Kansas Municipal News
Lawrence announces tentative location for Pallet Shelter Village: North Michigan Street
The City of Lawrence on Wednesday announced the location for its planned Pallet Shelter Village site: 256 North Michigan St., pending Lawrence City Commission approval. “The City is committed to working with the surrounding neighborhood to make the Pallet Shelter village a successful addition,” according to a news release. In December, the Lawrence City Commission approved using $4.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act money — federal COVID-19 relief funds — to purchase the modular homes for people experiencing homelessness from Pallet, a “Public Benefit Corporation.”
Source: The Lawrence Times
Johnson hired as new USD 264 Clearwater superintendent
Jason Johnson has been announced as the new superintendent for Clearwater USD 264. The announcement was made Tuesday morning. Johnson was chosen at a Monday night board of education meeting. The search for a new superintendent culminated with interviews last week with four finalists. The Kansas Association of School Boards assisted in the search. Johnson will replace Chris Cooper, who will retire at the end of June. Johnson will take over on July 1, although it is common for new hires to do some work ahead of time to acclimate themselves to their new districts. Cooper came to Clearwater from the Abilene School District.
Source: Times-Sentinel Newspapers
Wakefield City Council discusses “Big Sexy Summer” concert in park
Council members discussed plans they have been presented for a summer concert event in the park called the “Big Sexy Summer” planned for July 21-23. The event calls for three days of music in the park with seven bands performing on stage from 2 to 11 p.m. No official acts or plans were presented but city council members discussed logistics such as alcohol sales and camping rentals. Despite the risqué sounding title, Mayor Chris Dumler said that he had been assured in an email by organizers that the event would be family friendly though he himself still had concerns regarding the name.
Source: www.ccenterdispatch.com
Municipal Bond Trends for March 15, 2023
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, Beth Warren and Henry Schmidt.
EPA Proposes Limits for ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water
The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed the first federal limits on so-called forever chemicals in public drinking water, a move that is expected to cost water utilities billions of dollars to filter out substances that have contaminated the water supplies of millions of people. The EPA is proposing maximum allowable levels for two compounds in a class of chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Known as forever chemicals because they take a long time to break down, they were used for decades in carpeting, clothing, food packaging, firefighting foam and other consumer and industrial products. Once prized as innovative substances that could resist stains, water, grease and heat, PFAS are increasingly viewed as a threat because they persist in the environment and have been found in roughly 99% of the U.S. population. The move represents a seismic shift in the regulation of the nation’s drinking water, and will require sweeping changes for thousands of water systems that will have to test for and treat a group of chemicals that have been the subject of growing concern among public health officials and people worried about the safety of water coming from their taps.
Source: WSJ.com: US Business
Early returns are positive for new sign in Halstead
The new sign is up at City Hall and so far the response has been all positive, according to the Halstead City Manager Ethan Reimer and the Halstead city council. “I don’t think the crew had been gone ten minutes and we started getting calls and people stopping in to say how great they thought the sign was,” Reimer said.
Source: Harvey County Now
Wichita OKs changes to tobacco ordinance
Wichita will no longer criminally penalize people under 21 for possessing tobacco products, although police can still confiscate cigarettes, vapes and chewing tobacco seized from minors. The legal age for purchasing tobacco products will remain 21 under the revised ordinance approved by the City Council on Tuesday, but the biggest enforcement shift aims to hold tobacco retailers accountable for underage sales rather than penalizing individual employees. Under the previous ordinance, clerks found to have sold to minors were charged with a misdemeanor but tobacco license-holders and store managers were not punished. Wichita’s municipal court saw 25 cases of selling to minors in 2022. Now, license holders and store managers can be charged with a class B misdemeanor, punishable by a $200 minimum fine, if they are present when the illegal sale takes place. Clerks, on the other hand, will only be charged on a second or subsequent offense.
Source: Wichita Eagle
Analyst says Fed unlikely to hike rates in March given banking turmoil
Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi thinks the Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rates at its March meeting as there is a “boatload of uncertainty” around the recent bank failures. The financial turmoil of the past few days will certainly affect monetary policy decision making when the Federal Open Market Committee meets next week, he added. “I think they’re focused on the bank failures that roiled the banking system and markets over the last couple of days,” Zandi told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Wednesday. “There’s a boatload of uncertainty here,” as a result the Fed will want to be cautious, he added. “I think they’re going… [to] decide not to raise interest rates at the meeting next week.”
Source: CNBC
Municipal Bond Trends for March 14, 2023
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, Beth Warren and Henry Schmidt.
Missouri and Kansas lawmakers want to limit who can buy farmland
Tense relations between China and the U.S. are trickling down into agriculture and more scrutiny into who owns farmland. It became a hot topic after the U.S. Air Force determined that a proposed Chinese-owned corn mill in North Dakota would be a significant national security threat. Now there are proposals restricting foreign ownership of farmland making their way through Congress and many state legislatures, including Missouri and Kansas.
