-Convene
-Consider approval of the minutes of October 14 and October 21, 2009.

CONSENT AGENDA
(1)(a) Consider approval of Commission Orders;
(b) Consider approval of resolutions granting Cereal Malt Beverage licenses for Clinton Marina and Clinton Submarina (Clerk's Office);
(c) Consider approval of Notice to the Township Board for Cereal Malt Beverage Licenses for First Stop, L.L.C. (Clerk's Office);
(d) Consider approval of CUP-02-03-07, a Conditional Use Permit for Clinton Cove mini-storage for consideration of revised landscape implementation plan. (Sandra Day is the Planner); and
(e) Consider approval of low bid for purchase of spreader and plow for public works
(Jackie Waggoner)

REGULAR AGENDA
(2) Consider approval of Food Policy Council Membership and discussion of council structure (Emily Jackson)

(3) Consider request to create road right-of-way to extend N 800 Road to approximately 500 feet west of E 1050 Road (Keith Browning)

RECESS UNTIL 6:35 P.M.

(4) Consider the appropriate range of variation for Mid-States Material's detailed reclamation plans for Phases 1A, 2, 3 and 4 of the Big Springs Quarry; 2 North 1700 Road. Submitted by Professional Engineering Consultants for Mid-States Ventures, L.L.C., property owner of record. (Mary Miller is the Planner)

(5) Consider request from Lawrence-Douglas County Bio-Science Authority to have the City and County cooperate in the acquisition of the West Lawrence Laboratories Building and approve conflict waiver with Gilmore and Bell, City and Douglas County Bond council. (Craig Weinaug)

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

Thellman called the regular session meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 with all members present.

MINUTES 11-11-09
Thellman moved approval of the minutes of October 14 and October 21, 2009. Motion was seconded by Gaughan and carried unanimously.

CONSENT AGENDA 11-11-09
Thellman moved approval of the following Consent Agenda:

► Commission Order No. 09-037 (on file in the office of the Clerk);
► Resolution Nos. 09-38 and 09-39 granting Cereal Malt Beverage Licenses to Clinton Marina and Clinton Submarina, 1329 E 800 Rd, Lawrence, KS;
► Notice to Township Board for Cereal Malt Beverage Licenses for First Stop, LLC; 1423 E 900 Road;
► CUP-2-3-07, a revised landscape plan for Clinton Cove Mini Storage located at 1415 E 900 road, with the following notes and changes as recommended by staff:

1. Include the following note: "The property owner is responsible for installation of landscape material along the west property line as shown on the site plan. The Douglas County Board of County Commissioners, on 10/28/09, approved a request from the property owner to defer the installation of landscape material along the west property line until a future date. Planting along the west property line, as shown on the approved landscape plan dated 10/20/07, shall be installed at a future date if the County Commission determines that such landscaping is needed to buffer adjacent development. Planting shall be made at the property owner's expense."

2. The applicant shall provide a revised landscape plan to show plantings on the west property line, planting on the park property to the south and the above note, and a landscaping planting schedule.

► The purchase of accessories for the 2004 F-650 dump truck approved by administration on October 21, 2009. The Board agreed to waive the formal bidding process and accept the low bid of $26,272 from American Equipment for a 10' Salt & Sand Spreader installed, 10' HD Reversible Snow Plow installed, Hydraulic System installed, and a one (1) year warranty.

Motion was seconded by Gaughan and carried unanimously.

FOOD COUNCIL/APPOINTMENTS 11-11-09
Emily Jackson, Management Intern, brought to the Board for approval a proposed membership roster for the County's newly created Local Food Council. The meetings will be open to the public and agendas will be posted on the County website.

The Board discussed the council forming an executive committee of no more than five members to interact with the Commission. They would also be responsible for expenditures from the budget. It was suggested that the terms for the council members be the same as terms of other County boards, but that duration will be left for the council's discretion.

Flory moved approval of the following positions for the Douglas County Food Policy Council Membership with the condition of seeking out 2-3 additional agricultural/farming representatives. Motion was seconded by Gaughan and carried unanimously.

