Snow job

Kansas University probably won’t get in trouble with City Hall for not shoveling its public sidewalks — no citations have ever been issued under the city ordinance.

But that doesn’t mean city officials aren’t paying attention.

At a Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting Tuesday, City Manager Mike Wildgen said he had observed that sidewalks along large stretches of Iowa Street had gone uncleared after recent storms.

“It’s university property,” Wildgen said. “Do they not think about it?”

Richard Konzem, interim associate director of KU’s Dole Institute of Politics, said he would check the university’s policy.

“I’ll get (former Dole director) Richard Norton Smith right on it,” Konzem said, to widespread chuckles.

But really …

The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday seemed intent on getting city residents to do a better job of clearing their sidewalks after winter storms.

Whether they do so by persuasion or coercion remains to be seen.

Commissioners said they might decide to contract with private firms to clean sidewalks along key pedestrian routes in the city — or they might try a publicity campaign urging residents to be nice to their neighbors.

“I think the good neighborly aspect of this is one we should try to emphasize,” Mayor David Dunfield said.

Commissioner Boog Highberger agreed.

“People who choose to walk shouldn’t be second-class citizens,” he said. “Most of this will be a cultural change.”

Highberger, who was criticized after a January storm for allowing his walk to go uncleared, added: “Just for the record, my sidewalk is shoveled.”

Other kinds of storms

The city’s new floodplain regulations soon may result in lower flood insurance rates for Lawrence homeowners.

City Manager Mike Wildgen said this week that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency visited Lawrence in January to assess the city’s application to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program.

FEMA officials said the visit found “no deficiencies” in the city’s floodplain management program.

City officials have said flood insurance rates might drop between 10 percent and 15 percent — as much as $60 a year for many property owners.

The Lawrence City Commission passed restrictive new floodplain development regulations in 2002.

After passing the new rules, the city applied to participate in the Community Rating System, which gauges how well communities protect themselves from flood damage. Those ratings then determine a community’s eligibility for flood insurance payment reductions.

Support for science

The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday passed a resolution in support of state legislation that would provide new funding for life sciences research.

The resolution says the research industry “provides significant employment and research opportunities in Kansas.” Supporters say the state legislation would create new funding opportunities, for example, at Kansas University.

“It seems Lawrence and Douglas County are ideally positioned to contribute to this effort, as well as benefit from it,” Mayor David Dunfield said.

City officials said they would seek additional support for the resolution from county, university and other officials.

Fewer driveways

Dislike clogged traffic on 23rd Street? So does the Lawrence City Commission — and the Kansas Department of Transportation.

“There isn’t a street that’s more criticized in town than 23rd Street, I suppose,” Commissioner David Schauner said Tuesday.

That’s why KDOT is ready to give the city money to close off driveways along 23rd Street, which officials say should ease congestion on the street.

The money, up to $500,000, would be used to buy “cross-access easements” along 23rd — essentially paying two businesses to share just one driveway.

The project isn’t expected to start until 2007.

“We don’t have a specific area identified,” Planning Director Linda Finger said. “It’s somewhere between Iowa and Louisiana. We’ll probably just pick a block and see how far the money goes.”

Schedule

• 7:30 a.m. today: Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission meeting to discuss zoning code and commission bylaws revisions; City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.
• 9 a.m. today: Lawrence City Commission study session on utility rates, commission goals and the 2005 budget; City Halls.
• 4 p.m. today: Code Review Committee; City Hall.
• 5 p.m. Thursday: Smoking Task Force; Lawrence Memorial Hospital, 325 Maine.
• 5:30 p.m. Thursday: Neighborhood Resources Advisory Committee; City Hall.
• 4 p.m. Tuesday: Task Force on Homeless Services; City Hall.
• 9 a.m. Feb. 18: Lawrence City Commission study session on downtown drinking establishments, followed by annual city manager job evaluation; City Hall.