Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

Municipal Bond Trends for January 19, 2024

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. 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.

When cold coal froze, wind farms helped Evergy power Kansas through winter weather

Evergy maintained “normal operating conditions for extreme weather,” despite coal freezing, thanks in part to high winds powering wind farms through the recent blustery conditions. “The bottom line is we had enough power over the last week or so and in particular through the weekend when we had the coldest weather to meet demands,” said Chuck Caisley, an Evergy executive, about the previous weekend. He added that with a midweek warming, “I think we are out of the biggest danger of not having adequate supplies.”
Source: CJonline

Law enforcement agencies across the state are encrypting their radio traffic

Law enforcement agencies across the state are encrypting their radio traffic so the public can no longer hear it, and Harvey County is doing it this week. The block on Harvey County’s law enforcement radio traffic comes after a change to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) security policy. The policy now says law enforcement agencies can’t pass sensitive information unencrypted across public networks.
Source: KSN

Girard Council discusses water leaks

With negative temperatures and water leaks, last week proved to be a wild one for City of Girard employees. At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 10, the city notified residents on Facebook that a vehicular accident involving a hydrant left residents experiencing outages or low pressure, forcing city crews to work continually through the freezing temperatures along Buffalo Street on the western side of town. In an update on Thursday morning, Jan. 11, the city said its crews continued to work on multiple leaks caused by the accident. The account noted that the city engaged a third-party contractor to assist the City Electric Department, which was also assisting. “Some members of our Public Works crew put in 18-hour days yesterday (Wednesday, Jan. 10), working until the early morning hours today (Thursday, Jan. 11), and for those showing appreciation for their efforts, thank you,” the city said in its post. “It does wonders for morale. They were delivered hot food and drinks and ate their dinners at the leak.” Several hours following the post on Thursday morning, the city notified residents of a boil order, which served as an advisory due to the massive leak causing many customers to be without water for an extended period. The advisory was rescinded just after 4 p.m. on Friday.
Source: Morning Sun

Rural school district celebrates 1,000 adult graduates

USD 112 Central Plains recently celebrated its 1,000th adult diploma completion program graduate after just three years of offering a free, online high school program for Kansan adults. “As a small, rural school district, it has been exciting to see the impact the Central Plains Diploma Completion Program has had on the adult population in Kansas,” Central Plains Superintendent Bill Lowry said. “Education has no boundaries, and we’ve been able to serve students from all four corners of Kansas and everywhere in between.” Students who complete the program graduate with a standard high school diploma from USD 112 Central Plains. To date, 250 learners have also earned an employability skills certificate, further boosting their employability. “Sixty-five percent of our graduates have gotten a better job or raise within 9 months of graduation,” Lowry said. “Over a quarter of them have continued to post-secondary education, and we’re starting to see some college graduates now as well.” The program also allows students to finish high school faster than they would in a traditional school setting — courses, which can be started any business day, take less than a month to complete.
Source: Morning Sun

County renews sheriff’s office contract with Edgerton

The Johnson County Board of County Commissioners renewed a $538,858 contract last week for Edgerton to continue receiving law enforcement services from the sheriff’s office in 2024.The issue was discussed during the board’s Thursday meeting. Brian Seidler, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office budget director, said the county has held the agreement with Edgerton since 1996 since the city does not have its own police department. According to the agreement, the sheriff’s office patrols a district that includes the Johnson County line on the west and south, West 167th Street on the north and Gardner Road/Center Street on the east.
Source: Gardner News

GB seeing more growth in tourism

Tourism is a big deal for Barton County, an excited Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Christina Hayes told the City Council Monday night. She had received the most recent Tourism Economic Impact Report from Kansas Tourism, and it contained promising information and helped solidify the importance of promoting the community to lure more visitors. “We paid for this as Barton county because Great Bend accounts for 95% of the tourism in Barton County,” she said. The report was costly enough, so by doing this, it saved the CVB about $3-4,000. Hayes said they don’t buy this report every year because it does cost so much. “But it’s interesting to see.” Kansas Tourism (which falls under the Kansas Department of Commerce) taps data from four sources for the report – the Kansas Department of Revenue; the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis; and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; and Smith Travel Research, a national measure of hotel demand and performance, and a tourism industry standard. Barton County sales and transient guest tax receipts are also included.
Source: Great Bend Tribune

