Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

Leavenworth County Commissioners review two maps

When they met Tuesday, Leavenworth County commissioners were presented two maps to consider for redrawing commission district boundaries.

Commissioners are redrawing district boundaries in order to create five commission districts. Earlier this month, voters approved the expansion of the County Commission from three members to five.

The current commissioners did not settle on a particular map Tuesday. But they agreed that they will choose one of the two maps presented to them during the meeting rather than ask for another alternative. There also seemed to be a consensus to have both maps under consideration placed on the county government’s website so members of the public can review them. If commissioners approve the resolution Dec. 11, County Clerk Janet Klasinski plans to have a special election in March so voters can elect two additional members to the County Commission.

(Read more: Leavenworth Times)

Ellis City Council discusses aging Public Works vehicle fleet

At Monday’s meeting of the Ellis City Council, Public Works Director Alan Scheuerman reported on the department’s current fleet of vehicles.

He said the average age of the pickups used daily by staff is over 18 years old, noting one vehicle already has incurred over $3,500 in repair costs this year.

The council allocated $24,000 in 2018 to replace a pickup, and an additional $16,000 in 2019. The council’s preference was for Scheuerman to try to replace two pickups in 2019 with the combined $40,000 available.

(Read more: Hays Post)

Pratt County officials praise NextEra projects in Reno County meeting

While they touched on a few issues that surfaced with the development of two wind farms in Pratt County, three representatives from that county gave NextEra Energy high marks when answering questions from the Reno County Commission Tuesday.

Right out of the box, however, two of the three admitted to having family who benefited from the projects by owning land that was developed. Pratt County Commissioner Glenna Borho said she abstained from votes by her county commission on the projects because her husband owns farmland with turbines, while County Road and Bridge Supervisor Doug Freund said his father owns land with “a couple of towers.”

(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)

Bourbon County Commissioners nix idea of restarting recycling service

Bourbon County Commissioners on Tuesday briefly discussed, then discarded the idea of offering a free recycling service to county residents.

Public Works Director Jim Harris said 4 States Sanitation will move its solid waste business to Arcadia. He said the company will continue using the Bourbon County Landfill on “emergency holidays.”

Harris said his question is whether the commissioners want him to take back recycling trailers the county had given the company on the condition the trailers be used only in Bourbon County.

“Yes, we do,” Commission Chairman Lynne Oharah said.

Harris said when the county offered a recycling program in the past, the county had to pay someone to take the recycled materials. He offered to research the idea of restarting a recycling program at no cost to residents. He said recycling materials could be brought to the landfill, then the county could transport it to another community. In response to Oharah’s question about recycling aluminum and metals, Harris said the trailers are designed to contain paper, plastic and glass materials, but the county already had a metal recycler. Harris said the county does not have a place to store aluminum cans.

“We probably should encourage recycling if we can,” Harris said.

(Read more: Fort Scott Tribune)

Route 66 advocates applaud plan to seek National Historic Trail status for Mother Road

A proposal moving through Congress seeks to designate U.S. Route 66 as a National Historic Trail.

The highway connected Chicago to Los Angeles and was once an economic driver for small towns across a post-World War II United States.
U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Jim Inhofe announced this week the introduction of a bipartisan bill that would amend the National Trails System Act and include Route 66 in an effort to help revitalize cities and small towns that sit along the historic corridor. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar bill in June. Renee Charles, president of the Kansas Historic Route 66 Association, said she was “ecstatic” to hear the legislation has advanced to the Senate. Even though Kansas has the smallest stretch of Route 66, the Mother Road serves as one of the main economic factors for towns such as Galena and Baxter Springs.

“I think it’s been a large driver to the area since 2006, and it continues to be a driver,” Charles said. “More domestic travel has come through now, both in the Four-State Area and beyond. I think it’s building each year, and now if it becomes a national trail, then that’s more advertisement. I think it will bring more people.”

(Read more: www.joplinglobe.com)

Washington County has highest voter turnout in the state

Washington County had the highest voter turnout in Kansas on Nov. 6, according to the Secretary of State’s office. The county recorded a 67.8 percent voter turnout. Chase County came in second with 67.2 percent.
Washington County had 3,397 registered voters, and 2,303 of those voters cast ballots in the November General Election. Fifty-eight of those ballots were provisional ballots – only 39 of those provisional ballots were counted – and 522 ballots came from advance voters. State-wide there were just over a million people who voted in the general election, making the state’s voter turnout 56.4 percent.

(Read more: Backroads News)

Derby looks to create a “walkable” community

As the City of Derby continues to develop, officials are looking to become a more "walk-friendly" community.

