July 2, 2002
The Board of Commissioners of the City of Lawrence met in regular session at 6:45 p.m., in the City Commission Chambers in City Hall with Mayor Hack presiding and Commissioners Dunfield, Rundle, Henry, and Kennedy present.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to approve the City Commission meeting minutes of June 25, 2002. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to approve the Convention and Visitors Bureau Advisory Board meeting minutes of May 28, 2002. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to approve claims to 290 vendors in the amount of $1,619,265.92 and payroll from June 16, 2002 to June 29, 2002 in the amount of $1,337,490.44. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to approve the Drinking Establishment Licenses for Stone Canyon, 3801 West 6th Street; Kokoro Japanese Sushi & Steakhouse, 602 Kasold, Ste: D-102 and 103 (Contingent Upon State License); and, the Retail Liquor License for Cork & Barrel Downtown, 901 Mississippi. Motion carried unanimously.
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to place on first reading Ordinance No. 7452, prohibiting traffic control signs on private property which do not comply with the manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Motion carried unanimously. (1)
Ordinance No. 7537, establishing “no parking” along the south side of 9th Street, from Tennessee Street west to the alley; and, on both sides of 12th Street between Delaware Street and Oregon Street, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Henry, Kennedy, and Rundle. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (2)
Ordinance No. 7538, authorizing the condemnation of easements and rights-of-way at Malan Realty site (31st Street Improvements), was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Henry, Kennedy, and Rundle. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (3)
Ordinance No. 7539, increasing City court costs from $20 to $22.50, was read a second time. As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to adopt the ordinance. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Henry, Kennedy, and Rundle. Nay: None. Motion carried unanimously. (4)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to adopt Resolution No. 6396, providing City approval for the request of Levy and Craig to receive tax credits from the Kansas Department of Commerce. The proposed project includes: 1311 East 21st Terrace, 1205 East 26th Street, 1424 Elmwood, 1121 Monterey Way, 3912 Overland Drive, 3016 Atchison say, and 2769 Harper. Motion carried unanimously. (5)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to approve the relocation of public parking spaces at the Borders Book Music & Café parking lot, 700 New Hampshire. Motion carried unanimously. (6)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to authorize the City Manager to execute a supplemental engineering design contract in the amount of $18,500 for 6th Street and Kasold geometric and traffic signal improvements. The original contract was in the amount of $28,580 and included traffic signal modification and geometric modifications on Kasold. Also, the original contract did not include any geometric improvements on 6th Street, however, the project has now been expanded to include double left turn lanes on 6th Street. Therefore, more engineering design is required. This project is funded ninety percent by the State with a ten percent local share for construction and inspection. Motion carried unanimously. (7)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to authorize the City Manager to execute an engineering design contract for 6th Street and Lawrence Avenue geometric and traffic signal improvements with Professional Engineering Consultants in the amount of $16,300. This project includes the construction of a westbound right turn lane on 6th Street and the modification of the existing traffic signals. This project was previously funded by Resolution No. 6314 in the amount of $200,000. Motion carried unanimously. (8)
As part of the consent agenda, it was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Dunfield, to authorize the Mayor to sign a Subordination Agreement for Steve and Kelly Reese, 1073 East Home Circle. Motion carried unanimously. (9)
During the City Manager’s report Mike Wildgen reported that this spring there were requests for additional signage on the new garage in the 900 Block of New Hampshire. The signs are finished and hopefully will alleviate confusion for parking. There will be some additional signage on Massachusetts Street notifying the public about additional parking.
Concerning the open building permit issue, Wildgen reported to the City Commission that staff has closed over 550 permits since spring and there are approximately 200 active permits. These permits will be closed at the end of construction.
David Corliss, Assistant City Manager/Legal Services Director, presented the staff report concerning possible special assessment benefit district for a turning lane on West 6th Street at Comet Lane. At the June 11, 2002 City Commission meeting they conducted the statutory required public hearing on the proposed benefit district to install the public improvement of a fifth lane on West 6th Street that would provide westbound traffic a left turn ability to proceed south on Comet Lane. At that hearing, the Commission asked several questions and directed staff to remove Lot 4 on the northeast corner of 7th Street and Monterey Way from the benefit district.
Concerning the question about the front footage method, under State law, the Commission has the authority to establish any reasonable basis for an assessment method. Traditionally, the City has used either a square footage method, a by the lot method, or front footage method. Corliss said he talked to the City’s bond counsel, Randy Irey, Attorney for Gilmore and Bell, about using the front footage method on Comet Lane. Irey said the City could most likely survive a legal challenge and that it would be defensible using the front footage method. He said Irey indicated that because some of the lots would have very small front footage assessments in comparison to some of the other lots, the larger assessed lots might attack the reasonableness of the assessments. But again, Irey thought it would be legally defensible using the front footage method. He said staff recommends using the square footage method because that seems to be more applicable.
