The city and county are suing an Australia-based animal health company that received startup funding from both local governments to begin operating in Lawrence. The City of Lawrence and Douglas County filed a lawsuit against the company, Integrated Animal Health, in Douglas County District Court on Monday. The lawsuit alleges that the company breached its incentives contract, and the city and county are seeking to recoup one-third of a $100,000 grant provided to the company as part of the agreement. Integrated Animal Health announced it would move its global headquarters to Lawrence in 2015. The city and county subsequently approved incentives [...]

When all the bills are paid, Douglas County will have spent about $177,000 to conduct this spring’s mail-in ballot for Proposition 1 and to provide educational material to voters. In January, the Douglas County Commission agreed to conduct the mail-in ballot election asking voters to approve a half-cent sales tax to fund an expansion of the county jail and to create a behavioral health campus. Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said he still had not received a bill for what was by far the biggest expense from the mail-in ballot. The clerk’s office hired the Omaha, Neb., firm of Election Systems [...]

The request before the Douglas County Commission from Douglas County Water District No. 5 to annex a small area south of the Wakarusa River has prompted Lawrence City Manager Tom Markus to suggest it is time to start planning how the area eventually will transition to city water service. More than 50 percent of property owners in the area, which is currently unserved by any water utility, have petitioned to be annexed by Water District No. 5. The 77 acres are within a three-mile fringe growth area of Lawrence, which has a water utility. That required that the city be notified [...]

After being sued by the city over its patio canopy, a local restaurant has taken the structure down. The wooden canopy was constructed about two years ago on the north side of Dempsey’s building, spanning the width of an open area between Dempsey’s and the adjacent building. Last month, the Lawrence City Commission directed the city’s legal staff to bring a lawsuit against the owner and occupant of 623 Vermont St., which is the location of Dempsey's Burger Pub. The city alleges that Dempsey’s constructed a canopy structure for its patio without first getting a permit from the city and that [...]

Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug has presented county commissioners with a proposed 2019 budget that maintains the current year’s 46.018 mill levy and identifies $3.12 million from spending cuts or reallocations to be used for criminal justice needs, including addressing overcrowding at the county jail. The $3.12 million plan doesn't call for significant cuts to social service agency funding, but rather would involve significant reductions in the amount of money the county sets aside for building and road improvements. However, some alternative recommendations Weinaug provided, which total more than the $3.12 million, would require cuts to some community partners. (Read more: [...]

Some city leaders and neighbors are questioning the results of a consultant-led study that determined the two best locations for the city’s bus transfer hub. One of the recommendations, on Stewart Avenue, is one block north of a site recommended by a 2014 location study. As was the case then, some residents of the nearby Schwegler Neighborhood oppose the location, citing concerns about noise, traffic and safety. Residents submitted a petition to the commission against the Stewart Avenue site and in favor of one on Bob Billings Parkway, and more than a dozen attended the commission’s meeting Tuesday. (Read more: LJWorld.com [...]

City leaders have voted to create a new community police review board, but discussion regarding limits on the board’s access to police files and recordings may not be over. At its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission voted 4-1, with Commissioner Matthew Herbert in opposition, to create the new board. The vote came after the commission reviewed changes made by city attorneys to the ordinance establishing the new board. Commissioners previously delayed approving the ordinance because of concerns that it would have allowed the city to deny or limit the board’s access to the police investigation files and recordings. Assistant City [...]

As part of an effort to deter human trafficking, the city may soon take on the responsibility of regulating the many massage businesses in Lawrence. At its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider a new draft of the ordinance to regulate massage and other bodywork businesses, which typically number more than 50. The original draft, which was proposed in March 2017, was strongly opposed by a group of massage professionals, and the new version does away with several provisions. Those include provisions that allowed law enforcement to inspect business premises, banned businesses from operating overnight and required businesses to [...]

City and police department officials will update the Lawrence school board Monday on the status of the new police headquarters, to be built just west of Free State High School. Capt. Anthony Brixius, of the Lawrence Police Department; Melinda Harger, the city's assistant director of utilities; Amanda Sahin, city transportation engineer; and Mark Hecker, assistant director of Lawrence Parks and Recreation, will provide the update to the school board on various aspects of the planned $17 million police headquarters. The project is of interest to the school district because the headquarters is set to be built immediately west of the FSHS [...]

As part of his recommended budget for next year, City Manager Tom Markus is proposing the city’s mill levy rate remain flat. The recommended operating budget totals about $206 million and will be presented to the City Commission for initial input at its work session Tuesday. As proposed, next year’s budget would see $14.6 million of unfunded capital improvement projects, personnel requests and equipment purchases. A memo to the commission notes that many tough decisions had to be made about priorities, and Markus said that for him, the capital improvement projects are the most difficult. (Read more: LJWorld.com stories: Local news)