CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Week ending December 6, 2014

Common Ground Program 2014 Results and 2015 Applications

In 2014, the eight gardens and farms in the Common Ground Program continued to support our community’s food access goals. Common Ground engaged 149 gardeners who grew food for themselves and donated over 1,300 lbs to community food pantries. Between the sites, over 70 community workshops or workdays were held, engaging 600+ community volunteers in these exciting projects.  You can download the 2014 Annual Report here.

The applications for the 2015 Common Ground program are due December 22, 2014.  All application materials are here. 

New promo videos from Lawrence In Focus

Two new Lawrence In Focus videos were recently released showcasing career opportunities for the City of Lawrence and the new recreation center, Sports Pavilion Lawrence.  The two promotional videos are available online at the city’s You Tube Channel. The jobs video will be used as a recruitment tool with social media, website and job fairs.  The City of Lawrence’s Lawrence in Focus video collection is available online at http://www.lawrenceks.org/in-focus. 

Opening weekend of skate rink a success

The City of Lawrence Library Plaza Skate Rink opened to the public the day after Thanksgiving with a brief ceremony to commemorate the occasion. After Mayor Mike Amyx provided his remarks, the rink was officially open for public skating. Opening day numbers show more than 400 skates took to the ice. For opening weekend (Nov.28-30), the skate rink had 1,324 skaters collectively over the three-day period.  See attached photos.

October rental licensing and inspection report

Planning and Development Services submits the October rental licensing and inspection report, as well as an amended report for September, which was revised because the original September report included 15 duplicate licenses in Reports 1 and 2.  The data has been adjusted in the amended report and protocols have been changed to reduce the likelihood of this error being repeated.

Public Meeting on the development of the Arts “Our Town” Grant

The Lawrence Arts Center and the City of Lawrence invite the Lawrence community to participate in the development of their joint National Endowment for the Arts “Our Town” grant proposal to support the Free State Festival in 2016 and 2017.  The community engagement meeting will be held in the Lawrence Arts Center’s large gallery on Monday, December 15, 2014 from 6:00-7:00 p.m., and will be co-led by the Lawrence Arts Center’s Director of Grants & Special Projects, Sarah Bishop, and the City of Lawrence’s Director of Arts & Culture, Christina McClelland.  Attendees will be encouraged to brainstorm ideas about: Free State Festival outreach activities, how to best engage Cultural District neighborhoods in the Festival’s outdoor arts and culture events, and processes and procedures for effectively disseminating Festival-related information (See Meeting Agenda).  All ideas will be recorded and considered for inclusion in the final proposal, which will be submitted to the city commission agenda for January 6.