Kansas Municipal News
Municipal Bond Trends for February 3, 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.
Manhattan Fire Department seeking student firefighters
Applications are now being accepted for the Manhattan Fire Department’s student firefighter program. The program is open to college students 18 and older attending K-State, MATC or Manhattan Christian College. Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Almes likens the program to a paid internship. “The statistics on the number of people we have that go through the program and then join our fire department and get promoted, is pretty unreal,” he said.
Source: 1350 KMAN
Karlin to retire from USD 457 at the end of the school year
Steve Karlin, USD 457 superintendent, will retire at the end of the 2021-22 school year. Karlin has been the superintendent since 2015 and employed with the district since 1988. Karlin said now is the right time for him to retire, with district is finishing up its accreditation cycle this spring and then starting a new one. Additionally, the district is finishing its five-year strategic plan and will start working on the next one in the summer. Karlin said he knew he wasn’t going to work another five years, now seemed like the time to retire.
Source: GC Telegram
Municipal Bond Trends for February 2, 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.
Jennifer Martin, Lenexa City Clerk
A professionally trained flute player and a dedicated employee, Jennifer Martin joined the City of Lenexa in 2000 as a customer service representative in the community development department, knowing very little about government or construction. “But, I did know how to relate to people and explain things simply,” she said. “I have always been one who loves to learn, so learning about government and construction processes gave me the opportunity to help Lenexa residents understand why permits are required and how to successfully maneuver the process.” Today, Jennifer works as the city clerk and is the official record keeper for the organization. As part of her role, she is responsible for preparing the Lenexa City Council meeting agendas, packets, minutes, and supports the mayor and council members. Source: Lenexa
New Derby council members get crash course in STAR bonds
With a proposal for a new STAR bond project (featuring a man-made lagoon and beach activities) still on the table, and three new members joining the Derby City Council at the start of January, City Manager Kiel Mangus presented an overview of the funding mechanism’s history at the latest council meeting on Jan. 25. Firstly, Mangus addressed the purpose of the bonds as an economic development tool – something Derby has not traditionally handed out in excess (through property tax rebates, commercial improvement districts, etc.). He also broke down how the bonds are funded.
Source: Derby Informer | News
Miami County mayors come together for city-county summit
A Jan. 19 city-county summit provided an opportunity to bring the new mayors of Paola, Osawatomie, Louisburg and Spring Hill together in one room. Commission chairman Rob Roberts and vice chairman Tyler Vaughan presented gavels to Paola mayor Leigh House, Louisburg mayor Donna Cook, Osawatomie mayor Nick Hampson and Spring Hill mayor Joe Berkey during the summit in the County Commission chambers at the Miami County Administration Building in Paola. Roberts noted after the general election in November that it is rare to see a county’s four largest cities turn over that key leadership position in the same election. Roberts, who called for the summit, expressed the County Commission’s desire to see all of the cities’ grow their population bases and expand their commercial sectors by providing more single family residential housing, attracting new businesses and expanding existing businesses. “We (County Commission) want to see the growth happen in our cities because it benefits the entire county,” Roberts said.
Source: Local News | republic-online.com
Wamego school district selects McKim as superintendent
The Wamego school board on Monday night announced Rob McKim as the new superintendent of schools beginning July 1 … McKim is currently the principal of Lansing High School in Lansing, where he has worked since 2018. According to information supplied by USD 320, McKim grew up on a farm outside Sabetha. He has 28 years experience as an educator in Kansas.
Source: themercury.com
Julie Wait making seamless transition as Halstead city clerk
Julie Wait never expected to find herself in the position she’s in today. For more than six years, Wait was one of the deputy clerks for the city of Halstead, but she was recently promoted to city clerk. This had never been a goal or plan of hers, she said. “No, I was pretty terrified of it because there are a lot of responsibilities,” she said. “But after being at the city for so long and kind of having seniority of our deputy clerks, it just felt like it might be the thing to jump in and learn.” Wait took over as city clerk at the end of December and said she’s been learning a lot, so far.
Source: Harvey County Now
New apartments in Alma fill a need
Gov. Laura Kelly was in Alma on Monday to celebrate a project that converted a downtown building into affordable apartments for eight families. Frontier Property Management partnered with Kansas Housing Resources Corporation officials to convert the historic Limerick building into apartments. Rent will range from $500 for single-bedroom apartments to $900 for those with more, according to WIBW news. Alma residents started moving in Tuesday. Tyler Holloman of Frontier Property said the need for housing in Southeast Kansas is critical.
Source: The Iola Register
Elton John tweeted to his Arkansas City fans (after KC concert)
Pop star Sir Elton John took to Twitter thanking Kansas City fans who showed up to his latest show — but his message contained an error quickly noticed on social media. “What a great night @tmobilecenter in Arkansas City! Thank you to everyone who came down – you were all amazing,” the rock-and-roll icon tweeted early Wednesday, along with several photographs from inside the T-Mobile Center. The message was posted on John’s official Twitter account. But it was not immediately clear whether the artist wrote the tweet himself.
Source: Kansas City Star
Grant covers furnishings for new Moundridge library
A $90,600 grant from the United States Department of agriculture will cover a large portion of the furniture for Moundridge Public Library’s new building, but a few planned items still have to wait. Funding is still a little bit short despite multiple grants and fundraising, but the new building will upgrade patron space by 2,000 square feet, which is a lot to furnish. “The biggest expense is the new shelves,” director Betsy Davis said. “We have 18,000 volumes. That’s a large amount of shelving.”
