By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

Superintendent Dean Katt said the GOP proposal to fund schools with “block grants” instead of the current per-pupil funding formula actually will help Hays USD 489 and could result in a $316,000 increase to the district’s general fund.

At Monday’s USD 489 Board of Education meeting, Katt said it is his understanding the bill introduced last week and currently in hearings by the House Appropriations Committee will cut state aid to some school districts, but USD 489’s budget would not be adversely affected.

Katt said another proposed change deals with how the Local Option Budget is dispersed to schools, and USD 489 could gain $316,000.

“It’s all rhetoric right now, but we would not be hurt as bad as we thought,” Katt said. “We would see a little bit of a positive increase than what we had planned on in budget.”

Katt said he and the district’s Executive Director of Finance and Support Tracy Kaiser are receiving almost hourly updates from the Kansas Association of School Boards, and it’s a “wait-and-see” situation until the Legislature decides what school finance plan it will adopt.

RELATED: USD 489 will retain increases fees at least until school funding plan shakes out.

The public is invited to the annual School Popcorn Concert featuring bands from Hays High School and Hays Middle School at 7 p.m. Tuesday at HHS, 2300 E. 13th.

“You won’t want to miss this very special performance,” said Hays Middle School Band Director Marcus Bishop.

Bishop said the schools’ jazz band will begin the concert, followed by the HHS percussion ensemble and a performance by the HMS Band.

The event also includes a senior honors ceremony and a finale with the HHS concert band.

Bishop said the concert is expected to last just more than an hour.

By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

Ellis County’s wage and benefit study was once again the topic of discussion at Monday night’s Ellis County Commission meeting.

For the second week, Public Works employee Mike Fisher approached the commission with questions regarding multiple drafts of the study circulating among county employees and commission members that show different figures regarding pay.

County Administrator Greg Sund said Evergreen Solutions, the company contracted to conduct the study, had originally planned to implement to recommendations of the study over three years, which would cost the county approximately $400,000 per year.

But Sund said, with the financial issues facing the county, he suggested phasing wage and benefit increases in over five years.

“We’re taking a tremendous loss in revenue, unless we raise something else to make up the difference,” Sund added. “I was trying to find a way to soften the blow a little bit so that we can seriously address this study and implement it.”

Fisher countered with, “You may not have any employees when you’re done in five years.”

He also accused the county of spending money on new chairs for the commission chambers and a new phone system instead of using the money elsewhere.

But Sund and the commission quickly pointed out that the chairs were left over from when Commerce Bank owned the building and said county needed the phone system upgrade.

At issue is the number of open positions within the Public Works department – and others within the county – and the commission’s request for departments to limit their hiring while the county works through their 2016 budget.

Fisher expressed frustration with the county’s unwillingness to negotiate an increase in salary to keep employees from leaving.

But it was pointed out to Fisher, again Monday night and confirmed by County Counselor Bill Jeter that state law bars them from discussing what was negotiated between the county and the employees unions.

Fisher also said he found it upsetting that he received a phone call from Commissioner Barb Wasinger this week asking him what he wanted to talk about.

Wasinger said the reason for the phone call was to reiterate that the commission cannot discuss wage and benefits and “state law says we can’t talk to you about what we negotiated with your union people.”

Sund said they have received the fourth draft of the study and that the more questions department heads and the administration ask, the longer the study will take to be completed.

Evergreen Solutions is scheduled to come before the county commission in the future to talk about the ongoing study.

In other business:

• The commission voted to accept a $1.5 million grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation for improvements to the intersection at 230th Avenue and 55th Street. Public Works Director Mike Graf said the upgrades were estimated at $2 million.

The $1.5 million is also about 10-percent of the estimated cost to upgrade 230th Avenue.

• Voted 2-1 to approve a contract with CIC to develop a new database of county images from their previous county system. Commissioner Dean Haselhorst voted against the $21,465 contract.

• The commission voted to amend the lease on the property at 1205 Fort to a month-to-month contract. Court services is currently housed in the building but will be moving to the courthouse once construction is complete.

• The commission also discussed a policy that allows the county administrator to approve any change orders on ongoing projects that cost up to 10-percent of the total project.

Currently, the county administrator brings all change orders to the commission for approval – a move that Wasinger said slowing down efforts on some projects.

But Haselhorst and Commissioner Marcy McClelland said they want to continue to approve the orders. No change was made to the policy but said he would continue to bring the change orders to the commission for approval.

• The commission also held two executive sessions, taking no action.

