At Thursday’s Hays City Commission meeting, commissioners will consider awarding bids for a series of street repair projects.
The 2014 street maintenance projects include 6 miles of asphalt streets; patch and repair at various locations in town; reconstruction of 11th Street from Cedar to Vine; and repairs on brick streets.
The city staff is recommending the following bids be approved:
• Hi-Plains Sand, $219,784 for chip seal;
• Stripe and Seal, $124,872 for 11th Street;
• Sweeney Pavement Maintenance, $42,400 for patching;
• Stripe and Seal, $71,509 for curb and brick repair.
The city budgeted $495,000 for the work, and bids came in more than $36,400 lower than anticipated.
The commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall.
Kansas Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer visits with Hays residents during the TMP-Marian High School homecoming last September.
TOPEKA – The Republican Lieutenant Governors Association announced last week it has appointed Kansas Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer to its 2014 RLGA executive committee.
“I am honored to join my fellow Republican lieutenant governors from across the country to advocate for policies that are important to each of our states,” Colyer said today in a news release. “I look forward to continuing to work with the rest of the RLGA Executive Committee to bring the principles of low taxes, smaller government, and increased personal freedom to our states.”
Colyer is a Hays native and graduate of TMP-Marian High School.
Forty-five states have lieutenant governors. Republicans currently hold 13 of the 19 independently elected positions and 15 of the 26 team-elected/appointed seats.
“I’d like to congratulate Lt. Gov. Colyer for again being named to the RLGA’s executive committee,” Gov. Sam Brownback said. “Jeff has been a great partner in our work to grow the Kansas economy and create private-sector jobs. He works hard every day on behalf of all Kansans.”
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — House members have approved a measure that could result in millions of dollars in property tax relief for two southeast Kansas cement plants in a dispute over what is real estate and what is equipment.
The measure was approved Wednesday by a 100-23 vote sending it to the Senate, which is considering alternative versions of the tax change to cover more industries.
At issue is the definition of real estate and equipment used by the cement plants that could be subject to property taxes. A 2006 law removed the tax for business machinery and equipment as a means to boost the economy.
However, subsequent appraisals of the Ash Grove and Monarch cement plants resulted in more equipment being considered real estate and subject to taxation than had been previously counted.
ELLIS — In a special meeting Monday night, Ellis City Council members discussed the city’s desire to explore options for an additional water source.
The feasibility study to determine the viability of partnering with Trego County Rural Water District will be completed in 30 to 45 days.
Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty is scheduled to address the council at its March 17 meeting about Hays’ plan to develop the R9 Ranch in Edwards County as a long-term water source, and geologist Robert Vincent will be asked to attend a future council meeting. The board will also talk about the future of the city’s one-cent sales tax, set to expire in 2016, and whether it should be extended to help pay for water projects.
The unofficial minutes, in draft form, of the special meeting follow.
• • •
DRAFT COPY NOT OFFICIAL UNTIL APPROVED BY COUNCIL
ELLIS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING February 24, 2014
CALL TO ORDER
Council President Jolene Niernberger called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present were Council members John Walz, Loran Gottschalk, and Terry Redetzke. Also present were City Clerk Amy Burton and Public Works Director Alan Scheuerman. Mayor Lyle Johnston and Council member Jeff Wolf were absent.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA
None
PUBLIC PRESENT
Ryan Augustine, John LaShell, Sean Simmons, Dave McDaniel, Gayla Wichman, Gary Luea, and Ronald Johnson.
PURPOSE OF SPECIAL MEETING
Council President Jolene Niernberger stated the purpose of the special meeting was to approve the USDA annual reports, to further consider the City’s website, and to discuss water exploration.
