A six-month ban on commercial solar projects in Sedgwick County expires in March. County Commissioners are looking into what needs to change before projects get the green light. The Advanced Plans Committee of the Sedgwick County Planning Department did not recommend changing much when it came to the process of getting a conditional use permit for commercial solar. However, Sedgwick County Commissioner David Dennis raised some red flags during Tuesday morning’s meeting. “Up to this point, we really haven’t given any guidance on what we think ought to go into it,” said Dennis. Currently, there are no size restrictions on solar projects. Dennis said that has to change. “I disagree that there should be no size. We need to come up with a size that’s manageable, and 640 acres is exactly one square mile, and if you put solar panels on one square mile, that’s a pretty good-sized solar project,” said Dennis. Invenergy plans to file for a conditional use permit to build solar panels that would cover 750 acres of unincorporated land in Sedgwick County between Colwich and Maize.
Source: KSN-TV

Like many smaller Kansas hospitals, Norton County Hospital is dealing with financial issues, and leaders think a countywide sales tax hike could help. It recently sent a letter to the Norton Area Chamber of Commerce asking the Chamber to support a one-cent tax hike. The letter is from Norton County Hospital CEO Kevin Faughnder, Interim CEO Kellen Jacobs, and CFO ReChelle Horinek. They say the hospital’s average operating margin in 2021, 2022, and 2023 ranged from minus 15 to minus 20%. They say the typical operating margin for many Kansas Critical Access Hospitals is minus 11%. Norton County Hospital is dealing with lower insurance reimbursement rates, higher costs of goods and services, and inflation. They say county tax support for NCH in 2021, 2022, and 2023 was 1.1 to 1.4%, while other Kansas Critical Access Hospitals averaged 6%. “According to the American Hospital Association, hospitals need a small profit margin to keep pace with life-sustaining advances in medicine, help support our workforce, and take care of our patients and community,” the letter said. “Approving our request for a one percent sales tax increase moves us closer to that goal and keeps the doors to our hospital open for business.” The letter to the Chamber points out how NCH helps the community by producing outside jobs. “For every one person we employ, we create 0.33 jobs in Norton County outside of the hospital,” the letter said. “We are also a dollar multiplier, meaning for every dollar that we pay out, more than 50% is spent in Norton County.”
Source: KSN-TV

New legislation under discussion by state lawmakers could make wine more readily available in Kansas. On Thursday, Feb. 1, Democrat Rep. Dan Osman introduced a new bill to the Committee on Federal and State Affairs, which could make sweeping changes to Kansas’ liquor laws. The legislation, House Bill 2677, authorizes the sale of wine by cereal malt beverage (CMB) retailer licensees in the Sunflower State. If passed in its current state, the bill would alter or insert language in existing state liquor laws allowing for the sale of wine containing not more than 16% alcohol by volume. Under current state law, a CMB license holder may sell or offer for sale any CMB and beer containing not more than 6% alcohol by volume, according to the Kansas Department of Revenue’s website. CMB licenses are generally handled by city or county clerks depending on where the establishment or business is found. These are issued in one of three formats: on-premise, off-premise and special event licenses. Last year, Gov. Laura Kelly signed off on legislation enacting several changes to the state’s liquor laws. These changes included the establishment of common consumption areas, allowing dogs in microbreweries, and allowing for more bars to open on Sundays.
Source: KSN-TV