The event celebrated the signing of the U.S. Constitution, Sept. 17, 1787. Constitution Week is Sept. 17-23.
“In 1787, 231 years ago, the framers of the Constitution met and began putting together this critical document,” Schwaller commented at the end of the Hays city commission meeting.
“It’s really important that as citizens of this nation we understand the rights and responsibilities we have under the Constitution.
“It’s an incredible document and up to that point was the first of its kind. It was very revolutionary to grant the citizens of the country rights, and it’s a very durable document.
“I appreciate the group bringing it forward tonight,” Schwaller said.
The city of Hays has a $2 million line of cyber liability in its commercial insurance policy with MPR (Midwest Public Risk), a group of public pooling entities across Missouri and Kansas.
Cybersecurity insurance is being sought by an increasing number of U.S. cities, according to a survey by the Wall Street Journal.
Hays has two main data centers located at city hall and at the police department, with 48 network routers and approximately 248 PCs and servers in 11 locations.
The IT Department, which recently relocated from the downtown city hall to a larger space in the Hays Welcome Center, 2700 Vine, provides Geographic Information Services, telecommunications services and support for citywide software applications. The five-person IT staff also maintains the city’s website, www.haysusa.com, and online utility bill payments. One technician is dedicated to the police department and security; another technician takes care of everything else in the city. The GIS Specialist is a shared position with Ellis County.
Chad Ruder, Director of Information Technology, who has worked for the city 19 years, recently reviewed the city’s computer network connectivity with the Hays city commission.
He told commissioners the city currently has fiber optics in place between city hall and the police department, between city hall and the water treatment plant and public works, and to the visitors center.
“We’ll soon have fiber optics to the wastewater treatment plant and the parks department. All that we have left for fiber optics is the recycling center, which currently bounces off the Sternberg water tower and the airport,” Ruder reported.
He is especially proud of the network’s “uptime” and credits that to redundancy consisting of backup domain controllers at the police department and city hall, high availability gateway firewalls in the city hall data center, and extra network equipment in the city’s inventory. “We don’t have every piece, but in order to get a building running, we’re prepared.”
The city’s financial and street infrastructure softwares are hosted in the local data center. “That’s the kind of thing you want to hold on tight, locked in that room. You want to know what’s going on.”
Email and web services, along with online bill payments, are hosted by an outside server.
“When we meet with our peers, from local to international, 90 percent of our talk is now about cyber security,” Ruder said. “That’s not an exaggeration. It’s frustrating, and it’s so important.
“There are two peer entities of mine in the state of Kansas, one of which had a payroll server taken down and the other one lost everything for two weeks. It was terrible.”
In order to protect itself, the city is always looking at user awareness, which Ruder considers “our first line of defense. Always.”
“We have layered security, but I’ll be honest with you, there’s only one piece of about four layers that looks at what’s going on. The other ones can be bypassed if a user does something they shouldn’t. If they click on something they shouldn’t, they can bypass a lot of what we do and you can’t have business continuity without that.”
Each city of Hays employee is trained the day they start work with a new computer users orientation. As issues arise, Ruder sends employee emails showing real world examples.
“Above all that, we do things on the back end that people don’t know about, thousands and thousands of things that we block every day,” he said.
Ruder is a little concerned there may be too many mandatory video trainings but concluded “it’s not enough. I don’t want to get to where I’m tricking my own users (into clicking on something they shouldn’t) and I don’t want to overwhelm them where they think I’m crying wolf. I think I’m in a good position here, but we can always improve.”
“Just making employees aware (computer hacking) is happening close to us, should scare everybody to death,” said Commissioner Sandy Jacobs. “It scares me.”
“It just takes one, though. That’s the problem,” interjected Mayor James Meier.
Commissioners and City Attorney John Bird mentioned hacker attacks on websites for the cities of Wichita and Great Bend.
Security software that can search and look for unwanted “bad things” on a computer is not foolproof, reminded Ruder.
“Somebody can change one piece of code and then that will slip through until the definitions catch it later in the day. It’s rough.”
The Hays IT Department also goes through audits and scans, both financially and through the police department.
The IT employees bounce ideas off their peer groups on how to stay ahead of would-be hackers. Local peer groups include Ellis County, HaysMed, USD 489 and the business community. There are also quarterly meetings of the Kansas chapter of Government Management of Information Science and the national organization. Ruder is vice-president of KS-GMIS and expects to become president next month.
