Kansas Municipal News
Eureka City Council To Consider Grass Clippings Ordinance
At their regular meeting last Monday, Eureka City Councilmembers discussed implementing an ordinance that would prohibit residents from blowing grass clippings into city streets. “One of our biggest issues with storm drainage is cut grass,” explained city administrator Ian Martell. Councilman Michael Countryman added, “After this last rain I drove down the street and everybody had blown everything into the street.” Martell said that one of the city crews has done almost nothing but clean storm drains this entire year, adding, “It takes a lot of time away from our guys.” He said that other cities have ordinances prohibiting such actions, with penalties falling on the property owners. He added that he plans to propose a similar ordinance in the next month.
(Read more: Eureka Herald RSS)
City of Topeka to offer Clean Slate Day this Friday
Clean Slate Day will take place on Friday, September 21st from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Topeka Municipal Court.
Clean Slate Day is an opportunity for a fresh start for people with Topeka Municipal Court offenses. This allows them to begin payment plans for outstanding fines and fees, setting new court dates for outstanding warrants and getting old violations expunged all without the fear of arrest.
The Topeka Community Foundation has provided a $3,500 grant to help those who income qualify to pay their outstanding fees and fines. The funds are available on a first come first serve basis.
“I am glad to have the opportunity to continue offering Clean Slate Day to Municipal Court defendants,” said Municipal Court Judge Lori Dougherty-Bichsel.
(Read more: WIBW News Now!)
Lawrence City Commission to consider $67,500 settlement related to police chase injuries
At its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider approving a settlement related to a high-speed police chase that ended in a car accident.
William and Sandra Gibson, of Talmage, which is near Abilene, were injured in the accident and filed a lawsuit against members of the Lawrence Police Department earlier this year. The city attorney’s office is recommending the commission approve a $67,500 settlement agreement, according to a memo to the commission. The settlement states that it is not an admission of liability and intends to avoid the expense of future litigation.
Read more: LJWorld.
After nearly a quarter of renters rate housing conditions as poor, city leaders question rental inspection program
For every 20 rental units in Lawrence today, only one was inspected by city staff in the past year. After a survey found a significant number of Lawrence residents describe their housing condition as poor, some city leaders are asking whether the city is doing enough inspections.
The resident survey, conducted as part of the city’s recent housing market analysis, indicated that 24 percent of renters rate their housing condition as poor. That percentage is higher for renters with children, at 32 percent. During the City Commission’s discussion of the housing condition responses Tuesday, commissioners questioned what that indicated about the city’s rental inspection program.
City Manager Tom Markus, who has more than 40 years of experience in municipal government, told commissioners that Lawrence has the “least aggressive” rental inspection program that he’s ever worked with.
Read more: LJWorld.
Sedgwick County deputy killed during suspicious character call, sheriff says
A 12-year veteran of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office was shot and killed Sunday in western Sedgwick County.
Robert Kunze was shot while responding to a suspicious character call, Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter said during a Sunday evening news conference. A second person, the suspect, was also killed.
“Tragedy has struck the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office,” Easter said. “A family member of ours has been killed in the line of duty.”
Read more: Wichita Eagle.
New chief of interpretation wants to tell Fort Scott’s story
A chance to help continue telling the stories behind a national park and protecting it as a resource has brought Carl Brenner to the Fort Scott National Historic Site.
Brenner, who is originally from St. Louis, is the new chief of interpretation and resource management at the fort, which is a unit of the National Park Service. He officially started in the position July 22.
“It’s nice to be in an area with so much potential,” he said. “Fort Scott has a tremendous story. I want to work with the community and help tell that story.”
Brenner said he oversees education and visitor programs at the historic site, and also makes sure its buildings and grounds are maintained and in compliance with federal preservation rules and regulations.
He brings a firm knowledge of the NPS and some of its sites across the U.S. with him to his new post.
(Read more: Fort Scott Tribune)
Water extension to bring RO water to more customers in Clay Center
Work on the largest recent expansion of the city’s water system will continue into next year making RO water available to Prairie Meadows and the new housing addition east of town, Scott Glaves, PU superintendent told Rotarians Thursday noon.
The three mile long, 6-inch extension starts near the flat mile on 19th Street, runs east to Ottawa Road, then south to US-24 looping through Prairie Meadows then back west to the Meadowbrook addition.
In addition, the PUC will clean and repaint the blue east water tower inside and out. Glaves said the current paint job is 17 years old and has caused a mildew ring to appear around the outside of the water tower.
Glaves said putting 65 degree water into the tower in 100 degree weather causes the outside to “sweat” condensation, eventually leading to the dark mildew line about one third the way down from the top of the tank.