City commissioners approve cemetery master plan

Manhattan city commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a master plan to implement infrastructure changes at Sunset and Sunrise cemeteries. The improvements — which will cost $6 million for Sunset Cemetery and $3 million for Sunrise Cemetery — will include a new building for equipment and a joint maintenance facility the Sunset Cemetery will share with Sunset Zoo. Sunrise Cemetery will receive a new office and maintenance shop, a remodel of the existing shop, and ongoing road maintenance and expansion as needed. The Cemetery Advisory Board voted unanimously to support the final draft master plan as presented on Nov. 9. Commissioner Karren McCulloh said she was surprised by the high price of these changes. “I do think as a commission we can accept this plan and work on it,” McCulloh said. “I think there is sticker shock. I’d like to see if we could do it a little less expensively. I’ve talked to some people in construction, and they felt that eight to nine million was pretty high.” Commissioner John Matta said he has trouble realistically picturing the fiscal impact this will have on the overall city budget. “It’s kind of hard to talk in the abstract without looking at the numbers,” Matta said. Commissioner Wynn Butler the first priority in this project should be figuring out what to do with the Sexton House. “I think we should immediately go through the process of figuring out how to unravel encumbrances on the Sexton House,” Butler said. “Because we talked about that in great detail.”
Source: themercury.com

Fed’s Raphael Bostic expects rate cuts to happen in the third quarter

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic expects policymakers to start cutting rates in the third quarter of this year, saying Thursday that inflation is well on its way back to the central bank’s goal. Bostic, a voting member this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, asserted that the goal ahead is to calibrate policy to be not so restrictive as to choke off growth while still acting as a bulwark against persistently elevated prices. However, he said a “golden path” scenario of tamping down inflation while promoting solid growth and healthy employment is getting closer than many Fed officials had expected. “Because I’m data dependent, I have incorporated the unexpected progress on inflation and economic activity into my outlook, and thus moved up my projected time to begin normalizing the federal funds rate to the third quarter of this year from the fourth quarter,” Bostic said in prepared remarks for a speech to business leaders in Atlanta. While the remarks help illuminate a timeline for rate cuts, they also serve as a reminder that Fed officials and market participants have different expectations about policy easing. Current pricing in the fed funds futures market points to the first cut coming as soon as March, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch measure. The implied probability for a quarter percentage point reduction has decreased in recent days but still stood around 57% Thursday morning. Pricing further indicates a total of six cuts this year, or one at every FOMC meeting but one from March forward. Bostic said he’s not dead set against cutting earlier than the third quarter, implying a move in July at the earliest, but said the bar will be high.
Source: Economy

Grant to improve election security

To bolster election security in Barton County, the County Commission Tuesday morning accepted a $94,096.91 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Security Grant. County Clerk Bev Schmeidler said the funding, which requires a 10% local match, will help with election equipment storage, a new trailer to haul supplies to polling locations, rolling bags to haul gear and other needs. “We had the opportunity to go out for a grant offered through the Secretary of State’s office for federal HAVA funds,” Schmeidler said. Since the money can be used for anything to improve election security, “there is quite a list of things that we asked for.” Although the commission accepted the entire $94,096.91 Tuesday, they only authorized spending just over $74,000 of that this week. First, it Ok-ed a bid from Brentwood Builders of Great Bend for $59,700 to remodel the County Clerk’s Office in the Courthouse. This includes making the early voting room more secure, adding an area for secure storage, tamperproof doors and a cabinet to charge and store electronic voting pads. Second was the larger trailer at $12,200. “Ours is at capacity,” she said of the one they use now. Lastly were the rolling security bags at $2,820.15. These are used to transfer supplies to voting sites. As for the balance of the grant, Schmeidler said she will come back before the commission to seek approval for the purchase of secure locks, a server and other electronic items needed for the effort.
Source: Great Bend Tribune

City of Claflin hosting rabies clinic

The City of Claflin is hosting a rabies clinic from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 20. The clinic will be held at the city shop, 710 Front St. in Claflin. Services will be provided by Hoisington Vet Clinic staff. As a reminder, all dogs in the city limits must have current proof of rabies vaccination and must be licensed by March 1. A $5 penalty will be assessed to dog owners after the March 1 deadline. Cost of dog tags is $5 for spayed or neutered dogs and $7.50 for dogs not fixed.
Source: Great Bend Tribune

JoCo clears $500K to help tenants pay rent, avoid eviction

A new round of incentives for landlords aimed at preventing homelessness and evictions won approval Thursday from the Johnson County Commission. Commissioners voted to expand pilot programs on eviction mediation and housing choice vouchers — both programs that have seen success in getting low-income renters into stable housing. The commission voted to add $500,000 to the eviction mediation project. But this time, the money will go to direct aid to tenants in arrears rather than mediators. Eviction mediation began in September in district court and will run through December of this year. Commissioners last year authorized $146,000 to pay court-certified mediators $250 for each Friday eviction court trial date.
Source: Johnson County Post

Municipal Bond Trends for January 18, 2024

Johnson County police scanners will soon go silent. What will that mean for transparency?

