Kansas Municipal News
Westar Energy and customers are fighting over the sun
Kansans who generate some of their own electricity are fighting Westar Energy over proposed rates they say could cast a huge shadow over solar power in the Sunflower State.
As part of a broader rate increase, Westar is proposing a mandatory extra charge on customers who install rooftop solar panels to cut their electric bills.
Solar power enthusiasts say Westar wants to crush home solar to maintain its monopoly control over energy long into the future. “One thing Kansans have always prided themselves on is their independence, resourcefulness and the like,” said Ryan Jamison, a Topeka business consultant who helps clients reduce energy use and get into self-generation. “Now, ingenuity and resourcefulness, in my opinion, almost seems like it’s about to be penalized.”
(Read more: Wichita Eagle)
Leavenworth taking bids for solid waste disposal
The city of Leavenworth is seeking bids for the disposal of garbage collected through the city’s trash service.
City officials plan to continue to operate the curbside trash pickup. But officials are looking to see if the city government can save money by switching the location of where the trash is taken.
Currently, the city government utilizes the Leavenworth County Transfer Station to dispose of the garbage picked up by city crews. Located in Lansing, the Transfer Station is operated by the county government.
An anticipated increase in fees charged to the city for the use of the Transfer Station has led Leavenworth officials to seek bids from other vendors for solid waste disposal fees.
(Read more: Leavenworth Times)
Ellis County faces tough choices in 2019 budget
Preliminary estimates suggest the Ellis County Commission will need to find a way to either increase revenue or cut spending in order to balance the 2019 budget.
If the commission chooses to slightly raise the mill levy as allowed under a state-imposed tax lid, the budget still appears to be approximately $400,000 in the red, County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes said. If the commission decides against a tax increase, the estimated deficit jumps to $645,000.
Smith-Hanes noted the proposed mill levy increase would be slight, approximately ⅝ of one mill. For a home valued at $100,000, that amounts to an additional $7.20 per year.
“This is not a desperate situation. Budgets are about making choices,” Smith-Hanes said. “We make choices all the time in our budgets at home, and we’re faced with some choices in the county budget for 2019. They’re not particularly pleasant choices, but we’ll get through this.”
(Read more: News – The Hays Daily News)
Summertime and Swedes: Lindsborg’s Midsummer Fest set for June 16
Fun in the sun can be had during Lindsborg’s Midsummer’s Festival, held this year on June 16.
The traditional Swedish festival is celebrated worldwide, welcoming the arrival of the summer solstice, and Lindsborg is hosting a day full of activities.
(Read more: McPherson Sentinel)
Wichita tests water quality for Riverfest activities
Like most Riverfest goers, Gabby and Jacob Marney spent the afternoon walking alongside the Arkansas River.
“It’s definitely a big focal point. Us being new here, we hear stuff about it all the time,” Gabby Marney said.
But what they hadn’t heard about are the flags located on the Douglas and Lewis Street bridges. The flags let festival goers know the water is safe, depending on the color.
“Blue or green means go ahead, get in, recreate. I mean, don’t drink it. That’s just dumb,” President and CEO of Wichita Festivals, Mary Beth Jarvis said.
Specifically, blue means the water is suitable for recreational use. Green flags mean the water is suitable but be sure wash your hands afterward and avoid swallowing the water.
(Read more: KAKE – News)
Salina Parks & Recreation Draft Master Plan Complete
The City of Salina Parks and Recreation Draft Master Plan is complete and available online at http://salina-ks.gov/parksandrecreation-masterplan.
The purpose of the Master Plan is to set goals and benchmarks for the future of parks and sports facilities. The overall vision of the Master Plan is to improve the spaces where community members go to make connections, enjoy the outdoors, and participate in recreational activities. The plan process includes independent analysis of parks and facilities, programming, agreements with outside agencies, staff interviews, public input meetings, and public surveys.
(Read more: The Salina Post)
Hutch City Council approves benefits consultant
The Hutchinson City Council gave approval to hire a new consulting firm to help with the city’s benefits package.
