By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Work will begin in early March on the reconstruction of a portion of Allen Street in Hays, from 8th Street to the intersection of 24th and Vine Streets.

A public information meeting and open house for the project will be held Mon., Feb. 12, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Hays City Hall, 1507 Main.

Along with city staff, contractor Paul Wertenberger Construction, Hays, and design engineer Kirkham-Michael Engineers, Ellsworth, will be on hand to present the plan and schedule, and to answer questions.

“The project includes removing and replacing the pavement, curb and gutter, and much of the sidewalk and driveways along Allen Street,” said city Projects Manager John Braun.

“Water mains will also be replaced from 10th Street to 24th Street and along 23rd Street from Allen to Vine,” he added.

Allen Street will be closed in two-block segments as construction progresses through the summer and into the fall. The project is scheduled to be completed by mid-November.

Paul Wertenberger had the lowest bid for the project at $2,386,808.42, about $2 million under the budget estimate. The city will pay cash for the work.

This project has been in the city’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) since 2011.

Allen Street is functionally classified as a Major Collector road, which carries between 2,000 and 4,000 vehicles per day throughout the 5,100 foot section of the project. It’s a two-lane road with parking along the west side only.

Those unable to attend the meeting or who have questions should contact Braun at 785-628-7350 or email [email protected].

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Valentine’s Day celebrations are just part of the fun in February in Hays.

The month has plenty of sports as well, including the KSHSAA State 3-2-1A Wrestling Tournament Feb. 23 and 24 when Hays will host 72 high schools.

Melissa Dixon, Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) executive director, has the highlights.

A updated calendar of events is available on the CVB website haysusa.com.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

The next steps in development of a property west of Walmart were approved unanimously by Hays city commissioners Thursday night.

The commission approved rezoning a portion of Ottley Addition from Agriculture (A-L) to Commercial General District (C-2). They also approved the Ottley First Addition Final Plat, which is comprised of three lots, two that are approximately 1.4 acres each and the other lot approximately 3.1 acres with access off West 43rd St.

The property will be the site of a Hilton Garden Inn and convention center.

Public Works Director Jesse Rohr told commissioners the only questions from the Planning Commission, which had already approved both actions, was about stormwater runoff.

“I just want to make sure everyone understands that generally, regulations require post-development runoff to be less than or equal to pre-development runoff. That’s said in a book about this thick,” Rohr added, demonstrating with his fingers held wide apart.  Commissioners chuckled appreciatively.

“A stormwater management engineered design plan is required as part of the submittal project as the property is planned,” Rohr assured the commission.

“I appreciate you explaining about the stormwater,” said Commissioner Shaun Musil. “Everybody I’ve talked to is excited about what potentially will be happening up there, but that’s the number one question. I think that’s very interesting that it won’t actually add to the water running down south (of I-70). I’m excited for this.”

“The changes in stormwater runoff management have been substantial since the 1999 to 2002 period when the Walmart Super Center was developed north of I-70,” Rohr explained.

“We’ve got different enforcement now, different regulations the city is required to follow. Our own regulations are different in general. Properties developed over the last two to five years or so, especially commercial properties, you’ll see bioswales, rain gardens and those types of things,” he said. “They’re not there just for aesthetics but to serve a purpose in controlling the runoff both in quality and quantity of the water coming off the property.”

A possible second phase of the Hilton project includes construction of a new restaurant and/or other commercial retail.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

“We did not get any qualified RFPs (Requests For Proposals) for the West 10th Street development,” Assistant City Manager Jacob Wood told city commissioners last week.

The city-owned property on the north side of West 10th between Elm and Ash Streets, plus a lease for adjacent parking, is available for free to the developer selected by the city.

“We did receive one submittal from a company which is qualified and I think has the financial backing, but they did not have a development plan included.” Wood said he would reach out to the company to see whether they have such a plan.

The city was hoping for “any kind of mixed-use development, such as a retail store on the bottom floor and apartments up above, multi-family residential, or a commercial development,” Wood said back in September when the RFPs were sent out and placed on the city’s website.

The location, just north of the railroad tracks and within easy walking distance of Fort Hays State University (FHSU) and the downtown Hays commercial district, was previously owned by Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR).

“It just seems like nobody is interested in it,” said Commissioner Shaun Musil. “Everybody always seem to want retail or housing. Maybe we need to go in a different way.”

“Free land, but nobody took us up on it, makes me rethink every time I hear from somebody that Hays is not developing because of land prices,” Mayor James Meier said. “The small amount of land we’re talking about is so oddly shaped, we have to take that into consideration.”

“If want to see anything happen down there, we have an organization that we’re giving money to (Downtown Hays Development Corporation), and I’d love to hear what they have to say about it. Maybe that’s something they need to be taking the lead in,” Meier continued. “It’d also be interesting to talk about this more in-depth when we have a discussion about the money that was returned to us by the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development.”

