Hays City Commissioners will consider approval several resolutions and ordinances for continued development of residential and business areas in north Hays during their meeting Thursday night.
Information was presented last week by Jesse Rohr, Superintendent of Planning, Inspection and Enforcement, for a replat in the North Hays Addition east of Carrico Implement, the final plat and rezoning of Clubhouse Gardens II adjacent to the Smoky Hill Country Club, and for establishing a benefit district as well as an engineering services agreement in King’s Gate Addition Phase II on the north side of 41st Street.
Commissioners will also consider setting a public hearing for April 23 for proposed special assessment districts in 46th Street Second Addition and Golden Belt Estates Fifth Addition for water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer and streets.
The March 26 meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in Hays City Hall.
Moderator Dr. Larry Gould questions Hays City Commission candidates Scott Simpson, Lance Jones, Henry Schwaller IV and James Meier Tuesday night.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
All the audience seats were filled for Tuesday night’s Hays City Commission Candidate Forum at Fort Hays State University hosted by the FHSU American Democracy Project and the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce.
After brief opening statements of introduction from the four candidates, prepared questions came from moderator Dr. Larry Gould, FHSU professor of political science, followed by written questions submitted by the audience.
Three of the candidates are political newcomers: Lance Jones, a career counselor with the National Guard; James Meier, a HaysMed pharmacist; and Scott Simpson, owner of Best Radiator.
Along with incumbent Henry Schwaller IV, president of the real estate investment firm Henry Schwaller and Associates and an FHSU business management professor, the candidates gave their views about the city’s water policies and the R-9 Ranch as a long-term water source.
All agreed for the need to conserve “a precious resource.” Meier, who has a private water well at his home, said if the city is to grow, a new water source will be needed. “We should move forward with the R-9 project.” Simpson said he is “open to other options that might be less expensive than the R-9 Ranch,” but acknowledged “a lot of research and money” has already been invested in the project.
The candidates had differing views of the city’s economic development strategy and how to improve it.
“I put up a new building a few years back,” Simpson said, “and it became quite an endeavor to comply with some of the building code. I think it wasn’t uniform building code as much as it was local policy for building. That can be prohibitive.” He also advocated “putting in as many types of businesses as possible” and is wary of “big businesses that take advantage of tax breaks from the city and then leave town, leaving a lot of people without jobs.” He cited the Travenol plant closure in 1984.
The candidate forum was streamed live on Hays Post by Tiger Media Network.
Meier said the strategy should be “not to concentrate on what the commission can do for businesses but how the commission can remove obstacles to businesses coming to town. ..Land prices are somewhat outrageous and building codes could be eased.” He added that it’s important for the Chamber of Commerce, Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development and the Downtown Hays Development Corporation to work together.
“I’m very much in favor of bringing in new businesses but there’s an underlying issue of affordable housing,” according to Jones. “People who work in Hays don’t live in Hays. They can’t afford it. Before we can even bring in businesses that want to employ 100 or 200 people, we have to have places for these employees to live.”
Schwaller, seeking his sixth term on the commission, touted “focusing on new businesses, and, build on what’s already here and invest in it. Our strengths are the university, the medical areas and we have fiber to the premises everywhere which means Hays can compete with business from Los Angeles to New York to Chicago.”
A final question from the audience asked the candidates whether they agreed with outgoing Hays City Commissioner Kent Steward’s recent suggestion that city commissioners’ pay be increased from $150 a month to $1,500 a month.
The three first-time candidates all said they were “unaware of the commission pay” when they decided to run.
“It might draw more candidates–there are just four of us here tonight–and we’re all high quality candidates,” said Jones, “but I would vote against it. Ten times more than the current pay is probably too much.”
“I would pay $150 a month if I can make a difference and get more feedback from local business owners who provide the jobs and bring the money to town,” Simpson said earnestly.
