Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

Overland Park drops city food inspections, ending ‘redundancy’ with state checks

The Overland Park City Council ended the city’s unique restaurant inspection program Monday, saying it was an unnecessary duplication of state inspections and that the double inspections put a burden on local businesses. The council voted 10-1 to end the program. Overland Park is thought to be the last large city in Kansas that still does a local inspection of food service. Council committee members asked staff to explore ending the program in February and later voted to put the matter before the whole council.
Source: Prairie Village Post

Miners Hall Museum plans special program on history of McCune

Kent Smith will present “The Founding of McCune” at 2 p.m. Sunday at Miners Hall Museum. Smith, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has remained involved with the McCune Osage Township Library and regularly participates in community events. His great-great-grandfather, Sevier Wilson, emigrated in 1892 and opened one of the first general stores in McCune, while another relative operated one of the first clothing stores in the town.
Source: www.joplinglobe.com

Municipal Bond Trends for May 16, 2023

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, Beth Warren or Henry Schmidt.

Mural designs for downtown Salina trash corrals approved

Two new pieces of artwork will soon be added to the downtown Salina area after approval by the City Commission. The artwork, which will consist of murals, will be placed on trash corrals as part of a beautification project by Salina Downtown Inc., which will be providing the artists’ fees for the murals. “(Policy) requires us to take this approval to (City) Commission, but, prior to that, our…Community Art and Design (CAD) Committee goes through an approval process,” said Crystal Hammerschmidt, art services coordinator for Salina Arts and Humanities.
Source: Salina Journal

Voters approve school bonds in Nickerson, Pretty Prairie, Eudora; denied in Baldwin City

The bond for Nickerson School District, USD 309, passed with a 13% turnout. Of the 5,121 eligible voters, 682 cast a ballot, with 381 voting yes and 301 voting no. The bond is for $7.6 million over nine years. The short duration of the bond will allow the district to evaluate expenditures in 10 years. The bond to fix the Pretty Prairie Schools, USD 311, passed on Tuesday evening, garnering slightly less than a 50% turnout. Of the 1,087 registered voters, 45% voted, casting 272 for the bond and 222 against it. … Pretty Prairie School District 311 proposed a $7.7 million 20-year bond to fix roofs, windows and the middle school gym. This will also help with the leaking wall in the band and other rooms. Currently, many of the windows are also leaking. According to unofficial results from the Douglas County Elections Office, voters seem to have overwhelmingly approved nearly $40 million in bond issue projects for Eudora’s schools, while a similar proposal in Baldwin City looks to have been rejected by a fair margin. As of 9:25 p.m. Tuesday, results reported by the elections office show that the special question for Eudora had easily won approval with 971 of the 1,312 ballots accounted for — or about 74% — voting in favor of the measure. … Meanwhile, it seemed that the $25 million in bond issue projects Baldwin City’s school district was looking to undertake would remain on hold for now. … In a narrow 51.96% to 48.04% vote, residents of Pratt’s USD 382 voted to approve the use of a $16.6 million bond to pay for improvements to USD 382’s facilities. The special ballot drew 1,382 voters or 28.46% of the registered voters in the school district which, according to Pratt County Clerk Lori Voss was in line for a special election turnout.
Source: Hutch News and Hutch News and LJWorld and Pratt Tribune

Topeka’s city government creates land bank to buy, upgrade, resell distressed properties

Topeka’s city government will create a “land bank” pilot program aimed at helping address this community’s problems with abandoned properties. The program will buy distressed properties and hold them tax-free while they’re upgraded, resold and returned to the tax rolls. Topeka’s mayor and city council voted 9-0 late Tuesday, with Councilman Tony Emerson being absent, to create the program and adopt specific policy guidelines governing it.
Source: CJonline

Getting old homes back on the market in Salina

While developers are working on bringing in new houses and apartments to the Salina community, one nonprofit organization is focusing on fixing homes that are already here and getting them back into the housing market. The Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) Corporation of Central Kansas, says its mission is to “(provide) quality housing in an affordable manner for low to moderate income persons.” Founded by Salinan Lance Cochran over 18 years ago, CHDO also has the goal of working to help solve housing challenges in the region.
Source: Salina Journal

