Week ending May 12, 2018
2017 Annual Report: Economic Development Support & Compliance
Each year, staff prepares an annual report on City economic support & compliance. The report covers public assistance to aid economic and community development efforts, providing details on the project, public assistance provided, and applicable compliance performance measures.
The 2017 report was reviewed by the Public Incentives Review Committee (PIRC), on April 23, 2018. There were no changes. The County Commission reviewed the report at their May 2, 2018 meeting. The staff memo, report, and presentation from the PIRC meeting are attached.
Massage Ordinance Update
City staff has completed a new draft of an ordinance that would regulate massage therapist and other bodywork practitioners in Lawrence. This draft comes after staff met with interested parties twice in March and again in April, in addition to receiving input on the ordinance via email, and diligently listened to the concerns and input of those in attendance. Staff recently shared the draft with the bodywork community and will host two additional meetings to discuss the proposed language. Those meetings are scheduled to occur May 17 at 1:30 p.m. and May 21 at 5:00 p.m., to accommodate as many schedules as possible. The ordinance is anticipated to return to the City Commission for consideration in June.
Monthly Utility Billing Report
Attached is the April 2018 Utility Billing Report.
Monthly Building Permit Reports
The Building Safety Division issued 267 building permits in April, with total construction for the month valued at $17,715,259. Total permit fees assessed for the month were $105,837, and total review fees assessed were $7,106. Permits were issued for 21 new residential projects, including 19 single-family dwellings and two (2) duplexes. Staff Report Monthly Permit Report Year-to-Date Summary
Parks and Recreation Updates on Promotions/Programs with Free/Reduced Pricing
Following up on the discussion held recently with the commission regarding aquatics, Parks and Recreation’s Aquatics Division has provided a list of promotions/programs with free and/or reduced pricing at the aquatic centers in 2018.
2018 Point in Time Homeless Count
The Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition has completed the analysis of the 2018 Point In Time Homeless count. The Point in Time and the Housing Inventory Count occurred on January 24, 2018 and were submitted to HUD on Friday, April 27, 2018. The counts are a requirement for the Balance of State Continuum of Care and must be submitted yearly to HUD. Communities utilize these numbers for grant applications and program gap analysis. The homeless count results for Lawrence/Douglas County were posted on April 27 in conjunction with the HUD submission and can be found here: https://assets.lawrenceks.org/assets/pds/devservices/HIAC/Homeless_count/ds-cdd-2018-homeless-count.pdf
Leadership Exploration and Development (LEAD) Program
In alignment with the strategic plan, the City began to develop a training program specifically for non-supervisory personnel. The Leadership Exploration and Development (LEAD) program is a 10-session training program designed for non-supervisory personnel looking to expand their capacity in their current position or have a desire to be considered for supervisory positions as they become available.
The program began in April and will conclude in January with a graduation ceremony. The program was developed to help proactively address succession planning, encourage participants to develop cross-departmental relationships, provide an opportunity for participants to articulate career aspirations and identify strategies for attainment, and improve leadership skills.
Generally, the class will be facilitated by City staff to help keep the costs low and to further foster cross-departmental relationships. We are excited to have the inaugural LEAD class underway and look forward to continuing this program in the future. More information can be found in the program brochure.
Official designation of Grover Barn as a Network to Freedom site Received from the National Park Service:
The City has received notification from the National Parks Service that Grover Barn, 2819 Stone Barn Terrace, is being officially designated as a documented Underground Railroad site on the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom. Three other sites in Lawrence have achieved this important designation.
The Grover Barn is one of the best preserved Underground Railroad sites still standing in Lawrence. Ardent abolitionists Joel Grover, who arrived in Lawrence in 1854 with the second New England Emigrant Aid Company party, and his wife Emily, sheltered freedom seekers in the stone barn built in 1858 on their farm southwest of Lawrence. Incidents of the site’s role as a “station” on the Underground Railroad are remarkably well-documented in the historical record. The most significant involved eleven freedom seekers and a free-born baby who were hidden at the Grover barn in January 1859. The abolitionist, John Brown and his men had helped to liberate the group from slavery in Missouri the previous December in a highly publicized raid. After a brief stay at Grover barn on his last trip to Kansas, Brown led the freedom seekers to Detroit, Michigan, and saw them cross over into Canada.
In addition to its national significance, the barn is also important to local history, as one of the few territorial period structures remaining in Lawrence and a rare historic agricultural structure within city limits. The Grover barn and a portion of the original farm remained in the Grover family for 105 years. From 1963-1976 the barn was used as an artist’s studio and in 1980 the City of Lawrence acquired the building for use as a Fire Station through 2006. The structure is currently used by the Lawrence/Douglas County Fire/Medical Department and the Lawrence Police Department.
Designation on the Network to Freedom will bring national recognition and provide accessibility to grant funds for interpretation and preservation of the site. A citizens group, the Guardians of Grover Barn, partnered with the city to nominate the site to the Network to Freedom. They plan to continue this partnership, working to increase awareness and appreciation of the Grover Barn’s important story and to seek grant funding for interpretive signs at the site. A tour of the Grover Barn is planned for Saturday, August 18, during the Watkins Museum of History’s Civil War on the Western Frontier. For tour information, the public may contact Will Hickox, Programs and Public Engagement Coordinator with the Watkins Museum, whickox@watkinsmuseum.org or 785-841-4109.
Advisory Board Diversity Survey Results
Resolution No. 7224, which adopts standard policies and procedures relating to Advisory Boards and Committees of the City of Lawrence, Kansas, identifies a goal of the City to have advisory board and committee members reflect the diversity of the community regarding income level, race, sex, religion, color, national origin, ethnicity, age, ancestry, familial status, gender identity and sexual orientation. The policy further states that from time to time, the City Manager’s Office may gather voluntary information from advisory board/committee members to ensure progress toward this goal.
To this end, in the spring of 2018, a voluntary survey was distributed to all advisory board/committee members in an attempt to get a snapshot of the current level of diversity across all boards relating to the facets of diversity outlined in the policy. The results below are shown are an aggregate view of all the responses and provides a general snapshot of diversity across all the City Advisory Boards. It is the intention of City staff to have this survey completed approximately every three years and the information shared with the City Commission. Again, participation in the survey was entirely voluntary.
The board survey can be found on the website, https://lawrenceks.org/board-diversity/.
Two Opportunity Zones Designated in Lawrence
Governor Colyer has announced two Opportunity Zones have been designated in Lawrence. The new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 calls for the designation of Opportunity Zones, which are qualifying low-income census tracts within communities. The Opportunity Zone designation provides a tax incentive for the reinvestment of unrealized capital gains into investments into a qualified Opportunity Fund, relating to investment within the Opportunity Zone areas. The Governor had the opportunity to only designate 70 census tracts within the entire state and two tracts were chosen for designation within Lawrence. The first tract is located on the east side of Massachusetts Street and includes the East Lawrence Neighborhood, Brook Creek Neighborhood, portions of the Barker Neighborhood, Lawrence Venture Park and East Hills Business Park. The second tract includes the University of Kansas campus and West campus. Attached is the letter submitted by the City for designation consideration with a more in depth description of the tracts. Information about the census tracts can be found at this online map, by searching Lawrence, Kansas: https://www.novoco.com/resource-centers/new-markets-tax-credits/data-tools/nmtc-mapping-tool.
Future Agenda Items
Attached, please find a summary of future agenda items.
Future Work Session Items
Attached, please find a summary of future work session items.