May 8, 2007 City Commission meeting minutes

May 8, 2007

The Board of Commissioners of the City of Lawrence met in regular session at 5:00 p.m., in the City Commission Chambers in City Hall with Mayor Hack presiding and members Amyx, Dever, Chestnut and Highberger present.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

It was then moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to recess into executive session for one hour for the purpose of consultation with attorneys for the City on matters which would be deemed privileged under the attorney-client relationship. The Douglas County Commission and their attorney will join the executive session. The justification is to maintain attorney client privilege on a matter involving both the City and Douglas County and a possible third entity. Motion carried unanimously.

The Commission returned to regular session at 6:00 p.m., at which time it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to extend the executive session for 15 minutes. Motion carried unanimously.

At 6:15 p.m., the Commission returned to regular session at which time the Commission took a short break and resumed the regular session at 6:35 p.m.

RECOGNITION/PROCLAMATION/PRESENTATION:

With Commission approval, Mayor Hack proclaimed the week of May 6^th-13^th, 2007 as “National Music Weeks”; proclaimed Saturday, May 12, 2007 as “Sertoma Bar-B-Q Cook-off Day”; proclaimed Saturday May 12, 2007 as “NALC National Food Drive”; and proclaimed the week of May 13^th-19^th, 2007 as “National Police Week”, and Tuesday, May 15^th as “Peace Officers’ Memorial Day”.

CONSENT AGENDA

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to approve the City Commission meeting minutes from April 17, 2007 and April 24, 2007. Motion carried unanimously.

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to receive the Mechanical Code Board of Appeals meeting minutes of April 2, 2007; and the ECO2 Commission meeting minutes of February 1, 2007, March 1, 2007, and April 5, 2007. Motion carried unanimously.

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to approve claims to 557 vendors in the amount of $2,047,687.62.  Motion carried unanimously.

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to approve the Drinking Establishment License to HH Bar & Grill, 4931 West 6^th No. 126; Set’em Up Jack’s, 1800 East 23^rd Ste: G; and the Retail Liquor License to Dangermond Retail Liquor, 1010 North 3^rd. Motion carried unanimously.

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to concur with the recommendation of the Mayor and appoint Carlos Otero and Baha Safadi to the Lawrence Alliance, to terms which will expire November 30, 2007; appoint Charles Blaser and Greg Moore to the Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Commission to terms which will expire May 31, 2007; and appoint Commissioner Rob Chestnut to T2030 Committee. Motion carried unanimously.

The City Commission reviewed the bids for the 2007 Microsurfacing Program and Street Improvements for the Public Works Department. The bids were:

BIDDER BID AMOUNT

Engineer’s Estimate $607,375.00

Vance Brothers, Inc $468,316.50

Musselman & Hall Contractors, Inc. $503,560.00

Ballou Construction Co., Inc. $562,260.50

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to award the bid to Vance Brothers, Inc., an amount not to exceed $525,000.00 (increased from $468,316.50) provided the contractor can meet the terms established in the contract documents. Motion carried unanimously. (1)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to set bid date of May 22, 2007 for Iowa, 6^th to Harvard and Irving Hill overpass to 23^rd Street, milling, overlay, and pavement marking (KLINK). Motion carried unanimously. (2)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to authorize the City Manager to enter into an Engineering Contract with Bartlett & West in the amount of $204,620 for completion of plans and specifications for the construction of 25^th Terrace, and $23,398.70 for plans and specifications for the construction of a 12 inch water main from O’Connell Road to Franklin Road. Motion carried unanimously. (3)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to authorize payment to Johnson County Licensing Program in the amount up to $87,750 for continuing education classes for Lawrence licensed contractors who will attend training during the 2007 program year. Motion carried unanimously. (4)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to authorize the City Manager to enter into a contractual agreement for $150,614 with Parsons Brinckerhoff to complete the Long-Range Transportation (T2030). Motion carried unanimously.

(5)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to authorize the City Commission to enter into a contract with Vertex Engineering & Utility Services, Inc. in the amount of $162,265 for the installation of three automatic natural gas back-up generators. Motion carried unanimously. (6)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to declare an emergency and adopt on first and second reading, Ordinance No. 8108, establishing the City Commission quorum at four commissioners. Pursuant to Charter Ordinance No. 25, the City Commission quorum of four commissioners must be annually re-established by ordinance. Motion carried unanimously. (7)

Ordinance No. 8107, establishing a “20 mph speed limit” when beacons are flashing at the Pedestrian Crossing on 15^th Street at Engel Road, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to adopt the ordinance. Motion carried unanimously. (8)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to adopt Resolution No. 6721, entering into an interlocal agreement with the City of Overland Park, Kansas for fire service mutual aid. Motion carried unanimously. (9)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to adopt Resolution No. 6722, revising the previous Resolution No. 6111, authorizing the City Manager to execute and file application for federal assistance with the Federal Transit Administration. Motion carried unanimously. (10)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to approve the Temporary Special Event Permit (SE-04-17-07) request for a motorcycle show at Slow Ride Roadhouse, 1350 North 3^rd Street, on June 23^rd and June 24^th from 10 AM to 5 PM, with June 24^th being a possible rain date, subject to the following conditions:

1. Temporary sign permit must be obtained from Neighborhood Resources Office, if temporary signs are used;

2. If signs are displayed in conjunction with this use they shall comply with City sign regulations and shall not be located on public right of way. Signs for this activity can only be displayed during hours of operation;

3. Display area or tent may not be within 25’ of public right-of-way.

4. Tent must be certified flame retardant.

5. A 2A1OBC portable fire extinguisher must be provided.

6. “No Smoking” signs must be posted and enforced.