Water: Financial
City Clerk Amy Burton presented the annual financial reports as required by the United States Department of Agriculture. Council member John Walz moved and Council member Terry Redetzke seconded a motion to approve the 2013 USDA Financial Reports as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
General Government: Special Project
Ryan Augustine discussed with Council the need to make the City’s website more user friendly and provide more visual appeal. The current website provides good information, but it is hard to navigate through the site. Sean Simmons visited with Council on the various types of websites and the need to determine the goal of the site. It is important to brainstorm what types of information each department of the City desires to include on the site. Gayla Wichman added the City has three types of users to consider – current residents, potential residents, and visitors – and the site should provide information relevant to each of these users. The Council also discussed how social media could enhance the City’s website and provide an outlet to quickly release information to the public. City Clerk Amy Burton will send out a memo to the Department Heads asking for their “wish list” for the website and compile the results.
Capital Improvement: Water Exploration
Council discussed the City’s desire to explore for an additional water source. The feasibility study to determine the viability of partnering with Trego County Rural Water District will be completed in 30-45 days. Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty plans to visit with Council at the March 17th regular meeting about Hays’ plan to explore south central Kansas for water. Council discussed whether to partner with a neighboring community or to explore for the City’s own water source. It was the consensus of Council to have Public Works Director Alan Scheurman contact geologist Robert Vincent to come to a Council meeting and discuss the City’s next step in the exploration process. Council member John Walz discussed the City’s one cent sales tax that expires in 2016. Council needs to consider if the additional sales tax should be continued for additional funding for water exploration.
General Government: Meeting
The Council will not have a quorum for the March 3, 2014 regular meeting. It was decided to move the meeting to March 5, 2014 at the regular time.
ADJOURNMENT
Council member Loran Gottschalk moved to adjourn the meeting. Council member Terry Redetzke seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:14 p.m.
“We are thrilled to represent Kansas and look forward to toasting travelers with pints of Oatmeal Stout,” said brew master Gerald Wyman.
The article also talks about the story of how Gella’s came about.
“One day, Gerald Wyman’s wife told him to please stop brewing beer in their kitchen. A few years later, Wyman had a charming-yet-modern storefront and a Gold World Beer Cup Award for his Oatmeal Stout.”
Since its inception in 2005, the diner and brewery has a history of continued excellence at the Great American Beer Festival, which takes place in Denver each summer. Just four months after it opened, Gella’s had picked up the first of nine GABF gold medals for Lb’s No. 50 Liberty Stout. In 2010, the Oatmeal Stout earned a Gold World Beer Cup Award, and, in 2013, the brewery was named Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year, the first Kansas brewery to receive the honor.
WAKEENEY — John Reeder, former president of Trego County USD 208 schools, waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday and entered into a plea agreement.
Reeder
According to the plea agreement, Reeder, also a Trego County appraiser, pleaded guilty to one count of marijuana distribution and one count of possession of methamphetamine. The plea agreement calls for 15 months “non-prison sanction” on the distribution charge and 11 months on the possession charge, with sentences to run consecutively. The agreement also calls for 36 months of supervision by community corrections. A non-prison sanction allows for the possibility of a defendant being placed on probation or under the supervision of community corrections.
According to the Kansas Attorney General’s office, a non-prison sanction is allowed per statute if the court finds an individual can be admitted to an appropriate treatment program or if “the non-prison sanction will serve the community safety interests by promoting offender reformation.”
Sentencing is scheduled for 1 p.m. April 8, at which time the plea agreement will be finalized or the court has the authority to impose an alternate sentence.
Reeder, 52, who resigned his school board post immediately following his Dec. 20 arrest, was represented in court by Michael Holland II, Russell, while Kimberly King served as special assistant attorney general for the prosecution.
Reeder remains free on a community corrections bond.
Needing something to do on a lazy afternoon? Don’t want to watch the Oscars alone? Then the Hays Public Library is the place for you March 2, where two programs are being offered to liven up your Sunday. Both programs will be held in the Schmidt Gallery.
2 p.m., “Mr. Lincoln’s War”: Sanford Lee will visit the library as his character Professor Farquar for a performance. Lee’s performance will include songs from the Civil War-era, accompanied by his acoustic guitar, historic narratives and a little bit of magic.
