Kansas Municipal News
Shawnee Mission North turns 100 this week
Shawnee Mission North High School students, staff and alumni are set to celebrate the school’s 100th anniversary over the course of three days later this week, which marks the official centenary for what is believed to be Johnson County’s oldest functioning high school. Known affectionately as “the Brick House,” SM North, which opened its doors as Shawnee Mission Rural High School in 1922, is the oldest high school still in operation in Johnson County, according to local experts.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Haysville USD 261 hosts new community retreat
Ahead of the 2022-2023 school year, Haysville Public Schools hosted a new community retreat at the start of August to share about how the district conducts its business. Roughly 80 people attended the retreat, held at Campus High School. Kansas Commissioner of Education Dr. Randy Watson served as the keynote speaker for the event. He discussed the state’s education goals and how districts might implement them.
Source: Derby Informer | Area
Residency requirements for City of Topeka employees amended
The Topeka City Council voted to change the residency requirements for employees of the capital city. City employees are now required to live in the state of Kansas while department directors and judges must live in Shawnee County. The city manager must live in Topeka as well. All employees are encouraged to live within the city limits. The city manager does have the ability to amend the requirement for the department directors to live within the county if the position becomes difficult to fill.
Source: KSNT 27 News
Johnson County adds $610K to hazardous waste recycling project
Johnson County will allocate additional funds toward creating a new hazardous waste recycling center. The Household Hazardous Waste Facility (HHWF) project was approved by the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) as part of the 2022 budget. The $3 million capital project will create a new hazardous waste recycling facility near U.S. 69 Highway in Overland Park. The county has operated the current HHWF in Mission for roughly 30 years. That site accepts, recycles and disposes of common household materials that cannot be thrown away with regular trash, including things like fluorescent light bulbs, aerosol cans and paint.
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF
We’re running out of water
Aquifers are being depleted by irrigation. Reservoirs are filling with settlement. Fertilizer runoff is contamination water and feeding toxic algae. Kansas water experts provided lawmakers a sobering overview of quantity and quality issues facing all areas of the state. While more money and bureaucratic reshuffling were floated as solutions, the Special Committee on Water left Topeka last week without a clear path forward for the 2023 Legislature. “I think it’s pretty clear: If we continue business as usual, it’s not going to end well,” said Jim Butler, a Kansas Geological Survey geohydrologist.
Source: Salina Journal
Honoring farmers in Haven
Understanding the backbone of Haven is in its agriculture. Jake Feil, who runs a goat operation, set out to beautify Main Street with a mural honoring the town’s farmers. Last week, the mural was completed, adding another large artwork to Main Street. “This mural pays homage to our local farmers and farming community,” Feil said.
Source: Hutch News
Andover YMCA Aiming for Spring 2024 Reopen After April Tornado
The Andover YMCA is set to reopen in 2024. The facility was heavily damaged after the April tornado, and officials say they have been working with insurance companies to determine what areas of the facility need to be rebuilt, and which need to be remodeled. Officials said the building’s administrative offices, locker rooms and lobby received the most significant damage most significant damage, but added that every other area in the building sustained damage of some kind. In the interim, Greater Wichita YMCA CEO Ronn McMahon said that many members have been using other YMCA locations, but the goal is to open the water park by next summer and they are aiming to open the Andover YMCA building sometime in the spring of 2024.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Dignitaries celebrate Cowley College centennial
Cowley College held a proclamation celebration Wednesday in the Robert Brown Theatre to recognize the 100th anniversary of the school, which marks the first official day of classes on Sept. 12, 1922. The event also shared the vision for the future Career and Technical Education Center to be built on the main campus in Arkansas City. Cowley government affairs liaison Jessica Lucas emceed Wednesday’s event. “You don’t reach 100 years of success without strong leaders, and Cowley College has certainly been richly blessed by a community of people that have dedicated themselves to supporting investments in the local community college,” Lucas said. “Those investments have resulted in life-changing educational opportunities for thousands of people, a feat made possible by the dedicated staff that has served the school for decades.”
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler
Jackson water crisis reminds City leaders of new water treatment facility’s importance
As the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi continues, so does construction on Wichita’s new water treatment facility. Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple said the situation down South is reminding him of the importance of the new plant. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration in Jackson this week. Residents there have been without clean drinking water after a water treatment facility failed due to deferred maintenance. “The expectation is for Wichita to be ahead of the curb when it comes to replacing infrastructure before that infrastructure causes deeper problems,” Whipple said. Wichita’s new facility will replace its old one. It is 80-years-old.
Source: KAKE – News
New Health Department Director named in Crawford Co.
There’s a new face behind public health in Southeast Kansas. Debra Anthony has been named the new health department director of Crawford County. Anthony has around 30 years of experience in the healthcare field. She was a part of the Crawford County EMS for 11 of those years. She is a registered nurse, with a degree from the University of Kansas, and experience in the ICU and hospice. Anthony has been a member of the health department for 11 years. She says she’s ready to take the lessons the department has learned over the COVID-19 pandemic to help improve Crawford County.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Calls to crisis line go up in Sedgwick County following 988 rollout
Calls routed to Sedgwick County’s crisis center via national suicide hotlines went up nearly 30% percent during the first month of the new 988 hotline. In mid-July, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Line replaced the 10-digit national suicide prevention lifeline around the U.S. The goal of the new number is to provide a crisis line for mental health emergencies similar to 911. Calls to the 988 hotline are routed to local crisis centers, like Sedgwick County’s. In 2022, the center received 273 calls via the new hotline between July 16 and August 21. The prior year, the center received 211 calls from the old suicide hotline during the same time period.
