June 8, 2004
The Board of Commissioners of the City of Lawrence met in regular session at 6:35 p.m. in the City Commission Chambers in City Hall with Mayor Rundle presiding and members Dunfield, Hack, Highberger, and Schauner present.
RECOGNITION/PROCLAMATION/PRESENTATION:
Mayor Rundle recognized Michelle Jenning and Lois Orth-Lopes as the Mayor’s Excellence in Education Award recipients.
With Commission approval Mayor Rundle proclaimed the month of June, as “National Safety Month.”
CONSENT AGENDA
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to approve the City Commission meeting minutes of May 25, 2004. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to approve the Human Relations Commission meeting minutes of February 18, 2004; the Convention & Visitors Bureau meeting minutes of April 27, 2004; the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority meeting minutes of April 26, 2004; the Sesquicentennial Committee meeting minutes of March 31, 2004 and April 7, 2004; the Board of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters meeting minutes of April 21, 2004; and the Neighborhood Resources Advisory Committee meeting minutes of April 20, 2004. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to approve claims to 538 vendors in the amount of $13,747,904.61 and payroll from May 16, 2004 to May 29, 2004 in the amount of $1,366.920.27. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to approve the drinking establishment licenses for Milton’s Coffee, 920 Massachusetts (C-3 Food Sales Requirement); Duffy’s at the Ramada Inn, 2222 West 6th Street; Paisano’s Ristorante, 2112 West 25th, Suite C & D; Scarlet Orchid, 2223 Louisiana, Suite C (New License); Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, 2520 South Iowa; Royal Crest Lane, 933 Iowa; the Cereal Malt Beverage License for Wheat State Pizza, 711 West 23rd, No. 19; the Retail Liquor Licenses for Cork & Barrell Downtown; 901 Mississippi; and World Wine & Beer, 3106 SW Iowa, Suite 202 (New License). Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to concur with the recommendation of the Mayor and appoint Patti Welty to the Neighborhood Resources Advisory Committee. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to execute a contract with Professional Engineering Consultants in the amount of $34,888 for the design and construction phase services of the Clinton Parkway and Wakarusa Relief Sewer Project. (1)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for Holcom Parking Lot Overlay for the Parks and Recreation Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID
Asphalt Improvement Co. $50,475
LRM Industries $50,940
Killough $59,850
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to award the bid to Asphalt Improvement Co., in the amount of $50,475. Motion carried unanimously. (2)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for the HVAC system at South Park Center for the Parks and Recreation Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID
Chaney, Inc. $39,797
Huxtable, Inc. $50,100
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to award the bid to Chaney, Inc., in the amount of $39,797. Motion carried unanimously.
(3)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to authorize the purchase by sole source, three RescueOne Connector Boats and Custom Trailers, in the amount of $50,035 utilizing the FEMA Firefighter Assistant Grant Funds. Motion carried unanimously. (4)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for a Kaw Plant boiler and HVAC Specialties for the Utilities Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
Brother’s Mechanical Contractors $49,548
North Point Boiler & Combustion Co. $37,890
McElroy’s, Inc. $37,990
SRH Mechanical Contractors, Inc. $36,000
Huxtable & Associates $48,500
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to award the bid to SRH Mechanical Contractors, Inc., in the amount of $36,000. Motion carried unanimously. (5)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for 2004 Overlay and Concrete Repair Program, Phase 2, for the Public Works Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
Engineer’s Estimate $808,716.20
Kansas Heavy Construction $730,118.05
LRM Industries, Inc. $777,643.55
Larkin Excavating $876,909.42
D.F. Freeman Contractors $906,901.60
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to award the bid to Kansas Heavy Construction, in the amount of $730,118.05. Motion carried unanimously. (6)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to approve an engineering services contract with Bartlett & West Engineers for the Preliminary Design Report for Kasold Drive Reconstruction, 15th Street to Clinton Parkway, in the amount of $158,740.40. Motion carried unanimously. (7)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to set a bid opening date of June 22, 2004 for comprehensive rehabilitation at 2104 Tennessee Street and 1628 East 18th Terrace. Motion carried unanimously. (8)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to adopt Resolution No. 6551, declaring 2300 Iowa Street environmentally blighted, ordering the property owner to remove the violations within 20 days of the adoption of said resolution. Failure of the property owner to comply will result in the City abating the violations. Motion carried unanimously. (9)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the Final Plat (PF-04-14-04) for North Iowa Addition, a proposed industrial subdivision for future office development containing approximately 3.259 acres, located at 601 North Iowa, southwest corner of the intersection of North Iowa and Kresge Road; 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. (10)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to concur with the Planning Commission’s recommendations to approve the Final Plat (PF-04-15-04) for R L Subdivision, a three-lot residential subdivision containing approximately 0.78 acre, located at 1201 Monterey Way; 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. Submittal and approval of a Master Street Tree Plan.
