Employees of the Hays Public Works Department are out doing some chip sealing work in preparation for the 2017 Street Maintenance Program which will go into high gear as the temperatures warm.
Other departments are busy as well, including an update to the city’s GIS (Geographic Information System) website by the IT (Information Technology) Department.
Three new Hays Police Department officers have been hired and will all be attending training this month at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in Hutchinson.
Assistant City Manager Jacob Wood presented a recent update to city commissioners:
It was a night of firsts for freshman Kansas Congressman Roger Marshall and President Donald Trump.
Trump gave his first speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, the first such gathering for the new First District U.S. Representative, a Republican from Great Bend.
Following the president’s speech, Marshall recorded his thoughts and reaction on a “selfie” video.
Marshall said Trump “laid out a strong, very optimistic vision of what our country can look like.”
“I’m excited that he talked about making our borders more secure, strengthening our military, shoring up our economy and growing our infrastructure.”
Marshall was especially pleased with Trump’s mention of Kansas’ favorite son, former President Dwight Eisenhower from Abilene, and his role in improving roads across the country.
“Our president talked about how Eisenhower helped build the interstates across the country. Now it’s our turn to rebuild them,” he emphasized.
Marshall added he thinks “we have a tremendous president and I’m looking forward to working with him.”
The first of two limestone welcome signs was put in place Tuesday along I-70 .
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Although there were a few bumps along the way, the two new “Welcome to Hays” signs are finally going up along Interstate 70.
Footings for the huge 18′ by 10′ limestone signs were dug about 45 days ago by city workers. Tuesday, three 6′ by 10′ panels were moved into place on the south side of I-70 between Exit 157 and the Hall Street bridge. The sign will be seen by eastbound traffic approaching Hays.
The monument for westbound traffic will be placed Wednesday on the east side of Hays, north of I-70 and east of Commerce Parkway.
Tobin Rupe Stoneworks, Wichita, was the low bidder for the two signs for a total of $48,300, considerably less than the originally budgeted amount of $90,000. The money comes from the Convention and Visitors Bureau budget and is generated by the guest bed tax.
“I was a little nervous,” Rupe admitted Tuesday afternoon as his crew added filler between the stone panels and the base. “I’ve never set stones this big.”
The Flinthills limestone comes from Rupe’s farm near Eureka where he has a small stone quarry.
Rupe said he has put signs up all over Kansas and he “just had to put one up for my home school.”
He attended Fort Hays State University for three years in the mid-1980s and studied sculpture with Prof. Jim Hinkhouse and others in the art department. “There were some really good art teachers at FHSU at that time and I just got into stone carving. Then I realized we had stone on our farm and I had free stone at home to use.”
Light blue vertical lines of blue flint can be seen faintly in the side of the signs.
The Flinthills limestone Rupe uses is much denser than what has normally been used in Hays and the softer stone found in “Post Rock” country to the east in Russell and Ellsworth counties.
“It’s very hard,” Rupe said, and it’s also very heavy. The three pieces used in the west side monument weigh 9,000 pounds each for a combined 27,000 pounds total. Each panel is 10-inches thick. The east side marker will be a little larger with 13-inch-thick panels weighing about 30,000 pounds.
“It’s much harder to chisel but it lasts a heck of a lot longer–20 to 30 years,” Rupe said. “The inside of it is like granite.”
The slab stone was originally lying flat underground. “We basically unearthed the stone, cutting down about 14 feet into the hillside,” Rupe explained. “Then we cleared off a 50 foot area and just start pulling up slabs of stone until we get one that’s 12 foot by 14 foot so we can get a good panel out of the middle of it. There’s quite a bit of “scrap” left over, but it’s stone and it just goes back underground.”
A Hess Services crane operator maneuvers the first sign panel into place Tuesday with help from two Rupe crew members. (Courtesy photo)
The sign letters “WELCOME TO Hays” are hand-chiseled–one inch deep–and painted with black lithichrome, a paint specially formulated for outdoor use on stone. The simple artwork selected by city commissioners was designed by Scott Gross, an artist who has done other work for the city.
Hess Services of Hays was contracted to move the stone from Eureka to Hays and used a crane Tuesday afternoon to set the first three panels in place. The company also poured the concrete for both sign bases.
Each panel is supported by five 20-inch rebars going down into the concrete footing. The concrete was still wet late Tuesday afternoon at the first site. Rupe expected it would set up and become solid overnight. In the meantime, a number of timbers will stay lodged up against the front and back of the huge sign. “Just makes me feel better. I’ll sleep better tonight,” Rupe joked. “I don’t want to wake up and see my sign laying down on the ground.”
Rupe likes the “natural look” of the signs.
A Rupe crew member squeezes mortar repair between the limestone panels and the concrete base.
If you look closely at the sides, you can see the appearance of blue. “That’s the flint,” he pointed out. “On the outside, it’s yellow. It’s basically the same type of stone structure you have in Hays, but in the middle, it’s flint.”
