June 2016 – Page 29 – Hays Post Archive

Gerald D. ‘Jerry’ Kaiser

Posted on June 21, 2016

Gerald D. “Jerry” Kaiser, 81, Hays, died Monday, June 20, 2016 at the Hays Medical Center.

He was born September 24, 1934 in Park, Kansas the son of Tony and Frances (Melroy) Kaiser. He graduated from Quinter High School and then entered the U.S. Army from 1953 until 1955. After his discharge from the Army he entered the U.S. Navy from 1956 until 1958.

On August 10, 1959, he married Luetta M. Wolf in Grinnell, Kansas. He was a lineman for Stouffer Flying Service for many years, he worked for the State of Kansas Highway Department, and was a store manager for Kaiser Liquor. He was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus Third Degree Council #1325, the Bishop Cunningham Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus, was a founding member of the Knights of Columbus Clown Club, was past Grand Knight of Council #1325, and was one of the founders and Scout Master of Boy Scout Troop #111.

He enjoyed coaching baseball and softball, was an avid fisherman, enjoyed camping, woodworking, and his role as “Patches the Clown”, and prayed the rosary often.

Survivors include his wife, of the home in Hays, four sons; Tom Kaiser and wife Tracy of Hays, Randy Kaiser and wife Danna of Hays, Leonard Kaiser and wife Brenda of Great Bend, and Brian Kaiser of Hays, one daughter; Charlet Thompson and husband Bruce of Springfield, MO, a sister; Marlene Wolf and husband Melvin of Grinnell, KS, eleven grandchildren; Brent Kaiser and wife Annie of Hays, Scott, Trey, and Tate Kaiser of Hays, Jordyn Sanders and husband Jake of Hays, Kallyn Givan and husband Daniel of Katy, TX, Dallas and Reagan Kaiser of Hays, and Morgan and Molly Kaiser of Great Bend, and Trevor Thompson and wife Kaci of Lavaca, Arkansas, ten great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers; Bob and Raymond Kaiser, and a sister; Rita Herrman.

Funeral services will be at 10:00 am on Friday, June 24, 2016 at the St. Joseph Catholic Church, 215 W. 13th, Hays. Burial with military honors by the Hays VFW Honor Guard will follow in the St. Joseph Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4:00 pm until 8:00 on Thursday and from 9:00 am until 9:45 on Friday, all at the Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home, 1906 Pine Street. The Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus will stand honor guard from 5:30 until 6:30 pm, a parish vigil service will begin at 6:30 pm, followed by a combined Third and Fourth degree rosary at 7:00 pm, all on Thursday at the funeral home.

Memorials are suggested to TMP-Marian High School or to the St. Joseph Church building fund, in care of the funeral home. Condolences may be left for the family at www.haysmemorial.com.

Jeanette Jeanne Brown

Posted on June 21, 2016June 22, 2016

Victoria, Kansas — Jeanette Jeanne Brown, age 80, died Monday, June 20, 2016, at Hays Medical Center, Hays, Kansas.

She was born November 24, 1935, in Hays, Kansas to Joseph J. and Monica (Klaus) Pelzel. She married LeRoy J. Brown on November 23, 1953, in Hays, Kansas. He died May 15, 1999.

She was a homemaker, worked at Travenol Laboratories and was head housekeeper for Motel 6 and the Ramada Inn. She was graduate of Girls Catholic High School, attended Brown-Mackie Business College and has been a resident of Victoria since 1968. She was a member of The Basilica of St. Fidelis and V.F.W. Auxiliary Post No. 1751 both of Victoria, Kansas. Jeanette enjoyed canning, making noodles, crafts, knitting, her cats, her grandchildren and family.

Survivors include two sons, Bradley Brown and wife, Mellissa, Great Bend, KS; Kevin J. Brown, Hays, KS; five daughters, Pam Wellbrock and husband, Neil, Victoria, KS; Dee Dee Schmidt and husband, Dan, Hays, KS; Robin Schmidt, Albany, OR; Shelly Johnson and husband, John, South Pittsburg, TN; Leslie A. Goodspeed and Andrew, Hays, KS; one brother, Don Pelzel and wife, Clare, Plattsburg, MO; 20 grandchildren; 24 great grandchildren and her special friend, Wilmer Rome, Hays, KS.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; one son, Terrance LeRoy Brown; one twin grandson, Jared Wellbrock; one son-in-law, John Doerfler; two brothers, Lester, Pelzel, Robert Pelzel and one sister, Volda Rohr.

