Kansas Municipal News
City of Wichita vs. Griffie: Constitutionality of an ordinance
The City of Wichita (City) charged Gabrielle Griffie with unlawful assembly under Wichita Municipal Code of Ordinances (W.M.O.) § 5.73.030 (2020) several days after she organized and participated in a protest on the streets of Wichita and the steps of its federal courthouse. The City’s theory of the case was that Griffie planned the protest for the purpose of engaging in “disorderly conduct”—more specifically, engaging in “noisy conduct tending to reasonably arouse alarm, anger or resentment in others.” W.M.O. § 5.24.010(c) (2020). After the municipal court found Griffie guilty, she appealed to the Sedgwick County District Court and requested a jury trial. Griffie argued that the district court should strike down the “disorderly conduct” provision used to support the unlawful assembly charge as unconstitutionally overbroad because it prohibits a wide range of expressive conduct protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The district court denied Griffie’s request, and a jury found her guilty of unlawful assembly under the “noisy conduct” definitional ordinance. Griffie appeals, renewing her constitutional challenge to the “noisy conduct” provision of W.M.O. § 5.24.010(c). For the reasons stated, the Kansas Court of Appeals reject Griffie’s facial challenge to the constitutionality of the ordinance and affirm the district court’s judgment.
Beck vs. City of Blue Rapids: Nusiances
David Lewis Beck appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for injunctive relief to prevent the City of Blue Rapids, Kansas, from removing nuisance conditions on his property. Beck asserts the district court erred in determining the conditions were nuisances. But those factual matters were undisputed at trial. Finding Beck has not shown the district court erred, Kansas Court of Appeals affirms.
Municipal Bond Trends for November 17, 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.
With as many as 200 people living outside, Lawrence shelter options remain limited as temperatures fall
As overnight temperatures drop into the teens, there is still no place for the up to 200 people who are living unsheltered in Lawrence to sleep that is fully protected from the elements. While the city is working to set up its emergency winter shelter, it is still in the process of hiring staff, and there are no plans to open the shelter ahead of the previously scheduled date of Dec. 1. Lawrence Community Shelter leaders have said LCS is not able to increase its capacity without more funding, and the shelter continues to provide beds for only 50 people.
Source: LJWorld
Infrastructure law has sent $1.5 billion to Kansas so far. Here’s how it will be spent.
Kansas has been allocated about $1.5 billion in the first year of since the federal government provided an infusion of infrastructure money, primarily targeted on bridge and road construction. The White House announced to-date funding totals on Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of the bipartisan infrastructure law. … Kansas is in line for more money for roads and bridges, with a formula projecting $2.8 billion over five years. … More than $28 million is going to Kansas airports. Kansas is also getting more than $23 million for ports and waterways. … Kansas will receive at least $100 million for high-speed internet coverage.
Source: CJonline
Petition to repeal Salina pit bull ban likely headed to City Commission in near future
A growing number of people in Salina are hoping the city will reconsider a ban on having pit bulls in the community as a petition is slowly gathering the signatures it needs to go before the City Commission. The group Salinans Against BSL, or breed specific legislation, led by Debrah Corrales and Tyler Sartain, has spent the past several months at various locations around Salina collecting signatures for a city ordinance which would repeal the 2004 ordinance enacted by the commission which bans specific breeds of dogs, pit bulls, from the city. “We’ve been thinking about an (official) petition for (awhile),” Sartain said.
Source: Salina Journal
Salina bike sharing program focuses on user friendly experience
KANcycle, a bike sharing program through OCCK Transportation, has updated its system to be more user-friendly via a mobile app. The new offering enables riders to plan a multimodal trip and unlock a bike in just a few steps in the Transit app. As a worldwide service, the Transit app allows users to navigate public transit with accurate real-time predictions, trip planning, step-by-step navigation and convenient payments. Now, Salina’s local bike sharing program can be viewed and accessed through the app.
