November 21, 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:
Wesley Dalberg, the Lieutenant of the Salvation Army in Lawrence, said that the Salvation Army would be celebrating its 120th Christmas in Lawrence, Kansas, which was a really long time. He said he thought about all the people the Salvation Army had helped and assisted over the years and it would not be possible without the volunteers, the people who stand behind the Salvation Army and give their time and talent to assist other people who are less fortunate than themselves and of course the community who responded to that and put their generous donations into the red kettles where they see people standing at the grocery stores and department stores. He said they were really grateful for the generosity of the Lawrence community and Douglas County as a whole that supported the Salvation Army in such a way. He said they were excited about the future and all that it would hold for the service in the community and they were looking for an outstanding Christmas season for the Salvation Army, its kettles, and its programs. He said they appreciated the opportunity to have the proclamation by the Mayor.
With Commission approval Mayor Amyx proclaimed Friday, November 24, 2006, as “Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Kick-Off Day”.
CONSENT AGENDA
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve City Commission meeting minutes from November 7, 2006. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to receive the Public Health Board meetings of September 18th and 26th, 2006. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve claims to 314 vendors in the amount of $1,878,178.51, and payment of longevity compensation, in the amount of $364,596.00. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the recommendation of the Mayor and reappoint Teresa Wilke to the Human Relations Commission to a second term which will expire September 30, 2009; appoint Bob Hubert to the Lawrence Alliance to a term which will expire November 30, 2006; and appoint Donna Griffin to the Lawrence Arts Commission to a term which will expire January 30, 2007. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, approve the purchase of John Deere tee mower for Parks & Recreation Department to Van Wall Equipment for $24,222.75. Motion carried unanimously. (1)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve purchase of one front load refuse truck for the Solid Waste Division of Public Works to Downing Sales and Service for $131,238. Motion carried unanimously. (2)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to authorize payment of $101,656.88 to Westar Energy for the extension of electrical service to the Pump Station No. 48 site. Motion carried unanimously. (3)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to authorize City Manager to execute a supplemental services agreement with Black and Veatch for $30,000 for the design of a hypochlorite disinfection system to Phase II of the Clinton Water Treatment Plant expansion project. Motion carried unanimously. (4)
Ordinance No. 7929, rezoning of (Z-06-36-05) 7.985 acres from M-1A (Light Industrial) District to RS7 (Single-dwelling residential) District, amending the zoning district map, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Amyx, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (5)
Ordinance No. 7930, rezoning of (Z-06-37-05) 1.873 acres from M-1A (Light Industrial) District to RS7 (Single-dwelling residential) District, amending the zoning district map, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Amyx, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (6)
Ordinance No. 8045, rezoning of (Z-05-13-05) 1.26 acres from RS7 (Single-dwelling Residential) District to RS5 (Single-dwelling residential) District, amending the zoning district map, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Amyx, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (7)
Ordinance No. 8048, authorizing the City Manager to prohibit concealed carry of firearms in City Buildings, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Amyx, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (8)
Ordinance No. 8049, regulating the sales of Christmas tress within the City of Lawrence, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Amyx, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (9)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the Final Plat (PF-09-28-06), for Fall Creek Farms 13th Plat, a proposed seven lot residential subdivision containing approximately 3.121 acres, located west of Kasold Drive and south of Peterson Road; and accept the dedication of easements and rights-of-way, subject to the following conditions:
Provision of a revised Final Plat with the following changes:
a. Right-of-way widths shown for Knotted Bend Court and Running Ridge Drive.
b. Notation that the sidewalk along Knotted Bend Court will be installed with this development as shown on the preliminary plat.
c. Inclusion of a note on the final plat, stating: “Adjacent property owners will be required to maintain all drainage easements in accordance with Section 20-1101(d)(4)(f) of the City Development Code”
d. Submission of public improvement plans prior to the recording of the Final Plat with the Register of Deeds Office;
e. Notation added that the 15’ utility easement located on the east property line of Lot 1, Block Four, Fall Creek Farms 10th Plat will also serve Lot 7 of this plat.
