News – Page 82 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Hesston moving forward with new strategic plan

info2024-11-20T09:50:26-06:00November 20th, 2024|

With expiration of the former strategic plan, the City of Hesston needed a new plan put into place. When the council adopted the new strategic plan, it was the culmination of a lot of work and discussion to map out a path for getting to the established goals. “The planning process has been ongoing for the last eight months,” City Administrator Gary Emry said. “A few work sessions were facilitated by a consulting firm. We felt it was important to use the same consulting firm used in creating the expiring plan, because of his familiarity of Hesston and the organization. The [...]

Beneficient gives update on Hesston grocery store

info2024-11-20T09:47:39-06:00November 20th, 2024|

Beneficient Heartland Foundation Director Brad Heppner hopes to see a ground breaking for a new credit union building in May, opening up space for a long-discussed grocery store in Hesston. Heppner provided an update this week to Harvey County Now on plans for a project that will alter Hesston’s core business district. “We’re working really hard,” Heppner said about the grocery store project. “In the last two years, we’ve undertaken 17 different agreements to make this a reality.” Source: Harvey County Now

House numbers required in Goessel

info2024-11-20T09:43:42-06:00November 20th, 2024|

At the City Council meeting on Oct. 21, the city council passed Ordinance #312 requiring houses to display numbers identifying the address. The city will begin enforcement after Jan. 1, 2025. Failure to comply with the ordinance could result in a $25 fine per day out of compliance with each day constituting a new violation. The city has a limited number of house numbers to give out that will be given on a first-come first-serve basis. Source: Hillsboro Free Press

Siding with resident, Kansas Court of Appeals sends Westwood park case back to lower court

info2024-11-20T09:42:38-06:00November 20th, 2024|

A Johnson County judge’s decision in a case regarding the sale of Joe D. Dennis Park in Westwood has been reversed. On Friday, the Kansas Court of Appeals ruled that a Westwood resident suing her city over the sale of the city’s main park should have a chance to argue her case. Back in February, resident Beckie Brown filed a motion to intervene in the proceedings after she and others voiced opposition to a Karbank Real Estate Services plan that calls for an office-retail development to be built on top of Joe D. Dennis Park. Later that month, Johnson County District [...]

Overland Park City Hall was built in 1960s. Will city move to newer, bigger space?

info2024-11-20T09:39:33-06:00November 20th, 2024|

Overland Park is mulling options for a new, larger city hall that would be more centrally located and potentially put more city departments under the same roof. During an Overland Park City Council Committee of the Whole meeting Monday evening, councilmembers and city staff shared broad consensus that something new is required. However, no specific action has been taken, and exactly what it might look like remains unclear. Based on a 48-page planning study completed by PGAV Architects, the prevailing recommendation from city staff that the city council supports at this stage is to acquire an existing building somewhere in the [...]

De Soto considers incentive request to add more housing north of Panasonic plant

info2024-11-20T09:38:36-06:00November 20th, 2024|

More developers are hoping to tap into tax incentives to build housing in De Soto near the Panasonic EV-battery plant. Rick Oddo, CEO of Lenexa-based Oddo Development Co., and Dan Taylor, president of Taylor Sterling Construction Co., have submitted an application to create a reinvestment housing incentive district (RHID) covering about 67 acres north of 89th Street and south of 83rd Street between Kill Creek Road and Waverly Road. The proposed development would abut the existing Arbor Ridge subdivision. An RHID allows a city to redirect property tax gains generated by a development to pay for eligible construction and infrastructure expenses. [...]

What Johnson County is doing about housing after homeless shelter defeat

info2024-11-20T09:37:33-06:00November 20th, 2024|

Johnson County has until the end of the year to spend $6 million of federal COVID relief funds that were originally bookmarked for a Lenexa homeless shelter. Johnson County Commission chair Mike Kelly wants that money to still go towards housing solutions. When the Lenexa City Council voted against approving a permit for a new low-barrier homeless shelter in September, Johnson County Commission chair Mike Kelly feared it meant a major need would go unmet. "That's where we have our biggest gap," Kelly told KCUR's Up To Date. "An opportunity to help unhoused adults not only receive safety and shelter, but [...]

Decision on paid parking in downtown Wichita delayed again. Here’s why, what’s next

info2024-11-20T09:36:18-06:00November 20th, 2024|

Attempts to charge for public parking in downtown Wichita have stalled again. After four hours of discussion Tuesday night, the Wichita City Council deferred voting on a parking option until Dec. 10. Council members were in support of two different options: one that would implement paid parking uniformly across downtown, Old Town, and Delano, with up to 15 minutes of free parking. The other option would have implement paid parking downtown and likely created a new tax in the Old Town area to pay for parking. Delano was exempt from that plan until construction is completed on the multimodal center, which [...]

Wife of Sedgwick County commissioner-elect charged with electioneering

info2024-11-20T09:34:20-06:00November 20th, 2024|

Meghan Blubaugh, wife of Sedgwick County commissioner-elect Jeff Blubaugh, has been charged with electioneering, a misdemeanor crime in Kansas. The charge stems from an Oct. 29 incident in which Meghan Blubaugh wore a T-shirt supporting her husband’s campaign while she was at an early voting location in west Wichita. Kansas statute prohibits voters at polling sites from wearing any article of clothing that clearly identifies a candidate. Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

USD 259 starts talk Monday about cell phone ban for students in schools

info2024-11-20T09:33:19-06:00November 20th, 2024|

No decision has been made on banning cell phone use in Wichita Public Schools, but school board leaders workshopped the idea on Monday. “We compared our current policy, which restricts cell phones during instructional time, versus the possibility of whether or not we need to do more,” said USD 259 Board President Stan Reeser. “There was a state task force on cell phones which dove into a little more than what our policy deals with.” Reeser is talking about a Blue Ribbon Task Force from the Kansas Department of Education. That task force made some basic recommendations in a report on [...]