May 31, 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 Vice Mayor Amyx presiding and members Hack, Rundle, and Schauner present. Mayor Highberger was in the City’s sister city Hiratsuka, Japan and was not present.
RECOGNITION/PROCLAMATION/PRESENTATION:
With Commission approval Vice Mayor Amyx proclaimed the month of June as “Kansas Business Appreciation Month.”
CONSENT AGENDA
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to approve the City Commission meeting minutes of May 10, and May 17, 2005. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to receive the Planning Commission meeting minutes of April 25-27, 2005; the Historic Resources Commission action summary of April 21, 2005; the Hospital Board meeting minutes of April 20, 2005; the Sister Cities Advisory Board meeting minutes of April 13, 2005; the Mental Health Board meeting minutes of January 25th and February 22, 2005; the Traffic Safety Commission meeting minutes of May 2, 2005; the Board of Plumber and Pipe Fitters meeting minutes of April 6, and April 20, 2005; the Mechanical Board of Appeals meeting minutes of March 21, 2005; and the Convention & Visitors Bureau Advisory Board meeting minutes of April 26, 2005 and the Uniform Building Code Board of Appeals meeting minutes of February 24, 2005 and March 14, 2005. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to approve claims to 455 vendors in the amount of $1,464,232.36 and payroll from May 15, 2005 to May 28, 2005, in the amount of $1,457,421.68. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to approve the Drinking Establishment Licenses for Milton’s Coffee, 920 Massachusetts and Carlos O’Kelly’s Mexican Café, 707 West 23rd; and approve the Retail Liquor License for World Wine & Beer, 3106 S Iowa Ste: 202;. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the recommendation of the Mayor and appoint Barbara Bonnekessen, Peter Luckey, Anne Burgess, and Bruce Ney to the Lawrence Alliance to terms that will expire November 30, 2007; appoint Lisa Harris to the Lawrence/Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Commission to a position that will expire May 31, 2008; and appoint Rick Trapp to the Mental Health Board to a position that will expire April 30, 2009. Motion carried unanimously.
The City Commission reviewed a bid for 2005 Chip and Seal/Crack Seal Program for the Public Works Department. The bid was:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
Engineer’s Estimate $166,943.75
Vance Bros Inc. $157,372.70
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to award the sole bid to Vance Bros. Inc., in the amount of $157,372.70. Motion carried unanimously. (1)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for 2005 Overlay Program, Phase 2 Street Improvements for the Public Works Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
Engineer’s Estimate $827,537.20
LRM Industries, Inc. $767,065.55
Kansas Heavy Construction, LLC $832,790.77
D.F. Freeman Contractor’s Inc. $898,440.00
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to award the bid to LRM Industries, Inc., in the amount of $767,065.55. Motion carried unanimously. (2)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 7885, establishing “no parking” along the west side of Four Wheel Drive between 29th Terrace and 31st Street. Motion carried unanimously. (3)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 7886, establishing “no parking” along both sides of Wakarusa Drive within the City Limits. Motion carried unanimously. (4)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to adopt Resolution No. 6596, directing and ordering a public hearing on the advisability of the construction of Anna Tappan Way from Haskell Avenue west approximately 500’ to Hanscom Road. Motion carried unanimously. (5)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to approve the site plan (SP-03-24-05) for construction of a warehouse, Bohmann Excavating, 808 East 28th Street, subject to the following conditions:
1. Execution of a site plan performance agreement;
2. Approval of an SWP3 prior to being released for building permits. Construction activity, including soil disturbance or removal of vegetation, shall not commence until an approved SWP3 has been obtained;
3. Execution of an Agreement Not to Protest the Formation of a Benefit District for street and sidewalk improvements to E. 28th Street; and
