Kansas Municipal News
Nevada official: Tesla/Panasonic gigafactory offers excitement, lessons for KC area
“People don’t realize what an investment like this, and a name like Panasonic … means.” Forms of this statement have come from scores of government, development and business officials since the announcement that Panasonic Corp. plans to build a $4 billion battery plant in De Soto. But the above quote means even more because it comes from someone who has seen firsthand what such a project can do for — and to — a region. Mike Kazmierski, CEO of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, has watched the buildup of Tesla Gigafactory Nevada. Tesla and Panasonic share the plant for battery manufacturing. The plant will bring big changes for the region — great opportunities and tough challenges, Kazmierski said. A key to maximizing the former and handling the latter is quick, collaborative efforts. “Time is not your friend on this,” he said. “Time goes faster than you can imagine.”
Source: Kansas City Business Journal
Communities designate ‘cool off areas’
With temperatures forecasted to remain above 100 degrees for the next week, several communities in Crawford County have designated “cooling off areas” open to the public should residents have issues with their air conditioning or just need to stop in during errands.
Source: Morning Sun
‘Miracle Mile’: Flurry of openings energizes Iola’s State Street business corridor
The timing may be a coincidence, with several Iola businesses opening (or reopening) within weeks of each other. But that activity also brings a palpable sense of enthusiasm, notes Jonathan Goering of Thrive Allen County. Goering serves as Thrive’s economic development director for Iola, Allen County and Humboldt, and has watched — and occasionally assisted — as several businesses have opened this summer. The fun started when the owners of Yates Center’s Vaqueros Mexican Restaurant decided to open a second location, Vaqueros II, in the building formerly occupied by the Greenery and Inn Club. That was followed in late May with Westco — which had been shuttered since last September after a torrential rain caused the furniture store’s building to collapse.
Source: The Iola Register
Sedgwick County Zoo opens new train ride attraction
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday for a new attraction at the Sedgwick County Zoo. The Martha C. Buford Safari Express will take Zoo visitors on a 1.3 mile trip, offering never-before seen views from behind the scenes. The Zoo’s president and chief executive officer, Scott Newland, said there are two C.P. Huntington Electric Trains that will provide the trip. He said riders will hear recordings from animal care staff on the conservation efforts going on at the Zoo. Sedgwick County Commission Chairman David Dennis, who is a board member for the Zoo, said the train has been on the wish list for many years. He said it was made possible by the generosity of the Buford family and the community. Dennis said the train is part of a 25-year master plan for the future of the Zoo, and he said recent improvements at the Zoo are just scratching the surface on the exceptional growth that is in store for the future.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Edgerton approves ticketing minors on sidewalks
City council approved enforcing prohibition of motorized wheeled devices on city streets, highways and sidewalks through citations at their Thursday, July 14 council meeting. Edgerton’s current city code bans operation of a motorized device with wheels defined by a propelled motor or battery used to transport a person and is not required to be registered with the Kansas Department of Revenue Motor Vehicles Department. These are usually electric mini bikes, electric go carts and more operated by minors. The updated code changes from the Sheriff’s office escorting a child home to giving the minor a citation for a traffic infraction through the municipal court.
Source: Gardner News
De Soto approves TIF, setting the table for Panasonic’s incoming megaproject
The De Soto City Council unanimously approved two tax increment financing project plans totaling 605 acres in the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant, clearing a path to provide local incentives to Panasonic Energy Co. Ltd. The first, 309-acre plan area will house a $4 billion, 4,000-job electric-vehicle battery plant, which the Japanese electronics conglomerate this month announced it would build in Kansas, after months of state competition with Oklahoma. The second, 296-acre plan area sits just south and could support a potential $4 billion second phase, should Panasonic opt to expand. Both areas are southeast of 103rd Street and Dual Drive, within a larger 5,877-acre TIF district De Soto approved in January so the future property tax increment could be redirected toward new site infrastructure.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal – The Business Journals
JoCo weighs $15M for infrastructure improvements to support De Soto plant
Next week the Johnson County Board of Commissioners will consider providing $15 million to support infrastructure improvements in De Soto. Earlier this month Panasonic announced it will create a $4 billion electric vehicle battery plant on the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant. The new plant is expected to create 4,000 new jobs paying an average of $30 an hour. Once construction is complete, the plant is expected to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Before work begins on the new battery plant, the board will consider allocating county funds to support the development through road improvements and the construction of a new fire station.
