Kansas Municipal News
Integra Technologies announces megaproject site for Wichita-area semiconductor plant (in Bel Aire)
Integra Technologies has selected a site to build its microchip manufacturing and testing plant, part of a heavily subsidized $1.8 billion project aimed at winning the international competition for semiconductor superiority. The 1-million-square-foot building will be built at the southeast corner of the intersection of Rock Road and U.S 254 in Bel Aire. A training center and interim headquarters will be at 3718 N. Rock in Wichita, where Integra is leasing space.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Four out of five Sedgwick County homeowners will see tax appraisals increase again
Four out of five Sedgwick County homeowners will see higher tax appraisals when notices are mailed out March 1. “In a very hot market, demand exceeded supply for homes, and prices, they went up,” County Appraiser Mark Clark told the County Commission on Wednesday. Tax appraisal increases are driven by sales of new and existing homes. The median sale price for a home in Sedgwick County increased to $225,000 from $203,000 in 2021, which was the first time the median price point had topped $200,000.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Harvey County’s rescue workers describe response in the event of a train derailment
As hazmat crews continue to clean up the site of a train derailment in northeast Ohio that exposed residents to toxic chemicals, Harvey County’s top rescue officials were questioned about how they might respond if such an incident happened here. “We would respond with an appropriate accoutrement of resources, eyes on the ground to see what we have,” Newton Fire Chief Steve Roberson said. He said he would try to get accounts from first responders to size up the situation instead of bystanders.
Source: Harvey County Now
City of Sedgwick leaders interact with the community at Sodality Place
The City of Sedgwick held a meet and greet on Tuesday to allow community members to interact with the new city administrator (Kyle Nordick), the new chief of police (Lee Nygaard), and the new full-time officer (Josh Blanding). Nordick said he truly appreciated everyone who came out and that it was great to see and meet new people. “Personally, the people I met last night were all new connections which is exactly what I had hoped for,” Nordick said. “This allowed us to conversate on things and obtain perspective on how well we are doing in the city, as well as areas that we are missing on.”
Source: Harvey County Now
Wetmore School to close
The Prairie Hills USD No. 113 board of education has voted to close the Wetmore Academic Center. According to a report in the Sabetha Herald, at the Feb. 13 meeting, the board approved a resolution to close the the school at the end of the 2022-23 school year. Board President Leslie Scoby said the decision was not easy and the board’s decision was based on extensive study and reflection on several things, including: declining enrollment, difficulties of distributing resources to all three campuses, challenges to the community of a school closure.
Source: hiawathaworldonline.com
9 apply to be Marion city administrator
Nine people have applied to be Marion’s city administrator, Mayor David Mayfield said Tuesday. “We’ve gotten quite a few in the last couple weeks,” he said of applications. “I’m pretty impressed with some of them we’ve got.” Tuesday was the first time council members publicly discussed hiring a new administrator. … Mayfield proposed meeting in executive session at 4:30 p.m. March 1 to review applications and narrow the list of candidates to four.
Source: HILLSBORO Star-Journal
Have Kansas police seen more marijuana arrests since Missouri legalization?
The Overland Park Police Department says they’ve seen no increase in tickets or arrests since recreational marijuana became legal across the state line. “It’s still early,” spokesman John Lacy told FOX4 Wednesday. “That law just passed recently, and we know that there are people who are probably purchasing in Missouri and bringing it across state line, but we have not seen an increase or a spike.” Lacy said patrolling their portion of Interstate 435 as drivers head west from Missouri into Leawood and then Overland Park hasn’t been a priority yet.
Source: KSN-TV
Proposed rezoning could lead to rural housing development
A proposed rezoning could lead to the development of homes on five adjoining 15-acre tracts of land northwest of Paola and south of Hillsdale Lake. Members of the Miami County Planning Commission reviewed plans for the requested rezoning during their meeting Tuesday, Feb. 7. The plans were submitted by Charles Klaasmeyer, who owns about 160 acres of land zoned Agricultural (AG) at the southeast corner of 271st Street and Crescent Hill Road. Klaasmeyer has requested that the land be rezoned to Countryside (CS) because CS allows for 15-acre lots as opposed to the 20-acre minimum in the AG zoning.
Source: Local News | republic-online.com
Atchison County approves development of bike route
County leaders have officially paved the way toward development for Atchison County to become part of a national cross country bike route. Commissioners Chairman Casey Quinn, Vice-chairman Eric Noll and Commissioner Allen Reavis signed Resolution No. 2023-1518 to approve and support the development of United States Bicycle Route 55 through Atchison County as designated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. … Proposed plans are that in Kansas the Route 55 runs along the eastern edge of the state from the Nebraska state line to the Oklahoma border.
Source: News | atchisonglobenow.com
Humboldt to decide 4-day school option
School board members are expected to decide by April whether they will institute a four-day school week for Humboldt-USD 258. A committee looking into pros and cons of a shorter school week will present information to Board of Education members in March. The school board has the final say. The plan is to decide before the district sets the 2023-24 school calendar in April, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Amber Wheeler told the Register.
Source: The Iola Register
Looking into Reno County’s past through photographs
The curator of the Reno County Museum decided to put Hutchinson on the map − in a new way. He created a pictorial history book, featuring dozens of photos of historic Reno County. David Reed sorted through the museum’s collection of photos and picked out the ones he thought would best represent the county. Then he researched each picture and created a fact-filled blurb. “Images of America: Hutchinson and Reno County” was released on Jan. 16, with all the proceeds from the sale of the book going to the museum. For about a year, Reed wafted through the museum’s collection, trying to find the photos that he thought were special. Many of the city’s churches, which were built during the late 1800s, are featured in the book, as are the original post office, several banks, the county jail and the courthouse. Each blurb is meticulously researched, paying attention to dates.