Corliss said in the memo presented to the City Commission, the memo indicates front footage percentages and the estimated cost based on the estimated cost of $325,000 to do the road improvement for both the square footage and front footage methods. The memo also indicates the conditions that appear on the properties in question in regards to the benefit district improvements.
David Rueschhoff, Owner, Rueschhoff Security and Locksmith, said he recently purchased a small piece of real estate to relocate and expand their business which is in the proposed benefit district along Comet Lane and 6th Street. He said he was already paying a large amount of assessments for Comet Lane and 7th and Comet Lane improvements. He said a left turn lane that is needed for this location, benefits not only the people that are visiting or living on those properties, but also benefits everyone passing west on 6th Street for safety and access reasons. He said there would also be a number of left turns onto Comet Lane to avoid the stoplight at Monterey Way. In these types of issues, the City at-large either participates or does not participate in the cost for these improvements or sometimes there is a compromise. Further west on 6th Street, the City at-large has paid for most of those left turn lanes. At 22nd and Kasold, there is a new right turn lane behind Hy-Vee that accesses 22nd Street and the City and developer split the cost of that improvement. He said the benefit of having a left turn lane is certainly a benefit to the adjoining property owners and businesses, but also everyone passing west on 6th Street. He asked the Commission if there was anyway the City could participate in the cost of that left turn lane, subsequently, he and the other two or three property owners would not have to pay for the entire cost of the left turn lane. He said he did not anticipate paying for more improvements a month ago when he purchased this property. Rueschhoff said he hoped there was some justification that the City would participate in some of the cost of the left turn lane.
Doug Compton, Lawrence, said he sold Rueschhoff the north part of his property so Rueschhoff could expand his local business. The south half has been platted and site planned and is currently under construction for a multi-family project. He said he wanted to address the Commission for the same reasons that Rueschhoff had mentioned.
He said right after they purchased Tract No. 1, they were assessed with their share of 100% of the cost of Comet Lane and 7th Street. Through the development process, during the traffic study phase, there was already a need for a westbound left turn lane prior to them buying this lot. He said through the years, they were encouraged to provide infill development and thought they had done well. But he also thought they were being penalized for doing this type of development based on cost in relation to City improvements. He said they would agree with the suggestion of the square footage method of assessments and asked the City to participate in approximately 50% of the cost of the improvement.
Tim Herndon, Landscape Architect and Planner for Landplan Engineering, said his firm has been involved with the evolution of the southeast corner of 6th and Monterey Way for quite a number of years. He said he has had a chance to see how the growth and project by project affected the intersection and the dynamic of the traffic. He said he wanted to suggest some points that are worthy of consideration.
First, he wanted to reiterate that Comet Lane, the north and south streets, and 7th Street the east and west portions, are paid for via a benefit district consisting of 100% of the adjacent property owners. It is a fact that the westbound left turn lane which was currently being discussed, was warranted using the criteria for creating traffic studies prior to the development of this property. He said this lane would have been warranted regardless of Compton’s or Rueschhoff’s properties. As a result of this 7th Street and Comet Lane left turn lane, the westbound left turn lane onto Comet would encourage cut-through traffic. He said this would in turn come back and impact these adjacent property owners who are paying for 100% of 6th and Comet Lane. The spacing of the traffic signals along 6th Street as well as limiting the amount of access points onto 6th Street has been an important issue as these in-fill developments have come forward. He asked the Commission to consider trying to arrive at an appropriate and reasonable means to finance the project as they evaluate the square footage or area proportions versus linier footage.
Chris Haley, representing Comet Corporation, said he was told that this property would benefit as a result of the left turn lane, but it is not benefiting the occupants that are at that location. He said he realized the importance of the left turn lane because he has seen traffic backed up to the Fire Station. He said it would be great if the City participated in the improvements because it is a safety issue. The business and the properties are going to benefit disproportionately. Concerning his property, he said he was not bringing anyone to that location.
Ann Haley, owner of Lot 6 in the proposed benefit district, said she had bought and maintained the road for twenty years. She said it was not until the apartment building in Lot 5 and Stone Canyon were built that the traffic pattern changed. She said the people that are benefiting from those developments should pay the larger share of that improvement.
Commissioner Kennedy said this development like any others that are occurring on major thoroughfares is always difficult for the Commission to address. He said West 6th Street is one of the City’s main streets and is getting busier with local traffic traveling through town and other places in our community. The City, in the past, has participated in the sharing of expenses for improvements. He said the property owners and City benefits equally from this left turn lane.
