August 31, 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 proclaimed the week of September 5 – 11 as “Lawrence Literacy Week.”
CONSENT AGENDA
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the City Commission meeting minutes of August 24, 2004. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to receive the Traffic Safety Commission meeting minutes of August 2, 2004; the Human Relations Commission meeting minutes of May 19, 2004; the Sister Cities Advisory Board meeting minutes of August 11, 2004; the Convention and Visitors Bureau meeting minutes of July 27, 2004; and the Hospital Board meeting minutes of July 21, 2004. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve claims to 413 vendors in the amount of $9,542,270.98. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the Drinking Establishment Licenses for Wagon Wheel Café, 507 West 14th Street; Bigg’s Bar & Grill, 2429 S Iowa; Johnny’s Tavern, 401 North 2nd; and Eight One Five, 815 New Hampshire. Motion carried unanimously.
The City Commission reviewed the bids for a boiler replacement for the Carnegie Building for the Public Works Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
Engineer’s Estimate $49,000
SRH Mechanical Contractors, Inc. $49,100
Kansas City Mechanical, Inc. $69,687
Huxtable L.T. Service Inc. $48,980
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to award the bid to Huxtable L.T. Service, Inc., in the amount of $48,980. Motion carried unanimously. (1)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 7821, establishing “no parking” along the northerly side of Sunchase Drive. Motion carried unanimously. (2)
Ordinance No. 7818, establishing charges for septic tanks and portable toilet waste, reflecting changes pursuant to the City Commission’s direction of August 10, 2004, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (3)
Ordinance No. 7804, rezoning (Z-05-17-04) a tract of land approximately 1.59 acres from C-4 (General Commercial District) to M-3 (Intensive Industrial District). The property is generally described as being located at the corner of North 2nd Street and Lyons Street, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (4)
Ordinance No. 7811, adopting the 2004 Standard Traffic Ordinance, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Highberger, Rundle, and Schauner. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (5)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to adopt Resolution No. 6558, authorizing the sale of approximately $15,745,000 principal amount of general obligation temporary notes, Series 2004-II, approximately $10,670,000 principal amount of general obligation bonds, Series 2004-B and approximately $1,600,000 general obligation bonds, Series 2004-C. Motion carried unanimously. (6)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the site plan (SP-07-42-04) for North Iowa Addition, a conversion of the vacant Riverside Elementary School to a contractor’s office and a new warehouse building located at 601 North Iowa Street, subject to the following conditions:
1. Provision of a revised site plan to include the following change:
a. Modify the parking summary to Parking Group 15 for the renovated contractor’s office building (1 parking space per 500 square feet of net floor area) and Parking Group 17 for the new contractor’s warehouse/storage building (1 parking space per 1,000 square feet of net floor area). Total required parking spaces of 30 + 16 = minimum of 46 parking spaces.
2. Revise the proposed 25’ curb cut approximately 6’ west to achieve the minimum distance from the intersection per Section 20-1205(g)(2). Label the distance on the site plan.
3. Submit public improvement plans to Public Works prior to release of the site plan to Neighborhood Resources.
4. Per Section 9-903(B), a stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWP3) must be provided for this project. This project will not be released for building permits until an approved SWP3 has been obtained. Construction activity, including soil disturbance or removal of vegetation shall not commence until an approved SWP3 has been obtained.
Motion carried unanimously. (7)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the site plan (SP-06-38-04) for Douglas County Fairgrounds storage building addition, a site plan for the removal of two existing buildings and the construction of a 9,000 SF storage building and 1,500 SF office building to the existing County Fairgrounds facility located at 2120 Harper Street, subject to the following conditions:
