Municipal News & Jobs

The Overland Park Police Department is increasing its enforcement efforts regarding e-bikes and e-motorcycles. This comes after a video raised concerns about two young riders on a busy roadway near 159th Street and Metcalf. The video shows two children, ages 10 and 11, riding electric motorcycles down the busy road when one of the bikes stalls The children in the video were unharmed, and their parents loaded the bikes into a vehicle to take them home. This incident highlights the need for parents to understand the key differences between e-motorcycles and e-bikes. Electric motorcycles, also known as e-motos, are high-performance vehicles that are not considered toys. These motorcycles can reach speeds of up to 65 mph and require a license, registration and insurance.
Read more: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

The Newton Police Department will roll out 11 Flock cameras at entrance points within the city. Police Chief Craig Dunlavy stated the city will spend $33,000 annually on the cameras. The cameras record license plates into a searchable database and provide law enforcement with alerts of flagged plates. “Our focus is the City of Newton,” Dunlavy said. “This is our home. It’s no different than someone’s security camera, a Ring, or Nest. This is just a snapshot in time.” Dunlavy provided a list of camera locations, and all are at exits of major highways, except for one on U.S. 50. Dunlavy said the purpose of the camera was to know which vehicles entered the city on the highway.
Read more: Harvey County Now

Holton Community Hospital officials are welcoming news that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved Kansas’ application to allow Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Emergency Hospitals to receive enhanced Medicaid support through the state’s provider assessment program. This change is expected to generate more than $1 million in additional annual revenue for the hospital, it was reported. The approval will provide more than $72 million annually to Kansas Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Emergency Hospitals, it was reported. The approval allows more rural hospitals to participate in the state provider assessment program and receive increased Medicaid reimbursement for services provided.
Read more: The Holton Recorder

For Kansas Sen. TJ Rose, addressing Kansas’ widening housing shortage and growing housing unaffordability is a family matter. His son, Garrin, is a 24-year-old member of Gen Z who recently moved back to Johnson County. Rose worries that people in Garrin’s generation won’t ever be able to afford homeownership, something long considered a key tenet of the American dream. That fear isn’t totally unfounded. The median age of first-time homeowners in the U.S. has risen to 40 years old as the housing market squeezes more and more young people out entirely. At the same time, as construction trends move toward more high-dollar housing with large single-family homes and luxury apartment complexes, starter homes have all but disappeared from the market. Still, young adults like his son want to be homeowners, Rose said. Rose has also heard from constituents who are concerned that their adult children are finding fewer economic opportunities, like homeownership, available to them than their parents or grandparents had. All of that is what inspired Rose, a first-term Republican from Olathe, to pursue changes to Kansas state law to make it easier to build smaller single-family homes at a lower price point.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Prairie Village and nearby neighborhoods of Overland Park are buzzing over England’s rise through the standings to the World Cup semifinals. A group of fans waited outside the barrier surrounding the team’s hotel in Meadowbrook Park Monday afternoon, hoping to catch a glimpse of them as the team returned from practice in Kansas City, Missouri.
Read more: Johnson County Post

A year ago, Prairie Village and some of its residents were in the midst of a heated debate over whether the fate of a new $30 million city hall should be decided through a public vote. Now, months after voters endorsed the project by electing six city council candidates who backed it without a referendum, the city officially broke ground on Friday on the site of a former church that will be home to the brand new city hall on Mission Road. The current city hall, just to the north at 7700 Mission Road, will be renovated into an expanded municipal court and police department headquarters. Even at Friday’s celebratory groundbreaking, the memory of the contentious politics of the city hall debate simmered under the surface.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Concordia passed a new ordinance governing the utilization of e-bikes, e-trikes, and e-scooters, effective July 6. Chief of Police Brent Gering said the move was made due to a rise in reports concerning the vehicles. “The Concordia Police Department had begun receiving several complaints from the public regarding electric scooters [and] electric bikes on safety concerns from kids riding out in front of vehicles,” he said. “Then we were getting reports from the hospital of multiple injuries of younger people riding these scooters and having accidents.”  Riders can now only ride on sidewalks located in parks, residential areas, and along state and federal highways and only when they’re on the outside curb, the electric vehicle is going under seven miles an hour, and right-of-way is yielded to pedestrians at all times. The city is not just putting a new ordinance out and expecting residents to know about it. Chief Gering said the city will provide guidance.
Read more: KCLY Radio

