November 28, 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.
CONSENT AGENDA
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve City Commission meeting minutes from November 14th, 2006. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to receive the Hospital Board meeting minutes of October 18, 2006; Community Commission on Homelessness meeting minutes of September 12, 2006; the Housing Needs Task Force meeting minutes of October 18, 2006; the Mechanical Code Board of Appeals meeting minutes of August 21, 2006; and the Planning Commission meeting of October 23 - 25, 2006. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve claims to 267 vendors in the amount of $2,745,034.16 and payroll from November 12, 2006 to November 25, 2006 in the amount of $1,713,793.06. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve the Drinking Establishment License to Wheatfield’s Bakery & Café, 904 Vermont; and the Yacht Club, 530 Wisconsin. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to authorize payment in the amount of $17,240 to the Lawrence Hidden Valley Committee, Inc. for easements required for the Alvamar Area Sanitary Sewer Improvement Project. Motion carried unanimously. (1)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to authorize the City Manager to enter into contract for professional services to perform an actuarial study in 2007 to meet GASB 43 and 45 standards, for $17,575. Motion carried unanimously. (2)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to authorize the City Manager to increase the contract with Vance Brothers in the amount of $19,800 for the 2006 Crack Seal Program. Motion carried unanimously. (3)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to authorize the City Manager to enter into a supplemental agreement to the existing engineering contract with Burns & McDonnell for $145,043 for design and construction phase engineering services associated with pumping improvements to Low Service Pump Station No. 2. Motion carried unanimously. (4)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for Clinton Parkway bike path replacement for the Parks and Recreation Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
LRM Industries $51.50 ft.
Morgan Concrete 52.70 ft.
Penny Construction 59.28 ft.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to award the bid to LRM Industries in the amount of $51.50 feet or $30,127.50 for 585 feet. Motion carried unanimously. (5)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with ETC Institute, Inc., for $29,950, to complete a citizen survey. Motion carried unanimously. (6)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 7922, rezoning (Z-04-27-05) approximately 2.673 acres from A (Agricultural District) to RS7 (Single-Dwelling Residential) District, located on the corner of Carson Drive and Eisenhower Drive. Motion carried unanimously. (7)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 8052, amending Horizon 2020, Chapter 6-Commerical Land Use to include the description, goals and policies of a Mixed-Use Commercial center. Motion carried unanimously. (8)
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-09-26-06) for Miracon Plaza, a 3-lot Commercial and Office project, located on the NE corner of Clinton Parkway and Wakarusa 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.
2. Submittal of public improvement plans for water, sanitary sewer, and stormwater mains, and Wakarusa Drive improvements, including sidewalks and associated required geometric improvements.
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-09-27-06) for Van Go Mobile Arts Addition, a one-lot industrial subdivision containing approximately .613 acres, located at 715 New Jersey, and accept the dedication of easements and rights-of-way subject to the following conditions:
1. Revise the face of the plat to show the following:
a. An expanded area for the public sidewalk and utility easement to include the area of the existing municipal water line.
b. Tract acquired from BNSF Railway Company should reference Recorded Book Number 1011, Page 342, please revise.
2. Submittal of a revised Master Street Tree Plan.
3. Provision of an Agreement Not to Protest the Formation of a Benefit District for sidewalk improvements to E. 7th Street.
4. Provision of the following fees and documentation:
a. Recording fees made payable to the Douglas County Register of Deeds;
b. A Temporary Utility Agreement
Motion carried unanimously. (10)
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-09-29-06) for Maple Lane Addition No. 2, a two-lot subdivision containing approximately .477 acres, located at the 1423-25 and 1445-47 Maple Lane; and accept the dedication of easements and rights-of-way subject to the following conditions:
1. Provision of a revised Master Street Tree Plan graphic that shows the 15’ public utility, pedestrian and roadway access easement.
2. Provision of a Public Improvement Plan showing sanitary sewer service for Lots 1 and 2 if the City Commission does not grant a waiver to Chapter 19, Section 214 of the City Code.
3. Execute an Agreement Not to Protest the Formation of a Benefit District for future street and sidewalk improvements.
4. Provision of the following fees and documentation:
a. Recording fees made payable to the Douglas County Register of Deeds; and
b. A Temporary Utility Agreement
Motion carried unanimously. (11)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to approve the site plan (SP-06-07-06) for Stephens/Noller Office Buildings and Parking Area, SW Corner of Bob Billings Parkway and Research Park Drive, subject to the following conditions:
1. Execution of a site plan performance agreement per Section 20-1433.
2. Approval of a photometric plan.
3. Final Plat recorded at the Douglas County Register of Deeds before the site plan can be released for building permits.
