing pump stations. It included a 6.2 MGD pump station that was located on property recently acquired south of the turnpike and a force main from that pump station going east and eventually connecting to sewer lines near North Iowa. He said this project was necessitated by some of the sanitary sewer needs in the northwest area and it also responded to future growth needs as that growth would be allowed in that northwest part of that community.
He said they had been working with the design/build team over the past few weeks to come to this guaranteed maximum price. He said staff was satisfied that represented an appropriate cost for this project. He said staff could walk the Commission through any number of items in that contract that they deemed interested in to further discuss. He said it was important to recognize this was an important project for the community, it would allow the City to avoid making improvements along Peterson Road that were in the Master Plan because they would be avoiding the necessity of upsizing that line along Kasold.
He said he asked John Miller, City Staff Attorney, to put together an ordinance for a sanitary sewer connection fee. He said the City currently had a sanitary sewer connection fee in the City Code that was for sanitary sewer lines that had not been paid for by a developer that was seeking to make that connection or has not been part of the sanitary sewer benefit district. He said staff collected fees based on the cost of the line that was actually constructed. He said this followed that same requirement and was set out as a different ordinance because it was a different project and they wanted to account for it separately because of the size of the project.
He said the other items related to this project included initiating condemnation on some of the property interests for this project. He said staff had been in contact with all the property owners and thought it was important to keep the project on schedule because they were making this financial commitment in order to build this facility so they were needing to acquire those property interests by the end of the year and that lead to the initiation of condemnation which allowed them to do that. He said he did not think they needed to condemn all of the property interests, but they did know that they needed to initiate condemnation on at least one of the properties, which was the K-Mart property, but had nothing to do with their lack of cooperation with them. He said they were scheduling part of the project on their property to occur in January after the busy holiday season for K-Mart and they were fully cooperative of the project. He said the ownership of that property was fairly complicated and there was some discussion or dispute about who they paid the money to. He said in that case they wanted to make sure they were paying it to the court to resolve that issue. He said Dan Watkins had been in contact with Sears Building Company that had the property interest for K-Mart.
Mayor Amyx asked if Corliss had any idea on what amount or best guess estimate on what the split was going to be for the current user versus the hookup fee.
Corliss said he thought it would be substantially more than a majority of the costs would be paid for by connection fees, but those costs would be paid over a period of years. The City Commission was going to have important land use and policy decisions as they decided what, or if any type of growth they were going to have in that area. He said as the Commission allowed hook ups and growth in that area, they would be required to pay those connection fees. He said he thought it would be substantially more than 50% of that cost would be borne by the connectors.
Mayor Amyx said the calculation was made on the peak flow for the hookup fee charge. He said as they looked at the $9.8 million, more than half was going to be paid by hookups.
Corliss said yes. He said staff calculated it so that they could recover substantially that amount. He said they did have some city at large benefit because they were removing some pump stations, and that was how they historically looked at that as well.
Commissioner Schauner said it might be a year or more before they would expect to see anyone hook up to this pump station.
Corliss said staff wanted to get this project operational by the summer of next year.
Commissioner Schauner said as they build in various factors that would determine the hookup charge for developers, he asked if they should include in that calculation, their lost opportunity cost or their interest carrying cost. He said in looking at the ordinance, it mentioned a number of things, but did not mention anything that seemed of the same category as to what was described as lost opportunity cost or what he would describe as carrying costs on the borrowed money to pay for the $10 million project.
Corliss said they were not borrowing funds for this project, but they were taking funds from the utility department that would otherwise have a return and placed back in the Utility Fund. He said they had those resources for Utility Department needs. He said they had not historically charged an interest rate for those types of connections. He said when the City required a sanitary sewer connection charge for a sanitary sewer line that had been in the ground for a number of years, staff would determine what the cost was because they monitored all of those public improvements and determine what that cost was on a per foot basis and charge that property owner for that front footage cost or whatever would be appropriate. He said they did not include the interest rate. He said the distinction was this was a sizeable amount and it was all City funds and in some cases that connection fee was charged regardless of who installed that sewer line. He said he thought that would be a policy decision of the Commission. He said this ordinance was a separate accounting of that charge and he thought it was very important given the size of this project that they had a separate ordinance and a separate accounting.
Commissioner Schauner said it was different than past practices that they were building this largely in anticipation of development, but for that change in policy, he suspected the way they had done it in the past would seem appropriate. He said since this was a different way in anticipating growth and the need to have certain infrastructure in place, they were asking the City utility users, at large, to subsidize the character of Pump Station No. 48 and wondered if it was not reasonable to expect that those lost opportunity costs, money not earned by the Utilities Department, that might ultimately cost an increase in user fees.
