Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

City Hall staying put in Leawood

After hearing from residents on Nov. 12, the Leawood City Council decided against moving the former City Hall from its current site at 9615 Lee Blvd.

City leaders had considered placing the building close to the current City Hall at 4800 Town Center Drive, leaving more green space for a park that’s being planned on the Lee Boulevard property.

Chris Claxton, the city’s parks and recreation director, said most residents who spoke at the meeting favored keeping the building on its current site.

However, the old City Hall will have to be moved to different spot to accommodate construction of a new fire station where the now-razed police building once stood next to the City Hall. The fire station is in the early stages of planning, so nothing will happen to the building for a while

The city’s Historic Commission has requested that the former City Hall, now used for storage, become a local history museum where the story of Leawood would be told. No decision has been made on that idea.

(Read more: KC Star Local News)

Holcomb City Council votes in Yolanda Cox as new member

On Wednesday night, the Holcomb City Council approved Yolanda Cox to fill its fifth seat, left empty since former council member Jerry Quint stepped down in August to join the city’s short-staffed police department.

Quint originally left the council on Aug. 8 to temporarily become a part-time officer at the Holcomb Police Department, which has long been understaffed, said Robin Lujan, city administrator.

At the end of his originally slated 60-day leave, when positions at the police department remained unfilled, Quint decided to stay with the department in the interest of the city’s public safety, Lujan said. She said the city did not widely advertise the vacancy but informed people via word of mouth over the past few weeks.

Cox, who knows Mayor Brian Rupp and some current council members, was the only resident that showed interest in the position, Lujan said, submitting a letter to the council on Oct. 30.

Zoning best protection, say wind farm opponents

Some people have questioned why Apex Clean Energy would want to build wind turbines in Southeast Kansas.

Lack of zoning regulations in Neosho County could be one of the greatest enticements for the company, according to information shared with Neosho County residents Tuesday night at Tony’s Function Junction near St. Paul.

Anderson County residents Dane Hicks and Burk Peterson spoke to citizens at the event center who have raised concerns about the Neosho Ridge Wind project that is proposed in a footprint covering land between Galesburg and Thayer.

Hicks and Peterson were part of a group of Anderson County residents who fought a wind company that wanted to build a wind farm there by using the county’s zoning regulations. Residents in neighboring Coffey County warned them to get off their hands and do something to keep the wind farms out. They, in turn, are warning Neosho County residents, whose only option at this point to stop the wind farm project appears to be zoning or road use permits.

(Read more: The Chanute Tribune)

Anderson county residents speak about wind farm negatives

From Burk Peterson’s back door in Anderson County, he can see the turbines stretched across his sight line from horizon to horizon in Coffey County 26 miles away.

At night he said, it is like he is being invaded by aliens, because the turbines’ red lights are synced to blink in unison.

Looking at Kansas wind maps and the marginal to poor winds in Southeast Kansas, some might wonder why wind energy companies would come here to harvest wind for power.

With wind turbines that stand nearly 600 feet tall and blades reaching another 200 feet in the air, the energy companies think there is a better chance to capture those winds, but opponents, such as Peterson, have concerns.

That was not always Peterson’s perception, or his friend Dane Hicks’, according to what they shared with concerned residents of Neosho County Tuesday evening. The two men were part of a group in Anderson County that stopped a wind farm project there.

At first they thought, “We’ve already got a nuclear power plant, what’s a few more bucks,” Peterson said. Because the wind farms could impact property values, and given the tax breaks the wind companies receive, property taxes are increased on area residents to compensate. As well, their electricity bills often increase. Also, people are taxed to pay the federal subsidies to build the wind farms, the men said.

(Read more: Parsons Sun)

Lawrence Parks and Recreation finalizes new cemetery rules allowing more decorations

New rules allowing more decoration options at grave sites in Lawrence cemeteries were finalized Wednesday, said Derek Rogers, director of the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department.

Rogers said the rules, which were adopted after three public meetings held in September and October, will go into effect Jan. 1. The rules do not need to be approved by the Lawrence City Commission because they are part of park guidelines, which are under the department’s purview.

Douglas County to hold recognition ceremony for retiring administrator Craig Weinaug

At its short meeting Wednesday, the Douglas County Commission announced plans for a recognition ceremony for retiring County Administrator Craig Weinaug.

Weinaug announced in August he would be retiring Dec. 14 from the position he has held for 26 years.
Commission Chair Nancy Thellman said the county would have a retirement celebration for Weinaug from 2 to 5 p.m. Dec. 14, at the Flory Meeting Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, 2110 Harper St.
Assistant County Administrator Sarah Plinsky said the celebration will include a 3 p.m. program of remarks about Weinaug’s long career with the county.
The celebration will be free and open to the public.