2. Execution of a Temporary Utility Agreement;
3. Submittal of public improvement plans (water line and sanitary sewers) to Public Works Department prior to filing of the final plat;
4. Label centerline of W. 12th Street on final plat to show that 35’ is half of the total amount of right-of-way; and
5. Execution of an agreement not to protest the formation of a benefit district for West 12th Street.
Motion carried unanimously. (11)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to authorize the Mayor to sign a Release of Mortgage for Jocelyn Kitchen, 1144 Pennsylvania Street. Motion carried unanimously. (12)
Price Banks, representing five of the six property owners whose land was being condemned for the Northfield Estates Sanitary Sewer Project, requested that the item be pulled from the consent agenda for separate discussion. He said they had negotiations with the developer and the developer’s representatives for approximately six months relating to this issue. Unfortunately, the negotiations had gone slowly and last Friday, they had information provided which changed the picture and they did not have time to prepare a complete presentation for the City Commission. He said there were many connected issues involved that they believed the City Commission needed to look at. He said they would be asking the City Commission to rethink the design of that particular sewer and where it was going from Northfield Estates. He asked the City Commission to defer this issue for one week so they had the opportunity to take into consideration information that they had just received to provide the City Commission with a presentation.
Mayor Rundle called for public comment.
Mark Anderson, speaking on behalf of the developer, James Hicks, said that his involvement in this issue began 11 months ago. He said he approached the Mayor and City Commission with an alternative that might have avoided the necessity of condemnation all together. That alternative involved a lift station to connect to a manhole that was immediately across the street from Northfield Estates. He said the developer did not need to condemn anyone’s property for a sewer easement. He said it was the developer’s desire to go across Iowa Street and connect with an existing manhole and leave Banks’ clients alone. He said the developer was not trying to force them to annex, connect to a sewer main, or construct service lines. He said the property owners’ concerns were shared by the developer.
He said there was also another alternative that might avoid condemnation. He said the alternative was that the City could willingly pick up the difference in costs between what was offered to those property owners and the cost of connecting to those services. He said the developer had been negotiating with the City and Banks for 11 months. He said he was leaving town in three weeks and if this issue was not resolved in the next two weeks then this issue would be put off for two more months. He said all they were asking the City to do, was to instruct staff to proceed, at the developer’s expenses with what the City Commission approved in October of last year. He said the developer was not asking the City Commission approve condemnation because the City Commission already did those condemnations unanimously.
He said he understood that Banks just received those estimates, but Banks could have received those estimates four months ago. He said again, the developer simply wanted to start the process. He said it was unlikely the developer would file anything in the next week or two. He said they were not anxious about this idea and they would certainly hold off for a week or two. He said what they did not want to do was to come back to the City Commission in two weeks. He said if the City Commission did not want to approve their request, he asked that the City Commission reconsider their request for a lift station.
Banks said they did request those estimates some time ago and they had some preliminary numbers that were quite different from the final numbers that they ultimately received.
Commissioner Dunfield said he would like clarification from staff because Anderson’s statement and things heard from the property owners were leading people to the wrong conclusion which was that somehow this condemnation proceeding would force those property owners to pay the cost of connecting to the City sewer and to have their properties annexed into the City. He asked if that was true.
Corliss said correct. He said under the proposal the City would initiate condemnation actions. The City Commission’s first step would be to adopt a resolution, but that resolution would be two weeks away given the current workload. He said after that resolution was adopted, staff would come back with an ordinance that would need to be adopted on first and second reading authorizing the condemnation.
He said the proposal was for the applicant, Northfield Estates that had an approved zoning and plat for property at the northeast corner of Riverridge and north Iowa, to follow the City’s Sanitary Sewer Master Plan which called for the sanitary sewer in that area to go directly north to the Riverside Pump Station Project which was currently under construction. He said the Master Plan provided that sewage would then flow north and then east to a pump station and come back to align along North Iowa.
Staff extensively reviewed that issue last year when the City Commission authorized that proposal because it was staff’s belief that they wanted to avoid an unnecessary lift station at that location. This proposal avoided that lift station.
He said while it was technically accurate to talk about being able to pump across the street to the sanitary sewer line that ran north and south on North Iowa, that was not the Utility Department’s recommendation because in order to do that, it would create a lift station that then was the City’s responsibility.
He said this item established a deadline and we’re now focusing decisions and that was the purpose of placing this issue on the agenda to allow staff to proceed with acquiring the sanitary sewer easements. The City’s acquisition of the sanitary sewer easements only meant that the City had the right to use that property for that purpose. It did not require the property owner to hook up to sanitary sewer. The properties in question were outside the City and those properties were beyond the City’s legal authority to require someone to hook up to sanitary sewer. He said it was possible those properties could be annexed in the future and it was also possible that the City could annex the Miller and Wells acres area in the future and it would provide the City with the ability to hook on to that system as well, but there were no current plans for that idea. He said there would be costs to the property owner for hooking onto the sanitary sewer line and that was part of the negotiation among the parties as to who paid for hooking onto the sanitary sewer.