4. The following revisions must be made to the plan:
a. Legal description must be updated to reflect Plat name and Lot number.
b. The cross access easement must be recorded and the book and page number of the access easement noted on the face of the site plan
Motion carried unanimously. (12)
Hubbard Collingsworth, Lawrence, pulled from the consent agenda the recommendation of the Mayor to appoint, Judy DeSetti to the Community Commission on Homelessness. He said he had no qualms against the qualifications of DeSetti, but had a concern about the statement “community members who were homeless” and asked where was their representative on that particular Commission.
Mayor Amyx said he could place this item back on the agenda for discussion, but DeSetti seemed to be a good appointment for the Community Commission on Homelessness (CCH) and he was standing by his decision.
Commissioner Highberger said there was one woman who was formerly homeless who was appointed in the initial round of appointments to that Commission, but to his knowledge there was no currently homeless person on that Commission.
Bill Sims, Lawrence, said his concern was that he did not know the relationship between DeSetti and the homeless community, but knew she was not homeless. He said he knew other members of the CCH because those members provided services, studied the homeless community, or they had something to do with the homeless community. He said he was not questioning DeSetti’s qualifications, he just did not know her qualifications. He said it would seem odd to have another item further on the agenda where they were going to put a new committee together with nine people and there were very specific qualifications that were needed for those nine people to serve, which he understood. He said homelessness, however, was something that unless a person had gone through, was very difficult to explain to people what it was like to sleep next to someone who was dying and where if a person lost the lottery, that person would not have a place to sleep that night. He said he doubted this particular individual was going to bring that to table. Presently among the other 10 members on the CCH, there was nobody who represented the homeless community, except for one individual. Therefore, the City Commission was asking people to help, who did not know the situation on the streets. The City Commission had an opportunity with 11 people to choose at least one person who was presently homeless. He said he had no idea who that person would be because there were several people who were qualified. He said it seemed odd there was a Commission called Community Commission on Homelessness, but yet, no one on that Commission was homeless.
Commissioner Schauner said he gave DeSetti’s name to the Mayor for his consideration. He said he knew she had volunteered at the homeless shelter for a couple of years, so he did think she had more than passing familiarity with the homeless shelter operation. He said DeSetti was not now, nor did he believe DeSetti had been homeless in the past. If that was a condition they wanted to apply to that position, then DeSetti might not be an appropriate candidate. He said he would leave that decision to the Mayor’s discretion. He said he thought DeSetti brought an intellect and compassion to that position which served the purposes of the Commission and the City well in that regard.
Commissioner Highberger said in the initial appointments, there was one individual on that Homeless Commission who had been homeless, which was the position that was currently vacant. He said he thought it was important to have that experience represented on the Commission, but he was not going to challenge the Mayor’s appointment.
Commissioner Rundle asked if there was an additional advisory committee that was going to adjunct to that board, too.
Vice Mayor Hack said there was a good neighbor group that she thought was part of this.
Commissioner Rundle said he thought they were very aware of that concern to represent the views of individuals that were homeless and he thought the Commission would do a good job.
Mayor Amyx said he had people who applied for positions and individuals that made recommendations such as the City Commission and other different organizations, for people who he believed had their hearts very much in the right place and were willing to serve on those committees. He said the City Commission took great pride in their responsibility they placed on individuals to serve and he thought DeSetti was someone who would do a very good job and came with very strong credentials. He said he was very happy to make that appointment, but did appreciate the concerns brought forward.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Highberger, to concur with the recommendation of the Mayor and appoint Judy DeSetti to the Community Commission on Homelessness, to a term that expires December 31, 2007. Motion carried unanimously. (13)
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:
During the City Manager’s Report, David Corliss said he wanted to highlight the work that Jonathon Douglas, Management Analyst, was performing on the City’s grant team. He said this was going to be a valuable resource for the City as staff continued to increase their knowledge about the grants that were available to the City. He said the City’s grant team was going to be a successful asset to this organization.
