Week ending October 14, 2017
LPD Body Worn Camera Grant Update – added 10/17/17
The Lawrence Police Department has been notified it will be one of the recipients of a U.S. Department of Justice grant to purchase body worn cameras for police officers. The police department applied for the federal grant early in 2017 and recently was notified of the federal award in the amount of $231,000 – half of the overall project implementation costs. The police department anticipates having the body worn camera program in place by the end of 2018.
Update on response to storm on Saturday October 14, 2017 – added 10/17/17
Attached is an update on the City’s storm clean-up efforts.
County Tax Foreclosures
The City has received notice of a petition on tax foreclosures for the past year. Counts 3 through 7 on the petition involve properties related to the Fairfield East development, south of 23rd Street and east of O’Connell Road. These properties owe approximately $260,000 in unpaid special assessments to the City of Lawrence. Staff will assume that the City does not wish to enter as a bidder on the properties, consistent with direction related to a similar property issue last year. Staff did want to bring the matter to the attention of the City Commission.
Advisory Opinions on Interpretation or Application of Local Conflict of Interest Laws
K.S.A. 75-4303a provides that the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission will give advisory opinions on the interpretation or application of the Local Conflict of Interest Laws (K.S.A. 75-4301a – K.S.A. 75-4306) upon receiving a request by a local governmental officer, employee or candidate for local office. The statute also provides that any person requesting and receiving an opinion, and who acts in accordance with the opinion, will be presumed to have complied with the law. The Governmental Ethics Commission files its advisory opinions with the Kansas Secretary of State.
Special Accounts Payable Year End Meeting
The Finance Department is requesting a special meeting to approve the check register at year-end. The time between the regular December and January meetings will not allow the City to issue checks within time restrictions of some of our contracts. Without the special meeting, the City would need to issue some of our checks before Commission review. We would like to limit the number of checks that are sent out without full transparent review. The year-end check run is also appreciated by some of our smaller local vendors as they are closing their books at year-end. Staff is suggesting Tuesday, December 27 at 9:00 a.m. for this meeting.
September 2017 Monthly Utility Billing Report
Attached is the September 2017 Monthly Utility Billing Report.
Fire/Medical Department Monthly Report
Attached is the August 2017 Monthly report for Fire/Medical Department.
Arts Common Project Related to 9th and New Hampshire TIF Districts
The City’s agreements on the tax increment financing district at 9th & New Hampshire envision an Arts Commons Project, acquisition of the Salvation Army Property on the south side of the Lawrence Arts Center for future use by the Lawrence Arts Center as green space and programming space. Recently, the Lawrence Arts Center has inquired about the status of this project and sent a letter to the City. The City has not budgeted to front the funds required to proceed with the project, but the Lawrence Arts Center appears to be willing to move forward on its own to acquire the property, subject to an agreement between the Lawrence Arts Center and the City regarding the 5% TIF revenues to fund the project. It was also discovered that there are some discrepancies in the existing agreements between the dates required to initiate this project. The Arts Center has request clarification of these dates and also clarification that they could be the entity that would pursue the property acquisition directly. Staff is currently working with bond counsel to make some proposed revisions in the agreements that would clarify these issues and also add the standard audit language included in the Oread agreement revision. Staff will work with the developers involved to gain their feedback on proposed revisions and bring a future item for action to the City Commission.
Santa Fe Station Project
The Santa Fe Station Project was bid in September by the Kansas Department of Transportation. However, there were no bidders for the project. The project is being tweaked in order to address concerns expressed by potential contractors. The project is on course to be re-bid in November by the Kansas Department of Transportation.
August Monthly Permit Reports
The Building Safety Division issued 242 building permits in August, with total construction for the month valued at $15,551,499.14. Total permit fees assessed for the month were $83,203.85, and total review fees assessed were $7,256.67. Permits were issued for 11 new residential projects, all for single-family dwellings. Staff Memo Monthly Permit Report Year-to-Date Summary
2018 Kansas Employment Forecast Released
The Center for Economic Development and Business Research released the 2018 Kansas Employment Forecast. In 2018, Kansas total nonfarm employment is projected to increase by 0.1 percent, adding approximately 1,500 jobs, with a range of expected growth between negative 0.3 percent and positive 0.5 percent.
National employment increased by 1.5 percent in the last twelve months, while Kansas employment has declined by 0.8 percent over the same period, a decrease of approximately 10,800 jobs.
“A tight labor market along with weak core sectors, carry the weight of the State’s current disposition. The growing national and global economies provide some optimism in an otherwise gloomy outlook for Kansas.” comments Jeremy Hill, director of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State.
Read the full 2018 Kansas Employment Forecast, including a graph
and tables, is available at www.outlook.cedbr.org.
MARC Article on Area Job Growth
Attached is an article from Mid-American Regional Council on area job growth, titled “Source of Metro Employment Growth Shifting East?”
Future Agenda Items
Attached, please find a summary of future agenda items.
Future Work Session Items
Attached, please find a summary of future work session items.