By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Longtime Hays resident Sandy Jacobs, who is a city commissioner, calls Tuesday night’s severe weather the “worst storm” she’s ever witnessed in her many years living in Hays.

“I’ve got videos and go back and look at it and it still scares me,” she said during Thursday night’s commission work session.

Jacobs offered a public “thank you” to first responders and city employees for their quick and thorough response to the flooding and other damage.

She also recognized the residents of Hays.

“I’d really like to thank neighbors helping neighbors. There was so much of that going on. I saw it in my neighborhood. I saw it in every neighborhood,” Jacobs pointed out. “They were bringing in equipment to help each other.

“That’s what makes this community great and makes me really proud to be a citizen.”

Vice-Mayor Shaun Musil agreed and noted the free labor that was provided by Hays High School football players. The students had Wednesday free when Hays USD 489 postponed its first day of classes after two schools were damaged by the storm.

The city will offer a free tree limb curbside pickup Monday.

Toby Dougherty, city manager, clarified what the process will be.

“We stated in our press release to put the limbs curbside, and we won’t go on private property. … what we mean by not going onto property is if a tree is leaning on somebody’s house or it’s crushing a fence or a shed, we’re not going onto the property.

“Don’t block the sidewalk. Have it as close as possible to the sidewalk as possible on the edge of your property,” Dougherty directed.

“The county has agreed to accept them (tree limbs) for free so we want to thank the Ellis County Commission for extending that to us,” Schwaller added.

At the end of the meeting, Schwaller called for a 30-minute executive session which included the city manager, City Attorney John Bird and Assistant City Attorney Todd Powell to discuss matters of attorney/client privilege.

No action was taken following the executive session.