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2002 - Fall \ City of ~ Salina The Salina Citizen A report from your city govemment FALL 2002 Dear Salina Citizens: , The City of Salina is pleased to present to you the Fall 2002 edition of The Salina Citizen. We hope this issue not only helps inform you in regard to City projects, but stimulates your interest and participation in local government. The City Commission and members of the City staff en- courage you to ask questions and to make your views known. This is an exciting and challenging time for our com- munity. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you to meet the challenges ahead. / Sincerely, Salina City Commission ~ ; 1 , RESTAURANT SMOKING BAN In May 2002, the Salina City Commis- sion approved a new city ordinance regulating smoking in restaurants. This ordinance was passed following a period of extensive research, public information and public comment on the issue. Public opinion is clearly divided on the issue, and individual City Commissioners also hold differing opinions. The ordinance was approved on a 3 to 2 vote. The Salina restaurant smoking ban ordinance, while adopted, has not yet been implemented. Following passage of the ordinance, a group of citizens used the provisions of state law allowing certain city ordi- nances to be initiated by petition to pro- pose an action repealing the pending restaurant smoking ban. In July 2002, the City Commission, recognizing the petition contained the required 1,606 signatures (25% of the number voting in the last city election), declined to repeal the restaurant smoking regulations and chose to place the repeal issue on the November 5 general election ballot. They further delayed implementation of any restaurant smoking regulations until after the voters could decide the issue. The pending restaurant smoking regu- lations, which will either be repealed or retained by voters in November, are summarized as follows: => Smoking would be regulated in all restaurants with a seating capacity of 11 or more persons. => Restaurants, including accessory bars, must be "smoke-free" at all times except from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., when smoking-permitted sec- tions may be designated. => A "bar waiver" is available to a drinking establishment which has less than 30% of its sales from food. THB SALIlVA. DlOIUN6 IS8VB IS TO BB DBCIDBD B V0'J'B.R8 AT THB NOVBIIB.BIl 5& GBNBRAL BLBCTION. GTE Smoking would not be regulated in these free-standing bars. => Licensed private clubs are exempt. Bingo halls, bowling centers and some other facilities with incidental food service are exempt. => Restaurant owners have certain re- sponsibilities under the ordinance, and may be subject to fines in Mu- nicipal Court. => The fine for a person smoking where prohibited would be $25. An executive summary and the full ordinance are available on the City of Salina website www.ci.salina.ks.us. or at the City Clerk's office in Room 206 of the City-County Building. Proponents of the restaurant smoking regulation tend to see it as an important, necessary and reasonable public health law. Opponents tend to view it as un- necessary government intrusion into rights of business owners and as a mat- ter best left to the marketplace and indi- vidual choice. At the November 5 election, a YES vote means you want to repeal the Sa- lina restaurant smoking regulations. A NO vote means you are in favor of re- taining the pending restaurant smoking regulations as adopted by the City Commission. Inside: 2 Dangerous Dog Laws 4 Historic Lakewood Bridge 6 Curbside Recycling Possibility THE SALINA CITIZEN Page 2 Bad Dogs-Bad Dogs- Whatcha Gonna Do? Due to a much higher than normal incidence of serious dog attacks in 2002, the City continues a comprehen- sive review of our local laws on the subject of dangerous dogs, as well as OlD' animal control system in general. The City Commission in August 2002 improved our city ordinances by adding stronger language de8Iing with 'duties of owners", "running-at-Iarge" and "animal nuisance/aggressive behavior" code sections. Current City Ordinances () Require an owner to prevent a dog from running-at-large. For simple nmning-at-Iarge, the first offense fine is $25.00; second offense is $50.00. However, if the dog acts aggressively or other problems occur while the dog is at large, the fine can be as much as $500.00. () An owner~fai1ing to prevent their ani- mal from acting aggressively, threat- ening or menacing may be charged with "animal nuisance activity" and may be fined up to $500.00. These charges can be filed even if no bite 2003 City Budget The City Commission approved the City of Salina 2003 annual budget after a public hearing on August 12, 2002. The City's budget process begins in late Spring with intense staff work resulting in the City Manager's proposed budget presented in early. July. The elected officials then hold several study ses- sions, reviewing staffmglpersonnel plans, capital improvement plans, agency contracts