The roughly half-mile stretch of S.E. 45th Street just south of Lake Shawnee will be transformed in 2021 from a two-lane road with open ditches on either side to a three-lane road with curbs and gutters, storm sewers and sidewalks on both sides.
Shawnee County Commissioners Bill Riphahn, Kevin Cook and Aaron Mays voted 3-0 Thursday to approve a budget of about $5.84 million to carry out the project along the 2,900-foot stretch of S.E. 45th between S.E. Berryton/West Edge Road and S.E. East Edge Road.
The county as part of the project will construct a single-lane roundabout at the point where S.E. 45th intersects with S.E. West Edge Road on the north and S.E. Berryton Road on the south, said public works director Curt Niehaus.
A portion of Santa Fe Avenue will be closed Thursday as construction in the downtown area continues.
The City of Salina said an overhead structure at Phillips Plaza will be erected Thursday, causing the closure of Santa Fe from Iron Street to Ash Street.
The city said businesses along the closed portion will still have access to their doors and parking will be available along Fifth Street and Seventh Street. Work is scheduled for most of the workday.
In an effort to support teachers in the Peabody school district, Peabody Community Foundation is offering grants for needs outside of the district’s annual budget.
Student groups working in collaboration with a teacher may also apply. Up to 10 $250 projects will be funded. Applications will be accepted until Oct. 17.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director for Kansas, Lynne Hinrichsen, highlighted that USDA is providing $150 million in grants through the agency’s Community Facilities Program. The grants will help rural communities across the country continue their recovery from the devastating effects of natural disasters, which includes hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, straight-line winds, wildfires, landslides and mudslides.
“Throughout Kansas, numerous communities were devastated by natural disasters this year,” Hinrichsen said. “USDA’s Community Facilities program can help rural communities in their recovery efforts by ensuring they have public services and facilities available to support their residents.”
The Tonganoxie Public Library will be re-open next week.
Library director Nicole Holifield originally posted a note on the library’s website with an update that the library would be back in operation starting at 9 a.m. today, but that date had to be pushed back to next week. The library now will reopen this coming Tuesday.
The public will soon be able to provide input on what developments they would like to see in low-income areas of the city that have been designated as federal opportunity zones.
There are two Lawrence census tracts designated as opportunity zones, and developments within their limits are eligible for tax incentives under a provision in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. One of the opportunity zones encompasses all or part of three eastern Lawrence neighborhoods, and neighborhood groups have pressed for more local discussion and input regarding the program.
The Douglas County Commission didn’t suggest any changes to a proposed comprehensive plan for the county and the City of Lawrence at a Wednesday work session, and one commissioner praised the plan’s focus on preserving rural areas.
Wednesday’s session was the commission’s first look at the plan, known as Plan 2040, which outlines how the city and county will consider development and land use in the future. The commission hasn’t voted on the plan yet — it’s tentatively scheduled to do so during its next meeting on Oct. 16 — but commissioners said they were pleased with the work that had already been done.
A local tourism leader is asking that the Lawrence City Commission closely consider whether recent shifts in how the city spends an additional sales tax charged to Lawrence visitors are appropriate.
As part of its study session Tuesday, the commission discussed its recent allocation of transient guest tax funds at the request of Explore Lawrence, the travel and tourism organization for Lawrence and Douglas County. Explore Lawrence Executive Director Michael Davidson said that in recent years the city had made several changes to how those funds were spent.
Manhattan is considering amending laws on smoking and vaping in public areas as well as in stores that market the wares.
The Manhattan City Commission Tuesday discussed combining regulations on the use of e-cigarettes and ordinary cigarettes under the same ordinance, requested by the Flint Hills Wellness Coalition in January. As it was a work session, they held no official vote.
Riley County Health Department Director Jennifer Green says vaping has doubled among high school students in Riley County in the past year. She says smoking rates decreased 10 percent since the smoking was banned in public 10 years ago, and that education campaigns are not enough to do the same in regard to vaping.
“Knowing better does not always result in doing better,” says Green. “We need to create norms and policy change that will help that and we can do that through a policy change like this.”
Designing a strategic plan for the future of Ellis County drew the biggest interest and group during Tuesday night’s meeting of the Strategic Doing Re-Start for Ellis County.
Volunteers gathered at the Rose Garden Banquet Hall in Hays to winnow down the number of project ideas for community improvements generated at a meeting last month.
As attendees enjoyed bierocks and green bean dumpling soup, facilitator Betty Johnson, Lawrence, polled the group for their top topics. Many of the people had been at the first meeting and others were there for the first time.