1. Provision of a revised site plan to update the legal description to include the platted lots;
2. Recording of the final plat for 4-H Fairgrounds Addition #2;
3. Provision of a photometric plan prior to release of the site plan for issuance of a building permit; and
4. Execution of a site plan performance agreement.
Motion carried unanimously. (8)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the non- conforming use: N-08-03-04: Find the proposed outdoor patio at Harbour Lights, 1031 Massachusetts Street, is necessary and incidental to the existing use of the building and the conditions set forth in Section 20-1303, Expansion of Non-Conforming Uses, and approve the outdoor patio. Motion carried unanimously. (9)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to deny the Traffic Safety Commission’s recommendation to establish “no parking” along one side of Atherton Court. Motion carried unanimously. (10)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the recommendations of the Traffic Safety Commission to construct speed humps along Carmel Drive and Wimbledon Drive between 18th Street and Inverness Drive at appropriate intervals. Motion carried unanimously. (11)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve as a sign of community interest a 3 X 8 banner to be placed in the right-of-way at South Park until September 18, 2004 advertising Lawrence Sesquicentennial Festival activities. Motion carried unanimously. (12)
Commissioner Schauner pulled the mail services agreement with Stampede Mailing Services from the consent agenda for separate discussion. He said after visiting with the City Manager and City Clerk before the meeting, he understood the City will save some money and have a better pick up time during the day for our mail services. However, the mail service would move from a Lawrence based company to a Lenexa based company. He said he would like to discuss a policy that would favor using local companies for those services we privatize in the city. He said a local company pays taxes here. He said he would like to have some more discussion as a Commission that would favor the use of local companies.
City Manager Mike Wildgen said this issue comes up every couple of years and staff could provide previously drafted memos on this topic to Commissioner Schauner.
It was moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to a accept the proposal for mail services from Stampede Mailing Services, LLC of Lenexa, Kansas, and authorize the City Manager to execute a cooperative agreement between the City of Lawrence, Douglas County Government, and Stampede Mailing Services, LLC for such mail services. Motion carried unanimously. (13)
Mayor Rundle pulled from the consent agenda for separate discussion, the adoption of Ordinance No. 7819, on second reading, amending the City Code provisions governing the prohibition on parking vehicles on City streets for greater than 48 hours,
David Corliss, Assistant City Manager/Director of Legal Services provided background information about the proposed Ordinance. He said the city code currently contains a number of laws that regulate parking of vehicles on city streets. One of those laws is a prohibition of parking a vehicle on a city street for longer than 48 consecutive hours. He said staff looked at our municipal court records and noticed an average of about 25-30 tickets a month on that citation. The fine is $30.
Corliss said there has been quite a bit of correspondence with the Centennial Neighborhood association this summer on a number of items and one resident expressed concern about the enforcement of parking for longer than 48 hours. He said there was difficulty in successfully prosecuting violators because technically they were moving their vehicle a few feet. At the Mayor’s suggestion, and others, staff wanted to see what other communities were doing in regards to enforcement. The City of Wichita has a provision that the provisions of this ordinance may not be defeated by a mere location change of an offending vehicle on the same side of the street within the same block. Corliss said staff discussed that provision and recommended it.
Corliss said this ordinance has not been to the Traffic Safety Commission because that advisory commission doesn’t usually look at general parking regulations.
Commissioner Dunfield asked whether the current code provision prohibiting parking for more than 48 hours was enforced on a complaint basis.
Corliss said it was his understanding that it was largely enforced on a complaint basis.
Commissioner Dunfield asked if it was typical for a Police Officer on patrol to look for cars to ticket.
Corliss said it was not typical but he said officers probably noticed some vehicles that seemed to be there permanently.
Mayor Rundle said he noticed from the staff report that the Police Department helped with research. He asked whether they offered any comments on alternatives or responses on how the current ordinance is addressed. He said there seemed to be a difficulty with the follow through following a shift change.
Corliss said he agreed that is an enforcement challenge with the shift changes and the staffing issues with the department. The Police Department provided information that is in the memo of how the ordinance is enforced and they did get a chance to mention the Wichita law. Their goal is to be able to issue a citation that withstands any challenge. He said he received an email from a citizen concerned about neighborhoods where the only opportunity to park is on the street. He said that is a legitimate concern.
Commissioner Schauner asked if there had been any discussion about a neighborhood parking sticker for those people with no off street parking.
