Kansas Municipal News
City staff members explain plans to reduce campsites around Lawrence
Within two days of announcing a new online form to report people living outside to Lawrence’s homeless programs team, the city had received more than four dozen responses regarding approximately 20 camps. City staff members are upping their efforts to discourage people from making new campsites in areas where the city has deemed it illegal. That includes parks, sidewalks, the public right of way, and on private property without the owner’s consent. Staff members are also formulating plans to make progress with residents of the longer-term campsites that are pretty well established and have larger populations. The city on Wednesday announced its new online form to report people living outside. It asks for the approximate address of the camp, a description of the people living there and when the campsite was first noticed. By Friday afternoon, the form had received 49 submissions regarding approximately 20 camps, Cori Wallace, a spokesperson for the city, said via email.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Community celebrates 150 years of Emporia Fire Department
Emporia Fire Chief Brandon Beck was more than pleased to welcome the community to the fire department’s 150th anniversary celebration Saturday. And he was even happier to see how many people turned out for the event. “We’ve had a great turnout today. It’s been just kind of a steady flow of people since 8 a.m. this morning,” he said as the celebration began winding down Saturday afternoon. Battalion Chief Tony Fuller told The Gazette last week that EFD recognizes every 25-year milestone. Beck, who joined the fire department as a volunteer in 1993, said it was exciting to be on hand for the sesquicentennial celebration. “It’s kind of exciting to be part of the department at this time,” Beck said. “I was here when we celebrated 125, so it’s kind of cool to see that. It’s just great to see all of the dedication.” Throughout the day, Beck said former firefighters and their families came out to see Fire Station No. 1, check out some of the new equipment and share memories of times long past.
Source: Emporia Gazette
Grant to improve 988 hotline capacity in Kansas
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says the state will receive a federal grant that will help build local capacity for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and related crisis services. The grant of over $5.4 million is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It will be provided to the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. Governor Kelly said the funds are critical to ensure that Kansas has the staff and resources to address the mental health crisis in the state. The funding will give Kansas the ability to recruit, hire and train additional staff to make sure state contact centers can collect and report monthly data on contacts that result in emergency rescue, suicide attempts in progress, and mobile crisis outreach referrals. A federal program will provide almost $1.9 million in the first year and nearly $1.8 million in each of the next two years to improve the response to 988 contacts – calls, chats and texts – originating in Kansas.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
New agreement with De Soto lays groundwork for Panasonic’s $4B battery plant
Panasonic has starting filling in details about hiring plans and how it will use tax incentives to build a $4 billion electric-vehicle battery plant in De Soto. On Thursday, the De Soto City Council approved a development agreement with Panasonic Energy of North America that outlines tax incentives for the company’s EV battery manufacturing plant. The agreement details the scope of the project and the company’s commitment to support community infrastructure needs and future employment quotas. “This is a hugely complex, impactful and important document for our city. It’s had our top priority and attention for the past several months,” City Administrator Mike Brungardt told the City Council. Last January, the City Council approved the creation of a tax increment financing district on the northern 6,000 acres of the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant property, now known as Astra Enterprise Park.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal
Preserving History and Using Cemeteries to Learn
Mount Olive Cemetery stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of those who rest within its peaceful and beautiful grounds. The City of Pittsburg’s Parks and Recreation Department takes great pride in providing a tranquil final resting place, where the community’s history is etched into the landscape. Toby Book, the director of the City of Pittsburg Parks & Recreation, highlights the significance of this cemetery. He mentioned, “I still get a lot of requests from families out of state to bring the remains or cremains back to this cemetery to be buried where they’re from, to be back in their community for their final resting place.” For many families, Mount Olive Cemetery represents more than just a place of rest; it’s a connection to their roots and a cherished final destination. The city is appreciative of the natural beauty within the cemetery, which is meticulously maintained by a local landscaping company.
Source: KOAM News
Want to eat the squirrel in your backyard? This class teaches you how
Have you ever wanted to trap, cook and eat the squirrels in your backyard? If the answer is yes, the upcoming squirrel clinic in Lawrence could be right up your alley. Amy Bousman, an education specialist with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP), is gearing up for the clinic happening later this month. This unique learning opportunity is focused on teaching locals how to eat the squirrels in your neighborhood in a safe, legal and ethical manner. “I’m a pretty out-of-the-box program designer,” Bousman said. “I try to develop programs that speak to the community in new and innovative ways.” Bousman, who encourages sustainability discussions during community events, got the idea to hold a squirrel clinic after hearing of the “unruly squirrel population” in Lawrence. She had received complaints from locals on the issue of squirrels getting into community orchards and grain supplies for backyard farms. Bousman hopes this clinic is something that can be applied to other population centers in northeast Kansas.
