Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland today announced the launch of the Blueprint to Build program, an innovative new Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding round. This program provides rural Kansas communities a faster, more affordable way to construct state-of-the-art community centers. Blueprint to Build enables communities to select from three community center models that have already been designed, providing major savings and speeding up the process of building new facilities. Centers are designed for energy efficiency and are intended to be placed in walkable downtowns or near existing community spaces as a way to both reduce infrastructure costs and support the cores of Kansas towns.
Source: Press Releases – Kansas Department of Commerce

A slow but steady population loss in rural Kansas has hit Moran as hard as anybody, Mayor Jerry Wallis noted Tuesday. It wasn’t that long ago that Moran boasted three filling stations, multiple restaurants, a golf course, doctor’s office, grain elevator, two taverns and the Klein Tools plant north of town. But one by one, most of those have closed up shop. Wallis was among a crowd of about 25 residents taking part in a community conversation that centered on more than a few blunt comments about the community’s future. But while the solution to reversing the population loss is easy to diagnose — more jobs, quality (and affordable) housing and increased day care availability — turning those to reality has become a nut too tough to crack.
Source: The Iola Register

The City of Lawrence has launched a new online map tool called Citizen Connect that allows people to see locations of plans, permits, inspections, business licenses and code cases that the city has processed. The single portal replaces a handful of previous individual tools, such as maps of long-term and short-term rental licenses, building permits, planning submittals, permits and a licensed contractor lookup.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Due to rising reinvestment costs and the recently approved USD 394 bond issue, the Rose Hill City Council recently approved a memorandum of understanding between the city and school district to allow for shared playground use. Part of the USD 394 bond issue will specifically enhance the two district playgrounds, with the MOU to allow for public use during non-school hours. The district would have shared access to city playground facilities and equipment as well.
Source: www.derbyinformer.com – RSS Results in news/area_news of type article

Crawford County Zoning Administrator May Smith approached the commission on Friday with a request to approve a motion to enforce the county’s new nuisance and abatement authority granted by Senate Bill SB-384 last year.
Source: – Latest Stories

Residents would be able to make reservations for the county’s three parks – Lake Afton Park, Sedgwick County Park, and Northeast Sedgwick County Park – or sign up for recreational programs through the city’s current reservation system, according to a proposal city and county officials heard Tuesday.
Source: Wichita Eagle

With one of the goals of the City of Halstead being code enforcement and building maintenance, the city is considering experimenting with a new code enforcement plan.
Source: Harvey County Now

Harvey County put out a release stating that Kevin Frymire will begin working as its next county administrator on May 27. The commission made the hiring decision following a Wednesday special meeting. Frymire lives in Newton and has served as the executive director of Dove Estates, a nursing facility in Goddard, since 2018. Before Dove Estates, he was the CEO of Villa Maria, another long-term care facility and rehab center in Mulvane.
Source: Harvey County Now

Sedgwick County residents in the Bentley and Mount Hope area have until Thursday, May 22, to submit comments/objections to the suggested changes to floodplain mapping, according to Joanna Rohlf, floodplain mapping coordinator for the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) – Division of Water Resources. The KDA held a flood risk and insurance open house Tuesday afternoon at the Bentley City Hall to discuss updating the floodplain maps around the Bentley and Mount Hope areas in Sedgwick County.
Source: Harvey County Now

Pierre Lisk arrived in Iola a few months back in order to renovate and rent out apartments in town. He may have found a place to call home in the process. A mechanical engineer by trade, Lisk through the years had  begun looking at real estate investments — apartment complexes, in particular. Pierre Lisk has renovated the old Head Start building at the intersection of Sycamore and Broadway streets into a six-unit apartment complex. On top of the Head Start building, which is already at 100% occupancy (including one Airbnb rental), he acquired the Jones Jewelry building on the courthouse square, and the Bolling’s Meat Market building at the intersection of Madison and State streets.
Source: The Iola Register