May 11, 2004
The Board of Commissioners of the City of Lawrence met in regular session at 5:15 p.m. in the City Commission Chambers in City Hall with Mayor Rundle presiding and members Dunfield, Hack, Highberger, and Schauner present. Lawrence High School representative Jacob Gage was present.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to recess into executive session to discuss the possible acquisition of real estate. The justification for the executive session is to keep possible terms of real estate acquisition confidential at this time. Motion carried unanimously.
The Commission resumed the open meeting at 6:35 p.m.
Mayor Rundle informed the public that the smoking ban would take on July 1, 2004 as specified in the ordinance.
PROCLAMATIONS
The City Commission recognized Teresa Gorman, P.E., City Engineer, as recipient of the George Williams Award for Excellence in Public Works for 2004.
With Commission approval Mayor Rundle proclaimed the week of May 9 – 15 as “Police Week” and May 15 as “Peace Officers Memorial Day; the week of May 16 – 22 as “National Public Works Week”; and the month of May as “Foster Care Month.”
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to approve the City Commission meeting minutes of April 27, 2004.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to approve the Public Transit Advisory Committee meeting minutes of April 15, 2004; and the Hospital Board meeting minutes of January 21, 2004, February 18, 2004, and March 17, 2003. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to approve claims to 334 vendors in the amount of $1,518,884.69. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to approve the Drinking Establishment License for Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts and for Buffalo Bob’s Smokehouse, 719 Massachusetts. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to concur with the recommendation of the Mayor and reappoint Bob Brookman to an additional term that will expire April 30, 2007; appoint Ron Hurst to the Lawrence Public Library Board which will expire April 30, 2008; and appoint Caroline Hicks to the Task Force on Homeless Services. Motion carried unanimously.
The City Commission reviewed the bids for the 2004 Overlay Program for the Public Works Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
Engineer’s Estimate $666,611.70
Asphalt Improvement Co. $496,403.05
LRM Industries, Inc. $499,635.35
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to award the bid to Asphalt Improvement Co., in the amount of $496,403.05. Motion carried unanimously. (1)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to set a bid date of May 25, 2004 for the 2004 Overlay and Concrete Repair Program, Phase 2. Motion carried unanimously. (2)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for one backhoe for the Utilities Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
Olathe Tractor & Equipment $41,800
Murphy Tractor & Equipment $54,670
Victor L. Phillips $59,069
Martin Tractor $62,000
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to award the bid to Murphy Tractor & Equipment, in the amount of $54,670 because the bid from Olathe Tractor & Equipment did not meet specifications. Motion carried unanimously. (3)
Ordinance No. 7703, rezoning (Z-07-22-03) 6.195 acres from A (Agricultural District) to RS-1 (Single-Family Residential District), property located at the extensions of Foxfire Drive and Burning Tree Drive south and west of the existing Foxfire Development, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (4)
Ordinance No. 7711, rezoning (Z-08-27-03) 23.9380 acres from A (Agricultural District) to RMD (Duplex Residential District), property located on the south side of K-10 Highway and west of O’Connell Road, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (5)
Ordinance No.7712, rezoning (Z-08-28-03) 8.6220 acres from A (Agricultural District) to RS-2 (Single-Family Residential District), property located on the south side of K-10 Highway and west of O’Connell Road, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (6)
Ordinance No. 7732, Text Amendment (TA-09-03-03) adding water/wastewater review requirements and park service area standards to the Joint Subdivision Regulations, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (7)
Ordinance No. 7764, rezoning (Z-12-50-03) 20.1626 acres from B-3 (Limited Business District) to RM-1 (Multiple-Family Residential District) property located at the northeast corner of Clinton Parkway and K-10 Highway, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (8)
Ordinance No. 7774, increasing fees and mileage rates for ambulance services and deleting certain additional costs, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (9)
Ordinance No. 7789, concerning cigarettes and tobacco products, enacting Chapter 9, Article 8A of the Code of the City of Lawrence, Kansas 2003 Edition and amendments thereto, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: Hack. Motion carried. (10)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the Final Plat (PF-03-09-04) for Fall Creek Farms 10th Plat, a proposed 51-lot single-family residential subdivision containing approximately 20.202 acres, located east of Monterey Way and south of Peterson Road, approximately 120 feet north of Stetson Drive; and accept the dedication of easements and rights-of-way subject to the following conditions:
1. Provision of the following fees and recording documentation:
a. Current copy of paid property tax receipt at the time of submittal of the final plat for filing;
b. Recording fees made payable to the Douglas County Register of Deeds; and
c. Change the name of the Mayor to Mike Rundle;
d. Provide Minimum Exterior Building Opening elevations on the MEBO Table;
e. Verify street names with Public Works for addressing; and
f. Addition of a note: “There will be no street connection from Running Ridge Road with Monterey Way until Monterey Way improvements are completed.”
Motion carried unanimously. (11)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the Final Plat (PF-03-10-04) for North Town Addition, a proposed one-lot industrial subdivision containing approximately 4.479 acres, located west of North 2nd Street north of Lyon Street; and accept the dedication of easements and rights-of-way subject to the following conditions:
a. Copy of paid property tax receipt;
b. Recording fees made payable to the Douglas County Register of deeds; and
c. Provision of a master street tree plan.
