Municipal News & Jobs

City leaders have approved an approximately 12% increase to the starting wages for local bus drivers as the industry struggles with staffing shortages, and union leaders anticipate more wage increases will be needed. As part of its meeting this week, the Lawrence City Commission voted as part of its consent agenda to approve an amendment to the service agreement between the city and First Transit to raise the starting pay for bus drivers from $15.61 to $17.50 per hour, or an approximately 12% increase. The commission also approved funding for pay increases for other hourly transit employees, such as dispatchers and road supervisors.
Source: LJWorld.com.

The pilot program of a new traffic control method in the Old West Lawrence neighborhood is entering its next phase, which will include a review of traffic data and potential revisions to the temporary traffic diverters currently in place. The Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Association applied to be part of the Neighborhood Traffic Management Pilot Program, and the temporary diverters were installed in November and will be in place until the spring. The diverters, which prohibit motorists from making certain turns or entering streets at certain intersections, are meant to reduce cut-through traffic and have been met with mixed reactions from residents…
Source: LJWorld.com.

Douglas County is on the verge of again having 1,000 active COVID cases, which will lead local health officials to again consider a countywide mask mandate. “The operative word there, though, is ‘consider,’” Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health Director Dan Partridge told the Journal-World. “We haven’t yet had the meeting.” Partridge said it is not a foregone conclusion that public health officials will recommend that the Douglas County Commission approve a mask mandate once cases hit the 1,000 mark.
Source: LJWorld.com.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.

Some highway updates were given at the Dec. 20 Finney County Commission meeting. Lona DuVall, President/CEO of the Finney County Economic Development Corporation gave two area highways updates at the meeting, both being announced as part of the Kansas Secretary of Transportation’s new highway proposals on Dec. 15. The first update is that the expressway on U.S. Highway 50, between Dodge City and Cimarron, will be finished and then U.S. Highway 83, between Garden City and Scott City, is slated to get passing lanes. … FCEDC gave a presentation on the modeling data of the highway system, traffic counts and how that relates to the economy. DuVall said the high point of the presentation is that southwestern Kansas’ GDP per capita and per vehicle surpass every other region of the state but there are fewer divided highways, which are important for the economy to get the goods made in the area to other parts of the state. ‘The way that KDOT has traditionally scored economic impact wasn’t capturing a picture of our gross domestic product out here,’ she said.
Source: GC Telegram

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.

Kansas officials are in the process of seeking relief for residents impacted by wildfires which torched over 100,000 acres in four Kansas counties last week, killing two and burning houses, livestock and cropland. The fires were a result of historically high winds, some topping 100 miles-per-hour, which slammed Kansas last week, leaving behind a wake of property damage and thousands of residents across the state without power. All in all, 24 counties issued local disaster declarations as a result of the high winds. But the fires were most intense in Ellis, Osborne, Rooks and Russell counties.
Source: Salina Journal

This Four County Fire alone incinerated more than190 square miles. That’s an area larger than all of Wyandotte County (156 square miles) or the city of Wichita (166.5 square miles). But it wasn’t the only wildfire that the wind storm sparked. In all, the Kansas Forest Service recorded 16 wildfires in western and central Kansas that day, singeing more than 160,000 acres across 13 counties. Shawna Hartman, a Kansas Forest Service spokeswoman, said the destruction was so extensive that local fire suppression teams — which often travel to assist neighboring counties — were stretched thin.
Source: Hutch News

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.

A Baldwin City mother’s challenge to Douglas County’s mask mandate for children has failed in court. Douglas County Judge Kay Huff recently ruled against Marie Taylor’s petition against the county’s health order, which argued that the order’s 90-day mandate was too long and must be reconsidered every 30 days. The petition was filed under the state’s new law, Senate Bill 40, which allows residents to challenge public health orders related to the coronavirus pandemic. Taylor’s challenge was considered by the Douglas County District Court, even though the law itself is in limbo and its legality is currently being considered by the Kansas Supreme Court.
Source: LJWorld.com.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.