Meier said he wasn’t really surprised by the lack of interest. “I thought we would get one,” said Vice-Mayor Henry Schwaller. “I did too,” echoed Commissioner Sandy Jacobs.

‘It’s not usable land,” Meier added. “That’s why you can’t compare it to somebody saying land is too high-priced on Vine Street,” said Jacobs, “I just don’t think there’s any comparison.” Meier then agreed.

“It is an unusual location but the size of the lot doesn’t matter,” Schwaller said. “In Hays, we have a particular thing we like building–duplexes–it’s a cookie-cutter approach to development which would not work there. This takes a different approach we’re not used to doing here. I think we just continue to work on this, provide the resources, be a catalyst for it and work with the DHDC. They’re our lead partner. If they can make it happen, great.

“We don’t have to give it away today. We’ve had the land a long time.”

New city commissioner Chris Dinkel said the location “limits options on what will be viable there. Retail is going to be a joke. It’s not close enough to anything. You can’t be a destination on your own. It’s going to have to be something residential.”

Musil said he didn’t think the city commission should be pushing for people to build apartments in town. “To me that doesn’t really help the public if we’re saying we’ll give you this land to build apartments. Only one person is going to benefit from that.”

Jacobs, a DHDC board member, agreed with Musil that different options should be considered and said DHDC is doing that.

“We believe there can be destinations in downtown Hays,” she emphasized. “I believe Paisley Pear (owned by Musil) is a destination. Gella’s is a destination.”

“But those are on a corridor,” pointed out Dinkel. “This area isn’t that far off, in my opinion,” Jacobs countered.

She told her fellow commissioners she thinks the “piece that could connect all of this is the old Home Party Club (more recently called Fire and Ice and located at 229 W. 10th.) The price for that has come way, way down. I think there’s potential in that,” Jacobs said. “Somebody should be thinking outside the box–entertainment, something for kids, a skating rink. I don’t know what it is.

“We want more entertainment. We want more restaurants. We want more things that bring people to downtown, as a gathering place. The more of that you have, the more sales tax we’re going to generate and that’s what we’re looking for.”

The city of Hays’ General Fund is financed primarily by the city sales tax.

Jacobs said DHDC has had some strategic planning meetings FHSU and “brought that back to the table. They’re going to work with the university and try to develop some new steps in the DHDC strategic plan.” I think there’s some really good stuff happening right now and if we as the city commission keep talking and welcoming ideas, I think things will happen.”

Schwaller agreed with Dinkel that “traditional retail” won’t work in the location but he sees some “opportunities there that are not being met that students would like. The location is ideal for another delivery-eatery that doesn’t exist. And, I’ve been looking at some franchises that would like to be right there. So, we’ll leave it up to the developer,” Schwaller concluded. “Who knows what they’ll do?”

The property is in the Neighborhood Revitalization Program, an area eligible for property tax rebates on the increased value of the property once the project is complete.

“It’s got to be affordable retail and relevant if you want college kids in there, added Musil, “and that’s what we have down there.”

“We can’t be cookie cutter and do what’s worked in Salina or for Pittsburg with Pittsburg State University. We’ve got to figure out what’s going to work for us in Hays,” Mayor Meier said.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Hays city commissioners are expected to award a bid during their meeting Thursday night for reconstruction of Allen Street between 8th and where it intersects with Vine Street at 24th.

“It’s in dire need of repair,” according to Projects Manager John Braun, “and the improvements have been in the Capital Improvements Plan since 2011.” The design phase began in 2017.

Allen is classified as a major collector street, carrying between 2,000 and 4,000 vehicles per day within the proposed project area of 5,100 lineal feet. The existing pavement varies from brick at the south end, with asphalt in the center section, to concrete at the north end.

Four million dollars was budgeted for the project to be funded out of City Commission Reserves. An additional $500,000 is budgeted in Water Capital Reserves to replace the water main and water services. Stormwater Capital Reserve has budgeted $75,000 for storm sewer structure replacement.

The project was bid with a base bid to reconstruct the street entirely in concrete, and with an alternate to reconstruct the area between 8th and 12th, which is currently brick pavement, with new brick pavers.

Paul Wertenberger Construction of Hays had the lowest bids for both options, with both being lower than the estimates. The work includes replacing curb and gutter throughout, replacement of much of the sidewalk, and upgrade and replacement of the water main and water services north of 10th Street.

A public information meeting is planned for Feb. 12. Letters will be sent to those directly affected by the project. “Everybody has been contacted at least once and I’ve talked personally with most of them,” Brown told commissioners last week. This will give them another chance to meet with the contractor, the engineer, city staff, and ask questions about scheduling and access.” The two-lane road has parking on the west side only.