He said under the City’s development policy, none of those costs should be borne by the City-at-large. Those were sanitary sewer improvements that were for the development and under the development policy as currently written, those costs were 100 percent paid for by the development.
Commissioner Dunfield said again, it would be the property owner’s choice to connect to the sanitary sewer and not a requirement of the City.
Corliss said correct.
Commissioner Schauner said except to the extent that should the septic system fail after those properties were in the City, those properties would be required to hook up to the City’s sanitary sewer.
Corliss said if those properties were within the City that was correct. He said even if those properties were outside the City, he thought that the Health Department would ask the City to respond to that health and public safety concern. He said in order to respond, the City would need to annex the property into the City and then go through the procedures to force those properties onto a sanitary sewer line.
Banks said if the property was acquired and the sewer was built, even though that sewer was paid for by the developer, the City had indicated that in the future, if someone wanted to hook up, they would end up paying front footage fees. He said front footage fees were thousands and thousands of dollars which meant those properties were devalued by having that sewer. He said that did not make sense because typically front footage fees were to pay for the sewer main.
He said one of the issues that was going to happen with this complex set of events was that they were going to ask the City Commission to waive those front footage fees at the time those properties hooked up. He said this was a multifaceted complex issue. He said those property owners had just received information that they had not been able to digest and it looked as though the Commission was rushing forward if the City Commission took action on this issue at this time.
Mayor Rundle asked if there was something significant about authorizing staff to work on those resolutions.
Corliss said in his opinion he knew that a deadline would force decisions and that was good for making decisions on the project, but he wanted the authority to spend staff time drafting those resolutions.
Terry Beardon, property owner represented by Banks, asked Corliss if they had the choice to hook in to that sewer line. He said they were not being given a choice of whether the sewer line was coming through their property. Each individual property owner was not being given a fair shot and the sewers were coming through one way or the other.
Corliss said he did not disagree that the City was forcing the sanitary sewer line on the eastern side of those properties.
Beardon said there was not enough clarification of why the City would not authorize a lift station because that would avoid going through any of their properties.
Corliss said that was the design alternative that was studied and recommended against.
Commissioner Hack said 11 month of conversation was not rushing into anything and it was time to get the show on the road. It seemed that by asking staff to prepare the necessary condemnation instruments, they had not shut down the possibility of conversation about a temporary lift station. She said it might or might not be the best plan, but the Commission needed to make sure they were on some track rather than delaying this issue again.
Commissioner Schauner said some things that would be helpful would be information from staff about front footage fees, what the policy was, what the cost would be per homeowner for those front footage fees, what circumstances had the City Commission waived those fees in the past, and maintenance cost of a lift station if that was the design alternative that was selected. He said he recognized that the City was not trying to add lift stations to their assemblage of lift stations across the City, but whatever information staff could provide would be helpful. He said he did not see any reason not to go forward with some instrument preparation, but he would like that additional information when the City Commission was asked to consider this type of issue.
Corliss said staff could provide information, but front footage charges were assessed by the City Engineers office in situations where the property owner did not pay for the sanitary sewer main line that accesses their property. Most cases that sewer main was installed by a developer and the developer had paid those costs. He said in other situations those property owners were in a special assessment benefit district and those property owners would be assessed that cost. He said in this situation, the developer was paying for the entire line installation and part of the negotiation was that those property owners would not have to pay that front footage cost if those property owners ever accessed that line. Those property owners would need to pay all of their private sanitary sewer lateral line connection charges to connect to that line which was following the traditional development practice. He said staff could get the information to the City Commission on the City’s Development Policy that corresponded to that policy.
Mayor Rundle said that staff could not get the instruments prepared by next week for the City Commission to consider, but he suggested that Banks give his presentation next week.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to authorize staff to prepare necessary condemnation instruments for Northfield Estates Sanitary Sewer Project. Motion carried unanimously. (13)
During the City Manager’s report, Bruce Flanders, Library Director, presented an overview of the activities of the Lawrence Public Library and accomplishments during 2003. He said they hosted a heavily used library website that could be used to access the library catalogue and a number of reference and research databases at www.lawrencepubliclibrary.org.
He said the library goals for 2004 were:
1. Structuring a cleaning schedule for the library facility;
2. Implementing a Print and Session Management System for public access Internet work stations;
3. Conducting a comprehensive study of staffing needs; and
4. Replacing the on-line catalogue and circulation system.
He said the Lawrence Public Library was continuing to move forward and they kept faith with their promise to serve the community. (14)
REGULAR AGENDA
Receive public comments related to the 2005 budget.
