Kansas Municipal News
Harvey County administrator resigns
Harvey County commissioners accepted Administrator Anthony Swarztendruber’s resignation at the end of the county commission meeting Tuesday. After returning from executive session, Commissioner Becky Reimer announced that Swartzendruber was retiring. “We wish him well, and I’ll entertain a motion for someone to accept this letter of resignation,” Reimer said. Swartzendruber will continue working with the county until Dec. 27, 2024.
Source: Harvey County Now
Voters reject JCN and JW bond issues
While they got a little help from out-of-county voters, it was registered voters in Jefferson County who last week largely did in the bond issues put forth by Jefferson County North USD 339 and Jefferson West USD 340. For the second time in six months the JCN Board of Education was seeking the authority to issue $5.5 million in bonds to pay for upgraded heating and air conditioning systems, better lighting, a new roof, renovated restrooms, more classrooms, improved security at district facilities, improvements to parking lots, and better access to facilities in accordance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Meanwhile, the JW school board wanted permission to issue $21 million in bonds to cover the cost of adding classrooms at the middle school and the elementary school, remodeling and upgrading all of the district’s buildings, and constructing a multipurpose facility to include a performing arts center between the high school and the middle school.
Source: JeffCountyNews
Shawnee Mission schools staff will soon have press-button badges to call for help
Staff in Shawnee Mission schools will be getting bluetooth-enabled badges next spring that will allow them to press a button and immediately call for help in emergencies. The school board unanimously approved a five-year contract with Atlanta-based Centegix to supply the alert badges and train staff to use them. The alert system, “has been attributed to saving lives not only in the most tragic of scenarios but also in some of what can be described as daily issues,” said Superintendent Michael Schumacher in recommending the purchase on Monday. The district will pay $2.6 million to cover the installation, training and connectivity for the first five years. If the contract is renewed, there would be a $500,000 annual subscription fee after that.
Source: Johnson County Post
Leawood mulls 5 ideas for what to do with former city hall grounds
Community gathering space was the operative phrase earlier this week as Leawood City Council members reviewed five potential ideas for what to do with the city’s original city hall and fire station. Councilmembers heard the presentations during a special work session that included: park green space, an event space, gallery space for local artists, a splash pad and a demonstration garden and museum space. All of the ideas had some aspect of community gathering elements at their hearts because, the presenters said, that type of space is virtually nonexistent in Leawood.
Source: Johnson County Post
PV weighs ‘significant’ increase for next police body cam contract. Here’s what city would get.
Prairie Village police officers may soon get new body cameras, in-car cameras, tasers and more. The Prairie Village City Council during its council committee of the whole session on Monday voted 10-0 to refer a $3.6 million, 10-year contract with Axon for police equipment to the full city council for consideration. Councilmembers Dave Robinson and Ian Graves were absent from Monday’s meeting.
Source: Johnson County Post
Federal dollars could help pay for new trails around former JoCo industrial site
A local partnership that has involvement on both sides of the state line is requesting $20 million from the federal government to fund a trail connection that would include the site of now-demolished industrial site in southern Johnson County. The city of Overland Park, the Johnson County Park and Recreation District, Jackson County Parks and Recreation on the Missouri side and the nonprofit Heartland Conservation Alliance have teamed up to request a Federal Community Change Grant for the project. If awarded the full amount, the trail connection would complete a 14-mile linkage that would cross into Missouri and also increase “access to nature” while having “multiple environmental benefits” as well, according to Overland Park city documents.
Source: Johnson County Post
Hutchinson voters will get to decide on $109.5M bond
Voters who live in the Hutchinson school district, USD 308, will have an important choice to make next spring. The USD 308 Board of Education wants them to approve a $109.5 million bond. On Monday night, the BOE unanimously approved putting it to a vote. The anticipated bond vote is set for April 1, 2025. If voters approve it, most of the bond would pay for a new middle school at 23rd and Severance. The school would have a sixth-grade wing, a grass football practice field, and a production kitchen.
Source: KSN-TV
WaKeeney’s Iwo Jima Memorial installed at new location
This Veteran’s Day has been extra special for the people of WaKeeney. In addition to the usual celebrations for veterans, the community rededicated its Iwo Jima Memorial, which had been in storage for a couple of years. Many years ago, several WaKeeney citizens came up with the idea for the memorial—a silhouette of the famous World War II image of Marines raising the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi after a hard-fought battle on the island of Iwo Jima.
Source: KSN-TV
Saline County residents are asked to take opioid survey
The Saline County Health Department is asking residents for help to tackle the opioid crisis. According to the department, the county’s Opioid Task Force decided the best way to address the issues is with a comprehensive needs assessment, which starts with a survey. All responses are anonymous. The survey takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete and is open to all residents of Saline County. The questionnaire is designed to help the task force better understand how the community views opioids and substance use disorders. The task force also wants to identify service gaps and develop targeted prevention and treatment strategies.
Source: KSN-TV
Topeka leaders approve $74 million lead pipe replacement plan
The Topeka City Council voted to allocate nearly $75,000,000 to fund a lead pipe replacement plan. At Tuesday’s city council meeting, Topeka leaders passed a resolution to amend the 2025-2034 Capital Improvement Plan and 2025-2027 Capital Improvement Budget (CIB) to include the Lead Service Line Replacement Project. This vote approved the total budget of the project for the amount of $74,280,000. The council also voted to consider applying for a $74,280,000 loan from the Kansas Public Water Supply Loan Fund by Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). The loan will have an estimated $37,585,680 in loan forgiveness with payments to occur over a 20-year period.
