Municipal News & Jobs

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.

With the growing popularity of disposable e-cigarettes, communities across the U.S. are confronting a new vaping problem: how to safely get rid of millions of small, battery-powered devices that are considered hazardous waste. For years, the debate surrounding vaping largely centered on its risks for high school and middle school students enticed by flavors like gummy bear, lemonade and watermelon. But the recent shift toward e-cigarettes that can’t be refilled has created a new environmental dilemma. The devices, which contain nicotine, lithium and other metals, cannot be reused or recycled. Under federal environmental law, they also aren’t supposed to go in the trash.
Source: Salina Journal

ERIE, Kan.— As Chicago studies whether to become the first big city to open a municipally-owned grocery store, it will be looking to places like this city of 1,000 people for tips on how to do it. At the moment, things aren’t going especially well. Erie Market, which the city took over in 2021, is losing money almost every month amid stiff competition from a Walmart 15 miles away and a Dollar General across the street. The store has slashed prices, cleared the shelves of expired items and put in a salad bar to try to bring more people through the door. But leaders aren’t giving up. “Without a grocery store, what are we going to do? It would kill this small town and it’s hard enough to keep it alive as it is,” said Erie City Council member Jason Thompson, a Republican who owns a trash-hauling business. Erie is among a handful of cities across the U.S. that have taken over or started up grocery stores as a way to stave off decline and make it easier for residents to get access to fresh foods. All of them are small, but that could soon change.
Source: Wall Street Journal

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.

The City of Valley Center is considering whether to start its own electric utility. The city council on Oct. 17 heard the report of a nearly year-long study into the initiative to possibly replace Evergy. … a municipal electric utility is possible. However, city customers likely would pay slightly higher rates than Evergy’s rates in the first few years before city rates became lower than Evergy. That’s because the city could face large upfront system acquisition costs coupled with operations and maintenance.
Source: Ark Valley News

The City of Lawrence has launched an online form to report new homeless campsites around the city, which was first announced at Tuesday’s Lawrence City Commission meeting. According to a release from the city, the form is intended to be used by community members who are “aware of a person who is currently camping and may need shelter.” The form asks respondents to provide the closest available address to the location, the date they first noticed the campsite and a description of the campsite and its occupants. The release says city staff will then go to the area indicated on the form to make contact with any individuals camping there and discuss available services in the community.
Source: LJWorld

As a steering committee works to develop new rules for how Lawrence should grow, one of the big questions the group has for the public is how much parking space new developments should have to provide. More specifically, the Land Development Code Steering Committee decided at its meeting on Thursday that it wants to see what members of the public think about eliminating minimum and maximum parking requirements for new residential development entirely, and mandating only a maximum amount of parking space for commercial and industrial development.
Source: LJWorld

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.

Work on the Smoky Hill River Renewal Project has finally began, with a section of trail new the channel officially opening at the end of the month. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for the half-mile section of the new trail at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, near the Salina Family YMCA, 570 YMCA Drive. According to the Friends of the River Foundation, the event will not only give guests the opportunity to walk or bike along the new trail section, but other activities will also be happening, including a scavenger hunt at booths along the trail, snacks and drinks. Parking is available at the Kenwood Cove Aquatic Center.
Source: Salina Journal

The Salina Area United Way has spearheaded an effort bringing in more than $2.8 million in funds so far to address child care issues and shortages in Saline County. A collaborative community effort, led by the United Way, has sought various federal and state grant funding, as well as partnerships with local businesses and organizations to build a reserve of funds to support the local child care industry. But they’re just getting started. Each year, it will take $460,000 to fully fund wage supplements for existing child care workers in local facilities. That figure doesn’t include any staff that might later become necessary.
Source: Salina Journal