April 19, 2005
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 Highberger presiding and members Amyx, Hack, Rundle, and Schauner present.
RECOGNITION/PROCLAMATION/PRESENTATION:
Mayor Highberger recognized the Safe Winter Walkway Volunteer Program participants.
With Commission approval Mayor Highberger proclaimed the week of April 18 – 23 as “Seed Savers Week” and Saturday, April 23rd as “Seed Saver Day.”
CONSENT AGENDA
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, receive the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting minutes of March 3, 2005; the Sign Code Board of Appeals meeting minutes of March 3, 2005; the Public Health Board meeting minutes of February 21, 2005; the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting minutes of March 8, 2005; and the Traffic Safety Commission meeting minutes of March 7, 2005. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to approve claims to 375 vendors in the amount of $6,091,362.56 and payroll from April 3, 2005 to April 16, 2005 in the amount of $1,429,936.82. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to approve the Drinking Establishment License for Coyotes, 1003 East 23rd Street. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with ADG for engineering services for the partial parallel taxiway improvement project at the Lawrence Municipal Airport for $112,180. Motion carried unanimously. (1)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to approve the selection of Black and Veatch for an engineering services contract to complete the Preliminary Design Report for Phase II of the Clinton Water Treatment Plant Expansion; and authorize the City Manager to negotiate a contract for final City Commission approval. Motion carried unanimously. (2)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 7873, rezoning (Z-08-38-04) a tract of land approximately 5.57 acres from RS-2 (Single-Family Residential District) to PRD-1 (Planned Residential Development District; the property is described as being located at 1503 Haskell Avenue. Motion carried unanimously. (3)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to adopt Resolution No. 6590, authoring the Mayor to sign the application for the 2005 Emergency Shelter Grant from the City to the State of Kansas. Motion carried unanimously. (4)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to approve the site plan (SP-02-13-05) for two contractor shop buildings located at 1035 East 23rd Street, subject to the following conditions:
1. Execution of a site plan performance agreement per Section 20-1433.
2. Provision of the following revisions to the site plan:
a. To General Note No. 12 add, “…and “Standard Highway Signs,” published by the Federal Highway Administration, with respect to size, shape color, retroreflectivity, and position”;
b. Screen the parking lot areas from all adjoining residentially zoned property per Section 20-1214; and
c. Move ADA accessible parking spaces to main entrance of the buildings.
Motion carried unanimously. (5)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to approve the site plan (SP-02-17-05) for a 1,920 and 11,520 square foot addition to 2 existing industrial buildings located at 815 East 12th Street, subject to the following conditions:
1. Execution of a site plan performance agreement per Section 20-1433;
2. Provision of the following revisions to the site plan:
a. Screening of the parking lots from residential property per Section 20-1214;
b. Physically remove from the drawing, the proposed 6’ wide new sidewalk to be located on the east side of the Oregon Street Public Easement;
c. Indicate the ditch on the west side of the Oregon Street Public Access and Utility Easement (located to the east of the new 40’ x 48’ building addition) will be filled in and graded for a future 10’ wide recreation trail;
d. Correct the parking information (General Note No. 5) to read 1 space for each 1.5 employees;
e. .Indicate the relocation of the existing gas line; and
f. Provision of a Book and Page reference for the Public Access and Utility Easement.
3. Provision of the following notes on the face of the site plan:
a. A 10’ wide recreational trail will be installed by others in the future;
b. On March 29, 2005, the City Commission approved the vacation of Oregon Street; and
c. Reference the variances approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals on April 7, 2005 [B-03-07-05].
