Kansas Municipal News
Are loft apartments the answer for Kansas Main Street renewal?
Building owners, storekeepers, Main Street organizers and city officials from across Kansas attended the Main Street Upstairs Downtown Workshop in Hutchinson on Monday and Tuesday. Along with presentations by architects, community development and economic development specialists, more than 100 participants from Leavenworth, Pittsburg and Iola went on a tour of the upper levels of downtown Hutchinson, examining both apartments and businesses, including the newly renovated AgTrax location, which revitalized an upstairs unit.
Source: Hutch News
Census shows growth in five towns across Washington County
Haddam breaks 70-year streak of Census declines, three towns (Barnes, Hanover, Palmer) have two decades of growth. Washington County lost significantly less population than official estimates had predicted, according to the most recent U.S. Census figures. Data from the 2020 Census was released for counties and cities recently, along with redistricting figures. Washington County’s population dropped by 4.6%, from 5,799 to 5,530. This was the 13th Census in a row with a population decline for the county…
Source: www.backroadsnews.com
Municipal Bond Trends for August 17, 2021
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.
Cowley County smaller but more diverse
Numbers from the 2020 Census released recently show the population of Cowley County and its two main cities is falling, while the share of residents identifying as a racial minority has gone up. Cowley County’s population is 34,549 according to the 2020 Census, down from 36,311 in 2010. Winfield’s population was 11,777 in 2020, down from 12,301. Arkansas City’s population was 11,974 in 2020, down from 12,415 . The diversity index in Cowley County is 40.6 percent according to the 2020 Census, a substantial increase from 2010 when it was 31.5 percent. The diversity index measures the probability that two people chosen at random will be from different race and ethnicity groups.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler
More federal relief aide flows into Cowley County
Cowley County has received the first part its of American Rescue Plan funding, county administrator Lucas Goff said Monday afternoon. Goff said $3,390,235 was deposited in a county account on Aug. 9. The county is scheduled to receive a total of $6.67 million directly from the federal government, he said. The funding is part of the American Rescue Plan signed by President Biden in March to provide health and economic recovery funds amid the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, Aug. 19, two representatives from Swindoll, Janzen, Hawk and Loyd accounting firm will meet with Goff at the county courthouse to begin planning for distribution of the funds. The same company guided the county through CARES Act funding in 2020 when the county was responsible for dispersing or spending $7.5 million in earlier federal coronavirus relief funds.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler
Ark City animal control job finally filled
The City of Arkansas City had been without an animal control officer since October of 2019 until Katie Suttles recently stepped into the job. And the position, which is part time, has been moved from within the police department to neighborhood services. City spokesperson Andrew Lawson said the animal control job had been difficult to fill. The last person to do it, Lisa Delgado, resigned to become a police officer. Former Police Chief Dan Ward was working toward retirement, Lawson said, replacing Delgado was not actively pursued and police officers themselves handled animal-related complaints.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler
Regional law enforcement training center coming to Parsons
Parsons is picked to be the home of a new regional law enforcement training center. It will be run by the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center (KLETC), and serve agencies in 16 counties. Parsons Police Chief Robert Spinks says having a training center in Parsons will give the agencies the ability to send officers, dispatchers, and others to classes when they otherwise might not be able to. “I’m ecstatic that we will have that in our community and so close so that we can continue to increase the competency of our staff. And we can reduce the amount of outside city travel or missed training,” says Spinks. “It will originally only have a half-time coordinator who will then bring in speakers from across the state for different topics. But, over time, we hope to see that grow to three full-time staff and eventually be able to produce up to three thousand man-days of training every single year.”
Source: KOAMKOAM
Hillsboro Fire Chief celebrates 20 years
While Ben Steketee just celebrated 20 years as Hillsboro Fire Chief on Sunday, he didn’t ever think he would get to fight fires, let alone be chief. “I grew up in California where only the most fit and the best of the best were chosen for positions in fire departments. And I got into some trouble when I was growing up so I never thought I would be in a top position,” said Steketee. But then Steketee moved to Kansas. “I moved to Hillsboro and my friend Dale Winter asked me if I would want to volunteer for the fire department. I thought it sounded like fun,” said Steketee. Steketee volunteered for almost three years when the mayor of Hillsboro, Delores Dalke, approached him about becoming the Fire Chief. He accepted, shadowed then chief Wayne Lowery for a day to see what he did and suddenly he was in charge.
Source: Hillsboro Free Press
Education gets a reboot
A company can’t wait 100 years to upgrade its business model. Education should be no different. “But we have only two models. One-room schoolrooms of 100 years ago, and today’s outdated model,” which is in the process of being revamped, said Randy Watson, Kansas Commissioner of Education. Rather than using state assessment scores to gauge a student’s success in high school, educators are looking to redesign the material and school experience so that they are better tailored to students’ skills and abilities, helping them develop into critical thinkers who address real-life problems. “We all know a student’s ACT scores will never be looked at again once he’s out the door,” Watson said of the standard exam used for college applications.
Source: The Iola Register
Pregont named Interim City Manager of Atchison
City Commissioners unanimously approved a contract with Assistant City Manager Justin Pregont to serve as City Manager on an interim basis effective immediately. The contract was approved following a 15-minute executive session during Monday’s regular commission meeting and comes on the heels of Becky Berger’s resignation from the top role a week ago. Pregont, who was attending a professional development conference and was not at the meeting, is an Atchison native and has served as Assistant City Manager since 2018. Prior to that he oversaw Public Works and Utilities and has been with the City since 2013. Pregont is a Benedictine College graduate with a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Kansas.
