Kansas Municipal News
Manhattan Parks and Rec hopes to begin work on new recreation facilities in 2020
As the Manhattan Parks & Recreation Department looks ahead to 2020, a major focus will be placed on facility improvements, including recreation facilities that will be constructed at the two Manhattan middle schools.
Parks and Rec officials are anticipating a fast moving process for the two recreation centers.
“The two middle school recreation centers that we’re working on jointly with the school district shared-use facilities, they’re in a final-design step right now and we hope to start construction on those in 2020 and have those open and available for the community in 2021,” Eddie Eastes, the director for Manhattan Parks and Rec, said.
(Read more: 1350 KMAN)
‘Reverse Robin Hood syndrome’: Overland Park Council approves $200M tax break deal
Neighbors have fought the deal for more than five years.
But as Monday night’s Overland Park City Council meeting extended into Tuesday, residents learned they finally lost the battle — just barely. After four hours of discussion, the City Council approved a $200 million tax incentive deal for the redevelopment of the Brookridge Golf Course, northeast of Interstate 435 and Antioch Road.
Council members previously voted down the $2 billion development deal, which includes turning a portion of the golf course into luxury apartments, retail and offices.
(Read more: Joco 913 News)
Taxable boom may undermine the case for the muni tax-exemption
There is a small but growing concern among some municipal market participants that the increasing popularity of taxable muni bonds could begin to undermine the community’s traditional argument to protect the tax exemption.
The proliferation of taxable muni deals this year is the result of a combination of factors, most prominently the loss of tax-exempt advance refundings in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and a low interest rate environment that has narrowed the spread between tax-exempt and taxable bonds. Analysts, lawyers, and lobbyists remain dedicated to the preservation of the tax exemption, but some said that an extended continuation of these conditions could make that struggle harder.
“Our number one concern in the advocacy arena is maintaining the tax exemption,” said Brett Bolton, vice president at Bond Dealers of America.
(Read more: Bond Buyer: Feed)
Johnson County Police Academy will significantly increase recruits’ training on mental health, de-escalation
Starting in 2020, recruits going through the Johnson County Regional Police Academy will receive 21 hours of training on mental health and deescalation — eight hours more than required under Kansas law.
The change, approved by the Johnson County Chiefs and Sheriffs Association last week, comes as local law enforcement agencies are seeing more and more calls involving people experiencing mental health issues.
(Read more: Prairie Village Post)
Lawrence City Commission to consider expanding fast-track incentives program
Lawrence city commissioners will soon decide if they want to expand the city’s fast-track incentives program for industrial projects, allowing a beverage distribution company to apply for incentives under the program.
As part of its meeting Tuesday, the commission will consider expanding the Catalyst incentive program to allow applications from industrial expansion projects in Lawrence VenturePark and on privately owned property within the city. Currently, only industrial expansion projects in East Hills Business Park qualify for the program. New construction for industrial purposes in either business park or anywhere else in the city also qualifies.
Read more: LJWorld.com.
Incoming mayor Jennifer Ananda excited for ‘a year of change’
When Jennifer Ananda dropped off her forms to become a Lawrence City Commission candidate in 2017, she said she was literally shaking.
“It’s scary to put yourself out there,” Ananda said. “You’re saying ‘Please tell me that you find me appropriate for this.’ It’s very public and it’s very vulnerable.”
Ananda need not have worried, as she finished second in the election, earning her not only a spot on the commission but a four-year term and the position of vice mayor this year. And come Tuesday, if city commissioners stick with tradition as expected, she is set to become Lawrence’s next mayor.
Read more: LJWorld.com.
Arkansas River Compact Administration to Meet December 5 in Colorado
The Arkansas River Compact Administration (ARCA) annual meeting will be held on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. MST at the Otero Junior College Student Center, 2001 San Juan Ave. in La Junta, CO. The meeting agenda is posted on ARCA’s website at https://www.co-ks-arkansasrivercompactadmin.org/.
ARCA administers provisions of the Kansas–Colorado Arkansas River Compact, including operations of the John Martin Reservoir. Topics to be covered at the annual meeting include a review of John Martin Reservoir operations, compliance update, committee reports, and updates from state and federal agencies.