City officials want to create a Walkable Development Plan.

"We’ve had a history of focusing on walkability since the 1990’s," said Dan Squires, the City of Derby’s director of Planning and Engineering. "Walkability and our beautiful green spaces are one of the reasons people choose to live in Derby."

The city has around 25 miles of bike paths, plus it opened two new parks with a third one opening in the future.

"We realize from the community that that’s important to the residents and people around us," said Squires.

The Walkable Development plan would be the first formal plan for the city. As of right now, it only has policies on what the city requires.

(Read more: KSNW)

Hybrids, electric vehicles pose funding challenge for next Kansas highway program

When Kansas lawmakers sit down to write a new multiyear transportation plan this coming session, one of the biggest challenges they’ll face is how to pay for it.

Traditionally, funding for highway construction and maintenance has come from the state’s motor fuel tax — 25 cents a gallon for regular gasoline and gas mixed with 10 percent ethyl alcohol; 27 cents a gallon for diesel.
The state also diverts about 16 percent of its sales tax revenue toward the highway fund, although those transfers have been interrupted in recent years as the state struggled with budget deficits.
But with more fuel-efficient cars on the road, traditional motor fuel taxes have not been generating the kind of revenue they once did. And now, with the mass production of all-electric plug-in vehicles, or EVs, on the horizon, Kansas, like many other states, will be looking to find other ways to fund highway projects.

Spring Hill addresses concern on Civic Center lectern

In response to a resident request and direction by Mayor Steven Ellis at the Nov. 8 City Council meeting, the City would like to provide the rationale behind the selection of the Civic Center’s new accessible lectern, housed in the Council Chambers.

The original design of the Council Chambers’ dais sat six people, housed all the equipment for an extensive audio/visual system, featured a built-in lectern and was located in a smaller room.

To better accommodate attendance at various meetings as well as all City boards, councils and commissions, the dais was enlarged to seat nine people and the room was doubled in size. Due to the increased size of the dais, the lectern was changed to a free-standing portable version that would house all the equipment necessary for the room A/V systems.

City staff and the Civic Center project architect reached out to lectern vendors but unfortunately did not receive timely responses to requests for design and specifications. To keep the project timeline in motion, staff received quotes for the lectern from the project’s A/V sub-contractor.

Recognizing the obligation of accessibility compliance to all individuals addressing the City Council and City boards and commissions, the lectern was designed to meet the needs of individuals regardless of physical abilities. To meet these standards, staff requested guidance from the vendor for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).

(Read more: City of Spring Hill news)

Exterior Home Improvement Grant Program a Success in Merriam; Coming Back in 2019

Merriam residents made several enhancements to their homes this year thanks to the City-funded Exterior Home Improvement Grant Program.

City Council designated $30,000 in 2018 for residents to make improvements to their homes. The projects varied from new siding and gutters to tree removal and other landscaping endeavors. Others replaced windows or driveways and some residents installed solar panels.

More than 30 applications were submitted and, of those, 16 property owners received funding. The average reimbursement was $1,875, with project amounts ranging from $5,460 to $25,736. Residents had to invest at least $4,000 of their own money to receive a reimbursement.

“The Exterior Home Improvement Grant was a great success,” said David Easley, with the City’s Community Development Department. “Overall residents had a positive view of this new program, and we can’t wait to bring it back next year.”

(Read more: Merriam, KS news)

AG Derek Schmidt reaches settlement with Kanopolis City Council over KOMA violations

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt today executed a settlement with the Kanopolis City Council to resolve a violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA).

In September, the attorney general’s office received a complaint alleging that the Kanopolis City Council violated the KOMA by improperly taking binding action in an executive session. Upon investigation, the attorney general’s office determined that the council violated the KOMA by recessing into executive session to discuss nonelected personnel, and taking binding action to terminate the city clerk without holding a public vote. The council at a later meeting took a public vote to ratify the clerk’s termination.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the mayor and members of the Kanopolis City Council signed a consent order admitting that they violated the KOMA. The council members have agreed to obtain training and provide written confirmation that each member has obtained the required training and agrees to not engage in any future violations of the KOMA.

Broadband Task Force, City of Spring Hill, still on pace with recommendation

The Broadband Task Force and the City are on pace to address Internet options after an October meeting.

The Broadband Task Force met Oct. 23 for an update from City staff on the timeline of the Task Force’s recommendation, which they made back in February of this year. Melanie Landis, Assistant City Administrator, gave an update as to where the City is at in the timeline.