and grants, as well as the City's bonded debt financing and enterprise operations. For the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2003, total expenditures are expected to be approxi- mately $52.4, compared to $52 million anticipated for 2002. The 2003 budget includes $41.2 million for operations, $5.4 million for capital outlay and $5.8 for capital debt retirement. Despite some softening in the local economy, incident has occurred. () An animal which attacks or bites may be declared vicious based on a Mu- nicipal Court Judge findings, and the Judge may .order the dog euthanized. The owner is subject to fines of up to $500.00. These current ordinances give animal control, police and prosecutors signifi- cant tools in dealing with neighborhood safety problems caused by dangerous dogs. Some citizens have requested. the City follow the example) of other cit- ies-some in Kansas, which either to- tally ban or highly regulate certain breeds of dogs. This is called "breed- specific legislation". The most com- mon breed either banned or specifically designated as dangerous is the "pit bull". However, some citizens have suggested breed specific legislation covering rottweilers, chows or other breeds. Breed-specific laws are extremely controversial. Strong opinions are held in favor or opposed to this type of law. "",I In addition, legal issues may impact what cities can or cannot do in breed-specific legislation. Before making any further ordinance changes, the Salina City Commission has directed the city staff to do signifi- cantly more research, better evahIate our current system, and to provide op- portunities for public comment and in- put on all animal control and dangerous dog topics. As part of this review effort, a public information and comment meeting will be held in late October. At this meet- ing, any concerned citizen may attend, ask questions about dangerous animal laws or give an opini~ Those in favor of or opposed to breed-specific legisla- tion may come and give their reasons why they believe this might be good or bad for Salina, or suggest other alterna- tives for dealing with dangerous dogs. Keep an eye on the local news media to learn when a date and time for this meeting has been set. Or call the City Manager's office at 309-5700 to request to be notified. ~ , ~ \ Conservative But Progressive the city bom;"ission was able to ap- prove a budget plan emphasizing con- tinuation of our current high ser\1ce levels, while showing appropriate cau- tion in adopting new programs. 2003 Budget Highli(!hts . Property tax mill levy will remain the same as last year, at 24.218 mills, one of the lowest rates among . first class cities in Kansas. The City portion of the overall mill levy has not been increased for 21 years. New construction and . increases in property values provide for modest revenue gains to the City. . Public safety is enhanced by the addition of two 911 Communication System Dispatchers in the Police Department. The City dispatches al1 emergency services in Salina and Saline County. . All funds of the City of Salina are budgeted to meet established fiscal targets and in conformance with established City FinanCial Policies. . No Water or Wastewater rate in- creases are planned for 2003. . In addition to the major road pr0- jects identified elsewhere in this newsletter, significant capital im- provements are planned for the City landfill, storm drainage and residen- tial streets throughout Salina. The City of Salina prepares annually a Budget-In-Brief document as a short, easy to understand overview of the City's budget. . The 2003 Budget-In- Brief will be available by late DeCem- ber. Please contact the City Manager's office at (785) 309-5700 for additional information. ~ FALL 2002 Page 3 FIRE -AIRPORT SAFETY It looks kind of like an airplanet costs as much as Jsome airplanes, but it doesn't fly; it's called a MARFFT "Mobile Aircraft Fire Fighting Trainer". This state-of-the-art prop. was funded by the Federal Aviation Administration and purchased by the Missouri Department of Transporta- tion. The prop is available to airports in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. In early April, the Salina Air- port Authority paid the expense of bringing it to Salina; the Salina Fire Department provided instructors and support equipment for the training. Firefighters who participated in the training. included those from Salina and various cities across Kansas. Pictures really don't do credit to the uniqueness of this technological won- der. The MARFFf is designed to simulate various aircraft fires and in- corporates safety because the opera- tors have complete control of the unit during operation. The ~perators use a control booth and initiate different scenarios, such as fire in the coc~pit, cargo area, wings, ~heels, engines and passenger compartments. Another major benefit of the MARFFT is its environmental friendliness. Unlike past training methods of open burning using fuel oil resulting in heavy black smoke, the MARFFf utilizes