Bicycles, skateboards and other similar modes of transportation are no longer allowed on the sidewalks in Spring Hill’s downtown area.
At the Aug. 9 City Council meeting, Ordinance No. 2018-12 was approved, determining the use of bicycles, skateboards, coasters, roller skates, roller blades and other similar devices a public nuisance on the sidewalks of Main Street downtown.
“The Governing Body finds that the use of such devices on the public sidewalks in the downtown area creates a hazard to the physical safety of the general public due to the limited setbacks between the sidewalk and the downtown structures fronting the public sidewalks; the inherent hazard of such devices in close proximity to pedestrians in the limited space of the public sidewalks in the downtown area and the density of pedestrian uses on the public sidewalks.”
In his 18 months in office, Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree Sr. said he has heard from about hundreds of people in prison or from their families who claim wrongful convictions.
Now, his office will have the funding and staff to look into some of those claims.
A spokesman for the Unified Government Commission said the district attorney’s office will receive two payments of about $167,000 each in the fourth quarter of 2018 and fourth quarter of 2019 for a new conviction integrity unit.
Dupree said at a press conference Friday that his office expects to hire three people for the unit: a full-time senior attorney, a part-time investigator and a part-time assistant. Dupree has previously cited the case of Lamonte McIntyre as a reason to create the unit. McIntyre’s convictions for a 1994 double murder were thrown out last October after a judge ruled he had been the victim of manifest injustice.
The Wyandotte County unit’s staff will work with law school students from the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri-Kansas City to help identify cases to examine.
Overland Park staff next week will make a formal recommendation to the city’s Community Development Committee on a conceptual design plan for Santa Fe Commons that will not include relocation of the Farmers Market from its current site. The potential relocation of the Farmers Market to Santa Fe Commons has been under consideration for months, with consultants hired by the city to look into ways to improve market operations laying out a number of benefits to the idea. But the prospect proved divisive among residents, with many saying it would eat into precious green space in Santa Fe Commons.
In a staff comments memo included in the agenda for the Sept. 5 Community Development Committee released today, city staff said they were recommending the conceptual plan for the park called “Park Stroll” that includes an airplane-shaped performance venue, shelters and a natural play area — and plenty of green space.The memo details a number of reasons staff were recommending against relocation of the Farmers Market.
As Ron Rice was out and about on Wednesday he saw a class of Hays middle school students throwing discs around the nine-hole Rolling Hills Park Disc Golf Course at 41st Street and Autumn Lane.
“It’s nice to see,” Rice said. “The P.E. teacher is teaching them disc golf.”
Rice has been playing the sport — what old-timers refer to as Frisbee golf — since he was in college at Fort Hays State University in the late 1970s. A lot has changed since those early days.
He is one of 132 disc golf players registered so far for the 34th Annual Frontier Open at the Flying Bison Disc Golf Course in Frontier Park. And hopefully it won’t just be golfers on the course.
“They really like it when people come out to watch,” Rice said.
The three-day tournament is set for Sept. 7, 8 and 9, at a course that is considerably more challenging than Rolling Hills. The Flying Bison course has 21 permanent holes sprinkled throughout the 75-acre city park.
Attendance at the tourney this year is likely to break the 2016 record of 136 golfers, said Brett Straight, Hays, tournament director for a number of years.
“It looks like we’ll be setting another record,” said Straight. “We have room for 180 and I’m really hoping we’ll get 150 or 160.”
Thousands of Wichita homeowners, mainly those who bought new homes built between 2002 and 2011, could be paying more in special assessments than they should, according to a Wichita lawyer suing the city on behalf of a local couple.
The attorney, Austin Parker, contends the city of Wichita is deliberately collecting more money from property owners who pay special than it needs to pay off bonds that funded streets, sewers and other infrastructure improvements in what could be dozens of developments across town.
The issue, Parker says, stems from the city’s practice of refinancing more than $220 million in general obligation bonds, including some that funded the improvements, to lower interest rates and cut payback costs. “Kansas statutes specifically provide for municipalities to refinance bonds but DO NOT require redistributing to property owners the money saved through refinancing,” a motion to dismiss filed Aug. 24 by Gilmore and Bell, the city’s bond counsel, says. “There is simply no legal duty to do what plaintiffs (the Snodgrasses) assert should have been done.”
A 2003 economic development study recommended ways to improve the economy downtown, and in the past 15 years, it has been a goal of members of the Augusta City Council and residents to see a downtown playground for local children.