The council agreed to hire USI Consulting out of Wichita at a cost of $58,500. According to Human Resources Director Tom Sanders, the city sent out a request for proposals to numerous firms earlier this year and got seven replies. These several firms were then interviewed by the Health and Wellness Committee. Sanders says USI has its own in-house legal staff that will eliminate the need for an outside attorney to handle benefit cases involving city employees.
(Read more: Hutch Post)
Shawnee infrastructure plan calls for efforts to improve walkability along 71st Street, near new Monticello library
The Shawnee City Council has unanimously approved the city’s 2019-2024 Capital Improvement Plan, including the addition of improvements to sidewalks along 71st Street from Clare Road to Hedge Lane Terrace.
The CIP is a project-funding forecast, and all projected costs are subject to change and must be individually approved by the council, Caitlin Gard, Shawnee’s strategic initiatives manager, said after the council’s May 29 meeting. The 71st Street sidewalk program was added to the CIP presented at the meeting, and the council authorized a $300,000 annual expenditure for it from 2020 through 2024.
The project would add sidewalks and regrade the existing drainage ditch along the north side of 71st Street from Clare Road to Hedge Lane Terrace. The project also would include adding a sidewalk from 71st Street to the existing Erfurt Park sidewalks and would require additional right of way at several locations.
(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County)
Lawrence City Commission to consider giving police review board access to bias investigation files
A community board may soon be able to review police investigation files related to certain racial or other bias complaints made against police.
At its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider allowing the city’s Community Police Review Board to review the police department’s internal investigation file when the person who made the bias complaint disagrees with the police findings.
The current board, the Citizen Advisory Board for Fair and Impartial Policing, reviews only a summary of the investigation provided by police that some have said provides limited information. The proposed change is part of a revamp of the board meant to give it more oversight.The proposed ordinance now states that the board will be provided a copy of the entire file of the internal police investigation, which is conducted by the police department’s Office of Professional Accountability. Previously, the ordinance did not guarantee the board would have full access to the file.
As previously written, the ordinance only stated that the board shall “review the police department’s investigation to determine if further investigation is needed.” City legal staff previously told the Journal-World that in some complex cases that may be a written summary rather than the investigation file itself.
(Read more: LJWorld.com stories: Local news)
Want to fight cybercrime? Wichita may be in your future
Wichita could soon emerge as a hub for the ongoing battle against cybercrimes, officials say.
“We could create a place that’s attractive for IT companies — maybe not the extent of Seattle or Silicon Valley, but a regional magnet,” said Col. Joe Jabara, vice wing commander for the 184th Intelligence Wing of the Kansas Air National Guard at McConnell Air Force Base.
The momentum is being driven by the development of cybersecurity programs at a number of colleges and universities in the Wichita metropolitan area. There’s a voracious demand for employees trained in how to protect computer networks.
That, in turn, could bring firms specializing in information technologies to the area because of the availability of a freshly trained workforce, Jabara said. Wichita is well-positioned to become a cybersecurity hub for a number of reasons, Jabara said. It’s far from the coasts, where competition for cybersecurity specialists is intense.
That means companies would be more likely to hold on to their prized employees.
The terrain is flat, “so it’s easy to get bandwidth in and out of here,” he said. Ample bandwidth would be a must for IT companies.
Having the 184th Intelligence Wing at McConnell is a strength for Wichita-area colleges, school officials say.
The wing handles network operations for the entire National Guard, detects and assesses cyber-intrusions on Department of Defense computer networks and has a “red team” that tests the strength of security systems by “replicating the adversary,” Jabara said.
“I think there’s a lot of room for collaboration,” said Scott McIntosh, assistant professor of strategic intelligence at Newman University.
Lincoln Schroeder, who has been hired to expand Wichita State’s cybersecurity program, said he’s working to build partnerships with the 184th Intelligence Wing.
“We want to be able to provide a really good ready-to-work workforce,” Schroeder said.
(Read more: Wichita Eagle)
Shawnee City Council approves policy change to allow for remote participation
Shawnee city councilmembers will now be able to vote or give their two cents during city meetings no matter their physical location, whether it be across the country for a business trip or home sick in bed.