The project will cost about $250,000, Glaves said.
Glaves also introduced Heath Craig, a Clay Center native who was recently hired to manage the city’s $10 million reverse osmosis water purification plant.
(Read more: www.ccenterdispatch.com – RSS Results in news,local/* of type article)
JoCo city’s top administrator resigns
Cheryl Harrison-Lee, the top administrator for the city of Gardner, a fast-growing Johnson County suburb 30 miles south of Kansas City, has resigned, the city announced Friday.
On Friday, the city issued a press release saying Harrison-Lee had resigned effective Sept. 10. The announcement went on to praise her contributions to the city since she was hired in 2012, especially in the areas of strategic planning and economic development.
Gardner is one of Johnson County’s fastest growing cities, with a population of more than 21,000. It has recently attracted a new hotel and conference center, along with a multimillion-dollar manufacturing and distribution center for a California-based educational supply company.
“On behalf of the city, I want to thank Cheryl for her contribution in positioning Gardner for business expansion and economic growth,” Mayor Steve Shute said in a statement. “She helped set the framework, and we will continue to build upon her legacy to see our complete vision come to fruition.”
(Read more: Government & Politics News |)
Two Garden City videos win national awards
The City of Garden City has won two national awards for videos produced by its IT & Communications Department. The awards were given by the City-County Communications & Marketing Association (3CMA).
3CMA is a national network of local government communicators. Each year during its annual conference, the organization hosts an awards competition called “The Savvy Awards” to recognize outstanding local government achievements in communications, marketing, engagement, and creativity. The City of Garden City received two awards at this year’s event, a Savvy for the video “Infinite Hope” and an Award of Excellence for the “IT Stormwater PSA.”
(Read more: Greater Garden City » Feed)
Hays IT Director: ‘Cybersecurity keeps me up at night’
The city of Hays has a $2 million line of cyber liability in its commercial insurance policy with MPR (Midwest Public Risk), a group of public pooling entities across Missouri and Kansas.
Cybersecurity insurance is being sought by an increasing number of U.S. cities, according to a survey by the Wall Street Journal.
Hays has two main data centers located at city hall and at the police department, with 48 network routers and approximately 248 PCs and servers in 11 locations.
The IT Department, which recently relocated from the downtown city hall to a larger space in the Hays Welcome Center, 2700 Vine, provides Geographic Information Services, telecommunications services and support for citywide software applications. The five-person IT staff also maintains the city’s website, www.haysusa.com, and online utility bill payments. One technician is dedicated to the police department and security; another technician takes care of everything else in the city. The GIS Specialist is a shared position with Ellis County.
(Read more: Hays Post)
Hutchinson picks Riley County PD captain as city’s next police chief
The Hutchinson Police Department Friday says following an extensive search process, the city selected its next police chief.
The city says Jeffrey Hooper will take leadership of the Hutchinson Police Department on Oct. 22. Hooper replaces Chief Dick Heitschmidt who’s retiring Monday after 26 years guiding the department.
For the past 27 years, Hooper served with the Riley County Police Department where he currently serves as a captain, a position he’s held for 14 years. His other roles with the RCPD included police officer, detective, sergeant and lieutenant.
The City of Hutchinson says Hooper has a decree in sociology/criminal justice and is a graduate of the F.B.I. National Academy. Hutchinson City Manager John Deardoff says Hooper’s education, leadership abilities and “broad law-enforcement experience” make him the right fit to be Hutchinson’s next police chief.
(Read more: KWCH News)
Chief Heitschmidt takes his last call
Responding to a police call a couple of years ago, Hutchinson Police Chief Dick Heitschmidt found himself the first officer on the scene – “with four or five young guys who were not behaving.”
“It ran through my mind that these guys could take a 60-year-old pretty quick,” Heitschmidt said last week as a reminisced about his years of service with the department.
He decided then perhaps it was time to cut back on the weekend night patrols, or at least arrive later. He still occasionally goes on calls – “I still feel capable of lending a hand if someone needs help,” he said – but he’s not been on the street much these days. In fact, his last duty was working the Hutchinson High School homecoming parade.
Heitschmidt, 66, will officially retire Oct. 1 as Hutchinson’s Police Chief after 46 years in law enforcement, including 26 years in the top spot.
(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)
National Fireworks Association closes out convention in Andover
“We’re really excited,” said Alaina Dudley and Quinn Hamilton, who came to watch the fireworks with their families.
It’s all thanks to the National Fireworks Association. The annual convention has been in town all week shooting off fireworks and it finished off with a bang.
