CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
Fire & Medical Downsizes Vehicles
Following the City Commission’s desire to increase fuel and energy conservation, the Fire & Medical Department now purchases Ford Expeditions instead of Ford Excursions for use by shift commanders. See the attached photo of one of the new vehicles in action at a recent incident downtown.
Facility Conservation Improvement Program
Kevin Doyle, Infrastructure Coordinator, attended the RRCAB meeting on November 8th, at which Russ Rudy of the Kansas Energy Office was invited to give a presentation on the Facility Conservation Improvement Program (FCIP). The program is designed to facilitate energy conservation projects in public buildings and systems through Energy Savings Performance Contracting. In essence, the costs of assessing, designing, and constructing or modifying the existing buildings or systems are paid through energy and maintenance costs savings. The program appears to be an opportunity to achieve a significant reduction in energy consumption at little or no cost to the City. In addition to the merits of the program, the first step in the FCIP process is a Preliminary Audit of targeted buildings and systems that is performed at no charge. The scope of this Preliminary Audit could assist staff in meeting our greenhouse gas emissions audit required by the US Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement. The attached brochure explains the program in more detail. Staff is prepared to initiate the process by first summarizing all of the building and systems that we are interested in targeting and quantifying some of the basic characteristics of those buildings and systems.
Parks & Recreation Activities and Projects
§ The 35th Annual Halloween Paint Inn was held on Saturday, November 28. Children grades 3- adults paint Halloween Murals on Downtown merchants’ windows to help decorate for Halloween. These attached pictures show children painting their Halloween Pictures on the Downtown merchants’ windows. This event is sponsored by the Lawrence Parks & Recreation Department along with the Breakfast Optimists Club.
§ The 31st Annual Turkey Trot 5K Run was held November 4 at Haskell Indian Nations University. The Turkey Trot 5K Run is the longest running program in the state of Kansas. This event is co-sponsored by Haskell Indian Nations University, Checkers, and Jocks Nitch of Lawrence. There were approximately 100 runners at this event (see photos). Winners received turkeys from Checkers and second/third place finishers received $15 gift certificates for any class or activity from the Lawrence Parks & Recreation Department. Overall male and female winners received a $50 gift certificate from Jocks Nitch.
§ Parks & Recreation staff members are in the process of hanging holiday lights in the trees along Massachusetts Street (see photos). This year lights will be installed from 6th Street to 9th Street using the new electrical services that were installed this past summer as part of the water line project. It is anticipated that it will take 3-4 days for staff to install approximately 6,500 feet of lights from 6th to 9th. Lights will be added from 9th to 11th next year as new water and electric lines are installed in those blocks. Lights have also been installed in the pines at Town Center and on City Hall.