Motion carried unanimously. (11)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to approve as signs of community interest, a request to place signs in various rights-of-way, June 1 – June 3, 2007 for the Douglas County Extension Master Gardeners’ Garden Tour. Motion carried unanimously. (12)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to approve as signs of community interest, a request from John Wysocki to place a temporary sign on the 4^th Saturday of each month, June – September for the Lawrence Art Market, on the northeast corner of North Second Street and Locust Avenue. Motion carried unanimously. (13)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to approve as sign of community interest, a request to place a sign at the intersection of 6^th Street and Folks Road in the City’s right-of-way on May 12, 2007 from 7:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., with information regarding the Lawrence Douglas County Fire & Medical Department Helmet Fair. Motion carried unanimously. (14)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to receive Downtown Lawrence, Inc., 2007 first quarter report. Motion carried unanimously. (15)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to receive Lawrence Freenet 2007 first quarter report. Motion carried unanimously. (16)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to receive request to rename west 5^th Street to Salisbury Drive. Motion carried unanimously. (17)

As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to adopt the ECO² plan. Motion carried unanimously. (18)

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:

During the City Manager’s Report, David Corliss said Wastewater Utility received an Innovation Award from IG Innovation Groups.

He said regarding the rain events, he had kept the City Commission informed about some of the activities with the Utility Department and Commissioner Chestnut sent a nice note in which he forwarded to staff. He knew the entire Commission appreciated the hard work of those individuals who watched the river and monitored its impact on the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Wastewater treatment plants were typically located by a river, toward the end of the gravity flow, which presented special challenges when the river rose, but staff was able to respond to the situation.

He said staff had received the distinguished budget award. He said staff looked at that document not only from the subtenant standpoint, but the form as well in order to have something that was readily accessible and transparent to the public. Budgets were sometimes difficult to follow and comprehend and staff was continually looking for ways to make it accessible to the public.

He said again, in response to the rainfall events there were situations in the Utility Department and staff was working through a number of the sanitary sewer challenges. Obviously, police officers spent a lot of time responding to some of those events, but also activity by the Fire/Medical Department responding to a rescue. He said he wanted to publicly acknowledge and echo the Commission’s appreciation for the hard work of those individuals that walk in a way of danger.

Chuck Soules, Director of Public Works, gave a project update on street maintenance. He said because of the rain, potholes would appear, but staff would patch those holes quickly.

He said regarding the crack seal program, staff was currently working in the central and northwest areas of town. He said from Bob Billings Parkway south, and east of Iowa Street, was completed and as streets were cracked sealed, with the rains, staff was seeing less problems.

Mayor Hack complimented Casey Liebst on the budget award and her hard work preparing the budget.

She said regarding the rain events, those events had huge impacts on staff. She said staff spent a number of hours preparing, keeping track of things and making sure citizens were safe. (19)

REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:

Receive 2006 Tax Abatement Annual Report.

Commissioner Highberger said the reason he asked for this report to be pulled from the consent agenda last week, was not because he was dissatisfied with the report itself, but was disappointed with the tone of the Public Incentive Review Committee (PIRC) meeting. The minutes did not reflect any commitment on behalf of PIRC toward ensuring companies who partnered with the City on tax abatement agreements, were in compliance with those agreements. He said a standard of 90% was suggested for compliance with some of the performance measures which were never adopted, but there were several instances where companies, by any reasonable standard, were not in substantial compliance with promised investments, job creation numbers, or wage numbers. He said at a minimum, he would have liked PIRC to request more information. He said everyone understood that businesses could not predict their business climate now or 10 years from now, but people had to deal with unexpected situations all the time. Nonetheless, he thought a tax abatement was a partnership and when the agreement between two parties were not met, PIRC had the responsibility to get an explanation from those companies.

He said there was a statement in the draft meeting minutes discussing the report, where it was indicated that a company was ending up with 80 part time jobs instead of 40 full time jobs, but the person making the comment thought those people who had those jobs were happy to have those jobs or those people would not be showing up to work. He said he understood the City’s economic development policy was for creating jobs that allowed people to buy homes and raise families in Lawrence. It was not his perception the City’s goal for the economic development policy was to create part time jobs and should be a matter of public discussion. He said this report indicated non-compliance, no good explanations, and he was disappointed that PIRC did not ask for any explanations.