The Kansas Department of Transportation has announced approved bids for state highway construction and maintenance projects in the area. The letting took place Sept. 18 in Topeka.
In Reno County, workers will be doing some pavement marking on K-61 for 8.6 miles. RoadSafe Traffic Systems of El Dorado won the bid for $183,135.82.
In Kingman County, a bridge replacement over South Fork of the Ninnescah River on Southeast 80th Avenue near Murdock will be done by King Construction Company and subsidiaries for a cost of $991,506.50.
A federal grant will help homeless residents in Southeast Kansas find shelter as soon as possible.
Catholic Charities of Southeast Kansas is the recipient of a grant for more than a $100,000 from housing and urban development. The funding will be used to help the homeless across an 11-county area who qualify as being without a home, into housing.
Director Casey Brown says this is the first time his organization applied for the grant money. And, he says it will hopefully change the lives of many people the charity serves.
“Our hope is to meet with them as soon as possible and wrap around services with them and to be able to provide services to get them housed stably as soon as possible,” Brown explained.
Opposition to the proposed 25-year, $29.9-million school bond issue has spurred a write-in campaign in a Nickerson-South Hutchinson USD 309 school board race.
Larry Meadows, who applied this summer to fill a vacant seat on the school board only to see the appointment vote delayed until after the election, has launched a write-in race against Mike Apfel.
One-term incumbent Apfel is running unopposed for Position 1 – a South Hutchinson seat – on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Meadows said he had toyed with the idea of filing to run for the seat, but missed the June deadline. He was on the steering committee as the district considered a school improvement bond issue, and he saw the development of the bond issue go “horribly wrong,” he said.
Meadows is conducting a “face-to-face” campaign, and he said he’s “not talked to anybody who’s been in favor” of the bond issue. A few have been opposed to any bond issue, but a majority are in favor of a smaller bond issue, he said.
Wichita’s new water plant has fallen behind schedule, delaying a City Council decision on whether to keep its contract with Wichita Water Partners until well after the November election.
Wichita Water Partners, a team lead by Burns & McDonnell and Alberici, was supposed to design 30% of the plant and come up with a final cost estimate by Oct. 4, according to its contract with the city.
The City Council was scheduled to approve that cost at the end of October and authorize Wichita Water Partners to start building the plant.
The United States Department of Agriculture is providing $150 million in disaster grants through its agencies community facilities program.
FEMA has issued three major disaster declarations for Kansas this year: for storms, straight-line winds, and flooding Feb. 24; for tornadoes and flooding May 29; and for severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, and landslides and mudslides on June 19. Nearly 71 of the state’s counties, including Marion, are eligible major disaster declarations.
Cities, public bodies and nonprofit organizations with populations of fewer than 20,000 are eligible for funding.
Special education, a new ag complex, vaping and the search for a new superintendent were discussed by Marysville USD 364 Board of Education candidates during last Thursday’s candidate forum at Marysville City Building.
School board Position 1 candidates Catherine Ray and Brenda Arntt, who is the incumbent; Position 3 candidate Melissa Borgerding; and Position 7 candidate Michelle Reinhart attended the forum. Not present were Position 3 candidate Susan Pacha, Position 7 candidate Chris Ridey and Position 2 candidate Lanny Carpenter, who is the incumbent.
The board has begun its search for a new superintendent after the resignation last school year of Superintendent Bill Mullins.
Lawrence city leaders expressed strong interest Tuesday in moving forward with sanctuary city policies that ensure local police are not used to enforce noncriminal immigration matters.
At a study session, the Lawrence City Commission discussed potential policies regarding how Lawrence police handle requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and how police and other city staff otherwise interact with undocumented immigrants. Though the city has some practices in place, all four commissioners present said they wanted to further discuss written policies to ensure immigrants feel safe in Lawrence.
A new project between governments in Sedgwick County, Mulvane and Derby hopes to connect the two cities via bike path.
Approximately two miles of bike path will be added alongside Rock Road between Mulvane and Derby. The project adds on to the more than 25 miles of bike and walking paths already inside Derby, and the sprawls of bike paths in the rest of the county.
Eighty percent of the project’s budget was covered with federal dollars through the Wichita Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WAMPO). Sedgwick County, Mulvane and Derby each chipped in a third of the remaining 20 percent of the project’s funding — about $57,000.
Some Ellis County residents in the coming weeks will get notified that the floodplain classification for their property may be changing.
The change is being made based on new maps developed with digital technology for determining elevation, according to Mason Ruder, environmental planning supervisor for Ellis County.