4. Compliance with the conditions associated with the approval of Historic Resources Commission case no. DR-03-20-05.
Motion carried unanimously. (6)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the Traffic Safety Commission’s recommendation to deny a request to establish “no parking” along the east side of Bobwhite Drive between Bob Billings Parkway and Lake Alvamar Drive, and direct staff to prepare the appropriate ordinance. Motion carried unanimously. (7)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the Traffic Safety Commission’s recommendation to establish “no parking” along both sides of Wakarusa Drive within the City Limits, and direct staff to prepare the appropriate ordinance. Motion carried unanimously. (8)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to concur with the Traffic Safety Commission’s recommendation to establish “no parking” along the west side of Four Wheel Drive between 29th Terrace and 31st Street, and direct staff to prepare the appropriate ordinance. Motion carried unanimously. (9)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to receive the Building Code Board of Appeals recommendation to take no further action on the issue of additional regulation of wood shake shingle construction. Motion carried unanimously
(10)
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:
During the City Manager’s Report, Mike Wildgen said concerning Memorial Park Cemetery, the City received a court order to temporarily receive the possession of personal property and real estate. City crews and contractors did a great job of cleaning that area in time for Memorial Day. At this point, staff was in a maintenance operation pattern for this cemetery. He said Mr. Graham, owner of Memorial Park Cemetery, contacted staff and indicated that he would pay employees through Memorial Day, but he did not indicate whether he would fight the court order.
Commissioner Schauner asked if Graham’s employees would still be employed and would those employees staff the facility.
Wildgen said yes. He said the two employees at Memorial Park Cemetery would be kept on as summer employees and maybe longer, but this issue was not in good timing with the City’s budget.
Vice Mayor Amyx said the employees and staff were doing a tremendous job. He thanked Wildgen for leading City staff’s efforts for the good of this community.
Commissioner Schauner suggested that the City Commission send a letter signed by the Mayor, to the people that worked to cleanup Memorial Park Cemetery, indicating how appreciative the community was of the work that was performed. (11)
REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:
Consider approval of the Housing Trust Fund Board recommendations for HTF allocations totaling $570,800
Margene Swarts, Community Development Manager, presented the staff report. She and Barbara Carswell, Chair, Housing Trust Fund Board, were available to answer questions concerning this matter.
Carswell said in her memo she tried to address a comprehensive summary of the process. The Board had placed objective and serious thought into the allocations made. She said with each of the eight applications, she had given a brief summary of how the Board looked at those applications relative to evaluations and funding.
Vice Mayor Amyx called for public comment.
Hilda Enoch, Lawrence, asked why the City was losing its Housing Trust Fund and she indicated that it seemed this process was setup with that very purpose in mind. She said she felt that the Housing Trust Fund was an important player, but the problem had been that the Housing Trust Fund had never been properly funded year after year.
Commissioner Rundle said the problem was that an on-going source of funding had not been identified. He said he was not sure that the Housing Trust Fund Board was going away because he thought the Commission was still interested in finding that funding source. One prospect was adding on to the mortgage fee which took legislation, but the current legislature was not friendly to those types of proposals at this time.
Carswell said she could not answer all of Enoch’s concerns. She said Enoch’s questions were extremely valid regarding homelessness. She said anyone who was involved with the homeless shelter obviously was passionately committed to the homeless. The Housing Trust Board found as they looked at the purpose of the Housing Trust was that it was not one single purpose. She said she believed that the Board had put into their recommendation to the City Commission three major projects that would be addressed such as low income housing and particular populations. There were smaller funding projects that also looked at critical populations and some of the specific challenges that those projects faced. The stated purpose of the Housing Trust Fund was to encourage and support the acquisition, rehabilitation, and development of affordable housing and/or emergency shelter and supportive services all necessary to maintain independent living with dignity in this community. She said each member of the Board, as they looked at funding, made sure that all of the proposals address that idea of maintaining that dignity. She said what the Board found and presented to the City Commission, earlier this year, was that the Board was in a stalled pattern in that existing problems were not being addressed. The recommendation the City Commission had from their Board was taking a proactive direction to address existing conditions. She said their recommendations would not cure all those existing conditions, but their recommendations would make a difference.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked if the bid received on the Aquatic Center was approximately $500,000.
