City News

Starting Monday, March 16th, public access to the Kansas River on Saline Road in North Topeka will be closed while necessary construction takes place at the river weir and boat ramp area. This is a popular area for fisherman and canoe access, but for safety reasons the entire area will be closed to the public during construction which is expected to last until April 2021.
The project underway at this location will include a bypass channel which will allow safe navigation around the existing river weir without having to portage. The other features of the project include alteration of existing wing dikes and installation of rock and concrete surfaces below the weir to improve public safety. When the project is completed next year, a new parking area will be constructed which will feature a more reliable access road aimed to reduce illegal dumping and destruction of property.
For river users, recommended alternate locations for river access during construction are the boat ramps in Kaw River State Park or Seward Avenue Access.
You can learn more and follow the progress of the project using the Topeka Open Projects Dashboard under Project Number T-281058.01, KS River Weir Upstream Modifications. https://topeka.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/6b1035a84c384206a3bbecb3386a3ce0

Below is the description of the Topeka project

Topeka, KS — Open Data and Project Portal

When the City exercises an open and transparent government, it increases accountability and builds trust with people by sharing information and engaging in ongoing conversations with employees and the public. To increase transparency and accountability we have created data portals for budget, checkbook and projects. This information is machine readable and easy to understand and filter. The checkbook shows all expenditures and the project portal shows all active projects. We are continuously shifting to proactive disclosure of frequently requested public information of any kind, with the goal to reduce staff time and costs by 10 to 20 percent. As citizens utilize open data, it begins to provide public value. Open government is about changing the way the City operates and its internal culture. While open government work often involves new technologies and sharing collected data with the public, at its core, open government is about building and fostering relationships. One of the dashboards is designed to offer insight into the associated costs and timelines for the city’s active Capital Improvement Projects. Currently we are providing detail project information on approx. 160 projects with an estimated budget of $220MM. Higher visibility results in higher accountability.

How would you spend $96.5 million of the City of Topeka’s money? The Finance Department is inviting all citizens who are interested in learning more about the 2021 Budget to workshops that will be hosted throughout the community in the months of February, March and April.
The workshop will cover the city’s budget and how it is allocated. The workshops will be interactive and allow citizens to ask questions and give input on the 2021 budget. For more budget information citizens can access the performance portal to track how the city measures up at https://www.performance.topeka.org.
Budget Workshops will be held on:
• Tues., February 18th, 10 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., Cyrus K. Holliday, 620 SE Madison, Holliday Conference Room
• Thurs., February 20th, 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m., Cyrus K. Holliday, 620 SE Madison, Holliday Conference Room
• Sat., March 7th, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., Topeka Shawnee County Public Library, Marvin Auditorium, 101AB
• Fri., March 13th, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging, 2901 SW Topeka Blvd.
• Thurs., March 19th, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., Cyrus K. Holliday, 620 SE Madison, Holliday Conference Room
• Thurs., April 2nd, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., Cyrus K. Holliday, 620 SE Madison, Holliday Conference Room
• Sat., April 4th, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Topeka Shawnee County Public Library, Marvin Auditorium 101AB
• Thurs., May 7th, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., Cyrus K. Holliday, 620 SE Madison, Holliday Conference Room
• Sat., May 9th, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Topeka Shawnee County Public Library, Marvin Auditorium 101AB
You can learn more information about the budget on the Budget & Performance website https://www.topeka.org/finance/budget.

Homelessness in Kansas and across the country is on the rise. In the past year, the Topeka Rescue Mission has seen record numbers of guests in the shelter with the biggest increase being in persons with mental health challenges. Kansas schools have also seen large increases in homeless children and youth.
It is important for the City of Topeka to obtain the appropriate level of funding so that we can provide needed services to those experiencing homelessness and those at risk for homelessness. To receive funding for programs, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires communities to complete a point-in-time count of the homeless every year.
This year’s Point-In-Time Count will be held on Wednesday, January 29 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“Topeka is committed to helping the homeless in our community. The point in time homeless count is the first important step to see where the most need is in our community,” said Corrie Wright, Division Director of Housing Services for the City of Topeka. The information gathered will help Topeka to:
• Understand the face of homelessness within the community;
• Make sure services are meeting the needs of homeless persons;
• Raise public awareness about the issues surrounding homelessness; and
• Measure community progress towards preventing and ending homelessness.

Help us make sure that everyone is counted!
Persons who are experiencing homelessness or know someone who is, please call 785-368-0168 between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. on January 29th. Interviewers will also be available at the City Offices – Holliday Building. 620 SE Madison, Holliday Conference Room from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on January 29th.

Any media who would like to follow an outreach team on the day of the count, please call Theresa
Douthart at 785-274-7359 in advance of the actual day.

