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Two High School Seniors Win Rural Voices Youth Contest

Two high school seniors in North Central Kansas are being recognized with the John R. Cyr Rural Voices Award for submitting the top entries in the 2018-2019 Rural Voices Youth Contest.

Students had the option to submit an original essay or video reflective of the contest theme — “Rural Kansas…My Community.” McKenzie Shippy, a senior at Herington High School, was awarded first place in the video category. Kara Eilert, a senior at St. John’s Catholic High School, Beloit, was awarded first place in the written category. Both students will receive a cash award of $850.

The awards are named in honor of John Cyr who served for 22 years as the NCRPC Executive Director. High school seniors in the 12-county NCRPC service area were eligible to participate. NCRPC has sponsored the contest annually since 2006 and has awarded more than $22,000 to seniors from across the region.

“The contest theme this year allowed high school seniors to reflect on their community and the value it has in their lives,” NCRPC Executive Director Doug McKinney said. “Community culture, whether it is a specific place or an overall feeling in a broader area, is important. Knowing how a community works and its strengths and opportunities is also important.”

Both students say they enjoyed participating in the Rural Voices contest.

“I loved the opportunity to be creative showing Kansas how my community has shaped me into who I am,” Shippy said. “This video was my way of giving back to Herington and Woodbine for all the support they have given me.”

“To me, rural Kansas is home, so I was very excited about the opportunity to write about what rural Kansas means to me and share my thoughts on how we can strive to keep our communities sought after places for individuals to call home,” Eilert said.

To view the top entries or to learn more about the contest, visit www.ncrpc.org/ruralvoices. Details for the 2019-2020 contest will be announced in the fall.

This article appeared in the March 2019 NCRPC Newsletter.


Communities to Receive Funding for Improvement Projects

Several NCRPC member cities were recently awarded Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to help complete a variety of community improvement projects. The CDBG program is administered by the Kansas Department of Commerce.

The City of Assaria was awarded $433,840 to make water distribution improvements. The city will provide $433,840 in matching funds it secured from the Kansas Department of Health & Environment.

The City of Beloit was awarded $300,000 for housing rehabilitation and demolition. A local match of $41,000 is being provided.

The City of Frankfort was awarded $265,656 to complete a street project. USDA Rural Development will contribute $265,657 in matching funds.

The City of Greenleaf was awarded $300,000 for housing rehabilitation and demolition. A local match of $10,750 is being provided.

The City of Tipton was awarded $101,665 to complete a storm drainage project. A local match of $101,665 is being provided.

The City of Washington was awarded $600,000 to make water distribution improvements. The city will provide $7,668,350 in matching funds through loan and grant funding it secured through USDA Rural Development.

To be awarded CDBG funds for a project, local government units must meet at least one of three program objectives: benefit low and moderate-income persons; prevent or eliminate slums and blight; or resolve an urgent need where local resources are not available to do so.

For more information, visit www.kansascommerce.com/cdbg or contact the NCRPC office to discuss project needs.

This article appeared in the March 2019 NCRPC Newsletter.


New LMI Percentages Take Effect in April

 

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program requires that each CDBG funded activity must either benefit low- and moderate-income (LMI) persons (at least 51% LMI), prevent or eliminate slums or blight, or resolve an urgent need where local resources are not available to do so.

Many CDBG projects benefit LMI persons. If a community does not automatically qualify at 51% LMI based on Census data, it must survey to determine if the service area of a proposed activity meets the LMI criteria.

In February, HUD released new LMI percentages. The effective date for the new data is April 1. That release has created changes for some cities in the region.

“More than a dozen cities now qualify LMI from the Census numbers, which means they no longer would have to survey to apply for CDBG funding,” NCRPC Assistant Director Emily Benedick said.

Any cities that have completed a LMI survey since 2012 can use those surveys until the 2020 Census numbers are released, which may be 2022. For communities considering a project that could involve CDBG funds, Benedick has advice.

**UPDATE April 2019: At the FY2020 CDBG application workshop, it was learned that this funding cycle is the last chance to use LMI surveys completed prior to the new Census numbers taking effect on
April 1, 2019. Any surveys completed using the 2010 Census numbers are no longer eligible to be used after the FY2020 CDBG funding round (this Fall).

“The first step is to call our office to discuss if their project would be CDBG eligible,” Benedick said. “Then we can help them determine if they need to complete an LMI survey and help in that process.”

This article appeared in the March 2019 NCRPC Newsletter.


NCK Home Ownership Pilot Program Had Positive Results


Home Ownership Program LogoHelping make home ownership more affordable was one goal of the NCK Home Ownership Pilot Program that assisted home buyers this past year in Cloud and Mitchell counties.

The program officially launched in April 2018. It assisted home buyers with down payment and closing cost assistance in the purchase of 26 homes — 16 in Mitchell County and 10 in Cloud County. The total value was $3.2 million, with $260,900 coming from the pilot program.

Primary objectives of the pilot program were to help make home ownership more affordable, be a catalyst for first time home buyers, benefit employers in recruiting and retaining employees, reduce employee time spent commuting to work, and market the program to alumni considering a move to live closer to friends and family.

An award from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation of Logan, Kansas, assisted in the creation of the loan and grant pool. NCRPC provided program administration led by Debra Peters, NCRPC Program Manager.
Of the home buyers who used the NCK Home Ownership Pilot Program, 39% bought their first home, 31% took a new job in the last year, and 25% moved from outside of the NCRPC 12-county service area. Nearly 60% of the home buyers reported graduating from a high school located in the NCRPC region. In addition, 25 children were either new to the local schools or will be entering school within the next five years.

