Kansas Municipal News
KDOT projects population growth for Crawford County
In a recent study by KDOT, Crawford County is the only county in Southeast Kansas expected to grow in population.
Last week, Pittsburg city leaders went to a conference held by the Secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation.
The conference was held to show how transportation plays a large role in population growth.
The state department predicts Crawford County to grow about 14 percent between 2014 and 2044.
In addition, the study revealed that the county has seen a four percent increase in the number of 20 to 39-year-olds in the area.
(Read more: KSNF/KODE – FourStatesHomepage.com)
Sedgwick County Commissioners, Wichita’s Police and Fire Chiefs rappel down hotel for good cause
This afternoon, Sedgwick County Commissioners Lacey Cruse and Jim Howell will rappel down the Ambassador Hotel, 104 S. Broadway, as part of the Access the Ledge fundraiser for Project Access. The first 70 fundraisers who raised a minimum of $1,000 in donations for Project Access were allowed to rappel down the building.
Commissioner Cruse was scheduled to rappel at 4 p.m. and Commissioner Howell at 5 p.m.
“This is probably one of the craziest things I’ve ever done but knowing that one in seven residents in this community goes without healthcare is even crazier.” Commissioner Cruse said. “I’m happy to bring attention and awareness to this issue and if it means rappelling of a 14-story building to do so … well so be it!”
(Read more: KWCH News)
Wellington police use Facebook memes to reduce theft
If you follow the Wellington Police Department’s Facebook page, you have no doubt seen the memes that show up at 9 p.m., reminding residents to lock their houses, cars and not to leave any expensive belongings in their cars.
“It is another way for us to reach out to our community just to take another reduction out of property crime,” Wellington Police Chief Tracy Heath said.
Seventy to 80% of crime in the city is property theft, Heath said. Living in a small town, people might think they are safe or it’s never going to happen to them, but “we still see the array of crime the big city does,” Heath said.
(Read more: Leavenworth Times)
Oktoberfest coming to Liberal?
The Liberal community could have a new event to mark on the calendar in October after a presentation to the Liberal City Commission during its most recent meeting Tuesday night.
Kris Musgrave and Greg Standard came before the commission Tuesday night to propose a new event to help engage the downtown area.
“Our Masonic Lodge, when I came back, was very small, but it’s been growing exponentially,” Musgrave said. “We’ve acquired about eight new members in the past two years and our lodge is one of the faster-growing ones in Kansas right now. We’re working on putting together more things for the community and we give out special awards to teachers and students in USD 480 every year. So we’re working on expanding our presence in the community and one of the things we’re especially working on is a downtown rejuvenation project. And many of us in the lodge and in the community have German descent, so we thought it would be fun to have our version of Oktoberfest. When this idea was initially born, I contacted Alicia [Hidalgo] with the City about it and she suggested I talk to Cal [Burke] about it. So I talked to Cal and he said ‘This is great, it’s what our downtown needs and it will get a lot of people involved!’ and then he told me to come talk to the commission about it. So here I am.”
(Read more: Liberal First)
WPD joins hundreds of police forces partnering with doorbell-camera company Ring
The Wichita Police Department has joined a growing number of law enforcement agencies nationwide partnering with Amazon-owned doorbell camera company Ring in an effort to make neighborhoods safer.
Lt. Patrick Leon said Thursday that the department’s involvement with Ring began in February. But starting in September, Ring , based on information it receives from its customers, will able to send alerts to the police department’s community policing officers notifying them of crimes in Wichita neighborhoods.
The officers will then be able to ask Ring to contact subscribers to the company’s video-recording service to request copies of any footage that doorbell cameras may have captured of an event.
(Read more: Local News |)
McPherson City Commission annexes land and considers CID
Land development was the hot action item during the McPherson City Commission meeting, Monday morning.
