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Municipal Bond Trends for November 21, 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, or Henry Schmidt.

Municipal Bond Trends for November 20, 2023

Trying to save an ER in rural Kansas

When the emergency room in Fort Scott, Kansas, closes next month, the next closest in-state facility will be 40 minutes away — and some patients may not make it that far. Mayor Matthew Wells says the closure shows the need for the Kansas Legislature to pass Medicaid expansion. When Fort Scott, Kansas’ Mercy Hospital closed in early 2019, the community of 7,550 people in southeast Kansas briefly lost its emergency room. Mayor Matthew Wells remembers the time without an ER clearly. Now, his town is once again in that position after the community’s stand-alone ER closed, leaving residents to travel at least 20 miles to the nearest emergency center and raising concerns about attracting new residents and businesses. Steve Kraske spoke with Wells and Kansas News Service reporter Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga on KCUR’s Up To Date about the future of health care for the community.
Source: KCUR News

Kansas City, Kansas, has a new strategic plan for balancing development and history

Urban sprawl and decades of disinvestment have created a strain on Kansas City, Kansas’ ability to grow a healthy and vibrant community. A new long-range comprehensive plan aims to reverse that trend through strategic investment and intentional development. PlanKCK will focus on 11 elements — including economic development, transit access, historic preservation, and housing — in an effort to make strategic decisions that balance equity, access, health and regeneration. “They want access to attainable housing, reliable transportation, childcare, all of those things that make community vibrant,” said Alyssa Marcy, long range community planner for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas. “But in order to do that, especially under constrained resources, you have to be strategic.” Historic preservation planner Randy Greeves says that the city’s old infrastructure could be eligible to receive tax incentives for repair, creating business and housing opportunities.
Source: KCUR

Hungry for ‘braised urban squirrel’? A Lawrence, Kansas, cook-off will star wild foods

Squirrel, elderberries and pawpaws aren’t usually the stars of Kansas cuisine. But they — and other ingredients found in the Kansas outdoors — are taking center stage at Wild Foods Cook Off in Lawrence this weekend. Amy Bousman, an education specialist at the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and organizer of the event, said the idea came from a similar event focused on invasive species in Oregon. “I thought, why aren’t we doing this cook-off with wild foods?” she said. “There’s so many hunters and anglers and foragers in our state, and also in Missouri, that aren’t getting to feature their skills and show what they’re capable of.” Entries will fall into six categories: wild game, wild fish, wild plants, wild mushrooms, wild sweets and wild invasive/nuisance species. Spectators are welcome to try the dishes, and each will be judged by expert chefs and foragers, too. Prizes for the top dish in each category, as well as the “community favorite,” will be awarded. The event will take place Sunday, Nov. 19 at Baker University Wetlands Discovery Center in Lawrence.
Source: KCUR

What is the Ogallala Aquifer and why is it running out of water?

Millions of years ago, sediment from the Rocky Mountains was deposited in the High Plains. Over thousands of years, water dripped below the surface creating an underground water deposit called the Ogallala Aquifer. The water — which spans from South Dakota to Texas and was once the size of Lake Huron — at one point accounted for 30% of the crop and animal production in the U.S. Kansas accounts for about 10% of the water in the Aquifer, the third most of the eight states that can access the water. The Ogallala aquifer is the principal source of water for agriculture in western Kansas. It’s not an underground lake as some believe but saturated sediments that have been deposited over the past 35 million years. When we pull water from the aquifer, it’s a bit like sucking water out of a sponge made of rock, gravel, sand and other geologic materials. High capacity irrigation, such as center pivot sprinklers, have used groundwater faster than it can be replenished. Center pivot sprinklers can disperse hundreds of gallons per minute from a well, 24 hours a day, for weeks or months on end.
Source: Kansas City Breaking News & Sports | The Kansas City Star

