Week ending April 14, 2018
March Monthly Building Permit Reports
The Building Safety Division issued 187 building permits in March, with total construction for the month valued at $16,828,851. Total permit fees assessed for the month were $78,425, and total review fees assessed were $7,617. Permits were issued for nine (9) new residential projects, all for single-family dwellings. Staff Memo Monthly Permit Report Year-to-Date Report
2017 Residential Lot Inventory
The attached report is an update on the status of available lots for new, single-family, residential construction as of December 31, 2017. Information is provided on supply, market demand, and inventory of residential lots. 2017 saw a 5% decline in residential lot supply for single-family housing compared to the previous year. Almost all lot absorption occurred in newer subdivisions. With demand increasing by 5% from 2016, inventory of single family lots located in new subdivisions (platted within the last ten years) was estimated at 2.1 years in 2017 (approximately 16% less than the previous year).
March 2018 Utility Billing Report
Attached is the 2018 Utility Billing Report.
March 2018 Sales Tax Report
The January - March 2018 Sales Tax Reports have been posted on the Finance Department’s site, https://lawrenceks.org/finance/accounting/sales-tax/. The attached March report show year-to-date sales tax revenues saw a 2.7% increase over the same period in 2017. March 2018 also saw a 10.4% increase over the same month in 2017.
Public Works Annual Report
Attached is the 2017 Public Works Annual Report.
Parks and Recreation Updates
Please see the attached report for updates on the following items:
Police Department Community Q&A on new Policy Facility
The Lawrence Police Department will host a Community Q&A at Free State High School for the New Police Facility on Monday, April 23rd at 6:30 p.m. Lawrence Police Captain Anthony Brixius and Assistant Director of Utilities, Melinda Harger will provide brief updates about the new police facility and answer questions. This will be a great opportunity for citizens to learn about the history of the project, the current and future steps and to ask questions or address concerns.
Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Monthly Report for March 2018
Attached is the Activity Report for the month of March for the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Department.
Integrated Animal Health Update
Integrated Animal Health (IAH) was an animal health startup with high growth promise that established its headquarters at the Bioscience Technology Business Center (BTBC) in 2015. The City and County approved an incentive agreement to assist the startup based on a three-year performance requirement. In late 2017, the City became aware that there was some potential concern with the status of operations. We now understand that the company is no longer operating, and their performance of the third year is questionable. Under the incentive agreement, the City and County equally shared in a $100,000 grant that was forgivable over a three-year period based on performance of the company and also a rent subsidy equally supported by the City and County. Rent payments were suspended by both the City and County in late 2017 pending more information about the status. The $100,000 grant was paid upfront and IAH met compliance for the first two years of the grant, thus there is no performance claw back applicable for those years. The City and County are currently reviewing options related the potential claw back related to the third year of performance. More information will be available in the future as options are determined.
BBC Consulting presents preliminary survey results to Affordable Housing Advisory Board
BBC Consulting presented some preliminary survey results from resident, landlord and employer survey results for Housing Study to the Affordable Housing Advisory Board (AHAB) at its meeting on April 9 (see attached). A total of 472 residents participated in the phone survey and there were 1,978 online resident surveys completed, along with 57 employer surveys and 392 landlord surveys. BBC Consulting will be returning to present preliminary market analysis to AHAB in May. The City Commission will receive a presentation from the consultants at its June 5 meeting. All of the information will be available in the final report, anticipated in June.
Hike through History
“Hike Through History” comprises a series of ten museum-quality interpretive panels along the Burroughs Creek Trail and Linear Park. The interpretive panels function as an outdoor museum exhibition and provide relevant history in engaging and well-illustrated narratives for residents and visitors alike who can exercise their minds and bodies simultaneously while enjoying the trail (see attached for more information).
The project was conceived and overseen by Henry Fortunato, a Fellow at the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas and founder of Sunflower Republic, LLC. The development of the project was done in partnership with the Lawrence Public Library, the Watkins Museum of History, the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas, and Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area. The City of Lawrence and the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department also contributed to the project and are the recipients of the gifted panels.
Sadly, Mr. Fortunato was diagnosed with cancer last spring while he was working on the project and passed away in January before he could see the panels installed. He did get to see pictures of the panels in place. The Communications and Creative Resources office is working with Parks and Recreation, Henry’s wife and son and the aforementioned project collaborators to hold an unveiling event from 9:30 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 28 on the Burroughs Creek Trail at 900 East 15th Street and all are invited. I want to acknowledge the excellent work of the Parks and Recreation Department for making extra efforts to install the panels.
Future Agenda Items
Attached (Updated 04/13/18), please find a summary of future agenda items.
Future Work Session Items
Attached, please find a summary of future work session items.