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Municipal News & Jobs

Municipal News & Jobs2018-08-05T16:28:50-05:00

Kansas Municipal News

Ride Lawrence Transit for free this year

Lawrence Transit passengers can ride fare-free in 2023, starting Monday, Jan. 2. The yearlong, fare-free pilot program is supported by state and federal transit funds and sales tax revenue. It applies to fixed-route buses, T Lift, Night Line, and future Sunday microtransit. To be clear, “This means anyone can use any of the Lawrence Transit services for free throughout all of 2023,” according to a recent news release from the city. In other communities, fare-free programs have resulted in ridership increases of 20% to 60%, according to the city.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Andover Police K9 recovers after emergency surgery

Andover Police K9 Bandit has recovered after an emergency surgery back in November. K9 Bandit suffered an intestinal torsion on November 5, according to the Andover Police Department. His handler took him to Urgent Pet Care LLC where they performed emergency surgery. K9 Bandit went through several weeks of light duty and is now back to his normal self and got a chance to reunite with the team that helped him.
Source: KSN-TV

City of Manhattan asks for homeowner feedback on water lines

We’ve all heard scary headlines about tap water safety, like those dealing with the Flint Water Crisis. Now, the City of Manhattan hopes you can help it prevent lead contamination in the local drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency sets limits on contaminants in drinking water and is cracking down on communities to make sure their water lines are safe. As the City of Manhattan works to assess their underground system of water lines, it’s asking residents to help by filling out an online survey about what kind of pipes are in their own homes.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Grocery tax cut will start soon in Kansas, here’s when

The food sales tax for Kansas will be dropping significantly at the beginning of 2023, giving local residents more money in pocket. Currently Kansas has the second highest sales tax rate on food in the entire country at 6.5%. House Bill 2106 is set to eliminate that state sales tax on groceries by 2025. On Jan. 1, 2023 the Kansas food sales tax will drop to 4% and in 2024 it will drop again to 2%. Washburn Economy professor Paul Byrne told 27 News that the reduction is a win-win for Kansans.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Atchison declares water emergency due to ice jams causing low river levels

The City of Atchison is declaring a water emergency in response to continued low river levels. The city said the low level on the Missouri River is primarily the result of ice jams located upstream, one of which is reported to be 60 miles in length. The U.S. Corps of Engineers indicates that the ice jams are still holding in place but is potentially allowing increased flow below the ice. The Corps is hoping that warmer temperatures will eventually alleviate this situation; however, there is potential for the ice jams, once they break loose, to get held up at certain points as they make their way downstream.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Ark City could purchase large parcel for development

Arkansas City commissioners will meet Tuesday to consider a home rule ordinance that would allow the city to acquire property in northwest Ark City for economic and residential development. The ordinance would also authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds to pay for those acquisitions. If approved, the city could proceed with the purchase of a 101.75-acre property south of West Skyline Road, west of North Eight Street, north of Forrest Glenn addition and east of North 15th Street.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler

Majority of survey respondents say City of Lawrence should pay for 100% of sidewalk repairs

The majority of Lawrence residents who responded to a city survey about sidewalk repair said the city should take full financial responsibility for repairs, adding more weight to discussions about potential changes to the city’s current cost-share program. The Lawrence City Commission will receive the survey results as part of its meeting Tuesday. The city put out the survey in October to ask residents to weigh in on whether changes should be made to the city’s sidewalk repair program. In addition to asking about funding, the survey asked several other questions about the format of the program.
Source: LJWorld

Wichita vs. Peterjohn: Initiative Petitions to enact Ordinances

Syllabus: An initiative petition is effective when it substantially complies with all relevant statutory safeguards. This means that petitioners must comply with the essential matters necessary to assure every reasonable objective of the statutes has been met. An initiative petition can only be used to advance policies that are legislative in nature, not for policies that are predominantly executive or administrative. Ordinances tend to be administrative in nature when they require particularized knowledge in matters of city operations, associated space requirements, public safety, and regulatory issues, as well as an intimate appreciation of the city’s fiscal affairs.
Source: Kansas Court of Appeals

How Emporia became king of the Disc Golf world

If you’re an Emporian, you already know the city has staked its claim to this wildly popular sport. Disc golf has manifested in many ways in Emporia/Lyon County. The city has hosted the disc golf world championships, boasts the largest disc golf retail store in the world, offers several disc golf courses and the Emporia State University men’s team is ranked No. 1 in the nation. Enough proof? UDisc, a disc golf resource website, ranked Emporia as the top disc golf small town in the country. “A lot of people refer to Emporia as the disc golf capital of the world, the Mecca,” said Dynamic Discs founder Jeremy Rusco. Lelan Dains, the director of Visit Emporia. echoed Rusco’s words. “You know, we seem to have reached the pinnacle of the sport and are widely recognized as the disc golf capital, certainly in the US,” Dains added.
Source: Emporia Gazette

