Lawrence City Commission to look at ‘big picture’ when it comes to city facilities

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., Thursday, July 7, 2016

At their work session Tuesday, Lawrence city commissioners said they are interested in consolidating city-owned facilities.

Commissioner Lisa Larsen said the commission needed to look at all opportunities for managing the city’s assets and saving money.

“I’m interested in understanding more about the asset management and looking at the whole picture,” Larsen said.

The city operates out of about 50 facilities, and City Manager Tom Markus is recommending consolidation as a way to save money by sharing operational and equipment costs, but also as a means to improve communication and service.

Markus said Tuesday’s work session was the “opening conversation” regarding consolidation, and the city will continue to evaluate options, including a future police facility, public works campus and potential purchase of the Riverfront Plaza.

The short-term proposal for the Riverfront Plaza — the city owns the land but not the building — would be to lease a portion of the west side of building for the city’s planning and development department, which is currently split between two buildings. The potential to purchase the building, which is roughly twice the size of City Hall, to house more city operations or to replace City Hall could be evaluated in the future, Markus said.

The west side of Riverfront Plaza is pictured in this file photo from October 2016.

“The current plan is assuming our inspections come back with some degree of reason and we could negotiate a fair rental, maybe with an option to purchase the top floor as a condo,” Markus said. “Maybe ultimately we are in there long enough, on a long-term lease, to get a feel for what the balance in the building might provide to this city as maybe the city hall entirely.”

Markus is also advocating for an incremental approach to consolidation. That approach calls for construction phased in over multiple years for the new police facility, and a site that could accommodate co-location with county law enforcement or other city services.

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St.

Also part of the discussion is a single “campus” for public works, utilities and parks and recreation maintenance facilities. Facilities for storage, fueling and mechanical maintenance for those departments are currently located on various sites.

“It’s extremely decentralized, and it creates a lot of duplications,” said Brandon McGuire, assistant to the city manager.

One phase of the city’s new public works facility has already been completed. However, when bids for the second phase came in higher than expected, the commission voted to defer the decision to consider reconfiguring the project into a multi-department campus. In 2014, Lawrence voters narrowly rejected a citywide sales tax to fund a $28 million police facility, and the “phased-in” construction would be a new approach to the project.

The Douglas County Public Works campus is pictured on Sept. 22, 2016.

Fewer city facilities also means fewer entrances to secure, Markus said. In order to prevent individuals from carrying guns into city buildings, Kansas law requires that the city provide security measures such as guards or metal detectors.

Mayor Leslie Soden said she is excited about the prospects of consolidation, and the broader consideration of facility upgrades in the future.

“I think this is the way to go at it, is the very big-picture look at it,” Soden said.

Official proposals regarding city facilities would go before the commission during regular meetings and would need to be approved as part of the budget process.


In other business, the commission:

• Reviewed a draft of the city’s five-year capital improvement plan. The review was the first step in a months-long process. The plan will go to the planning commission on April 26 before the city commission reviews it again as part the city’s annual budget process.

• Deferred a discussion regarding a transfer hub for the city’s bus service. The commission recently voted to put out a request for proposals for a second location study for the hub, but plans to discuss the topic further before the study goes forward.