4. Provision of a note on the revised Final Plat to state that there shall be no more than three (3) access points to the subject property and that cross access shall be provided at the north and south boundaries of the subject property;
5. Removal of the note related to right of entry for planting street trees;
6. Provision of a revised final plat to correct the mayor’s signature block;
7. Provision of a revised final plat to label lot 21 at top of drawing for reference; and
8. Provision of a revised final plat to tie the point of beginning to section corners by distance and bearing.
Motion carried unanimously. (12)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the Final Plat (PF-03-11-04) for Oread West Office Park, a replat of Lots 1 and 2, Oread West No. 11, Lots 3 and 4, Block 3, University Corporate and Research Park Subdivision No. 2 (amended), and Lot 5, Block 3, Oread West No. 10, a proposed five-lot planned residential development containing approximately 16.893 acres, located north of 15th Street (Bob Billings Parkway) and west of Wakarusa Drive; and accept the dedication of easements and rights-of-way subject to the following conditions:
1. Provision of the following fees and recording documentation:
Motion carried unanimously. (13)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to approve the site plan (SP-01-07-04) for a 3,000 square foot warehouse building to be located at 2406 Ponderosa Drive within a C-4 General Commercial Zoning District, subject to approval of the site plan. Motion carried unanimously. (14)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to approve the site plan (SP-03-20-04) for minor alterations to an existing 4-plex, a site plan for the modification of a basement apartment of a building, located at 1000 Mississippi Street, subject to execution of a Site Plan Performance Agreement. Motion carried unanimously. (15)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to authorize the Mayor to sign a Release of Mortgage for Lola Vassar, 1922 Maple Lane. Motion carried unanimously.
Phil Bradley asked to pull from the consent agenda, Ordinance No. 7782, concerning smoking in public places. He said if the City Commission passed this ordinance on second reading, he asked for the following considerations:
1. Delay the effective date of the smoking ordinance until after the elections;
2. Direct staff to provide accommodating language in the ordinance; and
3. Direct staff to draft safe harbor provisions in the smoking ordinance.
Mike Casey, Vice President of the Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association (KRHA), Wichita, Kansas, said opponents were working on a petition calling for the repeal of this extremely stringent ordinance and would allow voters to make the final decision. He said KRHA firmly supported delaying the effective date of the ordinance until the voters were heard.
Marion Lynn supported delaying the effective date until after a referendum was called.
David Kingsley opposed the delay of the effective date. He said in his review of cities this would be a highly irregular action on the part of the Commission. He said a petition might not succeed. He said this would be a delaying tactic of the hospitality industry that Bradley represented.
He also spoke about enforcement and believed it would be done. He said if the restaurant and bar owners needed more time to adapt to the smoking ordinance, then he could see a small amount of time allowed for those owners to adapt.
Vice Mayor Highberger said he had heard Salina and Hutchinson had delayed their effective dates until after elections, and he asked Kingsley if he was aware of that delay.
Kingsley said he was not aware of what Hutchinson did. He said as for the larger cities like New York City and San Francisco they did not delay the effective date.
Chuck Magerl said he understood Salina and Hutchinson did delay the effective date. He said if this issue was being put to the voters and would be an issue that would impact the business community, then once that vote had been placed that would be the time for that action to be finalized, otherwise, this would be a hopscotch type of enforcement process.
Judy Keller, American Lung Association, Clean Air Lawrence, said the effective dates in those communities had not been delayed pending a ballot initiative. She encouraged the City Commission to let the process of implementation of the ordinance occur because it had worked effectively in a number of communities. She said members of Clean Air Lawrence were available to assist the restaurant bar owners.
Mayor Rundle said if the ordinance was in place and people had experienced the impact, that impact would inform the people’s choices at the polls.
Commissioner Dunfield agreed. He said July 1st would give businesses plenty of time for business owners to understand and deal with the ordinance. He said the result of implementing the ordinance in advance of the vote would result in people seeing what little impact that ordinance would have on their businesses. He said business owners did not need to have a fenced off area downtown to smoke on the sidewalks.
He said the City Commission would expect staff to put information together about the smoking ordinance and get that information to business owners and other interested members of the public.
Vice Mayor Highberger said if there was a possibility of an August election he would be more likely to support a delay. He said implementation of that ordinance would work better when the weather was still warm. He said he would support working with businesses on accommodating language. He said he was not in favor of extending the effective date at this time.
Commissioner Hack said she was concerned about the financial impact to local businesses that based on a July 1st, date might make some adjustments to their businesses and that issue would be a moot point later. She had a concern about the potential of this ordinance putting local business owners out of business.
Ordinance No. 7782, concerning smoking in public places repealing Chapter 9, Article 8 of the City Code of the City of Lawrence Kansas, 2003 Edition and amendments thereto and enacting new provision in place thereof, was read a second time. Moved by Rundle, seconded by Dunfield, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: Hack. Motion carried. (16)
During the City Manager’s report, Mark Bradford presented the Fire/Medical Department 2003 Annual Report. He said this year there had been a slight decrease of under 500 responses due to the ice storm that occurred n 2002. He said overall 77% of their responses were emergency medical calls which left 23% to all other missions that the Fire/Medical Department provided.
He said in 2003 all members of the hazardous materials team were re-qualified as Hazardous Material Technicians under the Department of Transportation Guidelines. He said all members of the department were trained in either basic or advanced trauma life support.
He said the High-Angle Rope Rescue Team would be preplanning all areas in the City in which they might rescue people from high angles as well as below angle rescues.
He said Captain Hoelscher was the recipient of the LEAP Award for his efforts in designing and shaping the underground training facility used to enhance their training programs for confined space and trench collapse rescues.
He said the most significant goal was that the Fire/Medical Department reported zero fire fatalities during 2003.
Commissioner Highberger asked if there was any noticeable decrease in calls in early July.
Bradford thought there might had been a small decrease, but measuring significant incidents, overall types of incidents were consistent with previous years.
Molly Mangerich, Waste Reduction/Recycling Operations Supervisor, presented a staff report on Curbside Collection of Yard Waste. She said their department was seeing a growth in their setout containers and participation rates for curbside collection and as a result, staff recommended that the Commission consider an ordinance limiting plastic trash bags for household waste only.
