Kansas Municipal News
Sedgwick County threatens to bill Wichita for minor marijuana cases after city decriminalizes
The Sedgwick County Commission has ordered a cost analysis of the Wichita City Council’s decision to decriminalize marijuana, exploring how much it would cost the county to book people in jail for misdemeanor marijuana offenses and pursue charges in district court. Commission Chairman David Dennis said Wednesday he plans to bill the city for any future costs of jailing and prosecuting people on misdemeanor marijuana charges. “At what point do we start charging the city of Wichita for this process,” Dennis said. “Because we’re going to bill them for all the people that go into our jail.”
Source: Wichita Eagle
Pickleball court ready for action in Sedgwick
Sedgwick Park is a new destination for pickleball enthusiasts. In the past week, the city finished converting the west side of its basketball slab into a pickleball court. City council member Monty Leonard, who spearheaded the project, was at the park last Friday afternoon applying a special paint to the concrete surface. “I grossly underestimated how much it takes to paint a pickleball court,” he said.
Source: Harvey County Now
Wichita, Sedgwick County growing more slowly than predicted
The populations of Wichita and Sedgwick County are growing slower than predicted. A 2015 city-county comprehensive plan predicted that, by 2035, Sedgwick County would reach a population of 610,000 and Wichita would reach 448,000. Now, the city-county planning department is predicting this won’t happen until 2045.
Source: Derby Informer | News
Why are people moving to a Kansas town of 120?
There’s no stoplight, no high rise, not even a Mcdonald’s. However, what the small town of Damar, Kansas, lacks in infrastructure, it makes up for in heart and personality. “It’s wonderful because most of it is the people here. They want to be here. They are not here just because they are born and raised here. They want to stay here,” said Jim Desbien, the treasurer for the Damar Community Foundation. Desbien’s family settled in the French Canadian heritage town, also known as the “Acadia of the West,” in the late 1800s.
Source: KSN-TV
Wichita City Council votes to decriminalize marijuana and fentanyl test strips
The Wichita City Council voted Tuesday to reduce the penalties for people caught with marijuana or fentanyl test strips. It was an issue that has been up for discussion in the past several months. Fentanyl strips would no longer be classified as drug paraphernalia, and marijuana possession would be decriminalized in the city. An average of 850 cases for illegal possession of marijuana are filed each year in municipal court. Possession of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia would remain illegal under state law. Any charges for these crimes would need to be filed by the district attorney.
Source: KSN-TV
Pratt firemen honor 9-11 with bell ringing
It was a quiet Sunday morning in Pratt, but at specified times the big bell in front of City of Pratt Fire Department on Jackson Street rang out in honor of those who lost their lives, particularly first responders and fire fighters in New York City during a terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. Pratt City Fire Chief David Kramer, joined by firemen Mac Calloway, Eric Welch, Justin Garrett and a few others throughout the morning, rang the bell at 8:46 a.m. when the north tower was struck, again at 9:03 a.m. when the south tower was struck, and then at 9:37 a.m. when the Pentagon was hit by an airplane. “It’s been 21 years, but we still remember,” said Kramer. “We have had a busy week and at least of a third of our department is still on a training weekend so we didn’t plan a big public ceremony. But we are here because this is such a very important day in the history of our country. We hope others took the time to remember those who lost their lives in service.”
Source: Pratt Tribune
Bond yields continue climbing, 2-year Treasury tops 3.8%
U.S. Treasury yields continued to climb higher on Wednesday as investors digested the previous session’s dramatic market route triggered by a hot inflation reading. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, the part of the curve most sensitive to Fed policy, was trading 1 basis point higher at around 5:00 a.m. ET to reach 3.773%, at one point hitting as high as 3.805%, its highest level since November 2007. Tuesday’s session saw it surge 17 points. Yields move inversely to prices, and a basis point is equal to 0.01%. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was up just over one basis point, trading at 3.439%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was up just over half of a basis point at 3.517%.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
Wichita beer festival, on hiatus since COVID, is making its big comeback at a local park
Beer lovers used to look forward every fall to the big Midwest Beerfest, which in its heyday would fill Century II with local, regional and national breweries passing out samples of their best brews. That event — which was always put on by the Wichita Chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food — hasn’t happened since before the pandemic and still isn’t back this year. But another growing beer festival, which also has been on hiatus since the COVID-19 pandemic, is making a 2022 return and will be set up at a new venue.
Source: Wichita Eagle
Newton begins eminent domain process to claim land for rail spur
The city of Newton will begin the eminent domain process and condemnation proceedings to acquire land to build a railroad spur to serve the Kansas Logistics Park. They approved a resolution to begin the process at their Tuesday commission meeting. “It’s been a little while since we’ve seen condemnation,” City Attorney Chris Towle said, explaining that the act allows the government to take private property and compensate a property owner with a fair market value for the property.” The state recently announced a $3.04 million award to the city to pay for the spur. The resolution allows the city to begin surveying and providing a description of the area that the city would need to use for a rail spur. The city isn’t locked into condemning an area once the survey is completed.