(Read more: City of Spring Hill news)

Some cities taking another look at their curfew ordinances

Declaring a juvenile curfew to keep troublemaking teenagers off the streets is a summer ritual in many American cities. This year Austin, Texas decided not to sound the alarm.

“We looked at the evidence and decided it was time to discard the curfew law,” Austin Police Department’s assistant chief, Troy Gay, told The Marshall Project. “It wasn’t making an impact on juvenile victimization.”

The evidence was a report drafted by a consortium of community groups that banded together to challenge Austin’s curfew law in 2017. Police Chief Brian Manley was persuaded and asked the City Council to rescind the law. A voluminous body of research has cast strong doubts on the claims that juvenile curfew laws prevent victimization or reduce juvenile crime, but these findings have received scant attention from policy makers or police.

A systematic review of research literature on juvenile curfew programs was published in 2016 by the Campbell Collaboration, a nonprofit that synthesizes research studies for policy-makers. Campbell examined over 7,000 studies on juvenile curfews and synthesized the 12 most rigorous studies.

As the report stated, “evidence suggests that juvenile curfews are ineffective at reducing crime and victimization. The average effect on juvenile crime during curfew hours was slightly positive — that is a slight increase in crime — and close to zero for crime during all hours. Similarly, juvenile victimization also appeared unaffected by the imposition of a curfew ordinance.”

(Read more: CitiesSpeak)

Topeka mayor weighs in on proposed Law Enforcement Center fence

Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla can see both sides in the disagreement over the police department’s planned construction of a fence around the Law Enforcement Center, she indicated Tuesday.

The mayor appeared at a news conference the city government holds near the end of each month that generally features her and city manager Brent Trout, who wasn’t present Tuesday.

De La Isla responded to a question about the police department’s plans to put up a decorative, 6-foot tall perimeter fence at the Law Enforcement Center, which houses the headquarters for the police department and sheriff’s office at 320 S. Kansas Ave. Critics contend building the fence would send a negative message to the public.

“Is this the ideal situation?” De La Isla said Tuesday. “Absolutely not. We want to make sure that our Law Enforcement Center is a place for the community.”

Still, she said, considerable reason for concern exists — both locally and nationwide — regarding the safety of law enforcement officers.

De La Isla noted that police arrested a man late Friday after he threw a rock through the glass front doors at police headquarters at the LEC.

She added that police aren’t the only ones at the LEC. De La Isla indicated children are exchanged at that facility when their families aren’t getting along, which is another reason security there is important.

“We’ll see how this continues to develop,” she said.

City governing body members earlier this month discussed but took no action regarding plans the police department is formulating to build the fence.

Gardner Police Department pioneers new record system

The Gardner Police Department is one of three law enforcement agencies in Johnson County that will soon roll out a new records management system.
The new system, named NICHE, will replace the current ILEADS system and is meant to not only simplify data entry components of police records but also greatly enhance the sharing of information between agencies in the region.
“Gardner, Olathe and Merriam police departments were selected to go first before the system is rolled out to other agencies in the region,’ said Sgt/ Steve Benz, GPD public information officer, and one of 14 officers leading the effort throughout the county.
Gardner police will start using the system in the second week of December, and the rest of the agencies in the county are expected to be onboard by the end of the first quarter of 2019.
“Currently different agencies in the county use different systems but all Johnson County police chiefs met a few years ago and decided to go with NICHE,” said Sgt. Benz.
He said that Gardner and other agencies have spent about two years preparing for the switch including installing the software and training the officers.

(Read more: Gardner News)

City of Sabetha wants review of wind facility zoning

Commissioners approved having City Administrator Allen ask the Planning Commission to look at amending the zoning regulations to not allow windmills within extra-territorial area zoned by city regulations, which is typically a 1-1/2 to 2 mile radius of the city limits. Currently, they are allowed. The Planning Commission would need to set a public hearing to change the way this is handled.

(Read more: Sabetha Herald)

Barton county commissioners pick up the difference for roof repairs at the Historical Society

Barton County Commissioners had plenty of questions but in the end voted 5-0 Monday to pay for the overage on a roofing project at the Barton County Historical Society.

In 2017, the board authorized paying Steel Builders Construction $12,800 for the roof ,but when the final bill came in to County Administrator Phil Hathcock, it was more than $2,700 what the county had originally agreed to pay. Commissioners including Jennifer Schartz stated that while they appreciate the efforts of the historical society, they wondered why it took so long to get the project completed.

