By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

A new carbon dioxide feed system will be built at the Hays water plant.

The current system consists of three aging components, two obsolete feeders and a six-ton 49-year-old storage tank, refurbished in 2005, which has needed six repairs in the last five years.

“A new larger 30-ton tank will reduce the need for frequent deliveries, reduce costs, and reduce the potential to run out of CO2,” Director of Water Resources Jeff Crispin told Hays city commissioners Thursday night.

“Roughly $5,000 every year would be saved just in transportation costs and hazmat fees we pay per load,” he said. Sourcing repair parts has also become difficult.

“The new tank allows us to go from 23 deliveries to 4 per year and allows us to take a full load. When we go out to bid for chemicals, a lot of the companies won’t bid for us because they don’t want to bring us a partial load. They have to stop here, stop in Russell, so it causes us some issues with bidding,” Crispin explained. “A bigger tank will open the door for more companies to bid with us.”

“The cost of CO2 is roughly $200 a ton and we take on about a hundred tons a year,” Crispin reported. Carbon dioxide is used as part of the softening process and PH balance.

City commissioners Thursday night approved the low bid of $312,000 dollars from Smoky Hill, LLC, Salina, for construction of the system. New redundant feeders will also be designed and installed.

The project was budgeted in 2017 for $300,000. Crispin said the Water Capital fund has adequate funding to cover the additional cost of the project. “We should be able to recoup those costs in two years of transportation savings,” Mayor Shaun Musil pointed out.

The Hays water softening plant, 1000 Vine, was built in 1949.

 

The Hays Police Department responded to 7 animal calls and 15 traffic stops Thu., Oct. 26, 2017, according to the HPD Activity Log.

Abandoned Vehicle–700 block Oak St, Hays; 1:34 AM
Domestic Disturbance–2000 block Canal Blvd, Hays; 2:30 AM
Temporary Deprivation of Property–500 block E 12th St, Hays; 2:40 AM; 2:41 AM
Drug Offenses–3400 block Vine, Hays; 5:30 AM; 6 AM
Theft (general)–200 block E 19th St, Hays; 10/25 9 PM; 10/26 8:11 AM
Driving While Suspended/Revoked–3600 block Vine St, Hays; 9:03 AM
Theft (general)–400 block W 19th St, Hays; 12 AM; 8:30AM
Lost Animals ONLY–1100 block Drum Ave, Hays; 11:21 AM
Animal Call–1700 block Golden Belt Dr, Hays; 1:49 PM
Contempt of Court/Fail to Pay–100 block W 12th St, Hays; 2 PM
Criminal Trespass–200 block E 7th St, Hays; 10/22 5 PM; 10/26 8 AM
Animal At Large–600 block W 13th, Hays; 3:31 PM
Juvenile Complaint–200 block E 7th St, Hays; 8:30 PM; 8:41 PM
Welfare Check–400 block Lyman Dr, Hays; 9 PM; 10:45 PM

KDWPT

PRATT – You’re not seeing double and that’s not a typo. Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) Fisheries Division staff will provide trout anglers with more fish, more often this season. In years past, KDWPT-managed trout waters would receive four stockings of fish over the course of the trout season. This year, KDWPT-managed trout waters will receive two extra stockings, reducing the amount of time between each stocking. To sweeten the deal even more, 22-percent more trout will be stocked this year statewide.

Waters set to receive trout for the 2017-2018 trout season:

TYPE 1 LAKES: TROUT PERMITS REQUIRED OF ALL ANGLERS (Nov. 1-April 15)

Dodge City Lake Charles

Ft. Scott Gun Park Lake

Glen Elder State Park (SP) Pond

Kanopolis Seep Stream

KDOT East Lake in Wichita

Lake Henry in Clinton SP

Mined Land WA Unit No. 30 (Trout Permit required year-round)

Pratt Centennial Pond

Walnut River Area in El Dorado SP (Stocking pending completion of area repairs)

Willow Lake at Tuttle Creek SP

Webster Stilling Basin

Vic’s Lake and Slough Creek in Sedgwick County Park

Topeka Auburndale Park

Garnett Crystal Lake

TYPE 2 LAKES: TROUT PERMITS REQUIRED ONLY FOR ANGLERS FISHING FOR OR POSSESSING TROUT (Nov. 1-April 15)

Solomon River between Webster Reservoir and Rooks County No. 2 Road

Ft. Riley Cameron Springs

Lake Shawnee – Topeka

Salina Lakewood Lake

Moon Lake on Fort Riley

Historic Lake Scott State Park Pond

Hutchinson Dillon Nature Center Pond

Atchison City Lake No. 1

Holton-Elkhorn Lake

Syracuse Sam’s Pond

Cimarron Grasslands Pits

Colby – Villa High Lake

Great Bend Veterans Park Lake

Meade State Fishing Lake

The 2017-2018 Kansas trout season runs Nov. 1, 2017 – April 15, 2018. Trout permits can be purchased for $14.50 at any license vendor location and online at ksoutdoors.com.

For information on trout fishing in Kansas and stocking schedules, visit ksoutdoors.com and click “Fishing,” “Special Fishing Programs,” then “Trout Program Information.”

Celebration Community Church

Kyle Ermoian, founding and senior pastor of Celebration Community Church, is retiring this weekend after 21 years at the church.