Wildgen said there has been some discussion in the Oread neighborhood. The Oread neighborhood has so much traffic with all the university employees it is a legitimate idea for further discussion.
Commissioner Highberger said he had discussions with people on Rhode Island street and citizens of East Lawrence about a possible parking sticker.
Commissioner Schauner had a concern with the current ordinance. He said if the city is trying to keep the street clear of cars, in some neighborhoods that will never be accomplished because there is no place to put these cars. The Traffic Safety Commission should look at parking stickers.
Mayor Rundle asked if this is an issue for the Traffic Safety Commission or is there another venue to discuss this issue.
Corliss said staff did not do a full analysis. The issue addressed was the owners moving their vehicles only slightly. He said it’s a larger issue than that particular concern.
Ed Tato, speaking on behalf of the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association said there are two issues at play. One is the idea of abandoned cars and second, some people do not have off-street parking to use. He also said 48 hours is too soon to determine if a vehicle was abandoned or stored. In four years in the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association there were only two incidents of abandoned cars. One, where after about six weeks the police were called and the police ended up towing the car. The police were unable to reach the owners and it really wasn’t an issue. That is a different issue than the parking problem. These are two different issues. Our neighborhood doesn’t have an off street parking. There is a community car that is on the street and available for anyone to use. Parking is an issue. There needs to be a separation of the abandoned vehicle and vehicles parked for 48 hours. He said it was bad public policy to have an ordinance that was difficult to enforce. It won’t be enforced equally.
Commissioner Dunfield asked Tato if he had ever been ticketed and if he was aware whether any neighbor complained about being ticketed for violating the 48-hour ordinance.
Tato said he was not ticketed and this was the first he heard of the ordinance.
Michael Hawkins, Lawrence, said he did not have off-street parking. He also said he had two vehicles, was retired, and didn’t drive both vehicles every day. He said his backyard is grass and the City wouldn’t let him park on the grass. He said he received a ticket for violating the ordinance. He said he was one of those people that moves their car a few feet to comply with the ordinance.
John Caffrey, Lawrence, said he commuted to Kansas City to work. He often left his car on the street from Sunday to Wednesday, and therefore violated the ordinance almost every week. He also rode his bike. He said this ordinance was inconsistent with encouraging alternative forms of transportation like bicycles or buses.
Patrick Wempe, Lawrence, expressed concerns about enforcement of the ordnance. He said people in the Oread Neighborhood don’t do a lot of driving. They walk to campus and take the bus. The city spent all this money on public transportation and now the city is enforcing the driving of cars every other day. An example, on Tennessee, you can only park on one side of the street. Now to comply with the code, you must drive a full block away to abide by the law. There’s no way to enforce this law. He said people often park in the same spot after they get back from work. There is a law for abandoned vehicles. He said he has two cars and one of them is probably going to be sitting in the same spot for longer than 48 hours.
Betty Alderson, Lawrence, spoke in support of the ordinance. She said she resided in the Centennial neighborhood and while she appreciated the concerns of previous speakers, she was concerned about residents with 5 or 6 cars and moving them only inches. She said some of the cars are not even drivable. She said people are trying to keep up the neighborhood’s appearance and then there are residents storing their vehicles on the street. They’re not driving them or using them. She said the police are pretty good at recognizing whether the car has been driven during the day. She said she had yet to see a car parked in 48 hours towed. The warnings police issue to car owners are not being taken seriously and the owners simply move the car a few feet. Some ordinances are for the benefit of everyone and that must be kept in mind.
Mike Pisani, Lawrence, said he lived in the Pickney neighborhood. He said he didn’t have an alley, garage, or any off-street parking and neither did most of his neighbors. He said he parked in the street. He said he had two vehicles and drove one every single day. One is four-wheel drive and he used it in the winter. He said it used a ton of gas but was licensed, tagged, and insured. It was not abandoned. He gave an example of an abandoned car that he and his neighbors called in and the police came out and ticketed every car in the area that violated the 48-hour ordinance, including his own. He said there was not a great reason for ticketing people with properly insured, tagged vehicles.