(Read more: Great Bend Post)

Roeland Park approved shifting animal control service contract to city of Mission

Roeland Park will be shifting its animal control services contract from the Northeast Animal Control Commission (NEACC) to the City of Mission, councilmembers unanimously voted last week.

The contract change is expected to save Roeland Park about $22,400 per year. Mission will charge Roeland Park an annual base fee of $1,500 with an additional fee per call of $100.

The NEACC will dissolve by the end of 2018, following concerns that the commission’s costs were too high for participating communities. The NEACC was formed in 1983 by Fairway, Mission, Mission Woods, Roeland Park, Westwood and Westwood Hills.

In 2018 the six cities spent a total of $183,400 on the NEACC, which received an average of less than three calls per day for animal control services.

Mission’s fee was the highest at $77,150, followed by Roeland Park at $55,500 and Fairway $32,450. NEACC cost was figured on a per capita basis.

Over the last several years, NEACC members had expressed concerns with quality of service, according to a City of Mission memo.

Greenwood county commissioners move forward with redistricting process

At their regular meeting on Monday, commissioners approved a quote from R&S Digital Services, Inc., for population mapping of the county. In addition to studying the population, R&S will create three scenarios, which will separate Greenwood County in five equally-populated districts while keeping in mind “equal population, compactness, contiguity and maintenance of communities interest.” Based on the 2010 census, Greenwood County’s population is 6,161. Divided by five, each of the districts should represent approximately 1,232 people. Federal courts have viewed population deviations of 5% as the standard for redistricting. For Greenwood County, this would be approximately 62 people.

(Read more: Eureka Herald RSS)

Saline county awards contract to online job application service

The Saline County commission voted Tuesday morning to use CivicPlus HR to process the county’s online employment applications once the county’s current system, HRePartners, becomes unavailable in February 2020.

CivicPlus HR normally has a first year cost of $9,625, but the company is offering a 50 percent discount for the first year to local Kansas government customers that sign up for the service before the end of 2018.

Human Resources Director Marilyn Leamer said other Kansas cities and counties are already using CivicPlus HR and are pleased with the product.

“It’s the most affordable option for what we need,” she said.

The Commission voted to award a contract to CivicPlus HR, which will cost the county $4,812 for the first year once the discount is included.

(Read more: News – Salina Journal)

Cold weather doesn’t stop Gardner from celebrating holidays with mayor’s tree lighting

Gardner residents didn’t let the bitter conditions get in the way of the 28th annual Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.

Hundreds of people packed Cornerstone Park to kick off the start of the holiday season in the town of more than 19,000. Temperatures were well below freezing when the mayor flipped the lights in the park.

Children from several of the schools sang Christmas carols and Santa and Mrs. Claus greeted the little ones, taking pictures with them in their workshop. There was also a light show in the sky featuring more than a dozen drones. The unique show was supposed to last about 10 minutes, but it was cut short because the drones batteries couldn’t handle the frigid temperatures.

(Read more: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF)

Salina busy with snow removal; citizens should be, too

City crews have been working hard and around the clock doing snow removal. Don’t forget: Salina citizens also have a duty to remove snow and ice from public sidewalks. According to Section 35-252 of the City of Salina Code of Ordinances:

It is hereby made the duty of the owner, occupant, or person in charge of any lot or piece of land abutting on any sidewalk to remove all snow and ice fallen or accumulated upon the sidewalk within twelve (12) hours after such snow has fallen or ice has accumulated.

(Read more: The Salina Post)

County Commission reaction to the lack of merger for Geary Community Hospital and Salina Regional Health Center

There will be no merger between Geary Community Hospital in Junction City and Salina Regional Health Center. That information was announced by GCH officials last week. It leaves officials considering other future possible talks with other healthcare facilities. Geary Community Hospital, like many other healthcare facilities, has been dealing with financial challenges.

On Monday the chairman of the Geary County Commission, Charles Stimatze, commented on the subject. “Disappointing, disappointing, but have not gotten all the full details from Dr. Stratton ( GCH CEO Dr. Joe Stratton ). So we have got to get with him to see what the next steps will be, see what else is out there, see what we can do, see how we can keep the hospital and keep it here in Geary County. That’s what we all want.”

(Read more: Junction City Post)

Sedgwick County 911 to hire more call takers as call volume increases

A crash near Kellogg and Meridian sent five people, including four teenagers, to the hospital Monday afternoon.

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office says the car was reported stolen.

The driver ran a red light causing the crash.

This is just one of the thousands of phone calls 911 dispatchers take and relay to first responders.

This year the county is on pace of receiving 40,0000 more 911 calls than last year.

