March 2009 Archives

 

            Changes in the downtown parking system may lead to less change in parkers' pockets.

            Business owners downtown presented a proposal for parking system changes, such as raising meter prices, to Downtown Lawrence Inc. Thursday. Downtown Lawrence plans to present the proposal to city commissioners in late spring.

City Commissioner Mike Amyx said changes in the parking system would be beneficial for the downtown area.

            "Raising the price for the sake of raising the price is something we don't want to do," Amyx said. "Parking is very limited for a very popular commercial retail, and you want to make sure people have time to shop and time to eat and don't have to worry about feeding the meters, but at the same time everyone has to have the opportunity to park for stores to be able to prosper."

Jonathan Douglass, assistant to the city manager, said some of the changes being discussed are the addition of short-term parking spaces designed for food pick-up, extended enforcement hours, raising overtime fees from $2 to $3, and raising meter prices from 25 cents per hour to 50 cents per hour.

Douglass said the changes would encourage shoppers to spend less time parked on Massachusetts Street, which would create room for other shoppers. This action is called "turnover" or "churn," and Douglass said it's good for businesses downtown.

            Jane Pennington, executive director of Downtown Lawrence, agreed.

            "A lot of people who work downtown park on Massachusetts Street, and they just go out every two hours and pump quarters into the meter," Pennington said. "Raising the cost and reducing the amount of time that they can get makes it more inconvenient for long-term parkers and gets them to park other places than Massachusetts Street, so the benefit is opening up space for shoppers and quicker turnover for those spaces."

Pennington said landscaping and beautification of the downtown area was one of the city's primary interests in raising the meter prices.

"The city had come to one of our members and mentioned that parking fees were an area they were going to have to look at in order to generate more income for the city budget," Pennington said. "Our desire was to put forward some suggestions for how those changes might happen, so we're helping them communicate the importance of the changes in exchange for them continuing the landscaping of downtown."

Douglass said the actions taken with extra money also depend on the financial impact of the changes, but he said the funds for maintenance in the parking garages and salaries for the parking enforcement staff would receive some of the money.

Even though Lawrence could raise downtown meter prices to 50 cents, parking on Massachusetts Street would still be cheaper than surrounding areas. Topeka meters charge 90 cents per hour, and Kansas City meters charge $1 per hour. Douglass said there are also several local locations competing with Lawrence's downtown area for revenue, and the price to park in these areas may affect the city's decision to change Lawrence's parking system.

"There aren't many downtowns that are quite as vibrant as ours, and there are also some other places that compete with downtown," Douglass said. "If you look at Zona Rosa or Country Club Plaza or the Legends or any of those areas, they're quite a bit different from downtown in terms of what kind of parking is available, but they probably are competitors for downtown."

Douglass said there would be costs that come along with the changes. But he said the city would want to start altering the parking system as soon as possible.

"We'd have to change out the plates on the meters that say what the rates and enforcement times are, and staff would have to go reprogram those meters," Douglass said. "If we do decide to make any changes we would probably recommend that we would make them over the summer sometime, and implement them as soon as we can."

Mayris Reed turns away hundreds of apartment-seeking students each year. Reed, the property manager of Westgate Apartments on West 6^th Street, said she understands the attraction of affordable housing in a growing part of town. But Reed has other priorities for her vacant properties.

Throughout her 10 years as a landlord, Reed has chosen to rent to the disabled and needy as part of a federal low-income housing credit program. And now she plans to participate in a Lawrence program to help out another group of people: temporarily homeless families.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority and the Lawrence Community Commission on Homelessness are joining forces on a pilot program to connect homeless families with landlords like Reed. Housing officials hope to fix the city's shortage of emergency housing, especially as the city faces the upcoming loss of the Salvation Army's shelter.

The new program, called the E-Housing Connector, relies on landlords' willingness to help families who need temporary housing. Housing officials and caseworkers post families' needs online and send e-mails to participating landlords. Landlords with vacant properties can check the online list to see if any of their available units match a family.

"It sounds like a good program," Reed said. "We can utilize homes and not let them sit empty."

The program has already connected one family with a landlord as part of a trial run, said Charlotte Knoche, a member of the Community Commission on Homelessness who represents the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority.

Knoche said that committee members began considering the use of empty rental units for homeless families around two years ago.

"Shelters are not good for families with children," Knoche said.

Then, this spring, the Salvation Army's overnight shelter announced its plan to close. With only the Lawrence Community Shelter left, even space will be hard to come by.

"With the economy, there may be more families in need of emergency housing, and there really isn't any emergency housing in the community, aside from Family Promise," said Heather Hoy, who organized the program for the Housing Authority. Family Promise is a church-based program that houses homeless families at different churches on a weekly rotation, according to its Web site.

Hoy said she expected the E-Housing Connector to house up to 20 families, each for three to six months. During that time, Hoy said, the family can either get back on its feet or reach the top of the waiting list for transitional housing vouchers from state and federal programs.

Families can receive city-funded grants to cover the residence's deposit, paid directly to the landlord through the E-Housing Connector. But the Housing Authority can't provide any additional aid, although it is applying for homelessness prevention funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Hoy said.

Although having a home for three months may be exactly what some families need, short leases pose problems for landlords.

"Because of the time frame, I chose not to participate in the program," said Kathy Mullis, who manages Ashbury Townhomes in East Lawrence. "Before we rent again we have to go through and clean everything, so for us the cost would be too high. If someone qualified and they chose to stay for a year, that would be different."

Reed said she was concerned about the short leases for her Westgate Apartments. But she also owns 19 mobile homes that she said could work well with the E-Housing Connector. She rents the homes on a month-to-month basis, and can use the connector to spot needy families when spaces open up.

Through the new program, landlords work mainly with families' caseworkers, Hoy said, so that renters don't feel they have to be case managers as well as landlords.

Families who are working with services to address their problems are more likely to stabilize faster, Knoche said.

"You want to know they're the type of people who will take care of what they're given. Anybody with children, though, you might not be quite as strict," Reed said. "Deep down, I'm a Christian first and then a landlord." 

 LAWRENCE--The situation might not be apparent in the beginning.  A child might start arriving to school late or start missing entire days of class.  The child might wear the same clothing every day for a week. But sometimes children will plainly declare their situations, unaware of the stigmas and social lines they cross in one statement: "I am homeless." 

            Catherine Bolton is a social worker at Pickney Elementary and a counselor at Cordley Elementary.  She said she and other school workers watch closely for these signs that a family needs help.  She has not seen many families that have lost their homes, but she said that any time a family is homeless is too many times.

            "We look at these families as families in transition," Bolton said.  "Most of what I've seen are families that are doubled up."
              Families are considered homeless if they are living with friends or relatives, or "doubled up," because they can no longer afford their homes.  This is one of eight definitions outlined in the McKinney-Vento Act.  The federal government first defined homelessness in the McKinney-Vento Act in 1986.  The Lawrence public school system uses this definition when it considers whether a family is homeless.

            Identifying a family as homeless can sometimes be a difficult step.
            "It's not always easy to know," Bolton said.  "There's a lot of pride and dignity involved."

            Ellen Willets works for Lawrence Public Schools as a specialist who assists families in transition.  A contact in each Lawrence school sends Willets a running total at the end of every month of the number of children and families in that school who have been considered homeless. The total spans the entire year, but may include families who have moved out of the district or who have found permanent housing since the time they were homeless.  This year's total, from August through March, is 70 families with 101 students who have been homeless.

            Willets said this count is probably low.  The district relies on parents to report their own situation, which can be hard, she said.  But without an accurate count, it is difficult for the district to provide assistance.

            "Without a good count, you don't know what your need is," Willets said.  "You don't know if there are 100 people or two people out there unless you're out there."

            Roxanne Hutchison said admitting she needed help was very hard for her. 

            "It was pretty rough at the beginning because nobody wants to become homeless," Hutchison said.  "It's quite a traumatic situation.  Then you have kids on top of it and you want to make sure you can take care of them."