By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

While the state Legislature continues to wrangle over public school funding, the Hays USD 489 Board of Education on Monday voted to retain enrollment fees implemented last year for the 2015-16 school year.

Board members Lance Bickle and Greg Schwartz voted against the measure, while board President James Leiker, vice president Marty Patterson and board members Sarah Rankin, Danielle Lang and Josh Waddell voted to extend the fees, adding the fee discussion should resurface when the district has a clearer idea of the state’s funding plan.

RELATED: Block grant proposal could help USD 489 budget.

“If you feel we need to vote on this now so those who do budget this far in advance can do so, I can comfortably vote that way,” Rankin said to Superintendent Dean Katt. “However, I, too, would want to have this discussion again around May when we have a better idea of our budget and are headed into that budget with a firm (commitment) that we will be crunching numbers seriously in an effort to will reduce these.”

Katt agreed enrollment fees are too high.

“None of us want to have high fees,” Katt said. “When I  first came here, I was shocked, then we raised (the fees again) and I think I actually recommended we don’t raise them, but now that we have, our budget is contingent on that. … Until we get (funding from state), I feel more comfortable knowing (the revenue) could be there, depending on what the Legislature does.”

According to Finance Director Tracy Kaiser, the $100 increase to workbook/materials fee along with the $50 activity fee increases at Hays High School and Hays Middle school will generate a total of nearly $360,000 by the end of the school year.

Last month, Gov. Sam Brownback announced a proposed 1.5 percent cut to K-12 funding along with a 2 percent cut to higher education, and also suggested changing the school finance formula.

The 1.5 percent cut means a loss of $155,000 to USD 489.

 

 

Kansas Water Office

TOPEKA–While eight public meetings have been held, 18 more will be hosted throughout the rest of March by the Water Vision Regional Goal Leadership Teams to begin the goal setting process to help develop water supply goals for each region.

Each of the 14 teams are participating in a public scoping process in their region to develop and draft water supply goals based on public input and available resource condition information.

Stakeholders’ input is helpful to each team to identify the region’s water supply priorities. Water supply priorities and goals should seek to implement the following Vision statement: Kansans act on a shared commitment to have the water resources necessary to support the state’s social, economic and natural resource needs for current and future generations.

The most resounding message Kansas citizens shared with the Water Vision Team last year during the vision tour was the need for regional water supply goals, instead of statewide water supply goals.

At the upcoming meetings the public will be asked to share their input on specific topics that are water supply issues for their region. Trained facilitators from Kansas State University Research and Extension as well as the Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy will be helping with the goal development and facilitate the public meetings. All regional stakeholders and citizens are encouraged to attend one of the remaining input sessions.

Monday, March 9
 Equus-Walnut
Hutchinson, KS – 7 p.m., Justice Theater, Shears Technology Center, Hutchinson Community College, Plum & 14th Street
 Kansas
DeSoto, KS – 7 p.m., DeSoto Senior Center, 32905 W. 8th Street
 Neosho
Erie, KS – 7 p.m., Neosho County Courthouse, 100 S. Main Street

Tuesday, March 10
 Great Bend Prairie
Larned, KS – 7 p.m., J A Haas Building, 400 E. 18th Street
 Upper Republican
Goodland, KS – 9 a.m., Fire EMS Building, 1004 Center Avenue
Colby, KS – 7 p.m., Community Building, 285 E 5th Street
 Verdigris
Independence, KS – 3 p.m., Memorial Hall, 410 N. Penn AvenueWednesday, March 11
 Kansas
Manhattan, KS – 7p.m., Fire Department Headquarters, 2000 Denison Avenue
 Neosho
Emporia, KS – 7 p.m., Flint Hill Technical College, Main Building, Conference Room, 3301 W. 18th Avenue

Thursday, March 12
 Cimarron
Liberal, KS – 1:30 p.m., Seward Co. Community College/Area Technical School, 1801 N Kansas
 Missouri
Leavenworth, KS – 2 p.m., Heritage Center, 109 Delaware
Hiawatha, KS – 7 p.m., Hiawatha Middle School, 307 South Morrill Avenue
 Upper Arkansas
Garden City, KS – 6 p.m., Finney County Fairgrounds, 209 Lake Avenue

Tuesday, March 24
 Equus-Walnut
Wichita, KS – 7 p.m., City Council Chambers, 455 N. Main

Thursday, March 26
 Solomon-Republican
Phillipsburg, KS – 7 p.m., 4-H Building, 1481 Hwy 183

Monday, March 30
 Red Hills
Medicine Lodge –7 p.m., Jr./Sr. High School Gym, 400 W El Dorado Ave

Tuesday, March 31
 Equus-Walnut
El Dorado, KS – 7 p.m., Civic Center, 201 E. Central
 Solomon-Republican
Beloit, KS – 7 p.m., Beloit Technical College, Conference Room, 3033 US Hwy 24

The teams will present the proposed draft regional water supply goals to the Kansas Water Authority (KWA) in May 2015. The KWA will provide advice towards further development of the regional goals with final goals to be approved in
August 2015.

