Shade shelters are being installed in the Hays Dog Park, the final phase of the project. (Photos courtesy Chris Miller, Asst. Hays Parks Director)
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Construction on the two “people” shade shelters at the Hays Dog Park began Friday.
According to Friends of the Hays Dog Park President Kim Perez, the builder QSI started has started framing the structures. “Unfortunately, the dog park will be closed this weekend and early next week while the work is underway,” Perez said.
“This will result in a positive improvement for the park.”
The entire dog park project, begun in 2011, has been funded by donations and grants to the Friends group. A Dane G. Hansen Community Grant through the Heartland Community Foundation was awarded specifically for the final Phase 3–installation of the shelters.
According to Hays Parks Director Jeff Boyle, the shelter in the small dog area will be 16’ x 16’ with a larger 20’ x 20’ shelter in the large dog area.
Both structures come from Quality Structures Incorporated (QSI) which installed a similar shelter in Ekey Park, 19th and Holmes Road. The city is donating the labor for laying concrete sidewalks and pads.
The Hays Dog Park is located on city land at the Bickle Schmidt Sports Complex.
Revelers dressed in their very best will join together this evening in Hays for the Emerald Ball, a black-tie event supporting an international Parkinson’s disease charity.
Proceeds from the gala will benefit the Davis Phinney Foundation, a nonprofit group that focuses on improving quality of life for people living Parkinson’s, and The Emerald Foundation, a non-profit organization with a two-fold mission–to increase Parkinson’s disease awareness through the arts and to provide Parkinson’s disease patients with opportunities to engage in the arts.
People like J. Basil Dannebohm, 33, who was diagnosed with the young onset form of the neurodegenerative disease three years ago. Since then, the former Hays resident has been a leading advocate for Parkinson’s research, treatment and awareness.
In 2015, he briefly served in the Kansas House of Representatives, representing the 113th District as an Ellinwood resident, but resigned due to health complications.
Dannebohm is the founder of The Emerald Foundation.
“Studies have shown that when Parkinson’s patients take dopamine-enhancing drugs, their artistic nature sometimes comes out. They tend to write more, to paint, to sculpt. Equal to the physical therapy and medications that are necessary for Parkinson’s disease, one needs to have a creative outlet or your brain will ‘slip’ at times,” Dannebohm explained.
“So what The Emerald Foundation is designed to do is provide arts-inspired events, such as Saturday’s Emerald Ball. We had a concert with a violinist on Pawnee Rock, live theatre, poetry readings, cooking workshops. We’re also spreading awareness of Parkinson’s disease,” he added.
Students learn about Parkinson’s disease and The Emerald Foundation Friday morning in Hays. (Courtesy photo)
Dannebohm and volunteers with The Emerald Foundation talked Friday with hundreds of Hays students in the FHSU Beach Schmidt Performing Arts Center about Parkinson’s, how patients are often helped to feel better when participating in or attending art-related activities and emphasized the importance of a healthy lifestyle for all people.
The musical arts will be featured during Saturday’s gala with performances by legendary vocalist Frankie Valens, who shot to fame in the 1960s and enjoyed hits with “This Magic Moment” and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” alongside Ron Neuman and the Diamonds Vocal Band. The Diamonds launched to fame in 1956 with their first hit “Why do Fools Fall in Love,” followed by 15 more Top Hits that sold more than 16 million copies including “Little Darlin,” “The Stroll” and “Silhouettes.” Valens now lives in Derby, Kan.
The evening includes a sumptuous five-course meal, silent and live auctions of one-of-a kind items, celebrity emcees and guests, and a dance, all in the Fort Hays State University Schmidt-Bickle Indoor Training Facility, Sat. Nov. 21.
A portion of the fundraiser’s proceeds will go to the Hays Area Children’s Center.
Celebrating Christmas can be a very difficult time for parents and families who have had a child die.
The Hays Healing Hearts support group, headquartered at the Center for Life Experiences, 2900 Hall St., will host a holiday Children’s Memorial Tree ornament hanging and dedication Sat., Nov. 21, at 1 p.m.
The Christmas tree is in the display window of Jackie Creamer’s The Dance Studio, 1003 Main.
Frank Medina will be there with his family, again. His two-year-old daughter Chloe died of leukemia two years ago.
“Last year there were more than 200 ornaments placed on the memorial tree,” Medina said. “This is for all families who have lost children – recently or long ago. We sit around the tree and read the special messages written for our kids.”
“It was very moving,” said Jackie Creamer.
