News

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Entrepreneurs go through a lot of work even before officially opening their business’s doors and recently, some legislation was reintroduced to help make some parts of the process easier.

Thursday, U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) reintroduced the bipartisan Expanding American Entrepreneurship Act, which would increase the permitted size of angel funds to allow for a higher number of investors in start-up companies.

“By allowing more individual investors per angel fund and raising the fund’s cap, more investors will be able to invest at a lower rate,” a release from Moran’s office noted. “This will allow new investors who have less access to capital to invest in start-ups, expanding the funding base for early-stage startups.”

L&T staff report

A complaint has been filed against the Seward County Commission for violating Revenue Neutral rate with the Seward County Clerk.

According to the complaint filed by Leader & Times Publisher Earl Watt, when the RNR letters sent to taxpayers included an explanation of the requested 25.868 mill increase, the letter set a cap of 21 mills for the pending tax case and 4.868 mills for the rest of the county budget. But according to the new budget increase of 13.4 mills, only 2 mills are being applied to the court case and 11.4 mills are attributed to the rest of the budget.

EARL WATT

   • Leader & Times

Sources within Seward County have stated Seward County Counsel Nathan Foreman has tendered his resignation.

Foreman has been the county counselor for several years.

His resignation comes at a time when the county is facing several challenges to its recent tax increase as well as while the county is facing a court case with Arkalon Energy over the valuation of the ethanol plant, although that case is being handled by an outside legal firm.

A request was made to county administration for the resignation letter and for a plan to replace Foreman, but there was no response as of press time.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Parts of Adventure Bay Water Park are starting to show their age and need upgrading, and Tuesday, the Liberal City Commission got to hear some proposals regarding just that.

“As everyone will remember, at the July 8 meeting, the Liberal City Commission approved an agreement with Waters Edge Aquatic Design to do a full scale facility review of Adventure Bay Water Park. The intent of the audit was to identify potential safety and equipment concerns and provide an estimate of repairs versus a quote for a complete overhaul of the park,” City Manager Scarlette Diseker said. “With Adventure Bay starting to age, city staff felt this assessment would assist in starting a conversation about the future plans of the water park and how the commission wishes to move forward. With ongoing talks between the City of Liberal, Seward County Community College, and USD 480 regarding the need for a new indoor swimming facility, we feel the condition of the existing park needs to be examined and taken into consideration before funds can be appropriated either way. The quotes were as follows: for the repair of existing facility (pump house, basin, features, pool deck, office, and restrooms), that would be $1,748,500, and a total overhaul and reconstruction of a new facility would be $7,657,000. Not included in the overhaul quote were utilities, parking, parking lot lighting, furniture, fixtures, equipment, and contractor’s general conditions. There is a lot to consider, and I wanted to make sure these conversations were taking place before the public.”