CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
Week ending July 2, 2010
15-minute parking meters installed in Downtown Lawrence
As approved by the City Commission, staff is proceeding with the installation of 15-minute parking meters in Downtown Lawrence. Meters were installed on Wednesday, June 30 and are clearly marked as 15-minute meters. Per City Commission direction, the meters are located in the middle of each block with two meters for both the west and east sides of Massachusetts Street. Fifteen-minute meters will cost 25-cents. More information is available about parking in downtown at www.lawrenceks.org/parking.
East 23rd Street construction to begin July 6
The city’s KLINK project, a mill and overlay of East 23rd Street, from Haskell to the city limits, will begin on Tuesday, July 6. The project is expected to last approximately four weeks and will consist of full-depth patching of the roadway and overlay of new asphalt. Milling and patching will occur during the day; overlay operations will occur at night. One lane in each direction will remain open during construction. Traffic delays are likely. This project is a cooperative effort of the City of Lawrence and the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). KDOT is providing $200,000 in funding for this project. The city portion will be approximately $370,000.
23rd Street bridge replacement
The 23rd Street bridge replacement project is being programmed for 2012 construction. The city’s participation is for added pedestrian improvements including the trail, trail head /parking area, aesthetics, additional sidewalk, pedestrian rail /fence and granite aggregate in the concrete. The city’s share is anticipated/estimated at $500,000. We will use $400,000 in Federal STP funds and $100,000 city funds (80/20 split). The final version of the attached draft presentation will be posted on line. The city/state agreement should be received in the next week and KDOT will start the process of right-of-way acquisition upon its approval.
Legislative summary prepared by League of Municipalities
Attached is a summary of 2010 legislation prepared by the Kansas League of Municipalities.
City Legal Director elected secretary of attorneys association
The City Attorneys Association of Kansas (CAAK) held its regular spring meeting in Lawrence on June 18, 2010. Approximately 130 attorneys from across the state attended the training on municipal law issues. At the business meeting, Toni Wheeler, Director of the Legal Department, was elected Secretary of the CAAK’s Board of Directors.
Utilities staff and program showcased in national magazine
Members of the Utilities Department Distribution staff appeared in the cover story of the latest edition of Opflow, a national publication put out by the American Water Works Association. The magazine showcased the department’s fire hydrant maintenance program as an example for other water utilities to follow. The Fire Hydrant Maintenance Program includes inspection, pressure and flow testing, and flushing of Lawrence’s fire hydrants on a scheduled basis. The overall result of this comprehensive maintenance program is fire hydrant reliability and increased fire protection for our residents.
Lawrence named a ‘top college town’
An MSNBC.com article from June 25, 2010 titled 'America's best college towns' listed Lawrence among its top nine college towns to visit. From the article:
"Home to the Jayhawks of the University of Kansas, Lawrence enjoys a riverfront location and a downtown core that harks back to a time gone by. Don't miss a walking tour through Old West Lawrence, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city is also a thriving arts community, with dozens of museums and galleries as well as some 30 sculptures and murals around town. Massachusetts Street is worth a visit for shopping and dining — or, if you're a more outdoorsy type, head to Clinton Lake for swimming, boating, hiking, biking or fishing."
Other cities listed in the article included Austin, Texas; Berkeley, Calif.; Athens, Ga.; Gainesville, Fla.; Princeton, N.J., Madison, Wis., Boston, Mass.; and Boulder, Colo. This information has been added to the city’s website under the ‘visitors’ page and the ‘recognitions’ page.
Website changes completed; forms redesigned to promote ease of use
In February, the City Clerk, Human Resources and Risk Management offices became part of the City Manager's Office. To better identify those divisions on the city website, their web presence has changed.
Risk Management can now be found at lawrenceks.org/risk_management; Human Resources are now found at lawrenceks.org/jobs; and the City Clerk's pages are available at lawrenceks.org/city_clerk.
In addition, forms used by the City Clerk's office are being redesigned for better usability along with a redesign of the City Clerk's forms page. Forms for different licenses and permits are available in Word format, which can be filled out more easily than before and then e-mailed back to the City Clerk's office. PDF forms are also available for download for those who prefer to print and mail the form to the city. Where applicable, web-based versions are also being developed to be used by the City Clerk's office. The website work was performed by Eric Gruber, eGov Coordinator, and the new forms were created by Mike Coffey, Software Specialist.