Jack Lawson, Lawrence, said he was disappointed in the City Commission because the Commission was not using common sense. He said this issue should not have been brought up. He said his vehicle could sit in front of his house for a while without him being able to move it.
Jason Boots, KU Student Senate, said the ordinance was more of a burden on the college students than probably many of the other residents. College students do a lot of walking to and from class and to the store because it was cheaper. As a result, some students do have vehicles that sit around on the street for longer periods of time. He said if the city commission passed this ordinance he hoped it would be consistently enforced because 48 hours was unclear. He encouraged the Commission to take another look at the ordinance and to consider abolishing it.
Richard Humbarger, Lawrence, spoke against the ordinance. He said the Police Department had better things to do. Parking tickets and abandoned vehicles should not be the priority of the Police Department. He said if a vehicle is licensed, it is not abandoned and should be allowed to park wherever the owner wished for as long as they wished. He thought the current ordinance should be abolished. He said Eutin, Lawrence’s Sister city, would soon be sending over visitors. He said he would be taking them sightseeing for longer than 48 hours and it would not be good public relations to return to a ticket on their windshields.
Mayor Rundle said he did direct staff to bring this back when there was a report. He said these problems come up in all neighborhoods. He said the concerns heard tonight and thru emails could be matched with concerns about the need for this ordinance. He said there are people abusing this ordinance as described by Betty Alderson. He said staff was trying to respond to concerns similar to Alderson’s but as we found out, there was an equal amount of opposite opinion. He said there needed to be an alternative to this law when abandoned cars become a real problem.
Commissioner Highberger said this law was not a problem until the Journal-World printed an article about it. There certainly wasn’t a problem with the way the law was being enforced. He said this ordinance dealt with more than abandoned vehicles. Some neighborhoods do not have off-street parking and if every resident had two vehicles, there would be no place to park. He said this ordinance needed to address the storage of vehicles on the streets as well. He thought we did not have a right to park in front of our houses. He said the intent of the ordinance was to ensure that sometimes we can park in front of our houses by keeping people from leaving their cars for extended periods of time. He said this was a concern for a lot of people and maybe having the Traffic Safety Commission take a look at it was the best method.
Commissioner Dunfield said he didn’t know if the Traffic Safety Commission was the best venue but he believed there should be some staff research into other details. He agreed with Commissioner Highberger’s comments. Any vehicle with a current tag gives very little legal authority to the city to remove an unused vehicle. He said collectors should be factored into this as well. The public right of way is not the place for a car collection. He said the issue of common sense is an important one and discretion plays a big factor in the issuing of tickets. City staff charged with enforcing these issues must be able to exercise judgment and use their common sense. The city needs an ordinance that says what we want it to say and do what we want it to do.
Commissioner Hack said the Traffic Safety Commission might not be best venue. She said staff was trying to clean up an ordinance and with more time that might be the best approach. She suggested starting with staff and going from there.
Corliss said staff would probably look at what other cities outside of Kansas do. The staff will probably look at what other college communities do with similar situations. Staff would try to find some better data with where the tickets are issued and get some additional information on the police department’s protocol.
Mayor Rundle said if there are any creative ideas from the police officers that would be encouraged. He thanked the public for coming to speak.
Resolution No. 6559, approving the traffic calming policy as amended was pulled from the consent agenda for separate discussion by Commissioner Schauner.
Commissioner Schauner asked about paragraph 7 of the proposal. He said 300 feet may be too narrow. He was concerned with whether the residents have control of whether to install the traffic calming device. He said traffic calming was a neighborhood issue and those issues are broader than 300 feet.
Commissioner Dunfield said 300 feet plus 300 feet was the length of a standard city block, and asked Soules if that number was where it came from.
Soules said yes. He addressed Commissioner Schauner’s concern with an example. The city has witnessed a lot of NIMBY attitudes when this issue arises. Everyone is for it, but not by their house. But the city wants to make sure the immediate residents are on board with the installation of traffic-calming devices.
Commissioner Schauner asked whether the neighborhood feedback was generally supportive of this proposal.