And, as with other ancient limestone used in Hays, the new signs contain fossils. Rupe plans to share that information with Fort Hays State and the Sternberg Museum of Natural History.
“We went through several different ideas and this one stood out the best with the city of Hays,” he recalled. “It was actually supposed to be straight on the sides and I just kind of wanted to make it look a little bit like Kansas. If you have a real big imagination, that’s Kansas,” Rupe said with a laugh. The top of the sign is uneven and the upper right side is carved away.
Rupe finds a seashell fossil on the middle panel.
Rupe has some artwork placed in downtown Wichita and location signs in several Kansas towns. He’s even taught sculpture classes in New York City and made signs for the Bronx Zoo, but he’s always had his eye on Hays.
“This is fun. I’ve always wanted to do something for the school (FHSU) or for the city of Hays. When we found out they were wanting signs, I didn’t care what it was, I was going to get the job,” he laughed again.
“Standing here, you feel kind of small,” Rupp said. “This was the biggest, but it’s not the last. This was a lot of fun.”
Overland Property Group, Leawood and Salina, hopes to build “The Reserves at StonePost,” with two- and three-bedroom apartments, on the site of the former Fort Hays Trailer Park, 618 E. Fifth. OPG has built three similar StonePost rental properties on South Main near Larks Park.
The resolution of support from the city is just the first step in applying for federal tax credits from the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation, a process which OPG Vice President of Development Matt Gillam called “highly competitive.”
Matt Gillam, Overland Property Group
“We’re talking about a $6 million development cost for affordable housing. It generates a lot of economic activity, not only in the city itself, but around the region. Each state is given a certain amount of tax credits and they are allowed to allocate them based on where they believe the needs are in the state,” Gillam explained.
“In Kansas, you have a pretty limited resource pool. You can fund six to eight developments. Hays is going to be competing with Kansas City, Topeka, Overland Park, Wichita and Manhattan, all in the running for these same funds.”
According to Gillam, there were 50 applications in 2016; eight were approved.
“We’ve done pretty well in the past to get Phases 1, 2 and 3 in Hays funded, but it’s not a walk in the park,” he said.
An RHID works to reimburse the developer for eligible infrastructure expenses over a 15-year period, capturing 100 percent of the incremental increase in real property taxes created by a housing development project.
Mayor Shaun Musil called the proposed project a “good idea in an area of town that’s in pretty rough shape.” But Musil also had a major concern.
“We have a lot of vacancies in town right now,” he pointed out.
“It would concern me if I saw a problem,” Gillam said, “which I don’t see right now. This is something that wouldn’t open until August 2018, at the earliest. I think the market will be better by then.
“We have done our own analysis and model, and paid third-party consultants to do this research. I’m not going to drop a $6 million hard-cost facility into a community if I know I can’t fill it.
“We have seen in the city of Hays an unhealthy rate of occupation over the past eight to 10 years. People have gotten used to it and they think that’s normal. There has to be some vacancy in the market, so that if somebody moves into town there’s a place for them to move into. If there’s nothing for them to move into and everything has a waiting list, they’re going to say no to that job offer…we’ve seen this in a lot of western Kansas towns.”
Musil was also concerned about what the proposed development might do to local owners of rental property.
“We have a housing study out. When we get that back, it may affect my thinking,” he said.
Commissioner Sandy Jacobs concurred, adding “I think it’s critical we look at unintended consequences of any kind of activity like this.”
Commissioner Lance Jones declared affordable housing the “No. 1 issue” in Hays.
“A lot of my colleagues choose to live in places like Ellis or Walker,” he said. “One guy even drives in all the way from Palco because he doesn’t want to pay the price of housing in Hays.”
Jones commended OPG on the quality and success of StonePost Phases 1, 2 and 3.
“These things are currently income-based and will fall off of having to be income-based. We need something there to replace these as things cycle in and out.” StonePost Phases 1, 2 and 3 are a 15-year compliance period. Phase 1 was built in 2006. In 2021, it will revert to regular housing and can be rented to anyone. Phase 4 would be a 30-year compliance period.
“I hope this isn’t the last project you look at here in Hays,” Jones told Gillam, “and I welcome other developers too.”
Longtime Hays real estate broker Doug Williams addressed the commission about his concerns of overbuilding in a declining economy with downturns in the oil and agriculture sectors.
“These guys (OPG) do a great job, but they’re not playing on a level playing field. Subsidized properties always rent. I hope we look at the housing survey properly because, if we don’t, I think there’s going to be some consequences,” Williams cautioned.
“If we’re going to have an RHID, we’re going to have a concise, good study that’s going to give us the kind of information we need, and I’ll guarantee you that,” Jacobs assured Williams, who thanked her.
