Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

Holcomb plant down indefinitely after fire, but Tyson promises to continue weekly pay for employees

First responders fought and a community rallied this weekend in the wake of a fire that for hours burned through Finney County’s largest employer, Tyson Fresh Meats.

As the flames were fought and extinguished in the dead of night and following morning, the governor took notice, Tyson promised to support its employees and local nonprofits and businesses showed up with supplies and support.

The Finney County Communication Center received a 911 call from an operations manager at 8:35 p.m. Friday reporting a fire in the west end of the Holcomb meatpacking plant, the portion of the building used for harvest, where the animals are slaughtered. Tyson later confirmed in a statement that the fire started in the box shop.

(Read more: Pratt, KS – Pratt Tribune)

Out-of-county hazardous waste no longer accepted at Pratt recycling center

It’s costing more to get rid of household hazardous waste so Pratt City Commissioners have decided to end any acceptance of out-of-county HHW.

A combination of low prices for recyclables and high costs for handling household hazardous waste has resulted in the Pratt Recycle Center to stop taking out-of-county recyclables and HHW material from individuals. The decision was made at the Pratt County Commission meeting Aug. 5.

(Read more: Pratt, KS – Pratt Tribune)

Transportation Commission proposes pilot study for electric scooter rentals; two companies requesting to bring them to Lawrence

Before any companies are allowed to bring rentable electric scooters to the streets of Lawrence, the city’s Transportation Commission wants a pilot study to be conducted.

Two companies have already requested permission to bring scooter rental businesses to Lawrence, and the Transportation Commission voted during its meeting this week to create a subcommittee to develop a pilot program to test out scooters. Transportation Commission Chair Steve Evans told the Journal-World that the safety of the electric scooters, or “e-scooters,” would be a key concern for the subcommittee when recommending rules for the pilot study.

“What we don’t want to do is just throw 50 e-scooters on the streets and see what happens,” Evans said. “We need to know what does this pilot study look like, who is engaged in it and what will be the rules for the pilot study.”

Lawrence Public Library installs pay phone in effort to ‘not leave people behind’

It’s not an announcement many would expect to see in 2019, but the Lawrence Public Library hopes the addition of a pay phone will help those who may need it.

On Monday, the library announced that it had installed a brand new pay phone within its walls to allow people to make calls whenever they need to. While the announcement received several “LOLs” and jokes on the library’s Facebook page, library director Brad Allen said the purpose of the phone is to fill a need that many people may not realize exists.

“Public libraries are in a place where we have to figure out how to anticipate new trends, and we also have to hang on a lot longer to trends that are fading away,” Allen said. “A lot of people who have the most barriers to access also don’t have the most modern, newest things. It’s important to not leave people behind.”

Czech Capital of Kansas keeps heritage alive

You see it and hear it, as soon as you get to town!

Czechoslovakian culture is everywhere, with polka music piped out of speakers on Wilson’s main street.

It’s the legacy of immigrants who settled here in the late 1800’s.

“I would say 80% of the people living in this town were Czech,” said Melinda Merrill, who points to old black-and-white photographs. “This is my grandfather and my two great aunts. These people and these people all lived in the house that my daughter is living in now.”

Merrill and others in Wilson are helping to preserve that history. She bought the Midland Railroad Hotel, built in 1899.

(Read more: KSN-TV)

McPherson mom likes smaller Inman schools

Toni Ollenberger, of McPherson, has been impressed with the USD-448 Inman School District since entering her daughter, Gracie, into preschool at the southern McPherson County district.

“It’s awesome,” Ollenberger said. “It was the smaller schools, the teachers and the students.”

Ollenberger was among the many parents who went to Inman’s onsite enrollment on Thursday, Aug. 1, at the Inman High School Library.

Originally, Ollenberger said she was just going to have her daughter attend preschool at Inman and then begin home-schooling her for kindergarten.

“We saw how awesome it is here,” Ollenberger said. “We decided to stay.”