At its council meeting on May 28, the governing body unanimously approved policy revisions to allow council members to participate remotely in city meetings, should they be otherwise unable to attend in person.
Each council member will be allowed to remotely attend a maximum of two meetings, including executive sessions, using an internet program like Google Hangouts, so they can be seen and heard by the mayor or council president and be recognized when they want to speak.
The two-meeting rule will not apply to special call meetings.
The revised policy also includes the following provisions:
(Read more: The Dispatch stories)
Not your parent’s walking trail
They won’t be walking uphill both ways in the snow, however local residents — particularly children — will soon have better access to safe walking trails.
According to a release, the City of Pittsburg reviewed the condition of sidewalks and crosswalks around of Pittsburg Schools. Pittsburg Community Middle School, Westside and George Nettels were identified through the study as having a need for change.
Pittsburg City Manager Daron Hall said the city is working to make transportation safer for all residents. He said he’s thankful for the Kansas Department of Transportation and the national Safe Routes to School program. The Safe Routes to School is a program which encourages active transportation, such as walking or riding bikes, particularly to school.
Thanks to this grant the construction has began on a 10-foot trail along Broadway in front of Pittsburg Community Middle School. Director of Public Works Cameron Alden said it took the city about a year to get the KDOT grant which is making the projects possible.
(Read more: Pittsburg Morning Sun)
Earthquake hits shake up Saline County
Rick Miller, a senior scientist at the University of Kansas’ Geological Survey division, said that, clustered along the eastern border of Saline County, there have been four earthquakes over the past three years that have been large enough to be felt and more than 50 too small to feel.
“They have been caused by some subsurface faults that exist in this area,” he said.
Miller said that following earthquakes in Harper and Sumner Counties in southern Kansas in 2014 and 2015, the Kansas Legislature in 2015 authorized the establishment of seven regional network stations that record earthquakes. “There was only one reliable station operated by the USGS in Cedar Bluff prior to the increase in stations,” he said. “With the new stations, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of earthquakes recorded. That can be attributed to us just not recording all earthquakes unless they were felt or of a high magnitude.”
Miller said his office has for several years monitored the area where the earthquake struck Monday.
“With the size of the earthquakes and the size of the area, there isn’t any kind of imminent danger,” he said. “We can’t predict earthquakes, but based on what the last three years of earthquake recording has shown us, there appears to be no threat of significant damage from an earthquake in this Saline County cluster in the near future.”
(Read more: News – Salina Journal)
More ambulance service coming to parts of Wichita, Sedgwick County
Working to address a gap in emergency medical service coverage in the northeast part of Wichita, Sedgwick County officials have begun building a new ambulance post.
Construction began Monday on the $799,000 project, which is expected to be completed by mid-January 2019.
The new emergency medical service post will be at 3575 N. Webb.
Sedgwick County EMS Director Scott Hadley said the gap in emergency medical coverage has existed since 2014, when an ambulance post was relocated away from the area.
(Read more: Wichita Eagle)
City of Shawnee may change parade rules after Kris Kobach’s gun-mounted Jeep draws backlash
Some say it was a controversial choice by Kansas Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach. On June 2, the politician rode through the Old Shawnee Days parade with a believed replica machine gun on a Jeep wrapped in an American flag decal. The City of Shawnee apologized on Saturday “for the concern and frustration” it caused parade attendees. The city isn’t taking sides on the issue, but they may be changing the rules to their parade that is a yearly tradition.
“What happened yesterday was clear that we probably need some set guidelines, so moving forward we have kind of a set of rules to say this is what’s okay, and this is what’s not,” Julie Breithaupt, a communications manager with the City of Shawnee, said.
(Read more: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF)
Roeland Park gets new K-9 unit dog
Three months after getting permission to start raising funds for the program, the Roeland Park Police Department has acquired a dog for its new K-9 unit. Rango, a German shepherd from Minnesota, arrived in Roeland Park late last week. The department will use the K-9 unit for building searches, tracking, officer protection and drug detection.
