Municipal News & Jobs

Here in the Arkansas Ozarks, a billionaire is never very far away. It is remarkable for one corner in an otherwise rural state to have not one, but rather a multitude of homegrown billionaires — courtesy of the Waltons of Walmart fame, the Hunts of J.B. Hunt Transport and the Tysons of their namesake poultry and protein empire. But perhaps more remarkable is what the region doesn’t have — if you believe the local line: Envy and jealousy. If a big, new electric vehicle manufacturer decides to locate its research and development facility in Bentonville, bringing 500 high-paying jobs to the city, leaders in Fayetteville, Rogers, Springdale or any of the other neighboring towns don’t lament and seethe about how their community lost out to a neighbor and a rival. Instead, they celebrate.
Source: LJWorld

Topeka’s chronically vacant houses tend to be old. Twenty-seven of the 49 buildings on the vacant property registry the city maintains were built more than 100 years ago, Shawnee County Appraiser’s Office records say. Those houses also tend to have below-average appraisal values. Thirty-five of the 49 properties on the registry have appraisal values of less than $45,000. Twenty-four are valued at less than $20,000, and 13 at $10,000 or less. … The majority of the properties are located in in North and central Topeka.
Source: CJonline

A Reno County Sheriff’s Department drone and the expertise of area natural gas industry professionals both proved key in managing an explosive fire at a gas plant outside of Haven on April 14, the county’s emergency management director said. The fire at the Haven Midstream plant on Halstead Road, about a mile southwest of the town of Haven, was initially called in as a grass fire, Director Adam Weishaar advised the Reno County Commission. However, the fire was so intense the National Weather Service contacted him in response to the heat signal that popped up on the radar, and the Kansas Fire Marshal’s office reached out after hearing reports of explosions.
Source: Hutch News

Downtown Hutchinson gained more than 50 new businesses in the last five years, filling the storefronts that had been empty for decades. The growth exceeded the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce, downtown business owners and residents’ expectations — but there is still more than an estimated 140,000 square feet of open retail, restaurant and commercial space on Main Street. According to Reno County’s property records, the estimated value of these empty properties that are owned by private residents is $1.4 million. While businesses own another $1.6 million in empty storefronts.
Source: Hutch News

The city of Topeka could sell its parking garages to a private company. ‘This is very much exploratory,’ said Hannah Uhlrig, deputy director of public works. Topeka owns and operates seven parking garages in downtown Topeka. Combined, they provide 2,651 covered parking spaces. The city’s public infrastructure committee is exploring the possibility of sale. Several entities, including two national management services, responded to the committee’s RFP (request for proposal). If the committee recommends the sale, the issue would be sent to the Topeka City Council’s governing body for consideration.
Source: CJonline

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.

Electric scooters could be on their way to Salina in the near future after a company that offers the service made a presentation to the City Commission Monday. Bird, the transportation company that operates electric scooter-share programs in places around the world, presented during the commission’s study session Monday and said it would like to see Salina added as the next city in Kansas to hop on the scooter-share model. “Electronic scooters have become a new and modern form of transportation using a variety of different ways,” said Lauren Driscoll, the director of development services for the City of Salina. “(Scooters) are used both for pleasure and travel and tourism, but also for what we call ‘last-mile’ in the transportation world.”
Source: Salina Journal

Pittsburg Deputy City Manager Jay Byers fielded questions from the city commission on Tuesday about entering into an “intergovernmental agreement” with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to assist in environmental clean-up efforts throughout the city. Known as brownfield properties, these areas are typically empty spaces that are unusable or undevelopable because of junk or a history of handling hazardous materials. This agreement would provide resources to the city for taking and analyzing samples, negotiating contracts, and background work based on the history and nature of the land through KDHE, according to Byers.
Source: Morning Sun