Kansas Municipal News
Mildred looks to the future
It’s been a century since Mildred’s halcyon days. At one time, the little burg at the northeast corner of Allen County had a population of more than 2,000, with a cement plant that employed more than 300. Alas, demand for cement declined at the end of World War I, and the Great Depression shuttered the Mildred industry for good. The town’s population slowly but surely evaporated over the ensuing generations. The high school graduated its last class in 1944; the post office closed in 1973.
Source: The Iola Register
Kansas Attorney General Opinion 2023-10
Synopsis: Members of a public body may exclude other members of the body who have threatened litigation against the body from an executive session held to consult with the body’s attorney about the potential litigation.
Read the full opinion: Kansas Attorney General Opinions
Community celebrates Gardner’s first inclusive playground
A year after local residents voiced their desire to the Gardner City Council to have an inclusive playground for disabled and special-needs children, a large crowd gathered at Veterans Park Friday morning to celebrate the city’s first play area of its kind.Community advocate Jennifer Smith said she wanted to thank her children for teaching her how to advocate and be their voice when they did not have one.“And for also teaching me how to be a better human towards others,” she said.
Source: Gardner News
Caney Valley schools going to 4-day weeks due to water shortage
A southeast Kansas school district is going to four-day weeks. The Caney Valley School District in Montgomery County will be closed on Mondays starting October 30th. District officials say they are making the change as the Caney community deals with a water shortage due to an ongoing drought. The district released a statement saying that school facilities will not be able to offer showers, and they are looking at a modified sports schedule for the rest of the semester to limit home events. The schools have been providing bottled water to students and staff, and a donation from Atmos Energy will provide water dispensers. The district is also providing alternative restroom facilities, using trailers with regular latched doors instead of the standard portable restrooms.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Derby City Clerk Ciarleglio earns special designation
The International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC) Inc. recently announced that Derby City Clerk Lynn Ciarleglio has earned the designation of Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC). IIMC grants the CMC designation only to municipal clerks who complete demanding education requirements, and have a record of significant contributions to their local government, community and state.
Source: Derby Informer | News
Mediation set to begin in Wetmore school land transfer
Mediation meetings between representatives of Jackson Heights, Prairie Hills and two other school districts regarding the possible transfer of land from Prairie Hills into the other three districts are “likely” to begin next week, Jackson Heights Superintendent Jim Howard told the USD 335 Board of Education at its monthly meeting on Monday. “We got our mediator assigned to us today,” Howard told board members regarding the request from the Jackson Heights, Nemaha Central and Vermillion school districts to have land transferred from Prairie Hills into the three districts in the wake of Prairie Hills’ decision earlier this year to close Wetmore Attendance Center, prompting the vast majority of Wetmore families to send their students to Jackson Heights.
Source: Holton Recorder
Local deputies undergo CIT training
Nearly 50 officers from six jurisdictions have attended Crisis Intervention Team training (CIT) at the Independent Living Resource Center, discussing and going over new practices to help those dealing with mental health issues. “It’s absolutely eye-opening being able to hear people be vulnerable to understand that it’s more listening and assisting the problem,” Sedgwick County Deputy Jason Richards said. These training sessions feature panels with mental health experts, lectures, and mock scenarios where law enforcement encounters someone in the field who may be in distress.
Source: KSN-TV
Kansas communities, businesses address lack of daily child care options for parents
Finding affordable child care has been a challenge for families across Kansas. For many parents, it’s the choice between caring for their child and going to work. Creekstone Farms opened a new facility on Wednesday for its employees that can care for 146 kids daily in Arkansas City. They hope this will be a solution to their turnover issue. The company was experiencing a 57% turnover rate in 2014. In just a few years, that rate doubled, as they were losing over 100%. Company leaders wanted to better understand the reason behind such a dramatic increase.
Source: KSN-TV
Southeast Kansas students go back in time for Cato Kids’ Day
More than 600 kids took a trip back in time Thursday in southeast Kansas. Cato, Kansas to be exact. The students are 4th and 5th graders from schools in Pittsburg, Fort Scott, Girard, Frontenac, Uniontown, Bronaugh, and Liberal. They got to learn about the history of Cato and experience some of what life was like in the 1800s.
