USD 308 Board to consider further improvements to sports complex

The Hutchinson USD 308 School Board will consider further improvements to the USD 308 Soccer complex during Monday’s meeting. The district wants to make improvements to more fields and the one baseball practice field.

The project includes regrading the fields, installing new irrigation and then planting turf. The work will start with the two south soccer fields in the spring and the two north fields next fall.

The work will be done by Turf Solution who was also the contractor for the main soccer field renovation last year. The cost of the project is about $392-thousand along with an annual maintenance contract that is expected to cost less than $50-thousand per year.

(Read more: Hutch Post)

Ranson Financial2019-10-13T17:09:05-05:00October 13, 2019|News|

Hutch USD 308 to consider soccer fields upgrade

The Hutchinson Unified School District 308 Board of Education will consider at its 6 p.m. Monday meeting at the Administration Center, 1520 N. Plum St., a proposal to spend $392,356 on a soccer practice fields renovation project.

This represents Phase II and Phase III of the overall project.

Phase I included renovation of the soccer game field, as well as the baseball practice infield, and carried a cost of $351,269 when it came to the board in June 2018. It won approval on a 4-3 vote. Voting for that capital outlay expenditure were: Tad Dower, Valarie Gibson-Smith, Lance Patterson and Anette Roberson. Voting no were: Kail Denison, Greg Meredith and Randall Gray.

(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)

Ranson Financial2019-10-13T17:06:14-05:00October 13, 2019|News|

Work begins at future King of Freight office building in WaterWalk

After sitting vacant since Gander Mountain closed in 2017, the riverfront WaterWalk building will soon have some movement inside.

A building permit recently pulled by JACO General Contractor Inc. shows that $500,000 of tenant improvements are about to begin at 605 S. Wichita.

In May, the Wichita City Council approved an amended ground lease that cleared the way for King of Freight LLC to become the new tenant in the former Gander Mountain building. City documents showed the fast-growing freight brokerage had plans to turn it into the company’s new Wichita headquarters.

(Read more: Wichita Business Journal)

Ranson Financial2019-10-13T17:05:09-05:00October 13, 2019|News|

‘Annexation bonanza’ as city adds 500 acres

The city of Gardner, in what one councilmember described as an “annexation bonanza,” annexed almost 500 acres of land south of Interstate 35 during a council meeting Oct. 7.
The city also approved a major development agreement with a developer who plans to build retail, commercial and residential properties on parts of newly annexed lands.
The council approved a motion to annex 82 acres located along the north side of 199th street and south of I-35.
The council also approved a voluntary consent annexation of a series of parcels of land located along 199th street after receiving voluntary annexation requests from several property owners in the unincorporated area.

(Read more: Gardner News)

Ranson Financial2019-10-13T18:53:27-05:00October 13, 2019|News|

Lawrence high school student takes a seat on city advisory board, with a mission to save the environment

Lawrence now has its own teenage environmental advocate calling for action to address climate change.

But unlike Greta Thunberg — the Swedish girl who has traveled around the world to spread awareness about the dangers of global warming — Morgan Orozco, 16, said she was focused on her immediate community.

Manhattan wants to ban vaping inside future vape shops

The majority of Manhattan City Commission wants ban vaping in public parks, but commissioners are divided on whether to allow vaping in current and future e-cigarette shops.
Commissioners provided feedback Tuesday on signage, fines and their overall thoughts about vaping and smoking to Jared Wasinger, assistant to the city manager, as administrators seek to combine the e-cigarette and cigarette ordinances.

Park City appoints new city clerk

On Oct. 8, the Park City council unanimously approved Marlo Rugg as the new city clerk. She is a Park City resident and was already a city employee.

Rugg has served as the city’s payroll and benefits clerk since May of 2017. Before that, she was the city clerk in Kiowa for nearly a decade. She is certified as a Kansas municipal clerk.

“She has been a tremendous asset to the city and a valued member of the staff,” said City Administrator Sean Fox. “We’re very confident that she will continue to make a positive impact in her new role.”

Realtor group begins to worry about Lawrence’s growth policies; home sales forecast to decline slightly in 2020

Don’t expect Lawrence’s real estate market to regain its bounce in 2020, a Wichita State economist told Lawrence Realtors on Thursday.

A slight decline is more likely for the number of home sales next year. Stanley Longhofer, director of the WSU Center for Real Estate, is forecasting that home sales in 2020 will be down about 3.5% from this year’s totals. Longhofer is projecting 2019 will finish with home sales off by 3.4% from 2018 totals. All told, Longhofer is expecting Lawrence home sales to hit their lowest levels since 2015.

Emporia to revisit utility increases

Emporia City Commissioners may revisit utility rate increases that are set to go into effect next year.

Commissioners had approved what amounted to an overall 8 percent increase in city utilities — water, sewer and trash — that would amount to roughly an extra $6 on a bill for a household using 5,000 gallons of water each month.

But Finance Director Janet Harrouff said as she has been reviewing the city’s numbers, she found a number of issues between the city’s current water sales falling $200,000 below the budgeted amount and ongoing bond payment schedules that prompted her to do some refiguring.

(Read more: Emporia Gazette)

Ranson Financial2019-10-10T21:50:33-05:00October 10, 2019|News|

Zoning, sales tax discussed at joint city/county luncheon

Lyon County Commissioners, City of Emporia officials and representatives of local emergency agencies met for a joint city/county luncheon Wednesday in the Lyon County Courthouse.

City Planning and Zoning Officer Joe Foster took the opportunity to announce he and County Planning and Zoning Officer Sam Seeley would be releasing the second draft of the updated joint community zoning regulations by Oct. 22.

In addition to being made available for download at lyoncounty.org, Foster said there would also be a series of free public workshops for those wishing to learn more about the changes. The first will surround agriculture and be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 7 in the Lyon County Annex, 402 Commercial St., and will be followed by industrial and commercial workshops taking place at 6 p.m. Nov. 14 and 21 at the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce, 719 Commercial St. The series will wrap up with a seminar on residential zoning at 6 p.m. Dec. 5 in the Civic Building at 516 Mechanic St. The workshops — and resulting public input — will be compiled for use in the writing of the final zoning regulations draft later this year.

(Read more: Emporia Gazette)

Ranson Financial2019-10-10T20:27:44-05:00October 10, 2019|News|

USD 308 Board to consider further improvements to sports complex

Hutch USD 308 to consider soccer fields upgrade

Work begins at future King of Freight office building in WaterWalk

‘Annexation bonanza’ as city adds 500 acres

Lawrence high school student takes a seat on city advisory board, with a mission to save the environment

Manhattan wants to ban vaping inside future vape shops

Park City appoints new city clerk

Realtor group begins to worry about Lawrence’s growth policies; home sales forecast to decline slightly in 2020

Emporia to revisit utility increases

Zoning, sales tax discussed at joint city/county luncheon

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