Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

Cell tower disapproved for safety reasons

The Pratt County Planning and Zoning Commission voted to disapprove a proposal from AT&T to place a new cell service tower at the Pratt Regional Airport last month, but the issue will come before the Pratt County commissioners again on Jan. 27 as the telephone company continues to pursue the project north of the city of Pratt.

“It is not that the zoning board is against the tower,” said Pratt County Emergency Management Director Tim Branscom. “It’s just that placing it at the airport violates our safety standards, compromises airspace minimums and could create a hazard for pilots.”

According to Randy Huitt, Fixed Base Operator for the Pratt Regional Airport, the proposed site location for the 260-foot cell tower is directly in the downwind pattern for landing to the south.

Merriam approves facility use agreement, letter of understanding with surrounding cities for pool usage

The Merriam city council on Monday evening approved two items dealing with pool usage, both of which involve agreements with neighboring cities.

For the first item, Merriam entered into an inter-local agreement with Overland Park as a contingency plan if the new community center is not up and running by Memorial Day, which falls on May 25. The agreement would allow the Merriam Dolphins Swim and Dive team to use Young’s Pool, 8421 W. 77th Street, for practice during the six-week season.

Merriam will let Overland Park know the team needs to use the pool by May 1, and pay Overland Park $2,000 per the agreement, Parks and Recreation Director Anna Slocum said. Below are the parameters of the agreement, as outlined in city documents:

City approves resolution for Orizon expansion

Chanute commissioners approved a resolution Monday evening that clears a deal for Orizon Aerostructures’ expansion.

The item was a late addition to the agenda and consents to a subordination agreement on construction of Orizon’s third building. It will serve as collateral for Crossland Construction on a second mortgage to fund the project.

Orizon Chief Financial Officer Mark Deuel told commissioners that the building is 50 to 55 percent through construction and by the end of 2020, Orizon will have a $36 million investment in the location on 21st Street. The building will house $15 million in automated riveting equipment that can service either Boeing or Airbus products.

New Wichita mayor outlines top priorities for city

Wichita’s 102nd mayor swears in Monday, stepping into city leadership from his previous service as a Kansas legislature.

Brandon Whipple steps into his new role at a challenging time for the city with halted production of the 737 Max jet creating uncertainty for Wichita’s largest employer, Spirit AeroSystems, and thousands of its workers.

Whipple says some of his top priorities include working on stabilizing the local economy, working on transparency, and working on making Wichita one of the safest cities in the Midwest.

(Read more: KWCH News)

Can Kansas women go topless? Supreme Court leaves it unclear

The Supreme Court’s decision not to consider topless bans leaves a ruling in place that technically allows Kansas women to go topless. But a local political science professor said the legality of it is complicated.

On Monday the United States Supreme Court decided not to review a challenge to a New Hampshire ordinance banning women to be topless.

In 2016 three women were arrested for doing yoga topless on a New Hampshire beach. When they appealed their convictions the New Hampshire Supreme Court rejected the challenge, meaning tops on for women.

In 2019 the same issue went to court in Colorado, but a federal appeals court shot down the topless ban. Kansas is part of that appeal court’s jurisdiction.

(Read more: KSNT News)

Municipal Bond Trends for January 13, 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.

Remington superintendent helps chair state bullying task force

A state committee headed by a Butler County school superintendent finished its work to create a report on bullying, and expects action this month.

James Regier, superintendent of Remington-Whitewater Unified School District 206, and Dr. Rick Ginsberg, University of Kansas dean of education, served as co-chairs of the Blue Ribbon Task Force to examine issues of bullying in the state’s schools.

“It has been an honor to serve with this group of people,” Regier said. “They volunteered their time to tackle a difficult issue.”

(Read more: andoveramerican.com)

Spirit layoffs a tough hit to Wichita, but there’s ‘light at the end of the tunnel’

Was Friday a tough day in Wichita? No question.

Will Spirit AeroSystems’ 2,800 layoffs cause significant ripple effects for the entire community and beyond? Also no question.

Multipliers show that almost 5,800 jobs will be impacted in this market, and there will be a $220 million payroll impact from the Spirit workers alone if they’re not re-hired until 2021.

Due to lost retail sales tax collections, there could be a $1.25 million fiscal impact in Wichita, $617,000 in Sedgwick County and almost $13 million in the state.

Shawnee County Solid Waste introduces better way to recycle tires

Shawnee County Solid Waste is finding a better way to recycle the thousands of used tires it collects throughout the year.

Currently, the Solid Waste department doesn’t have a dedicated recycling system to manage all of the tires it gets.

But now, it will have a separate processor to recycle tires more easily.

(Read more: KSNT News)

Topeka Police unveils new initiative aimed at community relations

The Topeka Police Department is unveiling a new community relations initiative.

TPD is partnering with Strategic Leadership Academy, a community leadership program, to create a “steering committee” in Topeka.

The steering committee will be made up of law enforcement officials, city leaders and a variety of everyday Topekans. Police Chief Bill Cochran says he wants this to be a place for tough conversations.

“People don’t like to have tough conversations,” Cochran said. “They don’t like where they end up going a lot of times. If we have something like this in place, when it’s time to sit down and have those tough conversations, the hopes are that we will be able to get to a positive result.”

