By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

A group of auto repair business owners are asking Hays city commissioners for modifications to the city’s inoperable vehicle ordinance and storage container regulations.

A two-page proposal presented by Best Radiator owner Scott Simpson titled, “The City of Hays: Where Business and Government Can Come Together,” was handed to city commissioners at Thursday’s meeting during the audience comments.

Commissioners did not discuss the proposal.

In an interview after the meeting,  Simpson told Hays Post the ordinances are a “hindrance” for business owners like himself whose job it is to work on inoperable vehicles and who frequently use storage containers for overflow inventory and shop equipment. He said the proposal is a way to find “some middle ground.”

“We are just trying to get (the ordinances) lightened up so (the commissioners) stop wasting their time, and we stop wasting our  time, and cut out the animosity and points of conflict,” he said.

The issue was first brought to commissioners last month after Chris Miller, owner of Auto Tech, 600-602 Vine, received an vehicle abatement notice in December.

City commissioners have stated they were not in favor of vehicle abatement exemptions but are planning to put the issue of  transportation containers on an an agenda in April.