Riley County is looking to better enforce short-term rental regulations. The county adopted short-term rental criteria in January 2022, when land development regulations came into effect. Because it can be difficult to enforce short-term rental regulations when someone doesn’t have a license, a county can use help from the state’s authority to set rules in place. Amanda Webb, the county’s planning director, said Monday she has been researching how other counties and cities in Kansas and Missouri regulate short-term rental properties. Webb referred to Independence, Missouri’s regulations as an example. The city of Independence limits the number of short term rentals in its code, allowing only one per eight residences within a block. Independence also requires a 500 foot distance from the property line of any existing or proposed STR.
Source: themercury.com – RSS Results in news of type article

The Manhattan city government is considering changing its policy to publish legal notices on its own website, taking advantage of a loophole in state law. City governments are required to notify the public about certain legal changes by publishing them in the local newspaper of record. They also go to the newspapers’ websites and the Kansas Press Association website in a searchable database, which is free to access. Kansas attorney general Kris Kobach in 2023 wrote an opinion that small cities (populations 2,000-15,000) could essentially opt out, citing “home rule.” Since then, a few city governments have considered posting legal notices only on their own sites. “It looks like we spend about $17,000 a year putting those notices in The Manhattan Mercury,” city manager Danielle Dulin said. “One of the conversations that we had this evening would be if we started using our website as that official notice instead of using The Manhattan Mercury.” Commissioner Jayme Minton said she sees benefits and potential concerns to changing the publication process. “Really I think that’s just something (that needs) more discussion,” she said. “If the community really wants us to continue with that, then I think that’s what we should do. If there’s not a lot of input from the community on it, if they’re saying, no, please spend our $17,000 somewhere else, then I think we should go that way.”
Source: themercury.com – RSS Results in news of type article

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Kristi Northcutt has been chosen as the next director of the Kansas Public Management Center, which is part of KU’s nationally recognized School of Public Affairs & Administration. Northcutt will begin her new role on May 12.
Source: LJWorld

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Registration is now open for the 3rd annual Rural Health and Prosperity Grants 101 Workshop. At the workshop, agencies will share valuable information on grant opportunities to support your community and organization, as well as discuss application best practices. This year’s workshop will be held April 8-9 in Emporia at the Granada Theatre.
Learn more here.

The Marion County Board of Commissioners met on Monday, March 10 to discuss the Aircraft Detection Lighting System (ADLS) lighting in the Sunflower Wind project area, which is located between Marion, Peabody and Florence. Planning/Zoning/Environmental Health Director Sharon Omstead opened the session by giving background to the packed room which included the board, Marion County Administrator Tina Spencer, Country Attorney Brad Janz, Orsted (the company that handled the Sunflower Wind project) representatives Danny Sears-Greer, Jase Sherwood, Joshua Svaty and Zoe Weinstein and members of the public. Omstead explained that the wind farm was required to install the ADLS lights and use them, which they did. “However there was a warranty issue, and the lights weren’t working as we had hoped. And so they default to blink so that’s a safety factor,” said Omstead. “This has been going on for a while, and Orsted has been kind of battling out this warranty issue. It’s a new technology, it’s just taken a long time to work out the kinks. So the commission requested that Orsted come in and talk about why it has taken so long.”g.
Source: Hillsboro Free Press

The Kansas Supreme Court, overturning decisions by two lower courts, has ruled in favor of a developer who sued the city of Shawnee five years ago over the city council’s denial of a large apartment project. The high court announced its ruling on Friday in favor of Austin Properties, a development company that wants to build the 29-acre Woodsonia West multi-family development off Kansas Highway 7. The decision throws the project’s fate back to the city, though it’s unclear when Austin might bring the plan back before the city council. The decision stems from a lawsuit Austin Properties filed in 2020, alleging the city acted unreasonably and unlawfully by denying the Woodsonia West plan.
Source: Johnson County Post