Municipal News & Jobs

Century II lost money 22 of the last 27 years, and that didn’t have to be the case, the city’s records show. Money from Wichita’s transient guest tax — a 6% tax levied on hotel rooms — is supposed to make up for operating deficits at Century II. The video player is currently playing an ad. You can skip the ad in 5 sec with a mouse or keyboard Instead, some of it first has been going to Visit Wichita, the city’s convention and visitors bureau, which has criticized Century II and has funded studies aimed at expanding the city’s convention center offerings.
Read more: Wichita Eagle

Inside the private room of a Country Club Plaza steakhouse, top officials from the England national team contemplated their World Cup future. Or, more specifically, their future home. Still several months shy of the FIFA tournament’s draw, they’d made a half-dozen stops in Kansas City, touring practice facilities, hotel venues, even off-day entertainment.
Read more: Wichita Eagle

Herington’s City Manager will become the new City of Ottawa City Manager. The city commission, in a unanimous vote Wednesday, selected Thatcher Moddie from an initial group of 40 candidates to replace Brian Silcott. He will start working for the city next month. “I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve the community as city manager,” Moddie said. “I appreciate the city commission and staff for trusting in me to help lead this organization. My family and I are excited to call Ottawa home. I look forward to engaging with citizens and working with staff and the governing body to move Ottawa forward.” The city manager position operates as the chief executive officer, works directly with the city commission and is responsible for Ottawa’s government operations and activities.
Read more: The Ottawa Herald

City Commissioners were impressed with the low-income housing options at the February 7th Commission Retreat in Lawrence. Mayor Mason Ruder, Vice Mayor Alaina Cunningham and fellow Commissioners Shaun Musil and David Vilaysing all used their personal time last week to comment on the retreat’s focus and speakers.
Read more: Hays Daily News

A Kansas House committee offered bipartisan support for legislation authorizing a protest-petition option for taxpayers eager to block city or county property tax increases that pushed revenue more than 3% above the previous year’s total. A key amendment approved Monday by the House Taxation Committee deleted from House Bill 2745 provisions for relying on special public votes — an idea sharply opposed by cities — to resolve objections to property tax growth above the threshold. In the bill sent to the full House, the election option was replaced by a protest-petition process for contesting property tax revenue growth over the artificial cap. The bill would require petition signatures from 10% of those voting in the previous presidential election to prevent local property tax revenue growth from exceeding 3%, excluding revenue collections tied to new construction or building improvements.
Read more: The Iola Register

It’s time to bite the bullet and address the city’s outdated water and wastewater plants, Chanute City Manager Todd Newman told Chanute Commissioners last week.  “We have no choice. We’re lucky they’re still standing,” The Chanute Tribune reported Newman saying.  The projects have been delayed since 2010, Newman told commissioners. By now the wastewater plant no longer meets regulatory requirements. Estimated costs are $26 million for water plant improvements and $36 million for wastewater upgrades, The Tribune reported.
Read more: The Iola Register

A Kansas property owner wants to impose a restriction across the entire state because of one city’s rules. Stan Weber, CEO and president of Tower Properties, was one of several housing industry professionals who pushed for twin pieces of legislation Feb. 5 during back-to-back hearings, which centered on whether landlords should be required to accept federal rental assistance payments. House Bill 2504 and Senate Bill 391 seek to overturn a city of Lawrence ordinance that outlawed the practice of turning away renters solely based on their source of income, which allows people participating in federal rental assistance programs to be equally considered for housing.
Read more: Butler County Times-Gazette

Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland today announced the launch of two new grant opportunities through the Kansas Community Empowerment (KCE) program. KCE, which is housed within the Quality Places Division at the Department of Commerce, supports locally driven projects that strengthen quality of place, volunteer engagement and long-term community vibrancy across Kansas. Applications for the KCE Kickstart Grant and Impact Grant are now being accepted. For the first round of funding, the Kickstart Grant will have $40,000 available and the Impact Grant will have $30,000. “While we bring opportunities and prosperity to all parts of our state, these new grants will specifically target rural and smaller communities across Kansas,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “Whether it’s helping a small volunteer-led initiative or funding a transformational placemaking project — these grants are designed to meet the needs of the communities while building their pride, momentum and lasting impact.” The Kickstart Grant is designed to provide funding for smaller, community-driven projects that build capacity, engagement and momentum.
Read more: Press Releases Archives – Kansas Department of Commerce

By many measures, one could argue the Kelly-Toland years have been the biggest economic boon the state has ever seen. Pick any measure…$30 billion of private sector investment (most per capita in nation), almost 80,000 new or retained jobs that pay 7.7% more than the average private sector wage in Kansas, highest ever Kansas exports, four consecutive Golden Shovel awards, a recent $3 billion budget surplus, or the coup de grace…securing the biggest economic win in state history, luring the Chiefs from Missouri. Just don’t pick population growth. At least on its face.
Read more: www.ctnewsonline.com

The city of Shawnee will increase its transient guest tax ahead of the World Cup and the expected boost in tourism this summer. Shawnee’s increase takes effect on April 1, raising the city’s transient guest tax from 8% to 9%. The tax applies to hotel rooms and short-term rentals. “So on an annual basis, the transient guest tax develops about $950,000 for the city in total. We expect this additional 1% over the course of a full year to bring in an additional $100,000 for the City of Shawnee,” said Doug Donahoo, the Communications Director for the city of Shawnee. Shawnee uses its guest tax for tourism and economic development purposes.
Read more: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

