A variety of tobacco issues will soon be before City of Lawrence leaders after being absent for more than a year. The Lawrence City Commission at its Oct. 18 meeting is set to discuss a number of tobacco-related items, including vaping, Tobacco 21 — the federal law raising the legal age for the sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 — and tobacco retail licensing. Kari Rinker, the American Heart Association’s state government relations director for Kansas, told the Journal-World that local measures related to tobacco retail licensing were ultimately intended to reduce youth access to tobacco products by holding retailers accountable for underage sales.
Source: LJWorld

Lawrence city leaders on Tuesday discussed multiple potential funding sources and methods to expand the city’s limited utility assistance programs, with plans to discuss options in more detail at a future meeting. The Lawrence City Commission previously asked to consider a possible expansion, and as part of its meeting Tuesday discussed the city’s two utility assistance programs and options for expanding the assistance or discounts available to residents. Potential funding sources discussed included federal pandemic relief dollars, money from the city’s affordable housing trust fund and general fund dollars, and both internal and external programs were suggested for consideration.
Source: LJWorld

After several weather events in the past few years have taken down limbs and branches from trees in Salina, the city is looking at using a maintenance program to prevent such destruction in the future. On Monday, the Salina City Commission approved city staff to submit a letter of interest to the Kansas Division of Emergency Management (KDEM) for a grant of more than $165,000 for a citywide right-of-way and parks tree pruning mitigation program. Salina Public Works Director Jim Teutsch said this project would allow the city to proactively maintain the city’s tree canopy.
Source: Salina Journal

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Kansas Director for Rural Development Christy Davis today announced that USDA is investing $5,517,200 in loans and grants toward eight community projects across the state.

“Every Kansan deserves clean water and a safe place to live.,” Davis said. “USDA Rural Development is proud to assist in projects that help rural Kansas communities meet the needs of their residents and businesses.”

Background:

The Rural Business Development Grant program is designed to provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses. Small means that the business has fewer than 50 new workers and less than $1 million in gross revenue.

The Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program provides funding for clean and reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage disposal, sanitary solid waste disposal, and storm water drainage. The program serves people and businesses in eligible rural areas with populations of 10,000 or less.

The Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant program provides funding for essential community facilities and services. More than 100 types of projects are eligible for Community Facilities funding. Eligible applicants include municipalities, public bodies, nonprofit organizations, and federally recognized Native American tribes. Projects must be in rural areas with a population of 20,000 or less.

The SEARCH-Special Evaluation and Assistance for Rural Communities and Households program helps very small, financially distressed rural communities with predevelopment feasibility studies, design and technical assistance on proposed water and waste disposal projects.

The Water and Waste Disposal Predevelopment Planning Grant program assists low-income communities with initial planning and development of applications for USDA Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal direct loan/grant and loan guarantee programs.

Project details of today’s eight announcements are:

• A $90,000 grant will assist Tabor College in creating the Central Kansas Entrepreneurship Center (CKEC). The center will provide support for small businesses including marketing, pitch development, operations and management, finance and accounting and will be located on the Tabor campus in Hillsboro. It is anticipated 46 full time jobs will be created.
• A $50,000 grant will assist in purchasing a fire truck on behalf of the Almena Rural Fire Department. A new brush fire truck will provide fire protection throughout Norton County and, when needed, to surrounding counties and southern Nebraska.
• A $47,200 grant will help purchase a fully equipped vehicle and other equipment for the City of Neodesha law enforcement department. Funds from this project will provide rural residents with new and improved public safety services.
• A $29,000 grant will be used to prepare an engineering evaluation for the City of Blue Mound‘s water system. The city needs an evaluation of their water facility and distribution system to determine what improvements are needed to mitigate line breaks. With this evaluation the city will be able to plan future water system improvements.
• A $1,640,000 loan and a $995,000 grant will help complete improvements to the City of Hiawatha‘s wastewater collection system. This project will upgrade the system’s ability to process wastewater and make needed improvements to the north lift station.
• A $143,000 loan and a $661,000 grant will help complete the first phase of improvements to the City of Vermillion‘s water system. The city previously received $1,279,000 in grants and a $272,000 loan for the project.
• A $900,000 loan will help complete the rehabilitation of the existing water treatment plant for Rural Water District 4 in Bourbon County. Previous funds for the project included $488,000 applicant contribution from the Rural Water District and a $2,772,000 loan from Rural Development in 2020.
• A $312,000 loan and a $650,000 grant will make improvements to the water distribution system of the City of Fulton. Improvements will include replacing the original water distribution system, meter assemblies, valves and fire hydrants. The city received a $15,000 grant in Aug. 2019, from Rural Development via the Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households Grant to complete a Preliminary Engineering Report.

To learn more about investment resources for rural areas, contact a USDA Rural Development state office.

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.