Williams estimated there are currently at least 150 empty housing units in Hays with 50 new units under construction. Aaron White, executive director of the Ellis Co. Coalition for Economic Development, disagreed with those numbers. Both men said they talked to local housing owners and builders.
Two owners with multiple holdings told White their properties were full or nearly full. “There were a few indications it’s getting a little harder to fill the spaces and they’re having to get a little more aggressive in their marketing,” White reported.
Following the 4-0 vote in favor of the OPG support letter, Vice-Mayor James Meier said Commissioner Henry Schwaller, who was absent Thursday, last week said he “supported the development. He’s a large property owner in the community and has a lot of rentals, and he (Schwaller) supports it.”
The winners of the state tax credit housing proposals will be announced June 1.
OPG has a similar project, “The Reserves at Trail Ridge”, underway in Great Bend. Framing was scheduled to start this week.
Finance Director Kim Rupp (left) reviews the 2016 Comprehensive Financial Management Policy during the Feb. 16 city commission work session.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
Hays Finance Director Kim Rupp reviewed the city’s 2016 Comprehensive Financial Management Policy during last week’s commission work session. Commissioner Henry Schwaller called it a “‘State of the City’ address, without the politics.”
Rupp reported “the city was able to fulfill the requirement in 2015 and again in 2016 of maintaining a 10% unreserved fund balance and a 25% budget stabilization fund for the General Fund.”
The total General Fund expenditures ended 2016 $700,000 under budget. The newly formed City Commission Capital Reserves captures these funds for future projects and pays cash to complete them rather than increasing costs by bonding.
Hays is the only city in Kansas which uses sales tax revenues solely to finance its General Fund.
There are 13 categories in the Comprehensive Financial Management Policy:
Fund Balances and Reserves
Budgeting
Revenues
Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and Fixed Assets
Debt Management
Cash Management and Investment
Enterprise Fund Management
Accounting, Auditing and Financial Reporting
Risk Management
Procurement
Intergovernmental Revenues
Economic Development
Policy Review
Schwaller asked Rupp what 2017 may look like “if we continue the (declining) sales tax trend we’ve had. Have we built a budget that can withstand that?”
In the 2017 city budget document, it is noted sales taxes have been trending downward for the past year.
“We were pretty conservative when we built that budget, when we projected off 2016,” Rupp answered. “We can withstand some more declines in sales taxes–two to three percent. Based off what 2015 did, projecting off 2016 and predicting for 2017, we saw some positives. We budgeted a little bit of an increase off what 2015 did. We’re hoping some of the development around town will help that.”
Still, Rupp was cautious.
“We’re going to have to keep a close eye on it,” he acknowledged. “We’ve built enough reserves in. We have enough room we can weather those storms without eating into that 10 percent, I think. Maybe those take away from the transfer into commission reserves, but certainly I think we’ve built enough in we can weather a storm.”
“In 2005, we had $18 million in the bank,” recalled long-time commissioner Schwaller, “and all of it was dedicated to water exploration. Very little reserves, if any at all. We couldn’t buy a copier for the city manager’s office; we didn’t have the money. Anything we bought we had to issue debt. It was projected that by this time we’d have so much debt the mill levy would be over 40.”
The mill levy in 2005 was 34.4. The 2017 mill levy is 25. It has not increased for a number of years–a high priority goal and directive of city staff and the city commission.
“Because of a good city manager, good staff, and a commission that stuck to its guns, we’ve been able to steer over $50 million into reserves,” Schwaller said. “This is a great report and I want to thank everybody who made it possible.”
The newest commissioner, Sandy Jacobs, has been touring all the city departments and learning how they are managed and budgeted.
“I was very impressed our employees’ knowledge and the stewardship of our money,” Jacobs added. “Along with that, City Manager Toby Dougherty does a great job managing those folks.”
Mayor Shaun Musil and Commissioner Lance Jones were absent from the work session. Vice-Mayor James Meier presided over the meeting.
ELLIS–Ellis City Council member Dena Patee can continue to serve in that position.
An opinion from the Kansas Attorney General requested by Ellis City Attorney Olavee Raub is in Patee’s favor. Raub presented the information during the city council’s meeting Monday evening.
Following Patee’s election to the council in Nov. 2016, Raub was concerned Patee might be ‘incompatible to serve’ because of her employment as director of the Ellis Alliance. Of the group’s approximate $34,300 budget, the city of Ellis contributes $12,500. Other primary stakeholders include Ellis County, the Community Foundation of Ellis and the Ellis Industrial Development Corp.
Raub also told the council she has prepared a memorandum regarding perceived and actual conflicts of interest for council members. The memo will aid council members as to when they should abstain from discussion and votes on issues involving themselves, family members, business interests, or their employer.
In other business, Gary Luea, Water Advisory Committee member, updated the search for additional water supplies. The state is requesting additional information regarding one of the proposed wells being located less than the required spacing distance from a domestic well.
