Derby Fire Chief Brad Smith’s career has been a satisfying endeavor, but the time has come to stop being on call for the latest alarm and make a change in his life’s direction. With that in mind, Derby’s first full-time paid fire chief will be retiring July 5, the day after the city’s new Fire Station 81 opens. Smith, 67, started in the profession in 1977 and came to Derby in 2004. He transitioned the department from all-volunteer to mainly paid. “It’s been very fulfilling to watch the city grow like it did. There were just a lot of things going [...]

After recently receiving a grant, the city of Haysville plans to start a paratransit bus service. The grant of $125,800 will be used to purchase a bus, as well as pay for operating costs. At the April 22 Haysville City Council meeting, Mayor Bruce Armstrong said the city plans to connect the service with Wichita’s bus system, so residents can travel from Haysville to Wichita. The Haysville Sun-Times reports the service will be wheelchair accessible. It will primarily focus on the elderly and disabled but will be available to all residents. (Read more: DerbyInformer.com - news,news/)

After years of discussion and planning, the city’s latest recreational resource, Decarsky Park, has a contract to begin construction. At its April 23 meeting, the City Council authorized proceeding with a $7.1 million contract with Multicon Construction to build the park in southeast Derby. There was one other bidder, Dondlinger Construction, which submitted a proposed quote of $7.4 million. The project includes construction of two roads within the park, Line Drive, which will have a traffic signal at Rock Road, and Rover Lane. The emphasis in this park is going to be on active sports, specifically softball and baseball. There will [...]

he plan for the city’s newest school received a green light to proceed from the Derby Planning Commission. After a review, the governing body approved Stone Creek Elementary School’s site plan at its March 21 meeting. Stacy Christie, architect with Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture, which designed the school, was pleased with the way the design turned out. Stone Creek has an innovative approach and has two wings – one for kindergarten through second grade and one for third through fifth grade – as well as learning hubs, breakout spaces and resource classrooms, among other features allowing teachers to educate in [...]

A plan by the city to sell a small parcel of north Derby land that was originally designed for a park has been stopped. At its March 12 meeting, the City Council approved a recommendation by City Manager Kathy Sexton to rescind the proposal and instead allow her and the staff to undertake terms of a land sale with the Parkside HOA and USD 260. At issue is 1.77 acres in the Stone Creek Addition known as Reserve S or Winding Lane Park. Last month, the council authorized city staff to seek a sale of that land, which has been undeveloped [...]

For Kenneth Linot, the major reward in his job as a Derby firefighter is clear: helping people in need and giving back to the community. Linot, who has been with the department full time since 2012, was selected as the Kansas VFW 2018-19 State Firefighter of the Year. He was presented with the award by VFW officials at the March 12 City Council meeting. Linot said he is “very humbled.” “It was unexpected,” he said. “Just something out of the blue.” Linot was nominated for the award by Fire Chief Brad Smith, who cited Linot’s many career activities and accomplishments including [...]

The city’s “to-do” list has changed. Known as the list of priorities, the blueprint provides a guideline for city staff on which projects to tackle first – and which ones to move to the back for more effort later. City Manager Kathy Sexton went before the council at its March 12 meeting explaining the changes and asking for its approval, which it gave. As she said, agreeing on priorities makes the best use of staff time. The list includes enhancement projects to be worked on as time allows amid other responsibilities, she said. The last update to the list was Nov. [...]