Source: atchisonglobenow.com
Carbondale plans grand opening ceremony for new library
The Carbondale City Library will hold a grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the completion of the new building’s construction. The ceremony will be 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, at 302 Main St., Carbondale. The new 6,000-square-feet building features seating for more than 100 people, study areas, group meeting rooms, and a multi-purpose room, including a kitchen for future classes.
Source: Osage County Online
Local elections in Kansas were moved from the spring to the fall with the promise of increasing voter turnout, but did it work?
Only 9.7% of eligible voters cast a ballot in Topeka’s 2021 primary election. However, the disappointing turnout isn’t a sign that changes to spur higher turnout have failed, at least not yet. Election Day changed in 2017, but voter turnout hasn’t shown many signs of increasing since then. The Capital-Journal reviewed voter turnout from 2010-2020 in Shawnee, Sedgwick and Douglas county elections. The 2015 change moved local elections from the spring to the fall of odd-numbered years, with the stated goal of increasing voter turnout. But voter turnout among all three counties peaked at 16.59% during Douglas County’s 2015 general election. Voter turnout was generally between 10%-16% during the 15 odd-year elections from 2011-2015. Three elections attracted fewer than 10% of people with the lowest turnout, 4.4%, coming in Shawnee County’s 2013 primary election.
Source: Dodge Globe.
Municipal Bond Trends for August 16, 2021
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.
Treasury yields start the week lower with Fed meeting minutes in focus
U.S. Treasury yields fell on Monday morning, with investor focus on minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting, due to be published on Wednesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 3 basis points to 1.263% at 3:55 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond gave up nearly 3 basis points, falling to 1.921%. … Treasury yields fell sharply on Friday, after data showed U.S. consumer confidence fell in August to its lowest point since 2011. Investors’ focus this week will likely be on the Fed’s latest meeting minutes, as they search for any clues as to when the central bank might start paring back its asset purchases.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
Kansas plays catch up on pension funding with $500 million bond sale
Kansas is taking advantage of continued low interest rates with a $502.6 million taxable deal to pump money into its underfunded state retirement system. The pension obligation bonds on Tuesday’s calendar are coming through the Kansas Development Finance Authority with Citigroup as book runner. The bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and A-plus by S&P Global Ratings. Outlooks are stable. “The stable outlook reflects an expectation that Kansas has the capacity to generate the resources necessary to sustain structural balance in a period of economic stability or to withstand a moderate shock to revenue in a period of economic weakness,” said Moody’s analyst Matthew Butler. Because debt service is subject to appropriations by the Kansas Legislature, the POBs are rated a notch lower than the state’s issuer ratings.
Source: The Bond Buyer
Spring Hill water treatment plant officially opens
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Aug. 5 for the Hillsdale Water Treatment Plant at 22705 Moonlight Rd., Spring Hill, Kan. The ceremony marked the completion of an expansion and provides the treatment of water from four million gallons of water per day to seven million. The expansion was necessary due to the city’s growth and population increase.
Source: Gardner News
Great Bend OKs three sales tax questions
There will be three separate City of Great Bend sales tax questions on the Nov. 2 general election ballot following action by the City Council Monday night. These would help fund quality of life improvements, pay off the city’s debt incurred for a new police station and cover the cost of changes to the benefit package for the Police and Fire departments. The council at its Aug. 2 work session reached a consensus on the questions, said City Administrator Kendal Francis said.
Source: Great Bend Tribune
Rural Business Development funds announced
U.S. Senators Roger Marshall, M.D. and Jerry Moran announced a $96,575 USDA Rural Business Development grant that will be used to increase training and education programs availability in 27 counties. The counties benefitting from this USDA Rural Business Development grant include: Finney, Edwards, Pawnee, Wichita, Stevens, Barber, Clark, Pratt, Hamilton, Ford, Comanche, Greeley, Barton, Ness, Grant, Seward, Stanton, Scott, Haskell, Kearny, Hodgeman, Meade, Lane, Morton, Kiowa, Rush and Stafford. “This USDA grant will help many small business owners succeed in rural Kansas through further investment in education and training,” said Marshall. “Small businesses are the backbone of this nation, and providing entrepreneurs with the training and resources they need empowers rural Kansas to thrive for years to come.”
Source: Great Bend Tribune
Strong wind, large hail cause severe damage in central Kansas
Strong winds and large hail caused severe damage in Rice and Ellsworth counties Sunday evening. The storm started around 5:30 p.m., south of Ellsworth and continued for about 30 miles. The National Weather Service of Wichita estimates that winds levels peaked at 110 mph. Several train cars were blown off the tracks west of Geneseo. Also noted were two areas of snapped power lines in Rice County. The storm also damaged buildings, cars and fields with hail reportedly the size of baseballs.
Source: KAKE – News
Kansas firefighter electrocuted while searching for crash victims
A southwest Kansas firefighter has died after he was shocked by a power line while searching for the victims of a crash. Morton county deputies and emergency crews responded just before 6 p.m. Sunday to a rollover accident south of Rolla. A deputy and a firefighter arrived on scene minutes later. “In the process of searching for victims of the rollover, the first responding firefighter received an electrical shock from damaged power lines,” emergency management said on Facebook. Other responders began CPR, and the firefighter was taken to the county hospital where he was pronounced dead. His name has not been released. Emergency management has not provided any additional information about the crash.
Source: KAKE – News