By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
As of Thursday, city of Hays employees had taken 303 loads of downed tree limbs to the Ellis County Landfill.
The city began picking up the limbs Monday, following three severe thunderstorms with high wind last week. More thunderstorms rolled through Hays Wednesday starting at 6 a.m. with a rainfall total of 1.47 inches measured at the K-State Agricultural Research Center south of town.
Mayor Henry Schwaller says the curbside limb collections will continue through next week.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience as we pick up tree limbs free of charge,” Schwaller said during Thursday night’s city commission meeting.
He noted that other debris which may be been created by the storms will not be collected by the city.
“If you have something else in your yard that is not a tree limb, we can’t pick it up because we have no where to take it.”
Schwaller thanked Ellis County Public Works Director Bill Ring and the Ellis County commissioners for allowing the city to dump the trees at no cost.
“That kind of collaboration is important as was their help with the culvert on W. 27th Street.”
The Hays Public Works Department along with the Ellis County Public Works Department recently installed the new culvert under 27th Street just east of Thunderbird Drive where it is part of the Fort Hays Municipal Golf Course water shed.
“We upgraded from an 18-inch culvert to a 42-inch culvert to help facilitate the movement of more (storm) water to the south side of 27th Street and the to the west,” explained Toby Dougherty, city manager.
The Ellis County employees assisted with equipment and manpower. They also installed a deflecting panel at the culvert exit so the water doesn’t cause erosion.
“I checked it out a couple of times during the most recent rains,” Dougherty told city commissioners, “and it’s working pretty well.”
Another 0.14 inches of rain fell in Hays early Thursday morning, with a total so far in Aug. of 7.22 inches.
For the year-to-date, Hays has received 21.86 inches of moisture.
Dougherty also noted a new informational sign has been erected near the Big Creek levee walking trail east of Main Street which describes the history of flooding in that area and the creation of the levee.
The informational sign project was done in cooperation with the Kansas State Historical Society.