(Read more: McPherson Weekly News » Feed)

Lenexa terminates TIF development agreement for Renner 87 mixed-use project in City Center

The city of Lenexa has decided to terminate a TIF development agreement with Renner Housing LLC in City Center over the company’s failure to acquire necessary financing or the property to build Renner 87 Flats at City Center.

The mixed-use project, officially titled “Project Plan 4C,” would have been located in the City Center Redevelopment TIF District. It included 250 multi-family units and about 10,000 square feet of retail on 7 acres in the northeast corner of Renner Boulevard and West 87th Street Parkway.

The city council had approved the disposition and development agreement in December 2018. The city amended the agreement in April to allow the developer more time, but the developer failed to acquire the property and financing for the project by the deadline set out in the agreement: June 28, 2019.

Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office to use drones to fight crime

Shawnee County Sheriff Brian Hill’s office announced Thursday it will begin flying drones over public roadways and pathways in areas of unincorporated Shawnee County that have seen increases in burglaries and thefts. It is important that the sheriff’s office “be proactive in trying to find these criminals,” sheriff’s Maj. Shane Hoobler said at Thursday’s meeting of the Shawnee County Commission.

Silicon Valley-based Plug and Play announces partnership with Topeka, Shawnee County

A Silicon Valley-based company with global reach has decided to put down roots in Kansas.The Greater Topeka Partnership announced Thursday in the Capitol rotunda that California-based Plug and Play — an innovation company aiming to find, invest in and advance startup companies — has entered into an agreement with Topeka to bring startups to the area. According to key players in pulling the agreement together, the deal’s impact will reach far beyond Topeka …

Proponent of Sunday liquor sales in South Hutch says he has enough signatures on petition

A South Hutchinson liquor store owner says he has enough signatures on a petition to bring Sunday liquor sales up for a vote.

Greg Dovel has been collecting signatures of South Hutchinson residents trying to drum up support for the vote.

Dovel had tried unsuccessfully to get the city council to pass a resolution allowing the sales just as he opened a new business selling alcohol and tobacco products.

(Read more: Hutch Post)

Group gets Atchison’s backing to aid victims

After several months of uncertainty following the closure of a regional domestic violence shelter last fall, the local government has found a new partner to provide aid to the victims of perhaps more than 300 domestic disturbance cases in the town each year.

Those in need of aid or shelter after experiencing abuse at the home in Northeast Kansas have gained a new partner in the last year in the form of The Alliance Against Family Violence. The Alliance, which recently re-formed after a closure in 2017, operates a single shelter supporting several rooms with five beds each at an undisclosed location in Leavenworth.

The City of Atchison governing body moved via a 5-0 vote on Monday to endorse The Alliance as the municipality’s official domestic violence shelter provider, replacing the defunct Domestic Violence Emergency Services (DoVES) facility.

(Read more: Atchison Globe Now)

New banners going up soon in the downtown Hutchinson area

Some new banners will start showing up in the downtown area soon.

Recently the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce took on the role of promotion for Downtown Hutchinson. In an effort to engage all downtown stakeholders, a Downtown Coalition was formed and meets the second Wednesday of each month.

One item that arose from those meetings was the need for new streetlight banners along Main Street.

(Read more: Hutch Post)

Tax on out-of-state internet sales coming in Kansas

Kansas businesses may not have to compete against online retailers much longer.

People in Kansas have to pay state sales tax at six and a half percent, but not all out of state internet purchases have had that charge.

“The main street retailer in Kansas being at such a competitive disadvantage and when you figure state and local rates you could have a ten percent differential, and that makes a difference,” Department of Revenue Secretary Mark Burghart.

The state will require out-of-state internet purchases to be taxed as well. Now supporters say in-state and out-of-state businesses will be on the same playing field.

“Companies are systematically soliciting customers from Kansas and to the disadvantage of in-state companies and to the state of Kansas because revenue is not being properly collected,” Burghart said.

