Kansas Municipal News
Municipal Bond Trends for April 27, 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.
Marion County ponders request for tours
A hotel owner might add courthouse tours to attractions she offers guests. Tammy Ensey, co-owner of the Historic Elgin Hotel, asked county commissioners Monday about arranging regular tours of the courthouse, Marion City Library, trails, and other places. Each tour would last about 3½ hours.
Source: HILLSBORO Star-Journal
Derby Passes Golf Cart Ordinance
An ordinance that allows golf carts to be driven on some city streets was passed by the Derby City Council. It allows golf carts to be driven if the speed limit is 30 mph or less, the driver has a valid driver’s license and the golf cart is registered as a special purpose vehicle with the police department, is insured and has valid registration displayed. While carts cannot be driven on streets where the speed limit is above 30, they can cross at a crosswalk.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Marion unveils strategic plan
Forty-two people gathered Tuesday at Marion Community Center to hear how the city’s strategic plan has developed and make final comments and suggestions. Misty Bruckner, director of the policy and management center at Wichita State University, led the meeting. Bruckner outlined for audience members key points of the draft strategic plan, eight months in the making. She said the meeting would be the last opportunity for citizens to have a say before results are given to the city council.
Source: HILLSBORO Star-Journal
Panasonic starts vertical construction on $4B battery plant in De Soto
Panasonic Energy Co. Ltd. started vertical construction this week in De Soto on its $4 billion electric-vehicle battery plant, moving on from about six months of preliminary site work. Workers erected the facility’s first steel beam on Wednesday, according to a release. They finished moving 4.5 million cubic yards of earth, a process that started in November.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal
How Topeka officials are learning from Colorado Springs to combat homelessness
A recent trip to Colorado is helping Topeka City leaders find a new perspective on approaching the local homeless situation. The Topeka Mayor, City Manager and other representatives visited Denver and Colorado Springs in mid-April to see how those cities approached the concept of low barrier homeless shelters. Because of the unique way they combat homelessness, Colorado Springs is used to visitors from other states. Officials are unpacking what lessons they learned from that impactful trip, and putting together new ideas for what changes could come to the Capital City.
Source: KSNT 27 News
Lenexa OKs future mural at Old Town activities complex
Lenexa is on track to commission its first-ever public mural project, which would feature a local artist. Last week, the Lenexa City Council unanimously gave the green light to a plan to put a mural on the outside of the future combined Lenexa Community Center and Senior Center building. The mural is listed as the top priority on the Lenexa Arts Council’s project list also approved last week.
Source: Prairie Village Post
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