Another statement in the minutes indicated that one of the members thought the City was holding companies to a higher standard than shareholders would be in a free market. PIRC did not deal with companies who were operating as a free market, but companies that were asking for public subsidies of some sort. People did not receive public subsidies and were free to pay their workers anything they wanted, as long as it was higher than the minimum wage. The standard the City was holding people accountable for was not higher than shareholders asked for, but was different. Milton Friedman was famous for saying that it was irresponsible of a manager of a company to do anything other than maximize a financial return for the shareholders and he had a problem with that statement, but that was not the standard the City was applying for tax abatements. The City was looking at maximizing benefit to the community.

He said Microtech had a tax abatement from the City, realized they could not meet their projected job creation numbers and voluntarily agreed to pay the full amount of their property taxes. He thought that company was an excellent corporate citizen and should be commended. He said he would like to see the City apply that standard to everyone else. He said he had been a supporter of a judicious use of tax abatements in the past, but if there was not going to be a commitment on the part of PIRC or the City Commission to ask for minimal compliance, he was not sure he could be a supporter.

Mayor Hack said the tone of the meeting was more serious than those comments, but she understood Commissioner Highberger’s concerns.

Commissioner Highberger said he also understood they were draft minutes.

Mayor Hack called for public comment.

Kirk McClure, member of PIRC, said there were few things in Urban Planning where research showed such high level of consensus as there was about tax abatements. Tax abatements did not cause a firm to make an expansion or location decision. Property taxes were too small of a percentage of the overall operating expenses for any firm to make a decision based on property taxes. The information that came to PIRC was a confirmation to the extent of figuring out the operating expenses of those firms and it was found the property taxes were a tiny fraction of 1%. No firm would make a decision based on that information. What they had was a program that was failing 25% of the time, succeeding about 1/3 of the time, and the remainder was gray area. He said it was something they should not do, especially since it was not causing firms to either expand or come to Lawrence.

He said regarding tax abatements, generally the larger share of the abatement in terms of value to the firm had been on the abated taxes for equipment, but obviously, differed from firm to firm. Some firms had a larger investment in a plant while others had a larger investment in equipment. The State of Kansas no longer taxed the real value of that equipment. Given they knew tax abatements did not cause firms to either expand or locate in Lawrence and given the larger share of it had now gone away, he suggested it was time for them to think about suspending the program. They should let it ride for five years and then come back and see if the job growth rate was any different, but he suspected it would be exactly the same.

Laverne Squier, Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, said they could probably have a session all evening about both sides and opinions relative to tax abatements and utilization of those abatements. He disagreed with the statements just made about the usefulness of the abatements and the importance of abatements as it related to economic development recruitment. He said abatements were an important tool and one of the few tools that Lawrence, Kansas had in the State of Kansas.

In 1986, two Lawrence gentlemen, as evidenced by the Redwood and Krider Report talked through that report to the legislature which ultimately enacted a constitutional amendment to authorize tax abatements. Those tax abatements were for manufacturers, warehouses engaged in interstate commerce and research and development organizations. The legislature and State of Kansas electorate saw fit to pass that constitutional amendment and that tool had been used by communities. He said while it was not the preferential tool, it was a tool used by cities in Kansas and cities and communities in other states. It was a matter of competition and what they wanted for the community, what investments they were willing to make, and what partnerships. He said to use Commissioner Highberger’s term, they were willing to create with companies to cause them to invest in Lawrence and create wealth and economic activity in this community. The short version would be the abatements were a useful tool necessary, at this point, until supplied with something else and thought people wanted to use those abatements judiciously, watch them appropriately, but nonetheless the companies should be applauded in general for exercising good faith in the way they had held up their end of the bargain. It was not to say they could not have further discussions to watch those companies in a different fashion because there were possibilities and different variations of how they could go through that exercise.

Commissioner Dever said he was at the PIRC meeting and thought it was important they addressed some of Commissioner Highberger’s concerns from the minutes. He thought overall what was trying to be achieved through this process was noble and necessary and thought it was important to keep the process going. He said they needed to request that information in order to create the evaluation and perhaps not ask for information they would not look at, unless they would seriously qualify that information and compare it to a standard. He said his concern was if they collected data, use that data in an analysis. He said he did not want people spending money collecting data they were not going to use.

He said he wanted to discuss the firms that had not met the projected employment opportunities. He thought it was important the Commission looked at those numbers. There were two companies that stood out during the assessment. The first company was Reuter-Organ, a company that had been in Lawrence for 100 years or more. The fact that company was 25 jobs below their projection was clearly an example of economic conditions or the expansion that occurred should not be used as a pass/fail for a company that had been in the community for over 100 years. He said it was important they look at not only the numbers, but also who was presenting the numbers to the Commission.

The second firm was DST Systems which was a concern in that company went with a part-time workforce instead of a full time workforce. He also looked at the number of additional part time employees. He said it was hard to tell how many hours those part time employees were working, but might have been trying to avoid certain things, but overall they needed to look at the firm bringing close to 90 additional part time jobs that firm did not plan. He said the entire package needed to be reviewed. He agreed, overall, the performance of some of the companies was excellent and some fell below the standard, but overall he thought it was working.

