Humboldt readies for winter gas prices. A revised plan helps avoid market fluctuations

19 Friday, January 19

Humboldt readies for winter gas prices. A revised plan helps avoid market fluctuations

info2024-01-19T10:47:34-06:00January 19th, 2024|

Almost three years out from the “perfect terrible storm,” Cole Herder, Humboldt administrator, says the city is on much better footing should it find itself in another prolonged deep freeze. Beginning Feb. 9, 2021, much of the country’s middle section was held in the icy grips of a polar vortex. To make matters worse, clouds hung low blocking the sun and the winds did not blow, forcing municipalities to forgo their reliance on wind and solar to help power utilities. Sensing chaos, natural gas utility producers took advantage of the surge in demand. Prices surged from $3 to more than $600 per unit in [...]

19 Friday, January 19

City commissioners say KSU should continue paying for fire services

info2024-01-19T10:43:30-06:00January 19th, 2024|

Manhattan city commissioners Tuesday said Kansas State University should continue to pay for fire services. City staff asked commissioners to consider updating an agreement with K-State that since 1994 has allowed the university to receive fire services on property located outside city limits. As previously reported, to pay for those services, the city had been withholding an increasing amount every year, now around $225,000, in city/university fund revenue instead of transferring money to that fund. However, the new agreement calls for the city to provide fire services to K-State for free in exchange for the university allowing the fire department’s headquarters [...]

19 Friday, January 19

Shawnee County Commission and Topeka City Council come together for a common cause

info2024-01-19T07:54:36-06:00January 19th, 2024|

The Shawnee County Commission and Topeka City Council had never held a joint meeting to focus on a specific issue during Kevin Cook's 11 years on the commission. That changed Wednesday[as] members shared ideas for dealing with this community's problems regarding homelessness in a joint meeting at Topeka's Great Overland Station. Source: CJonline

18 Thursday, January 18

Municipal Bond Trends for January 17, 2024

Henry Schmidt2024-01-18T09:00:12-06:00January 18th, 2024|

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. 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.

17 Wednesday, January 17

Lawrence City Commission approves new historic resources code, adds 2 locations to historic register

info2024-01-17T11:02:27-06:00January 17th, 2024|

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved the replacement of the Conservation of Historic Resources Code with an updated version. Lawrence established the historic resources code as article 33 of the city code in 1988. This chapter, designed to conserve historic resources, mandated a review every five years. However, it had not been reviewed since its inception. In 2014, the Historic Resources Commission was advised to assess and suggest changes. A subcommittee identified significant modifications, leading to a complete revision proposal. The biggest changes in the revised chapter encompassed aspects such as allowing administrative review for most projects and streamlining the approval [...]

17 Wednesday, January 17

Burrton considering selling natural gas

info2024-01-17T11:01:04-06:00January 17th, 2024|

The City of Burrton is considering selling off its natural gas, but City Clerk Kim Ryan said the decision wasn’t final. Ryan said the city had received interest from both the Kansas Gas Service and Black Hills Energy. The Kansas Gas Service set the original deadline for Feb. 4 but extended it for a later meeting. Ryan said the city plans to have a meeting on Feb. 5 and expects a decision to be made by the middle of February. According to Ryan, the city is considering selling because of all the state regulations. “You almost need a couple of full time people [...]

17 Wednesday, January 17

Joint city-county meeting to focus on homelessness and housing strategic plan

info2024-01-17T11:00:03-06:00January 17th, 2024|

The Lawrence City Commission and Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will hold a joint meeting to review the strategic plan to address homelessness and hear updates on progress. The commissions will not take any binding action but will discuss collaboration between the governing bodies going forward, according to the agenda. Both commissions heard reports on the draft plan in spring of 2023, and city/county staff members held public engagement meetings to gather community feedback over the next couple of months. The plan has since been revised, and the final draft was completed in December, according to the presentation in the meeting agenda. The joint [...]

17 Wednesday, January 17

Waging war on snow, ice

info2024-01-17T10:58:34-06:00January 17th, 2024|

“It’s been pretty mild since I got here,” said Pittsburg Street Supervisor Lonnie Wells, “2011 was the last big storm, and that’s OK with me.” As Wells spoke Tuesday, the City’s trucks were crisscrossing Pittsburg using plows and a mixture of sand and salt to clear the streets of stubborn packed snow. Although the weekend’s snow was not deep, the extreme cold slowed melting and many streets were still slippery. Wells said that once snow is compacted by traffic and temperatures are as low as they have been recently, it becomes almost like ice. “You can’t plow that stuff off,” Wells said. The extreme [...]

17 Wednesday, January 17

Why is Wamego dropping its speed limit to 20 mph?

info2024-01-17T10:57:30-06:00January 17th, 2024|

With a few exceptions, the City of Wamego has chosen to drop the speed limit for local streets to 20 mph. KSNT 27 news spoke with City Manager Stacie Eichem for an explanation for why the decision was made and what this means for people driving through Wamego. She said the Governing Body of Wamego approved Ordinance 1800 on Dec. 19, adopting a city-wide 20 mph limit. Language in the ordinance states that a traffic speed study was conducted by Olsson Engineers. A recommendation from this study asked for the speed limit on local roadways to be lowered to 20 mph "in [...]

17 Wednesday, January 17

Appraisal increases match housing market changes

info2024-01-17T10:56:17-06:00January 17th, 2024|

Appraisals in the county have increased significantly, with the county appraiser saying it’s the highest she’s ever seen in the past three years. Real estate agents say there are changes in the housing market that explain these increases. Brad Elliot, a real estate agent in the county, said interest rates increasing in recent years has kept many people from selling. This causes increased competition for the houses that are put on the market and drives prices up. Elliot thinks, with interest rates decreasing again, more houses will be added to the market. People who had been unwilling to move because their interest rates [...]