Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal 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)

Wichita City Hall wants to step in and save Starlite Drive-In

Wichita City Hall joined the fight to save the Starlite Drive-In on Friday, calling on the owner to pause efforts to turn it into a warehouse complex.

Mayor Jeff Longwell and City Council member James Clendenin posted that plea on the city’s Facebook page.

“We are extremely disappointed in the potential loss of a longtime, iconic quality of life amenity for our community that means so much to so many,” the posting said. “We plead with the seller to put a hold on the selling of any assets of the drive-in this coming Tuesday and invite the city, community, philanthropists and potential investors or developers to the table to formulate a solution that preserves a drive-in in our city.”

Owner Chuck Bucinski has been working to permanently close the drive-in and sell its assets, including two $100,000 projectors partially paid for in 2013 by a community fund-raising effort.

Bucinski is planning to sell the land for redevelopment, likely as a warehouse/distribution center with a small strip of retail along the south edge of the property on MacArthur. The drive-in is at 3900 S. Hydraulic.

Longwell said the city is hoping to meet with the seller, buyer and community supporters of keeping it a drive-in.

“We’ll see if it gets any traction,” he said.

(Read more: Local News |)

Lawrence City Commission to review policy for public police cameras

City leaders will soon provide input on the Lawrence Police Department’s policy for public cameras.

As part of its work session Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will review the policy, which details how public cameras and camera footage will be monitored, stored and potentially released. It’s estimated that it will cost the city $108,000 for the cameras and the computer server expenses related to video storage.

Lawrence hires Jeremy Willmoth as the city’s finance director

City Manager Tom Markus announced in a news release Friday the hiring of Jeremy Willmoth as the city’s finance director.

Willmoth received his bachelor’s degree in public administration and his master’s degree in public affairs from Park University in Parkville, Mo., according to the release. He has served in finance and management positions in multiple municipalities throughout his 18-year career and most recently served as city manager in Winfield.

Greenwood County Hospital To Receive Half-Cent Sales Tax For Three Years

Nearly 70 percent of the Greenwood County voters who took to the polls for the 2018 November General election voted in favor of a half-cent sales tax that would benefit the Greenwood County Hospital (GWCH). Earlier this year, Greenwood County Commissioners proposed adding the question, in lieu of 3 mills. The half-cent sales tax should generate a little more than $300,000 annually, which is more than GWCH has been receiving from the mill funding.

Source: Eureka Herald.

Greenwood County Voters Approved To Add Commissioners And Redistrict

With a seven-percent margin, Greenwood County voters approved an increase in county commissioners at the polls last Tuesday, November 6. In order to increase from three commissioners to five, Greenwood County will also need to redistrict to accommodate five districts.
District one commissioner Chuck Spradlin first proposed this notion at a commission meeting in May. In his proposal, he explained, “The way KOMA (Kansas Open Meetings Act) is set up right now, I can’t pick up the phone and ask one of these guys, ‘What do you think about this?’ It doesn’t work that way. If you have five, yes you can, because three now becomes the quorum,” he added. In his report, Spradlin noted, “There are numerous discussions needed such as what road or bridge in a given area needs attention, what we can do to encourage economic development, and many active problems in our individual districts.”

Source: Eureka Herald

Continuing Bond Disclosure: Are you up-to-date?

We have recently noticed several Kansas municipalities are NOT up-to-date on their “continuing disclosure” obligations for their outstanding bond issues.

If your local government is not making timely filings (or if you don’t know!), you can contact Beth Warren or Larry Kleeman for a quick checkup. If needed, we can assist with making the annual disclosures that may be required by entity’s bond documents.

More information can be found here.

Wichita prepares for rain and snow, salts 1,500 miles of city streets ahead of freeze

Salt trucks hit the roads Thursday morning ahead of “uncertain weather conditions,” said Alan King, Wichita’s public works director.

Thursday morning, rain coated Wichita streets with water. Freezing temperatures are expected to hit overnight on Thursday, which could make the roads “very slick,” King said.