(Read more: Prairie Village Post – Neighborhood news and events for Prairie Village, Fairway, Mission Hills)
Two Ellis Co. Public Works departments will implement four-day work week
Beginning Monday, the Ellis County Road and Bridge and Noxious Weed departments will begin implementing a four days per week, 10 hours per day work schedule.
Public Works Department Administrative Manager Rick Rupp said, “During the duration of this summer schedule our work days will be from Monday through Thursday each week and our work day will commence at 7 a.m. and end at 5:30 p.m.”
The one exception will be the work week of July 2 to July 6. The department will go back to a five-day work week because the Fourth of July holiday will be observed on Wednesday, July 4.
The changes will continue through Aug. 30.
(Read more: Hays Post)
Solar power shines at Winfield
The Kansas Power Pool is considering a measure that would make it easier for member cities to take on community solar energy projects, a KPP representative told the Winfield City Commission on Thursday.
The measure, if approved, would allow the power pool to cover half the cost for member cities to install a small solar facility of 25 kilowatts or smaller, KPP director Mark Chesney said. This size facility would take up less than a half acre of land, maybe even only one-tenth of an acre, Chesney said.
Currently, KPP representatives are visiting member cities to gauge interest in the project.
Commissioner Phil Jarvis and Mayor Greg Thompson expressed interest in learning more about a solar facility.
Having a solar facility could provide educational opportunities for local students, utilities director Gus Collins said.
Chesney said it’s a good idea to get comfortable with solar power.
(Read more: The Arkansas City Traveler)
Neosho County Commissioners hear from 911 dispatchers
Dispatchers may be the “spokes” people of emergency services.
While law enforcement, firefighters or ambulance crews are the ones visible on the scene, like the outer rim of a wheel, the dispatchers are at the center.
“We’re the little hub in that wheel,” 14-year dispatcher Barbara Stich told Neosho County commissioners Friday morning.
Incoming 911 Director Lori Nally has introduced five of the county’s eight dispatchers to county commissioners, and Stich, Kim Wilson and Alicia Myers met the board Friday morning.
“Our voice is at the dark,” Stich said. She answered questions from the commission about how the dispatch center works.
Two people work the center each shift, and Stich explained how they take an emergency call, locate the caller, and notify the proper agency. The 911 system is able to locate emergency callers, often even those on cell phones.
When asked what surprises her the most, Stich bluntly said public stupidity. She said parenting has become a greater issue over the past decade.
(Read more: The Chanute Tribune)
Parsons to talk about smoke-free park areas
Parsons city commissioners on Monday evening again will discuss making most of the parks smoke-free.
The commissioners have talked about smoke-free parks for the last several weeks after Commissioner Bill Hogelin introduced the idea about a year ago.
The commission at first wanted to designate a certain distance around play equipment as smoke-free areas, but Parsons Police Chief Jason Sharp said it would be easier to enforce an ordinance that created areas where smoking would be permitted.
In their last regular meeting and the work session preceding it, the commissioners informally agreed to create a couple of smoking sections in Forest Park as well as a smoking section in each of the smaller parks that have playgrounds. Not all of the commissioners were present for both of those meetings, however.
(Read more: Parsons Sun)
Neosho County discusses effect of Neighborhood Revitalization
Neosho County’s budget forecast looked mixed after Appraiser Bob McElroy gave county commissioners the preliminary valuation figures Friday morning.
The overall taxable property is up $2.7 million, but that does not count the impact of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program. McElroy said a lot of the new construction is under the Neighborhood Revitalization Program, and that worried Commissioner David Bideau. He said the NRP might cause a net decrease in the tax base.
“We’re underwater,” he said.
The Neighborhood Revitalization Program provides development incentives by rebating a percentage of the tax increase caused by improvements. The county collects the increase, then refunds it, and the program lasts up to 10 years, with the rebate percentage decreasing over that time.
(Read more: The Chanute Tribune)
Hays City Band to kick off summer season under new director
The Hays City Band is organizing for the summer season on the direction of new Fort Hays State University professor Peter Lillpopp.
The band accepts community members high school age and older of all skill levels. The band will play a range of music, including Sousa marches, jazz, movie scores and tunes from Broadway musicals.