Commissioner Hack said the GFOA Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting was certainly worthy of public note. She said Ed Mullins, Finance Director, and his staff had achieved that certificate and the City was proud of their work. (13)
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Deborah Snyder, Lawrence, said she was present to address a very specific procedural matter for the City Commission to take action on as quickly as possible. In yesterday’s LJW online chat, Public Library Director, Bruce Flanders, stated the City Commission of 2000, which she believed Commissioner Rundle survived today, issued a restriction on its instructions to the City Library Board to research the expansion of tax funded library services in Lawrence. She said this restriction prohibited the Library Board to do research only on expanding services at the existing facility at 7th and New Hampshire. An arbitrary decision to take away the ability to even discuss alternatives like this made the public feel manipulated and mislead and the current Commission was unfairly blamed. She said she asked the City Commission rescind this restriction so the community could have an informed public discussion of all reasonable and prudent options for expanding public library services. A successful referendum of this magnitude deserved full and complete examination and disclosure which would not happen unless this restriction was rescinded. She said she awaited the City Commission’s response.
Mayor Amyx said Snyder caught him off guard and asked Commissioner Rundle or the City Manager to elaborate on that issue.
Corliss said the City Commission and Library Board had a very full, robust discussion about how to proceed with additional library services within the community. There was discussion about satellite facilities and in fact, the Library Director had a proposal about where 7500 square feet of satellite library space might go and how that might work. He said there was discussion at the City Commission level and the Library Board level, and there was a strong feeling to instead, enhance the existing library downtown. He said that decision had been made consciously and he did not think it was made under stealth. He said they knew in the future every facility, including an expanded library, if they were fortunate enough to proceed that way, would have the question about when it reached capacity, should they add on again or, as forecasted more likely in the future years, talk about satellite facilities at that time.
He said he understood Snyder’s concern that she learned about this decision later. He said they had not gagged the library from discussing that issue and the fact that Bruce Flanders, Library Director, talked about it, was an indication that Flanders was familiar with that issue. He said they had that discussion and instead focused on expansion opportunities downtown. He said that was his recollection of the discussion.
Commissioner Rundle said he thought that discussion was known by himself, Commissioners Hack and Schauner.
Vice Mayor Hack said she and Commissioner Rundle were on the Commission when they were still funding the satellite library at least two years of her first term, perhaps even three. She said there was discussion between the City Commission and the Library Board that they preferred to concentrate on downtown at that time.
Commissioner Schauner said he had a very clear recollection of a meeting he had with Craig Penzler and Bruce Flanders in 2003. At that time, they were still discussing the possibility of satellite operation. He said if there was some direction or mandate from the Commission of 2000 to not look at satellites, he was not sure that message had been received in 2003. He said it was his understand that they were still looking at that until 2003 or 2004.
Mayor Amyx asked if there was an action taken.
Commissioner Rundle said he did not think there was any action taken by the Commission.
Corliss said in public meetings the issue was discussed and the consensus of the Commission and the Library Board was to proceed with downtown opportunities.
Mayor Amyx said he thought he and Snyder needed discuss this issue so he had an understanding of where Snyder wanted to go with issue. He said the Library Board was going to be making a recommendation to the Lawrence City Commission in the near future and the Commission at that time, through a series of meetings, was going to decide on such things as, the location, costs for the new facility, and the expectations for this new library. He said there was plenty of time to take into account, Snyder’s and other people’s concerns into this decision making process.
Commissioner Rundle said he was interested in following up tomorrow in hearing about the broader range of alternatives.
Commissioner Schauner said his concern was Snyder apparently believed there had been some directive from the City Commission to not have discussion about other alternatives. He said he did not believe that was true, and believed the library board on its own initiative concluded in 2003 or early 2004 that they needed to focus on the central facility before trying to spread their limited resources throughout the community. He said his clear recollection was that was not a directive from this body or its predecessor, but from the Library Board, itself, based on their assessment of their needs and so forth. Again, he had a clear recollection of that discussion and did not think the governing body never stated that there should absolutely be further discussion about anything else. He said he thought the Library Board said where they would like to go and why. He said he supposed that issue was open for further discussion.
Mayor Amyx said Snyder could rest assure was with this Commission, past and future Commissions, public comment be a large part of the decision making process. He said the Commissions were going to look at any and all points of view on any issue. He said Snyder was welcomed to any meeting and was always welcomed to comment. (14)
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:
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12/05/06 |
Commissioner Hack absent 800 Block Pennsylvania and related items; 2007 State Legislative Statement discussion |
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12/12/06 |
City Auditor Position discussion; Long-Range Planning Resolution; Impact Fee discussion |
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12/26/06 |
City Commission meeting will start at 9:00 a.m. This meeting will consist of consent agenda items and bill paying.