Wildgen said yes.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked if the $70,000 was interest income.
Wildgen said yes.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked if there had been any additional money placed in that account.
Wildgen said no, but there was one other year when there was additional allocation.
Swarts said there was additional allocation during one year of $66,000.
Vice Mayor Amyx said the City Commission had one of two choices at that time on what to do with that $500,000. The first choice was to take the $500,000 and reduce the bonds that were purchased to reduce public debt in which he concurred. The second choice was to fund the Housing Trust Fund with that $500,000.
He said the Trust Fund Board’s recommendations probably did not speak to all of Enoch’s concerns, but there were programs such as affordable elderly housing, Habitat for Humanity and Tenants to Homeowners which were programs that addressed a number of Enoch’s concerns.
He said those funds were a one time commitment. The idea of funding the Housing Trust Fund in the future would require some other type of funding source. This money came as a result of a low bid on the Aquatic Center. He said the Board had taken into consideration the needs and requests for funding.
Enoch said the City was giving away the money that was initially allocated for that fund instead of building up that fund as an independent resource of income. She said she understood that the Board was going to work hard at increasing that money. She said that was not a gift from heaven, but was the beginning of setting up a Housing Trust Fund.
Commissioner Rundle said the Board was looking for some leadership from the Commission in identifying sources, but the Commission was unable to identify a funding source at this time.
Commissioner Hack said Commissioner Rundle was working with a group in terms of the homeless situation. She said Mayor Highberger had indicated the willingness to begin to look at forming a Task Force to look at affordable housing issues. She said the Housing Trust Fund Board worked extremely hard within the parameters that were given. She commended Carswell for her leadership in allocating those funds and the criteria used in the selection of those groups.
Commissioner Schauner asked Carswell if the recommended allocation of $36,225 to a Homeless Information Management System was for software.
Carswell said yes.
Swarts said the allocation of that money was a package that included software as well as oversight from a company in Kansas City, Map Link Mid America Coalition that specialized in system support for homeless information. The State of Kansas would be going with this system with the various agencies that were funded with the Emergency Shelter Grant.
Commissioner Rundle asked if the use of that system was mandatory.
Swarts said currently HUD was not mandating a Homeless Management Information System, but they were moving in that direction by making it part of any grant application for support of housing services programs. She said not having that type of information became problematic in grant applications.
Mayor Rundle said the coordination and collaboration was a critical link and was a core issue in terms of meeting homeless needs.
Commissioner Schauner asked about the Salvation Army Homeless to Housed Program.
Carswell said it was a program that addressed a specific population that could not rent because that population either had extremely bad credit or police records that did not allow them to rent under normal criteria. This was a program that Salvation Army wanted to coordinate that would take on a case manager to work with that specific population that was either working at a job or on their way into a job. She said the Board felt strongly that this particular program fell into the supportive services and the dignity of independent living aspect of the Housing Trust purpose.
She said the program would pool the money to reduce risk to landlords. Landlords in the community were hesitant to enter eagerly into this program because there had been history of apartments being trashed, rent not being paid, and other issues. The Salvation Army had put together a program with rules for both the landlords and the tenants. The money would be used to put into deposit to pay for damages and other issues. Some of the administrative costs were being asked for through the grant and some costs were going to be carried by the Salvation Army. She said the Board felt that this was an area where if a person was on his/her way back from homelessness, that renting was the biggest hurdle to face.
Commissioner Schauner asked Commissioner Rundle how the Homeless Management Information Service System fit into the Homeless Task Force with the possible procedures and data collection.
Commissioner Rundle said this type of system was identified as a need before the task force was started. He said there was a heightened concern about duplication and collaboration at that time. All of the service providers would be tied into that system so that when a person did an intake into the social service network, that process would not need to be repeated multiple times as that person went to different agencies. He said confidentiality would be maintained and not all of the information would be made available to all the different service providers, but each provider would be able to pull up the history on those homeless individuals. He said all of the agencies that had been working to come up with some better systems, regarding collaboration and coordination, viewed this idea as a foundation element.
