Kansas Municipal News
Louisburg extends permit waiver incentive
Home buyers and builders can waive their building permit fee on the construction of a new single-family home after the Louisburg City Council continued the wavier incentive to 2023 at a recent meeting. A homebuilder on average can save between $1,200 and $1,500 on permit fees on a 2,000-square-foot home, according to a city news release. Building permit fees are based on the assessed value of the home, so savings can vary depending on the home’s value. The builder must be licensed in Miami County to take advantage of the permit fee waiver.
Source: Local News | republic-online.com
Cop, drug dog go to county
A Marion drug dog that cost $7,600 in 2019, $2,500 for a kennel in a police car, $2,357.67 for emergency surgery after she ate an extension cord in 2021, and about $7,000 a year to house, feed, and recertify, is now in the possession of the sheriff’s office because officer Aaron Slater, the dog’s handler, changed jobs. For now, the dog remains the property of the city of Marion. The sheriff’s office is expected to purchase the dog, named Blue, but a price has not been negotiated. Slater’s last day with Marion police was Saturday. He worked his first shift with the sheriff’s office Sunday.
Source: Marion County RECORD
Planners discuss signage in Marion
Ten members of the public, half of them downtown business owners, spoke Tuesday with Marion city planners about downtown signs. Discussion of downtown signs began in August after Chelsea Mackey opened Dawn’s Day Spa at 331 E. Main St. and soon afterward had a perpendicular sign mounted over the sidewalk. Perpendicular signs violate zoning regulations downtown area.
Source: Marion County RECORD
History preserved for future generations
On Friday afternoon, the McPherson Fire Department, along with representatives from the City of McPherson and McPherson Police Department, buried two time capsules under the flagpole at the fire department. The time capsules replace the two original ones that were buried in 1972 and 1976 for McPherson’s Centennial and America’s Bicentennial and then opened for McPherson’s 150th anniversary on May 28, 2022. Today’s capsules will be opened in 2072 and include items from residents, schools, factories and local businesses. Pfizer included a vial of COVID-19 vaccine, while others donated photos, documents, and even a plastic duck. McPherson Board of Public Utilities donated 50 years of comprehensive plans for McPherson for future generations to see the city’s progress.
Source: McPherson Weekly News » Local News Category Feed
Economic instability pushing KPERS investment returns to negative
Volatility in the stock market will push annual return on investment to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System into negative territory at close of the year, the pension system’s executive director said Tuesday. The assumed investment return for KPERS was adjusted downward in May from 7.75% to 7%. To strengthen the bottom line, the Kansas Legislature agreed to pump an extra $1.1 billion into the system. The snapshot on investment return will be calculated based on financial position of the portfolio Dec. 31, said Alan Conroy, executive director of KPERS.
Source: The Iola Register
Municipal Bond Trends for November 29, 2022
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.
TopGolf Wichita to Open on Friday
Topgolf will open its second Kansas location in east Wichita location on Friday. The two-level entertainment venue will have 52 climate-controlled outdoor hitting bays along with Topgolf’s Toptracer technology, a 9-hole miniature golf course, a full-service restaurant and bar, outdoor patio, private event rooms and more. Topgolf Wichita is located off K-96 near the Greenwich Place Shopping Center at 2796 N Greenwich.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Commissioners agree not to sign moratorium
The Jackson County Commissioners have agreed not to sign an 18-month moratorium that would temporarily ban applications or permit requests for commercial solar and wind energy projects in the county. In lieu of a moratorium, the commissioners, on a 3-0 vote Monday, approved a motion to accept a letter submitted by NextEra Energy last week during a public hearing stating that the company will not apply for a permit for its solar project until May 2024 (18 months) or “until new solar regulations have been passed in Jackson County, whichever is sooner.” “It’s basically the same thing as a moratorium, it just doesn’t say the word moratorium,” Commissioner Ed Kathrens said. More than 70 people attended a 40-minute public hearing regarding the proposed moratorium last week. About 20 people spoke during the hearing, including those both for and against the moratorium.
Source: Holton Recorder
McPherson to host building code webinar
The City of McPherson, along with the Building Code College, on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, will host a continuing education webinar on contractor codes. The webinar will cover the provision of the 2018 International Residential Building Code and will run from 1 to 4 p.m. in Citizens Hall of the McPherson Community Building, 122 E. Marlin Street. Glenn Mathewson will serve as the instructor of the course, a three-hour (.3 CEU) training. Mathewson served as the building, plumbing and mechanical inspector for the City of Westminster, Colo. and has earned multiple ICC inspection certifications.
Source: McPherson, KS
Paige Jones dreamed of working and living in a small town
Recent visitors to Sedgwick’s City Hall may have noticed the new face. Paige Jones started as the city’s Utility Clerk on Oct. 31. Yes, her first day of work was on Halloween. That weekend also marked Jones’ first anniversary of living in Sedgwick. She and her husband Bradley moved to town last year on Halloween weekend. Jones, who moved from Park City, said they picked Sedgwick to live in because of the reputation of the school system. Jones and her husband Bradly are in their mid-twenties and don’t have any children, yet, but they do have three dogs.