Burghart said this could add $20 million to $40 million in state revenue. This comes after last year’s Wayfair v. South Dakota Supreme Court case allowing state taxes on internet sales.

10-year treasury yield drops under 1.6%, 30-year yield nears record low as collapse in rates accelerates

Investors again rushed for the safety of government bonds and dumped stocks on Wednesday, exacerbating the August exodus away from risk assets as traders around the world settled in for a U.S.-China trade war without an end in sight.

The flight to safety sent the yield on the 10-year Treasury note — used as a benchmark for mortgage rates and auto loans — falling to a low of 1.595%, the lowest since autumn 2016. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond bottomed around 2.12%, near its all-time low reached in 2016. Yields pared some of their declines later in the session, but held steady near multiyear lows.

New rules create uncertainty in mayor vote

Election Day may be over but the votes are still coming in at the Sedgwick County election office. That’s all because of a change in state law. And it’s creating uncertainty in a race where just 160 votes can decide who moves on to the general election.
… at the election office downtown votes continue to arrive, more than 425 mail-in ballots and counting. A state law change a couple years ago means the elections office has to accept mail-in ballots until Friday, as long as the postmark is no later than Election Day.

The question is, will one candidate manage to dominate the mail-in vote enough to move the final percentages?

(Read more: KAKE – News)

KDOT program to replace and rehabilitate deficient bridges on local road system

KDOT Secretary Julie Lorenz announced the program Wednesday at an event in Butler County joined by leaders from the Kansas Association of Counties, the Kansas County Highway Association and the Kansas Contractors Association.

The Kansas Local Bridge Improvement Program is a $5 million state-funded program that helps cities and counties by providing up to $150,000 toward the replacement or rehabilitation of a bridge on the local roadway system. To qualify, bridges must be rated as deficient, have a daily vehicle count of less than 100 and be 20 to 50 feet in length. Cities and counties can garner an additional $50,000 by closing a deficient bridge. Local jurisdictions that are awarded funds must provide a 10 percent match.

(Read more: The Salina Post)

JoCo cities looking at caveats on tax incentives for big box retailers who make ‘dark store theory’ appeals

Should cities continue to give generous tax incentives to big retailers even if it means those businesses will eventually challenge their property valuations, demand several years of tax refunds and leave homeowners and school districts holding the bag?

Some Johnson County cities are beginning to say no. As the news has begun to sink in that yet another corporate discounter – Walmart – recently won an appeal of its property values, a few cities are already looking at ways they can protect themselves. And the idea of the day seems to be tax incentive agreements that can rake back some of the money if retailers get their way in a tax appeal.

Gardner and Lenexa may be the first Johnson County cities to try such a thing, and Shawnee is considering it. Gardner had an agreement written into its Main Street Market Place development for a Price Chopper grocery store. Lenexa’s is for the City Center Hotel development for a Hyatt.

(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post)

Lenexa updates code to allow golf carts on some public residential streets

After Lenexa residents posed questions on proper usage of golf carts on residential streets, the city council updated city regulations to make them more easily understood and enforceable.

Before the city updated the code, golf carts were generally not allowed to operate on city streets.

City staff reported receiving numerous questions from residents regarding the use of golf carts on public streets.

(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post)

Garden City celebrates National Night Out with local first responders

Kids surfed down inflatable slides and slurped on snow cones as the heat beat down on Garden City Monday afternoon, taking advantage of a “night out” with their families, neighbors and, notably, local first responders. Dozens of residents took to the streets, driveways and front yards Monday for National Night Out, the local celebration of a national event aimed at building community relationships with law enforcement and reducing crime across the country.

Revised bridge program could be boon for county

Marion County might benefit from the reinstatement of a state program designed to reduce the number of deficient bridges on local roads.
County engineer Brice Goebel told commissioners Monday that the Kansas Local Bridge Improvement program will pay $140,000 per location to build local bridges.
“It does not have to meet federal guidelines,” Goebel said.

(Read more: Marion County RECORD)