Soules said he understood it was. They haven’t had any issues with any of the requests that they’ve had.
Mayor Rundle said he had a concern about giving veto power. Traffic calming devices are usually installed to enhance traffic flow, increase safety, and decrease property damage. He believed this could be a liability issue by allowing the residents to have a veto power.
Commissioner Highberger said the Commission had the veto power.
Gwen Klingenberg, West Lawrence Neighborhood Association, raised a concern that Alan Cowles brought up at the Traffic Safety Commission. The concern was with items two and three where you have a choice of three items, either it is an 85th percentile speed of traffic or it is a 24 hour two way traffic volume, or it is cut through traffic. She said all the streets are going to have a combination of these. There should be an item D with a combination of these three items and warrant the investigation into whether there should be traffic calming for that area. There is no “or the city decides” statement for each choice.
Commissioner Schauner asked if Cowles wanted to add to two and three “or if the City Commission directs.”
Klingenberg said add “D” or all of the above; a combination at lower levels.
Commissioner Hack said she agreed with the combination of the different levels as a potential option. The commission should clarify this in the language if this is a potential concern. The speed humps are for the immediate residents, not for the whole neighborhood. Widening the scope of who has veto power beyond the immediate residents is not fair to them.
Commissioner Schauner said he wasn’t trying to make it easier to avoid speed humps. Speeding in a neighborhood effects more than those where the speed hump might be located.
Commissioner Dunfield said appropriate safeguards in the policy is a good thing. Achieving 70% leads to the unlikelihood of neighborhood disapproval. He agreed with Cowles’ intentions.
Commissioner Schauner said he supported adding a D, to numbers two and three with a combination at lower levels.
Wildgen said staff would work on the language and bring it back before the Commission.
The recommendation from the Traffic Safety Commission to deny the request to extend the 20 mph reduced speed zone on New York Street adjacent to 10th Street was pulled from the consent agenda by Commissioner Highberger. He asked that this be deferred for a later meeting to get a chance to get more parents involved. He said there were a couple more items related to this with traffic counts, kids using crossings, and installing four way stop signs at the corners of the school. Addressing these issues all at the same time would be more beneficial.
Moved by Highberger, seconded by Hack, to defer the request to extend the 20 mph reduced speed zone on New York Street adjacent to 10th Street. Motion carried unanimously. (14)
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
During the City Manager’s Report, Mike Wildgen noted the 6th Street project update with getting the word out on the schedule for the winter. The water line is close to being finished. The main road diversions are starting to be worked on. He also highlighted some of the challenges of the Sanitation Department dealing with accumulation.
REGULAR AGENDA
Discussion of Lawrence Regional Technology Center – Chamber of Commerce incubator proposal.
Lavern Squier, President and CEO, Lawrence Chamber of Commerce introduced the proposal. He said this is relative to the conduct of an incubator business. This goes back to a time when the City and County Commissions gave moneys to be pledged for the incubator activities. There was an incubator in time past called KIC superseded by Lawrence Regional Technology Center. There were investments made by the city and county of $50,000 each for 5 years by the city and 4 years for the county. These moneys have been held in trust by the chamber. These dollars were invested and have grown to $605,000. He said it is time to use funds for the intended purpose of purchasing a vacant facility for business incubation activities.
Squier said a document was sent to the Commission explaining the activities of business incubator. The document expressed the will to keep with the intended purpose. The Chamber will look at the activities on an annual basis, get reports from the LRTC, and to pass those back to the city and county. Keeping the faith with the original investment is the goal. The document has been reviewed by County. The city and county shall have an ability to consult in lieu of changes to the original plan. There would also be an expansion of the annual review process. This is keeping with the original emphasis of the funds.
Don Johnston, Intrust Bank President, Chair of the Board of the LRTC spoke in support of the proposal.
