Category: Unified Government Commission

Public hearing on UG’s solid waste management plan to be held tonight

A public hearing on the Unified Government’s proposed solid waste management plan will be held tonight, according to a UG committee agenda.

The public hearing will be held during the 5 p.m. April 25 meeting of the UG Public Works and Safety Committee.

According to the UG agenda, the state requires the UG to have a review of the solid waste management plan and update it every five years. A public hearing is part of the process.

The plan is included in the Public Works committee agenda at https://www.wycokck.org/Departments/Clerks-Office/Agendas-Minutes.

The plan also is online at https://www.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/public-works/solid-waste-management/documents/2020-wyandotte-county-solid-waste-management-plan.pdf.

The UG Administration and Human Services Committee meeting scheduled for April 25 has been canceled because of a lack of items, according to an agenda note.

The Public Works Committee meeting will be on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85463742723?pwd=bVY5ZkYrQWUyT3VaYjVrM1RxZEFEUT09.

The passcode is 904089.

To connect by telephone, dial 888-475-4499 toll free or 877-853-5257 toll free.

The webinar ID number is 854 6374 2723.

The public also may view the meeting in the fifth floor conference room, Suite 515, at City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas.

BPU members call for meeting with UG over ‘misinformation’

Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public Utilities members called for a meeting with the Unified Government, saying at Wednesday night’s meeting that the BPU wants to correct “misinformation.”

There is “misinformation” being discussed by UG committee members, according to Rose Mulvany Henry, BPU vice president.

She said that members of a UG committee recently gave a presentation to a local business group, in which the committee members gave out incorrect information about the PILOT fee on the BPU bills.

The PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) fee is an 11.9 percent fee that the UG places on BPU customers’ bills. The BPU has no authority in approving the fee, according to board members.

“Literally, all we do is collect the PILOT fee and remit the fee to the UG,” Mulvany Henry said at the meeting.

The BPU has no say in how the funds are spent. The funds go into the city general fund of the UG, she said. The UG Commission votes on how much the PILOT fee will be every year at budget time. BPU bills are just used to collect the funds for the UG.

At a recent UG Commission meeting, a UG commissioner asked where the PILOT fee on Bonner Springs and Edwardsville residents’ bills go. Any funds collected from there would go back to Bonner Springs and Edwardsville cities, according to Bill Johnson, BPU general manager.

There was general agreement among the rest of the BPU board that the board needs to meet with the UG Commission and mayor.

Mulvany Henry said although the UG’s website describes the PILOT fee as a franchise fee, it really is not, and that needs to be corrected, also. She said it is a payment in lieu of taxes, different from a franchise fee.

According to BPU officials, the UG gets 11.9 percent of the amount that the BPU bills. If customers are slow to pay their bills, the UG will get its funds right away from the BPU, while the BPU will have to wait for the customers to pay.

According to Mulvany Henry, the UG legal department has looked into the PILOT fees and has determined that the BPU is handling them correctly.

In other discussion, the BPU heard a report about the utility’s electric supply operations. BPU board members said they hoped the BPU was protected against cyber attacks in the wake of the UG website being hit by a cyber attack last weekend. BPU officials assured them that although it could happen to anyone, the BPU is well protected against cyber attacks.

ARPA grants available for nonprofit proposals in Wyandotte County

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, has funds available from the American Rescue Act Plan for nonprofit organizations and UG departments.

According to an announcement, the grant program will be open to all Wyandotte County nonprofit organizations and UG departments.

Funds will be used for projects for the betterment of Wyandotte County’s residents and communities as part of the pandemic recovery, the UG announcement stated.


“We know that many organizations in Wyandotte County are prepared to offer vital services and suggest creative solutions to the challenges brought on or intensified by the pandemic,” ARPA Subcommittee Chair Commissioner Angela Markley, 6th District, stated in a news release. “We are excited to offer all of those partners the opportunity to share their ideas and programs through this application, and we look forward to providing financial resources through a fair and transparent process.”

The Unified Government launched the ARPA Subcommittee in November 2021 to develop recommendations for the full governing body on how to allocate the local recovery funds and balance prioritization with other federal grant funding opportunities for maximum effect, according to the announcement.

The Unified Government will receive $87.5 million in federal aid over two years with $55.4 million allocated to the City of Kansas City, Kansas, and $32.1 million for Wyandotte County. Half of the funding is already available to the Unified Government and the remainder will be available in May 2022.


To view a UG grant information session held on YouTube, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ur6TD5jrKw.

Eligible expenses

The UG Board of Commissioners has identified four core values to guide the pandemic recovery: equity, collaboration, innovation and resiliency.

Through several workshops in fall 2021, the commissioners requested that money be spent to reflect these values while creating a sustainable effect on the community, according to a spokesman. The American Rescue Plan Act local recovery funds have specified eligible uses, including:

• Awardee staff salaries, benefits and supplies that are directly associated with implementing the proposed program;

• Enhancement, installation and fortification of digital infrastructure to respond to increased needs due to the COVID-19 public health emergency;

• Technical and life skills training, including support services to assist unemployed or underemployed workers’ increased needs due to the COVID-19 public health emergency;

• Creation or expansion of childcare services with special considerations to enable compliance with COVID-19 public health precautions;

• Emergency assistance initiatives;

• Food security, including delivery to residents, senior citizens and other vulnerable populations to enable compliance with COVID-19 public health precautions;

• Mental health, human services and similar employees whose services are substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency; and,

• Other measures to respond to or mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

Applications will be accepted through May 27, 2022, according to the announcement. More information about the American Rescue Plan Act can be found on the UG’s website at wycokck.org/ARPA.