Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

TO: City Commissioners
CC: Diane Stoddard, Interim City Manager
FROM: Porter Arneill, Director of Arts and Culture
DATE: July 31, 2015
RE: East Ninth Street Corridor Project – Review 1. Amended East Ninth Work Plan Draft and 2. The Agreement between the City of Lawrence and the Lawrence Arts Center (LAC) to fulfill financial agreements and implement artist contracting

Background

Work Plan Draft - At their June 24, 2015 meeting, the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) reviewed and amended the East Ninth Work Plan Draft that was accepted at the June 23 City Commission meeting - Memo Regarding Work Plan Edits

Vice Mayor Soden provided a document to the CAC with language addressing neighborhood fears and concerns. The annotated version of the document was provided to the CAC at the July 29, 2015 meeting.

The CAC directed staff to develop a Statement of Support to address concerns related to the East Ninth project (below). June 24 CAC Meeting Notes

At their July 29, 2015 meeting, the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) reviewed the language in the East Ninth Work Plan Draft related to “entertainment corridor” concerns.

City Agreement with the Lawrence Arts Center (LAC) – As part of the ArtPlace grant, the LAC agrees to serve as the fiscal agent for the public art programming for East Ninth which includes, after administrative and related costs, contracting with the selected artists for a total of at least $381,000 and contributing $50,000 to the professional design services as they relate to the art programming for the East Ninth project. The City Attorney developed the agreement which is approved by the Lawrence Arts Center. See below, pages 3 and 4.

Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) Recommendation

At their June 24, 2015 meeting, the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) voted 13-2 in favor of recommending that the City Commission adopt the Work Plan with amendments and a Statement of Support addressing the following concerns:

Address development concerns and maintain the character of the neighborhood.
Support providers of local goods and services.
Address the concern that East Ninth is to become an Entertainment Corridor.

At their July 29, 2015 meeting, the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) reviewed the language in the East Ninth Work Plan Draft related to “entertainment corridor” concerns and voted 11-2 in favor of recommending that the City Commission adopt the Work Plan.

Citizen Advisory Committee - Statement of Support

1. The Citizen Advisory Committee supports any measures the neighborhood may pursue outside of the scope of the project, which may include but are not limited to down-zoning and conservation overlay districts to address development concerns and maintain the character of the neighborhood.

Citizen Advisory Committee – Response to Concerns

2. As part of the effort to support local providers of goods and services, the CAC developed an additional public art program for East Ninth entitled, “Associate Artist,” specifically for Douglas County resident artists to gain an opportunity to be paired and work professionally alongside a panel selected artist to gain direct experience in the field of public art. At least three local artists will participate and be compensated. Call for Associate Artists

3. “Entertainment Corridor” concerns are addressed in the amended Work Plan on page 4 under, “Project Background”:

“East Ninth, is specifically a right-of-way improvement project that includes integrated artworks and new multimodal transportation strategies. As such, the project scope does not include future redevelopment/rezoning plans for surrounding or adjacent properties. The project goals do not include establishing East Ninth Street as a sanctioned “entertainment corridor” that diminishes the authenticity of East Lawrence’s rich, cultural history. Rather, the project seeks to become a vital, public street that sensitively and artfully engages each block from Massachusetts Street to Delaware Street - a cultural asset for East Lawrence and the City of Lawrence alike.”

Staff Recommendation

Staff recommends that the City Commission adopt the East Ninth Work Plan and receive the CAC Statement of Support as recommended by the Citizen Advisory Committee, if appropriate. This will enable the project to proceed to conceptual design and further review by the Citizen Advisory Committee and the City Commission.

Staff recommends that the City Commission Authorize the Interim City Manager to execute the agreement with the Lawrence Arts Center regarding the commitment of $50,000 from the Lawrence Arts Center toward the City’s service contract with el Dorado, inc. and establishing expectations for handling the agreements with artists regarding the project.

th Street Corridor Citizen Advisory Committee

The Citizen Advisory Committee is a broad-based representative group of stakeholders who serve as a sounding board for the project with the design team and city staff.

City Representative:

· Mike Amyx, City Commission, Citizen Advisory Committee Chair

East Lawrence Neighborhood (ELNA) Representatives:

· Phil Collison

· Dave Loewenstein

· John Sebelius

City-at-large Representatives:

· Burdett Loomis

· Reverend Verdell Taylor

· Margene Swarts

Downtown Lawrence, Inc. Representative:

· Emily Peterson

Warehouse Arts District Area Representative:

· Tom Larkin

Lawrence Arts Center Representatives:

· Tom Carmody

· Ben Ahlvers

Business Representatives:

· Marcia Hill

· Will Ogle

Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission Representative:

· Katherine Simmons

LiveWell Lawrence Healthy Built Environment Workgroup Representative:

· Tim Herndon

Design Team Contact:

· Josh Shelton

City Staﬀ Contacts:

· Diane Stoddard, Interim City Manager

· David Cronin, City Engineer

· Chuck Soules, Director of Public Works

· Porter Arneill, Director of Arts and Culture