King said one of the three different weather models the city uses to predict precipitation shows the Wichita area could get 1 to 3 inches of snow.

To prepare, the city has deployed 60 trucks to dust 1,500 miles of city streets with a light mixture of sand and salt, King said.

If conditions worsen, the light mixture will turn to a “full spread,” King said.

Since it was still raining Thursday, “the sand and salt has a tendency to wash off,” King said. To keep salt and sand on the road, crews began working around the clock, rotating 12 hour shifts until further notice on Thursday, King said.

King said the primary costs associated with salting Wichita’s streets is labor and that the city has a budget to cover the salting roads throughout the year.

(Read more: Wichita Eagle)

Augusta tackles trail projects

Augusta City Council members spend a lot of time in planning sessions where they consider a number of quality of life projects. During a recent Pride & Progress planning session, council members identified two trail projects and set a goal for construction in 2019. “This is a 2019 project, but in order to get a jump start on the construction season, staff recommends that the council engage the city engineer now to complete the design process,” City Manager Josh Shaw advised.
City Engineer Mike Stumpe explained the trail projects identified for funding by the City.

(Read more: Augusta Gazette)

Shawnee Fire Department to launch online dashboard in push for transparency

In the name of transparency, the Shawnee Fire Department is launching an online platform for residents to see exactly what local firefighters are up to.

Now that the Shawnee Fire Department is halfway through its 2016-2021 strategic plan, feedback from the public has been abundantly clear: Residents want more transparency.

Sal Scarpa, deputy fire chief, said the push for transparency is a direct response to the department’s last collection of public input in 2015, which led to development of the online dashboard.

“We’re not very good at telling our story,” he said. “They wanted to know more. And so this next piece that we’re going to do on the dashboard is a direct response to that.

“We’re hoping that our dashboard provides them a good deal of information about what your department’s doing: Performance measures, response times, number of calls, types of calls. All those types of things will be out there.”

Gardner City Council repeals resolution allowing their oversight of personnel issues

The Gardner City Council adopted changes to the city’s personnel policies and procedures, 2018 edition. The city amended section 4-108 of the manual by removing subsection 108.4 in its entirety. The subsection deals with the process through which an employee can appeal a negative performance review.
The council amended section 7-108 to remove the following language from the manual:
“In cases in which the employee directly reports to the city administrator, the employee can request a review of the disciplinary action directly to the governing body. In these cases, the governing body will assume responsibilities of the city administrator outlined in this section and the decision of the governing body shall be final.”

(Read more: Gardner News)

Johnson County parks department launches Culture Division for more arts, culture, history programming

Johnson County Park and Recreation District has created a new division dedicated entirely to culture. JCPRD kicked off the launch of the new division with a celebration Oct. 30.

“We don’t launch new divisions; it just doesn’t happen,” said Susan Mong, who oversees the Culture Division. “So it’s a big moment in history for our organization to step into that space and be strategic about doing that well and providing that for the community.”

Mong said JCPRD staff believes that arts, culture and history are an important part of a healthy community.

“I think it’s a major economic driver and just really important to the health and vitality of our community,” she added. “Research shows that it creates better educational outcomes for our youth and it creates a more engaged citizenry, more compassion, and we could always use more compassion when we enter into other people’s stories.”

Marion County worries about roads near wind farm

A pair of representatives for Enel Green Power and a pair from Kirkham Michael were asked to appear before county commissioners Monday to discuss concerns about roads surrounding the Diamond Vista wind farm. If the county compiles a list of roads needing work because of the wind farm, Enel’s area construction manager, Steve Williams, and workers can start improvements, Commissioner Becker said.

Some of the county’s requests are going to Res America Construction, Inc., which also work swith the wind farm.

“I want to make sure the communication comes directly to me,” Williams said. “If you tell Res, ‘Please blade 340th,’ and we don’t know about it, then we can’t enforce it.” Some of the roads were redone shortly before Enel moved in, commissioner Randy Dallke said.

