Kansas Municipal News
Mulvane businesses benefit from CARES funding
Thanks to a program through the Kansas Department of Commerce, funded by federal allocations from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the city of Mulvane was able to help out a number of local small businesses in November. Part of the first wave of state municipalities to receive the Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Response (CDBG-CV) funds, Mulvane was awarded a total of $132,000 in June (with a total of $120,000 after the city hired a grant administrator). Distribution of those CDBG-CV grants was approved at the start of November, with 10 businesses being selected to receive funds including: Jane’s Landing, Empire Tacos, The Mulvane News, Set Free Dance Studio, Sip Brands (Lacie Leatherman), Lil’ Deuce Scoop, Main Street Nutrition, Merle’s Barber Shop, Heather Lane and Royal Enterprises (Kona Ice).
Source: Derby Informer | News
Derby adapts in the face of pandemic challenges
Back in February, city staff in Derby started taking notice of the COVID-19 outbreak happening globally so that when it hit home in March they had a jumpstart preparing to overcome the obstacles presented in 2020. While Derby has not been alone in facing those obstacles, City Manager Kathy Sexton noted there have been elements of the pandemic the city has had to approach in a different way. “Just the sheer volume of information I think is something probably everybody is dealing with, but in government I think we probably see it with different eyes,” Sexton said. ‘We see not only what’s our effect on our families and our own personal behaviors, but also how does it affect the way we deliver services and deliver democracy.”
Source: Derby Informer | News
First day of Sedgwick County vaccine clinic goes smoothly
Health care worker who have not had a chance yet to be vaccinated for COVID-19 have another option. Tuesday, Sedgwick County’s two week vaccine clinic began at Intrust Bank Arena, with around 200 people taking part in the first day. For William Simon, of New Medical Healthcare, he came out to get vaccinated for one major reason, to decrease the spread of the disease. Sedgwick County Health Director Adrienne Byrne says in total over 2,000 people had registered to be vaccinated as of Tuesday morning. She says the county wants to vaccinate as many as possible.
Source: KAKE – News
Olathe’s Butler National goes all in with $41M purchase of Boot Hill Casino land, building
An Olathe-based public company raised its stake in Boot Hill Casino & Resort in Dodge City, Kan. BHCMC LLC, a gaming management subsidiary of Butler National Corp. (OTC: BUKS), executed a lease buy-out option for the casino’s land and building. The company exercised a $41.25 million option to to purchase the property from BHC Development LLC, according to a release. “We have worked diligently to reach our goal of owning the Boot Hill Casino land and buildings,” Butler National CEO Clark Stewart said in the release. “We appreciate our business partners who in 2008 offered the build-to-suit lease with the option to purchase when no conventional financing existed.”
Source: Kansas City Business Journal – The Business Journals
Municipal Bond Trends for December 28, 2020
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.
For Johnson County Museum, quilting is more than a craft. It helps reveal history
At the Johnson County Museum, quilting is more than just a craft or a way to bundle up in your bed. It’s a way to see history in the lives of ordinary people. The museum is hosting a temporary quilting exhibit, “Common Threads,” through Jan. 23. It’s been about 15 years since the museum last had a quilting exhibit on display. Andrew Gustafson, curator of interpretation for the museum, said it’s an especially appropriate exhibit to have on the centennial of the 19th Amendment, because “these quilts were all made by Johnson County women.” Gustafson notes many their stories that sometimes get overlooked or overshadowed are spotlighted.
Source: Joco 913 News
COVID vaccination enters new phase in Wichita area with first county clinic at arena
Sedgwick County will launch a new phase of COVID-19 vaccinations Tuesday, beginning with its first publicly run vaccination clinic. On Tuesday morning, the county Health Department will begin distributing 10,000 doses of vaccine to area health care workers, starting with physicians and paramedics and proceeding through a prioritized order of care providers and medical office staff who have contact with patients.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Shawnee increases hotel tax to fund upgrades to Mid-America sports complexes
Shawnee is increasing taxes for hotel guests and sending the additional revenues to support the sports complexes along Johnson Drive. Located along the 20000 block of Johnson Drive, the Mid-America Sports Complex and Mid-America West Sports Complex are due for upgrades, and the Johnson County Park and Recreation District recently asked the city to increase its tax rate on hotel guests to help fund those efforts. Shawnee’s transient guest tax rate will now be 8%, a 2-percentage point increase from when the city established the rate at 6% in 2008.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Neighborhood raises $10,000 for a local park
A Wichita neighborhood is banding together to replace its worn down playground. Basketball courts, pickleball courts, and playground equipment is starting to go up. One neighborhood said it’s a welcome sight knowing this is the only place for kids to play within four miles. “That’s basically how it started,” said Sherwood Glen Neighborhood Secretary Prism Carnal. “Who do we contact, who do we get a hold of to see where this all starts.”
Source: KSN-TV
Grant will extend broadband internet to remote areas
Armed with a state grant made available because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, LaHarpe Telephone’s New Wave Broadband is extending its broadband internet access to remote areas of Allen County. Construction wrapped up last week on the second of a pair of 190-foot towers, this one in the Geneva Township in the northwesternmost regions of the county. The first was finished earlier this month just east of Mildred. “There are a lot of areas out there that don’t have decent internet,” noted Harry Lee Jr., owner of LaHarpe Telephone and New Wave.
