Kansas Municipal News
Derby updates revamped Neighborhood Maintenance Grant program
Looking to increase utilization, the city of Derby modified its previous neighborhood revitalization program earlier in 2022 – having spent a little over half of the allocated funding between 2016 and 2021. City staff reported on the success of the new Neighborhood Maintenance Grant program at the Oct. 25 Derby City Council meeting. With the success, updates to continue enhancing the new program in 2023 were presented for consideration, which the council approving them unanimously. Partly due to updates to property code enforcement, the revitalization program was reviewed to better assist low-to-moderate income homeowners.
Source: Derby Informer | News
Wichita looking at regulations for short-term rentals
Wichita City Council members are looking over a draft of recommendations for licensing and regulation of homes that are used as short-term rentals of seven days or less. The homes are offered through booking apps and web sites like Airbnb and Vrbo. Planning director Scott Wadle presented the draft recommendations to council members during a workshop meeting this week. He said short-term rentals became popular around 2008 with apps that were offering bookings, and there are around 475 rentals operating in Wichita, a higher number than previous years. … The draft requirements include yearly licensing requirements, zoning requirements, limits on occupancy and insurance requirements.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Johnson County receives federal grant to create Mental Health Court
Johnson County is on track to create a mental health court that will reduce the likelihood of people with severe mental illnesses returning to the criminal justice system. On Thursday, the Board of County Commissioners accepted a $309,766 grant from the Department of Justice to support the development of the Mental Health Court program. Johnson County Mental Health Center, in collaboration with the District Court and District Attorney’s Office, applied for the grant. The grant funds will be used for staff training and education, travel and research, developing program assessments and paying staff salaries associated with program implementation.
Source: Johnson County Kansas
SE Kansas Mining History preserved through donations
Kansas Tourism announced this week that Miners Hall Museum will receive $337,500 to help preserve an important piece of SE Kansas Coal Mining History. The grant goes toward relocating and renovating a Page 618 Walking Dragline, which is a unique piece of coal mining machinery that was used to dig for coal in Cherokee County. This is only one of eighteen Page 618 Walking Draglines ever built and only one of two Page 618s still in existence. It will be the largest walking dragline preserved for public display in the U.S., and is the only restorable walking dragline of its kind known to exist.
Source: KOAMKOAM
Downtown Pittsburg art district designation will open doors for new projects
There’s already a lot of public art in Downtown Pittsburg, and more of it is now on the way. Earlier this week, the Pittsburg City Commission gave its blessing to the creation of an arts district in the downtown area. Crista Cunningham is the president of the Pittsburg Artwalk Association, the group that has been pursuing the idea for the last year. She says the new designation will pave the way for even more public art in that part of town. “To hopefully enhance what’s already happening, so if there’s a way for those business owners to get grants using that title, the possibility is there. Hopefully, it will shine up our downtown even more, bring more people to the area,” she said.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Erie has best small library in state
The Erie City Public Library has been named the Kansas Library Association’s Best Small Library in Kansas. Erie Library Director Julie Kent … said she kind of just fell into doing the seed library. “When this whole thing started, when I got the grant for the greenhouse two or three years ago from the county, in my grant, I put in $50 for seeds.” She happened to find a five-gallon bucket of seeds on sale at Tractor Supply for $20. Then she thought she could probably get donations of seeds if she asked. She reached out to Baker Creek Seeds and then the husband of one of the library board members who works in the gardening department at Walmart said they had a whole bunch of seeds they wanted to donate to the library.
Source: Parsons Sun
Mobile library unveiled in Goddard
On Oct. 17, the Goddard Public Library officially unveiled its new mobile library. The converted recreational vehicle will help the library expand its outreach. “We do a ton of outreach in the area,” said library director April Hernandez. The library does outreach activities through the Goddard School District, not just in the city itself. Hernandez said the mobile library will make it much easier to perform those services. The library has loads of crates and other items that previously needed to be loaded and unloaded for each event. Staff members thought it would be good to have a dedicated vehicle.
Source: Times-Sentinel
Municipal Bond Trends for October 28, 2022
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.
Enforcing fowl in Hutchinson: What to do with chickens
Holly Wright first thought about raising chickens when food prices started to go up during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She researched for several months before investing in them, she said, since it required building a coop and run, and buying feed, and then she and her husband started their flock in their yard on East Second Avenue. A few months ago, she spotted a story about the city discussing changes in a city ordinance related to the birds after Councilwoman Sara Bagwell asked for a review to allow larger backyard flocks.
Source: Hutch News
Maple Hill city council opposes closure of Maple Hill Elementary under USD 329 bond proposal
The Maple Hill City Council is opposing a plan from USD 329 Wabaunsee to close Maple Hill Elementary School as part of a multimillion-dollar bond issue on the Nov. 8 ballot. City council members approved a resolution at their Oct. 10 meeting that states the council is “unanimously opposed to any effort” of the USD 329 school board to close Maple Hill Elementary, as district officials look to consolidate all facilities into one central campus. The resolution states in part that the city council believes a pre-K-through-fifth-grade attendance center is “a vital attribute” in attracting new residents to town and developing the local economy.