Ellis County officials will meet with the Ellis City Council Mon., March 6 at 6:30 p.m. at Ellis City Hall to discuss topics of joint interest. A Town Hall Meeting with area Kansas legislators will be held Sat., March 11 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. in City Hall.
The complete Feb. 20 meeting minutes follow.
ELLIS CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Minutes February 20, 2017
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, and Dena Patee. Also present were City Clerk Amy Burton, Police Chief Taft Yates, Fire Chief Dustin Vine, and City Attorney Olavee Raub. Council member Bob Redger and Public Works Director Alan Scheuerman were absent.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA
Public Works Director Alan Scheuerman is ill and unable to attend; therefore, several agenda items will be tabled.
PUBLIC PRESENT
Myles Vine, Westin Vine, Cheryl Kinderknecht, Glen Keller, Gary Luea, and Stacie Minson.
CONSENT AGENDA
Council member Jolene Niernberger moved to approve the consent agenda containing the Minutes from the Regular Meeting on February 6, 2017, Bills Ordinance #2015, and the October 2016 manual journal entries. Council member Bret Andries seconded the motion. The Council approved the consent agenda 5-0.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
None
PRESENTATIONS OF AWARDS, PROCLAMATIONS, REQUESTS & PETITIONS (HEARINGS)
None
SPECIAL ORDER
Sanitation: Special Project
Stacie Minson, KSU Watershed Specialist, discussed a joint project with Ellis County and cities within Ellis County to produce and distribute a 5” x 7” magnet featuring resources for recycling, soil testing, rain barrels, and disposal of other types of waste. The last magnet project was in 2005. Council discussed mailing options and the projected timeline. Council will discuss further at a later time.
Fire: Personnel
Fire Chief Dustin Vine gave his monthly report. The Department currently has four openings due to resignations involving conflicting work schedules or relocating to other communities. Six individuals have expressed interest in joining the Department. Chief Vine noted he is specifically searching for individuals who are available from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. during the work week.
Fire: Disposal
Chief Vine would like to sell the 1983 Ford Van. The van is in need of repairs and has not been used in service for several years. Council member Holly Aschenbrenner made a motion to authorize Chief Dustin Vine to sell the 1983 Ford Van on Nex-Tech Classifieds at an asking price of $500 or best offer. Council member Dena Patee seconded the motion. The motion carried 5-0.
Water Exploration: Special Project
Gary Luea, Water Advisory Committee, updated Council on a letter received from the Kansas Department of Agriculture. The Department is requesting additional information regarding one of the proposed wells being located less that the required spacing distance from a domestic well. Mr. Luea has obtained the required information from the land owner and will submit to the State for further consideration. Once the permits are approved by the State, the next steps will be to negotiate the purchase of land for the sites and then obtain bids for drillers.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Streets: Special Project
Discussion on the City assisting residents on West 14th Street with the spreading of millings was tabled to the next meeting due to Public Works Director Alan Scheuerman’s absence.
NEW BUSINESS
General Government: Acquisition
Consideration of bids for a generator for City Hall will be tabled until the next meeting due to Mr. Scheuerman’s absence.
General Government: Policy
Discussion regarding a policy for after-hours customer or alarm calls will be tabled until the next meeting due to Mr. Scheuerman’s absence.
General Government: Repair/Maintenance
Discussion surrounding a memo submitted by Mr. Scheuerman regarding grant opportunities to improve City infrastructure will be tabled until the next meeting due to his absence.
REPORTS FROM CITY OFFICIALS
Public Works
The report from Public Works will be tabled until the next meeting due to Mr. Scheuerman’s absence.
Police
Police Chief Taft Yates reported the Department has recently participated in training on use of force and will attend training on law enforcement officer trauma. Chief Yates has conducted two presentations on scam awareness and has two more presentations scheduled, one being March 9th at Ellis High School.
City Clerk
City Clerk Amy Burton presented the Health Insurance Savings Report for January and the 2016 Annual City Car Summary Report. The October 2016 financial reports consisting of the Statement of Accounts, Treasurer’s Report, and Security Deposit Worksheet were reviewed.
General Government: Meeting
Ellis County officials will meet with the Council on March 6th at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall to discuss topics of joint interest.
The City will host a Town Hall Meeting on March 11th from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. with Senator Billinger, Representative Rahjes, and Representative Phelps in attendance.
Sewer: Financial
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has notified Ms. Burton of an opportunity to delay the City’s first repayment date on the new sewer loan to March 1, 2018, rather than May 17, 2017. Ms. Burton recommends the City take advantage of the later repayment date due to the existing sewer loan payments ending in September 2018. The delay would reduce the number of payments “doubled up” and relieve the Sewer Fund from some financial stress due to numerous repairs over the last 12 months. The Council concurred with Ms. Burton’s recommendation.