Commissioners first considered a motion to annex an area of land in the Eastlinks Development, Premier Subdivision and Barnstormers Development. Nick Gregory, city administrator, explained the city is in the process of spreading special assessments on several of the lots in the developments. During that process, it came to their attention that additional property needed to be annexed in the city of McPherson for the city to spread and collect special assessments.
Commissioners reviewed a map of the requested area to be annexed and approved the motion. Gregory also advised the developer, Strawn Development, Inc., has begun to plat the property being annexed so the properties can be developed. They are working with a surveyor to develop plats on both parcels.
(Read more: McPherson Weekly News » Feed)
KDOT seeking applications
The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is announcing a call for projects for the 2021 Transportation Alternatives (TA) Program.
KDOT’s TA Program provides funding for a variety of alternative transportation projects. These include the construction of pedestrian and bicycle facilities and infrastructure for non-driver access to public transportation, projects that enhance safety and mobility for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders, projects that improve scenic or environmental assets in the state, Safe Routes to School projects and more.
(Read more: News – The Garden City Telegram)
Momentum 2022: Developing, retaining educated workforce key factors for community success
One of the key components to the Greater Topeka Partnership’s Momentum 2022 idea is developing homegrown talent. Doing this requires two key elements: One is creating an educated workforce, the second is keeping educated workers in Topeka.
“Cities continue to prosper on the ideas and work of the next generation,” Washburn University president Jerry Farley said. “Topeka’s graduates today are the interns and new hires of tomorrow that businesses need to continue operating and to keep generating new ideas. Topeka’s school districts constantly strive to enhance educational opportunities for all students to not only provide a holistic, quality education but because those administrators and educators, who live and work in Topeka, know those children are the future of our community.”
(Read more: News – The Topeka Capital-Journal)
Johnson County Mental Center offering free mental health education in schools across county
The Johnson County Mental Health Center this week announced a new program to bring mental health education to all public and private schools in Johnson County.
Introduction of the digital resource, Mental Wellness Basics, is a direct result of efforts by the #ZeroReasonsWhy initiative, a collaboration of school districts in Johnson County to address the growing issue of teen suicide.Starting this fall semester, the mental health center will be providing the program at no cost to schools.
Tim DeWeese, director of the Johnson County Mental Health Center, said an education component has been part of the strategic plan for the #ZeroReasonsWhy initiative.
(Read more: Prairie Village Post – Neighborhood news and events for Prairie Village, Fairway, Mission Hills)
Overland Park in the top five in WalletHub survey
The personal finance website WalletHub has released its 2019’s Best Real-Estate Markets and a Kansas community did very well.
“We looked at over 300 cities of varying sizes across the United States,” said analyst Jill Gonzalez. “A lot of Kansas cities did pretty well. Overland Park, Kansas did the best. It came in at number 3 overall.”
The real estate market is about more than just price.
(Read more: WIBW News Now)
Wichita Leaders, Community To Celebrate Improvements To 9th Street
State and local leaders will join with Wichita residents this weekend to celebrate improvements made to Ninth Street from Hillside to I-135.
The $3.5 million project completed over the last year includes paving, drainage and pedestrian upgrades throughout the corridor. More than 100 residents also collaborated with local artist Ellamonique Baccus by painting and placing tiles on a Kwanzaa Plaza and a new mural titled “Cultivating the Seeds of Our Future.”
(Read more: RSS Feed)
Douglas County Commission approves program to offer tax relief for homes damaged in May tornado
Some Douglas County residents whose homes were damaged during the May 28 tornado will receive tax relief from the county government.
The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday approved the creation of a program that gives County Appraiser Steven Miles the ongoing authority to process and approve applications for tax abatements to those residents. The program is slightly different from what the commission was originally considering, which would have called for the commissioners themselves to give final approval to batches of applications.
The abatements, which are property tax reductions, vary for each property based on the amount of their assessed damage. To qualify for the abatements, Miles said a property’s estimated repair cost must equal at least half of the property’s fair market value.
Read more: LJWorld.com.