2. Pinning of the lots in accordance with Section 21-302.2 of the Subdivision Regulations.
3. Execution of a Temporary Utility Agreement;
4. Provision of the following fees and recording documentation:
a. Copy of paid property tax receipt;
b. Recording fees made payable to the Douglas County Register of Deeds;
c. Provision of a complete master street tree plan with revisions made to the species list to delete “Marshall’s seedless’ and replace with Summit or Patmore.
d. Provision of street sign fees.
Motion carried unanimously. (10)
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:
During the City Manager’s Report, David Corliss said concerning the Saunders Mound Connection to the SLT recreation path, the City was informed of this federal project and it was nearing completion and would be an important amenity to the Clinton Lake area.
Also, the Street Division held their annual snow practice event in which staff had received compliments over the years on their snow removal practices.
Finally, during the City Manager’s Report, Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, said the Street Division was currently working on crack sealing. The streets selected were predominately residential areas and the areas where there was not a lot of traffic control to maximize the City’s dollars and staff covered as many streets as they could. The City’s crews were concentrating on the collector and arterial streets. He said overall he thought their processes were good and were looking forward to continuing that program next year.
Commissioner Schauner asked for a status report on Kasold.
Soules said the east side was completed and removed the entire west side of the street and poured the intersection so traffic could make the right hand turn off of Bob Billings onto Kasold. The goal over the next few weeks was to complete the wall on the west side before the first of the year. There would probably be a break in January and February because it would be too cold and it would be spring before seeing work continued, but they were gearing up to complete by early summer. (11)
REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:
Consider authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract with PlaceMakers for $251,500 to develop a Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) style planning code.
Dan Warner, Planner, presented the staff report. He said the first version of the project included a charrette process with a consultant team to organize logistics to make sure the community was engaged in this process and buy into the SmartCode and the planning process. He said this project was a seven day training charrette that would take place from January 31st through February 6th. The plan included use of a comprehensive charrette process to give a form-based and transect-based code that enabled walkable, mixed use, compact neighborhoods. He said the contract with PlaceMakers included:
· SmartCode calibration.
· A Regulating Plan for four areas (up to 250 acres) within the current City limits, generally described as Downtown, 19th & Haskell, 23rd & Louisiana, and 25th & Iowa (all maps were revised, indicating boundaries are tentative pending the charrette process, on 11/20/06). A regulating plan includes growth projections and recommendations for the planning area.
· Assign a general G-4 Infill category to the remainder of the City limits not included in the Regulating Plan described in the first bullet. A G-4 designation means an area will be available for implementation to receive the optional SmartCode overlay and will be color-coded to indicate future growth.
· A Regulating Plan for up to 2,560 acres of the Urban Growth Area (1,280 acres west of K-10 and 1,280 acres south of the Wakarusa River). The consultants and staff will be working with property owners and developers representing property in these areas to identify property for use in the charette.
· A Sector Plan to address the remaining 45,000 acres (approximately) of the Urban Growth Area not addressed by the Regulating Plan. The Sector Plan establishes the legal boundaries for future developments that elect to use the SmartCode Overlay. It defines both unbuildable open space and urban growth sectors
He said some of the additional services they were getting in this product were charrette marketing and communications. He said staff was asking the consultant to take on a lot of this process in engaging the community and get the community excited about this project. He said part of that process included a charrette website that would give day to day updates as that charrette continued.
Commissioner Highberger asked if the SmartCode was ready to adopt or did the SmartCode require further work after the charrette process.
Warner said there would be a draft document from the consultant, after the charrette process, and staff would review the document. He said there would be other action at that point, but ultimately, the Commission would receive a document that would be ready for adoption.