Source: Salina Journal
Colby is getting a new hospital
The town of Colby is on its way to having a new hospital. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture officially announced that it is lending more than $108 million to the project. Citizens Health says it wants to expand critical health care services. The new facility will incorporate operations of the current hospital, Citizens Medical Center, and Family Center for Health Care clinic under one roof. Work has already started. Crews broke ground for the new hospital two weeks ago. It is south of the existing hospital that was built in 1982.
Source: KSN-TV
Farm-to-School initiative enters phase one in Pittsburg
Phase one of a $10 million “Farm-to-School” initiative program begins in Pittsburg. Community Green Farms is partnering with Leafy Green Farms to provide ten hydroponic farms to ten schools in southeast Kansas. Typically, food travels 1,500 miles from a farm to your plate. But, Leafy Green Farms is known as “hyper-organic,” which means it can be grown locally and consumed within 100 miles. Food grown in the hydroponic farms will be used for school meals. “Leafy Green Farms was started with the idea of moving the nutritional needle here in southeast Kansas. We don’t believe that income should dictate nutritional levels, especially in children. So we began our farm and started our proof of concept farm at Pittsburg High School to show that farms can be in rural areas where children can start growing food year-round and provide better nutrition for the entire community,” said Brad Fourby, Founder of Leafy Green Farm.
Source: KSNF/KODE
With plans moving forward for a hotel-convention center in northwest Emporia, downtown may see hotel-only concept
Can Emporia have two convention centers in town? According to Emporia Main Street Director Casey Woods, the answer is yes — if they are placed in the right areas. Next question: will Emporia have two convention centers? That answer hinges on a potential hotel-convention center in northwest Emporia and longstanding plans for the so-called Breckenridge Hotel and Convention Center downtown, which may well be halted if the property sells and new ownership moves in a different direction.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio
Incentive-averse Shawnee approves unusual TIF district
After two hours of discussion, a public hearing and much angst over perceived threat of eminent domain, the Shawnee City Council this week approved a special taxing district in a largely undeveloped area on the western side of the city. In so doing, the council’s 6-2 vote gave a blessing to a novel use for tax increment financing, a tool most often used to the benefit of developers. The new Hickok-Zarah district, which encompasses 2.58 square miles between Monticello Road and Woodland Drive, is set up in a similar way to more traditional, developer-oriented TIFs.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post
Douglas County invites community to discuss process to move to 5 commission districts
Douglas County leaders will hold a community meeting to discuss the process of moving to five commissioner districts. Voters in the Nov. 8 election voted roughly 61% to 39% to add two additional commissioner districts to the current three. During the meeting, “County Clerk Jamie Shew will provide an overview of the process for moving to five districts. There will be an opportunity for the public to weigh in on the districts during roundtable discussions at the meeting,” according to information from the county. “The Board of County Commissioners will adopt a resolution outlining the new districts before or on Jan. 1, 2023. All of the districts need to be contiguous and have the same population size.”
Source: The Lawrence Times
UG charter ordinance subcommittee review underway
The Unified Government’s Charter Ordinance Subcommittee on Tuesday went over the ordinance line by line to determine what areas committee members wanted to work on. Topics that came up during the review included who had the actual authority over employees and the administrator – the mayor, administrator or the commission, or all? Whether the administrator or interim administrator should be required to live in Wyandotte County? Also, how many commissioners are needed to make the decision to appoint or dismiss the administrator, what is the meaning of majority in this phrasing? These issues may be addressed at future meetings, according to subcommittee leaders.