For 13 Johnson County police agencies and hundreds of listeners to police radio scanners and phone apps, Jan. 23 will be “Encryption Day.” Law enforcement officials see it as the day they take back control over how much of their operations — including sensitive private information on the people they encounter — will go out over airwaves to be noted by anyone with the right technology. Scanner listeners, including some local crime journalists, see it differently. To them, “Encryption Day” will be the day the lights dim over police transparency, the day their desktop scanners become expensive paperweights and phone apps all but useless in finding out what’s going in real time with local law enforcement. “Once encryption happens, there is no expectation of accountability to the public about any agency’s action. At least not in any meaningful way,” wrote Cartherine Kost, administrator of the Johnson County KS Community and Police Scanner Group, in an email to the Post. “The public has the right to know what is happening in their communities. We have the right to have oversight of our governmental affairs. Encryption is one less way that we as citizens will be able to observe agencies and demand accountability,” she added. Encryption — which blocks listeners from hearing what police and dispatchers say over the radio — is nothing new. Most local agencies already use some encryption on certain tactical channels. The primary channels on which initial calls go out, however, have remained audible for members of the general public to hear if they have scanners. That’s what’s about to change. Lenexa’s police department recently announced over the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that 13 agencies will begin encrypting their primary channels. Those agencies include Blue Valley School District Police, Shawnee Mission School District Police, and the city police departments of Olathe, Overland Park, Shawnee, Lenexa, Leawood, Merriam, Fairway, Prairie Village, Roeland Park, Mission and Westwood.
Source: KCUR News

Johnson County allocates additional funds to SLFRF-backed pilot programs

The Landlord Incentive Pilot Program provides financial incentives when landlords rent to a family with a federally funded voucher for available units. Three county programs developed with federal Coronavirus funds received an additional boost in funding to help qualified community members with affordable housing, child care licensing and rental assistance. On Thursday, Jan. 18, the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners approved $950,000 in allocations from the interest accrued on the county’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. The United States Department of the Treasury, directed by the U.S. Congress, distributed these funds to cities, counties and other governmental bodies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds were intended to offset economic losses from the pandemic and to invest in community infrastructure. “These federal dollars have allowed our organization to pilot new and innovative ways to support those in our community who can benefit from some additional assistance,” said BOCC Chairman Mike Kelly. “At the same time we have been good stewards of these resources, ensuring they are being used strategically to improve the quality of life for our constituents.” The BOCC authorized the following: $200,000 to the Landlord Housing Voucher Incentive Program; $250,000 for childcare licensing fees; $500,000 to create a Rental Assistance Program as Phase 2 of the Eviction Mediation Program.
Source: Johnson County Kansas

Wichita selling more public housing units, holding open houses

If you are looking for a fixer-upper, the City of Wichita is selling off more of its public housing units. You can see the homes during open houses this Sunday, Jan. 21, and next Tuesday, Jan. 23. The open houses are from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 21, and from 3-5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 23. The homes are part of a group of 37 homes scattered throughout Wichita that were recently approved for sale by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Anyone can bid on the properties. Questions may be directed to city staff at HousingDevelopment@wichita.gov. The city has reserved dates in February for more potential open houses, but the list of houses available may change. Any changes to the schedule, such as for bad weather, will be posted on the city’s Public Housing website.
Source: KSN-TV

Over 30 people begin firefighter certification in Girard at Firefighter One Academy

More than 30 men and woman took their first step to becoming certified firefighters. The Firefighter One Academy had their first class last night at the Girard Fire Department. It’s lead by an instructor from the Kansas Fire & Rescue Training Institute. Students will meet twice a week for the next four months. Last night they began hazmat awareness, which goes for the next month. After that, they will learn firefighter skills. “This is real exciting for us. I believe this is probably one of the biggest fire one classes that’s been hosted in this area in a long time so we’re real excited for the turn out, really happy the guys are going to have an opportunity to get their certifications,” said Daulton crays, Capitan Girard Fire Department. “So material wise I’m pretty familiar with everything but it’s going to be nice to actually get the certification and be able to have that piece of paper saying that I’m certified to do this job to the fullest extent,” said Prestyn Kalgren, Firefighter One Academy Student. At the end of the academy, students will earn their hazmat awareness, hazmat operation and fire one certification. Those are the base level certifications for to volunteer or be a full time fire fighter.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Humboldt readies for winter gas prices. A revised plan helps avoid market fluctuations

Almost three years out from the “perfect terrible storm,” Cole Herder, Humboldt administrator, says the city is on much better footing should it find itself in another prolonged deep freeze. Beginning Feb. 9, 2021, much of the country’s middle section was held in the icy grips of a polar vortex. To make matters worse, clouds hung low blocking the sun and the winds did not blow, forcing municipalities to forgo their reliance on wind and solar to help power utilities. Sensing chaos, natural gas utility producers took advantage of the surge in demand. Prices surged from $3 to more than $600 per unit in a matter of days. “This week is like hitting the jackpot with some of these incredible prices,” Roland Burns, the Texas CFO of Comstock Resources, a natural gas company, said at the time. “Frankly, we were able to sell at super premium prices.” It wasn’t his finer moment. From Mississippi to Montana, municipalities were slammed with unprecedented gas hikes. “The market went crazy and some people got rich,” Herder said in his understated manner. For Humboldt, the previous month’s average rate was $2.58 per unit. That February, the average unit rate was $117.08. When all was said and done, Humboldt’s next monthly statement was for more than $1.6 million. The city purchases its gas from the Kansas Municipal Gas Agency, which purchases and stores gas for about 50 small-sized cities across the state and is transferred via through the Southern Star pipeline. Humboldt typically spends $40,000 to $80,000 a month during the winter for gas. That February, its gas bill was $1,644,415.87, more than four times what the city typically budgets for an entire year’s use of natural gas.
Source: The Iola Register

