On Friday evening, May 28, as one of the kick-off events to Santa Fe Trail Days, the public and Larned City officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and dedication celebration at Schnack Park for the newly refurbished Larned Municipal Swimming Pool. Once the dedication was finished, enthusiastic swimmers and the public and officials were treated to an outdoor barbecue featuring hot dogs and hamburgers. The event culminated almost two years of planning and work. The pool was not open in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns but it provided a perfect time for the community and City officials to take a look at [...]

Since the Larned Water Tower lost its Christmas lights some years back, due to painting and restoring of the tank, the citizenry has not been happy. Alumni returning home for Christmas have missed the crown on the nostalgic Christmas tower. And ever since, there has been a move to restore the lights. Earlier this month the Larned City Council recommended proceeding with lighting plans for the water tower to replicate the crown as in the past. The attitude has been, “We will have Christmas lights on the tower again,” and the word spread quickly. Source: Great Bend Tribune

“That’s going to be a big concern,” County Clerk Donna Zimmerman said. “It is going to be a big deal.” In a nutshell, SB 13 prohibits all taxing entities from increasing their tax collections by more than they did the year previous. This means, if an entity’s valuation (the total value of all property) goes up, the mill rate would have to go down to collect the same amount of taxes. In addition, it establishes a requirement of notices to taxpayers and public hearing for municipalities seeking to collect property taxes exceeding their revenue-neutral rate. This supplants the property tax lid [...]

While Kansas and the rest of the nation are somewhat recovering from the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, rural areas of the state have felt the sting of closed businesses and limited services provided by local governments. Fire departments and emergency medical services (EMS) in rural Barton County have not been exempt from the pain of limited staff and funding, although much of the shortages were an issue well before the pandemic struck in 2020. While the crunch is real, fire and emergency services in the less populated segments of the county have managed to survive although, at [...]

Select Barton Community College career and technical education programs will be available at no cost to eligible students beginning in the fall of 2021, thanks to a new scholarship program designed to increase Kansans’ access to community colleges and technical schools. The $10 million program was passed by the Kansas Legislature and signed by Governor Laura Kelly on Friday. When other scholarships and grants are not sufficient to cover a student’s tuition and fees, the Kansas Promise Scholarship Act will make up the difference. The program is available to Kansas high school graduates, Kansans 21 and older who have resided in [...]

The current electronic poll pads used at voting precincts and in the Barton County Clerk’s Office have reached the end of their life span, County Clerk Donna Zimmerman told the County Commission Monday morning. So, the County Commission approved the purchase of new pads, as well as other related election equipment, totalling $95,915. Omaha, Neb.-based Election Systems and Software has a poll pad product that integrates with the ES&S electronic voting equipment and ES&S ELection Voter Information System (ELVIS) voter registration database. Fifteen additional ExpressVote ballot marking devices are also quoted. “The additional equipment should help to expedite lines of voters [...]

As the Barton County Commission Monday morning approved a resolution establishing a permitting system for baling hay in county rights of way, it was noted the issue boiled down to safety. Included with the resolution is a Barton County Harvesting Hay on County Right-of-Way application which describes the permit, performance and liability directives, County Works Director Darren Williams said. The permitting fee is $1,000, but $500 will be returned to the applicant if there is no damage to adjoining property. Source: Great Bend Tribune

Unlike many municipalities across the state and nation, the City of Larned will receive a credit to its February energy bill. The welcomed news comes in the wake of the February polar vortex that locked itself over western Canada and the central, south central and western United States creating a record-setting energy crisis. Larned’s electric credit comes to the tune of $160,000 from Midwest Energy, the city’s electric provider. City manager Bradley Eilts said the city-owned power plant produced more electricity than the city consumed. “The net result is that instead of receiving a huge bill for energy costs during the cold [...]

The Great Bend City Council Monday night approved providing a portion of the local matching funds not to exceed $220,000 for a joint Kansas Department of Transportation cost-share project with Barton County. This covers the portion of SW 40 Avenue known as Airport Road.  The grant application calls for a 50-50% match with the state for the $800,000 project to mill and overlay the 2.5 mile stretch. The city and the county would split that total, with the city paying more since 60% of the road falls in the city limits. Two previous 75-25 match (with KDOT covering 75%) applications for [...]

Midwest Energy announced it has joined a collaboration group with nine investor-owned utilities, promoting the construction of a multi-state network of electric vehicle charging stations throughout the Midwestern U.S.  Midwest Energy signed a memorandum of cooperation with the other utilities, pledging that the co-op would pursue the completion of a foundational electric vehicle (EV) charging network, to soon allow EV owners to drive from Detroit to Colorado, or from northern Michigan to Texas, knowing they can charge their vehicles along the route. “Automakers worldwide are committing huge investments in electric vehicles, with some signaling they’re phasing out fossil fuel engines by [...]