Kansas Municipal News
A new wave of major Kansas City area school districts dropping COVID mask mandates
A new wave of school districts throughout the Kansas City metro this week dropped mask mandates as COVID-19 cases fall. They include the Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission districts in Johnson County and the Independence and North Kansas City districts in Missouri. The decisions come as school officials expect both the Johnson County Board of Commissioners and the City Council of Kansas City to let their school mask orders expire. In Johnson County, the board at its meeting on Thursday is expected to consider whether to end its health order mandating masks in all schools that serve students as old as sixth grade. The Gardner Edgerton school district last week already decided to drop its mask mandate in all schools, starting on Monday.
Source: Joco 913 News
Wildfires fanned by high winds force evacuations in Reno, Butler counties
Grass wildfires in both Reno and Butler county have triggered evacuations as authorities work to contain the spread, according to social media posts. Butler County Emergency Communications says there is fire in the area of northwest Highway 196 and northwest 10th. They are asking people to avoid the area. In Reno County, the Hutchinson Fire Department is working a large grass fire in the area east of Hutchinson south of 30th Street and Obee. Traffic is being blocked on 30th to allow fire crews to fight and contain the spread. People are advised to evacuate the area.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Former water plant site eyed for development
Two separate entities have expressed interest in the vacant lot at 513 W. Washington Ave., the former site of the Arkansas City water treatment plant. During a city commission work session Friday, City Manager Randy Frazer said that he had been approached by local contractor Brandon Jellings about the possibility of putting up housing on that site. Cowley College President Dennis Rittle had also expressed interest. Frazer said that he recently met with Jellings to tour the property and explain a few of its drawbacks. Old water tanks and other types of debris had been buried on site after demolition.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler
Park board OKs private management of Wichita’s public golf system; council vote to come
Wichita is one step closer to privatizing management of its public golf courses after back-to-back profitable years. The city’s park board on Monday gave its stamp of approval to a five-year agreement that would shift management of the city’s golf system to an out-of-state private company. Wichita city government would retain ownership of its four golf courses and pay Kemper Sports Management $200,000 a year to manage them. The city would be responsible for any losses.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Iola schools to be converted into apartments
Iola got a sweetheart deal on Valentine’s Day, as school board members learned a Kansas City company wants to convert all three of its elementary schools into housing, an investment worth about $20 million. At a meeting Monday, school board members voted to pursue an agreement with BNIM, an architecture and design firm based in Kansas City, Mo. Under the deal, BNIM would partner with two other entities to secure financing including tax credits for low-income housing and historic preservation. They would remodel all three elementary schools in three phases: Jefferson and McKinley Elementary schools would be renovated to create 39 apartments in the first phase; Lincoln would be converted into 22 apartments in the second phase; In the third phase, they would build single-family homes, duplexes and possibly quad-plexes on land surrounding the schools, such as areas currently used for parking lots or playgrounds.
Source: The Iola Register
Dawn Johnson named superintendent of Hutchinson Schools
The USD 308 Board of Education voted in Dawn Johnson, Ph.D., as Hutchinson Public Schools’ new superintendent upon the retirement of current superintendent, Mike Folks…. “While a global search was possible, the Board is confident it found the most qualified candidate in Dr. Johnson. Her understanding of the Kansas education landscape, her expertise and experience in multiple areas of administration and teaching are proven qualities. We look forward to working with Dr. Johnson as our next USD 308 Superintendent,” said Board President Greg Meredith. Johnson has more than 30 years of experience in education. She earned her doctorate in education from Wichita State University and holds two master’s degrees. Before coming to USD 308, Johnson served as principal in USD 444 Little River/Windom for six years and superintendent of USD 309 Nickerson/South Hutchinson from 2016-2021. Earlier in her career, Johnson taught high school English.
Source: Hutch News
Municipal Bond Trends for February 14, 2022
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.
Counties press for expanded use of pandemic funds
County leaders should keep the heat on the House to pass a bill that allows for more flexibility with pandemic relief funds. That was the message Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn delivered Monday to the National Association of Counties during its 2022 legislative conference in Washington. Cornyn is one of several D.C. lawmakers and officials to appear at the conference, with President Joe Biden set to speak Tuesday. U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined Monday to highlight ways that federal dollars in the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act can flow more quickly to counties.
Source: The Bond Buyer
Total crimes in Paola dropped substantially in 2021
The Paola Police Department has released its year-end statistics for 2021, and the total reported criminal offenses decreased from 585 in 2020 to 421 in 2021. That’s a decrease of 28 percent in total crimes. The police department announced more good news in its year-end report, as the overall crime clearance rate increased from 69 to 77 percent, which is well above the national average.
Source: Local News | republic-online.com
Hundreds of small Midwestern towns passed on federal COVID money rather than fight red tape
The question caught Mark Gentert off guard. Had the village of Holstein, Nebraska, gotten its COVID relief money from the federal government yet? What COVID relief money? After all, it’s a town of just 200 people. “So I contacted my clerk and she said she hadn’t gotten the paperwork in and we lost our shot at it,” said Gentert, who was Holstein’s chairman at the time. “And I’m like ‘Oh, really?’” The town had missed out on a little over $42,000. It’s a problem many small towns ran into when the federal government offered almost $20 billion to small communities for pandemic recovery. With tiny populations and limited resources, many towns found the money to be more of a headache than a lifeline and decided to not pursue the funds.