Source: The Iola Register
Kelly objects to ‘patchwork’ virus response
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said Wednesday that Kansas should stop giving local officials the final say over the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic because experience has shown “a patchwork approach” does not work. Kelly made the comments during an Associated Press interview a day after she and her top health administrator argued that Kansas is now controlling the spread of COVID-19 despite its high case numbers. They argued that the state is seeing the benefits of a “unified” state strategy to boost testing and an increased willingness by the state’s 105 counties to require people to wear masks, which she has pushed for months. The governor also said she would like legislators to rewrite a law that allows people exposed to COVID-19 to avoid providing information that would allow health officials to trace their close contacts. The law was enacted to protect people’s privacy, but health officials said it hinders disease tracking.
Source: The Iola Register
Kansas House creates new water, redistricting committees
A newly created Kansas House committee will focus on water issues, and the chamber’s Republican leaders have taken their first step toward redrawing the state’s political boundaries. House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., an Olathe Republican, said in a recent statement that one goal of the chamber’s Republican supermajority is “protecting our state’s agricultural roots for the long haul.” He said the new Water Committee will examine policy “particularly in relation to our ag and rural economies.” Republican Rep. Ron Highland of Wamego will lead the new committee.
Source: Wichita Breaking News, Sports & Crime |
Deafening train horns were driving a Kansas town to the edge. Then David took on Goliath.
The wail of a train horn echoing in the distance is a sort of romantic, peaceful sound and one that’s been referenced in countless songs, poems and books. But in Belle Plaine — a small Kansas town of 1,500 that sits 25 miles south of Wichita — train horns have over the years become a screaming, sleep-depriving, sanity-threatening source of constant disruption that some say has diminished the quality of life for residents there. Now, one of Belle Plaine’s most well-known residents — musician and Bartlett Arboretum owner Robin Macy — has done something that many people said was impossible. With the help of a now-retired civil engineer who shares her passion for ridding Belle Plaine of those incessant train horns, she’s raised enough money and cut though enough red tape to finally win what she calls a “David vs. Goliath” battle.
Source: Wichita Breaking News, Sports & Crime |
Kansas governor to receive COVID-19 vaccine shot Wednesday
Gov. Laura Kelly plans to get a COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday as part of a larger plan to give shots to selected Kansas officials so that state government can continue to operate during the pandemic. The Democratic governor confirmed her plans Monday during an impromptu interview at the Statehouse following a ceremony marking the weeklong Kwanzaa celebration of African-American heritage. She told The Associated Press last week that the state was looking at giving shots to people in state agencies, the Republican-controlled Legislature and the state court system. The state so far has concentrated on vaccinating health care workers. Kelly’s staff has repeatedly said that she will get vaccinated when it was “her turn.”
Source: KAKE – News
Kansas county prepares for jury trials at the fairgrounds
One northeast Kansas county is moving jury trials to a building on its fairgrounds to allow for better social distancing amid the pandemic. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the plan is for jury trials in Douglas County to resume Jan. 11 at the Flory Meeting Hall. Chief Judge James McCabria said the jury selection room can safely seat up to 30 people at a time in addition to the judge, parties and court staff. Trials that need bigger jury pools will bring in panels at staged intervals. Because court proceedings will be livestreamed on YouTube for public access for the time being, prospective jurors will not be addressed by name, but by number.
Source: KAKE – News
Kansas working through details of who gets vaccinated when
Kansas is working through the details of exactly who will be eligible for coronavirus vaccines in exactly what order as it concentrates on giving shots mostly to health care workers this month. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly told leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature this week that the vaccines have gone mostly to health care workers, though that group also includes employees in state prisons. She said vaccines could go “almost exclusively” to health care workers into mid-January but also suggested some doses already have reached nursing homes. Kelly told The Topeka Capital-Journal in an interview that prison inmates are to get vaccinated before the general public because they’re in “congregate” housing, but the state doesn’t expect vaccines to be available for some adults for at least several months.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler
Municipal Bond Trends for December 24, 2020
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.
Wichita will apply for grant to make broadband more available to residents
The city of Wichita is poised to embark on a significant expansion of broadband availability to close what officials call a “digital divide” that currently exists within the city limits. While internet service providers such as Cox and Comcast offer broadband to most of the city, officials say, there are still many people who can’t afford the service. “Being on the internet today has moved from a state of a privilege to a state of basic human right,” said Michael J. Barnett, Smart Cities coordinator for Wichita. “In today’s era, internet access is now required.”
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
‘A sense of urgency’ on Allen County airport
There’s “a sense of urgency” to building up the Allen County Regional Airport. That’s according to Jonathon Goering, Thrive Allen County economic development director, who discussed the possibility with commissioners. He said although the county had pursued the possibility of such projects in the past, the moment to strike might be now. Goering noted that, for one, federal stimulus dollars may soon become available such that the developments can be made with little to no cost to taxpayers. And he added that the Kansas Department of Commerce is currently sending out site-selectors to help identify potential building places.
Source: The Iola Register
Newton takes over Meridian Center operations
The city will now manage the Meridian Center. The city commission signed off on a termination agreement with long-time management company, Kemper Sports Management, which has overseen the city-owned event center. “With the additional negative financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city had to find ways to reduce the costs of operating the center and cancellation of the management agreement became a necessity,” the staff memo presented to the Newton City Commission at its Dec. 22 meeting stated. The severance agreement between the city and Kemper Sports has the city paying all wages, health insurance and employee benefits for coverage of staff at the facility up until the termination date, as well as other anticipated expenses up until that date.
Source: Harvey County Now