North Newton to light up the sky

North Newton might set the heavens aglow this holiday season because there will be a Holiday Lighting Competition for businesses and residences. “Bethel College approached me back in May, really wanting to gain some excitement and some spirit around the holiday season before students are sent back home,” City Administrator Kyle Fiedler told the North Newton City Council during its regular monthly Monday night meeting. “This also came from my first year here. The tree on Main Street that was lit up, I think a lot of customers enjoyed that. We wanted to try to encourage that, and we never came up with a program that following year.” The contest is to get people to light the exterior of their homes, Fiedler said. This is an event that would tie into Bethel’s two-week holiday calendar of events.
Source: Harvey County Now

Wichita to consider ordinance to fine landlords that retaliate

The Wichita City Council will consider fines of $250 up to $2,500 for landlords that evict tenants for complaining about living conditions. “You have to keep paying your rent. That’s state statute,” said Brandon Johnson. But Johnson wants the city to help people who pay their rent and still have unfair living conditions. He explains the proposed city ordinance would stop landlord retaliation, where he says some are getting kicked out while still paying rent. “The hope is that it makes a difference permanently,” said Johnson. “There are landlords right now that have been trying to evict folks and actually evicting them just for asking that they fix the place that they’re living in. I think that’s wrong. Hopefully, this puts an end to that behavior. And I think hitting those pocketbooks a few times will change behaviors.”
Source: KSN-TV

Firefighters save Shawnee Co. horse trapped in mud

It’s a sticky situation one Shawnee County woman will never forget. One of the horses she watches after on her property in Berryton found himself stuck in the mud on Wednesday evening. Without the help of one of her other horses, Amy Bermudez may not have found him as quickly as she did. “It was dark, 6 o’clock when I go to get the horses in, and I call for Cooper, the victim, and he doesn’t come,” Bermudez told KSNT News. “So I go to get my other horse that’s out in the yard, and when I go to get her, she normally just walks back with me. But this time, she ran the other way.” She led Bermudez straight to a pond where the 30-year-old Arabian horse was stuck. The pond, according to Bermudez, was partially dried up, but the ground was soft enough to give way when Cooper got close to it. Bermudez told KSNT she immediately called the horse’s owner upon finding him. The two thought they could get him out themselves, but Cooper’s struggles only sunk him deeper into the mud. While trying to free him, Bermudez herself got stuck in the mud, forcing the two to call the Shawnee Heights Fire Department for help. A family friend brought his excavator to dig away the muck while firefighters tried to fasten ropes to the horse to pull him to safety.
Source: KSN-TV

Ribbon cutting honors Walter Johnson’s new birthplace marker in Humboldt

A ribbon cutting in southeast Kansas honors the “Humboldt Thunderbolt.” That’s legendary, 1924 World Series Champion Walter Johnson. He was a pitcher with the Washington Senators from 1907 to 1927. A sign along US 169 as you enter Humboldt from the south, has honored the city as Johnson’s birthplace for several years. But, now it has a fresh new look. Allie Utley’s grandfather, Dick Davis, created the original marker. She felt like it was her duty to upgrade the sign. “Seemed obvious that I should be doing a project that also included my family’s legacy, so I just think I felt really compelled by the memory of my grandfather to work on this project and make sure that the story doesn’t die and that my grandpa’s memory doesn’t die with it either,” said Utley. Utley is also organizing a 100-year celebration for both Johnson and Negro League Baseball player George Sweatt. Like Johnson, Sweatt was also born in Humboldt and is a 1924 Negro League World Series Champion — he played with the Kansas City Monarchs.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Simple economics giving a major boost to Emporia sales tax collections

The City of Emporia’s sales tax collections have been on the rise throughout the past year according to Treasurer Janet Harouff. …Harouff noted the city collections have increased steadily each month this year putting the city seven percent above where it was this same time last year with a total of $5.3 million collected as of October. When asked what is contributing to this steady increase, Harouff explained it is simple economics. When asked if a decrease in inflation would mean a dip in city collections, Harouff stated that would be dependent on whether or not product makers lower their prices. She says while possible, any lowering in prices would likely not be significant. Harouff also noted that due to the high demand and low availability for certain products, basic supply and demand would likely mean a continued increase in collections for the foreseeable future. Dollars collected through the city’s one percent sales tax goes to the city’s general fund to pay for general services such as police and fire, parks and recreation, quality of life matters and economic development.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio

Johnson County looks to convert abandoned factory into trail hub

Johnson County officials are looking to convert the old Kuhlman Diecasting plant at 159th and Mission into a trail hub. Photo credit Roxie Hammill. Thirty years ago, the old Kuhlman Diecasting plant just south of 159th Street and Mission Road was abandoned, gradually becoming a toxic eyesore and a danger to the school children who made it their forbidden playground. Now, after years of frustration, the plant’s demolition and environmental clean up, local officials are considering making the site a trail hub that would connect bike and nature trails in the area and, they hope, improve the Blue River watershed. Johnson County Park and Recreation board members last Wednesday took a first look at some park use concepts for the Kuhlman site in unincorporated Johnson County and adjacent land owned by Overland Park. The 35.15-acre Kuhlman plant sits near a bend in the Blue River, separated from the water by a levee, but still vulnerable to flooding. It was abandoned in 1990 after the company underwent bankruptcy and it is still privately owned.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post

Iola: Build it and they will come

More than a year ago, Iola council members voted 7-0 to extend water, electric and streets in the Cedarbrook Addition and followed through last spring by committing $1.7 million to the project with the goal of attracting developers. It worked. On Monday, council members sold the 22 lots to the mother-and-son duo Jennifer Chester and Blake Boone. The two plan to start construction in January 2024. When all is said and done, Iola will have at least 16 single-family homes and possibly another three larger homes or three duplexes. The new development is designated as Cedarbrook Third Addition. Time and again, investments by city leaders have paid off. No place is a better example than the further development of Cedarbrook, which began with the strip of homes lining the north side of Miller Road beginning at Cottonwood and going west. Cedarbrook Second Addition was an answer to the devastation of the 2007 flood that wiped out dozens of homes primarily in the south end of town. Taking the attitude that a crisis is an opportunity in the wings, in 2008, Iola Industries purchased 66 acres of the western half of the 18-hole Cedarbrook Golf Course from owner Larry Macha, which it then turned around and sold to the City of Iola in early 2009 for its development.
Source: The Iola Register

Municipal Bond Trends for November 17, 2023

New Shawnee County park may be destination playground

Plans for the anticipated Shawnee County family park — with its destination playground for older play, 16 pickleball courts and a shelter house — are moving along. The Family Park will be built at the corner of S.W. Urish Road and S.W. 21st Street between Midwest Aquatics Center and the Cypress Ridge Golf Course. Efforts to begin crafting the park began in late July 2020 after Shawnee County commissioners hosted the first public engagement phase for the planning of the park. Public feedback was requested in October 2020 for park’s potential concept.
Source: CJonline

Kansas counties need state permission to raise sales taxes. Here’s why that could change.

Kansas may make it easier for local governments to raise sales taxes. State lawmakers on a Special Tax Committee have recommended that the Legislature remove a required step for counties to get legislative permission before asking voters for a tax increase. “This was something that I’ve been looking at, actually since I was a county commissioner, realizing that the process is extremely cumbersome,” said Rep. Adam Smith, R-Weskan and the committee chair. The committee was tasked with studying various tax issues, among which was simplifying the process for counties in particular to obtain sales tax authority. “Just judging from the general temperature of the committee, I think that’s something that will move forward fairly quickly,” Smith said. “If it’s the House that gets that, we will hopefully get that sent over to the Senate fairly quickly.”
Source: CJonline

Lenexa residents get to pick the new mural coming to Old Town

As work on the Lenexa Community Center ramps up next month, the City of Lenexa is letting residents choose the mural that will grace it. Until Jan. 7, residents can vote here on what will be the next mural to greet visitors at the renovated location. The project called for designs for a 900-square-foot mural that will wrap around the southwest corner of the building. Two artists made the cut: IT-RA ICONS and Doodle Dood. Both artists hail from the Kansas City area, which was important to the project, said Logan Wagler, director of parks and recreation. “We’ve got great artists here in the Kansas City metro,” he said. “Why not tap into the local artists for this effort? IT-RA ICONS is the collaborative name for Isaac Tapia and Rodrigo Alvarez. They’ve made a name for themselves as muralists, creating pieces chosen for the new terminal Kansas City International airport and events like World AIDS Day. For their submission, they said they wanted to capture the unique feeling of the area.
Source: Prairie Village Post

Chef thinks his small-town ‘honor stands’ would also work in Wichita, plans to try soon.

