February 27 , 2007
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 Amyx presiding and members Highberger, Hack, Rundle, and Schauner present.
CONSENT AGENDA
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the City Commission meeting minutes from February 13th, 2007. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to receive the Human Relations Commission meeting minutes of November 29th, 2006; and the Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting minutes of October 17th, 2006 and January 16th, 2007. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve claims to 498 vendors in the amount of $811,462.90. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the Drinking Establishment License to The Pool Room, 925 Iowa; and Allstars, 913 North 2nd Ste. C. Motion carried unanimously.
The City Commission reviewed the bids for one ¾ ton cab and chassis for the Public Works Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
Shawnee Mission Ford $24,849.00
Laird Noller Ford $24,954.00
Olathe Ford $25,753.00
Ed Bozarth Chevrolet $32,891.00
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to award the bid to Shawnee Mission Ford, in the amount of $24,849. Motion carried unanimously. (1)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for two (2) one ton trucks with snow plows and spreaders for the Public Works Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
Shawnee Mission Ford $94,196.00
Laird Noller Ford $94,667.00
Olathe Ford $96,682.00
Jim Clark Motors $99,092.00
Ed Bozarth Chevrolet $104,260.00
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to award the bid to Shawnee Mission Ford, in the amount of $94,196. Motion carried unanimously.
(2)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for one medium duty truck, cab and chassis for the Public Works Department. The bids were:
BIDDER TRUCK COST MOUNTING CRANE TOTAL BID
Custom Truck & Equip $46,000 $5,800 $51,800
Laird Noller Ford NO BID NO BID NO BID
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to award the bid to Custom Truck & Equipment, in the amount of $51,800 and wheel base modification in the amount of $800, total purchase of $52,600. Motion carried unanimously. (3)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for the Sesquicentennial Point project (concrete plaza area, steps, sidewalk, and engraved timeline) for the Parks and Recreation Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BASE BID ALTERNATE BID TOTAL BID
Engineer’s Estimate $335,000.00
B.A. Green $262,869.00 $86,657.00 $349,526.00
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to award the bid to B.A. Green, base bid $262,869 and alternate $86,657 total bid $296,862. Motion carried unanimously. (4)
The City Commission reviewed the bids for the 2007 Crack Seal Program and street improvements for the Public Works Department. The bids were:
BIDDER BID AMOUNT
Engineer’s Estimate $298,000.00
Missouri Pavement Maintenance, Inc. $239,500.00
LRM Industries, Inc. $266,500.00
Ferguson Paving, Inc. $279,550.00
Vance Brothers, Inc. $282,250.00
Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC $322,750.00
All American Asphalt and Construction, Inc. $451,000.00
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to award the bid to Missouri Pavement Maintenance in the amount of $239,500. Motion carried unanimously. (5)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the request from the Lawrence Police Department to proceed with the 2007 police patrol vehicle bid process utilizing the specifications for the Ford Crown Victoria Police package. Motion carried unanimously. (6)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve an additional $23,370 to Shawnee Mission Tree Service for the purchase and installation of 123 additional street trees. Motion carried unanimously. (7)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to authorize the City Manager to execute a purchase agreement for the Wakarusa Water Reclamation Facility for 90 acres, generally located at the southeast corner of E 1600 Road and N 1175 Road from Idessa Riles in the amount of $280,000. Motion carried unanimously. (8)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 8080, amending the franchise fee for Kaw Valley Electric Cooperative pays to construct, maintain, extend and operate its facilities for the purpose of supplying electric services to the City of Lawrence. Motion carried unanimously. (9)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 8081, adjusting the franchise fee by Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P., d/b/a AT&T Kansas as a single adjustment to the fee rather than a phased adjustment. Motion carried unanimously. (10)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 8083, authorizing a Special Use Permit (SUP-07-01-06) for a 150’ T-Mobile monopole cellular tower and equipment shelter, located at 2206 E. 23rd Street. Motion carried unanimously. (11)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 8084, authorizing a Special Use Permit (SUP-07-02-06) for a 150’ T-Mobile monopole cellular tower and equipment shelter, located at 3420 Bob Billings Parkway. Motion carried unanimously. (12)
Ordinance No. 8078, establishing no parking along the east side of Sunset Drive between 9th Street and Broadview Drive, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to adopt the ordinance. Motion carried unanimously. (13)
Ordinance No. 8079, rescinding disabled parking in front of 714 Alabama, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to adopt the ordinance. Motion carried unanimously. (14)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to adopt Resolution No. 6706, authorizing the Mayor to sign the City/State Agreement for construction of safety improvements on 19th Street from Ohio Street to Alabama Street. Motion carried unanimously. (15)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Schauner, seconded by Hack, to approve the request to establish an additional review fee of $10,000 for special use permits for new communication towers to be made payable to the City of Lawrence at the time of application. Motion carried unanimously. (16)
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:
During the City Manager’s Report, David Corliss said he wanted to draw public recognition to Jim Phillips with the Police Department and Nate Jameson in the Lawrence/Douglas County Fire/Medical Department in receiving awards from the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He said they continued to appreciate the Fraternal Order of Eagles annually providing recognition for the City’s public safety personnel and were particularly appreciated of Phillips’ and Jameson’s efforts on behalf of the community.