Osawatomie approves contract with Waste Management

Osawatomie City Council members approved a five-year contract with Waste Management at their meeting Thursday, Nov. 8.

Billing will continue to be handled by Waste Management. The council has said that once the city installs new software there is a possibility billing might revert to the city, though no formal decision has been made. Difficulties with billing have been points of contention with some residents.

The city’s contract with Waste Management was set to expire at year’s end. The council in mid-September opted to stick with Waste Management, which was competing with Harrisonville-based WCA for Osawatomie’s solid waste and recycling collection contract.

(Read more: The Miami County Republic)

Miami County receives ballpark cost to turn property into parking lot

A plan to turn a vacant county-owned lot at the corner of Agate and East Shawnee streets in Paola into an asphalt-surface parking lot could cost $40,000 to $60,000 to construct.

At the County Commission’s Nov. 7 study session, Road and Bridge Project Manager Matt Oehlert provided county commissioners with BG Consultants Inc.’s ballpark estimate for turning the 55-foot by 130-foot property at 102 E. Shawnee St. into additional parking for county employees.

Miami County commissioners at their meeting Wednesday, Oct. 25, directed county staff to put in a change order to add the parking lot’s design to a contract the county already has with Lawrence-based BG Consultants to design the Agate Street rehabilitation project.

(Read more: The Miami County Republic)

County rehires retired attorney to try to navigate FBI, personnel investigations

Sedgwick County commissioners have turned to a familiar face to help them navigate investigations by them and of them, hiring back the retired Mike Pepoon to take over as their top lawyer.

Pepoon, a former assistant county counselor and county lobbyist, will run the legal department in place of County Counselor Eric Yost.

Yost, a former district court judge, is on indefinite paid leave after a news conference two weeks ago, where he released a statement accusing commissioners of trying to commit illegal acts in their efforts to oust County Manager Michael Scholes.

Pepoon enters a difficult legal landscape at the county.

Three members of the commission have retained a lawyer to investigate county personnel practices with an eye toward firing Scholes, according to e-mails obtained by The Eagle and Yost’s statement.

Simultaneously, the FBI is investigating whether the move to oust Scholes is in violation of federal laws that protect government whistleblowers from retaliation by their bosses, according to county memos and interviews.

Yost is expected to leave the county’s employment one way or another, through either a negotiated settlement or the commission firing him.

The motion to hire Pepoon, by Commissioner David Unruh, said Pepoon will head the county legal department “until appropriate county counsel is chosen.”

(Read more: Wichita Eagle)

Tax levy funding to support Rose Hill Historical Society structures

A measure recently approved by USD 394 residents will use tax levy funds to improve the structural quality of Rose Hill’s museum and its outlying buildings.

The measure passed 1606 to 1507 in the Nov. 6 election. It states that the levy shall not exceed an annual tax of one mill upon tangible property in the school district and that funds shall be used to “provide, establish, maintain and conduct a community historical museum for the City of Rose Hill.”

“We’re just funded by grants and donations, and grants are pretty hard to get for a small museum like ours,” said Cindy Bradford, treasurer and coordinator for the Rose Hill Historical Society. She said the museum has traditionally received funding at both the city and county levels, amounting to approximately $3,000 a year. The rest of the museum’s income comes from donations, membership dues, and fundraising.

“Our membership has aged so much that it’s mostly seniors, and I’m talking 80 and over, that it’s just hard to find people to work for those fundraisers,” Bradford said. “So just doing fundraising was not taking care of all of our needs.”

Bradford explained it had become a strain to maintain the condition of the society’s buildings while covering utilities and taxes.

The society currently oversees three buildings: the main historical museum, the remodeled Pleasant School Center, and a third building for larger historical objects that is still under development.

(Read more: Area | derbyinformer.com)

Newton reviews five-year projection

Two changes to the budget could make a big difference to future of the city, according to a financial projection given to the city commission Nov. 13 during a work session at City Hall.

“I took out the $95,000 for outside agencies, and added two mills. … Two little tweaks like that made that much difference,” said Donna Pickman, director of finance for the city.

The financial plan, projecting the next five years, showed a pretty large swing in ending balances with those two changes happening in the 2020 budget.

The ending balance swung from a negative $3.1 million to a negative $1.8 million — a difference of more than $1 million. The commission did not discuss how to prevent going into the negative in year five of the plan, looking primarily at the effect on the 2019 budget and 2020 budget — namely an increase in the ending balance in 2020.

The removal of outside agencies would mean no longer funding Health Ministries ($40,000), the Chamber of Commerce ($30,00) and Grand Central ($25,000).

