CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
State budget under consideration
The Kansas Legislature continues to work on the FY2010 budget. The Governor’s proposed budget adjustments still call for all liquor taxes to be retained by the State with no transfers to cities (note the line “Attribute all liquor taxes to State General Fund” in the attached news release). Discontinuing this transfer would result in a full year loss of $1.7 million of revenue to the City of Lawrence. The city has sent letters to our state legislators (see attached example) urging the Legislature to keep this important revenue source coming to Lawrence.
City to work with school district on tennis court lights issue
The city has received the attached petition requesting lights at the new tennis courts being constructed at Lawrence High School. Once the State budget has been finalized and the city knows more about revenue sharing that has typically funded much of the Parks & Recreation Department operations, the city will be in a position to consider whether to fund lights at the tennis courts. The courts are on school district property and will be owned by the school district, but the district does not have need for lighted courts. The general public has typically been the main user of the courts after dark.
Comparison of tax levies and related information
Budget Manager Casey Toomay and City Manager’s Intern Michelle Stevens completed the attached comparison of assessed valuation, mill levies and local sales taxes for the ten largest cities in Kansas. Additional analysis by Mayor Chestnut – added 04/27/09.
SRO program’s recognition publicized
It was previously reported that the Lawrence Police Department’s School Resource Officer (SRO) program was recognized as a 2008 National Model Agency by the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO). NASRO recently published the attached article about Lawrence’s program.
Online diversity training for city employees implemented
City policy requires employees to complete diversity training based on the city’s Statement of Individual Respect annually. In past years the training was led by Human Resources or other employees in group settings. In 2009 an online training program was developed (see attached screenshots from the training) and implemented. The online format allowed the training to be completed at employees’ convenience without leaving their work stations or significantly altering their work schedules to accommodate group meetings. The new format has been well received by employees.
Renegotiation of Grant Township fire protection agreement
The City of Lawrence provides fire protection services to Grant Township under an agreement signed in 2004. The actual costs of providing fire protection are significantly higher than the payment made by Grant Township, so the city has initiated a renegotiation of the agreement. Please see that attached letter from the city to the trustee of Grant Township for more details.
Sign posted at bioscience business incubator site in advance of construction
The City of Lawrence is a partner in the creation of a bioscience business incubator to be located on the west campus of the University of Campus. A sign was recently posted at the location to identify the project. According to a news release by the University of Kansas, “The Lawrence-Douglas County Bioscience Authority is about to start construction of a wet-lab business incubator on KU’s west campus. The 20,000-square-foot facility will be ready in 2010 and marks a milestone in economic development cooperation between the university and the community.”
City vehicle signage getting an update
City vehicles have a new, cost effective look (see attached photos). When city vehicles require new or replacement decals the city’s one color flame icon is being used. When the city’s supply of shield decals was depleted this spring, a new order for the flame was placed. The move saves money (see table below) as well as helps unify the city’s image.
|
|
Shield |
Flame |
Savings |
|
On white vehicles |
$11.34/shield & decal |
$3.60/decal |
$7.74 |
|
On blue (solid waste trucks) |
$9.94/shield & decal |
$6.89/decal |
$3.05 |
Fleet Manager Steve Stewart coordinated the vehicle decal production and Communications Manager Lisa Patterson implemented the use of the flame icon on city materials. The flame is being used on the city’s fleet excluding Police Department and Fire Medical vehicles.
Planning and Development Services Annual Report
The 2008 Annual Report highlights departmental efforts undertaken throughout 2008, including processing development related applications, responding to customer inquiries, improving and enforcing regulations, and refining departmental efficiencies.
City Hosts Earth Day Celebration at South Park
On Saturday, April 18, 2009, the city’s Waste Reduction and Recycling Division hosted the 9th Annual Earth Day Celebration at South Park. Activities were for all ages and included live music, informational booths, and food vendors. For the fifth consecutive year, the celebration featured April Showers to Water Towers: a Water Festival for Douglas County with activities focused on water quality and pollution prevention organized by the Stormwater Division. The Parks and Recreation Department led garden and tree identification tours throughout the day. In addition, the Lawrence Transit System offered free rides all day, providing the experience and benefits of public transportation on all fixed routes. Please see the attached report for more details.
Search engine modifications offer better user experience
Modifications to the city website's search engine provide a better
user experience by separating general information from meeting agendas and
minutes. By default, when a visitor searches the city website, results from all
city web pages will be shown. Based on feedback from both city employees and
external users, search results that contained text from agendas and minutes
often hindered visibility of information relevant to the search.
Visitors to the city website now have five options for searching, which
include:
1. Default - Only city web pages and excludes everything else.
2. Entire Website – Includes all web pages and City Commission agendas, City Code and News Releases.
3. City Commission Agendas - Searches only City Commission agendas. City Commission web archives date back to September 2002.
4. City Code - Searches only the PDF documents of the Lawrence City Code.
5. News Releases - Searches only news releases, dating back to July 2002.
Visitors are encouraged to submit feedback about the website at http://www.lawrenceks.org/survey, which
includes a question regarding the visitor's ability to find information using
the search engine. Eric Gruber, eGov Coordinator completed the project.
Aquatics division adds robust calendar of events to website
Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department's Aquatics division has created a new web calendar to help patrons stay up-to-date on daily activities, classes and hours. The calendar shows activities for Carl Knox Natatorium, Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center, Lawrence Outdoor Aquatic Center, and the South Park Wading Pool. Website visitors can use special features of the calendar including:
1. e-mail reminders of events;
2. text message reminders of events to cell phones;
3. a mobile version of the calendar for web-enabled devices such as PDAs and cell phones.
The calendar also uses RSS, providing web site visitors the option of subscribing to new events posted to the city calendar using their RSS reader of choice. More information about the city's RSS use is available at http://lawrenceks.org/rss. Jai Hoyer, Aquatic Programmer, and Eric Gruber, eGov Coordinator, worked on the project.
Federal funds sought for Yankee Tank Dam upgrades
Yankee Tank Dam, located outside of the City of Lawrence, has been identified by the Kansas Division of Water Resources as needing upgrades. Elected representatives of the city and county in the U.S. House and Senate have sent the attached letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture supporting Watershed Rehabilitation Program funds for the upgrades.