He said Jonathan Douglass, Management Analyst, City Manager’s office, put together an application for the All-American City Award and submitted the application to a national group for review. City staff participated in that application process along with a number of community members and believed they had a good application and looked forward to the review and results.
Casey Toomay, Budget Manager, said the fourth quarter report was a cumulative report and represented data through the entire calendar year. The numbers were not audited, but those results would come back sometime later this year. She said staff did not anticipate any significant changes in the numbers so the report should be fairly close to what the City Commission would see in that audit. The report included an update on the implementation of the Performance Measurement Management System and staff provided each of the City Commission goals with the number of the performance indicators that related to those goals. She said more of that data would become available after the Citizen Satisfaction Survey and that data would be compiled and presented to the City Commission for review.
She said concerning budgetary highlights, overall 2006 went as anticipated. She said in the general fund, they collected more revenue than was budgeted in 2006. However, more money was spent than brought in. She said that meant continued monitoring of the City’s expenditure and continued discussion of different options for generating revenue.
She said the City’s Sales and Use tax exceeded the budgeted amounts and increased over 2005 levels. It should be noted the 2007 Budget was built assuming a 4% increase in that sales tax over 2005 levels and would likely be closer to a 2% increase.
She said expenditures in the general fund were approximately 98% of budget and compared to 2005, they were at 97% of budget. She said again, continued expenditure monitoring was needed. She said a chart was available in that report that provided a breakdown by department of expenditure levels.
As for the special revenue funds and enterprise funds, they had some positive news from the golf course in 2006. The golf course’s expenditures were at 99% of their budget however, revenues exceeded their expenditures by approximately $30,000. She said revenues exceeded the budgeted amounts in all the other funds and expenditures ranged from the low of 87% in the public parking fund to almost 98% budgeted in the recreation fund.
Mayor Amyx said the revenues in 2006 were 3.7 million below the expenditures in 2006 at the time of the budget process last year. He asked if that was right on line with the fund balances.
Corliss said yes, staff planned on spending down the fund balance.
Mayor Amyx said he wanted to make sure they were in line and thanked staff for monitoring the budget so close.
Corliss said one challenge was staff had aggressively looked at the expenditures, and in most departments not added personnel and in most cases not added contractual services or commodity purchases. He said they were seeing the traditional 95, 96, 97% expenditure of the general fund budget which was optimistic and were moving toward 100% and would continue to watch those expenditures to look for opportunities for efficiency which was one of staff’s continuing goals.
Commissioner Schauner asked if the sales tax failure to grow at the budgeted rate was a concern in the overall scheme of things for the City’s general fund budget.
Toomay said in the long term. She said she thought the 2007 budget was planned accordingly, but in the long term, it was something staff needed to look into further before any conclusions were made.
Commissioner Schauner asked how much further into this fiscal year was it important to look at that number to see what long term impact it might have.
Corliss said staff just received the most recent sales tax numbers and that was the largest sales tax receipt the City had received, in history, for one month. He said it was about 3% above the previous sales tax receipt. He said the February distribution of those sales tax receipts reflected the holiday sales time sales. He said that 3% or 4% growth on sales tax was what staff forecasted and budgeted on. He said some of those months when the City was not having a good month, would be a challenge, but the City had been through a number of those sales tax challenges as far as retail market and retail competition with the community.
Commissioner Schauner asked what would be the Reader’s Digest message, about Fiscal 2007 budget projections. He asked if it appeared the City was on course to equal revenues and matched expenditure projections or was it too early to tell.