Sanitation: Special Project
Ms. Burton inquired if the Council wanted to discuss the KSU magnet project that Stacie Minson presented on earlier in the meeting, or if it should be tabled until the March 6th Council meeting. Council voiced support for the project and decided to utilize the 9” x 12” envelope in order to enclose other water conservation materials along with the magnet. Therefore, Council member Jolene Niernberger moved and Council member Holly Aschenbrenner seconded a motion to approve the purchase and distribution of the magnet for residents with an Ellis zip code in an amount not to exceed $700, with funds coming from the Capital Improvements – Special Projects fund. The motion carried 5-0.
Attorney
City Attorney Olavee Raub reported the Attorney General has found that Council member Dena Patee’s position with the Ellis Alliance does not create an incompatibility issue with her duties as a Council member. Ms. Raub will prepare a public statement.
City Prosecutor Cassy Zeigler was not able to prepare an update on the outstanding code violation issues, although Ms. Raub noted that several of the cases appeared in court on February 17th.
Ms. Raub prepared a memorandum regarding perceived and actual conflicts of interest for Council members. The memorandum is to be used as a reference tool in aiding Council members on when they should abstain from discussion and votes on issues involving themselves, family members, business interests, or their employer.
Mayor Update and Announcements
Mayor David McDaniel reported the Complaint Review Board will meet on February 27th to discuss citizen-filed complaints.
Aaron White, Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development, will attend the March 20th Council meeting to provide an update.
Mayor McDaniel reported that he has completed the performance evaluations of the Department Heads.
Mayor McDaniel addressed a note submitted into the “suggestion box” expressing concerns with a merit raise given to an employee. Mayor McDaniel noted that the Department Head is in charge of his/her department and has the discretion to award merit raises as they see fit. The Department Head acted within his/her authority and Council was made aware of the raise prior to it being awarded.
Council discussed holding a community event in the spring to recognize and thank Committee volunteers and the community.
ADJOURNMENT
Council member Dena Patee moved and Council member Holly Aschenbrenner seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
A deteriorated asphalt roadway into the former Fort Hays Trailer Park.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
An area of south Hays that has long been the scene of city code violations is the site of proposed new income-qualified housing by the Overland Property Group (OPG), Leawood.
The developer has already built three phases of StonePost multi-family housing near the Hays Aquatic Park.
Matt Gillam, OPG vice-president of development, said the area around the former Fort Hays Trailer Park, 615 E. 5th, needs more revitalization.
“It’s been very difficult for us to find a site that meets all our stringent qualifications,” Gillam told Hays City Commissioners during their work session last week. “We feel our investment there, about $6 million in hard construction costs, will really do a lot to start this neighborhood in a revitalization process.”
OPG has an option contract on the land which expires in Dec.
Building design for The Reserves at StonePost in Hays
“The Reserves at StonePost Phase 4 will be a stand-alone complex with its own clubhouse, and a different building style which is a little bit more refined, which we think will fit the community even better than the other phases have,” Gillam said. The development, sitting just north of the Highway 183 Bypass, will be fenced with a gated access entry.
The property is currently nearly vacant with a few abandoned house trailers and storage buildings still on site. “The view from the bypass will be a lot different than it is now,” he added.
The site plan is still very preliminary and “will change as we talk to city staff,” Gillam pointed out. Adding to the revitalization of the area would be a walk-bridge between the housing development and ball parks to the west. Gillam said OPG would contribute half the costs of building the structure. “We think that’s kind of important in connecting these neighborhoods and helping the revitalization…we’re investing $6 million and betting on a neighborhood and hoping we can help turn it around.”
An abandoned storage shed and mobile home at the former Ft. Hays Trailer Park.
Commissioner Sandy Jacobs said she was pleased OPG’s property choice. “That’s a gateway to our community, and, as we all know, today it’s not very lovely.” Jacobs also liked the idea of a bridge over the water draw. “That’s really an attractive point to me. At some point, it’d be nice for the city to finish the bike path all the way down through there,” she suggested.
A substantial amount of the construction work would be done by Hays contractors using local suppliers. Gillam noted the land is located within the flood plain and a lot of fill dirt would have to be brought in.
As part of the process in applying for Kansas Housing Resources Corporation low-income housing tax credits, OPG requires a Resolution of Support from the city, which city staff is recommending.
“With this type of financing, it’s affordable housing. These tenants are people with jobs, working class,” Gillam explained.
Preliminary design for proposed “The Reserves at StonePost.” (Click to enlarge)
“We have a very strict timeline because of the way this program works. It’s a highly competitive process. Hays getting this money would be a very big deal because there’s only a fixed amount of money out there.” If the tax credits are awarded, construction would begin in mid-October with a grand opening planned for April, 2018.
Gillam told city commissioners his group has “developed, built and owned” similar housing in six states and “not sold a single property since Day 1 in 2004. That’s a little bit different than other developers who are a kind of ‘turn and burn’-type model which is really the opposite of us.”
