Kansas Municipal News
Wichita suburb warns of coyotes in residential areas
Officials in suburban Wichita are warning residents about an uptick in coyote sightings. The Maize Police Department said Thursday that there have been several coyote sightings in various residential neighborhoods. “We want to remind residence [sic] to be mindful when letting or leaving pets outside, especially if they are not in fenced in yards,” the department said on Facebook. “Coyotes will often attack and kill domestic pets, but will typically shy away from humans unless they are cornered.”
Source: KAKE – News
Walnut Valley Festival kicks off 50th anniversary
People are flocking to the Winfield Fairgrounds for the 50th anniversary of the Walnut Valley Festival. The past two years of the festival have been a little different because of COVID-19, but this year people say they are ready for a more normal year at the fairgrounds. People from all across the country and even the world come to the festival to enjoy all different styles of Americana music.
Source: KAKE – News
Overland Park explores enclosing its farmers’ market, adding development nearby
The Overland Park Farmers’ Market soon may operate all year and could add office space plus a 240-space garage. On Monday, the City Council unanimously agreed to issue an additional $1.5 million to the Farmers’ Market Improvement Project in its 2023-2027 Capital Improvements Plan, which adds to the $5.5 million originally allocated in the 2020-2024 plan. Additional or alternative economic development tools and structures also could be identified and used, such as STAR bonds, but none are part of the conceptual plan at this time.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal
Petition seeks spaces for smaller dogs at Johnson County dog parks
A growing number of Johnson Countians are advocating for more spaces exclusively for smaller dogs at county-run dog parks, with a community petition urging that change now with more than 930 signatures as of Thursday. Olathe resident Sara Crane initially started advocating for small dog parks after her one of her two maltipoos — a breed that is a mix between a Maltese and a poodle — was attacked by a pit bull at Overland Park’s Thomas S. Stoll Memorial Park.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Overland Park ordinance would levy fines for ‘nuisance’ parties at vacation rentals
Overland Park is closer to finalizing new rules for “nuisance” parties within city limits following a deadly shooting earlier this year that took place at a home being used as a short-term vacation rental. The Overland Park City Council’s Public Safety Committee on Wednesday approved city staff’s recommendation for a nuisance party ordinance. The measure defines a “nuisance” party as a social gathering of five or more people on a residential property that leads to criminal violations disturbing surrounding properties. The ordinance would allow the city to penalize residents who create a “disturbance of the quiet enjoyment of residential property,” according to city documents.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Municipal Bond Trends for September 15, 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.
Wichita Mayor addresses confusion surrounding marijuana and fentanyl strip vote
There are still a lot of questions to iron out when it comes to Wichita’s new take on marijuana and fentanyl testing strips. Some are wondering if they can legally smoke marijuana in the streets, while some county leaders are saying not so fast. The City said people cannot walk around smoking marijuana. It is still illegal, as are fentanyl strips. Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple said the City is simply out of the business of small possession of marijuana and fentanyl strip cases.
Source: KSN-TV
New jobs coming to Topeka with $125M Goodyear investment
An incentive agreement benefiting the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s Topeka plant has been approved by the Topeka and Shawnee County’s Joint Economic Development Organization (JEDO) board. This investment, previously referred to as “Project Boomerang,” is expected to result in an estimated economic impact locally of $480 million over the next decade. Goodyear is projected to make a five-year investment of $125 million and create up to 40 new full-time jobs. The performance-based JEDO incentive for this project is up to $585,000, resulting in a 713% return on investment for Topeka and Shawnee County.
Source: KSNT 27 News
Kansas lawmakers say new audit shows ‘epic fail’ in COVID-19 aid spending
Hundreds of thousands of dollars of COVID-19 relief funds spent by state and local governments could have violated federal rules or was ill-advised, a report released Wednesday by the Legislature’s nonpartisan auditing office showed. The audit, which took into account funds spent under the CARES Act, comes as state officials are still grappling with how to spend millions in federal pandemic relief, with the process to dole out the money coming under fire over transparency concerns. Of the $18 million in expenditures by county governments, nonprofits and businesses reviewed by the Division of Legislative Post Audit, officials flagged $1.1 million in spending as ill-advised, with an additional $264,000 considered wasteful or excessive.
Source: CJonline
New Topeka city manager Stephen Wade wants government to be more transparent and customer-friendly
Making Topeka’s city government more transparent is key to new city manager Stephen Wade. So are improving customer service, making the city more developer-friendly and facilitating community conversations, he said. Ensuring that “voices that normally don’t get heard have a chance to speak” is what Wade sees his role as city manager as being during such talks, he said.
Source: CJonline
Local govt officials share how public service has — and has not —changed
A panel of three local government officials shared Thursday with participants in the Wichita Business Journal’s Emerging Leaders program how public service has — and has not — changed over their years in the industry. What’s remained steadfast, city manager Robert Layton said, is government’s core mission of making life better for the people that it serves.