Source: Kansas City Business News
Sedgwick County Health Department recommending people wear masks indoors
Due to the high community level rating, the Sedgwick County Health Department is now recommending that people wear masks indoors even if they are vaccinated. The department says that last week the community level in Sedgwick County rose from low to medium and then from medium to high. The amount of confirmed new positive cases has been slowly rising since early march. The department says that there are 844 new cases for the week ending on July 20. For comparison, there were 517 new cases in the same week in June. COVID-19 hospitalization has risen as well. Approximately 200 beds in Kansas hospitals are being used for COVID patients. This is up from 100 in June.
Source: KAKE – News
Bird e-scooters to arrive in Olathe this week
Starting Monday, electric scooters from Bird Inc. will be rolled out across Olathe. It’s part of an agreement with the city government and the shared microtransit provider expected to bring up to 200 scooters to Olathe. The initial disbursement will be about 50 scooters placed around the city.
Source: Parsons Sun
Mulberry PD helps residents beat the heat
With temperatures holding steady at over 100 degrees for the past few days, Mulberry Chief of Police Joey Adelman has been out with his officers checking on the town’s 424 residents. “I have watched our Chief and his guys go door to door to check on the elderly and less fortunate families during this heat wave to make sure they have what they need,” said Mulberry resident Brad Lawson. “Also, when they get done checking them, they hand out bottles of cold water and food to those out in this heat.” According to Adelman, he and his officers have distributed over 1,000 bottles of water over the past month.
Source: Morning Sun
Red tape threatens rollout of infrastructure package
The Biden Administration will host a summit this fall to help cities and states in line for federal infrastructure funds avoid the tangle of red tape that is known to stall American projects. As funds begin to flow from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the government is eyeing ways to manage issues like permitting, community opposition and litigation, which have long driven up the costs and timeline of American infrastructure projects. Those challenges are on top of the current economic hurdles of inflation and a tight labor force…. The summit will focus on improving project delivery and the administration’s permitting action plan and highlight projects that have gone smoothly. The White House has unfurled its own set of red tape with the IIJA, said DJ Gribbin, founder of consulting firm Madrus and former Special Assistant to President Trump for Infrastructure, and one of the panelists at the conference. With 375 different programs, including 125 brand new ones, and new reporting and regulatory requirements for all agencies, the IIJA is a “hot mess,” Gribbin said. “It creates lots of communication but every one of those communications takes time and effort,” Gribbin said. “There’s going to be lots of programs, lots of money, lots of chaos.”
Source: The Bond Buyer
Municipal Bond Trends for July 21, 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.