Motion carried unanimously. (6)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to approve the site plan (SP-01-06-05) for property located at 1011 Massachusetts Street, subject to the following conditions:
1. Compliance with the Historic Resources Commission conditions of approval: (a) The applicant provide complete construction documents with material notations to be reviewed and approved by the Historic Resources Administrator prior to release of a building permit; (b) Any changes to the approved project will be submitted to the Historic Resources Commission prior to the commencement of any related work;
2. Execution of a site plan performance agreement per Section 20-1433;
3. Agreement not to protest benefit district to improve street lighting;
4. Any relocation of existing facilities to be at developer’s expense;
5. Identify property lines on the site plan;
6. Note “net” square footage on the site plan;
7. Add a note referencing HRC DR- number; and
8. Identify any sidewalk improvements on the site plan.
Motion carried unanimously. (7)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to receive a request for a special assessment benefit district from Parnell Investors LLC for the construction of Anna Tappan Way; and refer this matter to staff for preparation of a resolution establishing a public hearing to consider establishing a benefit district. Motion carried unanimously. (8)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to approve as signs of community interest a request from the Lawrence Region Antique Automobile Club of America to place directional and notification signs in various rights-of-way during the Lawrence Swap Meet from May 7 – May 8, 2005. Motion carried unanimously. (9)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to authorize the Mayor to sign a Subordination Agreement for Glenda and Terry Shelby, 741 Locust Street. Motion carried unanimously. (10)
Chuck Magerl, Free State Brewery, requested deferral of the consideration of Ordinance No. 7874, allowing possession and consumption in the Free State Brewery sidewalk dining area; and, the approval of an expansion of a non-conforming use and site plan (N-04-03-05/SP-02-19-05) for Free State Brewing Co., for a sidewalk dining area located at 636 Massachusetts.
(11)
Commissioner Schauner pulled from the consent agenda the approval an expansion of a non-conforming use and a site plan (N-01-02-05) for Teller’s for a sidewalk dining area located at 746 Massachusetts Street. He asked if the Commission was going to have any discussion about developing a policy for sidewalk usage for dining for those groups that would satisfy the 70% food sales requirement or might be exempt from that requirement. He said it seemed that the Commission would be receiving a flood of requests and there had already been some discussion with Downtown Lawrence about sidewalk access. It seemed that the Commission was making those sidewalk dining issue decisions one at a time and it would not be long before the Commission would not have any decisions to make about those types of issue.
Lynne Braddock-Zollner, Historic Resources Administrator, said on April 21st, the Historic Resources Commission would be holding a public hearing on sidewalk dining guidelines. She said she was before the City Commission several weeks ago asking for a moratorium on approving sidewalk dining licenses until those guidelines could come back to the City Commission for discussion. She said Free State Brewery, Teller’s Restaurant, and one more establishment had already been in the process before staff asked for that moratorium. She said after the public hearing with the Historic Resources Commission, they would submit a set of draft design guidelines to the City Commission.
Vice Mayor Amyx said on the site plan for Teller’s, it showed the narrowing of the sidewalk to a six foot space between the planter box and the railing along the proposed sidewalk dining area which took up quite a bit of space. He said he had a lot of questions about the use of the sidewalk and narrowing of the sidewalk. He asked if there should be changes in the planter box area so there was adequate space for pedestrian traffic.
Zollner said adequate space for pedestrian traffic was certainly a concern. The reason that six foot width was on the site plan was because by code, they were required to maintain six feet of public right-of-way. Every application they had to date had extended to that maximum amount and this issue came up in discussions in the past with the Historic Resources Commission.
She said the research that the Historic Resources Commission had performed across the United States showed that was a standard width although some communities required that an establishment needed to maintain half the distance between the front of the building and the first impediment, such as a curb line or planter box.
Mike Wildgen, City Manager, said one of the complicating factors for that particular outdoor dining area was the street vendor who sold flowers at that location. He said that vendor had suggested relocation of her business to another area because of complications in that area.
Zollner said the guidelines that the Historic Resources Commission was presently reviewing dealt with design issues and the six foot pedestrian pathway for pedestrians. Other issues that were not addressed in the guidelines were the cost for the use of that right-of-way and how many sidewalk dining areas would be allowed on one block.
Commissioner Schauner asked if there was any thought of making a requirement that those railings be removable.
Zollner said that requirement was in the draft guidelines. The HRC recommendation in the past was that those railings be removable barriers so that on parade days or during winter months those barriers could be removed for the full use of the sidewalk.