clean- burning propane. With our busy Sa- lina Airport, the City and Airport Au- thority make safety a priority. [MUNICIPAL COURT EXPANSION-PROGRESS In late 2000, the City began efforts to improve physical deficiencies that impacted the overall quality of services provided by our Municipal Court. This resulted in the planned addition of a new 6,000 square foot Municipal Court Addition to . the current law enforcement center. This' new facility will provide the following benefits to those that work and visit our Municipal Court. . Elimination of overcrowded lobby and courtroom; . Better separation of defendants, witnesses and victims to improve both safety and convenience; . Added court security from secure holding areas for defendants brought over from the County jail; . Increased traffic safety and parking convenience through a redesigned parking layout, convenient drop-off area, fully acceSsible parking stalls, and the elimination of dangerous backing movements into a public street; . Greater staff efficiency from a better functional layout and more privacy for attorney-client conversations; and . Significant improvements to the . overall appearance from landscaping enhancements and a public art element. The project budget is $1.5. million; with an estimated completion date of July 2003. Those who have recently visited the law enforcement center or driven around the area should have noticed that construction is already in progress along what used to be Tenth Street. Construction crews are busy digging for the basement and installing underground site improvements that will set the stage for the building addition. While we have tried to minimize the inconvenience as much as possible, v~1 ] Municipal Court Addition we are asking for your patience as construction continues. We can't help but express our appreciation to the Sheriff's Office, Emergency Management Department, Police Department and Leisure Years Center for their patience and understanding. This project would not be successful without their support. When complete, the citizens of Salina will have a top-notch Municipal Court that will continue to provide fair and efficient justice. THE SALINA CITIZEN Page 4 Lakewood Bridge Project In May 2000, the City completed a plan for a bridge construction project to replace the Lakewood Bridge due to the deteriorating condition of the bridge. This bridge continued to stand out as one of the bridges most in need of repair in the biennial bridge inspec- tion reports. The Lakewood Bridge replacement construction project was approved by the State and City offi- cials in November 2000, for project bidding and contract in November 2003. The City considered several engi- neering design firms and selected Ols- son & Associates of Lincoln Nebraska as the firm best suited to complete this design due to their experience and fa- miliarity with historic bridge replace- ments. They also provide a knowledge of grant applications and possible alter- nate funding sources. The current bridge obviously has some historical significance and city staff began researching possible loca- tions for the existing bridge to be re- used. As suspected, the 1887-vintage steel truss bridge was found to be on the Historic Register with the Kansas State Historical Society. The design consultant for the project, Olsson & As- sociates assisted the City in securing approximately $30,000 to go toward relocating the existing steel truss bridge. We are presently searching for addi- tional funding sources for the relocation and preservation effort. 1887 Lakewood Bridge With the new Lakewood Middle School opening in August 2002, staff considered the option of re-using the bridge as a pedestrian/bicycle crossing, as it is really no longer fit for vehicu- lar traffic due to the wood plank deck and narrow width of the bridge. A new location for the bridge was investigated, and city staff found the Elm/Ohio intersection area to be a logical place for a pedestrian/bicycle crossing of the river to serve the Lakewood Middle School. The initial plan was to move the bridge. off the site to allow construc- tion of the new bridge, and in the meantime try to secure additional funding for the installation of the bridge in its new location. The State Historical Society was concerned that the bridge would not ever be put back into servige and would there- fore lose the historical status. They recommended the immediate re- installation of the existing bridge in its new location. In response, city staff and Olsson Associates are pre- paring a full project approach and cost estimates for this relocation. Historic Bridge project plans will be considered by the City Commission in coming months. Public Access Station for Digital Aerial Photos In April 2002, the Engineering Division of the City of Salina in- statleda computer workstation capa- ble of viewing our new digital aerial photos. The new workstation is 10-; cated in the public information area of Room 205 in the City-County Building. The computer, and the as- sociated