CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Week ending July 30, 2010

Parks & Recreation completes Lyon’s Park Renovation

The Parks & Recreation Department has recently completed a renovation of the Lyon’s Park tennis and basketball courts. This renovation included upgrading the lighting system and resurfacing the courts. The lights that were installed were recycled from the old Tennis Center at Lawrence High. These lights were in much better condition than the lights that were in use at Lyons. As an added feature, the tennis courts were also striped for pickle ball, which is a sport that is going in popularity.

Public Works provides mid-year report on pavement maintenance

The Public Works Department has reviewed its efforts for projects allocated in the 2010 pavement maintenance program.  A mid-year report on activities is available for review along with a revised program map and photos of work. 

Westar Street lights to be maintained by Black & McDonald Utilities Services

Westar utility representatives advised City staff that they have contracted with Black & McDonald Utilities Services to maintain Westar-owned street lights in Lawrence, and several other Westar served communities.  The maintenance transition will begin August 1, 2010.   Public and city contacts for reporting street light outages will remain the same.  Westar and Black & McDonald indicated that they have a goal of responding to routine maintenance requests within 48 hours of notification of street light outage.  They also indicated that regular patrols of the entire system will occur to identify street light outages.

Water Costs for the Clinton WTP:

The City currently holds two water contracts with Kansas Water Office (KWO) for Clinton Reservoir. The water contracts provide access to over 4.7 billion gallons of water per year. These contracts expire in 12/29/19 and 1/1/31. In 2010, the minimum water cost was $283,114 and expended from the 2009 budget since the contracts are paid prior to the beginning of the year in which the water will be used. In 2011, the minimum water cost will be $315,310. The 2011 budget includes $340,000 for the water use in 2012. Since 2012 water costs will not be available until July of 2011, the funding for water was estimated from information provided by the KWO. If water use goes above the minimum quantity then the cost increases according to the contract price indicated.