Commissioner Schauner said in light of the fact that the City Commission was having serious discussion about the Downtown Beautification Project, removing those barriers would be an important ingredient for making it possible for the City to improve the cleanliness of those sidewalks downtown. He said he hoped the HRC would consider that idea and make some type of recommendation to the City Commission.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked if the applicants that applied for sidewalk dining knew that the moratorium was going to happen.
Zollner said those applications were in process long before the HRC even considered requesting the moratorium. She said she had been working with Teller’s for several months on a sidewalk dining plan and Free State’s request for sidewalk dining had been in the works for a couple of months as well, it just took a while to compile all the required information. Both of those requests had been through the Historic Resources Commission. She said the HRC was concerned that application for sidewalk dining licensing would start to pick up and the HRC needed a set of guidelines to review those applications.
Timothy Moreland, Connecticut Street resident, said he and his family consider downtown as their backyard. He said they walked downtown with an extra wide double stroller and he had a concern about a blockage of traffic at those sidewalk dining areas.
He said he was glad that the HRC had considered a moratorium in the downtown area and suggested that more consideration be discussed concerning sidewalk dining areas.
He said specifically they were concerned about Teller’s being on the corner because it was an area where people sat and in the past there had been outdoor sculpture exhibits in that area which made it a busy corner.
He said concerning Free State Brewery, he had a concern because of the design of the bike racks which impeded movement of their stroller. He thanked the City Commission for further considering these issues.
Commissioner Schauner asked David Corliss, Assistant City Manager/Legal Services Director, a hypothetical question. He said if there were 15 or 20 outdoor dining areas approved and at some point the City Commission developed an ordinance that limited outdoor dining areas to four sidewalk dining licenses per block, he asked how staff would un-ring that bell.
Corliss said the City owned the right-of-way.
Commissioner Schauner said he had heard that comment in the past, but once those out door dining areas were established, how would staff handle that issue.
Corliss said there was a license scheme that was set out in city code and an annual rental payment requirement. He said staff could, with appropriate notice to those property owners, revoke that license for cause or no cause. He said he anticipated that whatever the City Commission adopted as sidewalk dining requirements, as far as aesthetics and construction and other issues, those areas would need some type of transition phase with those existing licensees to allow them to come into compliance.
Commissioner Schauner asked if there was any property interest that vested in a business that rented a sidewalk from the City.
Corliss said the reason why it was called a license was because those businesses did not have a property interest in the physical property itself. He said the business would have a property interest in that license which staff could change over time as those licenses came up for renewal or as the law would be changed. He said the city was not leasing that property to those businesses in the sense that they had a right to use the sidewalk except for the licensed purposes.
Commissioner Schauner asked if the current license indicated the limitations of use and the ability of the City to revoke or fail to reissue that license upon its expiration.
Corliss said he wanted to go back to Commissioner Schauner’s preface of the question about not necessarily enjoying hypothetical questions, he said he did not recall the exact wording of the license, but the ordinance was very clear that the city was licensing as a property owner and the city was not giving them any property interest. He said the city was giving those businesses a license that allowed them to use the right-of-way under the city’s rules and regulations.
Vice Mayor Amyx said in past discussions about sidewalk dining areas it was understood that all the business was buying was a yearly license and reapplication had to be made. He said surrounding businesses that were 75 feet away from the proposed dining area needed to be notified. He said in no way did this issue convey any type of property interest.
Commissioner Schauner said he would be interested in knowing what the current state of the law was with respect to City licenses because his sense was that if he was a business owner and he spent the money for a sidewalk dining area and operated at that location for a couple of years and all of a sudden the City decided not to renew his license, he was concerned with two issues which were what type of due process, although minimal, that would need to be provided to the license holder and the political reality of not renewing a license. He said he was concerned that the city took this process gently to avoid unknowable and unintended consequences from those decisions.
Commissioner Hack said it seemed that was exactly what the Commission was considering in terms of asking the HRC to come back with guidelines. She said those applications were in place, but had not made it to formal adoption by the City Commission.