Hays participates in a listserv which distributes relevant messages to subscribers on an electronic mailing list.
The city has a detailed cyber response plan from the insurance company “if we’re breached and have to start dealing with what’s been let out. I hope that never happens,” Ruder said. City Attorney Bird also looks at the legalities of the cyber response plan.
“The Department of Homeland Security has the best thing I’ve ever dealt with when it comes to free government programs, ” Ruder told the commission. “It started when Sept. 11th (terror attack) hit.”
DHS partners with the MS-ISAC (Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center), the “go-to resource for cyber threat prevention, protection, response, and recovery for U.S. state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) government entities”, according to its website. The MS-ISAC is recognized as the national ISAC for SLTTs to coordinate cyber readiness and response.
“They monitor our computer traffic daily. They monitor the internet for anything that has to do with @haysusa.com. Somebody will get an email that looks like it’s from the city manager, Toby Dougherty. Hackers target the ‘whales.’ It’s called spear phishing.”
“Kim Rupp (Finance Director) gets (fake) emails from me sometimes,” Dougherty confirmed, “that say please send me that invoice or wire me those funds.”
That spear phishing is monitored by MS-ISAC. “I can forward that on to this group and they spread that out,” explained Ruder. “The FBI gets involved.”
Image-based backups are performed in the IT Department and can be used by the city in an emergency operation or disaster recovery.
“I love my job and I have an amazing staff. Cyber security keeps me up at night. Scary,” Ruder concluded.
Ruder also noted the city’s website, designed in 2002, is undergoing a major redesign and will be content management driven. He hopes to be able to show the commission some proposed improvements by the end of the year.
It’s time to replace the 11-year-old Hays refuse trucks according to Public Works Director Jesse Rohr.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
The three automated refuse trucks used to collect trash by the Hays Public Works Department are the same trucks originally purchased when the blue polycart automated pickup program went into effect in late 2007.
The current trucks have approximately 60,000 to 70,000 miles on them and approximately 13,000 hours, according to Jesse Rohr, Public Works Director.
“Industry standard and the type of service it takes is about a six to eight year life span,” Rohr reported to city commissioners last week. “We had originally planned for 10 years. They’ve been in service for 11. It’s time to replace the vehicles.”
“We run two trucks daily. We run three trucks holidays and some Fridays. We always need that back-up truck,” Rohr insisted. “If a truck goes down, we cannot get through our routes on a daily basis with a single truck. We can make concessions for a few hours at a time if necessary but ongoing if we have one down for a week, we may have some serious issues.”
Rohr noted one of the current trucks was recently considered totaled following an accident. The city’s insurance will allow for a truck to be leased until the three new trucks are in service.
Staff is recommending the commission approve the low bid of $638,076 (after trade allowance of $105,000 or $35,000 per truck) from Doonan Peterbilt of Hays three Model 520 Peterbilt trucks with the New Way Sidewinder packer body.
City commissioners will consider awarding the low bid during their meeting Thursday.
Sec. of State candidate Brian McClendon visits with Hays residents Allen Schmidt, a former state senator, and Joe Edwards.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
The Ellis County Democratic Party headquarters officially opened Monday night in Hays at 1502 Vine.
Party chairman Henry Schwaller IV, who is also the Hays vice-mayor and a business professor at Fort Hays State University, welcomed supporters, which included local Democrats, three Democratic candidates and, perhaps surprisingly, a sprinkling of Republicans.
“This is the year that we have to take control,” Schwaller told the crowd in his opening remarks. “There can be no more tinkering and experimenting with the Kansas economy. We’ve seen the results of it. Trickle-down economics really doesn’t help anyone at all. It destroys our economy, it destroys education, transportation and everything we take for granted as Kansans.”
Democratic candidates attending the opening were incumbent 111th District State Rep. Eber Phelps of Hays, Secretary of State candidate Brian McClendon from Lawrence, and Ellis resident Chris Rorabaugh, who is running for Ellis County Commission District 1.
Incumbent Rep. Eber Phelps, Hays, talks with Bogue resident Bob Hooper.
Phelps characterized his last two terms as “a lot of communication, a lot of cooperation, and a lot of collaboration … Obviously, we turned the Brownback experiment around and got our state back on solid footing.”