6 p.m., Oscars watch party: The library will have its first Oscars party and viewing. Refreshments will be provided, and a game of Oscar bingo will be played. Prizes will be awarded.
11:48 a.m. UPDATE TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Concordia and McPherson school districts have been selected as the first members of the Kansas Coalition of Innovative School Districts.
The districts were chosen Wednesday after submitting applications and making presentations to Gov. Sam Brownback, House Education Committee Chairwoman Kasha Kelley and Senate Education Committee Chairman Steve Abrams.
A 2013 law created the process for districts to seek innovative status, meaning they would be exempt from state rules and regulations in exchange for the freedom to develop strategies to boost student achievement. The districts would operate similar to charter schools, but still be accountable to local boards of education and the State Board of Education.
McPherson superintendent Randy Watson will serve as chairman of the board, which will review the other applications for possible inclusion as innovative districts.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Officials from eight school districts are to make their final pitch to governor and two key legislators for inclusion as initial board members of the Kansas Coalition of Innovative School Districts.
The district officials will appear Wednesday before Gov. Sam Brownback, House Education Committee Chairwoman Kasha Kelley and Senate Education Committee Chairman Steve Abrams to make presentations.
A 2013 law created the process for districts to seek innovative status, meaning they would be exempt from state rules and regulations in exchange for the freedom to develop strategies to boost student achievement. The districts would operate similar to charter schools, but still be accountable to local boards of education and the State Board of Education.
Two initial districts will serve as the board that will approve future applications for innovative status.
By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
Completely Nuts. Does that sound like an unusual name for business? Today we’ll learn about a young entrepreneur who is involved in several enterprises, but one is focused on a very specific line of products: In fact, the product line is nuts only.
Ron Wilson is director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
Ben Weber is a young entrepreneur in southeast Kansas. His uncles farm and his father is a Pioneer Seed salesman and has been for 25 years. Maybe Ben got expertise in sales from his father.
First, though, Ben went to Washburn University to play football. Unfortunately, he blew out his shoulder and was unable to play. While in Topeka he met an older couple that had a business selling cinnamon-roasted nuts. During school he helped them sell their products part-time. In 2001, he had the opportunity to buy their equipment from them. Two years later, he purchased another nut company.
Ben put himself through school selling these delicious flavored nuts and then took the business on the road. When it came time to name the company, he came up with a tongue-in-cheek name, so to speak. He named the company Completely Nuts.
“I’m working for peanuts so I might as well have a fun name,” Ben said with a smile. He had a roasting machine, a recipe, weighing scale, and supplies. He mixed cinnamon, sugar, and a splash of vanilla, added the nuts, roasted and cooled them and then hand-weighed them into bags. There are three sizes: Small, medium and large. Eventually he got three different sets of equipment so he could serve three locations simultaneously.
When I say he took the business on the road, I mean that literally. Ben started traveling to malls, festivals, and events to sell the delicious roasted nuts. He sold nuts as far west as Las Vegas and up and down the eastern seaboard. Ben sold the nuts from the Orange Bowl parade down in Miami up to Niagara Falls on the Canadian border.
One year, Ben was selling nuts in a mall in St. Joseph, Mo. during the Christmas season. An attractive young woman bought nuts from him and they got acquainted. Her name was Lara. Sure enough, they fell in love.
“If this doesn’t work out financially, at least it worked out socially,” Ben said. Ben and Lara got married and eventually they moved back to Ben’s rural hometown of Yates Center, Kansas, population 1,586 people. Now, that’s rural.
Ben is now an associate in his father’s Pioneer Seed sales business while also selling Meridian seed tender wagons and independent crop insurance. He still sells cinnamon roasted nuts but doesn’t go on the road as much since he started a family. In fact, Ben and Lara have five children, seven years of age or younger: They have girls age seven and five, plus a three-year-old son and twin boys age seven months. Forgive me for saying so, but life in a household like that might be completely nuts.
