Municipal News & Jobs

Nearly 400 cyclists will travel 550 miles across Kansas over eight days, starting Saturday.
Read more: View the Biking Across Kansas Map

The farm would generate enough energy to power more than 30,000 homes, according to the developer.
Read more: KSN-TV

Beltline Energy representative Ryan Sanders told the crowd that because of regulations the company would not use local aquifers for their main source of water. Beltline is trying to secure land and gain local government approval in Pottawatomie County for a large-scale data center that would represent a $15 billion investment for the region. One of the options for water use Beltline is exploring is the use of trucks to both truck water into the facility and take water waste out.
Read more: themercury.com

The new city rules, if approved, include a long list of requirements for the residential-design modular homes, making them comply with similar rules for homes built on-site. They would be required to have exterior finishes similar to site-built homes and they would be subject to city inspections.
Read more: AV News

For decades, Lawrence’s mayor has been elected by the five members of the Lawrence City Commission. Some community leaders are questioning whether simply allowing Lawrence residents to vote for a mayor – perhaps once every four years – might be a better way.
Read more: LJWorld

The city of Derby says it is aware of some of the social media posts about people going down really fast. They are looking at what they can do, but there’s one thing they can’t control.
Read more: KWCH

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

City commissioners will consider opposing a petition for incorporating the city of Green Valley in Pottawatomie County. On March 26, the Pott County clerk received a petition to incorporate Green Valley. On June 11, the Pottawatomie Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the petition. Manhattan city commissioners on Tuesday will vote on a resolution that labels the incorporation as inadvisable under state law. The commission will also vote on an agreement with the state of Kansas for $300,000 in grant funding to develop an operational technology master plan for improving cybersecurity.
Read more: News Radio KMAN

Concerns about the proposed Flint Hills Digital Campus dominated Wednesday’s Emporia City Commission meeting as a large crowd of residents voiced opposition to the project and the annexation of land associated with the proposed development.
Read more: www.emporiagazette.com

Emporia is a city known for several different things: gravel cycling, drinking water, and now walkability. In a list published by the website walkscore.com, Emporia was named the most walkable city in Kansas with a walk score of 45 out of 100. That score places Emporia at the top of a list of 24 cities in the Sunflower State, ahead of cities including Lawrence, Manhattan and Wichita. The website uses the distance of walking routes to popular amenities, pedestrian friendliness, population density and certain road measurements to determine a score measuring the walkability of cities across the U.S. and Canada.
Read more: www.emporiagazette.com

Heading into its second year, the Hesston Farmer’s Market looks to expand on the overwhelming success of the first year. With the first installment happening on June 3, the endeavor helps fill a hole left by the lack of a grocery store in Hesston, and this year, a study will be conducted to see if a farm-fresh market using ideas from the farmer’s market could be feasible. This study is being done by the Healthy Harvey Coalition and the United Way, with an idea if the market could be sustainable in a brick-and-mortar location both during the season and off-season.
Read more: Harvey County Now

An incident involving a Holton resident and a representative of a telecommunications company at­tempting to sell services to the resi­dent was the focus of discus­sion at a recent Holton City Com­misssion meeting. During the commission’s Tues­day, May 19 meeting — held a day later than usual due to severe storms that moved through the area the previous day — commissioners met with Holton resident Jim Rick­etts about a recent incident involv­ing a representative of Brightspeed whom Ricketts said got aggressive with him when he asked the em­ployee for a copy of a solicitor’s permit. Door-to-door salespersons visit­ing Holton are required to get a so­licitor’s permit or “peddler’s li­cense” from Holton City Hall be­fore engaging in door-to-door sales, Holton City Manager Teresa Riley said, noting that “we’ve had a lot of trouble with the Bright­speed people not getting permits and they’ve been cited quite a few times for trying to solicit without a permit.”
Read more: The Holton Recorder