Corliss said that was one of the main points of discussion with PlaceMakers was that staff wanted to do the best they could to ensure, PlaceMakers would deliver on this process. He said they did not want to have a scenario where they had consultants recommending code language and out of state attorneys recommending the specifics of the legal language and not being able to move forward. He said staff wanted something to initiate to the Planning Commission, both code language and comprehensive plan amendments because they were going to be talking about design issues both within the incorporated areas, but also outside of the city. He said areas would be further refined through the pre-charrette and charrette process, but they were talking about master planning areas west of K-10 and south of Wakarusa River so the City Commission could redevelop with the values the Commission wanted which required the charrette process, but that was not the true public process because that was not what the enabling statute told them about how they comprehensively planned property or rezoned property. He said staff wanted a high comfort level the language the consultants were recommending was something they were going to be able to proceed with.
Commissioner Schauner said if he was a land owner west of K-10 and south of 6th Street and his ground was in a charrette, down to the block and street level, he asked what would he come away from that exercise believing, understanding, or thinking was implied about his ability to get such a future project approved. He said he was trying to figure out if this became a substitute for real world planning at some point in the future. He said he was not sure what he, as a land owner, might come away from that charrette believing.
Corliss said this process would tell the traditional neighborhood design values that staff wanted to implement and it would use real world development scenarios. He said the process would not be a substitute for the sanitary sewer analysis that would be necessary west of K-10 or south of Wakarusa. He said even though there were transportation planners as part of this team, the process would not substitute the critical decision of whether or not they would allow development west of K-10 without a 15th Street and K-10 interchange. He said they might make suggestions and would probably be a discussion point, but would not make that policy decision. He said if the charrette was successful and they established a master regulating plan for areas and initiate those onto the Planning Commission and were adopted, that would tell that property owner if the infrastructure was available, then this City Commission was committed toward allowing that type of development, perhaps exclusively, not that would be the only type of development that would be allowed at that location and that was the way they wanted the redevelopment and would not extend infrastructure elsewhere. He said those were going to be important policy issues for the Commission on where they wanted to extend infrastructure, what kind of development they wanted, and did the City Commission want the TND to be permissive or mandatory. He said it would be very important to have a very open process.
Commissioner Schauner asked if the TND process, charrette or otherwise, would be coordinated with the proposed subdivision regulation in the UGA. He said not knowing what the SmartCode would look like, he assumed some discussion about the proposed or the adopted subdivision regulations should have some interplay.
Corliss said they would definitely have that discussion.
Warner said it was included in the contract language that they needed to examine Chapter 20 and 21.
Vice Mayor Hack said they discussed looking toward the future. She said from the committee’s standpoint, their conversation was about the parallel code and not being required, which needed to be a policy decision. The outcome of the charrette was certainly going to be a book along with training and different types of implementations. She said they would receive tools and the code book would be extremely specific and comprehensive in making sure all the requirements had been met. She said that did not take away from the Planning Commission, City Commission, or County Commission, but gave a more consistent look than what was done in the past.
Warner said this provided a tool that they had struggled with for a few years regarding mixed use and other uses. He said it would really help provide a tool to actually accomplish those sorts of things.
Vice Mayor Hack said when the City Commission first started discussing this issue, Commissioner Highberger made suggestions about downtown. She said if they wanted to do some of those things, there were proven successes in terms of slowing down traffic, creating a neighborhood feel, and having traffic move easier through an area. She said they had to allow some of those things, but for now, it could not be done and would be very expensive. She said this process would be far more cost effective for both sides in terms of time and money.
Mayor Amyx said when the committee looked at this process, he understood the Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) was always going to be a parallel code, and now he heard the word “possible mandatory.” He asked if it was not a mandatory code and they went out in a section west of K-10 and south of 6th Street and they put the TND in place, but the people just the south or west decided to go with what the development code allowed, he asked how it all worked together.
Corliss said this process was going to be an important policy issue. He said Briarwood, north of 6th Street, immediately east of Folks Road, some people would point to that area as a TND subdivision. He said that small subdivision looked great and retained its value and things functioned well, but that area did not function as far as being integrated in the rest of the community. He said one of the concerns was if they would have a code book that allowed those types of subdivisions, but not be integrated into the rest of the community and the City Commission was going to wrestle with that scenario along. He said Vice Mayor Hack was correct that the discussions had been this would be a parallel code and with any commission, the commission had the ability to say whether they wanted to extend infrastructure to something that had those types of values or they might not want to, but they would at least have that ability and have that discussion. He said he did not want it to be interpreted that there was something wrong with Briarwood, but if they wanted Briarwood type developments that were just there, but those developments were not integrated and was connected to another collector street that moved traffic along or did they want to try and have a larger picture. He said the discussions he heard with the Commission and committee was they wanted a larger picture than the ability to do those isolated developments. He said they did not want to do just TND developments, but wanted to see if the community could embrace that more holistically.