His new venture works well in Strong City, a town in the Flint Hills with a population of about 400. But will chef Stan Lerner’s “honor stands” — which invite people to grab fresh-baked bread and other items from unmanned pantries and trust them to leave the correct amount of cash on the “honor system” — also work in Wichita? Lerner, who owns Chef’s Stan’s Place — a tiny one-day-a-week brunch spot he opened last year in a former church building on the edge of Strong City — will be in Wichita this week scouting out spots where he might be able to set up a few of his honor stands. Friends he’s told about his new passion project say the idea won’t work in bigger cities and that he’s taking a risk moving into Wichita. But Lerner is undeterred. “I don’t agree,” he said. “I want to show people you can do an honor stand anywhere and that it’s not just people in small towns you can trust. I think you can trust people anywhere.” Lerner, who for six months in 2021 ran Chef’s Table Roadhouse in the old Logan’s Roadhouse spot at 353 S. Rock Road in Wichita, opened his first honor stand a couple of weeks ago. He was inspired by a neighboring Strong City business — Kelly’s Bees — which has been operating its own honor stand and letting customers pick up honey and other items at their leisure. That stand even allows customers to make their own change from an open cash box kept inside.
Source: Dining With Denise Neil |

Overland Park set to permanently allow backyard chickens on some lots

Overland Park plans to permanently allow backyard chickens on smaller lots by making its backyard chicken pilot program into city code. Last week, the Overland Park City Council Public Safety Committee voted 6-0 to recommend the city adopt a new ordinance enshrining backyard chickens in Overland Park in city code. In early 2022, the city approved a temporary backyard chicken pilot program, following in the footsteps of other Johnson County cities. The proposed ordinance, which would codify it in a new chapter called “Keeping of Chickens,” does have some small changes from the short-term backyard chicken pilot. The two-year pilot allowed property owners to obtain permits for backyard chickens on lots at least a quarter-acre in size. Before the pilot program, Overland Park allowed backyard chickens by right on large lots that were three acres or larger. On smaller lots, residents could keep chickens but only through an arduous and lengthy permitting process that required earning approval from both the Overland Park Planning Commission and the city council. Under the pilot, the city clerk and animal control office managed permitting and enforcement, respectively.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post

People in Fort Scott, Kansas, are trying to save their emergency room — or cope with the loss

When Fort Scott’s Mercy Hospital closed in early 2019, the community of 7,550 people in southeast, Kansas, briefly lost its emergency room. Mayor Matthew Wells remembers the time without an ER clearly. “I watched several people, two in particular that I’ve known my whole life, die with injuries sustained that very easily could have been resolved in an ER,” Wells said. Now, the town is once again in that position after the community’s stand-alone ER closed, leaving residents to travel at least 20 miles to the nearest emergency center and raising concerns about attracting new residents and businesses. Local officials are scrambling to bring in a new provider but are running into regulatory hurdles. After Mercy Hospital closed its doors in 2019, a non-profit Catholic health system based in Pittsburg, Kansas, Ascension Via Christi, stepped in to provide emergency room services. But recently, citing financial hardship and a decline in patients, Ascension announced the company would be leaving town December 20. “After exploring the options available, it was clear that this was the only option for us,” Drew Talbott, president of Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg, said in a release “There are other providers in the region positioned to serve the residents of Fort Scott and neighboring communities.” Wells said while he is thankful for the services Ascension provided Fort Scott, the departure is devastating to the community he loves so much.
Source: KCUR News