Kansas Municipal News
Johnson County is looking for public input to improve its public transit system
The community’s input is needed to make improvements to public transportation in Johnson County. Public engagement is part of Johnson County Transit’s strategic planning process that will serve as a roadmap for the future. The public will have the opportunity to interact with the project team at a pop-up event during the Overland Park Farmer’s Market on Oct. 5 from 10 a.m. to noon. The public is encouraged to stop by and share their thoughts on public transit. Johnson County’s Transit Strategic Plan is focused on clearly articulating JCT’s vision, strategic direction, and the methods necessary to achieve these goals. The process will include extensive public outreach including input from Johnson County’s Board of County Commissioners, users of the system, the Johnson County Transportation Council and the broader Johnson County community. Engagement will focus on effectively giving the community a voice through collaborative and inclusive discussions. The goals of the strategic plan are to: Determine the level and types of service that will serve the most residents and workers most effectively within the budgetary resources available at present; Position JCT for stable operations, partnerships, and growth in the long term’ Make JCT a recognizable asset for the county’s economic growth and diversification and quality of life; Ensure mobility support for vulnerable populations and the workforce; and Recommend enhancements in organizational structure, internal expertise, and standard operating procedures to ensure JCT’s integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness at meeting ongoing operational challenges, exceeding customer expectations, and carrying out the Board’s direction.
For more information please visit the Strategic Plan webpage.
Source: Johnson County Kansas |
Rebuilt Shawnee Fire HQ focused on firefighters’ health — Here’s how
After almost 40 years since its last major renovation, Shawnee’s Fire Station 71 is ready to show off its new look. The John B. Glaser Fire Station 71, 6501 Quivira Rd., which also serves as the Shawnee Fire Department’s headquarters, will have its grand reopening to the public this Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. The celebration will showcase the approximately $13.7 million renovation project, which was centered on creating better workflow arrangements at the station to shorten emergency response times and also features improvements to firefighters’ quality of life while maintaining room on site for future expansion.
Source: Johnson County Post
City of Wichita awards $1.3 million to developers to buy, renovate public housing units
The Wichita City Council voted Tuesday to award $1.3 million in COVID recovery funds to nonprofit and for-profit housing developers to buy and renovate 33 single-family public housing units. Wichita Habitat for Humanity, a local nonprofit, received $640,000 for the rehabilitation and sale of 16 houses on North Piatt. Large Enterprise, a California-based business, received $440,000 for the renovation and rental of 11 properties in northeast and southwest Wichita. Residential Housing Solutions, a local business, received $240,000 for the renovation and sale of six houses on North Minnesota. The homes the developers will buy are public housing units the city is in the midst of selling. Wichita has 352 in total, many of which have already been sold to homeowners or investors without restrictions on future sale price or rent. The city reports that many of the houses require “much needed rehabilitation.” But Wichita set aside roughly 60 homes that it hopes to keep affordable long-term. In May, the city opened a call for proposals from developers to buy, renovate and then sell or rent the properties. Using its COVID recovery funds, Wichita offered $40,000 per unit to help buy and rehabilitate the homes. But developers are required to keep the units affordable long-term by participating in federal rental assistance or homeownership programs, which limit the maximum income of participating tenants or homebuyers.