Hutchinson School Board votes to close Lincoln Elementary School

After more than an hour of speeches, discussion and pointed questions, the Hutchinson School Board voted 5 to 1 to close Lincoln Elementary School during a special board meeting on Monday, May 15. The staff would move along with the students and the class size would be 20. The district’s superintendent, Dawn Johnson, Ed.D., presented the options to the school board and more than 100 community members. This discussion came about because of the lack of teachers applying for jobs in the district. At present, the district is 14 teachers short. In addition, the district is down $1.1 million.
Source: Hutch News

Natives of a small Kansas town transform rundown burger joint into regional destination

The restaurant scene in Douglass, Kansas, — a town of around 1,500 that sits 30 miles southeast of Wichita — has been a tad depressing over the past decade. Around 2014, the town’s favorite burger joint — Craig’s Drive-Inn, at 833 E. First St. — closed after more than 30 years in business. Then, in November of 2021, the Triangle Restaurant — a cafe that also served Mexican fare — also closed, leaving the town with nearly no dining options at all. A couple of months ago, the town’s Pizza Hut closed, and that was a real blow. In a small town, Pizza Hut is usually the last to go.
Source: Wichita Eagle

Governor Kelly signs bipartisan omnibus budget bill

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has signed an omnibus budget bill that was approved with bipartisan support. The bill signed on Monday will increase funding for higher education, expand mental health resources for students, and it provides a pay raise for state workers. The governor said the budget is fiscally responsible and will improve the state’s workforce, improve roads and expand high-speed internet. The bill increases pay rates for state employees who are earning below the market rate for similar jobs in the private sector. The bill also includes the Build Kansas Matching Grant Fund which will provide state matching dollars to communities for projects approved under the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation.
Source: 101.3 KFDI

Great Bend residents support backyard chickens

A large number of Great Bend residents flocked to the City Council meeting Monday night, supporting the idea of raising chickens within the city limits, as well as voicing their frustration with what they called a vague ordinance governing backyard fowl. However, not all on the council were keen to the idea that arose during the public comment section of the City Hall meeting. No action could be taken, but it will be on the agenda June 5.
Source: Great Bend Tribune

Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office buys new $2.5M airplane you’ll probably never want to ride in

As the sheriff of the Air Capital of the World, one of the most important and little-known tools for Jeff Easter’s department is its own private airplane, and it’s time to make a big upgrade. “The Sheriff’s Office here has had an airplane since the late 70s,” said Easter. In 1987, the department flew a Cessna T210, but its needs quickly outgrew what the small plane could do. So, in 1991, it upgraded to a Cessna C340A. Just six years later, the department traded up again for the airplane it still flies today – the Commander 690-A.
Source: KAKE – News

Rural electric co-ops to get $10.7B in USDA funds for clean energy grants, loans

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin to administer two loan and grant programs worth nearly $11 billion to boost clean energy systems in rural areas, administration officials said Tuesday. Congress approved the federal spending — $9.7 billion for a grant and loan program the department is calling the New Empowering Rural America program, or New ERA, and $1 billion for a Powering Affordable Clean Energy program that will provide partly forgivable loans — in the energy, health and taxes law Democrats passed last summer.
Source: Kansas Reflector

Pittsburg gives housing vouchers to those facing homelessness

The Pittsburg Housing Authority was chosen to receive some additional funds to provide support for those facing homelessness. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $43 million to 62 agencies throughout the country, for “stability vouchers” to address unsheltered and rural homelessness. The Pittsburg Housing Authority received five Stability Vouchers to help those individuals and families obtain permanent housing. The total amount of the vouchers depends on the number of people living in the household.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Officials predict record wheat shortage for Kansas

There has been an abundance of rain in this past week, but has it been enough to save the state’s wheat after last month’s drought? The Kansas Wheat Commission is starting it’s Wheat Tour across the state Tuesday, May 16 and top leaders tell KSNT 27 News that they expect the smallest crop in 60 years. The commission will embark on a two day tour across the state, making over 500 different stops at different wheat fields across Kansas, to determine what this year’s crop may look like. Due to the drought, they expect to find a small crop, and even many abandoned fields, leaving them to predict a potentially record low wheat crop.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Johnson County chair wants citizen panels on diversity, sustainability