That wish is about to come true.
City Manager Josh Shaw advised that a downtown playground ties in with the rehab of the Frisco Depot and the enhanced Rail to Trails project.
“To be a destination, an economic driver, the park has to be unique with different options,” Shaw said. “Something not found everywhere.“ Hopes are that the park will be popular and will generate interest, which could result in obtaining grants for enhancements and more additions to the park, such as upgrading to a more expensive rubberized surface.
City Councilman Cale Magruder recently stated on social media, “We’re excited about this and thankful to the community partners – the Palmer family for donating the ground, Alan’s Excavating for going above and beyond…We hope to have the playground open for the 150th Celebration to enjoy this great addition to Augusta.”
Vacant buildings are rare in downtown Leavenworth, and the statistics prove it.
According to Leavenworth Main Street Executive Director Wendy Scheidt, 93 percent of the buildings are occupied in the 28-block downtown district.
She said the occupancy rate is comprised of approximately 250 businesses in downtown Leavenworth.
Scheidt said downtown Leavenworth maintains that percentage because “it’s a good business community that works together.”
Taylour Tedder, assistant city manager for the city of Leavenworth, said such a high occupancy rate for a municipality the size of Leavenworth “is fairly rare.”
He said that high occupancy rate can be attributed to numerous long-standing businesses and their promotional efforts.
“It’s just a place people want to be,” Tedder said.
Prairie Village announced it has set a public hearing date of Sept. 11 for the city’s planning commission to review a new set of home design guidelines intended to address concerns about the wave of teardown-rebuild projects in the city. “These proposed changes would add neighborhood design standards for R-1A and R-1B zoning districts, which would regulate building massing and frontage design,” reads a message about the hearing posted by the city on Nextdoor. “The proposed changes would also add impervious coverage limits and revise and re-format other existing standards related to accessory buildings, setback, and lot exceptions.”
Parts of Winfield went on alert for a short time Wednesday after a report of shots being fired near an elementary school that later were identified as coming from a memorial service at a nearby cemetery.
Winfield officers were dispatched around noon to a report of gunshots heard by children and adults at Whittier Elementary School, 1400 Mound St. Officers checked the area and confirmed the gunshots came from St. Marys Cemetery, 1938 E. 12th Ave., and were part of a veterans’ memorial service, according to the Winfield Police Department Facebook page.
The ceremonial shots were fired during recess, and as part of USD 465’s Emergency Standard Response Protocol, students and staff were moved inside until the area was deemed free of any threat. All students and staff are safe, according to school district representatives.
As a result of the misunderstanding, Winfield school district advised all the Winfield funeral homes to notify the school district of any future memorial services so everyone can be informed.
Monthly drills at Kansas schools now include other alerts and evacuation drills so school staff and students can be more prepared in the event that something serious occurs, according to a school official.
Cowley County Emergency Management will facilitate a full-scale exercise on Sept. 6 at the Tisdale United Methodist Church, 17507 U.S. 160 Highway, east of Winfield.
At least 22 separate organizations are expected to participate in this exercise, which is slated to begin at 9 a.m. and complete no later than 1 p.m.
Emergency operations planning is a key role of the Emergency Management agency. To successfully test a plan’s effectiveness, specific aspects of the plan need to be tested and evaluated for any necessary improvements.
The Tisdale United Methodist Church is one the newest community partners and has accepted the role as a post-event community evacuation shelter. As a final step, numerous agencies from the area will join together in a full-scale exercise at this venue.
A new business, Graceland Portable Buildings, is selling outbuildings at 2230 N. Nelson Drive, including some large models. The Derby Informer asked City Engineer Dan Squires about what local residents need to know when looking at the structures. Generally, such buildings are allowed, but they do have to meet zoning requirements, Squires said.
“Any accessory structure has to be permitted and meet the setback requirements for the zoning district and the individual lot,” he said.
Also, there are a lot of coverage requirements.
In the single-family residential district, the lot coverage is limited to 30 percent.
Thus, on a 10,000-square-foot lot with a 2,500-square-foot house, the maximum building size for an accessory structure would be 500 square feet.
Individual developments may also have restrictive covenants that provide limitations on the size and material for accessory structures, he said. Graceland officials said they will work with clients to meet those requirements, including matching colors as needed.
After 15 years of use, the pools at the city’s water park, Rock River Rapids, are in need of a total facelift, say city officials.
