By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
A road allowing access to a proposed residential development south of Hays will remain following a vote by the Ellis County Commission Monday.
On Sept. 1, the Ellis County Clerk’s office received a petition for vacation of Randall Lane south on Hays in the VonFeldt residential addition. The petition was signed by 13 residents who live nearby.
Randall Lane runs through the VonFeldt subdivision approximately 2 miles south of Hays and would connect the proposed Blue Sky Addition to U.S. 183.
Ellis County Commissioners Dean Haselhorst and Marcy McClelland, along with a surveyor and three Ellis County residents selected by the commission, viewed the road on Oct. 7. On Monday, the commission held a public hearing to hear from residents.
The road was originally platted in 1977 and, if vacated, would leave the proposed Blue Sky Addition and approximately 66 acres of ground owned by Mary-Alice Unrein landlocked, according to County Attorney Tom Drees.
If the road was vacated, the county would have to provide another access road and then have to pay the extra costs of building the new road — as opposed to the cost of developing Randall Lane, according to Drees.
“If she (Unrein) develops Blue Sky, she also has to pay to develop that road,” Drees said. “If we move it elsewhere, any cost beyond what it would cost to develop Randall Lane, she can petition for damages to the commission.
“The commission can assess that, even back too, some of it back on the petitioners,” he added.
Ernest Pfeifer was one of the “disinterested householders” appointed as part of the road view committee. Pfeifer said at Monday’s meeting he was in favor of vacating the road because Unrein owns property to the south and he believes they would have access through that property.
The other two residents – Dennis Pfannenstiel and Wes DeBey — were not present at the meeting but, in submitted statements to County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes, said they were in favor of keeping the road.
Terry Krannawitter lives in the Vonfeldt Addition along Randall Lane and said Monday he was not in favor of allowing the road to remain because of the increased traffic, dust and litter it will create.
Krannawitter said all of the traffic from the six-lot Blue Sky Acres will exit the subdivision onto U.S. 183 and that will make it difficult getting out of his driveway. He was also concerned with turning onto U.S. 183.
He was not aware the county would have to pay the extra costs of developing another access to Blue Sky and said he would not be in favor of paying for a portion of that.
The commission voted 2-0 to not vacate Randall Lane, meaning the road will remain in place, and Unrein is expected to pay to upgrade the road. She said it will match the standards or roads set by the county.
The commission still has to vote on the proposed plat of the Blue Sky Acres Addition. It was previously approved by the city commission against the recommendation of the Hays Area Planning Commission and city staff.
Commissioner Barb Wasinger, who was not present at Monday’s meeting, and County Counselor Bill Jeter recused themselves due to conflict of interest.
In other business, the commission:
• Approved the purchase of a 2017 Ram pickup from Lewis for $29,870 for the sheriff’s department and for $28,932 for Public Works.
• Approved a resolution banning stickers from election ballots. According to Smith-Hanes, the resolution bans stickers placed on the ballot for a write-in candidate in place of actually writing in the candidate.
• Approved a resolution selling an extra dump truck to the city of Ellis.