A proposal to create new citizen advisory groups on diversity and sustainability are moving forward after county commissioners last week discussed – sometimes testily – how they should be set up. The groups, which will be called coalitions rather than committees, were requested by Chairman Mike Kelly and are intended to bring in opinions and expertise from the community. Each group would have up to 15 members, appointed by Kelly pending approval from the rest of the commission.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post

Municipal Bond Trends for May 15, 2023

Abbyville Frontier Days PRCA Rodeo to begin

The Abbyville, Kansas, hometown rodeo is about as American as apple pie. With 17 flavors of homemade pies, including apple, lots of home-cooked barbecue and cowboys and cowgirls from across the nation competing, this central Kansas rodeo packs the bleachers each night. “They make over 100 pies and 17 different flavors,” said Jeff Welker, the treaurer of the board for the rodeo. “If they don’t have your flavor, then I want to know what it is.” This year’s Abbyville Frontier Days and PRCA Rodeo begins at 8 p.m. May 19 and 20. Mutton Bustin’, for the 3 to 6year-old crowd, starts at 7 p.m. each night, with sign up at 6 p.m. Since 1962, this rodeo has brought in top performers. And this year is no exception. Last year, the Abbyville Frontier Days and PRCA Rodeo won the 2022 PRCA Small Rodeo of the Year award.
Source: Hutch News

Winfield may shorten time for holding stray animals

Request made due to shelter overcrowding. Winfield City Commissioners will consider a request from the Cowley County Humane Society to reduce the number of days stray animals must be held by the shelter before they can be put up for adoption, in response to ongoing capacity challenges at the humane society. The State of Kansas requires municipalities to hold stray animals for a minimum of three days before they can be released if an owner is not located. Winfield’s current ordinance states animals impounded by the city animal control officer must be held for five days. If they are not claimed in that time, they can be released for adoption, euthanized or disposed of in another manner.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler

Dancing with a fading past: Why hundreds flock to tiny Kansas town on Saturday nights

While the fiddle player sawed off the dizzy opening notes of Bob Wills’ “Take Me Back to Tulsa” on the stage in the back room, Charles Blagg was browsing the refreshments cooler up near the checkout counter. It was a rainy Saturday night in April, and in a few hours, Blagg — 78, with a white Stetson to match his mustache — would be driving not quite to Tulsa but to his home outside Nowata, Oklahoma, about 110 miles south. He’s made the four-hour round trip to The Mildred Store several times over the past few years. The century-old general store hosts a country music dance on the third Saturday of each month that regularly draws hundreds from across the region to this southeast Kansas town of 17. … In the dance hall, surrounded by Wrangler-clad farmers two-stepping underneath a wagon-wheel chandelier, these Saturday-night shindigs feel like some long tradition here in Mildred. In fact, they’re a relatively new development. Regena and Loren Lance started hosting the shows shortly after they bought Charlie Brown’s Grocery nine years ago.
Source: The Kansas City Star

Kelly Signs Bill to Attract Healthcare Professionals to Rural Kansas

Governor Kelly signed a bipartisan bill that will provide students with medical school financial assistance. House Bill 2060 expands financial aid programs through the University of Kansas School of Medicine (KUMC) for students who practice primary care medicine or psychiatry in rural Kansas. The bill doubles the number of available agreements for KUMC students for the Kansas Medical Student Loan program and adds obstetrics-gynecology to the list of allowable practice areas.
Source: 101.3 KFDI

Wichita Fire Department recommends city remove 6-foot firework height limit, legalizing most consumer-grade products in city limits

Believe it or not, the Fourth of July is less than two months away, and people are already making plans and saving up for those fireworks. But this year, the Wichita Fire Department is hoping to convince the city to change its laws, making it much less strict on what you can legally shoot in city limits. … “We came up with the possibility of a two-phase process for the next couple of years. But the first phase that we just proposed is allowing aerial fireworks,” said [Jose Ocadiz with the Wichita Fire Department]. Ocadiz says the department put together a fireworks committee late last year that went to vendors, each district’s advisory board, and the community to figure out if the city should make changes to the fireworks laws.
Source: KAKE – News