(Read more: Newton Kansan)

City of Manhattan hears latest on plans for City Park, recreation centers

The latest updates on plans for two planned recreation centers and the future of City Park were presented at the Manhattan City Commission’s work session in City Hall Tuesday. The plan lays out the long-term vision for improvements and projects around the park. The last version of the plan was adopted in 2006, but city administration decided it needed updates as many projects within it have already been completed.

Park Planner Alfonso Leyva said the goal of this plan was to “create a space that caters to bicyclists and pedestrians” while enhancing activities already in the park and improving accessibility. He said these goals were determined after reaching out to community members for feedback on what they’d like out of the park.

The total cost of all projects contained within the plan is estimated to be somewhere between $4,315,2000 and $5,985,840. The price tag would be incurred over time rather than all at once as the plan is broken into phases of implementation.

(Read more: 1350 KMAN)

Goddard STAR bond project breaks ground

Officials broke ground Nov. 6 at the location for a planned hotel, indoor water park, and ball field development in Goddard. According to The Times-Sentinel, this was the second groundbreaking for the project, which is being funded in part through STAR bonds.

Once completed, the project will feature a new hotel, Genesis Health Club, preschool, along with outdoor baseball fields and a 10-lane, 25-meter competition pool.

The Times-Sentinel reports that the STAR bond project should see construction before the end of the year, and the target for completion is late 2019. The project will receive $23 million in sales tax revenue (STAR) bonds.

New economic development plan in council’s hands

The Community Development Advisory Board (CDAB) approved a final proposal for the city’s new economic development plan. Now it’s up to the city council to make a final decision.

At its Nov. 7 meeting, CDAB approved a final draft of the 2019-2021 Derby Economic Development Plan.The six-person board forms a new plan every three years that details a broad vision for progressing the city’s economy.

Similarly to the one from 2016-2018, the proposed plan prioritizes three main objectives: retain and develop business, attract and develop new business, and market the quality of the city.

Derby looks to be more walkable

What should the city of Derby be doing to become a more walkable community?

That’s the overall question being posed at an upcoming open house – and officials and planners are seeking the public’s input.

The impetus behind this is the creation of a Walkable Development Plan. City Manager Kathy Sexton said the undertaking is an important one.

“For 15 years, the city has worked to improve the walkability of the community,” she said. “Now with more than 25 miles of bike paths and lots of sidewalks, we decided to assess our progress and chart a course for the future by creating a walkable development plan.” The feedback the city gains from the public will help determine what needs and desires exist to reduce the reliance on vehicles, said Jayne Siemens, president of Venice Communications Inc., which is handling event publicity.

The concept is to promote safe, enjoyable and convenient transportation options for all, she said.

That would be accomplished through sidewalk connections and streetscape amenities, she said.

They also would promote different means of transportation along with seeking methods of reducing the number of vehicle trips, Siemens said.

Public input is going to be a key driver in the process.

Reno County Commission OKs meteorological tower after previously ordering company to take it down

With little discussion, the Reno County Commission Tuesday approved a permit to allow construction of a meteorological tower by NextEra Energy at the corner of East Irish Creek Road and South Mayfield Road which the county previously ordered the company to take down because it was not permitted. The permit is for a 199-foot tall tower, below the 200 feet that would required lighting by the FFA. It will gather data on wind speed and direction and other weather-related information. The permit is for three years, at which time it can be extended, or the tower must be removed.

The landowner where the tower is sited and the Reno County Planning Commission both recommended approval of the permit. Two people who addressed the planning commission on the tower last month opposed it and one person spoke against it on Tuesday.

“At Haven, at the first meeting NextEra had, they had a copy of the zoned and unzoned areas,” Commissioner Chairman Ron Hirst said. “I accept their apology. But with all the geological information today, with GPS, it’s hard to understand why this (permit) was not done. They were provided a map. I’ll leave it at that.”

(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)

Chanute city commissioners at stalemate on selling building

Chanute city commissioners still landed in a stalemate over the sale of an industrial building, despite having two offers at Tuesday evening’s meeting.

The commission voted 2-2 on a proposal to sell a building at 615 W. Cherry Street that has been empty since Orizon Aerostructures took over for Spirit AeroSystems and moved operations to Orizon’s facility. Commissioner Tim Fairchild abstained from the vote.

Commissioners now have an appraisal on the building that puts its value at $451,000, and they have two offers to purchase.

One offer, from Jim Caldwell of Bridgewood Custom Cabinets, was for $500,000 up front, but incentives for job creation and investment matches would reduce the price. After discussing the item on the agenda, the commission voted to table it to hear the second offer.