            Hutchison and her eleven-year-old daughter fall into another category of the act.  They are currently in transitional housing provided by Family Promise, an organization which provides temporary housing to homeless families in Lawrence.

            After identifying a family as homeless, the next concern of the school district is to make sure children are safe.

            "We ask, 'do they have their very basic needs met?'" Bolton said. "'Do they have food? Shelter? Clothing?' And we just work up from there."

            One of the requirements of the McKinney-Vento Act is that children be allowed to stay in the school they started the year in, even if they move into the boundaries of another school.  The school district is required to provide transportation from wherever a child is staying to the school he or she attends.  Bolton said this is to minimize the trauma caused by the child's situation.

"We work with them to keep consistency to minimize disruption because there's already enough disruption," Bolton said.

Bolton said that one of the difficulties in helping homeless people in any community is the social stigmas that go along with being homeless.  Everyone wants to help the less fortunate, she said, but they do not want the homeless people to be near them.

"They say 'not in my backyard,'" Bolton said.  "But if we put a shelter out in the country, we can't get people there."

Katherine Dinsdale serves on the Board of Trustees for Family Promise. She said she can not understand prejudices against homeless families.

"It boggles my mind that there is fear associated with moms and little girls with pigtails," Dinsdale said.  "You just have to spend 10 minutes with one of our guests to know they are just like you. Some of these moms are doing really heroic jobs.  Just because they lack housing doesn't mean they're failing."

Dinsdale said that the children that come through her program are like any other kids, they just happen to stay in a church at night and go to the Day Center before school.

"They are going to school and learning to use the potty and pushing boundaries," Dinsdale said.  "Some of these children are amazing, emotionally healthy and happy, amazing, amazing kids. I see others misbehaving and panicking when mom leaves."

Hutchison admitted that she has sometimes let her pride get in the way of asking for help and she has felt defeated before, but that she finds strength in her daughter.

"There was times when my daughter was stronger than I was," Hutchison said. "and if it wasn't for her I would have given up.  She's broken down before, but she gave me a hug when I needed it and it helped.  It helped."

    Many Lawrence residents play an active role in shaping the laws and regulations of this city.  From hedgehogs to human rights, adults and children alike learn that the process through which a law is changed can include both victory and frustration.
    "It can be a tough process that sometimes takes a lot of time," Lawrence City Commissioner Mike Amyx said.  "The first step is to submit an application to the commission."
    Infamous sixth-grader Judson King has his first experience fighting the man when his desire to own his own hedgehog clashed with a city ordinance which prohibited the creature.
    "When he found out, the first thing he said to me was, 'How do we make them legal?" Rebecca Weeks, King's mother said.
    Three long years of nightly research and hedgehog daydreams followed.  After he felt he was sufficiently informed, King sent a letter to the city commissioners in January 2008, asking why they didn't like hedgehogs.  Eleven months later, the commissioners put his issue on a city commission agenda.  
    The next step is a series of public hearings and then two separate votes, said Amyx.
"I was just playing with hedgehog pictures and then my mom comes in and says, 'You are going in front of the city commission on Tuesday.' I thought I would faint," King said.
At city hall, King arrived in a suit and tie bearing folders full of hedgehog facts for each of the commissioners.
   "He had justifications," Lawrence Mayor Mike Denver said.  "It was amazing, one of the best laid-out arguments that I've seen since I've been on the commission the last two years."
   The hard work paid off, as the commissioners could find no reason to keep the boy from his pet.  King now lives happily with his hedgehog, Little Luke.
   The campaign to change Lawrence's anti-discrimination laws began in much the same way - with a letter of appeal.  Lawrence-Douglas County Chapter of the Kansas Equality Coalition has approached the commissioners to protect people who consider themselves transgender.
   City commissioners officially receive the letter at their meeting on March 10, however, commissioners did not debate the proposal. Instead, they sent the issue to the city's Human Relations Commission for a recommendation. The issue was sent to the state level, where this Sunday it was referred back to the Federal and State Affairs committee.
   "Does that mean [the bill] is dead? No, it's still alive," Maggie Childs, chair of the Douglas County Equality Coalition said. "It's possible it could come back out to the Senate for a real vote. But re-referral is often used to kill a bill without any legislators having to state an opinion on it."
   Perhaps a victory in public activism will inspire a bright political career.
   "I loved having King," City Commissioner Sue Hack said.  "I think he should run for commission in April."
 

People lined up early Thursday morning to load their trucks with compost. Lawrence Wood Recovery and Composting Facility opened its gates to the public at 8 a.m. People either chose to have compost dropped into the beds of their trucks for $10 or they shoveled it themselves for free.

            Pat Kehee is one of the early birds braving the cold weather to pick up compost for her gardens.

            "We decided to come out early this year because last year, by the time we left, there was a line around the corner," says Kehee. "Today is so cold it probably won't get as busy. It will sell out by the third day though."

            Lawrence has been giving away free compost as early as 2001. Carl Herd, senior maintenance worker for the city of Lawrence, says that the compost sale has nearly tripled in size since they first started giving away compost eight years ago.

            The Lawrence Solid Waste Department picks up yard waste, a mixture of grass, leaves and small brush, every Monday starting in March and continuing through December. The organic waste is then transported to the Lawrence Wood Recovery and Composting Facility where it is mixed and grinded and then set aside and periodically mixed to help speed up the decomposition process. The compost has to be checked for problems before

it can be given away or sold.

"We send the compost to a lab in to have it inspected before we sell it to the public," says Cassandra Ford, waste reduction and recycling specialist for the city of Lawrence.  "We test for herbicides and pesticides. We also have salinity tests, ph tests and maturity tests, which test for ammonia and CO2. This tells us how finished the compost is."

            Ford says that if the compost comes back positive for chemicals, as it did in 2005 when Colpyralid, a powerful herbicide that was taken off the market for killing people's yards, was found in the compost. The sale had to be canceled and the compost had to sit another year before it was safe enough to give away to the public.

Bob Yoos, solid waste manager for Lawrence, says that the sale benefits the city of Lawrence Solid Waste Division because it reduces the cost of taking curbside pickup waste to a landfill.

"We save around $120,000 to $140,000," says Yoos. "It varies from year to year depending on the amount of rainfall. We have saved up to $240,000 during a good year. People tend to cut their grass more during wet years resulting in more compost and more money being saved."

Compost is sold twice a year, during spring and fall, along with mulch, which is sold through Lawrence Parks and Recreation. Ford says that spring numbers are twice as high for picking up compost because summer is on the horizon. Lawrence Wood Recovery and Compost facility prepares more for the spring but it all depends on what is ready. Last spring there were close to 1700 vehicles over the course of three days to pick up compost, which sold out before the end of the third day.

Pat Kehee, now finished shoveling compost into buckets, is loading all of her tools into her trunk. She is ready to take the compost home to her gardens.

"Lots of bulbs are coming up," she says. "I will put this on top of the gardens, not to bury the bulbs or anything, just to scatter it. It's fabulous because it is perfect compost and you can't ask for better. It's free too. Who knows how much longer this is going to last."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbVi8MCNAV8 

The plummeting stock market is not causing drops in enrollment with Lawrence's Parks and Recreation Department.

Enrollment in the department's programs is up 12 percent from this time last year, Director of Marketing Roger Steinbrock said.  This year-to-year increase is not unusual for the department.  Enrollment has increased each year since 2005. This year there are 6,011 individual enrollments in classes.  Teams count as one individual enrollment, so the number of actual participants is much higher.  The increase also means $77,000 more in revenue.  Steinbrock said any money beyond what is needed for the budget will be rolled over and used for future expenses.

 "The current economy continues to have people look for activities close to home that are affordable," Steinbrock said.  "With our current price structure and level of support, we can offer programs at an affordable price."

