CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Week ending October 2, 2009

Notifications of energy and climate grant applications status received

On Tuesday, staff was notified that the city has been awarded $858,600 in Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) funds through the Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  The grant award includes the following funding:  up to $100,000 for a Sustainability Coordinator to be jointly funded with Douglas County (see attached interlocal agreement that will be presented for County Commission approval on October 7 and City Commission approval at a later date); $550,000 for HVAC and lighting upgrades at the Lawrence Public Library and $208,600 for replacement of lights along Massachusetts Street to LED.  A copy of the grant document is on the City’s ARRA website (www.lawrenceks.org/recovery).  Staff is working with Department of Energy representatives to determine the reporting requirements and timelines for payment of grant proceeds in order to implement energy initiatives funded through the grant.

The city has also received word on the Climate Showcase Communities Program application submitted this summer.  The city applied for up to $100,000 in grant funding for an education an outreach program which would be primarily coordinated by the KU Center for Sustainability. Unfortunately, there were more than 450 applications for the $10 million in grants available nationwide and the grant submitted by the city was not awarded. 

City awarded HPRP grant

The City of Lawrence, in partnership with the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority, has been awarded $648,000 by the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation to help families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP) grant was awarded on a competitive basis through the State of Kansas who was allocated $8,360,295 for the HPRP program. Program funds, available in early November, will rapidly re-house families who fall into homelessness (e-Housing Connection), or prevent families from becoming homeless in the first place. The funding, provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is also designed to help persons and families facing a sudden financial crisis that could lead to homelessness.  Locally, it is anticipated that over the next 24 months the allocation will assist 150 families with Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing in Lawrence and Douglas County.

HPRP offers a variety of short- term financial assistance to those who would otherwise become homeless, many due to sudden economic crisis. This can include short-term rental assistance (up to three months), security deposits, utility deposits and/or utility payments, and hotel vouchers. The program also provides assistance to rapidly re-house persons who are homeless and likely to remain stably housed, whether subsidized or unsubsidized, once the HPRP assistance concludes. There will be eligibility requirements for the funding including a strict Douglas County residency requirement, and more information about the application process for the funds will be made available following a training session for HPRP grantees in mid-October.  The grants will be available beginning November 1, 2009.

KDOT to contribute funds to dam maintenance work

The city has received notification that KDOT will be contributing $100,000 toward the cost of the upcoming Bowersock Dam maintenance project. KDOT participation will reduce the city’s cost to complete the project.

Sales tax distributions

The City of Lawrence has recently received its September sales tax distribution. The distribution is the result of retail sales from mid-July to mid-August.  The distribution of $2,378,837 represents a significant increase from the prior year distribution for the same month because of the higher rate. It also includes $1,441 from the Free State Transportation Development District.  Because of variations in monthly distributions, primarily due to late filings by vendors, it is advisable to not read too much into disparities between months. The adjusted September 2009 city 1% sales tax distribution was 4.9% less than the September 2008 distribution.  The latest distribution indicates that total sales/use tax distributions will likely end the year below budget in 2009. The latest distribution was less revenue than anticipated, but not a significant enough difference to change the projection for the remainder of 2009 as reported on the September 15 City Manager’s Report. A summary of the recent city sales/use tax receipts is shown in the table below.

Sales/Use Tax	Budget	Month	Year to Date	% of Budget
City 1%	13,871,685	1,086,149	10,098,046	72.8%
Infrastructure .3%	2,255,925	321,473	1,337,422	59.3%
Transit .2%	1,503,950	214,316	891,616	59.3%
Transit Eq. .05%	375,988	53,579	222,904	59.3%

A spreadsheet showing total monthly sales tax distributions since 2001 is attached. The amounts from the new sales taxes were calculated by applying the relevant percentages to the sales that occurred after April 1, 2009.

Planning Division makes progress on City Commission goals

Planning staff has been working on a number of goals identified in the City Commission’s 2009 goal statement. The attached memos report on a number of projects aimed to bolster the city’s efforts to increase bicycle and pedestrian activity, efforts to review the Urban Growth Area boundary, and public education efforts aimed primarily at keeping neighbors informed on in-fill development projects that may interest or affect them.  

Compost sale a success

The city’s Fall Compost Sale was held Thursday through Saturday, September 24-26, 2009. Lawrence community compost is made from the weekly collection of residential yard trimmings, which includes grass, leaves, and small woody waste. A total of 1,110 vehicles picked up approximately 1,661.6 cubic yards of compost (1,080 tons) over the three-day period. Please see the attached report for more details.

Public meetings on Delaware and New Hampshire sewer projects

Department of Utilities staff and BG Consultants will be conducting a neighborhood information meeting on Wednesday October 14, 2009 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Cafeteria at Central Junior High School 1400 Massachusetts Street. The meeting is intended to be a forum for property owners and residents to share information about their property and express concerns they may have regarding the upcoming project. The project is part of the Department of Utilities Capital Improvement Project (CIP) program and generally involves the replacement of existing sanitary sewer facilities located in the 1100 block of Delaware Street and 1500 block of New Hampshire Street (map attached).

Design and construction options will be developed following this meeting with consideration given to the information obtained. An additional public meeting will be held to review design options and construction methods with affected property owners and residents. Project bid and construction schedule will be developed based on the selected design and construction options.

Oread Neighborhood Plan status update

Information regarding the Oread Neighborhood Plan can be found on the city’s website at http://www.lawrenceks.org/pds/draft_plans. A tentative date of December 8^th has been set for the plan to go before the City Commission but this could change as it is dependent on the actions of the Historic Resources Commission (HRC) and Planning Commission (PC) first.  The HRC received the first draft of the Oread Neighborhood Plan on June 18^th and the PC received the draft on June 24^th.  At that PC meeting, they requested a joint study session with the HRC be held to discuss the draft plan and provide comments to staff.  This study session was held on August 26^th during the regular PC meeting.  A status update memo will be given to both the HRC and PC at their regular October meetings and a revised draft of the plan is tentatively set to go before both commissions in November for public hearing and action.

KU plans enhancements to stadium area

The city has received the attached letter from the University of Kansas outlining planned enhancements to the east side of Memorial Stadium and its grounds, including realignment of 11^th Street at the intersection with Mississippi Street.

New Amtrak signage at BNSF depot installed

New Amtrak signage (see photos) has been installed at the depot. The signage was installed by Amtrak with Amtrak funds. The sign will provide greater visibility for the Amtrak trains that utilize the station. The sign can be seen from E. 7^th Street.

National Gymnastics Day

The Parks and Recreation Department hosted a "National Gymnastic Day" on Saturday, September 12 at the East Lawrence Recreation Center.  The goal of National Gymnastic Day was to increase excitement for the sport of gymnastics and to communicate the sense of self-esteem and healthy benefits that gymnastics fosters. This free special event was attended by over 200 people that featured three hours of gymnastic instruction, interactive games and attractions, offering people of all ages and abilities the opportunity to enjoy and learn the benefits of the sport of gymnastics including fun, competition and fitness. One of our partners, G-Force, also assisted with the event, promoting our co-sponsored recreation classes. See attached photos of the event.