photo by: Journal-World

The Douglas County Public Works building, 3755 E 25th St.

The Lawrence chamber of commerce is asking the Douglas County Commission to release more than $100,000 of funding for a minority business loan program, which the commission has been holding onto amid some questions about how the program would work.

As the Journal-World reported, county leaders in 2023 set aside $105,000 for the Diversify Douglas County program, which aims to provide loans to minority-owned startup companies. But commissioners had questions about how many applicants the program would receive and about the amounts of the loans, among other issues, and they decided to wait until a future meeting to release the money so that the program could be examined in more detail first.

At its meeting on Wednesday, the Douglas County Commission will consider whether to release that funding.

The Chamber, in its request, included a brief timeline of how the program developed. It said that a financial review board was formed for the program in the summer of 2023, and that the board held its first meetings in the fall of that year. The first Diversify Douglas County loan was approved in November 2023, it said.

“We believe we have provided this additional information (requested by the commission), and now respectfully request that you consider releasing the $105,000 to fund the start-up of minority-owned businesses through the DDC program,” Chamber President and CEO Bonnie Lowe wrote in the request.

In other business at Wednesday’s meeting, commissioners will:

• Consider authorizing the county administrator to sign an amended Outside Agency Funding Agreement with Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health for $57,833.

The contract would provide $27,500 to fund a Zero Suicide coordinator and $27,333 to fund an advanced practice registered nurse position. As the Journal-World reported, the County Commission authorized additional support for the Zero Suicide coordinator on June 12. There is also funding to support this position included in the 2025 county budget.

The nurse position would be a full-time position with Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health that would support the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Mobile Integrated Health program, the City-County Homeless Response Team and the LDCPH clinic and mobile clinics, including but not limited to the Lawrence Community Shelter.

• Consider initiating a text amendment that would revise home occupation standards and the registration process.

Home business regulations in Douglas County are established to exclusively serve small-scale businesses that are run out of a home. Douglas County Zoning and Codes is seeking permission to draft a set of updated home business regulations, including an evaluation of the current fee system; improved standards for screening requirements related to equipment/supply storage and verbiage related to automotive repair; a “permitted-by-right” regulation for certain categories of businesses; and regulations that permit very-low-impact home businesses in accessory buildings.

Staff members are asking county commissioners to initiate the text amendment process. Any specific changes to the regulations will have to be approved by the County Commission at a later date, once the proposed changes are formally crafted.

• Consider initiating another text amendment to the zoning and land use regulations to add battery energy storage systems, data centers and digital asset retrieval facilities — such as facilities that use large amounts of computers to mine for cryptocurrency — as conditional uses in certain zoning districts.

Battery energy storage systems — like the type used by solar farms — data centers and cryptocurrency mining operations are becoming more common across the country, particularly in unincorporated areas. Douglas County Zoning and Codes is looking to introduce a text amendment to clarify zoning regulations for these uses. The amendment aims to spark a discussion on whether these activities should be allowed as conditional uses in specific zoning districts with tailored standards or if they should be banned altogether.

Staff members are asking county commissioners to initiate the text amendment process. Any specific changes to the regulations will have to be approved by the County Commission at a later date, once the proposed changes are formally crafted.

• Sign a proclamation for National Health Care Week in Douglas County. According to a memo, National Health Care Week is intended to recognize more than 1,400 Community Health Center organizations across the nation.

The County Commission’s business meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the Douglas County Public Works training room at 3755 E. 25th St. The meeting will also be available via Zoom.