software, gives the citizens of Salina the first true public access to the digital information contained in the City's Geographic Information System (GIS). A Geographic Information System is a computer system capable of dis- playing and creating both digital maps and aerial photos, as well as storing information about the features on the maps. Until the installation of this computer workstation, access to the GIS data was limited to a few se-. lect City Employees. In April 2001, Western Air Maps, working under a contract with the City, produced the first set of Digital Aerial Photos of Salina. The aerial photos taken prior to the year 200 I (in some cases nearly 50 years old) were produced and printed on paper. This made it nearly impossible to dis- tribute the images to the public ex- cept on a case by case basis. In the past, a citizen interested in viewing the aerial photos would come to Room 205 and request the assistance of a City employee. The employee would retrieve the photo from stor- age, show it to the interested party, and wait while the citizen determined whether they had retrieved the appro- priate photo. If they wished to take a copy of the photo with them, they were charged a fee for each copy. The copies were produced on a copy machine or on one of the City's blue- print copying machines. The quality of these copies was sometimes poor due to the limited photo copying ca- pabilities of the equipment. This proved to be a time consuming, in- flexible and potentially costly method for the public to utilize their aerial photos. The City installed the Public Ac- cess Station with the intent of freeing both the public and the staff from the time and cost of the previous method CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 ( t FALL 2002 Page 5 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 of viewing the aerial photos. The photos obtained in April 2001 are in digital fonnat, which means that with the proper software, the images can be viewed on a comp\lter moni- tor and printed on any computer printer. It is no longer necessary for people interested in v~wing or printing an aerial photo to request assistance from staff members. The City of Salina Organization Cba January 2002 computer is available to, the public during business hours and instructions for fmding the location in which you are interested are provided. When you flTSt use the viewing program, you will be presented with what we hope is a very user-friendly series of menus. These menus, along with the instructions, should lead you through the simple process of locating, view. City Commission Kristin Seaton, Mayor Deborah Divine Don Heath Alan Jilka Monte Shadwick Development Services BuiIdin Services Building Codes Inspections Administration Risk Management Health Insurance Fire Suppression E.M.S. CodesIInspection Public Education Engineering DesignlInspect. Traffic General Servicts Streets Flood Works Traffic Control Sanitation Central Garage City Clerk Accounting Utility Accounting Treasurer Human Relations Water & Wastewater Water TreatmentJDistr. Wastewater CoII.rrreat. Solid Waste (Landfill) Patrol Investigations 91l1Communications Internal Affairs Museum Arts Education Arts Services River Festival Horizons Program Comm. ArtIDesign Swimming Pool Golf Course Parks Recreation Forestry Cemetery Building Maint. ing, and printing the appropriate aerial view. The Engineering Division staff would like to encourage interested citizens to stop by Room 205 and use the workstation to view the aerial pho- tos. We invite comments and sugges- tions about how we might improve your access to this important source of infonnation. Job Oooortunities City of Salina job vacancies are advertised in The Salina Journal weekly, appearing in the Sunday Edi- tion and can be seen daily on the Gov- ernment Information Channel (20). Depending on the nature of the posi- tion, the City may advertise in other publications. A City of Salina employment appli- cation must be completed for each position and a resume. may be attached to the application. You may complete an application online at www.ci.salina.ks.us. The City gener- ally establishes application deadlines for all advertised positions. The length of the deadline is usually a minimum often (10) days. For more information on City of Salina employment opportunities, please call the Human Resources De- partment at (785) 309-5710 or (TDD) at (785) 309-5747 or visit us on our website. The Human Resources De- partment is located in Room 200, City- County Building, 300 West Ash. The City offers Ii generous employment package including employer retirement contributions, deferred compensation programs, and health insurance. THE SALINA CITIZEN Page 6 LOOKING CURBSIDE FOR RECYCLING The City of Salina is investigating additional avenues for furthering the reduction of solid waste going to the landfill. Many successful waste diver- sion programs have been imple- mented in the past, including the City's yard waste composting pro- gram, household hazardous waste