Source: Harvey County Now
‘I hope I’m alive to see it completed’: Kellogg construction project gets underway
A construction project on Kellogg that will stretch from east Wichita to Andover will take years, but it could’ve been much worse. “I hope I’m alive to see it completed,” said Debbie Maltbie, who lives near Kellogg. Maltbie was at the east Kellogg construction meeting Tuesday where the Kansas Department of Transportation talked about its plans to build a new highway all the way to Andover next year. However, after just getting done with three decades of Kellogg construction, she’s a little nervous to start more. “It’ll be a little painful, you know, during construction and the learning curve of getting around,” she said.
Source: KAKE – News
Music to crawl downtown: Portion of downtown Winfield to close for annual music event
The Winfield Main Street Committee of the Winfield Area Chamber of Commerce is planning another Pre-Festival Hamburger Feed and Music Crawl today to celebrate the 50th Walnut Valley Festival. Like last year, a portion of the downtown streets will be closed to traffic in order to have a safe and relaxed crawl.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler
Lawrence leaders express interest in putting cap on amount of general public comment at meetings
Lawrence city leaders say they are interested in putting some limits on general public comments at meetings, capping the period allowed for those comments at 30 minutes. As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission discussed potential changes to how it handles public comment during meetings. The commission’s meetings have regularly been going to about 11 p.m., and sometimes later, and the commission agreed that limiting general public comment — as opposed to the comment period for specific agenda items — could allow the commission to get to its regular agenda sooner and provide more predictability to the public.
Source: LJWorld
Seaman USD 345 considers stocking Narcan in schools in the event of opiate overdose
Seaman USD 345 administrators don’t think they would need it, but if they ever do, they want Narcan to be readily available should there ever be a need to revive a student who overdosed. The Seaman Board of Education on Monday evening briefly discussed the possibility of equipping school nurses and law enforcement at the middle and high schools with Narcan, a drug that can reverse the potentially lethal effects of opiate overdoses.
Source: CJonline
Municipal Bond Trends for September 13, 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.
Stephen Wade, a native of the Shawnee County community, is chosen as Topeka’s next city manager
Topeka’s first three permanent city managers came from other states. But the next, Stephen Wade, is a native of this community. After months of searching and multiple closed-door meetings, Topeka’s mayor and council voted 10-0 late Tuesday to approve a contract calling for Wade, 55, to start work as city manager on Wednesday. Wade has been employed since 2020 by the city of Topeka, where he is administrative and financial services director. He previously spent 30 years in the media industry, including being publisher from 2018 to 2020 of The Topeka Capital-Journal and working previously as general manager at The Augusta Chronicle in Augusta, Ga.
Source: CJonline
See a new view of Kansas in Exploration Place’s new original dome theater film
A new film produced by Exploration Place for screening only in its digital dome theater gives new meaning to the term flyover country. While the phrase is often used to describe areas between the coasts of the United States that are not worthy as a destination, the creators of “Kansas: An Immersive Dome Experience” believe showing residents and visitors a bird’s-eye view of the state’s most beautiful sites will provide a new perspective. The 25-minute film is shot exclusively with aerial footage captured by cinematographers flying drones at more than 40 locations across Kansas.
Source: Wichita Eagle
Wichita residents concerned over proposed development
Many residents in the Delano District are concerned about a proposed development. The development, which requires approval from the City of Wichita, would get rid of about 40 trees and turn a green space on the south side of McLean between Fern and Vine St into apartments if the area is rezoned. The city currently owns the area. Those against it say getting rid of the trees would cause pollution and increase traffic in their neighborhood. They say adding an apartment complex would make the area too expensive.
Source: KSN-TV
Fed set for another 75-basis-point rate hike
The Federal Reserve will deliver another 75-basis-point interest rate hike next week and likely hold its policy rate steady for an extended period once it eventually peaks, according to a Reuters poll of economists released on Tuesday. Policymakers have done little to push back on market pricing for a third consecutive rate hike of three-quarters of a percentage point at the U.S. central bank’s Sept. 20-21 meeting, with inflation, as measured by the Fed’s preferred gauge, running at more than three times its 2% target.
Source: Reuters
NextEra is still looking into viability of a wind farm in Douglas County; local landowners are divided
A representative with NextEra Energy Resources, a Florida-based energy firm, confirmed to the Journal-World Thursday that the company is still in the initial stages of gauging whether the area is the right place for a wind energy project. NextEra spokesperson Sara Cassidy said that included assessing existing transmission infrastructure, gauging landowner and county officials’ interest and conducting environmental surveys. … Nearly a year later, property owners in the path of the proposed project are starting to filter into camps that are open to the project or against it entirely.
Source: LJWorld
Dream of new police station, court becomes reality
The City of Great Bend Monday morning broke ground on the long-awaited Justice Center during a ceremony at 12th and Baker, the site of the new Police Station and Municipal Court building. Mobilization for the 20,000-square-foot nearly $9 million project will begin this week. The building should be completed in about 11 months. “This is an exciting day,” City Administrator Kendal Francis said. “Today is a culmination of essentially to two years of hard work and planning.” In October of 2020, a committee appointed by Mayor Cody Schmidt began in earnest the preparation and site selection.
Source: Great Bend Tribune