TEG
THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016
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PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
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Good Evening
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Plenty of
options to grow.
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
HOUSING SHORTAGE LOOMS
CATHRYNE SCHARTON/GAZETTE
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
Increasing housing is a priority
for the City of Emporia. Leaders
recognize there is a housing shortage within the city and are taking
steps to alleviate that shortage.
“It is a city goal,” Jim Witt, assistant city manager, said. “We
want to increase housing starts by
at least 10 to 15 a year. We all realize there is a shortage in housing.”
Jaime Sauder, broker and owner at Emporia Realty Group, said
there are several factors at play
that have led to the housing short-
age. One is low interest rates.
“Interest rates have been incredibly low for five or six years
now,” Sauder said. “Now as rates
begin to creep up, it is harder to
get people to talk about selling.”
This leads to low inventory
and fewer homes available for
purchase. Sauder said this means
houses are staying on the market
for a shorter period time.
“Normally our average days
on the market is around 45 days,”
Sauder said. “Right now, it’s quite
a bit different. I’d say through the
spring and summer it will be closer to 30.”
In mid-March there were 74
homes for sale in Lyon County.
Of those, about 33 percent were
priced between $30,000 and
$50,000.
“Seventy-five percent of the
homes for sale in Lyon County
are under $100,000,” Sauder said.
“The average sale price in Emporia
for the last four or five years has
been around $105,000. Right now
the average list price for homes for
sale is $86,000. So things are really
out of whack for what a normal
year would be.”
This leads to shortages in two
areas. First, there is a shortage in
the number of high-end houses
available for purchase, those over
$150,000. Which means that not
as many people are selling their
homes in the average home price
range.
“There is a quagmire at the
higher end,” Sauder said. “Because
there is not more in that range it is
not allowing those people that are
in the $100,000 to $180,000 range
to sell.”
Sauder, like the city, has noticed a decrease in the number
of new homes being built in the
Please see Housing, Page 5
Moncia Wirtz with the Kansas
Rural Water Association
discusses the water quality
awards given to Emporia at
Wednesday’s city commission
meeting.
CITY’S WATER
WINS MORE
AWARDS
By Cathryne Scharton
[email protected]
TIME TO ADOPT A GARDEN
Emporia Main
Street seeks
volunteers
to maintain
downtown gardens
By Regina Murphy
[email protected]
Since 2009, Emporia Main
Street has been working to enhance downtown Emporia with
the volunteer-run Adopt a Garden
Program.
Adopting a garden is open to
any individual, organization or
business that would like to participate. The work period runs from
mid-April and goes through the
end of October, all depending on
weather.
Dominic Eliot, an Emporia
State University senior studying
communications, is interning with
Emporia Main Street. He sat for an
interview at The Gazette as part
of his project to recruit gardeners
for the remaining, unfilled spaces
downtown.
“The purpose of this program
is to help keep Emporia’s ‘main
street’ (Commercial Street) clean,
improve community pride and
make (the area) look appealing for
incoming people.”
Emporia’s various events, from
the Glass Blown Open and Dirty
Kanza 200 to the Soundscapes
Project and Great American Market, bring thousands of visitors to
downtown over these six months.
The remaining gardens to adopt
are five, possibly six, corner lots,
all on Commercial Street, except
for one at Seventh Avenue and Mechanic Street.
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Q
A
How often do people need to
tend their garden?
As frequently as possible,
but especially before special
events. Some businesses have
their employees help.
Q
A
What about people who want
to form a garden team?
It’s open to any individual, organization or business.
Please see Garden, Page 5
At Wednesday’s city commission meeting the city was was
presented with awards from the
Kansas Rural Water Association
and National Rural Water Association for the Water Treatment
Plant.
“The city of Emporia keeps
winning the best tasting water in
Kansas contest,” said Elmer Ronnebaum, general manager of Kansas Rural Water Association. “Emporia has won more times than any
other water supply. The city was
named best in Kansas in eight of
the 17 annual competitions.”
“The city of Emporia is always
very happy to be recognized for
the quality of our water,” said
Mark McAnarney. “The folks at
the water plant do an outstanding job and the city commissions
over the years have put a lot of
money into the right technology
and equipment and will continue
to do so. We are very proud (of the
win).”
Please see City, Page 5
STUDENTS
SHARE
CULTURES
THROUGH
CUISINE
Special to The Gazette
Explore the global village that
is Emporia State University as Emporia State international students
showcase their native cuisines and
cultures during the annual International Food Festival. The event
will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the Memorial Union’s
Webb Hall on the ESU campus.
Stations include: Japan, France,
China, Bahamas, Syria, Intensive
English Program, Latin America,
China, Paraguay, Bangladesh and
Kappa Delta Chi.
Diners will find a variety of
foods, some familiar and some
new to them. Prices range from $1
to $4 per item.
Foods include crepes, quiche
and flan from France; seafood fritters and gully wash from Bahamas;
Japanese fried noodle sandwich;
VOL. 124, NO. 239
Please see Cuisine, Page 5