Corliss said he thought it was important to note that this project was planned in the City’s Master Plan, but as it was planned, it was planned to be 100% financed by the development community. He said that was not likely to occur given its location and its size. He said he did not think they were going to get a request from a developer to spend $10 million on sanitary sewer pump station. He said they were essentially fronting that cost and then recouping those costs as there were connections made in the future.
Mayor Amyx said if they front the cost and they had not only the peak flow calculation, but an inflationary factor that they did not have the affect of the user of the Utility Department, whether it be through sewer hookups, they were guessing how long it was going to take to build out. He said it seemed that if they could relieve the burden on current users by connection fees that might make some sense. He said he did not know if they needed to redo this ordinance in order to do that or not.
Corliss said to accomplish what Commissioner Schauner was suggesting, they would make an amendment to make it clear that they would include an interest charge that would be related to how much they had earned on similar funds within the past year. He said he did not know if they wanted to look at any other number other than the one they actually earned.
Mayor Amyx said he did not think he would do that.
Commissioner Schauner said he wanted it related to what their lost opportunity was because that seemed fair to all the rate payers.
Corliss said that was a change in what they had done, but he thought it was appropriate, particularly given the size of the budget. He said it was also going to help them from the administrative standpoint because it was one project and it was going to be one date. He said one of the challenges in what they did right now was that there were small, isolated center sewer connections and it would be difficult to pin an interest charge on something like that.
Mayor Amyx said they were going to build this pump station next summer and asked about the life expectancy of that pump.
Corliss said the pump would be 20 to 25 years and the structure would be 50 years.
Mayor Amyx said when they guess how long the build out took, he wanted to make sure it would last the duration of time as the build out took.
Corliss said the Utility Department did a good job on preventive maintenance. He said Utilities had a great preventive maintenance schedule where they knew when to go out and make those changes.
Mayor Amyx said as part of this deal, they had a 50 year guarantee that everyone was going to sign up on.
Corliss said what they had was a guarantee maximum price. He said the guarantee would come with the materials as part of the manufacturer’s warranty. He said staff spent a lot of time on the specs for this project.
Commissioner Schauner said what he took from the Mayor’s comments was that if this was a perfect world, pump stations would not be used, but gravity flow for all of this work. He said every time a pump was installed, it was an installed product which would have a finite life, whether it was a year, ten years, twenty years or fifty years; it was going to wear out. He said if they had 48 pumps, there would be maintenance and other issues with pumping effluent around the city.
Corliss said he did not know about living in a perfect world, but they were not living on a tilted slab of prairie; there were hills. He said two pump stations were being removed, but they had one large pump station and he thought it was well designed as part of the master plan. He said it was a long term project and one of the things staff had been careful about in their discussions with the property owners was their commitment to this project was not a commitment on future land uses in that area. He said that was going to be determined ultimately by this body based on a number of recommendations coming from staff, the Planning Commission, and others. He said the location of this facility was not determinative of land use.
Commissioner Schauner said he really liked this way of doing pump station installations. He said rather than having the developers with their money upfront, it was the City’s money and gave the City better control of the land use decisions down the road. He said he thought it was a good way to change what they were doing.
Mayor Amyx said he appreciated all of staff’s work and there were sound recommendations. He said he knew staff met late spring, early summer with people with concern on where they were in that area. He said he thought they had come with the best alternative and a way to save current rate payers and being able to have the participation.
He said he appreciated Commissioner Schauner’s comments that money was lost in the future that they could have in investment. He said he thought this was the best way to handle the problem.
Commissioner Schauner asked what needed to be done in order to make the text amendment necessary in this ordinance.
Corliss said once the City Commission finished their comments on this issue, if it was the will of the Commission, they could have Ordinance No. 8043, which was a sanitary sewer connection fee that came back on second reading and they would have a clear sentence in there that would indicate that the actual fee should include an appropriate lost opportunity cost for the investment of those funds. He said they would figure out a good way to articulate that.
Mayor Amyx called for public comment.
There was no public comment.
Commissioner Highberger said he was supportive of this. He said he agreed with Commissioner Schauner that this was a good step getting out in front of and having them set the pace. He said there were obvious costs involved, but he liked Commissioner Schauner’s suggestion of covering the financing costs, although he wanted to make sure that they make it clear like benefit districts.
Corliss said the property owners that were assessed special assessments pay the interest cost that the city has incurred.
Commissioner Highberger said that was good. He said he would support that change.
Commissioner Schauner said he thought Dave, Debbie, and the Utilities people did deserve a round of applause for their work on this because it has not been an easy task.