(Read more: KSNT News)

Pratt County cell tower disapproved for safety reasons

According to Randy Huitt, Fixed Base Operator for the Pratt Regional Airport, the proposed site location for the 260-foot cell tower is directly in the downwind pattern for landing to the south.

(Read more: Leavenworth Times)

Wichitans rally to kick off Century II petition drive

Supporters of an initiative petition to save Century II from destruction came to their kickoff event Monday with 200 yard signs — and left with none.

More than that many people stopped by to pick up petitions aimed at forcing City Hall to preserve the 51-year-old structure, targeted for demolition in the Riverfront Legacy Master Plan, details of which will be released Tuesday.

The petition proposed by the Save Century II group would prevent the city government from destroying any historically significant city-owned buildings without a public vote, specifically naming Century II and the former library as two buildings that would have to be protected.

(Read more: Local News |)

Coke or Pepsi? Wichita set to decide the eternal question for city golfers Tuesday

If you’re feeling a little dry while golfing at a Wichita public course, don’t ask for a Coke at the clubhouse.

You might better say “Pepsi, please.”

The City Council is expected to sign an exclusive agreement with Pepsi to supply all the soda pop for the city golf system for the next five years.

(Read more: Local News |)

ECF announces 2020 grant recipients

Seven non-profit organizations in the greater Emporia area will start 2020 on a much brighter note as they receive a total of $21,899.38 from the Emporia Community Foundation’s Grants Committee.

The ECF Grants Committee selected grants for innovative projects and programs based on meeting changing community needs in the areas of health, social service, education, recreation and cultural affairs.

“This year the ECF Grants Committee received 18 grant applications totaling over $147,000 for projects in the greater Emporia area.” ECF Executive Director Becky Nurnberg said. “The Committee carefully considered each application and the potential impact for the community. It took several meetings, but they arrived at seven awards that will help provide the selected non-profit organizations support for various projects they might otherwise be unable to offer to the people they serve. The grants will go for ventures that are as diverse as the communities the non-profits represent.

(Read more: Emporia Gazette)

Analysts Tell Lawmakers That Kansas Electric Rate-Making System Favors Utilities

An independent review of Kansas’ rising electricity prices shows the current system for setting rates could use some improvements.

In a lengthy report requested by state legislators and submitted by London Economics, analysts concluded three main things: The current ratemaking process has been slightly balanced in favor of utilities, regulators are limited in their ability to protect consumers from paying for underused investments (such as aging coal plants), and additional bill surcharges and have been a key driver of rising rates.

The report looked at rates from all Kansas electric utilities — from co-ops to municipals to Evergy, the largest utility in the state with about 1.5 million customers.

(Read more: here )

Wichita’s new mayor takes the oath of office

Brandon Whipple is now the mayor of Wichita. He was given the oath of office Monday evening during a special city council meeting at city hall.

In a brief statement after the swearing-in ceremony, Whipple said the event is about the future of Wichita, and he said he will be working with a diverse city council with experience, ready to take on the problems facing the city. He said as the city goes through changes in the future, he and the council will work together as “Team Wichita.”

City council members Becky Tuttle, Jeff Blubaugh and Bryan Frye took the oath of office to begin their second terms. The council plans to choose a vice mayor for 2020 at their next regular meeting Tuesday.

(Read more: KFDI 101.3)

Boeing travails begins to ripple, 2,800 jobs lost in Kansas

Problems for Boeing and its troubled 737 Max aircraft, which appear to be growing deeper, have begun to ripple outward with a major supplier announcing Friday that it will lay off more than 20% of its workforce in Kansas, where it is based.

The announcement of 2,800 layoffs at a major employer in Wichita, the state’s biggest city, come one day after documents became public showing that Boeing employees raised doubts about the safety of the 737 Max, apparently tried to hide problems from federal regulators, and ridiculed those responsible for designing and overseeing the jetliner.

(Read more: Area | derbyinformer.com)

Draft of Downtown Lawrence Master Plan envisions shift to ‘experience-based’ businesses

Within the next 20 years in downtown Lawrence, residents might not shop at a row of retail stores — instead, they might go “play with gadgets, meet with personal stylists” and visit a variety of “experience-based businesses” that offer unique services that you can’t buy online.

That’s the vision outlined in a newly released draft of the first sections of Lawrence’s new Downtown Master Plan, and some city leaders say it’s a reality that Lawrence needs to face in order to adapt to changing retail trends.

Municipal Bond Trends for January 10, 2020

Kansas’ recession hangover drives quest for economic development remedies

Brookings Institution policy director Marek Gootman moderated a panel discussion on economic development with a congressman, commerce secretary and chamber of commerce president.

Gootman, who works to bridge gaps between think-tank perspective and real-world action, ended up stealing his guests’ thunder with a buffet of statistics and theories about how technology, population, education and innovation factored into a region’s ability to match talent to opportunities for growth. And, he said, the metrics in Kansas add up to profound problems of economic competitiveness.

“Kansas and its economies have not recovered from the recession,” said Gootman, who considered conditions best in the Wichita and Kansas City markets. “The rest of the state? Brutal. More than twice as many people who are in that high-skill category than there are jobs to occupy them.”