Fees are evaluated each season. Every year, staff evaluates based on popularity and revenue.  They then add or drop classes to fit the budget and the community's needs.

"We picked up baseball because some leagues have folded," Steinbrock said.

Baseball leagues are more competitive than most of the department's options, but the sport fills a local void.  In 2008, over 1,200 youth participated in baseball and softball leagues, Steinbrock said. The department primarily provides youth programming, but has programs available for all groups.  Steinbrock said programs for seniors are the most difficult to coordinate.

"The baby boomer population is a little more active," Steinbrock said.  "They're looking at mountain biking and rock climbing, not shuffle board."

One of the most popular classes for all age groups is Zumba.

Recreation Programs Supervisor Joe Ellis described Zumba as "Latin aerobics dance, more to music than actual steps."

The class is offered to all age groups and is specifically geared to each group's needs.

"I've tried water aerobics and low impact," Zumba class member Georgie Denisar said.  "This was the most fun."

The Parks and Recreation Department tries to design classes based on what is "popular and hip." After the success of the movie "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," the department introduced adult dodgeball games.  The program was a success until it resulted in numerous injuries. 

Fifty-seven-year-old Denisar started attending Parks and Recreation classes because of sports injuries she suffered from playing softball earlier in life.

"I'm young, but my knees are old," she said. "I wanted to feel better."

Denisar travels from Jefferson County to attend the Zumba class.  Denisar has asked her instructor to come to Jefferson County to demonstrate Zumba techniques because of growing interest among her friends. 

Of course, Parks and Recreation is more than classes and programs.  Community facilities like the Aquatics Center do not require enrollment.  Attendance at all Parks and Recreation facilities in 2008 was down about 2 percent from 2007, but certain facilities saw more visitors than the year before.  Overall, participation has been relatively consistent. 

In mid-April there will be a public forum to discuss possible changes and closings of classes and centers.  The exact date has not been set.

 

 

      Meron Herovy, an undergraduate student from Addis Ababa, takes T buses to Walmart almost every weekend. She said it would be great if the bus could come in every 20 or 30 minutes.

     "That would be more convenient to have more frequent routes," Herovy said. "So that I do not have to wait for a long time."

     The University of Kansas KU on Wheels and the city of Lawrence transit system keep coordinating with each other this year. The first round of coordinated transit plan, which has six initial recommendations, will be implemented in August 2009.

     According to city of Lawrence news releases, the new transit plan includes coordinated timetables, additional stops, route changes and route replacements.

     "It is something that we have been working on for years," City Commissioner Boog Highberger said.

     According to the Lawrence Transit Web site, the main purpose of the recommendation is to increase coordination and let riders go between the two systems seamlessly.

     Valid city bus passes or current KU Cards now work on both systems. The systems will publish a coordinated map and timetable to help riders use both systems more easily.

     The new coordinated transit plan will also show additional stops on the new map and timetable.

     A new route #11, which runs from downtown to south Iowa and passes campus, will replace the city route #8, KU on wheels route #24 and #25.

     The new route #11 will run every 30 minutes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 40 minutes at the rest daytime hours.

     Since KU on wheels does not operate during the break, students rely on the T systems heavily while classes are not in section.

     "There is no school bus during the Spring Break," Herovy said. "I have to take T bus if I want to go downtown."

      KU on Wheels route #26 will change its route since it duplicates the new route #11. The new alignment will create a one-way, counter-clockwise loop consisting of Sunnyside Avenue, Sunflower Road, Jayhawk Boulevard and Naismith Drive.

     The proposal also includes combining T route #3 and T route #4, and combining T route #1 and T route #2.

     Highberger said funding issues drove the system integration.

     "The coordination of the two systems will help us to save some money," Highberger said.

     The transit committee predicts changes to route #11 would save approximately $4,600 a year.

     The city transit system has a $5 million budget and is currently funded by federal, state and local dollars, Highberger said. Among those funds, $1 million is from federal government.

Starting on April 1^st, the city transit system will be supported by the sales tax. Lawrence sales tax will rise from 7.3 percent to 7.85 percent. 0.25 point of increased sales tax, which should raise $3 million a year, will be spent on the city transit systems.

     "Hope the sales tax will give us enough money to maintain the service," Highberger said.

     The T and KU on Wheels may work more closely together, but Mayor Michael Dever doubts the two systems ever will actually merge.

     "In my opinion I do not think it will be possible in the near term to have only one transit system that serves Lawrence," Dever said.

     Dever said the primary reason the city would not have only one transit system was related to the funding that the city received from the federal government.

     "Since KU provides many non-public services using their buses," Dever said. "Those vehicles cannot be subsidized by the federal government."

     Student Senate also will maintain control over KU on Wheels funds, while the city picks its taxes to help pay for the T. It will be difficult to merge those money.

     So the transit systems will remain separate entities, but work more closely in the long run.

     Dever said, "The coordination efforts will be stepped up and the cost savings realized by the cooperation will yield better."

     "We can coordinate around to make it more efficient," Highberger said.

     And now Meron Herovy can catch her bus at a more convenient time.

Verbal panhandling restricted in downtown Lawrence

By BECCA HARSCH

LAWRENCE, Kan. (March 25) - One thing is notably different about Lawrence's downtown nightlife this season: 

there are no panhandlers asking the public for money. At least there shouldn't be according to city code. 

The City of Lawrence amended the city code on panhandling in December that prohibited unlawful 

panhandling after local merchants brought forth concerns. The ordinance was revised to place emphasis on 

restricting verbal panhandling during the nighttime hours, rather than simply prohibiting unlawful panhandling.

The revisions were made to restrict verbal panhandling during the nighttime hours in a confined area of 

downtown Lawrence. The ordinance describes the restricted act of panhandling as any verbal request for an 

immediate donation of money. The city amended the code because the public may view panhandling during 

nighttime hours more intimidating than during the daytime.

While some may view panhandling during the nighttime as threatening, Chelsea Sprecker, Topeka junior, said 

it depends on the nature of the panhandler.

"I think it's fine as long as they are not too pushy for your money," Sprecker said.

The downtown area the ordinance refers to restricts the following area: south of 6th Street, west of New 

Hampshire Street, north of 11th Street, and east of Vermont Street. A map of the city sidewalks shows where the 

restrictions are placed in downtown Lawrence.

Panhandlers are restricted from verbal panhandling downtown from sunset to sunrise. This ordinance 

includes the restriction of buskers, commonly known as musicians or artists who perform in public for money.

Sprecker said that busking shouldn't be prohibited because it's causing no damage or harm to anyone.

"At least they are out working and trying to make some money," Sprecker said.

But causing damage and harm to the public is what the city is trying to prevent with the ordinance. 

Fritz-Gerald Esperance, local disc jockey and musician, said that by forbidding musicians to play downtown 

takes away from the culture of downtown Lawrence. There should be a place where local musicians can gather and 

play during the nighttime hours downtown, Esperance said.

The city wanted to make a verbal request for money during the nighttime an illegal act, although decided to see 

how things go with the current ordinance before enforcing more severe regulations on the issue.

According to the Community Commission on Homelessness, "there needs to be a commitment to working 

together to address nuisance behaviors such as panhandling.  There needs to be a way to work together to assemble 

information or ordinance information, as well as to report what other communities are doing."

Larger cities nationwide are expecting to see more buskers and panhandlers filling their streets as the economy 

goes downhill. A notable busker and household name is Robert Burck, commonly known as the Naked Cowboy, 

who plays regularly in Times Square of New York City. Burck currently has two record deals, according to

MySpace.                 

city sidewalks:  HYPERLINK "http://www.ci.lawrence.ks.us/map/sidewalks/SidewalkMap09242006.pdf" http://www.ci.lawrence.ks.us/map/sidewalks/SidewalkMap09242006.pdf

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/nycnakedcowboy

BHARSCH - GOVERNMENT STORY.doc 

For Ryan Williams, stealing street and traffic signs is simply a matter of revenge.

