Welcome to Cheney, KS!

DO YOU SMELL GAS?
1. Do NOT use matches or lighters- Extinguish cigarettes or smoking materials.
2. Do NOT use appliances or lights
3. Do NOT use telephone or cell phones near leak
4. LEAVE immediately and call 542-3815 or 911
Yard of the Month nominations now open!

The Cheney Area Chamber of Commerce is pleased to sponsor a new competition for Cheney residents. “Yard of the Month” awards will be presented for the months of May through August. The overall goal of the Award Program is to recognize individuals whose property exemplifies a clean and beautiful city where citizens value and take responsibility for enhancing their community.

 

Each month, the Chamber Board will review the list of nominated yards and announce the winner. The Yard of the Month winner will receive $25 in Cheney Bucks and will display a “Yard of the Month” sign in their yard for that month. 

 

There are several ways to nominate a yard. Please e-mail the property address to cheneychamber@gmail.com, post the nomination on the Cheney Chamber of Commerce Facebook account, or contact a Chamber Board member. Board members are Jeff Albers- Art’s & Mary’s,  Roger Brown- Citizen’s State Bank, Marcia Kampling- Sedgwick County Electric Cooperative, Stephanie Lies- KAPS, Diane Neises- Times Sentinel Newspaper, Diane Paneiko- The Wish List, or Danielle Young- City of Cheney. All nominations must be submitted by noon on the second Tuesday of each month. The winner will be announced by the 15th of each month.

Summer Swim Lessons
Swim Lessons will be offered for 45 minutes on the following dates. Cost- $30
June 10-14
10-10:45 am - Level I, II, III
11-11:45 am- Level IV, V
6-6:45 pm- Level I, II, III

June 17-21
10-10:45 am- Level I, II, III
11-11:45 am- Level Iv, V

June 24-28
10-10:45 am- Level I, II, III
11-11:45- Level Iv, V

Level I, II, III- Water Exploration/Primary Skills, Beginner Water Exploration (baby Pool), Stroke Readiness/Stroke Development
Level IV, V- Stroke Development/Skill Proficiency

Applications are available at City Hall or can be picked up at the pool.
City Wide Garage Sales & Clean-up Day
The Cheney City Wide Garage Sales has been scheduled for May 30th, 31st and June 1st. Those interested in having a garage sale may have their name added to the 'garage sale map' for $2 by stopping by City Hall. Garage Sale Maps will be available to the public on May 29th.

City Wide Clean-up Day will be on June 1st and will provide an opportunity for individuals to get rid of their "junk". Waste Connections will drive down each street in town, starting at 7 am, and pick up items that are placed curbside. Please have your items out the night before!

Sedgwick County Household Hazardous Waste will be in Cheney on June 22nd from 9 am - 1pm to accept almost all chemical items from a residential house, such as: paint, aerosols, batteries, used oil, gasoline, antifreeze, pesticides, herbicides, garden chemicals, household cleaners, fluorescent bulbs, propane, and old, unwanted medication (no controlled substances).

GOODWILL Industries will have a truck available at the Cheney High School parking lot on Sat., June 1st from 12-2pm for individuals to drop off items they would like to donate to GOODWILL.

Are you interested in garage sales across Kansas? Check out this list of garage sales by date and town!
Rolling out a Toilet Paper Campaign

Cheney, Kansas is merely a short 20 minute journey down a four-lane highway from the largest city in Kansas. Think about it. Any item we wish to purchase or anything we wish to eat is at our fingertips within a matter of minutes. But how many of these items can also be found locally?

With the recent opening of Wal-Mart in Goddard, I started thinking about the impact this national chain could have on Cheney and I am scared to think about what might happen to our locally owned businesses. Currently, our Main Street is vibrant with every commercial building full. But as ‘the city’ continues to creep westward we need to be reminded what Goddard lost a year ago…their local grocery store. Can you begin to imagine not having a local grocery store, hardware store, or any of our other locally owned businesses in Cheney? It’s sad to say, but if Cheney residents continue to overlook what is offered locally- it could happen.

I recently read the article “A Toilet Paper Movement” in the January 7, 2013 edition of the Hi-Plains Journal. The article talked about the Chamber of Greater Franklin County in Hampton, Iowa and its buy local campaign. This got me thinking that the residents of Cheney could easily do the same simple task…buy their toilet paper locally. Let’s face it, toilet paper is the one thing that all of us need and none of us can make an excuse about purchasing. It’s a necessity and our local grocery store carries a variety.

A study found that the average person uses about 105 rolls of toilet paper each year. At an average cost of $.60 per roll, and with 2,094 people in Cheney, that comes to roughly $131,922 being spent each year on toilet paper sales by the citizens of Cheney to purchase 219,870 rolls of toilet paper. Sadly, Jim’s Foodliner reported that he sold approximately 33,367 rolls of toilet paper in Cheney in 2012, or in other words our local retailer missed out on selling 186,503 rolls of toilet paper. That’s a whopping $111,901 in lost sales.

Most people think they can save money by buying their toilet paper in Wichita. So I did a price comparison between Jim’s Foodliner and Sam’s Club. Sam’s toilet paper is .52/roll. Jim’s Foodliner frequently has sales on their toilet paper and it can be purchased at prices varying from .42/roll to .60/roll, plus Jim’s accepts and doubles coupons!

In fact, I’ve price compared several items to our local grocery store. Recently, I saw a post that a friend had saved 47% on their groceries at a Wichita retailer. So when I did my grocery shopping last week at Jim’s Foodliner, I kept track of the original prices of the items I purchased and found I saved 44%! And the nice thing about my local savings is that my groceries were carried to my car, I had a minute of commute time, no money was spent for gas, and I didn’t have to worry about my ice cream melting before I got home.

Shopping local should matter to each of us because the $111,901 in lost toilet paper sales could have generated sales tax that would go back into funding local services. Services such as our local fire and police departments, city parks, senior center, and streets. Not to mention a large part of that sales tax goes to Topeka, which in return funds our schools. More importantly, these local sales help support the businesses that donate to local organizations and generate jobs in our community, employing local people.

In conclusion, I’m not asking everyone to stop going to Wichita. I’m simply saying that we can start a movement by purchasing our toilet paper from our local grocery store. I’m asking you to look at what your local stores have to offer before making that journey elsewhere. If we all start by purchasing one item locally, perhaps it can lead to a larger movement and we can save our local businesses.

Article posted in the Times Sentinel Newspaper 2-28-13 by Danielle Young (Chamber Board member and City Clerk)
NOAA Weather Radios Available to Cheney Residents
They City of Cheney has been awarded a Weather Radio Grant, offered by the State of Kansas and FEMA. This grant allows residents to purchase a NOAA Weather Radio for less than 25% of retail cost. A Midland WR120 radio can be purchased for $5.00 plus tax at City Hall. ($30 retail value).
Limit 1 per household/business (must be inside City Limits)
Applications are in the February 1st Utility Bills.
OR print an application here.
Sedgwick County Hazardous Mitigation Plan
Your input is requested! The City of Cheney is participating in the Interim update of the 2009 Sedgwick County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. Adopting this plan is a requirement for City of Cheney to become eligibile for FEMA's pre-disaster mitigation funds. The 2009 Sedgwick County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard mitigation Plan is found online at http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/emermgmt/mitigation_plan.pdf. We ask that you share your thoughts on the plan, the hazards listed in it, or our participation in the process by emailing us at roliver@cheneyks.org
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