program, mulching mower rebate program, and the Solid Waste Ven- ture Grant Program, which provides seed money for recycling and diver- sion programs. Still, the City would like to increase its waste reduction efforts. One program that has been sug- gested is curbside recycling. The City of Salina/Saline County Solid Waste Management Committee, an advisory group that makes solid waste policy recommendations to the City Com- mission, recommended that curbside recycling be investigated as part of the City's solid waste goals. The Commission approved these goals in May of this year, and research has begun on curbside recycling. What is curbside recycling? Curb- side recycling is a curbside collection service for recyclables that is in- tended to make recycling more con- venient. Most curbside recycling pro- grams share the same basic elements. Customers gather recyclable material into suitable containers and. place them at the curb on a designated pick- up day. Crews in trucks come by, col- lect the materials, and take them to a central processing facility. There the material is bulked and sent to manu- facturing mills, where the old mate- rial is turned into new products. There are several methods of col- lection used for curbside recycling. In Kansas, three major systems prevail. These are co-collection, curb-sort, and bag systems. Each system has it's own advantages and disadvantages. The City of Salina is certainly not the first city in Kansas to consider curbside recycling. Some are towns of fewer than 25,000 people or subur- / ban cities. In many cases, private businesses provide recycling collec- tion for several communities. There are larger communities, however, in which the city government provides citizens with a curbside recycling program, either directly or by con- tract. There are a vaIiety of methods used for payment of curbside recy- cling costs. The programs do not make money. City staff estimates a monthly cost of curbside recycling at $3.00-$5.00 per household per month. One City in Kansas that is similar to Salina, and which offers curbside recycling, is Hutchinson. The City of Hutchinson has a bag-based collec- tion system which is operated under city-contract by a local private waste hauler. Stutzma:n's Refuse Disposal collects recyclables from participat- ing City of Hutchinson refuse cus- tomers, and sorts the material at Stutzman's material recovery f~ility. < Stutzman's then sends the material to various manufacturers. For the City of Salina, there is cur- rently one piece of information more important than the market for materi- als, the types of collection systems, the options for material processing, and the other details of running a curbside-recycling program. The City of Salina needs to know one vital piece of information: Do the citizens of Salina want curbside recycling and are we willing to pay the cost? To help answer that question, the City will conduct a survey of Salina resi- dents in the next few months to deter- mine community interest in a curb- side-recycling program. A public education campaign will precede the survey to provide the community with facts of curbside recycling. In addition to the survey, public meet- ings will be held to offer an interac- tive forum for. public views. A deci- sion may be made by summer 2003, as the City considers its 2004 budget. FALL 2002 Page 7 CENSUS 2000-Access Through The Internet . Census 2000 information for the City of Salina is now !vailable via a link on the City's web page. Simply log on to the City of Salina's website, www.ci.salina.ks.us. and click 01\ the "Public Information" icon. A list of documents will appear including "Census 2000 Data". Clicking on the document title will take you to a page explaining how the study of demo- graphics (human populations) can pro- vide a picture of the ch8nging charac~ ter of a community. Two links on this page will provide Census 2000 infor- mation: the "demographic informa- tion" link will produce four docu- ments with basic demographic infor- mation on the City of Salina. For more detailed and customized iJlfor- mation, the "American Fact Finder" link will take you to the Census 2000 website where a customized data set can be created for the City of Salina as well as any other city in the State of Kansas. Printed instrnctions will . help with the customized search. In addition, Vicki Koepsel, Senior Planner for the City of Salina, can be reached at 309-5720 if you need .as- sistance with Census 2000 data. PROJECT UPDATES FUTURE ROAD ENHANCEMENT PROJECTS In recent years great strides have been made in improving the road sys- tem in and around the City of Salina including major expansions of Ohio Street, Crawford Street, Ninth Street, intersection improvements and new interchanges on 1-135. However, there are several major road enhance- ment projects that are in the design. stages right now and will be under construction within the next 5 years. In conjunction with the Kansas De- partment of Transportation, the City of Salina has put into place several . major projects which will greatly,en- hance the road system for Salina. The following is a list of key pro- jects and tentative timelines for pro- jects between 2003 and 2005 in Sa- lina. The actual schedule for each project is subject to change based upon many factors. 