Meier, who has a Volga German heritage and called Hays the “hometown I never knew I was missing,” replied “No. If you’re sitting up here, you’re not in it for the money.”
Schwaller, who currently serves as mayor, is “opposed to it. We can use $84,000 (a year) in a lot of better ways.”
The entire Hays City Candidate Forum can be seen here, courtesy of Tiger Media Network.
It will also be aired in its entirety on Eagle Community TV Channel 14 numerous times prior to the April 7 election.
Susan Metzger, Asst. Kansas Secretary of Agriculture
Kansas Department of Agriculture
MANHATTAN–Assistant Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Susan Metzger testified today to a U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “Waters of the Unites States” (WOTUS) proposed rule.
The proposed WOTUS rule expands federal jurisdiction under EPA’s Clean Water Act and has ignited widespread concern from farmers, ranchers and rural constituencies around the country.
“Applying a blanket definition of tributary in Kansas will result in in nearly a 460 percent increase in the number of stream miles classified as Waters of the U.S., subject to all programs and provisions of the Clean Water Act. A nationally defined, “one size fits all,” definition for terms like tributaries is not appropriate given the scarcity of flow in Western States such as Kansas, and the inherent variability of those streams to impact downstream waters,” Metzger said.
She noted that “the distraction and diversion brought forth by this rule will incur additional expenditures at the state level for marginal environmental benefit and diminished success in water quality improvement in Kansas. The inevitable slow-down in permit reviews and increase in bureaucratic paperwork will unnecessarily delay and deter economic growth and impede the adoption of soil and water conservation practices by the farmers and ranchers of Kansas.”
The Kansas Department of Agriculture submitted formal comments during the comment period stating significant opposition to this proposed rule. It is an overreach by the federal government into state jurisdiction over intrastate waters. The testimony today, provided by Metzger, supports and promotes the agency’s vision of advocating for and promoting the agriculture industry, the state’s largest industry, employer and economic contributor.
Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady, Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer and Rep. Sue Boldra speak at the HACC Eggs and Issues forum in Hays Saturday morning.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
The Kansas House Federal and State Affairs committee voted overwhelmingly last week to advance legislation allowing Kansans to legally carry any lawfully obtained firearm without training or a permit. The measure, Senate Bill 45, was sent from the House Federal and State Affairs Committee to the full House.
110th Dist. Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady, R-Palco, is vice-chairman of the committee.
In Hays Saturday morning, Couture-Lovelady said, “After nine years (of conceal carry with a permit), I think Kansans have earned the right to carry concealed without asking their government. I think if this passes, I don’t think you’ll see any noticeable difference in gun violence — in fact, it may even go down.”
Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer, R-Grinnell, chairs the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee. He related an incident that occurred during testimony before his committee.
“We’re allowed to conceal carry in the Capitol, and I don’t even know who they are.
…Just talking about guns really upsets my ranking minority member of the committee (Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-Wichita.) A gal who lost her husband was testifying before my committee the other day. She patted her side and said ‘I’ve got my conceal carry on.’ (Faust-Goudeau) dodged over, like ‘Don’t hit me!’
“It’s unfortunate. I hate to see the fear of a gun like that but you know, we also have a (constitutional) right to protect ourselves.”
The permitting process, run through the Attorney General’s office, involves eight hours of training with a certified concealed carry instructor.
If approved by the House and signed by the governor, starting July 1 any Kansan older than 21 would be able to carry concealed handguns or rifles in public places.
Permits would still be required being able to carry concealed in reciprocating states.
The city of Hays and the K-State Agriculture Research Center have partnered to produce test plots of warm season grass for this growing season.
Seven buffalo varieties and one Bermuda variety will be planted at the research center south of Hays in 10-by-10-foot duplicate plots near the beginning of June.
Buffalo grass
The grass should be somewhat established by July, according to Hays Water Specialist Jason Riegel.
Riegel and Joe Becker, groundskeeper at the research center, will “maintain some plots as homeowners would normally water their lawns. Other plots will be allowed to be stressed by minimal watering to simulate the local climate conditions,” Riegel said.
