Kansas Municipal News
Groundbreaking ceremony coming next week for Coffey County semiconductor plant
A groundbreaking and shovel ceremony for a new computer chip manufacturing facility in Coffey County is set next week. Secure Semiconductor Manufacturing, a microelectronics manufacturer who will primarily supply semiconductor components for EMP Shield and other Semiconductor manufacturers across the United States, will break ground on its 30,000 square foot facility at 1 p.m. Sept. 1, at the Coffey County Airport. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas will provide the keynote address and will be joined by other legislators and local officials, ending with a shovel ceremony, during which pictures will be taken.
Source: Derby Informer | News
City of Wichita considers fines for landlords who retaliate against renters
Wichita is considering fines for landlords who retaliate against tenants who are otherwise in good standing. The proposed ordinance introduced Tuesday to City Council would penalize landlords who evict or raise rent within six months of a tenant’s complaint to the city or landlord about housing conditions. It would not apply to tenants who are late on rent or fail to uphold other tenant responsibilities. State law makes it technically illegal for landlords to retaliate against tenants for complaining to city inspectors. But there is no agency to enforce the rule. “There’s nowhere to make complaints other than some kind of discrimination complaint,” said Nate Johnson, an assistant city attorney for Wichita.
Source: KLC Journal
Freeman to build new hospital in Pittsburg
Freeman Health System made a big announcement in southeast Kansas Wednesday morning. In a news conference held in Pittsburg plans for a brand new hospital were revealed. Officials specified the new facility will be approximately 170,000 sq. ft. in size, house 50 beds, and introduce 50-100 new jobs in the area. An exact location or timetable for the project was not provided.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Paola gears up for annual Roots Festival
The tradition of the Roots Festival in Paola will continue Friday and Saturday, as musicians and barbecue enthusiasts gather on and around Park Square. It will be the 34th year for the festival, which will take place Friday, Aug. 25, and Saturday, Aug. 26. There will be a change this year to the barbecue competition, which is always one of the highlights of the festival. Barbecue organizer Jon Smail said there will still be the East Central Kansas State Barbecue Championship, but there will also be a backyard cookoff this year. Smail said about 25 to 35 barbecue teams will compete in the main championship, where they will be vying for winnings. The top 10 overall winners, along with the top five winners in each category, will bring home prize money.
Source: Local News | republic-online.com
Prairie Village explores adding housing into commercial zones
Prairie Village is exploring options to mix residential projects into some districts of the city already zone for commercial uses. The planning commission on Tuesday asked city staff to research the feasibility of allowing different types of housing to exist alongside office buildings and shopping centers in some limited quarters of the city. At the meeting, staff laid out current standards and options for growth for each district — multifamily, commercial and mixed-use districts — and the commission discussed what options they’d like to see in the future.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Johnson County parks featured in new retro-style posters
Four Johnson County parks have been posterized. Earlier this month, the Johnson County Park and Recreation District unveiled four “classic WPA-style” poster designs, each featuring a local park under JCPRD’s purview. The parks featured include: Shawnee Mission Park in Shawnee, created by Michael Perry,, Cedar Niles Park in Olathe, created by Daniel Bartle, Big Bull Creek Park in Edgerton, created by Tad Carpenter, Lexington Lake Park in De Soto, created by Luke Wittman.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Shawnee Mission district must pay family $400K in special ed dispute
A court ruling that the Shawnee Mission School District denied an elementary school student appropriate special needs services will have a financial impact on the district as a new school year begins. The district has been ordered to pay $400,000 in attorney fees for the parents who brought the suit, as well as hire an independent specialist to develop the child’s education plan and hire a behavior analyst to track the child’s progress as he attempts to make up for the three semesters he had been denied appropriate services. The district already has incurred $432,503 in legal fees from the three years the matter wound its way through various hearings and a lawsuit in federal district court.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Lawrence Municipal Court receives big haul in school supply drive to reduce ticket fines
A Lawrence Municipal Court initiative that allowed people to pay for $50 worth of traffic tickets with $15 worth of school supplies brought in more than 900 items. Vicki Stanwix, court administrator, said via email Tuesday that 44 people donated items in exchange for a reduction in parking or infraction fines. The court also received donations from some people who owed less than $50 in fines, and from people who did not owe fines to the court but wanted to give back to the community, she said. Altogether, the court received 924 school supply items including 187 glue sticks, 160 boxes of crayons, 79 notebooks, 55 packs of pencils and 15 backpacks, Stanwix said.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Addition will double the size of Wakefield Museum
On Friday, the small museum in Wakefield broke ground on an addition that will not only about double the museum’s size to display items, but board members hope it will become a place that members of the community will use to host events. According to Mick Zurmely, a member of the Building Expansion Committee behind the planning, fundraising and activities that made the addition a possibility, increased display space is the primary goal of the 60-foot by 90-foot building addition under construction on the north side of the Wakefield Museum.
Source: www.ccenterdispatch.com
Leawood is still debating how tall buildings can be in the city
The Leawood City Council insists that capping building heights at four stories is best for the city. The city council on Monday remanded a proposed ordinance lowering the maximum height for office buildings and mixed-use projects to the Leawood Planning Commission for further review. The commission has already recommended the city council deny the ordinance, citing concerns that it would hamper development and growth in southern Leawood. The proposed city code caps building heights at four stories. The change would lower the maximum height for buildings zoned for planned office or mixed use from 90 feet to 55 feet. This would generally mean capping buildings at four stories, instead of Leawood’s current maximum of six stories. Under the new ordinance, the city would make exceptions for a “signature building” with a unique design or for sites that already have tall trees.
