CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
Week ending July 6, 2012
Production of new fire apparatus ahead of schedule
The attached report from Pierce Manufacturing contains an update and photos of the production of the city’s new Engine 4. Currently Pierce is ahead of schedule and final acceptance of the fire apparatus is projected to be in early September.
Skateparks reopen following renovations
The skateparks in Centennial and Deerfield parks have officially re-opened after an early July ribbon-cutting ceremony. The skateparks had been closed since April for renovations that included new concrete and general updates to the parks. New skatepark rules and regulations signs were installed. When both skateparks were closed for improvements, materials from the skatepark at Deerfield Park were relocated to Holcom Park, 2601 W. 25th Street. Three ramps, a rail and a grind box were added to the concrete pad that was the location of a batting cage, which was removed several years ago. A limited number of skate helmets were handed out to those 16 years-old and under. Helmets were provided by the Lawrence Safe Kids Coalition. The attached report contains photos from the ribbon cutting at the Centennial Park skatepark.
Quarterly website statistics
The City of Lawrence website, lawrenceks.org, received 295,460 visits from April 1 to June 20, 2012, with 815,767 pages viewed during that time period. By comparison, in 2011 the city’s website received 281,962 visits and 820,174 pages viewed during the same time period last year. Parks and Recreation had several entries in top 10 most viewed pages. The top 10 most viewed pages on the City of Lawrence website from April 1 to June 20, 2012, were:
The city’s database of frequently asked questions top five viewed answers during the same period were:
12. Does the City of Lawrence have a noise ordinance?
13. Why are some city jobs for internal candidates only?
14. A tree in my neighbor’s yard overhangs my property - can I trim it without my neighbor’s permission?
15. What do I do if my water has a funny taste or odor?
17. What are the hours that meters are enforced in downtown Lawrence?
18. Where do I pay my water bill?
19. I think I may have a warrant, what do I do now?
* Content for the FAQ database comes from the city department pages, as most departments have a FAQ section.
Lawrence named a best city for cookouts
Kiplinger’s recently named Lawrence as one of the “10 Best Cities For Affordable Summer Cookouts” and highlighted Centennial Park as a great grilling spot.