De Soto residents are excited for Panasonic’s battery plant, but ‘this is a big jump for us’
People in De Soto, Kansas, are feeling hopeful about the future of their town after Panasonic announced on July 13 that it will build a $4 billion plant in the town to make electric vehicle batteries for Tesla. Still, they have concerns about the environmental ramifications of the plant and how ready De Soto is to welcome thousands of newcomers. Kansas officials estimate that the factory will bring about 4,000 new jobs to the quickly growing town on the edge of western Kansas City. The state subsidies of more than $829 million — about $200,000 per employee — are tied to those employment levels.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post
Wellington City Council meets in City Manager Shane Shield’s last council meeting
The Wellington City Council met on Tuesday for City Manager Shane Shields’ last council meeting. Shields has been the City Manager for over six years and has been working for Wellington for the last 20. He’ll be sorely missed, but thankfully his last meeting went out without a hitch…
Source: Sumner NewsCow
Gov. Kelly Announces Formation of New Wildfire Task Force
Governor Laura Kelly announced the creation of the Governor’s Wildfire Task Force, a group of leaders from across the state, to create recommendations for how Kansas communities can better prevent, respond to, and recover from wildfires. The Task Force met for the first time on Wednesday. Several parts of Kansas have experienced large-scale wildfires in the last 10 years, causing catastrophic financial losses and threatening the safety of residents, fire fighters, and first responders. The Governor’s Wildfire Task Force will take a comprehensive look at mitigating wildfire threats, review the role that local governments and state officials play in responding to such emergencies, and address how these entities can provide more support to communities impacted by devastating wildfires.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Local police take specialized training to help opioid epidemic
As the number of drug overdose deaths continues to climb across Kansas (nationwide, the daily average for opioid overdose deaths is 130 people), special Naloxone training sessions for law enforcement agencies are being held throughout the state. “For us, it’s seconds gained that will potentially save lives,” said Sergeant Christopher Tener with the Wichita State University (WSU) Police Department. There were 20 officers from at least four different police departments (including the Wichita Police Department, the Derby Police Department and the Park City Police Department) who gathered at WSU Wednesday for the city’s first-ever Naloxone training session. “The goal is going to be to do more events like this where we can train a lot of agencies to go back and then train the officers and deputies that work for those various agencies,” said Daniel Donovan, the Community Support Specialist for DCCCA, an organization that provides social and community services.
Source: KSN-TV
Valley Center will have first-of-its-kind 3D printed housing community
A Wichita startup working to revolutionize the way homes are built in Kansas has its first development project lined up in Valley Center. CC3D, a startup from the Wichita-based Crain Company, plans to build a first-of-its-kind neighborhood of 3D-printed concrete duplexes with around 100 rental units. The development is expected to go up on a 20-acre site that’s on the south side of 77th Street and east of Meridian. Eric Ross, CC3D’s CEO, said the innovative home construction method is faster and more sustainable than traditional wood framing, with the goal of putting “a little bit of a dent” in housing inventory shortages.
Source: Wichita Business Journal
Amazon employees in Kansas can pursue college degree from Butler under new program
Amazon employees in Kansas have the opportunity to advance their education through a new program with Butler Community College, the El Dorado school announced. Amazon, which has a fulfillment center in Park City and a distribution facility in northeast Wichita, has selected Butler to serve as the region’s only two-year college provider for the company’s Career Choice program, which assists full- and part-time employees as they learn new skills to advance their careers at Amazon or elsewhere.
Source: Wichita Business Journal
Hill’s to use former city council chambers in Tonganoxie
Hill’s Pet Nutrition will be utilizing the former city council chambers in Tonganoxie. The pet food company’s agreement with the city of Tonganoxie was approved at a recent Tonganoxie City Council meeting. Hill’s will use the space at 321 Delaware St. for business needs as the company continues to build its $250 million plant at Tonganoxie Business Park that’s expected to cover at least 300,000 square feet.
Source: TonganoxieMirror.com stories
Poverty simulation boosts understanding
StepMC has been helping the McPherson community understand poverty for over 10 years and will continue that mission this Thursday, July 23, with a poverty simulation. StepMC was founded in 2010 by a group of city leaders who recognized the problem of poverty in the community. They realized that the programs in place at the time were not addressing the underlying issues. McPherson had resources to help pay rent and utilities or get food at the time, but there were no programs to help people get out of poverty. Those leaders recognized that building relationships across socioeconomic lines had the potential to help lift those living in poverty out of poverty. “StepMC is in a unique niche. We help fill the gap between concrete resources and where people need to get to, to be thriving,” Austin Regier, director of StepMC, said. StepMC makes an effort to uplift people in poverty and recognize their power and work in the community.
Source: McPherson Weekly News