Pittsburg is marking its 150th anniversary with a new exhibit that tells the story of the city’s industrial rise and the people who built it. “Blueprints of American Grit,” now on display at Miners Hall Museum, features a timeline of artifacts, documents, and photographs that chronicle Pittsburg’s progress from its founding through today. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Lacy O’Malley, chair of the history committee for Pittsburg 150, said the exhibit was designed to help visitors understand the scope of the city’s development over the past century and a half.
Read more: www.koamnewsnow.com

Members of the public showed up for the Andover City Council meeting on Tuesday night to voice opinions both against and in favor of a new facility that is set to open near Central and Andover Road on Thursday. The council is being asked to vote on a special use permit for LifeSpring Recovery, an addiction treatment center. Renovations for the project are complete, but owners need a new special use permit because the original contract for the property expired. But, Andover residents are voicing concerns that the facility is too close to schools and neighborhoods.
Read more: KSN-TV

The City of Clearwater is hosting a town hall meeting on July 21 to discuss the future of fire protection in the city after the Sedgwick County Commission voted to terminate mutual aid agreements. In May, the Sedgwick County Commission voted to terminate mutual aid agreements with Clearwater, Cheney, Mount Hope and Valley Center. The July 21 meeting will allow residents to learn about the current status of fire protection, hear about available options moving forward and provide feedback to the city. At the Segwick County Commission meeting in May, commissioners gave the communities 90 days to work with them to make new automatic and mutual aid agreements.
Read more: KSN-TV

The El Dorado City Commission voted on Monday to invalidate an ordinance petition that would have stopped certain types of facilities from being built in the city, but commissioners also voted to put a temporary ban on the approval of these types of projects. Commissioners heard concerns from the city attorney about a petition with over 700 citizen signatures asking the city to approve an ordinance that bans the construction of large data centers and industrial, commercial or utility-scale energy storage systems. The petition says that if an ordinance is not passed, the city should put it up for a public vote. City Attorney Ashlyn Lindskog said that, based on Kansas law, ordinance petitions cannot be applied to matters that require specialized training or experience. She said the reasoning for this is that the petition can contradict the city code.
Read more: KSN-TV

The Salina City Commission has unanimously approved the creation of a water rate relief program. On Monday, commissioners adopted Resolution No. 26‑8362, authorizing the city manager to develop, implement and administer a pilot program for customers affected by water quality issues. “In the state of Kansas, we talked to KDHE — [the] Kansas Department of Health and Environment — and there are no other communities that are doing a program like this in Kansas,” City Manager Jacob Wood said.
Read more: KSN-TV

Remediation steps to put out a smoldering fire at the Galena Landfill were successful, and the landfill operator will continue work to meet other state requirements, a health agency spokeswoman said Tuesday. The fire that has been alight at the landfill for weeks to months was still smoldering during a June 24 inspection, said Jill Bronaugh, Kansas Department of Health and Environment spokeswoman, in an email. But excavation work completed since then by landfill operator Jordan Disposal indicate the fire is out, she said. HOWEVER, Jordan wasn’t able to complete the required foot of soil cover over the area that KDHE asked for after the June inspection, as more time was needed for re-grading the area after the excavation, she said.
Read more: The Iola Register

City commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a two-year moratorium on large-scale data centers in Lawrence, extending an original one-year proposal, while city staff study longer-term code changes. The commission also initiated a text amendment to the city’s land development code related to data centers. The code currently would allow massive data centers to be developed in several zoning areas around town by right, without a public process through which residents could object. Planning and Development Services Director Jeff Crick told commissioners the temporary moratorium is intended to give staff time to study the issue and draft regulations. He said the work could require significant staff resources and could delay or suspend other long-range and special projects. 
Read more: The Lawrence Times

Wichita-area cities have moved to regulate duplex construction after community pushback over neighborhood density and design. Goddard just adopted new rules, and Derby approved its own in May. Maize might consider changes.
Read more: Wichita Eagle

A letter written by Marysville Mayor Todd Frye, asking Marshall County to join Marysville in enacting a moratorium on data centers in the county and in the city was approved Monday night by the Marysville City Council. Concerns Frye outlined in his letter include loss of farmland, skyrocketing power bills, water depletion, increased noise, decrease in property values and changes in local economies.
Read more: www.marysvilleonline.net