A person speaking on behalf of the Lawrence Coalition for Homeless Concerns, asked the City Commission to consider a temporary emergency shelter available for the homeless community and in the future, a 24/7 shelter available for those people. (15)
Melissa Boisen, Board member for the Partnership for Children and Youth, said they had concerns about the City Commission’s grant funding recommendations for 2005. She said their Partnership tried to find out why they were not given any funding for 2005. The feedback received was that the City Commission did not understand what they did. She said their Partnership provided a unique role in coordinating and collaborating for children. She said the primary goal of the Partnership was to join together with individuals, agencies, and businesses as partners to improve the overall well-being of children. She said they had been very involved in Douglas County for the last six or seven years and over 1.8 million dollars had come into Douglas County because of the initiative of their Partnership. She said that the Partnership was not a service provider, but a coordinator and collaborator behind the scenes.
She said in the grant writing process, the Partnership believed that their responsibility was to respond to the questions outlined in the grant application. She said their response should be clear and thorough, but their response was limited only to the amount of space allotted in the grant application. She suggested adding more questions, expanding the size of the application, or presenting their request to the City Commission.
She said regarding the Community Database Proposal, that proposal was very exciting for their Partnership. The City, County, citizens, and youth were all involved in that process and one issue of concern was the lack of data. She said with that database there would be coordination with other agencies so that the information was reliable and valid.
The City Commission also stated in the grant application that they did not want random approaches or solutions. She said their intent to generate the Community Youth Database was to provide insight into the needs of children and youth so they could target their limited resources.
The City grant application also requested effective strategies or promising approaches. She said the juvenile justice initiative was based on promising approaches of risk factors and protective factors.
In October 2001, the Lawrence Partnership secured the signature of the Mayor on a proclamation with the City of Lawrence that directly specified the importance of five key promises that children need which were caring adults, safe places, access to health care, community service opportunities, and marketable skills through education and field training. Together the Lawrence Partnership and the City of Lawrence came together for claiming the importance of all five resources for our children.
Finally, the Community Database responded directly to a need outlined in the Seventh Judicial District Community Planning Team. She said with the recommendation coming out with the juvenile justice initiative it was important that we look at our history and the recommendation that had came out from major initiatives.
She said on behalf of the Board of Directors for the Lawrence Partnership, they urged the City Commission to review the 2005 proposals by the Partnership and reconsider their current funding recommendations.
Mayor Rundle asked if that Community Database did not exist and was the Partnership applying for funds from the Alcohol Tax Fund or from outside agencies for that database.
Boisen said the Alcohol Tax Fund was directly related along with the Partnership matching funds with the Federal Government.
Mayor Rundle asked Boisen what the request from the outside agencies was to be used for.
Boisen said resource referral. She said this was a collaborative effort that involved multiple agencies that also have an interest and want to participate in that data collection process for reliable data.
Kristen Malloy, Executive Director for the Partnership for Children and Youth, explained the outside agency funding request to the Commission. She said what they did on a day to day basis was truly resource and referral. She said the Partnership served the need of answering questions about children and youth issues that people did not know where to turn. She said they take the time to network those people and connect them to other agencies to address their needs. She said businesses that had resources or contributions to give to the children in this community would call their Partnership and they would make that happen.
Maria Martin, Director, Downtown Lawrence, Inc., said since the year 2000, Downtown Lawrence Inc., had received that funding from the City. She said they had never viewed this funding as something they were entitled to, but rather that the City Commissions in the past had granted this funding to them as a sign that those Commissions believed that the Downtown Lawrence Inc., mission was to promote and protect downtown and that was a direct benefit to the entire City.
She said Downtown Lawrence Inc., had not changed its focus as far as economic development. However, economic development for Downtown Lawrence was more the economic vitality of downtown. She said they worked toward the economic vitality by the promotion and marketing that their association did by creating and pushing forth downtown as a destination place not only for outside visitors and guests, but also for this community.
She said as far as bringing certain businesses to downtown, that was something Downtown Lawrence did not control. Downtown was made up of independent business owners as well as property owners. She said Downtown Lawrence was a volunteer membership organization and therefore it was difficult for them as an organization to talk to property owners and be specific as to who they could rent to or what they would like to see. She said the property owners had done well in selecting who they rent to and as a result our downtown was diverse and offered something for everyone.
In the past with funding from the City those funds had helped them launch a new DLI Website. She said that website informed people about the downtown area as well as the City. Previous funding also enabled them to work with different media agencies on packages of collaborate marketing that their Association was then able to offer to its members. She said they also did some sponsorship of annual community events.
She addressed outside funding for 2005. She said it was stated that the majority of the funding request was used for the salary of the Director. She said of that $52,250 request, the salary for the Director covered 20 hours per week for the purpose of working on the economic development vitality of downtown. The remainder of that money which was over half of that request went for promotional opportunities and marketing.
