Update, 11:31 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22:
The Lawrence City Commission meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 18 was canceled because of winter conditions in the forecast.
Commissioners called a special meeting for Tuesday, Feb. 25. This agenda item is now on the commission’s consent agenda, a list of items that are considered routine and generally approved with one motion unless a commissioner asks to pull an item for further discussion.
Original article:
Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday will consider approving a $3.5 million contract with the Lawrence Community Shelter — about the same amount as last year — but the agreement includes some big changes to services and goals.
The funds were already included in the city budget for this year. About $600,000 of the total will come from the city’s special alcohol fund, or money received from a special sales tax on alcohol. The rest will come from the affordable housing sales tax fund and general fund.
The shelter’s staff operate the main shelter on the eastern edge of town at 3655 E. 25th St. and the Pallet shelter village at 256 N. Michigan St.
LCS also plans to construct and open 24 additional Pallet shelters on the lot behind the main shelter, though original plans to open “Pallet 24” ahead of this winter have been delayed by the process to get plans and permits completed and approved, followed by weather issues.
LCS provides space for about 140 people in the main shelter, and there are 50 Pallet shelters. As part of the funding agreement, LCS provides three meals per day to guests staying in both locations.
However, guests who aren’t involved in LCS’ programming currently must leave the main building during the day when weather conditions are not extremely hot or cold.
Under to the new agreement, “Grantee will support the provision of day services, including assistance with obtaining vital documents, recovery supports, and life skills programming. Once Pallet 24 is complete, all 125 beds within the LCS Main Emergency Shelter will have the option to stay at the shelter during the day to receive programming, provided individuals are compliant with case management.”
In addition, city staff members have operated overflow emergency winter shelters for the past several years, to ensure that everyone has a warm place to sleep during extreme conditions. Under the new agreement, “The City of Lawrence will no longer directly operate Emergency Weather Shelters but will provide strategic guidance and operational support, leveraging their expertise from previous years to help ensure a smooth transition.”
LCS also must commit to goals to reduce its dependency on the city by 10% by the end of this year and by 25% by the end of 2026, according to the agreement.
The commission in December 2023 approved about $2.68 million for its agreement with LCS. That was followed by a supplemental request for $757,000 in November 2024 to increase the shelter’s capacity, for a total of about $3.43 million in 2024.
See the complete agenda item at this link. If approved, the agreement will be effective from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2025.
Lawrence voters in November approved a citywide affordable housing sales tax increase. Effective in April, the city will collect an extra nickel per $100 spent. That funding will go toward creating new housing and supporting homelessness initiatives. (Read more about that at this link and check out how the city voted on the ballot question at this link.)
Lawrence city commissioners are set to begin their regular meeting at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25 at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. See the full meeting agenda at this link.
The commission accepts written public comment emailed to ccagendas@lawrenceks.org until noon the day of meetings. The commission also hears live public comment during meetings, both in person and virtually. Register to join the Zoom meeting at this link.
Meetings are open to the public, livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/@lawrenceksvideo and broadcast on Midco channel 25.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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