With that increase, they are looking to hire six new call takers over the next few weeks that will eventually become dispatchers.

“You always have to be prepared and do the best that you can and try to stay calm with callers,” said Rosemary Barnell, a lieutenant supervisor at the dispatch center.

She is looking forward to having more call takers starting in March.

“They’re our forefront and the dispatchers that are on the radio won’t have to multitask as much,” said Barnell.

“As our community grows, as we have more things that visitors are coming into Wichita to see and do, and we’re just becoming a more exciting community, a more vibrant community, all of that brings with it different challenges for public safety,” said Elora Forshee, director at Sedgwick County 911.

(Read more: Top Stories | KSNW)

Douglas County Commission to consider contract for interim county administrator

The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will consider appointing Assistant County Administrator Sarah Plinsky as interim county administrator while commissioners conduct a search to replace retiring County Administrator Craig Weinaug.

With approval of the contract, Plinsky, who has served as assistant county administrator for eight years, will assume duties as county administrator on Dec. 15, the day after Weinaug retires. County Commissioner Chair Nancy Thellman said no decisions on a county administrator search would be made until Patrick Kelly replaced Commissioner Mike Gaughan on the County Commission on Jan. 2. Kelly, a Democrat, was elected Nov. 6 to the commission. Gaughan, also a Democrat, announced in June that he would not seek re-election.

Belleville’s 150th anniversary celebration is just over nine months away

The City of Belleville’s 150th anniversary celebration is just over nine months away. And PRIDE committee chairperson Deanna Morris says what seems like a long way away really isn’t. “We just had a meeting last week and realized there is so much to do and honestly so little time to do it in,” she told the Telescope. Morris and fellow PRIDE members Sheila White and Waylon Scheetz appeared before members of the Belleville city council on Monday to give an update on the project as it stands. Morris said the biggest thing the group needs right now is…help. “This is an event that celebrates Belleville and its history,” she said. “We would like to stress that more community involvement is going to be needed to pull this off, including help from other organizations.” So far Morris told council members the task of putting together a 150th has been daunting but in the end “it will be a great three days.”

Source: Belleville Telescope.

Tiny homes restricted to RV, mobile home parks in Junction City

Junction City residents wishing to live in tiny homes will be required to reside in recreational vehicle or mobile home parks.
Officials discussed bulk regulations in residential zoning districts during Tuesday night’s city commissioners meeting. Troy Livingston — the director of the city’s Planning and Zoning Department — said planning and zoning staff have discussed tiny homes frequently over the past year due to their growing popularity. The city’s current zoning regulations do not address those types of structures, but the state classifies them as RVs because they are on a chassis.
“The (vehicle identification number) even starts with an RV,” Livingston said.

Mission proposes creating community improvement district to pay for caved-in parking lot repair

Mission city leaders are considering creating a community improvement district to repair a cave-in of the Roeland Court parking lot.

Community improvement districts (CIDs) in the Shawnee Mission area are normally used to create a sales tax for funding new development projects or rehabilitating old infrastructure. In this case, activating a CID would allow property owners living at Roeland Court to have a longer period of time, as much as 22 years, to repay repair costs to their parking lot.

The 7- to 8-foot-deep subsidence of the parking lot at Roeland Court, at West 60th Terrace and Roeland Drive, was likely caused by fill material underneath that contained a mixture of clay, asphalt fragments and wood pieces, and “was not placed with uniform compactions,” according to professional opinions from George Butler and Associates, and Terracon.

City staff learned of the damages in August 2017 and have been working with the Roeland Court Homes Association and engineers to resolve the matter. City administrator Laura Smith introduced the CID as a solution to the council Nov. 14.

Three car-tag offices will close and a new one will open in Sedgwick County

Two weeks from now, you’ll have a new place to get car tags, renewals and title work done.

The Sedgwick County Treasurer’s Office will shut down its three current satellite tag offices and move the staffs and equipment to a new and larger location in east Wichita.

The new tag office, at 5620 E. Kellogg, will open at noon on Dec. 10, County Treasurer Linda Kizzire said.

When that’s done, Wichita will have two large tag offices — the new office and the main office in a former Dillons store at Meridian and Douglas.

The stations to be closed are in Derby, the Brittany Center in northeast Wichita and the Chadsworth Center in northwest Wichita.

The closures will happen at 5 p.m. Dec. 7, the Friday before the new office opens. Employees and movers will work through the weekend to get the new office up and running on that Monday, Kizzire said.

Kizzire said she recognizes that some people will have a problem with the change, but the new office will be able to process the work faster, leading to overall shorter wait times.