Vice Mayor Dunfield said he was not clear on the City’s benefit. He disagreed with the notion that cut-through traffic benefits the City. He said this was not a desirable pattern that the City would want to create. The Comet and 7th Street Improvements were funded 100% by the property in the benefit district and it seemed that the same logic should apply to this benefit district. The increased traffic and the need for the left turn lane were generated by the development of these properties. He said he was leaning towards staff’s recommendation.
Commissioner Rundle asked staff if they had any comparison to the property that was mentioned on 22nd and Kasold.
Mike Wildgen said 22nd and Kasold was a shared situation. There were numerous examples of either way.
Commissioner Kennedy asked how the west turn lane that was being developed in front of Dillon’s on 6th Street was being funded.
Wildgen said the turn lane was being funded by KDOT and the City at-large.
Commissioner Henry said he saw some public benefit to this improvement in terms of traffic and public safety. He said he could see some portion of City participation.
Commissioner Rundle said he saw some benefit to the City, but was more interested in 20% to 25% City participation. He said because City participation was spread out through the City, maybe staff could come up with some type of comparison in the future so they did not have to reinvent the wheel.
Commissioner Kennedy asked, “like an established policy?”
Wildgen said part of this was the nature of the benefit district state law where the flexibility is there to make those types of determinations. He said staff could research how other City’s handle benefit districts and report back to the Commission.
Commissioner Rundle said this would not be necessary if this redeveloped area maintained residential character. This is part of the cost of redeveloping this into a more intense use and the benefit and cost should be borne largely by the redevelopment.
Mayor Hack said she looked at the benefit to the City, not in terms of the cut through traffic, but getting southbound traffic off of the east and west bound lanes of 6th Street which makes 6th Street much safer. She said she agreed this was a pre-existing condition and 6th Street could use a center lane. She said she would be comfortable with 25% to 30% City participation.
Commissioner Rundle asked about KDOT’s participation for 6th Street.
Wildgen said KDOT had an 80/20 percent participation and 100% engineering and right-of-way. He said KDOT did not have a consistent formula for participation because of their funding requirements.
Commissioner Kennedy said the City has asked for improvements east of the intersection of Wakarusa and KDOT is making the City pay a larger percentage.
Wildgen said it was part of the 6th Street project which was 80/20 percent. He said KDOT told the City they had to go east of Wakarusa and KDOT is sharing in participation at the same rate.
Commissioner Kennedy said if you take a look at where this intersection is located, it did not line up with Sierra Drive. A left turn lane will benefit all of the people living in the Sierra Drive neighborhood. He said there are numerous town homes and apartments in that area and a left turn lane would also complement them in entering their neighborhood safely.
Vice Mayor Dunfield said the safety issues are legitimate and he said he would follow the Mayor’s lead in suggesting a 25% share would be appropriate.
Moved by Rundle, seconded by Henry, to direct staff to proceed with the square footage method of assessment and with the City assuming 25% of the costs of the improvements concerning the special assessment benefit district for a southbound left turn lane on West 6th at Comet Lane. Aye: Dunfield, Hack, Henry, and Rundle. Nay: Kennedy. Motion carried. (10)
Wildgen asked the Commission if they would like a staff report on other Cities policies concerning financing benefit districts.
Mayor Hack said yes.
Commissioner Rundle said particularly a City that had a policy that gives a yardstick for assessing community benefit.
Linda Finger, Planning Director, presented the staff report on Oread Neighborhood Association’s request regarding parking requirements. She said much of what Oread Neighborhood has been asking for in the memorandum would be covered under the proposed regulations. She said she could say this would not be through the public process. With the types of changes, she said she felt compelled to wait until the entire document is available so the Commission could initiate text amendments and thus taken through the Planning Commission for consideration.
Commissioner Kennedy asked Finger if the Commission initiated the text amendment then would this go to the Planning Commission for public input.
Finger said yes. On some parking issues in the past, staff has delayed action so a study could be performed such as site counts and looking at parking at the different facilities. She said 5 years ago they visited the multi-family and duplex parking requirements.
Vice Mayor Dunfield asked Finger if there were any proposals that she was aware of where these rules would come into play in advance of the zoning code change. He asked if the City was aware of any proposals to develop multi-family housing.
Finger said the City sees multi-family housing on a fairly regular basis.
Vice Mayor Dunfield said he was thinking particularly in the Oread Neighborhood because of the request.