City commissioners say KSU should continue paying for fire services

Manhattan city commissioners Tuesday said Kansas State University should continue to pay for fire services. City staff asked commissioners to consider updating an agreement with K-State that since 1994 has allowed the university to receive fire services on property located outside city limits. As previously reported, to pay for those services, the city had been withholding an increasing amount every year, now around $225,000, in city/university fund revenue instead of transferring money to that fund. However, the new agreement calls for the city to provide fire services to K-State for free in exchange for the university allowing the fire department’s headquarters to remain on its property. Along with the headquarters building, the fire training facility on Denison and Kimball avenues sits on property that belongs to K-State. The city plans to remove the training facility and give back that part of the property to the university. The new agreement recognizes that both parties benefit from the relationship. The city would get rent-free land, and the university would get free fire services. However, mayor Wynn Butler said charging the university for fire services makes sense, as most of the university buildings aren’t taxed, and property tax goes toward funding the fire department. Commissioner Karen McCulloh said she’d like to see the city/university fund board restart.
Source: themercury.com

Shawnee County Commission and Topeka City Council come together for a common cause

The Shawnee County Commission and Topeka City Council had never held a joint meeting to focus on a specific issue during Kevin Cook’s 11 years on the commission. That changed Wednesday[as] members shared ideas for dealing with this community’s problems regarding homelessness in a joint meeting at Topeka’s Great Overland Station.
Source: CJonline

Municipal Bond Trends for January 17, 2024

Lawrence City Commission approves new historic resources code, adds 2 locations to historic register

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved the replacement of the Conservation of Historic Resources Code with an updated version. Lawrence established the historic resources code as article 33 of the city code in 1988. This chapter, designed to conserve historic resources, mandated a review every five years. However, it had not been reviewed since its inception. In 2014, the Historic Resources Commission was advised to assess and suggest changes. A subcommittee identified significant modifications, leading to a complete revision proposal. The biggest changes in the revised chapter encompassed aspects such as allowing administrative review for most projects and streamlining the approval process with added flexibility and emergency procedures. In July 2023, the Historic Resources Commission held a public hearing, approved the revised chapter and forwarded it to the Lawrence City Commission for consideration. “It may not be exactly what we want, or what I want, or what the community wants, but progress is important,” Vice Mayor Mike Dever said. “Perfection is very difficult to achieve, but I think this is real progress.” The commission also unanimously approved adding two places to the Lawrence Register of Historic Places: the Historic Kansas River Bridge Stone Pier and the Henry Waters House at 1124 New Jersey St.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Burrton considering selling natural gas

The City of Burrton is considering selling off its natural gas, but City Clerk Kim Ryan said the decision wasn’t final. Ryan said the city had received interest from both the Kansas Gas Service and Black Hills Energy. The Kansas Gas Service set the original deadline for Feb. 4 but extended it for a later meeting. Ryan said the city plans to have a meeting on Feb. 5 and expects a decision to be made by the middle of February. According to Ryan, the city is considering selling because of all the state regulations. “You almost need a couple of full time people to run it,” Ryan said. “We don’t have that manpower.” Ryan said the current supervisor who knows how to manage it plans to retire in 2026, and finding a replacement would be challenging. Cost was another reason Ryan said the city is thinking of selling. “It’s costing more to run it than [it’s] making,” Ryan said. Burrton, like Halstead and Hesston, has struggled with high gas prices during the cold temperatures seen in recent winters. In 2021, gas bills increased by 10 to 20 times the normal rate for that time of year.
Source: Harvey County Now

Joint city-county meeting to focus on homelessness and housing strategic plan

The Lawrence City Commission and Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will hold a joint meeting to review the strategic plan to address homelessness and hear updates on progress. The commissions will not take any binding action but will discuss collaboration between the governing bodies going forward, according to the agenda. Both commissions heard reports on the draft plan in spring of 2023, and city/county staff members held public engagement meetings to gather community feedback over the next couple of months. The plan has since been revised, and the final draft was completed in December, according to the presentation in the meeting agenda. The joint meeting is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17 at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. Douglas County commissioners will then have their regular meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. at the historic courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Waging war on snow, ice