At issue are all the layers of paint that have been put on the pool surfaces over the years. That’s 12 layers to be precise.
While they have served their purpose, they also can potentially hide concrete damage such as cracks, said Steve White, director of parks, who submitted a refurbishment proposal to the City Council for its consideration at its Aug. 28 meeting. The city has received five bids to thoroughly sandblast the pools, clean and inspect them and then repair any identified failures. The job also calls for a new epoxy-based coating.
The bids range from $120,750 from JTP Painting and Sandblasting to $320,700 from Kramer Industrial Inc.
The water park’s budget includes $300,000 for the job, so the low price is well under the limit. The city’s bid board reviewed all the proposals and recommended going ahead with the low bid, which the council usually does.
Age, the sun and pool chemicals take their toll on the pools’ surfaces.
“The old paint is thick, brittle and separating from the surface,” White said.
The danger of cracks, he said, is that they permit water loss under the coating.
Currently, White doesn’t know when the project will start.
“Once we have finalized the signatures on the contract, we will then have a better idea of a start date,” he said.
After 7:30 p.m., when Topeka Metro ends it service for the night and heads toward the bus barn, ways to get around the city narrow for those who need a wheelchair-accessible ride.
Topeka Metro and Capital City Taxi have teamed up to fill that gap by adding a wheelchair-accessible vehicle that will run after Topeka Metro’s regular service hours end. Kevin Moten, owner of Capital City Taxi, said the move was a small step for Topeka when it comes to people with disabilities.
“I’m excited to be a part of this project and help everyone out in the city,” Moten said. “Hopefully this will be the very first part, first step, in growing of everything.”
For the month of September, anyone using the MV-1 vehicle will pay $10 for a one-way ride in the city, Moten said. On Oct. 1, the MV-1 will start charging regular taxi rates.
While the $10 special lasts, Moten said, drivers will only transport people within the city limits, but once rates return to normal, the taxi will take passengers wherever they need to go.
Susan Duffy, Topeka Metro general manager, said they expect the taxi to book up quickly and suggests calling Capital City Taxi to secure a ride if needed.
As many as 80 people attended a town hall meeting Tuesday evening, some to learn about and some to oppose a planned wind generation project in southeast Neosho County.
The Neosho County Commission held the meeting at the Galesburg Community Center with representatives of Apex Clean Energy to discuss the project to place 100 to 130 wind turbines in a 100-square-mile area roughly between Anderson and Platt roads and between 140th and 50th roads.
“We’re here tonight because we want to hear from you,” Commissioner Jennifer Orr told the gathering, “not because we’ve made a decision.”
Chris Ollson of Environmental Health Management gave a slideshow about the health issues involved in wind farms, including the flickering shadows caused by moving blades, the noise levels and risk of ice or debris from a damaged turbine being thrown.
The turbines will be located 1,200 feet from homes, where the noise level would be about 50 decibels. An attendee at the meeting said the community center’s air conditioning system measured 65 decibels at the far side of the hall.
Turbines could be located at least 1,400 feet from homes that are not participating in the generating leases, and one mile from Galesburg.
While the County Clerks office handles a lot for the county, from payroll and paying the bills to keeping records, County Clerk Kayla Wang told Lions on Tuesday elections are the most stressful part of her job.
“I’ve enjoyed it immensely,” Wang said of the 26 years she’s worked for the office, including the last 10 as county clerk. “Some days the public can be a challenge, but mostly it’s a joy.”
The turnout for the August primary was 36.7 percent of the 5,610 people registered to vote. That’s a little higher than typical for a primary, and higher than the state average of 27 percent. Wang ordered enough ballots for 45 percent, which was “cutting it close.”
Merriam celebrated the beginning of construction for its new $30 million community center with a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday morning.
Residents, city leaders and representatives from the contractor, McCarthy Building Companies packed into the upstairs training room of city hall as a thunderstorm, which forced a last-minute relocation of the event, rolled through town.
Mayor Ken Sissom said talks for the city to build a new community center began in 2014, prompted by major expenses from maintaining two of the city’s facilities, the existing Irene B. French Community Center and the Merriam Aquatic Center. After several studies and soliciting feedback from residents — including “an overwhelming majority” of yes votes, Merriam leaders decided to “make the wise decision” of building a new community center, Sissom said.
A change approved Thursday to John Welbourn’s job overseeing county weed control operations is not a demotion, Shawnee County commissioners were told Thursday.