“FEMA and the Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Water Resources started a project a few years ago on updating our paper maps that are currently from 1986 for the floodplain,” said Ruder, speaking Monday evening to the Ellis County Commissioners during their regular meeting at the Ellis County Administrative Center, 718 Main St.
Using three-dimensional elevation information captured with LiDAR, or light detection and ranging technology, FEMA and state officials have developed new maps considered more precise than the current ones, Ruder said.
Another award has come to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. This time the American Heart Association presented a Quality Achievement Award to the Primary Stroke Center as a tribute to the hospital’s successful treatment of stroke patients.
Brie Pringle, Heart Walk development director for the AHA, said the organization is proud to recognize HRMC’s dedication to providing the highest quality care for all patients who sought treatment for stroke symptoms.
The award signifies that the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center Primary Stroke Center met achievement measures at 85% or higher and quality measures at 75% or higher for two consecutive years.
A Topeka City Council committee will look at potentially authorizing the Topeka Human Relations Commission to conduct investigations while adding “gender identity and sexual orientation” to the list of protected classes covered by city code provisions regarding discrimination and fair housing.
The city’s mayor and council voted 9-0 Tuesday evening to approve city manager Brent Trout’s recommendation that they “refer certain chapters contained without the Topeka Municipal Code to the council policy and finance committee for its evaluation, review and subsequent recommendation to the full governing body.”
Members of that committee are Tony Emerson, Brendan Jensen and Jeff Coen, according to the city website.
In an effort to be supportive of teachers in USD 398, Peabody Community Foundation (PCF) is currently running a grant cycle for needs and/or opportunities that are outside of the school district’s annual budget. Student groups working in collaboration with a teacher may also apply. Up to ten $250 projects will be funded. Applications will be accepted until Oct. 17 and may be found online at centralkansascf.org under the “apply” tab.
Grants will be awarded at the fourth annual #GivingTuesday/Winterfest event from 5-8 p.m. on Dec. 3 at Peabody-Burns High School. The evening is jointly sponsored by Peabody Community Foundation (PCF) and USD 398.
Leading up to #GivingTuesday the school district is partnering with PCF for community-wide activities on the Tuesdays in November. On Nov. 5, thank-you cards will be sent to volunteer fire fighters, police, city council members, and others who serve the community. On Nov 12 personal care items will be collected for the community’s care facilities. On Nov. 26, food items will be collected for the Food Pantry at Peabody’s United Methodist Church. Collection points will be the elementary and junior/senior high school buildings, Peabody Market, and Vintage Bank. On Tuesdays throughout the month, students will be cleaning up the community after school.
Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) released the following statement applauding the president’s signing of the US-Japan Trade Agreement:
“The trade agreement between the United States and Japan is a win for Kansas farmers and ranchers. Japan is the second largest export market for agricultural products from Kansas and this agreement will result in even greater market access for beef, wheat, sorghum and pork, and put American producers on a level playing field with our foreign competitors. It will also benefit Kansas dairy producers by expanding cheese exports, and will eliminate tariffs on certain types of ethanol. As farmers and ranchers continue to struggle with low commodity prices, we must continue to find new export opportunities for the food, fuel and fiber produced in Kansas. I commend President Trump, Ambassador Lighthizer and Ambassador Doud for their leadership in securing this much-needed victory for our producers.”
Gov. Laura Kelly pledged to work with Kansas industries and economic development specialists Monday to craft the first comprehensive blueprint for hastening statewide business growth since the 1980s.
The project coordinated by the Kansas Department of Commerce and the McKinsey consulting firm has the central goal of analyzing the state’s economy, outlining a plan for seizing opportunities and shaping implementation a development strategy to advance such economic indicators as population growth, labor participation and gross domestic product.
“It’s been more than 30 years since the state had a formal strategy to accelerate economic development,” Kelly said. “The economic challenges facing Kansas require innovative solutions and a well-coordinated approach.”
Labette County Commission Chairman Doug Allen wants commissioners to create setback restrictions in case a wind developer wants to build wind turbines in the county.
Wind farms are being built or in the process in Allen and Neosho counties and commissioners previously heard that developers have been talking to Labette County landowners.
The setbacks would set the distance between wind turbines and non-participating property owners. Commissioners have discussed having setbacks start at the property line rather than any house foundation but commissioners only spoke in broad strokes on Monday.
Two derelict hotels that became an eyesore and crime magnet near Shawnee Mission Parkway and Metcalf Avenue are back on track to be torn down, this time with a hard deadline of Nov. 30.