Kansas governor vetoes bill to strip power from public health officials on vaccines, quarantines

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed legislation Friday that would have stripped the power to enforce quarantines from public health officials and squashed COVID-19 vaccination requirements for children attending childcare or schools. “Preventing Kansas’ local and state health officials from providing even basic testing for contagious human and zoonotic diseases — including measles, meningitis, Ebola, and polio — will hurt our ability to stop unnecessary outbreaks in the future,” Kelly said in a news release. The bill proposed limiting the clout of state health officials by restricting their ability to enforce testing and quarantines.
Source: KAKE – News

Going once, going twice, gone! Auctions are moving online and changing a rural tradition

Tractors, four-wheelers, a truck, a skid-loader and more are neatly parked in rows outside a northeast Nebraska farmhouse. The farmer who owns this equipment is retiring and is holding an auction on this chilly spring day to sell to the highest bidder. About 200 people, including Anthony Thoene, crowd into a machinery shed to browse. Thoene was hoping to get some fishing rods for his grandkids but was outbid. … For rural communities, auctions like these are often a social event to see neighbors and friends. But it’s not just the bundled-up neighbors looking for a deal. Internet bidders are logging on from as far away as Montana to make an offer. “There’s about 200 people here, but on the internet you’re talking thousands,” Thoene said. He occasionally helps Creamer Auction Company, the local business running this sale, set up their auctions. “So it definitely has improved the sales. But it’s harder to buy!”
Source: KCUR News

Weskan community comes together to clean up after severe storms tear through town

The Weskan community is picking up after severe storms hit the town Thursday, uprooting trees and damaging homes and buildings, including the high school. Earlier in the day, there was tornadic activity happening just across the Colorado state line. “It was terrifying,” said Sandy Miller, Weskan resident. “It was shocking, like ‘Oh man, it really did happen,'” said Jeff Montero, Weskan High School Principal.
Source: KSN-TV

Municipal Bond Trends for May 12, 2023

Pittsburg Police utilize What 3 Words app

The Pittsburg Police Department is encouraging citizens to start using a cell phone app in their spring safety campaign that could help them help you. They recently began using the free cell phone app What 3 Words. This app provides a way for emergency responders to help locate you when you are not certain of your exact location. If you’re going camping or out on a hike, you might not know the closest crossroads, or even a way to describe your location. When you download the app it divides the world into a grid of 10 feet by 10 feet squares, then it will generate three words. Those words will give first responders your exact location.
Source: KSNF/KODE

The highest and lowest-paying school districts in Kansas

Kansas ranks in the bottom third for teacher salaries nationwide and average pay by district ranges from $41,318 to $74,989, according to government records. In 2021, Kansas ranked 36th in the nation for public school salaries with an average public school salary of $53,932 or $11,158 less than the nation’s average, according to the Kansas Department of Education. Some of the higher-paying districts in Kansas include Shawnee Mission, Olathe and Lawrence which offer salaries over $60,000 per year, according to govsalaries.com. The districts with higher pay tend to be in more affluent areas of Kansas with higher property values and tax revenues.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Governor vetoes broad tax bill barring government competition against private sector

Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed a broad tax bill that prohibited governments from running businesses that compete with the private sector, a measure that critics said was intended to help one statewide business. The vetoed bill had 18 tax provisions, including one that would provide real and personal property tax exemptions for some businesses in cities where a government facility competes against a similar business.
Source: Sunflower State Journal

Fed’s Bostic casts doubt on rate cuts this year even if there’s a recession

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said Monday that he doesn’t foresee rate cuts at least through 2023, even if there’s a recession. “For me, inflation is job No. 1. We’ve got to get back to our target,” he told CNBC’s Steve Liesman during a “Squawk Box” interview. “If there’s going to be some cost to that, we’ve got to be willing to do that.” His comments came as the Fed has raised rates 10 times since March 2022 in an effort to bring down inflation that a year ago was running at its highest levels since the early 1980s.
Source: CNBC