Phelps will face another Hays resident in the November general election — Republican Barbara Wasinger, who currently serves as an Ellis County commissioner. Rorabaugh, a city of Hays employee, will take on Republican Butch Schyler, retired Ellis County health administrator, and independent candidate John Walz, Ellis, who works for the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office.
The enthusiasm of young Kansans and their voter participation is important, Phelps reminded the group, as he singled out Connor Montford, president of the Fort Hays State University Young Democrats.
“We’ve been trying to do a big push on helping students realize it’s their future that’s at stake and that they do have a say in what goes on in the state,” Montford said.
Montford is a political science major from Colby. When he was a freshman at FHSU, there were just four students involved in the meetings of the Young Democrats group on campus. Now in his senior year, Montford says the group has grown considerably.
“We’re going to be doing a lot of phone banks, a lot of canvassing. We have some great volunteers that’ve been helping out,” added an enthusiastic Montford. “We’re going to be very busy up to the election trying to get good Democrats elected.”
For many years, Ellis County was a Democratic stronghold in a traditional Republican state. Voter registration and winning candidates have gradually shifted to the Republican Party.
Brooklynne Mosely, Kansas Democratic Party Deputy executive director, lives in Lawrence, a longtime Democratic stronghold.
“I’m super excited to see the turnout for this event,” Mosely told the crowd. “I think people in Lawrence think they have the monopoly on what Democrats look like in Kansas. We actually have great Democrats across the state,” she said with a big smile.
Earlier in the day, McClendon spoke to the local bar association and to FHSU students on campus.
McClendon likes to point out he made his childhood home in Lawrence, Kansas — the center of Google Earth. A former Google vice-president of engineering, he later returned from Silicon Valley to work as a research professor at his alma mater, the University of Kansas.
He said his tech experience made him want to run for secretary of state. He’s built the online voter registration program “KS Votes” to make the process easier.
“KS Votes has registered over 8,000 Kansans in nine months so far,” he said.
The recently updated version is in Spanish and also sends requests to county clerks for mail-in ballots.
“And this is something that’s really important to me because I believe if we could vote by mail, if we could sit at home, read about all the candidates, study them carefully and make good decisions, then the candidates we pick would not be so much about party and could be much more about person,” McClendon said.
He also talked about the importance of ensuring election reporting systems can’t be hacked, which he said mostly involves training the people who run them.
“We have very good candidates, but it does require getting all your friends, not just your Democrat friends, to vote,” urged McClendon. “We need unaffiliated voters and Republicans to change their opinions about party and look at all the candidates on the ballot.”
“This is the strongest Democratic ticket we’ve had since maybe back in (Joan) Finney’s day,” agreed John T. Bird, a lifelong Hays Democrat. “If you don’t have candidates, you’re defaulting.”
ELLIS – Thanks to a grant from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, the city of Ellis was able to replace its 40-year-old outdoor warning sirens with two new sirens at a 50 percent reduced cost.
That information was shared with the Ellis City Council during their meeting Monday evening.
The council also heard an update on the water exploration project.
The complete Sept. 4 meeting minutes follow.
ELLIS CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING
Minutes
September 4, 2018
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor David McDaniel called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Present were Council members Bret Andries, Holly Aschenbrenner, Susan Eaton, Jolene Niernberger, Dena Patee, and Bob Redger. Also present were Public Works Director Alan Scheuerman, City Clerk Amy Burton, Police Chief Taft Yates, and City Attorney Olavee Raub.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA
None
PUBLIC PRESENT
Glen Keller, Steve Ferland, and Barbara Perkins.
CONSENT AGENDA
Council member Jolene Niernberger moved to approve the consent agenda containing the Minutes from the Regular Meeting on August 20, 2018, Bills Ordinance #2052, and the July manual journal entries. Council member Bob Redger seconded the motion. The Council approved the consent agenda 6-0.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Glen Keller stressed the importance of tourism and noted that both the Chrysler Museum and the Railroad Museum were recently featured in “Kansas” magazine and the Railroad Museum was also featured in an issue of “True West” magazine.