Services are 10:00 A.M. Saturday, June 25, 2016, at The Basilica of St. Fidelis, Victoria, Kansas.
Inurnment will be later that afternoon at St. Fidelis Cemetery, Victoria, Kansas.

A vigil service will be at 7:00 P.M. Friday, followed by a V.F.W. Auxiliary service and rosary all at
Cline’s Mortuary of Hays, 1919 East 22nd Street, Hays, Kansas 67601.

Visitation is from 6:00 to 9:00 P.M. Friday, at Cline’s Mortuary of Hays and from 8:30 to 10:00 A.M. Saturday, at The Basilica of St. Fidelis, Victoria, Kansas.

Memorials To The Basilica of St. Fidelis. Condolences can be sent via email to [email protected].

New medical care provider now on duty at Ellis County Jail

Posted on June 21, 2016June 21, 2016

Longtime Ellis Co. Health Administrator Butch Schlyer will retire at the end of the year.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Last month, 397 medical boxes were set up and/or refilled for inmates in the Ellis County Jail. All that was done by soon-to-retire Ellis Co. Health Administrator Butch Schyler.

“There will be lots fewer since the new medical company took over last Thursday,” Schyler told county commissioners Monday night. “They were going to make some rapid changes.”

Advanced Correctional Healthcare is the new medical care contractor for the jail after the commission approved an annual contract in May for $99,968.14. “They needed 90 days to set up and Butch filled that gap,” said County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes.

Schyler said he talked to an Ellis County jailer Monday who told him the company has “drastically cut down on the medications the inmates were taking.”

“Of course, they did anticipate inmates not being happy with that…they said it would take about eight weeks to get through this whole curve before everyone settles down. When they’re providing their own pharmacy, they’re gonna watch what meds and how much they’re giving to people,” Schyler explained, “and they started right away with that.”

Advanced Correctional Health Care, based in Peoria, Illinois, provides medical services for 268 counties in 17 states, including 24 counties in Kansas.

Schyler will retire at the end of the calendar year. Ellis County Emergency Medical Services Director Kerry McCue will assume a combined role directing both departments.

Undercounted Medicaid application backlog irks Kan. lawmakers

Posted on June 21, 2016

Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican CREDIT ANDY MARSO / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR — Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican
CREDIT ANDY MARSO / HEARTLAND HEALTH MONITOR

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Lawmakers are voicing frustration after the state disclosed that a backlog in unprocessed Medicaid applications is four times as large as previously thought.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the disclosure late last week that Kansas had under-counted the number of unprocessed applications by 12,000 is drawing fresh attention to the state’s electronic eligibility system nearly a year into its troubled rollout.

Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, says the state needs to “figure this out” and described the problems as “getting pretty bad.” Kansas says a reporting problem from a contractor tasked with implementing the eligibility system produced the under-counting, not the eligibility system itself.

An official legislative inquiry will likely have to wait until August. House and Senate leadership have ruled out hearings during the upcoming special session.

Hearing in Lincoln County shooting death delayed

Posted on June 21, 2016

Joseph Schultz- photo Lincoln County Sheriff

LINCOLN COUNTY – A preliminary hearing originally scheduled Tuesday for a Kansas man charged in connection with a fatal shooting has been moved to August, according to the Lincoln County Attorney.

Joseph Allan Schultz, 36, was charged with second-degree murder in the March 5, shooting death of Kevin Kubik, 33, at a rural residence in the 2500 Block of Deer Drive in Beverly.

There was an altercation and Kubik died at the scene, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Michael Weigel.

Schultz remains in custody, according to Weigel.

The KBI was contacted to assist with the investigation.

Parents as Teachers funding shift may limit Kan. families’ access to program

Posted on June 21, 2016

By MEGAN HART

Photo by Topeka USD 501 The Topeka USD 501 Parents as Teachers program plans to continue to offer events like Blockfest, shown here, to any parents with young children who want to participate. But funding reductions mean the number of events may be reduced.

Parents as Teachers is receiving the same amount of funding in Kansas as it did last year, but program administrators are concerned they will not be able to continue helping some families due to new rules.

The Legislature this year approved a switch in the funding source for Parents as Teachers from the Children’s Initiatives Fund, a state pool of money paid by tobacco companies, to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a federal fund best known for providing cash assistance for a limited time.

The amount of money is the same, but the federal money comes with more strings. To qualify for Parents as Teachers under TANF, families must meet one of 19 criteria that include factors like income, health and education levels.