He also noted the same woman has been property manager for StonePost Phases 1, 2 and 3 in Hays since they were built starting in 2006.
Commissioners will consider signing the letter of support at their meeting Thursday night.
TOPEKA-The Kansas Highway Patrol and area law enforcement agencies are participating in the annual “High Visibility Seat Belt Enforcement” around Kansas high schools through Sun., March 5.
This initiative is coupled with the Seatbelts Are For Everyone (SAFE) in Kansas high schools.
(Click to enlarge)
SAFE is a locally sustained program, administered by the students of the high school they attend, and focuses on reducing injuries and deaths on Kansas roadways. Currently, 152 high schools from 66 counties participate in the SAFE program statewide.
Hays High School is one of the participants.
“We are serious about getting teens to buckle up,” said KHP Technical Trooper Tod Hileman, Hays. “SAFE is a wonderful high school positive reinforcement program that has greatly increased teenage seatbelt use in Kansas, all while decreasing the teen fatality rate.”
According to Kansas Department of Transportation statistics, in 2015 Kansas tragically lost 13 high school teens in motor vehicle crashes. Of those teens, 40 percent were not property restrained. The KDOT Bureau of Transportation Safety and Technology is spearheading this two-week awareness campaign in hopes of decreasing serious injuries and crash fatalities to teens by increasing seat belt usage. KDOT and law enforcement partners across the state have spent more than 20 years educating Kansas teens about the dangers of driving or riding without a seatbelt.
Now that the SAFE program has operated several years, teens are complying better than older persons, according to Hileman. “The enforcement period is a vital part of the program and after several years of doing the SAFE program, we now mostly catch adults who are not buckled up during this enforcement,” he said.
In 2015, the observed seat belt rate in Kansas for the ages of 15-17 was 85 percent. The seat belt usage rate for the same age group in 2008-2009 was 61 percent, demonstrating the SAFE program is making a difference for Kansas youth.
Hileman encourages any interested in starting SAFE in their local school to visit www.ktsro.org/safe for more information.
By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN FHSU University Relations and Marketing
Lyle Dilley was not a tall man. But everyone noticed when the 5-foot, 6-inch Dilley walked into a music room, especially when he began conducting.
Dilley, retired band director at Fort Hays State University, died last September, but he will forever be associated with FHSU music.
A remodeled room that virtually doubled the space in the existing rehearsal room in Malloy Hall has been named the Lyle Dilley Rehearsal Room in honor of the university’s longtime band director.
A formal dedication was held Friday afternoon, beginning with “Salute” by the FHSU wind ensemble under the direction of Dr. Jeff Jordan, associate professor of music, who had composed the piece for Dilley’s 90th birthday in 2015.
Members of Dilley’s family and FHSU musicians past and present were on hand to help commemorate the event.
Benjamin Cline, chair of the Music and Theatre Department at FHSU, detailed the renovations of the space, which included doubling the floor space, dedicating storage space for instruments, marching band equipment and ensemble libraries, as well as adding amenities such as dimming lights and acoustic paneling.
Dilley’s career at FHSU began in 1961 when he accepted the position of director of bands and instructor of low brass. Under his leadership, membership in the Tiger Marching Band grew from approximately 50 members in 1961 to the university’s largest band of 150 in 1970.
Dilley’s encouragement influenced many students and musicians over a long and distinguished career.
“I always set the bar by his standards,” Darrell Cox from Lawrence said.
Cox came to FHSU to play football but was so impressed with Dilley in a music class that he changed his major — and his path in life. Cox went on to become a band teacher for more than two decades, mainly in the Lawrence area.
“He nurtured me all along the way,” Cox said. “I’m still using the Lyleisms that he taught me.”
Bradley Dawson, FHSU assistant professor of music, recalled Dilley’s excellence at rehearsing groups.
“He was both a very friendly person, but also quite demanding,” said Dawson, a former student and then a fellow colleague of Dilley’s. “That’s how conductors need to be — very demanding to bring the best out of people. But once Lyle came off of the podium, he became his nice, friendly, helpful self again.”
When Dawson returned to his alma mater to teach in 1982, he said he continued to learn under Dilley, no matter what the setting.
“Even talking over coffee and donuts with him, it was like being in a classroom,” Dawson said. “It was great mentoring. Even after he retired, he continued to be a great mentor.”
Dilley retired from Fort Hays State in 1989, but he remained active in music education by serving as a judge for area competitions, attending performances and supporting the High Plains Music Camp through a low brass award. In 1990, Dilley was admitted into the Kansas Music Educators Association Hall of Fame. In 2015, the FHSU Alumni Association awarded Dilley the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his dedication and commitment to advancing music education across the nation in addition to his character and personal attributes.
Dilley and his wife, Bonnie, have been longtime supporters of Fort Hays State. In addition to contributing to a High Plains Music Camp scholarship, the generous couple established the Lyle Dilley Instrumental Music Education Scholarship, an endowed fund that assists FHSU music students majoring in music education and will do so in perpetuity.
Their endowed scholarship fund, coupled with the rehearsal room named in Dilley’s honor, guarantee that his legacy will forever be part of FHSU.
Just as the Dilleys chose to support music education, the university’s current fundraising effort, The Journey campaign, encourages alumni and friends of Fort Hays State to give to the area of FHSU that means the most to them — whether that be a specific department, scholarship, student organization or athletic team.
To contribute to the Lyle Dilley Instrumental Music Education Scholarship, or to support FHSU’s Department of Music and Theatre, visit https://foundation.fhsu.edu/donate. Learn more about the FHSU Foundation, the fundraising arm of the university, by visiting https://foundation.fhsu.edu/ or contacting its office at (785) 628-5620 or [email protected].
“From his life, it was clear he understood the value of investing in people,” David Dilley, the Dilleys’ youngest son, said of his father.
“It was his passion to teach and mentor others — a passing of the baton to future generations,” added David Dilley, who participated in band during his days at FHSU.
One student who is honored to be grabbing that baton and running with it is Galen Whisman, a senior music education major from Palco.
Whisman is the youngest of three brothers in a musically inclined family. Two of his aunts studied music education under Dilley at FHSU, and Whisman said he felt like he knew Dilley long before he ever met him.
“Every holiday, Lyle Dilley was a part of a conversation at some time or other in our family,” Whisman said. “Christmas, Thanksgiving, at least once, if not more on those days, his name came up.”
Whisman got to witness firsthand as a sophomore at FHSU why his aunts were so enamored with Dilley.
“I formally met him when he was rehearsing the wind ensemble one day,” Whisman said. “He had so much energy and expected so much quality from whoever he was talking to or whatever group he was dealing with.
“What I remember is that he moved a hundred miles an hour,” he continued. “He was a quiet conductor, but if you weren’t paying attention, you missed it. Everybody was always on their toes.”
Whisman saw how Dawson emulated Dilley, his mentor, and Whisman hopes to do the same when he begins his teaching career after graduating in the spring of 2018.
“That’s where I learned how to rehearse, from Lyle Dilley,” Dawson said. “There’s nobody who rehearsed quite like the way he rehearsed. You would hang on for dear life. You would make a lot of progress in an hour.
“That’s what I remember best about him, that and just the respect that everybody seemed to have for him. There was no doubt about that.”
Whisman, who plays trumpet in the Tiger bands and is student director of the FHSU pep band, said he thinks the additional band rehearsal space helps signify the importance that Fort Hays State places on music.
“I was excited, flabbergasted,” was Whisman’s reaction when he heard about the remodeling project. “I was seeing all the musical groups growing in size and was hoping that would not only excite the students here but excite the students looking at Fort Hays State and see that the university is promoting the Music Department as it continues to be successful.”
Laurie Mortinger, Friends of the Hays Dog Park, encourages a visiting small dog to walk through a tire in the new agility equipment.
By BECKY KISER Hays Post
A four-man crew from the Hays Parks Department was busy last week and Monday installing agility play equipment at the Hays Dog park, 1376 Highway 183 Alternate in the Bickle-Schmidt Sports Complex.
The new equipment, duplicated in both the small dog and large dog sides of the park, can be enjoyed by canines and humans alike. The dogs can just play among and on the half-buried tires and dirt hills, or they can learn agility skills as they go through the tires in patterns taught by their owners.
The play features in the seven-acre fenced park are for fun and not laid out as a professional agility training course, noted Laurie Mortinger, Friends of the Hays Dog Park board member.
“I think a lot of people have never had their dogs on any agility things,” said Mortinger, whose own dogs haven’t been on such equipment. “It’ll be a new experience for a lot of us,” she laughed.
Tunnels will be installed within the next couple weeks, Parks Director Jeff Boyle said Monday. They’ll be placed where the dirt piles are now.
Dogs can crawl or run through the tunnels which will have the dirt mounded over them, “if they don’t dig it all up and uncover it,” Mortinger laughed again. “They can go through this little dark tunnel, come out the other side and go back around. Or they can go over the top of the hill and go around. Dogs like hills.”
“We ask that you don’t use dog treats to train your dogs on the equipment,” Mortinger cautioned, “because if there are other dogs in the park, they may fight over the dog food.”
Learning new skills at the dog park can be continued at home.
“Some dogs like to be challenged. They’re smart and it’s fun to get them to do different things. If you get them to do some of this at the dog park, you may be able to work with them at home, get them trained at home to do tricks. That’s the fun of it,” she smiled.
The used truck and auto tires for the agility runs were donated by Huston Tire, Hays, and Hays Car and Truck Alignment. The Hays Parks Department donated the labor.
Dave Younger, Hays Parks Dept. employee, operates the backhoe to dig holes for the play feature tires.