“I’m not doing this to make everybody in Wichita upset,” she said. “I just think it will actually be better. It’s for efficiency and the well-being of our employees.”

(Read more: Wichita Eagle)

Funding OK’d to make water more palatable, clear way for swimming at Lake Shawnee Adventure Cove

The Shawnee County Commission approved a project budget totaling $386,250 Monday to make the water more palatable and clear the way for swimming at the Lake Shawnee Adventure Cove.

Commissioners Kevin Cook, Shelly Buhler and Bob Archer voted 3-0 to adopt that budget to use excess reserve money to cover costs to replace the recirculation pump that formerly created a continual movement of water in that cove.

Patrons cited a reduction in water quality as the main reason for no longer going to the Lake Shawnee Swim Beach formerly located at the Adventure Cove’s current site, parks and recreation director John Knight told commissioners.

He said that while patrons like the various recreation options the county began offering this year at the Adventure Cove, “they still want the swimming component.”

Sumner County Commissioners table VNA zoning change request until April

The Sumner County Commissioners tabled a request by VNA Corporation to rezone a parcel of property west of the Ninnescah River from rural to heavy industrial until the April 8 meeting this morning at the Raymond Frye Complex.

The Commissioners also accepted the withdrawal of a conditional use permit by VNA.

The meeting lasted less than five minutes. A room was filled to capacity for this very short proceeding.

Previously, on Nov. 7, the Sumner County Planning Commission voted to deny both the zoning request and the Conditional Use permit. As far as zoning is concerned, the recommendation was sent to the commissioners which was originally to be voted on this morning.

VNA Corp., a company headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich. and is part of the Verbio corporation in Europe, is proposing to build a plant at 1080 N. Meridian, west of Belle Plaine, that converts wheat straw and other agricultural products into renewable natural gas to be injected into natural gas transmission systems and sold to Compressed Natural Gas filling stations.

(Read more: Sumner NewsCow)

Lenexa approves 1% community improvement district sales tax for City Center office, restaurant project

The Lenexa City Council unanimously approved a community improvement district (CID) for roughly 2.7 acres of City Center at the southwest corner of the future Scarborough Street and Renner Boulevard for a new, 20,000-square-foot mixed-used building, private streets, parking facilities and other related improvements.

The council approved the CID at its meeting last week and approved a development agreement with AC Lenexa City Center LLC after a required public hearing, at which no one spoke. AC Lenexa and CCL 2 LLC are the property’s owners, according to a memo to the council from Assistant City Attorney Sean McLaughlin. Copaken Brooks Commercial Real Estate is the project’s developer.

The CID will provide for a 1-percent sales tax within the district for 22 years, to start around July 2019. The tax is estimated to yield nearly $3.2 million to reimburse AC Lenexa City Center for eligible expenses for the building and related improvements.

Shawnee county hires nurse for program that aids low-income, first-time mothers

The Shawnee County Health Department announced Monday it had hired a registered nurse, Felicia Turk, for its Nurse-Family Partnership program, a national effort that provides assistance free of charge to low-income, first-time mothers who qualify. The program was created in 1977. It has the capacity to accommodate up to 92 young mothers in the Shawnee County community, the release said.

NFP helps the expectant mother both with prenatal care and becoming economically self-sufficient, Monday’s news release said.

“NFP helps women in poverty who are pregnant with their first child become the best moms they can be,” it said. “Each expectant woman connects with her own personal nurse who works alongside her throughout her pregnancy until her child’s second birthday to help her accomplish her goals and give her child a healthier start.”

Barton County Attorney announces resignation, concern for county’s future

Amy Mellor has served as Barton County Attorney for just under two years, and nearly half of that time if not more has been experienced with a rocky relationship with the Barton County Sheriff’s Office. For this reason and more, Mellor stated she plans to resign her position in December, 2018. Mellor was sworn into office on Jan. 9, 2017. In an uncontested race, she earned just under 97 percent of the vote at 9,294. She took over for Doug Matthews after Matthews served as County Attorney for 12 years. Matthews and his office was criticized for moving slowly or not at all on certain cases for prosecution.

Mellor spent time as an officer and detective with the Great Bend Police Department from 1983 to 1995 before deciding to go to law school at the age of 47. Before coming back to Great Bend to work in the County Attorney’s Office in 2010 as an assistant to Matthews, Mellor was an attorney with Wyandotte County and interned with the Kansas Attorney General’s Office while going through law school at Washburn University.