“It’s been pretty mild since I got here,” said Pittsburg Street Supervisor Lonnie Wells, “2011 was the last big storm, and that’s OK with me.” As Wells spoke Tuesday, the City’s trucks were crisscrossing Pittsburg using plows and a mixture of sand and salt to clear the streets of stubborn packed snow. Although the weekend’s snow was not deep, the extreme cold slowed melting and many streets were still slippery. Wells said that once snow is compacted by traffic and temperatures are as low as they have been recently, it becomes almost like ice. “You can’t plow that stuff off,” Wells said. The extreme cold creates specific problems of its own, Wells said. “Our rock salt is only effective once it gets to about 20 degrees,” he said. The sand ($18 a ton) is mixed with the salt ($125 a ton) at a ratio of four to one before it is applied. Wells said the crews try to prepare for winter weather by pretreating streets with a brine solution at least once a week. Wells said he has a crew of seven. His department has five 10-wheeler trucks, two 1-ton trucks and a couple of pickups on which small plows are mounted. Perhaps the most effective tool in the battle against the snow and ice, the Sun, was helping out, as well.
Source: Morning Sun

Why is Wamego dropping its speed limit to 20 mph?

With a few exceptions, the City of Wamego has chosen to drop the speed limit for local streets to 20 mph. KSNT 27 news spoke with City Manager Stacie Eichem for an explanation for why the decision was made and what this means for people driving through Wamego. She said the Governing Body of Wamego approved Ordinance 1800 on Dec. 19, adopting a city-wide 20 mph limit. Language in the ordinance states that a traffic speed study was conducted by Olsson Engineers. A recommendation from this study asked for the speed limit on local roadways to be lowered to 20 mph “in order to better align travel speeds along local roadways with speed limit guidance.” The City of Wamego provided KSNT 27 News with the map below to better explain what local streets will be impacted by the new ordinance. All highlighted streets are exceptions to the rule while those that are not highlighted will be switched to 20 mph. Eichem said city leaders heard complaints from some local residents that traffic was moving too quickly in city limits. Eichem, who shared similar concerns with city leaders, received authorization to start a Safe Driving Coalition which consists of local residents, the Wamego Police Department, USD 320 and the City of Wamego. This is all being done to make the city streets safer for travelers and locals alike.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Appraisal increases match housing market changes

Appraisals in the county have increased significantly, with the county appraiser saying it’s the highest she’s ever seen in the past three years. Real estate agents say there are changes in the housing market that explain these increases. Brad Elliot, a real estate agent in the county, said interest rates increasing in recent years has kept many people from selling. This causes increased competition for the houses that are put on the market and drives prices up. Elliot thinks, with interest rates decreasing again, more houses will be added to the market. People who had been unwilling to move because their interest rates would go up might consider a move now. The Federal National Mortgage Association predicts that interest rates will continue to decrease and will end 2024 around 6.5 percent, compared to the nearly 8 percent interest rates that have been seen. Beth-Ann Kingsley, a real estate agent based in Halstead, agreed that demand was the cause behind the increased prices and values. Kingsley added that construction on new houses slowed during COVID-19, causing construction to get “backed up.” This furthered the decrease in available housing inventory.
Source: Harvey County Now

Markets Expect Rate Cuts Soon. Central Banks Say Not So Fast.

There may be a middle ground between blindly trusting central bankers’ interest-rate guidance and disregarding it completely. On Tuesday, stocks fell, Treasury yields jumped and the U.S. dollar rose against other currencies after Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller warned that any lowering of interest rates this year will need to be “carefully calibrated and not rushed.” Though he is a well-known hawk, many other officials have also recently suggested that investors may be expecting borrowing costs to come down too far and too fast. European Central Bank rate setters made the same point at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, including chief economist Philip Lane. To be sure, Waller’s comments still suggest that monetary policy stands a good chance of being loosened this year. But markets have priced in a lot of stimulus over the past few months, and failed to heed calls for caution.
Source: WSJ.com: Markets

New zoning code could bring in different events around Century II

More special events could be coming to downtown Wichita. The City Council unanimously passed a zoning change on Tuesday, which not only removed outdated zoning but also opened up the facility to more events and opportunities in the area around Century II. It came about after an artist began to fight to keep his shop in Old Town, and a group looked into holding a tattooing convention there, but the Central Business District prohibits tattooing. A few months after Afterlife Tattooz opened in Old Town, the owner got a letter from the City telling him tattoo shops were not allowed in his part of town. After gathering support from the Old Town Association, the tattoo shop asked the City to change the zoning to allow tattooing in Old Town, which was approved by a vote 7-0 in September and went on to the second reading. The tattoo and piercing convention is planned for spring. The change now gives the area more flexibility, but the City Council still has to sign off on each special event.
Source: KSN-TV