Ryan Weir, a data coordinator for the Kansas State Department of Education, said the department isn’t sure of the number of current Parents as Teachers participants who won’t qualify, although he expects most will.

The federal rules will go into effect when the new fiscal year starts July 1. “It’s many of those same families that would already have been eligible,” he said. Rebecca Clancy, coordinator of Parents as Teachers in Topeka USD 501, said staff members are talking with families about whether they will qualify.

She is concerned that some families won’t want to provide documentation that they are struggling financially, even though the reason they qualified would be kept private, she said. Parents as Teachers “has been so successful because there are no labels on it in the community,” she said.

The USD 501 Parents as Teachers program plans to continue to offer play groups and family networking events to any Topeka parents with young children who want to participate, Clancy said, but it may have to reduce the number of events due to cuts in the separate funding it receives from the Children’s Cabinet.

The program won’t be able to offer home visits to Topeka families that don’t qualify for TANF, she said, and may have to lay off two to four of its 14 parent educators due to the combination of cuts.

“We’re hoping to be able to stay with 12” educators, she said. “We’re trying to be very out of the box (in our) thinking, and creative.”

Colleen Riley is director of the early childhood, special education and title services team at Kansas State Department of Education. She said other states have made a similar move to Kansas in using TANF funds.

Programs still could use local funds to serve families that don’t qualify under the federal rules, she said. “We are anticipating the same number of families will be served,” she said.

Wes Toppel, program supervisor for Parents as Teachers in the USD 636 North Central Kansas Special Education Cooperative, which includes 10 districts, said it isn’t quite that simple. Federal funds can’t be used to pay administrative costs or building rent, so those also must come out of the local dollars, limiting how much the programs can spend on other families, he said.

“It’s going to leave very little money to serve families that we want to continue to serve but that don’t qualify under TANF,” he said.

Even with more restrictions, Parents as Teachers likely won’t lack for families that could use its services.

Dean Zajic, state and federal funding coordinator for the Kansas State Department of Education, estimated that more than 30,000 families statewide would qualify based on their income, and more would qualify under other provisions, such as having a deployed parent or multiple births.

In a typical year, Parents as Teachers has enough funded slots for 8,000 to 9,000 Kansas families, he said.

Local programs have some discretion in deciding whom to serve among qualifying families. But Toppel said he considers it a misconception that parents automatically know how to interact with children based on their education and income.

He and his wife both are school psychologists, he said, and they still were helped when a parent educator noticed one of their twin sons wasn’t rolling over as an infant and could benefit from physical therapy.

“We should be focused on finding the families that are at-risk, but we shouldn’t overlook the families that are a little higher on the income scale,” he said.

Laura Burton, a Topeka resident, said she and her husband, Matt, benefited greatly from a parent educator’s assistance. Their daughter, Amelia, had some trouble with eating and sleeping as an infant, and the educator helped them to sort through contradictory advice they received from friends and family, she said.

“Kids don’t come with an instruction manual,” she said. “It can be hard to know what’s real and what’s accurate, and what’s not.”

While Amelia didn’t have any developmental delays, Burton said she is concerned that the needs of children in other families might go unidentified if parents aren’t sure what to look for and pediatricians overlook them during brief office visits.

In addition, some parents of at-risk children may not seek assistance because they don’t want to provide documentation of a problem like domestic violence, she said.

“The only way we really know that is if we get the parent educators into the home,” she said.

Megan Hart is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC

New warden named at Ellsworth Correctional Facility

Posted on June 21, 2016June 21, 2016

Ellsworth Correctional Facility- photo Kan. Dpt. of Corrections

Martin Sauers, an experienced corrections official, has been named warden at the Ellsworth Correctional Facility (ECF), according to a media release.

Sauers began his correctional career with the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) in 1989 as a corrections officer. Sauers worked through the ranks, promoting to a corrections counselor, unit team manager, classification administrator and finally deputy warden, a position he has held since January 2014. Sauers fills the vacancy left by Dan Schnurr who now serves as warden at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility (HCF) while Schnurr replaces Sam Cline who now serves as warden at Lansing Correctional Facility (LCF), replacing the recently retired Rex Pryor.

“With Martin’s long history at Ellsworth, I believe that the facility will be in capable and loyal hands.” Secretary of Corrections Joe Norwood also said, “I want to wish both Sam Cline and Dan Schnurr the best of luck in their new positions as wardens of LCF and HCF.

