Municipal News & Jobs

A sunny day filled with competitions, food and fun will be available for anyone who wants to partake Saturday at the first Bennington Fun Day and Parade since 2019. The organizers are looking forward to seeing people return to what is normally an annual event and enjoy the day outside without COVID restrictions. They hope that this year’s Fun Day will re-establish the tradition that the community was unable to experience in 2020. Leading up to the final stage of the three-day PRCA Rodeo, there will be activities available to participate in for the entire Saturday with most taking place near downtown.
Source: Salina Journal.

Changes are finally coming to the City of Salina sanitation service and with it comes new trash carts for customers. After being put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, trash collecting for the city will begin as an automated service starting July 19. The city said everyone will receive new carts that are designed to fit new side-loader trash trucks. The new trucks use an automated arm controlled by the driver to empty the contents of the cart. Originally slated to begin last year, purchasing these new trucks and carts was put on hold in the city’s attempt to save money during the pandemic. Because the system is automated, any trash left outside the carts will not be picked up.
Source: Salina Journal.

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 Hutchinson City Council approved awarding a contract Tuesday to develop an access point to the Arkansas River just of Fourth Avenue, near the old Fun Valley waterslide. The project will include creating a paved road and parking lot, and installing a set of railroad tie steps down to a sandbar on the river. The council awarded the contract to Ward Davis Builders Inc. of Hutchinson for $76,775. A state grant will cover $20,000 of the cost.
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.

Topeka patched 41,077 potholes in 2020 and is on pace for similar numbers this year. Lyndon Johnson isn’t surprised. He became closely acquainted with the city’s potholes when he worked as an enumerator for the U.S. Census. He drove, mostly on the east side of town, about five hours a shift from June to September. Johnson has used the city’s See Click Fix App to report potholes he sees. He said he has reported 375 instances of potholes or poor street conditions in his almost six years on the app.
Source: CJonline.com.

The patio and outdoor dining areas constructed in parking stalls downtown during the coronavirus pandemic could be allowed to stay. As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission voted unanimously to direct city staff to develop a proposal for a long-term version of the now temporary right-of-way or “parklet” program. The program has allowed downtown businesses to repurpose sidewalks and parking stalls directly in front of their storefronts for outdoor dining or other uses.
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.

Sheriff Jay Armbrister says he realizes the idea of a law enforcement agency operating a drone over the skies of Douglas County could make people uncomfortable, and he says that’s why the sheriff’s office is trying to be upfront about its drone program and how it’s being used. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office began the program in December and has since used the drone 46 times, including to help catch a fleeing suspect, document the scenes of traffic accidents and aid in fire-fighting strategy, Armbrister said. He told the Journal-World that his office knows the public can view a drone as extremely intrusive and a possible violation of privacy, but that’s not what the program is about.
Source: LJWorld.com.

City leaders will soon discuss whether to eventually end a program created at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic that has allowed restaurants to expand their outdoor dining into parking stalls or to consider making the program permanent. In June 2020, the city created a temporary right-of-way or “parklet” program that has allowed downtown businesses to repurpose sidewalks and parking stalls directly in front of their storefronts for outdoor dining and other uses. The program was initially set to expire after four months, but as the pandemic persisted the commission later extended the program through the end of this year.
Source: LJWorld.com.

Buhler saw a spike in energy costs after the state’s February cold snap, but now, the school district is thinking big. Kansas schools are looking to incorporate solar energy to reduce energy expenses. Buhler leadership called in a teacher who started the largest solar energy system for a school in Kansas and began to accumulate information. “We want to save money, be more efficient and use it as an educational tool,” said Laura Meyer Dick, president of Buhler’s Board of Education, and the person who came up with the idea. “We want to use it to benefit the district.”
Source: Salina Journal.

Located at the center of Salina, Oakdale Park has a history that goes back over 100 years, and Thursday, the Smoky Hill Museum is hosting a Zoom presentation about some of this history. Former Salina Parks Superintendent Bob Ash will present “Oak Dale Park: Salina’s gathering place since 1881” at 5:30 p.m. Thursday on Zoom as part of the museum’s First Thursday Presentations. “He is the expert,” said Nona Miller about Ash’s knowledge of the park. Miller is the curator of education for the museum and said she is happy to see the history of the park as a gathering place for people in Salina and what events in the area like the Smoky Hill River Festival will bring to the continued legacy of the park.
Source: Salina Journal.

Garden Rapids at The Big Pool is now open. The Big Pool’s successor was constructed in the footprint of former aquatics facility after 10 months of construction, beginning in July 2020. It cost just under $14 million to construct and includes a renovated bathhouse, new concession area, green space, semi-private cabanas, new toddler area, splash park, zero depth entry, plunge pool, lazy river, pool with both a 5 meter and 25 yard options for competition swimmers and five slide tower with a tube slide, body flume, two Fly Time slide and a Slipstream stand-up slide.
Source: GC Telegram.

This is a personal injury case arising from an incident in which Teresa Sneath was injured when she drove her automobile into waters flooding a road in Ellsworth County. Sneath filed a negligence lawsuit against the county’s board of commissioners and highway department. The district court granted the Defendants’ motion to dismiss, however, ruling that they were immune from liability under K.S.A. 75-6104(l), because Sneath’s damages were caused by the natural condition of a flooded street and not by any negligent affirmative act by the governmental defendants. Sneath appeals. Finding no error, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of the lawsuit.
Source: Kansas Court of Appeals.