Source: KLC Journal
Once home to Kansas’ most infamous criminals, historic Lansing prison opening for tours
Most people did their best to avoid this place for nearly 160 years. That’s about to change. When the Kansas Department of Corrections opened a newly constructed Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, Kansas, in 2020 it meant the old, stone-walled prison building that housed inmates since the 1860s would be left empty and without purpose. Instead of demolishing it, the Department of Corrections has transferred control of the building to the Lansing Historical Society and Museum, paving the way for the historic prison to be opened for tours. Visitors will have plenty to see in the buildings that have mostly been left in the condition they were in when the prison shut down. Hundreds of tiny cells on multiple floors sit with their barred doors open inviting tour goers to step inside. Paint peels from the walls, some covered in graffiti and the grunge accumulated from the men serving their time there. The access provides a strong visual reminder of the conditions put on people serving time in prison. The prison’s walls also hold the stories of the people who were locked inside and those who walked out after working their shifts. People taking the tours will hear about the day to day routine of prison life lived by the majority of the inmates who served their time and were released from Lansing. They’ll also hear the stories of some of the facility’s more infamous residents. Several whose time there ended at the end of a gallows noose. Members of the community, the Lansing Historical Society and Museum and dignitaries gathered outside the Lansing Correctional Facility, which closed in 2020, for the transfer of keys on Sept. 9 to the Lansing Historical Society and Museum. Tours of the prison to the public began Sept. 13. Tammy Ljungblad Tljungblad@kcstar.com The prison tour is modeled off of a similar tour in Missouri. About a year ago, Kansas Sen. Jeff Pittman, a Leavenworth Democrat, approached the Lansing Historical Society and Museum with the idea of preserving the prison by converting it into a tourist attraction, similar to the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. TOP VIDEOS After months of discussions, on Aug. 1, 2024, the Kansas Department of Corrections and the Lansing Historical Society and Museum formalized their partnership by signing a memorandum of understanding, allowing the society to offer guided public tours of the historic Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
How mail delays in Kansas and Missouri could create problems in the 2024 election
As the Nov. 5 election draws closer, tens of thousands of Kansas and Missouri voters are preparing to cast their absentee ballots through the mail. Whether you’re planning to be out of town on Election Day or have a disability that makes it hard to get to the polls, absentee voting is a convenient way to make sure your voice is heard. But recent U.S. Postal Service delays in both states may throw a wrench in those plans for some voters. Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, the state’s highest-ranking election official, sounded off in a letter to U.S. Postmaster Louis DeJoy about the issue Monday, Sept. 9. “I am extremely concerned there is a troubling pattern that persists in the U.S. Postal Service’s processing and handling of ballots,” Schwab wrote. “Many are either missing postmarks or failing to reach the county election office on time, even when voters have mailed them timely.” He added that nearly one-fifth of Kansas voters cast their ballots by mail, but around 1,000 mail-in ballots were not counted in the Aug. 6 primary election due to missing postmarks or late arrival times. Schwab did not specify where in the state ballots had gone uncounted. TOP VIDEOS The video player is currently playing an ad. “That means that 2 percent of ballots transmitted by mail in Kansas were not counted due to USPS administrative failures,” he wrote. Mail delays in the Kansas City area have been going on for months — and barring some major improvements in the next seven weeks, the issues are likely to persist up to and through Election Day. Here’s what voters can do to ensure their ballot is received and counted.
Source: Kansas City Breaking News & Sports | The Kansas City Star
Municipal Bond Trends for September 13, 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.
Municipal Bond Trends for September 12, 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.
40 Local Bridge Projects Receive More than $40M
40 local and off-system bridge projects across the state will receive a combined total of $40.25 million as part of two local bridge improvement programs capitalizing on new revenue from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). … Combined with matching funds from the awarded cities and counties, the total project value is over $45.2 million. By reshaping the local bridge programs to take advantage of BIL, the Kansas Department of Transportation more than doubled its annual funding as part of the existing Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program (IKE). … For this cycle of the local bridge programs, KDOT received a combined total of 170 applications requesting $162.3 million.
Source: Governor of the State of Kansas
‘A stars-aligned moment’ — JoCo urges Lenexa to approve shelter permit ahead of key vote
With praise for Lenexa’s partnership and a pledge to back the city up if problems arise, Johnson County commissioners have forwarded a letter urging Lenexa officials to approve a proposed homeless services center and shelter. Commissioners voted 4-2 Thursday to send the one-and-a-half page letter to Lenexa Mayor Julie Sayers and city councilmembers. The city’s governing body next week will consider whether to accept the recommendation of their city’s planning commission to deny a permit for the proposed shelter at a repurposed hotel near Interstate 35 and 95th Street. “We respectfully disagree with staff’s rationale for denial and with how staff and the Planning Commission applied the Golden factor criteria in its recommendation,” the letter says, while acknowledging there may be “understandable” concerns. The project should not negatively impact property values and will have a positive effect on public health and safety, the commission’s letter says. (The “Golden criteria” stem from a 1978 court ruling in an Overland Park case that set forth factors that jurisdictions can consider when ruling on local land uses.)