(Read more: Hays Post)

Two designs chosen as finalists in Augusta’s flag contest

Augusta residents have the opportunity to vote for their favorite design in the contest for the City of Augusta’s official flag.
The panel of judges for the contest have narrowed the field down to two outstanding designs.
The judges were impressed with the quality of the designs submitted, and the judging process was a difficult one.
All flags were judged based on the design and description and the designer’s identity was kept a secret. After much consideration, the judges selected two flag designs they felt captured the spirit of our city, its history, and its citizens.
You can vote for the winning flag design by going to the link: https://goo.gl/forms/ExKHD8GqUcet4Qdg1
The link will take you to the Google online voting form.

With member heading to county commission, Roeland Park council discusses change to process for vacancies

Three Roeland Park councilmembers have proposed that the city consider shifting its approach for filling unplanned city council vacancies by an appointment process rather than holding a special election. The question was raised following Ward One councilmember Becky Fast’s county commission win and pending city council resignation.

Roeland Park’s current code requires the city to fill vacancies that occur more than 180 days prior to the next regular election through a special election process. The special election costs $3,000 and takes 90 days to set up. If Roeland Park were to follow this established process and Fast resigned before her commission term starts in mid-January the special election would provide her replacement by March 2019.

However, if the vacancy occurs less than 180 days prior to next election the position is filled through an appointment by the mayor “with the advice and consent” of the majority of remaining councilmembers.

The discussion point was brought up by councilmembers Jen Hill, Erin Thompson, and Michael Poppa. Poppa said the group was bringing up the item because “it’s relevant” and “not for any other reason.”

Wichita takes the erotic out of an erotic sports bar; investigation found city’s nudity ordinance was violated

A south Wichita club that bills itself as an erotic sports bar will have to lose the erotic part if it wants to reopen, the City Council ruled Tuesday.

The council voted to deny an entertainment permit to Vixen’s Erotic Sports Bar at 212 E. Harry, meaning it could still operate as a bar, but without any live music, DJs or erotic dancing.

The decision came after an earlier hearing in which the police department said the bar owner, Jeran Trotter, had allowed illegal activity there.

The police had conducted an undercover investigation of the bar and found that on several occasions from April to August, female employees had exposed their breasts to customers for tips. That’s a violation of the city’s public nudity ordinance.

(Read more: Local News |)

Consultants recommend summer-only options for future of Roeland Park pool

The Roeland Park city council on Monday took up the future of the Roeland Park Aquatic Center as the Lenexa-based consulting firm Waters Edge Aquatic Design presented a comprehensive look at the pool’s current condition and options for keeping the pool open year round or during the summer season only.

The report’s final recommendations focused on options that would keep the pool open only during the summer. The report found that community feedback showed strong support for the Roeland Park Aquatic Center with location of the pool ranking the highest in satisfaction. Desired features included 25-meter swimming, zero-depth entry, and 50-meter swimming. The sand pit, kiddie pool, and vortex pool ranked lower in overall interest.

About a third of respondents only had a need for summer swimming while 41 percent responded they needed indoor and outdoor swimming options. Less than 10 percent indicated a need for year-round indoor swimming. The report found the group desiring indoor swimming was generally split into two different categories—those who wanted indoor swimming for competitive swimming purposes and those who use it more for general public and leisure users.

#TopCity What?: Where does all of the money from the Kansas Lottery go?

Since the Kansas Lottery began in November 1987, it has provided about $1.8 billion to the state, including about $74.7 million in fiscal year 2018.

“In general, I’d say most of the money from the lottery goes to programs that create jobs or retain jobs here in the state, workforce training and that kind of thing,” said Sally Lunsford, director of public affairs for the Kansas Lottery.

Topeka resident Deb Manning asked #TopCity What?, which answers questions submitted by readers, where all of the money from the lottery goes.

“In the beginning it was a hard sell to the state on why do we need gambling,” said Manning, a local high school teacher, who would like to see more funding for K-12 education. “I may be wrong about that, but I thought that was one of the things they brought up as a possible beneficiary of the lottery was education, and somehow that got changed to economic development.”

Lunsford said that is a common misconception, and she attributed the confusion to the Missouri Lottery, which began in 1986 and benefits public education.

Building permit map lets people know where work is being done

On Sept. 7, the city of Topeka authorized the Hi-Crest Station postal facility at 2921 S.E. Adams to carry out erosion and sediment control work.

On Oct. 1, it issued a permit authorizing Briggs Subaru Car Wash at 3115 S. Kansas Ave. to construct a commercial building addition.

And on Oct. 15, it authorized a complete rebuild of the fire-damaged private home at 3136 S.W. Arrowhead.