            "I usually steal one after I get a ticket in that area of town," Williams, St. Louis junior, said. "I've probably stolen about 20 or 25 signs total."

            Williams isn't the only one. According to David Woosley, Traffic Engineer for the city's Public Works Department, street and traffic sign theft happens a few times every week. http://lawrenceks.org/public_works/

            "Yes, it's certainly a regular occurrence," Woosley said.

            So who pays to replace all of these signs on the streets of Lawrence? The taxpayers do, of course.

            The money for the replacement of the signs comes out of the part of the general city budget that is set aside for the Public Works Department.

            There is no money specifically set aside for replacing and repairing signs. But the department always has extra money in other lines of their budget; this is how they pay to replace the signs, Woosley said.

            He also said that the replacement signs themselves usually cost between $50 and $100. There are additional costs, such as labor and additional repairs if the pole for the sign or anything else was damaged.

            "When you add it all up, each instance usually costs about $200," Woosley said.

            And these thefts aren't costly to just the city. It also costs the perpetrators a pretty penny if they are caught in the act.

            Jerry Little, City Prosecutor, said that the theft or vandalism of traffic and street signs carries a maximum penalty of a $2500 fine, up to a year in jail, or both. Luckily for the vandals that are caught, the judge rarely hands down the maximum penalty. http://lawrenceks.org/legal/understanding_municipal_court

            "Generally the judge gives a fine of around $200 along with $61 in court costs and the person is put on probation," Little said.

            But this potential punishment doesn't frighten Williams. He has already planned out his next target because of a speeding ticket he received recently.

            "I plan on adding this strange sign with the word 'ONLY' and three arrows on it to my collection sometime soon," he said.

            His favorite signs in the collection?

            "I have three different 'Slow children playing' signs, and a couple of 'Three-way' signs, Williams said. "But if someone ever stole my 'No dumping' sign, I'd be devastated."

Hannah Croissant didn't think a landlord would suggest that she and her roommates ignore a city ordinance.

"He said that three people could sign the lease and the fourth person would just live there and still pay the rent," said Croissant, Merriam sophomore.  "If the cops came, the fourth person would just move out for a couple of days.  I thought it was sketchy, but I wasn't going to disagree with a landlord."

Since August 2004, Lawrence City Ordinance Number 7326, Article 13,  has prohibited the lease of a property to more than three unrelated people in a residential zoning district.  Much of the housing surrounding the University of Kansas campus falls into this zoning.  These areas are popular among students who want to be near campus.

It is the responsibility of the property owner to make sure the property is in compliance with the ordinance said Brian Jimenez, Code Enforcement Manager for the City of Lawrence.

"The property owner is putting the tenant at risk if they ignore the ordinance," Jimenez said.

Jimenez says many students are unaware or do not understand the ordinance, like Croissant.  He also points out that over 50 percent of housing stock in Lawrence is rental property.  The zoning ordinance is there to keep maintain a residential character for residential zone, said John Miller, staff attorney for the City of Lawrence.

"A single family dwelling with an occupancy of 16 would not keep the character of a residential neighborhood," Miller said.

An assumption might be that there is a concern with the college student lifestyle. This is what City Prosecutor Jerry Little proposed.

"The impetus behind [the ordinance]? I have no idea," Little said.  "Probably neighbors complaining about college students partying and taking up parking."

Jimenez disagreed.

"I think it's all about density and zoning," he said.

The city must zone different areas of the city for different purposes, he said.  Different zones range from industrial to commercial to different variations of residential.

Too many people living in one area would be an issue of sanity and health, Jimenez said.

Rental properties will be inspected every three years to ensure this.  Neighbor complaints are the most common way the city discovers a property that is in violation of the ordinance however.

"It doesn't take long for neighbors to figure out a house is over-occupied," Jimenez said.

Jimenez's office receives 15-20 complaints a year, and he admits that they are "sporadic."

A letter of notice is sent if a property is in violation.  The occupants have a set amount of time to fix the situation.  This means some will have to move out of the property.

"We'll work with people to get their house into compliance," Jimenez said.  "We understand it's a disruption of their lives."

Little thinks that violating the ordinance is not hard to get away with.

"It's hard to enforce without physically going into a residence and counting bedrooms and people sleeping there," he said.

In the last two years, Little has not had to prosecute anyone for violating the ordinance due to Jimenez's aim to cooperate with residents.  This is lucky for violators because fines between $250 and $1,000 could be issued.

"The city does take it seriously," Miller said.  "They will investigate the violation and issue it to the prosecutor if there isn't compliance."

As recently as February, a property at 2813 Maine Court, two miles from campus, was in violation of the ordinance.  Jimenez said his office doesn't record the names of the tenants, but that some did have to move out.

Jimenez urges students to check with his office, Neighborhoods & Planning, before signing leases.  City zoning can also be checked on the interactive map.

"If there's a landlord out there saying 'Don't worry about [the ordinance],' then that will be in violation and I don't even know if the lease is valid," he said.

Government Story                                                                                          Evan Miller

3/25/09

 

Recently the Lawrence Public Library has seen a record increase in circulation and in the amount of registered users, said Library Director Bruce Flanders. According to Flanders the library has seen an increase in circulation the past 10 years by at least eight to 10 percent per year. However, during the recent economic recession the library has seen an increase of 12 percent.

 

"In bad economic times, public library use increases," said Flanders, "this is a well documented trend."

 

The American Library Association (ALA) has been trying to educate the media on this growing trend. A news release from their website talks about the increase in people that libraries are seeing during these economic hard times. People such as Katie Couric are taking notice as well as newspapers like the New York Times and Huffington Post by writing stories on the trend.

 

Lawrence resident Renee Whaley, who frequents the library about four times a week, either renting books or movies, said she sees the library as a place of free entertainment.

 

With this increasing trend Flanders is concerned that the library is becoming too crowded to offer services and collections of books as well as other libraries in the state can. The current library building is 37-years old and was built when the Lawrence population was half of what the current population is today.

 

"Northeast Kansas Library System standards include a minimum of 150 public access computers for a library serving a community of our size," said Flanders. "We have 50 public access computers and do not have room to triple that number."

 

Whaley voiced her concerns about the library as well. She said that the computers in the library run slow and the software is outdated. Whaley also said that she wished that the library wasn't seen as just a place where books are kept, but as a place that would reflect the Lawrence community.

 

"With Lawrence's size and education level we should have a nicer library, but we have just been lax about this issue." said Whaley.

 

Unfortunately for Flanders and Whaley the library will not be one of the hot-stove issues in the upcoming city commissioner elections.

 

In the past, the library has been a topic of interest in the city commission elections. In 2006 the city looked into the possibility of re-developing the library by either building a new one or expanding the current one. The city had proposed a $20 million project that would expand the library. The proposal would have tripled the current size of the library with expanded children's rooms, computer labs, as well as add parking. Flanders had said that he and his staff were seeking a facility that would be more beneficial for the communities needs. 

 

In November of 2007, four out of five city commissioners voted to postpone the plan to expand the library. The expansion would have required a property tax increase. At the time the commissioners thought the tax revenue money could be used else where in the community.

 

Flanders said he has met with all but one of the candidates in the upcoming elections to talk about their agenda for improvements and their need to preserve funding, but understands that improvement and better funding are not possible right now.

 

"Expansion would require millions of dollars, which isn't possible now, so there isn't much to talk about," said Flanders.

 

Even though the library will not be a hot topic, the library is still finding ways to improve for the future.

 

"We are going to develop a business and jobs center, a computer lab, upgrade and renovate our meeting rooms, and expand our young adult area." said Flanders.

 

He also said that he would like to continue the emphasis on library programs such as summer reading and continue an outreach to people of all ages. This would include expanding new programs for the growing senior citizen population.

 

Flanders said that the money to do this renovation would come from private and capital funds saved over the past few years. He also added that there would not be an increase in staff and the renovation would not increase operating expenses.