“We encourage people to come out (to the research center), take off their shoes and walk through the plots.”
Riegel said the tests should be of particular interest to people who are considering taking advantage of the city’s turf conversion program which offers a rebate for switching lawns from water-intensive cool season grasses to more water-efficient warm season grasses.
“It would have been better if we had planted the test plots last year for those residents considering making the switch this year. But this will be a test in progress and the grass plots will be maintained,” he added.
Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady, Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer and Rep. Sue Boldra speak at the Eggs and Issues legislative forum Saturday morning in Hays.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
A bill overhauling how Kansas distributes more than $4 billion in aid a year to its public schools has been delivered to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s office. It was drafted by top Republican lawmakers and incorporates Brownback’s proposal to replace the state’s current funding formula with “block grants” for districts based on their current aid.
Local legislators speaking Saturday morning at the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce Eggs and Issues legislative forum all agreed the current school formula “needs to be fixed.”
“The formula is very complex,” lamented Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer, R-Grinnell, a member of the Senate Education Committee.
Celeste Sander, Hays Area Chamber of Commerce, (standing in background) collects question/comment cards from the audience.
“My 2A and 1A schools are doing a great job managing their funding. But my friends in Johnson and Sedgwick Counties tell me ‘we’re wasting money (in our districts) and it has to stop,'” said Ostmeyer.
The block grant system would remain in place for two years to allow legislators to create a new funding formula.
Rep. Sue Boldra, R-Hays, a member of the House Education Committee, told the crowd at the Ellis County Administrative Center she agrees “the formula is broken when Blue Valley, the richest school district in the state, gets equalization dollars because they’re so large–they get lots of money for that–and our rural schools do not get nearly that much.
“There are schools with a population that is mostly on-line and yet they’re getting 1.05 weighting for those students. Those students don’t take up any space. …They’re never a discipline problem. …Our kindergartners are only 0.50 weighting.
Rep. Sue Boldra, R-Hays, speaks with Hays USD 489 Superintendent Dean Katt and other constituents.
“I’ve been invited to a number of meetings. I really believe I’ll have a seat at the table to help with that (change the funding formula). We are going to do something about it,” she emphasized.
“We’re not going to fix everything, but I hope we do equalize it and can do more for our smaller and rural schools,” Boldra added.
Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady, R-Palco, voted for the block grant system, what he described as “being left with a bridge that will definitely get us to a new funding formula” or it was just “continue as status quo.”
“There are a lot of good things with the block grants,” Couture-Lovelady said. “It restores the allotments the governor did make. That money is back in there. It restores KPERS money and also, more importantly, it does secure that funding level. We passed the education budget, essentially, going forward. …At least there is some certainty in that for the next three years.”
“I’m with Sue,” said Ostmeyer. “I want to go back and work on the funding formula. There are some of those weightings that you’re never going to get rid of–whether it’s high enrollment, low enrollment, at-risk, transportation–but there are some I think (we can change) to give school districts some flexibility.”
The education block funding bill was presented Friday to Brownback.
He has until March 30 to act, but he’s expected to sign the measure.
Many educators contend the existing formula is sound and adjusts funding for districts quickly as circumstances change. Brownback and other critics say it’s too complex and doesn’t put enough money into classrooms.
Continued development of residential and business areas in north Hays was reviewed by Hays City Commissioners during their Thursday night work session.
Information was presented by Jesse Rohr, Superintendent of Planning, Inspection and Enforcement, for a replat in the North Hays Addition east of Carrico Implement, the final plat and rezoning of Clubhouse Gardens II adjacent to the Smoky Hill Country Club, and for establishing a benefit district as well as an engineering services agreement in King’s Gate Addition Phase II on the north side of 41st Street.
Rohr told commissioners the Hays Planning Commission had already unanimously approved each project.