“I didn’t even know there was a National Fireworks Association so to hear that they do this every year is really, really cool,” said Krista Gerlach, who brought her family to see the fireworks.
As a thank you to the city, the association set off a huge public display on Friday night, featuring synchronized music.
“Synchronized fireworks is really hard because it’s not that often that you see fireworks synchronized to music,” Hamilton said.
Buyers and fireworks manufacturers came to Andover this week from all over the world to see and purchase fireworks for next year’s 4th of July.
The city says the final show was worth around $200,000, an amount of fireworks that not many have ever seen.
(Read more: KAKE – News)
Licenses to grow industrial hemp in Kan. could be ready by spring
The Kansas Department of Agriculture hopes to start issuing licenses for farmers to grow industrial hemp in time for next year’s spring planting season.
Agency spokeswoman Heather Lansdowne said on Friday that proposed rules and regulations were submitted earlier in the week to the Department of Administration. That’s the first step in a long process required to establish an industrial hemp program in Kansas.
The program will initially allow growing hemp only for research. But officials said in an economic impact statement that a successful research-based pilot program may lead to the eventual legalization of commercial industrial hemp.
(Read more: The Salina Post)
Neosho County continues to hear opinions on wind project
Residents of southwest Neosho County continued discussion of the pros and cons of a wind generation project during Friday morning’s county commission meeting.
Opponent Bryon Coover took issue with information presented at a town hall meeting in Galesburg and in letters to residents. Dale Jeffrey gave information about mutations and deformed animals near European wind generation areas because of low-level noise.
Opponent Andrew Burnett encouraged distributing a map of the footprint of the proposed area, and said some land owners do not realize they will be inside it. He also discussed declines in grassland bird populations near wind generation sites.
Leroy Burke also raised issues with tax exemptions on the property.
Galesburg Mayor Adam Tromsness said he has met with families who support the project.
“We’ve had a lot of questions and concerns,” he said, adding that the Galesburg council has not formally voted whether or not to support the project. Apex Clean Energy has proposed constructing 100 to 130 wind generator turbines in the area southwest of Erie and east of Thayer. The roughly 100-square-mile area is between Anderson and Pratt roads and between 140th and 50th roads.Apex is also planning a wind generation project in southwest Bourbon County and northwest Crawford County. Road and Bridge Director Mike Brown said he has heard that some residents in the Stark area are signing up for it.
(Read more: The Chanute Tribune)
Technology council forming to help retain and attract talent to Wichita
Few sectors are more coveted by any community working to grow its economy than the high-paying technology industry.
And in Wichita, an important new initiative is coming together that its stakeholders believe will give the city a new edge in retraining and recruiting the kind of tech talent that will help fuel regional growth.
A yet-to-be named technology council is in its formative stages that Dave Cunningham, CEO of Flint Hills Group and the board chairman of the planned council, says will provide the kind of overarching and unbiased connective resource that the industry has never had locally.
A nine-person board has been meeting every other week for the past six weeks now, as the group formalizes a name and incorporates as a nonprofit organization.
(Read more: Wichita Business Journal)
Topeka mayor diagnosed with Lyme disease after tick bite
opeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla says she has been diagnosed with Lyme disease after being bitten by a tick.
She said she was bitten by a tick after exercising outdoors and hiking.
KTKA reports that in order to get better, De La Isla said she will be administered high levels of Doxycycline for a month. She will also undergo a spinal tap and other medical procedures to help her recover.
A new report shows that Lyme disease is on the rise in all 50 states, and even in areas where it has not typically been in the past.
(Read more: KAKE – News)
Century II committee: Iconic building ‘past its useful life’
One of downtown Wichita’s most iconic buildings was described Friday as a crumbling, leaky and obsolete structure.
That was the general sentiment expressed during a Century II Performing Arts and Convention Center citizens steering committee meeting at the downtown facility.
“I speak for myself, but I think we’ve all felt that it has to be now,” said Mary Beth Jarvis, the committee’s chairwoman. “If you don’t change for the future now, when does your future start?”
During the hour-long lunchtime meeting, committee members seemed to agree that Century II has long since outlived its usefulness as a top-tier performance arts space. The committee is expected to present its recommendations to Mayor Jeff Longwell and the City Council later this year.
(Read more: Wichita Business Journal)
Douglas County Commission signals intent to raise age to buy tobacco products
The Douglas County Commission signaled Wednesday that it would pass an ordinance increasing the age to legally buy tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vaping liquids, to 21.