Vice Mayor Hack said there were a number of SmartCode books that this company and others had completed. She said it was not just simply whiting out Stapleton and writing in Lawrence over it and having it work because it had to work in the context. She said pre-charrette, the charrette, and the post-charrette were all going to blend together to provide them with something that would not be stuck out in the middle.
Mayor Amyx said he was supportive of Traditional Neighborhood Design and thought they were all in agreement that traditional neighborhoods in Lawrence, Kansas was one of the things that made Lawrence a great place to live. He said he wanted to make sure as they went through the development code process, that if this was parallel code, he wanted to know what happened to the development code somewhere along the line if this was going to replace it, if they were going to making the decision that over time as they look at new areas whether it be to the west of K-10 or the south of the Wakarusa River. He said if they were going to make mandatory requirements by the extension of the utilities and infrastructure into those areas, they needed to know, going in.
Commissioner Schauner said when the Voth property was up for consideration a couple of times there was discussion whether that entire watershed area needed to be planned as a unit, rather than doing planning part of that area down to the south and plan the other part later. He said he had seen places in Denver, where there was a mix of New Urbanist ideas and Traditional Neighborhood Designs. He said he had a trouble figuring out where the bright line was between those two concepts and thought there was a fair amount of overlap between those concepts. He said in order to do those types of developments there needed to be a fair amount of acreage.
He said one concern was a notion of if they did small parcels under a TND, which might be attractive for a Briarwood kind of development, they would end up with that sort of dry foot blank and then were gone, and then getting right back into another, more traditional subdivision look. He said unless doing a fairly large piece and mandate the traditional development code for that larger piece, not very much would be gained, but gave an opportunity for a Briarwood kind of development with a new code, but at perhaps a very high price in terms of consultants and might not have gotten the bigger picture look that they were trying to develop. He said he did not know where the tension points were in that discussion, but suspected part of it came from if he owned 300 acres, he might not want to commit the whole area to a TND and might want to do this and that, depending on what the market forces suggest would sell. He said he did not have an answer, but thought those would be tension points in future discussions for some future commission.
Commissioner Rundle said he was assuming those were the types of questions that would be answered by the charrette. He said if those types of developments could co-exist, there probably was a minimum threshold that could achieve the live, work and play and that might be mandatory that they had a minimum acreage or go through some process to mandate it for a neighboring parcel. He said the distribution about this process would enhance the success of getting the community involved. He said he was curious if the community knew there was something out there called TND.
Vice Mayor Hack said a fair amount of groups were informed and those groups were very positive. She said she did not think there was anyone who had any concerns. She said when referring to 23rd and Louisiana, it was a perfect example along with 25th and Iowa, should the opportunity present itself to redevelop. If they could have something in place that would allow things closer to the street without the inevitable variances and expense. She said there were some opportunities for redevelopment as well as new development.
Commissioner Highberger asked if staff received a final report on the UPA study that happened three years ago.
Sheila Stogsdill, Interim Planning Director, said she did not believe staff received that final report.
Commissioner Highberger said that consultant, from that particular study, had preliminary suggestions for rehabilitation of 23rd and 6th Streets.
Mayor Amyx called for public comment.
Hubbard Collingsworth, Lawrence, asked about where this process fit into with the ECO2 work with its open space and industrial development.
Vice Mayor Hack said those processes were somewhat related, but also unrelated. The ECO2 grouping was looking at specific preservation of open space areas and acquiring more industrial space. Open and green space was one of the components of a true, new urbanist area with open spaces for parks and community gathering. She said one of the concerns was no ability to get together in newer neighborhoods. She said this concept allowed common areas and more parks. She said in discussing green space, this addressed the green space by the configuration of the area, but ECO2 and the industrial and open space were really independent of this concept.
