By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Five residents living just outside the Hays city limits have declining levels in their private water wells and have requested water service from the city for domestic use only.

The properties are on East 27th Street east of Canterbury Drive and would require a new water line to be placed. To do so would be an exemption to the city’s moratorium on new water service outside of city limits.

City commissioners can approve an exception to the policy, according to Assistant City Manager Jacob Wood.

“We’re talking about extending a waterline from Canterbury Drive over to a waterline that comes out by NCK Tech,” Wood explained. “This would be a two-inch waterline at a cost of about  $50,000. If we did a regular 8-inch line, it would be close to $200,000 to put in.”

The property owners would pay the entire cost of the water line infrastructure

In June 2013, the city commission placed a moratorium on water service outside the city limits because of drought conditions. The moratorium has remained in effect since then.

The policy says there must be a benefit to the city in order to extend water service.

Wood outlined three benefits during Thursday’s city commission work session.

“First of all, it services some customers that are in need of water,” Wood said.

“Second, it will provide a loop in the waterline. We have a dead-end line at NCK Tech. If we loop those lines, that will increase the water quality  and cause less work for our staff. Another thing that it does, if we provide water in this area, it prevents rural water (Trego Co. Rural Water Dist. #2) from coming in. Rural water, anytime it encroaches on the city,  it can cause future problems if there is any kind of future development (of 27th east to Commerce Parkway),” he explained.

If the request is approved, the new water users must adhere to water conservation measures instituted within the Hays city limits. Hays Mayor Shaun Musil questioned how the city can ensure the customers are complying.

“They’ll be metered,” answered Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty. “We can tell if anything out of the ordinary is going on. Again, they’ve assured us this is for domestic use.

“We know what an average domestic use is and what an average non-domestic household use is. We can determine that.”

The new customers would pay a higher “outside city limits” rate–2.5 times more–than water customers inside the city limits. The city currently has 51 customers outside the city limits.

The property owners have told the city they have no interest in annexation and they must sign a pre-annexation agreement.

“If somebody came along in the vacant area and said we want to build three-acre lot homes, it’s probably not something we want to provide water to (due to the expense)…This area was built up before the city even had zoning codes and development regulations. It has been there for awhile. The city has kind of encroached on it, as opposed to development that’s built right next to us that’s not something we would desire,” Dougherty said.

The three commissioners at the work session said they were in favor of staff’s recommendation to approve the waterline extension. The request will be voted on at the May 11 meeting.

Commissioners Lance Jones and Henry Schwaller were absent from Thursday’s work session.

 

The USD 489 school board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the Toepfer board room at the district administrative center to consider a bus purchase for the Early Childhood program.

The board will hear reports on the early childhood program, as well as receive bids on a new vehicle.

The school calendar for the upcoming year will be considered Monday. Students would start school on Aug. 16 and end school on May 18.

The board will also receive bids on a fire alarm testing and maintenance.

The agreement between Fort Hays State University and the district on Lewis Field will be discussed.

Tracy Kaiser, executive director of finance and support services, will present an update on Kansas Educational Risk Management pool and costs for the district’s workers compensation insurance for the 2017-18 school year.

Superintendent John Thissen will discuss the frequency of which USD 489 facilities are used by outside organizations.

MANHATTAN – Thirty Kansans recently graduated from the two-year Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership program.

“The Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership Program helped the Class XIII leaders find a way to change their world by building on their integrity, confidence, discipline, professionalism, self-development, global viewpoint and servant ethos,” said Al Davis, president of Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership, Inc. during its last seminar. “Our newest KARL graduates now possess a sense to serve and follow, in order to lead.”

“Rural Kansas, the agricultural industry, our state, nation and world need your leadership…now get to work,” Davis told the class members.

The KARL Program is a two-year educational experience offering intensive study, training and travel for emerging leaders in agriculture and rural communities.

The new leaders participated in nine in-state seminars, plus out-of-state study tours that included a national seminar to study a Fortune 500 corporation, a tour to Washington, D.C. to study decision-making on the federal level and an international study tour to Chile, providing a capstone to the intensive 52-day training spread over two years.

At the final seminar, KARL Board Vice Chairman Jerry McReynolds thanked the more than 1,000 donors who supported the graduating class’s two-year participation: “More than $500,000 was contributed as fellowship support to supplement the tuition paid or raised by class members. This KARL training experience carried a value of over $25,000 per person and four-fifths of that value was contributed through the generous support of our not-for-profit charitable educational organization.”

KARL graduates and spouses, or adult guests become members of the KARL Network, which includes the KARL Graduate Program. That program supports the KARL Program and expands graduates’ networks, plus provides further learning opportunities. Through the graduate program, cultural exchange travel opportunities are available.

The new KARL graduates, alphabetically by last name and their community are: Kellie Allen, Parsons; Lori Bammerlin, Council Grove; Chris Boyd, Medicine Lodge; Barry Brandstetter, Overland Park; Billy Brown, Manhattan; Trista Brown Priest, Satanta; Craig Carnahan, Altamont; Michelle Cerne, Altamont; Nathan Eck, Little River; Andy Fahrmeier, Garden City; Tim Flax, Hays; Matt Foos, Spearville; Frances Gorman Graves, Bartlett; Anna Govert-Young, Cheney; Amy Heinemann, Garden City; Trisha Janssen, Geneseo; Dustin Kuntz, Harveyville; Kathy LaScala, Eudora; Jesse Luckie, Ashland; Laura Moffet, Stockton; Clarke Nelson, Long Island; Brad Parker, Topeka; Shawn Powelson, Scott City; Wyatt Rundel, Wichita; Ben Schrag, Canton; Andrew Sigle, Osborne; Tony Wedel, Moundridge; Nick Weibert, Abilene; LaVell Winsor, Grantville; and Mallory Wittstruck, Beloit.

For more information regarding the new class, alumni, the curriculum and program goals visit the website at www.karlprogram.com/.