She said when the City Commission had done those types of moratoriums in the past they had allowed those people that were already in the pipeline, to have the opportunity to operate under the pre-moratorium guidelines. She said she had a problem with pulling either of those sidewalk dining requests based on the fact that there was no concern about sidewalk dining when those businesses had applied.
Commissioner Schauner said Commissioner Hack comments were exactly the type of problem that he anticipated when the Commission attempted to not renew someone’s license. He said that was his biggest concern, the political reality of this issue. He said that was why the guidelines were so important with respect to setting forth issuance conditions.
Commissioner Hack concurred. She said all of those issues had to be packaged in those guidelines.
Commissioner Rundle said the Commission needed to continue that type of discussion and complete it.
Mayor Highberger said he agreed with the same concerns expressed by his fellow Commissioners. He said he agreed with Commissioner Hack that those sidewalk dining licenses had been in the pipeline and provided that those sidewalk dining licenses complied with the City’s existing site plan requirements, he did not see grounds for challenging those requests.
He supported approval of both the expansion of non-conforming use and the approval of the site plan for Teller’s Restaurant with the understanding that when the Commission received the recommendations back from the HRC, that the City Commission consider those recommendations and also consider concerns related to expansion of sidewalk dining.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked about the flower vendor.
Wildgen said that vendor had a license to be at that location, but he assumed the sidewalk dining would take its place and that vendor would not be able to be at that location.
Vice Mayor Amyx said he did not have a problem that Teller’s had applied prior to the 45 day moratorium on the issuance of sidewalk dining permits pending review of proposed sidewalk dining guidelines, but he asked if those two sidewalk dining licenses were the last of that type of licensing at this time.
Zollner said the HRC would be discussing one more proposed sidewalk dining request for Pachamama’s, 8th and New Hampshire, this Thursday night.
Commissioner Schauner asked if the guidelines for HRC cover New Hampshire and Vermont as well as Massachusetts Street.
Zollner said the guidelines were for the entire downtown conservation overlay district area.
It was moved by Rundle, seconded by Hack, to approve an expansion of a non-conforming use and a site plan (N-01-02-05) for Teller’s for a sidewalk dining area located at 746 Massachusetts Street. This site plan application was received prior to the 45 day moratorium on sidewalk dining permits established on March 29, 2005. Payment of license fee and completion of license requirements is required prior to establishment use, subject to the following conditions:
A. The City Commission grant the authority to enlarge the building devoted to a non-conforming use as the extension is necessary and incidental to the existing use of said building and the conditions set forth in section 20-1303 (Expansion of Non-Conforming Uses) are met; and
B. Approval of the site plan for the expansion of the non-conforming use subject to the following conditions:
1. Compliance with the Historic Resources Commission conditions of approval: (a) The sidewalk dining area extend no more than 7’ 1” into the public right of way; (b)The proposed railing not be attached to the building; (c)The height of the railing, shall not be higher than thirty-six inches (36"); (d)The sidewalk dining area on Massachusetts Street shall be unenclosed and shall be open to the sky; (e) Advertising shall not be permitted in the sidewalk dining area except for the name of the establishment on chairs or tables as approved by the City; (f) This recommendation is given with the understanding that the City Commission must approve the associated site plan and sidewalk dining license. Approval of this request by staff or the HRC does not guarantee the City Commission will approve the associated site plan or sidewalk dining license;
2. Execution of a site plan performance agreement per Section 20-1433;
3. Provision of a revised site plan to include the following changes: (a)Provision of a note on the face of the site plan indicating the Historic Resources Commission approval of DR-01-02-05 on February 17, 2005 subject to conditions; (b) Add dimension notations; (c) Show existing utilities per Section 20-1431; (d) Add Impervious Surface Table; (e) Identify species of trees in landscaping notes; (f) Identify net square footage; (g) Add general notes to specify use, legal description, and compliance with ADA; (h) Identify property lines; (i) Identify all lines on plan with correct dimensions or notations;
4. The applicant shall obtain a sidewalk dining license from the City prior to occupying the public right-of-way per Chapter 6-1202;
5. Execution of an agreement with the City of Lawrence for use of the right-of-way per Chapter 6-12.
Motion carried unanimously. (12)
Commissioner Schauner pulled from the consent agenda the request and approval of the issuance of building permits for the residential lots at Oakley Addition with occupancy contingent upon completion of Folks Road. He asked what had changed about this construction process that now required amending the building permit. He asked if there was discussion at the time this building permit was first issued as to why that additional construction was not going to be permitted.
