Members of the public showed up for the Andover City Council meeting on Tuesday night to voice opinions both against and in favor of a new facility that is set to open near Central and Andover Road on Thursday. The council is being asked to vote on a special use permit for LifeSpring Recovery, an addiction treatment center. Renovations for the project are complete, but owners need a new special use permit because the original contract for the property expired. But, Andover residents are voicing concerns that the facility is too close to schools and neighborhoods. Read more: KSN-TV

The City of Clearwater is hosting a town hall meeting on July 21 to discuss the future of fire protection in the city after the Sedgwick County Commission voted to terminate mutual aid agreements. In May, the Sedgwick County Commission voted to terminate mutual aid agreements with Clearwater, Cheney, Mount Hope and Valley Center. The July 21 meeting will allow residents to learn about the current status of fire protection, hear about available options moving forward and provide feedback to the city. At the Segwick County Commission meeting in May, commissioners gave the communities 90 days to work with them to [...]

The El Dorado City Commission voted on Monday to invalidate an ordinance petition that would have stopped certain types of facilities from being built in the city, but commissioners also voted to put a temporary ban on the approval of these types of projects. Commissioners heard concerns from the city attorney about a petition with over 700 citizen signatures asking the city to approve an ordinance that bans the construction of large data centers and industrial, commercial or utility-scale energy storage systems. The petition says that if an ordinance is not passed, the city should put it up for a public [...]

The Salina City Commission has unanimously approved the creation of a water rate relief program. On Monday, commissioners adopted Resolution No. 26‑8362, authorizing the city manager to develop, implement and administer a pilot program for customers affected by water quality issues. “In the state of Kansas, we talked to KDHE — [the] Kansas Department of Health and Environment — and there are no other communities that are doing a program like this in Kansas,” City Manager Jacob Wood said. Read more: KSN-TV

Remediation steps to put out a smoldering fire at the Galena Landfill were successful, and the landfill operator will continue work to meet other state requirements, a health agency spokeswoman said Tuesday. The fire that has been alight at the landfill for weeks to months was still smoldering during a June 24 inspection, said Jill Bronaugh, Kansas Department of Health and Environment spokeswoman, in an email. But excavation work completed since then by landfill operator Jordan Disposal indicate the fire is out, she said. HOWEVER, Jordan wasn’t able to complete the required foot of soil cover over the area that KDHE [...]

City commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a two-year moratorium on large-scale data centers in Lawrence, extending an original one-year proposal, while city staff study longer-term code changes. The commission also initiated a text amendment to the city’s land development code related to data centers. The code currently would allow massive data centers to be developed in several zoning areas around town by right, without a public process through which residents could object. Planning and Development Services Director Jeff Crick told commissioners the temporary moratorium is intended to give staff time to study the issue and draft regulations. He said the work [...]

Wichita-area cities have moved to regulate duplex construction after community pushback over neighborhood density and design. Goddard just adopted new rules, and Derby approved its own in May. Maize might consider changes. Read more: Wichita Eagle

A letter written by Marysville Mayor Todd Frye, asking Marshall County to join Marysville in enacting a moratorium on data centers in the county and in the city was approved Monday night by the Marysville City Council. Concerns Frye outlined in his letter include loss of farmland, skyrocketing power bills, water depletion, increased noise, decrease in property values and changes in local economies. Read more: www.marysvilleonline.net

During 2010-2024, local governments issued about $18.3 billion in industrial revenue bonds and exempted about $1.1 billion in related property taxes, most of which likely would’ve gone to school districts and local governments in the state. Local governments are required to submit a cost-benefit analysis that estimates forgone property tax revenue when applying for an IRBX, but those estimates differed substantially from the actual forgone revenue for 23 projects we reviewed. Read more: Legislative Division of Post Audit

City staff began developing a possible framework to provide relief for those who have "verified water quality impacts" associated with the city's water system. Of the about 22,000 water customer accounts, the city said based on complaint history and staff's understanding of the water infrastructure, fewer than 100 accounts may be eligible for such relief. Read more: Salina Journal