Prairie Village moving ahead with plan to build new city hall

Prairie Village is moving forward with plans for a new city hall — unchanged from a design the previous city council supported before last fall’s elections altered the makeup of the governing body. During the first discussion of the new city hall facility in 2024, the city council on Tuesday decided to ultimately exclude two proposed changes to a roughly $30 million design that the previous council had asked city staff to explore last year. The plan backed by the council calls for a completely new 18,000-square-foot city hall building on the south side of the parking lot outside the current municipal complex. In addition, a new municipal courtroom would be built as an addition to the police department where the current city hall is on the north side of the municipal complex.
Source: Johnson County Post

Panasonic answers concern Kansans to pay for electricity infrastructure serving De Soto plant

Panasonic executives involved in construction of the $4 billion electric vehicle battery plant at De Soto said Tuesday the facility would begin production in early 2025 and negotiations continued with Evergy on delivery of electricity to manufacturing space occupying 4.7 million square feet. The company broke ground in July 2022 on a project backed by up to $1 billion in state economic incentives with the promise of employing 4,000 people in production of lithium-ion batteries used in vehicles. In testimony to the House energy committee, Panasonic said the December decision not to build a comparable plant in Oklahoma didn’t indicate presence of supply-chain or market-force challenges capable of undermining the Kansas plant. “We are extremely committed to our growth and development in Kansas,” said Tina Jeffress, a Panasonic group manager for sustainability and energy. “We do not anticipate any issues when it comes to ultimate market demand for our product. This is a generational investment in Kansas and as you can see from how quickly we are putting steel in the ground and developing other infrastructure on site, we are full speed ahead when it comes to this project.” Panasonic, the battery supplier to electric vehicle maker Tesla, said installation of steel framing in De Soto on one side of the two-wing plant was 93% completed, while steel components on the second wing were 44% completed. Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, said the cost of building electricity substations and miles of electricity transmission lines to accommodate Panasonic would be paid by consumers in Evergy’s central region, which included Emporia, Topeka and Wichita. Typical ratepayers in Johnson County where the plant has been located wouldn’t be part of that rate obligation, he said.
Source: KAKE – News

Halstead expands funding to revitalize downtown

After seeing some businesses struggling to maintain their buildings downtown, the City of Halstead started a grant program for these businesses. The grants, known as “DRAGON Grants,” provide businesses with between $1,000 and $10,000. Reimer said that, in the past, the city allotted $40,000 for grants each year, but the city council voted to expand that to $50,000 for 2024. City Manager Ethan Reimer said these grants are a way for the city to provide some support to businesses in the community that they don’t get elsewhere. “It’s a recognition of the fact that some of our larger businesses qualify for tax reductions from the state, but smaller businesses that are anchors on Main Street don’t have that,” Reimer said. “This was started to help them and give them access to funding.” Funding comes from the city’s General Fund Expenditure, which also funds the Community Foundation and the Old Settlers Festival. Reimer said the city prefers grants being used to fix exterior facade issues and to bring buildings up to code. The grants are flexible, however. Reimer said they could be used for everything from fixing structural issues to buying new machinery. Startup costs, like buying new machinery, do require a business plan.
Source: Harvey County Now

Lawrence city commissioners express support for updates to land development code, hope to implement it this year

City commissioners on Tuesday received an update on the city’s new land development code, which aims to update zoning regulations to allow for more sustainability, affordable housing and equity. Elizabeth Garvin of Clarion, a national land-use consulting firm, gave a presentation to commissioners outlining the work of city staff, planning commissioners and a steering committee for the updated code. The city began work to update the land development code in 2022 and is hoping to implement the new one this year. Currently, the project is in its third of four stages, which is drafting the new land development code. One of the major goals of the new code is to encourage density and affordable housing in Lawrence. A lack of affordable housing has been a major focus in Lawrence and has prompted the approval of new developments and millions in funding. Tuesday’s presentation outlined a variety of changes to help abate Lawrence’s affordable housing shortage. The plan encourages smaller lots and more residential density as well as a flurry of other items aimed to increase flexibility for residential developments, including the addition of density minimums for residential lots. One major change in the code allows for up to four units to be built on one single-family lot.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Johnson County application window opens for Senior and Disabled Veteran Property Tax Relief program

Johnson County residents who are 65 or older or are a disabled veteran and who meet income and other requirements may now apply for up to $200 in property tax relief. Residents can now apply to participate in the new program online by completing the application form and submitting it, along with proof of income and/or disability status. The form can be submitted in person, by email or by postal mail. Those interested in participating in the program should submit the application before the April 15 deadline. Residents must be at or below income limits and have a home with a maximum appraised value of $384,600. A complete list of Income and other program requirements is available on the county’s website. In 2023, the Board of County Commissioners authorized $500,000 in funding for the county to provide this new pilot program to offer property tax relief to low-income seniors and disabled veterans. “As property values continue to increase, we know that property taxes can be a particular hardship for some members of our population, particularly those on a fixed income,” said Mike Kelly, chairman of the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners. “We hope this initiative will help provide some relief to as many seniors and disabled veterans as possible.” While this program covers only the county’s portion of a resident’s property tax bill, other property tax programs are also available through the state.
Source: Johnson County Kansas |