Source: KSNF/KODE
This JoCo city could be next to make rules for protecting mature trees
Roeland Park is taking the hot-button issue of tree preservation to the residents. After a proposed ordinance that would have put new rules in place for removing trees failed by one vote at the Roeland Park City Council this summer, the city decided to seek resident input with neighborhood meetings in each ward. Other neighboring cities like Fairway and Prairie Village have tree preservation ordinances already on the books, and have either modified or approved those policies in recent years in an attempt to preserve those suburb’s grown-out tree canopies.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Merriam is creating a public art master plan
The city of Merriam is working on a master plan to bring more public art to the city. In August, the Merriam City Council unanimously approved a nearly $30,000 contract with Julia Dixon, a Massachusetts-based consultant, to help bring a public art master plan to life. Now, the city is asking residents to take a 10-minute online survey to provide their vision for future Merriam art pieces.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Axtell’s newest project: fitness center
Axtell is soon to have a new community fitness center. It’s just one in a series of new projects the town of 400 residents has taken on over the past several years with the goal of keeping their community’s population stable or growing. … It followed creation of a new playground in the park on the town’s south end, a community PRIDE project several years ago. Then there’s Axtell Community Grocery, which opened downtown last year and has helped stock the town’s cupboards so residents don’t have to drive 10 miles east to Seneca or 20 miles west to Marysville for food.
Source: The Marysville Advocate
Armed intruder at Garden City Community College locks campus, schools down Thursday morning
The Garden City Police Department has issued a statement in regards to an armed intruder at Garden City Community College. At 8:00 am Thursday morning, the Garden City Community College Police Department was alerted to a possible armed intruder in the Saffell Library. Following the college’s established active intruder procedures, the campus was placed on lockdown. College employees and students followed procedures to shelter in place and/or evacuate campus to off-site emergency reunification points.
Source: Western Kansas News
A security problem has taken down computer systems for almost all Kansas courts
Computer systems for almost all of Kansas’ courts have been offline for five days because of what officials call a “security incident,” preventing them from accepting electronic filings and blocking public access to many of their records. Judicial branch officials still don’t know the extent of the problem or how long the computer systems will remain offline, spokesperson Lisa Taylor said Tuesday. The problem, discovered Thursday, meant the systems haven’t been able to accept electronic filings, process payments, manage cases, grant public access to records, allow people to file electronically for protection-from-abuse orders and permit people to apply electronically for marriage licenses.
Source: Western Kansas News
Police board debates whether to renew contract with Genesis as it avoids paying property tax
Riley County police board members debated Monday whether to renew an agreement with a gym for police department employees to work out. The contract between the Riley County Police Department and Genesis Health Clubs is now under review. Wichita-based Genesis, which has a facility in Manhattan, has pushed for passage of a bill that would allow it the same property tax exemptions non-profit health clubs receive despite being for-profit. This could lead to an estimated loss of $162,427 in property tax each year for Riley County, Riley County Law Enforcement Agency Board member and county commissioner John Ford said in May.
Source: themercury.com
Municipal Bond Trends for October 18, 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.
Smoky Hill River Renewal takes step forward; First trail section will open later this month
Work on the Smoky Hill River Renewal Project has finally began, with a section of trail new the channel officially opening at the end of the month. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for the half-mile section of the new trail at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, near the Salina Family YMCA, 570 YMCA Drive. According to the Friends of the River Foundation, the event will not only give guests the opportunity to walk or bike along the new trail section, but other activities will also be happening, including a scavenger hunt at booths along the trail, snacks and drinks. Parking is available at the Kenwood Cove Aquatic Center.
Source: Salina Journal
Pittsburg economy continues to grow
Dr. Michael Davidsson of Pittsburg State’s Kelce College of Business has released the newest quarterly economic report for the Pittsburg Micropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA). According to Davidsson, the number of jobs in the area has increased at an “unprecedented rate” over the past quarter. Using data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Davidsson said the number of jobs available rose to 17,699 during the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 3.8 percent over the same quarter in 2022. This is more than the growth of the rest of southeast Kansas (3.1 percent), statewide growth (2.6 percent), and national growth (2.8 percent). Payroll has increased by 8.5 percent with goods-producing industries making up 46.5 percent of the job growth. Manufacturing had the greatest impact after government jobs.
Source: Morning Sun
The Challenges of a Micropolitan City
Pittsburg is different in many ways, and one of its most interesting characteristics is that it is a micropolitan area. The micropolitan area designation was formally created by the US government in 2003 and relates to a small urban area with a population of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000 that is removed from a larger metropolitan area. There are around 540 micropolitan areas in the US with around 27 million people. In Kansas, the overall population in micropolitan areas has declined, although Pittsburg is avoiding that trend as it continues to grow. Large suburbs, whose economy is often tied to the city they surround, do not qualify as micropolitan. A micropolitan area’s economy does not depend on another city, which means that it must be largely self-supporting.
Source: Morning Sun