Source: Wichita Eagle
Wastewater surveillance continues to inform COVID-19 surges in Kansas
Two years ago, scientists in Kansas and around the world found an interesting way to track the novel coronavirus: sewage water. By measuring the concentration of virus particles in flushed bowel movements, they are able to estimate how much of the virus was generally present in any given area. People infected with the coronavirus shed it through breathing, sneezing, coughing and in their stool. By measuring viral particles in the sewer system, known as wastewater surveillance, scientists can capture the total amount of virus present in large groups of people regardless of whether they had been tested.
Source: Wichita Eagle
Johnson County sheriff asks for more funding amid staffing crunch
The Johnson County manager’s office will reallocate ten full-time employees to the Sheriff’s office for the rest of this year as a temporary measure to address staffing shortages. Driving the news: County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson and county commissioners discussed ongoing staffing problems with Sheriff Calvin Hayden Thursday morning before signing off on a plan that would bring six retired officers, known as “blue coats,” and four civilians into the sheriff’s office to fill court security positions and corrections positions currently held by sworn deputies. But the shuffling will only be effective through the rest of this year and will not solve an ongoing shortage of deputies.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Butler Community College culinary arts program unveils new facility
The Butler Community College Foundation recently announced the opening of the Redler Institute of Culinary Arts in Andover with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in August. The new facility has two complete kitchens, flexible classroom and learning spaces, and an herb garden where students can gain hands-on experience growing herbs for cooking and baking. The new Redler Institute of Culinary Arts facility was made possible with lead donations from Scott and Betsy Redler, and Paul and Favia Jackson. Additional funding came from private donations and the Butler Foundation.
Source: Derby Informer
Shawnee Co. adopts program to connect residents and first responders
The Shawnee County Fire District #2 unveiled a new community program to allow residents to inform first responders of their needs before an emergency. The district has been collaborating with a technology partner Fire Due to release a program called Community Connect. The web application will allow residents and businesses to share information with the fire department easily. Residents will be able to get burn permits without visiting the fire station in person and also be able to verify the burn condition status online.
Source: KSNT 27 News
Former hospital site in Ark City could become housing
Real estate developers based in Kansas City have their eye on the vacant lot near Wilson Park in Arkansas City as the possible site of town houses and apartments. The City Commission is scheduled Tuesday to consider a memorandum of understanding with Consolidated Housing Services and Consolidated Development Partners to acquire the land and develop it. The spot is the former location of the old South Central Kansas Medical Center building, torn down in 2015. A report for commissioners says the proposed development would include 15 market-rate town homes and 40 apartments of mostly affordable units, meaning income restrictions, with some market-rate apartments included.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler
Municipal Bond Trends for September 2, 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.
Micromansion: New solution to housing crisis comes from Kansas
A southeast Kansas native is developing new housing opportunities across the country. Columbus has become the testing site for this project. After facing problems finding her own home, Abby Nelson decided to take matters into her own hands. Now, her dream is slowly becoming a reality before her very eyes in her hometown, with the first Micromansion under construction right now. “This is our first standing it up, making sure it goes together right, making sure our instructions make sense that we would send to a builder,” said Abby Nelson, Micromansion Founder. For years Columbus native Abby Nelson has been trying to find a new approach to the current housing market prices. And now, her first Micromansion is coming together.
Source: KSNF/KODE
‘A hole in the ground’ and other quirky curiosities build up small Kansas towns
One day in 1973, The Wall Street Journal published a review of Kansas tourist attractions. It was not kind. “Kansas is trying to promote tourism,” the Journal noted, “but it really doesn’t have a heck of a lot to promote.” The column singled out the godfathers of Kansas roadside tourism — the World’s Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City, the World’s Largest Hand-Dug Well in Greensburg and the folk art town of Lucas — for particular ridicule, with pause breaks in the spots where the Journal expected its audience to chuckle at Kansas’ expense. Local newspapers from Salina to Lawrence to Atchison responded swiftly and defensively, standing up for the state’s quirky attractions and the simpler-times spirit they represent.
Source: Wichita Eagle
As utility rates continue to rise, Lawrence leaders interested in expanding limited utility assistance program
City utility bills have increased significantly in recent years, and the proposed budget for 2023 includes another increase. As the water/sewer, storm water and solid waste rates that make up residents’ utility bills went up over the years, commissioners more than once suggested expanding the city’s very limited utility assistance program. Some changes eventually occurred last year, when the city created an additional utility assistance program. However, that program, rather than using city funds, is funded by donations from other utility customers, and has provided assistance to only eight people so far. Exactly how the existing programs might expand is yet to be discussed, but city commissioners seem to agree that the city should help more people, especially as rates continue to rise.
Source: LJWorld