Municipal News & Jobs

The city of Salina has progressed mightily recently, boasting a revitalized downtown, several growing college campuses and a future full of incoming jobs. One major problem remains. “We’re in desperate need of housing.” Lauren Driscoll, director of Salina’s Community and Development Services department, knows she is not the only person around town who holds this sentiment. Salina has been stuck at a population short of 50,000 for decades, and with an influx of jobs that will be offered by expanding employers in the coming years, there is a chance of finally surpassing that threshold.
Source: Salina Journal.

A legal dispute making its way through Shawnee County District Court could undercut the current quarantine structure used by scores of schools and local health departments across the state, with a Topeka-area parent arguing the process is flawed. What began as Shawnee Heights Unified School District 450 parent Jill Foster-Koch challenging the quarantine orders of her two daughters could have far greater implications. Embedded in the challenge, filed last month, is an argument that school districts in the county are effectively serving as an extension of the county health department in ordering quarantines, something Foster-Koch’s lawyers argue state law doesn’t allow.
Source: Dodge Globe.

University of Kansas researchers are trying to create a snapshot of broadband access for every ZIP code in Kansas and now are asking for the public’s help in the effort. A project that KU’s Institute for Policy & Social Research is conducting with the University of Michigan is asking Kansas residents to take a brief survey to describe the broadband internet options in their community. The survey can be taken at ipsr.ku.edu.
Source: LJWorld.com.

City Manager Craig Owens says the City of Lawrence is feeling the effects of the nation’s tight labor market, and that it has more than double its usual number of job openings. Owens said the city currently has about 800 full-time employees and more than 60 openings, which he said is more than twice the number of openings the city usually has. He said a lot of the openings are with key critical services, such as police, utilities, solid waste, streets, administration and parks and recreation. “All of these departments are being impacted,” Owens said. “We just don’t have full staffing.”
Source: LJWorld.com.

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.

Playa lakes are a unique phenomenon largely unnoticed by casual observers except during rain events when they can hold water for days or even weeks – creating a nuisance for farmers and a temporary haven for wildlife. Little has been known about these land forms, ranging in size from an acre or two, upwards to a few hundred acres, but that’s changing as a result of more intensive study by hydrologists and state agriculture departments across the Southern High Plains that overlays the Ogallala Aquifer. They are being viewed as part of the solution to the region’s diminishing groundwater supply. The Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV) program is actively promoting an effort to restore playa lakes in Wichita and Greeley counties as part of an effort to increase the availability of groundwater for municipal use and domestic wells. It’s hoped that the program can be expanded into Scott and Lane counties, which are also part of Groundwater Management District No. 1.
Source: Scott County Record.

This weekend, many Peace Treaty events will take place in Medicine Lodge. Starting Sept. 24 and running through Sept. 26, events include: The Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty pageant, the Intertribal Powwow, the Kansas Championship Ranch Rodeo, the Bulls and Broncs Rodeo, a Trappings and Trade Show and the Historical Night Show. The Peace Treaty weekend of events occurs every three years in Medicine Lodge and includes arts and crafts shows, helicopter rides, street dances, live music, food vendors, carnival rides, alumni gatherings and parades. The pageant started in 1917 when citizens of Medicine Lodge made the initial effort to commemorate the historical significance of the Treaty of Medicine Lodge, signed in 1867 by the Peace Commission of the United States Government and the five tribes of Plains Indians, the Kiowa, the Comanche, the Kiowa-Apache, the Arapaho and the Cheyenne.
Source: Hutch News

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held benchmark interest rates near zero but indicated that rate hikes could be coming sooner than expected, and it significantly cut its economic outlook for this year. Along with those largely expected moves, officials on the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee indicated they will start pulling back on some of the stimulus the central bank has been providing during the financial crisis. There was no specific indication, though, as to when that might happen. … For now, the committee voted unanimously to keep short-term rates anchored near zero. However, more members now see the first rate hike happening in 2022. In June, when members last released their economic projections, a slight majority put that increase into 2023.
Source: CNBC

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.