“The city did all the work, and we really thank them for doing that for us.”
Mortinger said more agility equipment will be added later.
Fundraising continues by Friends of the Hays Park to add permanent benches–for people–under the shade structures. “You can sit there to get out of the sun until our trees get a little bigger. That’s going to take a while,” she added.
As always, Mortinger reminded park users to pick up after their dogs.
“Please clean up after your pets,” she urged. “Even if you don’t see your dog go to the bathroom, and you see some waste after other people have left, please pick it up. That way the dogs don’t eat it. They can get sick from it and you won’t be stepping in it.”
‘Dog Pots’ are located on both sides of the Hays Dog Park.
Recent spring-like temperatures are drawing more people and their pets to the dog park. “We had a clean-up a couple weeks ago on a Sunday, and the next day, I found a lot of messes already,” Mortinger sighed. Each side of the dog park provides a pet waste disposal station and plastic bags.
The city of Hays donated the land for the facility, which opened three years ago in Feb. All the amenities have been paid for with financial donations to Friends of the Hays Dog Park, or gifted to the non-profit organization.
U.S. Drought Monitor–Kansas February 14, 2017, released Thu., Feb.16, 2017 (Click to enlarge)
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Unusually warm and dry weather in February is stoking fears of another drought.
Moderate to severe drought currently grips most of the western third of the state, according to the United States Drought Monitor.
The latest report was released Feb. 16.
Ellis County, listed as Abnormally Dry last week, is on the eastern edge of a large area in a Moderate Drought.
Official statistics from the K-State Agricultural Research Center show Hays with 0.10” moisture in Feb. So far in 2017, Hays has received a total 1.35”.
(Click to enlarge)
The snowfall season in Hays has yielded 2.3”.
This week’s weather forecast is showing a 30% chance of rain in Hays Thu. afternoon.
ELLIS–An status update of the Kansas Attorney General’s opinion regarding a new Ellis City Council member is scheduled to be presented during tonight’s council meeting.
Patee was the top vote-getter in the Nov. 8 general election. She was informed after votes were tallied that the city’s attorney, Olavee Raub, believes Patee is incompatible to serve because of her employment with the Ellis Alliance.
Patee
Patee has served a director of Ellis Alliance since its formation in July 2007. Of the group’s approximate $34,300 budget, the city of Ellis contributes $12,500. Other primary stakeholders include Ellis County, the Community Foundation of Ellis and the Ellis Industrial Development Corp.
The city council, on advice from Raub, sought an opinion from the AG’s office in late Nov.
Council members will also discuss several water issues.
The agenda includes an update on the water exploration process from Water Advisory Committee Member Gary Luea and consideration of the city’s water infrastructure needs and grant funding.
The complete Mon., Feb. 20 agenda follows.
AGENDA
February 20, 2017
REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF ELLIS
City Hall – Council Meeting Room
BILLS ORDINANCE REVIEW WORK SESSION BEGINS AT 7:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL AND MEETING CALL TO ORDER AT 7:30 P.M.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA (if needed)
1) CONSENT AGENDA
a) Minutes from Regular Meeting on February 6, 2017
b) Bills Ordinance #2015
c) Manual Journal Entries for October 2016
(Council will review for approval under one motion under the consent agenda. By majority vote of the governing body, any item may be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately)
PUBLIC COMMENTS
(Each speaker will be limited to five minutes. If several people from the group wish to speak on same subject, the group must appoint a spokesperson. ALL comments from public on agenda items must be during Public Comment. Once council begins their business meeting, no more comments from public will be allowed.)
2) PRESENTATIONS OF AWARDS, PROCLAMATIONS, REQUESTS & PETITIONS (HEARINGS)
3) SPECIAL ORDER
a) Consider Assistance with Joint Ellis County/City Magnet Project – Stacie Minson, KSU Watershed Specialist
b) Fire Department Monthly Report – Chief Dustin Vine
c) Update on Water Exploration Process – Gary Luea, Water Advisory Committee
4) UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a) Consider City Assistance with Millings on West 14th Street
5) NEW BUSINESS
a) Consider Bids for City Hall Generator
b) Discuss Policy on After Hours Customer or Alarm Calls
c) Discuss Water Infrastructure Needs and Grant Funding
6) REPORTS FROM CITY OFFICIALS
a) Administrative
1) Public Works
(1) Discuss Letter Addressing Citizen Concerns
(2) Consider Approval of Training for Inmate Supervision
(3) Department Update
2) Police
(1) Department Update
3) City Clerk
(1) January Health Insurance Savings Report
(2) City Car Annual Summary Report
(3) October 2016 Financial Statements
(4) Department Update
4) Attorney
(1) Update on Status of Attorney’s General Opinion
(2) Update on Outstanding Code Violation Cases
5) Mayor Update and Announcements
EXECUTIVE SESSIONS
7) ADJOURNMENT