Commissioner Schauner said there was general discussion about impact fees. He asked the TND would take into consideration fees associated with those types of developments to provide open space and other gathering spaces so they could be provided by the developer as opposed to by the City-at-large.
Corliss said on the future agenda item, he forecasted placing two items that were related. He said he was working with Warner on a long range planning resolution that tried to set out a number of those items and tried to provide a picture for coordination in the coming year. He said one of those items was the issue of impact fees. He said he had discussed the opportunity, if the Commission desired to change some of the rules for financing a number of public infrastructure items. He said staff looked at impact fees for open space and park land. The City Commission adopted a comprehensive plan that called for parks to be located more closely to developments than what had historically been able to do. It was his opinion that they would need a funding source to be able to provide for that in a timely manner. He said he was going to recommended attempting to pursue impact fees as a mechanism. He said the City Commission might choose not to do that, but they would at least have that discussion on December 12th. He said the Commission would not adopt any ordinances, but would discuss a method of discussing that issue with the development community and others in the community. He said it was not simply impact fees for parks, but they could look at other impact fees for other public facilities as well. He said that was how he was trying to map out how they all could begin that discussion and was not trying to say they were going to adopt impact fees, but wanted to encourage the City Commission to have that discussion.
Commissioner Schauner said clearly, what he heard Vice Mayor Hack say and Warner say regarding his general understanding of what made those areas appealing was not the grid, but also those common areas, open space areas, parks and so forth. He said none of that came for free and he certainly wanted to know what the fiscal note was going to be that would be associated with creating those amenities in those areas. He said he thought that would be a trickier discussion.
Mayor Amyx said as this code developed and seeing site specific open spaces and normal responsibilities in developing those areas, this might be the only way they were able to find out answers to costs and financial implications to the city. He said if they were going to use impact fee arrangements to help take care of long term costs of those, he thought those types of questions could only be answered by going through this process.
He said concerning ECO2, they had considered the amount of work done by the ECO2 committee in both industrial and open space development and now they were looking at the rural subdivision regulation and how that property might be set aside for future development. He said another piece was the ECO2 concept about open space which needed to be addressed. Each one of those development plans and codes encouraged park and open space developments in which they would see from this point forward.
Moved by Highberger, seconded by Hack, to authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with PlaceMakers, in the amount of $251,500 to develop a Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) style planning code. Motion carried unanimously. (13)
Consider draft letter to Rick Bolfing, KDHE, regarding coal fired plants in Holcomb, Kansas.
Commissioner Rundle presented the item regarding coal fired plants in Holcomb, Kansas. He said the public comment period established by Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) was to allow citizens to express concerns about the proposed permitting action. He said he had outlined in a draft letter the issues that he thought were of relevance to Lawrence. In particular, the City Commission had made modest efforts to exercise leadership in the area of environmentalism and promoting clean air. In order for those efforts to keep growing there needed to be a statewide commitment to alternatives and he thought the proposed permitted plants were working counterproductive to the City Commission’s efforts.
Mayor Amyx called for public comment.
Hubbard Collingsworth, Lawrence, said based on the draft letter and Commissioner Rundle’s comments, he supported the letter and requested the Commission authorize the Mayor to sign the letter.
Carey Maynard-Moody, Lawrence, said she applauded the City Commission’s thoughtful consideration regarding the matter of seeking a moratorium on the expansion of Sunflower Electric Power Plant in Holcomb, Kansas.
She presented a prepared statement which read: “We, the citizens of Kansas, need your help as leaders of the greater Kansas community to protect us from the fallout of the coal rush that was gripping this planet. We have been doing our best and many of us spent countless hours writing letters to the Governor, to KDHE, and to our congressional representatives. Hundreds of us had spent more hours in public hearings and almost 100 of us have found the courage to give public testimony. As I speak, citizens of Salina were rallying and poised to approach their City Commission to help them oppose the electric project expansion. Indeed, in a conversation today with Mr. Bolfing of KDHE, it was revealed that it would take a person working full-time for over one week to organize and record all the letters, testimonies, and e-mails that have been submitted concerning the permitting of this coal fire power plant expansion.