Source: Harvey County Now
‘I’m thrilled to be here’: Wichita police chief focusing on improving community relations
There is a new Chief in town. Joseph Sullivan has officially reported for duty and we sat down with him one-on-one to discuss what plans he has for the department. Sullivan comes to Wichita after recently serving as deputy police commissioner for the city of Philadelphia. KAKE News talked to him about a number of issues starting with the lawsuit from executive members of the police department against the city. Sullivan is taking on the badge at a time the department is in turmoil. In a lawsuit, former Chief Gordon Ramsay, two current deputy chiefs, and one former one are calling for City Manager Robert Layton to resign. “I have the authority to run the department and make necessary changes. But of course, he is my boss. I kept him informed. I’m going to focus on my mission and we’ll leave that to the attorneys to sort out,” said Sullivan.
Source: KAKE – News
For Fredonia’s rising Sauage Fest, word play adds to the fun
One doesn’t need to look hard to find a zany festival in Kansas. Lucas has the Adam’s Apple Festival. Because, you know, the town is home to S.P. Dinsmoor’s historic Garden of Eden. Elk Falls celebrates its outhouses each year with a festival on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Cuba has the Rock-A-Thon. Participants rock around the clock for a week in rocking chairs, sometimes raising more than $25,000 for community projects. Lindsborg’s plethora of festivals includes Svensk Hyllningsfest, which celebrates its Swedish heritage, and Vaffeldagen, a festival of waffles.
Source: KLC Journal
Overland Park ramps up efforts to cut down damaged ash trees
Overland Park plans to cut down hundreds of ash trees throughout the city next year as it ramps up efforts at countering the impacts of the emerald ash borer. The city is set to start a large-scale ash street tree removal and replanting program targeting trees in public right-of-ways that have been damaged by the invasive beetle species. The city’s program will not include ash trees on private property. The emerald ash borer — a small, metallic green beetle — attacks all species of ash trees by cutting off the passage of nutrients and water from the tree’s roots to its canopy.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post
How Google introduced an international student to Hutchinson
The City of Hutchinson and Hutchinson Community College (HCC) have Google to thank for introducing Reno County to international student Felipe Trautmann. Trautmann, 22, was born in Brazil but spent the majority of his youth in Spain. “I have always been on the move,” said Trautmann. “My parents were missionaries. They were always doing work around different churches in Europe.” When it came time for Trautmann to decide his educational path, he decided to put his faith in God and the internet. That’s where he found the surgical technology program at Hutchinson Community College.
Source: KSN-TV
Lawrence homeowners fighting to build fire access road, citing ‘clear and present danger’
When Chris Sanders and Amanda Unruh bought their Lawrence home five years ago, they knew their historic property would need myriad renovations and repairs. They never imagined the long odyssey that would unfold in their quest to protect their family and home. The parents of two young children, the couple wouldn’t move into the nearly century-old, two-story home until a smoke detection system had been installed. In 2017, the family settled into their house with that new system, designed to automatically notify authorities when smoke or fire was detected.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Municipal Bond Trends for November 28, 2022
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.
Pottawatomie County officials working to redraw commission districts as expansion looms
Pottawatomie County officials held a work session Monday, to discuss how the county will divide population into five districts, now that voters have approved expansion of the board from three to five seats. Two new commissioners will come aboard next year. County Counselor John Watt says the county’s preference is to have that occur in the November 2023 general election. “Because a special election will cost the county and arm and a leg. The state doesn’t help with all of that, it’s a county cost,” he said. According to the 2021 census, Pottawatomie County’s population was just slightly over 25,000 people. With that in mind, state statute says each of the five districts should have roughly 5,000 residents living within it. Watt says there is some leeway to how those numbers get divided.
Source: 1350 KMAN
Defending the water supply from blue-green algae
Big or small, a Kansas town that depends on lakes or reservoirs for its water supply faces the increasing threat of toxic amounts of blue-green algae making it into the homes of consumers. That hasn’t happened. But preventing it has, or will, come at a cost, sometimes a significant cost. Braxton Copley, Topeka utilities director, says the capital city is in the planning stages of updating two water treatment plants at a cost of about $20 million to help ensure clean drinking water into the future. Topeka faces significant challenges since it gets “every last drop” of its water supply from the Kansas River, which is fed by several reservoirs. Two of those, Milford and Perry lakes, have consistently hosted harmful algal blooms.
Source: KLC Journal
Learning to live with toxic algal blooms in Kansas
Toxic blue-green algae threaten cattle and have collectively robbed Kansans of thousands of hours of recreation. They drain millions from lake-based economies when outbreaks close lakes to public access. Drinking water is susceptible to the toxin, too, rendering it smelly and foul-tasting. Although there are efforts to combat them, cyanobacteria aren’t going away. As with so many other environmental and health challenges of the 21st century, Kansans will have to continue to adapt and find a way to live with them.
Source: KLC Journal
City of Lawrence gives update on homeless camp after discovery of deceased woman
The City of Lawrence has given an update on its controversial homeless camp following the discovery of a deceased woman. A social media post from the City of Lawrence on Tuesday gave an update on the future of a homeless camp established in the North Lawrence area following the recent discovery of a deceased woman. The City reports that there are no plans to close the temporary support site but will reevaluate it once the Winter Emergency Shelter opens on Dec. 1. A total of 60 people currently reside at the temporary support site and 75 beds will be available once the Winter Emergency Shelter opens for overnight stays. The City anticipates that those staying at the temporary support site will move to the Winter Emergency Shelter once it opens but will won’t come to a decision on the future of the site until later this year.
Source: KSNT 27 News