Source: KCUR News
Elkhart has Super Bowl watch party for Kansas coach
Did you know that Darrin Simmons, the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, is from the small town of Elkhart, Kansas? Some Elkhart residents say the Cincinnati Bengals special teams coach had an amazing ride this year getting to the Super Bowl. “Sometimes, when people leave a small town, they tend to forget where they came from,” said Mica Nave, as she organized a Super Bowl watch party in Elkhart on Sunday. “And this is one guy that, Elkhart is his home. He’s proud to say that, and he’s never forgotten where he came from.”
Source: KSN-TV
No more overdue fines? Wichita Public Library board considers eliminating them
Roughly 44,000 Wichita Public Library card-holders are blocked from checking out books because they owe more than $10 in fees. The library’s board of directors is considering a proposal that would do away with overdue fines on books and other items in a move aimed at making city libraries more equitable. Library Director Jaime Prothro said she thinks wiping out library debt, which has become a nationwide trend, would encourage wayward readers to revisit the library collection without stress or shame.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
How will Wichita recruit and select its next police chief? Community input promised
Wichita City Manager Robert Layton is ultimately responsible for hiring the city’s next police chief. He already has basic ideal-candidate criteria in mind. But he says what the community wants will also shape his opinion. With current Police Chief Gordon Ramsay out on March 1, the city is gearing up to find his replacement. The last time Wichita searched for a police chief, in 2014, finding the right person for the job took over a year.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Lawrence school board consensus: No school closures this year
The Lawrence school board, partway through a Monday evening budget work session, decided to take school closures off the table. Board members gave a general consensus that at this time, and with the school closures that have been proposed, no schools should be closed as soon as the 2022-23 school year. Though some board members said they might consider closures down the road, but not with the tight timeline in which they would need to make those decisions to go into effect for the fall. The district faces a $3.2 to $3.85 million budget shortfall. School district committee members, staff and board members have been working for months to determine how to make cuts to reach a balanced budget by July 1.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Fed’s Bullard says the central bank’s ‘credibility is on the line,’ needs to ‘front-load’ rate hikes
St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard made his case for a rapid move higher in interest rates, saying Monday that the central bank needs to react to accelerating inflation. “I do think we need to front-load more of our planned removal of accommodation than we would have previously. We’ve been surprised to the upside on inflation. This is a lot of inflation,” Bullard told CNBC’s Steve Liesman during a “Squawk Box” interview. “Our credibility is on the line here and we do have to react to the data,” he added. “However, I do think we can do it in a way that’s organized and not disruptive to markets.”
Source: CNBC – Bonds
Broadband leaders tout initiatives, programs
Kansas state broadband leaders say federal and state funding established last year to improve connectivity across the state helped support nearly 100 projects, and they are optimistic additional funds are on the way. During the pandemic, the SPARK task force earmarked $60 million in CARES Act funding for two broadband grant programs related to the pandemic response. Connectivity Emergency Response Grants totaling $50 million are funding a total of 65 projects across the state and 25 Broadband Partnership Adoption Grants totaling $10 million helped facilitate internet access for low-income households, defraying internet subscription costs, funded hot spots, and provided devices to eligible households. Stanley Adams, who leads the broadband development office at the Kansas Department of Commerce, said the programs are having a positive impact on communities.
Source: The Iola Register
Riley County appraiser analyst says home values up 7% from 2021
A Riley County appraiser analyst says the average home valuation has increased more than 7% in the last year. Allen Todd spoke to Riley County commissioners on Monday to discuss the local real estate market. He told The Mercury the average valuation for existing single family homes in Riley County increased 7.21% between 2021 and 2022. He said the increase in Manhattan is 7.43%. Meanwhile, the average valuation for single-family homes in Riley County is $229,682. The average in Manhattan is $244,865.
Source: themercury.com
South Hutchinson warns drivers to slow down
With continuing concerns about the safety of the U.S. 50 interchange in South Hutchinson, the city council this week agreed with a city manager recommendation that speeds in the area “be more aggressively enforced.” City Manager Joseph Turner also told the council Monday that he’s planning an “exhaustive review” of police, fire and municipal court operations, with the intent of offering future recommendations. The council previously identified public safety as one of its top issues to address in the community, Turner said, thus the review.
Source: Hutch News
When Kansas police use license plate readers, should data collected be public record?
Kansas crime-fighters are using license plate readers to collect vehicle data, and they want lawmakers to block the release of that data to the public. Law enforcement organizations argue the bill would protect data privacy, but they also indicate the issue came to a head as part of a desire to avoid filling open records requests. “It will protect this license plate data from the open records requests,” lobbyist Ed Klumpp said of the proposed legislation. “And it will protect that data and protect the people whose data we have.” Klumpp requested Senate Bill 434 on behalf of the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, Kansas Sheriffs Association and Kansas Peace Officers Association. He told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that law enforcement want to protect citizens from crime. Senators passed the bill out of committee favorably on Friday.
Source: CJonline
JOCO Commission, De Soto discuss Sunflower Ammunition Plant
Johnson County Board of Commissioners approved the City of DeSoto’s request for creating a TIF District on the former Sunflower Ammunition Plant property.
The vote passed 5 to 2 with commissioners Michael Ashcraft and Charlotte O’Hara dissenting. Ashcraft said he was struggling with the proposed TIF district only containing 6,000 of the 9,000 acre property and wanted to know how it will impact future cleanup and regrowth of the site. Ed Eilert, county chairman, said the 6,000 acres of the property were in the city limits of DeSoto, but they didn’t have authority over the other 3,000 acres. “The Army is still active, and we have to wait the Army’s action,” he said. “It will stay within the county.”
Source: Gardner News