Topeka’s city government is making all that information — and more — available on a building permit map its planning department recently began offering on its website letting the public know who has building permits issued by the city, and where.

“That’s a fantastic tool,” Councilman and Deputy Mayor Brendan Jensen said at the Topeka City Council’s Nov. 13 meeting. “I love that, because I get questions all the time about what’s going in here or there.”

City planning director Bill Fiander told council members during a slide presentation at that meeting that people often call his department to ask about construction activity at specific sites.

The planning department consequently teamed up with the city’s public works department to create an online tool showing each location for which the city has issued a building permit, Fiander said.

Topeka police chief says fence needed to protect non-public side of Law Enforcement Center

Readers posting comments expressed mostly criticism on The Topeka Capital-Journal Facebook page after news this past week that Topeka police were considering options for putting up a perimeter fence at the Law Enforcement Center, 320 S. Kansas Ave.

“Why do they feel the need for a fence?” wrote Virginia Williams. “If they’re scared there maybe they’re in the wrong line of work.” But Shawnee County Sheriff Herman Jones emphasized Saturday that plans call for the fenced LEC complex to remain open to the public, with people still being able to come and go freely to the sheriff’s office and police department headquarters there.

The fence’s presence would reduce risk for those agencies while enabling them to more effectively funnel visitors in and out of designated locations on the LEC property, at a time when law enforcement agencies need to be particularly careful about security, Jones said.

Art captures Greensburg’s heart

A southcentral Kansas town that was nearly wiped out by a massive tornado in May 2017 has added a new sculpture to a park that stands on the grounds of its leveled city hall.

The 5-foot-tall (1.5-meter-tall) spiral of stainless steel shaped around an elegant blue glass form is the third sculpture to be installed at Starlight Park in Greensburg, The Hutchinson News reports . Called “Aurora,” it’s a joint project of glassblower Rollin Karg and metal sculptor Jeff Garrelts. Karg described the hue of blue as “a show-stopper.”

Erica Goodman, who runs an antique store on Main Street, likes the latest addition to the park. “The spiral reminds me of a tornado and the glass is us rising out of that event,” Goodman said. On the 10th anniversary of the disaster, the town dedicated the first of three sculptures on the former city hall site. The first piece, called “The Beacon,” features etchings on its textured metal. A kinetic piece, called “Triple Eclipse,” was added next. It has three wheels with stained glass stars that reflect light as they spin.

(Read more: Wichita Eagle)

South Hutchinson names new fire chief

After working an office job for a couple of years, Shae Brooks knew she wanted to do something different.

“I saw an advertisement for the Hutchinson Fire Department in the paper, so I started looking at firefighting,” the Hutchinson native said.

Brooks joined the Fire Science program at Hutchinson Community College, where she also completed her emergency medical training.

“After I got my degree, I ended up working in the St. Joe emergency room for eight years as a medical technician,” she said. She also began teaching medical proficiency skills for HCC’s Fire Science program, which she’s done now for 13 years.

She never joined the Hutchinson Fire Department but began firefighting as a volunteer with Reno County Fire District 3. After three years there, she became an airport rescue firefighter in Wichita and also joined the South Hutchinson Fire Department part-time.

Brooks, 40, was named the chief of the South Hutchinson Fire Department on Nov. 5.

While the first female chief for the agency, Shae said it wasn’t something she gave much thought to. There’s currently another woman on the department, but she’s also becoming a police officer, Shae said.

(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)

Gardner creates a parklet

Gardner is one of 129 communities across the nation that was awarded grant funding as part of the AARP Community Challenge for “quick action” projects. This funding was used to help Gardner create a parklet, which is a sidewalk extension that repurposes vehicle space into space for people. The city will use this portable pop-up mini-park as a place for citizens to rest or socialize in the shade along the city’s sidewalk network within close proximity to City Hall, businesses, churches and schools. This accessible parklet will be the first step toward creating civic greens for flexible community activities in the heart of the city, as envisioned in the Gardner Main Street Corridor Plan.

(Read more: Gardner News)

Manager search continues in Winfield

“Community minded, organizationally focused and (an) engaging leader” are among the qualities sought for the next Winfield city manager, according to a job ad posted last week. Previous city manager searches called for candidates to have a master’s degree, but commissioners decided to open the search to people with a bachelor’s degree and extensive government experience in order to have a wider pool of candidates.

“(We) just felt that experience was a large factor, too. While we kind of expect most good candidates to have a degree, we didn’t want to exclude someone with quality experience,” Mayor Greg Thompson said via text message.