Commissioner Chestnut said he agreed, to some extent, with Commissioner Highberger about highlighting in the minutes the times when they saw issues and where an explanation was needed. He said he was concerned with Professor McClure’s contribution on the committee because they were starting to create some confusion about the contract when the ordinance was passed between the entity that was coming for a tax abatement and the City. It was clear that many of McClure’s comments and analysis were well thought out, but that was not the agreement that was made at the time. Substantial compliance, as McClure defined it, was not part of the ordinance. He said in going forward, he would like to see those abatements evaluated based on what the commitment was at that time for that entity. The way he was reading the ordinance was employment numbers and some instances, capital investment. If there were variances to those, give the entity opportunity to comment to see their circumstance. He said he was concerned it was a perception that in the way the analysis was done, the rules were being changed as they go. He said he supported the program, but as this evolved, hold those entities accountable for the commitments those entities made at the time and try not to set the bar higher after the fact.

Commissioner Amyx said Commissioner Highberger’s comments were important. He said anytime differences were seen with the City’s partnership with the tax abated companies, obviously it should be questioned. He said as much help as the City could give their partners in this situation could only help the community. He said he had been involved in a number of tax abatement over the last 20 years in which the tax abatement policy had developed. He said the City’s record was good in those tax abated companies being good corporate citizens. He said there were opportunities for people to find good and solid employment.

He said he had a concern about part time versus full time work because it was important for those people to make living wages to buy homes. Again, he said the City had done well in assisting companies in Lawrence and wanted to make that statement on the record. He said he planned on continuing this program and policy and would like to work in that partnership with PIRC, to help make that partnership stronger.

Mayor Hack said she agreed with McClure that she did not believe tax abatements caused companies to locate or expand, but she believed tax abatements were a very important part of their toolbox. Companies were not going to come to this community, no matter how wonderful Lawrence was, unless working tools were available and the ability to monitor those tools, which was where PIRC came in. She said the tax abatement policy and the Public Incentive Review Committee was in some ways was like the “No Child Left Behind” law where the goal was admirable, but she did not think they had done their best in making sure the policy did the job it was designed for. She said she did not want PIRC to wait to find deficiencies and then pounce on those, but acknowledge the deficiencies. She said participation in PIRC meetings by businesses was not good and she suggested participation should be encouraged next time around. She said she would like to look at the responsibilities of PIRC outlined in the ordinance, look at how that committee functioned, and how they could best use that committee to make sure their economic development partnership with the City, Chamber and County were functioning the best way they could and also that PIRC was doing its job and was not too cumbersome with companies, but they were addressing three companies performance agreements. She said she would like to move ahead in working with the City Manager as well as the Vice Mayor.

Commissioner Chestnut said he received comments that the reporting was difficult and especially the wage information. He said he knew most of those businesses needed to report to the Department of Labor, a lot of that information. He asked if the information asked in the tax abatement report was somewhat different than the information to the Department of Labor because he encouraged integrating that information.

Frank Reeb, Administrative Services Director/City Clerk, said there was some discussion about that type of wage information at past PIRC meetings and thought McClure might have raised that question as a possibility two or three years ago. He said he did not recall why that was problematic from a business perspective and it might be in part the jobs that were created as a result of the abatement might not get reported in the same way and a lot of times the information that was reported to the Department of Labor was more on the collective or larger scale basis, a payroll basis, as opposed to a specific wage amount.

Commissioner Chestnut said it would be good to see how they could try to make those collate together because obviously there would be better data and those companies had to put that information together anyway.

He asked McClure in his analysis, where did Seriologicals fall in the category.

McClure said Serological was one of the firms that did not produce the jobs so it was a failed tax abatement.

Commissioner Chestnut he wanted to state on the record that it should be recognized the abatement went away, but that company was paying their full taxed amount on that property today.

McClure said the property was now paying full taxes, but the thing to remember was Seriologicals promised 40 jobs with no more than 2 filled with people from outside the community. It reached 26 jobs and brought in 9 from outside the community so the town inherited 9 unemployed families without the benefits of the wages from that company.

Commissioner Chestnut said it was clear they needed to do some work on defining what was considered a success.

Commissioner Highberger said he agreed from a job creation standpoint. Seriologicals obviously did not work out from a fiscal standpoint and this City had an empty building paying $325,000 a year in taxes and did not think they were taking a fiscal loss.

He said he had concern about some companies projecting purchase of equipment and leasing instead when they actually could collect taxes on business equipment. He said it was his understanding that leased equipment paid property taxes in the jurisdiction where it was located. He said that alleviated his concern.

He said again, he would vote against receiving the report even though it was just receiving a report just to register his concern that he did not think they were doing enough to do follow up and inquiries where there was evidence of non-compliance of the tax abatement agreements.

Moved by Amyx, seconded by Dever to receive the 2006 Tax Abatement Report. Aye: Amyx, Chestnut, Dever, and Hack. Nay: Highberger. Motion carried. (20)

Consider Taxicab License Application for Terrell Session, doing business as Zippy Taxi.