ARCA’s Operations, Administrative and Legal, and Engineering committees will meet on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. MST also at the Otero Junior College Student Center.
(Read more: Rural Messenger)
Pott. County Commission approves final design and specifications for the Public Works Fleet Maintenance Facility; discusses traffic-signal project and purchase of equipment for fire department
Pottawatomie County Commissioners approved the final design and specifications for the Public Works Fleet Maintenance Facility during their meeting Monday.
These were brought to the commission last week but weren’t approved due to some concerns about finances and aspects of the design.
“The first one was where does our current CIP (capital improvement plan) Fund sit financially?” Peter Clark, the public works director for Pottawatomie County, said. “How much money do we have? Where will we be at the end of the year in that fund after some of our projected transfers? And the last question was related to some particular points in the design, specifically about how the CMU wall on the exterior would interact with the foundation relative to moisture penetration.”
Clark says these issues were satisfactorily addressed and the project can now move on to the next phase.
The project will be advertised for construction bids on January 6th during the county commission’s weekly meeting.
(Read more: 1350 KMAN)
Learning center is pathway to diplomas in Kiowa County
The 21st Century Learning Academy in the Kiowa County school system has graduated more than 50 students per year over the past 10 years. These students have been high school seniors or adults, but they are 50 people who might otherwise never had the chance to earn a diploma.
Student enrollment tends to change from day to day because of open enrollment allowed throughout the school year, Brian Deterding, USD 422 principal said that students enroll, drop, and graduate on a fairly regular basis.
Students in the virtual school fall into 1 of 3 categories. Charter students are sixth- to 12th-grade students that are younger than 19. Learning Academy students are adult students. Credit recovery students are students who attend another school, but they are taking a class in order to try to regain a credit for failing a class in their own school.
(Read more: Leavenworth Times)
Meet and greet for Reno County administrator candidates set for Wednesday
The Reno County Commissioners on Wednesday will interview candidates for county administrator to replace Gary Meagher, who is retiring as administrator at the end of the year.
The public is invited to a meet and greet reception for the candidates from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Crystal Ballroom, 3 W. Ave B.
Candidate details will be announced Tuesday, according to Reno County human resources director Renee Harris.
(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)
Shawnee County Commission OKs hiring of crime data analyst after hearing from burglary victim
Soon after creating a new job for a sheriff’s office employee who will use data to combat crime, Shawnee County commissioners heard Monday from one of their department heads who was personally violated by burglaries committed last week as she slept.
“I’m standing before you not just as an employee but as a citizen of Shawnee County and, most importantly, as a mother,” said human resources director Angela Lewis.
Last Wednesday night, she said, “someone broke into our home while we were sleeping and stole my car and my purse and burglarized our home.”
Lewis indicated the garage door opener from her car was used to gain entry into her home.
(Read more: Local – The Topeka Capital-Journal)
Topeka to share details about proposed utility rate increases
Topeka’s city government will share information about proposed increase in utility rates the city assesses during a public meeting from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, 1515 S.W. 10th Ave.
The city’s utilities government asked the city’s mayor and council last month to raise utility rates each year from 2021 through 2025 to cope with what it describes as a “crisis” the city faces because of its aging utility infrastructure.
The mayor and council are being asked to later consider raising rates each year in 2021, 2022 and 2023 by 9% for water, 9% for stormwater runoff and 1% for wastewater, or sewer, services; and in both 2024 and 2025 by 8% for water, 8% for stormwater and 1% for wastewater.
(Read more: Local – The Topeka Capital-Journal)
Cities Target Alcohol Licensing As a Way to Fight Crime
Over the past few decades, numerous studies have found that alcohol consumption is associated with a significant portion of homicides. Often, these murders and other violent crimes happen in the vicinity of alcohol outlets, leading cities to take on zoning and licensing ordinances as a means of controlling crime.
A new report from CityHealth, a policy research organization, grades the nation’s 40 largest cities on their efforts to reduce the density of liquor outlets, impose operating conditions on alcohol retailers, and become more deliberate in their processes granting and renewing alcohol licenses.