The second offer from Jeff Ports of United Country Real Estate Professionals was for $291,000 in cash without incentives.

Lamar Eby, representing the purchasers, said the company would bring 25 to 45 jobs to Chanute in 36 months. They did not release the name of the company who had signed a letter of intent to lease the building, hoping to take possession by January.

City Manager Jeff Cantrell said a cash sale would not require a review by the economic feasibility committee.

(Read more: The Chanute Tribune)

Reno County tables decision on NextEra wind farm moratorium following three-hour meeting

More than two dozen Reno County residents asked the County Commission Tuesday to impose a 12-month moratorium on development of commercial wind farms in the county.

However, officials with NextEra Energy – which is in the midst of developing a 220-megawatt wind farm in the southeast quadrant of the county – warned that a moratorium would kill the project.

The company is willing to work with the county in developing a contract that would set specific restrictions on development, including greater setback distances, a couple of representatives of the company assured the commission.

But the project, which has been in the works almost three years, must be under construction by next year to meet contractual agreements with the company that will buy the power generated by the development or it will not proceed, NextEra spokesman Sam Massey advised.

(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)

County starts hashing out details of ambulance agreemen

As Bourbon County Commissioners continue to sort out details for a new ambulance and EMS service, they received a tool on Tuesday to help guide their discussions.

Bourbon County Counselor Justin Meeks provided commissioners with a copy of a joint agreement between the city of Iola and Allen County for emergency medical services provided in that county. Meeks said “nothing is set in stone” but county officials can use the agreement as a guideline for structuring the service in Bourbon County.

(Read more: Fort Scott Tribune)

Leavenworth County Commissioners discuss options for corridor south of Tonganoxie

When they met Tuesday, Leavenworth County commissioners were presented three options resulting from a study of a County Road 1 corridor south of Tonganoxie. But commissioners were not able to settle on one of the options.

Instead, Commission Chairman Louis Klemp recommended his own option for developing the corridor area.

“There’s an option four,” he said. County Administrator Mark Loughry suggested it would be good to have a consensus among commissioners regarding what they want to do. He said the fourth option proposed by Klemp would require additional work.

Commissioner Doug Smith said commissioners had agreed to complete the study by the end of the year.

“I think it is done,” Klemp said. “I don’t like it.”

Loughry asked if there is a consensus among commissioners to go back to the drawing board with the option suggested by Klemp.

Klemp said he believed there was a consensus among Holland and himself to not proceed with Concept A or B.

Klemp said he would like the Planning and Zoning Department to complete work related to the fourth option by next week’s commission meeting.

“It will not be done by next Tuesday,” Loughry said.

(Read more: Leavenworth Times)

Shawnee extends temporary prohibition on vaping, e-cigarette sale and use

Shawnee is continuing the temporary prohibition of new vape shops in the city.

The council unanimously decided in its Tuesday meeting to extend the moratorium that regulates the retail operation and conduct of new vape and inhaling shops in Shawnee. The city began the moratorium in March and is now extended until July 1, 2019.

During the Tuesday meeting, councilmember Jim Neighbor said he believes the Food and Drug Administration is also in the process of creating regulation on vapes and e-cigarettes. There was no other discussion.

Deputy city manager Stephen Powell said the city’s moratorium limits the number of businesses selling vaping or e-cigarette products to those businesses that were open on or before March 26, 2018.

“This means that new businesses locating within the city will not be permitted to sell vaping/e-cigarette products until the governing body decides whether such sales will be regulated and to what extent,” Powell said. “We are awaiting a ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court on the Topeka case so that we’ll have guidance on what regulations we can or cannot put in place.”

Price tag could be $50,000 for new commissioners in Marion county

There will be expenses for training and getting new letterheads, but the biggest factor is the salaries for the two new officials.

Commissioners currently make $18,000 annually, plus benefits. If pay and benefits packages remain the same for new members, it adds $50,000 to the budget county clerk Tina Spencer said.

“One commissioner is saying, ‘We’ll just cut our salary by that much,’” she said. “That would take a lot. We haven’t put the numbers to it, but I don’t know that it’s going to happen.”

(Read more: HILLSBORO Star-Journal)

Topeka City Council members caution against ‘extravagant’ City Hall renovations

Most Topeka City Council members voiced opposition Tuesday evening to raising the amount being expended to renovate City Hall to $17 million.

Councilman Tony Emerson used the term “extravagant” to describe the proposed increase in scope from previously approved plans.

“This should have been stopped a long time ago,” Councilman and Deputy Mayor Brendan Jensen said while holding up a copy of a booklet sharing suggestions for renovation. “This is too nice for us.”