Please don’t use guns to fish, Kansas officials warn

Officials from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks came across a fishy situation last Friday after finding a firearm allegedly being used to fish. A Finney County Game Warden seized a 9 mm handgun “that was being used to take fish in Garden City,” Kansas game wardens said in a Facebook post May 5. The wardens said that written violations were issued for “illegal means of take of fish” and “no fishing license.” They also reminded Kansans that “firearms are not a legal means to take fish.” While firearms can’t be used to fish in Kansas, it is however legal to fish with a bow and arrow or a crossbow.
Source: KAKE – News

‘It will look like it did in 1926.’ $5M grant expected to restore Jayhawk Theatre to former grandeur

A $5 million grant announced Thursday is expected to enable downtown Topeka’s Historic Jayhawk Theatre to be restored to its former grandeur. “For the untrained eye, you’ll be able to walk in there and it will look like it did in 1926,” said Scott Gales, a board member for that historic entertainment venue and chairman of the fundraising committee for its restoration project.
Source: CJonline

Our love affair with uniform landscapes kills trees. So Kansas and Missouri are going for variety

Each fall, as temperatures drop, people in this suburb can count on head-turning displays of richly hued maple leaves. But maples make up about one-third of the city’s street trees, and Overland Park has learned the hard way that too much of a good thing can mean fragility. So last year, the city put the kibosh on planting more maples. The emerald ash borer — a tiny, shiny green hitchhiker from Asia with a voracious appetite for a different beloved street tree — taught this city and others across Kansas and Missouri a painful lesson. Now some communities are hedging their arboreal bets and protecting local home values and tax bases by embracing variety. Streets with mature trees command higher home prices, temper the dog days of summer, and draw more people outdoors for fresh air, walks and chats with neighbors. “It is likely the emerald ash borer will kill all of Overland Park’s ash trees,” city spokeswoman Meg Ralph said in an email. “The more variety we have in our tree canopy, the more resilient it will be when the next invasive species or tree disease comes to our community.” Ash made up about a fourth of the city’s street tree canopy when the insect arrived a decade ago. In a thoroughly globalized world, the city has no guarantee that a bug with a taste for maple syrup won’t turn up next. So last fall, its forester dropped maples from the list of trees that people can plant along residential and commercial streets in the public right-of-ways — such as that strip of turf between street and sidewalk. For now, Overland Park won’t add more maples to any city property. It will steer developers away from those trees, too. Builders need city forester approval for their landscape plans.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Panel finds Wichita mayor violated city’s ethics policy at neighborhood cleanup

Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple violated the city’s ethics policy and will have to undergo ethics training for his role in an encounter with a Wichita police officer at a neighborhood cleanup. The officer stopped the mayor after he entered the wrong entrance to dump a load of trash from his rental property at a neighborhood cleanup event where residents can dispose of large objects like mattresses and tires for free.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Governor Kelly Announces $30 Million in Tourism Grants

Governor Laura Kelly announced today that $30 million has been awarded to 18 recipients developing and improving tourism sites statewide. Funding was made available through the State Park Revitalization & Investment in Notable Tourism (SPRINT) program launched by the Department of Commerce earlier this year. “A thriving tourism sector is critical for the Kansas economy,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “These grants enhance attractions that draw visitors to the state and showcase what makes Kansas a great place to live, work, and raise a family.”
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce

Iola to study sports needs

In his travels across the state, Iola Mayor Steve French occasionally makes note of how other communities have invested in their sports facilities. “Just go south to Chanute and look at their ball diamonds, and look at what other communities are pouring into their sports complexes,” French said at Monday’s Iola City Council meeting. French’s comments were sparked by conversations he’d had with a handful of local parents in recent days, wondering if it’s time for Iola to consider an upgrade.
Source: The Iola Register

