VICTORIA — The St. Fidelis Herzogfest Committee will be taking advanced mini-kuchen orders to be available for pickup on Aug. 3 at the Victoria High School Cafeteria between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m.

All proceeds will go to the Basilica of St. Fidelis.

A baker’s dozen of apple, blueberry, cherry, peach, strawberry or strawberry/rhubarb is available for $18, while a baker’s dozen of blackberry is available for $24.

For more information, contact Rose Ann Dreiling at (785) 735-9266 or Brenda Dreiling at (785) 735-2332.

By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

After lengthy discussion at Monday’s meeting, Hays USD 489 Board of Education members voted 3-2 to make no changes to the increased enrollment fees.

Facing a more than $1 million budget gap, board members voted in May to increase workbook/materials fees by $60, approved an activity fee increase of $50, and added a kindergarten fee of $150 to be in place for one year.

Though all board members agreed the fees are high, the consensus was the budget needs to be balanced and USD 489 has already budgeted for the increased fees, which would generate nearly $195,000.

“I couldn’t agree more that our fees our too high,” Superintendent Dean Katt said, “but I think it is real late now to make a decision to reduce them. I would be more than happy to recommend we reduce them next year when we have the time to budget accordingly.”

Board members Marty Patterson, Josh Waddell and Sarah Rankin voted to accept Katt’s recommendation to make no changes to the increased fees.  Board members Greg Schwartz and Lance Bickle voted no on the motion. Board President James Leiker and board member Danielle Lang were absent.

At last week’s work session meeting, Rankin suggested decreasing the activity fees to $25, and  the workbook/materials fee to $30, and possibly adding a $25 dollar “pay-to-participate” fee.

“Our reality is the state base aid continues to fall every year for the last five years, expenses continue to go up across the board, ” Rankin said. “We attempted to remedy the situation ourselves through the LOB (local option budget increase) but that failed, so our only recourse is to raise fees, unfortunately.”

Rankin asked if the fees could be lowered.

Katt said if the fees were decreased, funds then would have to taken out of the capital outlay funds, noting the budget is already “very tight.”

The LOB ballot issue to raise property taxes from 30 percent to 31 percent would have generated a yearly flow of $200,000 for the district, but was rejected by voters in July by a 2-to-1 margin.

The board had hoped with passage of the LOB, enough revenue would be generated to lower fees and bring back some of the teachers whose contracts were not renewed in May because of budget concerns

Waddell said the fees should remain this year and be revisited next year.

“I see more benefits with staying with the fees this year, get the budget balanced, set the tone for next year and think about taking fees back down and set appropriately for next year,” he said.

Related story: USD 489 prepping for 2014-15 school year.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

After weeks of discussion and with a deadline quickly approaching, Ellis County commissioners voted 3-0 Monday night to authorize the negotiation of a lease with the Hadley Center for temporary housing of courthouse employees:

The courthouse will be remodeled in phases starting with work on the jail and Law Enforcement Center followed by the other courthouse offices. The jail, LEC and courtrooms will remain in the courthouse. Other administrative offices will move to 718 Main Street, which also must be remodeled.

In comparing the final two options, first floor of the Hadley Center, 205 E. Seventh, and the long-empty Hays Pathology Lab on east 13th Street, Commissioner Dean Haselhorst said he had changed his mind and now favored the Hadley Center because “it’s move-in ready within the 30 to 45 days we’re going to need it. The Path Lab would need a lot of work.”

A recent examination of the lab building revealed mold in the eastern side of the basement.

Commissioner Swede Holmgren, attending his first meeting since breaking his left hip in late June, agreed.

“My thought is, the Path Lab has been in a dormancy, not disrepair. With water and the HVAC system not being used for several years and having to upgrade or replace those, and having to do some construction to get the building operational again, we’re going to have to do far less than that with the Hadley Center already being ‘move-in ready,” he said.

Commission Chairwoman Barb Wasinger asked Dave Van Doren, an owner of the Hadley Center, about a “lower price or refund” if the county doesn’t require a one-year lease of about 20,000 square feet, which is estimated at nearly $200,000. She asked what it would cost to lease “one floor for three months.”