During 2010-2024, local governments issued about $18.3 billion in industrial revenue bonds and exempted about $1.1 billion in related property taxes, most of which likely would’ve gone to school districts and local governments in the state. Local governments are required to submit a cost-benefit analysis that estimates forgone property tax revenue when applying for an IRBX, but those estimates differed substantially from the actual forgone revenue for 23 projects we reviewed.
Read more: Legislative Division of Post Audit

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

City staff began developing a possible framework to provide relief for those who have “verified water quality impacts” associated with the city’s water system. Of the about 22,000 water customer accounts, the city said based on complaint history and staff’s understanding of the water infrastructure, fewer than 100 accounts may be eligible for such relief.
Read more: Salina Journal

A landlord registry presents itself in many forms across the state and country. However, the main intention is to keep a detailed list of rental properties and/or landlords within a community. Kansas communities that have landlord registries or a rental leasing process include Lawrence, Overland Park, Leavenworth, Girard, Kansas City, Lenexa, Manhattan and Wichita.
Read more: CJonline

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

“The proposed ordinance provides time for staff to research Data Center uses and provide the City Commission with information so they may make a decision on altering the Land Development Code via a text amendment,” Jeff Crick, director of planning and development services for the city, wrote in a memo to the commission.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

After the federal government stopped making pennies last November, at least one municipal government in Kansas stopped accepting them. The city of Liberal is rounding up all payments for cash transactions to the nearest nickel, it said on its website, adding that customers could avoid paying extra by paying with a check or card.
Read more: Salina Journal

In Lawrence, Algerian flags are seen just about anywhere, symbolizing the bond formed between the surrounding community and the Algerian Men’s National Team, which has been based in Lawrence during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The team, too, says it won’t forget the city’s welcome.
Read more: KSNT 27 News

A growing petition urging Pottawatomie County leaders to hit pause on a proposed high‑impact data center has already gathered more than 500 signatures, with organizers arguing the project is moving forward without enough transparency. John Watt, a local resident and organizer, is leading a local petition calling for a three‑year moratorium on the data center proposal in Pottawatomie County. Watt said the goal isn’t to stop the project outright, but to slow it down so residents and officials can fully understand its potential impact. The petition claims high‑impact data centers pose risks to public health, safety and infrastructure. Watt says the biggest concern is the approval process itself.
Read more: KSNT 27 News

It might be the most forgotten ordinance throughout all of the communities of Harvey County: curfew. All of the communities in the county, excluding Burrton, do have some form of curfew ordinances on their respective books. However, violations are few and far between. “Generally speaking, it’s an education thing, and officers routinely tell the juveniles to get home and make sure the parents know they were contacted and are headed home,” Newton Deputy Police Chief Scott Powell said. “That being said, the curfew violation does give us authority to stop and speak with juveniles out past curfew to make sure they are OK and see what they are doing. The vast majority of contacts we have are very positive, educational and enforcement action is not taken.”
Read more: Harvey County Now

Work on Beale Infrastructure’s De Soto data center is officially underway, and much to many residents’ dismay, the project scope has nearly doubled in size since it was announced last August. California-based Beale Infrastructure began construction in April on the 300-acre site at the northwest corner of 103rd Street and Edgerton Road, just south of Kansas Highway 10 and west of the Panasonic plant. That same month, the De Soto Planning Commission approved significant changes to the scope of the $3 billion project. What was originally four buildings totaling 1.14 million square feet is now four buildings totaling nearly 2.9 million square feet that will house rows of computers meant for storing, processing and transmitting data.
Read more: Johnson County Post

After three years of design and fabrication, a climbable bicycle sculpture is now open in Roeland Park’s R Park. The Mighty Bike, a 12-foot sculpture designed for children (and adults) to play on, officially opened to the public in mid-June. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, community members came up with the concept for The Mighty Bike: A climbable art sculpture that imagines a flying bicycle, styled as a 1960s model. That idea solidified in 2023, when Roeland Park residents raised enough funds and the Roeland Park City Council included the then $170,000 sculpture in its budget. Since then, The Mighty Bike has hit delays related to the construction of the sculpture and the safety of its use along the way — and is now at a total cost of $370,000. After addressing those safety concerns, the climbable sculpture officially opened to the public a couple of weeks ago.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Multiple wildfires continue to burn in Colorado, and some Kansas fire crews are working to put them out. That includes firefighters from Hutchinson. During a long year of wildfires in Kansas, local departments depended on each other for mutual aid. But in some cases, that help came from across state lines, so it’s only natural that crews in Kansas want to repay that service. “It’s no different from what they’ve been called to do already,” said Justin Holzreichter, the Hutchinson Fire Department division chief of operations.
Read more: KSN-TV