“Last year my young dancers were in the back, in a circle and holding hands. I asked them what they were doing. They said they were praying for the families in the front who were praying for their children. It brought tears to my eyes,” Creamer said.
The tree will be on display through the Christmas holidays.
The building at the corner of Fort and 13th Street in Hays is coming down.
It most recently served as the girls dormitory–Marian Hall–for residential students at TMP-Marian High School. Prior to that the building was the convent for the nuns serving the St. Joseph parish.
In the summer of 2014, the TMP-Marian Board of Directors recommended to the Heartland Parish leaders that Marian Hall be closed as a dormitory for the 2014-15 school year. According to TMP Advancement Director Jeff Brull, the decision came after it was evident the building’s electrical system needed to be replaced. TMP has since changed to a host-family program for its all its student boarders.
As Bishop Edward Weisenburger said then, “it was built for little old lady nuns, not for young women using iPads and curling irons,” Brull added.
Asbestos was removed from the building before demolition began Thursday and continued Friday by Flatland Dirtworks, Hays.
“The St. Joseph Campus will certainly have a different look and perspective,” Fr. Fred Gatschet wrote in the fall quarterly newsletter of St. Joseph parish.
Parishioners, the Parish Council, and the Finance Council are also talking about what to do with the former Kennedy Middle School building. It was closed in May, 2012, and requires an estimated $300,000 in repairs in one year to keep it from falling into total disrepair according to Gatschet.
Hays water users will likely see a 17 percent increase in their January 2016 bills.
Several months ago, the city commission modified the sewer rates to pay for the anticipated $30 million of improvements to the wastewater treatment facility and also to fund a capital maintenance program. At that time, it was pointed out that the water production and distribution system capital maintenance program was also underfunded.
City staff is recommending a one-time 17 percent adjustment in water rates to fund the capital maintenance program. The proposal will be reviewed by city commissioners during their work session this evening.
Other agenda items include rezoning requests of the proposed Blue Sky Acres Addition from Agricultural to Residential
Suburban District and of 1517 Commerce Parkway from Agricultural to Light Industrial District and Annexation.
The Planning Commission earlier denied the rezoning and plat requests of the proposed Blue Sky Acres Addition. The issue now comes to the city commission to either uphold or overturn the Planning Commission denial.
Assistant Public Works Director John Braun will also present proposed updates to the Development Policy.
No blizzard, no snow flurries, just welcome rain in Hays Tuesday.
The official rainfall recorded at the K-State Agricultural Research Center south of town for Nov. 17 was 0.83. Tuesday’s high was 51 degrees reached at 8 a.m. and then the temperature fell throughout the day, with an overnight low of 30 degrees.
The total moisture amount in Hays so far in November is 1.67 inches.
Storm damage in Liebenthal is seen at daylight Tuesday following last night’s severe weather. (Photos courtesy Jim Huenergarde)
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Monday night’s severe weather ripped up several roofs, knocked out electrical power and toppled a number of large trees in Liebenthal, 16 miles south of Hays on U.S. 183.
One tree fell across U.S. 183, completely blocking traffic. Working by illumination from vehicle headlights, two residents chopped the large tree into small enough pieces to move them off the road, reopening the highway.
Jim Huenergarde lives in the northeast section of the small Rush County town.
“I didn’t see any twisting, so I assume it was just wind — really strong straight winds,” Huenergarde said. When he ventured out of his house, Huenergarde reported seeing “debris and trash all over and many big trees blown over. The neighbor’s trampoline was blown over a block away.” His house was “plastered with leaves, small twigs and other stuff.”
Huenergarde said his neighbor told him they saw an electrical transform “blow.”
“They said it shot fire and sparks about 6 feet into the air,” he said.
Huenergarde was without power from 11 p.m. Monday night until 5 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Mike Morley, Midwest Energy communications manager, was in Liebenthal this morning where MWE employees are working to get downed power poles off the ground southwest of town. They will be replaced later.
According to Morley, Liebenthal and Schoenchen are served by Western Co-op Electric, WaKeeney.
“As their feeders to those cities are down, Midwest Energy is currently supplying energy to those cities from our system until Western gets their poles back up,” he said.
Video courtesy of Mike Morley
“Midwest Energy has at least four poles down with broken cross arms, south and west of Liebenthal,” Morley said Tuesday morning. He also counted about a dozen electrical poles snapped off for three-quarters of a mile along Highway 183 north of town. “The Western (Co-op Electric) truck from WaKeeney is in town, too.”
Morley said he saw two houses with major roof damage and several trees down in Liebenthal.