Commissioners Kevin Cook, Shelly Buhler and Bob Archer subsequently voted 3-0 to approve a “repurposing” of the department’s organizational structure, which included reclassifying Welbourn’s position from “weed director” to “weed supervisor.” In response to Cook’s question as to whether the proposal involved would constitute a “demotion” for Welbourn, parks and recreation director John Knight said it would not.
The move would instead reclassify the job Welbourn holds from that of an appointed department head who serves at the pleasure of the commission to that of a classified parks and recreation department employee who is under the protection of the county’s personnel rules and regulations, Knight said.
He added that he thought the move would increase Welbourn’s hourly pay by 3 cents an hour.
The weed director’s job before Thursday had already been part of the parks and recreation department. The weed department is directly or indirectly responsible for the control of every noxious weed in Shawnee County, according to its website.
Two years after tax increment financing for Merriam Town Center expired, some retail stores are facing the prospect of higher rent — and city officials are keeping a close eye on potential business departures.
The announcement in July that Hen House was leaving the shopping center after two decades in business raised eyebrows among city officials, who are concerned about the associated drop in sales tax receipts that get directed to the city’s budget.
At Monday’s city council meeting, Merriam officials discussed what efforts the city could be taking to keep the center vibrant and prevent other tenants from leaving.
Chris Engel, city administrator, said several things have occurred in Town Center all at once that are probably contributing to the issue, “depending on who you ask.”
The City of Salina dedicated a historical marker Thursday in front of the Smoky Hill Museum to August Bondi, a local Jewish-American abolitionist who fought against slavery and for the American ideal of freedom.Jerry Klinger, President of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, who initially proposed creating the marker, spoke about Bondi’s life during the ceremony.“The story of Mr. Bondi isn’t so much a Jewish story, it’s an American […]
A sign popped-up in east Wichita overnight advertising 400 tiny homes.
It’s by 143rd and 21st street.
That is miles north, but on the same road, as a tiny homes development that was just approved to move forward last week despite opposition from neighbors worried about their property values.
“This would be very bad and I would not want to see it at all,” said Dan Jablonski who lives in neighborhood.
Though they had been in town for only a short time, two visitors from sister city Wagga Wagga, Australia, said Thursday that they were impressed with Leavenworth.
Though they had been in town for only a short time, two visitors from sister city Wagga Wagga, Australia, said Thursday that they were impressed with Leavenworth.
“It’s beautiful,” said Maddie Smith.
Smith and Zoe Martin are visiting Leavenworth after competing in the Miss Wagga Wagga Quest.
Martin, who holds the title of Miss Wagga Wagga, described the Miss Wagga Wagga Quest as a personal development program that raises money for charities.
On a recent sunny day, a cat darted across Betty Nicholas’ yard in the 1400 block of Washington while another rested under a vehicle parked in front of her home. Before long a third cat ambled across the yard heading to a neighbor’s house.
It’s a frequent scene at Nicholas’ house, and sometimes up to a dozen cats congregate in her backyard, even though she doesn’t own a single cat. Albertini said feral cats are always a difficult problem with no easy solution, but he commended a local organization, Basic Animal Rights Council, for its efforts to control the feral cat population.
Just as is the case with dogs, it is illegal in Parsons for the owner of a cat to permit it to run at large at any time. Albertini said the owner of an animal is defined as “any person who feeds or shelters any unowned animal for 24 or more consecutive hours or who professes ownership of such animal.”
Albertini said feral cats, which are untamed animals that generally have little to no human contact, don’t have owners who would be responsible for confining them. A person feeding the cats could be considered an owner, but the city would have to prove a particular person is feeding the cats on a continuous basis. Neighbors may suspect a person is feeding the cats, but proving it in court is different, Albertini said.
Besides that, Albertini said, “Does anyone really want me prosecuting a little old lady for, in her mind, being nice to feral cats by feeding them?”
A stop Thursday night in downtown Chanute was planned long before the afternoon rainstorm. After riding for more than a month through sunshine, the damp weather was something the group of British bicyclists could handle.
“This is the first weather we’ve seen,” bicyclist and organizer Steve Wesson said. One rider, though, was stranded under a tree by the storm and had to be rescued.
The riders with the Bike Adventure commercial touring company stopped in Chanute as part of a trans-America ride.
The group included an Australian and couple of Irish, and the company has run bicycle tours through New Zealand, South Africa and Europe. The group started in Florence, Ore., on July 21 and will finish in Yorktown, Va., on Sept. 23.
