Kansas Municipal News
JoCo’s affordable housing crunch is preventing Section 8 tenants from using vouchers
Kamber Corpening felt relief when she first landed a Section 8 voucher in 2020, a promise that she qualified for substantial rent subsidies from federal taxpayers. Then came the hard part — finding a landlord willing to deal with the accompanying red tape and to open units to lower-income tenants. She tried almost 100 places over the course of a year and found few that took Section 8 vouchers.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Shawnee mulls revising long-term plan 2 years after adoption
Shawnee could be on track to revise its current long-range development plan, more commonly called a comprehensive plan. Earlier this week, the Shawnee City Council started workshopping the plan, known as Achieve Shawnee, during a council committee meeting. The conversation focused mostly on multifamily housing and mixed-use developments, which usually combine commercial and some kind of higher density housing in one area. No changes were made this week to the Achieve Shawnee plan adopted in 2021, but multiple councilmembers signaled they have some revisions they’d like to see made to the plan in their wards.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Leawood considers new license plate readers at city intersections
Leawood is planning to add one license plate reader somewhere in the city, and considering using federal funding to help pay for 10 new license plate readers at other strategic intersections. As part of a work session April 17, the Leawood City Council and city staff discussed the possibility of putting some of the city’s federal COVID-19 relief funding toward the new license plate readers.
Source: Prairie Village Post
A Johnson Countian’s guide to this week’s NFL Draft in KCMO
The 2023 National Football League Draft kicks off in Kansas City, Mo., this Thursday. The three-day event — one of the biggest the metro region has hosted in recent memory — features barbecue competitions, football-themed games for kids, fan-centered activities, musical performances and, oh yeah, the actual draft, at Kansas City’s Union Station.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Manhattan plans to tweak regulations for airport, code and housing boards
The Manhattan city government plans to make tweaks to three advisory boards as officials continue their goal of cleaning up rules. The Manhattan City Commission on Tuesday discussed potential changes to the Airport Advisory Board, Code Appeals Board and Housing Appeals Board. City administrators are recommending the Airport Advisory Board meets quarterly in the future instead of monthly. Commissioners also wanted to address the makeup of the board. The airport board has 11 members — six at-large and one representative each selected by Fort Riley, Kansas State University, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, Junction City and Pottawatomie County Commission. The board rules require that two of the members are active pilots.
Source: themercury.com
Atchison County launches tire disposal program
Possibly the biggest finding from the Atchison County-wide clean-up has been the abundance of disposable tires throughout Atchison County. During Monday’s County Commission meeting, County Chairwoman Casey Quinn highlighted the issue that arose with an overwhelming amount of disposable tires brought in last Friday when the county-wide clean-up began. “There are over 200 tires with 14 people of different addresses from all three of our districts who still have tire needs,” Quinn said. “I emailed the state about a tire grant opportunity and asked if they had any program or assistants they can give to our county.”
Source: www.atchisonglobenow.com
Municipal Bond Trends for April 26, 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, Beth Warren or Henry Schmidt.
Wednesday marks 32 years since devastating F-5 ‘Andover Tornado’
Wednesday marks 32 years since of one of Kansas’ most devastating tornadoes. Known as the Andover Tornado, the F-5 caused damage across Harper, Sedgwick and Butler Counties on April 26, 1991. That twister claimed 17 lives — most of them taken from the Golden Spur mobile home park. It began with a touchdown in Harper County and then tore across Sedgwick and Butler counties. In Sedgwick county it grew to F-3 intensity and tore through parts of south and east Wichita, making a direct hit on McConnell Air Force Base. Four people were killed in Sedgwick County.
Source: KAKE – News
Pittsburg hands out grants for downtown murals
The City of Pittsburg Downtown Advisory Board wants to support local artists for painting murals. Community Development Specialist for the City of Pittsburg Christi Yockey says, last year the city only had one applicant for the Advisory Board’s funding towards murals. This year, they have already had three projects requesting help to offset costs from the $2,500 funding. One of the artists is Ian Yovan, who already painted two murals and now received funding for two more. Yovan says, the community can expect to see the first one by North Broadway in about a month. Yovan says, he prefers to create his murals fast at night to keep it a secret. The artist says painting murals is a way to bring life to his home city.
Source: KOAM News
Topeka city attorney embracing life, new normal after leg amputation
A setback in life can make or break someone but for one Topeka woman, an amputation made her appreciate life even more. It also encouraged her to do all the things she loves, on one leg. The days can get busy for a city attorney like Amanda Stanley. We can all only imagine what each day looks like for her since she is the attorney representing the Topeka municipality. “You don’t think about how the city attorney’s office is so involved in all the different various departments,” Stanley said. “Helping solve problems, and helping move things forward. I love it. No two days are the same. You get to do a lot of interesting work.”