“I really like it when I go into to communities and they have something going on downtown, and if it is great music, even better,” Lillpopp said during an interview this week on the KAYS Morning Show. “It really showcases the community and community pride. It is patriotism really. Short of going into the military, there is nothing more patriotic than you can do than join a community band.”
(Read more: Hays Post)
Salina city manager takes job in Springfield
The longtime city manager in Salina will take over the top administrative job in the city of Springfield, Missouri. Gage has been city manager in Salina for 13 years. Before that he was city manager in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and De Soto, Missouri.
Gage is a graduate of Missouri Southern State College in Joplin. He has a master’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that the selection of Jason Gage as city manager was announced Friday.
(Read more: The Salina Post)
Cowley County Administrator gets new job contract
Cowley County commissioners on Tuesday approved a four-year contract for Cowley County Administrator Lucas Goff …
Goff said his previous contract was for two years, but he requested this one be for four years because “I didn’t want to go anywhere. I think a lot of good things can be done. Four years is security for the board and for me.”
The four-year contract does not include a pay increase but has some minor changes to it, Goff said.
He was hired in January 2017, replacing former administrator Jeremy Willmoth, who is now city manager of Winfield.
Commissioner Wayne Wilt said Goff is doing a great job.
“We wanted him not to worry about losing his job, to make sure he could get things going,” Wilt said. “We gave him the same amount of time as an elected official.”
(Read more: The Arkansas City Traveler)
Salina to hear proposed changes to incentive districts
Salina city commissioners will hold a public hearing on whether to adopt changes to the Neighborhood Revitalization Area when they meet in regular session at 4 p.m. Monday in Room 107 of the City-County Building. Changes include some boundaries and the addition of a new classification, Projects of Exceptional Community Significance. That classification would allow the developers of Lee Hardware Lofts to take advantage of additional tax incentives.
(Read more: News – Salina Journal)
Law enforcement is family tradition for new Emporia ACO
“I’m just kind of testing the waters,” Emporia Police Department Animal Control Officer Reagan McClellan said.
Growing up, the Lyon County native said she wanted to be a game warden, but had many family members in law enforcement. She has a degree in Criminal Justice, so finding herself working for her hometown police department is not a huge twist in her life story.
For about two months now, McClellan has been training as an animal control officer with Lyon County Sheriff’s Deputy Felipe Perez and Emporia Police Officer Jaffar Agha.
“Through college, I always talked about becoming a cop or something like that,” she said. “I was just never in the position to apply.”
(Read more: Emporia Gazette)
Black bears sighted in Southeast Kansas
Black bears have been spotted in Southeast Kansas in recent years and most recently in southern Crawford County.
Crawford County Sheriff Dan Peak announced this week that the public recently turned in multiple sightings of a black bear in the county. He reported that black bears have been seen in neighboring counties as well.
Peak said the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism indicates these sightings are likely to increase. He said his office will respond to sightings but will not take action unless the bear poses a serious threat to public safety or property.
Matt Peek, a surveyor biologist with KDWPT in Emporia, said black bears were seen near Weir in June 2015, but he wasn’t aware of the more recent sightings. The KDWPT identified a juvenile bear as one seen in 2015 in Weir and near Galena in Cherokee County.
He thinks the recent sightings could be a juvenile bear as well, likely a male, that is age 1 or 2. These bears are smaller, 150 to 200 pounds, and spring is when they extend their food foraging territory. “If bears become more common in Kansas, people have to be a lot more careful about where they’re leaving trash and food, potential food sources.”
(Read more: Parsons Sun)
Sears to close Topeka store as part of national plans
Sears Holdings Corp. plans to close its store in Topeka as part of a nationwide reorganization.
The store is expected to close in September.
That will leave the Wichita store as the only remaining traditional Sears store in Kansas.
(Read more: KOAM – Local News)
Construction to start soon on children’s golf campus at Wichita golf course
A $1.5 million addition to the western edge of MacDonald Park Golf Course will be a new hub for children’s golf in Wichita. The project should take about a year to finish.
The planned campus is being created by The First Tee of Greater Wichita, which aims to give children the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of golf while building character.
