Submitted

Downtown Hays Development Corp. is proud to announce the sixth annual Wines and Steins, its premier fundraising event that unites the community with downtown for a pleasant evening sampling wines and craft beers.

The event will be from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11. A limited number of 300 reservations will be sold. Each admission entitles the guest to a wonderful evening stroll downtown sampling beer and/or wine and hors d’oeuvres provided by participating businesses.

“The energy and the excitement that surrounds this event are just amazing,” said Sara Bloom, DHDC executive director. “We have several events downtown but none like this one. This fuses our past with the endless and exciting possibilities of our future.”

Guests are asked to check-in to the event at the Strand Theatre, 1102 Main, where they will each receive their own souvenir tasting glass, included in the price of admission.

After discovering what downtown Hays has to offer, participants are invited to attend the post-stroll celebration “under the stars” in the parking lot of the former Emprise Bank building, 1200 Main.

“We say under the stars because that’s the atmosphere of the celebration,” Bloom said. “We really mean under a beautiful, large, white tent.”

At the post-stroll celebration enjoy live music, complimentary beverages and desserts, as well as silent and live auctions.

Proceeds from the event will go towards DHDC operations, aesthetic improvements, and long-term projects. Continued growth of our beautiful Downtown will be featured during the event.

Wines and Steins is open to guests ages 21 and older (no children are allowed and no one under 21 will be admitted). Reservations are $50 per person. No tickets will be distributed. Simply present identification at check-in.

For more information and reservations, visit www.DowntownHays.com or call (785) 621.4171.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

Following a Hays City Commission meeting Thursday, Aug. 13, in which the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development had its funding put into a holding pattern by commissioners, work already has begun to alleviate a perceived lack of communication between the two bodies.

The city commission was responding to the way the Big Creek Travel Plaza information was being dispersed, according to Aaron White, executive director for the ECCED.

Concerns from the commission were first brought to light at the Aug. 6 work session. New Commissioner James Meier called the Coalition to the carpet for “not doing their job” and suggested cutting funding for the Coalition in half. The commission eventually funded the entire $87,550 budget request on the condition that communication issues are resolved.

Historically, the city of Hays and Ellis County have provided the lion’s share of funding for the eco-devo group. The Coalition was formed in 1988 in the midst of a downturn of the oil and agricultural economies and as the community reeled from the closure of a longtime major employer, Travenol.

During Meier’s work session comments about the Coalition, the primary target was a development agreement between the city and a developer looking to build a travel plaza north of Interstate 70 — a project that would require the extension of city utility services such as water and sewer lines. At the meeting, Lance Jones, also newly elected to the commission, said the development agreement was riddled with grammatical and spelling errors.

Click here to view the proposal, which was pulled off the table prior to the work session for modifications.

“I took a highlighter and there wasn’t a single page in this whole document that didn’t have a single error on it somewhere,” Jones said at the work session. “Ellis County Economic Development should have caught this. They’re … wasting city staff time and they’re wasting a lot of the commission’s time.”

White was not present during that work session because the travel plaza was pulled from the agenda — but said the concerns resonated.

“After the work session meeting and, of course, the report back and the feedback from the commissioners that they were upset about how the project was handled, our Coalition board immediately reached out to the commissioners and started looking at ways we can set the process back on the appropriate path,” said White, who has served as executive director for nearly four years.

The goal since the meeting, according to White, is “to make sure we are meeting the needs of the city commission as well as our investors in the Coalition.”

Work began immediately following commissioners’ concerns being voiced, and work is progressing to create a stronger line of communication between the two bodies.

“Those conversations went very well,” White said. “I think they’re definitely getting us on the same page moving forward.”

While the communication problems are being addressed, the Coalition will continue to refine the process to keep everyone informed, including regular updates at commission meetings by both White and Coalition board members.

“There is definitely a lot of work going on behind the scenes working with city staff and Coalition staff to make sure that we’re on the right page, we’re going in the right direction.” White said. “We’re putting together a process in place that makes life easier for everybody.”

“This is still a process that the community is refining,” he said. “And making sure that the process is in place that meets the satisfaction and the needs of the community.”

The city has a voting representative on the board, currently Schwaller, and the city manager also has a seat at the table as a non-voting member. One Ellis County commission and the county administrator also are on the board in a similar fashion. Schwaller was not present at the Aug. 6 work session.

“Unfortunately, we give them the money and they do not answer to us. They answer to a board that we have some members of, but it’s not like we control the board or anything,” Meier said during the work session.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

There are a few private water well owners in Hays who utilize the city’s sewer lines. According to Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty, the “handful of houses were grandfathered in many years ago that actually have private wells but then discharge wastewater into the city sewer.”

During the city commission’s July 16 discussions of the wastewater treatment plant upgrade project, Hays resident Delores Schmeidler asked why her sewer rate is higher than other residential customers. She is paying $24.65 a month, while an average resident using city water is charged $13.83 a month in sewer fees.

“Back in the ’60s, the governing body set a rate for these types of users,” Dougherty said. “Unless we put a meter on their water well, we don’t know how much volume is coming into our sewer system, and sewer charges are by volume,” he explained.

“When you pay your water bill, depending on the volume of water you used, that will determine what your sewer rate is. It will go up and down proportionately with your water usage.

“Since the city had no way of knowing without a meter on these private wells, they just put a ‘one size fits all’ sewer rate on them–probably a little on the high side–that way they could catch the average use in there.”

“(Schmeidler) assumed that she has been paying more than she would typically pay if she was hooked up to city water and she is correct. She asked the commissioners to review why this is being done.

“It’s completely up to the governing body if they want to change it. The customer does have the available alternative of allowing us to put a meter on her well and then she would be charged actual usage just like any other customer, but she didn’t want to do that.

“We (city staff) think it’s working just fine. I’ve been here 10 years and this is the first time I’ve heard of anybody questioning it,” Dougherty pointed out.

The ordinance regulating sewer rates for private well owners will be reviewed during tonight’s Hays city commission work session.

See the complete Aug. 20, 2015,  agenda here.