By James Bell
Hays Post

Major grocer, Dillons, has announced a multi-million dollar renovation and expansion at their Vine Street location in Hays, that will not only give the building a new look, but will also bring many new offerings to the location.

“In my 27 years of doing this it’s probably the largest dollar amount remodel I have been involved in,” said Keith Harnack, construction manager.

“When we’re finished it will be a brand new store,” said Sheila Lowrie, Dillons spokesperson.

The store will expand into the former Rent a Center creating a larger location.

“We’re going to be investing heavily in this space to bring in Strabucks, we’ll have glass fronts for natural light to come in, free wireless internet services for our customers there,” Lowrie said.

A Sushi kiosk will also be a major feature of the expansion, along with major changes to the entrances, flow and look of the store.

“There’s many thing that are going to be moving and shifting inside of the four wall to accommodate all of the changes,” Lowrie said.

“We feel like we won the lottery,” said Don Koerner, store manager.

The entire process is expected to be completed this summer, but the process will be invisible to shoppers as days and hours of operation are not going to change, with work being completed during the night.

Many departments through the store, however, will be moved and natural foods will be integrated into the general isles indicated by special markers making comparison shopping easier.

“We’re making enhancement throughout the store to increase the amount of natural foods that we offer,” Lowrie said. “That’s one area that customers tend to tell us that they are looking for.”

Food and beverages will not be the only expansion through the store, as an apparel section will be added, the pharmacy will be expanded to include private consultation space and the floral department will grow as well.

Sports apparel in the store will be dedicated to Fort Hays State and some of the local schools in town, Lowrie said.

Exterior upgrades will be part of the renovation as well.

“On the exterior of the building, towards May, the building will receive an all new coat of paint…we’ll have new parking lot lights on the poles, go with a different color, all new building lights on the outside, all the signs are being replaced with LED energy efficient sings, the fuel center will receive a new canopy skin or face, we will have LED signs on that also,” Harnack said. “There’s a lot of improvements, it’s a very good investment in the city of Hays.”

While they believe the improvements will be welcome in Hays, the company is also understanding of the hassle that it may create to shoppers during the process.

“It will be a work in progress and we appreciate our customers patience, because we know it’s difficult when you move things throughout the store,” Lowrie said.

The updated decor in the store will be similar to the Hall Street location, following a remodel that was recently complete there, with warm colors, soft lighting and wood signage.

“We’ll get all the new bells and whistles that you see in a marketplace store,” Koerner said. “This is the biggest remodel that we’ve done in a long time anywhere.”

“It’s going to be great for the community.”

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

With a full room of teachers watching, the Hays USD 489 Board of Education and Hays National Education Association negotiators sparred over contract details at Wednesday night’s meeting, ending with a tentative agreement that will now be brought to the full board and the USD 489 bargaining unit for approval.

While several details were agreed upon during the meeting, including retirement health benefits and sick day accumulation payouts, one sticking point was a a point of content among the two groups – movement on the vertical pay scale – a topic that the HNEA negotiators warned might cause the contract to once again fail when it arrives at the bargaining unit.

“I think you’ll have a better chance of passing if you add a vertical salary increase,” warned Kathy Wagoner, Hays-NEA bargaining unit co-chairwoman.

The subject was not up for discussion during the meeting, but nonetheless dominated a significant portion of of talks.

“I think we are headed in the right direction,” said Superintendent Dean Katt.

In the future he said he believes the board will be in a position to offer those increases, but with state funding in question for next year, now is not the time.

“It’s our intention,” said board member Paul Adams. “Today, it’s not there.”

Money for that increase could come from the district’s contingency fund, the HNEA argued, but if that were the case, the district could once again be put into a position in which layoffs would be necessary.

“We want to make sure we have the money to make payroll,” said board member Lance Bickle said, citing the layoff of 18 employees last year when money ran out at the end of the year. “We are trying to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Katt also pointed out to the HNEA that concessions have been made to offset the lack of vertical movement, noting two years ago a 2 percent across-the-board raise was given in place of vertical movement.

Work day requirements were also reduced to give a concession for the lack of movement.

Katt told the negotiators during the meeting that despite the recommendation of at least a 10 percent carryover, last year the district only had 4.8 percent carryover and is anticipating a 7.4 percent carryover at the end of this academic year.

Despite the contentious debate, both groups agreed on the measures under debate during the evening.

Both groups agreed on a more simplified payout for sick day accumulation in which new teachers coming into the district could accumulate up to 80 days of payout at $45 per day, with concessions made for teachers with days already vested over the amount being paid for at least the 80 days.

A slight adjustment was also made to health benefit for teachers retiring from the district.

The HNEA will bring the new negotiated agreement to it’s bargaining unit on Jan. 28 after two information sessions next week.

The Board will then have the opportunity to ratify the agreement. They will, however, discuss the contract during executive session at Monday’s Board meeting.

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

After a couple of months in operation, Briney Motorsports will celebrate its grand opening Friday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m.

The celebration is set to continue through Saturday with a free lunch offered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. along with drawings for free prizes.

The store is also offering specials on a variety of products through both days.

The shop is owned by Billy Briney, who brings experience from area racing, as a racer and part supplier.