2002: 1. South Marymount Road Improve- ments. (Complete) .2. South Ninth Street Conoidor, Phase III, Improvements. (Completion in November) 2003: 3. I-135IWater Well Road Inter- change. 4. Schilling Road/Centennial Road Improvements at Airport Industrial Center. 5. 1-70 Reconstrnction (KOOT). 2004: 6. Lakewood (Old Smoky Hill River) Bridge Replacement. 7. North Ninth Street (Mulberry Creek) Bridge Replacement. 2005: 8. North Ohio Street Railroad Over- pass. . The City Engineering Division is actively involved at various stages with each of these projects. In all cases, the project design is underway and the funding mechanisms are in place. More information will be pro- vided to interested or affected citizens as the projects advance to the constrnc- tion stage. If there are questions or concerns regarding any of these pro- jects, please do not besitate to contact the City Engineering Division at (785) 309-5725. THE SALINA CITIZEN WHAT'S NEW ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE? Our Web: www.ci.sa1ina.ks.us.org adding new features such as an active City meeting/function ca1en- . I.t ...........a. ..... . _pl. dar, 2000 Census information about our changing community, UtII. dIc:ll various new on-line forms and bro- For the' last few years you have chures, and a copy of our recently used the City of Salina's website completed market-based down- (www.ci.salina.ks.us) to get useful town plan. information about your City programs The new household hazardous and services. From our site you can (HHW) waste facility page pro- apply for a job, pay your utility bill, vides facts about hazardous chemi- fill-out a building permit application, cals found in the home. It includes see what's going on in the cultural information about our free IDIW community, get the latest news on Bi- disposal site and has an interactive centennial Center events, find out who kid's section. Our on-line utility ~ro~ ~~~~~~:h),,:: F',,~iJ =:ot ;::o~~; healthy your drinking water" utility bIll quick and really is. easy. If you are inter- Over the last year, we have ested in employment continued to expand our web with the City, you can site to provide even more in- . . . . . . . see all of our current job formation about important · · · · · · openings, and submit an and changing services. Are on-line application and you interested in City recreation resume with a simple click. leagues? Now you can follow the lat- If you haven't visited the City's est league standings from out web web page lately, we encourage you page. Are you interested in genealogy to browse around. While our on- research? Try our new on-hne search ,line presence has been enhanced function for the Gypsum Hill Ceme- greatly over the last year, we are tery. Just type in the last name and the constantly looking at adding infor- information immediately appears. mation and features to keep you Have you recently driven South Ninth even more informed. Please let us Street and wondered about the con- know if you have comments, sug- struction schedule? It is all on-line! gestions or questions about the Our goal as your City government City's website. You can also pro- is to provide the latest, most up-to- vide those to us on-line or contact date information about services that the City Manager's Office at 309- are important to you. This includes 5700. . Page 8 Poliey of Noo-DiserimiDatioB OB the Basis of Disability The Citr of SaUua does DOl Gis- <<im:iuto OB dto basis of disaWlity in the. ac1missioa Of --. to, Of treatment Of ~ent in, its.: ~8i Of activities. lason Gage., Assistut Cit;y MIa.. ...., lias .. ~ed to tOOl'- dmate compliance wftb J1Ot1dis.. ndtllliOB~~ in seedon 3s..101 of dto Depart- .. of Justice repJaUORS. Jntbr.. matin co~ dto pmvisiool of dto AmerieaDs with Disabilities Act, and the rights provided _0. .." are available tmm dto ADA ~. Ji'01' Itft:117J'ltltiml. CO'tlttlC.t: 0 ADA Coordiaator JUDO: Gage AssfstaAt City NaBager City of Salina 300 W. AsIl SaUaa, Kansas fi7401 "0110: (715) 3OP..S710 (TOD) (11S) J09.5141 I Articles were written by City Staff, with desill11 by Michael Morgan and LaDonna Bennett. Questions/Comments? Call the City Manager's Office at 309-5700 Cltyof !:i Salina Residential Patron Salina, KS 67401 * Printed on Recycled Paper PRSRT SID CAR-RT SORT U.S. POSTAGE PAID SALINA, KS Permit No. 400 City Commissioners want to hear from you Members of the Salina City Com- mission are always interested in your comments and suggestions on city ser- vices and policies. Each Commissioner welcomes let- ters and telephone calls. Write them at P.O. Box 736, Salina, KS 67402- 0736. Commissioner's phone numbers are listed below: Deborah Divine Don Heath Alan JUb Kristin Seaton Monte Shadwick 813-~447 827-8142 827-0002 825-7926 827-6761