Source: Johnson County Post
Halstead to hold public hearing on energy storage facility
The City of Halstead will host a public meeting on zoning regulations related to a proposed energy storage facility. In October 2023, Boston-based Concurrent LLC submitted an interconnection application to the Southwest Power Pool, which oversees power transmission in Kansas and several neighboring states. Concurrent wants to build a system that would collect and store renewable energy during times of low demand so that it can be delivered during times of high demand. The proposed Tallgrass Prairie Energy Center has a planned capacity of 200 megawatts and up to 800 megawatt-hours. The company plans to install the facility in Halstead Industrial Park. Once operational, it would store enough power for 200,000 to 800,000 homes. The public meeting will be held Monday, Sept. 16, at 6:30 p.m. at Halstead City Hall. A draft of the proposed zoning regulations is below.
Source: KSN-TV
Sedgwick County selected for emergency preparedness exercise
Sedgwick County Emergency Management (SCEM) was chosen to participate in a national exercise program conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The program aids government entities in conducting emergency preparedness exercises to gauge the disaster readiness of the organization. The SCEM applied for the program and was chosen for the program over other governmental agencies in Region 7, which includes Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. Going through the program will help Sedgwick County design and conduct a full-scale active shooter simulation to be held March 11, 2025. “These exercises are so important for us to assess our preparedness planning, resources and capabilities to work with community partners in times of crisis,” said SCEM Director Julie Stimson. “Having FEMA support us through this process will fine-tune the training even more, at no cost to our community.” Sedgwick County’s exercise is one of 43 selected across the country that FEMA will support for 38 government entities. A well-designed simulation provides a low-risk environment to familiarize personnel with emergency roles and responsibilities. After the exercise, SCEM can reevaluate its preparedness plans and identify strengths and areas for improvement. “I already know that our Emergency Management team is top-notch because they’ve proven it in the field countless times, but there is always room for improvement in our plans,” Chairman of the Sedgwick County Board of County Commissioners, Commissioner Ryan Baty said. “A large, complex exercise like this is an objective way to test our policies and procedures and enhance our response, before Sedgwick County has to deal with a real-life disaster.”
Source: Derby Informer | Area
City and firefighters union are at impasse in negotiations; Lawrence City Commission may have to resolve the conflict
City of Lawrence administrators and the local firefighters union are at an impasse in their negotiations for the coming year, and if they don’t resolve it, the City Commission might have to resolve the conflict next month. The city and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1596 union, which represents firefighters and other emergency personnel employed by Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, are working to come up with a new memorandum of understanding. The current one is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2024.
Source: LJWorld
Arcadia: A small town with a big history
Arcadia will celebrate 162 years on Saturday with Old Settlers’ Days. Festivities begin at 9 a.m. as parade participants gather at the ballpark. … While only a small town of 250 today, Arcadia has a very interesting history and a lot to celebrate. According to Legends of Kansas, the first to settle in the area was a blacksmith named Howell in 1844. Married to a Cherokee woman, he was given permission to live in, at that time, the Neutral Lands.
Source: Morning Sun
Municipal Bond Trends for September 11, 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.