Effective today, pedestrian activity at certain intersections will be limited to simply crossing the street. The goal of the Pedestrian and Traffic Safety ordinance is to improve public safety by reducing crashes related to distracted driving caused by pedestrians.
This ordinance applies to all pedestrians within the Topeka city limits at only those intersections identified in the ordinance.
Pedestrians are increasingly using highways and roadways in a manner for which the roads were not designed or intended. These uses include approaching vehicles when stopped or in use, or staying upon medians and in the public right-of-way for purposes other than crossing the highway or roadway. This type of activity distracts drivers, which makes automobile accidents more likely and creates safety hazards for pedestrians.
The following intersections were identified in the MTPO Metropolitan Transportation Safety Plan as ranking high across all emphasis areas (intersections; speed; distracted driving; pedestrian & bicyclist):
 SE 15th Street and SE Adams
 SE 21st Street and SE Adams Street
 SW 6th Avenue and SW Gage Boulevard
 SW 21st Street and SW Gage Boulevard
 SW 29th Street and SW Gage Boulevard
 SW Huntoon Street and SW Gage Boulevard
 SW Huntoon Street and SW Fairlawn Road
 SW 21st Street and SW Fairlawn Road
 SW 29th Street and SW Fairlawn Road
 SW 12th Street and SW Jackson Street

 SW 10th Avenue and SW Lane Street
 SW 6th Avenue and SW Orchard Street
 SW 5th Street and SW Topeka Boulevard
 SW 6th Avenue and SW Topeka Boulevard
 SW 8th Avenue and SW Topeka Boulevard
 SW 10thAvenue and SW Topeka Boulevard
 SW 21st Street and SW Topeka Boulevard
 SW 29th Street and SW Topeka Boulevard
 SW 21st Street and SW Wanamaker Road
 SW 17th Street and SW Wanamaker Road
 SW 21st Street and SW Washburn Avenue
 SW 29th Street and SW Wanamaker Road
 SW 17th Street and SW Westover Road and SW Oakley Street
Due to the high number of reported crashes involving pedestrians at these intersections, and the prevalence of distracted driving as a contributing factor in these crashes, certain activities will be restricted, as specified in section 10.80.030 of the ordinance.

The City of Topeka Utility Department is advising Topeka area residents to avoid contact with Butcher Creek from SE 29^th St to SE 21^st & Lakewood and Shunganunga Creek from 21^st & Lakewood to the point of confluence with the Kansas River, as well as a tributary flowing west from 29^th & Freemont to Butcher Creek.

Field crews discovered a sanitary sewer overflow in a heavily wooded area stemming from a blocked sewer main.  The overflow discharged to a local tributary and eventually into Butcher Creek. The blockage has been removed to stop the overflow, but bacteria levels in the water bodies could remain high.

As a precaution residents are advised to avoid contact with the impacted waterways and to keep pets out of the streams.

Topeka staff will continue to monitor the impacted water bodies and provide notification when the advisory can be lifted.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has been notified.

Contact for further information: Molly Hadfield, Director of Media Relations 785-368-0991, mhadfield@topeka.org
Thursday, December 26, 2019

TOPEKA, KS – The Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center will be accepting used live Christmas trees this year beginning as early as December 26. It is as easy as dropping the tree off at the same location as last year, on the south east side of Gage Park, just east of the horseshoe court parking lot inside Gage Park.
 
When entering Gage Park from the 10th St. entrance, take your first right on Munn Memorial Drive heading north west. Look for the orange snow fence and place your tree in the grass, behind the
“trees here sign”. “There is no need to make an appointment,” said Zoo Director Brendan Wiley. “We’ll find them and get them to the animals that can use them.”
 
For the safety of the animals, in order for the trees to be able to be used by the zoo animals, the trees need to be free of ornaments, hooks, tinsel, tree stands and not in plastic bags.
“This allows the trees to be used beyond the holiday season,” said Wiley. “Animals that benefit from them include lions, tigers, owls, mountain lions, giraffes, black bears, painted dogs and many others.”
 
Once the animals have had plenty of fun with the varieties of conifers donated, they will be ground up through a chipper and made into mulch for continued reuse. The zoo will accept the trees through Jan. 8th 2020.
 
Have a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year from the Topeka Zoo & Conservation Center.

Veterinary staff at the Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center made the difficult decision to euthanize a thirty year old Malayan Sun Bear named Cup Cake Monday morning. “We knew this day would come,” said Zoo Director Brendan Wiley. “She was already beyond her normal life span when she arrived here two years ago but that doesn’t make it emotionally easier.”
Cup Cake and Ho Ho came to the Topeka Zoo in November of 2017 when their former zoo had to close their previous exhibit for construction reasons. “We talked about it for a long time,” said Wiley. “They were really old but it seemed like the right and fitting thing to do.”
Cup Cake and Ho Ho moved into the exhibit formerly occupied by Tiffany the gorilla. “The keepers in the area had become specialized in working with geriatric animals. We simply thought that if the two bears needed our home and our care to live out their remaining years, we were well equipped to care for them,” said Wiley.
Caring for geriatric animals isn’t unlike caring for geriatric people. “You need a comprehensive view of the animal’s health status,” said staff veterinarian Dr. Shirley Llizo. “In Cup Cake’s case, we dealt with advanced arthritis, severe dental issues and anemia.”
With an established medication regimen paired with a training program, Cup Cake thrived. “One of her favorite things to do was to watch her keepers and train with them,” said Animal Care Supervisor Shanna Simpson.
This past Saturday, Cup Cake was noticed to be limping. By Sunday, a neurological condition had rendered her hind legs useless. Throughout the weekend, additional medications were tried but did not produce noticeable results. Because of the positive relationship between the bear and her keepers, medications were able to be administered by injection and in Strawberry Newtons. Early Monday mornings as the condition progressed with head tremors, the decision was made to humanely euthanize her.