Frank Reeb, Administrative Service Director/City Clerk, presented the staff report. He said at the time the memo was written, it was staff’s opinion the application should be denied, primarily based on some discrepancy between what was observed by Codes Enforcement staff, Brian Jimenez specifically, and what was on the applications. Since the time the memo was written, staff had received additional information on behalf of Session. Yesterday an application was dropped off that was proposing to license a second vehicle. Viewed collectively, staff understood he wanted to operate two taxicabs, the Windstar passenger van and the Mitsubishi Galant. He said Jimenez talked with Sheila Stogsdill, Acting Planning Director, from a home based business perspective and as staff understood it, it appeared what Session proposed to do at this time, met City code. He said although the Commission might want to hear from Session specifically, staff was recommending approval based on what staff understood the applicant was proposing to do with the two vehicles. Staff believed now with clearing up some of that issue with the second vehicle, there was no concern any longer.

Mayor Hack asked Corliss to explain why they licensed cab companies and not other companies.

Corliss said the City did not have business licenses for most businesses in the community, but thought taxi were license for historical reasons. He said after World War II, there was a plethora of taxi cab companies in town. The traditional reason why the government got involved in regulating those types of businesses had been for consumer protection purposes, whether it was rate regulation or safety of the vehicles. The City did not have a rate regulation component to the ordinance anymore like in the recent past. There had been concerns about someone putting a label on a vehicle indicating they were a taxi cab and how well citizens knew it was safe to ride in this vehicle. He said with companies in the past, the City had concern with a particular set of vehicles that someone thought were not particularly safe. He said in the absence of state regulation, the City stepped in and regulated for that purpose, essentially for safety and consumer protection reasons. He said they needed to ask if they were achieving that goal with the regulation. In this case, the licensing served another purpose to make sure this applicant was in compliance with other laws as well.

He said he thought there was a policy question at some point because the City did not have in their regulations a requirement that taxis be so designated on the vehicle. He said he could not say staff tended to this regulation very regularly, but from a consumer protection standpoint, it would make sense to make sure the vehicles were appropriate and insured which was another consumer protection item. It was also important to make the taxi cab identified as a taxi cab.

Brian Jimenez, Enforcement Manager, said he agreed on the approval of the license and with the City Manager regarding identifying a vehicle as a taxi because it was important from a safety factor and from an enforcement standpoint, because it was hard to tell a taxi service if there was no logo on the vehicle.

Initially, he presented the denial based on findings stated in the memo, but the findings had been corrected and from a code enforcement standpoint, he did not see any problems with the licensing. He said as a home occupation standpoint, it was a little muddy, but staff came to the conclusion the taxi service was compliant. He said there might be some issues to look at down the road on a home occupation standpoint because those vehicles were being brought to a home. He said currently, regarding home occupations, one vehicle that was identified by advertising could be at that residence, which could present a problem down the road.

Commissioner Amyx asked, if the applicant’s license application was approved, would the applicant sign a contract with the City.

Corliss said there was no contract with the City because the City was not the provider, but the regulator. He said the applicant would fill out an application and the City Clerk’s office would give the applicant a license that was valid for a certain period of time.

Reeb said Corliss was accurate. On the application, the applicant certified the following: “I hereby state the above listed vehicle is of public benefit and convenience. I acknowledge I will be held responsible for the driver(s) placed in charge of the taxicab licensed to me. Attached is a copy of proof of insurance of each vehicle to be licensed.”

He said the taxicab license needed to be renewed every calendar year.

Commissioner Amyx said anyone who applied for a taxicab license, the applicant would be agreeing the information provided on the application was correct, and any change, the City Commission could revoke that license.

Reeb said correct, but there was a public hearing requirement to revoke the license.

Commissioner Highberger said the intent of the City’s home business regulations was to limit home business to one vehicle per residence.

Sheila Stogsdill, Acting Planning Director, said yes and clearly, the home occupations regulations indicated employees could not come to a home or be dispatched from that home. She said this situation was somewhat unique in that the applicant was the sole proprietor and not generating back and forth traffic to the home, but there was a specific section in the code that stated one vehicle with any type of business name at the residence. If those cabs were labeled, there would be a need to find a commercial location to park those vehicles.

Mayor Hack called for public comment.

Terrell Session, owner, Zippy Taxi and Delivery, said his business was a little sketchy starting out as a small business and he apologized to the City Clerk’s Office and to the City Commission. He said they would be working to get those vehicles identified, after seeing if they were able to operate.

Also, he talked with Doug Holiday at Bigg’s BBQ and he agreed to let Zippy Taxi Service station any vehicles, in the near future, at the Bigg’s BBQ location until he could find a permanent location. He said if his taxi service had to dispatch from that location, Holiday stated that was a possibility.