“We went in ahead of the project trying to rebuild roads for you,” he said. “We just want to be paid back what it’s worth.” Invoices worth $25,000 were given to Williams for work the county did on roads within the agreement, for which the county requested compensation.

(Read more: Marion County RECORD)

History made! Harvey Co. dispatcher helps deliver baby over the phone

A healthy baby girl was welcomed into the world early this morning when a Harvey County dispatcher took matters into her own hands and assisted with the delivery — over the phone!

Harvey County Communications said a dispatcher, Courtney B., took a call just before 3:00 Thursday morning to find that a woman in rural Butler County was in labor.

Because the woman lived further away, paramedics and firefighters weren’t able to get to her as fast so Courtney jumped right in and followed protocol.

Courtney was able to assist the caller in a successful delivery seven minutes before the paramedics and firefighters got on the scene.

The new mom and brand new baby were taken to Wesley in good condition.

“Congrats to them and Grandpa who calmly followed Courtney’s instructions and assisted the delivery of his new granddaughter,” said Harvey County Communications in a post on social media.

The department said this is the first time they have helped deliver a baby over the phone.

(Read more: Top Stories | KSNW)

City of Topeka mulls spending $8.9 million more for City Hall renovation costs

Staff members for Topeka’s city government recommend the city’s governing body add nearly $8.9 million to the current $8.2 million the city plans to spend for a project to renovate City Hall. The city’s governing body last year approved revisions to the city’s Capital Improvement Plan that raised the total cost to about $8.2 million for its project to renovate the building, constructed in 1939, that houses City Hall on the north at 215 S.E. 7th and the Topeka Performing Arts Center and Topeka Municipal Court on the south at 214 S.E. 8th.

City staff members suggest the governing body earmark nearly $8.9 million more to cover a revised project cost, including current commitments and expenditures, of $17,094,613.50, according to the agenda packet document.

“This amount would require a budget amendment of $8,894,613.50 to complete the project as proposed,” that document said. “The approach to the renovation was comprehensive,” the document said. “The design team evaluated current and future needs of building operations, including synergies between city divisions and space needs of building occupants. TreanorHL completed a historic assessment to ensure design maximized tax credit eligibility and respected the history of the building. The mechanical, electrical and plumbing design reflects best practices for sustainability and reducing energy costs.”

The City Hall building is eligible for historic tax credits to finance renovation projects because it is part of the South Kansas Avenue Commercial Historic District established in 2015 by the National Park Service.

EPA recognizes Dodge City for Excellence and Innovation in Clean Water Infrastructure

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized 30 clean water infrastructure projects for excellence and innovation within the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program.

Honored projects include large wastewater infrastructure projects to small decentralized and agriculture projects. Thirty projects by state or local governments, public utilities, and private entities were recognized by the 2018 PISCES program.

Dodge City adopted an innovative approach to processing their wastewater byproducts.

In recent years, the Dodge City South Wastewater Treatment Plant received an EPA grant towards a project to reuse 100 percent of its 1.7 billion gallons a year of treated effluent as irrigation for over 3,000 acres of agricultural fields, conserving groundwater for the public water supply.

This treatment process produced a significant amount of carbon dioxide and methane gas, which were then burned off in a flare.

This new project plans to clean and pressurize the biogas to high quality natural gas that can be used as fuel.

(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)

Downtown building in Hutchinson demolished to create urban pocket park

A nearly 100-year-old downtown row building across the street from The Historic Fox Theater was demolished by the city last week to make room for a new “pocket park.”

The building at 15 E. First Ave., which once housed the eyeglass lens manufacturing lab for Singleton Joyce Optical, then an antique store, and later briefly hosted a teen club for mentally-disabled youth, has been owned by the city for the last 20 years, said City Planning Director Jim Seitnater.

The plan, said Seitnater, former Downtown Development Director, has always been to level the building and create access to parking lots on the back side of the block.

“We’re excited about the possibilities,” Seitnater said. “It will be a great meeting place. It can be used for a lot of different things. But mainly it’s just a beautiful walk from parking to the flashing lights of the theater marquee.”

(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)