Councilman Mike Lesser said the plan would have to be “scaled down drastically to get any type of support from me.”

He suggested city manager Brent Trout showed bad timing in bringing the matter before the council one week after Topekans approved a 10-year extension of a citywide, half-cent sales tax to finance maintenance and improvements to existing streets.

Topeka city council to take up spending of $574,000 in unbudgeted revenue

Topeka’s governing body on Dec. 4 will hold a public hearing on whether to make five amendments to the city’s 2018 adopted budget adding a total of $574,000 in revenues the city has brought in that weren’t previously budgeted.

The money would finance various purposes, including putting up a fence at the Law Enforcement Center, 320 S. Kansas Ave., according to a document in Tuesday’s meeting’s agenda packet. The proposed amendments would earmark $60,000 to go toward tax increment financing, $300,000 for the information technology fund, $106,000 for the city’s special alcohol fund, $85,000 for the S.E. 29th Community Improvement District Fund and $23,000 for the law enforcement fund. The law enforcement fund money would go for purposes that include a Law Enforcement Center fence.

Former county official to pay restitution early

A lawyer for former county economic development director Teresa Huffman said Huffman will deposit $46,870.89 with Marion County District Court to be held until a criminal case against her is resolved.

Huffman, scheduled for arraignment at 10 a.m. Dec. 12, is charged with misuse of public funds, based on the allegation that she withdrew that amount of money from bank accounts of inactive programs in March 2016 and deposited it into her personal bank account in May 2018.

Huffman waived a preliminary hearing on the charges, but Wichita lawyer John Stang said she would deposit the money with the court as restitution in the event she is later found guilty.

Huffman resigned her post with the county in May 2017.

A probable cause affidavit filed by sheriff Rob Craft to support the criminal charge against Huffman states that she drained the account of Leadership Marion County and Leadership Marion County Children’s Fund in March 2016, depositing the money into an account for Flint Hills Resource Conservation and Development Area, another inactive non-profit program.

(Read more: Marion County RECORD)

Recently-hired EMS director declines position

Recently-hired EMS director Dave Owen will not be coming to Marion County after all.

“I was very disappointed,” Marion County Commission chairman Dianne Novak said at Tuesday’s meeting. “I announced it about 1½ weeks ago, he accepted. Then he called me to say he would not be taking the position.”

Morris County had made him an offer he couldn’t resist, she said.

“He received a salary increase and all changes he wanted were given to him,” Novak said.

Commissioners will go through applications and interview top candidates again.

Owen did not return a call for comment.

(Read more: HILLSBORO Star-Journal)

Lawrence reviews policy for downtown cameras; public notifications and outside monitoring among questions

The City of Lawrence is moving closer to installing public cameras downtown.

As part of its work session Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission reviewed a draft of the Lawrence Police Department’s policy for public cameras, which details how the cameras will be used and how footage will be monitored, stored and potentially released. Commissioners had questions but did not voice major objections to the draft policy.

Deal to save the Starlite Drive-In is dead, would-be buyer says. ‘We were this close.’

An effort to save the Starlite Drive-In is dead, says a drive-in theater owner who wanted to buy it.

“We were this close. We were this close to moving forward and reopening the drive-in,” said Rick Cohen, owner of the Transit Drive-In in Buffalo, N.Y., who was trying to buy the Wichita drive-in with Blake Smith, co-owner of the Admiral Twin in Tulsa, Okla.

But they discovered Tuesday that the drive-in’s costly digital projectors have already been sold off — and cannot be bought back.

Without the projectors, the deal isn’t feasible, Cohen said.

The Starlite Drive-In closed on Oct. 13, as owner Chuck Bucinski reached a deal to sell the land to an undisclosed developer who wanted to construct a warehouse on the property.

But since Friday, the city of Wichita has helped to mediate a deal to sell the Starlite to Cohen and Smith and keep it operating.

The developer was willing to step back and let Cohen and Smith buy the theater, the two said.

But the digital projectors, which were purchased in 2013 for $187,000, had to be included in the sale.

“This whole deal that could have saved the drive-in theater got mucked up because Chuck sold the projectors,” Cohen said. “Unfortunately, because of the projector issue, it’s no longer a viable deal.”

(Read more: Local News |)

Reno County Commissioners approve 1 item, table second in proposed wind farm discussion

Only two county commissioners were present for an overflow crowd Tuesday morning. A large television had to be set up in a vacant area of the courthouse to accommodate those who couldn’t squeeze into the actual commission chambers. However, a technical difficulty delayed the meeting.

Eventually, commissioners heard from several residents about the proposed moratorium to stop any construction of a wind farm in the southeastern and southern areas of the county. Commissioners decided to delay any decision for three weeks.