PRESENTATIONS OF AWARDS, PROCLAMATIONS, REQUESTS & PETITIONS (HEARINGS)
None
SPECIAL ORDER
General Government: Special Project
City Clerk Amy Burton shared correspondence from Darin Myers, Ellis County Fire Chief and Emergency Manager, regarding the County’s storm siren project. The Dane G. Hansen Foundation awarded grant funds in the amount of $130,000 towards the project, reducing the City’s cost for two large sirens from $47,009.12 to $23,372.76. Council discussed purchasing an additional siren, as the additional cost would still be less than the original amount approved. However, siren coverage maps indicated two sirens would already provide overlapping coverage to notify all residents of an impending storm. It was the consensus of Council to not purchase an additional siren at this time.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Water Exploration: Special Project
City Attorney Olavee Raub updated Council on the Water Exploration Project. The purchase contracts for one of the properties has been signed by the landowners; however, the City has not yet received the contracts from the other landowner. Once received, a closing date can be set and title insurance purchased. Council member Bob Redger moved to authorize Mayor David McDaniel to sign the water purchase contracts upon receipt of the signed contracts from the landowners. Council member Jolene Niernberger seconded the motion. The motion carried 6-0.
REPORTS FROM CITY OFFICIALS
Public Works
Public Works Director Alan Scheuerman alerted Council to a culvert on west 10th Street that needs repair work performed. The area drains slowly and the pipes are deteriorated. Eventually, the storm drain will be completely blocked off and cause flooding in the area. Mr. Scheuerman discussed options to repair the culvert. The City could cut an open trench and replace the steel culvert. However, there is a storage building that was built on top of the culvert, which would require boring under the building to remove and replace the culvert for that portion. The cost for that option is estimated to be $17,600, or $66,960 if contracted out. The property owner has declined the City’s request to access the property and suggested the storm drain and culvert be moved further west to the end of town. To completely reroute the storm drain in that area would increase the cost to approximately $128,000. City Attorney Olavee Raub will verify but stated the City probably has a utility easement to enter the property.
Mr. Scheuerman plans to invite FEMA Representative Steve Samuelson to a future Council meeting to discuss FEMA floodplain regulations.
Swimming Pool: Training
Council member Jolene Niernberger moved to allow Joe Kreutzer to attend certified swimming pool training on October 9th – 10th in Wichita. Council member Dena Patee seconded the motion. The motion carried 6-0.
Police
Police Chief Taft Yates presented the Monthly Activity Report for August and the September Staff calendar. An offer was extended to a candidate for the open position in the Department; however, the candidate declined. The search for candidates has resumed.
City Clerk
City Clerk Amy Burton presented the July Financial Statements.
Attorney
Mayor Update and Announcements
Mayor David McDaniel reminded Council that the new sales tax rebate program policy discussed during budget work sessions needs to be drafted in hopes to have in place by January 1, 2019.
ADJOURNMENT
Council member Holly Aschenbrenner moved and Council member Bob Redger seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Eagle Communications Media Center participates in the Kiwanis Flag Day Project.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
More than 1,200 American flags are proudly flying across Hays today, posted by volunteers with the Hays Kiwanis Club.
The group was unable to place the flags last week on Labor Day due to inclimate weather. They decided instead to erect the 1,202 U.S. flags on Patriot Day Sept. 11.
Kiwanis member Eddie Perrett and his father Harold Perrett, a Vietnam veteran, were out at dawn Tuesday with 49 flags loaded in the back of Eddie’s hatchback Hyundai.
They made 49 stops, placing the flags in front of homes and businesses in northwest Hays which are participating in the Kiwanis Flag Project fundraiser.
The flags will fly all day and be retrieved at dusk.
Eddie and Harold Perrett place a flag in the 2400 block of Ash Tuesday morning.The Perretts erected 49 U.S. flags in northwest Hays.
Project members with The Neighbor Project Patrick McGinnis, Celeste Lasich, Sarah Wasinger, Phillip Hanes-Smith, Marcy McClelland, Stanley Smith-Hanes, John Thissen, Laura Sadeghi, Chris Sook (Heartland Community Foundation) and Jill Arensdorf. .
Strategic Doing of Ellis County discovered another great program to assist in enhancing lives in Ellis County! An exciting new program, “THE NEIGHBOR PROJECT” was recently granted $5,945.00 from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation.
A great big THANK YOU to the Dane G. Hansen Foundation for the funds, Heartland Community Foundation for their support and Patrick McGinnis of Breathe Coffee House/Dialogue Ministries as a co-sponsor of the grant making it possible to get this worthwhile project up and running in Ellis County.