Southwest Kansas might take a big step toward water conservation in ways previously thought to be impossible. Groundwater Management District 3, headquartered in Garden City, is looking for feedback from local farmers on its plan to use less water for crop irrigation in the region. A discussion on proposed water cuts recently attracted farmers from counties across the southwest part of the state, who filled a small community building. Trevor Ahring, civil engineer for the district, told the sea of Kansas State University baseball caps and flannel shirts the details of the plan – all with the objective of easing the strain on the Ogallala Aquifer, which stretches from South Dakota to Texas. “Our goals are to stabilize the aquifer over the course of 20 years; that’s a 27.7% reduction in use in this area,” Ahring said.
Read more: Garden City Telegram

Near Ashland, along the state line south of Dodge City, flames and heavy smoke pushed closer to town. For one small business owner, it meant abandoning her dream home and storefront. Just after 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Tammy Lawrence took a video of the smoky sky and texted her husband, “Do we need to start packing?” At first, they decided to stay put, but then Ashland Hospital began evacuating patients, the school cleared out, and the fire jumped Highway 283. Soon after, Highway 160 and the main road out of Ashland were shut down.
Read more: KSN-TV

Fire crews in Garden City will be working through Tuesday night to contain a wildfire in northeastern Finney County. The Garden City Fire Department said the fire stretches roughly 11 miles long and 1½ wide in some spots. The fire is currently at zero percent containment and has destroyed one shed. “No commercial structures. It’s sort of in a rural populated area of our county, so houses are pretty spaced out, so I think that’s what aided in not being able to lose any structures today,” Chris Talmadge, Windland Operations for the GCFD, said. Firefighting aircraft were grounded on Tuesday due to extreme winds. Talmadge said he hopes they will be able to use them on Wednesday to get to hard-to-reach areas.
Read more: KSN-TV

Liberal secured its third straight victory against Olney, England, on Tuesday in the 77th Annual International Pancake Day Race. Hannah McCarter crossed the finish line with an impressive time of 1:03.75, beating Olney’s top runner time by two minutes. Since the tradition began in the 1950’s, Liberal has won 43 times, Olney has won 31 times and three times there was no contest.
Read more: KSN-TV

A popular firefighting tool among Kansas firefighters can be found on their smartphones. The Barton County Fire District 2 chief said his team relies on the Active 911 app, especially during extreme wildfire weather. Chief Jerry Strickler said it provides accurate information straight to firefighters’ phones, connecting information from dispatch to deploying first responders and those already in the field. “This app can tell us where the fire’s at, exact location, hydrant locations within the city, mile markers,” he said. “Just about anything you would need to get to the scene.”
Read more: KSN-TV

Seward County is operating an evacuation center at the county’s activity center in Liberal for people fleeing fires in the area. Lynda Johnson, the center’s director, said the space had to be rapidly cleaned up and prepared to receive evacuees Tuesday after the city held its annual Pancake Run that morning. When Johnson spoke with KSN just before 5 p.m., the shelter was empty. But calls had started to come in from those wanting to know where to go or if there was shelter space for their animals. Capt. Jeff Wade with the Liberal Police Department said people were complying with the evacuations in the area. He urged curious residents not to go out and try to see what’s happening for the sake of their own health and safety.
Read more: KSN-TV

Three people were hospitalized after a house fire Tuesday in Holcomb, according to the Garden City Fire Department. It happened on Redford Drive around 7:15 a.m. Holcomb is just a few miles west of Garden City. Garden City firefighters, along with the Holcomb Fire Department, arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the home. Crews found two people who had escaped with minor injuries. Another person was heard yelling from inside the home and was rescued by firefighters.
Read more: KSN-TV

City officials are considering changing the zoning code to provide more flexibility on developing multi-family residential projects. The Topeka City Council voted to approve the ordinance introduced by City Manager Robert Perez on Feb. 17. It will provide greater flexibility for the development of duplex and multi-family housing in commercial, downtown and mixed-use zoning districts in Topeka. Current zoning code allows for residential units above ground level floors and in basements, but housing on the ground level is restricted based on special use requirements. These requirements include being located near non-residential zones and being located in a building meant for housing.
Read more: KSNT 27 News

Haven’s recreation department board no longer exists. During the Haven City Council’s special meeting on Feb. 17, City Council Member Nicole Sander introduced a discussion item regarding the city’s recreation department board. She said that, in her research, she had not found a formal ordinance authorizing the creation of the board. Scrutiny towards the rec board from city council was spurred by what City Council Member Corey Brock described as Haven residents’ discontent with the rec’s customer service and a general lack of communication between the rec board and city council. This led to discussion about potentially disbanding the board and reforming it via ordinance to be directly under the city.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

Residents in a small, southwest Kansas town were ordered to evacuate Tuesday afternoon as a large fire from Oklahoma closed in on the town, officials said. The western half of Kansas is under a red flag warning for fire danger because of the high winds. Officials closed I-70 in both directions between Colby and Wakeeny “due to vehicle crashes blocking the roadway and reduced visibility from blowing dust,” a Kansas Department of Transportation news release said.
Read more: Wichita Eagle