They began Thursday’s ride in Eureka and will go as far as Pittsburg before taking a rest day.
The sign on the front of the squat, brick building near Harry and Woodlawn says “People’s 316 Association.” Police call it the Lion’s Den.
The building used to be a popular burger joint. Now, it’s been flagged as an after-hours establishment where a 2:30 a.m. shooting injured two people this summer.
At another after-hours party at different club, a 3 a.m. shooting left one man dead. Police now say the city needs to license and regulate after-hours clubs to make sure they’re safe. “These places are totally unregulated, which is problematic for us to address,” Police Chief Gordon Ramsay told City Council members at a workshop recently.
An after-hours establishment often looks like a bar or club but typically operates between midnight and 6 a.m., sometimes illegally serving alcohol and food along with a host of other problems, Ramsay said.
Unlike licensed bars and clubs, after-hours establishments do not have to allow police or city inspectors inside, and they often operate outside of fire codes and food and liquor regulations, Ramsay said. When police respond to incidents at the after-hours spots, no one takes responsibility for the activities, he said.
“This is a wonderful base, because below this, for 15 years we’ve put AB3 gravel and sand down to form a 6 to 8-inch base,” arboretum president Kenny Ervin said, as he snapped pictures of the workers Wednesday afternoon.
The concrete forms stretched from the edge of Wilson Street to an arbor and gardens just east of the entrance drive, and from there on further south.
“They poured 966-feet of concrete,” Ervin said. “This completes the paving of all the trails on the south side of the arboretum. It’s entirely handicap accessible now and maintenance free. I won’t be spraying it with Round-Up anymore.”
The total cost for this phase of the trail work was around $19,000.
“Parsons Arboretum paid for the concrete with grants and donations. We got a grant from the Parsons Area Community Foundation for $2,500. We got $2,000 from the Rotary Club and Roberta Whetzel gave us $4,600 in memory of her husband. She is the one that has the arbor behind the building,” Ervin said. “The city of Parsons paid for the labor.”
Earlier this year, [Corie] Brown wrote a story for The New Food Economy entitled “Rural Kansas is dying. I drove 1,800 miles to find out why.” Brown is from Kansas originally, and was aware of the state’s long, steady depopulation, but was struck by a report that rural Kansas had become a food desert: an area in which residents do not have adequate access to affordable and healthy food.
“How can this breadbasket be a food desert?” she asks: Kansas, after all, is a state that devotes an overwhelming percentage of its land to agriculture. And yet much of the state is dotted with towns that have lost one-third, half, or more of their population in the last generation. It’s to the point that basic amenities like fresh groceries can be hard to come by. “There are no people here. Not enough to justify a delivery truck.”
An architect’s drawing of the new Hard Rock Hotel development at Village South, 110th and I-70.
The Hard Rock Hotel is coming to Edwardsville, Kansas, according to officials at Monday night’s Edwardsville City Council meeting.
The 231-room hotel with a meeting space will be at the Village South development at 110th and I-70, said Jon Monson, a developer who is part of the ownership group. The hotel’s anticipated completion date is in 2020. Village South is just to the south of the Village West development.
The Edwardsville City Council on Monday unanimously passed a Community Improvement District for the new hotel and development, with a 1 percent sales tax in the district.
“I am really excited, this project will be a big asset to our community,” said Edwardsville Mayor John McTaggart.
Maps are historical references that are both interesting and informative. Besides the biennial State Transportation Map that is widely available, KDOT produces specialty maps for traffic counts, bicycles, aviation, rail, bridges, interchange designs, pavement condition, roadway functional classification, cities and counties, school districts and more. The KDOT website has such a large variety of maps that someone who enjoys reading them could spend hours traveling through the map list.
For instance, a great map to review is the 1918 Kansas State Roads map. It charts the Cannonball Highway, Rock Island Highway, the Bee Line, the Blue Line, the Golden Belt, Midland Trail and the King of Trails. The KDOT map website also includes the Kansas Memorial Highways, Bridges and Interchanges map, which shows highways that have been dedicated to the memory of an individual or group, like the Amelia Earhart Memorial Highway. This map also identifies the Submarine Veterans Memorial Highway, Home on the Range Highway, Turkey Wheat Trail Highway, Prairie Parkway, The Road to Oz and the Lewis & Clark Expedition Route.
Miami County officials are taking action to repair the deteriorating sidewalk in front of the Miami County Administration Building in Paola and create a safe way to cross Pearl Street.