Source: Hutch News
Second microchip project sought in Burlington
Kansas is pursuing federal funding for a second microchip plant, this time at a location an hour south of Topeka dubbed “silicon prairie,” with the aid of about $371 million taxpayer-funded subsidies. Gov. Laura Kelly announced Monday that EMP Shield plants to invest $1.9 billion in a computer chip manufacturing plant at Burlington’s Silicon Prairie Industrial Park. EMP Shield will create 1,200 jobs averaging $66,000 a year, the governor said. Six out-of-state suppliers are joining EMP Shield, creating an additional 1,000 jobs in Coffey County. Four production lines will produce thousands of microchips a week. Burlington has a population of about 2,600. The governor’s office said bus routes will be established to transport workers from metropolitan areas.
Source: Hutch News
Abilene comprehensive plan, parks plan help secure grants
The city of Abilene is creating a new comprehensive plan and master parks plan. The benefits of having the plans are to set long-term goals, give projects’ purpose and set direction for city staff and commission, said Ron Marsh, city manager. The city’s actions should relate back to the plan. “We want it to be useful for every citizen, and I’m not sure the current plan is,” Marsh said. “Things evolve and change overtime, and formats for comprehensive plans have changed over time.” The city is required by state law to have a comprehensive plan, Marsh said. The state does not require cities to have a master parks plan.
Source: Abilene Reflector Chronicle
Seward County welcomes new treasurer
After working at a pair of local car dealerships, Mary Rose knew more than a few things about the process of tagging a vehicle. With that in mind, Rose was hired about eight years ago by then Seward County Treasurer Kitty Romine to help motorists with registering and renewing the license plates on their automobiles. Rose had worked previously for local car dealerships Stu Emmert’s Automotive Center and Richard Rose Pontiac, giving her a significant background in vehicles and accounting. After Romine announced her retirement late last year, Rose was chosen by the Seward County Republican Party to fill the rest of the outgoing treasurer’s term through 2024, at which time she will be up for election.
Source: Liberal First
‘What does that next phase look like for Lawrence?’ Big questions arise with requests to add hundreds of acres to city
After seeing minimal expansions of its boundaries in recent years, the City of Lawrence could be poised to increase by as much as 300 acres in the next year. However, as those requests come up, so will questions about where and how the city grows. The city received four applications to annex land in 2022, totaling 295.05 acres altogether. Three of those applications were filed in the last half of the year. For comparison, there have been only six annexations into the city since 2015. Planning and Development Director Jeff Crick said the rise in annexation requests in recent months could represent the beginning of a return to the more sustained levels of growth that the city saw prior to the 2008 recession.
Source: LJWorld
Fed’s James Bullard pushes for faster rate hikes, sees ‘good shot’ at beating inflation
St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard expressed confidence that the central bank can beat inflation and advocated Wednesday for stepping up the pace in the battle. Bullard told CNBC that a more aggressive interest rate hike now would give the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee a better chance to bring down inflation that, while falling some off the precarious levels of 2022, is still high. “It has become popular to say, ‘Let’s slow down and feel our way to where we need to be.’ We still haven’t gotten to the point where the committee put the so-called terminal rate,” he said during a live “Squawk Box” interview. “Get to that level and then feel your way around and see what you need to do. You’ll know when you’re there when the next move could be up or down.” Those comments come a week after Bullard and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester both said they were pushing for a half percentage point rate hike at the last meeting, rather than the quarter-point move the FOMC ultimately approved.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
Municipal Bond Trends for February 21, 2023
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, Beth Warren and Henry Schmidt.
How tiny saddles and youth rodeo might help keep another generation in rural Kansas
For rodeo families — most of whom, she said, come from agricultural backgrounds — the cost of competing is worth every penny as they look for ways to sustain their traditional way of life and their town’s population of young folks. In a place where farms and ranches go back generations, rodeo is sewn deep into the cultural fabric of rural Kansas. But the number of people living in the region’s small towns has been shrinking for decades as young adults leave the rural life for bigger cities. Most counties in western Kansas have been steadily emptying since the Dust Bowl. And parents like Vander Hamm, who lives in the neighboring town of Ingalls (population 288), hope that introducing more kids to the rodeo world might spur them to fall in love with their hometowns’ cowboy culture. Then maybe when those kids grow up, they’ll want to get back in the saddle again. “The ones that do love it,” Vander Hamm said, “are inclined to come back and be part of the family farm.”
Source: KCUR News
BABs subsidy cuts legal under sequestration, federal judge rules
Build America Bond subsidy payments are subject to federal budget sequestration, and public power agencies that floated the bonds are not eligible for refunds, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Friday. The ruling stems from a three-year-old lawsuit brought against the United States by six Midwestern public power agencies, led by the Indiana Municipal Power Agency. The agencies together issued more than $4 billion in direct-pay Build America Bonds before 2011.
Source: The Bond Buyer
City approves new cybersecurity agreement
In the wake of the recent network disruption (still under investigation) and a review by the Department of Homeland Security last year, efforts were taken to meet the city’s growing IT needs. The city approved a one-year agreement with Adams Brown Technology Specialties for IT and cybersecurity support at its Feb. 14 meeting. Cybersecurity insurers continue to push for additional program and infrastructure standards to mitigate potential threats, while DHS also made some recommendations for improvements.
Source: Derby Informer | News