Finger said she did not know of any private developer/multi-family housing project. The only one out there was the Scholarship Hall and that is university property. Typically if a project is already underway, what the City has done in the past is that the new regulations don’t apply to development that is already proceeding. This is certainly at the discretion of the Commission to decide if this is retroactive to approval of plans or previous plans that generally have a building permit.
Vice Mayor Dunfield said the Oread Neighborhood Association letter refers to dormitories, but university property is not required to follow the zoning regulations.
Finger agreed and said the City did not enforce the zoning regulations for the university.
Mayor Hack asked about the time difference between going to the Planning Commission if the Commission initiated rezoning this evening versus waiting for July 24.
Finger said the Commission could forward their recommendations to the Planning Commission on July 24th for their consideration. It would be at least a one-month delay. July 12th is the cut-off date for the August Planning Commission meeting. If the Commission initiated the rezoning tonight, the rezoning would be on the August agenda.
Marci Francisco, Lawrence, said she came before the City Commission last week, representing Oread Neighborhood Association, concerning parking requirements. She said they had talked with Finger about parking requirement recommendations and not individual recommendations. She said the ONA believes that the percentage of individuals who live in-group living facilities and who own one or more vehicles has increased. She said about every decade there is a change in terms of fewer bicycles and more vehicles. As the ONA has followed this they thought it was important to review the parking requirements as part of the draft ordinance. A particular concern is that the ONA believes that additional group living facilities are likely to be constructed in their neighborhood. At this point, their understanding is that the request that has come from the university for public review has simply been the demolition of houses but had talked about constructing new scholarship halls. The university has indicated that they want to follow the requirements of the residential dormitory-zoning district in their planning. She said this would be an opportunity for the Commission to indicate to the university what appropriate parking requirements might be for those facilities. She said the ONA was asking that the text amendment for group living facilities be forwarded at this time and they would defer the desirability of incorporating the changes for the multi-family dwelling units and duplex units. If the university feels it makes more sense to consider them all together or require additional study, maybe the ONA could assist. She said the ONA would like to see the requirements for group living facilities concerning the zoning recommendation change to 1.5 per 2 lawful occupants.
Commissioner Rundle asked Wildgen if he had any indication of the universities long-term plans and the earliest they would anticipate construction in the neighborhood.
Wildgen said he did not have direct comment from anyone at the university. He said he did not see any particular deadline.
Commissioner Rundle said if there was imminent construction this might cause problems, but the fact that the City is ahead of their plans and the indication that the university wants to follow codes when they do redevelop, that this is a good time to refer this issue to the Planning Commission.
Commissioner Kennedy asked Francisco if the residents of the neighborhood received the letter in regards to what the ONA was planning on presenting to the City Commission for input.
Francisco said the ONA had included this issue in their neighborhood newsletter. She said they followed the Zoning Advisory Committee process and the ONA has been discussing parking for some time.
Commissioner Henry said having served on the Zoning Advisory Committee, the results and the recommendations by the committee were quite reasonable.
Mayor Hack said the parking requirement requests from the ONA seemed reasonable. She said it made since to forward these recommendations to the Planning Commission.
Commissioner Kennedy said with the Planning Commission receiving these requests, they would have time for public input and any type of request from the public to participate in this process.
Commissioner Dunfield said his only reservation was because as the ZAC process has been going along and has already made recommendations, to take a small piece out of this is a contradiction to what the City is trying to do with the re-codification process which is to look at it as a whole and treat it as one piece rather than continually taking off pieces. He said however, it seems the recommendations are consistent.
Commissioner Henry said he supported the recommendations from the ONA because it has been brought to the City Commission specifically by the neighborhood in this instance.
Moved by Henry, seconded by Rundle, to initiate the Zoning Code text amendments following an Oread Neighborhood Association request regarding group living facilities parking requirements; and, refer to the Planning Commission for recommendation. Motion carried unanimously.
Frank Reeb, Director of Administrative Services/City Clerk presented a staff report on the City’s property insurance and Fire/Medical emergency vehicles insurance policies that became effective on July 1, 2002. He said because the quotes were received just last Wednesday and because the City needed to bind the coverages before July 1, these polices are in effect as of yesterday.
Reeb said, with respect to the property insurance, 22 carriers were approached but only two quotes were received. He said the City’s previous carrier, CNA, submitted a quote but it excluded terrorism, mold, computer virus, electronic data processing and fine arts coverages. Staff selected the quote with The Travelers. The premium for this policy will be about $118,000. He said the deductible increased from $10,000 to $25,000. As a result, some properties that are valued at less than $25,000 were removed from the coverage. Reeb said the premium increase was largely the result of the market in general but it was important to remember that the City had added nearly 26 million dollars in insured properties in the past year and that affected the premium increase as well. Reeb explained the City’s very good loss history pointing out that approximately $208,000 in premiums were paid in the last four years and only about $1800 in losses were reported. That is a loss ratio of less than 1%, which is very good. Reeb pointed out that the City’s cost per $100 of insured properties increased from 4.4 cents to 6.9 cents. This compared favorable with other local municipalities such as the City of DeSoto at 15 cents per $100 and USD 497 at about 8.5 cents per $100 of insured property.