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TBD |
Salvation Army Site Plan and Rezoning; |
(15)
Commissioner Schauner said he had a question about the legislative statement. He asked if the City Commission would have the Kansas League of Municipalities proposed legislative positions, in hand, before their meeting on December 5th.
Corliss said yes and he would give the City Commission a draft copy of the League’s statements.
COMMISSION ITEMS:
Vice Mayor Hack said the City Manager’s evaluation, by contract, needed to occur in January. She asked the City Commission how they wanted to go forward with evaluation and suggested a two part evaluation process. She said Frank Reeb, Administrative Service Director, provided information on other community’s evaluation processes. She suggested the first part of the evaluation would be an assessment of the goals the City Commission determined in their goal setting session with the various objectives under each goal and tasks under each objective, which would be determined by staff. She said there would be reports on each one of those objectives and then a conversation would take place between the City Commissioners and City Manager on the City Manager’s self evaluation.
The second part of the evaluation was a little more objective which in some cases, was more difficult to find an evaluation that purely matched what the City Commission’s thoughts were. She said the City Commission could also take a look at the evaluation tool used for the City of Lawrence employees, which measured a lot of skill sets the City Commission was reviewing. She said she and he Mayor had discussed the possibility of a long range plan for evaluations and institutionalizing that evaluation so it did not change from year to year. She said that made it quite a challenge for the City Manager following without a score card.
She asked the City Commission what was needed for this year since the hiring process was so recent. She said the thought was to conduct an executive session with the City Manager to discuss the goals and objectives the City Commission established earlier this year and some of the targets that were set. She suggested rather than having a full blown evaluation this year, have a conversation in executive session, make determinations, and begin a more detailed evaluation starting next year. She said she thought the main issue was to schedule an evaluation in January because their plates filled up quickly.
Mayor Amyx requested the other Commissioners respond to Vice Mayor Hack’s memo, but he thought the memo was a good format to follow. He said the hiring process had just been completed, but he thought they could start this process with a conversation about what had been accomplished and the goals and objectives for the future.
Commissioner Rundle said he would like some time to consider those types of things before the City Commission committed.
Commissioner Schauner said scheduling a session to discuss an updating of the City Commission’s goals would be appropriate as a first step, regardless of what the balance of the evaluation process or document looked like. He said obviously, he thought the City Manager should be part of that discussion so the Commission could hear the City Manager’s input and expertise about what was happening and what was projected to happen so that in a way the City Manager could build the goals document with the City Commission and schedule the second half of the evaluation based on some conversation they could have between now and then as a Commission.
Vice Mayor Hack also wanted to discuss how the City Commission could maximize their time and become more efficient as Commissioners as well as make more efficient use of staff’s time. She said there were three different types of agenda items such as: 1) housekeeping items, bill paying, and claims; 2) land use issues which involving public comment and staff time in their preparations; and, 3) policy discussions.
She said it was the third area where they had not had the time or the ability to have those policy discussions. She said they discussed long-range planning and looking into the future, but those issues were not built in their agenda to discuss those types of issues and did not afford that opportunity with City staff. She suggested for a three months period, in order to see how it would work, to schedule on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Tuesday of each month their regular Tuesday night Commission meetings. On the 3rd week of each month, she suggested meeting not on Tuesday evening, but Thursday mornings with the meeting beginning at 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. She said it would be those times, where the City Commission could take care of those housekeeping items and have those broader policy discussions with staff. She said the City Commission asked a lot of staff and the City Commission did not have enough time to process information as well as City staff.
She suggested the Commission try this schedule in December, January and February to see how it worked and then assesses the situation at the end of February. She said if the City Commission determined the schedule would not work, they could go back to their regularly scheduled meeting. If the schedule worked, perhaps it would be a way to do business and accomplish those three types of agenda items and do a better job.
Commissioner Highberger said that decision would ultimately be up to the Mayor and Vice Mayor, but he would give that proposed schedule consideration. He said he agreed that the Commission did not give some of the City’s long term policy issues much attention
Commissioner Schauner asked if that 3rd Thursday morning, City Commission meeting would be a televised meeting.
Vice Mayor Hack said she thought the meeting would need to be televised.
