Municipal News & Jobs

The issue of “admin time” at the Salina Fire Department is not being characterized as fraud by any individuals. That determination comes after Salina city manager Mike Schrage gave an update to the city commission Monday on the situation. … The city hired BKD, an accounting firm, to do an audit on the issue, the findings of which were released earlier this year. … Schrage said this new update was given to provide the commission and the public a little more background on what has happened since the BKD report was released.
Source: Salina Journal

A labor shortage has all but shuttered the only recycling facility in Shawnee County, with 90% of its materials being processed elsewhere. Since mid- to late October, Waste Management of Kansas has taken all but about 10% of recyclables from the local Materials Recycling Facility by truck to be processed instead at the MRF it operates in Kansas City, Kan., said Lisa Disbrow, a spokeswoman for that company.
Source: CJonline

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.

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.

In accordance with Executive Order 20-30, and in coordination with the proclamation signed by President Joe Biden, Governor Laura Kelly has ordered flags throughout the State of Kansas to be flown at half-staff starting immediately until sunset on December 9, 2021 in honor of the passing of Senator Bob Dole.

The road that led incoming mayor Courtney Shipley to local politics was quite literally a road. Shipley, who lives on Kasold Drive, said she first started going to public input meetings hosted by the city in 2015 amid the debate over the redesign of a section of Kasold Drive that runs directly in front of her house. The public meetings and debate about the road project went on for more than a year and led her to a City Commission meeting, where she would become a regular attendee. “I got interested in other stuff they were discussing,” Shipley said, adding that commission discussions can sometimes span multiple meetings. “And so that’s why I started just coming every week.”
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.

The Biden administration is readying a proposal to shore up the cybersecurity of the U.S. water supply, a system maintained by thousands of organizations with sometimes glaring vulnerabilities to hackers. The plan broadens a White House initiative to persuade key industrial companies to upgrade technology for detecting cyberattacks. U.S. officials hope water utilities will analyze and voluntarily report such data to help authorities monitor threats to different types of critical infrastructure. The White House previously said it would expand the program to water utilities this year as part of a push to prevent hackers from breaking into the increasingly digitized control systems of industrial firms.
Source: WSJ

It’s not exactly farm to fork, but it’s close. By buying bread made in Arlington, jelly cooked in Hutchinson and coffee roasted in Inman, consumers are not only getting a product produced in Kansas, but they are keeping jobs in Reno County and helping the Kansas economy. … “The economic impact, even of those small sales, trickles down into the local economy,” said Frank Choriego, associate director of the Kansas Small Business Development Center at Wichita State University. If 500 people spend $100 locally, that’s $50,000 coming back into Hutchinson and Reno County, Choriego said. At least 80 to 90% of those dollars would stay in the general area because those things are produced locally by local folks with local products. And he said, not only will those dollars stay locally, but much of the money will be re-spent locally. The money will go full circle, from one Kansan to another.
Source: Hutch News

In a case of first impression, this appeal presents us with three questions that arise from applying the Retail Electric Suppliers Act. First, can an oral agreement between a city manager and the general manager of an electric cooperative allowing the city to provide electricity to a territory outside that city be enforceable, even though that agreement has not been approved by the Commission as required by the Act? Second, can the equitable doctrines of laches, estoppel, and waiver render such a contract valid, even though that contract is void according to the statutes? Third, may a supplier of electricity receive compensation under the Act after a city annexes part of that supplier’s territory even if the supplier had not been serving customers in the area because of an informal agreement between the parties?
Read the opinion: KS Court of Appeals.

“What has really kind of changed in open records is the county gets a lot more statewide requests where an interest group is asking every county for a batch of information.” And, these groups are wanting the documents electronically, he said. “This is, of course, completely legal and the county is happy to help them with these requests as long as they’re under the (Kansas Open Records Act), but it just makes complying with the request awkward,” he said. So the change would make clear that the county will ask to be reimbursed for the staff time involved in fulfilling them.
Source: Great Bend Tribune

Eighteen robotic dinosaurs are coming to Topeka. So is a 40-foot-long replica of Sue, the largest and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever discovered. Visit Topeka and its partners in attracting tourism shared that news Monday while announcing that a series of dinosaur-themed attractions will be on display here early next year as part of a campaign called “Topeka Dino Days.”
Source: CJonline

While John Barbur isn’t the Lorax — an orange-furred, fantasy creature from a Dr. Seuss story — he has protected and cared for all the trees in Abilene since 1991. Before his time on the Abilene tree board, Barbur gained a degree in forestry management from the University of Missouri, which included specific classes in Agronomy. Agronomy means the study of producing and using plants in agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, recreation and land restoration.
Source: Abilene Reflector-Chronicle

The first time Abilene Police Chief Anna Hatter faced a police officer, she never knew the career would become her life’s path. At the time, she was laid off from her sheet metal assembly job and driving around with her two sons in the back seat. … “I got a ticket, which I deserved, but he was very professional and courteous. That was my very first interaction with a law enforcement officer. I ended up leaving that encounter thinking about that as a career, which I hadn’t previously thought about.” So now in a time of tension between law enforcement and other communities, Hatter wanted to share her experiences as an officer in Wichita to being a Chief in Abilene, so people can see what skills and what differences future officers may face.
Source: Abilene Reflector-Chronicle

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.