Hiawatha Maple Leaf Festival set for Sept 28
The Hiawatha Maple Leaf Festival is set for Saturday, Sept. 28 and organizers with the Hiawatha Chamber and Visitors Bureau are excited about this year’s lineup of activities. This annual festival can be found in downtown Hiawatha around the courthouse square, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the fourth Saturday of each September. Maple Leaf 2024 will be bringing in some fantastic music — as the Chamber is featuring True North as the headlining band, scheduled for a noon performance on the north side of the courthouse steps. Chamber Administrator Sarah Kleopfer said there will be a couple of new performers this year: Lisa Scholz, from the Highland area, who will be performing at 10 am, and South Wind, a band out of Manhattan, featuring Hiawatha’s own Christian Shaffer at 11 am. The Hiawatha Headliners (1:30 pm) and Tori Wist (2 pm) will round out the musical entertainment for the afternoon. Find all of them on the north steps of the Brown County Courthouse. Children’s entertainment and carnival attractions, along with local magician Barron Stringfellow — who will be performing on the south side of the courthouse at 11 a.m. this year — craft and food vendors will set the stage for an awesome fall festival. Back this year will be a petting zoo, which can be also be found on the southwest side of the square. Kleopfer said the Chamber board was excited to bring in several new children’s entertainers this year. This includes the Bluffwoods Boffers, Entertainment & Games. Dive into the world of Live Action Role Play and learn how to battle! Also new this year will be Karen Smith, balloon artist. Songwriter and author Karla Bauer of Kansas City will be entertaining at 10:30 a.m. and again at 1:30 p.m. on the south side of the courthouse lawn near the petting zoo. Kleopfer confirmed that nearly 60 craft, home decor and business vendors will be set up around the square, along with several food vendors that will be spread out on Oregon Street, where picnic tables will be set out for festival-goers. In conjunction with the Maple Leaf Festival, Heartland Realty and the Brown County Humane Society are sponsoring an inflatable costume race, which begins at Heartland Realty at 9 a.m. This race is to raise awareness of the Humane Society’s spay and neuter program. Everyone is welcome! Back this year will be the car show, found on the west side of the courthouse on Seventh Street. Stop by to check out the vintage rides that will be featured. Anyone interested in entering the car show can contact Tom Martin at (785) 288-0402 or Philip Grabhorn at (785) 288-8912.
Source: hiawathaworldonline.com
If Lenexa rejects homeless shelter, Johnson County could be back at square one. Then what?
If the Lenexa City Council on Tuesday denies a special use permit to operate a homeless shelter, Johnson County could be sent back to the drawing board — possibly needing to find a new location and deciding whether to commit alternate funding in the face of a fast-approaching federal deadline. The decision would be a major setback after the county has spent months evaluating the Lenexa site, following years of planning for a much-needed shelter. Late last month, the Lenexa Planning Commission voted 9-0 to deny a special use permit request to operate a year-round shelter at the La Quinta Inn and Suites off of Interstate 35 and 95th Street. The permit is required for the county to close on the real estate purchase, and needed for reStart, the Kansas City-based homeless services agency, to run the shelter. In its recommendation to reject the permit, Lenexa city staff said the use is inconsistent with the character of the neighborhood, would “create a concentration of negative external impacts” in the community, detrimentally affect nearby properties and strain law enforcement resources. But the Lenexa City Council has the final say to approve or deny the permit, or send it back to the planning commission with reasoning for it to be reconsidered. The council will consider the permit request at its meeting next Tuesday evening.
Source: Joco 913 News
Massive Johnson County sports complex to open soon in growing development. Here’s when
After months of construction, an Overland Park sports facility with an ice rink, eight basketball courts and more will open to the public next month. The first phase of the AdventHealth Sports Park at Bluhawk will celebrate its grand opening Saturday, Oct. 26, according to a media release from the company. “The wait is over!” Becky Cornell, retail marketing manager for JLL real estate, wrote in an announcement to the media. The $125 million park at 16201 Shawnee Drive (on the southwest corner of U.S. Highway 69 and 159th Street) will include a family entertainment center called Hawk’s Outpost. It will include arcade games, bowling, laser tag and sports simulators. A cafe, bar and grill, training area and locker rooms will also be part of the sports park. Visitors are invited to visit the new complex from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to take a look at the first 260,000-square-foot phase of the sports park.
Source: Joco 913 News
What did Kansas look like 150 years ago? A KU professor’s photo book shows the drastic change
Robert Benecke captured 19th-century western Kansas landscapes before massive European migrations to the area transformed them. In the intervening years, the dust bowl, mass extinction of bison, and expansion of mechanized agriculture have all led to a profusion of trees, ponds and lakes across the Sunflower State. When railroad companies hired Robert Benecke to help advertise Kansas land for sale in the 1870s, the German-born photographer captured a unique window into life on the Great Plains at a very early time in the state’s history. A century and a half later, University of Kansas professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Town Peterson sees Benecke’s images as a chance to investigate the impact of human settlement. Peterson first became aware of a trove of Benecke’s images preserved in the digital collections of Southern Methodist University during the pandemic, and he set out to re-photograph the scenes and see what changed over the course of time. It’s all part of the curiosity process in science, Peterson says. Peterson’s years-long effort has led to his new book, “One Hundred and Fifty Years of Change on the Great Plains,” available for free as a PDF or in hard-copy format on demand. It pairs Benecke’s historic landscapes with Peterson’s new photographs of the same views.
