Lawrence Journal-World 07-10-12

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DOWNTOWN

Merchants asked to fund library garage expansion Added floor would provide 75 parking spaces

By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com

When it comes to prevailing opinions of downtown Lawrence property owners, there have been two that have stood the test of time: the need for

more public parking and fewer property taxes. Soon, city commissioners may arrange for those two ideas to collide. City Manager David Corliss’

office is proposing that nearly every downtown property owner would pay a special tax to add an extra level and about 75 additional parking spaces

County signals budget quarrel

for a public parking garage that will be built next the Lawrence Public Library. “We get very few opportunities to add a significant number of parking spaces

downtown,” Corliss said. “We do it about once a decade. It seems to me that now is the time to ask the question of whether we want to add more parking spaces.”

Letter sent to mayor outlining critical need for 911 dispatchers

By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com

By Alex Garrison acgarrison@ljworld.com

ONLINE: See the letter from the County Commission to Mayor Bob Schumm at LJWorld.com

Please see COUNTY, page 2A

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo

CATHERINE RICHARDS, 9, and her brother Will, 7, run for shelter during a summer rain shower Monday afternoon in downtown Lawrence. For a second day in a row, brief but heavy rain fell in and around the city. See the forecast for the rest of the week on page 10A.

By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com

TOPEKA — Westar Energy is seeking 1,000 customers to participate in a pilot project that utility officials said could provide savings on electric bills. The voluntary program provides what are called

Time of Use rates to encourage customers to shift their electric usage to off-peak periods when demand is lower. “This gives an opportunity for customers who think they can do this to get on board, maybe save some money in the process, and it helps us manage the total load on the

system,” said Hal Jensen, director of customer service and programs at Westar. In the summer, peak energy usage times during weekdays are from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Under the Time of Use pilot program, the cost for energy during that period would be approximately 13.5

INSIDE Business Classified Comics Deaths

Please see POLICE, page 2A

7A 5B-10B 9A 2A

Events listings Horoscope Movies Opinion

cents per kilowatt hour, while using energy during off-peak times would be approximately 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour. In winter, the peak energy usage is from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Under the Time of Use program, energy costs at that time would be nearly 8 cents per kilowatt hour while energy

used during the off-peak period would cost nearly 5 cents per kilowatt hour. Jensen said a household that could shift discretionary usage, such as doing laundry, to off-peak periods would benefit from the program. Westar officials said Lawrence customers are Please see WESTAR, page 2A

Heat causes fish kill

10A, 2B Puzzles 9B Sports 4A Television 8A

9B 1B-4B 4A, 2B, 9B

Low: 62

Today’s forecast, page 10A

Lawrence city commissioners are being presented with a new set of scenarios — all of them involving new sales taxes — to fund a multimillion-dollar effort to boost the city’s police force. At their afternoon budget study session today, commissioners will hear staff proposals to fund major improvements to the Lawrence Police Department, which include CITY building a new headquarters COMMISSION building and adding more than 40 new positions to the force. The proposals differ from a $42 million plan presented earlier this summer. None of the new proposals includes property tax increases, and some of the plans call for a smaller police headquarters facility and propose to add new police positions at slower rate. Here’s a look at the latest proposals:

A $30 million police headquarters building and 46 police positions all added over a four-year period. That’s all unchanged from the proposal made earlier this summer. What’s

Westar seeks volunteers for off-peak energy usage

Partly sunny

High: 90

Please see PARKING, page 2A

City to hear new, less costly plans for police upgrades

Rain dash

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In the middle of tough budget decisions, the governments of Douglas County and Lawrence are at a bit of a loggerheads. Both the county and the city are discussing their respective proposed budgets for 2013. Those are two independent processes, but many departments and agencies depend on funding from both bodies. In this disagreement, the conflict is over Sheriff Ken McGovern’s request for four additional full-time emergency dispatchers (the people who answer calls to 911 and send out firefighters, medics and police). County Administrator Craig Weinaug included $68,202, or 34 percent of the total cost, in his recommended budget, but City Manager David Corliss didn’t add the city’s proposed $132,393 share. The County Commission heard several funding requests from area agencies in a meeting Monday morning. The commissioners didn’t vote on anything — it’s rare even for them to express opinion on budget matters at this point in the process — but they did ask Commission Chairman Mike Gaughan to

The next question, though, may be tougher: Who ought to pay for the $1.2 million project? Corliss is proposing that downtown property owners would pay a special

Vol.154/No.192 20 pages

Hundreds of dead fish line the banks of a pond at the Kanza Southwind Nature Preserve in southwest Lawrence. Recent high temperatures caused depletion of oxygen in the water, leading to the smelly die-off. Page 3A

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