CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Week ending February 12, 2010

Site plan review report

This attached report provides a summary of site plan data for 2009.  Site planning is one of the main procedural tools used to review development projects against the city’s and county’s development codes. The County Commission reviews most site plans in the unincorporated areas of the county.  In Lawrence, site planning is largely an administrative function with appeals submitted directly to the City Commission.  In 2009 there were no appeals submitted for City Commission consideration. The PDS department implemented a staff-created site plan tracking system in 2009 in order to track and improve the site planning process. The department is scheduled to implement a more advanced system in 2010 to develop more appropriate performance measures in order to continuously improve our processes.

23^rd Street access management improvements at Orscheln

The attached memo includes a status update on 23^rd Street access management improvements adjacent to Orscheln Farm and Home on 23^rd Street near Harper Street.

Update on E 23^rd Street resurfacing project

The attached memo provides a status update on the KDOT KLINK Program, 23^rd Street (from Haskell Avenue to East City Limit) resurfacing project. Staff has worked with KDOT for an accelerated project schedule which would let the project in April of 2010 with construction to begin immediately following the end of the spring semester at KU. Tentative date to begin construction is May 31, 2010 with anticipated completion in mid-July of 2010.

Weatherization program update

The Community Development Division administers the Weatherization Program each year which consists of the weather-stripping of entry doors, attic insulation, and installation of storm windows.  This program is funded through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and is targeted to low and moderate income homeowners. The 2009 Weatherization Program is now complete. The attached memo contains details of the programs operations and accomplishments. Sixty-eight households received some or all of the benefits available this year:

          50 homes had entry doors weather-stripped.

          61 homes had their attic insulation increased to an R-38.

          48 homes had new storm windows installed.

          The least amount spent on a home was $95.30.

          The most spent on a home was $3,483.91.

Bowersock Dam maintenance project

The initial delivery of sheet pile was delivered to the site on February 2^nd. The entire amount delivered was set in place and driven to refusal by Thursday morning February 4^th. A second shipment of sheet pile was delivered to the site on February 8^th and is currently being installed. The sheet pile delivery is dependent upon the application of the coal tar epoxy coating of the sheets.  Weather conditions affect the application of the epoxy to the sheet pile in addition to cure time.  Currently the project is approximately $100,000 under the purchase order amount. This may change dependent upon construction field conditions such as varying stream bed depths, subsurface conditions, freezing temperatures and river levels. See attached photos taken on February 11^th.