Swarts said the Homeless Management Information Service System would give a total picture demographically of the homeless population. The other issue the system would address would help eliminate duplication of services because there would be a way to determine if people were going from place to place to get the same services. The most important issue was that the system would give the community a picture of what they were facing with the homeless population which in turn would give the community a way to figure out the best way to address that need.
Carswell said as the information system was reviewed one other side that was a positive focus was that gathering that information could actually better help the client such as the client having access to the Veterans Administration.
She said many homeless had mental health problems and the system would tabulate those problems so when a client had to visit a doctor, the doctor would have access to the health information on that client. One of the biggest advantages to this system would be that the people were properly diagnosed and the solution to that need would be better, visible, and more readily applicable to their health needs.
She said the information system was a one time startup cost and mirrored a successful program in Kansas City. She said full support of this idea would give the City Commission, City of Lawrence, homeless and housing advocates much better and stronger data to work with.
Commissioner Schauner said his concern was not whether this was or was not a good program, but whether or not the Homeless Management Information System should be part of the Homelessness Task Force recommendation as a part of that package so that money that was allocated for the HMIS could be used for the land trust which would get to a long-term payback. He said once that land was purchased that land trust operation would pay back time and time again. Again, he said he was not opposed to the HMIS system, but he questioned whether this was the right pot of money out of which to buy that system and perhaps we should consider the purchase of that system through the Homelessness Task Force.
Carswell said when looking at land trust there was strong support for that idea. One of the big driving forces for that support was that currently someone who was at 70 to 80 percent of median income could afford to buy a house in Lawrence. They estimated, based on the information given that 7 years from now with land trust dollars and holding equity within the property, that someone who was between 50 and 60 percent of median income could buy that property, assuming that the properties rise closely to what properties had risen in recent years. The amount of money allocated for HMIS might assist one or two properties. She said there was considerable debate within land trust, although as a concept it was considered and embraced as strong concept for holding affordability. There was debate within the Board as to whether the challenges that were faced in Lawrence actually would be best addressed through land trust. She said as mentioned in her memo, she discussed whether of not being a first time homebuyer should be allowed to take the full equity growth.
As they allocated those funds their Board looked at how this issue tied into long-term benefits for affordable housing. The HMIS system would have strong data. Part of the frustration was that they had not known the best solution. She said the Board felt that the HMIS System should be fully funded because there was a unanimous consensus that the HMIS System would give strong data and that data would drive less emotional decisions about future solutions which was a good goal.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked Commissioner Rundle whether the HMIS and the Salvation Army programs were identified as the No. 1 and No. 2 items to be considered by the task force at this time.
Vice Mayor Rundle said definitely the HMIS was considered one of the top considerations. He said the service providers felt that this system was something that was needed yesterday and this system would provide a basic key component for coordination. He said the agencies had done what they could in terms of coordinating and planning the implementation of an HMIS when the funding was available.
Vice Mayor Amyx said the allocation of funds did not need to be decided at this time. He said the City gave the Salvation Army, as part of the Community Development Block Grant, $50,000.
Swarts said yes. She said that was a joint application between Salvation Army and the Lawrence Community Shelter.
Vice Mayor Amyx said now they were up to approximately $100,000 that was requested and approved. The HMIS was the number one issue that needed to be considered at this time. It seemed that the Salvation Army’s request could be held over until the task force met and decided where to place that money.
Commissioner Rundle said they could put this issue on their agenda for the next meeting.
Commissioner Hack asked if Vice Mayor Amyx recommended approval of the Housing Trust Fund Board’s recommendations except for the Salvation Army request.
Vice Mayor Amyx said yes.
