Department of Utilities

Memorandum

TO:	Dave Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	Mike Lawless, Assistant Director of Utilities
CC:	Dave Wagner, Director of Utilities Philip Ciesielski,  Assistant Director of Utilities Jim King, Fire Marshal
DATE:	January 11, 2011
RE:	Annexation of Miller/Wells Acres

Miller/Wells Acres is located north of I-70 in north central Lawrence. It is almost completely surrounded by the City Limits of Lawrence. One of the final items that needs to be addressed before the area can be considered for annexation is fire protection. The water lines serving the area are not sized to provide fire protection and need to be upgraded to the current city standard of 8-inch mains. By constructing 8-inch water lines and fire hydrants, Miller/Wells Acres would meet the fire protection codes of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical. Fire equipment has been driven through the area and can successfully navigate the streets.

The Utilities Department has prepared preliminary reports on the layout and cost of the water line installation and future sanitary sewer main considerations. The attached report provides information on future sanitary sewer service to the area. The details of the water line construction project are in the attached report. The time to construct the water lines is estimated to be 3 months. While the water line project would provide fire protection it would not noticeably change the water pressure. However, the static water pressure to the area is about 65 psi and about 55 psi with a fire hydrant flowing.

In addition to fire protection, annexation would result in the residents receiving city water (and sewer) rates instead of outside the city water rates. Using the adopted 2011 water rates, the average water bill savings per year for Miller/Wells Acres residents would be approximately $84 with the high being $214 and the low being $12.

Beginning in January as the weather allows, the Utilities Department will begin constructing in-house water main replacements in preparation for the 2011 Overlay and Micro-sealing work planned by Public Works. Construction of the water line upgrade to Miller/Wells Acres could begin after completion of the work for the overlay project in late August or early September of this year.