Hubbard Collingsworth, Lawrence, said he spent 20 plus years driving a cab in the greater Kansas City area along with Douglas County. He said there were two issues to keep in mind which was if Zippy Taxi crossed the Johnson County line with a vehicle Johnson County had ordinances in effect that had certain insurance level requirements. Overland Park required the cars to be marked, but not necessarily metered and the driver was not required to be licensed. If a taxi went to Kansas City, Missouri, the car and the driver had to be licensed. He said in Missouri, if a taxi was metered, the car needed to go through an inspection course and the driver had to pass a background search. He said Kansas City, Kansas, was more complicated. If a taxi was metered, the vehicle needed to go through an inspection stage; the driver was certified; and also required to submit to a physical not by that driver’s own doctor, but by the clinic itself. He said one of the reasons he had his cars and drivers licensed in Kansas City, Kansas was because they were working in a closed environment and KCK required TB skin tests. He said in Topeka, cabs were licensed and regulated with a specific insurance requirement.

Commissioner Dever said it was great staff worked through the problem because initially it appeared to be an issue, but everyone came together and took care of those issues and it was nice to see a positive resolution in those types of issues.

Mayor Hack said she agreed and appreciated staff’s work and Session getting it worked out.

Moved by Chestnut, seconded by Amyx, to approve the taxicab license for Terrell Session doing business as Zippy Taxi Service. Motion carried unanimously. (21)

Mayor Hack said staff’s conversation about looking at the ordinance regarding marking cabs was a good idea so those cabs could be identified by the public.

Receive 2007 Citizen Survey. The survey was conducted by ETC Institute which will be at a June City Commission meeting for additional review of the survey results.

David Corliss, City Manager, presented the 2007 Citizen Survey. He said an individual from ETC Institute put together the citizen survey and would be in Lawrence in June for additional discussions about that survey. He said he wanted an indication of the value the City Commission saw in the survey and he would respond to any questions. He said ETC Institute sent out a survey to approximately 2500 randomly selected Lawrence households and followed up with phone calls which they found was very successful.

Some statistics that were important were the overall satisfaction with the community. The overall satisfaction was not about whether or not the citizens were happy, but satisfied with the quality of life and City services. He said he was particularly pleased about the ranking as citizens had contact with City employees they were treated professionally and in a courteous manner.

Fire/Medical received good rankings and the City’s Sanitation Division continued to receive very high marks. He said staff was not going to be satisfied with the good marks because there were areas of less satisfaction such as street maintenance, traffic congestion and sidewalk maintenance. He said in looking at the map, it showed the satisfaction on how well the City was planning growth and when looking at the dissatisfaction of those areas, one area was in the newer part of the community. He said larger levels of satisfaction were in some of the older neighborhoods.

In looking at satisfaction with condition of streets where the levels of dissatisfaction were higher in the older parts of the community and comparing that map with the map where there were the lower PCI ratings, it was complimentary to some of the older streets. He said he saw this as a tool when trying to do management, not based on anecdote, but analysis and trying to measure items to put resources where they knew, in this case, here were levels of dissatisfaction with current service levels, but then also PCI was a way not to put resources where there was the most recent complaint, but where staff knew from an analytical standpoint, the ranking of all the City’s streets and putting resources where most needed. He said the survey was a helpful instrument, but there was still a lot of judgment call, but it did not mean staff should not try and lead citizens in prioritizing, if appropriate.

Again, he said the citizen survey was a valuable tool and suggested discussing the citizen survey in future years about refreshing the survey. Clearly, trends were important in looking at safety and community and if the trend was down, that might mean the City was not communicating well to citizens or the citizens felt unsafe for statistically valid reasons.

He thought in a $146 million budget, this was an appropriate expense in order to get good and solid information about the satisfaction levels in the community. He said $30,000 was not all property tax money because there were also funds from water, wastewater and sanitation. Those dollars were all public dollars and not all property tax dollars that went to support that survey. He said for example, Dave Wagner, Utilities Director, would move that department ahead in metrics and measurement in a lot of very solid ways. One priority of Wagner’s was looking at some of the taste and odor concerns to see what the City could do to be more proactive and perhaps do some additional study and analysis about how they could be more responsive in that area to make sure they were meeting citizen satisfaction.

Commissioner Amyx said the report, as a whole, was very good reading and when going through the budget process, the City Commission tried to address those areas where the community thought there might be a problem. He said the survey helped better define areas where money needed to be spent. He said one of the areas that stood out was the quality of service from City employees. The City spent money on streets and other things, but when seeing 70 – 87% of the people surveyed, giving the City employees great marks for their work, it was something the City could be proud of.

Corliss said he would echo that thought to staff because staff did a lot of difficult chores for the community. He said staff knew there were opportunities for improvement.

Mayor Hack said in the employee survey, one issue of concern was that City employees were not feeling the City Commission was in tune on staff’s day to day activities. She hoped Corliss’ could convey the sense the City Commission was incredibly proud of staff’s work. She said she knew citizen response would be very complementary to City staff because the City Commission heard that praise consistently.

Commissioner Highberger said he thought the survey was a good idea and he was pleased with the response rate and the survey gave the Commission a lot of useful information.