Matt McClorey, President and CEO of LRTC said the LRTC assisted KU getting their ideas out of the lab and into the market place. They work with local entrepreneurs to help them start up companies on technologies they’ve developed. It’s a partnership with the individual and LRTC to build a business and exploit the opportunity. LRTC runs the business and advises on all the factors that come into play when starting up a company. These companies’s attract jobs and investment capital for the community. He said the time was right for an incubator facility. By having a building, LRTC will have a space to give to these companies to facilitate their growth.
Ted Haggart, President/CEO Douglas County Bank, spoke from the KTEC perspective and said LRTC was doing a great job. He said he worked with a similar incubator building in Manhattan. KTEC will continue to provide the operating and budgetary support. He said it is hard to know when these moneys from the new company’s will mature and that’s why it is so important for KTEC to continue to provide the support they do. This spurs economic vitality into the community.
Commissioner Schauner asked how was success measured for the Manhattan Incubator and what were those success benchmarks.
Haggart said jobs were created, companies have been nurtured and grown, and companies that have graduated and gone out on their own. The ultimate goal is for these companies to be able to stand on their own. Some companies take longer to mature so the dollar return is hard to determine.
Commissioner Schauner asked what due diligence a banker would do to assess whether the company will have an adequate return on investment.
Haggart said in terms of bank financing, the bank makes sure the means to repay the debt is available over time. An opportunity like this for banks is great. This is a program that works and has proven itself.
Mayor Rundle said some of those questions also were answered by letter sent from Lavern Squier to the County.
Mayor Rundle asked if they could add the city’s involvement when dealing with substantial changes.
Squier said it would be similar to the county. Each would have equal opportunity to be consulted as part of the evaluation process on any significant change.
Commissioner Schauner asked if there would be an appraisal done to determine fair market value.
Squier said yes there has been and it is at fair market value.
Commissioner Schauner asked what would happen to the building if incubator failed.
Squier said the building or any remaining funds from the sale of the building would revert back to the Chamber to be reevaluated for reinvestment in a similar intended use.
Mayor Rundle said this was long time coming. He agreed with Haggart that the time was not right earlier. He said the Chamber was very thoughtful and careful and took a very considered approach in drafting this agreement and thinking through the possible scenarios in the future. This was very well done and he heartily, very much supported it.
Commissioner Hack echoed the Mayor’s comments.
Wildgen said the language changes would be made to the document and it would come back to the Commission in a week or two. (15)
Conduct public hearing on proposed vacation of access restrictions at the College Motel, 1703 W. 6th Street.
Dave Corliss said the plat for this property contains an access restriction that required a combined access between the College Motel and the tire shop on west sixth street. He said earlier this year the Commission authorized a temporary occupancy permit for the tire shop and at that time the property owner wanted to pursue an alternative to the required access and they have done so with KDOT and staff’s satisfaction. He said what is being agreed to is the access point to the tire shop would remain and there would be a drive in only access at the motel until the motel property redevelops. He said this was in keeping with the goal of providing better access management as the property redevelops.
The vacation laws allow for the amendment of access restrictions that are placed on a plat by going through this process. He said he spoke to the property owner who could not be here and the property owner agrees with the Order. This order of vacation would allow the property owner to proceed with the revised site plan.
Commissioner Schauner asked if approved would this order of vacation produce a physically smaller driveway or access point to both those points compared to what currently exists.
Corliss said he could not give the specific dimensions but he understood that it would be physically smaller.
Wildgen said it would be narrower than it is now.
Mayor Rundle said back when this plan was before the Commission, there was some comment from Sanitation about getting vehicles in that area, he asked if this would have any effect on those concerns.
Finger said Sanitation had concerns then about getting under the canopy but apparently they now come in off Wisconsin Street so they do not use this access.
Commissioner Highberger asked if this was basically a temporary order of vacation.
Wildgen said it is until the College Motel is site planned differently.
Corliss said that would depend on your definition of temporary. He said it is a vacation to vacate access rights with the idea when the property redevelops the access rights would be reimposed.
Commissioner Schauner asked if there was any connection with the area plan work that was being done.
Corliss said he did not think so. He said the site plan was approved before those discussions this summer. He said the area plan would likely contain goals consistent with this such as improving access along Sixth Street as properties redevelop.