The public’s perception of government, though, has taken on a new tone the last few decades. “We have to work harder to earn the public’s trust, and when you see things in the media about the times that we stub our toes… People still hold us accountable and expect the best from us,” Layton said.
Source: Wichita Business Journal
School districts are increasingly turning to four-day school weeks as a way to attract and retain staff, despite objections from some parents over child-care demands
Districts facing teacher shortages are increasingly turning to four-day school weeks as a means to attract and retain staff, despite objections from some parents over child-care demands and some evidence of lower test scores. So far, the trend has been particularly pronounced in rural communities in some Midwestern and Southern states. Dozens of districts in Texas, Missouri, Colorado and Oklahoma have adopted four-day weeks in recent years.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Municipal Bond Trends for September 14, 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.
Audit reveals two-thirds of $48.5 million in broadband aid allocated to southern Kansas
Nearly two-thirds of $48.5 million in COVID-19 funding earmarked for expansion of broadband services to Kansas homes and businesses was invested in upgrading internet connectivity in the southern half of the state, an audit report said Wednesday. The Kansas Legislature’s auditing arm told a joint House and Senate committee the three southern regions of the state absorbed 35 of 66 grants or $30.4 million approved by Gov. Laura Kelly and legislators on the State Finance Council. The four northern regions took on the balance of the projects budgeted at $18.1 million. Overall, auditors said, the state didn’t find a suitable recipient for $1.5 million available for broadband improvements in unserved or underserved locations. State evaluators rejected 16 applications.
Source: Kansas Reflector
Johnson County expanding public trails onto former Sunflower ammo plant site
This week, Johnson County’s Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners approved the latest step in the county’s efforts to expand Kill Creek Park trails onto the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant site. Johnson County is expanding its Kill Creek trail system into the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant site. Johnson County’s Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners at a special board meeting Monday approved an agreement paving the way for JCPRD to eventually expand the Kill Creek Streamway Park trails onto the site of the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Army Plant.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post
Derby business community’s input sought on sales tax future
With the pending sunset of the Derby Difference sales tax in 2024, the city has started efforts to generate public feedback to shape the direction of future sales tax utilization. In line with that, the city hired Wichita State University’s Public Policy and Management Center to direct feedback efforts and create a community survey regarding the Derby Difference sales tax. As part of that, WSU staff will be holding focus groups to shape the survey – with members of the Derby Chamber of Commerce the first to participate in one held at a luncheon on Sept. 8.
Source: Derby Informer | News
Wind turbines going up in Marion County
Pieces of wind turbines for Sunflower Wind Farm will be seen on highways and roads in the county starting Oct. 3, planning and zoning director Sharon Omstead told county commissioners Monday. Erection of turbines is expected to begin Oct. 6. Omstead told commissioners excavation of turbine locations was 70% complete and turbine foundations were 40% complete.
Source: HILLSBORO Star-Journal
School security a top priority for districts
Keeping students safe in Jackson County’s three school districts remains a priority for the districts’ superintendents, particularly with a new school year just getting started and the effects of one of the deadliest school shootings in the nation’s history still reverberating with educators across the country. Officials in all three of the school districts — Holton, Jackson Heights and Royal Valley — worked with law enforcement agencies this past summer on how to bolster security in school buildings, with those efforts led by Joe Romans, a deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office who, as Royal Valley Superintendent Aaric Davis noted, serves as a “school safety specialist” for all county schools.
Source: Holton Recorder
‘It’s a numbers game’: Residents asking when downtown Wichita will finally get a grocery store
“We get that question a lot and really what it comes down to in that industry is it’s a numbers game,” said Jason Gregory with Downtown Wichita. Gregory with says right now there are about 3,500 people who live in what he calls the core of downtown. But, while there is a gap there, Gregory says it could be closed pretty quickly with businesses locating downtown and the potential of another school, WSU and KU’s joint health sciences’ campus, coming in the next few years. “I think we’re on the precipice of, you know, an explosion of growth. It’s really exciting times for downtown and I think the next five years are going to be some of the most exciting that we’ve seen yet.”
Source: KAKE – News
A giant solar farm project is pitting neighbor against neighbor
Frank Gieringer rides a flatbed trailer toward rows of apple trees loaded with Galas, Crimson Crisps and other varieties, ready for the picking. His family owns this bucolic orchard and berry farm outside Edgerton, Kansas. Just beyond its borders lie 2,000 acres of land, a potential location for the state’s first utility-scale solar farm. Gieringer says he’d welcome the new neighbor. “To really look at ‘em, it’s not a heck of a lot of difference than looking at an orchard or a vineyard really. It’s just rows of panels,” Gieringer says. “They’re harvesting sun. Same thing I’m doin’. All of agriculture sells the sunshine.”
Source: The Lawrence Times