By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The USD 489 school board is set to take the next steps in the Oak Park Complex project at its meeting Monday night.

The board will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Rockwell Administration Center.

The petition period for the financing on the project ended without a protest petition being filed. The board is set to sign the lease agreement on the project Monday.

The school district will purchase the complex on 13th Street for about $2 million to be paid off $217,000 per year for 10 years. The school district has received a $1.47 million federal grant to renovate the complex for use by the Early Childhood Education program.

The aging Washington school and Munjor building, where ECC is now housed, will be closed.

HaysMed, the owner of the largest portion of complex, has agreed to donate $500,000 of the purchase price of the complex back to the school district for use in the renovations.

The board is also set to sign contracts with DLR Group and Nabholz Construction for the work on the renovation project.

The board will also discuss the possible sale of the Washington school property on Monday.

The federal grant requires the renovation work on the project be complete by June 30. The renovated center is set to open to students in the fall.

The school board has been split on its support of the project, with board members Greg Schwartz, Lance Bickle and Mandy Fox, consistently voting against the project.

Superintendent search
The school board will meet with a representative from the Kansas Association of School Boards to discuss the superintendent search.

Superintendent John Thissen gave his letter of resignation to the board on Oct. 19. He will finish out his current contract, which runs through June 30.

The board is set to interview candidates in late January or early February.

The board is also set to hear an audit report and a report from Hays High Principal Martin Straub on HHS curriculum guide revisions.

ELLIS – City officials hope to expand the Ellis Lakeside Campground.

The city council will hear an update on the project and review engineering bids during their meeting tonight.

Discussion will also continue with possible revisions to a new retail business sales tax rebate program.

In new business, information will presented for an ordinance regarding small cell antennas.

The complete Dec. 17 agenda is below.

 

 

AGENDA

December 17, 2018

REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF ELLIS

City Hall – Council Meeting Room

 

BILLS ORDINANCE REVIEW WORK SESSION BEGINS AT 7:00 P.M.

ROLL CALL AND MEETING CALL TO ORDER AT 7:30 P.M.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA (if needed)

• CONSENT AGENDA
  1. Minutes from Regular Meeting on December 3, 2018
  2. Bills Ordinance #2059
  3. Manual Journal Entries for October

(Council will review for approval under one motion under the consent agenda.  By majority vote of the governing body, any item may be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately)

PUBLIC COMMENTS 

(Each speaker will be limited to five minutes.  If several people from the group wish to speak on same subject, the group must appoint a spokesperson.  ALL comments from public on agenda items must be during Public Comment.  Once council begins their business meeting, no more comments from public will be allowed.)

• PRESENTATIONS OF AWARDS, PROCLAMATIONS, REQUESTS & PETITIONS (HEARINGS)
• SPECIAL ORDER
  1. Fire Department Monthly Report – Chief Dustin Vine
• UNFINISHED BUSINESS
  1. Update and Review Bids for Engineering for Campground Expansion Project
  2. Consider Revisions to New Retail Business Sales Tax Rebate Program
• NEW BUSINESS
  1. Consider Ordinance Increasing Petty Cash Fund
  2. Discuss Information for Ordinance for Small Cell Antennas
  3. Consider Approval to Write-Off Utility Bad Debts
  4. Consider Authorizing City Clerk to Pay Vendor Invoices at Year-End
  5. Consider Transfer of General Fund Department’s Excess Budget Authority to Special Machinery Fund
  6. Consider Approval of Application to Sell Cereal Malt Beverages
  7. Review Quotes for Tile at Campground Bathhouse
• REPORTS FROM CITY OFFICIALS
  1. Administrative
     • Public Works
       • Comparative Water Report
       • Hydrant Flush/Pressure Test Log
       • Department Update
     • Police
       • Department Update
     • City Clerk
       • Health Insurance Savings Report for November
       • Monthly Financial Statements for October
       • Draft Minutes from Campground Committee Meeting
       • 2019 MTI Training Schedule
       • Department Update
     • Attorney
       • Update on Status of Code Violation Cases
     • Mayor Update and Announcements

EXECUTIVE SESSIONS

• ADJOURNMENT

The Center for life Experience invites the community to “The Longest Night: Awaiting the Hope of a New Day” candlelight service at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 20 at the First Presbyterian Church, 2900 Hall St.

The service helps us remember those who have died as we celebrate the holiday season.

Refreshments will follow. Child care will be provided.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

A Hays resident has asked for rezoning of property at 22nd and Wheatland from Neighborhood Conservation District (NC-3) to Commercial General District (C-2).

Darrell Dreher owns four of six vacant residential lots on the southeast side of the intersection along Wheatland Ave. Dreher wants to rezone Lot 1 and a portion of Lot 2.

A public hearing will be held by the Hays Area Planning Commission Mon., Dec. 17 at 6:30 p.m. in Hays City Hall, 1507 Main.

In a memo to planning commission members, Hays P.I.E. Superintendent Curtis Deines noted that city staff recommends approval of the rezoning request.

C-2 zoning allows the following uses by under the city’s Unified Development Code:

o Alcoholic Beverage Sales
o Animal Grooming Facilities
o Animal Boarding or Vet Services
o Assisted Living Facility
o Drinking establishment
o Drive-In/Drive Through Facility
o Farmers’ Market
o Grocery Store
o Heavy Retail
o Hotel/Motel
o Mixed Use
o Nursery/Greenhouse, Retail
o Office, General
o Parking Lot, Parking Structures
o Group Day Care Center
o Medical Office/Clinic
o Non-Profit Institution
o Nursing or Convalescent Home
o Place of Assembly
o Pawn Shop
o Personal Services
o Recreational and Fitness, Indoor and Outdoor
o Restaurant
o Retail Sales and Service
o Showrooms
o Schools, Private
o Schools, Public
o Vehicle gas and fuel station

 

 

ELLIS CO.

There will be no Dec. 19 meeting of the Ellis County Planning and Zoning Commission.

The next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 23.

BUNKER HILL – The South Central Community Foundation has awarded Smoky Hills Public Television with a grant for $1,000.

The Foundation’s grant will support books for the Head Start programs in Rice and Stafford Counties, as well as support for children’s television programming.

“We are thankful for the continued generosity of the South Central Kansas Community Foundation” said Larry Calvery, Smoky Hills Public Television General Manager. “Nothing makes us more proud than seeing smiles on children’s faces and that is exactly what this grant will do. Educating these young kids is an important part of what we do here at Smoky Hills Public Television.”

Smoky Hills Public Television serves 71 counties in central and western Kansas and has been named the Kansas Association of Broadcasters Non-Metro Station of the Year.

The South Central Kansas Community Foundation was founded on September 26 1994, to work toward the mission of “Assuring a Bright Future for South Central Kansas.” The Foundation is a permanent source of charitable assets to meet both emerging and existing needs of the local communities in Barber, Comanche, Kingman, Kiowa, Pratt, Rice, and Stafford counties.

— Submitted