Kansas Municipal News
Parsons offers temporary plumbing licenses
Plumbers in Parsons for a limited time can get a license without taking the standardized test usually required. During a special meeting Friday afternoon, the Parsons City Commission approved a resolution allowing plumbers to get a license to practice their trade in the city without a master or journeyman certificate until April 30. Those receiving temporary licenses must have either worked for a licensed plumber for several years or did plumbing work of their own outside of the city. The move was made to alleviate the backlog of people still waiting to have their pipes thawed or repaired after the Arctic blast sent local low temperatures below zero for the last several days.
Source: Parsons Sun
Housing study finds Johnson County real estate market remains unaffordable for many
While communities across Johnson County enjoy high growth as attractive places to live, residents often face limited options in the housing market that are attainable for raising a family and aging in place. That’s according to the results of a county-wide housing study, which was released and published earlier this month. The Johnson County Municipalities Community Housing Study is a months-long endeavor by the Johnson County Health Equity Network, a collaboration that comprises the county and 19 cities, along with numerous private groups and organizations.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Finney County educators and school staff get vaccinated
Finney County educational staff received their first round of COVID vaccines Thursday and Friday. The vaccinations took place at the county’s mass vaccination clinic at the Finney County Fairgrounds exhibition building. The chance to get vaccinated stemmed from a community collaboration between the county, the local health community, and surrounding schools. “It’s so exciting to be able to collaborate with our community partners and offer vaccinations for all of the school employees here. We’re very excited to do this outreach for our community,” said Colleen Drees, Finney County Health Department Director.
Source: KSN-TV
City of Cheney asks for help with high gas prices
One of the cities needing relief from the current astronomical prices is the city of Cheney. The whole year of 2020 the city of Cheney said they spent 256,000 dollars on natural gas. With the huge spike in prices, just in the month of February, the total amount is looking to be a million dollars. A huge expense for a city of just over two thousand people. “We need help it’s not just the city asking for help we are asking for help from our businesses and our customers,” said Danielle Young, Cheney City Administrator. When the price of natural gas started its dramatic and rapid rise, Young started crunching the numbers. “The reality of sending out these bills is just disheartening I don’t know what to tell customers other than we are doing everything that we possibly can to get the higher-ups to understand our situation,” said Young.
Source: KSN-TV
Broadband company expands its reach to rural areas, thousands could benefit
In a virtual world, the internet is key. However often in rural areas, it can be difficult to access. In Haviland, a local broadband company received a much-needed upgrade. The pandemic made it clear for many how important fast internet speeds are to get through the day-to-day virtual life activities But with that came challenges for small internet companies working to serve rural customers. Haviland Broadband, formerly known as Haviland Telephone is a small, locally-managed internet company. It serves areas in and around Kiowa, Kingman, and Sumner counties.
Source: KSN-TV
Recommended to leave a radius around fire hydrants when shoveling snow
Firefighters are asking the community to be mindful when shoveling snow. Fire departments recommend leaving at least a five-foot radius around fire hydrants. Doing that allows sunlight to help the ground thaw more efficiently — keeping water lines warmer, which will help prevent water issues with the hydrant. Steven Burton, Fire Chief, Columbus Fire Dept., says, “Any amount of clearance around it is very important for us, but also making sure the different jurisdictions and private parties that are pushing snow aren’t piling those piles up in the way of those hydrants to where they’ll block the view from responders. That’s very important as well.”
Source: KSNF/KODE
Mercury Broadband growing, bringing 200 jobs to Topeka
A local internet company is growing and bringing more jobs to the capital city. Mercury Broadband has started construction on a new building in Southwest Topeka. It will be a new call center for the broadband provider. CEO Garrett Wiseman said they’re also expanding services in parts of rural Shawnee County. “So many students are being educated from home right now and without good internet access, it’s impossible to do,” Wiseman said. “So we’re excited about the opportunity to bring better service to the communities.” The company is bringing 200 new jobs as part of the project.