The children’s campus will include a driving range with a 10,300-square-foot practice tee, 17 all-weather tees, a 6,000-square-foot putting green, a 3,000-square-foot chipping green, and a practice bunker. Although the campus will be open to the general public, Compton said junior golfers will have priority, and the learning center will be for golfers between 5 and 17 years old. Since its incorporation in 2016, the nonprofit The First Tee of Greater Wichita has grown to work with 52 area schools to help physical education teachers integrate golf lessons into their curricula. So far, the program has reached 21,000 children in the region. The chapter’s six-week summer session starts June 5.
(Read more: Wichita Eagle)
City of Augusta celebrates pool re-opening
The Augusta Municipal Swimming Pool is officially ready and open for the summer season following some needed improvements.
City officials, staff and residents attended a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday evening.
Augusta Mayor Mike Rawlings spoke briefly before cutting the ribbon.
(Read more: Augusta Gazette)
Trail at Fort Larned historic site designated as national recreation trail
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has designated the nature trail at the Fort Larned Historic Site as a national recreation trail.
The trail was among 19 trails in 17 states — and the only one in Kansas — receiving the designation this week, according to release from the agency.
On the grounds of Fort Larned National Historic Site, which is located six miles west of Larned on K-156, the 1.1-mile loop trail highlights both history and nature.
Fort Larned is located on the historic Santa Fe Trail and is also on the Central Flyway, a major bird migration corridor.
(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)
Themes From ‘State of the City’ Addresses
Now in its 5th year, the National League of Cities’ annual State of the Cities report provides an in-depth analysis of mayoral speeches. The analysis pinpoints specific tactics and policies, as well as broader policy directions, and finds that:
Economic development is the most prevalent major policy issue across mayoral speeches (58%) and has been for the past 5 years.
Infrastructure, budgets and housing rise in importance this year, overtaking public safety. Mayors offered more detailed infrastructure plans this year, while presenting a narrower scope of discussion on public safety.
Economic development, infrastructure, budgets, housing and public safety are consistently the top issues for the 5th year in a row.
(Read more: NLC)
Tonganoxie Planning Commission to hear proposal today for $30 million luxury RV resort
The Tonganoxie Planning Commission will decide whether to approve plans for two projects that could have major implications on the Tonganoxie landscape.
The commission will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in Council Chambers to decide whether to approve plans for a proposed luxury RV resort just east of Tonganoxie and a new Casey’s General Store south of the U.S. Highway 24-40 and Kansas Highway 16 intersection. The resort portion of the development would be an estimated $30 million project completed in two phases and would be the only of its kind in any direction for 700 miles. The gated community would be open to luxury RV owners who lease varying levels of spaces, some that come with small cottages. A private golf course also is planned.
(Read more: TonganoxieMirror.com stories)
Augusta’s new police chief sworn in
Monday’s City Council meeting
Police officers and firefighters attended Monday’s Augusta City Council meeting to watch Robert Sage take the official oath of office as the new Director of Public Safety for the City of Augusta.
Sage has more than 30 years experience and is replacing Tyler Brewer who retired last October.
Following the ceremony Chief Sage shared that he had started his career in public service at 13, when he became a junior firefighter with the Augusta Department of Safety, and that he is looking forward to leading the department.
(Read more: Augusta Gazette)
Mission residents renew calls to reject Martway apartment building despite developer’s tweaks
The Mission city council on Wednesday got a preview of an updated plan for a new apartment building on Martway, with a group of neighborhood homeowners again coming forward to say the project isn’t appropriate for the site.
Since the proposal was introduced last summer, the idea of building a multi-story apartment complex on the site of three aging single-story office buildings has drawn pushback from people who live in the vicinity of the Martway site.
Despite the fact that it had gained the support of the planning commission, Mission’s city council did not approve developer Christian Arnold’s scaled-back version of the project earlier this year.
(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Neighborhood news and events for northeast Johnson County)
Want a say on what the Wichita area will look like in 10 years? Here’s your chance
Does your book club like to digress into what Wichita needs to do to become a better city?
Does your softball team grumble about how many swings and misses community leaders commit as they strive to move Wichita forward?
