Winter sweeps Baldwin City
The Festival of Lights Celebration, culminating with the Parade of Lights, took place December 2nd. In spite of a light drizzle in a cool evening, the parade was well-attended and folks had a great time, whether they were participating in the parade or watching.
Residential Lights Decorating Contest
Light up your house for the holidays and enter to win cash prizes and utility bill credit!
1st place: $250 cash + $100 utility credit
2nd place: $150 cash + $75 utility credit
3rd place: $100 cash + $50 utility credit
Criteria:
Originality
Creativity
Overall appearance
To enter, submit a form by December 15th to City Hall (803 8th Street) or online. Forms are available at City Hall, or you may enter online.
Judging will be the 3rd weekend of December. Winners will be announced at the December 19th Council Meeting.
Cash prizes are sponsored by Christmas Decor by The Grounds Guys of Olathe. Utility credits will be automatically applied.
PD now hiring
Under the supervision of the Police Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Chief, the Police Officer is a nonexempt position under FLSA. The position protects and serves the citizens of Baldwin City. This position provides citizen assistance, enforces all federal, state, and local laws, and performs patrol duties. Making arrests, issuing citations for traffic violations, and investigating crimes and accidents are the primary responsibilities of this position. This employee should possess excellent communication, public relations, and interpersonal skills.
Starting wages: $21/hour
This position works 12-hour shifts with no bid system and every other weekend off.
Excellent benefits available.
Cost Share Program Awards for Highway Crosswalks
On November 28th, Governor Kelly and Transportation Secretary Calvin Reed announced that Baldwin City has been awarded $282,200.00 in the Kansas Department of Transportation’s (KDOT's) Cost Sharing Program, for US-56 highway-pedestrian crossing safety improvements. Under the terms of the award, the funds will be used to:
Improve the existing crosswalk at US-56 & 8th Street with a pedestrian activated rectangular rapid flashing beacon and updated ADA accommodations.
Construct a new crosswalk at US-56 & Santa Fe Drive with a pedestrian activated rectangular rapid flashing beacon, ADA accommodations, and extend an existing sidewalk along the North side of US-56 to connect to a future subdivision.
Construction is expected to start on these projects within the next 4-6 months. The City of Baldwin City is responsible for a 15% local cash match on these two projects, as well as preliminary engineering and design.
You may watch Governor Kelly’s joint conference with Transportation Secretary Reed live on Facebook, including Mayor Simoneau’s remarks. The full press release from KDOT is available on the Department of Transportation website.
USD348 Survey
Dear Baldwin Residents,
Over the past two school years, we have been working to improve the responsive supports provided to students to ensure learning occurs. In some cases, this comes in the form of additional support referred to as interventions. At the November Board of Education Meeting, I was given the Board's blessing to inquire with staff, parents, and community members and gather feedback on the potential for implementing a late start or an early release one day per month in the 2024-2025 school year (a total of 8 for the year) to allow USD 348 teachers and staff the opportunity to review student learning and make immediate adjustments to the supports (also called interventions) provided to students and classroom instruction, as well as time to provide needed ongoing professional learning.
I want to emphasize, no decisions have been made at this time. We are only gathering information regarding perceptions and potential impact should an adjustment be made to the school calendar. See the link below to take the survey, which will close at 3:00 pm on Thursday, December 21, 2023. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Mark Dodge, Superintendent, via email at mdodge@usd348.com. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Respectfully,
Mark Dodge
Superintendent
Baldwin USD 348
October & November Council Recap
October 3rd, City Council met in regular session with an ambitious agenda. They approved the Baker University Marching Band Festival in the Consent Agenda, and then heard a presentation regarding proposed moderate income housing units. The proposal would build two new 12-unit apartment buildings along Ames Street, with a mix of one and two bedroom units. No action was taken by City Council at that time.
Moving on, a resolution was approved unanimously in support of the Baldwin City Sidewalk Gap Project. This is a project funded by Transportation Authority grant money that was awarded in 2021, and is managed by the Kansas Department of Transportation. This project will build a sidewalk along 11th Street, connecting High Street and Ames, as well as fill in some other key gaps throughout town.
A discussion with Baldwin City Public Works Director Rob Culley came next, regarding work that needs done on the pool to extend its life by addressing some hollow spots in the pool bed, as well as sandblasting and painting. Jerry Smith moved to approve $63,600 for pool repairs, and the motion passed 4-0. The Christmas Decor lease package exceeded the amount of spending authority the City Administrator has this year, so even though the $30,945 was approved in the 2023 budget, council needed to approve the contract. Approval was unanimous.
October 17th, Council met again. The consent agenda included the Hometown Halloween special event application, Double A Liquor retail liquor license renewal, and a Cereal Malt Beverage (CMB) license for Gambino’s Pizza. There was a proclamation for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Maggie Bornholdt from the Willow Center for Domestic Violence accepted the proclamation.
The Moderate Income Housing resolution from the October 3rd session was approved. This resolution states that the governing body supports the private developers’ application for a Moderate Income Housing grant to build two apartment buildings off Ames Street.
Council reviewed a Request for Proposals (RFP) and bid from the current city sanitation provider, Green Environmental Services (which now owns Ottawa Sanitation). After a discussion of services and cost, Council requested city staff re-post the RFP and tabled the bid pending the results of the second RFP.
November Council Meetings were the 7th and 21st. On the 7th, Council approved the bid from Green Environmental Services for a 7-year term beginning in February 2024, after reviewing the other bid submitted which was higher. Watch for more details regarding the changes in trash services very soon. A conditional use permit (CUP) was discussed for 404 5th Street, for AirBnB use, but since it was the first reading, no action was taken.
The 21st was a relatively short agenda, with a number of tobacco, drinking establishment, and Cereal Malt Beverage (CMB) renewals on the consent agenda, which was quickly approved. Under old business, the CUP ordinance from November 7th was approved. An equipment lease RFP intended to finance generator and truck purchases already made for the electric department in the amount of 1.85 million was authorized by council to ease cash flow issues in the electric funds.
All Council documents, including agendas, minutes, and supporting documents, as well as live streams, are available on the City website at the link below.
Calendar of upcoming events
December 2, Festival of Lights
December 5, City Council Meeting
December 19, City Council Meeting
December 25 & 26, all City offices closed for Christmas
January 1, all City offices closed for New Years.
January 2, City Council Meeting
January 15, all City offices closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 16, City Council Meeting