All three county commissioners said they favored the age increase. But commissioners said formal action would have to wait until county counselor John Bullock reviewed the measure, which was proposed by the LiveWell Lawrence Tobacco 21 task force and Resist, a Boys & Girls Club anti-smoking team.
Commissioners said the age increase would be mostly symbolic. There are only four stores in the county’s unincorporated areas that would be affected. One of the issues commissioners asked Bullock to review is whether the commission had any authority to regulate sales at Clinton Marina, which is within Clinton State Park.
Read more: LJWorld.
What should a cemetery look like? New draft rules would allow for additional decorations at Lawrence gravesites
City officials presented the first draft of new rules for grave decorations at the city’s cemeteries, which would allow plot owners more decoration options, including limited borders and ground cover.
The Parks and Recreation Department oversees three cemeteries — Oak Hill, Maple Grove and Memorial Park — and already has rules regarding decorations, but those rules have not been strictly enforced. The draft, which was discussed as part of a public meeting Wednesday, allows additional decorations, such as shepherd hooks, borders and personal items, as long as they are placed within 6 inches of markers and not on the side of the marker that borders the adjacent plot.
Read more: LJWorld.
Shawnee PD’s new 3D laser scanner halves investigation time
Shawnee police officers’ investigations of crashes and crime scenes just got more detailed and more than twice as efficient.
The 3D Scanner software produces a detailed and scaled map of a crash or crime scene, including a 360-degree perspective, according to Shawnee city records.
One officer utilizing a 3D Laser Scanner can record a scene in about 60 percent of the time required by four officers using a Total Station, the Shawnee Police Department’s current device. In fact, the city’s traffic safety unit recommended purchasing the FARO 3D Laser Scanner because it can record and measure a 150-meter area in roughly seven minutes.
Mayor Michelle Distler approved the purchase during the Monday council meeting.
(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post)
Clay County Commissioners approve ‘cow patty Bingo’ on the Courthouse Square
Clay County 4-Hers will be offering something new on The Square for Piotique.
Shannon Stark, Chamber Director, and two FFA members at Clay County Community High School, Logan Fickes and Alex Benson met with Clay County Commissioners on Monday to ask permission to use the Courthouse Square for Cow Patty Bingo during Piotique.
They will use a small bucket calf and a tarp to help keep the mess as minimal as possible. The event will help raise money for the FFA members to attend Leadership Conference in June. Commissioners granted them permission.
(Read more: www.ccenterdispatch.com)
The Highlands’ ballot lands on the green, 135-1
Residents told The Highlands City Council in July they would support a budget levying $60,000 in property taxes. They were true to their word.
In a special election Thursday, Sept. 14, voters in the small city built around a golf course voted 135-1 for the budget ballot, according to unofficial results. Four provisional ballots will be considered by a Reno County board of canvassers Tuesday.
The city mill levy could be about 14.5 mills under the $60,000 budget scenario, residents attending a July town hall meeting were told. Residents indicated they found a $60,000 budget more palatable than a $90,000 or $120,000 budget for the city established in mid-2017.
The state’s tax lid on local governments triggered the need for The Highlands City Council to secure voter approval. If the ballot had failed, the city would have had no budget for 2019.
“Basically, we wouldn’t have been a city,” said Mayor Mo Penny, if the ballot had failed.
(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)
New Overstock distribution center to open in KCK
Overstock.com will open a new distribution center at 5300 Kansas Ave. in Kansas City, Kansas, according to an announcement today.
Overstock.com is a leading online home goods and furniture retailer.
According to a spokesman, about 100 jobs are expected to be created in the next two years at the distribution center.
The distribution center is not moving but is a new facility in the Overstock.com network, according to Ashlie Hand, vice president of communications for the Kansas City Area Development Council.
(Read more: Welcome to Wyandotte Daily!)
Johnson County approves adding more jobs, help at Mental Health Center
As the number of calls for mental health services continue to rise, so do the number of resources around the metro.
On Thursday, the Johnson County Board of Commissioners approved adding an extra dispatcher at the Johnson County Mental Health Center, two clinicians at the Olathe and Shawnee clinics and expanded two part-time positions to full-time.
The transportation program is one of many programs offered at the center. It allows clients to find a way to get to work, school or doctor appointments.
“It is going to help a lot of clients get to and from employment to work, school and medical appointments within the community. So it will have a lot of impact on a lot of people,” said Tanner Fortney, director of operations.
The new positions will cost a total of $326,000 annually. The majority of the money will come from the state through a community mental health centers contract.
(Read more: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF)
Shawnee County Commissioner: $200 copper theft brings $100,000 in costs
The theft in July of an estimated $200 worth of copper from the Kansas Expocentre grounds will ultimately cost the county about $100,000, county commission chairman Kevin Cook said Thursday.
