CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
Week ending November 13, 2009
Santa Fe Station (BNSF Depot) update
Staff continues to work on the acquisition of the Santa Fe Station from BNSF. Staff has not yet received any draft agreements from BNSF, though they have been requested for some time. We have received some sample agreements that BNSF has executed regarding donations for other communities. BNSF has verbally suggested a no cost land lease, but they also want to pay no utilities. Staff will also be discussing the utility issue with Amtrak officials. Diane Stoddard and Michelle Stevens attended a Transportation Enhancement Grant Workshop at the Kansas Department of Transportation at the end of September. TE Grants will be available for 2010, pending federal reauthorization of a comprehensive transportation bill. Grant applications are due at the end of December.
Hernly Associates continues to work on their Phase I report on the building and the necessary upgrades. A preliminary partial report has been received and the next step will be to work with the Santa Fe Station Steering Committee to work on a suggested first phase project for submission for the TE grant. Staff anticipates a consultant report for the City Commission sometime in early December followed by a TE grant application for City Commission consideration. It has been confirmed with KDOT that we can still apply for the TE grant, even if ownership has not yet been obtained, though ownership would be required at the time of grant award. Grant awards would be anticipated to be made by late spring 2010.
Additionally, an appraisal on the depot structure was recently completed and showed a value of $56,000 on the structure itself.
Web site visitors for October
Lawrenceks.org received 61,595 visits in October. Pages were viewed 168,013 times in October, an increase in visitors of 54 percent from the same time in 2008. Job seekers remain the top visitors to the City of Lawrence web site, but Parks and Recreation has three positions in the top 10 most visited pages on lawrenceks.org.
The Top 10 Visited Pages to lawrenceks.org in October:
* Number of viewed pages includes combined totals from Job Opportunities home page and Job Opportunities search page.
Yard trimmings collection sees record number of set outs this Fall season
The city picks up yard trimmings which includes grass, leaves and small woody debris from households on Mondays from March through mid-December (weather permitting) except on holidays. On average, the Solid Waste Division picks up 8,500 carts, cans or compostable yard waste paper bags per Monday collection. On Monday, November 9th the crews picked up 35,283 containers. Yard trimmings are transported to the city’s Wood Recovery and Compost Facility where they are processed. See attached report for more details.
CCH develops conflict resolution protocols/guidelines
The Community Cooperation Committee is the “communications” arm of the City Commission-appointed Community Commission on Homelessness. Recently, the CCC created a proposal for consideration by the CCH regarding “Conflict Resolution Protocols/Guidelines” (attached) to be used throughout the community for issues arising that are directly related to homelessness. The CCH also presented a three part recommendation regarding “Communications with Neighbors at the New Lawrence Community Shelter Site” (attached), if and/or when that should become a reality. This recommendation would enable the CCC to participate in facilitation and collaboration with neighbors and the shelter to create good neighborhood relations and resolution of concerns. The proposal does not give the CCC any “official” City standing, but provides an opportunity for constructive communication between all parties.
At their November 10, 2009 meeting, the CCH approved both the proposal and the three-part recommendation. It is anticipated this collaborative approach to the discussion of homelessness issues will provide solutions and prove successful in addressing various homelessness concerns.