By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Whether Bill Ring was on the scene of a massive train crash or tirelessly crunching numbers in his office to save the taxpayers another $2, he has always put a priority on serving the people of Ellis County.
Ring, director Ellis County director of Public Works, will retire at the end of January after working for the county for 12 and a half years.
Ring started out as the Ellis County Emergency Management director, working for eight years for that department before transferring to public works.
Ring provides aid in times of disasters
Ring was an unlikely transplant to Kansas. He was raised in south Florida and ran an automotive business there for 30 years. He had always been active in his community, serving as a police officer for a time as well as a volunteer firefighter.
He sold his business in Florida and moved to Hays to be close to family here. He worked for the American Red Cross for two years after moving to Kansas and was on the front lines for the Red Cross after Greensburg was destroyed by an EF5 tornado on May 4, 2007.
During disasters, the Red Cross usually assists with shelter, and provides cleaning supplies, comfort items and food.
However, the destruction in Greensburg was so complete, the houses were just gone, Ring said. There was nowhere to shelter people and nothing left to clean up.
"It makes you thank the Lord that it wasn't you," Ring said. "You hope you can provide some additional comfort to the people."
Ring was not a stranger to disasters. The first big disaster he worked, as a private business person, was Hurricane Andrew in Florida, which at the time was the largest hurricane to hit the United States.
Ring grew up just north of Homestead, Fla., which was destroyed by the hurricane — a storm that produced winds up to 200 mph.
"You see just massive destruction," he said. "In the aftermath, you have to come up with ways to do as much as you can for the people."
'You never get used to it'
Ring's work with the Red Cross led him into the job working in emergency management for the county.
"I really enjoyed being able to provide people with preparedness information, hoping to have them not have to go through a disaster," he said, "or giving them some education background on what to do in the event of a disaster or the aftermath of a disaster."
The EPA honored Ring with an award for using Facebook to promote preparedness, when the social media platform was just starting to become mainstream.
Ring still posts the weather online every day, and said he will continue to do so even after he retires.
Ring said the most significant disaster he dealt with in Ellis County was the train derailment and fire in July 2013 at Vine and Eighth streets in Hays. Two trains were on the same track traveling in opposite directions and collided.
The area had to be evacuated and first responders were on the scene all night dealing with the aftermath and investigating the crash.
"That was all-consuming for all responders that night," Ring said.
Watch a video of Heartland Truss plant fire courtesy of LUTY.tv.
Ring also responded when the Heartland Truss plant burnt in March 2015.
Dealing with fatalities has always been a challenge, especially when he knew the victims or their families.
"You never get used to it," he said. ...
"In a small community, you are probably connected somehow. I don't have a lot of relations here because I'm from Florida, but people I know, it could be their next-door neighbor or their brother," Ring said. "That was always difficult, dealing with tragedy. ...
"You hate having to deal with that, but it'll never change. We're going to have accidents. People are going to pass away. You take it hard."
Ring said Hays has been lucky in that it has suffered through wind events, but was not struck by a tornado during his tenure.
Ring had been working in Hays a short time when high winds leveled half the trees in Hays. The landfill was over run with tree debris. The line into the landfill was nonstop for two weeks straight.
It's important to give back
Ring said he likes helping people.
"I think that is important—to give back when you can," he said.
Ring has always been heavily involved in the community. He helped found the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity and served as president of the board for the first three years of its existence in Ellis County.
He has been a longtime member of the Kiwanis Club, serving as president of that group as well. He also serves on the board of the Smoky Hill Foundation, is a member of the Knights of Columbus and serves as a Boy Scout volunteer.
Public Works
Ring joked that although he manages a fleet of road graders and he has purchased several, he has never driven one himself.
As public works director, his goal has been to provide safe roads for people traveling in and around the county. His other priority is to be a good steward of the taxpayers' money.
The public works department has the largest budget in the county. Ring also noted it costs a lot of money to build a road — about $800,000 to pave one mile from the dirt up.
Ellis County has 1,400 miles of roads. Only 140 miles of those roads have a hard surface.
"I want to make sure that we check and double check when we buy things," he said.
Several years ago, Ring helped the county make the switch to buying equipment through Sourcewell instead of sending purchases out for bids. The buying consortium allows the county to buy directly from manufacturers at a government-guaranteed discounted price.
He gave the example of the county's latest major public works purchase, a $280,000 road grader. Just a 5 percent discount on that kind of purchase would be a $14,000 savings for the county.
"I watch this money closer than I watch my own," he said, "and I am proud of that. I am a taxpayer as well, but you are and all of your listeners are, all of the folks we deal with every day. I want to be able to look them in the eye and say absolutely, 'If I can save two bucks, I'm going to save two bucks.' "
County lands $7.5M for Northwest Business Corridor
Ring said his greatest accomplishment as public works director is securing a $6.5 million federal BUILD grant and an additional $1 million KDOT grant to fund the Northwest Business Corridor.
However, he said he needed to share credit with Buck Driggs Design Group and former Ellis County Administrator Philip Smith-Hanes, who also helped develop the project and file for the grants.
When the project is finished, larger trucks wishing to travel south on U.S. 183 will be diverted north of Hays onto Feedlot Road and then south on the bypass.
This deals with the one pinch point on U.S. 183 from the Dakotas to Texas, which is the Interstate 70 bridge at Hays. It also keeps truck traffic off of county roads that are not designed to handle heavy loads, Ring said.
Trucks will be able to continue through the county at highway speeds and not have to stop for stoplights on Vine Street.
Although the Northwest Business Corridor project has a large price tag, Ring said all of the projects the Public Works Department completes are important, because they affect people.
"If I do a project over in Ellis, it doesn't directly affect the people in Walker, but overall it helps the transportation system in Ellis County," Ring said.
'I've met a lot of super people'
Ring has completed projects big and small, but he said the highlight of his years working for the county has been the people he has met and the relationships he has built.
"I've met a lot of super people," he said. "I've worked with a lot of really great people. I've met folks that I probably would never have had the chance to get to work with."
Once he retires at the end of the month, Ring, 66, said he plans to work on some of the many projects that have been left undone in his shop. He plans to travel to Wyoming to go fishing in the mountains and spend more time with his adult sons.
Ring also wants to visit some national parks and historical sites he has always wanted to see, including the Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore.
"There is so much to see in this country," Ring said. "Hopefully, I can get out and do some of that, besides going to see family — just kind of enjoy life."
But he added, "I loved working for Ellis County."
The new public works director Brendan Mackay began work on Jan. 4. He will work with Ring for about one month until Ring's retirement at the end of January.