Reeb said since we knew these increases were coming, staff worked hard to minimize them as much as possible. He said Jennifer Harvey, the City’s Risk Manager, and Christina Pulliam, a KU MBA student working in the Risk Management Office, spent a tremendous amount of time verifying insured properties and the value of those properties. Staff also spent an entire Friday showing Travelers representatives around to several City facilities. He said this was time well spent because it resulted in the lowering of a proposed quote by about 1/3.
As for the emergency vehicles coverage, Reeb said only one quote was received and that was from National Indemnity Insurance Company. He explained that National Indemnity is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway Group and has been in business since 1940. Its claims paying ratings from A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s are both Superior, the highest possible.
Reeb said the annual premium is $107,000 and the deductible will vary depending on the value of the vehicle. If the vehicle is less than $150,000 in value, the deductible will be $1000. If the value exceeds $150,000, the deductible will be $10,000. Reeb said, while much of the increase was due to market factors, a significant factor in the increase was our claims history the last four years. He said it was a severity issue rather than a frequency issue. He mentioned an electrical fire to one vehicle and an accident that occurred when an emergency vehicle was responding to an auto accident during an ice storm as the major losses that affected the premium increase.
Reeb said staff was working to minimize the likelihood of emergency vehicles accidents occurring including the installation of rear view collision avoidance cameras on the vehicles and continuing with annual training which includes driving on an obstacle course, reviewing standard operating procedures, and attending a National Safety Course every couple of years. (12)
During public comment, Doug Bowen, said he wanted to bring the City Commission up to date regarding roundabouts and pedestrian islands. He said he met with Patty Jaimes, Douglas County Clerk, concerning a referendum vote which was 2,075 signatures. He said he was told to talk to a Sandy McKenzie, a professor at the K.U. Law School, who was well versed in this type of law. After seeing McKenzie he will then go back to Jaimes to find out what documentation was needed to hand out to various businesses concerning roundabouts and pedestrian islands. He presented to the City Commission a copy of an article concerning Menlo Park, California, and the City Council’s vote against roundabouts and pedestrian islands and their removal.
Mayor Hack asked Bowen to submit his article to the City Commission.
Bob Suderman had a concern about igniting fireworks. He said he enjoyed fireworks as much as anyone else. He moved into the Indian Hills Neighborhood four houses down from South Junior High School in 1987. He said he happened to move into a house that had aluminum siding and thin wooden shingles. Over the years, as much as he enjoyed fireworks and his good neighbors, he said he had a situation where he would have to have hoses in the front and back and not leave the area during those three days of fireworks because he would always have bottle rockets laying around in the area. Suderman said anything that is airborne was dangerous particularly for those who have shake shingle roofs. He said the City needed to address the safety of fireworks.
Moved by Kennedy, seconded by Henry, to adjourn at 7:45 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
APPROVED:
_____________________________
Sue Hack, Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
Frank S. Reeb, City Clerk
COMMISSION MEETING JULY 2, 2002
1. Ordinance No. 7542 – 1st Reading, prohibit traffic control signs on private property which do not comply with the manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
2. Ordinance No. 7537 – 2nd Reading, “no parking” S side of 9th, from Tenn W to alley & both sides of 12th between Delaware & Oregon.
3. Ordinance No. 7538 – 2nd Reading, condemnation of easements and R-O-W at Malan Realty (31st St. Improvements)
4. Ordinance No. 7539 – 2nd Reading, increase court cost from $20 to $22.50
5. Resolution No. 6396 – Levy & Young to receive tax credits from KS Dept of Commerce for various locations.
6. Parking space relocations – Borders Book Store, 700 Mass.
7. Supplemental Design Contract – Kasold geometric & traffic signal improvements for $18,500.
8. Engineering Design Contract – 6th Street & Lawrence Ave geometric & traffic signal improvements with Professional Engineering Consultants for $16,300.
9. Subordination Agreement – 1073 E Home Circle, Steve & Kelly Reese.
10. Benefit District – W 6th at Comet Ln., turn lane.
11. Parking requirements – Oread Neighborhood discussion.
12. Property Insurance and Fire/Medical Insurance Policies – Discussion