CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Week ending November 2, 2012

Coordination with State Archeologist and developer at 9th and New Hampshire proceeds

The City’s Historic Resources Administrator advised the Historic Resources Commission in a February 16, 2012 staff report (page 15): “Information has been submitted to the HRC that indicates there may be archaeological resources located on the project site. Staff notes that the project site has been disturbed by prior development and subsequent land grading. The applicant has indicated that they will make every reasonable effort to document and preserve any archaeological resources discovered on the property.” This paragraph was repeated in the April 30, 2012 HRC staff report. In March of this year, a letter from the State Archeologist was sent to the City Manager also indicating concerns about this issue. This letter was shared with the developer and Historic Resources Administrator. In subsequent discussions with the developer it was understood that if the project proceeded with approvals necessary attention to this concern would need to be addressed at the appropriate stage of development.

A letter from the developer indicating their plans to follow through on the excavation concerns has also been recently received by the City and is attached. We understand from the developer that coordination with the State Archeologist on some supervised work is planned in the near future at the site. 

Report on water system condition, failures, and impacts

Utilities Department staff has produced the attached report on water system condition, failures, and impacts in 2012. As drought conditions and high demands extend into the fall, water system weaknesses manifest themselves as failures and result in customer service interruptions. These failures have increased in frequency and severity resulting in added costs, lost revenues, or both, not only to the Utility, but also to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The Lawrence Utilities Department maintains a water distribution system that includes over 480 miles of water lines with 12,400 valves. Based on pipe material and material age the latest master plan identifies 18% of the system (87 miles of water lines) that need replacement between now and 2030 at an estimated cost of $72.3 million (2012 dollars).This includes over $19 million of work already deferred. The number of system leaks since 2009 and to date for 2012 have increased the last two years by nearly 80% to a rate of 180 per year. Interruptions in service to residential, commercial, and industrial customers have increased even more indicating the severity, and leak locations have become more critical. For 2012 to date service interruptions already have increased over 200% from two years ago and are also up nearly 33% compared with last year even though the total number of leaks is currently below the total for 2011.

Common Ground Program honored as “Sustainable Success Story”

The City’s Common Ground program has been recognized by the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) as one of seven Sustainable Success Stories.  MARC’s Sustainable Success Stories recognize policies, programs and practices that exemplify creating sustainable places in the Greater Kansas City region. Project honorees were selected through a competitive Call for Successful Sustainable Projects.  The City will be recognized on Nov. 30, 8:30–11:00 a.m. at an awards ceremony.

Fire Medical Department conducts employee flu shot program

For the second year the Fire Medical Department coordinated with the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department in a mass inoculation drive thru simulation that uses the city’s Annual Employee Flu Shot Program as the setting (see attached photos). Fire Medical Department paramedics provided a total of 544 injections, 10 of which were children during four 1½ hour clinics held October 17-20.  This is a health benefit to city employees, as well as a working drill for mass immunizations as part of the county’s mass immunization plan. 

Report on new federal transportation act produced by MPO staff

The attached memo from Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) staff summarizes the new federal transportation act called MAP_21 (Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century). This memo has been sent to all of the city and county managers in our region for information about this important new act that will affect funding for roadway and transit projects in our area.

Fall activities in the Parks and Recreation Department

Please see the attached report for information and photos regarding two recent activities overseen by the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department:

• The store fronts in Downtown Lawrence are once again “spooky” for the upcoming holiday because of participants in Lawrence Parks and Recreation and the Breakfast Optimist’s long-running program, the Halloween Paint-In. The Halloween Paint-In celebrated its 41st year and provided 52 participants an opportunity to showcase their artistic abilities through their paintings of the store front windows. This year, we invited back painters from previous years to participate.
• Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department continued organizing and overseeing the girl’s intramural volleyball leagues in the Lawrence Public Schools this fall, with 151 girls participating from the middle schools in Lawrence. This included 16 teams from the 6th, 7th and 8th grades. A total of 8 courts and two Middle Schools main and auxiliary gyms were used each Saturday morning for games. This program is a partnership between Lawrence Parks and Recreation and Lawrence Public Schools.