“The insurance adjusters were driving around, checking everything out,” he added.
There was also damage to power poles and Midwest Energy electrical outages north of WaKeeney and between Goodland and Colby.
“At one time, I counted 27 scattered outages in our service area,” Morley said. “Not huge, but it affected 300 to 400 homes.”
With a broad smile on his face, Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty reminded city commissioners last week that Jacob Wood starts his job today.
Wood has been hired as the new assistant city manager for the city of Hays. He was selected for the position out of 95 candidates following an extensive national search.
Wood comes to Hays from Oakley, where he has served as city administrator since March 2012.
Wood graduated from Kansas State University with a master’s degree in public administration. He is a member of the U.S. Army Reserves and has served multiple tours of duty. Most recently, he served as 1st Lieutenant for the 456th Movement Control Team stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
The city position has been vacant since July 6 when Paul Briseno resigned to become assistant city manager in Kearney, Neb.
Erin Giebler, director of human resources, explains the Aetna health insurance policy for city of Hays employees.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Most employees of the city of Hays will see a pay increase in 2016.
Commissioners Thursday night approved the 2016 pay plan and job classification which includes a $2,050 annual pay increase and increases the minimum of the pay grade by $1,500 annually.
The total amount of the pay increases is about $280,675 with $171,637 coming out of the General Fund, $52,590 from the Enterprise and Miscellaneous Funds, and Benefits at $56,448.
City Manager Toby Dougherty and some part-time, seasonal, and volunteer personnel are not included in the pay raise.
Following considerable research by the city Wage and Benefit Committee, commissioners also approved its recommendation to provide employees with a dual option health insurance plan from Aetna, with the city paying $1,719,500 out of the Employee Benefit Levy Fund.
The premium plan will be offered with the same maximum out of pocket as 2015; however, this plan will cost enrolled employees 8.31% of the premium. That will keep costs to the city within the $9,500 average per employee cap the commission set in 2010. This is the first time some city employees will have to pay a portion of the premium. The base plan will be the no-cost option and will have a higher maximum out of pocket.
Erin Giebler, director of human resources, told commissioner James Meier numerous changes were made to the city’s health insurance coverage since 2010 “in order to get the best deal for our money.”
“Part of that is the no-cost option is great for our employees. Employees will tell you ‘We still pay. We pay the deductible.’ But the ones paying the deductible and paying the higher premium plan are the ones using the insurance. The ones who aren’t using the (premium plan) insurance aren’t paying as much because they don’t have the premium cost,” Giebler said.
All the commissioners thanked Giebler for her work on the plan.
Click here to see the 2016 job classification and details of the Aetna employee health coverage plans.
In other business, the commission approved a proposal from Adams, Brown, Beran and Ball of Hays for the 2015 audit year with the option to renew the next four fiscal years. The cost is not to exceed $41,346 and will be funded from the City Clerk/Finance Professional Services budget.
It took two votes Thursday night, finally passing four to one, for Hays city commissioners to approve a request made by the owner of Lot 1, Block 1 of the 46th Street 2nd Addition, 4500 Van Buren Dr., to vacate a small portion of the drainage dedication that abuts the lot and lies within the Golden Belt Estates 3rd Addition.
Jesse Rohr, city Planning, Inspection and Enforcement superintendent said city staff recommended vacating the area–0.081 acres. Although it’s a part of the drainage dedication, it is not part of the actual drainage area.
“This isn’t a piece of property we have title to. We didn’t buy this property from somebody. This property was dedicated as part of a plat,” City Manager Toby Dougherty reiterated. “So the city has no acquisition fees, no cost in acquiring the property. That’s why it was recommended to vacate the property. It’s pretty simple. If the easement is vacated, it automatically goes to the adjacent property owner.”
Commissioners had the option to ask for payment for the requested property vacation.
City Attorney John Bird and City Manager Toby Dougherty explain why they recommended vacating the property.
“The property really has no value to the city and it’s a liability to maintain it, so that’s why we recommended asking for just a $500 filing fee (to cover administrative expenses),” Dougherty explained.
City Attorney John Bird called the situation “a little bit of a legal fiction.”
“If it were an asset that the city could market, it would be something you should probably advertise for sale. But there’s no one else to give a shot at it, except maybe the Parks Department,” Bird said.
Longtime Hays City Commissioner Henry Schwaller doesn’t like the idea of “giving away” property. He said he could recall only one other circumstance when that happened.
His motion to request $5,000 from the landowner for the vacation failed on a vote of two to three.