You’ve got an opportunity to weigh in with your recommendations as Project Wichita launches the “listening” portion of its action plan. Project Wichita is a collaboration of business, education and government leaders with a goal to learn what people think about their city and the region — and where they want it to be in 10 years. “Any group, anywhere, any time” can share their thoughts by discussing six focus group questions, which can be found on the Project Wichita web site, and then send their input to the Public Policy and Management Center at Wichita State University.
“Our goal is to seek diverse, multi-generational participation from high school students to retirees,” Misty Bruckner, director of WSU’s Public Policy and Management Center, said in a prepared statement.
About 75 private businesses, including hard-to-reach minority business interests, have committed funding to Project Wichita. The group had raised $300,000 from private and public sources, according to a slide presented at this week’s Sedgwick County Commission meeting.
(Read more: Wichita Eagle)
Mr. Haysville, Tim Norton named Admiral Windwagon Smith
Mr. Haysville will be the face of this year’s Wichita River Festival.
Haysville’s most visible resident, Tim Norton – who spent nine years as Haysville city council member, four years as Haysville mayor, and 16 years as a Sedgwick County Commissioner – was revealed last Friday as Admiral Windwagon Smith XLV, Riverfest’s official ambassador. The announcement was made at the Bracket Bash, one of the events held in conjunction with last week’s NCAA Tournament at INTRUST Bank Arena in downtown Wichita.
“It’s very humbling and quite an honor. I’ve been involved in River Festival since the first year I came here with Target,” Norton said from his home on Sunday.
That was 1980.
(Read more: Times-Sentinel Newspapers » Feed)
Baldwin City Council approves $345,000 trail easement agreement with Midland Railway
The Baldwin City Council on Tuesday approved a $345,000 agreement with the Midland Railway Historical Association that provides the city with a trail easement along the railroad from Baldwin City to Ottawa.
Baldwin City Administrator Glenn Rodden said the easement would allow the installation of a 15-foot-wide trail along the Midland Railway line that would link to the Prairie Spirit Trail State Park in Ottawa. The 51-mile crushed limestone Prairie Spirit Trail connects Ottawa to Iola. The Midland Railway and the Prairie Spirit Trail were part of the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Fort Gibson Railroad built in the 1860s from Leavenworth south to the Oklahoma line. In exchange for the easement, the city agrees to pay Midland $172,500 on the signing of the agreement and another $172,500 when the easements are filed with the registers of deeds in Douglas and Franklin counties.
(Read more: LJWorld.com / Lawrence, Kansas)
How often are ambulances needed in Marion County?
In the first three months of 2018, predominantly full-time ambulance crews in Marion and Hillsboro handled nearly three-fourths of all county ambulance calls.
Of the 328 times in which radio dispatches for ambulances were recorded, Hillsboro crews handled 38.1 percent of the calls, and Marion crews handled 35.7 percent.
Predominantly pay-per-call crews in Peabody handled 18.0 percent of the calls, while similar crews in Tampa handled 5.8 percent and in Florence handled 2.4 percent.
(Read more: HILLSBORO Star-Journal)
Miami County, Louisburg ready go after grant to improve Metcalf Road
When Metcalf Road was built in the 1940s and 50s, it was a 20-foot wide swath of pavement bordered by gravel shoulders and ditches. Not much has changed since then, but the time could be nearing for an upgrade.
Miami County and the city of Louisburg have partnered to apply for a federal grant to improve Metcalf Road south of Kansas Highway 68. The two face a rough road ahead, but officials are hopeful they will be successful.
“It is a very competitive grant process,” said J.R. McMahon, county road and bridge director. “Our goal is to go in there and get the grant, but the trouble is we will be competing against larger cities such as Overland Park and Olathe, all of the metro area on the Kansas side. That being said, we think we have a pretty good chance of picking up some grant money.”
(Read more: The Miami County Republic)
USDA designates 10 counties as primary natural disaster areas for farm emergency loans
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated Butler, Chase, Cowley, Ellsworth, Harvey, McPherson, Marion, Morris, Rush and Saline counties in Kansas as primary natural disaster areas due to losses and damages caused by a recent drought.