Van Doren told commissioners the cost to rent space in the building is $13 a square foot per year. The cost for 6,000 square feet of space for three months would be about $65,000.

Holmgren asked Van Doren where jail pods — temporary prisoner housing — would be located.

“Nobody has talked to me about placement of jail pods,” replied Van Doren. He added there “could be room in the far east and far west parking lots.”

The Hadley Center has 281 developed parking spaces. Current tenants are using 110 of those. County Administrator Greg Sund said he counted 157 open parking spots during a survey last Friday morning at 10 a.m.

Remodeling of the jail and courthouse, along with construction of the new EMS/Rural Fire building, are funded by a half-cent sales tax approved by voters last year.

By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

At Monday’s meeting, Hays USD 489 Board of Education members voted unanimously to approve the sale of the more than 7-acre piece of land the district owns near 33rd and Hall streets.

The vacant property was recently put out for bid.

The board received two bids and approved the highest bid by John Zeigler of Hays for $253,133.

According to Superintendent Dean Katt, Zeigler plans to develop the land for housing, but Katt is not certain what type.

The other bid came from P & W Investments for $209,000, also for housing development.

Board Vice President Marty Patterson said he initially was “torn” about selling the property, but since the facilities needs committee had not considered the land big enough to build a school, housing on the site will be plus, generating additional property tax for the district.

Katt said the money from the sale will go the capital outlay fund to possibly repair buildings or pay off debt.

“We have a huge list of capital things we need to start taking care of sooner than later,” Katt said.

The facilities needs committee was formed in November 2012 to provide recommendations for the district’s building needs in the future. That series of recommendations was offered to the board without public presentation in April as the district grappled with budget issues.

Katt said the facilities needs committee plans to meet with board members in September.

Related story: Building proposals.

The Management Development Center at Fort Hays State University is seeking businesses interested in providing internship employment opportunities for College of Business and Entrepreneurship students at FHSU.

Thanks to a generous donation from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation and Peter and Pamela Werth, businesses can hire a student intern at a significantly reduced cost through the program. Students, who will be employees of FHSU, will be screened by the MDC director with each business making the final selection on the student intern.

For $500, businesses can receive a college intern for 15 hours per week for 16 weeks (one academic semester). The first payment of $250 for fall student interns will be due on Sept. 1. The second payment of $250 will be due at the end of the semester on Dec. 1.

Internships may be renewable for one more semester for an additional $500 investment and with approval by the MDC director.

Internship opportunities are available in the areas of accounting, management information systems, finance, business communications, human resources, economics, operations management, marketing, tourism and hospitality, computer networking and web design.

Businesses interested in this opportunity can email the following application information to [email protected] or contact Sabrina William, MDC director at (785) 628-4124 for more information. Funding is limited, so businesses and students will be selected through a competitive selection process. Priority will be given to northwest Kansas businesses or individuals who are in the startup process or in their first one to three years of business; however, all businesses are welcome to apply.

Priority deadline for applications is Aug. 1.

Very hot temperatures are expected today with heat indices of 105-108 degrees expected across central and south central Kansas. A slight chance of thunderstorms is possible this evening, otherwise expect mostly clear skies.
Today Sunny and hot, with a high near 102. Heat index values as high as 106. South wind 5 to 11 mph.
Tonight A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between 9pm and 2am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind 5 to 13 mph becoming northeast after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. East northeast wind 8 to 14 mph.
Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 70. East southeast wind 8 to 13 mph.
Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near 97. Breezy, with a southeast wind 9 to 14 mph becoming south southwest 18 to 23 mph in the afternoon.

Criminal transport, Topeka, 7:49 a.m.
Cattle out, 150th Avenue and Buckeye Road, 10:02 a.m.
Criminal transport, WaKeeney, 2:41 p.m.
Criminal trespass/theft, Schoenchen, 9:14 p.m.
Stray livestock, 2100 block Catharine Road, 10:25 p.m.