“I wanted some kind of store,” he said, in an interview last October. “The first part of this year, we started thinking about opening up a shop.”

His move to open a brick-and-mortar location came from an existing parts supply business he was already operating.

“It was good for me, because I got a customer base,” Briney said.

To read more about the opening process click here, or to see the building as work was being complete watch the video below. To see some of the specials being offered, visit their Facebook page here.

Video of fall 2015 construction by Cooper Slough, Hays Post

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

After being informed the Hays City Commission would not support a public vote on a sales tax that would be used to offset the cost of a proposed $94 million bond, the Hays USD 489 Board of Education discussed taking the measure directly to the voters at Monday’s work session.

“That is not something the city commissioners are going to vote on,” Superintendent Dean Katt said.

If the board were to collect approximately 1,227 signatures from eligible voters, the measure could be put on the ballot, giving the proposed increase to the voters. Taking this action, however, could push the bond election from April to a later date.

“It’s going to take a lot of time to get those signatures,” said Bill Jeter, board attorney, warning the board if they proceed with that route they might not be able to put the bond measure to voters before May.

While the sales tax question is still under consideration, the board will still vote next week to begin the process to hold the special election in April at the board meeting next Monday.

As more information about the bond election is being shared with the public, the board has begun receiving questions about the necessity of the measure and why the full $94 million bond is needed at this time.

Josh Waddell told the board he felt positive, as questions to him are coming in about the specifics of the plan and its necessity.

“Our schools need this,” he said. “This is not a bailout. … This is a forward future-moving request.”

As the process continues, Katt said the administration is finalizing presentations for community and school groups and presentations will begin next month.

                                      Video by Cooper Slough

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

A stereotypical doctor visit is something almost no one enjoys — time in a sterile white-walled waiting room reading old magazines, uncomfortable chairs in the patient rooms, with the same posters on the walls dating back years,  and the lack of privacy and inconvenience as test are performed and samples are taken.

All of these things were considered when Dr. Tonya Knoll decided to build a new facility at 1100 E. 22nd in Hays, and the result is an office with cutting-edge tech surrounded by comfortable furnishings in a facility decorated more like a home than a doctor’s office.

“I wanted to go with a very contemporary, homey theme,” Knoll said. She bought the artwork for the facility over the last couple of years in anticipation of moving into the new space.

Along with the art, a large chandelier dominates the eyeline of the waiting room

“The chandelier just kind of followed the flow of the architecture of the ceiling,” Knoll said. “I really love the contemporary feel and the homey feel and that’s the kind of thing patients are telling me when they’re coming in is that it feels very homey and new and state-of-the-art.”

As is often the case with design, the building centered around a single piece — in this case, a bathroom sink.

“The whole entire theme of everything started in here. The sink was the very first thing I bought a year and a half ago, and the entire place was based on that sink,” Knoll said.

But the contemporary design didn’t end there, as the space feels open with the addition of large glass windows and mirrors.

“I love windows. I think they make places look bigger. It opens things up, lets you see what going on,” Knoll said.

In conjunction with the visual elements comes state-of-the-art technology integrated into the facility, including large interactive information screens.

“We had a company come in and they offer some neat technology for our patients — iPads that they can (use to) tap the particular disease process that they have or that they want to learn about,” Knoll said. “This way when they are waiting in the waiting room … they have something to do other than a standard magazine.”

Digital displays are also placed in patient rooms.

“That way, we don’t have to have paper posters, with corners always ripping and curling on the walls. It keeps it neat,” Knoll said.

The technology isn’t just for show either. The move to the new facility brought many new services, including walk-ins being accepted on Mondays and Fridays.

“If that works well and I see a continued need, that may be something we open up to where we are a walk-in clinic at all times,” Knoll said. “I feel that it’s better to get in here than have to go the emergency room and wait in a long line and incur a huge bill.”

Services Knoll provides include treatment of lacerations, allergy testing, diabetic care, INR testing, osteoporosis care, physicals, well child checks, immunizations, dermatological procedures and others.

Other tests can be done from blood drawn in office that will be sent to area labs.

For services that cannot be addressed in the clinic, Knoll takes care in sending patients to trusted physicians.

“If things get a little beyond our realm of expertise, that’s when we start the referral process. I have the freedom of referring anywhere, because I’m not locked into a certain system,” Knoll said. “I make sure that I do not send or refer my patients to any physician I would not go to.”

With the building being much larger than need for Knoll the majority of the building is open for other practitioners.

“I only use a third of this building,” Knoll said. “For the other two-thirds, the plan is to rent them out to other physicians, massage therapists, physical therapists — some kind of business that would work well in this type of facility.”

The available space includes several offices, practitioner spaces and a full nursing station.

Knoll said some interest has been shown in the spaces, but no one has yet moved in.

The entire project has been a dream of Knoll’s since medical school, one that she now gets to live, with her husband, who works as the office manager.

“I’ve had this dream. … One day, we can move back to Hays, which is where we are both from,” she said. “The way the pieces fell, it just happened. … We started little and now we’re here. This is what I wanted, ultimately.”

For more information about the clinic and to stay informed about their latest happenings, visit their Facebook page here.