Source: McPherson Weekly News
Sink or swim: Lifeguards needed in McPherson
Staff shortages are common in almost every industry right now, and that includes lifeguards. The McPherson Family YMCA has put out a call, desperately seeking lifeguards. While more lifeguards are needed in the summer months when the McPherson Water Park is in operation, there is a year-round need for lifeguards as two indoor pools are still operating at the McPherson Family YMCA. “We have had to shorten our pool hours at different times throughout the day due to the shortage of lifeguards,” Ameilea Alexander, aquatics director, said.
Source: McPherson Weekly News
McPherson Police Department begins Reserve Program
The McPherson City Commission placed their seal of approval on the McPherson Police Department Reserve Program on Monday morning. The reserve program will begin immediately with four reserve officers ready to begin. Police Chief Mikel Golden advised there are four Central Christian College students who want to begin the program. While serving as reserves, they can gain real-world experience while also receiving college credit for their participation in the program. The rate is $8.04 per hour for reserve time, but for college credit, it will be volunteer time and ride alongs.
Source: McPherson Weekly News
Municipal bond buyers are back; long end sees large gains
Municipals were better across the curve with the largest bumps out long Wednesday, moving the 30-year down 11 basis points in two days, while U.S. Treasuries were slightly better and equities saw modest gains. … Buyers appeared to return to the market the past two sessions after the January correction moved yields and ratios higher. Secondary trading was up again on Wednesday and new deals were well-received. Secondary trading showed clear moves to lower yields, particularly out long.
Source: The Bond Buyer
Is that a cluck you hear in Johnson County? City Council lightens up on OP bird rules
Starting March 1, Overland Park residents stand a better chance of receiving permission for backyard chickens. Under a two-year pilot program approved by the City Council on Jan. 24, residents no longer will need a special use permit approved by the Planning Commission and City Council. Instead, people in single- and two-family residences can apply for an administrative permit through City Hall.
Source: Joco 913 News
Private activity bonds for broadband: A potential new solution
The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act … sets aside over $42 billion for states to build local broadband networks in their unserved and underserved communities, many of them in rural areas. It also allocates $14 billion to continue to subsidize provision of broadband service to low-income residents; in this way inner city students can do their homework on their connected laptops at home, and elderly patients in rural areas can visit virtually with their doctors. … Generally speaking, private activity bonds, or PABs, allow private service providers to borrow funds from bond investors at tax-exempt rates to finance “qualified broadband projects” as defined in the new law. While PABs are issued by a governmental entity, the proceeds can be loaned to private service providers who would ultimately be liable for repayment of the PABs. A qualified broadband project is one in which the PAB applicant provides broadband service in an eligible census block group area that has speeds of not less than 100 megabits per second (mbps) for downloads and 20 mbps for uploads. In addition, once the PAB applicant finishes its buildout, it must be able to show that 90% of the residences and businesses that are able to receive the applicant’s new signal could not have received access to slower 25/3 mbps broadband before the PAB was issued.
Source: The Bond Buyer
With $1.4B in Awards, USDA Seeks to Loosen Grip of ‘Extraction Economy’ on Rural America
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday announced $1.4 billion in grants and loans to businesses and other entities in rural areas that he said have been hurt by the nation’s “extraction economy.” “Resources are taken from rural lands only to create jobs and economic opportunity in urban and suburban areas,” he said. Vilsack said the department instead wants to support “a circular economy, where value is added closer to home, so the wealth created in rural areas stays in rural areas.” The 751 grants and loans in 49 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, he said, are intended to bolster businesses in rural areas that have often been historically neglected from receiving federal help. The awards are being made through eight rural economic development programs, including Business and Industry Loan Guarantees, and a related CARES Act Program.
Source: Route Fifty – All Content
Free Cybersecurity Tools Available to State and Local Governments
Cybersecurity tools are available for free to many local governments—they just need to know to ask for them, a panel of experts said during a webinar hosted by the National Association of Counties. “One of the challenges I have found over the past few years is knowing what resources we should be taking advantage of and being able to differentiate between one organization that provides a resource and another,” NACO CIO Rita Reynolds said during the Jan. 26 event titled “Advanced Security Resources Available for Local Government Through the Center for Internet Security.” One tool that is available free to all state, local, tribal and territorial government members of the Center for Internet Security’s Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center and the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center is a malicious domain blocking and reporting service. CIS works to provide that through a partnership with the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Akamai.
Source: Route Fifty – All Content
Statewide Survey yields interesting facts about growth of cities in Kansas
A group of city managers recently got to hear first-hand about the survey taken and the market analysis for specific areas of Kansas. Kansas will face housing challenges and opportunities in the next 10 to 15 years so the timing of this study and the results will help cities to plan for their futures. Atchison County and City participated in this study and some of the pertinent information is listed below. For purposes of this article, Atchison County is the base and Atchison City will also be designated. The large picture shows a need to add or free up more middle-income housing, diversify the housing stock to match local demographic employee needs and extend housing security by preserving and investing in the older units so that affordable units don’t disappear.
Source: Atchison Globe Now