By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Hays city commissioners approved six resolutions and ordinances Thursday for general obligation bonds and temporary notes to finance several new development projects.
Those include:
The water meter, police department, and interstate projects will be city-funded, but will not increase city taxes.
The Grove funding is not a direct cost to the city and will also not raise city taxes.
"You're authorizing the bonds to be used to pay the costs of improvements," Kim Rupp, finance director, told the commission. "It also allows us to levy for debt service, if necessary."
The city of Hays has an AA bond rating, which is very good for a city in Kansas outside of the metro areas, Rupp said.
Rezoning Request for Lincoln School property
The commission also approved a rezoning request for the proposed Lincoln School apartment complex, 1906 Ash, from a public and institutional district to a residential multi-family district.
The owner of the property, Hays developer Michael Graham, is proposing remodeling the 100-year-old former elementary school into 26-28 apartments and also constructing seven four-plexes in the surrounding area east of the school
Tallgrass RHID and the Grove updates
Grow Hays Executive Director, Doug Williams, presented a review of the Tallgrass Reinvestment Housing Incentive District and gave an update on the construction progress of the Grove, which is south of HaysMed on Canterbury Drive.
Airport parking lot expansion
Enplanements at the Hays Regional Airport have more than doubled over the past decade, and 2025 is expected to be another record year, with an estimated 17,000 passenger boardings.
Jamie Salter, airport director, presented a low bid for enlarging the paved parking lot to 164 spaces from the current 101. Parking in the terminal lot is free.
The low bid came from Morgan Brothers Construction Inc. of La Crosse, for $248,019. Work is expected to be completed by the end of the year.