Source: KCUR News
Chick-fil-A plans new $31M distribution center in Johnson County, opening next year
Chick-fil-A Inc. is planning a new $31 million distribution center in Olathe. Chick-fil-A Supply, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Atlanta-based company, will be at the Lone Elm Commerce Center off 167th Street, and and will service Chick-fil-A restaurants in the region. “The Kansas City area is a prime location to invest in our business, create jobs, and grow our supply chain operation,” Josh Grote, executive director of Chick-fil-A Supply, said in a statement. “The region has a deep pool of skilled talent that we know will excel in serving the franchise Operators, licensees and team members delivering an authentic Chick-fil-A experience at each of our locations.”
Source: KC Star
Saline County landfill fires caused by ‘few dozen’ batteries
Officials have determined the cause of several small landfill fires that popped up at the Salina Municipal Landfill on Monday. A news release from Salina Public Works says the fires were caused as a “direct result of a few dozen Lithium, Ni-Cad and alkaline batteries” that were disposed of in one load at the landfill. The release says Lithium batteries have a tendency to start fires when they are impacted by the machinery at the landfill or in the sanitation trucks as they are being hauled.
Source: KSN-TV
Meet the new Paola Rec Director
Wesley Joy is the first director of the recently formed Paola Recreation Commission. Joy, who previously served as the sports and special services director for the Winfield Recreation Commission in Winfield, Kan., was introduced during a recent Paola City Council meeting and again during the State of the City Breakfast at the Paola Country Club. Joy said he is originally from Burlington, Kan., and is familiar with the Miami County area. Before his recent stint in Winfield, Joy said he worked in the parks and recreation field in Colorado.
Source: Local News | republic-online.com
City of Topeka awarded $90,000 to help people get internet access
A grant that will be awarded to Topeka aims to help spread awareness and increase participation in a program that helps households get better internet access. City of Topeka spokeswoman Gretchen Spiker reports that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will award Topeka with a grant to boost participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). This program provides qualifying households with a discount on broadband and a one-time discount on connected devices. Those who qualify are eligible for a discount of up to $30 a month on internet service and up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer or tablet from participating providers.
Source: KSNT 27 News
Leawood talks next steps for ‘Purple Twist’ sculpture
Leawood is considering whether to make the temporary purple sculpture near Leawood City Hall a permanent fixture. The Leawood Arts Council earlier this month discussed the next possible steps for “Purple Twist,” the city’s current Art on Loan piece. Through the Art on Loan program, an artist gets to temporarily display a personal art piece just west of city hall after undergoing a selected process by the city.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Lawmakers urged to retain local sales tax on groceries; Senate president proposes plan for filling gap
They came with stark choices. Cut police. Cut fire. Cut roads. Cut employee benefits. Or raise taxes. Local government officials presented lawmakers with those untenable options as they implored them Monday to keep local sales taxes on groceries. The House tax committee on Monday began debating a that was already passed in the Senate that eliminated state and local sales tax on groceries by next year. As the bill originally came out of a Senate committee, it would have only exempted state and local sales taxes on healthy food products.
Source: Sunflower State Journal
Cities criticize bill limiting power to regulate sale of good, services
Cities and counties turned out in force to fight a bill stopping them from regulating any consumer products and services allowed under state law, saying it would keep them from limiting fireworks, tobacco, massage therapists and land use. They urged the House commerce committee Monday to reject a bill pushed by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce that was introduced after Wichita officials considered – but later dopped – a ban on retailers from selling dogs and cats.
Source: Sunflower State Journal
Southwest Kansas missing out on university system
We have often wondered why there is no state college in southwest Kansas, since there is one in every other quadrant of the state. Of course, the locations of our state universities (hardly anyone goes to a “college” anymore) were not according to any plan. Their genesis depended as much on local support and effort as anything. The story begins in 1863 when the Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science formed in Manhattan as the nation’s first land-grant college. The University of Kansas came along three years later, and the state was set to grow two great universities. Both would be served by the state’s first rail line and near the population centers of the state’s northeast.
Source: The Iola Register
Hutchinson health educator testifies on fentanyl strips
As the amount of fentanyl deaths continue to increase, Kansas lawmakers are introducing a bill that would make synthetic opioid testing strips legal. Last week, the substance misuse health educator for Reno County, Seth Dewey, gave testimony before the Kansas Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee with regards to Bill 2390. The House passed the bill a few weeks ago. Drug overdose deaths in Kansas have increased throughout the last decade, a September 2022 Kansas Department of Health and Environment report stated. … Kansas House Bill 2390 would decriminalize testing strips for fentanyl, ketamine, flunitrazepam and gamma hydroxybutyric acid, sometimes known as the date rape drug. The bill would also establish a Kansas Overdose Fatality Review Board.
Source: Hutch News
Colorado city looks to Kansas for first female manager
The Florence City Council voted to offer a contract to hire its first female city manager in recent history. In a Special Meeting, the council voted to offer a contract to Amy Nasta. Nasta’s job offer comes after the city spent more than 18 months without permanent leadership. … Nasta currently serves as the Deputy City Administrator in Gardner, Kansas.
Source: KRDO