She said the Director of DLI served as a clearing house and communicated well with the City offices making it easier for downtown to receive information on major projects. The Director also acted as a liaison between downtown property owners and prospective tenants looking for business. There was a packet of information that was sent out when someone called looking to rent a place and they put those people in direct contact with a property owner. She said DLI also communicated with prospective small independent business owners on the downtown’s viability and attractiveness. They were involved in the Downtown Beautification Project and worked with media outlets on the collaborative marketing advertisement providing members good opportunities. She said the DLI met with community groups in order to assist them in planning events for the entire community.
The remainder and larger percent of the funds that were requested in the City use of Outside Agency Funding went directly toward economic vitality and was a City cost share with DLI. She said they would develop a downtown Lawrence Historic District segment for their DLI website once that designation was attained at the end of this year.
George Paley, downtown property owner, said a lot of exciting things were happening downtown and the National Historic Designation was something that could put Lawrence on the map. He thanked Martin for all the work she had done for downtown.
Pam Weigand, President, Lawrence Partnership for Children and Youth, spoke about the collaboration and partnerships that they had. She said in 2004 they would have $755,000 that would flow through the Partnership and much of that money was used as physical sponsorship and pass through funds. About $162,000 of those funds were used to operate the Partnership. A majority of those funds were passed to other agencies for those other agencies endeavors to meet the needs of children and youth in the community.
She said the Partnership had ten promise sites where they tried to fulfill those five promises, discussed earlier, at those specific sites. She said they currently had 26 promise partners and they were continuing to seek more promise partners.
She said there was a promise station website with almost 500 hits on that site this year which tried to focus the community members and how they could meet the needs of the youth.
There was also a Lawrence/Douglas County Promise Youth Leadership Team that provided over 500 hours of community service work to this community.
The Partnership had been recognized as the Priority Community of Promise for 2004 by a national group, America’s Promise.
Melinda Henderson, representing the League of Women’s Voters, said this request was not specifically a formal budget request, but something the League wanted to ask that the City Commission consider working with the League, the World Company, and possibly the County Commission about the idea of televising the Planning Commission meetings. This was something that the League had been studying and the League had adopted that idea as an action priority. She said at this point in time they were not sure where the funding would come from or if it would even need to be funded. She said the League looked at the Franchise Fee agreement and the figures in that agreement were two years old. She asked the City Commission to consider whether televising the Planning Commission would be an appropriate community service.
She said as Lawrence grew, more and more people were becoming interested in how Lawrence was growing and the process of having that service available to the community.
Commissioner Hack asked if there had ever been conversation, at the County level, to televise those meetings.
Henderson said the Planning Commission meetings were conducted in the City Commission Chambers which was setup for that type of media coverage. Also, the Planning Commission was structured so that 50% of the appointments were from the County Commission and 50% from the City Commission. She said this was an outgrowth of a study that the League conducted on the representativeness of the Planning Commission a few years ago. She said 80% of the County resided inside Lawrence and the County might need to be involved because they were part of appointing the Planning Commission and if there was some funding the League would need to acquire, the League would want to ask the County Commission to contribute, but the League had not formally addressed the County Commission on that concept.
Commissioner Highberger thanked everyone who came down to address the Commission about their budget request. He said he truly valued Downtown Lawrence and all of their work along with his commitment to programs for this City’s youth. He said he had a fiduciary responsibility to all the taxpayers of Lawrence and he wanted to make sure when the Commission allocated money to something, he wanted to make sure he had a good answer for the public on how that money was being spent.
He said he would like to take a look at those grant application forms for some revisions before the next process. He said the City Commission based their decisions on prior experience and presentations from the year before. He said he hoped that the citizens would trust the City Commission to take the information that was provided and the City Commission would try to make the best recommendations they could.
Commissioner Schauner said one of the comments made last year, slightly later in the process, was that there was an interest on behalf of this City Commission for as much public input as people wanted to provide. He urged citizens to comment on this budget process. He said this was another difficult budget year and he hoped that all Lawrence citizens would take that to heart and provide the City Commission with input.
Receive draft Memorandum of Understanding with the International Association of Firefighters Local 1596 (IAFF).
Receive draft Memorandum of Understanding with the Lawrence Police Officers Association (LPOA)
David Corliss, Assistant City Manager/Legal Services Director, briefed the City Commission concerning the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the International Association of Firefighters Local 1596 and the Lawrence Police Officers Association.
He said the staff memorandum indicated that the Memorandums of Understanding were similar. Both of the Memorandums provided that the positions that were represented by the respective employee organizations would be reclassified to reflect current market salary survey in keeping with the Compensation Study that the City Commission adopted last year. He said pursuant to the recommendations of the study it seeks to pay comparable wages based on market surveys of comparable positions. The Memorandums of Understanding also provided that there would be a 2% wage adjustment beginning in 2005. The Memorandums also provide that there would be a review of paid time-off benefits that would be conducted and concluded this year.
The agreements were two year agreements and the agreements did not specify a wage adjustment in 2006, but the agreement provided a back stop if the City Commission did provide wage adjustment in 2006 that those employees would get at least that amount as a wage adjustment in fiscal year 2006.