Diana Sjogren, Waste Reduction/Recycling Specialist II, informed the City Commission about their divisions 5 year campaign in this community to move people voluntarily to use those preferred containers at the curbs.
Mangerich said the Solid Waste Division was recommending to the City Commission to restrict the use of plastic bags for curbside collection of yardwaste. The proposed change in the ordinance language would request residential yardwaste setouts be placed only in cans, carts or compostable bags beginning in 2005. She said the elimination of plastic bags for grass and leaves would:
1. increase collection efficiency by reducing overall collection time;
2. improve worker safety by eliminating the necessity to cut open plastic bags with box cutters;
3. reduce traffic congestion by decreasing loading time at the curb; and
4. yield a higher quality compost by reducing contamination.
Mayor Rundle said the K.U. campus elections passed a ballot question involving recycling on the campus. He suggested that the Recycling Division check into that issue and have staff make connections as they implement that recycling program so that City staff could coordinate and offer support.
Commissioner Dunfield said he would like to see such an ordinance on a future meeting agenda.
Rich Barr, Fire Marshall, provided an update on the blasting in Fox Chase South Development. He said since their last discussion, two things had occurred:
1. Blast issue was renewed on May 5th for areas further than 500 feet from structures; and
2. A meeting was held on May 11th at the Fox Chase job site with a member of the Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline.
He said at that meeting there were some concerns about the age of the pipeline and whether or not the 50 year age might contribute to the failure from the blasting, but the person from the Southern Star indicated that the age would not contribute to failure given the amount of inspections that they routinely perform on the pipeline.
He said in response to the memo from the Mayor, staff anticipated using the application for explosives and a blasting permit checklist that staff created to ensure compliance with all the materials submitted. In addition a scaled map had been generated by the City’s GIS Coordinator. He said that map indicated all of the buildings within 500 feet of the blast site as well as all buildings within 1500 feet of the blast site for notification. He said those documents as well as all related documents for any new permits would be available for public review at his office.
A Seismograph Monitoring Company indicated by Contractor would be approved by the Fire Marshall and that company would be notified that they were to report directly to the Fire Marshall and copied to the City Engineer. He said a letter of authorization to the company would be sent by the Fire Marshall outlining the requirements for that company including addresses for the Fire Marshall and the City Engineer for communication. He said the company would be required to retain records for three years for review by the Fire/Medical Department or the City Engineer in the future.
He said the company that was currently being used under the permit that was in effect was White Industrial Seismology of Joplin, Missouri. He said it was an independent company that provided this type of service to other companies conducting similar operations. White Industrial Seismology was not owned or partially owned by Pexco, Inc., who was the blaster and there was no relationship other than a subcontractor to Pexco and other similar companies. He said the City Code did not explicitly require the City to retain a seismology firm for this purpose.
He said notices would be posted at each address. He said at the time of positing, the applicant would record the date, time, and the individual who was posting the notice so that notification could be tracked. The addresses within 500 feet of the blast site would be required to be notified of the intent to conduct a pre-blast survey and a list would be maintained to the progress of those surveys. The 15 day period started after the date of the final notification of a property that was within 500 feet of the blast site.
Barr discussed the blast records. He said the blast records were required under Section 7703.10 to ensure that the information on the blast was being compiled and kept for a minimum of three years for any future analysis.
He said pursuant to Section 103.111 of the 1997 Uniform Fire Code that was adopted by the City of Lawrence, staff was going to require the applicant to retain an expert in blasting, approved by the Fire Chief and the property owner to ensure that the City Code and industry standards were being met. Further, if the City Commission desired to impose a condition which was beyond the current City Code authority, such as prohibiting blasting all together, staff recommended that the City Commission adopted on an emergency first and second reading an ordinance which would change the code accordingly.
Mayor Rundle said it looked like an attempt at notice if the flyer was left at the door and the notice blew away, if the homeowner was on vacation, or if someone else was house sitting. He said unless there was more effort to verify that the proper party had received that notice, it did not seem that the notification process had been accomplished.
Barr said the 15 day window was so that if someone was away on vacation or gone, there was a reasonable amount of time before the project proceeded. He said he understood that the question was whether or not posting the notice on the door was adequate. He said he was not sure what other mechanism staff could use. He said if staff utilized certified mail and if someone did not sign the certification to pick up the mail and staff never received the return receipt, he asked if staff should hold up the process until they received that receipt or was the 15 day window an adequate period of time.
He said the contractor indicated that their current plan for making notification for a new permit was to physically visit each one of those addresses within 1500 feet. If individuals were not there to receive the notification, then they would leave the notification at the address and they would take a picture of that notification on the address displaying the house number so that staff as an enforcement agency could be assured that notice was there.
Vice Mayor Highberger asked if the checklists for notification were going to be accompanied by an affidavit.
Barr said staff could attach an affidavit to the checklist.
Mayor Rundle said the certified letter process was part of other cities code. He suggested deferring to those cities to find out what those cities did when they did not receive a return receipt.
He said he had laid out his concerns of where City staff was falling short and he still had those concerns. He said it was a question of the Commission of whether or not this process constituted valid notification for the City Commission.
Barr asked if his memo addressed the other questions from the Mayor adequately.
Mayor Rundle said his questions were not addressed to the extent to where he was completely comfortable. He said it still did not sound like the blasting company or the subcontractor was generating a blasting plan as laid out in the ordinance. He said he was trusting that if that communication was going on then he was fine.
Vice Mayor Highberger said Barr stated that the Uniform Fire Code allowed the City to require the applicant to retain a blasting expert. He asked Barr if it was his understanding that enforcing that requirement would go a long way to satisfying most of the neighbors concerns.