AGCO’s Hesston facility welcoming back furloughed employees

AGCO said in a news release Friday facility the critical updates to the facility in Hesston went live on Jan. 1, and the company is welcoming back furloughed employees. The news release says the upgrades required all production areas to be shut down and that employee furloughs were not demand-related. “During this time, AGCO has worked to provide impacted eligible employees with supplemental pay and retention bonuses,” AGCO said in the release. The employees’ return will happen in waves The first group returned to work the first week of January, an additional wave returned the following week, and the rest of the employees will return over the course of the first quarter as production ramps up.
Source: KSN-TV

Newton Fire/EMS practicing ice rescues on frozen Spring Lake Pond

Newton Fire/EMS is practicing ice rescues on Spring Lake Pond, which has frozen over. “We don’t often get weather like this that we can afford as a training and the real-world experience with the ice, so we’re taking advantage of it,” said Newton Fire/EMS Division Chief Zane Hansen. Hansen says they cut a hole in the ice to simulate a rescue and then have a crew go out in ice suits to rescue a “victim.” “They’re gonna have the ice suits, and we’re gonna tether them to rescuers on the shore. So they’re gonna move out to the ice, trying to disperse their body weight, get out to the victim, get into the water and get them out of the water as quickly as possible,” said Hansen. He says they have to practice ice rescues as people are on the ice pretty often because they don’t understand the dangers of it. “I believe several years ago, I can’t recall, I know we went out on an ice rescue where we rescued four victims out of the ice, three that passed away,” said Hansen. Hansen says people don’t know how thick the ice is. “So what’s out in the middle could be a lot thinner than what’s on the edges. Right at the edge, you think the ice can hold you, but you get 10 feet out, and it doesn’t support your weight. And then you’re in big trouble. Big trouble pretty quickly,” said Hansen. If you fall on the ice, he says you only have minutes to survive.
Source: KSN-TV

Commission discusses wind project moratorium

The Labette County Commission may consider extending the current moratorium on the construction of wind harvesting projects in the county. The current moratorium ends in April, commissioners were told, and discussed if voting on the issue in March would provide enough time for legal publications to notify the public about the decision. The board attorney said that would provide enough time. The commission enacted the 15-month moratorium by resolution in late November 2022. The purpose is to allow the county planning committee to get zoning regulations in place. Foster and Associates, hired to assist with the process, is still working on the zoning regulations, and that’s one step in the process to get the regulations approved and in place. Commission Chairman Terry Weidert said the planning committee may not be ready with zoning regulations for the commission to consider before the moratorium expires. He just didn’t want the commission to run out of time to extend the moratorium if it needed it. After discussion, commissioners agreed to reconsider the matter in March to see how much progress the planning committee makes toward zoning regulations.
Source: Parsons Sun

Halstead fire crews battle large fire in bitter cold

Harvey County fire crews battled a large fire in bitterly cold temperatures early Tuesday around 12:20 a.m. at an automotive repair shop. Halstead Fire/EMS said the fire happened on Halstead Road just south of U.S. Highway 50. Upon arrival, crews discovered the building had flames throughout and through the roof. Pictures from Halstead Fire/EMS show flames engulfing a metal-framed building. Several fire crews, including Newton Fire/EMS, were called to help battle the fire. Halstead Fire/EMS said the state fire marshal was on scene. There is no word on what started the blaze. The investigation is ongoing. No injuries were reported.
Source: KSN-TV

Is Wichita affordable for single renters? This report says it’s the top city in the US

If you’re a single renter looking for more affordable cities to live in, you may want to take a close look at Kansas. According to a report by apartment rental company RentHop, Wichita was ranked the most affordable city for a single renter in the U.S. The company conducted the December report by measuring median nonfamily household incomes, city population counts, advertised prices for studio apartments and year-over-year changes to studio prices. The median cost of a studio apartment in the Air Capital is $565 a month, Renthop says in the report, meaning the average person would have to spend 17.65% of their annual income on rent every year. For comparison, New York City is the most expensive place for single renters, according to Renthop, with residents having to spend about 71% of their annual income on rent in the city. According to a separate report from GoBankingRates, the average single person in Kansas needs to make $47,379 annually to live comfortably, which would make the state sixth in the country for lowest living wage. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the median household income in Wichita (in 2022 dollars) is $60,712. The poverty rate in the city sits at 15.5%. While Wichita may have been named the most affordable city by RentHop, the cost of rent is rising across the U.S., including locally. A report from late 2022 from NAI Martens indicates rent prices in Wichita rose 1.8% in 2022 and 9.4% in 2021.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