Source: Prairie Village Post
More express toll lanes in Johnson County? Kansas talks of adding them to crowded K-10
As Kansas’ first-ever express toll lanes are under construction on U.S. 69 in Overland Park, the state is now considering adding more to ease congestion on another highway in Johnson County: Kansas 10. The Kansas Department of Transportation is studying how to address traffic and safety issues on the 17-mile stretch from the interchange with Interstates 435 and 35 in Lenexa, west through Olathe and De Soto to the Douglas County line. And officials said one option could be widening the highway with one express toll lane in each direction. The other lanes would remain free. “Expanding K-10 with express lanes is one option being considered,” Steven Cross, KDOT project manager, told the Star in an email. “This can be a good solution for addressing long term congestion especially on corridors like K-10 which are anticipated to experience continued growth in traffic.”
Source: Joco 913 News
Lawrence may become first city in Kansas to protect Black residents from hair discrimination
According to a CROWN 2023 Workplace Research Study, approximately two-thirds of Black women change their hair for a job interview, and 41% change their hair from curly to straight. “We know that the traditional white standard of beauty is one that is centered in professional settings, and that is something that Black women and men have had to conform to, and that takes them out of their identity of who they are,” Lawrence City Commissioner Amber Sellers told KCUR’s Up To Date. Sellers was one of the commissioners who voted to adopt the CROWN Act, which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” at a city meeting last week. The commission will cast a final vote to pass the ordinance on Tuesday, Aug. 22.
Source: KCUR
SEED Grants Available to Invest in Rural Quality-of-Life Initiatives
Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland announced today that $275,000 will be available through a second round of Strategic Economic Expansion and Development (SEED) grants. The SEED program supports economic development and revitalization efforts in smaller counties across Kansas through investments in quality-of-life initiatives. “SEED grants help improve community appeal and have already been game-changing for more than 60 cities across the state,” said Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland. “The Kelly Administration is committed to developing community assets and investing in new opportunities that will support growth in rural areas throughout Kansas.” The grants will be administered through the Kansas Department of Commerce to communities in 78 designated counties with a population of 5,000 or less.
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce
Municipal Bond Trends for August 22, 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.
Hollywood studio comes to Kansas: Pure Imagination will set up a $40M site at K-State Salina campus
Officials from across the state were in Salina on Tuesday morning as a $40 million partnership was announced between Kansas State University and an independent Hollywood studio. Kansas Lt. Gov. and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said Pure Imagination Studios is partnering with K-State to bring a 58,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, advanced spatial computing and learning studio to the university’s Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus. … Named the Kansas Advanced Immersive Research for Emerging Systems (K-AIRES) facility, Toland said the studio is set to employ more than 100 people in “high-wage, highly-skilled positions.”
Source: Hutch News
Municipal Bond Trends for August 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.
Landlords’ lawsuit against City of Lawrence over source of income, immigration status will continue, judge rules
A lawsuit arguing that changes to the City of Lawrence’s nondiscrimination ordinance, which now prohibits landlords from refusing to accept rental applications based on source of income, are unconstitutional is set to continue following a ruling Monday in Douglas County District Court. Along with preventing landlords from refusing applications from tenants who receive rental assistance such as Section 8 housing vouchers, the amended nondiscrimination ordinance approved by the Lawrence City Commission in February also makes it unlawful to discriminate based on someone’s status as a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking or stalking, and based on someone’s immigration status.
Source: LJWorld
Property taxes could be fully refunded for some Wichitans next year
The City of Wichita is considering a temporary program to knock property taxes down to zero for seniors, lower-income families and disabled veterans who qualify. The City wants to piggyback on a state program that offers a 75% property tax refund. People already receiving the state refund would be able to apply for an extra 25% refund from the City of Wichita, which would fully cover property taxes. The 25% refund was added in an amendment to the proposed budget for 2024 this week, but it won’t be set in stone until the City holds a final public hearing Tuesday and then votes on whether to approve the program.
Source: KSN-TV
Public Transit: Countywide Transportation Program in Bourbon County
In the coming weeks, folks in Bourbon County will have a source of public transportation. “Right now currently there’s only one option for public transportation and that’s through a taxi service here in Fort Scott,” said Rachel Carpenter, HBCAT Director for the Center of Economic Growth. On August 28th, the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team will partner with the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program to bring a county-wide public transportation service to Bourbon County. “Transportation has always been an issue, especially wheelchair-accessible transportation. We’ve been serving Crawford County, Pittsburg, Neosho County for several years and we’ve been looking to get back into Bourbon County,” said Scott Christiansen, SEK-CAP Director of Transportation.
Source: KSNF/KODE
New funds released to preserve history in Kansas small towns
Governor Laura Kelly announced Friday that new federal funding will be going toward preserving the history of rural Kansas towns. A total of $750,000 will be used to preserve historic properties in the downtown areas of Kansas’ rural communities with populations under 30,000, according to a press release from the Office of the Governor. Thirteen subgrant programs across 12 states received funds through the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants, including the Kansas Historical Society’s State Historic Preservation Office. “Kansas is home to many historical and cultural sites that tell the story of our state’s and our nation’s past,” Kelly said. “Thanks to the National Park Service and the Kansas Historical Society, we can protect our rural communities for future generations to learn from and enjoy.”
Source: KSNF/KODE