A proposed solar farm in Finney County is one step closer to reality. The Finney County Commission voted Monday to approve a special use permit for a roughly 3,850-acre property in western Finney County. The Lone Bison Solar project would construct a 330-megawatt commercial solar farm, including two solar arrays, solar modules, tracker systems, inverters, collection lines, access roads and a substation that will interconnect with an existing 345-kilovolt transmission line. Monday’s decision does not mean construction will begin. It only means that the county considers the project appropriate for the land under current zoning regulations.
Read more: KSN-TV

The Kansas Water Office (KWO) announced the opening of the State Water Infrastructure Grant Program, previously called the HB 2302 Grant Program, which provides funding for up-front technical assistance and on-the-ground actions needed to address water quantity and quality issues around the state. This program was made possible by increased funding to the State Water Plan Fund with Sen. Sub. for HB 2302, a bipartisan bill signed by Governor Kelly from the 2023 legislative session.
Read more: The Sabetha Herald

The Hutchinson City Council approved temporary regulations for large-scale data centers and battery energy storage systems (BESS) to provide safeguards and create a public process for any potential future development at its meeting Tuesday evening. The regulations prohibit large-scale data centers and utility-scale BESS in all residential districts and require conditional use permits in commercial and industrial districts.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

A McPherson official asked Reno County Commissioners at their June 24 meeting to consider groundwater usage a regional issue instead of on a county-by-county basis, due to deepening wells in McPherson County. Jon Kinsey, director of planning, zoning and environment for McPherson County, said McPherson and Reno, Harvey and Sedgwick counties are included in the Equus Beds Groundwater Management District, formed in 1975 to manage groundwater supplies within the counties. According to a June Water Information Management and Analysis System Program (WIMAS) study, McPherson County has seen its wells deepen by 7.75 feet from the late 1970s to today.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Kansas’ Largest Night Rodeo returns to Pretty Prairie from July 15 through 18, with a full slate of events every night for its 89th year. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)-sanctioned rodeo begins each night with mutton bustin’—kids’ sheep riding—at 6 p.m., with the rodeo proper starting at 8 p.m., with bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, steer wrestling, tie-down roping, team roping, breakaway roping, and barrel racing events every night, drawing cowboys from the length and breadth of the Great Plains.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

Federal Reserve officials were split last month about the future of interest rates, with policymakers entertaining scenarios in either direction, according to meeting minutes released Wednesday. In Kevin Warsh’s first meeting June 16-17 as chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee, participants saw outcomes where inflation could ease and allow lower rates, while others envisioned a scenario where price increases stay elevated and lead to hikes.
Read more: CNBC Bonds

A new immersion center in Arkansas City is highlighting a settlement that has been called one of the most influential cities in ancient North America. Some estimates say the city of Etzanoa housed up to 20,000 ancestors of the Wichita Tribe in a complex society. It flourished along the Walnut River from about 1450 to 1700.
Read more: www.derbyinformer.com

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

The largest city in Kansas is looking to join two cities across the globe — Big Spring, Texas and Windhoek, Namibia — in converting what is flushed down the toilet into what comes out of the water tap — treating sewage to drinking water standards and pumping it directly into the water supply.
Read more: Wichita Eagle

Topeka Mayor Spencer Duncan is open to a local data center if it benefits residents. The mayor’s support is conditional on the developer paying taxes and not causing utility rate hikes. Any potential data center must also have a plan for limited water usage and be located away from neighborhoods.
Read more: CJonline

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Kansas hospitals are using new federal grant money to improve rural healthcare access. Projects include mobile maternal health clinics, new behavioral health units, and using AI to prevent chronic illness in children. The funding is part of a five-year, $50 billion federal program intended to offset recent Medicaid cuts.
Read more: CJonline