“One goal of the pilot project was to test whether the use of a housing incentive would be a catalyst for people to stake roots in our region and we were pleased with the results,” Peters said. “The two biggest impacts we saw were with employment and schools.”

The results of this project will be used to launch an updated version of the pilot program in Ellsworth and Lincoln counties, pending funding. Future plans include the development of a regional home ownership program.

This article appeared in the March 2019 NCRPC Newsletter.



Pilot Program Addresses Nuisances

Helping communities deal with nuisance properties, enforcement and ordinances was the main goal behind NCRPC offering a pilot Nuisance Abatement Program in 2018.

Dilapidated structures are one of the issues the Nuisance Abatement Program seeks to address.

NCRPC Housing Director Carol Torkelson says there have been many positive results from the first year of the program in the City of Belleville.

“The visual impact is huge in the area where the ordinance was enforced and property owner pride is very apparent,” Torkelson said. “Another great success was neighbors helping neighbors — working together to remedy issues that needed taken care of.”

The Nuisance Abatement Program offers third party assessment and oversight from an outside perspective to enforce an ordinance the city adopts. The comprehensive Nuisance Abatement Ordinance applies to all properties including commercial, residential, vacant or occupied. NCRPC developed the program based on similar initiatives with peer organizations in Nebraska.

“We all get used to seeing things as they are and that becomes normal,” Torkelson said. “The program helps nudge residents to be aware of their surroundings.”

The pilot program was designed to be completed by the end of 2018. All properties have cleared except those the City of Belleville is monitoring and will complete with its demolition program. According to Belleville Mayor Kim Lapo, in recent years the city has demolished approximately 10 homes per year that have been deemed uninhabitable. Some of these properties have absentee owners.

“Everyone in our community wins when our properties are taken care of,” Lapo said. “It positively impacts tourism and economic development, which is crucial for small towns like us to stand out.”

While there were challenges to work through like many first-year programs, Torkelson credits the City of Belleville and its staff for staying the course and successfully completing the project.

“City staff was great to work with,” Torkelson said. “They offered suggestions such as an extra clean up day to help residents and use of their time and equipment for the actual abatement.”

According to Lapo, the city encountered pushback at the early stages of the program’s implementation — mostly due to questions about the purpose and cost. “The council and city staff worked diligently to be as transparent as possible and answer the questions that the community had in regards to this program,” Lapo said.

After a year of the program, Lapo reflected that there have been noticeable successes, including the visible difference where the nuisance abatement ordinance was enforced. “Trash has been removed from properties, vegetation has been cut down, repairs have been made to homes and structures, and vehicles have been tagged or removed from properties,” Lapo said. “A sense of community pride has been fostered since this program’s implementation.”

NCRPC is currently developing a modified version of the program that will be available to smaller communities that cannot afford the cost of the full program.

“We see the need in many of the communities we work with but also understand this is hard for communities to take on,” Torkelson said. “It is a lot of work and it impacts people on a personal level.”

For more information about the program, contact the NCRPC Housing Department.

This article appeared in the January 2019 NCRPC Newsletter.


Joint Land Use Study for Proposed UAS Corridor Underway

Viewpoint Column by Doug McKinney, NCRPC Executive Director

Since the Civil War, Fort Riley Army Base has been a key component for national defense training. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Kansas has been at the forefront of aviation exploration. After all Kansans Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna, Lloyd Stearman and Amelia Earhart were some of the greatest aviators and quite innovative in their day. Today, Kansas is taking the lead in unmanned aerial system (UAS) research and development. Fort Riley, Kansas State University Polytechnic and the Smoky Hill Weapons Range are a large part in that.

North Central Regional Planning Commission is working with Flint Hills Regional Council to complete a Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) that will support the UAS home station training. The research project is funded in large part by the U.S. Department of Defense. There are six unmanned systems at Fort Riley. The U.S. Army is looking for and needs to find safe and realistic training areas beyond the tight confines of the base. The Route Phoenix corridor links Fort Riley with the Smoky Hill Range in western Saline County. This is the first such training sector in the nation.

The JLUS research will examine this corridor and potential impacts vertically from the narrow high elevation flight path to the ground below. This effort will help identify potential new regulatory and non-regulatory measures to encourage compatible land uses within the study area. Recommendations will be offered for both military and civilian partners. Options such as noise attenuation standards, air space height standards, land exchanges, land acquisition, development incentive programs, conservation easements, transferable development rights program (TDRs), performance standards, special overlay zones, and special procedures for reviewing developments with potentially substantial impact within the study area may be explored.

The work is necessary to gain Federal Aviation Administration support for Fort Riley aviation training programs. It will greatly enhance maneuverability and increase readiness. North Central Kansas committee members represent each county of the corridor. Stantec Consulting has been engaged to provide JLUS expertise. Public meetings will also take place allowing for additional input from local citizens. The results should prove beneficial to Kansas and the nation by late 2019 and beyond.

This column appeared in the January 2019 NCRPC Newsletter.


Monthly Educational Webinars Available

K-State Research and Extension offers a free educational webinar every first Friday of the month with topics relevant to business and community development.

Nancy Daniels, Community Vitality Specialist with K-State Research and Extension, coordinates the First Friday webinars.

“The next two presenters have direct impact on community development,” Daniels said. Deb Brown from SaveYour.Town will be the featured presenter on February 1 and will discuss marketing your small town. Ben Winchester, Extension Educator with University of Minnesota, will discuss rewriting the rural narrative on March 1.

Previous webinars — including a wide range of topics such as cyber security, agritourism, e-commerce and more — are recorded and available online at www.ksre.k-state.edu/community/business/entrepreneurship/. To be added to the list to participate in upcoming calls, email nkdaniels@ksu.edu.

This article appeared in the January 2019 NCRPC Newsletter.


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