Everything in Lawrence will get slightly more expensive starting this April due to a sales tax increase, so where will the extra taxes be going?

Lawrence sales tax will be raised to 7.85% on April 1st after the increase was approved by voters in last Fall's election.  The taxes will fund road repairs, public transportation, city infrastructure and fire department vehicles. 

The sales tax proposals received majority support in all 49 Lawrence precincts, despite a struggling national and global economy, primarily because they promise funding to key areas of the city.  A Citizen Survey in 2007 showed street maintenance to be the most wanted city service.

emergency vehicles to relieve stress on their alternators and batteries when the vehicles sit idly while on the job.  The installed solar panels are believed to pay themselves off in roughly two years.

Questions 2 and 3 gave the rest of the increase to public transit operations.  This means that 0.25% of all sales purchases will directly fund the merged Lawrence Transit T busses with the University of Kansas busses, bus route upgrades and vehicular improvements.

The Lawrence sales tax rate is made up of 5.3% Kansas state sales tax, 1% Douglas County sales tax and 1.55% city sales tax.  Roughly 6.2 million dollars are estimated to be generated for roads and infrastructure improvements by the end of 2010, as well as 5.2 million dollars to benefit the public transit system.

Businesses that have expensive price tags, such as jewelers, high end electronic outlets and car dealerships will have to deal with the extra .55% added to their price tags (100 thousand dollar cars now cost 550 dollars more, for example) but beyond that, the proposal passed with a resounding majority. 

Vice-Mayor of Lawrence Rob Chestnut explained that the city commission took these large item purchases into consideration when drafting the proposal.

"The greatest concern expressed was driving purchases to other communities for large items due to the sales tax differential.  Items such as auto purchases or other larger capital items with substantial sales tax are thought to be most vulnerable.  However, our new rate of 7.85% is very close to rates in surrounding communities," Chestnut said.

"The most successful retail development in the area currently is the Legends in Wyandotte County.  This district has a sales tax rate in excess of 8%, but it does not seem to have adversely impacted their expansion."

Lawrence City Manager David Corliss explained some of the advantages of the increased tax.

"The sales tax allows those who use our services and roads - but do not live in Lawrence - to help pay for these services and road maintenance. I think City officials are always mindful of the impact of taxes on residents and businesses," Corliss said.

There is currently a Guest Tax Fund which consists of the money gained from the five percent guest tax charge on hotel and motel room prices in Lawrence.  The fund is mostly used to finance the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau and other visitor related expenses, meaning the tax funds will help charge Lawrence visitors for city services and maintenances that they would otherwise not be charged for.

45 of the 50 U.S. States currently charge sales and use tax for purchases.

Exceptions are:

o       Alaska

o       Delaware

o       Montana

o       New Hampshire

o       Oregon

 

For more information regarding the sales tax visit www.lawrenceks.org/sales_tax_proposal

            Lawrence citizens could start having one more reason to make the drive across the North Lawrence bridge and through North Second St.

            Stephen Glass, in partner with North Town Development, LLC, has invested in some of that North Lawrence property.

            "I think for a long time it was thought of as a lesser part of the community, economically," Glass said. "For a long time the growth in Lawrence was to the south and to the west."

            Glass said that for the past ten years North Lawrence has continued to grow, specifically with businesses along 725 N. Second St. But, that growth was met with some zoning challenges.

            G-Force Athletics, which coaches KU cheerleading and teaches gymnastics, recently became involved with Glass through North Town Development, LLC. It chose to be located in North Lawrence because gymnastics requires a high head room and adequate floor space, which only industrial type buildings could offer. 

            On July of 2006, the city commission adopted the Land Development Code. It combined and revised the old zoning codes established in 1966.

            G-Force Athletics found out that the industrial building located at 725 N. Second St. was zoned under the new code I-G, which was made specifically for general or heavy industrial activity. Gymnastics is not considered an intensive industrial business.

            According to the North Town Development, LLC memorandum to the city commission, G-Force Athletics requested a building permit to construct two restrooms and the separation walls on each side. But, it was told that a building permit could not be issued until the zoning change was approved. It also could not occupy the space until the construction was completed.

            It faced some challenges because it was forced to move to an alternative space at the KU Robinson Gymnasium, which required additional expenses to manage its classes. But, this arrangement was temporary and only extended until spring break.

            Last January North Town Development, LLC submitted a rezoning request to change the zoning from I-G to I-L along 725 N. Second St. The down zoning to I-L, which is a code for limited or light industrial activity, would allow more commercial businesses to occupy the space along North Second St. The city commission understood the complications, approved the down zoning, and the process will take months to change. But, for now G-Force Athletics is still homeless.

            "Obviously a lot of businesses like that are not as knowledgeable of all the government regulations and zoning regulations as I have unfortunately become of over the years," Glass said. "It's just the wonderful process of government regulation."

            Glass said that the location of G-Force Athletics in North Lawrence would help the Lawrence community in general. It would help North Lawrence continue to develop along North Second St. This addition would also provide local support of small businesses. Glass said it had hired some college students in the past. It would continue to provide and keep jobs within the community.

            "As a little time has gone by and people have started to actually try and do things under the new code, they're finding that there's some issues with the new code that were unintended, but have major impacts," Glass said.

            Glass said the city commission and planning staff were cooperative, but they're bound by the Land Development Code that was passed.

            "That code significantly changed that land development process in Lawrence," Glass said. "That code has some, in my opinion, major pitfalls in it."

            Before the property that G-Force Athletics wanted was changed to I-G, it was originally zoned as heavy industrial M-3. Under that 40-year-old zoning code a gymnastics business would have been approved. The current I-G code does not approve gymnastics facilities. Therefore, they want to downzone to the I-L code.
            From a business perspective the zoning appeared to change overnight. State law does not require the city to notify individual property owners when they adopt an entirely new zoning code. But, notices can be published in the paper.

            "Even though we try to keep track of what the city's doing with their regulations, that document is 310 pages long," Glass said. "It's not one that anyone would sit down and say 'Well I think I'll just glance through here and see what's going on.'"

            Sandra Day works at the planning division in city hall. Day said it took city hall eight years to revising and create the Planning Development Code. She worked on the  725 N. Second St. development project. Day agrees with Glass that the average person would not understand it and the new code is significantly different from the old code.

            "It's not an easy document," Day said. "It was intended to be user friendly and in some cases it is, but by and large it takes a lot of work."

            Being a little over 2-years-old, the manual is still relatively new. Day said it's a learning process and the city hasn't applied the new code enough times to know if everything works. Day said the city has made well over 300 amendments to the new development code simply through applying it to different development projects. The city is still working out the fine details. They are figuring out whether it is working the way they intended it to and discovering conflicts within to document along the way.

            Day said that it tries to clarify the process of community involvement in development projects by having a written document.

            The old code was a detailed listing that separated every zoning usage specifically. Although it's still lengthy, the new code addresses land use more generically and allows commercial businesses to be approved.

            After zoning codes in Lawrence were adopted in 1966, regulations had never been fully updated since that original adoption.

            Day said that through the mid to late '90s, building techniques changed and the city hired a consultant to make an analysis of the old codes. The city's building development practices had to change with the times.

            The older areas of downtown are built for compact spaces where parking is minimal. The current business west of Iowa St. has a more open development where buildings are rigidly separated, spaced out, and people need cars to get there.

            Day said that in the last 15 to 20 years there has been a movement to return to this consolidated and compact development. 725 N. Second St. is a good example of how compact buildings can have a mixture of uses. Day said that changing the zoning back to I-L was not an unreasonable request. It would be beneficial to North Lawrence.

            Ted Boyle has been president of the North Lawrence Improvement Association for 13 years. His neighborhood association supported Glass and G-Force Athletics' efforts to be located in North Lawrence. Boyle represented North Lawrence at the city commission meeting for G-Force Athletics.