A replacement for the newly vacated deputy warden position will be filled at a later date.

TMP’s Helget earns all-state honor

Posted on June 21, 2016

TMP-Marian junior Alison Helget has been named to the 3A All-State second team as an infielder by the Kansas Softball coaches.

Helget finished the year hitting .424 and she led the team in almost all hitting categories including hits (39), doubles (15) and RBIs (21).

Helget and the Monarchs softball team lost in the first round of the 3A state tournament in Manhattan to Southeast of Saline. It was TMP’s first trip to state since 2010.

CLASS 3A
First team
Pitcher – Haidyn Bassett, Oskaloosa; Taylor Comption, Riverton; Courtney Richey, Humboldt.

Catcher – Sam Greninger, Riverton; Madison Miller, Oskaloosa.

Infielder – Taylor Crome, Marysville; Lindsay Gilmore, Sterling; Alex Green, Riverton; Kelsie Klamm, Wellsville, Heidi Nitsch, Rossville.

Outfielder – Jamee Comption, Riverton; Jaden Courter, Oskaloosa; Ruth Pineda, Lyons; Jordan Stiger, Bluestem.
Utility –Kelsey Orender, Osage City.

Second team
Pitcher – Taylor Frazier, Galena; Emma Horsch, Sterling; Hannah Pemberton, Wellsville.

Catcher – Brianna Francis, Jayhawk Linn; Morgan Michaelis, Lyons.

Infielder –Alison Helget, Thomas More Prep; Lauren McDaniel, Wellsville; Angela Nixon, Bluestem; Macy Williams, Riverton; Macey VanCleave, Galena; Sarah Beam, Royal Valley.

Outfielder – Alison Burch, Bluestem; Sara Shinn, Rossville; Sydney Pacha, Marysville.

Utility – Maddie Wegner, Silver Lake.

Gerald ‘Jerry’ Ivan Denison

Posted on June 21, 2016June 21, 2016

Gerald “Jerry” Ivan Denison, 69, Minneapolis, passed away Sunday, June 19, 2016 at the Ottawa County Health Center. He was born June 6, 1947 in Salina to Harold and Florence (Walle) Denison.

Jerry was a graduate of Bennington High School and Brown Mackie College. He served in the United States Army from 1966 – 1972 . On April 3, 1971 he was united in marriage with Mary Ann Keller in Ellis. Jerry worked for SRS for many years. After his retirement he went to work at Hometown Hardware in downtown Minneapolis for twelve years; retiring on May 1, 2016. He was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church where he served as an elder and Clerk of the Session. Jerry was also a member of the V.F.W. Post 3201, former board member for Love, INC, former Minneapolis Mayor and, city councilman. For many years Jerry would go to Ellis and help the Keller’s with harvest.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife Mary Ann on April 18, 2008.

Survivors include his sons Waylan Denison and Justin Denison and wife Ashlee; half-brother Darrell Yost and wife Patty; brother-in-law Ernie Keller and wife Tonya; and granddaughters Kylee, Jordan, Macee, and Skylar Denison.

Funeral services will be at 11:00 A.M., Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis. Burial with military honors will be in Highland Cemetery, Minneapolis. Visitation will be from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Wednesday at Wilson Family Funeral Home, Minneapolis. Jerry’s request was instead of flowers he’d like memorials to be given to the First Presbyterian Church or Love, INC and may be left in care of Wilson Family Funeral Home, P.O. Box 166, Minneapolis, KS 67467.

Clem Reitmayer

Posted on June 21, 2016

Clem Reitmayer, age 90, of Quinter, Kansas passed away Sunday, June 19, 2016 at his home. He was born October 23, 1925, in rural Ellis, Kansas to John and Clara (Schuster) Reitmayer.

He was a graduate of Trego Community High School. Clem was a proud veteran of the United States Navy, having served during World War II in the Night Torpedo Squardon 55. On June 15, 1948, Clem was united in marriage to Katherine Margaret Malsom, in St. Michael Catholic Church, Collyer, Kansas. They enjoyed 68 years of marriage together. Clem spent most of his working life as owner and operator of Gove County Implement, selling John Deere tractors, implements, and farm equipment to many area farmers. He was a lifetime member of the WaKeeney VFW. Clem also belonged to the Sacred Heart Knights of Columbus. He enjoyed doing crosswords puzzles and playing cribbage. He was an avid KSU Football fan, and always enjoyed a good game of golf. Clem will be dearly missed by many.

