CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
Pavement Management System Survey Status Report
The attached report from the Public Works Department contains the status of the Pavement Management System survey and the proposed next steps in that program.
CAFR Receives GFOA Award
The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) recently awarded the City’s comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2002 a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting and its attainment “represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management” according to GFOA’s announcement. Ed Mullins, Finance Director, and Laura Warner, Accountant, are responsible for the preparation of the CAFR. This is the fourteenth year in a row that City’s CAFR has been selected for this award.
More Awards
The Parks and Recreation Department recently presented the following awards/recognition to staff and members of the public for their contributions to the success of department programs:
· Mitch Young, Park District Supervisor, and his staff were awarded the 2005 Tom Wilkerson Teamwork Award for their work in upgrading Memorial Park Cemetery in time for Memorial Day visits.
· George Woodyard was recognized for his leadership in raising $50,000 as part of the Rotary drive for the Rotary Arboretum.
· Bert Nash Mental Health Services partnered with Parks and Rec on the Nash Dask 5K Run and Walk. Parks and Rec’s Wee Folks Scholarship Fund received part of the proceeds from the event.
More Recognition
The December 2, 2005 edition of This Week in Washington, provided by the Water Environment Federation (WEF), included a brief on the City of Lawrence National Biosolids Partnership Environmental Management System Certification. The weekly newsletter is a free weekly newsletter distributed to over 1000 WEF members, including water quality professionals and a general public audience. Some of the recipient's fields include: Administration/enforcement of government environmental programs; Municipal pretreatment; public health; publicly and private owned municipal or district sanitary, water and wastewater treatment plants and facilities and industrial waste treatment facilities with focus on drinking water, wastewater, process water, toxic and hazardous materials, solid waste, air, groundwater, storm water, pollution prevention, residuals/biosolids management and public education/information. The Water Environment Federation is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with members from varied disciplines who work toward the WEF vision of preservation and enhancement of the global water environment. The WEF network includes water quality professionals from 76 Member Associations in 30 countries. On a related item, the attached fact sheet details the three national distinctions recently received by the Department of Utilities. In October, two EPA awards were presented to the Wastewater Treatment Plant for maintenance and operation and for biosolids management. Also in October, a third party audit was completed to grant certification of the biosolids program by the National Biosolids Partnership.
Drainage Study on City’s Website
The North Lawrence Drainage Study has been posted to the web site. The direct link is:
www.lawrencepublicworks.org/N_Law_Drainage_Study_2005/N_Law_Drainage_Study_2005.htm
Weekly Submittals to Planning Department On-Line
The public can access the weekly submittals to the Planning Department via the following address: http://www.lawrenceplanning.org/submittals.shtml
There is an email notification system available to those interested in being notified when this information is available – called e-planning. You can sign up for e-planning by going to: http://web.ci.lawrence.ks.us/mailman/listinfo/e-planning
To contact the Planning Department, please call (785) 832-5159 or email: cfolkmann@ci.lawrence.ks.us
Update on Ridesharing
Cliff Galante, Public Transit Administrator, will be working with the Mid America Regional Council (MARC) to evaluate ridesharing software, with an eye to sharing in the cost to acquire and maintain the software. With the ability to conduct surveys and gather invaluable origin and destination data to be, the software would be used in both short and long-range transportation plans that come with a low administrative cost. Using this software, MARC and Lawrence should have sufficient real-time information to identify specific commuting patterns within the region, which will help determine if or how implementation of intercity public transportation along the K-10 corridor should occur. This cooperative approach makes sense, given the number of people commuting to and from Lawrence and the KC metro area. At some point, Cliff would also like to include Topeka into the discussion, given the number of commuters between Lawrence and that city. Ridesharing can be a low-cost solution and an excellent first step towards relieving traffic congestion and improving air quality within a commuter corridor.
Action Items from 12-13-05
A report on the action items assigned to staff during the 12/13/05 City Commission meeting is attached, along with an update of previous action item assignments.