Sector	Representing	Name
At-Large	Appointed by Jim Flory	Brenna Wulfkuhle
At-Large	Appointed by Mike Gaughan	Dennis "Boog" Highberger
At-Large	Appointed by Nancy Thellman	Lori McMinn
Agricultural Producer		Greg Shipe
Agricultural Producer		Debbie Yarnell
Agricultural Producer		Barbara Clark
Retail Food Outlet	Merc	Rita York
Retail Food Outlet	Checkers
Retail Food Outlet	<1/2xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Free State Brewery	Chuck Magerl
Retail Food Outlet	Lawrence Originals	Constance Wolfe
Institutional Food Purchaser	Lawrence Memorial Hospital	Debbie Miers
Institutional Food Purchaser	KU/DgCo Senior Services
Schools	Lawrence	Paula Murrish
Schools	Baldwin
Schools	Eudora
Extension Service	Douglas County Extension	Bill Wood
City of Lawrence Sustainability Advisory Board
Food Security	ECKAN	Jeanette Collier
NGO-Health/Nutrition/MD	Clinton Foundation	John Wilson
Established Farmer's Market in DgCo	Lawrence Farmer's Market	Tom Buller
Chamber of Commerce		Trudy Rice
Youth (FFA, 4-H, or other relevant org.)	AmeriCorps/VISTA	Nicole Techenor
Chair		Scott Allegrucci
Council Staff Liaison		Sustainability Coordinator (currently Emily Jackson)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PUBLIC WORKS 11-11-09
The Board considered a request to create road right-of-way in Willow Springs Township. The proposed road would be N 800 Road and would extend west from E 1050 Road. The property owner wishes to allow another buildable lot from the 160-acre parcel southwest of the existing intersection of N 800 Road with E 1050 Road. Keith Browning, Public Works Director, presented the item. The road previously existed, but has been vacated. It was created in 1881 and vacated in 1964.

The applicants request that the entire right of way to the south be on the applicant's property. Browning state this can be done, however, a small section of property at the northeast corner may need to be acquired to align the road. Any required easements or necessary utility movements would be the responsibility of the applicant. Maintenance would be responsibility of the township. Charles Wintermantle and Jerry Smith, two of the Willow Springs Township members, were present at the meeting and stated they were in favor of the request.

Thellman opened the item for public comment.

Larry Wedman, Contractor for applicants Robert and Julie DeYoung, stated the existing house d s not meet qualifications of a guest house and has too much value to tear town.

The Board directed staff to work with the applicants on choosing a right-of-way configuration and come back to the Board with a resolution for approval. Motion was seconded by Gaughan and carried unanimously. [Note-the following action was added: Flory moved to request that staff proceed under the alternative procedure Section 2(d) of Charter Resolution No. 07-4-1. Motion was seconded by Gaughan and carried unanimously.

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE 11-11-09
Gaughan moved to approve accounts payable in the amount of $176,971.16 to be paid on 11/12/09; payroll in the amount of $819,570.70 paid on 11/06/09; FICA in the amounts of $26.06 paid on 10/12/09 and $60,546.90 paid on 11/06/09; and KPERS in the amount of $66,817.20 paid on 11/06/09.
Motion was seconded by Thellman carried unanimously.

At 4:35 p.m., Thellman moved for the Board to recess until 6:35 p.m. Motion was seconded by Gaughan and carried unanimously.

The Board resumed its regular session at 6:35 p.m.

PLANNING 11-11-09
The Board considered the appropriate range of final elevations and water feature sizes for the Big Springs Quarry as tabled from the October 21, 2009 meeting. Mary Miller, Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Staff, led the discussion. The goal for this meeting was to determine the appropriate range of variation for the size of the water features and a total surface area of the water bodies.

General Note 4 was revised to read as follows: Landforms indicated are general in nature and final elevations may vary as much as 5 ft higher or 10 ft lower than shown on the plan. Water bodies may change relative to size, location, shape and elevation as field conditions indicate. The surface area of any water body or bodies will not exceed 40% of the disturbed area in the watershed contributing to that water body or bodies.

General Note 5 was added stating: The operator shall, in good faith, work with downstream landowners to effectively manage surface water flows for the benefit of said landowners and the quarry at large.

