CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Week ending September 19, 2014

August 2014 Building Permit Report

The Building Safety Division issued 186 building permits in August, with total construction for the month valued at $10,972,475.  Total permit fees assessed for the month were $67,333.  Permits were issued for 9 new residential projects, including six (6) single-family dwellings and three (3) multi-family dwellings. Staff Memo August Permit Report Year to Date Report

Sales Tax Information Available

The City of Lawrence has placed a sales tax proposal on the November 4 General Election ballot for voters to consider funding a new facility for the Lawrence Police Department. Several resources are available for residents to review information about the sales tax proposal and how funding would be used, if passed.  The city’s website, /www.lawrenceks.org/police-facility, has information including a video, dates/times of meetings and tours of the Police Department facilities, FAQs about the proposal, voting information, and how to contact staff/elected officials with questions and/or comments. 

The October Flame, the city’s monthly newsletter, includes information on the proposed sales tax including FAQs, a map of current facilities, site information, cost information and voting information as well.  The October Flame will be mailed out in all utility bills starting 9/29/14. 

City website wins top award

The City of Lawrence website, www.lawrenceks.org, received a 2014 Pinnacle Award from the National Association of Government Web Professionals (NAGW) during its annual conference in St. Paul, MN on September 11, 2014. Pinnacle Awards are judged by a group of web professionals from inside and outside of government web development, and are awarded to the best entries based on the following judging criteria: Team Size; Content; Organization; Design; Performance and Flexibility; Accessibility Standards; and Interactivity.  Web developer Chris Stringer is the driving force behind the city’s website.  In the past year, the city’s website has expanded multimedia content, added interactive tools such as maps and notifications, and enhanced integration with our back-end databases all in an effort to increase use of the site. 

The city’s website was redesigned in November 2013.  A major part of the redesign was employing responsive technology which is essential to creating a mobile-friendly site. Since the redesign, the city has seen a substantial increase in use via smart phones and tablets. Over the past year, the city’s website has had 500,000 unique users, 1.05 million sessions and 2.6 million page views.  Mobile traffic on the site is increasing with 37% of users identified as mobile visitors (25% increase in phone usage/14% increase in tablet use).