Corliss said in the 2007, the City would still spend more than the City would bring in, but were closing the gap. He said expenditures would need to be looked at very closely and the City needed to be in a position to say “no” to the small and big, outside of the budget, and monitor those revenues. He said for example, one of the trends on the para transit was the demand was growing and the City’s contractual demand to pay MV Transportation was more than budgeted for this year and more than planned in out years. He said staff needed to manage that to ration the demand to the extent community goals could be achieved and some revenue increase to offset that. He said the Reader’s Digest version was to pay close attention to expenditures, focus on essentials, say “no” to some of the additional amenities, and watch the revenues very closely.
Commissioner Schauner asked if it would be too early in the 2007 fiscal year to consider putting off some expenditures, out of the general fund, until later in the year when there was a better fix on revenues versus planned expenditures.
Corliss said he thought it was too early, but he wanted to get a good feel for where the City was at the end of this month as far as expenditures and revenues. He said there were different ways to address the situation, whether it was positions or by deferring some of the budgeted items. In addition, he wanted to change some of the systems as to how the City was purchasing items to make some of the efficiency choices systematic and in a couple of months staff needed to look at some of those things. He said the way budgets were structured, just like any other municipality in Kansas the healthy part was the previous year’s fund balance. He said the expenses the City could say “no” to and the revenues they were able to enhance helped in the 2008 budget as well.
Mayor Amyx said the main goal of the Commission, last year, was infrastructure improvements, specifically the street program where Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, made recommendations. He said he shared the same concern of Commissioner Schauner in the earliness of the year in making recommendations for programs. He said the bid date was set for the crack seal project this year and assumed other big projects would be coming up. He said he saw the City as spending 98% of the budget and asked if it would take two additional months for a report.
Corliss said staff would look at January and February’s results and discuss in March where they needed to be.
Toomay said the other item was comparison information staff put together looking at the City of Lawrence and the other 9 of the 10 largest cities in the state in terms of assessed valuation, mill levy, and local sales tax. She said with relation to assessed evaluation and mill levy, the City of Lawrence ranked below the median in terms of total assessed value. The City was slightly above the median in terms of the assessed evaluation per capita, but were behind some of the Johnson County cities in this area. Staff was continuing to work and break down similar to what was provided last year that showed what percent of the tax base was residential versus non residential and it was likely that comparison added to this would provide additional insights. She said the 2007 City mill levy was also below the median and almost a whole mill below the average city mill levy. In terms of a total mill levy, the City of Lawrence was also below the median and 5.25 below the average of those top 10 largest cities.
She said a table provided in that report showed a breakdown of the combined sales tax rates in those 10 cities. She said most communities were levying their local sales tax for general purposes and there were a number of communities that levied sales tax for a special purpose. She said at 7.3%, the sales tax rate was the lowest in those communities and only the City of Salina had a lower sales tax rate. She said Wichita currently had the same 7.3% sales tax rate, but 1% of tax was a county sales tax being levied to fund the construction of the downtown arena. She said that sales tax was set to sunset at the end of 2007.
She said in 2006, the City ranked 7th in the amount of total dollars generated by sales tax. She said this translated to about $246.00 of sales tax per capita. She said it was the second lowest of cities in this comparison. She said when comparing the budgeted sales tax and revenues in 2007, the City ranked 6th. She said this was another area where staff was going to continue to do some work. It was likely a number of those communities were under estimating their sales tax budgeted numbers to meet the statutory fund balance requirement. She said when that information was available, staff would bring that information to the Commission.
Corliss said he thought it was important because it gave them a lot of information to think about when they looked at the budget issues. He said the mill levy comparison, something he thought was important to recognize and cities do different things. He said a number of the Johnson County cities do not provide library services; the county provided the library service in Johnson County, with the exception of maybe Olathe. He said most of the Johnson County cities did not have a library. He said they were very familiar with the library mill levy impact issues and the same thing Johnson County cities have a very active count in parks program that included cities parks and county parks. He said there were a lot of recreation type activities. He said in comparing the City mill levy, it was helpful to look at, for example, the transit system supported by the property taxes, which was a county obligation in Johnson County cities. He said he was sure they could also point to things they did not have. He said they may not have some of the resources Lawrence has.
Commissioner Schauner said Lenexa, for example, had a significant amount of their property assessed at a higher percentage than much more of Lawrence’s residential property which makes residential versus commercial and really skewed their income compared to Lawrence’s.