He said staff believed that they successfully concluded the negotiations within the past few days pursuant to the resolution on how staff engaged in those discussions. It was his understanding that the Firefighters voted on that issue last evening and they ratified the agreement.
Debbie Van Saun, Assistant City Manager, said the LPOA was able to meet last Friday and they ratified the Memorandum of Understanding at that time.
Corliss said he, Chief McSwain, Deputy Chief Mark Bradford, and Frank Reeb, Administrative Service Director, were the primary attendees of those discussions. Pam Madl from Douglas County also attended to stay current with the discussion because the County was a very significant funding source for the Fire/Medical Department. He said Lori Carnahan, Personnel Manager was involved as well.
He said there were not many changes to the MOU and staff had provided the City Commission with the entire agreement. Most of those changes had to do with the compensation provisions. He pointed out that those agreements were contractual obligations of the City. The City Commission’s direction to approve those agreements would be contracts that were binding on the City and the employer organizations as well.
Van Saun said Darren Othick, Chair of the LPOA, along with the Vice Chair, Troy Squire were in attendance. She said Squire met with her and other members of the Police Department for the last year on the Compensation Plan Committee. She said that was where a lot of the true work took place leading up to the work that staff undertook during the negotiations. She said it was worthwhile work that led to some good negotiations.
Mayor Rundle said concerning the memorandum about the incentives for Fire/Medical Department, he asked if that was a salary percentage.
Corliss said correct. He said this was a slight change from earlier incentives with the Fire/Medical Department. He said one of the things staff did with the compensation plan was staff was able to move some of the incentives into actual position adjustments. He said a number of those positions were important incentives for the department because if the department did not have individuals taking on those responsibilities, staff would need to hire individuals to perform those responsibilities.
Commissioner Schauner asked about the LPOA proposal. He said there appeared to be new language this year that if during fiscal year 2006, the City instituted a general wage increase to any City employee. He asked if the phrase “City employee” was new this year or was it in red because it was combined with other language.
Van Saun said that phrase was new this year.
Commissioner Schauner said if the Commission chose to give the City Manager a 5% raise in fiscal year 2006, would that require the Commission to provide the same percentage increase to the LPOA under this MOU.
Van Saun said the wording was not meant to include that.
Corliss said the term “general wage adjustment” was staff’s synonymous term for “cost of living adjustment” and it was not merit based. A decision to increase the pay of one particular individual, staff would look at it as merit based.
Corliss said a general wage adjustment would be given to all employees or an employee group. If staff did reclassify certain positions in 2006, that would not be a general wage adjustment. In the City’s pay plan there were certain abilities for employees that were not capped out in the Range in Step Plan to receive merit increases and those increases would not be a general wage adjustment.
Commissioner Schauner asked if police and fire salary improvements for fiscal 2005 would total roughly $300,000 for police and $510,000 for fire.
Wildgen said correct.
Commissioner Schauner said there were some additional costs that the City would bear in 2005 for grant positions and the traffic unit.
Wildgen said correct.
Commissioner Schauner said his rough mathematics indicated that if adding roughly $811,000 with the other grant pick up expenses, the City’s increase cost for fiscal 2005 would be just over a million dollars.
Wildgen said correct.
Commissioner Schauner said he assumed that did not include the yet unknown cost of health insurance.
Wildgen said the City had a per-employee estimate and that figure was used to budget.
Commissioner Schauner asked if that figure was included in those numbers.
Wildgen said no, those were salary numbers.
Mayor Rundle called for public comment.
Darren Othick, Lawrence Police Officers Association, said this year when they came to negotiations they had three issues. One issue was vacation time which the LOPA agreed with the City to create a committee to study that issue. The second issue was the wages in which the committees that fire and police put together, as a result of last years MOU, addressed that issue and that was the pay plan that was in the current MOU. The third issue was the health insurance, but there was not much room for negotiation on that issue.
He said as an employee group, they were headed in the right direction. He said they were actually creating a pay plan that was specific and they were looking at an overall benefit package which had never been done before.
Kathy Elkins, President of the Firefighters Union, said she concurred with Othick. She said they were excited about the compensation outcome and they were able to work with the City to discuss those issues. She said the firefighters had the same language in their MOU about coming together and talking about paid time-off issues. One of the issues they brought up was sick leave because since they were running the emergency medical side, they were exposed to a lot more contamination and disease and they tended to use more sick-leave now. She said with that new committee, they would talk about that issue.
She asked the City Commission to approve the Memorandum of Understandings.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Dunfield, to authorize the Mayor to execute the Memorandum of Understanding with the International Association of Firefighters Local 1596 and the Lawrence Police Officers Association. Motion carried unanimously. (16)
Receive report and provide staff direction regarding the TSC recommendation to prohibit parking on the east side of Kentucky from 15th Street south 200 feet.
Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, presented the staff report. He said two weeks ago staff brought to the City Commission a recommendation from the Traffic Safety Commission (TSC) to restrict parking on the east sided of Kentucky from 15th Street. He said the City Commission asked staff for additional information. He presented photographs to the City Commission of the area.
He said staff checked the posted speed limit and ran traffic counts and as a result, there was an 85% speed. The posted speed limit was 30 mph and the 85% speed was 35 mph. Based on those two speeds, a safe stop at sight distance for a person traveling northbound on Kentucky at 30 mph would take 250 feet for that person to stop safely. He said another design criteria staff looked at was if someone pulled out from 15th Street, in order to get up to speed a person would need 290 feet of separation.
He also provided photographs of the anticipated parking stalls and explained those photographs to the City Commission.
Commissioner Schauner asked what Soules’ recommendation was.
Soules said based on a practical standpoint, if parking was removed back to the first driveway (3 stalls) that would provide better sight distance which was approximately 60 to 70 feet.
Mayor Rundle called for public comment.
Jason Boots, Community Affairs Director for Students, University of Kansas, said parking in that neighborhood as well as anywhere on campus or near campus, was tough to come by. He said with those two apartments and the number of tenants in those apartments, he suggested keeping as many of those parking spaces as possible.
He said part of the reason that allowed the line of sight to be changed was that vehicles caused a buffer and those vehicles could pull out five or six feet before those vehicles were in danger.
He said it would be best to keep all eight of those parking spaces, but if the City Commission wanted to remove some of those parking spaces, he suggested removing only a few spaces.
Commissioner Highberger said he made a right turn on a similar intersection every day which was 13th Street and did not think that taking those three parking places would make any difference. He preferred to leave the parking as it currently was. Again, he did not see any benefit gained from taking those three parking spaces up to the first driveway and taking the whole 200 feet was way too much and concluded that a third of the parking would be taken away in the Oread Neighborhood.
Commissioner Schauner said he would prefer to put public safety over parking convenience and removing those first three stalls back to the first driveway seemed to be a good compromise. He said where he worked, they had asked the City to move parking back from their driveway for this reason. He said it was difficult especially if the 85th percentile speed was 35 mph in a 30 mph zone because it did not give much reaction time if someone was trying to pull out into traffic.
Commissioner Dunfield said he had mixed feelings on this issue. He said on one hand he was shocked to find out that it was legal to park all the way up to the extended curb line at that intersection. He said for the cross street because there was a stop sign there, a person was required to stop 30 feet back. He said he assumed that 30 feet worked in both directions at an intersection like this.
He said on the other hand as he looked at the photograph that was provided, his conclusion was that having that driveway and being able to look between the parked cars actually did provide someone with that visibility. The reality of the situation with the driveways there and the ability to see between the cars denied some of the more absolute numbers about how many feet back from the intersection a vehicle should park.
He said certainly removing the first two or three parking spaces seemed to be an appropriate action.
Commissioner Hack concurred with Commissioner Dunfield. She asked staff what intended consequences the City would have in other similar locations by removing that parking.
Vice Mayor Highberger said this was an unusual intersection in that there was no sidewalk and it was a “T” intersection.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Rundle, to direct staff to draft an ordinance on first reading to remove parking back to the first driveway south of 15th Street on the east side of Kentucky. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: Highberger. Motion carried. (17)
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Steve Ozark, Co-Chair of the Coalition for Homeless Concerns, said he came before the City Commission for two items, one item was immediate and the other long-term.
He said the Coalition started in the winter of 2002 to have an emergency shelter because of the people who died on the streets. He said the general population of chronically homeless people was the most challenging and it was not a good match for a general volunteer. He said going into the LINK location at First Christian Church, they were able to hire, through some funds that the City provided, trained individuals. He said they were able to raise enough money through churches and donations. The remainder of the money from the City was rolled over to pay the salaries of the professional staff.
He said he was requesting funding to get started for this summer. He said the shelter would only be open when the temperature was 89 degrees or above by noon to minimize the use of the emergency shelter only when it was truly hot and where someone could die or get sick from exposure. He said the Coalition did not get any donation for the temporary shelter. He said the only reason they were open was because nothing else was open for that type of population. He said that created much deeper problems for the business owners and public as well as the homeless when there was nowhere for those people to go and there was loitering, crimes, and other things that would occur because there was no 24/7 facilities in our City which was the larger agenda.
He said the Salvation Army specified in their new location that they were looking to work with a specific, smaller population and not the general population. The need was going to be greater as a City to organize and have 24/7 services. He said with those services there would be a great deal of savings rather than funds that were wasted with emergency care and police.
He said they were looking for some financial support to be opened this summer for the days when it was above 89 degrees at noon, to have staff at a location where the homeless could gather to get out of the heat.
He said the second larger request was to look at the greater picture because he was not proud of the temporary shelter and it did not fulfill much except making sure people did not die or get sick in extreme services. He said 24/7 services would save a great deal of money and win a lot of help not only for the homeless, but for the business owners in downtown community that had a lot of problems with the way things were happening now.