Commissioner Chestnut said he agreed with all the comments about polling national benchmarks. He said this firm surveyed across the country and when having that kind of difference, although 13% might not seem that statistically different, he thought that percentage, when spread across the number of communities that were surveyed, was a compliment to the staff. Plus, the fact when looking at some of the solid waste disposal it was an area that did not get much accolade, but obviously it was much appreciated.

He said he was impressed by the statistical demographic and that it was evenly distributed; 49% and 51% on gender, very widely distributed as far as age groups and demographics. He thought it really emphasized that it was a pretty statistically significant number. He thought they were right about benchmarking and hoped the Commission would make a commitment to do this in the same fashion so they could set some baselines and going forward, the survey started to identify the progress the City was making or places where they needed to take a step back. He was also impressed by how evenly distributed the responses were across the entire city in a number of areas. He said he was really impressed.

Commissioner Dever asked if the City had ever done a survey like this before to any other data.

Corliss said staff conducted surveys through the MPA program, the Public Administration Program at KU. He said the City was generally satisfied with those results, but that data was not at this level of benchmarking with similar surveys in other communities. Staff would place that survey on-line so people could review that data. He said the data would have a little bit of a comparison difficulty, but the City consistently rated high from a satisfaction or low dissatisfaction level. He thought the last survey was in 2000 and this was something that would be the best benchmark as opposed to going back.

Commissioner Dever said if there was any need for a citizen survey again or any question about the cost or a way the City could tighten their belt, he thought this survey was very important and needed to be conducted. He said he did not know if the survey needed to be conducted every year, but suggested taking some of that firm’s methodology and questions and implementing those using some student labor at the university and presenting the information in a similar fashion. He said the other thing he liked about the survey was the Commission had something to compare results to, unlike some of the problems they were having with some compliance issues with PIRC and it was nice to have a number the Commission could evaluate and compare. He said one good thing about data was it was worth the effort when they could tell where they were coming from. He said he was impressed with how the City was doing.

Corliss said in this survey there were a number of stakeholder meetings ahead of time. The current Commission had the opportunity to meet with the firm. He said if the City proceeded to use the same firm in the future that would not be part of that firm’s scope. He said Commissioner Dever’s comment about finding a different way to conduct that survey would be appropriate as well.

Mayor Hack asked if there was a recommendation on how often they should conduct a survey.

Corliss said he wanted to find out how often other communities performed their surveys. He said he was speculating it was similar to what Commissioner Dever discussed in that they start off with a large survey and find ways to do it less expensively in the future, but needed a periodic time set. He said the City was not planning on performing a survey next year. Next year, the City would perform an employee satisfaction survey and that would be discussed through the budget process.

Mayor Hack called for public comment.

After receiving no public comment, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Dever, to receive the survey results. (22)

PUBLIC COMMENT:

Galen Tarman, owner, Blue Heron, said he was concerned about property tax. He said property taxes continued to rise for various reasons. In the 8 years he had been at 921 Massachusetts, his property taxes rose 150%. The building was appraised 8 years ago for roughly $220,000 and last month the owner got it appraised for $660,000. He said what he was seeing and what a lot of downtown retailers talked about over coffee or tea was that they had two families in the town that were buying a lot of downtown property and they were paying top dollar for it. So once the property was purchased, subsequent appraisals of properties raise the property taxes on it. He said it was a major concern for him because he was noticing more vacancies downtown. He said in this business he was not a property owner downtown and one of many people who pay triple net, he paid maintenance on the building, paid insurance, paid rent and the buildings were 90 plus years old and keep getting more expensive to maintain. The most expensive part of his building to maintain was the heating and cooling units on the roof. He said he had been blessed with an ex-Mayor who was very helpful in helping out with the upkeep of his building, but he knew when they had a situation where the rent increased every year, the insurance increases, the workman’s comp, it was difficult to really afford an increase like he had been paying the last 8 years in property tax. He knew this was not the place to resolve the situation and was really just tyring to bring it to the Commission’s attention. He said he was going to be talking to more downtown people and knew the Downtown Lawrence Association was involved with Dave in discussing a property tax. He said his reality with retail in downtown Lawrence, especially as they got more big boxed stores as competitors and had the internet. There were more and more people that were shopping online and comparing prices and more competition. It was getting a little bit more difficult to be in retail because of that it was more of a challenge for him personally to get out find more people and find more business. He said he was up to that challenge but every time he saw the property taxes rise, rent raised, insurance rose, and made it more and more difficult. He said he saw that happening with many people downtown and really was there as one of many voices they might hear in the future to show a need for something to be done and hoped to get a little more involved with the Downtown Lawrence Association and see if there was some way to hold down the property taxes.

Mayor Hack said she appreciated Tarman’s situation and encouraged him to get more involved with Downtown Lawrence Association. She said from the City’s perspective, they tried to maintain or reduce their property taxes which did not help when the school district taxes, county taxes, or appraised value went up. If the City was holding the line, the City could be patted on the back, but it really did not help Tarman’s situation.