Barr said he believed that retaining that blasting expert would satisfy some of the neighbors, but he was not sure.
Commissioner Schauner said the original list of addresses that were provided to the neighbors and others had just a list of addresses that were handwritten with no dates or other information. He said his recollection of how this concern developed in the neighborhood was that did not seem like good evidence of what had happened in terms of delivery or when it had happened. He said Barr developed a checklist for staff’s review of the application. He said it would seem that a similar sort of document that the pre-blast survey people could use that Barr’s office might be able to develop such as the time it was delivered and the person spoken to. He said it struck him that most of the concern was developed around a lack of confidence in the initial processes that were used and a lack of good communication at the time this project began. He said anything staff could do to bolster that level of activity in a way that could give neighbors more confidence would be helpful.
Barr said the list of addresses that White Industrial generated for those buildings that require pre-blast surveys, they did designate the person that was contacted and what activity they performed in the pre-blast survey. He said White Industrial had also provided him a list of those structures that were designated to have pre-blast surveys, but they had made no contact. He said that particular list had approximately 9 or 10 houses that had not been contacted, but they had tried a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 6 times for each address to notify those residents and that information had been documented. He said that showed some effort in trying to notify those houses that they were required to be offered a pre-blast survey.
Commissioner Schuaner asked what the result would be if that company was unable to contact those several addressees.
Barr said at the end of that 15 day period, the permit would be issued because those people at those addresses might be in Europe for all staff knew. He said he did not think that the process could be held up until they finally could get everyone to answer the door.
Commissioner Schauner said he would like to have more discussion about providing some additional on-site assistance for the neighbors.
Dan Wilkus, Stonecreek Neighborhood, said they appreciated Barr’s efforts. He said they had come along way with the drawings and other issues that were required by the pre-blast survey. He said the neighbors would get a more accurate look to see exactly where those distances were at 500 and 1500 feet.
He informed the City Commission about the notification process in other cities. He said certified mail or some type of record that a resident signed would be the appropriate way to go.
He said as far as retaining an expert in blasting to oversee the project, the neighbors felt that should be a licensed professional engineer that was licensed in Kansas.
Mayor Rundle said one the questions for Barr was whether or not that oversight by an independent person was reassuring to the neighbors.
Wilkus said having an independent person would be reassuring if he or she was a licensed professional engineer that followed Kansas law.
Price Banks, Attorney speaking on behalf of the Stonecreek neighbors, presented a photograph of the way the notices were served. He said when he saw that type of material in his door he did not look at that material. He said he certainly would not anticipate that it was going to be notification that there was going to be high explosives detonated near his house. He said there were a lot of legal issues that required certified mail and returned receipt and there was no reason why this project could not be done in the same way or having people sign, at the very least an affidavit that notice had been delivered. He said frankly the performance so far did little to raise the neighbors’ confidence level that the blasting was being conducted according to procedures because so many of the other procedures were short cut.
He said the fact the neighbors approached the developers and suggested that the developers talk about the blasting issue, but the developers did not want to talk about that issue, did not raise the confidence level.
He said the neighborhood urged the City Commission to prohibit blasting within 500 feet of homes.
David Dressler, Dressler Consulting Engineers, said he was a blasting vibration consultant from Overland Park, Kansas. He said 8 years ago he supplied information to Barr concerning the blasting ordinance to bring Lawrence up to speed. He said he gathered every blasting ordinance from the Kansas City area both sides of the state line and supplied those ordinances to Barr. He said the City’s blasting code was up to date and up to speed. He said the ordinance exceeded or met any city this side of the state line.
He said concerning pre-blast surveys, their firm sent out their first notice to residents via regular mail and they received the information from whitepages.com. He said they send out the second and third notices via certified mail. After the third notice their firm sent an “unable to contact letter” which simply stated that their firm tried to contact that particular resident, but they were not able to complete the survey due to a lack of response. He said they also left yellow annoying tags on the houses to try and get those residents to call in to their firm.
Mayor Rundle said leaving the paper was not notification, but Lawrence’s ordinance stated “after notification” and “upon notification.” He said their firm seemed more systematic.
Dressler said the City of Belton just came out with a 2003 ordinance and that City was the only city that required that certified mail for that 1,000 foot radius of notification. The City of Olathe handled that through a public notice in the newspaper because every house received an Olathe Daily Journal newspaper. He said their firm could not make people read their mail.
Ron Rada, Harvard Road, suggested that the neighbors receive notification on when the blasting would occur.
Russ Pilshaw, Pexco, drilling/blasting contractor, said upon the new notification that Barr was requiring for the second permit at the site the notification would state when the blasting would occur. The siren notification would be on the sheet to designate the safe zone of the blasting which was required by OSHA Standards. He said their company had also notified the neighbors that they could use a loud air horn if the neighbors wished. As far the notification, he said they had over 90 man hours in notification of the 500 homes in the area. Each one of their people who distributed those notices did so in a conscientious manner. He said if blasting required a different notification then he suggested that it be placed in the code. He said their company was living by the code.
Commissioner Schauner asked how many houses were in that notification zone for the second permit request.
Pilshaw said he believed it was over 350 homes.
Commissioner Schauner asked to date, how many of those homes had not been notified.
Pilshaw said on the second permit, none of the homes had been notified. He said those homes would be notified Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Commissioner Schauner said of the 350 homes, he asked how many of those homes would be in the 500 foot radius for a pre-blast inspection.
Pilshaw said they had not completed their test drilling yet. He said presently there were approximately 41 homes that were still in the 500 foot inclusion area.
Commissioner Schauner asked if the initial notification process would not start until Friday.