Commissioner Hack said she was OK with Vice Mayor Amyx’s recommendation, but she wanted to make sure the Commission looked at the Salvation Army’s program which was completely different from other types of programs that were being funded. She said the Salvation Army’s program was a different issue in terms of moving people into rental property and working with landlord/tenant issues.
Commissioner Schauner said he could perhaps support the HMIS, but he was concerned that rather than placing people in homes, they would be collecting data. He said he got a little weak in the knees when talking about software request. He said they could collect data, but unless they had some money to do something that really helped people such as placing people in better housing, he was not particularly supportive of continuing to buy software. He said he would rather place people in homes or own the ground on which those people could buy those homes.
Commissioner Hack said the HMIS system was something that was identified by the Homeless Task Force. She said this was a huge need and one of the concerns was overlapping use of services. She said the system would not only protect the community, but would collect data that would help best treat those individuals.
Commissioner Rundle said Barbara Huppee, Executive Director, Lawrence Housing Authority, had met with the practitioners that discussed the HMIS System. He asked Huppee to speak from a practitioner’s perspective on how pressing this HMIS system was.
Huppee said it was a recommendation of the Homeless Task Force and also the lead from the Lawrence Community Shelter that they would make that application for an HMIS system. She said the system was consistent with their goals and objectives with regard to those agencies that were working with the homeless population. She said the system would be a tracking guide so that as people came into the system those agencies would be able to look at the services they were currently receiving and better serve those people through the coordination of services. She said a lot of case management was done in this community as it related to the homeless population, but it required people coming together to discuss best services, given what existed in the community. This HMIS system was going to be a faster way of providing needed services to the homeless. She said she thought the HMIS system was going to be required for future HUD funding.
Commissioner Rundle said in getting those services better coordinated, it would be more likely to move people quickly into housing which was an indirect way of accomplishing Commissioner Schauner’s concern.
Huppee said the ultimate goal was to look at this population and the barriers of being able to move into permanent housing and to use the resources of this community. The ultimate goal was to always move the chronically homeless or the hard to house into permanent housing and sometimes that took a number of different steps. This system would enhance their goals.
Commissioner Schauner said he was certainly in sync with those goals, but he was wondering how willing the recipients were to participate with accurate data in such a system.
Huppee said all agencies had an application process and one question probably on all those applications related to releases of information so that there could be better cooperation. The data that would be received from this system was not only what people were giving, but what the agencies themselves would be providing to those individuals so that they could better see the needs of those individuals.
She said if an individual came to the Lawrence Housing Authority and that individual was in this system, if that person had a greater need than what he or she presented to the Housing Authority, the Housing Authority would be able to act on that information and get that individual better services, so that individual did not get into housing and fail. She said the system was geared toward getting people into housing to help those people be successful by knowing and sharing information.
Wildgen said he wondered whether it would be helpful to hear from the task force before deciding on this issue.
Commissioner Rundle said the task force would be having an internet discussion about the next meeting date just because of the pressing nature of this issue, but right now the task force meeting was scheduled for June 22nd.
James Dunn, Lawrence, said one element of the proposal was the Salvation Army Homeless to Housing. He said there were certain criminal backgrounds that excluded people from being able to secure a voucher through the public housing angle. He said it was his understanding that this program would be able to circumvent that process to help those folks to be able to gain some housing. He said he was concerned that element would be automatically excluded.
Enoch spoke about the HMIS system from a standpoint of a homeless person who was trying to enter the system. She said the homeless person had been shunted from place to place and often times asked to repeat information with the hope of getting help and surely this system would be one of the things that would make it easier for the homeless person as well as for all of the good people that were trying to serve the homeless. All of those eight recommendations from the Housing Trust Fund Board were good if the City Commission was going to give away the Housing Trust Fund.
Commissioner Schauner said he would like to see the task force report before the Commission gave away $570,000. He said his concern was not to be critical of the recommendations of the Board. He said he would like the City Commission to look at this issue in a more uniform way.