Survivors include his wife, Kathy; two sons, Gerald (Annette) Reitmayer of Derby, Kansas, and Lawrence (Tamie) Reitmayer of Camdenton, Missouri; six grandchildren, Brian Reitmayer, Jason (Mandy) Reitmayer, Patrick (Sherry) Reitmayer, Shawn Reitmayer, Jodie Reitmayer, and Ryan Reitmayer; and seven great-grandchildren, Zane, Max, Leo, Maddy, Grayson, Ian, and Jenna Reitmayer; and a sister, Minnie Kerksiek of Colorado. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers; Joe, Carl, and William; sisters, Regina Augustine, Mary Achenbrenner, Betty Mehler, and Anna Rohn.

Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Park. Burial, with military honors, will be at 2:00 p.m. at Kansas Veterans Cemetery, WaKeeney.

Visitation will be Tuesday evening, from 6 to 8 with a parish vigil to follow at 8, at the funeral home in Quinter.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to Hospice Services, Inc., or the WaKeeney VFW. Checks made to the organization may be sent to Schmitt Funeral Home, 901 South Main, Quinter, KS 67752.

Bessie Catherine (Reece) Boone

Posted on June 21, 2016June 22, 2016

Bessie Catherine (Reece) Boone was born to Elder John Michael Reece and Edith Turner Reece on October 4, 1914 near Fairview, Missouri where she lived with her family until June 1916. Her mother passed away when Bessie was quite young and her father then married Edith Brubaker who helped raise the Reece children. Bessie’s brothers included the late Richard Turner Reece (wife Edith) of Virginia and the late Melvin Henry Reece (wives Neva and Erlene) of Sawyer, Kansas. Sisters included Fannie Mae McGuire (husband the late Richard McGuire), of Redding, California, and the deceased Martha Gish (husband the late Arnold Gish) of Modesto, California.

As a young lady, Bessie married James Daniel Boone on June 14, 1933. They were blessed with five children including a stillborn daughter Patricia Louise, Roland James, Catherine Arlene, Linda Lee and Ross Leonard Boone.

Most of their vocational career was spent on the farm. Their thirty three year farming career started in Pratt, Ellis, and Rooks counties in Kansas and ended in Gove County Kansas near Quinter where they settled in the early 1940’s.

Bessie was a homemaker helping her James raise a family and advance his farming endeavors until 1964 when she began working in the office at Ideal Industries. She enjoyed her work there until she retired in 1977.

She and James traveled extensively, both foreign and domestic. They especially enjoyed visiting family and friends as well as spending their winters in South Texas in the McAllen/Mission area where they visited some 17 winter seasons.

James and Bessie always lived their entire lives with Christian principles. On October 13, 1965 they made a public confession of their faith and were baptized into the Old German Baptist Brethren Church whose values they embraced until their death.

Bessie was greatly saddened with the death of her husband James in 2007 after 73 years of marriage. She also mourned the passing of her stillborn daughter Patricia in 1934, a son-in-law Karl Denlinger in 1966, an infant grandson James David Filbrun in 1969, an infant great grandson Nicholas James Schmidt in 1991, and finally her beloved daughter Linda Lee Filbrun in October 2011. She has been looking forward to a glorious reunion with them in the Presence of the Lord, and that reunion has now become a reality.

Meanwhile, her earthly family continues to grow. Bessie is survived by 3 children, 13 grandchildren, 33 great grandchildren and 7 great-great grand children along with their spouses, friends and loved ones. Her children include sons Roland (wife Opal), and Ross (wife Sharon) and her daughter Arlene (husband Alvan Eller). Linda’s husband Robert Filbrun and his wife Lori remain a part of the family. The 14 grand children include Marla Knaus (husband Mike), Dan Boone (wife Linda), and Don Boone (wife Sharon), Debbie Eller Smith, and Douglas Eller (wife Cathy), Shelly Crosier (husband Delk), Pam Jamison (husband Randall), Rick Filbrun (wife Angie), Paul Boone (wife Melissa), Corinna Schmidt (husband Steve), Tamara Dahl (husband Eric), Brendon Boone (wife Natalie), and Kim Mast. Her family resides in 11 states across our great nation.

On October 4, 2014, we celebrated her 100th birthday right here in Quinter. She loved having 71 of her 76 descendents in attendance from all over the nation. Their visit and the visitation of all the local friends and relatives provided her with memories and conversation for months. How blessed we are for those relationships.