            "It will improve the appearance of the northern entrance to Lawrence where it doesn't look so slum and blighted with a lot of empty lots and a lot of empty businesses," Boyle said. "We're hoping that that will open the door."

            Boyle said that down zoning to I-L would allow commercial and industrial businesses to be located in the same area. A motorcycle repair shop can be located near a retail clothing store along North Second St.

            Citizens like Glass and Boyle have helped overcome the complicated zoning issues and paved the way for other businesses to thrive. 

             "I've lived here all my life and we've been involved in several development projects over the years," Glass said. "I just want to see Lawrence continue to prosper and continue to grow."

           

           

           

           

           

           

           

 

 

Douglas County begins preparation in March for the severe weather expected during spring.

            The National Weather Service in Topeka recorded 46 storm reports from Douglas County in 2008. Among the reports, three consisted of confirmed tornado touchdowns resulting in over $250,000 in property damage. Douglas County saw no reports of injuries or deaths from severe weather last year, a trend the Department of Emergency Management would like to continue. 

            "We try to warn people well in advance of any weather situations through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association radios, text messages, tornado sirens, and media outlets to prevent injuries or deaths," Assistant Emergency Management Director Jillian Blair said.   

            Douglas County currently has 35 tornado sirens of which 21 exist inside the Lawrence city limits. The current policy says the sirens are activated if a tornado warning is issued by the weather service or a local determination of a tornado exists. To ensure all the sirens are working, countywide tests are done every first and third Monday from March through July.

              "We also do additional tests by computer to check the batteries and standard operation at 9 a.m. every morning," Blair said. "Every other year we also replace the batteries in all of the sirens. These are only used if lightning strikes and power is knocked out to the sirens. Thankfully, it has only happened once during a storm last year."

            During the last two years, the NOAA has used a strong advertising campaign to spread the word about purchasing a weather radio. Blair compares the weather radio to a smoke detector saying, "The radios are like smoke detectors of severe storms." Residents in Douglas County can purchase weather radios from the Department of Emergency Management for $30. The weather service also advises in purchasing a weather radio instead of using tornado sirens as indicators of when to take cover.

            "The weather radios are a significant help to us in spreading the message about the warnings we issue," National Weather Service Meteorologist George Phillips said. "The hardest time to find a weather radio for sale is right after a big significant weather event. Unfortunately, we would like every resident to have one on hand before the event even occurs."

            The National Weather Service is also preparing for its storm season by offering lectures and training seminars for severe weather. Lawrence has an seminar offered on March 26, 2009 at the Arts Center downtown. Over 2,000 people will attend storm spotter training seminars by the end of this year. Smaller, less populated counties in Kansas will attract around 20 spotters. Larger cities such as Topeka, Lawrence, and Manhattan will see much larger turnouts of about 200 future spotters.

            "Manhattan will actually see the greatest turnout for training this year. Already we have had a significant interest in the meeting due to last year's tornado outbreak that affected Chapman and Manhattan," Phillips said.

            Storm spotters help during severe weather outbreaks by reporting to local emergency services or directly to the National Weather Service. The seminars last about an hour and are taught by meteorologists from the Topeka office. During training, spotters will learn characteristics of tornados, cloud formations, and proper measuring techniques. This year, more advanced topics will be covered such as identifying possible development of severe storms and characteristics of severe storms. The National Weather Service says storm reports from trained spotters have more reliability than those from the public.

            "When we get a report from the public, we will usually try and verify it either with radar or by official storm spotters with experience. When a trained spotter reports in, especially one with experience, we are more likely to take the report as solid information without too much review," Phillips said. "Usually the reports from the public without training might not know exactly what they're seeing or might not be able to tell the difference between a scary looking cloud and something that is truly severe."

            Last year, the National Weather Service adopted polygon based warning systems to accurately depict where the severe weather threat is. Using the Geographical Information System, the weather service can draw polygons over parts of counties that are included in a severe threat instead of the entire county. Douglas County Emergency Management uses the new polygon based warning system to sound off tornado sirens only in the part of the county affected.

            "Over the last few years, we have seen a significant decrease in the number of complaints due to the new warning system. We really try to stay with technology in getting the warnings out. In the past, we used to rely solely on local media and tornado sirens. Currently we can get warnings out through NOAA radios, text products, the internet, pages, text messages on cell phones, and the media still," Phillips said.

            The National Weather Service and Douglas County Emergency Management promise to spread the information about severe weather. But, they also stress the importance of using that information and being able to react in a timely manner. Chief Meteorologist Jeremy Goodwin for WIBW-TV in Topeka stresses that it's up to the public to react and stay safe during severe weather.

            "Viewers must prepare for dangerous weather and be ready to act. They also must keep an eye on the television, or radio to keep track of what dangerous weather may be in their area. Most weather related fatalities could be prevented," Goodwin said. "A meteorologist can only pass on the message. It's up to the public to use that message to make smart decisions."

    The City of Lawrence would lose about $1.7 million if the 2010 governor's budget keeps liquor tax revenues as part of state funds, instead of returning them to the city.
    The potential budget reduction threatens the city's ability to fund items already in its budget, such as Parks and Recreation and social programs, said Casey Toomay, city budget manager.
    "Liquor tax is one of the revenues in the city that has actually had some growth in the past years," Toomay said. "That means growth in the programs supported by that. Likewise, if there's a reduction, there'll be a reduction in services."
    Kansas Alcoholic Beverage Control, a division of the Department of Revenue, collects a 10 percent liquor excise tax on all establishments that serve alcohol. Alcoholic Beverage Control reported collecting $35.6 million in liquor taxes statewide for fiscal year 2008, which lasted from July 2007 to June 2008.
    Usually the state returns 70 percent of the liquor tax revenue and keeps the other 30 percent to use in alcoholism treatment and other social programs, said Tom Groneman, director of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Lawrence divides its percentage equally into three funds: general operating, special alcohol and special recreation.
    The general operating fund is responsible for main city services. The special alcohol fund gives money to programs such as alcohol prevention training, the Boys and Girls Club and the Lawrence Police Department. The special recreation fund helps pay for Parks and Recreation, as well as the Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence Arts Commission and Lawrence City Band concerts. These services would be jeopardized if the state cuts off their current funding, Toomay said.
    Approximately $600,000 of the total $1.7 million the city budgeted for this year and last for goes directly to Parks and Recreation. If the state keeps the liquor taxes, the city may have to reduce or eliminate services, said Ernie Shaw, acting director of Parks and Recreation.
    "When you take $600,000 out of a budget, it certainly makes a differences," Shaw said.
    The city will have to amend its currently operating budget halfway through its fiscal year if the state budget passes, Toomay said. That's because the state and local fiscal years don't match. The next state fiscal year starts on July 1, 2009, and goes until June 30, 2010, but the city's fiscal year already started on Jan. 1, 2009.
    Changing the budget in the middle of a fiscal year could be hard because the city has already outlined all its expenses for the year. Taking money out of the equation would compromise services that have already been promised funding.
    Gov. Kathleen Sebelius proposed attributing the liquor tax money to the state's general fund to eliminate gaps in the budget in early January. But the Kansas Senate and House are still debating the budget's specifics.
    The Senate originally introduced the measure as Senate Bill 127, and referred it to the Assessment and Taxation Committee in late January. Although the bill died in committee, the overall Senate could still include it as part of the final budget.
    Sen. Les Donovan, R-Wichita and chair of the Assessment and Taxation Committee, said he opposed taking the liquor tax money away from the cities.
    "I just think it's bad policy to have a law on the books that gives money to the localities and then on a whim take it away from them," Donovan said. "It makes the local levels of government distrustful of the state, and rightfully so."
    The City of Lawrence won't know for sure what it has to cut until the end of the Kansas legislative session in late April or early May, Shaw said. He said he realizes the bad economy takes its toll on all levels of government but regrets the way the state is trying to handle its budget problems.
     "I understand it," Shaw said. "They're going through the same thing everyone is going through. I hope they find it somewhere else besides the liquor tax."