Source: KSNT 27 News
Mountain lion spotted in Parsons on Oct. 13
A security video recorded a young mountain lion walking around a shed on property near 17th Street and Kennedy along Labette Creek on Oct. 13. The sighting was reported to Parsons police who reported it to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks on Monday. KDWP visited the location and was satisfied that the animal, likely between 1 and 3 years old, had moved on. Matt Peek, wildlife research biologist for KDWP, told the Sun the lion is likely the same animal seen southeast of Iola on Oct. 9 based on distance and the timing of the two confirmations. “We were not able to determine age or sex, but most of the lions that have dispersed across the Midwest like this have been 1 to 3-year-old males. We’ve had over 60 confirmations since 2007, including nine in 2023,” Peek said. He said if biologists are able to collect DNA left behind by the cats, they would be able to tell what state they came from.
Source: Parsons Sun
Grants awarded to expand child care in Kansas
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund have announced grants to 27 statewide organizations to create new child care slots and support the expansion of high-quality affordable child care programs. The grants are part of the Child Care Capacity Accelerator Grant Program. In June, a first round of awards provided $43 million to 52 providers and community partnerships to create 4,211 new child care slots. The second round will provide another $11.4 million to 27 organizations and providers to create an additional 1,468 slots. In all, the grant program has provided a total of $55,018,294 to 67 communities and providers to create 5,655 high-quality child care slots. In a press release, Governor Kelly said “Expanding access to high-quality, affordable child care will spur economic growth by allowing more families to participate in the workforce and support the healthy development of Kansas children.”
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Fed’s Raphael Bostic doesn’t foresee rate cuts coming until ‘late 2024’
Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic on Friday said he doesn’t envision interest rate cuts happening until well into 2024. Though he cited progress on inflation and a slowing economy, the central bank official told CNBC that there’s still a lot of work to be done before the Fed reaches its inflation goal of 2% annually. “I would say late 2024,” Bostic replied when asked for a time frame when the first decrease could come. The Fed has raised its key borrowing rate 11 times since March 2022 for a total of 5.25 percentage points. While Bostic said he doesn’t see policymakers easing anytime soon, he has been explicit in insisting that rates have hit a “sufficiently restrictive” level where they don’t need to be raised anymore. However, he cautioned that the road back to acceptable levels of inflation could be a long one.
Source: Economy
Students advocate for pedestrian safety, with sidewalk painting
Pittsburg students get creative with color to help increase safety on city crosswalks. Four Pittsburg elementary schools are set to receive updates to their crosswalks with an eye-catching mural. Meadowlark Elementary was the first on the list to be upgraded — along with George Nettles, Westside, and Lakeside Elementary schools. Students and volunteers from Pittsburg, along with PSU’s Art Department chairmen, will be painting the streets in colors you usually see on the road every day but in an abstract pattern. What first began in 2018 from an SEK Art Fest grant has continued due to leftover paint and funds. PSU’s Art Department chairmen say it’s important to continue doing this as it provides more awareness to students using the crosswalks.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Governor Kelly Encourages Communities to Join Kansas Main Street Program
Governor Laura Kelly announced today that the Kansas Main Street program is seeking new communities to join the program in 2024. Kansas Main Street provides technical assistance and support for communities working to revitalize their downtown areas by focusing on economic vitality, design, promotion, and organization. The Kansas Main Street program was initially launched in 1985 but was ended in 2012 under the Brownback Administration. Governor Kelly restarted the program in 2019 with support from the Kansas Legislature. “The Kansas Main Street Program has been crucial to preserving and growing downtowns across the state,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “Downtown areas are the heartbeat and pride of most communities across Kansas, and improving these community pillars is part of how we’ll bring new jobs to the area.” Communities wishing to submit applications must first attend a virtual application workshop, which will explain the Main Street Approach and the process for completing the application. Main Street Kansas will host the next virtual application workshop at 10 a.m. Monday, November 13.
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce
Municipal Bond Trends for October 20, 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.
Can’t recycle or trash them: What happens to disposable e-cigarettes?
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
Chicago Is Losing Supermarkets. Does a Small Kansas Town Have the Answer?
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
Municipal Bond Trends for October 19, 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.
Valley Center ponders electric utility
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
City of Lawrence launches online form for reporting new homeless camps around the city
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
Committee crafting Lawrence’s land development rules wants more public input on parking space requirements
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
Farm to table: Participants at workshop in Olathe learn how to process their backyard chickens
If your backyard chicken is destined to become a chicken dinner, the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm in Olathe can help you learn the skills to make that happen. The farm recently held a chicken processing workshop where participants learned how to slaughter, pluck and extract the chicken’s internal organs. Grace Fritz, stagecoach operations supervisor at Mahaffie, noticed that while there are a lot of classes around Johnson County about how to raise backyard chickens, there aren’t so many on going from the backyard to the kitchen table.
Source: Joco 913 News
New terminal brings excitement, concern for Topeka airport
The Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority (MTAA) held a town hall meeting to address its upcoming changes at the Philip Billard Airport. Construction on the new terminal is set to be completed in November. The airport will have a new restaurant, improved office spaces and other amenities. It previously housed the popular Tammy’s Billard Airport Restaurant, but now, that could change.
Source: KSNT 27 News