What is “The Neighbor Project”? A passionate group of locals wanting Ellis County to grow with newcomers feeling welcomed, appreciated, and included in our fair community. Our mission is to gather people together to explore our unique character, share our values and traditions, celebrate open dialogue, and build a sense of belonging to a community where our voices matter.
Through quarterly events, we will engage the Ellis County community in welcoming newcomers, exploring the diverse and international flavor of our changing community and building personal relationships.
TELL US YOUR STORY, let us get connected and create new lasting relationships! We welcome old and new neighbors to share. Our belief? The shortest distance between two people is a story…
Our PREMIER EVENT will be the Go Truck Go! Event at the Armory on September 20, 2018 from 5-7pm.
This will be followed by:
• Winter Polar Express event in the city of Ellis exploring “winter festivals and traditions worldwide”.
• Spring Art Walk… we will enjoy the “art of conversation with newbies and locals”
• 2019 Ellis County Fair, will celebrate “harvest and agricultural traditions all over the globe”
Want to connect, embrace our newcomers, create community? Join us, we would love to have you on board!
If interested in being a part of this project, please attend one of our events and see what we are about…then contact us to become a part of this amazing process to GROW Ellis County through relationships and understanding. All are welcome! Contact “The Neighbor Project” for more information at [email protected].
TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), in conjunction with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT), has issued public health warnings for some Kansas lakes for the upcoming weekend and week.
If a lake is under a public health warning for blue-green algae, activities such as boating and fishing may be safe. However, direct contact with water (i.e., wading, skiing and swimming) is strongly discouraged for people, pets and livestock. The lakes currently under a public health advisory:
· Warning: Atchison Co. Park Lake, Atchison County
· Warning:Atwood Township Lake, Rawlins County
· Warning: Carbondale West Lake, Osage County
· Warning:Central Park Lake (Pond), Shawnee County
· Warning: Frazier Lake, Grant County
· Warning: Lake Afton, Sedgwick County
· Warning: Lake Scott State Park, Scott County
· Warning: Lakewood Park Lake, Saline County
· Warning: Marais Des Cygnes Wildlife Area, Linn County
· Warning: Melvern Outlet Pond, Osage County
· Warning: Melvern Outlet Swim Pond, Osage County; Closure – Visitors can utilize Coeur d’ Alene Park Swim Beach which sets on the main body of the lake, located west of the U.S. Army Corps. Of Engineers Project Office.
· Warning: Overbrook City Lake, Osage County
· Warning: Rock Garden Pond, Gage Park, Shawnee County
· Warning: South Lake Park, Johnson County
· Warning: Webster Lake, Rooks County – Beach is closed. Webster State Park remains open. Drinking water and bath house facilities are not affected by the algae bloom.
· Watch: Cottonwood River, south of Emporia, Lyon County
· Watch: Hodgeman County SFL, Hodgeman County
· Watch: Lake Wabaunsee, Wabaunsee County
· Watch: Mary’s Lake, Douglas County
· Watch:Melvern Lake, Osage County
· Watch:Pomona Lake, Osage County – Beach is closed.
· Watch:Tomahawk Parkway North Pond, Johnson County
A closed or closure status indicates that conditions are extremely dangerous for humans and pets. Harmful algal toxins and cell counts are at dangerously high levels. Any kind of contact with the waterbody is prohibited.
Lakes under a warning are not closed. Marinas, lakeside businesses and park camping facilities are open for business. If swim beaches are closed, it will be specifically noted. Drinking water and showers at parks are safe and not affected by algae blooms. Boating and fishing are safe on lakes under a warning but contact with the water should be avoided. Hands should also be washed with clean water after handling fish taken from an affected lake. Zoned lakes may have portions fully open for all recreation even if other portions are under a warning.
Kansans should be aware that blooms are unpredictable. They can develop rapidly and may float around the lake, requiring visitors to exercise their best judgment. If there is scum, a paint-like surface or the water is bright green, avoid contact and keep pets away. These are indications that a harmful bloom may be present. Pet owners should be aware that animals that swim in or drink water affected by a harmful algal bloom or eat dried algae along the shore may become seriously ill or die.
When a warning is issued, KDHE recommends the following precautions be taken:
Lake water is not safe to drink for pets or livestock.
Lake water, regardless of blue-green algae status, should never be consumed by humans.
Water contact should be avoided.
Fish may be eaten if they are rinsed with clean water and only the fillet portion is consumed, while all other parts are discarded.
