Some Lawrence folks have found their tap water to smell and taste rather unappetizing lately. The city says its Municipal Services and Operations department is working to address it. “The Clinton Water Treatment Plant is currently treating water with elevated levels of geosmin, a byproduct of naturally occurring algae,” according to a news release from the city. “The geosmin poses no health risk to residents or their pets but may cause a noticeably earthy smell and taste in the water.” The city says some people can detect geosmin at very low levels; others may not notice it at all. “The City has increased treatment to eliminate as much of the smell and taste differences as possible,” according to the release.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Multi-modal Transportation Commission members listened to Old West Lawrence neighbors Monday and voted unanimously to hold off on approval of the city’s plan for permanent traffic barriers in the neighborhood. Several neighbors believe that through their group efforts, they have created a better plan to make the streets safer than what the city and consultants have proposed. The traffic devices placed throughout the neighborhood’s streets last fall sparked some disagreements among neighbors and had been a divisive issue. However, most of the vocal residents of the neighborhood — which spans approximately from Sixth Street south to Ninth Street and from the alley east of Kentucky Street west to Michigan Street — agreed that something needed to be done for safety and to reduce speeding and cut-through traffic on neighborhood streets.
Source: The Lawrence Times