Pilshaw said the notification for all of the homes within that 500 foot area from any sanitary lines was completed last Thursday. He said there were only 12 more homes that were included as a result of the inclusion of another line.
Commissioner Schauner asked if that was the extension of the work to the north from where they began to where they were currently working.
Pilshaw said correct.
Commissioner Schauner said that was the additional line that was decided to be either excavated or blasted.
Pilshaw said correct.
Dressler said White Industrial Seismology of Joplin, Missouri, did not have not professional engineers, but they had PhD’s. He said the doctor who came up with RI8507 Blasting Guidelines was a PhD and not a professional engineer or an engineer.
He said the engineers in their company knew about blasting.
Pilshaw said the City Commission might request that his company hire an expert in the blasting field. He said the Corp of Engineers required an independent consultant on the project and the consultant was paid by the general contractor and not the blasting company. He said the consultant was hired as an independent consultant by the contractor who could review the blast plan as drawn. He said he had no problem hiring an independent consultant.
Mayor Rundle said there were still outstanding concerns by the neighbors but the neighbors indicated that having a licensed professional engineer on site would satisfy those neighbors. He said he thought the neighbors did not want to hold the project up anymore than it had been. He said in the interest of moving that project forward he would like to direct staff to require that a professional engineer be hired. He said the concern that was expressed from the neighbors was the possibility that something in the plan would not be implemented correctly. He said hiring that professional would provide the reassurance.
He said he still had not heard that the residents were satisfied with the ability to hear the warning horn and he hoped somehow those neighbors could hear a loud enough horn.
Commissioner Dunfield said they needed to be careful with the language because a licensed professional engineer was not necessarily someone who was qualified to monitor blasting operations. He said what the neighbors needed and what the City Commission needed to specify was that the individual blasting expert be someone who was qualified to monitor blasting operations and those qualifications could come through a number of methods. He said he was willing to trust Major Barr to evaluate the qualifications of a proposed expert and make sure that person was a legitimate expert who had experience in the field. He said there were a number of ways to judge qualification, but certainly a number of years experience doing exactly that type of work was a key ingredient and that a licensed professional engineer would not necessarily have.
Commissioner Schauner said Commissioner Dunfield was right. He said he was sure that Major Barr in working with other experts could come up with a list of people who would satisfy that.
He said he would like to look at making some notification language changes in the City’s current ordinance so that the city provided a greater level of certainty that notification really did occur.
Commissioner Dunfield asked if Commissioner Schauner was suggesting to stop the project until that notification language was in place.
Commissioner Schauner said there was a first permit for some of the initial blasting that took place. He asked how many of the homes within 1,500 feet of that blasting did not receive a notice.
Wilkus said some neighbors stated that they did not receive notification, but he did not have any proof.
Commissioner Schauner asked if it was understood that a significant majority of those within that 1,500 foot did receive a notice.
Wilkus said probably so. He said he had not talked with a lot of people beyond the Stonecreek area. He said a lot of the neighbors never received a written notice about the pre-blast survey. He said he thought notification could be done differently.
Commissioner Schauner said he believed in the future it should be done differently. He said he did not know if he had reason to believe that this particular project should not go forward if proper supervision was provided on the blasting site and work to create a different approach for future blasting permit requests.
Mayor Rundle said there had been enough news coverage that the word had gotten out. He said he did not know that it would be necessary for the City Commission to write a specific “how to.”
Wilkus said as far as professional engineers, there were plenty of professional engineers in that particular field. He said he was a professional engineer.
Mayor Rundle directed staff to seek that professional engineer.
Pilshaw said that expert would need to have an explosive background of more than 10 years because that was a requirement of the Corp of Engineer’s. He said that expert must also have blasting insurance because he would be taking responsibility for the blasting.
Mayor Rundle suggested that Pilshaw pay attention to how loud the blast horn was so that people could hear that horn.
Barr said the blast sirens were for warning, much like a storm siren. He said if people were sheltered in their homes, they might not hear that siren. He said the intent was not to make that siren a notification that blasting was going to occur. The intent was to ensure that people outside would be warned that something was going to occur. He said he never had the thought that everyone in the basements of their home would hear those sirens.
Mayor Rundle said he had heard various anecdotes that sometimes there were people driving through the streets honking their horns and people did not know that a horn honk was a blast horn honk. He said there needed to be something that was distinguishing that people knew if they were within the safety zone.
Barr said they were using a siren and that siren should be distinguished from a horn honking. (17)
REGULAR AGENDA
Receive request for additional funding for Biosciences Study.
Ted Haggert presented the request. He said the proposal for a study of the Biosciences industry was presented, discussed and approved along with the funding. He said during the process of approval by the City and County the input, the request for additional information to be generated by that study be expanded so that the result was the best possible study for use not only in developing a strategic plan for the Biosciences industry in Douglas County, but to establish the best baseline they could as to what that industry currently constituted, what was the projected growth, and what the impact of that was on the demographics in the County. He said doing that would also serve the purpose of helping to attract Biosciences industry to the area and help new Biosciences companies grow within this County.
He said by expanding the scope of the study, a new price was received and the price was divided by four among the partners in that study, which were the City, County, Chamber of Commerce, and the University, and amounted to an additional $2,720. The request was to approve that additional funding so that the study could be paid for and go forward.
Vice Mayor Highberger asked if that change in the fee was a change in the estimate or where there specific data acquisition that was added to the scope.
Haggert said there were definite specific additions such as quantifiable analysis of the Biosciences Industry as it existed, forecasting the trend in the Biosciences Industry, and several other specific additional deliverables in terms of the study.
Mayor Rundle said this issue was reviewed by the Economic Development Board and that board recommended approval of the funding. He said this was oriented to what the impacts would be with those additional jobs. He said the City Commission needed to know what was here to support that industry and what was missing because if there were missing pieces of the puzzle, then the Biosciences sector was going to go where those needs were met.
