Don’t get your tool belt all in a bunch. The proposed Menards store near 31st and Iowa streets indeed is still on track to happen, even though it has been a year since the project was approved and construction still hasn’t begun.

I know the delay has some of you fidgeting like you’ve dropped fiberglass insulation down your knickers. But, really, Menards is oh so close to pulling a building permit for the project.

First, though, there is a little matter of a handyman fight. (And I’m not talking about two men in sweat-soaked flannel in the middle of 31st Street using tape measures as light sabers. Really, I’m not talking about that. My attorney said to take the Fifth.)

In case you hadn’t noticed, Home Depot is right next door to the proposed Menards site. At their Tuesday evening meeting, city commissioners will hear from the Chicago-based development group that owns the Home Depot site. The development group is not pleased with the proposed site plan for Menards because it looks like a stormwater issue would limit the ability of Home Depot to expand, if it chose to do so in the future.

The next time you go to Home Depot, notice that there is quite a bit of open land just to the east of the store. Part of the land is used to temporarily detain stormwater runoff before it is released into nearby Naismith Creek. Once Menards is built, the stormwater will run to the Home Depot detention site, then to the Menards detention site, and then to Naismith Creek. The group that owns the Home Depot site would like for it to run directly to the Menards detention site. That would then provide flexibility for additional development to occur on the Home Depot site.

“Certainly there are a couple of acres of land there that could be developed,” said Dan Watkins, the Lawrence attorney for the Chicago development company.

The group that owns the Home Depot site thought it had a deal worked out with Menards, but that has fallen through. City commissioners will have to decide whether to force Menards to make the stormwater change. The city’s planning staff is recommending against forcing the change because they cannot find any code language that requires it.

Whether any of this is a sign that Home Depot would like to expand in Lawrence isn’t clear, but you could understand why it would want to. I’m not sure the average Joe understand how much larger Menards is going to be than Home Depot.

According to the documents filed at City Hall, Menards will have about 250,000 square feet of space under roof. Home Depot has about 94,000 square feet of building. In addition, Menards will have an outdoor lumber yard that is about 150,000 square feet.

If you have been in Lawrence for the last 15 years or so, you know that Home Depot didn’t want to build its store this small. But city officials in the early 2000s, had quite a debate about how much retail development should be allowed at that corner. The current configuration of Home Depot and the adjacent Best Buy is the compromise that emerged.

But that was then and this is now, and don’t think that the Home Depot folks haven’t noticed.

“There was a big change in City Hall policy when they allowed Menards,” Watkins said.

Indeed, there is going to be a lot more retail near the 31st and Iowa intersection. In addition to Menards, the latest site plan shows a concept that would accommodate seven other retail buildings. The plan doesn’t get specific on how big those buildings could be, but based on the amount of parking set aside for the various lots, it appears three of the buildings could be about 20,000 to 30,000 square feet in size. Those could accommodate significant national retailers. The other four buildings shown on the plan are smaller buildings sized for restaurant or specialty retailers.

Tenants for those buildings haven’t been found yet, and Menards has said they won’t build any of the buildings on speculation. Menards has enough to do to get its own building constructed. The good news on that front is that planning department officials tell me that this site plan issue is really the last item to resolve before a building permit can be issued. Menards already has filed for the building permit, so it is possible that one could be issued in the next few days.

Previously, Menards officials have said it will take about nine to 10 months to build the store.

In other news and notes from around town:

• I don’t know about your neighborhood, but in mine this is the time of year when approximately 15 dozen kids use a lawn sprinkler to turn my backyard into a high-speed water slide. (Just like a certain water park in K.C., I would prefer not to talk about what happened to our test dummies.)

Well, in Lawrence, you may want to start charging admission to such backyard fun. Water and sewer rates are both set to go up. As we reported in May, commissioners gave preliminary approval to a new rate plan. At their Tuesday evening meeting, commissioners are set to give final approval and order city officials to begin collecting the higher rates in November.

How much your water and sewer bill will increase depends on who you are. Here’s a look at some common scenarios:

• A single-family house that uses 4,000 gallons of water per month will see an increase of $2.62 per month, or a 4.9 percent increase over existing rates.

• A single family house that uses 20,000 gallons per month will see an increase of $11.26 per month, an increase of 5.4 percent.

• An apartment resident who uses 4,000 gallons of water per month will see an increase of 86 cents per month, an increase of 1.8 percent.

• A business that uses 100,000 gallons of water per month will see an increase of $61.56 per month, an increase of 6.9 percent.

• An industrial user that uses 2.5 million gallons of water per month will see an increase of $1,201 per month, an increase of 5.7 percent.

The rate increases will fund a variety of projects, including about $5.8 million worth of improvements to address taste and odor issues that occur in the city’s drinking water when algae levels are high at Clinton Lake or the Kansas River.

The higher rates come at a time when other increases are expected to find property owners. The city already has predicted the 2015 budget will include at least a 1.5 mill increase in the city’s property tax rate. Black Hills Energy, the predominant natural gas provider in the city, is asking state regulators to approve new rates that would increase the average residential bill by at least $5.70 per month, but likely more depending on how much gas you use. Still unresolved is what new sales or property taxes city commissioners may propose to fund a new police headquarters building. Plus, the county and the school districts may have their own needs for additional funding that could affect taxes.

It is not as much fun as what we did with the test dummy, but let’s do some quick math to see what the average person may be facing thus far:

• Property taxes on a $170,000 home: Up $29 a year.

• Average 6,000 gallon water and sewer bill: Up $44 a year.

• Minimum Black Hills natural gas increase: Up $68.

That’s an increase of $141 for the year, or a little less than $12 per month. Again, though, this doesn’t include anything for the police department or other taxing jurisdictions. Plus, I think it is possible that when the city’s recommended budget is released in the coming days that it will include a property tax increase greater than 1.5 mills.

Commissioners meet at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday at City Hall.