Keith Browning, Director of Public Works, commented that just because the not-to-exceed 40% of surface area is approved, d s not mean every water body will have a surface area that large. Flory asked for clarification that the water bodies could not exceed 40% without coming back to the commission for approval. Browning stated that is correct. Browning also stated in regards to the drainage caused by the pond size, the quarry operator is willing to pump water to other ponds or downstream if necessary to alleviate the problems with adjacent property owners.

There was discussion on the runoff to the Lone Oak property regarding concerns addressed in a memo from the engineer for Lone Oak. PEC provided a spillway design for a generic pond with 40% of the disturbed area and looked at 2 acres ponds and those of the maximum size (40% of the disturbed area) and various spillway area configurations varying from 2' width to 20' width. The modeling indicated that a 10' wide spillway seemed to work well for various pond sizes. The volume of water stays relatively the same, but the flow rate decreases considerably. It was determined that the proposed design is sufficient.

Flory noted that because this is a CUP, the Commission has more control over determining the size of the water features. If someone wanted to put a series of ponds on agriculture land, they would not have to come to the board to act.

Thellman stated for clarity that the Board acknowledges there have been a series of complaints on fly rock and setback. They are taking the fly rock complaint seriously and have directed staff to investigate that complaint. The County Counselor has been in contact with the complainant. The Board will not be accepting discussion regarding this issue at this meeting. Comments are to be focused on the range of variation for the reclamation plan of Phases 1A, 2, 3 and 4.

Thellman opened the item for public comment.

John Hutton, attorney representing Mid-States Materials, stated Mike Berry, with PEC engineers, is present to answer questions. Hutton made reference to the comment made by Flory that the quarry has gone through scrutiny because the quarry requires a CUP. There are other landowners who have larger water features. Regarding the fly rock issue, Hutton invited the Commission to the quarry to watch a rock blasting. Flory asked that under Note 5, Hutton's client will exercise a good faith effort to deal with this water issue as best as he can for all parties. Flory trusts that Hutton stands behind that gesture as well as his client. Hutton responded, that is correct.

John Buffo, attorney for Lone Oak, made a presentation from Robert Prager, Lone Oak's engineer.

Bart Christian, owner of Lone Oak, stated he should be protected by the conditions of the CUP. According to Christian, the State made an opinion that the quarry setback should be a 1,000 feet from his wells.

Dave Henry, adjacent property owner, stated he wants the conditions adopted to be complied with. He is upstream from the quarry. He asked for clarification on how staff came up with allowing up to an 8 foot high bank around the water features. Miller stated the reclamation plan states where approved, the height of the rock walls will not exceed 8 feet. This number was intended to provide a height restriction based on comments made by neighbors concerned about 20 ft high walls.

Thellman closed the public comment.

Flory stated the applicant inherited some of these issues. Many of the major issues were worked out. The applicant, the County and landowners, all worked together to come up with the Consent Decree which solved the major issues, clarified responsibilities and required a reclamation plan, which is where we are tonight. At an earlier meeting, this Board came to a consensus that the plan was appropriate, with the only issue of concern being an acceptable range of variation on the water features and elevation. Staff has worked with the applicant and landowners to come up with a reasonable plan. If this weren't a quarry and was instead a farmer who owned land, we would not have this type of control. There is no violation of state law. Professional engineers have looked at this and came up with a reasonable conclusion. He feels the applicant is acting in good faith regarding the water issues. Flory is in favor of approving the reclamation plan.

Gaughan stated the key point in General Note 4, states any variation from the approved plan will require a revision to the reclamation plan. He feels Note 5 shows the spirit of intent by the applicant for his willingness to work with the adjacent landowners. The plan in place will have a strict set of restrictions on the operation, which Gaughan stated satisfies him.

Thellman stated she agrees with the comments by the other Commissioners. The Director of Public Works has followed up on the concerns of the Lone Oak's engineer. She is in favor of supporting the reclamation plan.

Gaughan moved to approve the adoption of the revised reclamation plan as mandated by the Consent Decree with revisions to General Note 4 and the addition of Note 5 as follows:

General Note 4:
1) Finished elevation may vary -5 feet or -10 feet;
2) Size of water feature(s0 may vary up to 40% of the disturbed area within the drainage area for the water feature(s); as shown on Attachment B;
3) Location of water features are restricted to a 300 ft separation from perimeter; and
4) Shape of water features are restricted to an 8 ft. maximum height for any natural strata with a slope greater than 3:1 which is approved to be retained for stabilization of the bank. Motion was seconded by Flory and carried unanimously.
General Note 5:
1) The operator shall, in good faith, work with downstream landowners to effectively manage surface water flows for the benefit of said landowners and the quarry at large.