Actions by the Overland Park City Council put the Metcalf Crossing project – which will bring a self storage building, car wash and office space to the site – back on track Monday. The developer, Wes Grammer, also has until Feb. 1, 2020 to begin construction.
Council members were excited about the development and the prospect of bulldozing the hotels when the development was first brought forward more than a year ago. But in the months that have passed and as the development plans have changed, their enthusiasm has morphed into resignation. A few expressed regret Monday that the city did not prepare a vision plan for the Shawnee Mission Parkway corridor at Metcalf, a northern gateway to the city.
A Pathways Grant will be used to purchase 40 bicycles for bicycle safety and education in USD 475 grades five and six, and PE One at Junction City High School. The Board of Education authorized the use of the grant funds, totaling $30,000 for the acquisition of the bicycles.
This Blast curriculum is designed to teach the skills for safe and effective riding. The curriculum has been developed by bicycle advocates and reviewed by educators and parents.
The bikes will spend about two-and-a-half to three weeks at each school beginning with modules which emphasize safety including helmets, bikes and rules of the road, along with the fundamentals of riding a bicycle. The bikes would consist of three different sizes and would be stored in a 24-foot trailer.
The Blast curriculum will become part of the K-12 Physical Education curriculum.
After more than two hours of public comment and discussion with the developer, the Shawnee planning commission on Monday approved a rezoning and site plan for Stag’s Spring, a multi-family residential project downtown.
Shawnee developer Kevin Tubbesing, who led the Stag’s Creek development down the street, has proposed the $16.1 million multi-family luxury apartment complex.
Atchison Public Schools stakeholders are invited to stop by and start their day with coffee and conversation in the company of Superintendent Renee Scott.
Scott officially came on board to serve as the superintendent of USD 409 on July 1 in time for the start of the new schoolyear. Since her hire and relocation from Garden City, Scott has made concerted efforts to get acquainted with staff in the buildings and students in the classrooms in the 409 district.
“I have met a few people informally in passing,” Scott said. “But I just wanted to give people a chance to come in, ask questions they may have about me, buildings, local or state budgets, etc.”
The City of Atchison governing body saw a rare divided vote on Monday afternoon on the matter of bringing in an outside consultant to assist with the government’s long term plan for city infrastructure and improvements.
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Commissioners agree that a consultant is necessary for several reasons, chiefly to market public engagement with the strategic plan process and ensure that enough residents participate for city leaders to have a good idea of the public’s governing priorities.
Lots of people say they wish Wichita would utilize the Arkansas River better, and the city agrees.
“We’ve been wanting to activate the river,” says Troy Houtman, director of the Park and Recreation Department.
The question, he says, is, “What kind of things could we do?”
That might be some sort of barge service with a floating restaurant or bar, a dinner cruise, a water taxi or a tourist ride with fun facts about the city from downtown to Delano. Houtman says the city is open to ideas, so it put out a request for qualifications several months ago.
Despite lingering skepticism about the strength of a city-level nondiscrimination ordinance, Overland Park officials on Monday agreed to prohibit discrimination against the LGBTQ community.
The vote came on the eve of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday hearing arguments over whether federal civil rights law protects LGBTQ people from job discrimination. A ruling is expected by next summer, in which the justices will determine whether it is legal to fire employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Overland Park leaders warned that the city’s ordinance could become moot depending on the outcome of the closely watched federal cases. Officials called for state and federal laws prohibiting LGBTQ discrimination, arguing they would be more effective.
The Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Water Resources (KDA-DWR) will host two public meetings on Monday, October 21, 2019, to share information related to upcoming action responding to the impairment complaint by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on behalf of Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.
Water rights owners in the area were sent notice this week of the KDA-DWR plan to regulate water rights. The meetings will review the anticipated regulation and the ongoing work with local stakeholders to develop a Water Conservation Area (WCA) that will provide flexibility in use for those regulated water rights.
Groundwater Management District 5 and the R9 Ranch in Edwards County (owned by the cities of Hays and Russell as a long-term water supply) are included in Zone A.
The Phillipsburg City Council recently hired Phillipsburg native Scott Aust as the city’s new Community Development Director.
A 1985 graduate of Phillipsburg High School, Aust earned a bachelor’s degree from Fort Hays State University.
For more than 20 years Aust worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota covering government, growth and development, business and community issues. Most recently, he served as the Director of Communications for Finney County Economic Development Corporation in Garden City, Kan., and also oversaw the operation of the Greater Garden City community information website and social media platforms.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly says she’s launching the state’s first formal strategy in 30 years to strengthen economic development.