He asked what Shawnee County could do to deter copper thieves.
“I wish I knew,” replied facilities maintenance director Bill Kroll.
Commissioners Cook, Shelly Buhler and Bob Archer voted 3-0 Thursday to approve two proposals enabling Kroll’s department to pay costs resulting from the crimes.
Kroll said a security camera video showed burglars on July 17 entered the Expocentre grounds and tried unsuccessfully to steal copper from a 40-ton DX chiller unit near the south entrance outside the Agricultural Hall, but destroyed that unit.
The burglars also stole two 3.5-ton condensing units from outside a vacant former fire station the county owns on the Expocentre grounds at 1715 S.W. Topeka Blvd., he said.
Cook said the crimes happened in a “very public, very open area,” so he was surprised no witnesses reported seeing them occur.
The security camera video was turned over to the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, which was investigating, Kroll said.
(Read more: Local – The Topeka Capital-Journal)
JoCo adds to parks: Big Bull Creek Park and one in the Stilwell area
Johnson County is celebrating two additions to its parks system this month: the colossal Big Bull Creek Park in southwest Johnson County and a playground in the Stilwell area that’s accessible to all children, including those with disabilities.
Officials will cut the ribbon Sept. 22 on Big Bull Creek Park, an expanse of about 2,000 acres at 20425 Sunflower Road in Edgerton. It is now the largest park in the county system, which also includes Shawnee Mission and Heritage parks.
According to a county planning document, the idea of acquiring land for the park dates to 1997 when a Citizens Visioning Committee recommended that action be taken to balance development with the preservation of open spaces.The next year, voters approved a referendum that allowed the park district to acquire 1,334 acres for the park between 1999 and 2001. An additional 600 acres were acquired in 2005. Development of the park had to await a budget increase for the parks district in 2015.
The district’s website put the cost of the first phase of improvements at $6 million. Part of the long-range vision is to restore natural habitats to make the park more hospitable to wildlife.
(Read more: Joco 913 News)
Shawnee dissolves TIF district for controversial development proposal at 62nd and Pflumm
Shawnee leaders have decided to dissolve a decade-old public financing district established in hopes of helping spur a housing project at 62nd and Pflumm.
Developers tried twice to move forward with projects at the northwest corner of the intersection, but they never got out of the ground.
In late 2008, the council had approved a project plan and redevelopment agreement with Cobblestone Village LLC for a mixed-use housing and retail project aimed at seniors. That project was never started because of the onset of the Great Recession, so the council terminated the project plan in January 2014 and approved a funding agreement for a new developer, QRivit LLC, to take over a similar plan.
But the updated project plan, which would have had a 14-building, 312-unit apartment complex in it, drew resistance from the neighborhood. The city council rejected it on a 3-5 vote in January 2016 — a move that spurred a lawsuit from the developer. A year ago, a Johnson County judge rejected the company’s claims that the project had been improperly denied and found that the city council had been justified in their actions.
(Read more: Prairie Village Post – Neighborhood news and events for Prairie Village, Fairway, Mission Hills)
Leavenworth County responds to petition in lawsuit
An attorney for the Leavenworth County Commission has filed a response to an amended petition in a lawsuit filed against the county by the city of Leavenworth.
At issue in the lawsuit are county plans for improvements at the intersection of 20th Street and Eisenhower Road.
An attorney for the city of Leavenworth filed an amended petition in the lawsuit late last month. The petition argues a 2016 agreement between the county and cities of Leavenworth and Lansing requires the county to pay for left turn lanes and traffic signals at the intersection.
In a response filed Tuesday by Senior County Counselor David Van Parys, the attorney for the County Commission argues “that the terms of the agreement between the parties entered into on or about March 21, 2016, speak for themselves and that the parties are bound by those terms unless otherwise amended by the parties.”
(Read more: Leavenworth Times)
Overland Park launches floating wetland to fix algae overload in South Lake
Harmful algae levels in South Lake prompted Overland Park to add a floating wetland that will balance the water body’s ecosystem.
Overland Park public works staff this week launched the floating wetland — a manmade island with native Kansas wetland plants growing on it — to prevent harmful algae from spreading. The island improves the water quality and works by filtering the water, which prevents harmful algae from forming. “We have decided we need to fix this problem — and the cheapest and probably the most efficient solution we have found — is to put some plants on a buoyant structure and float it out on the lake and soak up some nutrients,” Ian Fannin-Hughes, a water quality specialist with Overland Park public works said.