Vice Mayor Hack said she hoped people had a chance to read through some of the application for the All American City Award because it represented an awful lot of information. She said what she had a chance to read through, it was a ton of information and they captured the community. (17)
REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:
Conduct public hearing on Oregon Trail stormwater and park benefit district.
Chuck Soules, Public Works Director, said they were there tonight to conduct a public hearing for the establishment of a benefit district for Oregon Trail Park. He said this overlay was in the Oregon Trail Addition on west 6th Street. He said as part of the Oregon Trail Addition, they provided approximately 4.3 acres for the development of a park. He said the park would contain a recreation path, playground area and pond, which would also serve as a stormwater detention facility. He said additionally, drainage would be included within the benefit district. He said the Parks Department and Park Advisory Board were supportive of the neighborhood park facility and staff was recommending the addition of the park facility to the park system. He said this project would probably begin in 2007 and the improvements would be funded 100% of the benefit district and the method of assessment was by square footage. He said the properties were in parcel 1. He said the estimated project cost was $811,000. He said tonight they would hold a public hearing, pending comments, approve Resolution 6707 stating the findings of the governing body, if appropriate.
Mayor Amyx asked if there was any City participation.
Soules said no City participation; 100% paid by the benefit district.
Commissioner Schauner asked if the land set aside for the park was going to be ground usable for that purpose and easy for the City to maintain in the long run.
Soules said he knew there would be a rec. pond area and rec. path and playground facilities. He said as far as the maintenance DeVictor would have to answer that.
Fred DeVictor, Parks and Recreation Department Director, said there would be access walkways and trails coming in from three different directions from three different streets, so the access for maintenance was not a problem. He said a large pond would be there and there would be a trail around that pond and play equipment in that area, so they did not have concerns about access for maintenance. He said it had been worked out with the LandPlan.
Commissioner Schauner asked if the topography of the ground could be used for playground equipment.
DeVictor said it was fairly fat.
Corliss said it would because they would approve the specification towards what would be there. He said it would be part of the design of the playground area and to ensure it had the appropriate topography and the access as indicated for playground area.
Commissioner Schauner asked if this park’s location would be compliant with the recently adopted policy on Park location within a quarter mile of housing stock.
DeVictor said he was not sure he could answer that. He said they did not have many parks in that general area. He said it was within one of the pods they had shown in the updated plan of a park needed in that area, but he did not know how close because there was not much out there now. He said it was not within a quarter mile of other parks, but there was a large area out there that this would help meet that need in that neighborhood.
Commissioner Schauner asked when the area was ultimately built out, would the park serve to satisfy the policy about park location within a quarter mile radius.
Vice Mayor Hack said they would probably have to have the timing of the policy versus the project as well.
DeVictor said to the north of it was a wooded area and there had been discussion about in the future of extending it to perhaps the north. He said the other comment he would make was that it was very unique and the first in the history of Lawrence a benefit district had been used for park development.
Commissioner Schauner said he was pleased with that but was curious about what they did know and did not know about the impact of this.
Commissioner Highberger asked about the dimensions of the parcel.
Tim Herndon, LandPlan Engineering said it was a half mile from west 6th Street.
Highberger said that would be within a quarter mile of a park.
Herndon said he would agree with that statement.
Mayor Amyx called a public hearing on Oregon Trail stormwater and park benefit district.
Upon receiving no public comment, it was moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to close the public hearing. Motion carried unanimously.
Moved by Hack, seconded by Schauner, to adopt Resolution 6707, to order the construction of public improvements of Oregon Trail Park. Motion carried unanimously. (18)
Consider authorizing staff to submit a Heritage Trust Fund grant application to the Kansas State Historical Society for the stabilization and rehabilitation of the Breezedale Monuments located at 23rd and Massachusetts Streets.
Lynne Zollner, Planning, said she wanted to tell a little bit about the program and why they were applying for the grant. She said this was a grant for the Breezedale Monument markers. She said the Heritage Trust Fund Grant had been around since 1990 and specifically to help municipalities and non profit organizations and even individuals in the State of Kansas finance rehabilitation of historic structures that were important to Kansas history. She said some of the things they have been concerned over was they have been monitoring the markers over the past three years and have a lot of stone deterioration. She said the metal face was gone on one. She showed pictures of deterioration of the concrete and stone. She said they have a lot of different issues going on with the monuments and different types of biological growth. She said they had some staining from pollution and the metal pieces on top have their own issues. She said when they put the two things together, they make for a wonderful preservation project. She said normally to clean the metal could harm the stone and vice versa, so it was not a simple project to undertake. She said this was what the object of the grant application would be to rebuild both sides of the monument and hopefully restoring the side and repairing the bench. She said the overall grant cost would hopefully be around $55,000, which was the grant total request. She said it was an 80/20 matching grant, so the cost to the city would be around $11,000.