Kansas legislation got ‘watered down’ but will help aquifer conservation efforts

Kansas state representatives this spring voted for “historic” legislation spending more than $50 million a year on preserving groundwater and restoring the state’s reservoirs. By the time the Senate finished with the bill, it was “watered down” but “a good start.” Rep. Lindsay Vaughn, D-Overland Park, said when lawmakers and farm and environmental groups come together, sometimes the least common denominator is all everyone can agree on. She said the legislation didn’t accomplish everything she hoped.
Source: Kansas Reflector

Kansas Main Street Selected for Rural Main Streets Entrepreneurial Program

Main Street America has announced that Kansas is one of 10 states selected to participate in the Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Rural Main Streets Program, supported by the Kauffman Foundation. The program aims to spur economic development in rural Kansas not just by fostering entrepreneurship but by building out entire ecosystems. Kansas Main Street has partnered with Main Street America (MSA) to put on a one-day statewide workshop on Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystem building that will be open to any rural community to attend. The workshop is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 7, in Great Bend.
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce

Fed Official Signals Support for Further Rate Increases

A Federal Reserve official said the central bank should be prepared to continue lifting interest rates because inflation remains too high and the labor market is too tight, hinting at disagreements within the central bank’s rate-setting committee. Fed governor Michelle Bowman, in remarks prepared for delivery Friday at a banking conference in Germany, said she wasn’t confident the central bank was making enough progress slowing down economic activity and inflation even though she allowed that interest rates were now at a restrictive setting.
Source: WSJ.com: US Business

Wellington day care on verge of closing saved at last minute

According to Child Care Aware of Kansas, only 37% of child care demand in Sumner County is being met—that means nearly 700 kids are still in need of a spot. The county has three child care centers, one of which (Angel Wings Learning Center) was slated to close for good. When Jamie Sowersby, who owns an in-home day care called The Clubhouse, heard the news three weeks ago, she says she knew she had to step in. “There would be however many kids are here would need to find a new day care, and we knew that wasn’t going to happen,” Sowersby said.
Source: KSN-TV

Paola firefighters test their skills during Pittsburgh drill

Paola firefighters recently tested their abilities to work as a team to rescue fellow firefighters in tight situations during Pittsburgh drill training at the Paola Fire Station. Paola Fire Chief Andy Martin said the drill was developed in Pittsburgh, Pa., after three firefighters were killed in the Bricelyn Street fire on Valentine’s Day in 1995. The Pittsburgh drill involved Paola firefighters training on how to maneuver through tight spaces, how to work together to transport an incapacitated fellow firefighter, and how to move and utilize existing equipment to make the tasks easier.
Source: The Miami County Republic

Derby adopts new pet limit ordinance

At its May 9 meeting, the Derby City Council approved an update to an ordinance regarding the number of pets allowed in households – the first such change since 1974. With Derby’s status as a city of the first class, a decrease in total pets was initially discussed. Based on current pet ownership numbers, though, the council ultimately approved a new ordinance that will allow residents to license six dogs and/or cats up to a total of eight animals.
Source: Derby Informer | News

‘If there is a sacred place in Kansas, this is it’: Barton County Commission puts in temporary ban on solar farms

Barton County residents want the county to create tougher rules for solar farms. It comes amidst anger over plans for a solar farm that they say would hurt wildlife at the nearby Cheyenne Bottoms wildlife area. Even amidst a drought, if you ask some Barton County residents their thoughts on the Cheyenne Bottoms, they’ll rave about the wildlife area. “It’s a real special place, one of the most special,” said Great Bend resident Jerry Nye said. “If there is a sacred place in Kansas, this is it,” said Great Bend resident Bryan Witt. That’s why these two and others are concerned over a potential development south of the area.
Source: KAKE – News

Northeast Wichita residents express concerns about proposed truck stop

The city of Wichita is looking at putting a new Love’s location at the intersection of Interstate 135 & 21st St. But some who live in that area aren’t happy with what that could mean for their community. Northeast Wichita is known as the city’s industrial heart, where factories and former oil refineries can be found. Aujanae Bennett has lived in the area for most of her life and said that the industrial activity has damaged the area’s environment, and people’s health. She said that adding running semi-trucks to the mix will only make things worse.
Source: KAKE – News