Commissioner Dan Deming wants to see if they could work with the company to address some of the residents’ concerns. They also wanted time to allow Commissioner Bob Bush to be brought up to speed on the issues discussed.

Commissioner Deming talked about the economic benefit to the county. No decision was made either way Tuesday, but one could come in three weeks once Commissioner Bush is back.

The two commissioners present greenlit the county to prepare a resolution for a conditional use permit for NextEra Energy to build a 199-foot meteorological tower on the southwest corner of Irish Creek and Mayfield roads.

(Read more: Hutch Post)

Butler County using line-management software to reduce lines at DMV

Butler County Tuesday announced it plans to start using a line management system called QLess to reduce lines and wait times for people at the DMV.

“As the only appointment platform integrated with walk-in traffic, QLess helps organizations of all sizes reduce lines with an easy-to-use app and is used all over the world, including: Tourneau/Rolex, Vodafone, the University of Texas, and the government offices of Michigan, Nevada, Texas, and many more,” a news release from Butler county says.

In Butler county, customers now have the ability to join a virtual queue from the county’s website, their cell phones or on-site kiosks in both of the county’s Motor Vehicle locations.

“With the new solution, Butler county expects to improve customer satisfaction and reduce pressure on their staff by reducing wait times and crowds,” the county says.

(Read more: KWCH News)

The city of Wichita will soon be asking gun dealers and owners to hang on to spent ammunition

The Wichita Police Department is preparing to launch “Save a Cartridge,” a program enlisting gun dealers and owners to help trace stolen firearms and fight violent crime.

(Read more: Wichita Eagle)

$2 million in taxes and sale of city parking lot in plan to redevelop Mead’s Corner

Wichita’s Historic Preservation Board voted Tuesday to try to save a 1910-vintage downtown building that most recently housed the Mead’s Corner Methodist coffee house.

That vote came about three hours after the City Council — which has the final say — set in motion steps to establish a special sales tax district to help pay for a developer to demolish the old building and replace it with modern office and retail space.

At issue is the two-story building at the northwest corner of Douglas and Emporia. TGC Development has acquired the rights to the property and plans to tear down the building and replace it with a four-story, 70,000-square-foot structure with offices on the top three floors and retail on the first floor.

TGC is the same company working in partnership with the city to redevelop the Spaghetti Works District and rebuild the adjacent Naftzger Park, on Douglas west of the BNSF railroad tracks.

The preservation board voted to deny permission to demolish the Mead’s Corner building after an impassioned plea from Greg Kite, president of the Historic Preservation Alliance of Wichita and Sedgwick County.

He said the building is “triple designated” on the local, state and national registers of historic places and one of 44 “contributing buildings” of the East Douglas Historic District.

“It’s the highest register status you can get,” he said.

(Read more: Wichita Eagle)

Sabetha City Commission: City approves website upgrade

Commissioners approved a website upgrade by Outdoor Resources, LLC. The initial cost of the update will be $2,400. Following the initial cost, the city will pay monthly payments of $200 for maintenance of the website.

(Read more: Sabetha Herald)

Lenexa closes first farmers market season with holiday market

Now that Lenexa has wrapped up its first farmers market season, the city is closing the year with its first holiday farmers market.

Jenny Doty, recreation supervisor who is coordinating the holiday farmers markets, said all of the vendors at the holiday farmers market are based within 250 miles of Lenexa. Many of Lenexa’s market vendors produce into the winter, so the holiday farmers market provides a space for them to continue selling, Doty added.

“A lot of them will have product year-round, especially if you’re a meat vendor or a cheese vendor; pecans are just coming into the market again,” Doty said. “We might not have certain produce items always available, but those farmers still need an opportunity to be able to sell their great products to the people that love them.”

Leawood council decides against moving old city hall off site

The Leawood council has unanimously decided to keep the old city hall at its current site.

The decision followed lengthy discussion among its members as well as public input in the nearly full council chambers Monday evening. Nearly all Leawood residents who spoke gave their strong support for keeping old city hall on site at 96th Street and Lee Boulevard, including members of the Leawood Historic Commission and the Leawood Homeowners Association.

The council’s decision last night reflects a similar vote in December 2017 to accept a recommendation from the city’s historic commission to move the original city hall building slightly north on the property and transform it into a multi-purpose community facility with space for meetings and a small museum.