Farmers and ranchers in the contiguous counties in Kansas also qualify for natural disaster assistance. Those counties are: Barton, Chautauqua, Dickinson, Elk, Ellis, Geary, Greenwood, Lincoln, Lyon, Ness, Ottawa, Pawnee, Reno, Rice, Russell, Sedgwick, Sumner and Wabaunsee.
Farmers and ranchers in the contiguous counties of Kay and Osage in Oklahoma also qualify for natural disaster assistance.
Qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA’s) emergency (EM) loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration of March 30, to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses.
(Read more: The Arkansas City Traveler)
Clay Center to reclaim lots to extend life of cemetery
Faced with running out of space at Greenwood Cemetery, the Clay Center City Council is looking at a policy on reclaiming un-used burial lots within the cemetery to extend its life.
City Attorney Dusty Mullin reported to the council that he is looking at policy on how to accomplish that, which would involve notifying the current owners of unused lots by certified letter, public notices and through publication — assuming owners or their descendants can be found, and going through a process or reverting ownership back to the city if no one with a valid claim comes forward. There are provisions for family to claim the lots, if they can be found.
Mayor Jimmy Thatcher said this primarily affects lots purchased several decades ago to as old as 100 years ago. Cemetery Sexton Karen Buckner said that includes several hundred lots that could be reclaimed by the city, and that would go a long way in extending the life of the cemetery, Thatcher said.
(Read more: www.ccenterdispatch.com – RSS Results in news,local/* of type article)
Lenexa to consider public finance incentives for renovation of office building into Home2 Suites by Hilton
The Lenexa City Council will hold a May 15 public hearing to consider whether to approve a redevelopment tax-increment financing project plan for a proposed Home2 Suites by Hilton hotel and office project on the southwest corner of Rosehill Road and 96th Terrace.
The project would comprise renovation of a two-story, roughly 19,000-square-foot office building and related improvements in a first phase, and construction of a four-story, 99-room Home2 Suites hotel and related improvements in a second phase. The roughly 5.63-acre site of the proposed project is within the I-35 and 95th Street TIF District.
The council unanimously approved holding the hearing as part of its consent agenda at its Tuesday night meeting. The Lenexa Planning Commission approved the final plan for the proposed office redevelopment and recommended rezoning and the preliminary plan for the hotel at its Monday night meeting. City staff also recommended approval for the project.
(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Neighborhood news and events for northeast Johnson County)
Leavenworth City Commissioners discuss goals
Leavenworth city commissioners met Wednesday to discuss goals.
Lobbying for another federal prison, trying to attract a grocery store in the northern half of the city and rental property inspections were among the topics discussed.
Commissioners reviewed goals they made a year ago and discussed possible new goals. A document with updated goals will be brought back to the commission for formal adoption later this month.
One of the old goals reviewed is lobbying and advocating for federal funding for a new medium-security prison and increased maintenance funding for the existing U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth.
“This remains on our radar, very high on our radar,” Mayor Mark Preisinger said.
Officials with the federal Bureau of Prisons have looked at building an additional prison on the grounds of the existing USP in Leavenworth. But construction for the new prison has never been funded.
Preisinger said the project will be brought up when he and City Manager Paul Kramer visit Washington, D.C. in the coming days.
(Read more: Leavenworth Times)
Flexibility and project learning part of school experiment in Wellington
The community of Wellington was ready to redesign its public schools before the state school board picked it as one of the “Mercury Seven” pilot communities in a statewide program for school redesign.
This was the opening message of a talk Tuesday evening on the subject of school redesign by Mark Whitener, Superintendent of USD 353 at Wellington. Whitener spoke at the Winfield High School cafeteria.
Conversations about redesign had been going on for a year before the Wellington community applied for the statewide program, said Whitener, a former Ark City Middle School principal.
Business, industry, teachers, parents and students were involved in the conversations. Some 800 people responded to a survey asking about the future of the community’s schools. “We asked ourselves ‘What direction should the district go?’”
(Read more: The Arkansas City Traveler)