Haggert said that was very true. He said they needed the best possible picture of strengths and weaknesses so that the Task Force and other governmental and private sector units that were involved could develop the best strategic plan.
Commissioner Schauner said when looking at the topics that the interview would cover, one of the topics was other local networking done by a firm. He asked if those interviews try to determine where firms like to “nest” or “gather” for the synergy that they could create if they were in close physical proximity to one another. He asked if that was a topic that the interview might consider.
Haggert said it was hard to talk specifically about what PRI would include. He said he had been involved as this issue had developed, but not involved in all the specifics. He said, in general, a very important part of the study was, what were the clusters and what were the specific strengths that needed to be played to. He said one thing that was very clear, the State of Kansas, in general, and Douglas County in particular, could not play the whole field of biosciences. He said they needed to figure out where those unique advantages were. He said that could be within the community, but it was also clusters of expertise where they could standout nationally and in that way develop companies to build around those specialties and become a Mecca for that segment of the biosciences industry as it developed.
Commissioner Hack said the whole idea of a partnership was a great idea. She said the more that they could work toward being that cluster area was terrific.
Vice Mayor Highberger said there was some perception, after the Commission approved their share of the $24,000 for the first part of the study, that the Commission approved money for a study that more bioscience jobs were good. He said from what he had seen in that report made him feel better about the whole project and made it clear that they were getting something useful from that report. He said he was supportive of any additional funding.
Moved by Hack , seconded by Dunfield, to approve the funding request for the Biosciences Study. Motion carried unanimously. (18)
Receive report and funding request for ECO2
Roxanne Miller, Chair of ECO2 presented the report and funding request. She said there two work products that came forward over the last year. The first work product was the land use concept for the Farmland site and a report to the County Commission about the viability of that property potentially being an ECO2 project in the future. She said they prepared through a work group and open space plan that was developed through broad participation of varied interest in this community.
She said that work for the open space plan generated increased momentum for the ECO2 Program and as a result of that, the consensus building put forth increased momentum in developing a plan of what they could accomplish over the next year which was a plan to do more planning.
She said ECO2 had submitted to the City Commission that ECO2 work plan and a timeline for what they intended to accomplish over the next year as well as a budget.
She said the open space plan was almost completed and they would be preparing a map to accompany the narrative plan and fee estimates for that plan as well as an industrial component that would have a narrative, map and cost estimates. Mapping on both elements would be done and identification of any overlap of those two components and developing a system to resolve any overlap issues. She said they would develop a component over the next year for bylaws and decision making. Another component would be implementation of the plan, public education and outreach plan, and making a strong effort to coordinate their effort in communicating with the public as the plan was developed and to receive comments to further refine the plan. She said all of that would be done on a timeline that stretched from May 2004 to March 2005.
She said the budget that they had presented was reasonable for the amount of work they would be able to produce through their voluntary board. She said they had listed items that would be an administrative staff person that was donating time through the chamber of commerce to support the industrial work group, 2 Urban Planning K.U. Student that would be interns with a proposed match of half of that cost through the Kansas Work Study Program, and the design and printing costs for the end of the process to print and distribute a plan for the public to review and comment on. The total cost was $16,800 with a request for a match from the City of $6,000.
Mayor Rundle said this was the next step for all that had been invested in this effort. He said this was a fairly reasonable request and he was prepared to support the request.
Moved by Highberger, seconded by Hack, to grant the funding request for ECO2. Motion carried unanimously. (19)
Consider request from the University of Kansas Student Housing Association (UKSHA) for a waiver of tree replacement charges that were incurred from moving the Wilcox-Hunter House from 1309 Ohio Street to 1033 Kentucky Street
Greig Seibel, Board member of the University of Kansas Student Housing Association, said he was the project manager for moving that historic house. He said this was a very large house and there was no way to preserve the house and move the house without removing some trees. The original route that the house was going to follow would have required the removal of 13 trees. A conference was scheduled to talk about that issue and the route was changed in order to minimize the number of trees that needed to be removed. As a result, they incurred significant extra utility costs.
They did choose the route that would require the fewest number of trees removed. He also asked that the Association enter into an agreement to allow them to water the trees and not have to pay the city for those costs.
He presented photographs of the route to the City Commission. He said that it was not possible to save both the house and all of those trees. He said they received a lot of feedback that that house was valuable and a part of the community. He said because they preserved that house and provided some value to the neighborhood they were requesting that the City waive the charge for lost value of the trees. He said the actual costs to the City had already been paid.
He said their second request was to make an agreement with the City that they would be allowed to water 3 of those trees that were near their property and waive a third of their watering cost. He said if the trees died due to drought, they would pay for the replacement.
Vice Mayor Highberger asked Seibel if he thought about how he would water the tree across the street.
Seibel said he would carry a bucket of water across the street and water the tree a couple times a week.
Mayor Rundle called for public comment.
After receiving no public comment, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Schauner, to waive the value of the trees lost, totaling $11,790.74 tree and approve the request to waive one third of the tree watering costs equaling $900. (20)
Vice Mayor Highberger said he had a concern about setting a precedent. He said this issue involving trees needed to be distinguished because other people would come and ask for a waiver. He said this issue was distinguishable because it was done by a non-profit organization and there was an historical resources component to this issue.
Mayor Rundle asked how many times in the past had the cost of the value of mature trees been assessed.
Wildgen said not many had been assessed in house moving, but if some knocked a tree down the City tried to recover those costs.
Receive recommendation from the Public Transit Advisory Committee (PTAC) on the proposed route changes.