County commissioners discussed the issue during a study session earlier this month and agreed to seek bids for the project.
The plan is to repair the sidewalk on the east side of Pearl Street in front of the administration building, as well as a concrete apron in the rear of the building. A crosswalk also would be created connecting the sidewalk on the east side to the sidewalk on the west side in front of the Miami County Courthouse.
The crosswalk will cause the county to lose two parking stalls on the east side and three on the west side, project manager Matt Oehlert said.
Oehlert said the cost estimate is $135,000, with the project starting in either late September or early October.
Once installed, the signs for the crosswalk will be maintained by the city of Paola.
After hearing Bucyrus residents raise concerns about large explosions caused by Tannerite, Miami County commissioners are taking action to try and find ways to regulate the binary explosive.
Monique Barnard and Steve Kerr of Bucyrus spoke during the public comment portion of the June 20 commission meeting, and they said their neighbor has been using Tannerite to set off loud explosions.
The explosions didn’t just recently start, either. Barnard and Kerr said the explosions began last year, and they continue, with the most recent being around 9 p.m. the Saturday before they spoke to the commission.
“Some shake our houses,” Barnard said. “It shook the pictures off of our neighbor’s wall.”
The Bucyrus residents said they have contacted the sheriff’s office, but they were told that Tannerite is legal in Kansas. They asked the commission to consider banning Tannerite in Miami County or at least require it to be used for its original intent — long-range target shooting — not creating bombs.
Miami County does not have a noise ordinance, and binary explosives like Tannerite are legal in Kansas, but county commissioners are turning to state legislators for assistance.
Administrator Shane Krull said Miami County can submit legislative platform suggestions to the Kansas Association of Counties for support, and the Miami County Commission agreed to do just that earlier this month.
County commission chairman Dianne Novak voiced support Monday for an increase in the number of commissioners. Just before Monday’s
“I have until Sept. 1 to put out a petition to get a question put on the ballot about taking the county commission board from a three-member to a five,” she said.
No motion was made because it was not a proposal. Novak was notifying the board and the audience of her intent.
A request to allow adult entertainment shops in Peabody brought 40 residents to voice their concerns at Monday’s city council meeting.
Mayor Larry Larsen laid out presentation rules that set the tone for the meeting.
After preliminary actions, Peabody resident Terry Tucker, who owns an online adult entertainment referral service, addressed the council asking if someone acting as an escort would need to have a license and if the city had any restrictions on this type of business.
County attorney Rob Lane said no license is necessary, and at this time, there is no ordinance that specifically addresses the issue.
On completion of her inquiry, community members asked many questions regarding the nature of the businesses she was proposing to bring to their town.
Tucker said shops she was proposing to bring to Peabody would include adult entertainment, escort services, topless dancing and a pop bar — which is a bar that does not serve alcohol and features nude dancing.
Army combat veteran and Newton police sergeant Michael Stinger said he has much experience dealing with these types of businesses and many objections.
They included the possibility of additional police services needed, human trafficking, and identity theft.
Kansas is taking a new approach to reducing sediment in the state’s reservoirs.
The state will pay landowners up to $50 a ton for the amount of sediment they keep out of the watershed leading to a state reservoir.
Kanopolis Reservoir, which has lost 39 percent of its water supply storage, is one of the four reservoirs included in the Kansas Reservoir Protection Initiative, as recommended by the Kansas Water Authority.
One stream in the Kanopolis Reservoir watershed, Oak Creek, which flows through the city of Ellsworth, is included in this initiative.
“This is a different project than we’ve done before,” said Pamela Hays, with the Ellsworth County Conservation District.
Previous projects have helped fund practices that prevent soil from entering the watershed, Hays said. This pays for projects that keep sediment from entering the stream.
At least $50,000 is targeted for the Oak Creek watershed, Hays said. The state has budgeted $900,000 for Kanopolis, Fall River, John Redmond and Tuttle Creek reservoirs. The first round of applications is due Friday, she said, but signups will be accepted throughout the year. Initial approvals are expected by the end of September.
The stench of trash wafted across the alley into the neighbor’s backyard.
Like yesterday’s garbage, concerns about people leaving trash to rot or illegally dumping it elsewhere is just one byproduct of a solid waste removal program being examined by the Osawatomie City Council.
In addition to the issue of illegal dumping, the council’s closer look includes determining who the city’s solid waste collection service provider will be, starting in 2019.