For more information on the public meetings, water supply information about each region or read the final version of the Long-Term Vision for the Future of Water Supply in Kansas, visit www.kwo.org.

Hays Fire Department

The City of Hays Fire Department will be inspecting fire hydrants and flushing water mains on Tuesday, March 10, in the area along Frontier Road, north of I-70 between Roth and General Hays, and between 183 by-pass to Hall St. north of 41st St.

This is part of a coordinated effort by the City of Hays to inspect all fire hydrants in the city and flush all water mains annually.

Inspecting fire hydrants ensures that the valves operate properly and that there is no damage or obstructions that will prevent or interfere with the prompt use of fire hydrants in an emergency. Firefighters are also checking the pressure and volume of water mains in each neighborhood for firefighting purposes. The associated flushing of water mains allows chlorine to be distributed throughout the system to eliminate bio-filming in the water mains.

Slight discoloration of the water supply may be encountered although there will be no health risks to the consumer. All reasonable efforts will be taken to minimize the inconvenience to the public. Drivers are asked to avoid driving through water discharging from a fire hydrant during the short flushing period.

For more information,contact the Hays Fire Department at (785) 628-7330.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

It’s time to get in the game. “Match Madness” is Tuesday.

The one-day event sponsored by the Heartland Community Foundation will match new donations to endowed funds for 16 participating local charities in Ellis, Rooks and Trego Counties.

All gifts will be matched by Heartland from a pool of $9,000 for participating funds, according to HCF Executive Director Tammy McClelland.

“Our Match Madness event is a great way to make your local giving go even farther,” said McClellan. “Local participating organizations will be looking to their donors, board members, staff and volunteers to support their funds during Match Madness. When donors give during Match Madness, participating organizations will receive a matching contribution from Heartland.”

Nonprofit funds participating in Match Madness include: Hays Arts Council Fund, Hays Area Children’s Center Fund, Damar Community Historical Foundation, Hays Recreation Commission Youth Programs Fund, USD 489 Foundation Fund for Educational Excellence Fund, Plainville Community Foundation Leadership Fund, Plainville Community Foundation Youth Fund, Hays Dog Park Fund, Coronado Area Council of Boy Scouts of America Fund, Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Ellis County Fund, Leadership Hays Fund, Leadership Hays Children’s Fund, Hays Area Chamber of Commerce Development and Civic Engagement Fund, First Care Clinic Fund, Hays Community Theatre Fund, and the Stockton Community Fund.

Donors can make contributions in person Tuesday, March 10, at four are locations from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Checks and cash donations can be earmarked for one or more of the participating charities and accepted at: The Welcome Center, 2700 Vine St., Hays; Heritage Insurance Group, 416 Main St., Stockton; First State Bank, 120 W. Mill St., Plainville and at Dietz Insurance, 120 N. Main St., WaKeeney.

Contributions can also be made online on March 10 at heartlandcommunityfoundation.org. Processing fees will apply to the online contributions.

The Heartland Community Foundation, serving Ellis, Rooks and Trego counties, was established in 2007 and is one of 12 affiliates of the Greater Salina Community Foundation. All endowed contributions made to Heartland in 2015 will qualify for additional matching contributions from the Kansas Health Foundation.

For more information contact Tammy McClellan, HCF executive director, at (785) 621-4090.

Warm and dry conditions will continue for the remainder of the week. Skies will be mostly clear with the exception of Friday when an increase in clouds is expected

Today Sunny, with a high near 72. West southwest wind around 7 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon.
Tonight Clear, with a low around 36. North northeast wind 5 to 7 mph.
Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 76. North northeast wind 5 to 9 mph becoming south southeast in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night Clear, with a low around 40. Southeast wind 8 to 10 mph.
Thursday Sunny, with a high near 73. South wind 9 to 17 mph.
Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 39.
Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 69.
Friday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 39.
Saturday Mostly sunny, with a high near 64.