Citizens of Kansas are crying for help to stop the coal rush from further exacerbating our planet’s instability. Yesterday, EPA’s Region 7, P2 members convened to discuss progress and setbacks of the various cities’ climate protection initiatives. As a member of Lawrence’s Cool Cities Initiative, I was proud to sit at the full round table meeting. I am proud to be from a City whose Commissioners and Mayor do not shirk from shouldering the burden created when the fossil fools in Washington dropped the ball to re-stabilize a floundering planet. This willingness was demonstrated when you authorized your Mayor to sign the US Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement in March of this year. Tonight, you have another chance to step up to the plate and let KDHE know that the cool rush came to a screeching halt in Kansas as we carefully consider a healthier, more sustainable energy future.”
Commissioner Highberger said regarding the letter, he suggested page two needed to be reworded. He said his main concern was this plant had a potential large impact on some of their fellow citizens from western Kansas and other forms of power. He said he felt comfortable moving forward with this letter and would vote to approve the Mayor signing the letter.
Mayor Amyx said if the City Commission desired, he would be happy to sign the letter, but they needed to be careful with the economics of the area. He said it was important that they understood what was going on in the western part of the state and how they were going to encourage the developments that happened. He said in reading through the report that was provided by Sunflower Electric, it would create more than 3,000 jobs and 700 permanent jobs in that area. He said the City Commission needed to be extremely careful, as they looked at asking the Governor to place a moratorium on that type of development, to see if there were things in this community that they wanted someone else to respond to. He said the City Commission took great pride in making decisions locally and hoped they were not setting themselves up for future comments.
Commissioner Highberger said he understood and this was not something that had happened before.
Commissioner Rundle said he thought this letter was something they could put their names on because the letter indicated they were supportive of economic development of all parts of Kansas and did not want it to be a tradeoff. He said they were bound to make themselves aware of ways they could foster the vitality of the entire state.
Commissioner Schauner said what he found most interesting about the letter was where the author talked about carbon emissions. The author stated, “If that is true, Sunflower will certainly comply with whatever is required of us by our governments.” He said he was sure they would, but at the same time, if they spent hundred of thousands of dollars lobbying governments not to impose stricter requirements on those kinds of plants. He said it was a little disingenuous to suggest they would follow the rules, but they also had a strong interest in trying to make sure the rules were written in a way to benefit them and permit them to continue to burn coal and other fossil fuels. He said it came back to, if not us, this generation, who would begin that discussion and try to take some positive steps forward to eliminating the level of CO2 in the atmosphere, not to mention the mercury and other things that come out of the burning of fossil fuels. He said he appreciated Sunflower’s letter and frankly thought it was carefully crafted, but did not really address some of the conclusions he had. He said he supported the letter and was worthy for their positive consideration. He said the argument was always going to be made about how many jobs were lost or gained in a project and his sense was the use of alternative forms of energy, whether they were solar or wind, would create an equal number of jobs over time and perhaps do it in a way that created a cleaner climate for all of them. He said he thought it was disingenuous to suggest that unless this plant was built in the way they wanted to build it, somehow there would be a net loss to southwestern Kansas. He said his suspicion was in the long run, there was a net loss if the did build it and a net gain if they found alternatives. He said he would support the letter, but it was not clearly within the purview of their jurisdiction, but he thought it was important that people take the right stand.
Commissioner Hack said she would not comment on the merits of a coal fired power plant. She said she had a pretty narrow view of what the City Commission was authorized to do and she did not believe the concerns about emissions were not genuine on anybody’s part and believed they had in Lawrence, Kansas stood up and did a lot of great things and would continue to do so. She said environmental protection was a focus of the City and the focus of the community. She said when a resolution like this came from their community to 34 counties in Western Kansas, there could be some unintended consequences in terms of what happened to requests from the university at the state level and what happened to requests from this community at the state level. She said the last paragraph of the letter stated that if Lawrence supported the economic development of Western Kansas, surely it was not appropriate for your community to work against those who live hundreds of miles from you in 34 western Kansas counties. She said she did not think they were working against them and did not interpret the letter as working against those individuals, but if it had the unintended consequence of not providing them economic development or encouraging them to do other things, she thought they would get their nose out of joint if someone came and made some suggestions. She said she thought the Commission already had plenty to do and thought they had a full plate of their own issues and thought that was what they needed to concentrate their energy and efforts.