Source: Wyandotte Daily
Advisory board will be created for Sedgwick County Fire District 1
Sedgwick County Commissioners have voted to create a nine-member Steering Council for Fire District 1. The Council will function as an advisory board and it will have five members appointed by the district’s largest cities: Bel Aire, Goddard, Maize, Haysville and Park City. The Sedgwick County Association of Cities will appoint a member, two members will come from the unincorporated area, and one member will represent an aviation company with 5,000 or more employees that pays taxes in the fire district. Commissioner Jim Howell wants to establish the board to give smaller communities and unincorporated areas a voice in decisions affecting the Fire District.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Dad sues Shawnee Mission district over ‘troubling pattern’ of closed-door meetings
A father is suing the Shawnee Mission school district, alleging that it violated Kansas open meetings law by excluding the public from work group sessions studying boundary changes for his child’s school. On Monday, the school board unanimously approved new attendance boundaries for Briarwood Elementary School, near 86th Street and Nall Avenue in Prairie Village, which officials say is over capacity.
Source: Joco 913 News
Kansas cities dealing with higher water and sewer plant costs
The price you pay for water and sewer could be going up as many cities across Kansas say it is getting more expensive for them to operate the plants. “If you’d asked me just about any city, I would tell you they’re being pinched the same as we are,” said Nick Gregory, McPherson City Administrator. Some cities like Wichita and Derby have already taken steps to raise water rates at the beginning of the new year. In Wichita, the recommended rate adjustments are 6.25% for water and 3% for sewer. The average impact is $3.54.
Source: KSN-TV
Results flip in Louisburg council race following canvass
When Tiffany Ellison walked into the Miami County Clerk’s Office on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 17, for the canvass of votes to certify the results of the Nov. 8 election, she was still trailing challenger Kevin Roche by two votes in the Louisburg City Council Ward 2 race. Just a few hours later, once 88 provisional ballots from throughout the county were approved and added to the official final election results, Ellison learned she had now won the council race by two votes. Only a few of the approved provisional ballots impacted the Louisburg council race, but it was enough to give Ellison the victory, as she gained four votes to win 210 to 208, according to the official final results posted by the county Thursday afternoon.
Source: Local News | republic-online.com
Labette County views study to expand internet
A 256-page study could serve as a roadmap for internet service providers to expand broadband coverage in Labette County. Labette County commissioners, who paid Finley Engineering of Lamar, Missouri, $69,350 to complete the study, accepted the work on Monday and reviewed highlights with Jim Zaleski, the city of Parsons economic development director. The county paid for the study with its American Rescue Plan Act funding from the federal government. The study featured in-depth interviews with residents, businesses and internet providers in the county. The study also listed varied broadband speeds in the county, most of which are poor. Much of southern Labette County reported download speeds of 10 to 13 megabits per second and upload speeds of 1 mbps. Oswego reported faster speeds, though County Counselor Brian Johnson, who lives in Oswego, noted that he pays for a 25 mbps download speed and has topped out at 13.
Source: Parsons Sun
Court rules against officers in Kansas wrongful conviction
A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal by several Kansas law enforcement officers who were seeking qualified immunity for their roles in the arrest and prosecution of a man who was wrongfully convicted of killing a young girl. Floyd Bledsoe spent 16 years in prison after being convicted of killing 14-year-old Camille Arfmann in November 1999 in rural Jefferson County, Kansas. Floyd Bledsoe’s brother, Tom, was originally charged with murder after he confessed and led authorities to the body. But those charges were dropped and Floyd Bledsoe was arrested. He was convicted in 2000 of murder, kidnapping and indecent liberties with a child and sentenced to life in prison.
Source: Wichita Eagle
USDA Rural Development Invests $108 Million to Improve Health Care in Colby Kansas
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Kansas State Director Christy Davis today announced that USDA is lending $108,249,000 to help Citizens Medical Center in Colby expand critical healthcare services. “There is no better way to celebrate National Rural Health Day than to invest in our state’s rural healthcare infrastructure.” Davis said. “USDA is committed to ensuring rural Americans have access to reliable quality health care, like that provided by Citizens Medical Center.” The details of this investment are: $108,249,000 in loans will help construct a 184,000 square foot replacement hospital and rural healthcare clinic facility in Colby. The Citizens Medical Center project will deliver quality patient care that meets current and future needs for the area.
Source: USDA