Karin Rexroad, Public Transit Administrator, presented the staff report. She said PTAC did route review on a continuous yearly basis. She said the citizens liked the way the routes were currently configured which was backed up by the increase in ridership.
She said some suggestions for rerouting were to the jail; later hours; north/south routes for west Lawrence; east/west routes for east Lawrence; and shuttle service on the South Iowa retail loop.
She informed the City Commission of the recommended route enhancements for City Commission approval. She said staff was proposing to start services on Saturday at 6 a.m. instead of 7 a.m. This additional hour would cost approximately $8,000 for the remainder of 2004 and $21,000 for 2005.
Mayor Rundle called for public comment.
Hilda Enoch said it was great that the ridership of the “T” was increasing. She said one unmet need was the question of a route to the jail. She said that route would make a big difference to many families and to the rehabilitation of people that were now in the jails who would become citizens of this community.
Commissioner Dunfield said he appreciated the process and it was always good to hear that ridership on the “T’” was up.
Vice Mayor Highberger echoed Commissioner Dunfield’s comments. He said he was supportive of keeping that stop at Haskell. He said he understood the problems with the jail, but he hoped that something could be worked out in the future.
Mayor Rundle said in regards to the route to the jail, the County was spending money for cabs. He said if staff could include in the review any work with County and City staff to look at feasibility to collaborating to shift those funds from one use to support the bus system and how they could work together.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Highberger , to approve the recommended route changes from the Public Transit Advisory Committee. Motion carried unanimously. (21)
Consider the request to establish no parking along the south side of 11th Street between Connecticut Street and Haskell Avenue. The Traffic Safety Commission (TSC) unanimously recommended denial of the request on April 5, 2004. This item was deferred from the April 30, 2004 City Commission meeting.
Chuck Soules, presented the staff report. He said 11th Street was classified as a “minor arterial” and was paved approximately 39 feet wide. There were daily traffic volumes of approximately 7,000 vehicles. He said there were three vehicle crashes reported in that area during 2001, five crashes in 2002, and six crashes in 2003. He said parking was currently prohibited along south side.
He said the Traffic Safety Commission held their hearing and received two concerns from adjacent residents. One resident was concerned that removing parking would increase traffic speed. He said another resident had a concern that removing parking would not have an area available for visitors.
The Traffic Safety Commission voted unanimously to deny that request. Since that time Greg Polk had approached the East Lawrence neighborhood and they had come up with a good compromise that during the business hours, they recommended no parking between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. and after 8 p.m. until 7a.m., parking would be allowed.
Mayor Rundle called for public comment.
Greg Polk said he originally made the request for no parking on 11th Street. He said there were approximately 7,200 vehicles per day that use 11th Street which were city buses, city dump trucks and other city vehicles. He said that street was a dangerous clogged strip of ground. He said that street was very tight and large trucks could not maneuver through.
He said after talking to the Traffic Safety Commission about those concerns, the TSC sent two of their members to that location, but they could not see any problems. He said no one was using 11th Street, because Haskell was under construction.
He said there were 7,200 cars a day using 11th Street and in a report from the Chamber of Commerce there were only 6,900 cars a day using the South Lawrence Trafficway. There were more cars using a city street in a five-block area then using the South Lawrence Trafficway.
He said that he attended the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association meeting and they unanimously approved the no parking on 11th Street. He said the Neighborhood Association was going to approach the residents of 11th Street about that matter. The East Lawrence Neighborhood Association sent out a newsletter informing the neighborhood of the meeting that was going to take at place concerning the no parking issue, but no one had replied. The association then unanimously voted to remove parking on the south side.
Ed Tato, President, East Lawrence Neighborhood Association, said that he was not sure that this was a great solution to the issue. He said he drove on 11th Street everyday and it was a problem, but he was no sure what to do about that problem. He said he had talked to City staff about this issue and hopefully they could look at a holistic approach to traffic in East Lawrence because the situation was going to get worse.
He said he thought that in this particular instance that not having the parking on the South side especially during the daylight hours made visibility a little bit better for the drivers. He said 11th Street was clearly an artery more than it was a local street and the questions were how to use that street as an artery, how to use the street as local parking, and how to keep speed down on that street. The concern of the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association Board was for safety that was the first and foremost issue, both for drivers and pedestrians in the area. He said there was also the question of how to not burden the people living 11th Street. There were not a lot of houses on 11th Street, but for those residents there was not a lot of parking because the lots were small. He said that he would like to think that this issue would begin to address some of the issues in their capital improvement request such as better marking of crosswalks to reinforce the idea to local drivers from other parts of town that this was a residential neighborhood. He said that idea was a compromise and like most compromises, it did not really serve either purpose perfectly, but it was a way to address the issue.
Commissioner Hack asked about a comment that came from the minutes of the Traffic Safety Commission concerning children going to and from New York School. She asked if Tato thought no parking on 11th Street would make it easier for those kids, because the view would be better or would it be more of a thoroughfare.
Tato said he was not sure that the no parking on 11th Street was going to speed up traffic. He said when researching speed bumps, people slow down and speed up as soon as they were over that speed hump to get to the next intersection. He said on 11th Street people might slow down when they see a parked car, but as soon as they passed that car they speed up.
He said that the no parking on 11th Street made sight lines better for a driver, but the question was the sight distance for the kids. He said he would like to see a better crosswalk and a crossing guard during school hours.
Commissioner Hack said that perhaps better markings might help.
Tato said one of their requests was to install a crosswalk on 11th and on Connecticut with different pavement in between the crosswalk for sight purposes as well as a physical reminder of why that crosswalk was there.
Commissioner Hack said that she liked Tato’s offer of working with staff to find a more holistic approach. She said the more people moving in created more problems and those problems needed to be addressed. She said Tato was a creative individual who could come up with good solutions.
