info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Citizens Academy an opportunity to understand police decision-making

info2018-10-01T08:46:52-05:00October 1st, 2018|

Twice a year, local law enforcement invites members of the community to participate in the city of Topeka’s Citizens Police Academy. The group meets on Thursday nights for 14 weeks, as well as on two Saturdays, to learn about what it takes to work in law enforcement. “The officers are very passionate about educating the public,” said Meg Gammage, a volunteer in police service. Over the course of the program, participants cover such topics as recruiting and training officers, criminal investigations, the bomb disposal unit and organized crime. Each bureau of the department is highlighted, and citizens are invited to participate [...]

Shawnee County Commission to be asked to give land use plan discussion one more week

info2018-10-01T07:04:04-05:00October 1st, 2018|

The debate over a proposed comprehensive Shawnee County land use, which has lasted two years, may continue for one more week. Commission chairman Kevin Cook had suggested Sept. 10 that commissioners would act on the plan for the county’s unincorporated areas when they meet Monday. But Cook said Friday that county counselor Jim Crowl plans that day to share a series of recommendations for the commission to vote on, then ask commissioners to wait one more week before taking a final vote. The proposed 197-page 2038 Shawnee County Comprehensive Plan would guide decision-making about the physical development of the county’s unincorporated [...]

Hutch City Council to take action on builder permit fees

info2018-10-01T06:59:58-05:00October 1st, 2018|

During the 2019 budget process, the Hutchinson City Council was in consensus to raise building permit fees for next year. During Tuesday’s agenda session, the council will address the proposed 10 percent fee hike. It will be the first increase in permit fees in 10 years. Those fees go directly into the general fund. Fees for work being done with a cost of less than $500 would be $21.80. The fees would increase as project costs increase, climbing to $893 for construction totaling more than $100,000. Fees for various permits for things such as sidewalks, moving structures and demolition would also [...]

Countywide wind regulation in Reno County lacks push

info2018-10-01T06:58:54-05:00October 1st, 2018|

The Reno County Planning Commission spent more than 45 minutes recently discussing how to approach regulating commercial wind farms in the county but ended up forwarding no recommendations to the Reno County Commission. Instead, the board will wait for the commission to give it direction if it wishes to pursue the issue. The idea of countywide zoning that would apply only to commercial wind and solar was suggested a few months ago when the county commission received a preliminary look at a Comprehensive Plan that the planning board was drafting. While zoning for wind developments would be a relatively simple thing [...]

Parsons to consider lease in industrial park in exchange for needed parking lot repairs

info2018-10-01T06:55:24-05:00October 1st, 2018|

Parsons city commissioners on Monday will consider a lease agreement with a waste management company. During its regular meeting the commission likely will vote on the lease of land in Industrial Park No. 1 for Miami Industrial Supply. The company wants to set up a site where it can store empty roll-off dumpsters. Jim Zaleski, economic development director, told commissioners during a Thursday work session that he has discussed the arrangement with the Miami, Oklahoma-based company for five or six months. The company would lease space north of the north parking lot at the city’s Business Incubator Center, 1209 Corporate Drive, [...]

Economic development cooperative effort in Liberal/Seward County set to begin Jan. 1

info2018-10-01T06:50:48-05:00October 1st, 2018|

Discussions of creating a joint economic development corporation for Liberal and Seward County are continuing. The matter was discussed at the Sept. 13 meeting of several local boards, and some of the at large membership positions of the Liberal Seward County Development Corporation (LSCDC) could be filled at Monday’s county commission meeting. At the Sept. 13 meeting, Liberal City Manager Calvin Burke talked about who would head up the corporation, namely having a permanent person being the director. “I don’t want to hire someone in a temporary position to do that,” he said. “That’s not fair to the employees. I would encourage everybody. [...]

Garden City seeking volunteers for CIP committee

info2018-10-01T06:47:27-05:00October 1st, 2018|

The City of Garden City is seeking about 40 volunteers to serve on the Capital Improvement Planning committee, which will provide community input on how the city should prioritize CIP requests and review the order and year in which each project will be completed. The committee will meet seven times between November and February. The 2019 CIP projects include a $2.43 million project to improve a stretch of Farmland Road, the construction of a new $750,000 irrigation system in Valley View Cemetery and a $2.7 million project to reconstruct a segment of Eighth Street. Residents also can suggest CIP projects by [...]

Mission latest JoCo city to propose protecting LGBTQ, other marginalized groups

info2018-10-01T06:46:17-05:00October 1st, 2018|

The city of Mission in Johnson County is preparing to debate new protections for the LGBTQ community, joining Prairie Village in that initiative. In fact, the Mission City Council is expected to discuss a proposed non-discrimination ordinance at a committee meeting on Oct. 3, ahead of the Prairie Village council’s scheduled debate Oct. 15. The Mission proposal was introduced by Councilwoman Sollie Flora. In a memo to her council colleagues, Flora said she wants to ensure uniform legal protections within the city prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual [...]

Downtown study shows most new residents expected to come from Wichita

info2018-10-01T06:43:12-05:00October 1st, 2018|

A residential market analyst this week said downtown Wichita could support up to 2,220 new rental and for-sale living units in the next five years. The WBJ wrote about Laurie Volk's findings on Thursday, but one of the questions often asked is where new downtown residents might come from. According to Volk's findings — she studied the downtown Wichita market over the summer in the interest of updating her market analysis from 2014 — most of the people likely to move downtown in the coming half-decade (67 percent) are already in Wichita. So what else did Volk find? For one, she [...]

Labette County economic development effort planned

info2018-10-01T06:38:19-05:00October 1st, 2018|

The city of Parsons and Labette County are working toward an economic development partnership. City of Parsons Economic Development Director Jim Zaleski met with Labette County commissioners Friday to discuss countywide economic development. Zaleski told commissioners he could work on marketing buildings in the county as well as those in the city of Parsons when he speaks with site selectors and those inquiring about expansion opportunities. If Parsons has a building and other areas of the county have available buildings that could fit the need, he would share information on all locations with the industry or manufacturer. If there were no [...]

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