Ranson Financial, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Shawnee taps Overland Park staffer as 2nd assistant city manager

Another assistant city manager is headed to the city of Shawnee. City Manager Doug Gerber announced last week that the city had hired Chelsee Chism as a second assistant city manager…. Chism has more than 10 years of experience from the city of Overland Park, including five years in the city manager’s office there, according to a Shawnee city press release.
In Overland Park, she served as the city manager’s office’s liaison to the public works department and supervised the city’s facilities and sustainability divisions. … Colin Duffy, Shawnee’s current assistant city manager, is staying in his role, meaning Shawnee will have two assistant city managers once Chism comes on board.
Source: Prairie Village Post

Ranson Financial2023-08-29T08:55:09-05:00August 28, 2023|News|

Prairie Village to address pickleball noise at Windsor Park

The national furor over pickleball noise has made its way to Prairie Village. The city recently installed six pickleball courts at Windsor Park, 7200 Windsor St., and after receiving some complaints from neighbors about the incessant thwack-thwack noise coming from the courts, the city says it is looking at ways to address it. At the same time that the recreational sport has exploded in popularity in recent years, pickleball noise has also become the subject of numerous lawsuits across the U.S., including an apparently now-settled one involving pickleball courts at Mission Hills Country Club.
Source: Prairie Village Post

Ranson Financial2023-08-29T08:55:47-05:00August 28, 2023|News|

Wichita officials looking to intervene in Evergy rate case

Wichita City Council members are talking about intervening in the rate increase request by Evergy. The Council has unanimously approved a resolution stating opposition to the rate increase. The Kansas Corporation Commission has scheduled a hearing in October, and council members are talking about providing testimony during that hearing. Council member Bryan Frye said the resolution would be only one step in the process and he hopes the council will agree to intervene in the case.
Source: 101.3 KFDI

Ranson Financial2023-08-29T08:56:01-05:00August 28, 2023|News|

Mulvane tabs St. John as new city admin

Following a six-month hiring process, the Mulvane City Council announced its new city administrator at its Aug. 21 meeting, with Austin St. John selected to take over for Kent Hixson. According to The Mulvane News, St. John is slated to start on Oct. 7 after Hixson’s official retirement. St. John has served as the city administrator in Marysville for the past seven years, previously filling the same role in Chapman from 2014-2016.
Source: Derby Informer | Area

Ranson Financial2023-08-29T08:57:58-05:00August 28, 2023|News|

Haysville to vote on sales tax continuation

At its Aug. 14 meeting, according to The Times Sentinel, the Haysville City Council voted to place the renewal of the city’s 1% sales tax on the ballot for the Nov. 7 general election. Per council action, the sales tax renewal will appear as a special question on general election ballots asking if voters would like to extend the tax, which would go into effect July 1, 2024. Haysville’s current sales tax will sunset on June 30, 2024. Sales tax funds in Haysville are used for local street projects as well as park and recreation improvements, which the 10-year renewal would continue to address if approved.
Source: Derby Informer | Area

Ranson Financial2023-08-29T08:58:19-05:00August 28, 2023|News|

City of Emporia lifts water conservation request following weeklong heatwave and high level water usage

After three days, the City of Emporia has lifted its voluntary water conservation request. The request, in place since Wednesday morning, came at a time when the city was seeing record water usage that nearly drained the Industrial Park water tower near Warren Way and significantly lowered the capacity at the East 12th tower. Emporia City Manager Trey Cocking says the city’s water treatment pumps couldn’t keep up with demand Tuesday and Wednesday leading to the conservation request.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio

Ranson Financial2023-08-28T22:01:53-05:00August 28, 2023|News|

A sports park’s financial woes highlight a risky corner of the municipal-bond market.