David Corliss, Assistant City Manage/Legal Services Director, said when the plat was approved there was a condition that there would be no building permits for Oakley Addition until the completion of Folks Road. He said it took staff longer than originally anticipated to get to the bidding of Folks Road. He said there had been a lengthy condemnation process that was just resolved and staff had successfully bid the project below the engineer’s estimate. He said R.D. Johnson Construction would be given a notice to proceed for construction on Friday. The applicant thought that the road project would be under construction sooner and the applicant was present to explain his concerns.
He said it was important to note two issues. First, Folks Road would not be open until, not only when the road was completed, but also until the traffic calming devices on Harvard Road were installed. That was a commitment that was made early on in the project. He said in this instance, as far as the residential construction, they were going to be accessing this site through Compton’s property to the west of Folks Road and it would not be interfering with the road construction. He said more importantly it would not be interfering with the travel needs of the three or four residences that were on the east side of Folks Road. He said staff thought that the granting of the building permits, for foundation purposes only, and then once the water line was operational then the rest of the residential units were appropriate. He said if the timing was good then a lot of those residential units would be constructed. Once Folks Road was all the way open there might be less construction traffic on Folks Road through other areas of the neighborhood.
Commissioner Schauner said the shorthand version of why it took so long was because of the bidding on the improvement of Folks Road.
Wildgen said it was more of the right-of-way acquisition.
Commissioner Rundle asked if the building permit would proceed as outlined, the occupancy would not take place until the road was completed.
Corliss said correct.
Commissioner Rundle asked if all of that language was codified on the plat.
Corliss said the codification on the plat now was that there would be no building permits until Folks Road was completed. If the City Commission approved this alteration to that public improvement requirement what staff would indicate to the Neighborhood Resources Department was that there would be building permits for foundation work only and once the waterline was in place the rest of the building permits could proceed, but there would be no occupancy until Folks Road was accepted by the City Engineer. He said under no circumstances would Folks Road be open until the traffic calming devices in the Harvard Road area were completed.
Mayor Highberger called for public comment.
After receiving no public comment, Commissioner Rundle said it seemed reasonable to proceed under those terms as long as it was clearly spelled out somewhere.
Moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to approve the issuance of building permits for the residential lots at Oakley Addition with occupancy contingent upon completion of Folks Road. The permits will only allow foundation work (non-combustible materials) until City waterlines for the development are approved and operational and approve an alteration of building permit condition on a Final Plat for Oakley Addition to allow issuance. The City Commission recently awarded the bid for this road project to R.D. Johnson. Motion carried unanimously. (13)
Vice Mayor Amyx removed for separate discussion, the report from Neighborhood Resources regarding storm shelters.
He said he had questions about safe rooms and possible applications through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). He asked who had to apply and for what purpose.
Paula Phillips, Douglas County Emergency Management, said the City, as a governmental entity, could apply to the State of Kansas for mitigation funds. She said there was a State Mitigation Plan that spelled out what the State priorities were should there be mitigation funding and that was the basis in which FEMA decided allocation. The City of Lawrence, any not-for profit organization, or any other governmental entity, school district, or County could apply for mitigation funds.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked if any of those entities were eligible such as a City or County that had a Presidential Declaration of Disaster.
Phillips said yes and no. She said yes because there was a Presidential Declaration in January for the ice storm and the State would be receiving 2.5 million to 3 million dollars in mitigation funds. Any governmental entity, or not-for-profit in the State of Kansas could apply for access to those funds.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked whether that was a matching situation.
Phillips said it was a 75/25 match.
Commissioner Rundle asked Phillips if there had been any discussion at the state level of any statewide approach such as the rebate program that would be modeled after the State of Oklahoma.