“Whether it’s real property like this, or equipment–the very worst fire trucks and street sweepers which have only salvage value–we make sure that every time we sell these, we get the maximum dollar for them,” Schwaller said.
“Whether it’s land that’s deeded, inherited or given to the city in some way–someone surveys a development lot incorrectly and the city inherits five or seven feet of land–this is the first time in 15 years we’ve given away something that actually has value.
“If we needed that land to expand the drainage ditch, we would have to pay the property owner,” Schwaller pointed out.
Vice Mayor Shaun Musil agreed with Schwaller, who asked Dougherty for a policy going forward.
“But we don’t currently have that policy in place, so I think we should pass the resolution as recommended by city staff,” Musil said. Musil seconded a motion made by Commissioner Lance Jones to vacate the drainage dedication portion as recommended. Schwaller voted against the measure.
Dougherty was then directed by Mayor Eber Phelps to begin formulating a policy. Dougherty told commissioners he looked at the situation as “a clerical error more than anything else.”
“If somebody today tried to give the city this piece of land, we’d say we don’t want it. We’re trying to correct an oversight,” Dougherty added.
Hays city commissioners will be looking ahead to 2016 during their meeting tonight.
Agenda items include adoption of the 2016 Employee Pay Plan and Job Classification–the 2016 budget contains the recommended $2,050 annual pay increase–along with health insurance for next year.
Human Resources Director Erin Giebler has also recommended adding $1,050 to the bottom of the pay range.
City staff, with the approval of the Wage and Benefit Committee, recommends providing employees with a dual option health insurance plan through Aetna. The base plan will be provided to employees and their families at no cost. Employees enrolling in the premium plan would pay 8.3 percent of the premiums.
Although the Aetna premium plan is comparable to the city’s current plan with United Health, it is approximately $150,000 over budget, necessitating the employee premium contribution.
Commissioners will also conduct a public hearing about vacating a portion of a drainage dedication in the Golden Belt Estates 3rd Addition, at 4500 Van Buren Drive, and will consider a contract for auditing services with Adams, Brown,Beran and Ball for the 2015 audit year, with the option to renew the four subsequent fiscal years.
The complete Nov. 12, 2015, meeting agenda can be seen here.
The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in Hays City Hall, 1507 Main.
One of the moderators for tonight’s fourth GOP presidential debate is Hays native Gerald Seib. The event at the Milwaukee Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is hosted by Fox Business Network and the Wall Street Journal.
Seib is the WSJ Washington Bureau Chief. He is a 1974 graduate of TMP Marian High School and earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas in 1978. Seib was part of the team from the Journal that won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in the “breaking news” category for its coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Seib and Fox Business Network anchors Trish Regan and Sandra Smith, will moderate the second tier debate from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. CT.
Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee, who had each participated with the top-tier candidates in the three prior primetime debates have been bumped down into the lower tier, along with Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum.
Eight candidates will participate on the main debate stage: Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich and Rand Paul from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. CT. The moderators will be Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo and Neil Cavuto and Wall Street Journal Editor-in-chief Gerard Baker.
The debates can be seen live on TV on the Fox Business Network as well as online at foxbusiness.com and wsj.com.
The Hays Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting Thursday for the launch of “The Bricks,” the new cohesive marketing campaign for downtown Hays.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Red bricks are ubiquitous in downtown Hays–from the streets to the buildings.
“The Bricks,” a new branding and marketing strategy by the Downtown Hays Development Corporation, officially launched Thursday. It’s designed to unify all of downtown, including the historic Chestnut Street District.
DHDC Executive Director Sara Bloom presented the concept to Hays City Commissioners in mid-September. Vice-Mayor Shaun Musil called it “awesome.”
“I personally love that you’ve gotten to all the stores and talked to people. You’ve told me previously that the business owners haven’t worked together and they want to do that. To me, that’s huge, ” Musil said.
“I think it’s unique for downtown. It sets us apart and we can build on it,” Musil said, adding a “congratulations” to Bloom and her staff.
Sandy Jacobs, DHDC board of directors president
Sandy Jacobs, DHDC board president, told commissioners all the marketing for “The Bricks” will include the information that it is “partially funded by the city of Hays.”
Bloom said DHDC expects the unifying brand “The Bricks” to “shift the community’s focus from thinking about what businesses need to come to downtown to thinking about how to bring people downtown.”
According to Hays Parks Director Jeff Boyle, the shelter in the small dog area will be 16’ x 16’ with a larger 20’ x 20’ shelter in the large dog area.