Trustees respond to Andover mayor’s second veto

The Butler Community College Board of Trustees have responded to Andover Mayor Ben Lawrence’s second veto of their special use permit with a request to remove it from consideration on the City Council’s November 13 meeting agenda.
In a Nov. 9 letter to the Andover City Council members, Mayor and City Manager, Trustees state they will “continue to seek viable solutions” and will “most likely remain” in their current location on the north end of Andover High School until spring 2021, the actual lease maturity date. The college had been working closely with the Andover School District to vacate nearly 18 months early in order to accommodate the school district’s timeline to be in the new high school location by the fall of 2020. The decision to exercise the full term of the lease agreement was made due to the repeated delays in getting the special use permit satisfactorily addressed and approved.
Though approved by the Andover Planning Commission on two occasions, reviewed by the City Council on September 25, and then supported by the Andover City Council most recently on Oct. 30 on a 5-1 vote, Mayor Lawrence maintains his concern that the college’s presence in the Industrial Park on East 13th Street is not appropriate use of the property, a stance he has maintained since first issuing a veto in 2005.

Garden City Fire Chief Allen Shelton named 2018 Fire Chief of the Year

Garden City Fire Chief Allen Shelton has been named the 2018 Fire Chief of the Year by the Kansas State Association of Fire Chiefs. Shelton received the award during the association’s conference held in Garden City October 26-28.

Shelton has spent his entire 44 year career with the Garden City Fire Department. He began in September 1975 as a volunteer firefighter, was then elected volunteer assistant chief in April 1978 and volunteer fire chief in March 1982. Shelton became the first full-time, paid fire chief of the Garden City Fire Department on February 27, 1984.

During his time as fire chief, the department has grown from one full-time fire chief to a total of 38 paid employees, including three battalion chiefs, a fire marshal, six lieutenants, 26 firefighters and an administrative assistant. The department currently makes use of two stations, and plans are underway for a third station to be opened in 2024.

(Read more: Greater Garden City » Feed)

Shawnee creates Shawbucks contest to draw business downtown during construction

Shawnee has launched “Shawbucks,” a contest that encourages customers to shop and eat at the businesses and restaurants downtown.

Lauren Grashoff, neighborhood planner, said the extensive construction with Nieman Now! has impacted many of the businesses along Nieman Road and Johnson Drive.

“We wanted to appreciate the patience that they’ve had with the city and the ongoing construction,” Grashoff said. “This is just kind of a way to support them and offer an incentive for people to visit the businesses downtown.”

Here’s how it works: Customers can visit any of the 29 participating businesses. While shopping or grabbing a bite to eat, they can fill out a free entry slip to have a chance at winning $25 worth of Shawbucks. City staff will draw four winners at a time, twice a month. Winners can spend their Shawbucks at any of the participating businesses. Shawbucks expire when the contest ends at the end of construction next year.

Reno County Commission to consider moratorium on wind farms Tuesday

Reno County Commissioners will take on two matters regarding the proposed wind farm near Pretty Prairie during Tuesday’s agenda session. The first is a request by NextEra to construct a 199-foot-tall temporary tower that will be used to measure wind speed and conditions as a study for the proposed wind farm.

The other comes at the request of several patrons around the Haven area that would like to see the wind farm either stopped or delayed. The commission will consider a resolution for a temporary moratorium on commercial wind energy improvement within the unincorporated parts of the county until better regulations can be put in place.

Over the past several meetings, area residents have come before the commission asking for the delay saying that not enough study has been done regarding the economic or environmental impact on the area.

(Read more: Hutch Post)

Lenexa releases updated version of city’s mobile app

Lenexa has released a whole new look to its mobile application, I Like Lenexa.

Chris Stilwell, the city software developer who built and maintains the app, said its redesigned product interface has “more dynamic” information as well as interactivity for users.

The first version of the app was released in 2014. At the time, the app was “static,” with only a few sections to click through, with basic, minimal information about the city’s amenities. The new version, on the other hand, is an interactive informational portal that pulls more data from the city website at a near real-time pace. “We really were just going into it with what we thought people would want, and this version is more kind of like the community telling us what they wanted to do in the app, and that’s just kind of answering that need,” Stilwell said.

Overland Park has the most congested 4-lane road in Kansas. But can the state help?

Anyone who has driven U.S. 69 in Overland Park knows rush hour traffic is getting worse and the chance of accidents more prevalent.

In fact, it’s the most congested four-lane highway in Kansas, with 80,000 vehicles per day.

So Overland Park leaders are urgently appealing to the state for highway funds to help widen U.S. 69 to six lanes from I-435 south to 159th Street.

“This by far is the No. 1 project that will keep the economic impact coming to the state and to the city of Overland Park,” Mayor Carl Gerlach told members of a joint legislative transportation task force meeting Thursday. The room was packed with leaders from Johnson County’s biggest communities, all pitching their most important transportation needs for the next decade.

