CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
Enforcement of Stormwater Pollution Prevention Ordinance
Stormwater Engineer Matt Bond has prepared the attached report regarding enforcement of the stormwater pollution prevention ordinance. Since passage of the ordinance, enforcement has focused on education of contractors and issuance of stop work notices. Staff intends to begin enforcing the fine provisions of the ordinance.
Outside Agencies and the 2009 Budget Process
As we begin the development of the 2009 budget, the attached letter will be mailed to outside agencies notifying them that application materials are available. This year, the letter also notifies agencies that due to the lack of revenue growth expected, the City Manager is unlikely to recommend increases in funding for agencies in 2009. In addition, the letter highlights the change in dates for disbursement of city funds. The letter, mailed in early April, should provide agencies plenty of notice and allow them to plan accordingly.
February 2008 Building Permits Report
Please see the attached report on February building permits. 122 permits accounted for $9,147,160 in valuation and $48,947 in fees collected. 16 commercial remodels and additions fueled the totals; 3 new single family building permits were issued. February 2008 outpaced 2007 in valuation by $4,624,571 and fees $7,793.49.
Citizen e-mail Gains New Subscribers
The recent announcement of a web feature drew more than 100 new subscriptions to the city’s e-mail announcements. The announcement feature now has more than 1600 subscriptions to the more than 27 categories of city information.
The city’s website features subscriptions at http://www.lawrenceks.org/subscriptions currently includes these lists: Contractor Information; Project Submittals to the Planning Office; T2030 Public Meetings; 31st Street Improvement Project; Aquatics; Eagle Bend Golf Course; Family Events and Kids Programs; Nature Center; Playing Conditions - Adult Sports; Playing Conditions - Youth Sports; City Commission Agendas; Planning Commission Agendas; City Jobs; Composting and Woodchips; City News Releases; Public Transit/Bus; Property Managers and Landlords; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle; and Neighborhood News.
Lawrence Recognized as a Walking City
Lawrence has been recognized by Prevention magazine and the American Podiatric Medical Association as not only the best walking city in Kansas but also one of the top 100 Walking Cities in America. Lawrence ranked # 38 in a survey of more than 500 cities. Cities were evaluated on 14 walking criteria, including the percentage of adults who walk to work, number of parks per square mile, use of mass transit, and percentage of adults who walk for fitness. The 10 largest cities in each state were ranked. The rankings for Kansas included No. 1 Lawrence; No. 2 Manhattan; No. 3 Overland Park; No. 4 Shawnee; No. 5 Lenexa; No. 6 Olathe; No. 7 Topeka; No. 8 Kansas City; No. 9 Wichita and No. 10 Salina. To see the full list of 500+ city rankings go to http://www.prevention.com/bestcities.
Intelligent Transportation System Architecture Under Development
The draft ITS (Intelligent Transportation System) architecture and deployment plan can now be viewed on the Planning website. An ITS architecture is essentially a very high level plan that identifies the need for the various services that ITS can provide and documents how ITS systems and components can be integrated together. ITS is the application of electronic technologies and communications to increase the safety and efficiency of the transportation system. The ITS architecture allows stakeholders to plan for what they want their system to look like in the long-term and then break the system into smaller pieces that can be implemented in the short-term. In addition to the planning benefits of developing a regional ITS architecture, project conformance to the regional ITS architecture is also a requirement for any agency in the region to be eligible for federal funding of an ITS project. Comments regarding the ITS architecture will be received until April 4, 2008. The final plan will be submitted for approval by the Metropolitan Planning Organization in April.
City Receives Budget Award
The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has presented a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award to the City of Lawrence for its 2008 Operating and Capital Improvement Budget. In order to receive the award, the City had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines assess how well an entity’s budget serves as a policy document, financial plan, operations guides, and communication device. This is the sixth consecutive year the City’s budget has been recognized by GFOA.
Fair Housing Seminar and Info Fair Hosted by Lawrence Human Relations
On April 25th and 26th, the Lawrence Human Relations Commission and Division will sponsor two days of events designed to educate and assist landlords, real estate professionals and property owners as well as tenants and homebuyers regarding fair housing issues. A Landlord Seminar and luncheon will be held on Friday April 25th from 11am - 4pm at the Holiday Inn Holidome, 200 McDonald Street. The Seminar will cover the Kansas Landlord/Tenant Act, federally subsidized housing, the housing investigation process, and a legislative update. This event is free and open to the public. To register for Friday's seminar and luncheon, people may contact Human Relations at (785) 832-3310 or register online at http://www.lawrencehumanrelations.org/housingseminar.shtml The community is invited to an informational fair on Saturday April 26th from 10 am - 2 pm at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire. The Fair will provide an opportunity for tenants, prospective tenants and homebuyers to gather information and to visit with housing experts and community agency representatives. The Info Fair is free and open to the public. Refreshments and door prizes will be provided.
Web Site Continues to Attract Visitors
Eric Gruber, eGov Coordinator, provided the following numbers for web site traffic. Web site usage has increased slightly for the official City of Lawrence web site, www.lawrenceks.org in recent months.
|
|
February 2008 |
January 2008 |
December 2007 |
November 2007 |
|
Visitors |
28,380 |
25,459 |
22,880 |
25,217 |
|
Number of pages visited |
59,096 |
59,272 |
53,292 |
57,202 |
The attached listing of Top 10 pages visited provides details on the interest of visitors.