Source: KCUR News
How Wyandotte County deals with unsheltered homelessness
In a 24-hour period in January this year, surveyors for the annual point-in-time count found 226 people who reported being homeless. Of that number, 152 of them – or nearly 70% of the overall count – said they were unsheltered, meaning they were living outside, or in cars, vacant buildings and other places not designed for human habitation. The point-in-time count is imprecise, and advocates say that number is almost certainly an undercount. But of that overall total, 55 individuals fit HUD’s definition of being chronically unsheltered, meaning they had experienced homelessness in increments that add up to at least a year, and they struggle with a disabling condition such as a mental illness or a physical disability. That number is significant. For the past two years, HUD has cited the reporting region that includes Wyandotte County as having the nation’s highest percentage of people within the overall homeless population who experience chronic unsheltered homelessness. That unwelcome distinction speaks to a lack of resources for a vulnerable group of people. Wyandotte County and its largest city, Kansas City, have no year-round overnight emergency shelter. Housing for people with limited incomes is in short supply. Motels quickly become expensive, and crashing with friends or family gets old. And so people live where they think they won’t be bothered – in the woods, under bridges and overpasses, and in vacant buildings. Some cluster in small groups; many stay by themselves. “As our population has grown, we’re seeing a lot of camps,” says Kansas City, Kansas Police Sgt. Angela Joyce. “You’ve got people with addictions. You’ve got mental illness. You’ve got a lot of people who’ve just fallen on hard times. It’s such a big problem, and you don’t realize it until you actually deal with it.” Joyce serves in the community policing unit, which is the department’s first point of reference for complaints regarding homeless camps. She has seen hundreds. “Some of these camps get really messy,” she says. “So I can understand people being upset. But we don’t have a shelter in this city. We have minimal resources compared to other cities.”
Source: KLC Journal
Pittsburg considers new ordinances to address shopping cart and trash concerns
Shopping carts and trash are on the table for the city commission in Pittsburg with the hopes of keeping the city clean and cutting the costs residents and businesses are currently taking on. “It’s more that when we don’t have these ordinances and this activity is allowed to happen, you end up with the town just looking trashy,” said Roger Lomshek, Pittsburg resident. Roger Lomshek is just one of the residents and business owners who’ve brought the issue of digging through trash and abandoned shopping carts to the city of Pittsburg. Issues he’s seen frequently. “We have people pushing shopping carts full of junk all over that. They’re just leaving wherever they feel like it. When they’re digging through a dumpster, they’re leaving. It laid out,” said Lomshek. He’s concerned it’s costing local businesses more out of their pockets and costing consumers more money too. “They’re running 250 to $450 per cart, which means they’re losing tens of thousands of dollars a year in these missing carts,” said Lomshek. “That’s a pretty big loss when they’re walking off their lots every day. So we’re really trying to help support our businesses and reduce that,” said Kim Froman, City of Pittsburg Dir. of Community Development and Housing. Kim Froman is the director of community development and housing for the city of Pittsburg. After hearing concerns and seeing it herself – the city brought two ordinances to Tuesday’s city commission meeting. A new ordinance aims to prohibit individuals from being able to take shopping carts off private properties. “Whether they were from the housed or unhoused. We don’t always know. But either way, it’s an expense to the retailer and then the city is having to clean that up. And typically those shopping carts are removed,” said Froman. It can also make it that if anyone takes a shopping cart off retail property– the person would then be cited with theft, a class C misdemeanor. The second ordinance’s goal is to make sure people can’t go and dig through other people’s trash enclosures. Unless they have written permission.
Source: KSNF/KODE