Memorandum
City of Lawrence
City Manager’s Office
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TO: |
Thomas M. Markus,
City Manager |
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FROM: |
Eileen Horn, Sustainability Coordinator |
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DATE: |
May 2, 2016 |
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RE: |
Request for waiver of water service fees at Peterson Park Common Ground garden |
Background
The Common Ground program is the City of Lawrence’s community garden/urban farm program that leases city-owned properties to citizens and community organizations to grow food. The Common Ground Program’s goal is to transform vacant or under-utilized city properties into vibrant sites of healthy food production for our citizens.
Currently, there are 10 active Common Ground sites in the program. When assessing city-owned sites for lease in the program, we aim to select sites that already have access to water. However, sometimes a great garden or farm site does not already have an active water meter.
In these cases, it has been the City’s practice to waive the water service fees for our Common Ground sites (both the meter installation fee and system development charges). We have done this for two reasons: These are city-owned properties and the meters serve future city irrigation uses at these sites, and the cost of a water meter (more than $2,000) can be prohibitively expensive for a start-up community garden. Only the initial set-up costs are waived. Gardeners are required to set up a water service account with our Utilities department, and pay an irrigation-only rate for all water that is used on the property.
The newest Common Ground site, added in early 2016, is the “Little Prairie Community Garden” at the future Peterson Park site (2250 Peterson Rd. – see map below). Two community members have leased the property from the city, and are building a community garden for neighbors and interested citizens. The site currently lacks access to water. The gardeners and Parks and Recreation staff have determined a meter location that will serve both the garden’s needs and future development of the park (i.e. for future water fountains, irrigation, etc).
Map of Site & Proposed Water Meter Installation
In the map below, the orange square is the approximate location of the garden, and the blue diamond represents the water meter site.
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Staff Recommendation
City staff recommend that the Commission authorize the City Manager to waive the cost of a 5/8 inch water meter ($435 for installation + $1,570 in system development charges) = $2,005.
Action
Authorize the City Manager to waive the cost of a 5/8 inch water meter for the Common Ground site at Peterson Park.