info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Pratt County officials praise NextEra projects in Reno County meeting

info2018-11-29T06:54:15-06:00November 29th, 2018|

While they touched on a few issues that surfaced with the development of two wind farms in Pratt County, three representatives from that county gave NextEra Energy high marks when answering questions from the Reno County Commission Tuesday. Right out of the box, however, two of the three admitted to having family who benefited from the projects by owning land that was developed. Pratt County Commissioner Glenna Borho said she abstained from votes by her county commission on the projects because her husband owns farmland with turbines, while County Road and Bridge Supervisor Doug Freund said his father owns land with [...]

Bourbon County Commissioners nix idea of restarting recycling service

info2018-11-29T06:52:33-06:00November 29th, 2018|

Bourbon County Commissioners on Tuesday briefly discussed, then discarded the idea of offering a free recycling service to county residents. Public Works Director Jim Harris said 4 States Sanitation will move its solid waste business to Arcadia. He said the company will continue using the Bourbon County Landfill on “emergency holidays.” Harris said his question is whether the commissioners want him to take back recycling trailers the county had given the company on the condition the trailers be used only in Bourbon County. “Yes, we do,” Commission Chairman Lynne Oharah said. Harris said when the county offered a recycling program in [...]

Route 66 advocates applaud plan to seek National Historic Trail status for Mother Road

info2018-11-29T06:50:13-06:00November 29th, 2018|

A proposal moving through Congress seeks to designate U.S. Route 66 as a National Historic Trail. The highway connected Chicago to Los Angeles and was once an economic driver for small towns across a post-World War II United States. U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Jim Inhofe announced this week the introduction of a bipartisan bill that would amend the National Trails System Act and include Route 66 in an effort to help revitalize cities and small towns that sit along the historic corridor. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar bill in June. Renee Charles, president of the Kansas Historic [...]

Washington County has highest voter turnout in the state

info2018-11-29T08:26:27-06:00November 29th, 2018|

Washington County had the highest voter turnout in Kansas on Nov. 6, according to the Secretary of State’s office. The county recorded a 67.8 percent voter turnout. Chase County came in second with 67.2 percent. Washington County had 3,397 registered voters, and 2,303 of those voters cast ballots in the November General Election. Fifty-eight of those ballots were provisional ballots – only 39 of those provisional ballots were counted – and 522 ballots came from advance voters. State-wide there were just over a million people who voted in the general election, making the state’s voter turnout 56.4 percent. (Read more: Backroads [...]

Derby looks to create a “walkable” community

info2018-11-29T08:24:53-06:00November 29th, 2018|

As the City of Derby continues to develop, officials are looking to become a more "walk-friendly" community.City officials want to create a Walkable Development Plan."We've had a history of focusing on walkability since the 1990's," said Dan Squires, the City of Derby's director of Planning and Engineering. "Walkability and our beautiful green spaces are one of the reasons people choose to live in Derby."The city has around 25 miles of bike paths, plus it opened two new parks with a third one opening in the future."We realize from the community that that's important to the residents and people around us," said Squires.The [...]

Hybrids, electric vehicles pose funding challenge for next Kansas highway program

info2018-11-28T07:47:19-06:00November 28th, 2018|

When Kansas lawmakers sit down to write a new multiyear transportation plan this coming session, one of the biggest challenges they’ll face is how to pay for it. Traditionally, funding for highway construction and maintenance has come from the state’s motor fuel tax — 25 cents a gallon for regular gasoline and gas mixed with 10 percent ethyl alcohol; 27 cents a gallon for diesel. The state also diverts about 16 percent of its sales tax revenue toward the highway fund, although those transfers have been interrupted in recent years as the state struggled with budget deficits. But with more fuel-efficient [...]

Spring Hill addresses concern on Civic Center lectern

info2018-11-28T07:00:34-06:00November 28th, 2018|

In response to a resident request and direction by Mayor Steven Ellis at the Nov. 8 City Council meeting, the City would like to provide the rationale behind the selection of the Civic Center’s new accessible lectern, housed in the Council Chambers. The original design of the Council Chambers’ dais sat six people, housed all the equipment for an extensive audio/visual system, featured a built-in lectern and was located in a smaller room. To better accommodate attendance at various meetings as well as all City boards, councils and commissions, the dais was enlarged to seat nine people and the room was [...]

Exterior Home Improvement Grant Program a Success in Merriam; Coming Back in 2019

info2018-11-28T06:58:55-06:00November 28th, 2018|

Merriam residents made several enhancements to their homes this year thanks to the City-funded Exterior Home Improvement Grant Program. City Council designated $30,000 in 2018 for residents to make improvements to their homes. The projects varied from new siding and gutters to tree removal and other landscaping endeavors. Others replaced windows or driveways and some residents installed solar panels. More than 30 applications were submitted and, of those, 16 property owners received funding. The average reimbursement was $1,875, with project amounts ranging from $5,460 to $25,736. Residents had to invest at least $4,000 of their own money to receive a reimbursement. [...]

AG Derek Schmidt reaches settlement with Kanopolis City Council over KOMA violations

info2018-11-28T06:57:45-06:00November 28th, 2018|

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt today executed a settlement with the Kanopolis City Council to resolve a violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA). In September, the attorney general’s office received a complaint alleging that the Kanopolis City Council violated the KOMA by improperly taking binding action in an executive session. Upon investigation, the attorney general’s office determined that the council violated the KOMA by recessing into executive session to discuss nonelected personnel, and taking binding action to terminate the city clerk without holding a public vote. The council at a later meeting took a public vote to ratify the [...]

Broadband Task Force, City of Spring Hill, still on pace with recommendation

info2018-11-28T06:56:54-06:00November 28th, 2018|

The Broadband Task Force and the City are on pace to address Internet options after an October meeting. The Broadband Task Force met Oct. 23 for an update from City staff on the timeline of the Task Force’s recommendation, which they made back in February of this year. Melanie Landis, Assistant City Administrator, gave an update as to where the City is at in the timeline. (Read more: City of Spring Hill news)

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