Commission Board Meeting on Mon, April 9, 2007 - 8:30 AM


Meeting Information

-Convene
 -The Pledge of Allegiance
 -Consider approval of minutes for March 21, 2007

CONSENT AGENDA
 (1) (a) Consider approval of Commission Orders;

REGULAR AGENDA      
Planning Items:
(2) Consider approval of a Conservation Easement form (Mary Miller is the Planner)
 
(3)  Consider approval of SP-02-12-07: Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence, a site plan        for the construction of a building addition and parking lot redesign and expansion for the Unitarian Fellowship located at 1263 N 1100 Road. Submitted by Grob Engineering Services, LLC for the Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence, property owner of record. (Joseph Rexwinkle is the Planner)

(4) Consider awarding contract for supply and application of dust palliative                  (Keith Browning)

(5) Health Department Annual Report Presentation (Dan Partridge)-Backup provided       at meeting

(6) Discuss scheduling a joint meeting with BOCC and Lawrence City Commission to discuss various issues of joint interest (Weinaug)

(7) Other Business
(a) Consider approval of Accounts Payable (if necessary)
(b) Appointments
(c) Miscellaneous
(d) Public Comment

(8)   Adjourn   

Johnson called the meeting to order at 8:33 a.m. on Monday, April 9, 2007 with two members present. McElhaney arrived later. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Jones moved to approve the minutes of March 21, 2007. The motion was seconded by Johnson and carried 2-0.

PLANNING  04-09-07
Mary Miller, Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Department, presented to the Board for review a Conservation Easement form prepared by Evan Ice, County Counselor. The form d s not need approval by the Board, but Planning Staff wanted to ensure the form reflects the intent of the Commissioners. Through the recent development of rural subdivision regulations, the Conservation Easement was initiated for the interest to conserve property by setting aside an area of acreage for conservation until property is annexed by a City. The easement assures there is density left for the City to approve the usage. Each agreement will be different for each property owner. In the UGA, the city has two years after annexation to decide how to use the property.

Johnson opened for public comment.

Dean Grob, Grob Engineering, stated he is planning to submit an application for a Conservation Easement on property within the UGA, but is struggling to understand the concept.

Jones stated he d s not recall accepting easements in perpetuity. He also questioned whether the Board has the authority to accept the property valuation. He would like to have Marion Johnson, County Appraiser, talk to the Board on the tax implications. He feels there should be two documents, one for inside the UGA for annexation and one outside the UGA. Jones stated there are some fundamental policy issues outside the UGA that need to be discussed. He suggested Counsel revise the form to apply for property inside the UGA, use it, and refine as necessary. McElhaney questioned whether the Conservation Easements need to come back before the Board for approval. Jones stated it would be nice to have the Board review the items, however, Planning Staff is trying to make a decision on two applications and there is no need to hold the applications up. Craig Weinaug, County Administrator, stated the form would come back before the Board. We want to deal with the two applications Planning Staff is reviewing, which will help us work through revising the form. McElhaney stated concerns about proceeding with the form, setting precedence, and then going back on our word.

Johnson closed public comment.


Johnson suggested we define the difference between the concept of a conservation easement and a reservation for future development. The Board is not interested in forcing people to enter into a conservation easement, but to allow development to be determined after annexation. It was determined that there are still too many unanswered questions regarding the intent of the Conservation Easement to accept the form.

After further discussion, Jones suggested that the Planning Staff schedule a meeting with the County Commissioners to discuss the easements outside the UGA.

PLANNING 04-09-07
The Board considered approval of SP-02-12-07 for the Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence, a site plan for the construction of a building addition and parking lot redesign and expansion located at 1263 N 1100 Road. The application was submitted by Grob Engineering Services, LLC for the Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence, property owner of record. Joseph Rexwinkle, Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitian Planning Department, presented the item.

After discussion, Johnson directed Rexwinkle to make an editorial change to the Site Plan Review dated April 9, 2007, to reflect a correction to the Conclusion regarding setback lines to state, "The proposed request is consistent with the zoning district and by virtue of Board of Zoning Appeals, variance meets setback requirement."

McElhaney moved to accept SP-02-12-07. The motion was seconded by Jones and carried unanimously.

PUBLIC WORKS 04-09-07
Keith Browning, Director of Public Works, presented the Board with the bids for the supply and application of dust palliative material opened on March 26, 2007. Two bids were received for Magnesium Chloride and one bid for Calcium Chloride. The low bid was from Scotwood Industries. The bids are as follows:

Scotwood Industries, Inc.:
Item                 Quality                Unit Price              Total Price
32% MgCl      85,000 gal           $0.672                  $57,120.00
38% CaCl       85,000 gal           $0.881                  $74,885.00

Enviro Tech:
Item                 Quality                Unit Price              Total Price
32% MgCl       85,000 gal          $0.762                  $64,770.00

A water truck will be needed to pre-wet all locations, adding to the overall cost. Browning stated 0.40 gallons per square yard is the minimum effective application
rate to provide an effective treatment this year. Public Works will need to overrun the funds received by 5% in order to meet the minimum application rate.

Jones questioned what advantage this treatment is to the County and if a private contractor could provide the service. Browning responded the treatment limits maintenance on roads for the summer. A private contractor could provide the service, but has no authority to prepare the roads for application. Jones commented the Board should start discussion early next year on whether to continue the program.

Jones moved to accept the low bid and award the contract for supply and application of magnesium chloride solution for the user fee dust palliative program to Scotwood Industries at a unit cost of $0.672 per gallon, and authorize the Public Works Director to overrun the funds received by 5%. McElhaney seconded the motion and it carried 3-0.

MISCELLANEOUS & HEALTH DEPARTMENT 04-09-07
Dan Patridge, Director of the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, made        a presentation to the Board on the 2006 Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department Annual Report.

MISCELLANEOUS 04-09-07
The Board discussed setting up a joint meeting between the Lawrence City Commission and the County Commission to resolve various unresolved issues. Johnson offered to hand deliver a letter to Mayor Mike Amyx outlining areas for discussion.

ACOUNTS PAYABLE 04-09-07
Jones moved to approve payroll in the amount of $722,316.73 paid on 03/29/07; KPERS in the amounts of $150.48 and  $59,191.69 paid on 03/30/07; FICA in the amount of $55,402.50 paid on 03/30/07; accounts payable in the amount of $433,889.01 to be paid on 04/09/07; special payroll for poll workers in the amount of $17,135.00 paid on 03/23/07; and manual checks in the amount of $124.25  paid on 04/06/07. The motion was seconded by McElhaney and carried unanimously.

Jones moved to adjourn; Johnson seconded and the motion carried unanimously.


_____________________________ ________________________
Bob Johnson, Chairman                        Jere McElhaney, Vice Chair


ATTEST:

_____________________________ _________________________ 
Jamie Shew, County Clerk                    Charles Jones, Member

Location

County Courthouse
1100 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, KS 66044, USA