Source: themercury.com
Doggone project soon gone: Pet owners in Overland Park will receive permanent tags
If you own a pet, you know the drill. You properly license the dog or cat before receiving a tag that’s good for one year. That’s the easy part. Then comes the epic struggle to replace the old tag with the new one on the animal’s collar. It may take pliers or fingernails of steel, if you can get the dang things to move at all. But with a new licensing procedure that will take effect in January, Overland Park hopes fewer people will be growling in frustration. And the city will save some money, too.
Source: Joco 913 News
Kansas history tied to railroad development
In territorial Kansas, a fifth of all land was granted to railroad companies. The grants shaped settlements and business development in the state. Leo Oliva of Woodston talked about the railroad’s impact on Kansas development at a program last week at Marion City Library. Railroad companies chose where to lay tracks and sold land close to tracks at higher prices and land farther out at lower prices.
Source: PEABODY Gazette-Bulletin
Prairie Village to take single-family districts out of housing discussion
Single-family housing districts in Prairie Village have been temporarily removed from the conversation on the city’s housing recommendations. Moving forward, the city’s discussion is now narrowed down to focus on commercial, multifamily and mixed-use districts. This takes any consideration of multifamily housing within single-family housing districts — one of the most controversial aspects of a special task force’s recommendations — out of the equation for now, unless attainable housing cannot be addressed otherwise, per a planning commission work session on Tuesday.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Municipal Bond Trends for October 27, 2022
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.
Free expungement clinic planned for Riley County residents needing a clean slate
Riley County residents looking to clean up their criminal record are invited to a free expungement clinic at the Manhattan Public Library Friday. Attorneys will be on hand to help individuals review if they have any convictions that can be expunged. Deputy Riley County Counselor Craig Cox says there will be a prosecutor available from the County Attorney’s office as well as a judge. “A person can walk in and we’ll review the criminal history. Depending upon the nature of the conviction, for most misdemeanors you have to wait three years after you’ve completed your sentence. For most felonies, it’s a five year wait and for most serious driving violations, it’s a one year wait,” he said. In many cases, past criminal convictions can hamper a person’s ability to gain employment, or in some instances prevent them from getting an interview. In some instances, a past driving violation can also prevent someone’s ability to renew a driver’s license.
Source: 1350 KMAN
“CID” proposal in Pittsburg aimed at improving shopping area
A number of improvements could be coming to an area of Pittsburg, if a new proposal is given the go-ahead. It’s for a new “CID”, or “Community Improvement District”, for the shopping area in and around where the “Home Depot” sits off North Broadway…. It involves a 7-10ths of a cent sales tax for the next 20 years, or until it generates $3,700,000 in revenue, whichever comes first. “The idea is we get improvements for the community, not just new roofs on the developer’s existing buildings, so they’ll be, the Goody’s building, which has been vacant for 10 years, will become a Marshall’s. That’s supposed to open in November. There’s a new building going just to the south of that, which hasn’t been named where it’ll be, but it’s another national retailer. And then there’s going to be sidewalk improvements and the overall signage and just the general improvements in the area, kind of upgrade the district a little bit,” said Daron Hall, Pittsburg City Manager.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Lawrence’s Human Relations Commission pushes to ban housing discrimination based on source of income
Proposed changes to city codes could open literal doors to many Lawrence community members in need of housing if a city advisory board’s recommendations become law. The Human Relations Commission voted Thursday to advance to the Lawrence City Commission recommendations that call for protections from discrimination that is based on source of income, survivor status or immigration status. The advisory board’s recommended language around source of income would prevent landlords from denying housing because someone’s money comes from housing assistance such as vouchers, settlements and more. In a survey of 115 available rental properties in Lawrence in May 2021, 80% did not accept housing choice vouchers, according to a presentation in the meeting materials.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Man accused of slashing tires on nearly a dozen Geary County Sheriff’s Office vehicles
Geary County Sheriff’s Office vehicles were the target of vandalism early Thursday morning when 11 patrol units had their tires slashed, according to authorities. Those vehicles were parked in the lot at 9th and Franklin Streets in Junction City. Security video showed 36-year-old Justin Nienhaus, of Grandview Plaza, as the perpetrator. He was arrested by deputies in conjunction with Junction City and Grandview Plaza Police officers on 10 counts of felony criminal damage to property as well as two misdemeanor counts thereof, and two counts of felony interference with a law enforcement officer.
Source: 1350 KMAN
Andover tornado recovery work continues
Recovery and cleanup efforts continue in Andover, six months after a tornado moved through parts of Sedgwick and Butler Counties. The City of Andover released an update on what’s been done and what is still being worked on. There have been several volunteer cleanup days recently, and the next is planned for November 5. If you’d like to help, you can sign up to volunteer through the United Way of the Plains.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Perfect day for black squirrel party in Marysville
Black squirrels gathered acorns in City Park and beneath trees across town Saturday, oblivious to the estimated 3,000 area human residents and visitors toasting them as the town’s honored animal. The sunny, warm fall day drew all ages to the downtown area for an array of games, live music, food, socializing and a huge parade down Broadway. It marked 50 years since the town named itself the Black Squirrel City. “I think people got a kick out of the excitement and silliness of our little mascot,” said Mandy Cook, co-chair of the Black Squirrel Fest committee. “I was beyond pleased with how everything ran.”
Source: The Marysville Advocate