Source: KSNT News
Douglas County considering more changes to land-use regulations to further limit rural residential development
Although Douglas County adopted new zoning regulations last year to limit residential development in rural parts of the county, that effort did not go exactly as planned. Tonya Voigt, the county’s zoning and codes director, told the County Commission recently that new codes that were adopted in early 2020 slowed the number of residential subdivisions into land parcels of 10 acres or smaller, but vastly increased the number of divisions into 20-acre lots. She said that meant the codes didn’t create the situation the county staff had hoped for. “It has not slowed down development; it has just changed the way development is happening,” Voigt said.
Source: LJWorld.com.
Garden City declares financial emergency
The Garden City Commission declared a financial emergency at its regular meeting Tuesday. Melinda Hitz, Garden City finance director, said the cash balance of the electric fund is low, sitting around $100,000, when typically the balance is between $4 million and $5 million. There is a reserve fund that has a little over $4 million, but the operating fund is concerning, Hitz said. Mike Muirhead, Public Utilities director, said the fund is low for several reasons. First, retail and commercial sales are down approximately $1.75 million from projected utility costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. …Declaring a financial emergency is the right step to take in this situation, Muirhead said, as if the city becomes eligible for some relief from the federal government or elsewhere, everything is in place.
Source: Garden City Telegram.
Uniontown faces higher gas prices
Bourbon County Commissioners on Wednesday approved a resolution that could help the city of Uniontown address issues with natural gas following a winter storm that saw an increase in gas usage. Bourbon County Emergency Manager William Wallis met with commissioners to discuss the recent storm. Later in the meeting, commissioners approved a resolution and proclamation for a State of Local Disaster Emergency. Wallis said he received a call from the Kansas Division of Emergency Management on Monday, and he learned that 22 Kansas counties would have issues with conservation of natural gas. Wallis said the city of Uniontown purchases natural gas in bulk from the Kansas Municipal Gas Agency, then sells the gas to customers. The gas is purchased during the summertime when the price is lower and city o:fficials have said the reserve is gone. “I found out in 22 other counties, the natural gas conservation and accumulation that most small towns have procured, their reserve is totally gone,” he said. Wallis said some cities purchase natural gas in bulk when the price is lower, and then sell the gas to their customers. However, due to the recent cold weather, many areas have used all of their bulk supply, and the purchase price for the gas will be much higher for those cities.
Source: Fort Scott Tribune.
Small town Kansas takes on big problem of deafening railroad engine horns
Bartlett Arboretum owner Robin Macy is moving closer to a peaceful solution to BNSF Railway’s track expansion at Belle Plaine that increased the frequency of train engines blasting horns near intersections at levels comparable to a Boeing 737 on approach for landing. “This was a tranquil place. Concerts, weddings happened routinely. People came here from all points, many different states,” Macy said of the era before doubling of BNSF track in the southcentral Kansas community a decade ago. “We used to have about 20 trains a day and now we can have a train through here every five minutes.” Macy and Mike Mackay, who is a retired civil engineer, collaborated with city and state officials to lay the foundation of a railroad “quiet zone” in Sumner County. It’s a regulatory and financial challenge, but if successful, the routine around-the-clock use of engine horns to warn motorists and pedestrians of approaching trains could soon end in the town of about 1,500 people.
Source: Kansas Reflector
Magnitude 4.5 earthquake rattles parts of Oklahoma, Kansas just before 8 a.m.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude 4.5 earthquake shook parts of Kansas and Oklahoma on Friday. The temblor occurred just before 8 a.m. near Manchester, Oklahoma, which is near the state line and just south of Harper County, Kansas.