(Read more: Prairie Village Post – Neighborhood news and events for Prairie Village, Fairway, Mission Hills)
Police body camera policy to go to Lawrence City Commission for comment
Lawrence city commissioners will be reviewing the Lawrence Police Department’s policy for body cameras, but city officials advised that some aspects would be outside commissioners’ authority.
At the City Commission’s meeting Tuesday, Commissioner Leslie Soden again asked about the review of the body camera policy and what kind of input the commission wanted to have.
“It seems like I’m the one that’s pushing that we even talk about it, so I wanted to hear you all’s ideas,” Soden said.
Vice Mayor Lisa Larsen said her assumption had been that the policy would go back to the commission for review and that commissioners would be allowed to comment on it, but she asked City Manager Tom Markus whether that was indeed the case.
Read more: LJWorld.
Air show produces huge crowds
The 2018 McConnell Air Force Base air show, Frontiers in Flight, wrapped up on Sunday with nearly 110,000 visitors making their way on base during the two-day event.
With a low ceiling and more inclement weather on Saturday the crowd was smaller with only 35,000 visitors. On Sunday the sun came out and so did the fans as the attendance more than doubled with 74,692 attendees.
Over the weekend spectators were able to see some of the power and history of the United States Air Force.
(Read more: DerbyInformer.com – news,news/)
Pastors with ‘sand’ helped win the west, Kansas
Before the west was won, sometimes even preachers had to fight for what they believed.
They had to have what Kansas Wesleyan University Criminal Justice Professor John K. Burchill called “sand,” and what many modern people call “guts.”
He presented “Cowboys and Clerics” at the Emporia Public Library Saturday as part of Humanities Kansas and covered several famed historical pastors and how they handled the chaotic life of early Kansas towns.
(Read more: Emporia Gazette)
Franchisee settles on a spot for a new Old Chicago restaurant in Goddard
Fresh off of news that it’s getting a new Dairy Queen later this year, Goddard now can celebrate that it’s also getting an Old Chicago.
Franchisee Amro Samy anticipates closing on a spot in front of the Goddard Walmart in January and having the restaurant open in late 2019, said his marketing director, Molly Basham. Talk of a Goddard Old Chicago has been swirling for awhile, but at one time, it was to be a part of a $60 million project that would include a water park, a Holiday Inn and the Old Chicago. In May, businessman Rodney Steven II announced he was taking over the development of the complex, which is on 90 acres in the 19800 block of West Kellogg and is part of a $30 million STAR bonds project.
“We had originally talked with the city about the STAR bond area, but that plan had fallen through,” Basham said. “But we loved the Goddard area and were looking forward to coming.” Samy, who owns Samys OC based in Garden City, also has Old Chicagos in Garden City, Liberal, Manhattan and Lawrence. He’s opening a new Old Chicago in Salina later this year.
(Read more: Dining With Denise Neil |)
Derby may get sports complex
If changes are authorized within the Derby STAR bond district, they could result in a new multifaceted sports complex.
The topic was set to be received by the Derby City Council at its Sept. 11 meeting as a first reading.
As proposed, the facility would include indoor and outdoor sport areas, outdoor sand courts and game areas. It also could have a restaurant. It has a tentative name of Derby’s Sports Zone.
Officials say it would provide a resource for training, team practice, games and events. It would deal with a variety of sports, such as badminton, paddleball, sand volleyball and others.
The facility would replace the position of a hotel at the parcel between the water tower and car wash.
That is east of Field Station: Dinosaurs and Rock Regional Hospital and west of Rock Road.
Officials scheduled to explain the change, among others in the district, were Marc Abbott, Chas Morales and Rick Worner, who represent Derby Destination Development LLC, the entity planning the district.
It receives a special state-approved tax status and is meant to spark economic development from local, area and regional consumer traffic.
(Read more: DerbyInformer.com – news,news/)
Neighbor asks council for reprieve on silage pile
A neighbor to a large pile of silage on the west end of Main St. asked Marion city council members at Monday’s meeting to give the owner a reprieve on an order to remove the pile.
Lincolnville feedlot owner Mike Beneke, owner of the former Straub building at 601 W. Main, started piling the silage on the property in July. He was ordered two weeks ago by a municipal judge to remove the pile within 10 days. Municipal judge Randall Pankratz warned Beneke that if he failed to comply with the court’s order, he could be fined and ordered to serve up to 30 days in jail.
“I’m not trying to cause a stink,” Tina Steele told council members. “I know I had come and spoken about the trucks. Since then, he has come over and spoken with the neighborhood.” Steele said she’d studied silage and decided the pile will cause no damage. She also said disturbing the pile at this point in the fermentation process would damage the silage.
