CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
December building permits report
There were 147 permits issued in December 2008, with none for major projects such as large commercial or residential housing complexes. Total permits decreased from 2,398 in 2007 to 2,179 in 2008. Permit valuation and total fees increased from the previous year. Permits for one- and two-family dwellings decreased from the previous year, although the total number of residential units increased significantly. Please see the attached memo for more details.
Preparations underway for 2010 Census
The city has been involved in a number of projects to prepare for the 2010 Census, scheduled for April 1, 2010. The city completed the LUCA (Local Update of Census Addresses) process last year, providing updated address information to be sure that all new addresses within the city are counted. The city provides yearly boundary and annexation surveys to certify the political boundaries of Lawrence. The city will be assisting the Census Bureau to identify emergency and transitional shelters and other others where people experiencing homelessness are know to gather and live, in order to get an accurate count of people in these circumstances in our community. City participation in these efforts is important because Census data are the basis of many federal funding allocations.
KLINK project awarded
The city has received notification that the FY 2011 KLINK resurfacing project on K-10 from Haskell to the east city limits has been approved. The city/state agreement for this project will be based on an estimate of $654,000. The state’s participation will be 50 percent of construction costs, including construction engineering, up to a maximum of $200,000 as KDOT’s total share.
City receives notification from KDOT of funding for Coordinated Transit Study
In December, the city issued a joint RFP with the University of Kansas for route and schedule design for coordinated transit services in Lawrence. The city requested funding from KDOT for assistance with this project and was notified this week that we will receive up to $120,000 of financial assistance. The funds will require a 20% match, which the city and university have agreed to split equally. In addition to this KDOT funding, the Lawrence-Douglas Count MPO has $20,000 for this project in their 2009 UPWP. Five proposals were submitted for the project, and the planning team hopes to have a firm recommended to the City Commission and Provost by the end of January.