The motion was seconded by Flory and carried unanimously.

At 7:35 p.m., Thellman moved for the Board to recess for 10 minutes. Motion was seconded by Flory and carried.

The Board returned to regular session at 7:45 p.m.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 11-11-09
The Lawrence-Douglas County Bioscience Authority (LDCBA) is requesting the City and County purchase a lab facility located at 4950 Research Parkway. The building would be used as an incubator facility for startup bio-science companies.

Cary Novak, Director of Business Relations and Development at the University of Kansas, expressed support for the project. He feels the facility is a necessary infrastructure for high-tech, bio-science projects. KU is involved in a lot of pharmaceutical research. The facility would also attract companies that are past the incubator stage. He would like to eventually see Lawrence/ Douglas County invest in a Technology Research Park.

Sam Campbell, Owner of CritiTech, stated CritiTech is a small company with 14 full and/or part time people. The company uses SCF technology to make pharmaceutical products better. He gave a presentation on a drug CritiTech is producing for ovarian and colon cancer.

Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager, stated the facility purchase price is $2.3 million with $600,000 invested for HVAC upgrades, totaling $2.9 million. The City would issue taxable general obligation backed bonds for $2.9 million. The City and County would own the facility jointly. LDCBA would lease the building from the City and County. Net proceeds would be placed in a building fund and reviewed annually. The first five years of the payments would be interest payments only, $25,000 paid to the City. On year six, LDCBA would pay principal plus interest calculated at approximately 50 basis points over the City's average annual investment rate fort eh City's idle funds for the previous year 2009.

Gaughan asked if the building space set up for laboratory use leases for the same cost as regular building space.

Marilyn Bittenbender, Grubb & Ellis/Winbury Group in Lawrence, stated the cost is a blended rate. The standard rate for generic office space is between $16-18 per square feet, the rate for this lab space would be $38-39 per square feet. It's a unique building. Each tenant pays their portion of property tax, utilities and maintenance costs. When CritiTech expands to 22% of the building, they will be responsible for 22% of the expenses.

Hank Booth, Chamber of Commerce and Douglas County resident, stated his support for the project. He feels this is a modest step toward the bio-science future.

Tom Kerns, President of Chamber, stated strong support for the project.

Thellman closed the public comment.

Thellman stated this is a logical next step for a very important vision for our City, for high-powered jobs and a real example of what happen when we work together. This facility will show people outside our community we are serious and want to be a major player in economic development. Thellman acknowledged there is risk, but she is enthusiastic for the project.

Flory stated he whole-heartedly supports the project. It is important to maintain existing jobs and provide the potential for creating new ones. This is a proactive and aggressive investment in job growth. Any investment with reward potential has risk. In his opinion, the risk of doing nothing is far greater than the risk of doing something. He is ready to move forward with conceptual approval.

Gaughan stated the university is pursuing a NCI designation and space is required to be successful. If we don't take steps as a community we will miss the opportunity at a critical time when our local university is pursuing this important designation. This community will almost required the County/City and partners to take these steps. He is ready to move forward with the conceptual plan. Our community has been pursuing this interest for several years. Hopefully we will see more opportunities to engage this partnership. He feels the entire process has been open and completely transparent and thanked staff for the overwhelming amount of information he received to help him understand this process.

Flory moved to direct staff to prepare the necessary conceptual agreements and documents to facilitate the request and approve a conflict agreement with Gilmore & Bell, bond consultant, to work on drafting an agreement given that the firm serves as a bond counsel for both the City and the County. Motion was seconded by Thellman and carried unanimously.

Thellman moved to adjourn the meeting; Gaughan seconded and the motion carried 3-0.

____________________________ ____________________________
Nancy Thellman, Chair                        Jim Flory, Vice-Chair

ATTEST:

____________________________ _____________________________
Jamie Shew, County Clerk                  Mike Gaughan, Member