Commissioner Hack said the Housing Trust Fund Board had done exactly what the City Commission asked the Board to do. She said the Commission needed to move ahead because the Board had done their research along with debate on those issues.
Vice Mayor Amyx said if there was a motion to defer this issue until the task force met, they would have a split decision on this body and this issue would not go anywhere at this time. He asked when the earliest the task force could meet again.
Swarts said June 22nd was the next date the majority of the people could meet. It was her understanding that they were close to getting the final document.
Commissioner Schauner said he was concerned that just addressing the Homeless Task Force in this setting that it was a complicated enough pieces with enough dollars attached to it that it would be a service to everyone to have a bit more time for additional discussion before the City Commission acted on this issue. He asked by putting this issue off would they be putting anybody in a position where they could not pursue the proposal that they had made.
Swarts said the HMIS would not go forward without funding. There was partial funding, but without the balance, the HMIS could not go forward at this time.
Commissioner Schauner asked if that $12,000 would go away if that issue was not acted upon.
Swarts said she did not know the timeframe on the Community Foundation Grant.
Commissioner Rundle said that money was not under any short deadline.
Commissioner Hack said in gathering from conversation that the best plan would be to wait until they had a full City Commission. She said reluctantly she could go along with that idea, but she wanted to make sure that they were on the same page and that they also look at the work that had been done.
Huppee said the money her group would receive would be used to leverage other funds and they were looking at other grant and loan applications.
Commissioner Amyx asked about the timeframe one those applications.
Huppee said August would be the time that they would be submitting those applications. The success of those applications depended upon having leverage to money elsewhere.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked Huppee if she had an answer from the City Commission concerning the allocation of money by the end of June or the first of July would that be OK for other grant applications that needed to be submitted in August.
Huppee said yes.
Vice Mayor Amyx thanked Carswell and her group for the recommendations to the City Commission.
He asked if June 22nd was the timeframe for the Homeless Task Force meeting.
Commissioner Rundle said that was the timeframe as of the last communication the Board had, but given the current discussion, he would see how many people couldn’t meet earlier and if it would be feasible to have an earlier meeting.
Vice Mayor Amyx said if Commissioner Rundle could get the Homeless Task Force meeting set up earlier, then a study session could be set up to discuss the Task Force’s recommendations.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Rundle, to defer the recommendation from the Housing Trust Fund Board for HTF allocations totaling $570,800. Motion carried unanimously.
(12)
Consider adopting on first reading, Ordinance No. 7883, for a temporary building permit moratorium to implement recommendations of the HOP District Plan.
Linda Finger, Planning Director, presented the staff report. She said Michelle Leininger, Planner, was present to respond to the memo that staff had prepared. She said the memo was in response to the HOP Plan to the City Commission with the four recommendations. She said there were also representatives from the three neighborhoods that would be impacted. She said David Corliss, Assistant City Manager/Legal Services Director’s office drafted the building permit temporary moratorium and Corliss was more able to answer the technical questions.
Corliss said at the City Commission’s May 10th meeting they authorized staff to come back with an ordinance. The extended moratorium expired on April 25th. Upon further reflection of the draft he did have one suggested change.
One suggested change was in Section 2 of the ordinance. He said staff tried to set a date at which building permits would have needed to be submitted and staff went back and referred to the original date in the original moratorium ordinance of June 29th 2004, but he did not think that date was particularly appropriate because the original moratorium ordinance had expired as of April 25th. There had obviously been an opportunity for building permits to have been validly issued without an ordinance during that time. He suggested today’s date of May 31st , or the second reading date of the ordinance, as a substitute. He said he was not aware of any project pending that it would effect, but he did know that there had been some construction, for example, McDonald’s, that had been started since then.
Commissioner Schauner said he thought that was considered a modification or amendment as opposed to an activity that would have been affected by the moratorium.
Corliss said Commissioner Schauner was correct. He said it was within the existing footprint that would have been allowed to proceed.