A motion to put a six-month pause on data centers in Gardner died Monday night, despite support from residents and the backing of one city councilmember. The discussion comes as multiple Johnson County cities, including Gardner, have been weighing data center proposals in recent months. Earlier this spring, a data center application was withdrawn in Spring Hill. Then, a California-based company withdrew its data center application in Gardner, following community pushback. And Edgerton currently has a data center application on the table, even as De Soto also moves forward with another. Ono Monday night, the Gardner City Council discussed a measure to impose a six-month moratorium, which would’ve temporarily prevented applications for facilities where the primary use was a data center. Councilmember Kelly Johnson made a motion to approve the moratorium, but no other councilmember offered a second, and the motion died. Other councilmembers said they didn’t see any benefit from the moratorium even as residents who showed up pressed for the pause.
Read more: Johnson County Post

As a girl, Dawn Buehler loved floating the Kansas River as it passed her family’s farm. As an adult, she’s floated all the major rivers of the Ozarks. Last summer she floated and camped along rivers in Washington and Montana. She hopes to keep floating new rivers. Some of the rivers she’d most like to float are just an hour or two from her home in rural Douglas County, and include the Elk, Marais des Cygnes and Verdigris. All begin amid the grand grasslands of the Flint Hills and eventually flow through prime forests near the Kansas border. But those rivers, plus dozens of other streams in Kansas, are off-limits to Buehler because of Kansas’ restrictive river and stream access laws. “Southeast Kansas has some of the most beautiful rivers nobody will ever see,” said Buehler. “It also adds to the frustration knowing that as soon as our rivers pass into other states (Missouri and Oklahoma), they can be enjoyed.” Indeed, nearly every state has more liberal river access laws than Kansas. Some professional estimates place Kansas within the bottom 10% when it comes to river access. Those more open-minded states are becoming even more accommodating to America’s growing interest in paddling. 
Read more: KLC Journal

Deep Fission announced Tuesday a partnership with Day and Zimmermann for the construction of a nuclear reactor in Parsons. Deep Fission is a company that makes small advanced nuclear reactors and chose Parsons, Kansas, to build a test version of its new underground reactor. The site will be in the Great Plains Industrial Park.
Read more: www.koamnewsnow.com

Pittsburg’s only movie theater has permanently closed, leaving residents without a local option to watch films on the big screen as summer approaches. AMC Classic Pittsburg 8 shut its doors for the final time on Sunday, May 31, according to a statement from AMC Theatres. The closure came as a surprise to many regular customers who had no advance warning. AMC Theatres confirmed the closure in a statement to KOAM, saying the company “routinely reviews the theatres in our circuit and makes decisions based on what will strengthen the company going forward.” The sudden closure has left longtime patrons confused and disappointed. Budde said she doesn’t understand why the theater closed when it appeared to have steady business.
Read more: www.koamnewsnow.com

After hearing from the public, the Wichita City Council amended an ordinance on Tuesday to make back-in parking legal in most city spaces. Council members approved the amendment 7-0, despite staff’s recommendation to keep the current ordinance that had been in effect since 2008. The council ultimately agreed with the public, who sent dozens of emails speaking against the back-in parking rule. The only spots where backing in will still be illegal are on-street parking. This was a safety concern since many of the spots are angled, and drivers could be pulling out into traffic. Council members were also worried that some vehicles would block the sidewalk when backing in.
Read more: KSN-TV

A new dairy held its grand opening in western Kansas on Tuesday. Twin Circle Dairy, owned by Blue Sky Farms, opened its facility just south of Lewis. The $250 million facility houses about 23,000 to 24,000 head of cattle and will be able to produce roughly 19,300 gallons of milk each day. “We’re just very excited about this day, and finally everything is full, and we’re ready,” Blue Sky CEO Harry Dwit said.
Read more: KSN-TV

City leaders in Emporia are considering the addition of a specialized district that could hold future data centers. The City of Emporia announced in a social media post on Tuesday that its Planning Commission is considering a proposal to establish a new Digital Infrastructure Overlay District (DI-O). The Planning Commission will hold a special meeting and public hearings tied to this topic later this month.
Read more: KSN-TV

The City of Park City said it was a successful opening weekend, but it cautions that because of staffing shortages, there may be days when operations will be limited.
Read more: KSN-TV