Source: KSNT 27 News
Lake Shawnee will soon see 7,000 pounds of trout
Lake Shawnee will be stocked with more trout later this month. Shawnee County Parks + Rec (SCP+R) announced on social media Tuesday that annual fall trout stocking is scheduled for later in November. Members of the community are invited to watch 7,000 pounds of rainbow trout get released into Lake Shawnee. To give the fish time to acclimate to the Lake Shawnee’s water temperature, fishing will be closed from Nov. 22-29. The Lake will reopen for fishing Saturday, Nov. 30 and trout season will start on Sunday, Dec. 1.
Source: KSNT 27 News
Riley County police increase enforcement to combat increasing traffic accidents
The Riley County Police Department (RCPD) is stepping up enforcement efforts as a way to stop the increase of traffic collisions. The RCPD said its officers responded to a “concerning increase in traffic collisions” last month. The department posted on social media that October of 2024 registered the highest amount of traffic accidents of any month over the last five years.
Source: KSNT 27 News
City staff take action after bad smells reported in the Oakland area
Staff at the Topeka wastewater treatment plant took action after locals complained of bad smells in the Oakland neighborhood this past weekend. Amanda Knowland with the City of Topeka told 27 News that city staff made some adjustments to the plant on the weekend of Nov. 9-10 following complaints from locals of strong odors in the Oakland area, possibly coming from the nearby wastewater treatment plant at 1115 Northeast Poplar Street. She said the source of the odors may be tied to multiple different factors. “First, there was a larger number of high-strength waste deliveries due to the holiday,” Knowland said. “When these trucks dispose of their waste at the plant, it can cause a periodic uptick in odors, but that is generally short-lived.”
Source: KSNT 27 News
Capital City works to empower small business owners
The City of Topeka is calling on small business owners to attend a workshop to grow their skills later this month. GO Topeka is working with city officials to host a Supplier Diversity Workshop, according to a news release from City of Topeka. This workshop will prepare small business owners with tools they might need to succeed, such as insight to work successfully with the government.
Source: KSNT 27 News
With eye on future projects, Merriam hashes out new incentives policy
The city of Merriam is looking to possible expand the types of public incentive it can offer developers. On Monday, the Merriam City Council discussed a new policy that would allow the city to consider applications for community improvement districts, or CIDs. This comes roughly a year after Kansas City-based real estate company R.H. Johnson Company requested a CID to refurbish Merriam Town Center, a shopping center near Antioch Road and Johnson Drive currently anchored by a Cinemark theaters and a Home Depot. Still, City Administrator Chris Engel told the city council on Monday that the policy is not being considered as a direct response to that request. A community improvement district is a type of public incentive (employed frequently by other Johnson County cities) that imposes an additional sales tax within a designated project area. The revenue raised by that sale tax goes towards helping finance the project, according to state statute.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Report: Broadband can transform a rural community
One of the biggest rural gaming events in the country, the GigaZone Gaming Championship and TechXpo, is supporting young people to explore technology and all it offers in Bemidji, Minnesota.
“We had started to see nationally some very large events that were selling out quickly, all about eSports,” Gary Johnson, CEO of Paul Bunyan Communications, told the Daily Yonder in a Zoom interview. “And we thought, what a better way to deliver a new, exciting opportunity for our region and leverage the network that we have built and our members have invested in.” The eSports event was highlighted in a report from the Center on Rural Innovation about the benefits fiber broadband brings to rural communities. “For those communities that had high broadband utilization, they saw a tremendous difference, specifically with entrepreneurship,” Amanda Weinstein, director of Research at the Center on Rural Innovation, told the Daily Yonder in a Zoom interview. “We saw not just our businesses not closing, but new businesses opening. The difference was so stark that it was a 213% difference in the business growth rate.” Johnson said the Covid-19 pandemic changed things for many communities.
Source: Route Fifty – All Content
Lawrence City Commission approves land development code update, despite public outcry
Lawrence city commissioners heard from more than 50 community members Tuesday, most asking them to hit pause on the updated land development code. Ultimately, they voted to approve the update. The land development code regulates development in the city, including zoning regulations, residential occupancy limits and more. The document has wide-ranging implications for the growth and direction of the city. In the summer of 2022, the city started reviewing the code to make it simpler and aligned with goals like sustainability and housing. The commission created the Land Development Code Update Steering Committee to work on the process.
Source: The Lawrence Times
City to continue work on policies for housing incentive districts
Manhattan city commissioners at Tuesday’s work session will revisit policies on Reinvestment Housing Incentive Districts, or RHIDs. These districts are part of a state program meant to help developers build housing by assisting in the financing of infrastructure improvements. Specifically on Tuesday, commissioners will discuss RHID policies it recently adopted related to infill, which is housing projects that use existing infrastructure, and greenfield, which is housing on land that hasn’t yet been developed.
Source: themercury.com
How Topeka is dealing with affordable housing with need outpacing supply
A lack of affordable housing options in the capital city has been blamed for a growing number of unhoused Topekans. The Topeka Housing Authority is providing solutions by monopolizing on something the city has plenty of — vacant properties.
Source: CJonline
Municipal Bond Trends for November 8, 2024
The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. 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.