Ho Ho, Cup Cake’s mate (although the two never produced offspring), was allowed to be with her just
before she passed. The two bears were very tightly bonded. Ho Ho’s keepers will be keeping a close eye
on him and giving him a lot of extra love and attention.

If you haven’t been by the Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center in a while, you may not realize that there is significant construction occurring near the entrance to the zoo. “Tomorrow is typically the busiest day of the year for the zoo,” said Zoo Director Brendan Wiley, “the weather forecast looks ideal for the event.”
Boo at the Zoo is the community’s longest running Halloween tradition. When the weather is right, the event can see over 7,000 participants in a single day. This year’s event will feature more than 32 outside vendors participating to make the event successful for the thousands of children that attend.
New this year include participants like Papa Johns Pizza and a “Fun House.” (There is an additional fee of $2.00 per person for entry into the Fun House.)
With the nice weather, zoo officials are expecting a large crowd and want to offer parking advice for those planning to attend. “A new parking lot has been installed just South of the Helen Hocker Theatre,” said Wiley. “Also, the Shawnee County Parks and Recreation Department has been very supportive during our construction work. Boo at the Zoo attendees can park at the Blaisdell Pool Parking Lot and walk through Animal Land to gain access to the Zoo.”

Sumatran tigers are a critically endangered species. It’s estimated that there are only as many as 750 Sumatran tigers left in the world, with somewhere between 400 to 500 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. 242 Sumatran tigers are being managed in zoo conservation programs across the world. Of the 74 in North American Zoos, the Topeka Zoo’s Jingga, has given birth to seven of them. “It’s a little bizarre to realize that for this critically endangered species, over 10% of the North American population has been born or lived at our zoo,” said Zoo Director Brendan Wiley.

The Sumatran Tiger program at the Topeka Zoo is the Zoo’s most successful conservation program. It has a strong on-site education program, an active reproductive program contributing to managed healthy genetic diversity and an in-situ component. “It’s our in-situ component, the armed ranger that our community funds, that is on the ground in Sumatra protecting and saving tigers that we are most proud of,” said Wiley. “That is what makes this so real.”

The Sumatran tiger conservation program from the Topeka Zoo help the Wildlife Conservation Society to employ a ranger named Bajar Johan in Sumatra for a boots on the ground effort to protect Sumatran tigers. Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant is essential to helping provide funds to the Sumatran tiger conservation program by brewing a beer called Tiger Bite IPA. For every draw they sell, they donate a quarter to the Topeka Zoo’s Conservation Fund. That Fund transfers those proceeds to the Tiger Species Survival Plan operated through the Minnesota Zoo. The Tiger SSP transfers the funding to the New York based Wildlife Conservation Society who has a field office on the island of Sumatra. WCS uses the funds generated by beer drinkers in Topeka to employ Badar, which leads to Topekan beer drinkers supporting and funding the active ground conservation efforts for an endangered species half a world away. “Who knew conservation work could be as satisfying as simply ordering the right beer at a local Topeka establishment,” said Wiley.

Since the inception of this unique partnership, Blind Tiger Brewery has been much more
involved than just a quarter a draw. In the bar area of the local brewery you can find a live
video feed from the tiger habitat at the Topeka Zoo. Coasters at the restaurant speak to the
conservation initiative. Even the bones from the bison that are harvested to make bison burgers
find their way to the Topeka Zoo as enrichment for the Zoo’s tigers.

A year ago, four extremely rare Sumatran tiger cubs were born at the Topeka Zoo. It was fitting
that one of those cubs be named by a Blind Tiger patron. The name that was chosen was Kansa
Raja, loosely translated to be Kansas King. Beginning this Friday, October 11, Blind Tiger
Brewery joins the Zoo in celebrating the four cubs first birthday. Starting Friday October 11th
through October 15 (the true birthday for the cubs) Blind Tiger Brewery will donate to the Zoo’s
Conservation Fund $1 for each of the following items that is ordered:

 Tiger Bite IPA
 Tiger Paws Appetizer
 Tiger Wings Appetizer
 Tiger-Que Combo Platter

“When else do you get the chance to eat, drink and enjoy for such a great cause? Drink a beer
and save a tiger,” said Wiley.

The Zoo’s celebration of the cub’s birthday will be this Saturday, October 12 and will run from
10:00 to 2:30 with the following activities:

 10:00 Special tiger cub enrichment
 10:00 – 12:00 – Tiger Keeper available to talk with guests and Docent Education Station
 2:00 – 2:30 – Tiger Building Behind the Scenes Tours

All zoo activities are included with zoo admission.