info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

City of Pittsburg engages team to continue public power initiative

info2019-03-21T08:43:01-05:00March 21st, 2019|

Following commission meetings held earlier this year, the City of Pittsburg has been given approval by commissioners to continue to move forward with creating a public power utility for Pittsburg. The City commission wants to continue to explore the economic viability, benefits and risks of public power and outline the steps that will be necessary if a public power utility is to be established. As such, the City has engaged a qualified, experienced team to conduct negotiations and a detailed analysis of the technical, legal and financial aspects of creating a public power utility for Pittsburg. Daron Hall, Pittsburg City Manager, [...]

Concrete company in Miami County likely to relocate following Planning Commission decision

info2019-03-21T08:36:41-05:00March 21st, 2019|

Miami County planning commissioners have recommended revoking the conditional-use permit (CUP) for Concrete Strategies, but the Miami County Commission will make the final decision next week. Last year, the Planning Commission and County Commission both agreed to deny owner Joe Vitale’s request for a new CUP for Concrete Strategies. The business currently is operating under a CUP that was used by the previous property owner and proprietor, Stahl Excavating. Stahl was grandfathered in when the county went to countywide zoning in 1991, and the CUP stays with the land not with the owner. Neighbors have submitted a petition to revoke that [...]

Fed holds line on rates, says no more hikes ahead this year

info2019-03-21T08:25:28-05:00March 21st, 2019|

The Federal Reserve decided Wednesday to hold interest rates steady and indicated that no more hikes will be coming this year. In a unanimous move that coincides with market expectations and demands, the central bank's policymaking Federal Open Market Committee took a sharp dovish turn from policy projections just three months earlier. After the announcement, 10-year Treasury yields fell to their lowest level in a year. Committee members had estimated in December that two rate hikes would be appropriate in 2019 after four increases in 2018. They also pointed to at least another one before ending a round of policy tightening [...]

OP City Council votes to change penalty to incentives carrot for long-delayed project

info2019-03-21T07:31:16-05:00March 21st, 2019|

A downtown Overland Park project that actually was approved as the city's first tax increment financing deal in 2007 is back in the spotlight. According to the Shawnee Mission Post, the original Market Lofts TIF project never got started as the Great Recession took its toll. However, developer Paul Goehausen, managing principal for Goehausen & Co., has been working to keep the project at 80th and Marty streets going for more than a decade. The Market Lofts development, which includes 36 apartments, 5,700 square feet of retail and an underground parking garage, started moving toward construction again in 2015. That's when [...]

Citizens express support and concerns over ballpark development deal

info2019-03-21T07:25:37-05:00March 21st, 2019|

Wichita can now sell its land to a mostly undisclosed group of developers for $1 an acre. The Wichita City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to sell approximately 4 acres around the new $75 million baseball stadium to Wichita Riverfront LP. That company is connected to Lou Schwechheimer, the principal owner of the New Orleans Baby Cakes. The team already has a management agreement and a facilities agreement, but the land sale was the “third leg of the stool” in a deal to lure the Baby Cakes to Wichita, City Manager Robert Layton said. What land will be purchased has not [...]

Small business owners take issue with TIF district in Garden City

info2019-03-21T06:57:10-05:00March 21st, 2019|

Local small business owners approached Garden City commissioners on Tuesday with concerns about the proposed establishment of a redevelopment district for a planned commercial project on East Kansas Avenue. The commission approved a memorandum of understanding with developer 2107 E. Kansas LLC in January to turn 11 acres of undeveloped land near the intersection of Campus Drive and Kansas Avenue into a commercial development anchored by a new First National Bank. About five to six other commercial or retail buildings are included in the project. Tuesday, the commission held a public hearing before unanimously passing an ordinance that would establish the [...]

Altamont goes dry until new state law takes effect on April 1

info2019-03-21T06:51:53-05:00March 21st, 2019|

Altamont is temporarily a dry town, due in no part to any law prohibiting the sale of alcohol. Rather, the town is being dually impacted by the new Kansas alcohol laws allowing stronger beer to be sold in grocery and convenience stores beginning April 1, and the closure of its only liquor store, the Liquor Shack, 1018 E. Fourth St., last month. Shelves that contained beer with up to 3.2 percent alcohol content by weight now sit empty, and the city’s two convenience stores have not ordered more, as they were awaiting the arrival of deliveries of beer of up to [...]

Altamont hopes for downtown face-lift

info2019-03-21T06:49:27-05:00March 21st, 2019|

An empty grocery building with its windows papered over sits near the corner of Huston and U.S. 160. Across Huston to the east is an old gas station that while quaint in its old architecture is used now only for storage. The two empty buildings are what people first see as they look down Altamont’s main street downtown. A quick glance down Huston and one sees barren sidewalks, plain, discolored metal facades, peeling paint, damaged awnings and dirty windows marking businesses and empty buildings alike that line the street. U.S. 160 is fairly well traveled, and questions are being pondered as [...]

Approved KDOT Agreement means $1 million for street project in Eureka

info2019-03-20T10:30:35-05:00March 20th, 2019|

The Eureka City Council approved an agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) during a routine meeting last Monday, March 11. This agreement made the highly discussed River Street project official. The project is slated to begin in 2020. With the city being awarded $1 million from KDOT, they will bond the remaining $3 million. There are several options the city has to repay the bonds, which would require a repayment of approximately $200,000 annually for 20 years. With the pool and library bonds sun-setting last year, the council could ask the public to support a new one or half-cent [...]

In Wyandotte County, Housing Is Eating Up Paychecks And Harming Health

info2019-03-20T10:25:53-05:00March 20th, 2019|

It’s no longer news that when it comes to its residents’ health, Wyandotte County ranks near the bottom of Kansas counties and Johnson County ranks at the top. Nor is it news that the health disparities between the two adjoining counties have less to do with individual behaviors than with socioeconomic factors like income levels, jobs, education and long-standing practices such as redlining and predatory lending that discriminate against people of color. What may come as a bit of a surprise is that housing costs – and the financial burden they impose – factor pretty heavily into the mix as well. [...]

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