“I guess what I am asking is that, considering it’s halfway done and he only needs another seven weeks, let him have it,” Steele said.
(Read more: HILLSBORO Star-Journal)
Committee chairman voices frustrations on dirt roads
The state of county roads was a hotbed of discussion at Monday’s county commission meeting.
Chairman of the county road and bridge committee and Liberty township trustee, Lisa Peters, voiced her frustrations.
“I’m coming forward for every resident who lives in Liberty, Menno, and Lehigh,” she said. “It’s over, the roads are gone.”
The roads are full of pockmarks and the shoulders are overgrown, she said.
Part of the problem is that the area is understaffed, Peters said. The employee hired to maintain roads in Liberty Township recently resigned because of the workload.
“Part of the frustration is the roads are so bad,” she said. “He’s so overwhelmed and he can’t fix them anymore.”
Commission chairman Dianne Novak expressed agreement with Peters and other audience members.
“I can’t dispute anything you’ve said,” she said. “I’m almost thinking we should use private contracting.”
(Read more: HILLSBORO Star-Journal)
Will these new design standards protect Prairie Village’s charm? Commission votes
Prairie Village’s latest attempt to control the development of large homes within the city received unanimous support from the Prairie Village Planning Commission on Tuesday.
Commissioners voted to recommend approval for a slate of neighborhood design standards that is now headed for a City Council vote on Oct. 1.
But the vote came only after more than two dozen residents and business owners weighed in on the proposal, showing that the issue of tear-downs and rebuilds within Prairie Village continues to generate emotions on both sides of the debate.
Prairie Village, like other cities in northeast Johnson County, has seen a rapid increase in recent years of property owners tearing down the mid-century ranch and Cape Cod houses the city is known for and replacing them with much larger homes. In some cases, residents have complained that the new, larger buildings overshadow their neighbors, cause drainage problems. But one of the biggest complaints is that they are generally out of character with the rest of the neighborhood.
Supporters of the restrictions on Tuesday said the rule changes were necessary to protect the city’s charm.
“I am appalled by some of the sizes of the houses being built on these tiny little lots,” said Nancy Morgan. “If you want to live in a giant spacious house then there are plenty of other lots in the metropolitan area that you can build these giant houses, and I really hate to see our small little houses being overpowered. And it’s changing the landscape of Prairie Village.”
(Read more: Joco 913 News)
Commissioners reach consensus on mosquito spraying program
When they met Tuesday, Leavenworth city commissioners reached a consensus to discontinue a program that sprays for mosquitoes in neighborhoods.
But the city manager will have the authority to authorize the use of the mosquito spraying equipment if he deems it necessary.
Last month, two entomologists visited with city commissioners about the city’s mosquito spraying program. They had been invited to meet with commissioners after some residents expressed concern about the program.
Jeff Whitworth, an entomologist with Kansas State University, told commissioners that the spraying may provide relief from mosquitoes for a couple of hours, but the program will not put a big dent in the city’s mosquito population.
In addition to mosquito spraying, the city of Leavenworth also uses larvicide to kill mosquitoes in the larval stage.
Whitworth told commissioners that larvicide programs will help control mosquito populations. Public Works Director Mike McDonald said the problem with the larvicide program is that city employees cannot go onto private property. He said the program is limited to properties under the control of the city.
(Read more: Leavenworth Times)
Leavenworth County Commissioners review five-district map
The county clerk has presented a map of how Leavenworth County Commission districts can be redrawn if the commission is expanded to five members.
“I think it’s a fair map,” County Clerk Janet Klasinski said.
She presented the map to commissioners during a meeting Tuesday.
In November, voters in the county will determine if the commission should be expanded from three members to five.
A group called Give Me Five successfully collected the necessary signatures to have a question regarding the expansion of the County Commission placed on the ballot for the general election.
Last week, Commission Chairman Louis Klemp said he wanted to study parameters regarding the possible expansion of the commission. “There are different ways to draw and split the districts,” Klasinski said Tuesday.
But Klasinski said she would recommend the map that was being presented.
She said it ultimately would be up to commissioners to approve the new district boundaries if voters give the OK to a five-member commission.
The map presented during Tuesday’s meeting has not officially been approved. But commissioners reached a consensus to have it published on the county government’s website, www.leavenworthcounty.org, to show voters what the tentative map looks like.
(Read more: Leavenworth Times)
Recount requested in bond election in Leavenworth County
When they met Tuesday, Leavenworth County commissioners certified the results from a recent Basehor-Linwood school bond election.
But someone who was connected to the bond issue is asking for a recount.