Commissioner Highberger asked when they announced it.
Zollner said usually they announce in May. She said they had a grant review committee and the deadline was March 1st. She said the review committee usually met in April and the sites board took that recommendation and made the final recommendation.
Schauner said he thought it was a great project and terrific icons for that part of the City.
Vice Mayor Hack said she did say there were two other projects within Lawrence; it was a competitive project.
Zollner said it was a very competitive grant program. She said she knew the Courthouse was seeking funding to continue some of the repairs they had been working on for several years and also she believed Plymouth Congregational Church from some of the microburst damage they received earlier.
Mayor Amyx said he knew this particular section and those monuments meant a lot to him.
Moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to authorize staff to submit a Heritage Trust Fund Grant Application for the stabilization and rehabilitation of the Breezedale Monuments located at 23rd and Massachusetts Streets. Motion carried unanimously. (19)
PUBLIC COMMENT:
None. (20)
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:
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03/06/07 |
· Public hearing on API Foils Tax Abatement Application · Public hearing on Neighborhood Revitalization Act
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04/10/07 |
· Seating of new City Commission
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|
TBD
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· Salvation Army Site Plan and Rezoning; · Retail Marketing Analysis Code provisions · Status of Long-Range Planning Resolution (discussion of Resolution No. 6697 has been scheduled as a public hearing item at the Planning Commission’s meeting on February 26, 2007. Notices will specifically be sent to members of the public that had indicated an interest when this item was listed on the 01/16/07 City Commission Meeting Agenda.) · Stoneridge Drive benefit districts – front footage versus square footage issues · Mercato PDP / George Williams Way benefit district / Pump Station No. 45 gravity line to Pump Station No. 48 |
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03/06/07 |
· Public hearing on API Foils Tax Abatement Application · Public hearing on Neighborhood Revitalization Act
|
(20)
COMMISSION ITEMS:
Moved by Highberger, seconded by Schauner, to adjourn at 7:20 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
APPROVED _____________________________
Mike Amyx, Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
1. Bid – (1) - ¾ ton cab & chassis, Public Works for $24,849.
2. Bid – (2) - 1 ton trucks w/snow plows & spreaders, Public Works for $94,196.
3. Bid – (1) - medium duty truck, cab & chassis, Public Works for $52,600.
4. Bid – Sesquicentennial Point project, Parks & Rec. for $52,600.
5. Bid – 2007 Crack Seal Program, Public Works for $239,500.
6. Bid process –2007 police patrol vehicles, specs for Ford Victoria Police package.
7. Shawnee Mission Tree Service - purchase & install123 additional street trees for $23,370.
8. Purchase agreement for Wakarusa Water Reclamation Facility for 90 acres, located at SE corner of E. 1600 Road & N. 1175 Rd from Idessa Riley for $280,000.
9. Ordinance No. 8080 – 1st Read, amend franchise fee, Kaw Valley Electric Cooperative.
10. Ordinance No. 8081 – 1st Read, adjust franchise fee by SW Bell Telephone.
11. Ordinance No. 8083 – 1st Read, (SUP-07-01-06) 150’ T-Mobile monopole, 2206 E. 23rd.
12. Ordinance No. 8084 – 1st Read, (SUP-07-02-06) 150’ T-Mobile monopole, 3420 Bob Billings Parkway.
13. Ordinance No. 8078 – 2nd Read, “no parking” E side of Sunset Drive between 9th & Broadview.
14. Ordinance No. 8079 – 2nd Read, rescinding diabled parking in front of 714 Alabama.
15. Resolution No. 6706 – Author Mayor to sign the City/State Agreement for construction of safety improvements on 19th from Ohio to Alabama.
16. Special Use Permits for new communications towers - additional review fee of $10,000.
17. City Manager’s Report.
18. Public Hearing – Oregon Trail stormwater and park benefit district.
19. Heritage Trust Fund Grant - Application to KS State Historical Society for stabilization and rehabilitation of Breezedale Monuments at 23rd & Mass.
20. Public Comment
21. Future Agenda Items.
22. Commission Items.