Legacy Park in Mesa, Ariz., spread over 320 acres, filed for bankruptcy in May, 15 months after it opened and three years after a local government entity agreed to issue muni bonds to pay for the park’s construction. The bonds recently traded at roughly 10 cents on the dollar, and the park is looking for a buyer. The local entity that issued the bonds is known as a conduit issuer and, unlike a city or town that issues muni bonds, bears no responsibility for repaying the debt. The park’s financial troubles have raised questions about whether the conduit setup, in addition to often being complicated and risky for investors, is vulnerable to abuse.
Source: WSJ.com: Markets

Ranson Financial2023-08-28T12:10:39-05:00August 28, 2023|News|

Taking Sidewalks Seriously

It’s been 50 years since the sociologist Mark Granovetter published his landmark study celebrating “weak ties” — the casual everyday relationships that add to the stronger connections with family and close friends and make a critical contribution to human well-being in any town or city. Weak ties are the informal contacts we make at the grocery store, at the pharmacy, at the bank, in church and in a whole array of other places we frequent. They bring order and opportunity to our lives. But the most important locus of these contacts may be one we tend to forget about: the plain old sidewalk. … Sidewalks are such an important part of urban social life that it seems a shame cities don’t do a better job of creating and maintaining them. A recent study by the urban planner Todd Litman concluded that the average city spent about 1 percent of its infrastructure budget on sidewalks, even though walking accounted for 11 percent of residents’ trips every day and pedestrian fatalities constituted 17 percent of all traffic deaths.
Source: Governing

Ranson Financial2023-08-28T12:09:03-05:00August 28, 2023|News|

KDOT will use $45 million from feds to help fix bridges across state

Kansas transportation officials want to help local governments pay for repairs to bridges. “This is really to address what I consider one of the big issues that will be coming to our state in the coming decades, and that is the backlog of bridges on the local system that will need to be addressed,” said Calvin Reed, acting secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation. … Through a new federal program in the bipartisan infrastructure law, Kansas has been allocated $45 million a year to address bridges. State officials decided the best way to spend the money is on local bridges. But local officials won’t actually get the federal money, Reed said. Instead, KDOT is doing an internal funds swap, with the state agency using the federal money on state-owned bridges while displacing an equal amount of state funds to go to the local bridge improvement program.
Source: Salina Journal

Ranson Financial2023-08-28T12:05:48-05:00August 28, 2023|News|

USDA Announces More Than $49 Million to Strengthen Rural Kansas Water Infrastructure

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Kansas State Director Christy Davis today announced that USDA is investing $49.1 million to help rural utilities build and improve clean drinking water and sanitary wastewater systems in rural Kansas. … The details of the Kansas projects are:

A $6,400,000 loan will help complete rehabilitation work on the water and wastewater systems in Perry. The project will rehabilitate approximately 24,000 linear feet of the collection system, upgrade approximately 15,000 feet of lines and other equipment, repair lift stations, and install backup generators. It will help provide the city with safe and reliable water and sewer systems for years to come.
A $2,225,000 loan will help rehabilitate 39,000 feet of the sewer collection system in Mankato. It will correct existing deficiencies and help provide a safe and reliable sewer system.
A $7,843,000 loan and a $3,015,000 grant will help build Phase 2 of this water project for Neosho County Rural Water District #4. This phase includes construction of a booster pump station and a 400,000-gallon elevated storage tank, installation of 39 miles of lines, and replacement of 78 miles of lines. It will help provide customers with adequate water pressure for years to come.
A $13,300,000 loan and a $3,393,000 grant will help refurbish the water system in the City of Girard. Improvements will help replace 42 miles of mains; install new valves, meters, and hydrants; and construct a new water softening treatment plant. This project will allow the city to provide safe and reliable water to its residents and the surrounding community for years to come.
A $9,494,000 loan and a $3,493,500 grant will help replace distribution piping, valves, hydrants and meters for the City of Humboldt. Improvements will also be made to the supply intake system and repainting three water storage towers. Previously the city received funding from USDA in the form of a Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households grant in the amount of $27,500, which was used complete the pre-development planning.

Ranson Financial2023-08-28T12:04:29-05:00August 28, 2023|News|

About Ranson Financial

Shawnee taps Overland Park staffer as 2nd assistant city manager

Prairie Village to address pickleball noise at Windsor Park

Wichita officials looking to intervene in Evergy rate case

Mulvane tabs St. John as new city admin

Haysville to vote on sales tax continuation

City of Emporia lifts water conservation request following weeklong heatwave and high level water usage

A sports park’s financial woes highlight a risky corner of the municipal-bond market.

Taking Sidewalks Seriously

KDOT will use $45 million from feds to help fix bridges across state

USDA Announces More Than $49 Million to Strengthen Rural Kansas Water Infrastructure

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