The City Council has set a public forum for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 5 at Memorial Hall to gather feedback from the community and to hear from representatives of the two companies bidding for the service.
The city’s contract with Waste Management is set to expire at year’s end. Harrisonville-based WCA is vying to pick up the contract for Osawatomie’s solid waste and recycling collection program.
Representatives from both companies attended the City Council’s meeting Thursday evening, but no one from the public asked to address the council.
“We only had two bidders, the two main players in the region – Waste Management and WCA,” City Manager Don Cawby said.
Concerns surfaced after Waste Management (formerly Louisburg-based L&K Services) took over billing several months ago.
Amidst fears that the first big development in the College and Metcalf corridor might wither without its help, the Overland Park City Council voted Monday to increase the sales tax on retail that eventually locates in the Galleria 115 project near 115th Street and Nall Avenue.
In doing so, they will increase the amount of tax revenue available to developers by about $13.5 million to turn the well-located but rocky piece of undeveloped land into a mixed-use multifamily housing, office and retail project.
The sales tax added for the area’s community improvement district will become 1.5 percent. That’s higher than the typical 1 percent the council has approved for most other projects. And it comes on the heels of a recent vote to allow a 2 percent sales tax add-on in the downtown Edison district – a move that council members warned would not become a precedent. “I was torn on this. I thought long and hard,” said Councilmember Chris Newlin. But Newlin said he was convinced College Boulevard needs something to draw people in. “This is a development that needs to get done.”
When they met Tuesday, Leavenworth city commissioners discussed the possibility of a licensing and inspection program for rental properties.
Mayor Mark Preisinger stressed that commissioners were not taking any action Tuesday.
“This is going to be a long process,” he said.
City Planner Julie Hurley said exploring a possible rental inspection program was a goal set this year by commissioners.
She said more than 50 percent of residential properties in the city are rental units. She said city staff believe about 6,100 addresses in the city are likely rental properties.
She said the city is contacted regarding complaints about rental units. She said the city contracts with the Welcome Central organization to manage a landlord-tenant mediation program. In 2009, the city initiated a rental registration program which required a one-time registration of rental properties. Hurley said inspections were not required for this program.
She said city staff have identified 13 other cities in Kansas that have enacted rental inspection programs.
“We looked at all 13 programs,” she said.
She said a common thread of the programs is a requirement for rental licenses. She said this allows cities to keep track of rental properties.
Mike Loveland has landed an anchor tenant for his Echo Hills development at the northwest corner of I-135 and 53rd Street North in Park City.
Atwoods is taking an 8-acre parcel in the middle of the 87-acre development where Arby’s has already opened and apartments are planned.
“It’ll be a brand-new facility for them, and it’ll be a real nice anchor for our development,” says Loveland, a member of Echo Hills Development. “I’ve got a lot of people that I’m talking to now that we’ve landed an anchor.”
Atwoods is relocating its ranch and home store from near 61st Street and Broadway in Park City to Echo Hills. “It’ll be a store similar in look and size as the one they have in Andover,” Loveland says.
Construction will start in two or three weeks.
“They want to be open in the spring.”
It’s not clear if the company is opening this store instead of the Atwoods it had hoped to open in Maize.
Robbie DeLong, interim chief of the Winfield Police Department, began his first day on the job Monday. He takes over from former chief Brett Stone, who retired Aug. 24 after about 16 months on the job.
DeLong began his career with the Winfield Police Department in 2004. In 2013 he left the department to teach at the state police training academy in Hutchinson before rejoining in 2015.
DeLong started out as a patrol officer before moving up to various roles in the patrol and investigative divisions. He also served on the drug task force and is a 12-year member of the regional SWAT team.
Even though the department has weathered a tough few months since a traffic stop video led to the firing of a Winfield police officer, DeLong said the morale is good. “We want to continue that,” he said.
DeLong said the department is headed in a good direction, and as interim chief, his approach will be to take the department where it needs to go. Things are “actively moving forward,” he said, and staff will make changes as needed.
The City of Olathe is reminding residents that painting fire hydrants is not allowed.
This comes after a yellow fire hydrant was painted red and given fake teeth and googly eyes. Although the fire hydrant is cute, the city says painting them can caused problems because the paint color tells firefighters which entity owns the hydrant. Crews will repaint the hydrant yellow in the coming months.
The Liberal City Commission will be wrapping up its summer during its next meeting this evening starting at 5:30.