Phillips said to her knowledge there had not been that type of discussion mainly because the State of Kansas had no disaster funds at all. Any funds that came in to the State of Kansas after a disaster that were utilized by local or state came from the Federal Government. There were no state financial resources for disaster assistance at all.
Commissioner Schauner asked whether the City could make application for those shelters and give those shelters to the school district for installation, for example, the South Junior High building.
Phillips said the school district could apply for those funds.
She said for example, after the Haysville tornado, the City of Wichita identified the need for safe rooms. There were some new schools in the process of being designed and those schools received safe rooms. Additionally, that City identified what they called high risk groups, primarily state licensed day care centers that had a population of more than 30 children also received safe rooms from their mitigation grant. She said retrofitting existing structures with safe rooms was extremely expensive and that was why, in terms of their schools, they went with those schools that were still in the design process.
Commissioner Schauner asked whether this school district would be designing those safe rooms into their new structure.
Phillips said she did not know.
Commissioner Hack said there was comment that safe rooms would be at least a consideration. The safest issue that had been addressed was getting students out of portables, back into the buildings. She said South Junior High School would be considered.
Commissioner Schauner said he would like to know if the City could assist the school district in applying for and/or covering some of the costs of purchasing those safe rooms. He said he did not know if this City could spend some of their resources for safe rooms and make them available to the schools.
Commissioner Rundle said his impression from the school board members was that the school board appreciated that discussion and they would integrate that idea into their review of planning for new school facilities.
Vice Mayor Amyx said he noticed in the funding priorities that it discussed homes and asked if that could be expanded to school buildings.
Victor Torres, Director of Neighborhood Resources, said phase one and two from the Oklahoma project had FEMA funding. He said in the report it discussed the 3 million dollars in rebates to Oklahoma residents for construction of safe rooms. He said there were different phases for distributions of those funds.
Commissioner Rundle said he would be interested in seeing this issue moved up higher on their agenda to work with City staff and school officials.
Phillips said she had sent some information on March 25th to the schools and the City regarding the state of soliciting for mitigation pre-applications. She said she would follow up with the school district and then touch base with City staff.
Commissioner Rundle said he assumed having anything to do with the disaster funds would be the next legislative session. He said he was referring to looking ahead to the next legislative session to see if it was feasible to move this issue up on the legislative agenda.
Phillips said that could be done. She said they would work through the Kansas Association of Counties and the League of Kansas Municipalities.
Mayor Highberger called for public comment.
After receiving no public comment, it was moved by Amyx, seconded by Schauner, to receive a report from Neighborhood Resources regarding storm shelters. Motion carried unanimously. (14)
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:
During the City Manger’s Report, Kay Kent, Director Douglas County Health Department presented the 2004 Annual Report. She said the Health Department’s goal was to promote health and prevent disease. She highlighted five areas from their 2004 Annual Report which were immunizations, HIV/AIDS, Environmental Health, WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), and Project LIVELY which dealt with the elderly.
She said overall the Health Department’s many programs continued to grow and continued to see a need for certain programs within the agency.
She thanked the City Commission and City Staff for the support they provided to the Public Health Department
Also during the City Manager’s report, Commissioner Hack commented on the successful compost give away. She said that program was helpful to many citizens. (15)
REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:
Receive report from Paula Phillips, Douglas County Emergency Management, regarding the Douglas County Mitigation Plan. She said.
Paula Phillips, Director, Emergency Management, said an overview of the mitigation plan had been previously submitted for the Commission’s review. She said the mitigation plan had to cover, not only the unincorporated areas of Douglas County, but also all four cities. She said a mitigation strategy included those activities that were designed to lessen the impact of any natural disaster on property and people.
The Terrorism Mitigation component was an entirely separate ball game and they would be starting down that road this summer and was not addressed in this plan.
She said a benefit of having a mitigation plan was that the City received a check related to reimbursed expenditures from the ice storm. If Douglas County had not drafted a mitigation plan, the City of Lawrence would not have been eligible to receive that money. She said FEMA stated that if counties wanted to continue to receive Federal Disaster Funding after a Presidential Declaration, counties must have a mitigation plan in place. She said FEMA had approved their initial plan pending concurrence by the five governing bodies in the county.