Commissioner Rundle said to follow up on Commissioner Schauner’s comments, in terms of that particular citation of compliance, he thought it would come to the cost of the repairs when it came in the future and the technology had advanced to a level that was being proposed and they had a vision of a day not so far away of an emission free coal energy. He said he did not think they should settle for less than what was accepted for the rest of the country.
Commissioner Schauner said he understood and appreciated the narrow role of City Commissions, but from a philosophical point of view, he thought what was proposed to build was not good for the environment generally. If this City did not have prevailing westerly winds, he could more easily adopt a position this was not the business of the Lawrence City Commission, but they were ultimately going to breathe something that was burned out there, even if it was 300 miles away, as would the people to the east. He said he thought they were in the legitimate position to express an opinion to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people who lived in Lawrence. He said he thought this was one of the cases where they were legitimately involved.
Commissioner Rundle said he also recalled that this would not be the first time someone came in from the outside and criticized the City Commission. He said they had the passing of the living wage ordinance some time back and often people brought someone from the outside to steer their local political debate, but that was just fine and part of the political system they lived in.
Moved by Rundle, seconded by Highberger, to authorize the Mayor to sign a letter to Rick Bolfing, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, regarding coal fired plants in Holcomb Kansas. Aye: Rundle, Highberger, and Schauner. Nay: Amyx and Hack. Motion carried. (14)
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:
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11/28/06 |
Unincorporated Subdivision Regulations with Planning Commission and County Commission |
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12/05/06 |
800 Block Pennsylvania and related items; Long-Range Planning Resolution; Impact Fee discussion; 2007 State Legislative Statement discussion |
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12/12/06 |
Salvation Army Site Plan and Rezoning; City Auditor Position discussion |
(15)
Moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to adjourn at 7:45 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
APPROVED _____________________________
Mike Amyx, Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
1. Bid- John Deere tee mower for Parks & Rec to Van Wall Equipment for $24,222.75.
2. Bid- 1 front load refuse truck, Solid Waste Div, to Downing Sales and Service for $131,238.
3. Payment of $101,656.88 to Westar Energy for extension of electrical service to Pump Station #48 site.
4. Supplemental services agreement with Black and Veatch for $30,000 for design of hypochlorite disinfection system of Clinton Water Treatment Plant expansion project.
5. Ordinance No. 7929 – 2nd Read, rezone (Z-06-36-05) 7.985 acres, M-1A to RS7, portion of lt 4, King Industrial Park.
6. Ordinance No. 7930 – 2nd Read, rezone (Z-06-37-05) 1.873 acres, M-1A to RS7, portion of lt 4 & adjoining W 31st R-OW in King Industrial Park.
7. Ordinance No. 7999 – 2nd Read, rezone (Z-06-39-05) 12.329 acres, I-1 to RM24, NW ¼ 9-13-20E.
8. Ordinance No. 8045 – 2nd Read, rezoned (Z-05-13-06) 1.26 acres, RS7 to RS5, lts 1-10, Homewood Gardens Suburban Add.
9. Ordinance No. 8048, 2nd Read, prohibit concealed carry of firearms in City bldgs.
10. Ordinance No. 8049- 2nd Read, regulating sale of Christmas trees.
11. Final Plat – (PF-09-28-06) Fall Creek Farms 13th Plat, 3.121 acres, W of Kasold & S of Peterson Road.
12. City Manager’s Report.
13. Contract -PlaceMakers for $251,500 to develop a Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) style planning code.
14. Draft letter -Rick Bolfing, KDHE, regarding coal fired plants in Holcomb, Kansas.
15. Future Agenda Items.