However, Rohr did not support the final plat of Clubhouse Gardens II Addition. “The two large lots do not conform with the spirit of the city’s comprehensive plan,” he explained.
Commissioners also heard from Finance Director Kim Rupp about special assessments for two Special Improvement Districts within the city which are ready to be finalized and assessed to the property owners. The SIDs are 46th Street Second Addition and Golden Belt Estates Fifth Addition for water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer and streets.
All items will move forward for consideration at next week’s regular Hays City Commission meeting, Thursday, March 26.
Outgoing Hays City Commissioner Kent Steward believes city commissioners are underpaid and that is “eliminating lots of people who would run for city commissioner.”
During Thursday night’s work session, he called for a discussion of a pay increase for city commissioners–“maybe $1,500 a month”–at the next work session.
Steward was quick to point out he would not benefit from any increase. Local city/school elections are April 7. Steward is not a candidate.
“People should be paid for what they do–our employees are. It’s the right thing to do,” he said.
“Many people need to work a second job or put in overtime. I think it’s important to pay city commissioners what they’re worth because it would make it accessible to far more citizens to serve on the city commission.”
Steward estimated he spends an “average of 20 hours a week” on city business, although it varies, and “more time is necessary during budget planning or during a demanding issue,” he added.
The current pay for Hays City Commissioners is $150 a month, according to city finance director Kim Rupp.
Hays Public Works Director I.D. Creech shows slides of cottonwood trees marked for removal along the Big Creek levee.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
“We said from the beginning we don’t want to remove any trees we don’t have to.”
Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty revised the agenda for Thursday night’s city commission work session and added another discussion about the Big Creek levee reconstruction and associated removal of 73 trees.
After engineers from Wilson and Co. and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reviewed and rejected an alternate proposal suggested last week by Hays resident Randy Rodgers, city commissioners this week again agreed “the trees really do have to come out.”
City Attorney John Bird told commissioners he researched the Code of Federal Regulations and found that “staff is right, and clearly, these trees (along the levee) don’t meet those regulations.”
“If there is a catastrophic event and we have flood insurance and then the insurance industry comes in to administer that, they will use any defenses they can find as far as the way we went about the renovation of the levee. If we have an unqualified levee and they can prove it, frankly, it’s going to be costly to the citizens of Hays,” Bird said.
“If you leave the trees and the levee fails, they will blame the trees no matter why the levee fails.”
Along with pictures of the large cottonwood trees marked for removal, Public Works Director I.D. Creech also showed black and white photos of the May 22, 1951, flood in Hays. Heavy rains breached Big Creek, causing walls of water to fill the downtown streets. Six people died.
“I remember our barn from the Bird Farm going down Big Creek,” Bird recalled.
“I’ve heard the stories. My family lived on 6th Street during the flood,” said Mayor Henry Schwaller IV.
Restoration work on the levee started this week.
According to Parks Department Director Jeff Boyle, the trees that are removed will be replaced in areas outside of the levee toe.
That’s the consensus of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the 74 trees along the Big Creek dike marked for removal as repairs to the levee get underway this week.
Hays Assistant Public Works Director John Braun said Tuesday morning “the plan is to continue with the plan as designed and approved by the engineers to minimize the risk to the public and to property that the levee does protect (from flooding) so that does involve moving the trees.”
Braun and Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty did pass along an alternate solution suggested at last week’s city commission meeting by Hays resident Randy Rodgers, a retired KDWP wildlife biologist.
Rodgers’ idea was to dig a trench between the trees and the levee, shear off the tree roots, then put a impermeable barrier in the trench so the roots would not grow back into the levee.
Dougherty explained the city must meet certain conditions, including recommended tree removals, “in order to qualify for the Corps program which essentially insures the levy in case of a catastrophic event.”
The dike area will not remain nearly treeless.
According to Braun, the city will “definitely be replanting more trees than we actually take out. They will be placed outside the area of the influence of the levy … beyond a 15-foot buffer.”