Corliss said it was an important project and they were ready to proceed, but it was a substantial commitment on the City’s part as well.
Commissioner Schauner said this was a utility fund financed project. He said it was not a general fund project, so it did not have any impact on the ad valorem taxes, though it may at some future date have some impact on their user fee.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Rundle, to authorize the City Manager to enter into a design/build services contract with the CAS Construction/Professional Engineering Consultants team in the amount of $9,893,988 for the construction of Pump Station 48, its associated force main, and a portion of the upstream gravity sewer network in accordance with recommendations in the 2003 Wastewater Master Plan. Motion carried unanimously. (24)
Moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to authorize the purchase of required takings from Roger & Russell Tuckel in the amount of $25,000, and purchase of easements from Lawrence and Carrie Sinks in the amount of $15,439 for the Baldwin Creek pump station project. Motion carried unanimously. (25)
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, adopt Resolution No. 6677, authorizing the preparation of a survey and initiation of condemnation proceedings pertaining to the Pump Station 48 sanitary sewer project. Motion carried unanimously. (26) Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 8042, condemning certain property interested for the Pump Station sanitary sewer project. Motion carried unanimously. (27)
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to place on first reading, Ordinance No. 8043, as amended, establishing a Pump Station #48 sanitary sewer connection fee. Motion carried unanimously.
(28)
Receive draft 2006 Federal Issues Statement.
Corliss presented the staff report. He said this weekend they were going to be traveling to Washington D.C. and they had meetings with staff of their two Congressmen and two Senators on Monday, October 16th. He said he put together a listing of items that they prepared that they wanted to talk the Congressional staff with and what they saw that evening was a follow up from the memorandum where they highlighted a number of items and had it reviewed by the county. He said they were supportive of the language there as well and would be included. He said they had a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce the next day and hoped they would concur with the document as well. He said they were going to put a little bit more additional information pursuant to the County’s review of this document about the support for KU and the biosciences initiative. He said they may make some other fine tuning to the document, but he wanted to make sure they were comfortable with the language there because it would be their document they would pass out with the staff they were meeting with on Monday.
Commissioner Rundle said as he explained earlier, his e-mail has been in limbo for the better part of the week and he had initiated a discussion about some of the environmental recycling things, unfortunately the response was out there somewhere.
Corliss asked if he wanted him to work on some rough language.
Commissioner Rundle said he did not know yet, but it was sort of a Johnny-come-lately type of thing.
Corliss said he would look at the issues.
Commissioner Rundle said it was really a general discussion since they did not get down to the specifics before the computer crash came. He said he thought he would continue to discuss it at some future time.
Commissioner Schauner said he did not have any issues with the text that was here and it was fine, but one of the things he wanted to say again was finding a way to institutionalize this document on their website and institutionalize these visits here in town with the representatives themselves or their staff in Washington. He said he did not think they could overstate the value of having people in positions have project money for you and know who you are when you call. He said he knew there had been some concern about the cost of going, but ultimately it could pay very big dividends.
Corliss said his comment on that was that they did have funds budgeted that would allow them to do the twice a year visits. He said they did want to follow up with visits to the federal legislatures and their staff when they were in Lawrence. He said to those who say why are they doing it, he thought they could see some of the fruits of that work where Judy Billings was excited about the fact that the National Park Service Heritage Area Designation came through. He said the document he used as a framework for this document was a 2002 federal issue statement and where he stole the National Park Service’s label from. He said it took some time since that legislation had just been passed within the past few weeks. He said if they do not ask, they were not going to get a response. That would be the communities that were asking that would have the requests of the intention paid. He said he thought it was very important.
Commissioner Hack said to peel back on what Commissioner Schauner was saying, she taught, and they all took, the Civics class that talked about how a bill becomes a law, and it was about a three page part of the Civics book and when you see how long it took the National Park Service to go through a four year process, they have to be there and have to talk about these issues. She said they have to talk about CDBG funding and funding of Haskell and internet sales tax and their franchise fees because if they do not, nobody else will and they have to continue to let them know what was going on in Lawrence and let them know how they would like to help them do their job better. She said she thought it was important that they go twice a year and welcome them when they come to Lawrence as well and making the most of their time.
Mayor Amyx said one of the things he looked at was that it was a very aggressive agenda. He said it was exactly that but with almost everything that was in this statement that they wish to carry to Washington could be looked at as tax savings because if they had to make up the funds locally to cover many of the things they have listed as continued financial support, they could not even begin to do it. He said if they looked at CDBG loans and the dollars that have been spent over years and years, transportation dollars, they were fortunate to be able to say that they had received some of their money back over years and he thought that these kind of conversations give them the opportunity to look into the future and see how they would participate and their tax dollars coming back to their community.
