Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

Uniontown High School moving away from standardized testing

The Uniontown Schools Board of Education is receiving an update on a re-design project at the high school.
Uniontown High School wants to move the focus away from standardized testing to prepare juniors and seniors for after high school.
The school will provide break-out sessions for students to learn life skills.
Some of the sessions will discuss filing taxes, buying a car, personal finance, credit card education, surviving the first year of college, and more.
The school district is currently in the planning phase and hopes to completely implement the re-design next school year.

Nine-month long boil water advisory lifted for City of Ozawkie

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced it’s rescinded a 9-month long boil water advisory on Tuesday. The advisory was issued on May 11, 2019 due to a flooded well.

People of Ozawkie had to get their drinking water from bottles or from a tank of water brought to the middle of the town.

KDHE said the latest laboratory testing samples collected don’t show any evidence of contamination. The department also said all other conditions that placed the system at risk of contamination are deemed to be resolved.

(Read more: KSNT News)

Kansas secretary of state calls for changes in election offices

The top elections official in Kansas is pushing to make the state’s central voter registration database more secure by changing how counties tap into it. Some local officials are nervous about what they see as a big project in an unusually busy election year.

Secretary of State Scott Schwab has told county election officials that he wants them to use dedicated tablets, laptops or computers not linked to their counties’ networks to access the state’s voter registration database. He is promising to use federal funds to cover the costs. But some county election officials are nervous about such a huge undertaking in an election year.

Sedgwick County election commissioner Tabitha Lehman talked to county commissioners earlier this month about the change, which is expected to be in place before the primary election in August.
(Read more: KFDI 101.3)

KS law could get tougher against drivers using cell phones

Kansas lawmakers could add teeth to laws prohibiting cellphone use while driving.
A bill introduced in Topeka last week would expand what could get you pulled over and how much you could pay.
At Miller’s Towing and Recovery in Wichita, drivers say when it comes to distracted driving, they’ve nearly seen it all. …
For workers like tow-truck drivers, the distracted drivers on the road make an already challenging, stressful job even more perilous.

(Read more: KWCH News)

Northeast Wichita residents ask city to help develop new grocery store

Residents of northeast Wichita and members of the NAACP Youth Council are asking the city to help in finding and developing a grocery store for their area.

Northeast Wichita was identified as a “food desert” by a 2013 study and the Health and Wellness Coalition of Wichita is working on a ten-year food system master plan that will look at improving access to healthy foods. The Coalition is now looking for community input as they develop the plan for presentation to the city council later this year.

Youth Council member Martel Carter told council members that in northeast Wichita there are more liquor stores than grocery stores, and people have to travel farther to find a store with healthy foods.

(Read more: KFDI 101.3)

Artists chosen for project to celebrate Wichita’s 150th birthday

The community organization Together Wichita has chosen artists and teams that will be working to design and paint 13 Keeper of the Plains sculptures as part of a tribute to the city’s 150th birthday.

The project is called Keeper 150, and it will have ten-foot-tall Keeper sculptures that will be placed at city parks. More than 50 artists attended an informational meeting in January and and submissions were accepted through February 3rd.

(Read more: KFDI 101.3)

Columbus voters to decide $14 million bond issue

Voters in the Columbus School District could soon be deciding a $14 million bond issue.
If passed, this project would add four storm shelters to their high school, reorganize students and also shut down Highland Elementary.
Brian Smith, Superintendent, Columbus School District, said, “Really we’re focused on school safety and security and becoming more efficient with the school district going forward.”
(Read more: KSNF/KODE – FourStatesHomepage.com)

Roeland Park to consider city-level move making racially discriminatory HOA language illegal

The Roeland Park city council on Monday evening discussed an amendment to its non-discrimination ordinance that would outlaw discriminatory language in home owners associations covenants.
Although the United States Supreme Court has found racially restrictive covenants unenforceable, many property-related documents “in Roeland Park still contain covenants banning African Americans, Jews and other ethnic groups from ownership or occupancy,” according to city documents. Councilmember Benjamin Dickens, alongside Kelly and the city attorney, spearheaded the effort by bringing the amendment forward with a memorandum.
(Read more: Prairie Village Post)

Expansion of STAR bonds could fund development around KU Medical Center

A Kansas Department of Commerce official told lawmakers Monday that expanding the scope of STAR bonds would allow the agency to approve public funding for a development project around the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Skeptical House Republicans questioned David Soffer, policy director for the commerce department, on legislation that would overhaul and extend the use of Sales Tax Revenue Bonds, a 20-year-old state program aimed at developing tourist attractions. The program is set to expire this year.
Soffer defended the agency’s proposal to add “significant” medical facility and business offices to the list of projects eligible for taxpayer-supported investments. These developments would attract visitors who spend money just like traditional tourist attractions, Soffer said.

(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)

Upcoming Trainings & Workshops!

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Water Rate Checkup Tool Workshop (Junction City)
2/22/2023
Location: Junction City, Kansas Time: 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM

Kansas Department of Labor rules Shawnee Mission 3-year unilateral contract was impermissible

The Kansas Department of Labor sided with the Shawnee Mission teachers union on Friday, ruling that the school board committed a “prohibited practice” when it imposed a three-year unilateral contract.

The teachers union challenged the legality of the contract, which was approved by the school board on Jan. 30 after negotiations failed. The National Education Association-Shawnee Mission filed an emergency prohibited practice complaint with the labor department claiming the district did not have the authority to issue such a long-term unilateral contract.