If your child hasn't had chicken pox yet, the new immunization requirements for the 2009-2010 school year might have you paying a lot more money. About $100 a shot to be exact.

            The Kansas Department of Health and Environment just changed the requirements for immunizations for students, adding another dose of the Hepatitus B vaccination, a booster of Tdap--which covers diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis--and restricting the requirements for the varicella vaccine, which prevents chicken pox. The changes were based on recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

            Patty Kracht, the provider educator for the Kansas Immunization Program, said that she and the department have been getting a lot of feedback about the changes from parents, both positive and negative.

"It is going to require more effort from parents to get their kids in and vaccinated," Kracht said. "The restriction of the varicella vaccination has been getting the most response."

The new requirement states that students who have not already had chicken pox must have two doses of the varicella vaccine before entering kindergarten, instead of just one. Students in first through ninth grades will now need one dose, but last year it was required only up until fifth grade. KDHE says they plan to up the vaccine again for the 2010-2011 school year, requiring all students to have two doses.

But the new changes also affect students who have already had the chicken pox. Before the changes, parents were allowed to sign off that their child had had the chicken pox. Now KDHE is requiring a physician signature, not a parent.

Kracht said this has been causing a lot of problems with parents, particularly because it is a hassle to get a physician's documentation of chicken pox for their older children. Many families have moved, or their physicians have retired, making it hard to get a signature. They have altered the restrictions to help with this, making it necessary to have a physician signature only for new students to the district and those who get chicken pox from this point on.

"The response has been a lot like what we had when we changed the signature requirements for the mumps vaccine a few years ago," Kracht said. "Eventually it works itself out."

Kracht said KDHE changed the Tdap requirement because they saw an increase in cases around the age of 11. A booster is now required at that age as a follow-up of the initial vaccine to help suppress the outbreaks. They also now require 3 doses of Hepatitus B vaccines through the ninth grade, instead of fifth grade.

But the new vaccinations come at a price, and not a low one. A single dose of varicella can cost around $100, the Hepatitus B vaccine costs around $30 per shot, and Tdap is $5 per shot, according to estimates by the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department.

The new vaccines could also require more work of the school nurses, who keep track of students' vaccination records. Dianne Thomas, the school nurse at Deerfield Elementary, said she's not sure if it will greatly affect her workload, but it will take some effort to get everything up to date with the new requirements.

"We're constantly updating and making sure our kids are under the state regulations," Thomas said. "It's an ongoing process, the requirements change often and we have to stay on top of it."

KDHE requires that all students have at least the initial series of each vaccination before starting school in the fall. Thomas said that she sends out letters to parents notifying them of what vaccinations their child is missing. They have 30 days to complete the vaccination, or they will receive another notice that their child will be excluded from school until they finish the vaccination schedule.

Thomas also said that some parents choose to opt out of the vaccinations for religious or health reasons, and can sign a waiver exempting their child. The nurse has to keep track of this child though, and alert their parents if there is an outbreak of that particular disease. In some cases those students must be excused from school during the outbreak in order to avoid contracting it.

"Most parents are pretty diligent about following through," Thomas said. "Very rarely do we have someone who won't complete the schedule."

Thomas says she works with parents to find solutions to avoid running into problems. In the case of families who can't afford the vaccinations, she refers them to the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, who provides all of the vaccinations for free to families who qualify. Health Care Access also gives vaccines to those who are uninsured.

Both Kracht and Thomas are supportive of the new vaccines because they help protect children, and are encouraging parents to be supportive as well.

"I'm all for [the changes], anything to keep kids and the community safe," Thomas said.

As a kid, Commissioner Mike Amyx remembers his grandmother planting daffodils every spring in downtown Lawrence. She was a member of the flower club and her group tended its flowerbed at the corner of 8^th and Massachusetts Streets throughout the summer.

The City of Lawrence will have a new troop of volunteers this spring to help with city beautification. Facing budget cuts, the city is looking for citizens to plant flowers in parks and downtown Lawrence. Amyx, who is behind the plan, said the city commission was evaluating budget cuts and the possible loss of the alcohol sales tax and needed to be creative with solutions.

Amyx said, "We tried to look at things the public would enjoy doing. Everybody likes coming downtown."

Crystal Miles, the city's horticulture manager, said the city also needs volunteers because the positions which performed the planting in the past no longer exist. Miles said it is the result of normal downsizing in spring 2008. The city either stopped funding the positions or left positions vacant.

The city uses volunteers for other projects but this is the first time they have asked for volunteers specifically to plant flowers. Amyx said Lawrence has a great volunteer effort throughout the community but projects with people helping people are more common.

Miles said, "We're very enthusiastic and had a nice response." 

The city has received offers from about 75 volunteers but expects about 50 to actually fulfill hours Miles said. Some of the volunteers are students, teachers, retirees, public officials and a Boy Scout troop. She said one downtown employer even gave some employees time off to volunteer. Miles is making a database of the volunteers so she can call upon them again to help with later planting and other volunteer opportunities.

The first round of planting will be Thursday, March 26 at 9 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday, March 28 at 9:00 a.m. to noon. The volunteers will work in groups of 10 to 20 to plant pansies downtown. Miles said the pansies go in a month and a half earlier because they are frost tolerant. The second round of planting will begin in May with annual flowers in more parks and public areas.

Miles said the value of each volunteer is currently about $15 per hour. That means in the first round of volunteering the city will have $3,000 of work done for free.

Amyx said, "A lot of the time things just happen and we don't always realize the dollar amount to that."

The commission is always looking to see if there's a better way to use volunteers' talents he said. It not only helps save the city some money but it also helps set pride in the community.

"I know there are people willing to help and with a little bit of direction it can be a pretty rewarding deal," Amyx said.

 

March 25 (LAWRENCE, Kan.) - Chris Bay crosses intersection after intersection on his daily drive to work, but none is as important to him as the final one.  
    The intersection of Ninth St. and Schwarz Road is where Bay works as principal of Sunset Hill Elementary, but it is also the site of one of Lawrence's 22 guarded school crossings.
    "My number one responsibility is safety for the kids," Bay said. "In my mind, that's coming and going to school as well as just being at school."
    Safety may be Bay's responsibility, but the funding of school crossing guards in Lawrence is the city's, and if city hall tightens the budget, the guards may be one of the first items to go.   
Lawrence City Manager Dave Corliss suggested eliminating crossing guards from the city's budget at a City Commission meeting on Feb. 3. Corliss told the Commission that if the governor withholds the projected $1.1 million of city's liquor tax income instead of returning it to the city, then cuts would have to be made to the city's existing 2009 budget. Corliss estimated that finding an alternate source of funding for the city's 13 crossing guards would free up $50,000 that could help offset the shortfall for the rest of the year. Additional funds would come from the elimination of other non-essential city services.
    Lawrence City Commissioner Mike Amyx said the budget developments came as a surprise to the City Commission.
    "All things being equal, we would have had a light 2009 and we should have been able to get through it okay," Amyx said, "but if you find mid-year that you'll have a million-dollar loss, then everyone starts to scramble and decisions have to be made."
    The scramble may be a slow one. Many of the City Commission's decisions cannot be made until after Commission elections in April, and even then, the state's final budget may not be finalized until summer, City Hall Communications Manager Lisa Patterson said. Any changes to the budget would take effect on July 1.
    Corliss made preliminary suggestions to the Commission that included meeting with the Lawrence Public School District to discuss the possibility for shared funding of the crossing guards, but Rick Gammill, director of special operations and safety for Lawrence Public Schools, said that the district does not have the budget either.   
    Volunteers are one option the city may turn to if there is a budget shortfall and no alternate source of funding can be found, Corliss told the Commission. He said it is unlikely that the guard program would be cut entirely, but some like Bay are still concerned because they think volunteer guards would not be as reliable as paid employees of the city or school district.
    "With volunteers you always run the risk of whether they'll be there or not," Bay said. "You look at supervision, and you look at training and accountability. All of those would be considerations to think about with volunteers."
    Amyx, however, thinks it is best to focus on the roots of the issue before dealing with contingencies.
    "We should constantly remind our local legislators in both the House and the Senate so that they understand as budget bills come in and show cuts in revenues back to cities that these are the kinds of programs that could be in jeopardy," Amyx said.
    Bay agrees that increased communication among the governmental bodies is important, especially considering the programs in question.
     "It's just unfortunate that one entity is cutting something and hurting another entity in a similar situation," Bay said. "It would be fantastic if there were some way we could work together and find a solution that is beneficial to both."
    "When you've got little kids crossing a busy street like Ninth St., it's definitely needed," Bay said.