Commissioner Schauner asked if there were any projects submitted since the 25th of April.
Finger said the only issue with McDonald’s was that they were actually adding a drive through lane so they had the potential of intensifying the use. She said she was not aware of any projects that had came through the Planning Department for a permit, but that did not mean that there might be some projects that did not necessarily come through the Planning Department that might be multiple family on a duplex or single family level.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked if today’s date would be appropriate for project submittals.
Corliss said yes.
Vice Mayor Amyx called for public comment.
Emily Hill, Hillcrest Neighborhood Association, supported the moratorium. She said the moratorium was necessary, judicious, and flexible to continue to allow positive development. She said the moratorium would be an important safeguard for the neighborhoods and the Planning Office in implementing the key parts of their plan.
Malcolm Lodwick, representing Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Association, said a lot of work had gone into this plan and people were interested in outcome for neighborhoods. The moratorium supported the zoning update process and Old West Lawrence supported the plan.
Gwen Klingenberg, representing the Pinckney Neighborhood Association, spoke in support of the moratorium. She said there was a need for a moratorium because the new zoning regulations had been delayed, but meanwhile the Pinckney neighborhood was in the process of an overlay and they would need to decide whether they were going to rezone and then rezone again when the new regulations came into play or whether they should be working on a overlay plan that would happen at the same time based on the new zoning regulations.
Commissioner Rundle asked Klingenberg if she was comfortable with the recommendation to not include area 1, but only areas 2 and 3.
Klingenberg said area 1 was the Pinckney neighborhood. She said Pinckney neighborhood had a very interesting history. When the new zoning regulations came into play, a major portion of the neighborhood was going to be non-conforming and those would be issues that would need to be addressed at that time. She said there was a particular area that could be sold in the next year and the Pinckney neighborhood had concerns that perhaps this area should also be considered.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked Klingenberg if she would like area 1 considered as part of Ordinance No. 7883.
Klingenberg said yes, if possible. She said the neighborhood did have concerns, but she knew it was not as big a concern as some of the other areas because Pinckney would need to go through a major discussion with the neighborhood in taking care of situations where there were duplexes, residential and other types of zoning in the area.
She said the one particular area of concern was in the HOP area and was not zoned properly. She said they felt that area should be taken into consideration because that was the reason that was listed as one of the three top stops by everyone that was present at the zoning meeting.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked if there were any applications in area 1.
Finger said she was not aware of any applications in area 1. She said she knew there were some large projects that might turn over in that part of the neighborhood.
Commission Rundle said if there were no projects in the works, then he suggested including all three areas so that these issues could be resolved.
Vice Mayor Amyx asked about the type of language change that would be needed in the ordinance.
Corliss suggested that the City Commission direct staff to include the legal description of area 1 in the ordinance. Staff would come back with those changes on May 31st, 2005 for first reading.
Commissioner Schauner asked if the City Commission needed to wait for the 1st reading of the ordinance for one week.
Corliss said it was not necessary, but there was always the issue of making a substantial change on 1st Reading. He said it was an area where attorneys’ had debated whether or not that could be done, but staff could make that language change to adopt on second reading if the Commission desired. He said he did not have any advice one way or the other as to what was the most solid ground for the Commission should it be attacked for making that change midstream. If the Commission’s will was to approve the ordinance on 1st reading, with those amendments, the City Commission could at this time. He said to protect the City Commission the best would be to wait a week, but he did not think the Commission would have a significant problem.
Commissioner Schauner said he would prefer to amend the ordinance to include area 1 and to interlineate May 31st, 2005 for the June 29, 2004 date.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Rundle, to place on first reading, Ordinance No. 7883, for a temporary building permit moratorium to implement recommendations of the HOP District Plan and amend the legal description to add Pinckney area 1 to the moratorium area and also, the date in section 2 of the ordinance to change from June 29, 2004 to May 31, 2005. Motion carried unanimously. (13)
Vice Mayor Amyx said concerning procedural process, he asked if the Commission could consider this ordinance as an emergency.