‘We care about each other’: Topekans weigh in on city’s homeless initiative

Community leaders are moving into the next phase of addressing the city’s homeless population. On Tuesday, the ‘Homeless Initiative,’ partially led by design chair Brianna Sylver, held an ideation session to brainstorm solutions to Topeka’s homeless problem. “The goal is to come up with seven to 10 different solutions,” Sylver said. “Typically, those will range in terms of short-term versus long-term solutions.” The City of Topeka brought Sylver in to help manage the entire process. The best way, in Sylver’s opinion to approach this, is by involving as many people as possible. Topeka residents and community leaders spent for several hours offering input and sharing ideas. Members from organizations like the Topeka Rescue Mission (TRM) , Topeka City Council and the Boys’ and Girls’ club were in attendance. Attendees brainstormed in small groups by writing their ideas out on tables covered in butcher paper. “I saw a tremendous amount of passion, hope, excitement,” Brian Cole, the director of the Shawnee County Department of Corrections said. “I saw a lot of energy of wanting to solve this problem to serve those that need these valuable resources.” Then, representatives from each small shared those ideas with the whole, and everyone eventually voted on the best ones. “Kudos to the city for bringing folks together from all walks of life to come and talk about solutions and to really again, helping human beings,” Derik Flerlage, Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) director of family health said. Sylver’s team will test out some of the brainstormed solutions in the near future. She also said there will be more chances for Topekans to share their voices throughout this process.
Source: KSNT 27 News

City Council votes for more input on overturning LLC contribution ban

The expected City Council overturn of a 2-week-old ban on contributions to city of Wichita election candidates from limited liability companies and corporations took a detour Tuesday. The Council voted 5-2 to refer the ordinance change to members’ district advisory boards, which offer advice and recommendations to each of the six members representing specific areas of the city. Mayor Lily Wu and Council member Becky Tuttle voted to ask for the DAB input, along with the three remaining members who voted for the initial ban Jan. 2 — Maggie Ballard, Mike Hoheisel and Brandon Johnson. New members Dalton Glasscock, who asked last week to reassess the ordinance, and J.V. Johnston voted against. Wu and Tuttle still seem likely to join Glasscock and Johnston as a majority overturning the LLC contributions ban. Wu had more than 100 LLC and corporate donations in winning November’s general election, and Tuttle voted against the ban during the last Council meeting with a Democratic majority. But the ordinance took on new language Tuesday that Glasscock said will increase transparency, if overturned.
Source: Wichita Business Journal

Clay Center City Council passes grant policy

In a meeting that lasted about five minutes, the Clay Center Council swore in Mayor Jimmy Thatcher and recently-reelected council members and approved one agenda item last week on Tuesday, Jan. 2. The sole agenda item that was approved outside the consent agenda was a grant management policy that directed City Clerk Kerry Rozman how to handle grant funds received through a grant applied for by Grow Clay County.
Source: www.ccenterdispatch.com – RSS Results in news,local/* of type article

Bobcats spotted by Johnson County officials at Shawnee Mission Park

Two bobcats were spotted roaming Shawnee Mission Park on Tuesday. Johnson County Park and Recreation (JCPRD) Natural Resource staff took pictures of two bobcats walking through the park while doing deer density research. They snapped the rare photo while surveying the area for deer on the south side of Shawnee Mission Park. The “elusive bobcats are secretive but highly adaptable to the urban environment of Johnson County,” JCPRD said on X. A bobcat bit a woman in 2022 after she picked up the wild animal off a Liberty, Missouri, road. It’s a friendly reminder not to approach these majestic animals, even if they seem harmless at first.
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF

Topeka asks every resident to begin flushing water

The City of Topeka is asking residents to flush possibly contaminated water to restore fresh water for customers. While the City of Topeka, and parts of Shawnee County are still in a Boil Water Advisory, Utilities staff with the City of Topeka are asking all customers, if able, to flush their water. According to a press release from the city, flushing water through their water supply systems could help to make sure fresh water makes it to every residence. The time it takes to flush a system thoroughly varies depending on the size of a building or home. To properly flush, customers should turn on all indoor faucets in a home or business for about 10-15 minutes. This time frame flushes approximately 40 gallons of water through a customer’s system. According to the city, regular uses of water, like taking a shower or doing laundry, are effective methods of flushing. For homes and businesses with larger water heaters, the city advises that you flush your system for an additional 10-15 minutes. The City of Topeka Utilities Director Sylvia Davis explained at Tuesday’s city council meeting that the city has no plans to compensate customers for flushing their systems. “For our highest-rated customers, those folks that pay the highest water rates, you’re talking about 20 to 25 cents,” Davis said. “So, as we were talking about potentially giving out credits, it would end up costing us way more to generate those credits.” The Boil Water Advisory will remain in place until city staff had met all of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) testing requirements and have lifted the advisory, according to the press release. The KDHE requires 100 samples to be collected throughout the city, and have to come back clear of any contaminates.
Source: KSNT 27 News