Mark Thiel is optimistic about the future of Lawrence roads. As the Assistant Public Works Director for the City of Lawrence, Thiel is an expert on potholes and how best to manage them given the amount of money available.  He is aware the city's tighter budget will affect the amount of work that can be done, but some factors such as the sales tax increase and mild winter, allow Thiel to take a deep breath.  

            "Budgets drive everything we do," Thiel said. "Reduced budgets require changes, but on a positive note, the approved general sales tax increase will enable us to perform more street maintenance."

            The city patches about 17,000 pothole locations in an average year, according to Thiel. These repairs require a lot of resources.

             "In 2008 alone we used 790 tons of asphalt patching material and about 3,320 man-hours of labor for pothole patching alone," he said.

            This process is not cheap.  In fact, in 2008, the Public Works Department spent nearly $200,000 on asphalt repair materials alone, Thiel said. 

            Lawrence residents are able to call into the city of Lawrence's pothole hotline, 832-8456.    Residents made 616 calls to the pothole line in 2008, Thiel said. The Public Works Department has a goal to correct a pothole that has been called in within two business days, he said.

            Britton Hufford, a Lawrence resident, said he called the number three or four times, and the pothole was fixed in about a week.  

             The city budget may reduce spending, but, along with the tax increase, winter weather is a key factor in pothole repairs.  A mild winter with fewer snowfall and freezes greatly reduces the severity of potholes. 

            Dr. David Mechem, assistant professor of atmospheric science at the University of Kansas, said potholes are caused by the repeated freeze-thaw cycles in the late winter and early spring.

            "During the day, water can flow into a crack in the road.  At night this water expands upon freezing, and forces the crack to become bigger and deeper," he said. "When a car rolls over these expanding cracks, the open space can't support the weight of the car, and the surface collapses.  This leaves a pothole."

            Tom Orzulak, street division manager for Lawrence, said he noticed a reduced number of pothole problems this spring, which he attributed to a mild winter. Mechem agrees with his theory.

            Good weather does more for streets than reducing the number of potholes in city streets. It also gives crews the time they need to focus on making other street improvements and preventive repairs.

 "When we have a mild winter, we have more time to do other work like fixing heavy driven roads that may develop potholes," Orzulak said.

Lawrence tire repair businesses are also seeing less car damage from potholes this spring compared to past years.  Chad Ruder, manager of Firestone in Lawrence, says he noticed a significant decrease in customers coming in for repairs resulting from pothole damage. 

             "I have noticed potholes aren't as bad this year as past years," Ruder said.  "In previous years I have noticed more people coming in, but recently it has been about 15 to 20 customers per week bringing in cars damaged from potholes." 

              The Lawrence Public Works Department still sees a lot more money and time being spent on pothole repairs and maintenance, even with the help of a light winter and sales tax increase.   

            The city's Web site says more than 70 percent of the voters approved the 0.3 percent sales tax increase for street maintenance and improvements.  This indicates an overwhelming majority of voters felt Lawrence streets need to be rebuilt, resurfaced and repaired.

            Hufford is one of the many Lawrence citizens who did not think twice when voting yes for the sales tax increase in November 2008.  He did his research and found the money would allow the city to pay for what he felt needed serious improvement -  potholes.

            "Driving on these streets every day is a hassle," Hufford said.  "I wanted there to be a quick fix to the horrible street conditions in Lawrence.  This is why I voted to pay more in taxes for needed street improvements."

             Orzulak thinks Lawrence road conditions have taken big steps in the right direction and will continue to do so.

            "Even though we have less money to work with because of the budget cuts, regular street maintenance will be the last thing to be cut," Orzulak said.  

Federal dollars are in demand.  In fact, the demand is so much greater than the supply that the recession seems to have spawned a new form of entertainment: the budget circus. Institutions and agencies vying for federal dollars are jumping through hoops, walking tightropes and doing everything possible to keep the crowds satisfied, if not entertained. 

Funding for education is at a crisis point right now as the Kansas Legislature works to approve a budget for fiscal year 2010.  Meanwhile, the Perry-Lecompton school district is recognizing the elephant in the room.  Rumors were flying through the district concerning how district officials would deal with the budget cuts. 

"We had parents calling and saying, 'We heard you're going to cut soccer,'" said Theresa Beatty, athletics director at Perry-Lecompton High School.  "We needed to get the correct information out there so people would stop speculating." 

To quell the rumors, the district decided to create an extra-curricular task force to review the budget.  Four coaches, four parents, and three administrators worked together to create a list of possible reductions that could be made if necessary.  The task force came up with three tiers of reductions.The number of suggested cuts implemented from each tier will depend on how drastic Kansas' education budget cuts are. 

Beatty explained that when it becomes necessary to cut some items from the district's budget, items will be chosen from the first tier first, and only a couple of items will be cut at a time.  The first tier includes suggestions such as suspending the trainer, who comes to the high school to check on athletes' injuries; canceling the activity bus, which takes athletes home after practice; and combining the dance and cheer teams so they would only need one sponsor.  If the district implemented all the suggestions in the first tier, it would cut about 25 percent of the entire budget. 

The second tier consists of suspending one assistant coach from each sport that currently has one.  The third tier--which suggests temporary suspension of some sports (all but football, boys and girls basketball, and volleyball)--will probably not be needed. 

"We would only have to implement things from the third tier in a worst-case scenario," Beatty said.  "Those would be drastic cuts to make." 

Beatty said if any sports have to be suspended, the district will lose more money because students who play those sports would transfer to other schools that continued to offer them.  The district would lose about $5,000 of funding for each student who chooses to transfer.

"We don't want students to leave," Beatty said.  "But then, if other districts cut a sport and we are still offering it, students would come here, and that would be a good thing."

Title IX compliancy was one potential conflict the task force had to address.  Although there are no guidelines for compliancy, federally funded institutions are expected to make sure no sex discrimination takes place in any of their activities.  Title IX was created in 1972 and provides in general terms for equal participation opportunities for girls and boys in high school and college athletics. 

"You have to be careful when you propose budget cuts that you're still providing a comparable amount of funding to girls' sports and boys' sports," said Beatty, who was one of the administrators on the task force.  "Their facilities have to be comparable, their equipment has to be comparable."

While the task force's reduction suggestions are not good news for students and parents, they do reflect on the district's determination to prepare for the inevitable. 

Dr. Denis Yoder, superintendent of the Perry-Lecompton school district, said the district created the task force to look at how the state budget cuts would affect their district.  He said the district has been planning for these cuts for a long time. 

"We want to be careful," Yoder said.  "We want to make sure that the cuts we implement are the ones that will affect students least."

Yoder said the district will not know how many or which cuts they will have to make until after the state legislature decides how much education funding will be cut. 

Governor Kathleen Sebelius' current recommendation to the legislature is a 10 percent cut and reliance on federal bailout money to balance the budget, but Republican legislators are suggesting a $26 million cut in education funding. 

In a March 24 press release, Gov. Sebelius said she was "disappointed" in these legislators' decision to cut funding for public schools.

"I've presented a budget with a more responsible approach," Sebelius said.

The legislature is expected to reach a decision in May.