Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

To:	Dave Corliss City Manager
From:	Debbie Van Saun Asst. City Manager
cc:	Management Team
Date:	April 19, 2007
Re:	Wakarusa Service Center

This memo serves as an overview of space and operational issues for several City facilities, as well as a recommendation for consolidation of operations to a site owned by the City and adjacent to the Clinton Water Treatment Plant on Wakarusa Drive.

Background Information:  The City has facilities located at 11^th and Haskell that serve multiple departments and divisions.  At this location we have the Central Maintenance Garage, the Solid Waste Division and the Street Division of the Public Works Department, facilities for landscaping and forestry operations of the Parks & Rec Department, as well as fueling facilities for all City vehicles.  When these facilities were located at 11^th and Haskell, it was a central, accessible site for City staff to access throughout the work day, particularly for vehicle maintenance and fueling.  As the footprint of the City has grown, so has the distance that City staff travels to and from these facilities that are integral to many of our operations.  In addition, staffing and vehicle numbers have increased, resulting in space issues that are and will continue to impact operations.

The Public Works Department operates the Traffic Division from a facility at 5^th and Mississippi.  Field crews for this division of the Department are responsible for the maintenance and installation of street signs, pavement markings, school beacons, and for maintaining traffic control signals.  As noted above, as the City has grown, the inventory, staffing, and operational needs of this division have also grown and the facility is no longer centrally accessible nor fulfilling the operational and space needs of the division.

Additional space and facility needs have been identified:

· The Police Department is currently storing evidence in three locations throughout the community.  All three facilities have been outgrown, despite ongoing efforts to purge and discard evidence that is no longer necessary to store.

· The Utilities Department has a long-range plan to locate additional services at the Clinton Plant site, to include administrative offices and space for water distribution equipment/materials.

· The Parks & Recreation Department continues to service green space and park facilities from their main base at 11^th and Haskell.  A presence on the west of Iowa would result in more efficient deployment of staff and equipment.

Recommendation:  The aforementioned Public Works facilities are in residential areas, thus access to the facilities is through those neighborhoods by City vehicles.  As the community continues to expand, improved access to major arterial streets will allow improved response by City crews to the entire community.  A plan to locate multiple operations at a Wakarusa Service Center, just west of the Clinton Water Treatment Plant off of Wakarusa Drive, would allow for improved access (efficiency of operations) and additional work space to allow City staff to continue to provide excellent services to the community.  The plan involves the following approach, which could be accomplished in phases, as funding is available:

v Vacate the 5^th & Mississippi facility and move the Traffic Division to the Wakarusa Service Center.  The vacant facility, located in the Pinckney neighborhood, could then be razed and provide options for exploring affordable housing opportunities or green space for the neighborhood.

v Move the Street Division staff and equipment to the Wakarusa Service Center, allowing the Solid Waste Division to expand into the vacated space at 11^th & Haskell. 

v The Central Maintenance Garage would remain at 11^th & Haskell, but a smaller garage maintenance operation would be located at the Wakarusa Service Center in conjunction with the fuel facilities that are already located at that site.  This would allow for minor maintenance to be performed at the site, reducing the number of trips across town to the 11^th & Haskell facility.

v Provide evidence storage for the Police Department at the Wakarusa Service Center, providing an opportunity to condense storage at existing sites and enlarge the storage capabilities of the Department.  The former office area on East 15^th Street (former Morton block facility) is owned by the City and partially used for Police Department storage purposes.  If an alternative location can be used, staff would recommend the removal of these two buildings and replaced by the enlargement of green space adjacent to the Burroughs Creek trail as an appropriate replacement.

v Provide operational space for the Parks & Recreation and Utilities crews at the Wakarusa Service Center to increase crew efficiency and improve service response time to the community.

An overview of the site is provided and staff is capable of proceeding with the phased in development of the site to accommodate all of the aforementioned facility needs, once direction is given by the City Commission.