By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
“It was a great meeting. I can’t imagine that meeting going any better than the way it did.”
One of the two newest Hays city commissioners, James Meier, is very pleased with Tuesday night’s joint meeting of the Hays and Russell governing bodies about the R9 Ranch development project.
The cities jointly own the property in Edwards County which will be developed as a long-term water source for both towns.
Meier made his comments at the end of Thursday night’s Hays city commission meeting.
“In Hays, I think that we’re going to be hearing more about the ‘magic well’ in Trego County, the ‘magic well’ in Rush County, or wherever the ‘magic well’ might be at. I’m halfway through a stack of about like that (Meier held up his fingers to indicate the stack thickness-about five inches) of summaries from the past 40 years of water studies in the area. I can tell you–and assure you–R9 is the best option for the city of Hays moving forward. If I find the ‘magic well’ in that stack, I’ll be happy to bring it back to the commission. I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Meier said.
“The discussion of where we go for water is over, and it should be over. The decision has been made. The discussion from here forward should be about how, and how much it’s going to cost, to bring the water to Hays and to Russell. I just want to say publicly that it is my resolve we move forward with the R9 project. It’s in the best interest of Hays.”
The estimated cost to develop the R9 is $70 million. The city of Hays, which owns 82% of the ranch, enacted a sales tax in the mid-1990s to help fund the project. The city of Russell owns 18% of the R9 Ranch.
Meier acknowledged “while there are a lot of issues facing Hays and the region, water is the number one issue and will be the number one issue for years to come.”
He also stressed that Hays and Russell are not taking water away from Edwards County residents.
“We are discussing taking our water that we own in Edwards County and bringing it to Hays. It ceased being Edwards County’s water in 1994 when we bought the ranch. It is not their water; the water belongs to Hays and Russell, it does not belong to Edwards County.
“They (Edwards County) had the opportunity to buy the ranch in 1994 and they chose not to. They’ve had the opportunity to try and buy the ranch from us the past 20-plus years and they chose not to.
“Now, it’s our water and we’re going to move forward, and I’m a strong supporter of moving forward,” Meier added.
Mayor Eber Phelps offered “kudos” to the Russell city staff and council members. “They’ve been doing their homework…and are up to speed on this issue.”
Phelps also served on the Hays city commission 20 years ago. “We did have more than one member on the Water Study Panel (back then) that actually identified the ranch and Edwards County (as a new water source).”
Current Russell city council member Frank Peirano as well as the current Russell Utilities Director Arlyn Unrein were also on that panel, according to Phelps.
“Frank can be one to provide a lot of inside information…and Arlyn was also very involved in those discussions.
“From the very start, Russell had a start in the process. I’m glad to see that after 20-some years, their city council has been listening…and I appreciate their invitation to us (to host Tuesday’s meeting.) I hope we can continue to get regular updates and have them over here as well,” Phelps added.
The first steps to request changing the use of the water from agricultural to municipal are planned to be filed within the next few days with the Kansas Division of Water Resources.