Ben Weber takes it all in stride. He enjoyed traveling with the nut business, but he is really enjoying being home with his young children. In his traveling days, he had the opportunity to do a lot of sightseeing. Still, he said, the greatest highlight of the business were the nice people he had a chance to meet.
Ben started selling his cinnamon roasted nuts at Bass Pro Shop stores and even met the owner of the chain. He has encountered other celebrities along the way as well.
“One day, I was selling at a Bass Pro Shop in Dallas when Terry Bradshaw came along,” Ben said. “He bought some nuts and was so nice to pose for pictures with us. Not two days later, along came Deion Sanders and he was the same way.”
Completely Nuts. It seems like an unusual name for a business, but in this case it accurately describes the business’s products. We commend Ben and Lara Weber for making a difference with entrepreneurship and family life in a rural setting, and with a product line that consists completely of nuts. Oh, nuts.
Ron Wilson is director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
LOGAN — Wheatland, Wyo., artist Barbara Schaffner will make her return to Dane G. Hansen Museum for a four-day painting workshop.
Barbara Schaffner
The classes will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 9, 10, 11 and 12, with a one-hour break for lunch. The learning opportunity is sponsored by the Hansen Museum Continued Education Program and offered at reduced rates to the public.
Cost of the workshop is $140 with discounts available for Hansen Museum members. Intermediate and advanced artists can call (785) 689-4846 for more information or to register. The class is limited to 20 students.
Schaffner was an honors student at West Texas State University, majoring in fine art and art education and returns to Logan for her 10th year. She will be instructing her 2nd Oil painting workshop for Hansen Museum. Schaffner’s western scenes and wildlife paintings have hung in galleries in six western states and Canada and success has come to her through numerous shows and top awards.
Schaffner was honored with the Wyoming Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year 2003 award and won the purchase award in December 2005 at the 2-Shot Goose Hunt Art Show in Torrington, Wyo. Schaffner enjoys living close to the mountains where she can view and photograph the elk and other wildlife she depicts in much of her work. Her studio, Wyoming Trails Gallery, is in Wheatland.
By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT Hays Post
Hays High Indian junior Alex Delton has verbally committed to play football at Kansas State University. The dual-threat quarterback made his announcement Tuesday on Twitter and is the first commitment of the 2015 class for the Wildcats.
Delton is a two-year starter at quarterback for the Indians and has completed more than 55 percent of his passes for 1,978 yards, 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Delton also has proven to be a threat on the ground, rushing for 1,369 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Delton is a two-time first- team Western Athletic Conference Selection, once as a quarterback and once as an athlete.
At Thursday’s Hays City Commission meeting, commissioners will consider funding improvements on the Big Creek levee to build upon the city’s trail system.
The Bike Hays System includes plans for a levee trail segment, improvements that would run from Main Street to Eighth Street.
According the meeting agenda, budgeted dollars will provide a base segment of the section from Main to the Fort Hays State University pedestrian bridge. The remaining segment, projected to cost $226,000, would run from the bridge to Eighth Street.
The Kansas Department of Transportation has agreed to pay $136,000 of the cost, if the city pays the remaining $91,000.
According to the agenda, city staff will recommend to commissioners that $91,000 be drawn from a fund designated for stormwater flood control capital projects to pay its portion of the bill.
For more on the city’s meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, click HERE.
The declaration by the city commission requests all water users to voluntarily cut back on their indoor and outdoor water use.
Western Kansas is facing a third consecutive year of drought.
Hays Water Conservation Specialist Jason Riegel says despite the many changes and investments the city has made to conserve water, “in the long-term, rain is needed to recharge depleted aquifers.”
If that doesn’t happen, Riegel says the city will have to upgrade to a “Water Warning:”
City commissioners will discuss the possible move to a Water Warning at their meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall.