Source: KSNT 27 News
Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog emphasizes upcoming sales tax vote in annual address
Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog enumerated a long list of the city’s successes in his annual State of the City speech Tuesday — along with one particular request for residents. “If you live in Overland Park you will get in the mail a ballot. Please check ‘yes’ on the sales tax and help us maintain the streets that our residents expect,” he said. Skoog’s personal plea (city administrations are not allowed to campaign for ballot issues) was in reference to the June 22 mail-in ballot that will ask city residents to raise the one-eighth-cent sales tax to a three-eighth-cent tax to be used for infrastructure.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Prairie Village council housing priorities include short-term rentals, teardown-rebuilds
The Prairie Village City Council on Monday spent more than two hours discussing housing-related topics in the city’s ongoing and, at times, fraught debate over how to address affordability concerns. Monday’s meeting was the first time the city council formally waded back into the housing discussion since approving hotly contested housing recommendations last summer. After Monday’s discussion, the city council unanimously directed city staff to prioritize two topics — short-term rentals and addressing long-standing concerns over teardown-rebuilds — for future discussions.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Shawnee City Council wants to revise ‘parks and pipes’ sales tax
Shawnee residents will likely be asked to vote on a new version of the city’s “parks and pipes” sales tax later this year that would allow some of the money raised to be used for something new. This week, the Shawnee City Council gave its initial blessing to new language for the proposed ⅛-cent sales tax during a council committee meeting. The move comes after months of sometimes-tense discussion over the future of the tax. The revision, if ultimately approved by voters, would allow the revenue generated from the tax to be used with more “flexibility,” councilmembers say.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Facility study, potential building recommendations ahead for USD 251 Board of Education special meeting Wednesday
Facility matters are ahead for the USD 251 North Lyon County Board of Education. The board has a special meeting at 6 pm Wednesday. The foundation of the meeting — pun intended — is a 30-page facility study recently conducted by G Kent Stewart of Manhattan, including enrollment trends, building overviews, maintenance and results from past referendums on new school facilities over the past decade. Board members will discuss those items, as well as the survey’s recommendations — maintaining the capital outlay levy and considering a new engineering study or follow-up study of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems — as well as potential choices for the district’s future, including taking no action, consolidating with a nearby district, building a new high school instead of a new all-encompassing K-12 building, replacing the temporary classrooms at Northern Heights or building a six-room addition to the high school before removing three of the portable classroom units.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio
Beer, airports and license plates: Topeka wanted these laws. Here’s how they impact you.
Some changes are coming to the capital city — if you like to drink beer, flash your license plate or fly from an airport, that is. The capital city will be affected by three bills Gov. Laura Kelly signed into law in the past week, all of which were promoted by Topeka or Shawnee County officials as important to the city and region. One is designed to allow a better experience for public alcohol consumption, while another would create a license plate emblazoned with the Topeka city flag. A third would allow the city’s two major airports to more easily be improved — though it wasn’t without controversy in the Legislature.
Source: CJonline
Municipal Bond Trends for April 25, 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, Beth Warren or Henry Schmidt.
Lawrence school board opposed to 4-day week in the near future
Switching to a four-day student/five-day staff school week could save the Lawrence school district money and provide more plan time for teachers, according to some staff members, but it raises equity concerns for families and students. School board members said Monday they don’t believe the district in the near future will be ready to consider the switch. Jayci Roberson and Jessica Rohrberg, co-chairs of the district’s calendar committee, presented to the board during Monday’s meeting. They shared a report of the committee’s work on the four-day student/five-day staff week, which will not be implemented next year but may be considered for future years.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Families ask City to allow their pets
Jessica Grigoreva addressed the Newton City Commission on Tuesday night, asking that the city let her family keep its potbellied pig. Potbellied pigs are not allowed in the city, and she would have to give the pig up if the current ordinance was enforced. “We’ve had her for two years, and she is part of our family,” she said. “We love her a lot.”
Source: Harvey County Now
New book explores interesting facts, places to visit in Kansas
There are some facts about the Sunflower State many people don’t know. Although the author of the newly released book, “Secret Kansas: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure,” lives in Goodland, she has traveled throughout the state finding out about an insect museum, the first airplane that didn’t fly and the 1879 tornado that might have inspired “The Wizard of Oz.” “I like to find out little stories that people don’t know about,” said Roxie Yonkey, the author of “Secret Kansas.” “And I get to the joy of finding out this secret, like whoever knew this.”
Source: Hutch News
Lenexa installs new electric vehicle chargers
Electric vehicle owners can now conveniently charge their cars while working out, attending a meeting or enjoying a meal on the Lenexa civic campus. The City of Lenexa recently installed four electric vehicle chargers in the Lenexa civic campus parking garage. They’re located just south of the garage’s Winchester Street entrance.
Source: City of Lenexa