Kyle Ermoian moved to Hays in 1993 after successful careers first in radio and then pastoring in churches in southern California. Without a church to serve in Hays when he arrived, he re-entered the broadcast business as the general manager for KJLS Mix 103 FM for three and a half years.

While speaking to a group of leadership students on the subject “Living Your Life On Purpose,” Kyle felt called to fulfill his purpose and start Celebration Community Church. Through what was at the time an innovative approach to doing church involving contemporary music, drama, multi-media, and practical biblical messages, the goal of the church from the start was to attract, connect and grow unchurched people into faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

Starting in a storefront with 14 people on a Thursday night in August 1996, Celebration Community Church has grown to over 1200 adults and children attending weekly on two campuses in Hays and Colby. The first five years of the church’s life took place in rented public facilities until a 13,000-square foot truck garage was purchased and renovated into the church’s worship space. The church’s building has expanded over the years and now covers 44,000 square feet and houses a new state of the art 600 seat worship center, coffee bar, a fitness facility, Inspire, a school, Victory Christian Academy and the church’s radio station 98.5 FM THE TRUTH.

In 2004, Celebration Community Church was chosen to receive the Purpose Driven Ministries Church Health Award. Kyle and Debbie, his wife of 15 years accepted that honor in southern California from Saddleback Church’s Rick Warren.

In his time in Hays, Kyle has been an instructor in the Leadership Studies Department at FHSU, for three years he wrote a weekly article on Leadership for the Hays Daily News, and for nineteen years he served as the chaplain for the Tigers Men’s football and Basketball teams. Kyle has also served as the President of the Ellis County Ministerial Alliance. For twenty years Celebration Community Church has collected groceries on the Saturday before Thanksgiving to help feed over 700 people each year at the Ellis County Ministerial Alliance’s Thanksgiving Day Feast which began under Kyle’s leadership. As ECMA’s president, they also began a joint venture with the Hays Daily News called ONE magazine which continues to this day.

Teaching Pastor Brant Rice will become the new Senior Pastor of C3 aided by Systems Pastor Derek Mayfield and a committed staff and volunteers all of whom began as a first-time guest at the church.
The Ermoians will be moving to Ellijay, Ga., to be closer to their four grandchildren. A come-and-go reception for Kyle and Debbie will take place in the gym at the church from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday Oct. 28, and Pastor Kyle will be sharing communion thoughts at all weekend’s services, Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11a.m.

OVERLAND PARK -The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas will host an activist update and training in Hays on Thursday, Nov. 2.

The event is part of the Kansas Coalition for Citizen Participation’s statewide We the People training tour.

The tour will take place in 13 counties across Kansas throughout early November to give concerned citizens the tools they need to increase citizen participation in our elections, the ACLU said in a news release.

“Citizen participation is the cornerstone to a healthy democracy, which is why it’s crucial that we take proactive measures to expand opportunities for Kansans across the state to have a voice and a vote in our elections,” the release said. “The We the People training will equip passionate Kansans with an understanding of current barriers to voting and explain ways they can work within their communities to make our democracy more accessible to all people in Kansas.”

The event will be 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 2 at Fort Hays State University’s Stouffer Lounge, Room 222.

Members of the public who wish to RSVP for the event should RSVP at https://go.peoplepower.org/event/action_attend/10721

The full We the People tour schedule is available here: https://www.aclukansas.org/en/news/aclu-kansas-embarking-13-city-training-tour

HPL

“Fall” in love with the Hays Public Library! The library offers great seasonal programs for all ages.

Pumpkin Carving: The library is hosting a free pumpkin carving event on Saturday, October 28 at 2 PM. Twenty free pumpkins will be given away on a first come, first serve basis. Feel free to bring your own pumpkin for carving!

Trick or Treat at the Library: Make sure you incorporate the Hays Public Library to your Halloween route! From 3 PM to 6 PM on October 31, the library will host a trick or treat bash. There will be a story walk with treats for the kids, a mad scientist lab for teens and free chili and cinnamon rolls for all ages. What better way to kick off your Halloween than with tricks, treats and a free meal?

For more information on these and other programs, visit hayslibrary.org or call 785.625.9014.

HPD

From Oct. 30 through Nov. 3, the Hays Police Department will join other Kansas law enforcement agencies to stop what has been likened to an epidemic in Kansas. In 2016, 44 children ages 0-19 lost their lives due to car crashes in Kansas. Sadly, almost half of those children were not wearing their seat belts.

What many parents don’t think about is that wearing a seatbelt properly is the best prevention of serious injury or death in a vehicle. According to the 2017 Kansas observational seatbelt survey, children are much more likely to be buckled up if the driver is wearing their seatbelt. If the driver is buckled, about 98 percent of the children are restrained. If the driver is not buckled, only about 29 percent of the observed children were buckled. We want adults to model good driving behaviors for children.

From Oct. 30 through Nov. 3, law enforcement across Kansas will be extra-vigilant when patrolling around schools. For more than 20 years, officers have educated and warned drivers and passengers regarding the importance of using seatbelts while in their vehicle.

There should be no surprises when it comes to this enforcement effort. Officers will issue citations to anyone who does not obey Kansas law.

“Even one child’s death is unacceptable,” said HPD Chief Don Scheibler. “Please slow down, especially in school zones, eliminate the distractions, and always buckle up.”

For the latest data and to see more about Kansas safety belt laws, go to www.ktsro.org.