Commissioner Schauner asked if Ozark had any idea of what type of funding would be required to satisfy the first request for the temporary shelter.
Ozark said somewhere in the $10.00 an hour range for the staff and the temporary shelter being open approximately 30 or 35 days this summer which would be approximately $3,000. He said the $3,000 would more than cover the wages for staff and they would be able to give the remainder of that money back to the City or to use if they were stuck with doing a winter shelter again.
He said the Coalition had $1,700 left after last winter donating over $2,500 and the community donated over $2,000 so they were able to fund the shelter without City support, but he was not getting that money in the summer. He said $3,000 from the City would cover the temporary shelter for the summer. He said the shelter would be opened from the hours of 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on days they were opened.
Commissioner Schauner asked what would be the process for providing that type of money to the shelter.
Wildgen said it was not a large amount of money and staff could handle that request.
Commissioner Schauner suggested moving forward with the request and to make the money available and make the money available in advance of the hot whether so that they could be prepared.
Commissioner Hack said the option of rolling any left over money towards winter was a good idea.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the request for $3,000 to the Coalition of Homeless Concerns to provide shelter this summer for those days when the noon temperature was 89 degrees or greater (18)
Mayor Rundle said concerning the second request from the Coalition for Homeless Concerns, he anticipated that request would need to be addressed in the budget process.
Ozark said the second request was not needed in this fiscal year and certainly as the Salvation Army moved out of being a fairly opened shelter in the day time, of course overnight there were different rules and that was where the Open Shelter came into play. He said he heard that other organizations were looking at expanding their role to take up that 24/7 service. He said putting those people in summer weather shelters rather than bothering the police, hospitals, and ambulances with the money that would cost for those services was something the shelter was not equipped to deal with.
Mayor Rundle suggested that Ozark put that request in writing for the City’s on-going budget process.
Commissioner Schauner said he was sympathetic of that request, but he suggested a more coordinated program for dealing with this issue. He said it seemed as though they were handling this a piece at a time.
He asked if Ozark would provide the City Commission with a written proposal with respect to Ozark’s second request.
Ozark said absolutely.
Mayor Rundle suggested that Ozark put that request on a timeline of when the Salvation Army thought they would be opened and when there would be a change of the existing constellation of services.
Ozark said he heard from Salvation Army staff that two years was the anticipated time they would move to their new location.
Consider motion to recess into executive session to discuss the possible acquisition of real estate. The justification for the executive session is to keep possible terms and conditions confidential at this time. The open meeting shall resume in the City Commission meeting room in 15 minutes.
Moved by Dunfield, seconded by Schauner, to recess into executive session at 8:50 p.m., to discuss the possible acquisition of real estate for 15 minutes with the justification for the executive session to keep possible terms and conditions confidential at this time. Motion carried unanimously. (19)
After returning from executive session, Mayor Rundle called for Commission Items:
COMMISSION ITEMS:
Commissioner Dunfield asked staff for an updated report on the use of pesticides in parks.
_____________________________
Mike Rundle, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
CITY COMMISSION MEETING OF JUNE 8, 2004
1. Contract – Clinton Pkwy & Wakarusa Relief Sewer Project to Professional Engineering Consultants for $34,888.
2. Bid – Holcom Parking Lot Overlay to Asphalt Improvement for $50,475.
3. Bid – HVAC system at S Park Ctr., to Chaney Inc., for $39,797.
4. Purchase – 3 RescueOne Connector Boats & Custom Trailers for Fire/Medical for $50,035.
5. Bid – Kaw Plant boiler & HVAC Specialties to SRH Mechanical Contractors for $36,000.
6. Bid – 2004 Overlay & Concrete Repair Program, Phase 2, to Heavy Construction for $730,118.05
7. Engineering Service Contract – Kasold Dr Reconstruction, 15th to Clinton Pkwy, to Bartlett & West Engineers for $158,740.40.
8. Bid Opening Date – Jun 22, 2004 for comprehensive rehab at 2104 Tenn & 1628 E 18th.
9. Resolution No. 6551 – 2300 Iowa blight.
10. Final Plat – (PF-04-14-04) N Iowa Addition, 3.259 acres, 601 N Iowa, SW corner of intersect of N Iowa & Kresge.
11. Final Plat – (PF-04-15-04) RL Subdivision, .78 acre, 1201 Monterey Way.
12. Mortgage Release – Kitchen, 1144 Pennsylvania.
13. Condemnation Instruments – Northfield Estates Sanitary Sewer Project.
14. City Manager’s report.
15. 2005 Budget.
16. Memorandum of Understanding – Fire/Medical & Police
17. TSC – prohibit parking, E side of Kentucky from 15th, S 200’.
18. Public Comment -Coalition of Homeless Concerns – Approve funding for $3,000
19. Executive Session – Real Estate.