Braun said work on the Big Creek levee system is scheduled to begin this week. J Corp and M&D Excavating will do the repairs first followed by construction of a ten-foot wide concrete path from Main Street east to Allen Street.
In early April, Bryant & Bryant Construction, Halstead, will construct the mile-long portion of the concrete path from Main Street west through the Fort Hays State University campus to East Eighth.
A former Hays resident and her husband were murdered in their Rhinelander, Wis., home last week.
The woman’s daughter, Ashlee Martinson, who attended school in Hays, has been has been charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the killings of her mother, Jennifer Ayers, 40, and her stepfather, Thomas Ayers, 37, whose bodies were found at their Rhinelander-area home March 8.
Oneida County, Wis., sheriff’s officials said Thomas Ayers was fatally shot and Jennifer Ayers died of knife wounds.
Martinson, 17, is also charged with three counts of false imprisonment of her three younger sisters, ages 2, 8 and 9.
According to a funeral notice posted by Varner-Peeler Mortuary of Russell, Jennifer Ayers grew up in Hays and graduated from Hays High School in 1992. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Fort Hays State University and worked as a certified nurse’s assistant.
She also worked for Lou Ann Kibbee, the Independent Living Program Manager at the Hays office (SKIL of Western Kansas) of the Southeast Kansas Independent Living Resource.
“I have been in emotional shock since I read the article,” Kibbee said. “I had not had contact with Jennifer since she moved to North Dakota four years ago. But prior to that, she worked for me for four years, both at the office and in my home and traveling with me for work.
“Ashlee traveled with us on numerous trips during the summers,” she added. “She and Ashlee actually stayed with us for a month when waiting for the purchase of their home to be closed. I am just in shock.”
“I don’t know what went wrong, but this was not the little girl Ashlee that we knew. Ashlee was Jennifer’s world when they lived here.”–Lou Ann Kibbee, Hays
Kibbee has assisted another former SKIL employee, Brad Rohr who now lives in California, to start a memorial fund for Jennifer and her husband.
“I knew Jennifer starting in grade school at (the former) St. Joseph’s Elementary School in Hays. … I reconnected with her when she began working at SKIL,” Rohr said. “I did know Ashlee. She was a very sweet girl when I knew her 6 or 7 years ago. Jennifer loved her very much and was a great mom to her, and Ashlee was a typical 10-year-old.
“I started the donation site because I am sure that those three girls (Jennifer’s three other daughters) will need help in the future. … I never met Thomas or the younger girls, but I know that Jennifer would have opened her heart to them as if they were her own,” he said.
Jennifer Ayers’ parents, Dennis and Rosemary Gallagher, her brother Dennis Gallagher Jr., and her sister Karen Mitchell, all live in Russell, according to the obituary.
The family has chosen to have a private gathering at a later date and cremation has been selected by the family. Cards may be sent in care of the mortuary. Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary, Russell, is in charge of the arrangements.
Ashlee Martinson
Ashlee Martinson and her boyfriend, Ryan Sisco, were apprehended by authorities in Indiana the day after the alleged murders. Sisco is not a suspect.
Martinson remains in custody in Indiana. She has an extradition hearing scheduled for April 8.
Hays mayor Henry Schwaller is seeking his sixth term on the Hays City Commission in the April 7 general election.
Schwaller is president of the real estate investment firm Henry Schwaller and Associates and also teaches business management classes at Fort Hays State University.
In November, Schwaller opposed the one-cent sales tax increase at the Hays Mall which goes into effect April 1.
Schwaller said the city should concentrate on bringing new smaller businesses to Hays.
“The city’s economic development policy favors recruiting outside firms to come here. I believe the future of Ellis County and western Kansas is growing firms from within. We have an amazing pool of talent here that graduates both from NCKTech and Fort Hays State University and then they leave. We don’t have enough opportunities for small business growth and development in the community,” Schwaller said.
