To avoid crowd, city defers all major agenda items for Lawrence City Commission meeting

photo by: Mike Yoder
Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured Thursday, July 7, 2016.
The Lawrence City Commission meeting scheduled for Tuesday will not include any regular agenda items in order to avoid a large gathering.
The city announced in a news release late Monday that the meeting will only include the commission’s consent agenda and an executive session. Last week, the city deferred two of the three regular agenda items in the hopes of limiting public attendance, as the Journal-World reported. In the Monday announcement, the city deferred the remaining item, an economic incentives request for Penn Street Lofts, a mixed-use housing development planned for the Warehouse Arts District. All the regular agenda items have been deferred until April 7.
The consent agenda is available on the city’s website. For those people interested in items on the consent agenda, the city “strongly encouraged” people to follow the live stream at lawrenceks.org/live, rather than attending in person. The release notes that recorded video and audio of the meeting will also be available following the meeting.
The city also extended the deadline to receive public comments, which can be submitted electronically by emailing ccagendas@lawrenceks.org. Electronic correspondence received before 4 p.m. on Tuesday will be posted with the agenda materials and comments received after the deadline will be printed and given to the City Commission at the meeting.
The city made its announcement after Kansas banned public gatherings of 50 or more people for the next two months.