Mayor Amyx said he encouraged Tarman to talk to the County Appraiser every day and get involved with the budget process. He said it was a two fold problem. If the City’s appraisals continued to go up and the spending went up at the same time, at an equal level or even a greater level depending on the governing body because that was part of the tax bills. He said he saw taxes on his building go up two or three times over the last several years since he owned the property and it was becoming a prohibitive to be in business and at the same time trying to save and help downtown, the governing bodies might be the worst enemy around because those bodies would tax people out of their businesses and buildings. (23)

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:

05/15/07

· Mayor Hack plans to be absent from the meeting.

· Public Hearing on special assessment benefit district hearings for improvement/construction of George Williams Way north and south of West 6^thStreet

TBD

· Salvation Army Site Plan and Rezoning;

· Retail Marketing Analysis Code provisions

· Neighborhood Revitalization Act proposals for target neighborhoods and downtown; NRA policy statement

(24)

COMMISSION ITEMS:

Commissioner Highberger asked about the status of the Economic Development Planner position authorized in the last budget.

Corliss said he had not moved forward on the Economic Development Planner, but moved forward on other positions with the Assistant City Manager and the Planning and Development Services Director position. He said he would like some Commission discussion and direction on that position. He talked to some Commissioners who were concerned about that position and also wanted to have discussions with the Commission about the desirability of holding that position open for budget concerns as well and would take the direction of the Commission. He thought it was with all the positions funded in the budget, he thought they were important positions, but also heard comments from some of the Commissioners they had some concerns about the position. He said he concentrated his efforts this year on the most vacant positions which were the Assistant City Manager position and the Planning and Development Services Director position.

Commissioner Highberger said he realized hiring this individual was within the City Manager authority, but since the discussion position was done very publicly, he thought they would change direction and there should be a public discussion as well.

Commissioner Amyx asked if Corliss was getting ready to make recommendation on some of the budget items for 2007 that included the positions in the current budget and whether or not it was his opinion to fill those at this time.

Corliss said staff was going ahead, following Commission direction last week in asking departments to give options to take 94 -95% of expenditures that were budgeted this year and as he saw policy issues he was going to present those issues to the Commission and where he saw general management issues he would proceed. Clearly, not filling this position would be a policy issue the Commission needed to give him direction on. He said the position as envisioned would be an important part of the City Manager’s office assisting in economic development issues and also on what he called economic programs, the Neighborhood Revitalization Act, and some of the other things as well. He said staff had worked at a job description, but heard from some of the Commission, concerns about how that position worked and functioned.

Mayor Hack said from her standpoint it was not the position as much as the money situation and public conversation before that decision was finally made was critical. She said the previous Commission discussed that as an Economic Development Projects Coordinator as opposed to a Planner in the Planning Department. She said there was a significant difference from a planner to a projects coordinator. She said they needed to have that conversation and could do it as an agenda item or through conversations with the City Manager. (25)

REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS CONTINUED:

At 8:45 p.m. it was then moved by Amyx, seconded by Chestnut, to recess into executive session for the purpose of discussing non-elected personnel matters for 30 minutes. The justification is to maintain confidentiality of personnel matters.

The City Commission returned to regular session at 9:15 p.m. at which time it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Dever to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. APPROVED

_____________________________

Sue Hack, Mayor

ATTEST:

___________________________________

Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk

CITY COMMISSION MEETING OF MAY 8, 2007

1. Bid – 2007 Microsurfacing Program, Vance Brothers, Inc., not to exceed $525,000.

2. Bid date – May 22, 2007, Iowa, 6^th to Harvard & Irving Hill overpass to 23^rd Street, milling, overlay & pavement marking.

3. Engineering Contract – Bartlett & West, construction of 25^th Street Terr, & $23,398.70, 12 in. water main form O’Connell to Franklin for $204,620.

4. Johnson County Licensing Program – Continuing education classes for Lawrence licensed contractors for $87,750.

5. Contractual Agreement – Parsons Brinckerhoff for $150,614 for Long-Range Transportation.

6. Contract – Vertex Engineering & Utility Services, installation of 3 automatic natural gas back-up generators for $162,265.

7. Ordinance No. 8108 – 1^st & 2^nd Read (Declare emergency) Establish City Commission quorum at four commissioners.

8. Ordinance No. 8107- 2^nd Read, 20 MPH speed limit, beacons flashing at Pedestrian Crossing on 15^th & Engel Road.

9. Resolution No. 6721- Agreement City of Overland Park, KS for fire service mutual aid.

10. Resolution No. 6722- revising Resolution 6111, authorize City Manager to file application for federal assistance with Federal Transit Administration.

11. Temporary Special Event Permit – (SE-04-17-07), motorcycle show at Slow Ride Roadhouse, 1350 N. 3^rd Street, on June 23^rd and 24^th.

12. Signs of Community Interest – DG Cnty Extension Master Gardeners’ Garden Tour June 1 - June 3, 2007.

13. Signs of Community Interest – Lawrence Art Market, sign on NE corner of N 2^nd & Locust.

14. Signs of Community Interest – Lawrence Douglas County Fire & Medical Department Helmet Fair, sign intersection of 6^th & Folks Road on May 12, 2007, 7 am to 1 pm.