“As much as I’d like to see a Target or Red Lobster, getting one of those in Hays would be very challenging and quite expensive,” he added.
Economic development incentives are of limited value according to Schwaller and should be specifically targeted.
“They don’t build a stronger community. When you give a company money to come to a community and the incentives expire–they always do–the businesses generally leave. There are some cases where the businesses have stayed in Hays. I can think of one or two but most have vanished.
“We’re very lucky to have what we have but those (economic development) policies don’t build on our strengths; they just create what I think of as a ‘WalMart’ model–a low-cost environment.
“Kansas is not a low-cost environment even with the recent tax cuts from the state. We still have to pay the bills to provide for infrastructure and services.
“I’m not in favor of them. I would use (economic development incentives) in a targeted approach if we could use them in a targeted area–whether it be along Vine Street or downtown–and if there was a specific outcome we could get from them.”
Schwaller is unhappy with the performance of SkyWest, the new air carrier service at the Hays Regional Airport, which recently dropped its early morning flight.
“Our relationship with SkyWest is difficult, to say the least. I think…we’re going to look for another carrier….We’ve been working with the federal government (program) which brought SkyWest here. SkyWest Airlines has basically stepped back and said they’re not going to commit to providing the transportation they promised us when we recruited them.
“I think instead of being baffled by this and worrying about it, it’s time to find another carrier….The current schedule is unacceptable. For this airline to receive millions of dollars in subsidies and not deliver is unacceptable.”
Schwaller’s top issue of concern for the city of Hays is water.
“We have to secure a long-term water source,” he stressed.
Other priorities for Schwaller are infrastructure, streets, parks and upgrading the sewer treatment plant.
He also wants the city to “develop and grow a better economy–more affordable housing, more retail, more restaurants, more entertainment.
“We’ve done well–slow and steady growth the past decade. We need more opportunities for Hays and northwest Kansas. We need to grow it here locally and organically.”
The other candidates for the three open seats on the Hays City Commission are Lance Jones, James Meier and Scott Simpson. The top two candidates with the most votes will receive a four-year term on the commission and the third will serve a two-year term.
Front Row: Sheila Lamb, Kassy Peck, Shannon Ballenger Back Row: Mitch Eaton, Michael Blanke, Alan Templeton, Chris Venters, Bob Harvey (Courtesy photo)
RUSSELL–Russell Community Theater opens the 2015 season with Love, Sex, and the I.R.S., written by Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore and directed by RCT Volunteer Bob Roe. Both veteran and new actors are striving to bring characters to life.
Michael Blanke, Alan Templeton and Mitch Eaton take to the stage with plenty of combined RCT experience. Kassy Peck, Chris Venters, Bob Harvey, Sheila Lamb and Shannon Ballenger are appearing in an RCT production for the first time.
In this production, income taxes are driving both Jon Trachtman and Leslie Arthur a bit crazy. These out of work roommates have saved money by filing tax returns as a “couple”, even though they’re both male. When the duo discovers they are to be audited, Leslie masquerades as the happy housewife. Adding to the confusion are Jon’s mother, Leslie’s ex-girlfriend, Jon’s fiancée and, of course, the I.R.S. investigator.
Performances run Tuesday through Saturday, March 24-28 at the RCT Playhouse (5th and Kansas, Russell). Show time is at 8:00 pm. Admission is $10 or by season ticket. Season tickets may be purchased in advance at Encore Antiques and Collectables (590 S. Fossil, Russell). “Love, Sex, and the I.R.S.” is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. For more information contact RCT at (785) 483-4057.
Russell Community Theater is a non-profit theater company in Russell, Kansas. The sole purpose of RCT is to produce theater for the community and the surrounding area. Completely volunteer-driven, RCT is supported financially solely through ticket admissions and gifts from those supportive of community theater. Since its inception in 1986, RCT has presented 81 full-scale theatrical productions.
By BECKY KISER
