CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Week ending July 8, 2011

Parks and Recreation Department hosting large tournament events

Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department’s Aquatic Division will host the Wave the Wheat Meet, Thursday through Sunday, July 7-10, at the Indoor Aquatic Center, 4706 Overland Drive. The meet is expected to attract more than 700 swimmers and approximately 1,500 spectators to Lawrence. It is the largest youth competitive swim meet in the Missouri Valley swimming region. The competition will affect the availability of the Indoor Aquatic Center’s lap and leisure pools. The leisure pool will remain open 1:00 to 8:45 p.m. Thursday, July 7, with lap swimming available 5:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. The lap pool will be closed from 1 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, July 10, to accommodate the swim meet. The leisure pool will also be closed July 8-10. The Outdoor Aquatic Center, 727 Kentucky St., will be available for public swimming 1 to 8:45 p.m. daily.

Lawrence is also hosting the USSSA’s (US Specialty Sports Association) World Series Girls softball 12B tournament the week of July 17-23, 2011. Games will be played at Clinton Softball complex and the Youth Sports Complex. Opening Ceremonies will be at Hoglund Ballpark on Monday, July 18, and the Outdoor Aquatic Center will be closed from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20 for a USSSA social event. The Convention and Visitors Bureau is expecting 60 teams (for a total of 2,200 visitors) from the Midwest to spend the week in Lawrence, with estimated direct spending by visitors of $1 million, including a minimum of 2,000 room nights of weekday business for Lawrence hotels.

June building permits report

The Building Safety Division issued 233 building permits in June, with total construction for the month valued at $9,255,167 (compared to $4,137,672 in June 2010). Total permit fees assessed for the month were $45,052 ($41,357 in June 2010). Staff issued eight permits for new residential construction in June, including one duplex and seven single-family dwellings.  Permits were issued for five new residential projects in June last year, one duplex and four for single-family dwellings. Please see the attached memo, building permits report and summary for more information.   

Airport Master Plan

Phase III of the Lawrence Municipal Airport Master Plan is online at http://www.lawrence.airportstudy.com/section_lwc_mp/.  The draft includes the future airport layout plan and capital improvements. The plan will be presented to the Planning Commission on July 27.  Comments will be received at a public information workshop to be held on Wednesday, August 3, 2011, 5:30-7:00 p.m., at the Airport Terminal Building. The final draft of the Airport Master Plan will be approved by the airport Public Advisory Committee, the Aviation Advisory Board, the City Commission, and the Federal Aviation Administration.