Eight cities, including Chicago, Boston, and Las Vegas, received a gold medal, meaning they have a policy that applies to all alcohol sales, addresses public safety, and authorizes the city to close an alcohol retailer. Another eight cities, including San Francisco, Memphis, and Nashville, received a silver medal, meaning they had a law that applies only to some alcohol sales, such as policies that apply only to new retailers. The remaining 24 cities did not have such policies in place.
(Read more: Route Fifty – All Content)
Topeka City Council to consider compromise for camping ban
A Topeka City Council committee met eight times over 18 months to deliberate over a proposal that initially would have banned camping on public property, including sidewalks, and on private property without the owner’s written consent. After a conversation that came to include members of the local homeless community, committee members Sylvia Ortiz, Karen Hiller and Mike Padilla voted 3-0 last month to recommend the council approve a compromise version of that measure.
(Read more: Local Government – The Topeka Capital-Journal)
Shawnee Mission attorneys’ brief in teacher contract dispute says district can’t keep deficit spending
The salary proposal put forth by the National Education Association – Shawnee Mission would force the district to dip into reserves and leave it with less than a month’s worth of operating expenses on hand after three years, according to the attorneys representing the district administration in its contract dispute with teachers.
In a pre-conference brief filed with the Kansas Department of Labor last week, the attorneys lay out the district’s arguments for the two-year contract offer it had on the table when mediated negotiations broke down in September.
(Read more: Prairie Village Post – Neighborhood news and events for Prairie Village, Fairway, Mission Hills)
Lenexa approves final plans for Stortropolis Self Storage near Falcon Valley Golf Course
Neighboring residents had raised a number of concerns in September about the possible intrusiveness of the project to their neighborhood, including issues with increased traffic and crime and decreased property values.
Since then, the developer, Schlagel & Associates, made a few changes to the architectural design and screening from the neighboring homes. This included slightly lowering the height of one of the buildings, and removed signage and reduced the number of windows on the north side of Building A (the building closest to Price Chopper).
(Read more: Prairie Village Post)
Sedgwick County to continue mental health care program
Sedgwick County will continue its Integrated Care Team (ICT-1) program, which had a pilot run from July 30 to Oct. 31.
The care team treated 205 patients within Sedgwick County and spent an average of three hours with each patient during the 90-day period, according to a county release. The team was also able to treat 51 percent of patients in place, transferring 16 percent of patients to a different local resource, such as EMS or law enforcement.
Throughout the pilot program, a total of 329 public safety resources (law enforcement units, fire trucks, and ambulances) were able to respond to other emergencies. The team was able to prevent 114 visits to the COMCARE Crisis Center and 92 trips to the emergency room.
(Read more: Area | derbyinformer.com)
Crawford County Health Department receives $2,500 grant from the Aetna better health of Kansas partners in community grants program
The Crawford County Health Department was awarded $2,500 from Aetna Better Health of Kansas via the company’s Partners in Community Grant Program.
“We are delighted to provide this grant to the Crawford County Health Department” said David Livingston, Chief Executive Officer, Aetna Better Health of Kansas in a release. “Our Partners in Community Grant Program is designed to empower local organizations and community partners across the state, providing resources for many individuals, including our members.
“As a company, we are committed to continuing work with like-minded organizations including the Crawford County Health Department, encouraging Kansans to live better, healthier lives.”
(Read more: Community – Morning Sun)
Grant awarded to face opioid abuse in Reno County
The Reno County Health Department and Community Drug Impact Task Force have been awarded a $150,000 federal grant to respond to opioid abuse in Reno County.
The “Overdose Data to Action” grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be spread over three years, starting in 2020.
The grant’s intent is to collect better data on drug misuse and overdoses in the county and develop community responses to support intervention, according to the CDC website.
(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)
Why Wichita is building a three-lane bridge on a four-lane street
Wichita is about to build a three-lane bridge in the middle of a four-lane street.
Starting Monday, Harry will be closed to traffic at the Arkansas River for a $4.2 million bridge replacement project.
Where the current bridge has two lanes in each direction, the new bridge will have one lane on each side for through traffic and a center lane for westbound cars turning south onto McLean.
(Read more: Local News |)