City hears issues with abandoned homes

Angela Johnson first spoke to the commission about homes around her parents’ house at 2519 Gabriel. Johnson said her parents have a panoramic view around their property of run-down houses.
“It’s horrific,” she said. Kenneth and Diane Johnson have kept their home in good shape and have made updates over the years, Angela Johnson said, and they have bought other nearby properties and demolished the homes there in an effort to keep their surroundings pleasant and their home value up. Their efforts, however, have been to no avail as more homes become abandoned. Now, many of those houses have become a haven for pests such as skunks and opossums, Johnson said, as well as vagrants. There is a foul odor coming from one home, and Johnson’s father said some of the homes have black mold.
Source: Parsons Sun

Ranson Financial2021-04-20T08:06:30-05:00April 20, 2021|News|

SEK library reopens after suffering flood damage

Two years ago, a devastating flood resulted in the doors being closed at the Johnston Public Library in Baxter Springs. The long road to recovery was made even longer thanks to the pandemic. Now – a sense of normalcy has returned and the doors have re-opened. Mary Hixon, Board of Directors President, said, “It just felt like just one thing after another, just making decisions constantly.” On October 23rd 2019, the Johnston Public Library woke up to one of their worst nightmares. Andrea Bresee, Johnston Public Library Director, said, “We had a pipe burst in the attic, and it went from the second floor, flooded half of that floor and went on down to the first floor and literally rained into the first floor.”
Source: KSNF/KODE

Ranson Financial2021-04-20T08:05:27-05:00April 20, 2021|News|

Municipal Bond Trends for April 19, 2021

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.

Ranson Financial2021-04-20T07:57:57-05:00April 20, 2021|News|

Johnson County considers next steps to address countywide housing inequities

Without the willingness of Johnson County’s elected leadership to work toward equitable, attainable housing solutions and achieve buy-in from residents, the challenges for people trying to afford to live here will probably only grow worse over time. That’s according to a report earlier this month to the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners, when county leaders received an overview of the results of a housing study and considered next steps for the county to take. “To me, this is a shared responsibility,” said Julie Brewer, executive director of United Community Services of Johnson County, who led the discussion on April 8. Brewer said cities in Johnson County should also be intentional about housing solutions, and employers should also recognize what is necessary for a ready and able workforce. Cities and the county can incentivize developments to build affordable housing, and incentivize businesses to pay a living wage so that middle- and lower-income individuals and families can afford to live in Johnson County.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post

Ranson Financial2021-04-20T08:12:57-05:00April 20, 2021|News|

The power of wastewater: $2M grant will help KSU researcher explore ways to clean, use it

A $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will help Kansas State University researchers create new resources from sewage. The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced awards totaling $27.5 million for water infrastructure projects in 13 states, including Kansas. All the projects awarded by the Department of Energy focus on developing treatment techniques to produce renewable power, extract any chemicals and fertilizers from wastewater, and reuse water locally, while minimizing energy consumption and waste. The project at K-State receiving federal funding involves using what’s called an Integrated Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR). Associate professor of civil engineering Prathap Parameswaran said this technology enables carbon material in wastewater to be converted into something useful.
Source: themercury.com

Ranson Financial2021-04-20T07:53:08-05:00April 19, 2021|News|

Kansas opts for bonding to help consumers with energy price shocks, transition from coal

Gov. Laura Kelly signed bipartisan legislation stretching over time consumers’ payment of exorbitant natural gas costs incurred during the February freeze and to offer financial incentive for utility companies weighing transition from old coal plants to newer solar or wind sources of electricity. The law’s most immediate result would be issuance by public utilities such as Kansas Gas Service of ratepayer-backed bonds so customers had years instead of months to pay extraordinary utility bills. The long-term consequence was that investor-owned utilities, including Evergy, would be permitted to issue bonds covered by ratepayers that softened the risk of taking a step away from coal. Bonding, also referred to as securitization, has been relied upon in a couple dozen states to help utility companies deal with undepreciated investments in aging coal plants. In Kansas, much of that investment was in emissions control equipment installed to tame some of the country’s biggest coal-plant polluters.
Source: Kansas Reflector

Ranson Financial2021-04-20T07:54:29-05:00April 19, 2021|News|

A ‘Golden’ opportunity

Nearly 300 residents in northern Miami County are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to protecting their rural property from future industrial growth and development. The group filed a petition Friday, April 9, in the Miami County Clerk’s Office to incorporate a new third class city named “Golden.” The city would encompass about nine square miles north of Hillsdale Lake, and the population would be 776, according to the petition’s documents. Jennifer Williams, who lives along Moonlight Road within the proposed city boundaries, filed the petition Friday after working with others during the past few weeks collecting more than 275 signatures from residents within the proposed boundary lines who support the plan.Source: Local News | republic-online.com

Ranson Financial2021-04-20T08:04:18-05:00April 19, 2021|News|

Real Estate market increasingly competitive amid pandemic

So with those important middle income houses harder to come by, it’s made things difficult to grow a city’s population. But this hasn’t stopped Fort Scott City Manager Jeremy Frazier. He sees potential in some of the city’s other properties. Jeremy Frazier, Fort Scott City Manager, said, “What we discovered is that we have a lot of homes that are low to moderate income homes, and we have a few homes that are on the higher end of that scale.” So Fort Scott officials want to take advantage of these properties. “We’re trying to market those lots for in field development to developers who are interested in that middle, moderate income housing style home, and we have quite a bit of that available that is mainly not city owned property, but we’re trying to connect those developers with those owners.” To help build needed momentum the city can use for its future.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Ranson Financial2021-04-20T07:56:52-05:00April 19, 2021|News|

A day in the life of Kansas’ newest career: a wheat and wind farmer

When Chance Jacobson graduated high school, he faced a conundrum likely familiar to many young people who grew up in the rural plains. He’d spent the past 18 years on his family farm about 40 miles east of Salina learning the trade from his father and grandfather. “I wanted to farm with my dad, and there just wasn’t enough money,” Jacobson said. “Between my dad and grandpa farming together, and for me to come in and be the third person in the operation, there just wasn’t really room for me.” He’d be the sixth generation farmer on this land if he stayed, and with their family operation growing crops and raising cattle, they could use the help. But in the rural area where he grew up, the nearest town unincorporated long ago, there were limited options for supplemental income.
Source: Wichita News

Ranson Financial2021-04-20T07:57:14-05:00April 19, 2021|News|

Atchison area leaders discuss tax rebate program and future of sales tax

The Atchison County and Atchison City Commission met jointly for the first time in three years to discuss a pair of hot button topics and the state of the city and county as a whole last Thursday at the Atchison Event Center. The two talking points of the meeting was the renewal of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program before the end of October and the future of the 1% Sales Tax. The tax rebate program is a five-year deal that is set to expire Oct. 31, 2021 after going into action October, 15 2016.
Source: City Government | atchisonglobenow.com

Ranson Financial2021-04-20T07:55:17-05:00April 19, 2021|News|

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