Source: KAKE – News
Gas costs soar due to arctic blast in Winfield
The City of Winfield has incurred $10 million in natural gas costs through the previous six days as sub-zero temperatures gripped the area, leading the city to look for ways to mitigate the financial fallout. “The cost of this event to our community has been one that we have had very little control over. We are seeking every avenue of relief as this is an insurmountable cost for us that, without relief, will be felt for years to come,” Winfield city manager Taggart Wall said in a letter to the community, which was posted on the city’s Facebook page and emailed to the CourierTraveler. The city’s typical annual natural gas purchase is for $1.6 million, with a typical daily index of less than $3 per 1 million British Thermal Units (MMBtu). Wall said beginning Feb. 13 the daily index on the city’s pipeline soared more than 100 times the norm. That, compounded by extreme rises in demand, led to an all-time high of $428/MMBtu on Feb. 18.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler
Altamont energy emergency nears its end
Altamont city officials announced Wednesday night that it appears the city is coming out of the woods with its energy emergency as far as rolling blackouts and the potential discontinuance of natural gas supplies that would require resident evacuations. Mike Shields, Altamont police chief and public information officer, said it appears the need for evacuation is becoming less likely, though the city remains prepared and asked residents to remain prepared. While loss of natural gas supply is a diminishing concern, the extreme financial impacts the energy emergency has created remain a concern.
Source: Atchison Globe Now
Municipal Bond Trends for February 18, 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.
Airfest coming to Great Bend skies
The Great Bend Airfest will once again land at the Great Bend Municipal Airport. The event, held every three years because of the cost, takes flight Sept. 17-18. “I don’t believe there were more than three air shows in the whole world last year because of COVID,” airport Manager Martin Miller said, addressing the City Council Tuesday night. “And we figured 2021 was going to be in high demand so we got busy.” They started in November booking acts, he said. They were successful and have a full schedule of aerial and static displays planned.
Source: Great Bend Tribune
As natural gas prices surge, Winfield pleads for relief
In a normal year, Winfield will spend $1.6 million on natural gas. During the recent arctic blast, the bill grew well over $10 million in a span of six days. “How does the community the size of Winfield pay for that gas supply?” Taggart Wall, Winfield City manager asked. Taggart says he has never seen a surge like this. He explained the cost of natural gas is 150 times more than normal. The city has been working to conserve energy by closing schools and factories but the cost still racked up. “It’s not like the city makes money off of this. This is simply just the price of the commodity,” he said.
Source: KSN-TV
Johnson County COVID rate at lowest in months: ‘We need to continue what we’re doing’
With the number of COVID-19 related hospitalizations and deaths dropping in Johnson County, public health director Sanmi Areola said the county is “inching toward” a date when restrictions could be rolled back. Areola delivered some positive news to the Johnson County Board of Commissioners on Thursday, saying that COVID-19 metrics have been “looking really, really good the past few weeks.” The county’s incidence rate — or the number of new cases per 100,000 people — was 167, down from more than 800 last fall.
Source: Joco 913 News
Sedgwick County relocates vaccine clinic to former Downtown Wichita Library
Starting Monday, Feb. 22, Sedgwick County will relocate its COVID-19 vaccine clinic from INTRUST Bank Arena to the former Downtown Wichita Library. The former library is located at 223 S. Main, just a few blocks away from INTRUST Bank Arena. Sedgwick County residents with appointments will have two locations to receive their vaccine Monday through Saturday. The former library will serve as a clinic for residents ages 70 and older and health care associated workers. This clinic is for people who are active and can stand for periods of time.
Source: KAKE – News
Pawnee County remains at Level Yellow on COVID matrix
For the second straight week, Pawnee County has remained at Level Yellow on the county-adopted COVID-19 risk matrix. Level Yellow indicates a minimal to moderate risk of the spread of COVID-19. At their regular meeting last Monday, Pawnee County Commissioners discussed whether the risk matrix should be adjusted. According to current data in the assessment, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red level thresholds for two-week cumulative new cases are 0-10, 11-20, 21-29 and 30+ respectively. Commissioner Robert Rein suggested amending the thresholds to 0-15, 16-29, 30-44 and 45+. “Now that we have six months of data, it might be a good time to adjust the requisite numbers for each category,” he said.
Source: Great Bend Tribune