Do not allow pets to eat dried algae.
If lake water contacts skin, wash with clean water as soon as possible.
Avoid areas of visible algae accumulation.
KDHE samples publicly-accessible bodies of water for blue-green algae when the agency receives reports of potential algae blooms in Kansas lakes. Based on sampling results, KDHE reports on potentially harmful conditions.
Sewer cleaning planned for 2018 (Click to enlarge)
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
To ensure proper operation of the Hays sewer system, the Department of Water Resources has a multi-year program to clean sewer lines, about 20 miles per year.
If the collection system is not maintained, there can be sewer backups, manhole overflows, public exposure to raw sewage, and regulatory fines levied on the city.
City commissioners reviewed a low bid Thursday by Professional Pipe Services, Denver, for light cleaning ranging from $.91 a linear foot for 8-inch pipe to $1.31 a linear foot for 30-inch pipe. The work, not to exceed $150,000, would also include video inspection and some moderate to heavy cleaning as needed.
Professional Pipe Services was awarded a similar contract in 2016 and “staff was very pleased with their performance,” according to Jeff Crispin, Director of Water Resources.
“The cleaning nozzle is pushed with a jet of water through the pipe from manhole to manhole and the debris is collected at one of the manholes and disposed of at the water treatment plant. So that debris is not pushed down the system,” Crispin explained.
The video inspection is required as part of the contract.
“This helps us provide early detection of flaws and allows repairs before a catastrophic failure would incur. We use this information to adjust our maintenance route as well as make decisions on repairs on our sewer system.”
He noted the city employees do emergency sewer backup removal, root removal and regularly clean certain problem lines as part of a maintenance plan.
This is the sixth year of the sewer cleaning program.
Manhole rehab
Crispin also presented a low bid for manhole rehabilitation from Utility Maintenance Contractors, LLC of Wichita, not to exceed $60,000.
Manholes allow access to the sewer lines and require rehabilitation because of acidic environments, low pH, erosion, age, and storm water infiltration.
The Hays project focuses on manholes in acidic environments where cements react with the acidity causing the structure to literally crumble away. The work includes lining manholes with 100 percent calcium aluminate cement.
Cost of rehabilitation for each manhole is between $2,500 and $3,000 and should last 50 to 60 years. Full manhole replacement is much more costly at approximately $15,000 each.
Hays has nearly 2,000 manholes.
City commissioners will consider awarding both bid recommendations at their meeting Thur., Sept. 13.
Erin Giebler, Hays Director of Human Resources, explains the new employee pay plan and job classification program.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
A proposed new pay plan and job classification program for city of Hays employees was reviewed by city commissioners Thursday night.
Starting with the first payroll of 2019, the pay plan would provide two percent steps to all employees each year on their anniversary month, explained Erin Giebler, Director of Human Resources.
“Prior to 2019, the city did not provide consistent or predictable pay increases from year to year,” Giebler told commissioners.
To make the pay plan affordable, a volunteer committee of 15 employees made changes to the benefits offered, including lower Paid Time Off (PTO) accruals and capping the longevity bonus at four percent.
“In order to allow employees to keep all benefits the same, the city developed the Red Plan. This allows current employees to keep all their benefits the same, but in return they are provided with lower wages and lower earning potentials.
“Current employees who do not elect the Red Plan and those hired after the start of the payroll year in 2019 will be placed on the Blue Plan, which has a change in benefits with higher wages and earning potential.
“Basically, current employees get to decide whether they want more PTO or more money.”
Giebler said she expects nearly all the current 181 employees to choose the Blue Plan.
“I do have a few people who said they really like their PTO, and to each, their own. That’s why we’re giving them the option,” she said. “All of them but five are much better off if they choose the Blue Plan.”
Lowering the PTO accrual won’t result in immediate cost savings but it does provide “more work time,” the equivalent of about three and a half full-time employees, according to Giebler. “Capping the longevity bonus at four percent does provide instant cost savings to the city which will be used to help fund the pay plan.”
The pay increases are already included in the 2019 budget and maintenance of the pay plan will be part of the annual budget for commission approval.
“It will be a commodity cost just like everything else we have, just like asphalt or chemicals,” said Toby Dougherty, City Manager.
“I don’t envision a time as long as me or anybody else is around that we’re gonna come to the commission and say we want a mill levy increase because we have to do this. We’ll make adjustments if we have revenue constrictions.”