Sharon Gauna, one of the residents who lived on 11th Street, said that she had emailed the East Lawrence Association about her and her neighbors concerns and they had both attended the Traffic Safety Commission meeting about those issues.
She said she had only one parking space at her residence and had to park her two other cars on the street. If parking was eliminated on 11th Street, she would need to park her two other cars on Delaware Street or Pennsylvania Street. She said she did not oppose having no parking on 11th Street during the day, but she thought 8 p.m. was a little late and preferred 5:00 or 5:30 p.m. She said she came home from work between 4:30 and 5:00 p.m. and would still need to park around the corner.
She said another concern was the crosswalk for the children. She said there were many times people did not stop for those children going to and from New York School. She thought the idea of no parking on 11th Street would worsen traffic and having a few cars parked out on 11th it would slow traffic down. She said there were never any parked vehicles in front of Hobbs Park because those residents had long enough driveways for parking their vehicles.
Another issue was that her family and friends would need to park on Pennsylvania or Delaware Street if parking was eliminated. She said some of her friends that were not familiar with her neighborhood, might feel uneasy at night walking to their vehicles a half block down. She suggested to the Commission having the street closed Monday through Friday, from 7 or 8 a.m. until 4:30 or 5 p.m. which would be a more feasible plan.
Commissioner Dunfield said removing parking off 11th Street was a step in the wrong direction and he concurred with the Traffic Safety Commission recommendation for denial. He said he had traveled 11th Street for a number of years, and he did not want to do something that would encourage people to drive faster on that street. He said if the Commission removed parking on 11th Street and the traffic speed increased, he suspected that the Commission would be revisiting the issue talking about installing traffic calming devices at City expense. He said that it did not make sense to remove a control that had some effect.
Commissioner Hack asked Soules if it was Barker or Learnard where there was no parking every other block.
Soules said that it was Barker.
Commissioner Hack said concerning sight distance for children, she asked if there was a better way that the cars could be parked. She asked if that type of parking on Barker was successful or if it had been more of an enforcement problem.
Soules said right now there was not a lot of traffic on Barker.
Commissioner Dunfield said that Barker Avenue was undergoing serious transitions right now. He said the greater danger to the children was from the faster speeds that traffic was going and removing parking seemed like it was going to contribute to faster speeds.
Vice Mayor Highberger agreed with Commissioner Dunfield. He said that it seemed well established that street parking would slow down traffic. The last thing 11th Street needed was an increase in traffic. He understood that might cause some difficulty for truck traffic, but again, it would also slow down the truck traffic.
As far as the concern for people not wanting to park half a block down on Pennsylvania or Delaware Street because they were afraid was another question that needed to be addressed separately, but that was something that needed to be addressed when there were parking decisions to be made.
Moved by Mayor Rundle, seconded by Hack, to concur with Traffic Safety Commission’s recommendation to deny the request for no parking on 11th Street between Haskell Avenue and Connecticut Street. Motion carried unanimously. (22)
Moved by Rundle, seconded by Highberger, to adjourn at 9:20p.m. Motion carried unanimously. APPROVED:
_____________________________
Mike Rundle, Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
CITY COMMISSION MEETING OF MAY 11, 2004
1. Bid – 2004 Overlay Program to Asphalt Improvement Co., fro 496,403.05.
2. Bid Date – 2004 Overlay and Concrete Repair Program Phase 2, May 25, 2004.
3. Bid – Backhoe for Utilities Dept to Murphy Tractor & Equip for $54,670.
4. Ordinance No. 7703 – 2nd reading, rezone (Z-07-22-03) 6.195 acres, A to RS-1, Foxfire & Burning Tree, S & W of existing Foxfire Development.
5. Ordinance No. 7711 – 2nd reading, rezone (Z-08-27-03) 23.9380 acres, A to RMD, S side of K-10 Hwy & W of O’Connell.
6. Ordinance No. 7712 – 2nd reading, rezone (Z-08-28-03) 8.6220 acres, A to RS-2, S side of K-10 Hwy & W of O’Connell.
7. Ordinance No. 7732 – 2nd reading, (TA-09-03-03) adding water/wastewater review requirements and park service area standards to Joint Sub Regs.
8. Ordinance No. 7764 – 2nd reading, rezone (Z-12-50-03) 20.1626 acres from B-3 to RM-1, NE corner of Clinton Pkwy & K-10 Hwy.
9. Ordinance No. 7774 – 2nd reading, increase fees & mileage rates for ambulance services & deleting certain additional costs.
10. Ordinance No. 7782 – 2nd Reading, smoking in public places.
11. Ordinance No. 7789 – 2nd Reading, cigarettes & tobacco products.
12. Final Plat – (PF-03-09-04) Fall Creek Farms 10th Plat, 20.202 acres, E of Monterey Way & S of Peterson approx 120’ N of Stetson.
13. Final Plat – (PF-03-10-04) North Town Add, 4.479 acres, W of N 2nd, N of Lyon.
14. Final Plat – (PF-03-11-04) Oread West Office Park, 16.893 acres, N of 15th & W of Wakarusa.
15. Site Plan – (SP-01-07-04) Warehouse Bldg, 2406 Ponderosa.
16. Site Plan – (SP-03-20-04) 4-plex alterations, 1000 Mississippi.
17. Mortgage Release – 1922 Maple Ln, Lola Vassar.
18. Funding – Bioscience Study.
19. Funding – ECO2
20. House Move – Waive tree replacement charges for UKSHA for Wilcox-Hunter House, 1309 Ohio to 1033 Kentucky.
21. Transportation – Route Changes (PTAC).
22. No Parking – 11th between Connecticut & Haskell.