Commissioners certified the election results while acting as the Board of County Canvassers.
Mail ballots were used in the school bond election. Voters were required to return their ballots by noon Thursday.
The $57.1 million bond issue had been divided into two questions on the ballot. The first question proposed two new elementary schools and other facility improvements totaling $51.6 million.
This proposition was approved with 2,591 “yes” votes and 1,784 “no” votes, County Clerk Janet Klasinski said.
The second question proposed improvements for school athletic facilities totaling $5.5 million.
This question failed with 2,190 “no” votes and 2,187 “yes” votes.
“It was a three-vote difference,” Klasinski said.
(Read more: Leavenworth Times)
Erie addresses issue with grass in streets
The city of Erie may start cracking down on cut grass blown into streets.
During a Monday evening Erie City Council meeting, resident Chris Harris reported grass in the streets is a hazard to motorcyclists and bicyclists and also clogs the stormwater sewer system and the street sweeper.
In previous years, discussions and newspaper articles were used in an effort to educate Erie residents to make a few rounds around lawns blowing cut grass inward instead of out onto the streets. Harris said the problem seems to be getting worse.
The council discussed creating an ordinance against blowing grass onto city streets, with fines to be used for enforcement, but Mayor Darrell Bauer objected to such an ordinance.
Seth Jones, the city’s attorney, will research the existing “nuisance” section of the municipal code to determine if blowing grass onto the streets could fall under it.
(Read more: Parsons Sun)
Florence City Council under fire
For the second time in three weeks, the Florence city council removed details from previous meeting minutes.
Councilman Matt Williams moved to condense a section of the Aug. 20 meeting minutes. The condensed section included a comment from resident Darla Spencer criticizing the council, saying she would “think hard next time she went to the polls.”
Williams motioned to change the description to say she and other community members expressed concerns about the Crystal Springs situation. The motion passed 3-1.
“I want to cut these pages down from six pages or 13 pages,” he said. “Just a couple would be great. We don’t need to hire a stenographer.”
Several audience members spoke out, protesting that the minutes were already written and it was important to keep them accurate.
“That’s like picking up the city’s trash and then you dump the truck and pick it up again,” Evan Slater said.
Spencer addressed the topic of censorship when she made her comment, city clerk Janet Robertson said.
“In defense of myself, Darla personally asked her comment be put in the minutes,” she said.
Councilman Trayce Warner opposed the censorship of meeting minutes Monday and at a previous meeting.
She spoke in support of the audience having a voice at council meetings.
“We are not kings and queens,” she said. “We are representatives of these people out here. They have a right to ask questions, they have a right to expect answers.”
(Read more: PEABODY Gazette-Bulletin)
At 91, the ‘personality of Sedgwick County’ retires, plans to help ‘them older folks’
Eula West, 91, retired Wednesday as the lobby receptionist at the Sedgwick County Courthouse, where she worked for 49 years. She tells a story of how she once had to cut a sheriff’s lieutenant’s hair at the front desk.
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If you sit at the reception desk at the Sedgwick County Courthouse long enough, you might end up saving somebody’s job — or maybe somebody’s life.And Eula West sat at that desk for a very long time — since 1969.
Do the math and that’s 49 years, but who’s counting?
At age 91, Eula West finally called it a career.
“I’ve been here longer than most everybody’s been born,” she said, as she sat at her reception desk one last time before her Wednesday afternoon retirement reception.
West was the first face you’d see when you walked into the courthouse and the last you’d see when you left.
And she nearly always had a smile, whether she was bantering with the county government poobahs, helping a lost felon find the right courtroom. or selling bootleg peanut brittle under the counter at Christmastime.
(Read more: Wichita Eagle)
Ark City PD plans bike registration rally
The Arkansas City Police Department is planning a new event to register community bicycles and raise awareness of the importance of serial numbers.
Beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, officers will conduct the first-ever “Bike Registration Rally” in Ark City.
The purpose of the event is to register as many bicycles with the police department as possible throughout the day. The goal is to register at least 100 bikes, but police would like to register even more.
Officers will be monitoring their Facebook and Twitter accounts for addresses beginning at 9 a.m.
They will make house calls anywhere within the city limits of Ark City to register bicycles and provide information on #SerialNumberSeptember, a new ACPD registration awareness initiative on social media.
To participate in the Bike Registration Rally, residents can “like” the Arkansas City Police Department’s Facebook page or follow the Arkansas City Police Department on Twitter.
Citizens should watch for social media posts on Saturday and provide police with an address where officers can meet with them and register their bicycles.
(Read more: The Arkansas City Traveler)