By NICK BUDD
Hays Post
At Thursday’s Hays City Commission work session, commissioners will discuss lifting the water watch restrictions in place in the city of Hays.
According to agenda materials, current conditions, projections and triggers are at levels that do no longer warrant a water watch, and city staff believe that it is “highly unlikely” the city will reach a watch status in 2015 due to the amount of summer rains this past year. Those rains helped both the Big Creek and the Smoky Hill wellfields.
The city’s Drought Response Plan does allow commissioners to preemptively move in and out of a phase. Current ordinances restrict any kind of outdoor watering from noon to 7 p.m. and, when watering does take place, it cannot escape the property. There are also added costs to water bills if users go over the second conservation tier.
In other business, commissioners will discuss moving forward with a $4.50 Passenger Facilitation Charge at the Hays Regional Airport. The fee would be charged to all tickets originating from Hays. Revenues from the charge can be used for capital improvement projects including the terminal improvements currently taking place and the rehabilitation of the crosswind runway. Airport officials have already consulted with the public and SkyWest Airlines regarding the charge. If commissioners approve the final application to the Federal Aviation Administration, the fee would be instituted in February and the city would receive its first payment in May. City staff expects to collect approximately $188,000 through 2018 when the fee will expire.
Other agenda items include a joint meeting with the Hays Recreation Commission. The amount needed to subsidize the Hays Aquatic Park in 2014 will be approximately $7,900, which is less than 2013 due to increased pool attendance last season. The commission will also discuss the approximate $16,000 profit at Bickle-Schmidt Sports Complex. Contractual obligations require the HRC and the commission to meet yearly to decide what to do with profits or losses at the complex.
Click HERE for a complete agenda for the work session, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall.