Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

To:	Dave Corliss City Manager
From:	Debbie Van Saun Asst. City Manager
cc:	Management Team Craig Weinaug, County Administrator
Date:	November 7, 2006
Re:	Agenda item

Please place the following item on the City Commission consent agenda for consideration at their November 14 , 2006 meeting:

Development Process Review Project – Receive Final Report

Project Description:  The project involved a review and analysis by an outside consultant, Matrix Consulting Group, of the City’s development process.  This is a project that was submitted with the Planning Department’s 2006 budget proposal and approved by the City Commission.

Project Status:  A contract for the following scope of services and provided in the work plan included:

§ Stakeholder (elected officials, Planning Commission, development community, community members, etc.) and staff interviews

§ Preparation of a development process profile documenting current practices

§ Conduct focus groups to assess customer satisfaction and provide opportunities for input

§ Benchmark existing process in a comparative survey and against best practices

§ Evaluate and analyze development process to identify opportunities to streamline and more proactively manage the processes

§ Evaluate staff utilization, work practices, staffing and service levels

§ Document recommendations in a final report and provide a detailed implementation plan

During the past several months, this work plan has been executed by Matrix, producing a variety of documents that were subsequently reviewed by members of the Project Steering Committee (listed below).  All phases of the development process were studied and reviewed, from the initial contact at the planning level through the building permit process.   

Project Funding:  This project was budgeted in the Planning Department’s 2006 operating budget.  Since this budget has financial contributions from Douglas County (one-sixth of the Planning Department budget is paid for by the County), some review of the County development process was part of the project scope.

Commission Action.  Matrix Consulting Group will present a summary of the findings of the report, recommendations associated with opportunities to improve the development process in Lawrence, as well as an implementation plan with associated timeframes.  The City Commission may receive the Draft Final Report and provide direction to staff, as appropriate, on the various recommendations presented therein.

c:       Members of the Project Steering Committee:

          Barry Walthall, Neighborhood Resources Department

          Bill Ahrens, Planning Department

          Chris Stewart, Utilities Department

          Craig Weinaug, Douglas County

          Dave Wagner, Utilities Department

          Grant Eighhorn, Planning Commission

          Jim Stuit, Utilities Department

          Keith Dabney, Douglas County

          Lisa Patterson, City Manager’s Office

          Mike Rundle, City Commissioner

          Phillip Ciesielski, Utilities Department

          Rich Barr, Fire/Medical Department

          Sheila Stogsdill, Planning Department

          Sue Hack, Vice-Mayor

          Terese Gorman, Public Works

          Victor Torres, Neighborhood Resources

          Debbie Van Saun, City Manager’s Office

          Dave Corliss, City Manager’s Office