Commissioner Schauner said if the City Commission were going to conduct policy discussions of the long-range impact nature, they would want as much public awareness of those discussions. He said that schedule was worth some further consideration.
Corliss said, when Vice Mayor Hack raised the idea with staff, he briefed the Vice Mayor on this issue. He said staff was in discussions with Sunflower Broadband on opportunities to improve the production quality of the Commission meetings. Right now the City had a great service from Sunflower Broadband where they broadcasted the Commission meetings, but there was no captioning as to who was speaking, no indication as to what the item was, and there was one camera. He said in looking at what other communities were practicing, those communities were essentially doing a production as opposed to a detection of the meeting. He said staff wanted to look at costs, the pros and cons, to see if they could proceed. He said staff also wanted to explore the opportunity of doing that with the Planning Commission meetings which would be part of the package. One of the values, relevant to this discussion, was the cable TV viewers would have the ability to watch the meetings at their leisure and could replay those meetings. If those viewers had an interest in watching the 9:00 Thursday morning meeting after work, they would have that ability. He said that might not only be through Sunflower Broadband, but also explore that idea with the ability to do those broadcasts over the City’s website. He said staff could know with some level of judgment what the public was interested in. He said even the bill paying and the policy discussions would be part of that broadcast. He said a Thursday meeting would be valuable for the community not only to participate in, but also have the ability view those discussions. He said they needed to be cognoscente that they would not want to schedule extensive policy questions at the time the public would not be available to attend.
Mayor Amyx said he would visit with Corliss and the Vice Mayor on Monday during the agenda meeting to put together an idea on what type of things that would be considered on Thursday morning meetings and look at adding rules. He said the City Commission would not want to set hearings that the public felt they did not have access to. He said that was a concern, but he thought Vice Mayor Hack’s idea was good.
Commissioner Rundle said some cities reserved those days for the proclamations and other leisurely issues which would not take away from the more important agenda items. (16)
Consider a motion to recess into executive session for 30 minutes. to discuss matters considered privileged under the attorney client relationship and to discuss possible real estate acquisition. The justification for the executive session is to keep these matters confidential at this time. The Commission will resume the regular meeting in the City Commission room.
Moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to recess into executive session at 7:25 p.m. for 30 minutes to discuss matters considered privileged under the attorney client relationship and to discuss possible real estate acquisition with the justification for the executive session to keep these matters confidential at this time. (17)
The City Commission returned to regular session at 7:55p.m., at which time it was moved by Schauner seconded by Hack, to adjourn at 7:55 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
Following the meeting the City Commission then met with the Planning Commission and discussed the proposed subdivision regulations.
APPROVED _____________________________
Mike Amyx, Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
1. Easement-Alvamar Area Sanitary Sewer Project to Lawrence Hidden Valley Committee for $17,240.
2. 2007 Actuarial Study to meet GASB standards, for $17,575.
3. Contract increase- 2006 Crack Seal Program, Vance Brothers for $19,800.
4. Supplemental Agreement - Low Service Pump Station No. 2 to Burns & McDonnell for $145,043.
5. Bid- Clinton Parkway bike path to LRM Industries for $30,127.50.
6. Contract – Citizen Survey, ETC Institute, Inc. for $29,950.
7. Ordinance No. 7922- 1st Read, Rezone (Z-04-27-05) 2.673 acres from A to RS7, Carson & Eisenhower.
8. Ordinance No. 8052- 1st Read, joint City/Cnty Ord., amending Horizon 2020 Chptr 6, Mixed Use Commercial Ctr.
9. Final Plat – (PF-09-26-06), Miracon Plaza, 3 lts, NE corner of Clinton Pkwy & Wakarusa.
10. Final Plat – (PF-09-27-06) Van Go Mobile Arts Add, .613 acres, 715 NJ.
11. Final Plat – (PF-09-20-06) Maple Lane Add No. 2, .477 acres, 1423-25 and 1445-47 Maple Lane.
12. Site Plan – (SP-06-07-06,) Stephens/Noller Office Bldg & Parking Area, SW Corner of Bob Billings Pkwy & Research Park.
13. Mayor’s appointment to the Community Commission on Homelessness discussion.
14. City Manager’s Report.
15. Public Comment.
16. Commission Items – Discussion of City Manger’s Evaluation/City Commission meeting times.
17. Future Agenda Items.
18. Executive Session.