The labor department agreed, stating that by imposing a three-year contract, the district denied the union its right to negotiate terms for the coming school years.

(Read more: Joco 913 News)

Senate bill may end tax lid law

The Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation on Thursday advanced a bill to the full Senate that would effectively end Kansas’ tax lid law but substitute another in its place.

Senate Bill 294, which would take effect Jan. 1, 2021, if passed, advanced from the taxation committee after an hour-long hearing Thursday that involved a number of other bills. …

SB294 is considered a transparency bill but it essentially forces cities and counties and certain other taxing entities to keep budgets even from year to year. Going above a revenue neutral rate, a term added to the bill on Thursday, would require notification of affected property owners and a public hearing. Failure to follow the procedures in the bill, if it becomes law, means the county or city would have to refund to property owners the taxes collected over the revenue neutral rate.

(Read more: Parsons Sun)

Municipal Bond Trends for February 14, 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 Advisors.

KDOT accepting cost share applications for spring 2020

After a highly successful first round of the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Cost Share Program last fall, a second round of applications are now being accepted for spring 2020. Applications will be accepted from Feb. 3 through April 15.

The Cost Share Program is designed to provide financial assistance that leverages state funding with local and private funding for projects related to economic development as well as job growth and retention. It will provide funding to local entities for construction projects that improve safety, increase the total transportation investment and help both rural and urban areas of the state improve their transportation system.

(Read more: Pratt, KS – Pratt Tribune)

OP Mayor Carl Gerlach talks U.S 69 expansion, public-private partnerships at 2020 State of the City

After 60 years of incorporation as a city, Mayor Carl Gerlach said Thursday that he credits Overland Park’s success to a history of intentional leadership.

Hundreds gathered at the Overland Park Convention Center on yesterday afternoon to hear Gerlach deliver the 2020 Overland Park State of the City address. Gerlach mentioned the various factors that led to the city’s recognition on lists as a great place to live, including education, strong community relations and quality of life.

“Awards are nice, but the attributes that lead to them don’t just happen,” Gerlach said. “They require intentional leadership — for us that’s 60 years of intentional leadership. I once heard someone say while other cities are playing checkers, Overland Park plays chess.”

Another 13 Keeper statues will be added to city parks in celebration of Wichita’s 150th

A bunch of Keepers are about to join the parade that started in Wichita in 2015.

Together Wichita, a nonprofit made up of businesses that organize and finance projects intended to better the city, will be dispersing 13 10-foot-tall Keepers on Parade sculptures around Wichita as part of a celebration of Wichita’s 150th birthday, which will be marked this summer.

Artists have already been selected to decorate the new sculptures, and each of the city’s six City Council districts will receive two. One will be designed and painted for Mayor Brandon Whipple.

The artists will get the fiberglass sculptures in March and will have until the end of June to finish painting them. Details on their unveiling will be revealed later, said Together Wichita project coordinator Tessa Brungardt.

(Read more: Local News |)

AG Derek Schmidt: City of Frontenac violated KORA with fee request

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has notified the City of Frontenac that it violated the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) when it requested a $3,500 fee in order to furnish copies of public records to a reporter.

In October 2019, a representative of the media filed a KORA complaint with the attorney general’s office alleging, in part, that the city’s $3,500 fee request to furnish public records he requested on September 18 was unreasonable. Upon investigation, the attorney general’s office determined that Frontenac’s fee request was unreasonable and thus violated the KORA because it failed to explain or justify its $3,500 fee request, including why it was seeking $225.00 per hour for any time spent by its outside legal counsel.

“While the city may recover its actual costs in responding to a KORA request, those costs must still be reasonable,” the attorney general’s office wrote in a finding of violation. “An hourly rate of $225.00 per hour for attorney time is per se unreasonable. Outside counsel may charge a governmental entity for its services. However, based on the public policy and purpose of the KORA, it is unreasonable for a public agency to pass those costs onto a requester without a significant reduction in the hourly fee rate.”

Kansas elections chief’s security plan causes local unease

The top elections official in Kansas is pushing to make the state’s central voter registration database more secure by changing how counties tap into it.

Some local officials are nervous about what they see as a big project in an unusually busy election year.

But some county election officials are nervous about such a huge undertaking in an election year.

(Read more: KSN-TV)

Mission seeks public input on Mohawk Park improvements

The city of Mission on Thursday evening held a public meeting to get feedback from residents on the upcoming improvement project at Mohawk Park, at 67th Street and Lamar Avenue.

Confluence, a landscape architecture, planning and urban design firm in Kansas City, and SFS Architecture are leading the Mohawk Park Master Plan. The Confluence team, including Senior Principal Terry Berkbuegler, presented two preliminary options for the park, both of which included the following:

Soccer fields (two in option one, three in option two )
A loop trail
An updated playground
A restroom facility
A basketball court
Fitness stations for all ages
A yard game area (horseshoe and washer pits)

Berkbuegler said the options presented to the room of approximately 50 attendees were not at all set in stone, but were put together to offer them something to bounce ideas off of. If there was something attendees liked, disliked or saw missing, the team wanted to hear it and take those comments back to the drawing board, he said.

Skyline school wins grant to establish beehive colony

A new observation beehive will join the campus of Skyline Schools at Pratt to help the community of Skyline learn more about these important insects.

Second-grade teacher Carrie Harrold and Ag instructor Anita DeWeese approached the USD 438 school board in September to present the idea of bringing this learning experience to Skyline.

“This will especially benefit the second-grade class as they learn about insects, but there is an appeal to all grade levels,“Harrold said.

(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)