Mayor Amyx called for public comment.
There was no public comment.
Commissioner Rundle said he knew they had some transit funding received last year and he did not think the Commission had much input into the application and if they did that again, he thought they would like to have some discussion on the front end.
Corliss said it would include transit busses and facilities and they would continue with that. He said there was a request on the airport that they have not made any specific dollar amount requests on earmarks for surface transportation, but he did want to have discussion with the Congressional staff in the earmark on service transportation where they highlight the needs of transportation needs out near the Farmland site and East Hills Business Park. He said he did not know if that would result in a formal earmark request or not, but he thought it was appropriate that the Commission initiated earmark requests and it was not done outside of that.
Moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to adopt the 2006 Federal Issues Statement as presented. Motion carried unanimously. (29)
PUBLIC COMMENT:
None. (30)
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:
|
10/17/06 |
6th and Wakarusa rezoning and preliminary plan |
|
TBD |
Future land use items include:
|
|
TBD |
Train Horn Quiet Zone |
(31)
COMMISSION ITEMS:
Moved by Highberger, seconded by Hack to adjourn at 8:05 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. (32)
APPROVED
_____________________________
Mike Amyx, Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
1. Engineering Contract - 2007 Phase III Downtown Waterline Project for $118,722.08.
2. Amend Engineering Contract - Wakarusa River and Yankee Tank Creek sewage basins to Delich, Roth & Goodwillie, for $21,114.
3. Purchase of property – Kasold (Peterson to KTA Bridge) reconstruction project, from Christine Valcich for $24,000.
4. Contract - Removal of lime, lime storage lagoon to R.D. Johnson Excavating for $6.45 per wet ton.
5. Engineering Agreement - Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) to FEMA change flood plain limits for 13th & Oregon Stormwater Improvements to Bartlett & West Engineers for $16,055.
6. Bid- Programmable logic controller components for Utilities to I & C Systems Engineering for $19,648.32.
7. Purchase 8 acre tract - Wakarusa Water Reclamation Facility project for $19,200.
8. Ordinance No. 7999 - 1st Read, Rezone (Z-06-39-05)12.329 acres, I-1 and A to RM24, NW ¼ of 9-13-20, E of 6th.
9. Ordinance No. 8039 - 1st Read, (TA-05-03A-06) revisions 20-701 (f) of the Development Code, planned development conditions.
10. Ordinance No. 8040 - 1st Read, TA-05-03B-06, revisions Chapter 20 Development Code, corrections & clarifications.
11. Final Plat - (PF-08-31-05) Glenwood Addition; 12-lot single-family residential, 1-lot multi-family, 12.605 acres, W of Wakarusa and E of Eisenhower Drive.
12. Final Plat – (PF-08-21-06) Four Seasons Addition, 3-lot residential subdivision, 25.976 acres, W of SW corner of Clinton Parkway and Crossgate Drive.
13. Final Plat – (PF-08-22-06) Prairie Wind Addition, 1-lot residential subdivision, 3.04 acres at 2620 Haskell Ave.
14. Site Plan – (SP-05-43-06) 8 unit apt house, 7 room boarding house, 1140 Mississippi.
15. Text Amendment (TA-03-02-06(D): Revisions to Proposed Development Code.
16. Text Amendment (TA-06-04-06) Chapter 20 Development Code.
17. Signs of Community Interest - Pilot Club’s Antique Car Show, NW corner of Harper & 23rd
18. Lawrence Arts Commission to approve proposed Kansas River Expression of Soul project.
19. Agreement - City Connecting Links, maintenance on state highways within city limits.
20. City Manager Employment Agreement - David Corliss.
21. Aviation Advisory Board recommendations - KDOT Airport Improvement projects and air show.
22. City Manager’s Report.
23. Text Amendment – (CPA-2005-02) to Joint City Ordinance/County Resolution, Parks & Rec. open space areas & facilities.
24. Design/build Services Contract - Pump Station 48, CAS Construction Professional Engineering Consultants for $9,893.988
25. Purchase required takings (easements) - Baldwin Creek pump station project from Roger and Russell Tuckel for $25,000 & Lawrence and Carrie Sinks for $15,439.
26. Resolution No. 6677- Condemnation proceedings -Pump Station 48 sanitary sewer project.
27. Ordinance No. 8042 - First Read, condemning certain property for Pump Station sanitary sewer project.
28. Ordinance No. 8043- First Read, connection fee, Pump Station #48 sanitary sewer.
29. 2006 Federal Issues Statement.
30. Public Comment.
31. Future Agenda Items.
32. Commission Items.