Kelly pledged Monday to work with industries and economic development specialists to write a comprehensive plan to speed economic growth. A report is expected by March 2020.
The project will be coordinated by the Kansas Department of Commerce and the McKinsey consulting firm.
Secretary of Commerce David Toland says the state has lagged in key economic indicators such as GDP growth, population growth and labor participation.
The process for creating a new comprehensive plan for Leavenworth County continues. And those who are involved in the process held an open house last week for members of the public.
Krystal Voth, deputy director of the Leavenworth County Planning and Zoning Department, said 85 people attended Wednesday’s open house.
“We had really good engagement,” she said.
Once completed, the countywide comprehensive plan will touch on topics such as future land use, zoning, infrastructure and economic development.
The final touch, at least for now, of a new display in the McPherson Law Enforcement Center came this week — a plaque acknowledging the work of those who created a display of Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run T-shirts now displayed on the walls of its lobby.
Hangng the T-shirts was a senior project for Bethany College student Molly Achterberg, a criminal justice major who is from Minneapolis.
Achterberg cut and framed the T-shirts, which were donated by former McPherson Police Chief Dennis Shaw.
Kingman Community Hospital plans to launch a $2.5 million, year-long renovation project this spring.
The project will expand its rehabilitation and physical therapy options, double its specialty clinic space and make needed mechanical and electrical upgrades at the 50-year-old facility.
The work also will result in the relocation of the agency’s business and medical records offices out of the hospital to its neighboring Medical Arts building, said hospital CEO Shannan Flach.
As Mike Perryman watched floodwaters surround his home in rural Douglas County while his wife and daughter were still inside, he wondered what could have caused such a disaster.
While he was aware of the 8 to 10 inches of rain in the weather forecast the night of July 31, seeing the often-shallow Washington Creek quickly fill with water did not make sense to him. Additionally, the water of the creek, which normally heads north to flow into the Wakarusa River, was then flowing the other direction.
“Everything was running back (south),” he said. “It started going back through low points along the creek and back into our properties.”
The next time federal immigration agents come to Lawrence, city leaders say they want no surprises when it comes to the role of local police.
At its study session Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will discuss potential policies regarding how Lawrence police handle requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and otherwise interact with undocumented immigrants.
Mayor Lisa Larsen, who requested the study session, said that while police have a general practice, she thought a written policy regarding how police handle such situations would be more transparent for residents and allow the policy to be publicly debated.
The city’s top urban planner will soon resign, and the city plans to conduct a national search for his replacement.
The City of Lawrence announced the resignation of Planning and Development Services Director Scott McCullough Thursday evening. McCullough has accepted a position as director of community development in Lenexa, according to the news release. McCullough’s last day with the city will be Nov. 1.
McCullough started with the city in August 2007 and has been involved in several key projects during his tenure, according to the release.
City officials foresaw the benefits of a new civic and business center. It just took a while for it to materialize — and now it’s paying off big. After a fitful start, Lenexa City Center is coming into its own, mixing government, civic, retail, office and housing. In other words, the city created a new gathering place for residents.
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The nearly 200-acre Lenexa City Center — a public-private development — covers all four corners at 87th Street Parkway and Renner Boulevard.
Located near the geographic center of Lenexa, the project is home to office buildings, multifamily housing, single-family home developments, boutique retail and restaurants. It also houses services for city residents, including City Hall, a public market, an aquatic center, a recreation center and a Johnson County Public Library branch that opened in June.
Overland Park’s downtown has gone from quaint to contemporary. Lenexa built a downtown from the ground up. And while the hearts of other Johnson County cities are transforming, Shawnee’s downtown has remained stagnant.
But many say that’s starting to change.
Millions of dollars of new investment — from private developers, business owners and the city — are breathing new life into the area that many said has been depressed for decades.
One of the KC-135 air refueling planes at McConnell Air Force Base has a piece of Derby attached to it – literally.
In what is termed a nose-art ceremony, the city’s official 150th anniversary logo was unveiled on the pilot’s side of the aircraft at the base on Oct. 2 in front of an appreciative crowd of U.S. Air Force, Derby and elected officials.
The audience also included David Craig. And for the Derby resident, the ceremony had an extra special meaning as he was a crew member who flew on this very same aircraft back in 1978, a plane with tail number 357 that he called “an old friend.”
A Pathways Grant will be used to purchase 40 bicycles for bicycle safety and education in USD 475 grades five and six, and PE One at Junction City High School. The Board of Education authorized the use of the grant funds, totaling $30,000 for the acquisition of the bicycles.