New signs for Marion County roads
All Marion County road signs will be replaced because many are missing or in poor condition.
County engineer Brice Goebel said emergency medical services director Travis Parmley has asked for replacement signs because missing and rotated signs confuse many drivers.
Goebel said signs along Mustang Rd. are a problem because people take down the signs for themselves.
(Read more: Marion County RECORD)
Newton moves forward with Sunday sales election
There will be a vote on whether or not alcohol can be sold by retailers on Sundays by Newton businesses. The commission approved a resolution more than two months ago that could allow for Sunday sales of alcohol. That resolution was subject to a 60-day protest period. During that period, a valid protest petition was filed with the Harvey County Clerk’s Office — meaning that if Sunday sales are to become a reality, it will require a public vote.
(Read more: Newton Kansan)
Shawnee updating sign code, design guidelines for downtown district
Shawnee is in the process of updating its sign code and design guidelines after a downtown business requested city approval for a projecting sign.
Pegah’s Family Restaurant in June had requested approval from the planning commission on a new projecting sign at its downtown location, 11005 Johnson Drive. City staff and planning commissioners were concerned that the sign was “too large and out of scale for the building facade,” according to city documents.
The planning commission’s approval of the sign at the time called for a reduction of the overall size of the sign. The planning commission then directed city staff to review the city’s projecting sign requirements.
(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post – Community news and events for northeast Johnson County)
Winfield, Ark City to continue recycling despite rising costs
Local recycling programs are continuing even as other cities are abandoning the service due to market changes and rising costs.
Earlier this year, the cities of Winfield and Arkansas City announced they are working together to continue their joint recycling program after recycling collector Waste Connections announced a rate increase.
The cities also requested a proposal for a longer-term contract with Waste Connections that would specify the rate structure and necessary notification time frames for any future rate changes.
The costs have risen as China, once the primary market for recyclables, has stopped taking materials from the United States, Winfield Community Development Director Patrick Steward said.
(Read more: The Arkansas City Traveler)
Neosho County commission discusses public comment moratorium
Neosho County Commissioners backtracked Thursday evening on the issue of public comments and heard from a frequent critic of the Neosho Ridge Wind project.
After attending a seminar in Independence on open meetings and talking to other counties about how they conduct meetings, commissioners last week discussed removing public comments from the agenda. This week, Commission Chair Gail Klaassen had a copy of a resolution passed in 2010 that sets a public comment time. Although the discussion Thursday did not mention any time requirements, it left certain matters to the commission’s discretion – such as whether many of people on the same topic could be represented by one spokesperson.
(Read more: The Chanute Tribune)
City of Garden City Receives $30,000 ‘Meet Me at the Park’ Grant to Increase Access to Local Play Spaces
The City of Garden City has been selected to receive a $30,000 play space grant from the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and The Walt Disney Company. This investment supports NRPA and Disney’s combined goal of providing one million kids and families with greater access to play.
As part of the national Meet Me at the Park Play Spaces grant program, park and recreation agencies across the country were invited to share their best ideas on increasing access to play spaces for children and families in their communities. Agencies with the most innovative
and impactful project ideas were chosen to receive $30,000 grants to build their projects.
(Read more: Western Kansas News)
Judge dismisses lawsuit to block wind farm plans
A district judge has dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit seeking to block development of a wind farm in Marion County.
The lawsuit, originally filed May 16, was against wind farm developer Expedition Wind, the board of county commissioners, and the county clerk.
A dismissal with prejudice means the plaintiffs cannot bring another lawsuit based on the same claims.
(Read more: Marion County RECORD)
Durham resident buys post office building
Durham resident Wendel Cook has purchased a flood-damaged building to keep the town from losing its post office.
Durham’s post office, damaged by four feet of flooding July 4, could be in business again as early as a month from now.
Former building owner John Ratzlaff, who lives six miles from Buhler, said he didn’t want to have to renovate and restore the building.
(Read more: Marion County RECORD)