CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
E-Government Program Garners ICMA Award
The attached memo from Ron Hall, Information Systems Director, contains information about a recent notification from the International City Manager’s Association (ICMA) that the City of Lawrence’s e-government program has been selected to be one of the case studies presented at ICMA University’s Best Practices Symposium in Austin Texas in April, 2005. The Symposium highlights local government excellence and the selection of the city’s e-gov program is an honor recognizing staff’s best practice efforts in this area.
Landscaping in Roundabout Completed Round-about Photos
Crystal Miles, Horticulture Supervisor with the Parks and Recreation Department, reports completion of the landscaping at the O'Connell Road roundabout. Crystal designed plantings for this roundabout to be mostly native materials (grasses, sumac, and coralberry) with some evergreens. As designed, the watering requirements for survival will be minimal. There are no trees due to contour of the soil and proximity of the overhead power lines. Total wholesale plant material cost was about $1100.00.
Pavement Inspection Update
Chuck Soules, Public Works Director provides the attached map to update the progress on the inspection activities that have been completed as part of the City’s pavement maintenance program. Please note that nearly fifty percent of the pavement has been inspected thus far, and that the total project is on track to be completed in the summer of 2005.
Quiet Zone in North Lawrence
In response to concerns raised about train whistle noise, staff in the City Manager’s Office provides this update on activities related to the establishment of a quiet zone in North Lawrence. Regan Gerlt, Management Intern, is in the process of updating the US DOT crossing inventory information by acquiring the appropriate traffic counts for each railroad crossing. Once completed, KDOT, Union Pacific and City staff will physically check each crossing to ensure the accuracy of the inventory information. Once KDOT updates their database, City staff may proceed with the necessary steps to calculate the Quiet Zone Risk Index for this specific quiet zone corridor. If the corridor’s Quiet Zone Risk Index falls below the national threshold, the official notification process of the corridor as a quiet zone will begin. The entire process is lengthy and could take several months.