Commissioner Rundle asked if the concurrence needed to be an agenda item at a future date.
Wildgen said the City Commission direction was to receive the report and approve the concurrence.
Phillips said since the Commission was recently just formed she reminded the Commission what their disaster responsibilities were as an elected body. She said Thomas Jefferson said that in the times of peace people look most to their representative, but in war or disaster they look to the executive solely. She said the citizens of this community would be looking toward the Mayor for assurance that the City of Lawrence government was intact and working to do everything it could to take care of its people and to provide services.
She said Douglas County Emergency Management took 73 people from Douglas County to Emmitsburg, Maryland, in December for a week long event in disaster training. She said one of the activities that the policy group which included Commissioner Rundle, Mayor Highberger, Wildgen, Corliss, Bob Johnson from the County Commission, and Nancy Brown from Baldwin City Council, they were asked to come up with a Mission Statement for the policy group in a disaster. She said part one of the mission statement was aimed at all the First Responders and the City Department Directors who would be on the front lines read:
“We know that you are well trained and know how to do your job. Life safety is your first priority and then the preservation of critical infrastructure and property is appropriate to protect the public heath and safety. We expect that you will follow the existing Emergency Management Plan, Local Emergency Plans, and Agency Standard Operating Procedures. We expect that you will seek guidance from us as policy makers in situations when the policies are not clear or when additional guidance or support is needed and anticipated.”
She said in other words one of the Commission’s primary jobs was to support their City Department Directors and First Responders as they made the very difficult decisions that they had to make to protect lives and property.
The second part of the mission statement was toward recovery. She admitted that they did not, as a County nor as a City have a recovery plan, but that was not on the agenda. She said the Commission’s recovery goals were:
“To focus on the rebuilding of the quality of life of the community that was enjoyed prior to the disaster and priority to be given to the restoration of essential public services and critical infrastructure.”
Mayor Highberger said the FEMA officials, who saw their elected officials that worked together, remarked at how well everyone got along and worked together.
Mayor Highberger called for public comment.
After receiving no public comment, Commissioner Rundle said he had been impressed with the thoroughness of staff and the committee that looked ahead at issues and putting preparations in place. He said the City Commission would give any support that was needed.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Rundle, to receive a report from Paula Phillips, Douglas County Emergency Management, regarding the Douglas County Mitigation Plan and concurred with the report. (16)
Receive draft traffic calming policy and traffic calming project priority ranking system as recommended by the Traffic Safety Commission.
Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, said what was presented to the City Commission was consideration of Resolution No. 6587 and Resolution No. 6588. He said Resolution 6587 was the traffic calming policy.
He said in August the Traffic Safety Commission (TSC) recommended a Draft Traffic Calming Policy within that policy there were three thresholds that were used to determine whether a traffic calming device was warranted or not for local streets and four thresholds for collector streets.
During the City Commission meeting at that time, the Commission requested an additional condition that would permit a traffic calming device installation if a high percentage or any two conditions were met, but neither was met 100 percent. He said that idea was taken back to the TSC and the came up with 80 percent of the other three values. He said the three thresholds were speed, volume, and cut-through traffic for local streets. He said the TSC approved the change to the Draft Traffic Calming Policy. He said it was similar to what staff did when ranking intersection improvements for traffic signals.
He said the other issue with the Traffic Calming Policy was that the TSC included arterial streets. He said staff did not feel that traffic calming devices should be installed on arterial streets, but the Commission had the authority to direct staff to install those types of traffic calming devices on arterial streets if it was desired.
He said Resolution No. 6588, was a priority ranking system that was requested by the Commission. He said the TSC looked at several different criteria and gave values to each criteria and it was similar to the City’s intersection priority list where staff looked at speed, volumes, and crashes. He said they also took into account sidewalks, school crosswalks, parks, and recreational areas. He said the priority list contained projects that had been approved for traffic calming devices.