Corliss said the Commission had the authority under state law to adopt on 1st and 2nd Reading an ordinance such as this ordinance, if the Commission declared an emergency. He said that process had been done in the past, but tried to avoid that process. He said this issue would follow the normal course of adopting the ordinance on 1st Reading as amended and when second reading occurred, there would be a clean version of the ordinance to adopt.
Consider recommendation from the Traffic Safety Commission (TSC) to establish adult crossing guards at 27th Street and Mayfair Drive and at 28th Street and Kensington Road.
Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, presented the staff report. He said at their May 2, 2005 Traffic Safety Commission meeting, the TSC considered the request from the Principal of Prairie Park Elementary School, to establish an adult crossing guard at the intersections of 27th and Mayfair Drive during the morning crossing period, and at 28th Street and Kensington Road during the afternoon crossing period.
On March 28th – 31st, staff took a gap count and determined that those two crossings did meet the minimum criteria for a crossing guard. The TSC recommendation to the City Commission was to recommend that those crossing guards be established as full-time positions. Concerning funding, there had already been approval of a crossing guard this year that was not in the 2005 Budget. He said this crossing guard position would be an additional full-time position and would cost $5,500 annually.
Commissioner Hack said when reviewing the TSC minutes, those minutes indicated this would be an area that was raised, stamped, and pedestrian refuge area such as the area in front of the Arts Center. She asked if the area of discussion would be a raised pedestrian crosswalk like the area in front of the Arts Center.
Soules said the TSC had that discussion, but he did not think the TSC made a formal decision. He said that area met the criteria for crossing guards. He said obviously a pedestrian island was an option, but in this situation, you would be dealing with elementary school children.
Vice Mayor Amyx said he thought the pedestrian crossing in front of the Arts Center was one of the most dangerous situations in this community.
Commissioner Schauner asked if there was any history of using volunteer groups for crossing guards.
Wildgen said volunteers were not consistent solutions and they would need to be trained and supervised.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to direct staff to implement the crossing guard service and the funding of the position during the 2005 and 2006 budget years. Motion carried unanimously. (14)
PUBLIC COMMENT:
James Dunn, Landlords of Lawrence, said April was Fair Housing Month. He said the Landlords of Lawrence would be hosting an event on June 27th, 7:00 p.m., at the Lawrence Public Library to discuss sexual harassment and other topics as related to rental housing.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to adjourn at 8:00 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
APPROVED:
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Mike Amyx, Vice Mayor
ATTEST:
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Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
1. Bid – 2005 Chip & Seal/Crack Program to Vance Bros., for $157,372.70.
2. Bid – 2005 Overlay Program, Phase 2 Street Improvements, to LRM Industries for $767,065.55.
3. Ordinance No. 7885 – 1st Read, “no parking” W side of 4 Wheel Dr between 29th Terrace & 31st St.
4. Ordinance No. 7886 – 1st Read, “no parking” both sides of Wakarusa within the City limits.
5. Resolution No. 6596 – public hearing for construction of Anna Tappan Way from Haskell W approx 500; to Hanscom Rd.
6. Site Plan – (SP-03-24-05) warehouse, Bohmann Excavating, 808 E 28th.
7. TSC – deny “no parking” E side of Bobwhite Dr. between Bob Billings Pkwy & Lake Alvamar.
8. TSC – establish “no parking” both sides of Wakarusa within City limits.
9. TSC – establish “no parking” W side of 4 Wheel Dr between 29th Terr and 31st.
10. Receive Building Code Board of Appeal recommendation to take no further action on the issue of additional regulation of wood shake shingle construction
11. City Manager’s Report
12. Housing Trust Fund Board for HTF allocations for $570,800.
13. Ordinance No. 7883 – 1st Read, temp bldg permit moratorium to implement HOP District Plan.
14. Crossing Guard – 27th & Mayfair Dr & at 28th & Kensington Rd.