Bessie was a humble lady whose desire included being a Proverbs 31 type wife, and listening to the accolades of her friends, it seems she did fairly well at that. However, her ultimate desire was to hear the blessed Savior greet her with His phrase from Mathew: “well done good and faithful servant”.

The family would like to thank the many friends and loved ones who have been so supportive of Bessie through her 101 years, especially through the latter years of her life. So many people have shown kindness by visiting her and offering kind words and gestures. The cousins, children and grandchildren have blessed her with their presence, but her friends, and the brethren and sisters of her church family have brought unspeakable joy by dropping by and spending a moment with her, breaking out in a season of song, and sharing the presence of their children who Bessie enjoyed rewarding with a little pack of Smarties. The staff of the Gove County Medical Center has gone the extra mile over the years working to make their facility a home for her. The Doctors, nurses and staff have been most kind. We pray these acts of kindness are repaid many times over to all of these kind people..

Thank you ever so much as this 101 year old life comes to a close and transitions to a new being as Bessie comes into the presence of her creator.

Sincerely and Humbly Submitted by the Family

Memorial contributions are suggested to Gove County Long Term Care. Donations made to the organization may be sent to the funeral home.

Kansas man hospitalized after pickup hits rear axel on a semi

Posted on June 21, 2016June 21, 2016

GREENWOOD COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 6 a.m. on Tuesday in Greenwood County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Chevy pickup driven by Chris Lee Davis, 44, Wamego, was westbound on U.S. 400 five miles east of Severy.

The pickup crossed the centerline and struck rear axle on and eastbound semi.

Davis was transported to Wesley Medical Center.

The semi driver Jeffrey Don Gillmore, 40, El Dorado, was not injured.

Gillmore was properly restrained at the time of the accident.

The KHP was did not have information on Davis’ seat belt usage.

With shortfall looming, Ellis Co. commissioners consider using wind farm windfall

Posted on June 21, 2016June 21, 2016

el co comm 062016 — Ellis County is looking at options for making building project bond payments as sales taxes decline.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

The Ellis County Public Building Commission needs to pay some change orders for ongoing work at the recently remodeled courthouse/Law Enforcement Center in Hays, but doesn’t have the money to do that.

Ellis County Commissioner Barb Wasinger — who, like all three commissioners is also a PBC member — has suggested the payment, as well as bond payments for that project and the new Ellis County Emergency Services Center, come from the “unexpected wind farm project money.”

County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes has suggested rents for the two buildings be increased.

The bills will appear as accounts payable on the PBC agenda of its second meeting of next month, scheduled for July 11.

Sales tax revenues have declined 10 percent the past two years, according to Treasurer Ann Pfeifer. In May, she warned Ellis County commissioners the county might have to transfer money from the general fund to make the bond payment on the courthouse/LEC and Ellis County Emergency Services building projects because of a timing issue. She said the PBC, which was created to manage the county building upgrades, would then pay back the money later in the month when it receives money from the sales tax fund.

“PBC actually doesn’t actually have funds available to pay those change orders that will be coming,” Smith-Hanes told county commissioners Monday night. “PBC’s sole source of revenue was the bond proceeds, and then the funds to pay back those proceeds are lease payments of the buildings to Ellis County.

“I need the PBC to request of Ellis County that we up the rental amount of those buildings in an amount sufficient to cover the change orders that will be incurred in July,” he said. “It’s really just an accounting mechanism recommended by our auditor,” Smith-Hanes explained Tuesday morning.

The increase request would be considered by Ellis County at its July 5 meeting.

Wasinger requested that “Ellis County use the money that has been put aside from the (Buckeye) wind farm project that we weren’t expecting and put it into the PBC account to not only pay for those change orders, but also set aside wind farm money for bond payments that are upcoming, so that we don’t have to dip into the general fund or into the taxpayers’ pockets.”

Commission Chairman Dean Haselhorst, who is also president of the PBC, agreed it was a good idea “because last year we got that (wind farm) payment.” The 200-megawatt Buckeye Wind Energy Center operated by Invenergy LLC northwest of Hays went online in October. Ellis County and Buckeye signed an agreement for payments in lieu of taxes, and the first $600,00 has been paid to the county.

Smith-Hanes said he had verified Monday afternoon with Pfeifer the wind farm payment is set aside in a special account.

“So we can bring that up on July 5 and figure out how those funds offset these increased payments,” Wasinger added.