Brown said a couple of two block sections could be worked on at the same time, depending on how the waterline work proceeds. “The road could be shut off in two different places but you’ll be able to drive in between those. You won’t be able to drive the whole length.” The few houses that front Allen Street are on corner lots and also have access to side streets and alleys, according to Brown. “They may be inconvenienced but they’ll still have access.”

Work would begin in March and is scheduled to be completed in November.

During discussion at last week’s work session, commissioners were unable to agree on which alternate bid to select. City staff is recommending the entire road section be paved with concrete.  Staff considers the use of brick pavers “aesthetic” with adjacent brick pavement on 9th, 11th and 12th Streets. However, the area is not in the historical Chestnut Street District which has brick streets. Concerns were also noted by staff about added construction time and cost of $100,000, added cost and effort to make street cuts/repairs in the future, and the the need to maintain a stockpile of the concrete bricks for future repair which are not the same clay-fired brick as those currently stockpiled for older projects.

Other agenda items include rezoning a portion of Ottley Addition from Agriculture (A-L) to Commercial General District (C-2) and approval of the Ottley First Addition Final Plat, which is comprised of  three lots, two approximately 1.4 acres and the other lot approximately 3.1 acres  with access off West 43rd St.

Ottley Addition preliminary plat, Ottley First Addition Final Plat and rezoning have been approved by the Planning Commission. The request for annexation of the final portions of Ottley Addition was approved by the city commission December 28, 2017. The actions are the next steps in development of the property which will be the site of a Hilton Garden Inn and convention center.

The complete meeting agenda may be seen here. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Hays City Hall, 1507 Main.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

The Winter Storm Warning for Ellis and Trego counties expired at noon today but the storm isn’t over. The National Weather Service (NWS), Dodge City, has issued a Winter Storm Advisory until 3 p.m., and a High Wind Warning continues also until 3 p.m.

Winds gusting as high as 60 mph will cause patchy blowing and drifting snow. Just before 9 a.m., NWS reported a peak wind gust of 46 mph at the Hays Regional Airport.

By 8 a.m., Hays had received 2.7 inches of snow. City Manager Toby Dougherty declared a Winter Storm Traffic Emergency Sunday at 7:27 p.m. in front of the storm. During such a declaration, it is unlawful to park a vehicle on any street designated as an emergency snow route. The declaration remains in effect until further notice.

Midwest Energy crews are working to restore power outages throughout northwest Kansas, including in the Victoria area.

In the city of Victoria, a blown transformer in a substation has crews working to re-route power from other directions, while a new transformer is brought in and installed today.

At noon, Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Tod Hileman reported westbound I-70 just west of Russell is back open after a temporary shutdown to pull a semi-truck out of the median.

“Be careful if you are out driving,” Hileman cautioned. “The roads go from just wet to slushy into icy, then to whiteout conditions all within a few miles stretch.”

According to the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, reported snowfalls include:
1 inch = Russell
2 inches = Gove
3 inches = Norton, Phillips
4 inches = Logan
5 inches = Cheyenne
6 inches = Rooks, Norton

The Kansas Army National Guard Stranded Motorists Assistance Response Teams continue to patrol roads and had assisted at least 11 motorists by noon.

Numerous roads remain closed in northwest Kansas including I-70 from WaKeeney to Limon, Colorado.

For updated road closures and road conditions visit www.kandrive.org.

 

MWE

From Midwest Energy: 9 a.m. update: Crews are making progress, despite winds blowing snow and causing intermittent white-out conditions. Just getting there is challenging with road closures.

We have 55 outages as of 9 a.m., affecting 3,000 customers.

The outages are concentrated mostly in a 30-mile strip between Colby and Oakley, though the Victoria area has several outages, as does the Sharon Springs area. High winds and road closures are slowing progress, but crews will be out all day working to get power safely restored.

All crews are out, and we ask that you please call your outages in to 1-800-222-3121 to help us narrow down locations. Thank you!

Midwest Energy power outage viewer

KHP

Updates from Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Tod of Hays:

8:45 a.m.

We also have a semi and trailer on its side and blocking both lanes of westbound I-70 at mile post 203 in Russell County. That’s close to the City of Wilson.

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I-70 is still shut down at WaKeeney West and we are responding to slide offs in Russell County.

We also have a semi truck north of Hays on Highway 183 that has gotten stuck while trying to turn around, so if you’re going north of Hays please watch out for that.

It would be best if you could delay your travel until later in the day when KDOT has a chance to clear all roads!

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Ellis County remains in a Winter Storm Warning until 12 p.m. today.

As of 9 a.m., the peak wind gust in Hays was 46 mph, as reported by the National Weather Service in Dodge City.

According to statistics from the K-State Agricultural Research Center, Hays received 2.7 inches of snow as of 8 a.m. Monday, yielding 0.30 inches of moisture.

So far in January, 3.7 inches of snow has fallen in Hays for a total of 0.42 inches of moisture.

The 2017/2018 snowfall season has brought 5.8 inches of snow.