Mayor Highberger asked Soules to review the changes to the revised resolution.
Soules said the revision was the pedestrian generators. Staff said the resolution did not include the recreational areas and the word “such as” was not included.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked whether the locations listed had already been approved for a certain type of improvement.
Soules said correct. He said the TSC and City Commission had approved those locations, but those projects were pending funding.
Mayor Highberger called for public comment.
After receiving no public comment, Commissioner Hack said the priority list gave the Commission some framework for those projects. She said anything that made the job more objective was so much easier to explain.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked Soules to get him a copy of the proposed plans for each of those locations?
Soules said yes. He explained the proposed traffic calming plans for each of those locations.
Commissioner Schauner said if other neighborhoods made a request for traffic calming devices and a study was done and the points were tallied, he asked if that newest request would be able to be placed on the list and bump existing projects off the list. He said he was thinking of the request at Harvard west of Wakarusa.
Soules said staff would review those projects as information changed. For example, if traffic patterns changed. He said it would very similar to the City’s Intersection Improvement Priority List. He said staff would review the list every year and reprioritize.
Commissioner Schauner said then it was possible that at 5th or 6th position request might never get built unless there was a huge sum of money because those positions might keep being bumped down the list.
Soules said correct.
Commissioner Hack said with the objective data, if the request met the standards, then that request should be moved up and other request moved down.
Commissioner Schauner said he was thinking about the Harvard Road area. He said as Congressional was reopened, he thought that the traffic volume for West Lawrence would increase and that might have some impact on its position on the list. He said he was curious how that would work in terms of changing positions.
Soules said those changes would not be automatic in terms of traffic volume. He said staff did not go out every year to all the intersection to take traffic counts. He said if staff knew there was a significant increase or if it had been several years since the last traffic count, staff would update that information.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Rundle, to receive a draft traffic calming policy and traffic calming project priority ranking system as recommended by the Traffic Safety Commission and directed staff to prepare a resolution adopting those policies. Motion carried unanimously. (17)
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Wilford Grammer said he was opposed to roundabouts because fire trucks or emergency vehicles could not get through.
Wildgen said those roundabouts were designed for emergency vehicles to get through them.
COMMISSION ITEMS:
CALENDER:
Mayor Highberger said he would like to schedule a study session to look at annexation law and policy. He suggested having discussion of pro’s and con’s of a more aggressive annexation policy.
Wildgen suggested coordinating that study session with the County.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Rundle, to adjourn at 7:55 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
APPROVED:
_____________________________
Mike Rundle, Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
1. Contract – to ADG for engineering services for the Lawrence Municipal Airport for $112,180.
2. Contract – Preliminary Design Report for Clinton Water Treatment Plant Expansion to Black & Veatch.
3. Ordinance No. 7873 – 1st Read, (Z-08-38-04) 5.57 acres, RS-2 to PRD-1, 1503 Haskell.
4. Resolution No. 6590 – 2005 Emergency Shelter Grant.
5. Site Plan – (SP-02-13-05) for 2 contractor shop bldgs at 1035 E 23rd.
6. Site Plan – (SP-02-17-05) for 1,920 & 11,520 sq. ft. addition to 2 existing industrial bldgs, E 12th.
7. Site Plan – (SP-01-06-05) 1011 Mass.
8. Benefit District – Parnell Investors request for construction of Anna Tappan Way.
9. Signs of Community Interest – Lawrence Region Antique Auto Club of America.
10. Subordination Agreement – 741 Locust, Glenda & Terry Shelby.
11. Ordinance No. 7874 & expansion of non-conforming use (N-04-03-05/SP-02-19-05) for Free State Brewing, 636 Mass.
12. Non-Conforming & Site Plan – (N-01-02-05) Teller’s, 746 Mass.
13. Bldg Permits – Oakley Add occupancy contingent upon completion of Folks Rd.
14. Report – Neighborhood Resources, storm shelters.
15. City Manager’s Report.
16. Douglas County Mitigation Plan.
17. Draft traffic calming policy & traffic calming projects.