Commissioner Schauner said it is perhaps related but not specifically governed by the language of the moratorium.
Corliss said it is somewhat related but is not governed by the building permit moratorium and is consistent with the Commission’s goal for proceeding with the area plan.
Moved by Dunfield, seconded by Hack, to close the public hearing. Motion carried unanimously.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to approve the Order of Vacation. Motion carried unanimously. (16)
Conduct Public Hearing to consider the vacation of a utility easement on the north side of Lot 1, Sedlock Addition, also known as 1101 and 1099 Wagon Wheel Road.
Chuck Soules, Director of Public Works, presented the staff report. He said the utility easement was basically the north 20 feet of lot 1 in Sedlock Addition in the Western Hills area. The owner requested the utility easement vacation because he would like to build a home at some point on this lot. Soules said there is an existing Westar in that easement but the owners have entered into a private agreement with Westar and that line will be installed underground. The other utilities do not have any issues with vacating the easement. He said there is a sanitary sewer line that runs north/south through the easement that will require retaining a 10 foot utility easement and that is described as an exclusion to the vacation in the Order. Soules said several adjacent property owners called to inquire about the proposed vacation when notified of it but when after explaining what was going to happen those property owners did not have any issue with the vacation.
Charlie Sedlock, property owner, agreed with the information Soules presented.
Moved by Highberger, seconded by Hack, to close the public hearing. Motion carried unanimously.
Moved by Highberger, seconded by Hack, to approve the Order of Vacation. Motion carried unanimously. (17)
PUBLIC COMMENT: None.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to adjourn at 8:30 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. APPROVED:
_____________________________
Mike Rundle, Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
CITY COMMISSION MEETING OF AUGUST 31, 2004
1. Award the Carnegie Library boiler replacement bid to Huxtable L.T. Service, Inc
2. Ordinance No. 7821- 1st Reading, establishing “no parking” along the northerly side of Sunchase Drive on first reading
3. Ordinance No. 7818, --2nd Reading, establishing charges for septic tanks and portable toilet waste
4. Ordinance No. 7804 – 2nd Reading, rezone (Z-05-17-04) 1.59 acres, C-4 to M-3, located at corner of N 2nd & Lyons
5. Ordinance No. 7811 – 2nd Reading, 2004 Standard Traffic Ordinance
6. Resolution No. 6558, authorizing the sale of approximately $15,745,000 principal amount of general obligation temporary notes, Series 2004-II, approximately $10,670,000 principal amount of general obligation bonds, Series 2004-B and approximately $1,600,000 general obligation bonds, Series 2004-C
7. Approve the site plan (SP-07-42-04) for North Iowa Addition
8. Approve the site plan (SP-06-38-04) for Douglas County Fairgrounds storage building addition, a site plan for the removal of two existing buildings and the construction of a 9,000 SF storage building and 1,500 SF office building to the existing County Fairgrounds facility located at 2120 Harper Street
9. Approve the non- conforming use: N-08-03-04: Find the proposed outdoor patio at Harbour Lights, 1031 Massachusetts Street
10. Deny the Traffic Safety Commission’s recommendation to establish “no parking” along one side of Atherton Court
11. Approve the recommendations of the Traffic Safety Commission to construct speed humps along Carmel Drive and Wimbledon Drive between 18th Street and Inverness Drive at appropriate intervals
12. Approve as a sign of community interest a 3 X 8 banner to be placed in the right-of-way at South Park until September 18, 2004 advertising Lawrence Sesquicentennial Festival activities
13. Accept the proposal for mail services from Stampede Mailing Services, LLC of Lenexa, Kansas, and authorize the City Manager to execute a cooperative agreement between the City of Lawrence, Douglas County Government, and Stampede Mailing Services, LLC for such mail services
14. Defer the request to extend the 20 mph reduced speed zone on New York Street adjacent to 10th Street
15. Discussion of Chamber of Commerce’s LRTC incubator proposal
16. College Motel Order of Vacation
17. Sedlock Addition, Lot 1, Order of Vacation