Up first for the commission will be discussion of Resolution No. 2292, which concerns the Moderate Income Housing (MIH) grant.
“Pete Earles and I were approached some time ago by David Fields regarding a housing development,” a memo in the agenda information noted. “Mr. Fields proposes to build 14 homes in the Prairie Breeze addition and would like to apply for a Moderate Income Housing grant through the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation for part of the home construction on this project. He will also apply for the Rural Housing Incentive District program for the infrastructure at a later date. This grant is a pass through grant for cities to work with a developer on a project that will benefit the community by providing affordable housing and putting new homes on the tax rolls. The City has previously received two MIH grants – one was for the Village at the Plaza for $350,000 and the other was for the Jewell Street development for $150,000. Both of these projects have been successful in providing additional affordable housing in Liberal.”
The 46th annual Hays Oktoberfest will be Sept. 28 at Municipal Park in downtown Hays.
The event will begin at 7 a.m. with the German Market. The opening ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. and conclude with the tapping of the keg at 11:30.
Hays Oktoberfest promotes the heritage of the Volga German and Bukovina Germans who settled in Ellis County. Fort Hays State University Homecoming is the same weekend.
Entertainment will feature polka music of the Joe Dolezal Band and the Ron Werth Band. Hays Community Theater will provide historical re-enactors and skits throughout the day.
This is the seventh year the Volga German Society of Ellis and Rush County, the Sunflower Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, and the Ellis County Historical Society have partnered with the Oktoberfest committee.
The Reno County Health Department is investigating a possible outbreak of pertussis or whooping cough.
Currently, five cases have been reported and are still under investigation, with other possible cases are being investigated.
When Reno County last had an outbreak of pertussis in 2015, some 100 cases were confirmed in the county before that eight-month outbreak was ruled over, with more than 200 cases investigated.
That compares to last year, when Kansas recorded 179 cases statewide, according to data from the CDC. Those who are vaccinated can have symptoms that are milder and may seem like asthma or bronchitis.
Health officials advise anyone with symptoms, including a cough for two weeks, without other explanation, should contact your physician. There are medications to treat the infection and relieve the symptoms.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also urges individuals that suspect they have pertussis to limit contact with unvaccinated children and see a physician as soon as possible.
While they didn’t fill the public seating area, supporters of Vanesa Cowie nonetheless had an undeniable presence at the Salina City Commission meeting on Monday. The previous week, between 75-100 people filled the public seating area and overflowed into standing-room-only in both entryways. Most people were there to show support for Cowie, the much-beloved manager of Salina Animal Services who was put on paid administrative leave August 15 for reasons that are officially unknown to the public. Her hearing with interim City Manager Mike Schrage is scheduled for September 5. City officials have referred to the matter as a personnel issue and have declined to comment on specifics of the case. At Monday’s meeting, Bruce Moore, who said he volunteers 15-20 hours per week at the shelter, told the commissioners that this was not his first opportunity to volunteer and listed his numerous volunteer endeavors. Moore noted that when funding from the city was not made available, Cowie “secured over $400,000 in grant funding, paid for new floors, new kennels, new wall coverings in the city-owned shelter. You benefitted from her work. By the way, did you know that Vanessa and her team designed those kennels? These are not off the rack. She designed these kennels based upon years of experience.”
Moore told the commissioners of the new management software used by the shelter that Cowie helped develop. He also reminded the commissioners that Cowie is recognized by the Petco Foundation as one of the top 35 shelter professionals in the country.
“She’s a renowned and respected professional that Salina should be proud to claim and not kicked down the street,” Moore said.
She’s done more with less each year, handling more animals without additional staff, he added.
Overland Park police on Tuesday insisted that the city does not have a snake problem.
That was after officers, for the second time this month, responded to a situation with a large snake slithering around a resident’s home.
On Tuesday, the Police Department tweeted a photo of an officer holding a 4-foot snake in the basement of a home, two weeks after a large boa constrictor had been found wrapped around the mailbox at another house. No animal control officer was available, so police responded. An officer caught the snake, took it to a wooded area and released it. The family told the officer it was the second time they had found a snake in their basement. “We had a wild night with wild animals,” said Officer John Lacy. “It was a slow night, but we were dealing with animal calls all night long.”
However, Lacy insisted that Overland Park has not been overrun with reptiles.
“Again, we do NOT have a snake problem in OP, your kids are safe indoors,” Lacy wrote on Twitter.