Lawrence bus service to be free to ride in 2023 as part of yearlong pilot program

The City of Lawrence is set to begin a yearlong pilot program that will make city buses free to ride in 2023. All Lawrence Transit services will be free beginning Monday, Jan. 2, including the city’s regular fixed-route bus service, paratransit service, the Night Line and the new “microtransit” service, which will operate on Sundays, according to a city news release. The Fare Free Pilot Program is financially supported by increased federal transit funding. The program will be re-evaluated in Fall 2023 to determine the feasibility of extending the pilot. Microtransit, which will operate on Sundays when regular routes do not run, will operate similar to on-demand ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft, but utilize transit vehicles.
Source: LJWorld

Eudora machinist creates gear to fix Douglas County courthouse clock

Eudora machinist Wayne Neis wasted no time when it came to fixing the historic Douglas County courthouse clock. A busted gear had left the 117-year-old clock defunct since August. And it wasn’t as if someone could order the broken part — the part no longer existed. Word traveled to Jason Grems, of Eudora, who owns a welding shop as a side gig from his work as a captain at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Grems sought out Neis, knowing the project had more moving parts than he could take on alone. “I knew (Neis) could do it,” Grems said. “I’ve seen him do amazing things with broken stuff, and he’s been a machinist for a long time, and he’s incredibly particular.” Neis eyed the project and flinched. “I’ve made some things before, but I don’t think I’ve made anything like that,” he said. Thinking of the historic courthouse clock, Neis said, “I’ll figure it out.” The problem was the original gear’s teeth had been sheared off, so Neis lacked a model or template to emulate. He had to create the gear from scratch. “There was a lot of guesswork that went into it, and a lot of math,” Grems said. Neis crafted a plastic template and aligned it with the gear that it would turn alongside. Once he got that right, he made two gears out of bronze. “We were worried that the tool wasn’t going to last long enough to make one gear, let alone two,” Grems said. “So we’re hoping that the gear that’s in there now will last 100 years, and then there’s a spare one up there. Hopefully it’ll last a hundred after that.” The next time around, the machinist who works on the gear will have a template to copy, thanks to Neis. The clock was up and running again on Nov. 28, and Neis enjoyed a tour of the clocktower on Wednesday.“He was just really excited that he was able to kind of put his stamp on it,” Grems said. “He’s a very talented guy.”
Source: The Lawrence Times

Governor Kelly bans TikTok on state owned devices

In response to security concerns, Governor Kelly announced TikTok will be banned from use on state owned devices in most cases. “Today, I am taking common-sense steps to protect Kansans’ privacy and security,” said Governor Laura Kelly. “TikTok mines users’ data and potentially makes it available to the Chinese Communist Party — a threat recognized by a growing group of bipartisan leaders across the United States.” States across the country have taken similar actions in the past few weeks.
Source: 101.3 KFDI

KDOT selects Deer Creek bridge to benefit from Improvement Program funds

The bridge spanning Deer Creek along 314th Road about 3.5 miles north of Atchison is one of the 33 local and off-system selected bridge projects to receive a piece of the $40.5 million worth of funding from revenue generated by the federally approved Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Governor Laura Kelly and Kansas Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz announced the selected projects for the funding on Dec. 13 at the Pottawatomie County Law Enforcement Center in Westmoreland not far from one of the selected bridge projects, according to a press release from Kansas Office of the Governor.
Source: Atchison Globe Now

Addis to leave office after 40 years

On Friday, Lonie Addis likely will participate in his final meeting as a county commissioner. Barring emergencies, the commission will not meet between Friday, the last meeting of the year, and Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, when Vincent Schibi of rural Parsons will be sworn in to replace Addis. Addis, 72, took his seat on the commission on Jan. 10, 1983. His current term, his 10th four-year term, will end on Jan. 9, just shy of 40 years. He’s been coming to terms in recent months with the end of a long career in county government. He said he likely would not have chosen another career if he had to do it again.
Source: Parsons Sun

Kansas receives nearly $5.7 million to expand broadband access

Governor Laura Kelly announced that Kansas has received nearly $5.7 million to expand broadband access, adoption and affordability, from the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Office. “Communities across the Kansas have enormous potential for a new chapter of innovation and success,” Governor Kelly said. “This funding will propel the state forward, accelerating our efforts to ensure all Kansans can fully participate in the digital world.” The funds are part of the designated $65 billion as outlined in the federal bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in 2021, dubbed the “Internet for All Initiative.”
Source: The Sabetha Herald » Feed

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