Police and fire put together list of more than $33 million in funding needs for 2016; Sprouts sets new opening date for Lawrence store; former KU basketball player says deal is near on wing restaurant

So much for a nice welcome basket or even a tin with that wonderful nacho cheese-flavored popcorn. New city commissioners will get none of that when they dig into their first full meeting on Tuesday. Instead, they’ll get memos detailing how the police and fire department need millions of dollars in new funding.

City commissioners meet at 3 p.m. Tuesday for a study session to get up to speed on budgetary matters at City Hall. During the campaign, the winning candidates spent a lot of time talking about public safety needs. So you want to talk about public safety needs, do you? Bam. Here are two memos detailing more than $33 million in unfunded items for the police and fire departments. (I knew candidates should have spent more time talking about nacho cheese-flavored popcorn.)

The biggest item is hardly a surprise: $26 million for a new police headquarters facility. But what is interesting to note is that police and fire department leaders are making sure that city commissioners understand that facility isn’t the only pressing public safety need. If you remember, leading vote-winner Leslie Soden talked a lot about looking at the entire public safety system — police, fire, jail, mental health — rather than just focusing all attention on a new police headquarters building. Tuesday’s study session may be the first glimpse at whether other commissioners want to take a broad look or instead focus on the headquarters project.

Here’s a look at some of the other funding issues identified by the chiefs for the police and fire departments:

• $1.3 million in year No. 1 to hire and equip one new sergeant, six detective positions, two police officers, and one administrative support position at the police department. Police Chief Tarik Khatib notes that the number of detectives in the department has basically remained unchanged for about 10 years. This $1.3 million in funding would just get the expansion started. The city would have to dedicate a similar amount to future budgets to sustain the new positions.

• $43,000 for additional training for the police department. The department receives only $17,000 in city funding for the training of its 185-person staff. The department has won some grant money to do additional training, but Khatib notes it is difficult to rely on grant funding because the department is not assured of receiving the grants in the future.

• About $550,000 to replace 18 vehicles that the police department has identified as nearing the end of their useful lives. The department normally gets about $225,000 for vehicle replacement, but that amount has not kept up with the aging fleet of the department, Khatib said.

• About $163,000 per year to add an extra firefighter per shift to the fire department’s current work roster. Chief Mark Bradford said the extra firefighter would be a good investment because the city currently is paying overtime or using employees from its “extra board” program to fill in for full-time firefighters that are on vacation or have taken other types of leave

• $2.3 million to renovate Fire Station No. 1, which is located in downtown. This project was scheduled to get started in 2015-2016, but one proposal calls for pushing the project to 2018-2019 to accommodate a plan to build a police headquarters without needing a tax increase.

• $725,000 to replace the training tower near 19th and Haskell.

• $1.7 million for repairs to failing concrete in front of multiple fire stations.

• $27,345 for various maintenance items at Fire Station No. 2, which is at 2128 Harper St.

• $98,750 for various maintenance items at Fire Station No. 3, which is at 3708 W. Sixth Street.

• $32,950 for various repairs at Fire Station No. 4, which is at 2121 Wakarusa Drive.

• $15,285 for various repairs at Fire Station No. 5, which is at 1911 Stewart Ave.

• $6,350 for maintenance at the training center near 19th and Haskell.

• $18,000 for drainage issues at Fire Station No. 5.

• $30,000 a year to increase training operations of the fire department, including additional training for structural collapse emergencies, extrications, hazardous materials, domestic terrorism events and emergency medical service training.

There are other items on the list that don’t have a specific price tag attached, but they are significant. They include:

• Fire truck replacement. The city has been using money from the infrastructure sales tax to replace fire trucks since 2010. But the sales tax is scheduled to expire in 2019, and only $100,000 of sales tax money is budgeted in the future for fire engine replacement. (Most trucks cost $500,000 or more.) Certainly, the city may ask voters to renew the sales tax before it expires. Absent that, the department will need to find another funding source, because Bradford has said continuing to replaced aged equipment will be critical.

• New fire stations. Bradford says in his memo to commissioners that “it is becoming difficult” for the department to meet its response time goals with the current system of fire stations. The department strives to have fire stations that are within 4 minutes driving time of most structures in the community. “Discussions should begin to identify future fire station location requirements,” Bradford says in the memo.

• Firefighter pay. Although not mentioned specifically in the memo, everyone at City Hall is bracing for negotiations with the union that represents Lawrence firefighters. The union believes a study will show that pay for Lawrence firefighters has fallen behind that of peer communities, which puts the city at risk of losing firefighters to other cities in the region. If you remember, the city and fire union went to impasse in negotiations last year. This year’s negotiations are expected to begin soon.

• Police officer pay. The city also will be negotiating with the association that represents police officers. Khatib, though, notes that sergeants and captains aren’t represented by that association when it comes to wage and salary matters. He said salary ranges for those positions have been capped for four years, which he said is “exasperating an already existing compensation compression problem.”


In other news and notes from around town:


I’ve been telling you for months now that west Lawrence is getting a new grocery store near Wakarusa and Overland drives. Now, I can tell you that it is opening July 1. Sprouts has announced that’s the opening date for its new 27,000 square-foot Lawrence store.

In case you have forgotten, the Phoenix-based company touts itself as a “farmers market style” grocer. The stores have a variety of departments including meat, dairy, frozen foods, grocery, bulk items, bakery, deli, seafood, supplements and other health care products. As a farmers market style grocer, produce is a big part of the store as well.

In a new release, the company said it is hiring about 100 full- and part-time employees to staff the store. Positions will range from cashiers to managers.


• You also may remember way back in October 2013 that we reported former KU basketball player Keith Langford was going to open a Wing Stop restaurant in Lawrence. Well, that plan has been a bit like the alley-oop play in my pick-up basketball game: slow developing. But there’s indication the idea is still alive. Langford posted information on his Twitter account that indicates a Lawrence store will open in October. He has indicated the locations will be at 23rd and Louisiana, next to Mr. Goodcents.