Commissioner Shaun Musil likes the change because it plans for upcoming years.
“I feel it’s in line with everything we do. We’re always looking the next three to five years out, whether it’s streets or something else.
“I think it’s good for the employees,” Musil added. “Anyone who’s hired employees knows it costs more when you have turnover. Hopefully, this will reduce turnover and get better talent applying for the city.”
Commissioner Sandy Jacob congratulated Giebler, city staff and the employee committee on their year-long work, calling it “outstanding.”
“I do think it’s a real benefit to our employees to be able to look at these plans and know where they’re going, know where their future is,” Jacob said. “I think it makes a big difference in how they look at their job every day.”
Vice-Mayor Henry Schwaller reiterated that employees “are sacrificing paid time off.”
“That is actually to the city’s and the residents’ benefit because (in the past) we’ve been a little too generous with paid time off and we’ve converted from vacation and sick leave. We had a lot of difficulty getting people to convert. This brings it in line and I like that a lot,” Schwaller said.
Implementing the proposed pay plan would cost an additional $353,605 above 2018’s budget with $212,866 being general fund expenditures. Future years’ steps would be approximately $200,000 per year with $130,000 being general fund expenditures.
The city commission will consider approving the proposal at the Sept. 13 meeting.
RUSSELL – The transformer equipment failure that occurred Thursday, August 30, for Russell electric customers at the Sunflower Interconnection substation required a mobile transformer from Liberal, Kansas, to re-establish the interconnection tie to the transmission grid while the failed equipment was replaced.
Sunflower Electric / Western Cooperative have completed repairs on the permanent transformer. Final testing is being conducted.
The switchover from the temporary transformer to the permanent transformer is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, September 7. A service interruption is not anticipated during the switchover. However, an outage is possible. Please make necessary arrangements.
We thank you for your patience during the prolonged outage on August 30th and your understanding as we make the necessary repairs safely.
The Hays Department of Water Resources has a multi-year program to clean sewer mains to ensure proper operation and maintenance.
If the collection system is not cleaned, sewers can backup and manholes can overflow, exposing the public to raw sewage and causing the city to be subject to regulatory fines.
Each year the city contracts to clean approximately 20 miles of sewer lines. City employees do emergency sewer backup removal and clean problem lines on a biannual basis.
During their work session tonight, Hays city commissioners will review a recommended low bid of not more than $150,000 from Professional Pipe Services, Denver, for light sewer cleaning with video inspection.
Sewer cleaning planned for 2018 (Click to enlarge)
“Based on the work that gets done, we continue to work on our sewer replacement program and get it planned for the future,” said Jacob Wood, Assistant Hays City Manager.
Commissioners will also look at the recommended bid for the 2018 manhole rehabilitation program. The low bid was submitted by Utility Maintenance Contractors, LLC of Wichita, in an amount not to exceed $60,000.
“Basically, this is just going in and taking a look at some of our older manholes that are degrading and doing a kind of face lift on them,” Wood explained.
Manhole rehabilitation is generally considered to have a 50 to 60-year lifespan at a cost of about $3,000 each, he added.
Chad Ruder, Director of Information Technology, will also present an overview of the city’s IT (Information Technologies) operations. The department recently relocated from the downtown city hall to the Hays Welcome Center, 2700 Vine.
Employees of the city of Hays will see a pay increase next year, and each following year.
The new pay plan and job classification schedule will be presented to Hays city commissioners during their Sept. 6 work session.
The project has been in development since mid-2017 by a pay plan committee comprised of 15 city employee volunteers.
The committee evaluated different types of pay plans, ranked benefits by importance, and reviewed an in-house pay and benefit survey completed by Erin Giebler, Director of Human Resources.
The city has not provided consistent or predictable pay increases, according to Assistant City Manager Jacob Wood.
“In the past, during the budget season we’d kind of see what the dollars and cents looked like and it was very inconsistent,” Wood said. “Sometimes they would get a raise and it would be small; sometimes it would be larger.
“The pay plan and job classification system that we plan to put into place will be a step plan which will provide two percent steps on an annual basis for all employees.
“This will be more consistent and something employees can plan on. They’ll know if they do their job and what they’re supposed to do that they’ll see that increase and won’t have to wait until the budget season every year to see what it’s going to look like.”
The 2019 budget contains the proposed salary changes for the city’s 181 employees.