Lenexa wants money for a K-10 and Lone Elm Road interchange, along with improvements on I-435. Olathe wants interchange upgrades at I-35 and 119th Street. And Gardner needs help to stop all the accidents near I-35 and Gardner Road.

But those needs collectively amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, in a state that borrowed more than $2 billion from its highway fund during the Brownback administration and must pay that money back. The state projects it will need to spend $600 million annually in the next few years just to cover road preservation and unfinished T-Works projects, which are part of a 10-year Kansas transportation program adopted in 2010.

(Read more: KC Star Local News)

Lawsuit over injuries at Expocentre involves Shawnee County, facility’s former management company

An injury suffered by a spectator at a Kansas Kids Wrestling event in Topeka has officials wrestling over legal issues involving Shawnee County, the group that put on the event and the company that formerly managed the Kansas Expocentre.

The lawsuit involved was filed last year by Jonell Schenk, who says the sharp metal armrest of a fixed chair severely cut her on a leg as she tried to sit in it in March 2015 while attending the Kansas Kids Wrestling Tournament at the Expocentre’s Landon Arena.

Schenk, of Johnson County, says she initially needed 12 staples in her interior thigh. The wound then became infected and would not heal, requiring surgical treatment, Schenk said in petitions for separate lawsuits filed against Shawnee County and Pennsylvania-based SMG, the company that managed the Expocentre at the time. Schenk filed lawsuits against SMG in March 2017 and against Shawnee County in October 2017.

Both actions sought damages in excess of $75,000, contending Schenk was severely cut in March 2015 while stepping into her seat in Section 114 at Landon Arena. The petition in the lawsuit against Shawnee County said it didn’t respond to a claim Schenk filed against it.

Meanwhile, Shawnee County commissioners voted in May 2017 to replace SMG as the Expocentre’s management company with Philadelphia-based Spectra by Comcast Spectacor.

Shawnee County in December 2017 filed a cross-claim against SMG contending that if a court determined anyone was liable for Schenk’s claims, the liability would be completely or partially the fault of SMG.

Johnson County, census form partnership

Oct. 29, Johnson County became the first county in Kansas to proclaim its partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau for the 2020 Census. Ed Eilert , board of county commission chairman, presented a proclamation at today’s business session.
Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution mandates a census take place every 10 years. The data collected determines a state’s number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and determines how billions of dollars in federal funds are dispersed to local communities.
Alan E. Organ, M.D., PhD, Census Bureau Partnership Specialist accepted the proclamation today. He spoke about the importance of participation in the census.
“For every household that doesn’t get counted, we lose $39,000 over a ten year period, that could have been used for maintaining roads, funding for Medicare and other important federal funding uses,” said Dr. Organ.
Johnson County is coordinating with local stakeholders to develop a Complete Count Committee to help educate the community on the necessity of participating in the census.

(Read more: Gardner News)

Butler County requests public feedback on Hazard Mitigation Plan

Butler County currently participates, along with 10 other counties, in a regional‐level Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Plan is due to expire in May of 2019. Working with the State of Kansas and a planning contractor, the county, including cities, townships, school districts, fire districts, etc., is currently participating in an update to this plan. This plan looks at our county from a lot of different angles (population, economy, geography, infrastructure…) and figures out where we are vulnerable to disasters. It then tries to identify actions that can be taken to reduce risks.
By going through this process and participating in a Hazard Mitigation Plan, this also makes the county eligible for certain grant funds.

(Read more: El Dorado Times)

‘Human error’ leads to vote-counting errors — Crawford County votes to hire election lawyer to oversee next week’s canvass

“Human error” led to inaccurate election results being published by the Crawford County Clerk’s office Tuesday night, commissioners were told Friday

Crawford County Clerk Don Pyle said results from five of the county’s 16 polling locations were counted twice, doubling votes for each candidate and resulting in inaccurate results. He said the mistake was due to human error, not mechanical.

“The polling places make data cards that we insert into software that counts the votes,” he said. “The person inputting the data got interrupted and put five of them in twice.”

Pyle said they discovered the mistake during a routine precinct-by-precinct audit and that it became apparent there was a problem.

“Some precincts were reporting a turnout of 110 percent,” he said.

Pyle said the county does not implement dual control when counting ballots. He cited understaffing and a polling place quirk for the delay in catching the mistake.

“Part of the reason the software didn’t catch it is that one precinct is split between two polling stations, so it doesn’t register as redundant,” he said. During the meeting, Pyle, who is a Democrat, said there are still 330 provisional ballots that are waiting to be processed. He said he expected about 75 percent of those to be valid and counted, the outcome of which will likely decide the winner of the race.

(Read more: Pittsburg Morning Sun)