Lawrence City Commissioner Amber Sellers, for at least the last two commission meetings, has not been physically present for general public comment. … Sellers said that she would listen to public comment from an alternative location.
Source: LJWorld
A fundraiser has been set up to help the family of a 20-year-old Wellington lineman who died Wednesday in a workplace accident. Wilson Price started with the city’s electric distribution department as an apprentice linemen in January 2024. He quickly became a valued team member, according to a news release sent out by the city on Friday. “His coworkers admired his incredible attitude and the joy he brought to every job site, a testament to his positive impact on the department,” the release says. City manager Jeff Porter said that Price “came to work every day with enthusiasm, curiosity, and pride; the immeasurable grief of his loss is shared by his family, friends, and colleagues.” Price died instantly after coming in contact with an energized piece of equipment at the city’s power plant substation, the GoFundMe says. He was part of a crew doing maintenance on wildlife guarding equipment when the accident happened around 9:20 a.m. Wednesday. “Wilson was loved and cherished by many, and he was called home what feels like far too soon,” the GoFundMe says. “He was an incredible, son, brother and friend to everyone. There will forever be a hole in all our hearts, as it was a privilege to know, love, and be loved by Wilson.” The fundraiser can be found at shorturl.at/RaIG7.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Wichita city staff is looking at options after a plan to charge for public parking at all 6,800 spots downtown sparked outrage from residents and business owners. The City Council isn’t expected to take any binding action when it meets Tuesday. And formal staff recommendations will be presented in 30 to 60 days. But a staff report for Tuesday’s meeting teases several potential changes aimed at making the plan more palatable to downtown commuters. Installation of meters with one hour of free parking and $.75/hour for remaining time (the original plan states that all meter rates should be between $.75 and $2 per hour), Discounted daily rates for downtown employees, Sponsorships of on street parking spaces (likely by businesses), Availability of discounted parking passes (daily, monthly), Continuation of existing parking agreements, with rate adjustments to meet operating and maintenance needs (this could preserve free parking in Old Town, where businesses pay an annual maintenance fee for upkeep on their storefront parking stalls) Funding of ongoing maintenance and operating costs by users (pay to park) and capital improvement projects through property tax revenue.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Benedikt Middleton wants to change how people view community involvement. “I think there is this idea that to be a member of the city council, you have to be of a certain position in the community,” said Middleton. “I know, growing up, that was the way I felt.” As the newly appointed Iola City Council member to Ward 4, Middleton hopes to see a change in this outlook. Being semi-retired, Middleton worked for 32 years with the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) as an engineering technician specialist. He now does remote consulting work for an engineering firm based in Arkansas. Middleton was appointed to the vacant Ward 4 seat at the July 8 council meeting. The seat had previously been held by Mark Peters who resigned in late April.
In his new role, Middleton hopes to serve as the “ears and voice” of the ward. “I think I should have ‘ears’ to listen to those in my ward, and then ‘voice’ what I hear,” he said.
Source: The Iola Register
The City of Garden Plain will be getting a federal grant to help build a new municipal pool and aquatics facility. The grant is for over $1.6 million from the National Parks Service, administered through the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. The city plans to build an aquatics center that includes a zero-entry pool with a shallow play area, lap swim lanes, a bathhouse and concession building, and features such as a diving board, basketball goal, a slide, shade structures, inflatables and a splash pad area. The total estimated cost of the facility will be $3.27 million, so the grant funds will cover about half the cost of construction. Garden Plain Mayor Kevin Hammond said in a press release that the city will move as quickly as possible through the design and construction process. The project will go out for bids and it’s expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete. The aquatics facility will be located at the north end of City Park, east of the pickleball courts. The playground equipment currently located in the project area will be moved to another area of the park. The city also plans to pave the current parking areas and possibly expand them to allow for more visitors.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Wichita mayor Lily Wu reported a slight increase in water usage over the past week, but she said usage has been mostly steady and there has been an overall drop in water usage as the city goes into its second month of outdoor watering restrictions. The city went into Stage Two of its drought response plan on August 5th, and outdoor watering is limited to one day a week. The city is divided into four quadrants and watering is only for a specific day for each quadrant, with no watering on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Mayor said the city has sent 242 warning letters so far to homes and businesses that have not followed the restrictions. She emphasized that the goal is education and the importance of working together to save water. The Cheney Reservoir is at 67.2 percent of its conservation pool for the 12-month moving average, and it is now 59.7 percent full. Mayor Wu said recent rainfall did not provide much relief. The city continues to offer a rebate program on water-saving appliances, such as rain barrels. As of August 30th, more than $50,000 was still available in the program. The city has approved rebates for 343 devices, totaling more than $24,000. More information on the rebates and on water-saving practices is available at the city’s web site savewichitawater.com.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Manhattan city commissioners on Tuesday will discuss how much oversight they want to have of change orders to construction contracts. The city currently doesn’t have standardized procedures regarding who approves change orders and how, though city officials typically have asked the commission to do it if the total project costs exceeds $50,000 or if the commission originally approved the contract. However, officials said in meeting documents that the process of getting a change order in front of the commission is time-consuming, particularly with the high volume of change orders the city receives.
Source: 1350 KMAN
Karen Rothe, the director of the Harvey County Planning, Zoning and Environment department, currently deals with nuisance properties in the rural county areas. Rothe said right now, the rules around nuisance violations aren’t clear and she would like more weight behind the notices she does send. “I’d like something that would give me a little more leverage and would be more definitive on what a nuisance is,” Rothe said. “It’s not as clear as I would like it to be.” Right now Rothe said the main things the county considers a nuisance are broken down vehicles, things in a floodplain that aren’t secure, or things that could be a fire hazard. “What we’re looking at is safety,” Rothe said. Other examples she gave were leaking gas cans or old tires that could gather water and attract mosquitoes.
Source: Harvey County Now
Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Tyrone Garner has pointed to concern over monthly bills as a reason to take a critical look at the Board of Public Utilities, saying some in the community perceive that the publicly owned asset is more of a “burden” than a “benefit.” Unlike most in the Kansas City metropolitan area, Kansas City, Kansans, get both electricity and water services through a century-old publicly owned utility founded in 1909. The BPU, a nonprofit governed by a six-member elected board, has shrunk its workforce, by far its largest operating cost, over the past several years. Elected BPU board members have the authority to set electric and water rates to align with the needs to run the service. The most recent rate increases, scheduled to take effect through 2025, came last year despite some resident concerns raised over the cost of utility bills and criticisms of its service.
Source: KC Star Local News
The Johnson County city goes all-out for its annual Spinach Festival at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park each year. The festival’s spinach-themed food offerings, rock-skipping contest, baby crawling contest, live music, crafts and more have attracted thousands of visitors during the event’s 40-year history. But many Lenexa residents are unaware that the celebration’s roots stretch back 90 years, to Johnson County’s great spinach boom of the 1930s. For a few years, Lenexa was known as the Spinach Capital of the World. It’s hard to imagine today, with most of its land dedicated to urban developments.
Source: KC Star Local News
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